August 31, 2026 • 46 mins
DP and the Danettes discuss the return of Aaron Donald, including how the Rams had $20M to sign him, the Rams being large Super Bowl favorites and how the reigning champion Seahawks must be feeling. NFL analyst Chris Simms joined the show to add onto the conversation while stating his case for why the Buffalo Bills are overrated. With Week 0 in the books, Fox Sports' college football insider Joel Klatt chatted with Dan about the coaches under the most pressure this season as well as why the lack of attendance for USC's season opener is no big deal.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
You are listening to The Dan Patrick Show on Fox
Sports Radio.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
I don't think it's a surprise, but maybe there's an
element of shock that, yes, Aaron Donald is coming back.
I think we were kind of waiting to see what
kind of money the Rams could free up. This is
what I don't understand. And Chris Sims from Pro Football
Talk will join us in about 20 minutes.
Speaker 3 (00:22):
How did the.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
Rams just have $ 20 million laying around?
Speaker 3 (00:27):
Did they go through the seat cushions there?
Speaker 2 (00:30):
At SoFi, I'll be damned, we got $ 20 million here
for Aaron Donald. The incentives to make $ 30 million. How
do you have that money just kind of hanging around
there in a 401k mutual fund?
Speaker 3 (00:45):
Something.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
But he's going to get $ 20 million. And I was curious,
and we're still trying to find this out. The Rams
are prohibitive favorites. They are plus 500 to win the
Super Bowl, followed by the Bills and Ravens at plus 1,000.
Probably the Chiefs a few years ago, maybe similar favorites
going into a season.
Speaker 3 (01:07):
But the Rams, overwhelming favorites. Their over-under is 11.5.
Speaker 2 (01:11):
Now, they play in a tough division, obviously, with San
Francisco and Seattle. But I think most people would probably
go for the over there with the Rams, which... would
have me go for the under. But the odds to
win the Super Bowl, plus 500. Winning the NFC, plus 290.
To win the division, minus 105. Aaron Donald, defensive player
(01:35):
of the year odds, plus 5,000. Has a better chance
to win the comeback player of the year at plus 750.
Here is Aaron Donald on why he's coming back.
Speaker 4 (01:47):
Being here, being a part of this team, potentially doing
something special. Um, That's what it's about. I think the
Super Bowl being back at SoFi kind of psyched you too,
but it's a long process to even get to that point.
You can't jump past the process and the grind that
you got to go through to get to that. Obviously,
(02:07):
that's the end goal you want to do, but I'm
just present, and I'm glad to be here, and I'm
just going to work, get myself where I need to be,
earn my position wherever that is and whatever my role is,
and just do it at a high level.
Speaker 2 (02:23):
How would you like to be the guy who is
in his position right now and Aaron Donald has to
earn his position? I'm looking at this Rams defensive line.
So Aaron Donald, Miles Garrett had 23 sacks last season.
Kobe Turner had seven sacks. Byron Young had 12 sacks
last season. Brandon Fisk had 11 and a half sacks
(02:45):
in two years at defensive tackle. There's no excuse in
not getting to the quarterback there with the Rams. Here
is the Rams head coach, Sean McVay.
Speaker 3 (02:56):
Good to be able to get Aaron back into the mix.
Speaker 5 (02:59):
He and I, obviously, you guys know how close we are,
and there's been a lot of dialogue that we've had,
and excited to be able to just take it a
day at a time. I'm not going to talk about
any sort of plans. It's going to be a day
at a time for us. What does that mean for Australia?
The first step was, all right, if you're coming back,
let's do that. Let's get you out on the practice field.
Let's get you acclimated to your teammates, to your coaches,
(03:21):
and then we'll see what that ramp-up period looks like,
whether or not he's available or whether or not we
think it's best to be able to play him in Australia.
I think the best way to do it is take
it one day at a time, but we're obviously excited
to be able to have him back.
Speaker 2 (03:32):
Yeah, and I go back to what Daniel Jeremiah said
last week. He said, I can't see Aaron Donald playing.
If he comes back, he's not going to be playing
in Australia. I don't need him in September. I need
him in December, January, February. I need home field advantage.
Speaker 3 (03:48):
That's it.
Speaker 2 (03:49):
So far, Super Bowl would be played there. I don't
know how many snaps I'd have him on a snap count.
Let him go in there situational. If he only wants
to play home games, or you only want him to
play home games, whatever it is to make sure that
the bottom line, the end goal is win the Super Bowl.
Here are some other favorites that were better, bigger favorites. Now,
(04:12):
Kansas City in 2024 was plus 500. 2021, Kansas City
was plus 450. 2020, Kansas City plus 450. New England
in 2019 was.
Speaker 3 (04:26):
Plus 400.
Speaker 2 (04:26):
New England 2017. Plus 275. I'm looking at New England
in 07.
Speaker 3 (04:37):
Was plus 250.
Speaker 2 (04:39):
So they're prohibitive favorites, but out of that grouping, I mean,
nobody has been a better, bigger favorite than New England
was at plus 250. That was 07. The Packers in
97 plus 250. Green Bay in 1998 plus 250. And
(05:03):
San Francisco in 1996 plus 250.
Speaker 3 (05:19):
Stat of the Day. Brought to you by Panini America.
Speaker 7 (05:22):
Yes, Paul.
Speaker 3 (05:23):
How do you think.
Speaker 8 (05:24):
The Seattle Seahawks feel about the signing and the coverage
they've gotten or not gotten this month.
Speaker 2 (05:31):
Well, they can't do anything about the signing and the coverage.
If I'm Seattle, I'm like, fine, I don't care. Let
the Rams be up there. Kansas City be up there.
The Eagles up there. Patriots, Cowboys. Well, Seattle won and
Seattle was the best team in the NFL last year
from start to finish, both sides of the ball. Seattle's
(05:54):
probably saying, all right, that's okay. If you can be
an underdog as defending Super Bowl champs, they are.
Speaker 3 (06:02):
Yes, Dylan?
Speaker 9 (06:03):
Yeah, if you're in their division, you actually want everyone
to just talk about how great the Rams are, how
they're going to win the Super Bowl, et cetera, et cetera.
Speaker 2 (06:12):
Are the Rams a team you root against, though? Like
Kansas City, the Patriots, certain teams you've rooted against. Cowboys
you've rooted against. Maybe the Eagles. I mean, I don't
find them polarizing. But it feels like, are the Rams villains?
Speaker 7 (06:31):
I don't know.
Speaker 2 (06:34):
They're just a smart organization. They do it right. You know,
you make the trade to get Matthew Stafford. You give
up Goff. You're giving up first-round picks. And it worked.
Now Aaron Donald's been retired for a couple of years.
You swing a trade for Miles Garrett. Because you got
Miles Garrett, in my opinion, you opened Aaron Donald's eyes to,
(07:00):
I don't have to be the focal point. Maybe I'm
not the one getting double teamed. Hey, this might be
fun to go against one guy instead of two or three.
They've done a great job. Now, you've got to navigate
the Pukunukuwa situation. And you've got a great coach. You got,
(07:20):
I mean, defense. You're winning games because of defense this year.
And you got a Hall of Fame quarterback, very good
running back, wide receivers. But, you know, once again, 2-2
Atwell doesn't excite me too much, but that might be
insurance if Pukunukuwa gets suspended.
Speaker 3 (07:39):
Yes, Paulie.
Speaker 8 (07:40):
I think the Rams are root forable, if that's a phrase. Like,
I want to see Miles Garrett playing relevant football games
at some point in his career. He's played in three
postseason games, ironically, like Mike Trout played in three postseason games.
First ballot guys, but I want to see him play
in January.
Speaker 2 (07:57):
But I don't know if the football world goes, you know,
I'd like to see him play in the playoffs. I
don't think that we're that generous, charitable, that we're like,
you know, like Mike Trout.
Speaker 3 (08:08):
Okay, I get it.
Speaker 2 (08:09):
You know, three games in your entire career, first ballot
Hall of Famer, and then we're like, all right, it'd
be nice if he got a chance to play in
a meaningful playoff series. But I never once said, now
I did say, boy, it'd be nice if he got
out of Cleveland and be able to play in meaningful games.
Because if you're in Cleveland, it's like, okay, you'll see highlights.
(08:34):
Now you're watching entire games, and that'll be the difference.
People will watch Miles Garrett for an entire game. Speaking
of which, because it was week zero, Everybody is going
gaga over Carolina's win against TCU. Now, granted, TCU, that's
a few years ago they were in the national title game.
So they went 9-4, 9-4, 5-7, I think, the last
(08:57):
three years. It's in Dublin. Okay, you won the game,
but it's a standalone game, and you might have watched
the entire game. And you're going, oh, situational.
Speaker 3 (09:08):
Football, Belichick mastermind. He's going to draw them off. I'm yelling,
don't jump, don't jump. They jumped.
Speaker 2 (09:19):
If I know it, how do you go to the
line of scrimmage if you're TCU? And you've been told
probably 50 times in the huddle, don't jump, don't jump,
don't jump. And then you have the defensive tackle jump.
Speaker 7 (09:32):
That's it.
Speaker 2 (09:33):
But did I think Bill Belichick coached a masterful game? No,
but it's better than a loss. So that's all. There's
no style points here. They're not going to be a
10-win team. They still look shaky on offense. They did
play really good defense, but you're playing TCU in Dublin.
(09:58):
Slow down just a little bit. I hate to be
a buzzkill, but I'm being a buzzkill. It was a
nice win considering who they are, what they've been, and
what happened last year.
Speaker 3 (10:13):
Yes, Paul.
Speaker 8 (10:14):
I just got this from Fritzie actually about an hour ago.
Will Bill Belichick be doubling his win total? Dublin is
win total.
Speaker 3 (10:21):
Thank you.
Speaker 7 (10:22):
Thank you, Paul.
Speaker 3 (10:23):
I didn't need the second. That's a Todd. Thank you. Yes, Marvin.
Speaker 7 (10:30):
I'm with you.
Speaker 6 (10:31):
I don't want to overreact, but also the sign of
a bad team is you celebrating when you get a
team to jump off sides. The way they were jumping
up and down when TCU jumped off sides for them
to seal the victory. I was like, this might be
five wins at best for this team.
Speaker 2 (10:46):
You know, I'm going to give Todd a bloop on that,
considering he's probably getting ready for major surgery, but he's
thinking about the audience.
Speaker 7 (10:54):
Yes, Dylan?
Speaker 9 (10:56):
Yeah, you would think that Todd might be a little
loopy from whatever drugs they put him on to knock
him out. That still just sounds like business as usual.
Speaker 3 (11:02):
Yeah, but they don't give you any drugs until they
knock you down.
Speaker 9 (11:06):
Well, maybe he's already done.
Speaker 3 (11:08):
It is just a finger. I mean, it can't take
that long. No, but they put him under. Yeah, but
he might be awake now after being under. No, I
don't think the surgery's over yet. No, I don't think so.
Speaker 2 (11:20):
But that picture of him in his hospital bed, and
he's got the shower cap on as well. He was
texting me over the weekend.
Speaker 3 (11:31):
Oh, my God.
Speaker 2 (11:33):
I said, don't you have a wife? Like, leave me alone.
It's not major surgery. Because he wanted to know if
I'd had surgery. I said, Todd, I'm a game of operation.
I've had more surgeries than the entire room combined. He goes,
I know, but when you go under, like, they make sure.
Speaker 7 (11:50):
You're out, right?
Speaker 3 (11:50):
I go, yes.
Speaker 2 (11:52):
They're not going to operate on you if you're still
awake unless you ask. I was asked with one of
my knee surgeries, do you want to watch? They were
going to numb me from the waist down.
