November 25, 2024 • 57 mins
John Middlekauff returns after a loaded slate on this NFL Sunday to recap the Philadelphia Eagles, led by superstar running back Saquon Barkley, dominated Matthew Stafford, Sean McVay and the Los Angeles Rams by a score of 37-20 on Sunday Night Football. John tips his cap to the Eagles for being one of the most well-run organizations in the entire NFL, and explains why the NFC East’s best team are like a successful business in their “investment strategy” with veteran players like legitimate MVP candidate Saquon Barkley. Middlekauff proceeds to recap some of the action around the League, including yet another massive Detroit Lions team. John explains why the Lions, led by Dan Campbell, Jared Goff and a potent offense, are legitimate Super Bowl contenders sitting atop the NFC. Next, John goes off on why Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs are almost underrated by football fans despite their Super Bowl-winning pedigree amidst a historic dynasty. Then, the reason why he’s riding with Bo Nix and the Denver Broncos after the AFC West squad has surprised some fans and critics under their rookie quarterback’s stellar play. John goes on to detail how both the Denver Broncos and Pittsburgh Steelers, headed for the playoffs, “won” the Russell Wilson trade in the offseason. Next, John can’t help but marvel at the NFC North’s top teams in the Detroit Lions, Minnesota Vikings and Green Bay Packers. After, some thoughts around the NFL hitting on Jayden Daniels and the Washington Commanders, the Dallas Cowboys and the San Francisco 49ers struggling and the hapless New York Giants. Finally, some thoughts on college football’s biggest players including Deion Sanders and Colorado and the debate between SEC football fans and the Indiana Hoosiers football team.
4:40 - SNF - Eagles at Rams reaction
28:07 - Chiefs win a close one in Carolina
34:19 - Russell Wilson trade to Steelers was a win for both teams
39:13 - Evaluating the NFC North
36:50 - Washington Commanders overachieved to start the season
43:10 - Titans at Texans reaction
44:37 - 49ers brutal loss in Green Bay
50:09 - Are the Giants becoming the Jets?
58:20 - College Football thoughts
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
The volume What is going on Everybody? John middlecough three
and now podcast? How are we doing my people? Hopefully
everyone is doing well, having a great day and or
(00:25):
night or morning or whenever you're listening to this. I
just watched the Eagles and Walter Payton aka Saquon Barkley
destroy the Rams on Sunday Night football. Very very impressive
win for the Birds who Detroit's having an incredible year
and they look awesome. The Eagles have started flipping a
(00:47):
switch where you go could they take on Detroit Lions?
So we will dive into the Birds. We will dive
into the Rams, who their offensive line which is getting cooked.
Their offensive line is been an issue, I would say
for a couple of weeks now and a lot of
other stuff going on around the NFL. The Chiefs are
(01:07):
they getting a bad rap because all they do is
basically win. I mean, they're ten and one, but they
barely beat the Panthers and everyone's writing them off. I
just you know, I know this. Forty nine Er fans
would die to have everyone hating on the team and
be ten and one. Kyle Shanahan, his season's over. But
some other stuff we'll just fire around the NFL, the
(01:30):
Giants and Tommy Cutlet's what an embarrassment. That's I think
we have to acknowledge that the Giants are basically like
their counterpart that they share a stadium with now and
I never would have thought that would be true, but
I think it's like the Spider Man meme where they're
pointing at each other. The Jets and the Giants have
kind of become one and yeah, a little college football.
(01:53):
We'll do a big mail bag for Tuesday show. I
went on with Colin as I do every Sunday, so
ch that out. Make sure you subscribe to the three
and OL podcasts separate from a Collins feed as well
as the YouTube channel. Make sure you do that subscribe.
All of our content is up there as well. But first,
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(02:59):
per just terms of play. Again, create an account, Redeem
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game time I out today, last minute to take as low
as price is guaranteed. You know, it's funny early on
in the season whenever you get new coordinators, right, we don't.
Part of it is the world we live in, and
(03:20):
I'm guilty of this. Our expectations are really high with
good and bad teams, but we don't leave you much
room to figure things out. We just come in and
criticize or come in in annoint And I think the
Eagles are a good example of it. Took them a
little time to figure things out with the offensive and
the defensive coordinator, but at the right time of the season.
(03:42):
Not only are their clicking, but clearly their two hires
look excellent and their team looks fantastic. That wasn't ass kicking.
They worked them, and I think it really shines a
light on a couple things philosophically, and I saw it
when I worked there, and they have never flinched from
this the whole time. Howie Roseman has ran the operation,
(04:05):
and it goes back through Andy Reid through the late
nineties up through the two thousands. The line of scrimmage,
that is where you win. It doesn't mean you can't
get aggressive and make a huge trade for aj Brown,
or spend money on Saquan or draft a corner really high.
But what separates you in the NFL, just like in
(04:26):
college football, is the offensive line and the defensive line.
And you look at this team as the season is gone.
Jalen Carter is a fucking menace. He is an unstoppable force.
Brandon Graham, even at his age, is still an excellent player.
What round did they draft Brandon Graham in the first,
(04:48):
Jalen Carter the first, Nolan Smith high in the second,
Nakobe Dean the third. Like they invest so much in
their front seven and anyone that impacts the quarterback, and
they have forever and offensive line. How many teams could
lose Jason Kelsey, one of the greatest players in the
(05:09):
history of the franchise, and not really skip a beat. Well,
why is that possible? Because they're always investing in the
offensive line. When Jason Peters left is like, how do
you replace a Hall of Fame tackle? Well, we got
this guy in the seventh round that we've molded into
be a ten year starter at left tackle. And I
(05:30):
was thinking about this tonight as Saquon Barkley and one
of the offensive linemen are just dominating Mackai Becton. You know,
one's man's trash is another man's treasure. But I think
when you look and I admire these type people just
in general, because it's so easy when everyone's hanging a
(05:51):
left to follow them and hang a left. I would
say pretty consistently, especially in business, when everyone's hanging a left,
that's usual when people turn right right. How often have
you heard the last fifteen years, God, I wish I
would have bought a house in two thousand and nine, ten,
twenty eleven. I've heard that from a million people. I
(06:11):
didn't have any money then, so it wasn't even an option.
But how many older people or people in position that
like God, I didn't pull the trigger. I waited a
little bit and I spent a lot more or God,
I wish I would have bought stocks in twenty twenty
two when everything looked like it was falling off a cliffs, like,
gotta run everything's going down. Most successful people usually do
because they don't follow conventional wisdom. They don't follow the herd.
(06:36):
And I think Howie is a good example, and honestly
the rest of the NFC falls under this as well.
Running backs, they're dead. Who wants to run? The Giants
were getting ready to u Saquon, We don't even want you.
We'll take you. How about twenty seven million dollars guaranteed? Well,
who do you have to beat in your conference? Well?
Last year the forty nine ers were in the Super
(06:57):
Bowl with Christian McCaffrey, who they traded a second, a third,
and a fourth round pick the Detroit Lions, who are
currently the best team in the NFL and had a
lead on the forty nine ers last year in the
second half in the NFC Championship game, not only signed
David Montgomery as a free agent, extended him, and drafted
(07:21):
a running back in the first round in Jamar Gibbs.
The Green Bay Packers, who are going to the playoffs
for whatever the I don't know, twentieth time in twenty
five years, got rid of Aaron Jones, who they drafted
and paid, who was on their team for a long time,
(07:41):
to pay Josh Jacobs, who was a first round pick,
and then they no longer wanted Aaron Jones. The Minnesota Vikings,
who happened to be nine and two, immediately picked him
up and he's their starting running back. So basically, all
the teams in Atlanta who is going to make the
playoffs because their division sucks one of their best players
Bijon Robinson, who they drafted in the top ten. So
(08:02):
all I hear is how running backs are done devalued
and no one wants them. Well, the good teams view value,
and all the good teams in the NFC have invested
in that position. And Saquon who wasted away on an
awful team with an awful offensive line, clearly that team
(08:24):
had given up on them and they didn't want them,
and listen, I don't blame them. You had to move on.
It didn't make that much sense. And I saw someone
say this on Elon's app x formally known as Twitter.
You know, the Giants take a lot of shit, but
I think we all agree that people like it didn't
make that much sense anymore. What about all the other
(08:47):
teams that could have had Saquon Barkley that were paying
guards eighteen million dollars or paying fringe corners fifteen million
dollars a year. Why were the Eagles of you know,
fifteen teams could have used the guy, they paid him
twenty seven million dollars guaranteed. Makai Beckton's also a good example.
(09:11):
The Jets total failure, total bust, one of the picks
where Joe Douglas screwed up. Beagles looked at him and went,
you know what, we think he could be a guard,
and guess what, he's their starting right guard for clearly
one of the most explosive offenses in the league, and
(09:34):
clearly one of, if not the best running game in
the NFL. Why do good teams do things that shitty
teams go we don't want you, we don't need you,
you don't work here. The good teams in football, just
like the good teams all around team sports, have been
taking players that were either undervalued, overlooked, thrown to the
(09:59):
trail by bad teams all of my life and using
those guys to the best of their abilities to win
on that team. It's like clockwork happens all the time.
I said it at the beginning of the season, I said, guys, one,
I picked the Eagles to win the division just because
(10:21):
I went, there's just too much talent. Now. I thought
the Cowboys would be better. I didn't think Washington would
have started this good, but I thought the Eagles were
going to win the division on talent alone. And I said,
you would have to be high on some really good
stuff to go. If Saquan's healthy behind this offensive line
with a quarterback who is a running threat, that he's
(10:44):
not going to have a good year. Not I never
would have envisioned him being the MVP potentially of the NFL,
but that's what he is. And the reason you pay
position coaches a ton of money when they're good is
because they can take a guy that everyone and I'm
sure I'm guilty of this too, of making fun of
(11:05):
a guy like McKai Becton. He's overweight, he's always injured.
What a waste of a pick? He sucks and they go, wait, Howie,
how much would we have to pay to get that guy?
