Colin Cowherd Podcast - Eagles Survive Bills Rally, Steelers Are In BIG Trouble, Don’t Sleep On The Pats, Pete Carroll One & Done? - 3 and Out with John Middlekauff

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
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to pick your fantasy team. All right, who just the ending?

(01:07):
The game just ended? Philadelphia holds on to beat the
Bills thirteen to twelve. I like the idea, as John
Middlecoff joins me, former NFL scout, I like the idea
going for it for two. I think when you're the
home team, you got to go for it. You have
Josh Allen, you have momentum, you've dominated the second half.
I mean, I don't did Philadelphia what do they have

(01:28):
seventeen yards in the second half? Like, I like, let's
start with that. I like going for it. I think
that's the play at home.

Speaker 2 (01:34):
Yeah, I think you go for it, especially because win
or lose, you're not going to win the division with
the Patriots playing the Dolphins next week, so you're locked
into a wild card. I think the way you look
at it now, you're in that position because your field
goal unit couldn't convert an extra point, right. And you
could also argue, you know, the Eagles, they had nine
more first downs the Bills did than the Eagles. Yet

(01:56):
the Eagles going into the fourth quarter up thirteen to nothing,
I thought in the first I mean, they're just getting worked.
If you would have told me with going into the
fourth quarter that the Bills would have a chance, I
get it's only thirteen to nothing, but the way they
look Josh Allen was empty to have a chance to
win the game, Uh, pretty remarkable. I mean the guy's
kind of superhuman.

Speaker 1 (02:15):
I mean, listen, the Eagles had four defensive players make
the Pro Bowl. The Bills didn't have any. Cooper Degen
today was unbelievable. He was all over the field. I mean,
I think we could both admit this is that Philadelphia's
got the better roster. I mean, they really do they.
I mean that's the Shavers. I think, like I'm the
same thing. They don't have a defensive Pro bowler in Buffalo.
You know, once again, the Eagles, I thought the first

(02:36):
half it was a complete utter mismatch. I'm like, are
they gonna win this? Like twenty seven to three? But again,
I think Philadelphia and you can complain about it, but
they got really conservative. Their takeaway was we're going to
make them drive down the field. I mean, you could
argue that Brandon Cook's catch and the Shavers catch, you know,
those are really uniquely not lucky. These are pro apps leads.

(03:00):
Brandon Cook's been around the league, bounced around forever. But
you may not complete if you did that five times
with that coverage with both you wouldn't get completion.

Speaker 2 (03:09):
They ran a hooking ladder on the last drive. Colin.
It looked like Boise State against Oklahoma.

Speaker 1 (03:15):
I mean three really tough plays for Josh Allen, the interception,
the huge loss on the sack, and then the miss
two point conversion. So again, but they put so much
on Josh Allen. At one point they took a shot
of the offensive coordinator upstairs and Josh had missed on something.
They're kind of complaining, like what are you doing, Josh,
And I'm thinking, guys, this is an average roster. You

(03:36):
have a good left tackle and James Cook's a nice player.
That wide receiving corps is hammin Egger's. I mean, that's
just bounced around the league, guys. I'm surprised Brandon Cooks
was thinking to retire in years ago. You know, he
had some concussion issues. He's a real grinder, loves the game.
But a lot of people thought years ago he was
going to leave just because of the concussions. But he bounces
around because he's a good teammate, hard worker, diligent, as

(03:58):
Tom Brady talked about in the broadcast. But I don't know.
I watched that game. You know, it's funny. In the
first half, I thought Hurts made really good throws, crappy weather.
I would like a couple of them, like to AJ Brown.
Were even the incompletion of what looked like AJ Brown's
and was being held. I'm like, boy, Jalen is in
a rhythm. But it's weird with Philadelphia, John you know it, well,
it just dies. The offense just dies. Well.

Speaker 2 (04:22):
Their offensive line is not as good, so they can't
just lean on the run game. I mean, that's a
killer for them. Last year they could just hammer Saquon
and he would go. He had nineteen for sixty eight.
The twenty twenty four version of this team, I think
he has twenty carries for one hundred and fifty yards.
You know, I think that's the big difference. They just
can't lean on you and he's not breaking off these
forty yard runs and just ending the game, which he

(04:43):
was doing last year. I'm with you. The first half.
My takeaway was, I don't know if I'd want to
play this Eagle team. I mean, because Jalen Carter's back,
their defensive line looks FANTASTICA the Hunt kid who I
think is the third rounder. You got Jordan Davis, you
got you know, Bond, the lineback their dbs, like you said,
degene Vic Fangio, You're like, just shoot, it is fantastic

(05:05):
and offensively, there's no disputing their talent, you know, AJ
DeVante Goddards. Oh yeah, that touchdown. I mean I thought
the play calling on the one drive. Even Tom Brady
was like they you know, they ran like a AJ
Brown on a big post to the left, and then
they had a play action play they got him a
first or a touchdown. It was like, you know, when
they run drives, well, you go, this is one of
the best teams in the league. And then they have

(05:27):
halves where they get seventeen yards with a fifty million
dollar quarterback to thirty million dollar wide receivers and a
twenty five million dollar running back. It doesn't really make sense,
but it happens over and over.

Speaker 1 (05:38):
Well, when they get leads and get conservative, what they
do is stop throwing the AJ Brown like AJ Brown
in the first half, crucial second half, Where's AJ Brown?
Why aren't you throwing the ball to AJ Brown? He
is a much better athlete than the guy's covering in
the secondary. Like, it's one thing if you don't want
to throw the ball to the bill receivers because the
two Pro Bowl corners to the Eagles in the pass rush.

(06:01):
But if you're Philadelphia, throw the ball to AJ Brown.
He's dealing with guys that aren't in his class. So
it's just you know, it's in the second half. I
wrote it down here with eleven minutes left in the
fourth quarter, Hurts was zero for six, and I'm like,
they were doing all this smart short stuff in the
first half, getting Aj Goddard, like really clever stuff, three
step drop, get it up, and then just stopped doing it.

(06:23):
I was like, just go back to the stuff you
were doing in the first half. So that's one of
the reasons I don't think Philadelphia wins the Super Bowl
is I don't every Seattle's about the only team that
doesn't have a huge hole. That doesn't mean Seattle's great,
that a bunch of stuff, but they don't have a
huge hole. Texans offense, you know, rams special teams. The
Eagles had these halves where they just don't throw the

(06:47):
ball to AJ Brown.

Speaker 2 (06:49):
Yeah, I missed with you. One note I had at
halftime was Jalen is playing really well making Pro Bowl
level throws. Yes, you know, in those conditions too. So
part of the reason it was so impressive. You're going
to this place that has some of the worst weather
in America. It's pouring rain. Brady keeps harping on it.
These guys where the wrong gloves. Balls are going right through.

(07:11):
The Eagles are just dialed in moving the ball, you know,
at will relative to them their quarterbacks and complete controlling
their defense. You know that play you mentioned with Josh
Allen scrambled around and got sacked. I could kind of
live with that. It's like, yeah, Steph Curry's gonna miss
some thirty five foot threes. He takes a lot of them.
You know, they have to. He makes a lot of
those plays into touchdowns.

Speaker 1 (07:31):
You know, I don't think he takes that sack if
he's psychologically believed in his roster. I think Josh feels
like I've got to make a play. I mean, that
receiving core is just not good. I mean, it's funny
we thought New England had this bad receiving corps this year.
I look at New England's I'm like Williams a big

(07:53):
booty digs and I'm like, no, it's fine. It's actually
really good even compared to like average receiving. Course, Buffalo's
maybe the most average in the league. I think, Josh,
when I watched that sack, I'm like, you can't take
that sack, and I was thinking about it. I'm He's like, well,
I have to take one or two of those game.
I have to make some big I mean, they're big plays.