Speaker 7 (12:05):
And I said, no.
Speaker 2 (12:07):
And this doctor couldn't believe that I didn't want to
watch the surgery of them. It was microfracture surgery. So
they were taking it. like a drill going into my knee,
into the bone. And I go, no.
Speaker 3 (12:21):
He goes, well, I'll make a tape of it for you. Yes, Dylan.
Speaker 7 (12:30):
Yeah.
Speaker 9 (12:30):
I would watch maybe someone else get knee surgery. I
don't want to watch it be done on me.
Speaker 3 (12:36):
No, I don't want to watch somebody else.
Speaker 9 (12:38):
Well, I'm not like clamoring for that, but I'm saying like,
I would be more inclined if they're like, Hey, do
you want to see us do it on this guy?
Speaker 3 (12:44):
Then do you want to wash your own knee? No, none. No,
don't need to. But these doctors are like fascinated with this. Hey,
what if I just numbed you? You got to watch.
Speaker 7 (12:57):
I go, no.
Speaker 3 (12:58):
And he goes, we have a nice screen right here.
I could put it right here. And I go, no, no.
Watching childbirth is enough, and that's not even on me.
Speaker 1 (13:08):
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Speaker 3 (13:18):
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Speaker 10 (13:21):
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Speaker 2 (13:50):
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NBC Sports College football analyst.
Speaker 7 (13:58):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (13:58):
Help me understand how the Rams had $ 20 million just
kind of hanging around there waiting for Aaron Donald.
Speaker 11 (14:05):
Yeah, well, I think they had to finagle a few things, right?
But they had money left over regardless. I think that
going into yesterday, what was it? Maybe $ 15, $ 16 million
below the salary cap there? So that was the big
question all along was, was Aaron Donald going to come
back and go, nope, just give me the $ 30 million
(14:27):
that I'm supposed to get and we'll go from there.
And that's where I was always like, I'm interested to
see how this contract thing goes down. but obviously they
got it right. They got some very easy, if you're
on the 53-man roster, he gets big bonuses each week
that way. And then added on top of that, the bonuses, right,
if they get to the playoffs and the Super Bowl,
(14:48):
which is all very realistic, to where he could possibly
make $ 30 million. It's not the most far-fetched incentive one-year
contract I've ever seen, that's for sure.
Speaker 3 (14:57):
How would you use him? I would take it slow
at first.
Speaker 11 (15:03):
You know, one thing I learned in my days working
for New England in the short term I was there
is that we would have weeks.
Speaker 1 (15:10):
Right.
Speaker 11 (15:11):
And you remember this, like Gronkowski had like the I
don't know, some metal thing in his wrist or whatever.
Speaker 7 (15:16):
Right.
Speaker 11 (15:17):
And one of his bionic injury moments. And I remember
he came back and I was like, oh, gosh, he
practiced this week.
Speaker 3 (15:24):
He's in a play.
Speaker 1 (15:25):
And so.
Speaker 3 (15:26):
Oh, he's not going to play.
Speaker 7 (15:27):
All right. Next week.
Speaker 1 (15:28):
All right.
Speaker 3 (15:29):
Practice all week. Look pretty good. I guess he's going to. Oh, no,
he's not going to play.
Speaker 11 (15:32):
Bill was great at making sure the guys are ready
and in game shape, not just throwing them out there
because he's available again.
Speaker 3 (15:39):
And I hope hopefully they take the same approach.
Speaker 11 (15:43):
I'm surprised it took him this long to get into
training camp because I would have thought he'd want to
get into some of the combative situations and just feel
and get his body into football shape that way. I
think first game, you know, 15, 25 snaps on big
passing downs. That's what I would envision. But who knows?
Speaker 2 (16:00):
He is such a freak of nature. Maybe he's capable
of more. If I send him to Australia, I send
him on a vacation. He's not playing. I just say,
you know, him and the family, you want to go
over and root on the team and have some fun there.
Speaker 3 (16:15):
But I don't want him playing. No, no.
Speaker 11 (16:18):
The problem is, is I don't think you're going to
be able to stop him from playing if he thinks
he feels good and is ready to go this week.
But yeah, you got to be careful. You know, I
know he feels great. and everything's trending in the right direction.
But as he said in his press conference yesterday, I
still haven't done 11-on-11 football. And, you know, you can
run the ladder and go around the loops and lift
(16:39):
all the weights you want, but that first time you've
got to take a pulling guard on, Dan, you know,
and hit him and then put your body in some
awkward wrestling position and then try to get him up.
That's the next piece of the puzzle he's got to
get in shape for, feel how he responds the next day,
and go from there. And, yeah, that's, you know, I'm
kind of with you. If it's not ready, ready, ready,
(17:00):
don't even risk it. But if he does play, I
don't think it'll be a ton. It'll just be some situations.
Speaker 1 (17:04):
Right.
Speaker 2 (17:04):
As a quarterback, you go to the line of scrimmage,
you more concerned with Aaron Donald or Miles Garrett?
Speaker 11 (17:09):
Well, right now, Miles Garrett, I think that's the other
thing that's so crazy about this. I think if it
was really just about anybody else in the history of football,
I'd go, wait, defensive tackle, 35 years old, hasn't played
in two years. I've never seen this before. I got
to believe it to see it, to really think it's
going to be top-notch. There's a little of that thought,
(17:30):
but because it's Aaron Donald and we know he stayed
in shape and he's a psycho about his body anyways
and all that, if there's one guy that can kind
of do this, it would be him. But I can
tell you just from texting with my friends in the
NFL and everybody, I think everybody's a little like, can
he really do this? Is he really going to be
that good? And if he is that good, can he
stay healthy with taking two years off? And that's going
(17:52):
to be something everybody's going to be watching for.
Speaker 3 (17:54):
It was cut down day yesterday. Were you cut in
your career?
Speaker 7 (18:00):
Yeah, I was.
Speaker 3 (18:01):
I was cut two different times, really.
Speaker 11 (18:04):
Once I lost my spleen, and then I had that
year where I had a year to get healthy, but
the Bucs cut me. They tried to trade me into
the very last second. Then they cut me, and then
I got cut in Denver by Josh McDaniels as well,
and Tennessee in my last year of my career.
Speaker 3 (18:19):
So, yeah, I've been cut many times. Okay, but how
do you get cut? What's the process?
Speaker 2 (18:24):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (18:26):
Okay.
Speaker 11 (18:26):
Well, it's, it could be, so Tampa, Tampa, I knew
they didn't want to keep me and, and all that.
Speaker 3 (18:32):
And they were moving on.
Speaker 11 (18:34):
And I, Mark Dominic, the old GM there, he, I
remember him calling me and being like, Hey, Lake, we
got a few teams that have been calling about you.
So we're going to kind of see, we might be
able to trade you, but if we don't trade you,
you know, we'll call you back and we'll probably have
to release you at the end of the day.
Speaker 3 (18:48):
So that was that one. Denver, I had no idea.
Speaker 11 (18:51):
I was in the locker room that day, and I
saw the guy that was going around getting people that
were cut. It was the first day back of the offseason.
And I knew there might be trouble with my price tag,
my age, and all of that. And all of a
sudden I turned around and that damn bastard that goes
around and cuts people, he was at my locker.
Speaker 3 (19:10):
And I was like, oh, man, really? I was like, damn.
Speaker 11 (19:13):
And that one hurt. That definitely did. So that's kind
of how it goes down. It's not something you really
want to see or feel or deal with. You can't
fight back, can you? No, you can't fight back. And
you know, the worst part about it, too, was with
Josh McDaniel. I was there in Denver. You know, he,
of course, such a great offensive mind. And I wanted
some of my play sheets and things that I had
in the playbook. And damn, they acted like it was
(19:35):
NASA and the CIA there.
Speaker 3 (19:37):
Nope, nope, nope. You're not giving this.
Speaker 1 (19:38):
No.
Speaker 3 (19:38):
And I was like, come on. I was like, what?
Speaker 11 (19:40):
Can I just go talk to Josh? I just want
to keep this and this. I might coach one day. And,
you know, they were like, no, no, you'll have to
deal with that some other time. Get the hell out
of the building. He's Christian.
Speaker 2 (19:50):
Pro Football Talk, live co-host that precedes this show on Peacock.
Help me understand the J.J. McCarthy, like, hey, let's celebrate
you made the 53-man roster. Boy, that's a big, big
fall from a guy a couple of years ago you're taking,
and he's going to be your franchise quarterback.
Speaker 7 (20:08):
Right.
Speaker 3 (20:08):
No, things aren't looking good.
Speaker 11 (20:11):
That second preseason game was alarming to a degree because
all the things that we wondered whether he fixed or
polished up and got better at playing the position.
Speaker 3 (20:22):
Can he throw the ball with touch? Can he throw
with anticipation?
Speaker 11 (20:27):
Can he stay healthy, banged up his ankle in that
game a little bit? And we saw that game where
we saw bad decisions, late throws, wide open guys where,
I don't know, we threw it so hard that the
guy couldn't even catch it or it wasn't even in
their stratosphere because he threw it so hard he lost
control of it. So, yeah, they keep him because quarterbacks
(20:47):
are such a big asset, as we know. But, yeah,
it does feel like, is he really the backup? Is
Carson Wentz the backup? Are they both kind of the backup?
We'll see where it goes, but he certainly hasn't done
anything wrong. to make us feel like, gosh, he's the
future of Minnesota. Everybody gets caught up in arm strength.
And I find it overrated because of the number of
(21:08):
passes that are probably 15 yards or less.
Speaker 3 (21:11):
Now, you've got to throw in the numbers. I know
all of that.
Speaker 2 (21:14):
But I want to know, do you have touch? And
can you put it where you need to put it?
I would start there because Will Levis is out of
a job.
Speaker 3 (21:23):
J.J.
Speaker 2 (21:23):
McCarthy is holding on, and everybody talks about, boy, they
got arm strength there. Joe Milton might have the strongest
arm in the NFL.
Speaker 11 (21:30):
Sure.
Speaker 3 (21:31):
I want to know if you can play the position.
Speaker 7 (21:33):
I hear you.
Speaker 3 (21:34):
That's number one. That's important.
Speaker 11 (21:37):
But I will say, again, when you go through your
great quarterbacks in the history of the sport or the
ones right now, Really, other than Drew Brees and maybe
Joe Montana, the arms are exceptional. And I know what
you're saying. Playing the position is the number one thing.
Where you want it to really meet up is go, wait,
can the guy throw his fastball and make power throws
(21:58):
and still control the football? Josh Allen, when he came out,
we go, damn, he could throw it through a brick wall,
but I'm not sure he'll hit the brick wall sometimes.
And then he refined it and fixed mechanics, and you
saw that, and then he started to go, wow, he
can throw lasers and put it anywhere he wants. And
that's the special ones. But you're right. I'm with you.
I mean, if you give me one or the other,
(22:20):
I want the guy that can play first. But your
special ones, they do have those type of arms that–
I think sometimes not even myself and the general public
gives credit to those maybe four or five throws a
game that Mahomes or Allen or Lamar make because their
arm is so powerful. And those can be difference-making type
(22:41):
throws or plays in the football game. How do you
think the Seattle Seahawks feel today? Like a little bit
like the forgotten team. Like, oh, gosh, yeah. Hey, the
Rams are going to win the Super Bowl. Did you
hear that, guys? We're on it this year. I'm sure
they're a little chippy about it. Probably kind of like,
you know, liking the fact that they're looked at as
(23:03):
the underdogs right now. But, hey, this is a real rivalry.
I mean, we know that division's crazy. And, I mean,
no disrespect to New England, whose phenomenal team last year
and all that, but I don't think you would disagree.