We can probably get him for under five million. I
don't know, a couple million bucks. I think he can
be a guard, a guard. He's been a tackle his
whole NFL career. I think we can move him to guard. Okay,
(11:29):
let's do it. Now. We're in the middle of November
and McKay Beckton is fucking road grading for them with
their other good offensive line as Saquan runs for two
hundred and fifty five yards on Sunday Night football against
what I thought coming in at night was a really
really good defense. Turns out I still think they're probably
a good defense, but relative to that offense is a
(11:51):
completely different level. And the Eagles right now with Fangio,
who clearly has that group playing at a really high level. Honestly,
this game wouldn't have been that close if Darius Slay
hadn't gotten injured and they had to put in Rogers
number thirty four. Like any good coach in any good
scheme and any good offense, they attacked him over and
(12:13):
over and over again like he was me or you.
But even that wasn't enough to overcome the talent discrepancy
in this game. I think the Rams are pretty good
now they're five and six, like the forty nine ers
five and six. I'd say they are a little more
bullish five and six, but it's probably gonna be tough.
If I was a betting man right now, they're probably
not gonna make the playoffs. But the gap tonight between
(12:36):
those two teams was pretty wide, and I think we
have to acknowledge, like the Lions have been incredible. They
have won every way humanly possible. They've won in multiple
blowouts where they scored fifty two points. They have won
the day like, yeah, today's going to be ugly. There
aren't gonna be many points on the board for a
(12:57):
large portion of the game. It's going to be fourteen
to six, but it's gonna feel like we're a fucking
anaconda around your neck choking your ass out. And that's
what good teams do. They can win, Like when we're on,
it's gonna be it's gonna be ugly, but hey, you
want to get you want to muck up this game.
You want to win in the fucking mud, you want
(13:19):
to win an ugly game, Let's do it. Buckle up,
and that's what the Lions did. The Eagles, like, I
think one thing we all questioned, you know, we knew
the individual talents, how would it all come together. They're
showing some of that, and I think of all the teams,
they have the most talent to take them out. Now
(13:40):
we'll see how that division shakes out. I mean, Minnesota's
nine to two and the Packers. I mean, the Niners
were under man today, but they beat the shit out
of them. But I think right now, clearly the Eagles
are the second best team, and they still play the
Ravens in a couple of weeks, they play the Steelers,
so they still get some games. The problem for them
(14:00):
is their last three weeks are going to be against
the Cowboys, the Commanders, and the Giants. I might be
out of order there. I know the Giants is their
last game, so they could just be killing these teams,
which is a good thing, you know, in the sense
of you're getting wins, But like playing your best football
against better teams going into the playoffs, I think you
(14:23):
would probably like moving maybe the Steeler of the Ravens
game with like second of the last, you know, like
week sixteen, Week seventeen. But it's looking pretty good for them.
And this is a muscle flex year because a lot
of people thought I was crazy. Everyone's writing this team
off and listen, we don't even love their head coach.
(14:44):
But this is what the Eagles deserve credit for. They
are willing to spend a lot of money and invest
into a lot of different people, not just a running back,
but coordinators Kellen Moore and Vic Fangio. I don't have
their contracts, but like I know some people that kind
of do. And it ain't cheap. Vic Fangio, most people think,
(15:06):
is the highest paid defensive coordinator in the NFL. Kellen
Moore ain't making a million dollars. I don't know if
he's making five, but I know he's probably making three
or four. So combined, they pay those guys a shitload
of money. So it's like, yeah, you know, our head
coach has some some limitations. He's not gonna be able
(15:28):
to call offense. He's gonna be more of a motivational guy,
and people are gonna make fun of him. He's some's
gonna be well deserved, but we will overcome that. What's
the cost to bring Vic out of Miami, Who's the
best offensive coordinator available that we think is gonna have
the best chance to work with Jalen and our offensive personnel.
But what's it gonna cost? Because some teams go, oh yeah,
(15:50):
I don't know, Yeah, too many years, too much money.
It's like, we see it happen all the time. We
saw it happen with the Bears. We saw it happen
with the Raiders. The Eagles go, here's a blank check,
let's fucking roll and it's working. And now they look
they look poised to be a serious contender. And on
the flip side of the Rams, you know, I thought
(16:13):
once everyone came back, they would be a major, major problem.
But something just feels off. I wrote it down. Something
just feels off right. They're not like a disaster, but
you watch them play, You're like, I don't know, And
maybe it's just the offensive line cohesion. They've gotten some
guys back off injury. It hasn't looked right. Stafford was
(16:34):
getting destroyed tonight. I mean, listen, I have a ton
of respect for there are only so many human beings
that could even attempt to play NFL tackle. I don't
think the casual fan realizes most left and right tackles
in college football don't have a snowballs chance in hell
(16:57):
to play in the NFL play in the NFL. These
guys are starting Division one tackles. And think about it,
how many teams there are. There's eighteen teams in the
Big Ten. There's like sixteen teams in the SEC. I mean,
do the math, the Big twelve, in the ACC. I'm
talking those conferences. Most of their tackles will never play
(17:18):
in the NFL. Honestly, most of them won't even make
it to training camp if they get like tryout positions.
So to get the opportunity to have the size, the strength,
it's hard tonight. There were moments early in the game
when Brandon Graham was going untouched. He went, is Stafford safe?
Is Stafford safe? I mean he got hit one time?
(17:41):
And this is what quarterbacks make a lot of money.
They get a ton of publicity. They're the most famous
players in the most popular league. You get hit by
guys that are two hundred and fifty to three hundred
and fifty pounds sometimes that do not get touched either
(18:01):
coming around the corner or coming up the middle while
your eyes are on a wide receiver looking down the field,
and that guy hits you full speed. When Brandon Graham
hit Stafford to Night full speed, it made me think,
like I don't think the casual fan and sometimes I
fall under this too when I'm just sitting there watching
game on TV. Respects how fucking hard that guy just
(18:25):
got hit. How much that hurt getting slammed into the ground. Hell,
there was a play tonight and listen, we all make
fun of it. The soft of the league, the league rules,
and a lot of that is true relative to the
way the league used to be officiated. There was a
play today when Saquon land into the line of scrimmage
and he got hit by about three people and kind
(18:46):
of picked up and driven back. And I don't know
if he got the wind knocked out of him. I
don't know if he got blasted in the nuts, but
he was down for a while. The trainers came out
and even Siriani walked out there, and you could tell
the trainers like he's okay, he just got you know,
he just needs a minute, and we just go Yeah,
he's gonna be okay. You just get a breather and
come back in. It's like this game is still really,
(19:08):
really violent, and the speed of which these guys are
moving has never been faster on the aggregate. Obviously, there
have always been fast guys. I'm not saying like Lawrence
Taylor Reggie White didn't move fast, but on the accurate
top to bottom. And like, here's the thing. There are
two guys in this game that were drafted number nineteen
and twenty two. Jared Verse from Florida State went to
(19:31):
the Rams at nineteen. Wasn't even the first defensive lineman
off the board. There were several ahead of him, and
Quinnon Mitchell, the corner for the Eagles, went picked twenty two.
Both those two players, if you redid the draft, and
here's the thing I would take. If you told me
you can get a star corner or a star wide receiver,
(19:54):
I would take the star corner over the star wide
receiver in a draft high because I can get wide
receivers later in the draft. It is more difficult to
find star corners in the third or the fourth round
or every year we see starting wide receivers come from
that area, not saying you can't, but the stats are
(20:15):
on your side that if you're gonna get a corner
or a pass rusher, you are more inclined to do that.
And we see the Giants and we see the Cardinals,
like if the Arizona Cardinals could do it over, Marvin
Harrison is a fantastic player. I would rather have Jared
Verse at pick four. Hell, I'd rather have Quinyon Mitchell
(20:37):
at pick four and take a wide receiver in the
second round. And I actually think they had two picks
because they had the Texans pick from the previous year
when they traded up for Will Anderson. Obviously, the Atlanta
Falcons at pick eight would rather have either one of
those guys, but specifically Jared Verse. And I think we're
gonna look back and those guys are already clearly two
(21:00):
of the best players from this entire draft, let alone
the first round. And the Rams, their defensive line love it.
I mean, Verse Fisk. They are a very very physical team,
and tonight they got leaned on a little bit because
the Eagles are too. And that's why you build your
team that way. And you look at the Rams and
(21:22):
this is a forty nine er issue. As well, your
offensive line is just not good enough. And when your
offensive line is not good enough and you're forced in
a throwing situations, whether you got Purty, whether you got
Matt Stafford, whether you got fucking Michael Vick, the guy
is gonna be under duress and run around for his life.
And obviously Stafford is not exactly Hurts or vic or
Lamar Jackson, like he's a pocket quarterback, and tonight he
(21:46):
didn't really stand a chance. And they're gonna comes to
a point like sometimes you're calling these plays like it's
just kind of on the player. There's nothing you can
really do if your guard center is getting spun like
a dradle and he can barely touch the guy and
they're immediately screaming, look out, watch out, my guy's coming,
(22:11):
and then he's just getting crushed. And that was the
big question mark early this season with the Eagles is like, ah,
their pass rush, what the hell's wrong with their past
russ They've invested all this in their pass rush and
now it's kicking ass and taking names. So Dominant Dominant
win by Philly fun Night, just from a if you
like personnel in the draft, just kind of watching this team,
(22:31):
how they were built and what a you know what
a season from Saquon really pretty special. It's it's if
you just love great players. I say it all the time,
like you hear sometimes people argue like, don't we want
to see Cinderellas And this always used to be a
(22:53):
coward thing, Like everyone talks about Cinderellas until you put
two of them playing each other on a Saturday night
in college football, and then no one watches, Like people
want to watch Ohio State, Alabama and Georgia, Like yeah,
Indiana was a cool story until I watched them against
Ohio State. I'm like, yeah, this is I don't need
to see this again. Like everyone loves that good undrafted
(23:16):
free agent that ran for one hundred yards, Like yeah,
I like the guy that was a top five pick.