(08:14):
Think about hook and lateral, clever call. And then two
deep balls. One felt like luck and the other one
was a I don't remember the last time Brandon Cook
had a catch that big and that good in the game.
Like that, that's their offense kind of like sometimes it's
just you have to generate it doing either unique stuff
or you feel like they had. They got a pass

(08:34):
interference break. I didn't like that call at all. That
and then they got the ball down the right sideline
the next play that was that was a weird drive.
Until that point, they didn't really have they didn't threaten much.
And the other thing is, even when going for two,
I'm like, I wasn't sure they were going to make it.
On the sneak. I'm like, oh, I this is a

(08:56):
fifty to fifty proposition like that totally.

Speaker 2 (09:00):
Let's be real too, was it the Browns game where
he kind of did that move and rolled his ankle
He almost was a safety. He clearly rolls his ankle again.
I mean, he's kind of like a younger version back
when Cam what is a prime. It's hard to tell
what percentage he is, but he's clearly not one hundred
percent run around out there, and I just think that, listen,

(09:20):
I think it would be an incredible story. I'm a
huge Josh Allen fan. It's hard to watch that team
and go they got three victories to the super Bowl
with that roster, the way they play, how dependent they
are on him to be Superman, where he's probably seventy
eighty percent and the roster around him, if you can
just sell out, if James Cook is not going to
get I would say one hundred and twenty plus yards.

(09:43):
Their receivers. I mean, they got their tight ends okay,
and obviously they had an injury today, but their offensive
lines that's another issue today. Halfway through the game, when
the Eagles were really humming, they felt a little bit
like again it was a Thursday night game. But the
Texans have an elite pass rush. Remember that Thursday night game.
I remember Buddy in the league text me, if you
sack Josh seven, eight, nine times, that might as well

(10:04):
be twenty five because he's a hard guy to sack.
And today they sacked him five times. Against a normal quarterback,
that number is probably like eight or nine, and there
were a couple times late in the game where he's
making some great plays getting out of it. I mean,
the Eagles are all over this guy. I just think
their offensive line underrated part not playing that well. I
don't know if guys are banged up, they are just

(10:26):
not as dialed, and he is under constant pressure against
the better competition. It's listen, you're not gonna bet against them,
probably in the first round. We'll have to see who
they end up playing, especially if they get the Steelers
or the Ravens. But I just I have a hard
time seeing this team that want some run.

Speaker 1 (10:44):
I think Denver would beat him. I think Jacksonville would
beat him. Oh, I think listen, everybody thinks.

Speaker 2 (10:51):
Houston already did kick their ass on a Thursday night came.

Speaker 1 (10:54):
Yeah, And by the way, you know I watched New
England today. I mean, New England's had one bad half
in three months at Buffalo. They had a great first
half in that game, controlled it. They had a terrible
second half against Buffalo, but the previous three quarters against
Buffalo they were the better team. Yeah, I can see
Buffalo being a one and done teen. I've I've had

(11:15):
him in the hurt hierarchy around eight nine ten. I
just it's hard for me. I just I think Josh
Allen and their left tackle and James Cook. But I again,
I'll give him credit. I thought the hoo Con lateral
was such a clever call. It was so smart. But again,
you had to kind of go to an exotic. You
had to go to a trick play because you can't
trust any receivers down the field. I mean, honestly, at

(11:38):
the end of that game, I felt that Buffalo was
lucky to be going for the win. I didn't think
they would have totally.

Speaker 2 (11:44):
I mean they had. I thought they got worked in
the first half. I mean it was thirteen to nothing,
but you're playing the Eagles, just don't score that many points.
It felt like they were just overwhelming you with the
talent gap and your quarterback. You know, he was having
for his standards not as great as game as he
sometimes has, and you have no chance. Your defense actually

(12:05):
played pretty well in the second half. Yeah, but still,
I mean to score well, they end up scoring twelve
points at home. I mean, it's just it's tough. You know,
Man's and Colin they had zero for the majority of
the game. You know, this is part of the weather.
And this is kind of I was really young with
those Martin Levy teams, but they were a tough, physical

(12:26):
team with a dominant running back that they leaned on.
And then Jim Kelly could make big plays. Obviously, Josh
you know, is much more mobile I think than that
version of Jim Kelly. But you got to and this
is the Packers problem, you know, historically sometimes those Rogers teams,
your weather should be in your advantage to play like
the Eagles. We're just gonna overwhelm you physically and lean

(12:47):
on you and ugly up the game. Well, the Bills
don't want to play that way. The Bills want to
play in a dome like like the Lions or something. Right,
they would love to just sling that thing around. And
even Brady mentioned that they'll see for the Bills, they're
like we don't want to get into a place where
we're just passing a NonStop. It will not go well
for us. So he knows. But the problem is that
they you neutralize the run a little bit, and Josh's

(13:10):
run because he's rolled up his ankle, he's not a
huge threat in this game against them. Their team speed
is excellent. All of a sudden, it's like, God, your
offense looks putrid. Listen, they might play New England. They
might play New England as of right now. Again, these
teams might throw and they're technically the they're the seventh
seed at you know, Texans are the five, the Chargers

(13:32):
are the six, and the Bills are the seven. So
if they go to New England, even if they playing
the Jags as the six to three, it would not
stun me at all if they're at one and done team,
which is crazy to say, because they have this quarterback
in his prime.

Speaker 1 (13:47):
All Right, Cleveland, their biggest win in a long time
at home, beats the Steelers thirteen to six. So Pittsburgh
will face Baltimore for the division title in week eighteen.
What a mess this is. It was so classic Tomlin.
Tomlin has there. I want to read this this this
record is this record is crazy. The Steelers are winless

(14:11):
O four and one in the past five games against
teams entering eight plus games below five hundred, longest streak
in NFL history. So Mike's a motivator, but it doesn't
work when they face an awful team. Right that. Mike's
always been a great underdog. But when Mike's a big
favorite or a favorite against the crappy team, his motivational

(14:33):
raw ros stuff doesn't work. You just it was one
of those games. This is why Seattle got rid of
DK Metcalf. So DK doesn't play there because he's suspended
for the altercation of the fan and the reason Darnold,
by the way, in JSN now are a great, great combination.
But they got rid of DK because DK could be

(14:53):
I was told maintenance. He you know, didn't run the
specific route treat. He was a big play guy, but
they thought there was some maintenance with DK.

Speaker 2 (15:02):
He didn't leave the league in personal fouls for like
a two year stretch.

Speaker 1 (15:05):
And penalties for a receiver. So because he punches a guy,
he's out. And you saw today they there's a reason
Aaron Rodgers doesn't throw the ball down the field. They
have a really weak receiving core. After DK Metcalf just
tight ends Friar Moose excellent. But you know, you're watching
them today and you're like, they're zero and two in
the red zone. I don't know why they were picking

(15:26):
on Denzel Ward three straight times at the end of
the game. It's probably the last corner on Cleveland I'd
pick on. I didn't get that at all. But if
you took DK Metcalf out, you know, it's just this
is so Mike Tomlin. A week ago, we're celebrating this
great victory, and then you watch the next week and
you're like, as a favorite against the bad team, and

(15:47):
you're like, they laid a complete egg.

Speaker 2 (15:50):
I mean, Colin they scored six points in a game
where they win it, they win the division. I mean
they scored six points a goal.

Speaker 1 (15:57):
For two scoring it. They got two turnovers, didn't score
on either one against.

Speaker 2 (16:01):
A bad team. They're playing a three and twelve Cleveland
Brown team with you know, their star running back they
just drafted, broke his leg last week. He's gone. This
is a team that couldn't really run the ball today.
Chadors throwing them the ball through the multiple picks, tried
to throw another one. I think, you know, one of
the linebackers dropped. I thought today was pretty embarrassing. It

(16:23):
was as just a football consumer, it was a hard
game to watch. It was ugly.