I mean, last year, it felt like the Rams were
the second best team in the NFL. It felt like
if they went to the Super Bowl, they would have
(23:23):
beat the Patriots as well.
Speaker 1 (23:24):
Yeah.
Speaker 11 (23:25):
They had the Seahawks on the ropes or, you know,
in the first half of that NFC championship game. So, uh,
you know, they're, they're a chippy group up there. They're
damn good. And we shouldn't forget about them. That's for sure.
Speaker 2 (23:35):
What is the number one question you have going into
this season? Oh, the number one question I have going
into this season.
Speaker 11 (23:43):
All right. So, uh, you know, that's a good one.
And I haven't had anybody pose that to me. I
think here's my number one question. Uh, How good is
the Kansas city chiefs going to be? I think that's
a real, like, I don't think as I, I have
to at the end of this week, I'm going to
pick teams that go to the playoffs and do my
playoff bracket. I don't think I'm willing to pick the
Kansas City Chiefs to go to the playoffs.
Speaker 3 (24:04):
I don't.
Speaker 11 (24:05):
I mean, I'm certainly going to pick them third in
the AFC West as I sit here right now. So
that to me, you know, it's not that it's a
big question. It just feels so weird and odd and
rare because it's one of the greatest quarterbacks we've ever seen.
They've been at the top of the mountain for so long.
And I do think they're kind of rebuilding their team
on the fly here after an underwhelming year last year.
Speaker 3 (24:28):
And I just.
Speaker 11 (24:29):
I'm just not sure about them this year. And I
don't see it on paper to go, Ooh, yeah, I
think there's something here. They might make a real run
at this thing.
Speaker 2 (24:37):
I saw reports that Patrick Mahomes is going to run less.
I don't know how you do that mentally when you
go back to pass and there's the rush. And I,
I just don't know if you go, Oh, that's right.
I'm not allowed to run. Like when you get back there,
It's progressions. I'll go there, there, there. Okay, now I
have to take off. Lamar Jackson said that he didn't
(24:59):
run as much as he normally does. He was banged up.
But I don't know how you do that in the
moment as quick as the game is that you go, nope,
not going to run. That's going to be something he
has to adjust to.
Speaker 11 (25:13):
I think you'll see some plays that are ugly in
week one because his mind's going to go, wait, I'm
going to get out of here and get out of trouble.
But his body's going to go, wait, wait, you're not
that fast and you can't move that well right now.
And you might see plays where he kind of gets
out of the pocket and all of a sudden he's like,
oh gosh, I can't get away from this guy. I
just got to throw it away or throw it at
the feet of somebody. I wouldn't be surprised if you
(25:33):
saw a whole lot of plays like that at first.
But I do think it will start to click and
he'll start to realize, wait, I can't always do it
with my playmaking, extending the play.
Speaker 3 (25:44):
I'm going to just have to know, hey, where's my
hot route?
Speaker 11 (25:46):
Where's my quick throw if somebody gets through the line
of scrimmage?
Speaker 3 (25:50):
He's going to have to think like most of us
normal quarterbacks used to.
Speaker 7 (25:53):
Have to think.
Speaker 3 (25:53):
Where we couldn't just.
Speaker 11 (25:54):
Go oh wait oh yeah this guy isn't open i'll
just sit back here and move around and make some
time and and buy some time before i throw some
laser so he's gonna have to be a normal guy
that way but as you know and as we all
know he's a gym rat he's a junkie and i
think he will adjust pretty quickly.
Speaker 2 (26:11):
Why will this could this will this be the buffalo
bills year Oh.
Speaker 11 (26:17):
Well, you're talking to the wrong guy, okay? Because I
don't think it will be their year, all right? To me,
the Buffalo Bills have been overrated for quite some time.
You know, I do not think they should have fired
Sean McDermott. That would be the first thing. And anybody
that knows me or listens to me, I always say it.
I mean, they're in the window. And you and I
(26:37):
have had this conversation, very John Elway-ish. Where I go, wait,
the team, you know, they're good, but we're going to
put them in the Super Bowl window? Why is that? Oh,
because the quarterback is the best player in the NFL
right now. And I just look at it, hey, I
like DJ Moore. Are they going to get a new
coach energy bump with a guy that was already there
and part of the regime as is? I don't know
(26:58):
about that. and I still come away, and as compared
to most of the top teams in football, I go,
if we walk down the street in New York City, Dan,
and I ask Johnny on 52nd and 5th and go, hey,
who's the best player on the Bills defense? I think
you'd get a lot of, hold on, they got that
(27:19):
Ed Oliver guy. And so that, to me, says a
lot right there. And yeah, I don't look at them
as a Super Bowl team, Dan.
Speaker 3 (27:28):
You're team Ravens, right? Yeah, I'm team Ravens. I like them.
Speaker 11 (27:32):
Yeah, I definitely do. There's potential there for sure. But yeah,
I do like them. Is that your Super Bowl pick? Oh, no,
it's not my Super Bowl pick. And I don't know
what I'm going to do yet.
Speaker 3 (27:42):
I mean, are you falling in love with the Chargers? Listen,
I think the Chargers, I will say this. Don't do it.
Speaker 11 (27:50):
No, I'm not going to do it, but I do
think that it's really about that offensive line. And if
they can just stay healthy, I do think I would
put them maybe on the short list at the bottom
of that short list of teams that I think are
in the Super Bowl window.
Speaker 3 (28:04):
I do that. It's hard not to like the Rams.
The NFC is so wide open.
Speaker 11 (28:09):
Philadelphia, of course, still has the talent to do that
and be in the Super Bowl. Detroit, I still think,
could come out of nowhere here. Not like they're coming
out of nowhere and be in that game. Have me
back next week, and I'll tell you who I think
is going to go to the Super Bowl. I'm not
sure yet.
Speaker 3 (28:25):
Are you buying into the Cowboys?
Speaker 11 (28:28):
I think the Cowboys are a playoff caliber team. There's
no question about the offense, so that's not even a thing.
Speaker 7 (28:34):
Well, wait a minute.
Speaker 3 (28:35):
Playoff team and playoff caliber are different.
Speaker 7 (28:38):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (28:38):
No, I think they're a playoff team. You're right. I'll
just say that. I think they are.
Speaker 11 (28:42):
And I think they've done enough on that defensive side
of the ball and then having a new D coordinator
down there from Philadelphia and a different scheme that, yes,
I look at them to be a playoff team. The
Giants in their division, they are what you said, playoff caliber.
I'm not sure I'm going to put them in the playoffs,
but I do look at it and go, ooh, I
(29:02):
wouldn't be shocked if we're here in mid-December going, hey,
if the Giants win their last two, they're going to
go to the playoffs.
Speaker 3 (29:08):
I would not be shocked by that.
Speaker 2 (29:10):
Great to talk to you. We'll have you on next
week to get your Super Bowl pick.
Speaker 3 (29:14):
Hey, I like that.
Speaker 7 (29:15):
Thanks.
Speaker 3 (29:15):
Hey, one thing.
Speaker 11 (29:16):
Make sure you tell those jerks I said hi, especially
that Fritzy jerk, all right?
Speaker 3 (29:20):
He's out having major surgery today.
Speaker 11 (29:23):
Oh, my gosh. Well, I would feel bad if it
weren't for him, but I hope he's okay, all right?
Speaker 3 (29:28):
Well, you did lose his spleen. Yeah, so I know
about major surgery. But you don't need it, do you?
Obviously not.
Speaker 11 (29:37):
I'm sitting here talking to you, so I made it.
But yeah, he's not getting his spleen removed. I was
texting with him last night. He didn't tell me he
was going to get major surgery.
Speaker 2 (29:46):
Well, he had finger surgery or having finger surgery.
Speaker 1 (29:50):
What?
Speaker 11 (29:50):
All right, so let's reclassify what we just said.
Speaker 3 (29:54):
Did you say major surgery?
Speaker 2 (29:56):
He thinks it's major surgery because they put him under.
Speaker 3 (30:00):
Oh, my gosh.
Speaker 11 (30:03):
Have me back next week when he's here so we
can really discuss this. You almost died on a football field. Yes,
I almost died on a football field. The fact that
I didn't make the NFL top 10 gutsiest performances over
some of those people that made that list, I want
to go.
Speaker 3 (30:17):
Wait a minute. They took out part of your gut.
Speaker 11 (30:21):
Exactly exactly did you win comeback player of the year
I didn't win jack diddly crap not even Tampa Bay
wanted to give me anything because they were so scared
to be legally liable they didn't even want to act
like I came back from anything there either you lost
it do you have another spleen no I don't have
another spleen my spleen is in the trash somewhere in
(30:42):
Tampa Florida.
Speaker 1 (30:43):
It's gone thank you Chris See you, man. That's Chris Sims.
Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in
the nation. Catch all of our shows at foxsportsradio.com. And
within the iHeartRadio app, search FSR to listen live.
Speaker 2 (30:59):
College football ramps up a little bit more than week zero.
Joel Klatt teams up with Gus Johnson, Jenny Taft on
Fox Sports. Big noon Saturday, starting this Saturday, Indiana hosting
North Texas. And then following Saturday, It'll be Oklahoma and Michigan.
Good to see you again, Joel. Help us not overreact
(31:21):
to North Carolina winning against TCU.
Speaker 7 (31:25):
Well, I think a small bit of overreaction may be
appropriate only because of how well they played on the
defensive side and the way that they adjusted in that
game after the first three series. TCU scores 10 points
and then From that point on, I thought that the
defense for UNC played excellent. They didn't allow explosive plays.
(31:49):
They largely shut down the run game. And if they
can just do that, they'll be more competitive than they
were a year ago. You know, yes, this might not
be Kurt Cignetti at Indiana the first year going, you know,
10-2 or 11-1 and getting into the college football playoff.
But this is going to be a more competitive team. Remember,
this exact same game a year ago was a blowout.
(32:11):
TCU hammered North Carolina. And so that growth, I think,
provides a fair bit of optimism that this team under
Bill Belichick is going to be more competitive from the
four and eight version that we saw a year ago.
I think that they still struggled offensively. The lack of
run game. is concerning to say the least. But if
(32:32):
they can continue to play that way defensively, they'll at
least be in games. And I think with a guy
that's instilling the type of situational football and you would
think the discipline, they could possibly win some of those
games and maybe they can be a bowl team. They
only had three penalties, Dan. And so those things are,
I'm optimistic about. And if there's something to overreact about,
(32:54):
it's like, okay, this team's probably going to be in
a lot of one possession games during the course of
the year.
Speaker 3 (32:59):
More pressure this year.
Speaker 2 (33:01):
I know it's going to sound strange here, but Lane
Kiffin or Dabo Sweeney.
Speaker 7 (33:08):
Man, you know, Dan Dabo, doesn't Dabo just have enough
in the tank, right? I mean, he's won national championships
at Clemson. Meanwhile, Lane Kiffin. Lane Kiffin makes one of
the more selfish moves in the history of college football.
And I'm not blaming him for it, but it was.
(33:30):
Let's just call it what it was. Leaving Ole Miss
in the middle of their playoff run. And now he's
at the center of this eligibility controversy, which is a mess.
And they spent upwards of $ 45 million on the roster,
all that money to get him. And you look at
the expectations at LSU, and I personally think that it's
(33:54):
not about at LSU, like, oh, we just want to
be competitive. No, no, you've got to go compete for
SEC titles. You've got to go to the playoff. You've
got to win games in the playoff. I don't know
if that's the expectation of Clemson fans right now. I
think that they would love that. Certainly. But if they
look around and they really look at their roster and
they look at what happened a year ago, I don't
(34:14):
know if that level of expectation is there for the Tigers.