There was a blue chipper since college that if you
watched him at Penn State against Ohio State and against
Michigan and all these teams, he looked like Walter Payton
meets Barry Sanders and sometimes, like any young human being,
if you get put in the wrong situation, you can
(23:37):
get lost. Well, now he's back and it looks like
he's on a fucking vengeance tour right now, out for
blood against every team he plays. And the cool part
about Saquan is he's not angry about it, like some
people are very spiteful. Some people are very petty and
that drives them. Like I think we're all human beings
(23:59):
kind of driven in different ways, like there are different
buckets for all of us. I can be like that
as well. I'm sure many people listening can. But I
don't like that negative headspace Like I don't. It doesn't
fuel me in the right direction. So I try to
be driven by positivity and optimism, and I think Saquon,
like watching him this season, feels like a very upbeat,
(24:21):
positive not holding any ill will against the Giants. Even
this week Daniel Jones kicked to the curb, Like all
week he's like, yeah, I've been reaching out, hopefully he's
doing okay. He's my guy, instead of like fuck them,
their losers, screw that organization, Like he hasn't really taken
that tactic. So I think this has been a huge
year just on a national level for Saquon to be like, God,
(24:43):
this guy's just this type. People are the type human
being that historically in this league, the type person that
the league has built. There. You know, upon these guys,
super high level, elite player, needle mover all time, great
tw and just awesome human being. So props to Howie
(25:04):
for making that happen, and props the Saquon for choosing
the Eagles because it's just a match made in heaven. Okay,
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Speaker 1 (26:48):
Speaking of Match Made in Heaven, you know it's funny
when you become really good and things aren't going perfectly
but you're still having success. People love to nitpick you.
And I think right now, when you look at the
Chiefs and really it's been like this off season, they
set the bar so high that unless they win games
(27:09):
by twenty or thirty points, people are going to be
critical even when they win. I just wanted to take
a step back because in the Patrick Mahomes era, I
think we underestimate, or at least the way it's contextualized
and the way we speak about it, it's almost underrated.
When he began starting in twenty eighteen one, they have
(27:33):
been to every Confidence Conference championship game on his watch. Obviously,
in six of those seasons or six or four out
of those six they have gone to the Super Bowl.
Three of them they've won. In eighteen they were twelve
and four. In nineteen they were twelve and four, In
twenty they were fourteen and two. In twenty one they
(27:53):
were twelve and five. Last or two years ago they
were fourteen and three. And last year was a disaster
at a eleven and six, and obviously they still won
the Super Bowl. And this season everyone's had an opinion,
what's up with the Chiefs? Is this their downfall? What
are they doing? They're ten and one? And Andy Reid
(28:13):
said something to Day in the locker room that I thought,
you know, sometimes we overcomplicate this because I love talking
about free agency. I love talking about the draft. I
loved talking about how organizations do this and how organizations
do that. You know, the number one goal if you're
a head coach, if you're the starting quarterback, if you're
the GM, it's just a win games. Doesn't matter what
(28:36):
mel Kiper gave you draft grade back in April. It
doesn't matter if people thought your free agents were good.
It doesn't matter our opinions on you over under in
training camp. When we're in middle of November, what's your record?
And they go, we're ten and one. We've played eleven
games and we've lost one of them. It's like, well,
(28:58):
they've come close here and they could this game. Yeah,
but we didn't. And unlike a lot of these teams,
check our fucking resume and listen. Do I think the
Chiefs are gonna win the Super Bowl? Actually don't. I
would not bet on them. Just the law of averages.
If you play in all these crazy games, you're bound
(29:18):
to lose a weird game in the playoffs. I watched
a lot of the Patriots dynasty, and they lost some years. Hell,
they lost in the second round some years. I vividly
remember when Bart Scott and Rex Ryan beat him, and
it was a really really big deal at the time,
because it was. But sometimes it happens you don't win.
It's why no team's ever won three straight Super Bowls. Hell,
(29:41):
it's really rare for a team to win back to back.
Chiefs just did it for the first time since the
Patriots in the early two thousands. But can't we just acknowledge,
like this run that they're on, it's kind of historic,
and you do stuff like this even if you lose
in the conference championship this year to the Bills, Let's
say like that's just adding more pelse to the wall
(30:02):
of this incredible dynasty that they're on. So one, if
you're a Chiefs fan, it doesn't get any better than this.
This is as good as it gets. And also, like
Andy said in the locker room to day after they
barely squeaked by beating the Panthers, you get every team's
best shot, and any team that isn't good, you're definitely
(30:24):
their super Bowl. And on the road after a big
game in Buffalo. One, the Chiefs were up twenty seven
to nineteen late in this game, so it's not like
they had to come storman back. They were in full control.
Bryce made some places, they tied the game, got a
two point conversion. It was impressive, and the Chiefs went
right down the field. Not once, not once in my mind,
(30:48):
did I think they're gonna lose. Not once in my
mind when they got it back with enough time on
the clock that I think they're not gonna get in
super Bowl range. It's a very rare group of guys
that you go, they're gonna figure this out. They're gonna
make it happen. It's like games on the line and
you're down two and Steph shooting at three, you think
(31:09):
it's going in. When I was a kid and Tiger
Woods was in the mix, He's gonna find a way
to win. That's how I think about the Chiefs. Is
it the prettiest thing? No, it's not. But what the
run that they're on twenty eighteen to present. There was
a LinkedIn page is absolutely incredible. I do you know?
(31:29):
I saw this headline on Bleacher Report on Twitter that
said since September, bo Nicks has sixteen touchdowns and two interceptions.
A lot of people when I buried Miami a couple
of weeks ago, you know, Miami Dolphins fans think they
(31:51):
still have a really good chance to make the playoffs.
I think they're a loss this Thursday. Way from it
basically being over. It could be like Denver is a
win away and you're a loss away and you play
the Packers this week, which is gonna be very difficult.
Like it's just a mathematical equation here. You'd have five wins,
they'd have eight, and I'm just betting on them getting
(32:12):
to ten, especially when I look at their schedule and
I'm betting against you doing it. And Denver, who's over
undercoming into the season, was five and a half now
looks like it's gonna be a massive upset if they
don't play a playoff game. Do I think they're gonna
win a playoff game? Probably not. It's difficult. But anytime
(32:34):
your defense is that good and your quarterback is clearly
playing with a lot of confidence, they're gonna have a chance.
And I mentioned this to Coward earlier tonight. You know
what we can say about the Russell Wilson Sean Payton divorce.
Their personalities were never meant for each other. One they
were like, I guess they weren't set up on a
(32:55):
blind date because Sean Payton knew what he was signing
up for But if you had followed Sean Payton's career,
I would say a pretty cocky high belief in himself.
Some might say that he thinks he invented football and
could be just pretty aggressive and Russell Wilson just like listen.
(33:19):
I think it's I don't even think it's fake anymore.
I just think it's who he is. I think he's
like a robot, a very optimistic, positive robot that turns
off people like Sean Payton or just I don't know,
normal people like myself kind of off and be the
type person that I could only be around so much.
But when you're the coordinator, slash play caller, head coach,
(33:43):
you're gonna spend a lot of time around that guy.
And then his skill set didn't mesh up with what
Sean Payton wants in a quarterback. It was never gonna work.
He did not want to coach him, but he could
not turn down the ninety million dollars, and he knew
if he got enough juice he could make that divorce happened,
and he did, and he was right to do it
(34:04):
because I don't think the Broncos would be as good
if they were forced to keep playing offense with Russell Wilson,
just like Russell Wilson got granted going to Mike Tomlin,
who probably falls much closer under his category of just
getting along with their you know, their sayings. I guess
Tomlin can just deal with Russell's you know, daily optimism,
(34:25):
but mainly like his skill set fits the Steelers can
throw bombs. It works, and it's just worked for both.
You know, It's one of the rare times sometimes it's
like you just break up, cut a player and it's
a disaster. Your team sucks. That guy goes on and struggles.
It's a complete opposite. Sean Payton and bow Nicks are
(34:45):
going to the playoffs. The Steelers and Russell Wilson are
going to the playoffs. It's one of those rare win wins.
Speaking of win win win the NFC North, you know
the Lions. What's crazy about their season is they feel
like they're the best team in the NFL by a
(35:07):
wide margin. They are going to win the super Bowl
and it's not even going to be close yet. They
are not even a lock to win their own division.
The Minnesota Vikings are nine and two. They are having
the quietest nine and two season probably in the history
of the NFL, and the Packers, like, I'm not going
(35:31):
to put too much stock into today, but they clearly
have a lot of good players and when healthy on offense,
that thing is very, very potent. And that's a real team,
Like that's a team that can make serious noise in
the playoffs. It's crazy how top heavy that division is
and all three of those teams, like the Lions can't
(35:51):
pull their foot off the pedal because they got those
two teams right on their ass. And it's just it's wild.
I mean, it's I thought the division was gonna be
good coming into the season. I thought Sam Darnold would
work in Minnesota. I never in a million years thought
they would be nine and two. You know, for as
awesome as the Lions season is gone, Like they were
(36:13):
right there with the forty nine ers last year, they
were in the NFC Championship. I do think you could
argue it's been way crazier what Minnesota has done than
either Green Bay or even Detroit, which is having I
think I saw today the greatest season in the history
of the franchise so far. But the head scratcher to
(36:34):
a lot of people is Washington, and I think this
is pretty simple. Their team was never that good. What
they were doing early in the season was a testament
to Dan Quinn and the coaching staff. They don't have
that much talent. Now you can say the quarterback has regressed, obviously.
If you watch Caleb the day, he looked dramatically better
(36:56):
than Jaden. If you watch bo Nicks today, he looked
better than Jayden. Though Jayden still made a bunch of
good plays with his legs and still looks like a
good player. Just throw a couple bad picks. But like,
if Washington goes nine to eight, it'll feel, if you're
a Washington fan, a big kick in the nuts, because
at one point in time you were like seven and two.
(37:19):
But I do think nine and eight would feel like
what your team represents. And everyone is going to be
all over Kingsbury and Colin was asking me about it.