Speaker 1 (16:28):
And give Cleveland credit. First two drives. That's Kevin Stefanski.
That's on script. Those first two drives for schadur in Cleveland,
they march right down the field again, that's on script.
That's that's where I think Stefanski's really good. These young quarterback,
especially rookie quarterbacks, they really rely on those first couple
of drives like that's a big part. So I mean,

(16:48):
I just I.

Speaker 2 (16:48):
Think that was big though Colin. I mean, now, DK,
it's not like they get him back next week. He's gone.
And the big tight end, Darnell Washington broke his arm,
so I don't know how you play with a broken arm.
Seven days later, I would imagine he's out so here
relying on Scotty Miller mvs. Who. I think we could
argue how good he ever was, but definitely at this
point in time, not great. You know, the if you

(17:10):
just kind of can neutralize those two running backs, their
offense was awful. Now the Browns defense came to play
today and these games. But you can you can get
after you know, Aaron that they were hitting them a lot.
He was getting rid of the ball. You know, the
one thing the Ravens got a little mojo. Now after that,
you know that Steelers win or I mean that Packer win.

(17:31):
I think the Steelers are in major for trouble and
we're gonna go at one point in time last week,
I'm like that they're gonna end up eleven and six,
pretty impressive, pretty impressive year with how weird it went.
Now it feels like they're gonna end up nine to eight,
missing the playoffs. I don't know about you. I'm out
on them this week. I'm out on them this week.
I don't care Snoop Huntley plays, Lamar plays, Derek Henry
play's quarterback. What I witnessed today and the injury they had,

(17:54):
and I'm gonna assume TJ. Watt, I mean, he's just
I can't assume he's coming back with this with this
long issue. So he's been am I they have other
injuries and DK. They are so dependent. No team that
this includes Minnesota, this includes Jamar Chase, and that is
more dependent on one wide receiver than the Pittsburgh Steelers
on DK Metcalf did most people in the league probably

(18:15):
wouldn't even consider a top ten wide receiver.

Speaker 1 (18:17):
Yeah, well all year I defended Aaron Rodgers. People like
PFF was like, he doesn't throw downfield, and I'm like,
who does he throw to? I mean he and DK
early in the year just I mean, there's nobody to
throw to, like DK was it? And that you can't
just have that relationship over time because DK again doesn't
run the rout tree, That's not what he does. He's
a big play guy. So like, like you know, and

(18:38):
if you don't trust the offensive line, it's hard for
a guy to get deep. So Aaron's thirty two, he
didn't want to get hit. Early in the year, it's like,
I'm not throwing the ball deep down the field. We're
gonna do stuff underneath. And then they started, you know,
then you trust the offensive line more, you play with
a little momentum. But I mean it's the file finer five,
the final Aaron Rodgers drive that didn't pan out. He

(19:00):
went to Friarmuth two times.

Speaker 2 (19:01):
Like that's his guy, Like that's who you have to
go some beautiful throw on that drive. Yes, it was
nice until the end.

Speaker 1 (19:08):
You know, there's a group of people in the media
out there that will just defend Mike Tomlin to the end,
and last week they it was their classic moment in
the sun. How can you fire this guy? But I
think today is one of the reasons that Tomlin gets

(19:31):
heat is that it's the way seasons end perpetually, like
no playoff wins in eight years. It just feels like
at the end of the year, there's more smart offensive coaches.
You have these performances where I'm sitting there watching it
and I'm like, I mean, first of all, they made
Aaron throw thirty nine times. It's that's not what you

(19:51):
want to do with a forty two year old quarterback
on the road with Miles Garrett about to break the
all time record. So Shador, by the way, was seven
a twenty three. I mean, listen, it's he was good
in the first couple of drives. After that, I just
think he's at a point right now where he needs
to be on script. He's got to get out of
that running backwards thing like that. That was a Colorado issue.

(20:13):
It's clearly one of those things he needs an offseason
to just get that out of his game.

Speaker 2 (20:20):
Well, they before, because there's only the two games in
the afternoon, there was a big gap and they go
to the on the CBS crew. They went to Bill
Kower and he's like, I'm a little perplexed why they
didn't run the ball more. Jalen Warren was having success.
He only had twelve carries for sixty yards, you know,

(20:40):
to force Aaron Rodgers forty two with the group of
guys he's throwing to to have almost forty past attempts,
you know, in a crappy It wasn't great weather, you know,
just ugly up the game. It was low scoring anyway,
It felt like they thought they were down twenty five
to six instead of guys, you're just down one score here.
This Cleveland's doing nothing on offense. Just what are you doing?

(21:04):
Especially with their identity and who knows, maybe it's Aaron
checking do these calls at the line of scrimmage. But
you know, when you they've been so dependent on these
three tight ends, right, that's been their thing. Well the
Rams do it two three tens. The Rams also have
Puka Naku and Davante Adams. You know, so it's it's
a little even if only one of them is on
the field, those guys route and make dominant plays.

Speaker 1 (21:26):
And they also Kyra and Williams, Blake Korham, especially in
the second half Blake Corum. They run the ball consistently.
The Rams consistently run the ball.

Speaker 2 (21:33):
And I also think the reality is most people don't
go out like John l Way on the day is
getting the Super Bowl Trophy. Most people go out legendary
players Michael Is on the Wizards. I wasn't alive, but
I heard Willie Mays played for the Mets. You know,
this situation isn't as ugly as like Michael Jordan on
the Wizards, but if they lose next week, pretty embarrassing.

(21:55):
And I do think Aaron Rodgers' career probably ends, even
though like he's not it's not a key, he's not
an NFL player, But it's like he's gonna come back
for what in this situation, because I think Pittsburgh is
gonna have to seriously answer ask themselves the question which
they already kind of put out through Schefter a month ago.
Like Tomin's contract situation. We're not gonna fire him, but

(22:15):
hell will be open John fifty now than Wayne Colin.
I mean, he can go to the Giants. It's not
like he's gonna be out to work. But this thing's
run its course, hasn't it.

Speaker 1 (22:25):
I mean, Cam Hayward's old. TJ Watt, DK Metcalf's an
older player, Aaron Rodgers, Jalen Ramsey, they're old. Like it's
I mean to me, you start looking at the teams
that I really like in this league, and there they've
got a great mix of young and experience. Like Philadelphia
has got good veterans, they have great young players, Rams
have great young players. I mean, you know Detroit for

(22:46):
all their struggles, Green Bay great young players. Yeah, I
you know.

Speaker 2 (22:51):
It's it's the forty nine Ers did it last year
when they hit a ject, like they let everyone walk
because they said, we have to pivot yep, even if
we take a lot bit step back for the next
five years. And the Steelers they're just kind of beholden
died like every game every year and it's like, you
don't get credit anymore for going nine to eight, and okay,
you have a much better record some team that won

(23:12):
five games. Who cares? You know, it doesn't matter at.

Speaker 1 (23:15):
This point, Yeah, they're not going to fire him, and
so you know, to me, I don't have any sympathy
for people that keep doing the same shit and get
the same results. I got no sympathy for Pittsburgh. Want
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Carolina ten. I took the Panthers three times this year
and blazing fun. I've officially went over three. I don't

(25:02):
know why the hell I do it. This felt like
a classic case. It was three to three and a half,
but Seattle's talent in the second half overwhelmed Carolina. Carolina
was one for eleven on third down, two and a
half yards of play. Bryce Young had a couple of
a couple interesting drives. You know the funny thing about
Sam Darnold, I always said his camp, he was a
less talented Andrew Luck. He and Luck have one thing

(25:24):
in common, very short memory. Sam does not care if
he turns the ball over. He doesn't care, and you
know that helped him today. He didn't have a great game.
A friend of mine who's a Seahawks fan, we talked today.
We hadn't reached out to each other in a while,
and he said, you know my concern about Seattle. They

(25:46):
don't do anything great. And I said, well, they also
don't have a hole. The Rams special teams are a mess.
Philadelphia's offense dies, Houston Texans can't move the ball consistently.
The charger zone lines a disaster, I said, or there's
a bad coordinator situation. I said. The Seahawks don't do
anything brilliantly, but they do everything up to snuff. They

(26:07):
don't really have a hole. And when I watched them
today as a prime example, you know, they traveled across country,
they played a lot of snaps. In that Ram game,
defense was on the field like ninety snaps. They weren't real,
you know, they weren't totally polished offensively. And then you
look up and it's like to go on the road
against the team that's going to probably win their division
and you beat them by seventeen points. It's like, I mean,

(26:29):
I don't know. I just kind of look at Seattle
and I'm like, I'm not so sure. This isn't outside
of Philadelphia, the best roster in the league. They got
a lot of dams that can run.