Speaker 3 (34:18):
So more pressure, I would say, is on Lane.
Speaker 7 (34:21):
Now, not necessarily for his job right away because it's
an exorbitant fee to try to get away from him.
But just in the sense of expectation and pressure, I
think Lane is under more of it. Then Dabo Sweeney,
who at this point is he's kind of a legend
in the seat. You know, it's going to be his decision,
whatever happens.
Speaker 3 (34:41):
What about Lincoln Riley on that pressure seat?
Speaker 7 (34:44):
Yeah, I think there's a lot of pressure. on Lincoln
Riley in particular, because he has brought that on himself
in a lot of ways by stating how good this
team is and stating this is my best team. So
he's ramped up those expectations, which he's confident. I think
you could see that on Saturday. That was a very
different USC team than we saw even a couple of
(35:06):
years ago. You know, they had a really good team
with Caleb Williams. We all know that. But it was
largely because of the brilliance of Caleb Williams running around,
creating big plays. It was a splashy USC offense that
relied on big plays. They could run it a little bit,
and they did not play very good defense. This was
a lot different than that, at least for the first
three quarters. They were methodical, long drives throughout the entirety
(35:31):
of that first half, great two-minute series. They didn't rely
on big plays. In fact, their longest play was 33 yards.
Only two of their plays went over 20 yards. So
it was sustained line of scrimmage dominance, which is different
than what we've seen for USC in the last few years.
And then their defense in the first three quarters was excellent.
That game was not a 42-26 game. They thoroughly dominated.
(35:53):
It's 35-3. And that's, I think, more sustainable, in particular
with a Big Ten schedule. They don't have a lot
of tests early until Oregon comes to town, and we'll
see what happens then. But I was optimistic for USC
based on what happened on Saturday in the Coliseum, even
if there wasn't a lot of people in the stands.
Speaker 3 (36:12):
Okay. Is that a big deal?
Speaker 7 (36:15):
Dan, you've spent enough time out here in California, right?
Speaker 8 (36:20):
I mean.
Speaker 7 (36:22):
I hate doing this. I'm from Colorado. I'm a college
football guy. I like to see the stadiums full. I
love the fan bases that show up no matter what.
No matter what the weather is, what time of year
it is, no matter the opponent, and they show up.
And there are a lot of fan bases like that.
It doesn't matter who Ohio State plays. There's 105,000. Michigan,
(36:43):
same deal. You could say the same for a lot
of the teams down in the SEC who have tremendous support.
USC is just not that way because L.A. is not
that way. I don't think it's indicative of the wider
support that they get. I live in Orange County, south
of Los Angeles, and I can tell you everybody is
talking about USC. I think it's over 90 degrees, and
(37:06):
in L.A., when it's over 90 degrees, it might as
well be 150. No one does anything. You should see
when it rains out here. Dan, it's like a blizzard
in the East Coast.
Speaker 3 (37:16):
No one drives when it rains.
Speaker 7 (37:18):
So you can call us on the West Coast fair weather,
and that might be accurate, but I wasn't concerned necessarily
with the lack of fans in the stands in a
week zero game when it's in the Coliseum. It had
to feel like it was 105 degrees.
Speaker 2 (37:32):
Talking to Joel Klatt, Fox Sports lead football analyst. He
has the game coming up this weekend, Indiana hosting North Texas.
When do we get a scheduling czar in college football?
Speaker 7 (37:44):
Gosh, I hope soon. I really hope soon.
Speaker 1 (37:46):
I do.
Speaker 7 (37:46):
I do know having conversations with the people that are
in the room for the playoff expansion.
Speaker 2 (37:53):
Right.
Speaker 7 (37:53):
The conversation about the playoff structure. A. part of that
playoff expansion will be a scheduling agreement with the SEC
and the Big Ten. So that's what everyone's driving to
because they know that the expansion 12 and specifically the
(38:15):
structure and the criteria or lack thereof that the committee
uses to put teams into the college football playoff There
is no incentive to play a difficult game. Ask Texas
from a year ago. They get beat by Ohio State
in the first week of the season, and that essentially
keeps them out of the college football playoff as a
nine and three regular season team. So no incentive to
(38:36):
play a big game. So you have to do one
of two things. You either have to mandate those games
and schedule the games for the teams, or you have
to change the criteria the way that you select the
college football playoff teams. If they do expand to 24,
I think that there's going to be some appetite of
the coaches that say to themselves, okay, well, we can
suffer that loss. We're willing to play that game. But
(38:59):
more than that, there will be a scheduling agreement between
those two conferences and probably the other two Power Four
conferences as well, where they're playing nine conference games and
at least at a minimum, a tenth or that extra
game against the Power Four team and some of them
multiple Power Four opponents. And I do think that that
scheduling agreement will be As you suggest, kind of bizarre.
(39:21):
It'll go on an annual basis based on where you
finished a year ago. So we'll have the best teams
playing each other. It won't just be, hey, you know,
Rutgers is playing Georgia. Okay, that's a Big Ten SEC matchup,
but it's not the matchup we necessarily want to see.
No disrespect to Rutgers, even though I'm sure they'll take it.
It would be Pod A, Pod B, Pod C, based
(39:42):
on where you finish, then those matchups would basically form
the spring prior to the season. And so I'm anticipating that,
and I'm excited for that, and that's one of the
reasons why I've been a proponent of the expansion of
the playoff.
Speaker 3 (39:55):
I'm looking at the latest DraftKings odds.
Speaker 2 (39:58):
They've got Ohio State and Notre Dame co-favorites to win
the national title. But they're going to take different routes
to get there because Ohio State's got a tough schedule.
Notre Dame does not. So why do you think that
they would be co-favorites? Feels like Notre Dame has a
pretty easy path to get certainly to the playoffs and
(40:19):
be able to host a playoff game or so.
Speaker 7 (40:23):
I mean, absolutely. I mean, the two paths, Notre Dame
might as well be on a freshly paved four lane
highway with no traffic. They've got like an escort in
front of them with this schedule. You know, they will
be in the college football playoff. I think that this
is a nod to the consistency that Ohio State has
brought over the course of decades. They win 10 games
(40:46):
rolling out of bed. Now, this schedule is the most
difficult schedule they will have ever faced. They've got to
go on the road to Texas, which is one of
the more talented teams in the country. They've got to
go on the road to Iowa, on the road to Indiana.
They have to host Oregon. They've got the Michigan game, obviously.
They've got to go to USC. USC was undefeated in
(41:06):
the Coliseum a year ago. So it's an incredibly difficult schedule.
I think that there is a nod to Ohio State
because all of us believe that they will navigate that
and get themselves into the playoff. What did they prove
two years ago? It doesn't matter if they have a bye.
They can host a game, be the eighth seed, and
go on and win the national championship. And they've also
(41:28):
got what I believe is a more– playoff-ready roster this year.
I know that sounds crazy, maybe not defensively, but their
offensive line is more experienced and should be better. Their
failure last year really was short yardage. They probably beat
Indiana if they can execute on a fourth and one.
And that lack of short yardage quality really affected them
(41:51):
a year ago, and I think that should be different
this year. But it's a tip of the cap to
Ohio State, which has become– largely, along with Georgia, the
most consistent program in college football.
Speaker 2 (42:03):
I've had a couple of different former quarterbacks, Brady Quinn
most recently, and I said, I'm going to make you
the GM of the Arizona Cardinals. You're going to have
the first pick in the draft next year.
Speaker 3 (42:14):
Who are you taking?
Speaker 7 (42:16):
Oh, man.
Speaker 3 (42:16):
And he said, C.J.
Speaker 7 (42:18):
Carr. I think I would say CJ Carr as well.
We'll see how the season plays out. I think right
now I would have a really tough decision between Dante
Moore and CJ Carr. I think CJ Carr is the
prototypical NFL quarterback. And I think that's where things can
get lost in translation is at the NFL level, you
still have to own the game from the pocket. You know,
(42:41):
and I know some guys are doing it a little
bit differently.
Speaker 3 (42:44):
And yes, it helps.
Speaker 7 (42:45):
And is it great when you can do all the
extra things? Yes. But the prerequisite, the algebra one. of
quarterback play is owning the game and controlling the game
from the pocket in particular and big moments, two minute,
third down. And he looks like he can do that. Now,
Dante Moore is an excellent player. We'll see how Arch
plays this year. I thought he was excellent at the
(43:06):
end of the year last year. But I think my
decision right now, if you forced me to pick right now,
it would be CJ Carr. A little side note right now.
My middle son, Sam, who's 12 years old, He was,
when he was six and began flag football, they just
named him. It was like one of these NFL leagues,
you know? And so he was the Cardinals. He's become
(43:27):
a massive Cardinals fan, Dan. I can't, like, I can't
understand him. And I keep telling him, I'm like, hey, man,
you know, like I'm from Denver. We can root for
the Broncos. They were right there in the AFC. He's like, no,
I'm a Cardinals fan. I'm taking him to the Cardinals
Chargers opener this year. And he is dying for a quarterback.
He's like, dad, tell me they're going to get a quarterback.
So he's going to love this clip right here. Just
(43:50):
dreaming of a guy like C.J. Carr.
Speaker 2 (43:52):
I had a source tell me that Notre Dame was
so in on C.J. Carr that they were told if
they backed off Dante Moore. that CJ Carr would commit
to Notre Dame. And Notre Dame backed off Dante Moore,
so they waited for CJ Carr.
Speaker 7 (44:12):
Well, I think they made a good decision. Isn't it interesting,
by the way? Well, I mean, Dante's a great player.
It's not like one has flamed out and the other
is succeeding. I think both of them could have or
would have succeeded, in particular, last year with the way
that they ran the football. But isn't it interesting? And
For about a decade, Notre Dame was really good under
(44:35):
Brian Kelly, really good, 10 wins. And all of us
started to believe this narrative that there was some sort
of ceiling on Notre Dame. Like, yeah, they're good, but
you can't really win it there. I think it's amazing
what Marcus Freeman has done to level up Notre Dame
back to the point where they are recruiting in the
(44:57):
top five in college football. They are a destination. And
maybe this is a product of the current structure of
our sport and the dollars that they have and the
support that they have through NIL and even the transfer portal.
But just the tip of the cap to Marcus Freeman,
I think he's done an incredible job. I hope he
stays in college football longer. I I doubt he's going
(45:18):
to stay in college football for a long period of
time because I think the NFL is going to come calling.
They came calling a year ago and he stayed. But man,
he's done an incredible job.
Speaker 3 (45:28):
If I gave Brian Kelly a do-over... Does.
Speaker 7 (45:34):
He not use the fake accent? So it's one of
two decisions, Dan. Does he not go to LSU and
just stays there at Notre Dame? Or does he go
and not use the fake accent? Because the fake accent
at the basketball game was really like, I mean, was
it not the clearest sign?
Speaker 3 (45:53):
Like, this is not going to work.
Speaker 7 (45:55):
You know, I don't know if this is, man, the
fake accent was a rough look. And then he did
the dance with the recruit. And it's like, oh, it was,
you know, every Gen Zer was, what do they say? Cringe.
They're probably going to cringe that I use the word cringe.
But man, that did not work out.
Speaker 3 (46:14):
Tell Gus we said hello. And thanks for joining us.
Speaker 7 (46:18):
I appreciate your time, Dan. Have a good day, bud.
Speaker 3 (46:19):
That's Joel Klatt.
You are listening to The Dan Patrick Show on Fox
Sports Radio.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
I don't think it's a surprise, but maybe there's an
element of shock that, yes, Aaron Donald is coming back.