I see everyone writing about it on social I've been
very critical of Kingsbury over the years. His offense is
not my style, like fundamentally wouldn't be my type. Higher
(37:40):
if I was an owner of a GM always heard
he's a great guy, son of a marine. Heard he's
in the fucking facility like four point thirty. Like he's
not like some pretty boy, lazy guy. I mean, technically
he's a pretty boy, but he's not. That's not the
way he operates and lives his coaching career. Dude to
grinder offensively just comes from you know, the Mike Leech tree,
(38:03):
which is cool, but it's not what I would want
in the NFL. I'm not putting this on him. Like
their team just isn't that good. They just don't have
that much firepower. They've hit some freak plays, obviously the
Hail Mary and even today against Terry McLaurin, you go, God,
why didn't Dallas kick there? You know, how do they
not beat Dallas's ass? I'm watching today, Like Dallas got
(38:24):
some good players too. I don't think the gap between
those two teams, honestly, is that crazy wide. And the
other thing is like everyone's writing Mike McCarthy off, Like, listen,
this is not the NBA. You don't just punt on
the season. You still try. Mike McCarthy's won a lot
of game for a long time, kind of knows what
he's doing. And listen, Mike Zimmers had a rough year.
(38:45):
Check his resume. It's not bad either, Like these divisional
games are just difficult. The Houston Texans today lost to
the Titans. I looked at the box score of that game.
Will Levis was sacked eight times and pick six and
you lost. If you told me before the game that
Will Levis would be sacked eight times and throw a
(39:06):
pick six, what the final score would be, I would
say Texans forty, Titans twelve. So to lose that game.
But it just even the Broncos in the Raider game
was relatively close. These divisional games in November and December
are just tightly contested. These teams are very, very comfortable
(39:27):
against each other. Not only are you used to playing
the individual opponent. Like if I'm the left tackle, I
know the pass rusher, I'm the wide receiver, I know
the corner. You just see them on film all the time.
Because when you're playing your other divisional opponents, what games
do you think you study? You just probably see I
would say I don't know two to three hundred percent
(39:51):
more of that opponent. If you're on a team for
three or four years, then you do have every other
team in the league. Once the season starts, you're just
constantly seeing those players, so there's a comfortability also going
to the stadium away game, like Dallas has been going there.
If you're Ceedee Lamb, if you're Micah Parsons, if you're
Cooper Rush. And that's what I respect about Dallas because
(40:18):
you know, the forty nine ers got their ass kick
today against the Backers, and this is obviously the season
from hell. And this is what I said about the Chiefs.
Everyone's like, wow, this Niners just ran out of gas.
They just had enough. Well, why would the Chiefs just
runt of gas? They've been going to conference championship games
since twenty and eighteen when they lost to Brady and Belichick.
(40:41):
Remember those guys. Tom Brady's now been retired for two
years and working in TV after he went to Tampa
for three. So why aren't they running of gas? They're
ten and one. The Niners just got old. Chiefs aren't young,
And like, I just think it's easy to make excuse.
Maybe invested the wrong players, spent a lot of money
(41:02):
on Deebo Samuel, he's been terrible. Christian McCaffrey isn't even
the best running back on the team right now. Obviously
they've had a million injuries. But Chiefs have had injuries,
they find a way, they figure it out. I just
the excuses are like this notion that they're just running
(41:23):
out of gas because they've been in the playoffs. Like
I don't know. The Chiefs been fucking making runs for
a lot longer than the forty nine ers have, And
in twenty twenty they didn't take off the season. They
were actually in the Super Bowl that year where the
Niners didn't sniff the playoffs. Where do I want to
(41:45):
go now the Giants? There's so many different angles here.
I saw Albert Breers say no one will ever do
off season hard knocks again. I don't know if it's
like in season hard knocks where you don't really have
a choice, Like if you fall into the category, they
can give it to you and you can't really get
out of it. Obviously, if you make the playoffs, you
can't avoid it. But I think when you look at
(42:07):
the Giants, their season couldn't be going any worse. And
this week it felt like it jumped the shark a
little bit, you know, the Jets. When you get weird
stories coming out of New York, like that's been happening
for a long time. Today it was like, Aaron Rodgers
won't let them take an MRI. Well, yeah, he doesn't
trust anyone in that building. That building is just whack
(42:30):
job Central, or at least it had been. I got
Phil Savage is in control. Now I think you'll get
the train back on the tracks. But like, clearly it's
just a weird environment there. People start getting fired, you
don't know who to trust. Like I actually kind of
understand it now, Aaron signed up for that. But all
these stories coming out of New York, it's kind of
(42:50):
easy to be like I on had a Joe Douglas leaked,
this Woody leaked. This is getting weird. The giants are
just like, yeah, we're betching Daniel Jones, not that weird.
Guys to get paid a lot of money who underachieve
get benched constantly. We saw Derek Carr get that treatment.
We saw Russell Wilson, who's, you know, one of the
(43:11):
greatest players in the history of his former franchise, get
benched a year and a half into Denver. So Daniel
Jones getting benched wasn't that weird. It was a bad contract.
But then when they went to Tommy Cutlets over drew
Locke after they had paid him five million dollars to
be the backup. You started going, what are we doing here?
(43:33):
This is not nineteen ninety two or nineteen eighty six
selling tickets and positive vibes and good stories on the
back of the post. Who gives a shit? You're guaranteed
four hundred million dollars in twenty twenty five from the
television deal. You are gonna be a positive when it
comes to profit no matter what. And a couple of
(43:58):
touchdowns for from some Italian kid that played at Syracuse
that had a couple moments last year that honestly cost
you Jayden Daniels and Drake May is not going to
mean shit in the grand scheme of things. But why
would you start them Other than that is John Morris
still obsessed with what they're saying about him on WFN
(44:21):
and what is being written about him in the newspapers. Hey, John,
I would say the majority of your audience under fifty
years old that follows your football team hasn't picked up
one of those papers in years. Ultimately, a conversation from
a media guy in New York because they are Italian
and Tommy Cutliss throws a touchdown isn't going to mean
(44:42):
a goddamn thing. But there's no other way to justify
or to rationalize why they would start him over Drew Locke,
if you went he just wanted to get some positive
pub They were hoping he would have some moments and
people would like it like they did last year, And that,
to me is something the Jets would have done and
(45:06):
forever there was a clear line between the Giants and
the Jets. And listen when I worked for the Giant
or when I worked for the Eagles and we played
the Giants. When you would play them, it was like,
this is just a high level operation. The way the
team looked, I remember them being huge. Their defensive line
was massive, their offensive line was just a bunch of badasses. Obviously,
(45:30):
they had Eli, Tom Coughlin, Jared Reese was a GM.
There was just an impressive operation. And the moment Tom
Coughlin got fired, and obviously I'm not saying that they
shouldn't have fired him, it was time. They have kind
of become the Jets, and you see these things happen,
and you go, does John Mara get a little bit
(45:50):
of a pass because he has perfectly fitted pants, and
he's kind of tall and skinny, and he kind of
looks like a guy that easily could have been a
senator from New York in Woody Johnson, because they were
both born into this. It's not like either of them
or self made men. But wood he feels a little
bit more like a wild card and a guy that like, yeah,
(46:12):
he's just all over the map. And every story that
comes about out about him that has him meeting with
his coordinators and you know, his general manager and there's
seven people lined up next to him that you've never
heard of them. They're like, yeah, that's that's Woody's cronies.
And it's just like just John Morrow walking around the organization.
And listen, you saw it in Hard Knocks. Seems like
a gnuice guy, seems like a guy doesn't seem as
(46:34):
crazy as Woody Johnson flying in on a helicopter to
fire Joe Douglas, as Jay Glazer reported, Yet the actions
in this organization feel too parallel the Jets. And whenever
I hear these older people talk about like, you know,
the league's gonna get involved, the League's gonna do this.
(46:55):
They want the Jets and the Giants to win. The
league is better when the Raiders are good. I got
news for you. It's all bullshit. The league has never
had more people watching, and the Giants haven't been good
now in almost a decade. The league is better when
the Raiders are relevant. That's bullshit because for twenty plus
(47:17):
years of the Internet age, the NFL has never made
more money and the Raiders have played in like one
important game over that entire period of time. So if
you suck now and you're a big market, a small market,
an any market, you just don't matter. But I never
in a million years would have thought the Giants would
stoop to the level of Tommy Cutlet's over Drew Locke.
(47:41):
Why because he's from the area and people like him. Well,
is he the best quarterback? And when you saw all
these players on the team being mad over Daniel Jones,
I actually think it represented more that we're just a
joke now because Drew Locke, who listen, has played in
the league for a while and I'm not acting like
he's Joe Montana, but you paid them five million dollars
(48:03):
to be the backup and he literally bend the backup
all season long. So are we all just part of
the circus. Now, is that what this is? And that's
where you get performances like today where the teams just like,
fuck it, we don't care. This is so stupid. And
I think there's a level of that with the Jets.
All I hear and all I see is like, Sauce Gardener,
(48:25):
what happened to Sauce Gardener? Well, you do realize that
most players, just like most human beings, aren't leaders. They're
not Moses part in the sea with everyone fallowing them.
They're not Peyton Manning walking into practice like motherfuckers follow
my lead. Most of us follow. Successful people are following,
(48:49):
and Sauce looks around, like, who do I follow? Well,
there's no one, So what happens? He falls off a cliff?
And you see the Giants today like everyone's kind of
looking around, what do we do? And no one has
any answers. It's pretty sad. Sometimes you lose, like Commanders today,
(49:09):
they lost, They got beat. Turbot had a great play,
Cooper Rush made some plays. Parsons was making the plays
like it's the NFL. It's difficult. If the Chiefs had
lost today, it would have been a big headline. But
it's like, yes, the NFL, if the Panthers win four
or five games, like they're gonna beat a good team
or two it was at home, you know, in Carolina, Like,
(49:32):
it's not that crazy, it's it's football. It's difficult. If
you do not come to play, you will lose. If
you're a step slice out with the forty nine ers,
they missed ten tackles in the first quarter, so you're
just a little little hesitant and all of a sudden
it's snowballs and you start getting worked. But what's going
on with the Giants right now? I don't It's pretty embarrassing, honestly.