Speaker 2 (26:38):
I think if they played this game ten times, Seattle's
winning nine of them. I thought the talent gap as
this game went on was pretty dramatic. I'm with de
Brice makes good individual plays. Then you look at the
box score. You have fourteen completions. He threw fifty four yards,
you know. And I saw McMillan, the wide receiver from Arizona, saying,
you know, they ran a lot of man coverage. We

(26:59):
didn't expect that to come. And that's one huge advantage
they have as they're head coach is a defensive genius.
You know, for Vey and Kyle, that's him on defense,
and he has these chess pieces, the different dbats they
can play multiple positions. Their pass rush is really good.
They also I think they control their own destiny. So
if they win next week, they're going to be the
number one seed. But I think they've lost two games

(27:22):
in Mike McDonald's career on the road. I mean they
are I think after this game they're fourteen and two
on the I mean they are a dominant road team
under McDonald. So and in that game once they showed
like the overhead kind of good year view. It's like
ugly and Rainyu's like this is right in Seattle's wheelhouse,
you know, and listen obviously Caroline and Tampa. I mean,

(27:42):
these are two bad teams, must be real. Neither of
them probably deserve to make the playoffs, but one gets
to go. I thought Seattle was just in a different class.
I'm with you. Donald can have an individual play where
he just looks like just I mean a practice squad
level guy, but they don't come right back. I didn't
even think about it that way, But that's you know
that go old fish as a memory, you know, you
just on the next thing. It's like it didn't even

(28:04):
phase him, and you have to wonder if he's been
through a lot you know this. You know, maybe early
on his career with the Jets, he starts dwelling on
stuff the longer and you realize you can't like that.

Speaker 1 (28:16):
Back to back thirteen win seasons. I think it is
now and by the way, Pro Bowls, two different teams,
like Donald's now entering conversation and the record books. Some
of the guys that have done this are like Peyton Manning,
you know, like Colts, he won bunch of games and
then he goes to Denver. Like Donald's, talent's indisputable. He's
he is Andrew Lucked. I don't think he's as gifted,

(28:37):
but he is Andrew Luck and that he can be
a bit reckless. He's hyper aggressive, but I'll tell you
what he he gets flushed out of the pocket and
he's not running to run, he's running to throw. He
is his eyes are down field and he and JSN.
I was telling a friend today, I said, I'm not
trying to be a Seahawk Homer, but if I said
to you, quarterback receiver combination like Jim R. Chase Burrow

(28:58):
is just unbelievable. But you can't put aj Brown and
Hurts in there. But you start looking around the league.
You're like, Darnald and JSN first year together is really strong.
Like really these corner routes, the timing routes, You're like, okay,
like this is really elite stuff.

Speaker 2 (29:17):
So yeah, I think they have good personnel. I mean,
I like, you know, Charpa Day's a good He's a
number two running back. I've always liked him. You know,
they trade for Shaheed. He only had the one catch today,
but he gives them a speed element that they haven't had.
You know, Cooper Cup, I think you had a bad
fumble today, but actually I think they overturned it. But

(29:38):
you know, he gives them a veteran They have a
just a high level team, like a really smart bunch
of guys, a lot of guys with a lot of
winning in their background. You know. So Sam comes to
this operation with Mike and John Schneider. It's really impressive.
I thought the betting odds coming into the season, they
were five to one to win the division and the
Rams and the forty nine ers were heavy favorites. I

(29:59):
thought that was a little I mean, this was a
team that won ten games last year, so this is
not to me. The Jags who went from four wins
to twelve wins. It's it's pretty remarkable. When you watch
the Jags, You're like, they just look good, like they
look like a high level operation Seattle. Even those weird
Peat teams that kind of got them fired, they weren't
winning four or five games. Remember that they were nine
and seven or nine and eight, they were ten and seven.

(30:21):
They were just getting blown out in the first round
of the playoffs. But they have, They've always had really
good players. They've done an excellent job transitioning to multiple
you know, the lob teams and then kind of that
latter years of Russell Wilson and now the last couple
of years of this version of young guys. I mean, listen,
I think they have one of, if not the best
general manager in the league. So that helps a lot too.

Speaker 1 (30:44):
And now for our next segment, Whiskey Business. Yes, Whiskey Business,
brought to you by Green River Whiskey, the official whiskey
of the Colin Coward Podcast. This isn't a game I
think I would talk about, but the New England beat
the Jets forty two to ten. They've now won eighteen
of twenty one matchups. They were on a fifteenth straight.
Until January of twenty four, New England had beaten them
fifteen straight times. I'm watching Vrabel and Drake May today

(31:08):
with Aaron Glenn who may not be long for the place,
and they have no idea what they're doing. The Raiders
lost today, So the Raiders will get Fernando Mendoz as
the number one pick, and if Dante mor doesn't come out,
I think the Raiders are probably you know, they may
go by like Malik Willis is a free agent. I mean,
I don't know what you do. Malik Willis has been unbelievable.

Speaker 2 (31:25):
Looks good, It looks good.

Speaker 1 (31:26):
I mean yeah, I mean I think if you're the
Jets and Dante Mort doesn't come out, it's I would
probably go with that kid. But he's gone from you know,
Turmoil and Tennessee to Green Bay now to the Jets.
You're like, who knows how it turns out, but I
will tell you this. It was thirty five to three
at half is craft Vrabel, Josh McDaniels, Drake May, John.

(31:53):
I think we're I think people are under selling them.
We went into this season with New England and I
think you and I agreed, they're just not going to
enough on the sidelines. They just don't have enough players.
This wide receiving group now is a big play wide
receiving group like they've got. I mean Diggs and Williams
and Booty. It's like, no, they have big play wide receivers.

(32:16):
I look at New England right now. I think Jacksonville
beats them. I think Jacksonville's better. I think Denver probably
beats them. I'd take them over Buffalo. People think I'm crazy.
I think we're sleeping on New England. I think I
think they coach coordinator quarterback. I don't know. I to

(32:37):
lead thirty five to three over an NFL team you're
on the road, I don't care how bad the team is. Jesus,
that's impressive.

Speaker 2 (32:45):
Yeah. I mean you didn't even mention Henderson, who at
any moment can take one fifty or sixty yards. Right.
So they're passing game and they got this running back
who's got to be one of the faster guys in
the league. I do think Rabel is elite as kind
of he's like the new prime version of Tomlin, chip
on his shoulder, underdog, and they played it all season long. Today,
I mean Drake May's had harder games in junior high

(33:07):
school than what he faced today. But I do think
in the playoffs, a lot of people are going to
be picking them, so there's gonna be a lot of
pressure then to me on on Mike to like, you know,
kind of the chip on his shoulder. The underdog, underdog
mentality that they've had this year has been really impressive
to watch. I think they're going to be a pretty

(33:28):
big favorite, you know, potentially, Like a lot of people
are gonna say this team can win the AFC, because
they can. But we saw Drake a couple of weeks
ago getting that spot against the Bills didn't have a
great last couple drives. That's the thing with the AFC,
It's like do I trust? Like, it wouldn't shock me
if Drake May has a bad playoff game. Peyton Manning
used to have him youngest Trevor Lawrence, Like, I mean,

(33:49):
how many playoff games that guy played in his career?
You just you don't know. But for both those two guys,
if they're on, they can dominate. Especially I mean Drake
when he's on, he throws, he's beautiful. He's got the
new Russell Wilson the deep ball is as good as
it gets in the NFL, and he's just the dual
threat nature of his ability to keep plays alive with
his legs. You know, Josh McDaniels deserves credit because you

(34:13):
know he kind of falling off the raider situation. But
you come back and you do this with because everyone
bought into the physical attributes. It's It's why Ben Johnson
gets a lot of credits like, okay, now make them
into a good football player, right, And he's made Drake May,
I mean into a legitimate I don't know who's gonna
I guess Stafford's probably gonna end up winning it, but
I mean, Drake May was in the MVP conversation the
majority of the year. That's there's a reason you know,

(34:36):
Josh McDaniels is in Vic Fangio's this. They are Taylor
made to just be incredible number twos and be the
best in their field when all they have to focus
on the offense and all they have to focus in
on that unit of the players. They clearly, you know,
communicate perfectly with those guys. Maybe they struggle with the
opposite side of the ball because the mentality is different.