I think we were kind of waiting to see what
kind of money the Rams could free up. This is
what I don't understand. And Chris Sims from Pro Football
Talk will join us in about 20 minutes.
Speaker 3 (00:22):
How did the.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
Rams just have $ 20 million laying around?
Speaker 3 (00:27):
Did they go through the seat cushions there?
Speaker 2 (00:30):
At SoFi, I'll be damned, we got $ 20 million here
for Aaron Donald. The incentives to make $ 30 million. How
do you have that money just kind of hanging around
there in a 401k mutual fund?
Speaker 3 (00:45):
Something.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
But he's going to get $ 20 million. And I was curious,
and we're still trying to find this out. The Rams
are prohibitive favorites. They are plus 500 to win the
Super Bowl, followed by the Bills and Ravens at plus 1,000.
Probably the Chiefs a few years ago, maybe similar favorites
going into a season.
Speaker 3 (01:07):
But the Rams, overwhelming favorites. Their over-under is 11.5.
Speaker 2 (01:11):
Now, they play in a tough division, obviously, with San
Francisco and Seattle. But I think most people would probably
go for the over there with the Rams, which... would
have me go for the under. But the odds to
win the Super Bowl, plus 500. Winning the NFC, plus 290.
To win the division, minus 105. Aaron Donald, defensive player
(01:35):
of the year odds, plus 5,000. Has a better chance
to win the comeback player of the year at plus 750.
Here is Aaron Donald on why he's coming back.
Speaker 4 (01:47):
Being here, being a part of this team, potentially doing
something special. Um, That's what it's about. I think the
Super Bowl being back at SoFi kind of psyched you too,
but it's a long process to even get to that point.
You can't jump past the process and the grind that
you got to go through to get to that. Obviously,
(02:07):
that's the end goal you want to do, but I'm
just present, and I'm glad to be here, and I'm
just going to work, get myself where I need to be,
earn my position wherever that is and whatever my role is,
and just do it at a high level.
Speaker 2 (02:23):
How would you like to be the guy who is
in his position right now and Aaron Donald has to
earn his position? I'm looking at this Rams defensive line.
So Aaron Donald, Miles Garrett had 23 sacks last season.
Kobe Turner had seven sacks. Byron Young had 12 sacks
last season. Brandon Fisk had 11 and a half sacks
(02:45):
in two years at defensive tackle. There's no excuse in
not getting to the quarterback there with the Rams. Here
is the Rams head coach, Sean McVay.
Speaker 3 (02:56):
Good to be able to get Aaron back into the mix.
Speaker 5 (02:59):
He and I, obviously, you guys know how close we are,
and there's been a lot of dialogue that we've had,
and excited to be able to just take it a
day at a time. I'm not going to talk about
any sort of plans. It's going to be a day
at a time for us. What does that mean for Australia?
The first step was, all right, if you're coming back,
let's do that. Let's get you out on the practice field.
Let's get you acclimated to your teammates, to your coaches,
(03:21):
and then we'll see what that ramp-up period looks like,
whether or not he's available or whether or not we
think it's best to be able to play him in Australia.
I think the best way to do it is take
it one day at a time, but we're obviously excited
to be able to have him back.
Speaker 2 (03:32):
Yeah, and I go back to what Daniel Jeremiah said
last week. He said, I can't see Aaron Donald playing.
If he comes back, he's not going to be playing
in Australia. I don't need him in September. I need
him in December, January, February. I need home field advantage.
Speaker 3 (03:48):
That's it.
Speaker 2 (03:49):
So far, Super Bowl would be played there. I don't
know how many snaps I'd have him on a snap count.
Let him go in there situational. If he only wants
to play home games, or you only want him to
play home games, whatever it is to make sure that
the bottom line, the end goal is win the Super Bowl.
Here are some other favorites that were better, bigger favorites. Now,
(04:12):
Kansas City in 2024 was plus 500. 2021, Kansas City
was plus 450. 2020, Kansas City plus 450. New England
in 2019 was.
Speaker 3 (04:26):
Plus 400.
Speaker 2 (04:26):
New England 2017. Plus 275. I'm looking at New England
in 07.
Speaker 3 (04:37):
Was plus 250.
Speaker 2 (04:39):
So they're prohibitive favorites, but out of that grouping, I mean,
nobody has been a better, bigger favorite than New England
was at plus 250. That was 07. The Packers in
97 plus 250. Green Bay in 1998 plus 250. And
(05:03):
San Francisco in 1996 plus 250.
Speaker 3 (05:19):
Stat of the Day. Brought to you by Panini America.
Speaker 7 (05:22):
Yes, Paul.
Speaker 3 (05:23):
How do you think.
Speaker 8 (05:24):
The Seattle Seahawks feel about the signing and the coverage
they've gotten or not gotten this month.
Speaker 2 (05:31):
Well, they can't do anything about the signing and the coverage.
If I'm Seattle, I'm like, fine, I don't care. Let
the Rams be up there. Kansas City be up there.
The Eagles up there. Patriots, Cowboys. Well, Seattle won and
Seattle was the best team in the NFL last year
from start to finish, both sides of the ball. Seattle's
(05:54):
probably saying, all right, that's okay. If you can be
an underdog as defending Super Bowl champs, they are.
Speaker 3 (06:02):
Yes, Dylan?
Speaker 9 (06:03):
Yeah, if you're in their division, you actually want everyone
to just talk about how great the Rams are, how
they're going to win the Super Bowl, et cetera, et cetera.
Speaker 2 (06:12):
Are the Rams a team you root against, though? Like
Kansas City, the Patriots, certain teams you've rooted against. Cowboys
you've rooted against. Maybe the Eagles. I mean, I don't
find them polarizing. But it feels like, are the Rams villains?
Speaker 7 (06:31):
I don't know.
Speaker 2 (06:34):
They're just a smart organization. They do it right. You know,
you make the trade to get Matthew Stafford. You give
up Goff. You're giving up first-round picks. And it worked.
Now Aaron Donald's been retired for a couple of years.
You swing a trade for Miles Garrett. Because you got
Miles Garrett, in my opinion, you opened Aaron Donald's eyes to,
(07:00):
I don't have to be the focal point. Maybe I'm
not the one getting double teamed. Hey, this might be
fun to go against one guy instead of two or three.
They've done a great job. Now, you've got to navigate
the Pukunukuwa situation. And you've got a great coach. You got,
(07:20):
I mean, defense. You're winning games because of defense this year.
And you got a Hall of Fame quarterback, very good
running back, wide receivers. But, you know, once again, 2-2
Atwell doesn't excite me too much, but that might be
insurance if Pukunukuwa gets suspended.
Speaker 3 (07:39):
Yes, Paulie.
Speaker 8 (07:40):
I think the Rams are root forable, if that's a phrase. Like,
I want to see Miles Garrett playing relevant football games
at some point in his career. He's played in three
postseason games, ironically, like Mike Trout played in three postseason games.
First ballot guys, but I want to see him play
in January.
Speaker 2 (07:57):
But I don't know if the football world goes, you know,
I'd like to see him play in the playoffs. I
don't think that we're that generous, charitable, that we're like,
you know, like Mike Trout.
Speaker 3 (08:08):
Okay, I get it.
Speaker 2 (08:09):
You know, three games in your entire career, first ballot
Hall of Famer, and then we're like, all right, it'd
be nice if he got a chance to play in
a meaningful playoff series. But I never once said, now
I did say, boy, it'd be nice if he got
out of Cleveland and be able to play in meaningful games.
Because if you're in Cleveland, it's like, okay, you'll see highlights.
(08:34):
Now you're watching entire games, and that'll be the difference.
People will watch Miles Garrett for an entire game. Speaking
of which, because it was week zero, Everybody is going
gaga over Carolina's win against TCU. Now, granted, TCU, that's
a few years ago they were in the national title game.
So they went 9-4, 9-4, 5-7, I think, the last
(08:57):
three years. It's in Dublin. Okay, you won the game,
but it's a standalone game, and you might have watched
the entire game. And you're going, oh, situational.
Speaker 3 (09:08):
Football, Belichick mastermind. He's going to draw them off. I'm yelling,
don't jump, don't jump. They jumped.
Speaker 2 (09:19):
If I know it, how do you go to the
line of scrimmage if you're TCU? And you've been told
probably 50 times in the huddle, don't jump, don't jump,
don't jump. And then you have the defensive tackle jump.
Speaker 7 (09:32):
That's it.
Speaker 2 (09:33):
But did I think Bill Belichick coached a masterful game? No,
but it's better than a loss. So that's all. There's
no style points here. They're not going to be a
10-win team. They still look shaky on offense. They did
play really good defense, but you're playing TCU in Dublin.
(09:58):
Slow down just a little bit. I hate to be
a buzzkill, but I'm being a buzzkill. It was a
nice win considering who they are, what they've been, and
what happened last year.
Speaker 3 (10:13):
Yes, Paul.
Speaker 8 (10:14):
I just got this from Fritzie actually about an hour ago.
Will Bill Belichick be doubling his win total? Dublin is
win total.
Speaker 3 (10:21):
Thank you.
Speaker 7 (10:22):
Thank you, Paul.
Speaker 3 (10:23):
I didn't need the second. That's a Todd. Thank you. Yes, Marvin.
Speaker 7 (10:30):
I'm with you.
Speaker 6 (10:31):
I don't want to overreact, but also the sign of
a bad team is you celebrating when you get a
team to jump off sides. The way they were jumping
up and down when TCU jumped off sides for them
to seal the victory. I was like, this might be
five wins at best for this team.
Speaker 2 (10:46):
You know, I'm going to give Todd a bloop on that,
considering he's probably getting ready for major surgery, but he's
thinking about the audience.
Speaker 7 (10:54):
Yes, Dylan?
Speaker 9 (10:56):
Yeah, you would think that Todd might be a little
loopy from whatever drugs they put him on to knock
him out. That still just sounds like business as usual.
Speaker 3 (11:02):
Yeah, but they don't give you any drugs until they
knock you down.
Speaker 9 (11:06):
Well, maybe he's already done.
Speaker 3 (11:08):
It is just a finger. I mean, it can't take
that long. No, but they put him under. Yeah, but
he might be awake now after being under. No, I
don't think the surgery's over yet. No, I don't think so.
Speaker 2 (11:20):
But that picture of him in his hospital bed, and
he's got the shower cap on as well. He was
texting me over the weekend.
Speaker 3 (11:31):
Oh, my God.
Speaker 2 (11:33):
I said, don't you have a wife? Like, leave me alone.
It's not major surgery. Because he wanted to know if
I'd had surgery. I said, Todd, I'm a game of operation.
I've had more surgeries than the entire room combined. He goes,
I know, but when you go under, like, they make sure.
Speaker 7 (11:50):
You're out, right?
Speaker 3 (11:50):
I go, yes.
Speaker 2 (11:52):
They're not going to operate on you if you're still
awake unless you ask. I was asked with one of
my knee surgeries, do you want to watch? They were
going to numb me from the waist down.
Speaker 7 (12:05):
And I said, no.
Speaker 2 (12:07):
And this doctor couldn't believe that I didn't want to
watch the surgery of them. It was microfracture surgery. So
they were taking it. like a drill going into my knee,
into the bone. And I go, no.
Speaker 3 (12:21):
He goes, well, I'll make a tape of it for you. Yes, Dylan.
Speaker 7 (12:30):
Yeah.
Speaker 9 (12:30):
I would watch maybe someone else get knee surgery. I
don't want to watch it be done on me.
Speaker 3 (12:36):
No, I don't want to watch somebody else.
Speaker 9 (12:38):
Well, I'm not like clamoring for that, but I'm saying like,
I would be more inclined if they're like, Hey, do
you want to see us do it on this guy?