(49:53):
It's just a lover of football as a lover of
like the NFL and what certain things stand for. That's
not the team that when I lived in the Northeast,
did I have any recollection of being like that, Like
Tommy Cutlet's like, what the fuck are we doing? If
I was a Giants fan, I would be furious, And
(50:15):
this is there's a difference, Like, I don't know. It's
not about Daniel Jones. It's about what is going on
right now with our franchise and who can help us?
Because John you fired Tom Coughlin, and ever since then,
it's been the same shit year after year after year,
and all I hear, ever hear anyone, is like, well't
(50:37):
Jet's problems starts with Woody? Well, don't we have to say? Then?
The Giants problem starts with John moraw A couple other
quick things. Dion has had a remarkable season. He got
worked by Kansas, and Kansas like Florida are like two
of the hottest teams in the in the college football.
(50:58):
You know, the crazy thing is if Arizona State beats
Arizona this week, which they should easily, the Deon Sanders
won't even be the coach of the year in his
own conference. Kenny Dillingham went to Arizona State, which was
equally as shitty a couple of years ago as Colorado
(51:19):
and unlike Prime, and I'm not blaming Prime. His son's
a top pick in the NFL. His guy Travis Hunter
might be the second pick in the NFL draft. Like
he has two of, if not the two best players
in college football on his team. Kenny Dillingham's star offensive
player is like a white running back from sax State
(51:40):
who's actually pretty good, but like it ain't the same
and it's gonna be crazy when it happens, because a
lot of people are gonna be like, wait, what if
they win next week in Colorado does not make it
to the Big Twelve championship, Kenny Dillingham is going to
be the coach of the year in the Big Twelve,
(52:01):
not Deon Sanders. So I wouldn't have seen that coming.
Arizona State and Dion's done a great job this year.
If they win this last week and are nine to three, remarkable.
But a lot of people, even if you didn't think
they'd be this thought that, you know, be six seven wins.
I probably thought five or six. Everybody. Everybody picked Arizona
(52:24):
State to be dead last in the Big Twelve. And
this is why with the transfer portal, it is so
hard to figure out college football. I was thinking about
this watching some of these you know, depending on what
game you were watching. It was senior day. So on
senior Day, a lot of the coaches, right before the
game starts, stand out there and basically hug and the
(52:45):
player comes up the senior with his family, with his girlfriend,
with his brothers and sisters. It's a cool moment, and
I was thinking, like, how many dudes now go up
to their coach and like they just met him six
months ago. They barely know the guy. Where in the
history of college football, if you are a senior at
a program, or even like Quinn, you wers of Texas
(53:08):
who participated in a senior day because he's going to
go to the pros, you've been in that program at
minimum for several years. So you're watching all these college
programs all over Saturday lose. The turnover in these programs
is it's unprecedented, It's never happened. So to just be
shocked when some of these ranked teams lose, I think
(53:32):
it's a little disingenuous the way we talk about it.
This is not twenty fourteen. So when so and so
team Ole Miss loses to Florida, they haven't had the
same core for four straight years. When whatever team loses
in a big upset, like they have a lot of
new players. And that's not just freshmen, that's guys that
(53:54):
were literally all over the country. So I actually think
what we just wentness on Saturday night with Alabama losing
or Miss losing, uh Texas A and m losing obviously
Indiana getting worked, which is a separate conversation from this
is going to be something we need to get used to.
And the other thing is Indiana got worked. Indiana in
(54:21):
the second half got absolutely curb stomped like that. That
was JV vers varsity. That was not a fair fight. Now,
if these other teams hadn't lost, I was one hundred
percent fine with them missing the playoffs. Now they're gonna
get in because they're only gonna have one loss. But
(54:43):
in college football, we do have to acknowledge some teams
getting to ten or eleven wins their path is dramatically
easier than the other. I'm not from the South. I
don't care about SEC football like in terms of deep
in my soul, I have a bias for them. I
(55:03):
just watch the sport, and I've been watching college football
religiously and really for a living now for a long time,
for fifteen plus years. And if you have eyes and
you spend any time on Saturdays in the fall, you
will see that the way better players, especially on defense,
play in the SEC, and the tougher road environments are
(55:27):
in the SEC. So when I see Alabama lose at
Oklahoma or a and M lose at Auburn, their records
don't mean that much to me because I watch the
players that those programs have on defense, I go, God,
those look like a bunch of NFL guys. Their speed
is a lot faster than when I watch Wisconsin or
(55:50):
Indiana or Rutgers or Maryland. It looks like a different sport.
And listen, if it wasn't for Oregon being part of
the package, the Big Ten would be an embarrassment this year. Obviously,
Ohio State's could they're good. Every year we saw Penn State.
They can't win a big game to save their life,
and honestly, they should have lost to Minnesota. So these
(56:13):
people are arguing, and I see Danny Kanell and Joel
Klatt the SEC is the best conference, and honestly, I
don't even think it's that close. I think there's a
pretty wide gap. And obviously, if you're determining the twelve
teams that are gonna make the playoffs, your record and
whether you won or lost the game matters. But there
(56:35):
are a lot of teams with six or seven wins
in the Southeastern Conference that if you flip conferences, I
think would have a way better record. If you put
Indiana this year in the sec. I think, best case
they win seven games. That I was blown away. I
was rooting for him. I wanted to see them have
(56:56):
success against Ohio State. And after that first drive it
was kind of a joke, and once the punter missed
that snap, it was on like Donkey Kong, and that
second half looked like Ohio State. What they do to
all the shitty programs in the Big Ten, which this
year happens to be a large percentage of them. Have
(57:17):
a good night, have a good day whenever you're watching this,
and we'll see you tomorrow. The volume
The volume What is going on Everybody? John middlecough three
and now podcast? How are we doing my people? Hopefully
everyone is doing well, having a great day and or
(00:25):
night or morning or whenever you're listening to this. I
just watched the Eagles and Walter Payton aka Saquon Barkley
destroy the Rams on Sunday Night football. Very very impressive
win for the Birds who Detroit's having an incredible year
and they look awesome. The Eagles have started flipping a
(00:47):
switch where you go could they take on Detroit Lions?
So we will dive into the Birds. We will dive
into the Rams, who their offensive line which is getting cooked.
Their offensive line is been an issue, I would say
for a couple of weeks now and a lot of
other stuff going on around the NFL. The Chiefs are
(01:07):
they getting a bad rap because all they do is
basically win. I mean, they're ten and one, but they
barely beat the Panthers and everyone's writing them off. I
just you know, I know this. Forty nine Er fans
would die to have everyone hating on the team and
be ten and one. Kyle Shanahan, his season's over. But
some other stuff we'll just fire around the NFL, the
(01:30):
Giants and Tommy Cutlet's what an embarrassment. That's I think
we have to acknowledge that the Giants are basically like
their counterpart that they share a stadium with now and
I never would have thought that would be true, but
I think it's like the Spider Man meme where they're
pointing at each other. The Jets and the Giants have
kind of become one and yeah, a little college football.
(01:53):
We'll do a big mail bag for Tuesday show. I
went on with Colin as I do every Sunday, so
ch that out. Make sure you subscribe to the three
and OL podcasts separate from a Collins feed as well
as the YouTube channel. Make sure you do that subscribe.
All of our content is up there as well. But first,
can I tell you about my friends, my partners in
(02:15):
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as price is guaranteed. You know, it's funny early on
in the season whenever you get new coordinators, right, we don't.
Part of it is the world we live in, and
(03:20):
I'm guilty of this. Our expectations are really high with
good and bad teams, but we don't leave you much
room to figure things out. We just come in and
criticize or come in in annoint And I think the
Eagles are a good example of it. Took them a
little time to figure things out with the offensive and
the defensive coordinator, but at the right time of the season.
(03:42):
Not only are their clicking, but clearly their two hires
look excellent and their team looks fantastic. That wasn't ass kicking.
They worked them, and I think it really shines a
light on a couple things philosophically, and I saw it
when I worked there, and they have never flinched from
this the whole time. Howie Roseman has ran the operation,
(04:05):
and it goes back through Andy Reid through the late
nineties up through the two thousands. The line of scrimmage,
that is where you win. It doesn't mean you can't
get aggressive and make a huge trade for aj Brown,
or spend money on Saquan or draft a corner really high.
But what separates you in the NFL, just like in
(04:26):
college football, is the offensive line and the defensive line.
And you look at this team as the season is gone.
Jalen Carter is a fucking menace. He is an unstoppable force.
Brandon Graham, even at his age, is still an excellent player.
What round did they draft Brandon Graham in the first,
(04:48):
Jalen Carter the first, Nolan Smith high in the second,
Nakobe Dean the third. Like they invest so much in
their front seven and anyone that impacts the quarterback, and
they have forever and offensive line. How many teams could
lose Jason Kelsey, one of the greatest players in the
(05:09):
history of the franchise, and not really skip a beat. Well,
why is that possible? Because they're always investing in the
offensive line. When Jason Peters left is like, how do
you replace a Hall of Fame tackle? Well, we got
this guy in the seventh round that we've molded into
be a ten year starter at left tackle. And I
(05:30):
was thinking about this tonight as Saquon Barkley and one
of the offensive linemen are just dominating Mackai Becton. You know,
one's man's trash is another man's treasure. But I think
when you look and I admire these type people just
in general, because it's so easy when everyone's hanging a
(05:51):
left to follow them and hang a left. I would
say pretty consistently, especially in business, when everyone's hanging a left,
that's usual when people turn right right. How often have
you heard the last fifteen years, God, I wish I
would have bought a house in two thousand and nine, ten,
twenty eleven. I've heard that from a million people. I
(06:11):
didn't have any money then, so it wasn't even an option.
But how many older people or people in position that
like God, I didn't pull the trigger. I waited a
little bit and I spent a lot more or God,
I wish I would have bought stocks in twenty twenty
two when everything looked like it was falling off a cliffs, like,
gotta run everything's going down. Most successful people usually do
because they don't follow conventional wisdom. They don't follow the herd.
(06:36):
And I think Howie is a good example, and honestly
the rest of the NFC falls under this as well.
Running backs, they're dead. Who wants to run? The Giants
were getting ready to u Saquon, We don't even want you.
We'll take you. How about twenty seven million dollars guaranteed? Well,
who do you have to beat in your conference? Well?