(34:58):
You know, for Vic, the offensive guys don't think like
defensive guys. For Josh, defensive guys don't operate cerebral like
offensive guys. And those guys, I think, both those two guys,
I mean, look look what they will. Look what Vix
meant to the Eagles. Look what Josh. I mean, the
hire has meant for Mike because part of the reason
Mike got ran out of Tennessee his offense kind of
fell apart when he lost to Arthur Smith.

Speaker 1 (35:18):
Yeah. Yeah, I just think it's one of those things
that I think psychologically we all think, Okay, this is
just year one of the rebuild, and it's like, no,
this is Ben Johnson's first year in Chicago. When you
can spend two hundred million dollars in Chicago and you
go get Joe Tooney, Drew Dolman, and Jonah Jackson on
that with our right tackle, who's pro Bowl level guy.

(35:41):
Now we have an Alito line, bad old line to elite.
Then the quarterback we upgrade. So then you take this
quarterback like Chicago upgrade and you go by two hundred
and seventy five million, and you solve your perimeter issue
and it feels like new England's receiving course getting better,
like as Drake may like it was. It was okay
for six weeks. Now you're like, oh, it's pretty good now.
I'm like, oh god, yeah, they can play from behind.

(36:03):
I like them a lot.

Speaker 2 (36:04):
I will say this, the the three wild cards, the Chargers,
Houston and the Bills and whatever order. So you're gonna
play one of those. I mean you're talking Tomiko Ryans,
Jim Harbaugh and McDermott and Josh Allen. These guys have
had a lot of success. I mean, all of a sudden,
you just draw as the seventh seed again, We'll have
to see who plays who next week. I would imagine

(36:24):
the Chargers Justin Herbert doesn't play next week, right because
that game doesn't even matter anymore against Denver. So all
of a sudden, what if you get them and you're
getting Jim harbaughd Justin Herbert in just sixty minute game
to go to that, that's just a tough draw, you know.
And same thing even if you know, if they give
Josh the week off next week he gets to rest
his ankle. You get Josh for the third time, and
that's that's hard. He's he's very comfortable coming into your building.

(36:47):
Even if their team is not as good. We don't
like them as much to go on a huge run,
they are comfortable playing you. So's it's those three eight
and obviously the Texans, I mean I would not want
to play the Texans in a wildcard game. So these
are just tough the high level operations. You know, the
Bills have just won a lot of playoff games over

(37:07):
the last five years. And obviously Harbon Demiko, I think
you and I would if they were stocks, would both
own a lot of it. So it's you know, the
Patriots are going to get tested immediately as the two seed,
which is sometimes you know, whoever draws the Packers as
a seven seed, like they're leaking a lot of will.
They got a lot of injuries, they got a lot
of issues. They they're just they're falling apart. That's that's

(37:28):
not going to be the case with whoever you potentially
draw as the two seed. You know, in the in
the AFC Wildcard.

Speaker 1 (37:34):
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(37:55):
I want to talk about two Saturday night games because
they matter. Baltimore forty one at green Bay two four.
Malik Willis is going to make a lot of money
in free agency. He went from chaotic Tennessee to green Bay.
The Green Bay environment has clearly helped him. Kid was
eighteen to twenty one. I thought he was He's the
best backup in the league. I mean, he is absolutely

(38:16):
the best backup in the league. He's obviously coachable. He
is really good on third down. I mean they averaged
eight and a half yards of play and lost like
they just made big plays. Never. In fact, the story
of the game is Baltimore. I had thirty first outs,

(38:36):
like forty minutes of time of possession, but when he
got the ball, he was exceptional. So my take is
Derrick Henry obviously had a monster game and he has
those I like Baltimore to beat Pittsburgh, and I even
like him to beat Pittsburgh with again, A Hontley is
a very good high end backup. Remember he beat Chicago

(38:58):
earlier this year. Everybody remember that game. I remember I
had Baltimore. Lamar's called out and I stayed with my bat.
I just just Baltimore at home, and he just outplayed Caleb.
You're like, he's a good backup Baltimore. I don't know
Chicago clinch the NFC North, would the Green Bay win?
I think Baltimore. I think they beat Pittsburgh.

Speaker 2 (39:22):
The one thing I would say is Pittsburgh and Baltimore
have some similarities. When you watch him on the right
night and Pittsburgh's done this over the last month ago,
that's a really good team. And then you watch him
on the wrong day, like today with the Steelers're like,
I'm out that team that looks like a five win team.
I mean Baltimore last night when they're handing it to him,
I mean, he looks like Secretariat running. It's like this
guy's an unstoppable force. The previous week against the Patriots,

(39:43):
he wasn't even on the field in the fourth quarter,
and John Harball was like, eh RDA screwed that one up.
Yeah you might have. John. You could argue that that game,
like there was just a lot of heat on these
two coaches, just because they're both in high level organizations.
You have to wonder whoever loses this game between John
and Mike could get pretty weird that first weekend, you know,
in January, the talks surrounding those guys because these organizations,

(40:05):
I mean, the the Ravens were two years ago the
number one seed in a favorite to beat the Chiefs
in the AFC Championship game in their own building, and
now two years later they have a winner get in
game against the Steelers on the road, which my guess
would be they'd be favored. I mean, want to see
how that plays. I guess I would imagine Lamar plays.
But yeah, I mean, I I just think that game

(40:28):
it reminded me a little bit of the previous week
with Philip Rivers. You know, if you watch a game
like Philip Rivers play great against the Niners, but his
defense was atrocious, Like Malik Willis. The two best players
on the field were Malik Willison and Derrick Henry. Yeah
by a mile, but Malik Willis can't play linebacker pass rusher.
So I mean they're just getting shredded. There's nothing because
he came on the field and this is bang bang boom, touchdown,

(40:50):
bang bang boom, they're in the red zone for a
field goal. So yeah, I was. I was blown away.
Malik Willis is who I think social media told as
Justin Fields was Yeah. Yeah, that's that's what I think
people that thought Justin Fields was good. That's what Malik
Willis actually looks like. Running the touch over the middle
of the field, the deep ball, accuracy, the composure, the toughness.

(41:11):
If Justin Fields can get two year, forty million dollars,
I'd be stunned if Malik Willis can't get, you know,
a little inflation previously two years fifty million dollars. Someone
gives them like thirty million dollars guaranteed for the offseason.

Speaker 1 (41:22):
I think Malik Willis and Mac Jones, I think people
are going to come after both, and I think I
would go with Malik Willis. I just think he's such
a natural athlete. But he I'm watching that game and
I'm like, this kid. Plus he had nine carries. You'll forget. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (41:38):
You could argue that Packers are better off because their
defense is so banged up now and their running game
is in shambles. I can't. Malik Willis gives them a
running element that Jordan Love just doesn't give them like
at least he can run the ball, like he gives
them a better chance to win a game, because if
you can't, if Jordan Love's not throwing for three hundred yards,
they're not running it on anybody. They're in major trip.