Speaker 3 (12:44):
Then do you want to wash your own knee? No, none. No,
don't need to. But these doctors are like fascinated with this. Hey,
what if I just numbed you? You got to watch.
Speaker 7 (12:57):
I go, no.
Speaker 3 (12:58):
And he goes, we have a nice screen right here.
I could put it right here. And I go, no, no.
Watching childbirth is enough, and that's not even on me.
Speaker 1 (13:08):
Be sure to catch the live edition of the Dan
Patrick Show weekdays at 9 a.m. Eastern, 6 a.m. Pacific
on Fox Sports Radio and the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 3 (13:18):
Hey, it's Covino and Rich from Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 10 (13:21):
Now, in addition to hearing us live weekdays from 5
to 7 p.m. Eastern, 2 to 4 Pacific on Fox
Sports Radio, we're excited to announce a brand new YouTube
channel for the show.
Speaker 3 (13:31):
Yup, that's right.
Speaker 10 (13:32):
You can now watch Covino & Rich live on YouTube
every day. All you gotta do, search Covino & Rich
FSR on YouTube. Again, go to YouTube, search Covino &
Rich FSR. Check us out on YouTube, subscribe, hit that
thumbs up icon, and comment away.
Speaker 2 (13:50):
Pro Football Talk Live co-host. His podcast is entitled Unbuttoned.
NBC Sports College football analyst.
Speaker 7 (13:58):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (13:58):
Help me understand how the Rams had $ 20 million just
kind of hanging around there waiting for Aaron Donald.
Speaker 11 (14:05):
Yeah, well, I think they had to finagle a few things, right?
But they had money left over regardless. I think that
going into yesterday, what was it? Maybe $ 15, $ 16 million
below the salary cap there? So that was the big
question all along was, was Aaron Donald going to come
back and go, nope, just give me the $ 30 million
(14:27):
that I'm supposed to get and we'll go from there.
And that's where I was always like, I'm interested to
see how this contract thing goes down. but obviously they
got it right. They got some very easy, if you're
on the 53-man roster, he gets big bonuses each week
that way. And then added on top of that, the bonuses, right,
if they get to the playoffs and the Super Bowl,
(14:48):
which is all very realistic, to where he could possibly
make $ 30 million. It's not the most far-fetched incentive one-year
contract I've ever seen, that's for sure.
Speaker 3 (14:57):
How would you use him? I would take it slow
at first.
Speaker 11 (15:03):
You know, one thing I learned in my days working
for New England in the short term I was there
is that we would have weeks.
Speaker 1 (15:10):
Right.
Speaker 11 (15:11):
And you remember this, like Gronkowski had like the I
don't know, some metal thing in his wrist or whatever.
Speaker 7 (15:16):
Right.
Speaker 11 (15:17):
And one of his bionic injury moments. And I remember
he came back and I was like, oh, gosh, he
practiced this week.
Speaker 3 (15:24):
He's in a play.
Speaker 1 (15:25):
And so.
Speaker 3 (15:26):
Oh, he's not going to play.
Speaker 7 (15:27):
All right. Next week.
Speaker 1 (15:28):
All right.
Speaker 3 (15:29):
Practice all week. Look pretty good. I guess he's going to. Oh, no,
he's not going to play.
Speaker 11 (15:32):
Bill was great at making sure the guys are ready
and in game shape, not just throwing them out there
because he's available again.
Speaker 3 (15:39):
And I hope hopefully they take the same approach.
Speaker 11 (15:43):
I'm surprised it took him this long to get into
training camp because I would have thought he'd want to
get into some of the combative situations and just feel
and get his body into football shape that way. I
think first game, you know, 15, 25 snaps on big
passing downs. That's what I would envision. But who knows?
Speaker 2 (16:00):
He is such a freak of nature. Maybe he's capable
of more. If I send him to Australia, I send
him on a vacation. He's not playing. I just say,
you know, him and the family, you want to go
over and root on the team and have some fun there.
Speaker 3 (16:15):
But I don't want him playing. No, no.
Speaker 11 (16:18):
The problem is, is I don't think you're going to
be able to stop him from playing if he thinks
he feels good and is ready to go this week.
But yeah, you got to be careful. You know, I
know he feels great. and everything's trending in the right direction.
But as he said in his press conference yesterday, I
still haven't done 11-on-11 football. And, you know, you can
run the ladder and go around the loops and lift
(16:39):
all the weights you want, but that first time you've
got to take a pulling guard on, Dan, you know,
and hit him and then put your body in some
awkward wrestling position and then try to get him up.
That's the next piece of the puzzle he's got to
get in shape for, feel how he responds the next day,
and go from there. And, yeah, that's, you know, I'm
kind of with you. If it's not ready, ready, ready,
(17:00):
don't even risk it. But if he does play, I
don't think it'll be a ton. It'll just be some situations.
Speaker 1 (17:04):
Right.
Speaker 2 (17:04):
As a quarterback, you go to the line of scrimmage,
you more concerned with Aaron Donald or Miles Garrett?
Speaker 11 (17:09):
Well, right now, Miles Garrett, I think that's the other
thing that's so crazy about this. I think if it
was really just about anybody else in the history of football,
I'd go, wait, defensive tackle, 35 years old, hasn't played
in two years. I've never seen this before. I got
to believe it to see it, to really think it's
going to be top-notch. There's a little of that thought,
(17:30):
but because it's Aaron Donald and we know he stayed
in shape and he's a psycho about his body anyways
and all that, if there's one guy that can kind
of do this, it would be him. But I can
tell you just from texting with my friends in the
NFL and everybody, I think everybody's a little like, can
he really do this? Is he really going to be
that good? And if he is that good, can he
stay healthy with taking two years off? And that's going
(17:52):
to be something everybody's going to be watching for.
Speaker 3 (17:54):
It was cut down day yesterday. Were you cut in
your career?
Speaker 7 (18:00):
Yeah, I was.
Speaker 3 (18:01):
I was cut two different times, really.
Speaker 11 (18:04):
Once I lost my spleen, and then I had that
year where I had a year to get healthy, but
the Bucs cut me. They tried to trade me into
the very last second. Then they cut me, and then
I got cut in Denver by Josh McDaniels as well,
and Tennessee in my last year of my career.
Speaker 3 (18:19):
So, yeah, I've been cut many times. Okay, but how
do you get cut? What's the process?
Speaker 2 (18:24):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (18:26):
Okay.
Speaker 11 (18:26):
Well, it's, it could be, so Tampa, Tampa, I knew
they didn't want to keep me and, and all that.
Speaker 3 (18:32):
And they were moving on.
Speaker 11 (18:34):
And I, Mark Dominic, the old GM there, he, I
remember him calling me and being like, Hey, Lake, we
got a few teams that have been calling about you.
So we're going to kind of see, we might be
able to trade you, but if we don't trade you,
you know, we'll call you back and we'll probably have
to release you at the end of the day.
Speaker 3 (18:48):
So that was that one. Denver, I had no idea.
Speaker 11 (18:51):
I was in the locker room that day, and I
saw the guy that was going around getting people that
were cut. It was the first day back of the offseason.
And I knew there might be trouble with my price tag,
my age, and all of that. And all of a
sudden I turned around and that damn bastard that goes
around and cuts people, he was at my locker.
Speaker 3 (19:10):
And I was like, oh, man, really? I was like, damn.
Speaker 11 (19:13):
And that one hurt. That definitely did. So that's kind
of how it goes down. It's not something you really
want to see or feel or deal with. You can't
fight back, can you? No, you can't fight back. And
you know, the worst part about it, too, was with
Josh McDaniel. I was there in Denver. You know, he,
of course, such a great offensive mind. And I wanted
some of my play sheets and things that I had
in the playbook. And damn, they acted like it was
(19:35):
NASA and the CIA there.
Speaker 3 (19:37):
Nope, nope, nope. You're not giving this.
Speaker 1 (19:38):
No.
Speaker 3 (19:38):
And I was like, come on. I was like, what?
Speaker 11 (19:40):
Can I just go talk to Josh? I just want
to keep this and this. I might coach one day. And,
you know, they were like, no, no, you'll have to
deal with that some other time. Get the hell out
of the building. He's Christian.
Speaker 2 (19:50):
Pro Football Talk, live co-host that precedes this show on Peacock.
Help me understand the J.J. McCarthy, like, hey, let's celebrate
you made the 53-man roster. Boy, that's a big, big
fall from a guy a couple of years ago you're taking,
and he's going to be your franchise quarterback.
Speaker 7 (20:08):
Right.
Speaker 3 (20:08):
No, things aren't looking good.
Speaker 11 (20:11):
That second preseason game was alarming to a degree because
all the things that we wondered whether he fixed or
polished up and got better at playing the position.
Speaker 3 (20:22):
Can he throw the ball with touch? Can he throw
with anticipation?
Speaker 11 (20:27):
Can he stay healthy, banged up his ankle in that
game a little bit? And we saw that game where
we saw bad decisions, late throws, wide open guys where,
I don't know, we threw it so hard that the
guy couldn't even catch it or it wasn't even in
their stratosphere because he threw it so hard he lost
control of it. So, yeah, they keep him because quarterbacks
(20:47):
are such a big asset, as we know. But, yeah,
it does feel like, is he really the backup? Is
Carson Wentz the backup? Are they both kind of the backup?
We'll see where it goes, but he certainly hasn't done
anything wrong. to make us feel like, gosh, he's the
future of Minnesota. Everybody gets caught up in arm strength.
And I find it overrated because of the number of
(21:08):
passes that are probably 15 yards or less.
Speaker 3 (21:11):
Now, you've got to throw in the numbers. I know
all of that.
Speaker 2 (21:14):
But I want to know, do you have touch? And
can you put it where you need to put it?
I would start there because Will Levis is out of
a job.
Speaker 3 (21:23):
J.J.
Speaker 2 (21:23):
McCarthy is holding on, and everybody talks about, boy, they
got arm strength there. Joe Milton might have the strongest
arm in the NFL.
Speaker 11 (21:30):
Sure.
Speaker 3 (21:31):
I want to know if you can play the position.
Speaker 7 (21:33):
I hear you.
Speaker 3 (21:34):
That's number one. That's important.
Speaker 11 (21:37):
But I will say, again, when you go through your
great quarterbacks in the history of the sport or the
ones right now, Really, other than Drew Brees and maybe
Joe Montana, the arms are exceptional. And I know what
you're saying. Playing the position is the number one thing.
Where you want it to really meet up is go, wait,
can the guy throw his fastball and make power throws
(21:58):
and still control the football? Josh Allen, when he came out,
we go, damn, he could throw it through a brick wall,
but I'm not sure he'll hit the brick wall sometimes.
And then he refined it and fixed mechanics, and you
saw that, and then he started to go, wow, he
can throw lasers and put it anywhere he wants. And
that's the special ones. But you're right. I'm with you.
I mean, if you give me one or the other,
(22:20):
I want the guy that can play first. But your
special ones, they do have those type of arms that–
I think sometimes not even myself and the general public
gives credit to those maybe four or five throws a
game that Mahomes or Allen or Lamar make because their
arm is so powerful. And those can be difference-making type
(22:41):
throws or plays in the football game. How do you
think the Seattle Seahawks feel today? Like a little bit
like the forgotten team. Like, oh, gosh, yeah. Hey, the
Rams are going to win the Super Bowl. Did you
hear that, guys? We're on it this year. I'm sure
they're a little chippy about it. Probably kind of like,
you know, liking the fact that they're looked at as
(23:03):
the underdogs right now. But, hey, this is a real rivalry.