Last year the forty nine ers were in the Super
(06:57):
Bowl with Christian McCaffrey, who they traded a second, a third,
and a fourth round pick the Detroit Lions, who are
currently the best team in the NFL and had a
lead on the forty nine ers last year in the
second half in the NFC Championship game, not only signed
David Montgomery as a free agent, extended him, and drafted
(07:21):
a running back in the first round in Jamar Gibbs.
The Green Bay Packers, who are going to the playoffs
for whatever the I don't know, twentieth time in twenty
five years, got rid of Aaron Jones, who they drafted
and paid, who was on their team for a long time,
(07:41):
to pay Josh Jacobs, who was a first round pick,
and then they no longer wanted Aaron Jones. The Minnesota Vikings,
who happened to be nine and two, immediately picked him
up and he's their starting running back. So basically, all
the teams in Atlanta who is going to make the
playoffs because their division sucks one of their best players
Bijon Robinson, who they drafted in the top ten. So
(08:02):
all I hear is how running backs are done devalued
and no one wants them. Well, the good teams view value,
and all the good teams in the NFC have invested
in that position. And Saquon who wasted away on an
awful team with an awful offensive line, clearly that team
(08:24):
had given up on them and they didn't want them,
and listen, I don't blame them. You had to move on.
It didn't make that much sense. And I saw someone
say this on Elon's app x formally known as Twitter.
You know, the Giants take a lot of shit, but
I think we all agree that people like it didn't
make that much sense anymore. What about all the other
(08:47):
teams that could have had Saquon Barkley that were paying
guards eighteen million dollars or paying fringe corners fifteen million
dollars a year. Why were the Eagles of you know,
fifteen teams could have used the guy, they paid him
twenty seven million dollars guaranteed. Makai Beckton's also a good example.
(09:11):
The Jets total failure, total bust, one of the picks
where Joe Douglas screwed up. Beagles looked at him and went,
you know what, we think he could be a guard,
and guess what, he's their starting right guard for clearly
one of the most explosive offenses in the league, and
(09:34):
clearly one of, if not the best running game in
the NFL. Why do good teams do things that shitty
teams go we don't want you, we don't need you,
you don't work here. The good teams in football, just
like the good teams all around team sports, have been
taking players that were either undervalued, overlooked, thrown to the
(09:59):
trail by bad teams all of my life and using
those guys to the best of their abilities to win
on that team. It's like clockwork happens all the time.
I said it at the beginning of the season, I said, guys, one,
I picked the Eagles to win the division just because
(10:21):
I went, there's just too much talent. Now. I thought
the Cowboys would be better. I didn't think Washington would
have started this good, but I thought the Eagles were
going to win the division on talent alone. And I said,
you would have to be high on some really good
stuff to go. If Saquan's healthy behind this offensive line
with a quarterback who is a running threat, that he's
(10:44):
not going to have a good year. Not I never
would have envisioned him being the MVP potentially of the NFL,
but that's what he is. And the reason you pay
position coaches a ton of money when they're good is
because they can take a guy that everyone and I'm
sure I'm guilty of this too, of making fun of
(11:05):
a guy like McKai Becton. He's overweight, he's always injured.
What a waste of a pick? He sucks and they go, wait, Howie,
how much would we have to pay to get that guy?
We can probably get him for under five million. I
don't know, a couple million bucks. I think he can
be a guard, a guard. He's been a tackle his
whole NFL career. I think we can move him to guard. Okay,
(11:29):
let's do it. Now. We're in the middle of November
and McKay Beckton is fucking road grading for them with
their other good offensive line as Saquan runs for two
hundred and fifty five yards on Sunday Night football against
what I thought coming in at night was a really
really good defense. Turns out I still think they're probably
a good defense, but relative to that offense is a
(11:51):
completely different level. And the Eagles right now with Fangio,
who clearly has that group playing at a really high level. Honestly,
this game wouldn't have been that close if Darius Slay
hadn't gotten injured and they had to put in Rogers
number thirty four. Like any good coach in any good
scheme and any good offense, they attacked him over and
(12:13):
over and over again like he was me or you.
But even that wasn't enough to overcome the talent discrepancy
in this game. I think the Rams are pretty good
now they're five and six, like the forty nine ers
five and six. I'd say they are a little more
bullish five and six, but it's probably gonna be tough.
If I was a betting man right now, they're probably
not gonna make the playoffs. But the gap tonight between
(12:36):
those two teams was pretty wide, and I think we
have to acknowledge, like the Lions have been incredible. They
have won every way humanly possible. They've won in multiple
blowouts where they scored fifty two points. They have won
the day like, yeah, today's going to be ugly. There
aren't gonna be many points on the board for a
(12:57):
large portion of the game. It's going to be fourteen
to six, but it's gonna feel like we're a fucking
anaconda around your neck choking your ass out. And that's
what good teams do. They can win, Like when we're on,
it's gonna be it's gonna be ugly, but hey, you
want to get you want to muck up this game.
You want to win in the fucking mud, you want
(13:19):
to win an ugly game, Let's do it. Buckle up,
and that's what the Lions did. The Eagles, like, I
think one thing we all questioned, you know, we knew
the individual talents, how would it all come together. They're
showing some of that, and I think of all the teams,
they have the most talent to take them out. Now
(13:40):
we'll see how that division shakes out. I mean, Minnesota's
nine to two and the Packers. I mean, the Niners
were under man today, but they beat the shit out
of them. But I think right now, clearly the Eagles
are the second best team, and they still play the
Ravens in a couple of weeks, they play the Steelers,
so they still get some games. The problem for them
(14:00):
is their last three weeks are going to be against
the Cowboys, the Commanders, and the Giants. I might be
out of order there. I know the Giants is their
last game, so they could just be killing these teams,
which is a good thing, you know, in the sense
of you're getting wins, But like playing your best football
against better teams going into the playoffs, I think you
(14:23):
would probably like moving maybe the Steeler of the Ravens
game with like second of the last, you know, like
week sixteen, Week seventeen. But it's looking pretty good for them.
And this is a muscle flex year because a lot
of people thought I was crazy. Everyone's writing this team
off and listen, we don't even love their head coach.
(14:44):
But this is what the Eagles deserve credit for. They
are willing to spend a lot of money and invest
into a lot of different people, not just a running back,
but coordinators Kellen Moore and Vic Fangio. I don't have
their contracts, but like I know some people that kind
of do. And it ain't cheap. Vic Fangio, most people think,
(15:06):
is the highest paid defensive coordinator in the NFL. Kellen
Moore ain't making a million dollars. I don't know if
he's making five, but I know he's probably making three
or four. So combined, they pay those guys a shitload
of money. So it's like, yeah, you know, our head
coach has some some limitations. He's not gonna be able
(15:28):
to call offense. He's gonna be more of a motivational guy,
and people are gonna make fun of him. He's some's
gonna be well deserved, but we will overcome that. What's
the cost to bring Vic out of Miami, Who's the
best offensive coordinator available that we think is gonna have
the best chance to work with Jalen and our offensive personnel.
But what's it gonna cost? Because some teams go, oh yeah,
(15:50):
I don't know, Yeah, too many years, too much money.
It's like, we see it happen all the time. We
saw it happen with the Bears. We saw it happen
with the Raiders. The Eagles go, here's a blank check,
let's fucking roll and it's working. And now they look
they look poised to be a serious contender. And on
the flip side of the Rams, you know, I thought
(16:13):
once everyone came back, they would be a major, major problem.
But something just feels off. I wrote it down. Something
just feels off right. They're not like a disaster, but
you watch them play, You're like, I don't know, And
maybe it's just the offensive line cohesion. They've gotten some
guys back off injury. It hasn't looked right. Stafford was
(16:34):
getting destroyed tonight. I mean, listen, I have a ton
of respect for there are only so many human beings
that could even attempt to play NFL tackle. I don't
think the casual fan realizes most left and right tackles
in college football don't have a snowballs chance in hell
(16:57):
to play in the NFL play in the NFL. These
guys are starting Division one tackles. And think about it,
how many teams there are. There's eighteen teams in the
Big Ten. There's like sixteen teams in the SEC. I mean,
do the math, the Big twelve, in the ACC. I'm
talking those conferences. Most of their tackles will never play
(17:18):
in the NFL. Honestly, most of them won't even make
it to training camp if they get like tryout positions.
So to get the opportunity to have the size, the strength,
it's hard tonight. There were moments early in the game
when Brandon Graham was going untouched. He went, is Stafford safe?
Is Stafford safe? I mean he got hit one time?
(17:41):
And this is what quarterbacks make a lot of money.
They get a ton of publicity. They're the most famous
players in the most popular league. You get hit by
guys that are two hundred and fifty to three hundred
and fifty pounds sometimes that do not get touched either
(18:01):
coming around the corner or coming up the middle while
your eyes are on a wide receiver looking down the field,
and that guy hits you full speed. When Brandon Graham
hit Stafford to Night full speed, it made me think,
like I don't think the casual fan and sometimes I
fall under this too when I'm just sitting there watching
game on TV. Respects how fucking hard that guy just
(18:25):
got hit. How much that hurt getting slammed into the ground. Hell,
there was a play tonight and listen, we all make
fun of it. The soft of the league, the league rules,
and a lot of that is true relative to the
way the league used to be officiated. There was a
play today when Saquon land into the line of scrimmage
and he got hit by about three people and kind
(18:46):
of picked up and driven back. And I don't know
if he got the wind knocked out of him. I
don't know if he got blasted in the nuts, but
he was down for a while. The trainers came out
and even Siriani walked out there, and you could tell
the trainers like he's okay, he just got you know,
he just needs a minute, and we just go Yeah,
he's gonna be okay. You just get a breather and
come back in. It's like this game is still really,
(19:08):
really violent, and the speed of which these guys are
moving has never been faster on the aggregate. Obviously, there
have always been fast guys. I'm not saying like Lawrence
Taylor Reggie White didn't move fast, but on the accurate
top to bottom. And like, here's the thing. There are
two guys in this game that were drafted number nineteen
and twenty two. Jared Verse from Florida State went to
(19:31):
the Rams at nineteen. Wasn't even the first defensive lineman
off the board. There were several ahead of him, and
Quinnon Mitchell, the corner for the Eagles, went picked twenty two.