(41:58):
They could get rolled in the first round. You know,
they played the depending on who their matchup is.

Speaker 1 (42:04):
Okay, Houston beats the Chargers twenty to sixteen. This was
my favorite bet of the weekend. Almost a forty percent
pressure rate on Herbert, who also had multiple drops. His
tight end dropped a couple of balls. Here's my takeaway.
So when Nick Cassario was the you know GM in

(42:24):
New England, they could not draft a wide receiver to
save their life. For Brady, I always go back to
that Brady moment where he's screaming on the sidelines his
last year in New England, can you just get open?
They could not draft a wide receiver. Nikhil Harry was
a bus Chad Jackson from Florida was a bus. They
had to go, you know, buy Wes Welker or get

(42:44):
Randy Moss. So Nick Cassario's in New England got that guy.
Didn't know how to draft receivers. He now goes to
Houston and clearly proving that Belichick had his thumb on him,
he got Tank Bell. He goes and gets two guys
out of Iowas State, Jalen Noel and Jayden Higgins, both like,

(43:05):
you know, really talented guys. And I'm sitting there watching
Houston and John. Let's not forget what an absolute league
embarrassment they were before Demico Ryan, c J. Stroud and
Casario got there, Like we questioned whether those guys should
take the job. We're like, I remember saying that Casario,

(43:27):
is this a career ender? This was considered three four
years ago, like the laughing stock of the league. I
think they've got and I think Casario. Go look at
his drafting record, Go look at Demiko Ryan's defense. C J. Stroud,
I'm gonna argue all day long. C J. Sarleto is
one of the prettiest balls in the league. Those first
couple of throws, you know, to Iowa State guys like

(43:50):
young kids. I'm like, man, this is this is beautiful stuff.
But I don't really put that on Herbert, not because
I love him, but I've seen this two or three times.
This year. I saw it when the charge what the
Jacksonville They just have trouble blocking people. If they face
an elite rush, they they just discombobulate offensively. There's only
so much they can do.

Speaker 2 (44:08):
Texans are a terrible matchup for him, I mean absolutely terrible.
Rible when they're two tackles gone. I'm with you on Casirio.
Think about this offseason. You know, the NFL doesn't have
too many of like the NBA, where the guy's so famous.
It just feels like you're an idiot if you get
rid of them. Even though the guy like the team
couldn't wait to get rid of him. I don't think
the Texans were thrilled. You know, Laramie Tunzel was a

(44:31):
good left tackle, but they were never gonna pay him
again and they just were ready to move on. And
when they made that trade, everyone went. The Houston Texans.
Their offensive line you can't get. Well, they're cruising to
the playoffs. I don't know if you've checked on the
Commanders lately, but they're not making the playoffs. Oh yeah,
and the Texans this upcoming draft are gonna have their
second round pick, which might be like pick thirty eight,

(44:54):
So they part of the reason the last two years
they traded up because remember they drafted CJ. Shroud and
they rated right up to get Will Anderson. And if
you're gonna make a move like that, you better get
it right. And they got it right. So now they
got two franchise players who are super high character guys,
team captain level guys, and they got reinforcements now coming
with draft picks, which they haven't had because they made

(45:16):
that move. But like you said, they nailed some picks,
and their young offensive coordinator that they hired I think
from the Rams via New England has kind of figured
it out, like they I was late to the game yesterday.
I came in. We were at lunch and I was like,
let's watch the first half at this bar. I walk in.
It's fourteen to nothing and there's ten minutes left in
the first quarter, Like, what the hell happened? Immediately go online.

(45:40):
I mean, they hit just two bombs. If they can
add that element to their offense over the course of
the next couple of years, they are because Demiko he
is he is such a good coach. I mean he
was He's like a Vrabel or Hardball, one of those
players that was just destined to be a star at
this job. And how about this comment. They started owing
three and it did not look pretty, And there were

(46:03):
points and times in the middle of the year. I
got it, and they are they're gonna end up with
twelve wins. I mean, they're probably. They look back and
they go, if we can just have one of those
games back. I mean, we're right there with Jacksonville, who's
kind of been like the story of the league, right
there with the Bear. So it's what the Texans have done.
I'm with you. I loved him in that game just
because the matchup, but just over the course of the
last you know, two and a half months, has been

(46:24):
pretty remarkable.

Speaker 1 (46:25):
Go back to the Texans game against the Rams. It's
like fourteen to nine. It's the one time this year
the Rams just got stonewalled. Like this defense is it
is big boy football? You know. I was thinking about this.

Speaker 2 (46:39):
Do you think they could win this?

Speaker 1 (46:40):
Like?

Speaker 2 (46:40):
Could they? I think they could win the AFC.

Speaker 1 (46:43):
Oh I've said this. I said it a month ago.
I said, I if you look at this is the
year that I think I think the Texans. I want
to see the matchups. I think they're going to end
up in the AFC Championship. Yeah, I don't know who
it's against. My gut feeling is it's I think New
England's undervalued and Houston's undervalued, but Jacksonville's really good. But
I could see Jacksonville going in as a favorite. I

(47:03):
can see Trevor Lawrence making a big mistake. It feels
like I just I trust a great defense to show up.
I mean, if you go look at the Texans road defense,
you know how, like Cleveland's a much better defense at
home than a way that's usually the case. Like if
you look at Houston Splits, they're the best defense in

(47:26):
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(49:15):
was interesting thinking about this the Green Bay game. So
up until nineteen seventy eight, there were fourteen NFL games,
and then up until about three years ago there were
sixteen NFL games. Now we have seventeen. There's talk of eighteen.
So for the first time ever because I buy all
these services. To watch week seventeen in the NFL, you
had to have Netflix, Amazon, Peacock, the NFL Network, Fox, CBS,

(49:40):
and ESPN. I was like, this is I got to
write this stuff off. You and I write it off.
But I was gonna I'm not buying Peacock for the Olympics, okay,
because I don't talk about it. If I if I
get some highlights or there's a big event, I would
buy it. I don't buy it for the NBA because
I have ESPN, and I already have Amazon. Everybody's got Netflix,
my mat and Netflix is pretty good at everything they do.

(50:03):
But I wasn't going to watch the game. I'm not
going to buy Peacock for I'm not buying Peacock for
the NBA and I'm not buying it for Tyler Hotley
and Malik Willis. And my step son said, oh, I
have it. So I'm like, okay, because my takeaway is
I'm protesting, like I don't even know what average fans
that don't get to write this stuff off due. But

(50:24):
it is interesting. I was thinking, as the NFL keeps
extending games, you know, Netflix is a monster, it doesn't matter,
like it just doesn't the Amazon and Netflix. Amazon because
of the retail business, Netflix because of you know, their
entire business. But Peacock's going to lose a billion dollars
on the NBA deal for Peacock to get late season games.

(50:47):
And I was thinking about this, as you extend the season,
its gonna be sixty quarterbacks played last year, You're gonna
be fifty eight this year. And I was thinking to myself,
these these streamers, like when Fox broadcasts a game, John,
you get the broadcast and the stream everything. Same with
CBS streamers just stream and I'm thinking, Man, I'm watching
that Peacock game. I'm like, I wonder what the real

(51:08):
number is without Jordan Love and Lamar Jackson, because you're
asking a lot for fans to buy, Like four week seventeen,
I needed three streamers, cable, two networks in the NFL network.