I mean, we know that division's crazy. And, I mean,
no disrespect to New England, whose phenomenal team last year
and all that, but I don't think you would disagree.
I mean, last year, it felt like the Rams were
the second best team in the NFL. It felt like
if they went to the Super Bowl, they would have
(23:23):
beat the Patriots as well.
Speaker 1 (23:24):
Yeah.
Speaker 11 (23:25):
They had the Seahawks on the ropes or, you know,
in the first half of that NFC championship game. So, uh,
you know, they're, they're a chippy group up there. They're
damn good. And we shouldn't forget about them. That's for sure.
Speaker 2 (23:35):
What is the number one question you have going into
this season? Oh, the number one question I have going
into this season.
Speaker 11 (23:43):
All right. So, uh, you know, that's a good one.
And I haven't had anybody pose that to me. I
think here's my number one question. Uh, How good is
the Kansas city chiefs going to be? I think that's
a real, like, I don't think as I, I have
to at the end of this week, I'm going to
pick teams that go to the playoffs and do my
playoff bracket. I don't think I'm willing to pick the
Kansas City Chiefs to go to the playoffs.
Speaker 3 (24:04):
I don't.
Speaker 11 (24:05):
I mean, I'm certainly going to pick them third in
the AFC West as I sit here right now. So
that to me, you know, it's not that it's a
big question. It just feels so weird and odd and
rare because it's one of the greatest quarterbacks we've ever seen.
They've been at the top of the mountain for so long.
And I do think they're kind of rebuilding their team
on the fly here after an underwhelming year last year.
Speaker 3 (24:28):
And I just.
Speaker 11 (24:29):
I'm just not sure about them this year. And I
don't see it on paper to go, Ooh, yeah, I
think there's something here. They might make a real run
at this thing.
Speaker 2 (24:37):
I saw reports that Patrick Mahomes is going to run less.
I don't know how you do that mentally when you
go back to pass and there's the rush. And I,
I just don't know if you go, Oh, that's right.
I'm not allowed to run. Like when you get back there,
It's progressions. I'll go there, there, there. Okay, now I
have to take off. Lamar Jackson said that he didn't
(24:59):
run as much as he normally does. He was banged up.
But I don't know how you do that in the
moment as quick as the game is that you go, nope,
not going to run. That's going to be something he
has to adjust to.
Speaker 11 (25:13):
I think you'll see some plays that are ugly in
week one because his mind's going to go, wait, I'm
going to get out of here and get out of trouble.
But his body's going to go, wait, wait, you're not
that fast and you can't move that well right now.
And you might see plays where he kind of gets
out of the pocket and all of a sudden he's like,
oh gosh, I can't get away from this guy. I
just got to throw it away or throw it at
the feet of somebody. I wouldn't be surprised if you
(25:33):
saw a whole lot of plays like that at first.
But I do think it will start to click and
he'll start to realize, wait, I can't always do it
with my playmaking, extending the play.
Speaker 3 (25:44):
I'm going to just have to know, hey, where's my
hot route?
Speaker 11 (25:46):
Where's my quick throw if somebody gets through the line
of scrimmage?
Speaker 3 (25:50):
He's going to have to think like most of us
normal quarterbacks used to.
Speaker 7 (25:53):
Have to think.
Speaker 3 (25:53):
Where we couldn't just.
Speaker 11 (25:54):
Go oh wait oh yeah this guy isn't open i'll
just sit back here and move around and make some
time and and buy some time before i throw some
laser so he's gonna have to be a normal guy
that way but as you know and as we all
know he's a gym rat he's a junkie and i
think he will adjust pretty quickly.
Speaker 2 (26:11):
Why will this could this will this be the buffalo
bills year Oh.
Speaker 11 (26:17):
Well, you're talking to the wrong guy, okay? Because I
don't think it will be their year, all right? To me,
the Buffalo Bills have been overrated for quite some time.
You know, I do not think they should have fired
Sean McDermott. That would be the first thing. And anybody
that knows me or listens to me, I always say it.
I mean, they're in the window. And you and I
(26:37):
have had this conversation, very John Elway-ish. Where I go, wait,
the team, you know, they're good, but we're going to
put them in the Super Bowl window? Why is that? Oh,
because the quarterback is the best player in the NFL
right now. And I just look at it, hey, I
like DJ Moore. Are they going to get a new
coach energy bump with a guy that was already there
and part of the regime as is? I don't know
(26:58):
about that. and I still come away, and as compared
to most of the top teams in football, I go,
if we walk down the street in New York City, Dan,
and I ask Johnny on 52nd and 5th and go, hey,
who's the best player on the Bills defense? I think
you'd get a lot of, hold on, they got that
(27:19):
Ed Oliver guy. And so that, to me, says a
lot right there. And yeah, I don't look at them
as a Super Bowl team, Dan.
Speaker 3 (27:28):
You're team Ravens, right? Yeah, I'm team Ravens. I like them.
Speaker 11 (27:32):
Yeah, I definitely do. There's potential there for sure. But yeah,
I do like them. Is that your Super Bowl pick? Oh, no,
it's not my Super Bowl pick. And I don't know
what I'm going to do yet.
Speaker 3 (27:42):
I mean, are you falling in love with the Chargers? Listen,
I think the Chargers, I will say this. Don't do it.
Speaker 11 (27:50):
No, I'm not going to do it, but I do
think that it's really about that offensive line. And if
they can just stay healthy, I do think I would
put them maybe on the short list at the bottom
of that short list of teams that I think are
in the Super Bowl window.
Speaker 3 (28:04):
I do that. It's hard not to like the Rams.
The NFC is so wide open.
Speaker 11 (28:09):
Philadelphia, of course, still has the talent to do that
and be in the Super Bowl. Detroit, I still think,
could come out of nowhere here. Not like they're coming
out of nowhere and be in that game. Have me
back next week, and I'll tell you who I think
is going to go to the Super Bowl. I'm not
sure yet.
Speaker 3 (28:25):
Are you buying into the Cowboys?
Speaker 11 (28:28):
I think the Cowboys are a playoff caliber team. There's
no question about the offense, so that's not even a thing.
Speaker 7 (28:34):
Well, wait a minute.
Speaker 3 (28:35):
Playoff team and playoff caliber are different.
Speaker 7 (28:38):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (28:38):
No, I think they're a playoff team. You're right. I'll
just say that. I think they are.
Speaker 11 (28:42):
And I think they've done enough on that defensive side
of the ball and then having a new D coordinator
down there from Philadelphia and a different scheme that, yes,
I look at them to be a playoff team. The
Giants in their division, they are what you said, playoff caliber.
I'm not sure I'm going to put them in the playoffs,
but I do look at it and go, ooh, I
(29:02):
wouldn't be shocked if we're here in mid-December going, hey,
if the Giants win their last two, they're going to
go to the playoffs.
Speaker 3 (29:08):
I would not be shocked by that.
Speaker 2 (29:10):
Great to talk to you. We'll have you on next
week to get your Super Bowl pick.
Speaker 3 (29:14):
Hey, I like that.
Speaker 7 (29:15):
Thanks.
Speaker 3 (29:15):
Hey, one thing.
Speaker 11 (29:16):
Make sure you tell those jerks I said hi, especially
that Fritzy jerk, all right?
Speaker 3 (29:20):
He's out having major surgery today.
Speaker 11 (29:23):
Oh, my gosh. Well, I would feel bad if it
weren't for him, but I hope he's okay, all right?
Speaker 3 (29:28):
Well, you did lose his spleen. Yeah, so I know
about major surgery. But you don't need it, do you?
Obviously not.
Speaker 11 (29:37):
I'm sitting here talking to you, so I made it.
But yeah, he's not getting his spleen removed. I was
texting with him last night. He didn't tell me he
was going to get major surgery.
Speaker 2 (29:46):
Well, he had finger surgery or having finger surgery.
Speaker 1 (29:50):
What?
Speaker 11 (29:50):
All right, so let's reclassify what we just said.
Speaker 3 (29:54):
Did you say major surgery?
Speaker 2 (29:56):
He thinks it's major surgery because they put him under.
Speaker 3 (30:00):
Oh, my gosh.
Speaker 11 (30:03):
Have me back next week when he's here so we
can really discuss this. You almost died on a football field. Yes,
I almost died on a football field. The fact that
I didn't make the NFL top 10 gutsiest performances over
some of those people that made that list, I want
to go.
Speaker 3 (30:17):
Wait a minute. They took out part of your gut.
Speaker 11 (30:21):
Exactly exactly did you win comeback player of the year
I didn't win jack diddly crap not even Tampa Bay
wanted to give me anything because they were so scared
to be legally liable they didn't even want to act
like I came back from anything there either you lost
it do you have another spleen no I don't have
another spleen my spleen is in the trash somewhere in
(30:42):
Tampa Florida.
Speaker 1 (30:43):
It's gone thank you Chris See you, man. That's Chris Sims.
Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in
the nation. Catch all of our shows at foxsportsradio.com. And
within the iHeartRadio app, search FSR to listen live.
Speaker 2 (30:59):
College football ramps up a little bit more than week zero.
Joel Klatt teams up with Gus Johnson, Jenny Taft on
Fox Sports. Big noon Saturday, starting this Saturday, Indiana hosting
North Texas. And then following Saturday, It'll be Oklahoma and Michigan.
Good to see you again, Joel. Help us not overreact
(31:21):
to North Carolina winning against TCU.
Speaker 7 (31:25):
Well, I think a small bit of overreaction may be
appropriate only because of how well they played on the
defensive side and the way that they adjusted in that
game after the first three series. TCU scores 10 points
and then From that point on, I thought that the
defense for UNC played excellent. They didn't allow explosive plays.
(31:49):
They largely shut down the run game. And if they
can just do that, they'll be more competitive than they
were a year ago. You know, yes, this might not
be Kurt Cignetti at Indiana the first year going, you know,
10-2 or 11-1 and getting into the college football playoff.
But this is going to be a more competitive team. Remember,
this exact same game a year ago was a blowout.
(32:11):
TCU hammered North Carolina. And so that growth, I think,
provides a fair bit of optimism that this team under
Bill Belichick is going to be more competitive from the
four and eight version that we saw a year ago.
I think that they still struggled offensively. The lack of
run game. is concerning to say the least. But if
(32:32):
they can continue to play that way defensively, they'll at
least be in games. And I think with a guy
that's instilling the type of situational football and you would
think the discipline, they could possibly win some of those
games and maybe they can be a bowl team. They
only had three penalties, Dan. And so those things are,
I'm optimistic about. And if there's something to overreact about,
(32:54):
it's like, okay, this team's probably going to be in
a lot of one possession games during the course of
the year.
Speaker 3 (32:59):
More pressure this year.
Speaker 2 (33:01):
I know it's going to sound strange here, but Lane
Kiffin or Dabo Sweeney.
Speaker 7 (33:08):
Man, you know, Dan Dabo, doesn't Dabo just have enough
in the tank, right? I mean, he's won national championships
at Clemson. Meanwhile, Lane Kiffin. Lane Kiffin makes one of
the more selfish moves in the history of college football.
And I'm not blaming him for it, but it was.
(33:30):
Let's just call it what it was. Leaving Ole Miss
in the middle of their playoff run. And now he's
at the center of this eligibility controversy, which is a mess.
And they spent upwards of $ 45 million on the roster,
all that money to get him. And you look at
the expectations at LSU, and I personally think that it's
(33:54):
not about at LSU, like, oh, we just want to
be competitive. No, no, you've got to go compete for
SEC titles. You've got to go to the playoff. You've
got to win games in the playoff. I don't know
if that's the expectation of Clemson fans right now. I
think that they would love that. Certainly. But if they
look around and they really look at their roster and
they look at what happened a year ago, I don't
(34:14):
know if that level of expectation is there for the Tigers.