Both those two players, if you redid the draft, and
here's the thing I would take. If you told me
you can get a star corner or a star wide receiver,
(19:54):
I would take the star corner over the star wide
receiver in a draft high because I can get wide
receivers later in the draft. It is more difficult to
find star corners in the third or the fourth round
or every year we see starting wide receivers come from
that area, not saying you can't, but the stats are
(20:15):
on your side that if you're gonna get a corner
or a pass rusher, you are more inclined to do that.
And we see the Giants and we see the Cardinals,
like if the Arizona Cardinals could do it over, Marvin
Harrison is a fantastic player. I would rather have Jared
Verse at pick four. Hell, I'd rather have Quinyon Mitchell
(20:37):
at pick four and take a wide receiver in the
second round. And I actually think they had two picks
because they had the Texans pick from the previous year
when they traded up for Will Anderson. Obviously, the Atlanta
Falcons at pick eight would rather have either one of
those guys, but specifically Jared Verse. And I think we're
gonna look back and those guys are already clearly two
(21:00):
of the best players from this entire draft, let alone
the first round. And the Rams, their defensive line love it.
I mean, Verse Fisk. They are a very very physical team,
and tonight they got leaned on a little bit because
the Eagles are too. And that's why you build your
team that way. And you look at the Rams and
(21:22):
this is a forty nine er issue. As well, your
offensive line is just not good enough. And when your
offensive line is not good enough and you're forced in
a throwing situations, whether you got Purty, whether you got
Matt Stafford, whether you got fucking Michael Vick, the guy
is gonna be under duress and run around for his life.
And obviously Stafford is not exactly Hurts or vic or
Lamar Jackson, like he's a pocket quarterback, and tonight he
(21:46):
didn't really stand a chance. And they're gonna comes to
a point like sometimes you're calling these plays like it's
just kind of on the player. There's nothing you can
really do if your guard center is getting spun like
a dradle and he can barely touch the guy and
they're immediately screaming, look out, watch out, my guy's coming,
(22:11):
and then he's just getting crushed. And that was the
big question mark early this season with the Eagles is like, ah,
their pass rush, what the hell's wrong with their past
russ They've invested all this in their pass rush and
now it's kicking ass and taking names. So Dominant Dominant
win by Philly fun Night, just from a if you
like personnel in the draft, just kind of watching this team,
(22:31):
how they were built and what a you know what
a season from Saquon really pretty special. It's it's if
you just love great players. I say it all the time,
like you hear sometimes people argue like, don't we want
to see Cinderellas And this always used to be a
(22:53):
coward thing, Like everyone talks about Cinderellas until you put
two of them playing each other on a Saturday night
in college football, and then no one watches, Like people
want to watch Ohio State, Alabama and Georgia, Like yeah,
Indiana was a cool story until I watched them against
Ohio State. I'm like, yeah, this is I don't need
to see this again. Like everyone loves that good undrafted
(23:16):
free agent that ran for one hundred yards, Like yeah,
I like the guy that was a top five pick.
There was a blue chipper since college that if you
watched him at Penn State against Ohio State and against
Michigan and all these teams, he looked like Walter Payton
meets Barry Sanders and sometimes, like any young human being,
if you get put in the wrong situation, you can
(23:37):
get lost. Well, now he's back and it looks like
he's on a fucking vengeance tour right now, out for
blood against every team he plays. And the cool part
about Saquan is he's not angry about it, like some
people are very spiteful. Some people are very petty and
that drives them. Like I think we're all human beings
(23:59):
kind of driven in different ways, like there are different
buckets for all of us. I can be like that
as well. I'm sure many people listening can. But I
don't like that negative headspace Like I don't. It doesn't
fuel me in the right direction. So I try to
be driven by positivity and optimism, and I think Saquon,
like watching him this season, feels like a very upbeat,
(24:21):
positive not holding any ill will against the Giants. Even
this week Daniel Jones kicked to the curb, Like all
week he's like, yeah, I've been reaching out, hopefully he's
doing okay. He's my guy, instead of like fuck them,
their losers, screw that organization, Like he hasn't really taken
that tactic. So I think this has been a huge
year just on a national level for Saquon to be like, God,
(24:43):
this guy's just this type. People are the type human
being that historically in this league, the type person that
the league has built. There. You know, upon these guys,
super high level, elite player, needle mover all time, great
tw and just awesome human being. So props to Howie
(25:04):
for making that happen, and props the Saquon for choosing
the Eagles because it's just a match made in heaven. Okay,
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Speaker 1 (26:48):
Speaking of Match Made in Heaven, you know it's funny
when you become really good and things aren't going perfectly
but you're still having success. People love to nitpick you.
And I think right now, when you look at the
Chiefs and really it's been like this off season, they
set the bar so high that unless they win games
(27:09):
by twenty or thirty points, people are going to be
critical even when they win. I just wanted to take
a step back because in the Patrick Mahomes era, I
think we underestimate, or at least the way it's contextualized
and the way we speak about it, it's almost underrated.
When he began starting in twenty eighteen one, they have
(27:33):
been to every Confidence Conference championship game on his watch. Obviously,
in six of those seasons or six or four out
of those six they have gone to the Super Bowl.
Three of them they've won. In eighteen they were twelve
and four. In nineteen they were twelve and four, In
twenty they were fourteen and two. In twenty one they
(27:53):
were twelve and five. Last or two years ago they
were fourteen and three. And last year was a disaster
at a eleven and six, and obviously they still won
the Super Bowl. And this season everyone's had an opinion,
what's up with the Chiefs? Is this their downfall? What
are they doing? They're ten and one? And Andy Reid
(28:13):
said something to Day in the locker room that I thought,
you know, sometimes we overcomplicate this because I love talking
about free agency. I love talking about the draft. I
loved talking about how organizations do this and how organizations
do that. You know, the number one goal if you're
a head coach, if you're the starting quarterback, if you're
the GM, it's just a win games. Doesn't matter what
(28:36):
mel Kiper gave you draft grade back in April. It
doesn't matter if people thought your free agents were good.
It doesn't matter our opinions on you over under in
training camp. When we're in middle of November, what's your record?
And they go, we're ten and one. We've played eleven
games and we've lost one of them. It's like, well,
(28:58):
they've come close here and they could this game. Yeah,
but we didn't. And unlike a lot of these teams,
check our fucking resume and listen. Do I think the
Chiefs are gonna win the Super Bowl? Actually don't. I
would not bet on them. Just the law of averages.
If you play in all these crazy games, you're bound
(29:18):
to lose a weird game in the playoffs. I watched
a lot of the Patriots dynasty, and they lost some years. Hell,
they lost in the second round some years. I vividly
remember when Bart Scott and Rex Ryan beat him, and
it was a really really big deal at the time,
because it was. But sometimes it happens you don't win.
It's why no team's ever won three straight Super Bowls. Hell,
(29:41):
it's really rare for a team to win back to back.
Chiefs just did it for the first time since the
Patriots in the early two thousands. But can't we just acknowledge,
like this run that they're on, it's kind of historic,
and you do stuff like this even if you lose
in the conference championship this year to the Bills, Let's
say like that's just adding more pelse to the wall
(30:02):
of this incredible dynasty that they're on. So one, if
you're a Chiefs fan, it doesn't get any better than this.
This is as good as it gets. And also, like
Andy said in the locker room to day after they
barely squeaked by beating the Panthers, you get every team's
best shot, and any team that isn't good, you're definitely
(30:24):
their super Bowl. And on the road after a big
game in Buffalo. One, the Chiefs were up twenty seven
to nineteen late in this game, so it's not like
they had to come storman back. They were in full control.
Bryce made some places, they tied the game, got a
two point conversion. It was impressive, and the Chiefs went
right down the field. Not once, not once in my mind,
(30:48):
did I think they're gonna lose. Not once in my
mind when they got it back with enough time on
the clock that I think they're not gonna get in
super Bowl range. It's a very rare group of guys
that you go, they're gonna figure this out. They're gonna
make it happen. It's like games on the line and
you're down two and Steph shooting at three, you think
(31:09):
it's going in. When I was a kid and Tiger
Woods was in the mix, He's gonna find a way
to win. That's how I think about the Chiefs. Is
it the prettiest thing? No, it's not. But what the
run that they're on twenty eighteen to present. There was
a LinkedIn page is absolutely incredible. I do you know?
(31:29):
I saw this headline on Bleacher Report on Twitter that
said since September, bo Nicks has sixteen touchdowns and two interceptions.
A lot of people when I buried Miami a couple
of weeks ago, you know, Miami Dolphins fans think they
(31:51):
still have a really good chance to make the playoffs.
I think they're a loss this Thursday. Way from it
basically being over. It could be like Denver is a
win away and you're a loss away and you play
the Packers this week, which is gonna be very difficult.
Like it's just a mathematical equation here. You'd have five wins,
they'd have eight, and I'm just betting on them getting
(32:12):
to ten, especially when I look at their schedule and
I'm betting against you doing it. And Denver, who's over
undercoming into the season, was five and a half now
looks like it's gonna be a massive upset if they
don't play a playoff game. Do I think they're gonna
win a playoff game? Probably not. It's difficult. But anytime
(32:34):
your defense is that good and your quarterback is clearly
playing with a lot of confidence, they're gonna have a chance.
And I mentioned this to Coward earlier tonight. You know
what we can say about the Russell Wilson Sean Payton divorce.
Their personalities were never meant for each other. One they
were like, I guess they weren't set up on a
(32:55):
blind date because Sean Payton knew what he was signing
up for But if you had followed Sean Payton's career,
I would say a pretty cocky high belief in himself.
Some might say that he thinks he invented football and
could be just pretty aggressive and Russell Wilson just like listen.
(33:19):
I think it's I don't even think it's fake anymore.
I just think it's who he is. I think he's
like a robot, a very optimistic, positive robot that turns
off people like Sean Payton or just I don't know,
normal people like myself kind of off and be the
type person that I could only be around so much.