Speaker 2 (51:22):
Peacock's been a stalwart in the middle cooff home because
my wife watches a show called Below Deck where these
guys go on a boat and get drunk and they
follow the captain and the crew. So we've been a
loyal subscriber of that one for a long time. I
do wonder, right, NBC is a good example, right, they
have Sunday Night Football is the number one television show

(51:43):
in America, right in Fox and CBS the afternoon games
or monsters that as a certain generation dies, people don't watch.
I mean when I was a kid in the nineties,
all the big shows run NBCCBS, ABC, Fox at night
Monday through Friday. Well, no one, you couldn't meet anyone
under fifty that even knows what regular television even means anymore, right,

(52:05):
especially anyone under like thirty, like your son would You're
not going to ABC to watch a show. So for
NBC to survive over the course of the next twenty years,
they need Peacock to I guess be successful. But I'm
with you. I thought the NBA deal, what do you
think the actual numbers on some of these games? That
I'm a casual at this point in time because I

(52:26):
spent so much time talking football, I've never like you.
I don't do like a you know, you talk way more,
but I don't talk basketball anymore. So I'm not as
dialed in beside like the Warriors. And sometime I'll be
We'll be logging onto Peacock or Amazon Prime and I'll
see they have an NBA game on. I'm like, who's watching?
Unless you're like some diehard Zach Low type. I don't

(52:48):
think the casual guy that would have stumbled into it
on TNT. Well, an NFL is a little different because
it's a one off situation. But yeah, I'm with you,
this is not We're in a slippery slope with the
situation for sure.

Speaker 1 (53:00):
Well, the other thing is the incumbent ESBN for me
as a built in audience. Okay, and then Amazon, like Netflix,
I have those for obvious reasons. You got to have
those two an Amazon beat Peacock to the punch of
the NFL for years ago, right, So like, I'm I
have that. Peacock's like, well, I don't need that much

(53:21):
NBA and you're not getting playoffs. I don't believe Peacock
has a great playoff. They don't get the finals, they
don't get they I don't know what they get playoffs wise,
if I recall, it's not great, and who wants to watch?
I mean, the Western Conference playoffs will be you know,
dynamic if you get those. Maybe, But it's just I
looked at it and I thought to myself, Man, you're

(53:41):
asking a lot of the consumer to go to a
third streamer. You're asking a lot of the consumer and
I and increasingly as these we're averaging sixty quarterbacks a year.
So you if you're just parachuting in and you think, hey,
we get the December twenty sixth game every year, good
luck you watch these games. Good luck getting starting to

(54:03):
either teams will have their division sealed, you know a
lot of seedings are done, or you're getting a backup quarterback.
I want to throw this out there, talking NFL, the
Raiders got clobbered by the Giants, so it was a
corner TV game for me. You know, Jackson Dark played
pretty well. The Giants played with a lot of pride.

(54:24):
Giants actually have some good Yeah, they have some good players.
So the Giants hammered the Raiders. So the Raiders are
going to get the number one pick, so they'll get Mendoza.
They have Rock Bowers, they have Aston Genty Colton middle
left tackle. Oh, line's bad. They have to address that.
The Giants now have the second pick, and I if
you're the Giants, now you were rooting like crazy that

(54:45):
Dante Moore comes out, not to draft him, because I
don't think I would draft Dante Moore. So you can
trade down. So the New York Giants really want to
day Moore to go pro. I don't think any other
quarterback rises to that level. But when you look at
the Raiders, let me ask you the question, they're gonna

(55:06):
get Fernando Mendoza. We have now seen multiple times old
defensive coaches, you Belichick, you know, Ron Revere, old defensive
coaches with young quarterbacks, even younger defensive coaches Matt Eberflus
with Caleb Williams if you're if you're the Raiders, do

(55:28):
you bring back Pete Carroll, Pete Carroll's son and the
staff and go with Fernando Mendoz Or do you just
say to yourself, Okay, we're going to go find are
Liam Cohen. We're going to go find. We're going to
go find. We're not going to mess around and do
like the Bears did with eber Flues for a year,
a defensive guy and a staff that Chip Kelly's gone

(55:48):
now and now there's a lot of you know, there
was criticism up in Seattle about Pete Son. I got
nothing against Petez Son, never met him. What do you
do with you the Raiders? You take Mendoza? Do you
clean house? Do you stay with his.

Speaker 2 (55:59):
Staf Well, a couple of things. I think Pete's done.
I think everyone I know in the NFL assumes that
he is going to get fired. Every article I've read
points that he's in major trouble. And let's face, I
think look at him and Belichick that they just refuse
to wave the white flag. I mean, they had more
than they had nine figures in the bank. They didn't
need to keep doing this, but they just couldn't tap

(56:20):
out right. These guys were in their mid seventies. They
were legendary coaches, and they just couldn't stop and look
at the way it's going for both. You know, Pete
this year was pretty sad. You know, he's pounding the table,
and I kind of believed him. He's like, get ready,
I win, That's what I do. And then they comes
to Raiders. I actually would be careful though. They played
the Chiefs this week. Not that Andy's losing sleepover playing

(56:42):
Fernando and Mendoz over the next five years. But I
could see Andy, I mean one, he's rolling out a
practice squad. Guy. They had ninety five yards of offense
against Denver. It's not like they're very good right now either.
I could see them resting a bunch of guys. You know,
they're not playing at home so Travis doesn't have to
play that. I could see them ruined the Raiders, and look,
you better be very careful. I commend what the Raiders did.

(57:04):
Spy Tech takes it out of everyone's control. Max, you're
not playing anymore. Matt Crosby almost single handedly beat the
Texans a week ago, so I understand why Max is
you know, I respect it. But to me, if I'm
Max at this point in time, like it's the time
I was, I was looking, I think the Raiders actually,
if they do take care of business and lose, the
Chiefs have it out with Max where you could still

(57:26):
get at even in his late twenties, multiple first round
picks because he's he doesn't drink, He's not a part
of your He's a high character guy, team leader, plays
There's not a guy that plays harder in the NFL.
He's every they love him, I mean, but what a waste.
Remember when the Kancity Chiefs traded Jared at Allen to
Minnesota and it changed his career. You know, he goes

(57:48):
to a good team, ends up in the Hall of Fame.
I think teams Eagles, the Lions, the Bears. You know,
these teams would be lined up to give you multiple
first round picks. So I think that's their move. If
you get Fernando Mendoz and you just start over the
problem with the Liam Cohen thing. Who is that guy?
You know? Is it Kubiak up in Seattle? You know,

(58:09):
there's not really like it doesn't feel like there's the
next Ben Johnson, Kyle Sean McVay, who just there might
be that guy, but it doesn't feel like he's standing
out like Ben was last year or even the Liam Cohen.
Clearly he's really good. I don't know. I mean, actually
the guys are you know, Robert Salah give him part
number two? Yeah, just maybe it was the Jets and
get him with Spike Tech and kind of that infrastructure.

(58:32):
I respect the hell out of Tom and everything his
career stood for. I do think it's hard, though, having
been in the front office and know the time and
seen how much Tiny Andy and Howie and know these
guys now and how often they're in the office to
kind of be at Baker's band in Florida but still
have a bunch of opinions, like, you know, if you're
gonna you know, Matt Ryan's been rumored, if Matt Ryan's

(58:52):
gonna do it. When John Elway was the gym and
ran the Broncos, he was in the office every day
with his guys. It's you can't. It's not one of
those jobs where you can have. Jerry West was around.
I saw him at Warriors games every single game I
went to, and at that point in time, he wasn't
even the GM like so you're going to have to
either be all in or all out. You can't have

(59:14):
because Mark Davis is desperate for help. Like, I do
respect that Mark has taken big swings. He said, John,
you do it, ten years, one hundred million. Turns out
it didn't work, But like, hey, I no, the Bucks
were trying to hire him a couple of years later,
Josh mc daniels six years, eighty million dollars. Again, these
blew up in his face. But he's taken huge swings.
And the Pete Carroll thing, I think they were just

(59:35):
you know, Tom really wanted Ben Johnson. He wouldn't take
their job, right, So I don't really know, you know,
Robert Salah, but you take a quarterback, it's who's your
offensive coordinator. It's kind of a weird spot. I think
they're the Raiders just kind of got a hope that
you fire him and you just you hire one of
these young coaches and you kind of strike stripe oil folks.