Speaker 3 (34:18):
So more pressure, I would say, is on Lane.
Speaker 7 (34:21):
Now, not necessarily for his job right away because it's
an exorbitant fee to try to get away from him.
But just in the sense of expectation and pressure, I
think Lane is under more of it. Then Dabo Sweeney,
who at this point is he's kind of a legend
in the seat. You know, it's going to be his decision,
whatever happens.
Speaker 3 (34:41):
What about Lincoln Riley on that pressure seat?
Speaker 7 (34:44):
Yeah, I think there's a lot of pressure. on Lincoln
Riley in particular, because he has brought that on himself
in a lot of ways by stating how good this
team is and stating this is my best team. So
he's ramped up those expectations, which he's confident. I think
you could see that on Saturday. That was a very
different USC team than we saw even a couple of
(35:06):
years ago. You know, they had a really good team
with Caleb Williams. We all know that. But it was
largely because of the brilliance of Caleb Williams running around,
creating big plays. It was a splashy USC offense that
relied on big plays. They could run it a little bit,
and they did not play very good defense. This was
a lot different than that, at least for the first
three quarters. They were methodical, long drives throughout the entirety
(35:31):
of that first half, great two-minute series. They didn't rely
on big plays. In fact, their longest play was 33 yards.
Only two of their plays went over 20 yards. So
it was sustained line of scrimmage dominance, which is different
than what we've seen for USC in the last few years.
And then their defense in the first three quarters was excellent.
That game was not a 42-26 game. They thoroughly dominated.
(35:53):
It's 35-3. And that's, I think, more sustainable, in particular
with a Big Ten schedule. They don't have a lot
of tests early until Oregon comes to town, and we'll
see what happens then. But I was optimistic for USC
based on what happened on Saturday in the Coliseum, even
if there wasn't a lot of people in the stands.
Speaker 3 (36:12):
Okay. Is that a big deal?
Speaker 7 (36:15):
Dan, you've spent enough time out here in California, right?
Speaker 8 (36:20):
I mean.
Speaker 7 (36:22):
I hate doing this. I'm from Colorado. I'm a college
football guy. I like to see the stadiums full. I
love the fan bases that show up no matter what.
No matter what the weather is, what time of year
it is, no matter the opponent, and they show up.
And there are a lot of fan bases like that.
It doesn't matter who Ohio State plays. There's 105,000. Michigan,
(36:43):
same deal. You could say the same for a lot
of the teams down in the SEC who have tremendous support.
USC is just not that way because L.A. is not
that way. I don't think it's indicative of the wider
support that they get. I live in Orange County, south
of Los Angeles, and I can tell you everybody is
talking about USC. I think it's over 90 degrees, and
(37:06):
in L.A., when it's over 90 degrees, it might as
well be 150. No one does anything. You should see
when it rains out here. Dan, it's like a blizzard
in the East Coast.
Speaker 3 (37:16):
No one drives when it rains.
Speaker 7 (37:18):
So you can call us on the West Coast fair weather,
and that might be accurate, but I wasn't concerned necessarily
with the lack of fans in the stands in a
week zero game when it's in the Coliseum. It had
to feel like it was 105 degrees.
Speaker 2 (37:32):
Talking to Joel Klatt, Fox Sports lead football analyst. He
has the game coming up this weekend, Indiana hosting North Texas.
When do we get a scheduling czar in college football?
Speaker 7 (37:44):
Gosh, I hope soon. I really hope soon.
Speaker 1 (37:46):
I do.
Speaker 7 (37:46):
I do know having conversations with the people that are
in the room for the playoff expansion.
Speaker 2 (37:53):
Right.
Speaker 7 (37:53):
The conversation about the playoff structure. A. part of that
playoff expansion will be a scheduling agreement with the SEC
and the Big Ten. So that's what everyone's driving to
because they know that the expansion 12 and specifically the
(38:15):
structure and the criteria or lack thereof that the committee
uses to put teams into the college football playoff There
is no incentive to play a difficult game. Ask Texas
from a year ago. They get beat by Ohio State
in the first week of the season, and that essentially
keeps them out of the college football playoff as a
nine and three regular season team. So no incentive to
(38:36):
play a big game. So you have to do one
of two things. You either have to mandate those games
and schedule the games for the teams, or you have
to change the criteria the way that you select the
college football playoff teams. If they do expand to 24,
I think that there's going to be some appetite of
the coaches that say to themselves, okay, well, we can
suffer that loss. We're willing to play that game. But
(38:59):
more than that, there will be a scheduling agreement between
those two conferences and probably the other two Power Four
conferences as well, where they're playing nine conference games and
at least at a minimum, a tenth or that extra
game against the Power Four team and some of them
multiple Power Four opponents. And I do think that that
scheduling agreement will be As you suggest, kind of bizarre.
(39:21):
It'll go on an annual basis based on where you
finished a year ago. So we'll have the best teams
playing each other. It won't just be, hey, you know,
Rutgers is playing Georgia. Okay, that's a Big Ten SEC matchup,
but it's not the matchup we necessarily want to see.
No disrespect to Rutgers, even though I'm sure they'll take it.
It would be Pod A, Pod B, Pod C, based
(39:42):
on where you finish, then those matchups would basically form
the spring prior to the season. And so I'm anticipating that,
and I'm excited for that, and that's one of the
reasons why I've been a proponent of the expansion of
the playoff.
Speaker 3 (39:55):
I'm looking at the latest DraftKings odds.
Speaker 2 (39:58):
They've got Ohio State and Notre Dame co-favorites to win
the national title. But they're going to take different routes
to get there because Ohio State's got a tough schedule.
Notre Dame does not. So why do you think that
they would be co-favorites? Feels like Notre Dame has a
pretty easy path to get certainly to the playoffs and
(40:19):
be able to host a playoff game or so.
Speaker 7 (40:23):
I mean, absolutely. I mean, the two paths, Notre Dame
might as well be on a freshly paved four lane
highway with no traffic. They've got like an escort in
front of them with this schedule. You know, they will
be in the college football playoff. I think that this
is a nod to the consistency that Ohio State has
brought over the course of decades. They win 10 games
(40:46):
rolling out of bed. Now, this schedule is the most
difficult schedule they will have ever faced. They've got to
go on the road to Texas, which is one of
the more talented teams in the country. They've got to
go on the road to Iowa, on the road to Indiana.
They have to host Oregon. They've got the Michigan game, obviously.
They've got to go to USC. USC was undefeated in
(41:06):
the Coliseum a year ago. So it's an incredibly difficult schedule.
I think that there is a nod to Ohio State
because all of us believe that they will navigate that
and get themselves into the playoff. What did they prove
two years ago? It doesn't matter if they have a bye.
They can host a game, be the eighth seed, and
go on and win the national championship. And they've also
(41:28):
got what I believe is a more– playoff-ready roster this year.
I know that sounds crazy, maybe not defensively, but their
offensive line is more experienced and should be better. Their
failure last year really was short yardage. They probably beat
Indiana if they can execute on a fourth and one.
And that lack of short yardage quality really affected them
(41:51):
a year ago, and I think that should be different
this year. But it's a tip of the cap to
Ohio State, which has become– largely, along with Georgia, the
most consistent program in college football.
Speaker 2 (42:03):
I've had a couple of different former quarterbacks, Brady Quinn
most recently, and I said, I'm going to make you
the GM of the Arizona Cardinals. You're going to have
the first pick in the draft next year.
Speaker 3 (42:14):
Who are you taking?
Speaker 7 (42:16):
Oh, man.
Speaker 3 (42:16):
And he said, C.J.
Speaker 7 (42:18):
Carr. I think I would say CJ Carr as well.
We'll see how the season plays out. I think right
now I would have a really tough decision between Dante
Moore and CJ Carr. I think CJ Carr is the
prototypical NFL quarterback. And I think that's where things can
get lost in translation is at the NFL level, you
still have to own the game from the pocket. You know,
(42:41):
and I know some guys are doing it a little
bit differently.
Speaker 3 (42:44):
And yes, it helps.
Speaker 7 (42:45):
And is it great when you can do all the
extra things? Yes. But the prerequisite, the algebra one. of
quarterback play is owning the game and controlling the game
from the pocket in particular and big moments, two minute,
third down. And he looks like he can do that. Now,
Dante Moore is an excellent player. We'll see how Arch
plays this year. I thought he was excellent at the
(43:06):
end of the year last year. But I think my
decision right now, if you forced me to pick right now,
it would be CJ Carr. A little side note right now.
My middle son, Sam, who's 12 years old, He was,
when he was six and began flag football, they just
named him. It was like one of these NFL leagues,
you know? And so he was the Cardinals. He's become
(43:27):
a massive Cardinals fan, Dan. I can't, like, I can't
understand him. And I keep telling him, I'm like, hey, man,
you know, like I'm from Denver. We can root for
the Broncos. They were right there in the AFC. He's like, no,
I'm a Cardinals fan. I'm taking him to the Cardinals
Chargers opener this year. And he is dying for a quarterback.
He's like, dad, tell me they're going to get a quarterback.
So he's going to love this clip right here. Just
(43:50):
dreaming of a guy like C.J. Carr.
Speaker 2 (43:52):
I had a source tell me that Notre Dame was
so in on C.J. Carr that they were told if
they backed off Dante Moore. that CJ Carr would commit
to Notre Dame. And Notre Dame backed off Dante Moore,
so they waited for CJ Carr.
Speaker 7 (44:12):
Well, I think they made a good decision. Isn't it interesting,
by the way? Well, I mean, Dante's a great player.
It's not like one has flamed out and the other
is succeeding. I think both of them could have or
would have succeeded, in particular, last year with the way
that they ran the football. But isn't it interesting? And
For about a decade, Notre Dame was really good under
(44:35):
Brian Kelly, really good, 10 wins. And all of us
started to believe this narrative that there was some sort
of ceiling on Notre Dame. Like, yeah, they're good, but
you can't really win it there. I think it's amazing
what Marcus Freeman has done to level up Notre Dame
back to the point where they are recruiting in the
(44:57):
top five in college football. They are a destination. And
maybe this is a product of the current structure of
our sport and the dollars that they have and the
support that they have through NIL and even the transfer portal.
But just the tip of the cap to Marcus Freeman,
I think he's done an incredible job. I hope he
stays in college football longer. I I doubt he's going
(45:18):
to stay in college football for a long period of
time because I think the NFL is going to come calling.
They came calling a year ago and he stayed. But man,
he's done an incredible job.
Speaker 3 (45:28):
If I gave Brian Kelly a do-over... Does.
Speaker 7 (45:34):
He not use the fake accent? So it's one of
two decisions, Dan. Does he not go to LSU and
just stays there at Notre Dame? Or does he go
and not use the fake accent? Because the fake accent
at the basketball game was really like, I mean, was
it not the clearest sign?
Speaker 3 (45:53):
Like, this is not going to work.
Speaker 7 (45:55):
You know, I don't know if this is, man, the
fake accent was a rough look. And then he did
the dance with the recruit. And it's like, oh, it was,
you know, every Gen Zer was, what do they say? Cringe.
They're probably going to cringe that I use the word cringe.
But man, that did not work out.
Speaker 3 (46:14):
Tell Gus we said hello. And thanks for joining us.
Speaker 7 (46:18):
I appreciate your time, Dan. Have a good day, bud.
Speaker 3 (46:19):
That's Joel Klatt.
Hosts And Creators
Todd "Fritzy" Fritz
Dan Patrick
Patrick "Seton" O'Connor
Paul Pabst
Marvin Prince
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