Speaker 1 (59:56):
I mean, if you look at the NFL draft order
right now, it actually made me laugh today when I
looked at the NFL draft order, it is I mean
John Raiders, Giants, Jets, Titans, Arizona Browns. If I'd have
said to you, that's the twenty sixteen draft order, it's

(01:00:18):
the twenty twenty one drafter. It's like it's the same nonsense,
the same owners, the same teams over and over.

Speaker 2 (01:00:26):
Well, look at look a team that I think deserves
credit is Kellen Moore in the Saints. You'll look at
Kellen Moore, what his background is? Chris Peterson, Boise winner,
his dad, high school coach winner. He goes the Cowboys
as a player and as a coach where they had
a ton of success, and then last year Eagles Super Bowl.
Like you look at Kellen's backgrounds like, aeah, this guy's
pretty high level guy. Ask Chris Peterson about him. He's pretty.

(01:00:47):
And he goes Tyler Shuck throwing touchdowns left and right,
and they look they just look like a little more
stable than they've been over the last couple of years.
And you look at places like the Titans. It's really
hard to overcome the Raiders. I'm a big on SPI
tech guy. But the negativity surrounding the organization that that
owner uh to some of his just I would say insecurities.

(01:01:09):
And you get Tom involved, and you got the Giants
who just they've been a mess for the Jets. I
mean the Jets. You could argue ours is embarrassing of
a franchise guyse there is an all professional sports right now.

Speaker 1 (01:01:19):
He is nor It's pretty bit they was today was
bad thirty five to three at home trail. Not competitive.
It was pitch and catch for Drake May all right.
One college thing. Kyle Whittingham, who I think we both like,
at sixty six years old, got the Michigan job. Now,
I do think sixty six is an ideal, although i'd say,
you know, he is younger than his age. He's fit,

(01:01:42):
he's a skier, he's a lifter, he's a workout guy.
I know Kyle a little bit. He's just a grown up.
But one of the things I would say is, there's
two reasons why age is less vital than ever before.
One is nil and two's the transfer portal. This job
got more administrative, it got more transactional. It's it's signing basically. Lee.
If you can build a staff Whittingham can, and you

(01:02:04):
have fifteen to eighteen million nil money Michigan does, you're
gonna win ten games. So I wish he was fifty eight.
I wish he wasn't sixty six, But Sharon Moore was
just over his keys, like he just wasn't. He was
out of his element. He is a position coach. I
don't even think he's a great coordinator. He was a

(01:02:25):
co coordinator. Harball ran everything. So I mean Michigan made
the mistake of you know, and this is a classic mistake.
They hired proximity, not professionalism. Matt Campbell to Penn State's
a real coach. Kyle Whittingham's a real coach. I like it.

Speaker 2 (01:02:41):
I listen.

Speaker 1 (01:02:42):
I always felt Utah was the most big ten like
West Coast team, So I like the movie your thoughts.

Speaker 2 (01:02:49):
I would say, Kyle witting he has more real coach.
I mean, at one point in time, a couple of
years ago, I think he was considered like top five
coach in America. He was rattling off pack twelve championships
at Utah. I mean, you're talking Oregon, USC Washington. Pretty
big disadvantage for got Whittingham, who for twenty plus years
has had pro after pro after pro after pro. You know,

(01:03:12):
I do think it's a pretty big cultural change.

Speaker 1 (01:03:15):
You know.

Speaker 2 (01:03:16):
Yes, he was an Andy Reid teammate at BYU, He's
basically been at Utah as an assistant and the head
coach I think for like three decades, so, I mean
the majority of his life is provo in Salt Lake
City as a professional. Now going to the Big ten
or again. He had high expectations because he him and
Urban created them. But this is a different animal, isn't

(01:03:37):
isn't it? I mean, I it, you know, they asked him.
I saw the clip about a while stage, like, yeah,
I guess I gotta hate him. You know, it's again.
I think they're very lucky that this was even available.
A little weird like Utah kind of forced him out.
Maybe they were just ready for this coaching ways.

Speaker 1 (01:03:52):
Well, he said he said he wanted to get out
at like sixty five I think, and then he wanted
then he got to sixty five and said, I want
to keep doing this and her list. Yeah, I mean,
his teams in Utah were very predictable, a lot of
NFL good old line d line. I mean, right now,
two of the three best offensive tackles in college football
are right Utah. They'll be both drafted in the first

(01:04:14):
round like the other ones at Miami. It's like, wait, timeout,
Utah's got two of the three best offensive tackles. Yes,
his tight ends are excellent. They were always kind of
mediocre at quarterback. I mean they just they always again
kind of just threw out guys. But you always knew
if you were playing Utah. In Utah you had your

(01:04:34):
hands full. Physically, they blocked, they tackled, they hit, their
physical they're intimidating.

Speaker 2 (01:04:40):
Yeah, if you ask Ryan Day, who would you rather play,
Sharon Moore, Kyle Whittingham, I think we all know what
that answer would be. So they also do.

Speaker 1 (01:04:46):
Special teams in Utah. They had good special teams in Utah.

Speaker 2 (01:04:49):
Well, they get NFL players at every level their defense,
D line, linebackers in all the dB positions, so that
they will look like the hardball team of a couple
of years ago. And offensive, I mean they already have
the quarterback guy under a contract, as is the modern
day college. But yeah, I mean I think they I
mean they were, they were in a bad spot. I mean,
the Shuran Moore thing is it's probably not even you know,

(01:05:12):
we're almost underrating how really ugly it is. You can't
have a head coach doing that with an assistant in
the office, Like, what are we talking about I mean,
that's that's embarrassing. I mean that that was a pretty
low point. It shows you how desperate they were to
kind of keep the harbam mojo up. It's not really
how it works. And they're they're getting a no nonsense guy.
I mean that, I'll tell you this, that is not

(01:05:33):
gonna fly. He's gonna he's gonna purge that place and
kind of I think one thing the Michigan people like
about him, you know, they're they're a little I would
say stiff. You know, it's it's the culture. He's you know,
the Utah Provo, Salt Lake City like he's he's used
to that, like he's thrived in that environment. So I
think he'll fit right in.

Speaker 1 (01:05:54):
All right, let's do our Monday night hard Rock Bet.
All right, John, both of us got it right last
week hard Rock Bet Pick of the Week. I'm gonna
take the Rams minus seven and a half. The number
was bigger against the Falcons even though they're on the road.
The game matters, I mean, with San Francisco's play with
the Seahawks, play the game matters. If it didn't and

(01:06:15):
there were some backups playing, I don't know how I'd
feel I think, like the Seattle Carolina game, it's going
to be a the energy, the efficiency of the Rams
is going to overwhelm the Falcons. You know, it's a
little advantage. Raheem Morris was in the Rams building. You know,
Sean does know what Raheem likes. Raheem may know what
Sean likes, but he doesn't have the players. I think

(01:06:37):
there's some points in this game I would take the
Rams to cover.

Speaker 2 (01:06:42):
I'm gonna take the Falcons in this spot. I just
think it's I saw a stat today that if they
all end up eight and nine, that the Carolina Panthers
would win the division. So like, the Falcons have just
kind of, you know, stated the ship a little bit
with Kirk Cousins. You know, Bijon ro Robinson is one
of the more talented players in the league, and like

(01:07:02):
you said, there is a knowledge between the two guys.
The Falcons are a bad team, but they're like a
good bad team. I just think seven and a half,
that extra half point. I'm gonna go with Rahie Moors
at home and yeah, take the Falcons.

Speaker 1 (01:07:18):
Great stuff, John, crush it, go watch the Niners.

Speaker 2 (01:07:20):
See you

Speaker 1 (01:07:23):
The volume

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Colin Cowherd Podcast - Eagles Survive Bills Rally, Steelers Are In BIG Trouble, Don’t Sleep On The Pats, Pete Carroll One & Done?

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