But when you're the coordinator, slash play caller, head coach,
(33:43):
you're gonna spend a lot of time around that guy.
And then his skill set didn't mesh up with what
Sean Payton wants in a quarterback. It was never gonna work.
He did not want to coach him, but he could
not turn down the ninety million dollars, and he knew
if he got enough juice he could make that divorce happened,
and he did, and he was right to do it
(34:04):
because I don't think the Broncos would be as good
if they were forced to keep playing offense with Russell Wilson,
just like Russell Wilson got granted going to Mike Tomlin,
who probably falls much closer under his category of just
getting along with their you know, their sayings. I guess
Tomlin can just deal with Russell's you know, daily optimism,
(34:25):
but mainly like his skill set fits the Steelers can
throw bombs. It works, and it's just worked for both.
You know, It's one of the rare times sometimes it's
like you just break up, cut a player and it's
a disaster. Your team sucks. That guy goes on and struggles.
It's a complete opposite. Sean Payton and bow Nicks are
(34:45):
going to the playoffs. The Steelers and Russell Wilson are
going to the playoffs. It's one of those rare win wins.
Speaking of win win win the NFC North, you know
the Lions. What's crazy about their season is they feel
like they're the best team in the NFL by a
(35:07):
wide margin. They are going to win the super Bowl
and it's not even going to be close yet. They
are not even a lock to win their own division.
The Minnesota Vikings are nine and two. They are having
the quietest nine and two season probably in the history
of the NFL, and the Packers, like, I'm not going
(35:31):
to put too much stock into today, but they clearly
have a lot of good players and when healthy on offense,
that thing is very, very potent. And that's a real team,
Like that's a team that can make serious noise in
the playoffs. It's crazy how top heavy that division is
and all three of those teams, like the Lions can't
(35:51):
pull their foot off the pedal because they got those
two teams right on their ass. And it's just it's wild.
I mean, it's I thought the division was gonna be
good coming into the season. I thought Sam Darnold would
work in Minnesota. I never in a million years thought
they would be nine and two. You know, for as
awesome as the Lions season is gone, Like they were
(36:13):
right there with the forty nine ers last year, they
were in the NFC Championship. I do think you could
argue it's been way crazier what Minnesota has done than
either Green Bay or even Detroit, which is having I
think I saw today the greatest season in the history
of the franchise so far. But the head scratcher to
(36:34):
a lot of people is Washington, and I think this
is pretty simple. Their team was never that good. What
they were doing early in the season was a testament
to Dan Quinn and the coaching staff. They don't have
that much talent. Now you can say the quarterback has regressed, obviously.
If you watch Caleb the day, he looked dramatically better
(36:56):
than Jaden. If you watch bo Nicks today, he looked
better than Jayden. Though Jayden still made a bunch of
good plays with his legs and still looks like a
good player. Just throw a couple bad picks. But like,
if Washington goes nine to eight, it'll feel, if you're
a Washington fan, a big kick in the nuts, because
at one point in time you were like seven and two.
(37:19):
But I do think nine and eight would feel like
what your team represents. And everyone is going to be
all over Kingsbury and Colin was asking me about it.
I see everyone writing about it on social I've been
very critical of Kingsbury over the years. His offense is
not my style, like fundamentally wouldn't be my type. Higher
(37:40):
if I was an owner of a GM always heard
he's a great guy, son of a marine. Heard he's
in the fucking facility like four point thirty. Like he's
not like some pretty boy, lazy guy. I mean, technically
he's a pretty boy, but he's not. That's not the
way he operates and lives his coaching career. Dude to
grinder offensively just comes from you know, the Mike Leech tree,
(38:03):
which is cool, but it's not what I would want
in the NFL. I'm not putting this on him. Like
their team just isn't that good. They just don't have
that much firepower. They've hit some freak plays, obviously the
Hail Mary and even today against Terry McLaurin, you go, God,
why didn't Dallas kick there? You know, how do they
not beat Dallas's ass? I'm watching today, Like Dallas got
(38:24):
some good players too. I don't think the gap between
those two teams, honestly, is that crazy wide. And the
other thing is like everyone's writing Mike McCarthy off, Like, listen,
this is not the NBA. You don't just punt on
the season. You still try. Mike McCarthy's won a lot
of game for a long time, kind of knows what
he's doing. And listen, Mike Zimmers had a rough year.
(38:45):
Check his resume. It's not bad either, Like these divisional
games are just difficult. The Houston Texans today lost to
the Titans. I looked at the box score of that game.
Will Levis was sacked eight times and pick six and
you lost. If you told me before the game that
Will Levis would be sacked eight times and throw a
(39:06):
pick six, what the final score would be, I would
say Texans forty, Titans twelve. So to lose that game.
But it just even the Broncos in the Raider game
was relatively close. These divisional games in November and December
are just tightly contested. These teams are very, very comfortable
(39:27):
against each other. Not only are you used to playing
the individual opponent. Like if I'm the left tackle, I
know the pass rusher, I'm the wide receiver, I know
the corner. You just see them on film all the time.
Because when you're playing your other divisional opponents, what games
do you think you study? You just probably see I
would say I don't know two to three hundred percent
(39:51):
more of that opponent. If you're on a team for
three or four years, then you do have every other
team in the league. Once the season starts, you're just
constantly seeing those players, so there's a comfortability also going
to the stadium away game, like Dallas has been going there.
If you're Ceedee Lamb, if you're Micah Parsons, if you're
Cooper Rush. And that's what I respect about Dallas because
(40:18):
you know, the forty nine ers got their ass kick
today against the Backers, and this is obviously the season
from hell. And this is what I said about the Chiefs.
Everyone's like, wow, this Niners just ran out of gas.
They just had enough. Well, why would the Chiefs just
runt of gas? They've been going to conference championship games
since twenty and eighteen when they lost to Brady and Belichick.
(40:41):
Remember those guys. Tom Brady's now been retired for two
years and working in TV after he went to Tampa
for three. So why aren't they running of gas? They're
ten and one. The Niners just got old. Chiefs aren't young,
And like, I just think it's easy to make excuse.
Maybe invested the wrong players, spent a lot of money
(41:02):
on Deebo Samuel, he's been terrible. Christian McCaffrey isn't even
the best running back on the team right now. Obviously
they've had a million injuries. But Chiefs have had injuries,
they find a way, they figure it out. I just
the excuses are like this notion that they're just running
(41:23):
out of gas because they've been in the playoffs. Like
I don't know. The Chiefs been fucking making runs for
a lot longer than the forty nine ers have, And
in twenty twenty they didn't take off the season. They
were actually in the Super Bowl that year where the
Niners didn't sniff the playoffs. Where do I want to
(41:45):
go now the Giants? There's so many different angles here.
I saw Albert Breers say no one will ever do
off season hard knocks again. I don't know if it's
like in season hard knocks where you don't really have
a choice, Like if you fall into the category, they
can give it to you and you can't really get
out of it. Obviously, if you make the playoffs, you
can't avoid it. But I think when you look at
(42:07):
the Giants, their season couldn't be going any worse. And
this week it felt like it jumped the shark a
little bit, you know, the Jets. When you get weird
stories coming out of New York, like that's been happening
for a long time. Today it was like, Aaron Rodgers
won't let them take an MRI. Well, yeah, he doesn't
trust anyone in that building. That building is just whack
(42:30):
job Central, or at least it had been. I got
Phil Savage is in control. Now I think you'll get
the train back on the tracks. But like, clearly it's
just a weird environment there. People start getting fired, you
don't know who to trust. Like I actually kind of
understand it now, Aaron signed up for that. But all
these stories coming out of New York, it's kind of
(42:50):
easy to be like I on had a Joe Douglas leaked,
this Woody leaked. This is getting weird. The giants are
just like, yeah, we're betching Daniel Jones, not that weird.
Guys to get paid a lot of money who underachieve
get benched constantly. We saw Derek Carr get that treatment.
We saw Russell Wilson, who's, you know, one of the
(43:11):
greatest players in the history of his former franchise, get
benched a year and a half into Denver. So Daniel
Jones getting benched wasn't that weird. It was a bad contract.
But then when they went to Tommy Cutlets over drew
Locke after they had paid him five million dollars to
be the backup. You started going, what are we doing here?
(43:33):
This is not nineteen ninety two or nineteen eighty six
selling tickets and positive vibes and good stories on the
back of the post. Who gives a shit? You're guaranteed
four hundred million dollars in twenty twenty five from the
television deal. You are gonna be a positive when it
comes to profit no matter what. And a couple of
(43:58):
touchdowns for from some Italian kid that played at Syracuse
that had a couple moments last year that honestly cost
you Jayden Daniels and Drake May is not going to
mean shit in the grand scheme of things. But why
would you start them Other than that is John Morris
still obsessed with what they're saying about him on WFN
(44:21):
and what is being written about him in the newspapers. Hey, John,
I would say the majority of your audience under fifty
years old that follows your football team hasn't picked up
one of those papers in years. Ultimately, a conversation from
a media guy in New York because they are Italian
and Tommy Cutliss throws a touchdown isn't going to mean
(44:42):
a goddamn thing. But there's no other way to justify
or to rationalize why they would start him over Drew Locke,
if you went he just wanted to get some positive
pub They were hoping he would have some moments and
people would like it like they did last year, And that,
to me is something the Jets would have done and
(45:06):
forever there was a clear line between the Giants and
the Jets. And listen when I worked for the Giant
or when I worked for the Eagles and we played
the Giants. When you would play them, it was like,
this is just a high level operation. The way the
team looked, I remember them being huge. Their defensive line
was massive, their offensive line was just a bunch of badasses. Obviously,
(45:30):
they had Eli, Tom Coughlin, Jared Reese was a GM.
There was just an impressive operation. And the moment Tom
Coughlin got fired, and obviously I'm not saying that they
shouldn't have fired him, it was time. They have kind
of become the Jets, and you see these things happen,
and you go, does John Mara get a little bit
(45:50):
of a pass because he has perfectly fitted pants, and
he's kind of tall and skinny, and he kind of
looks like a guy that easily could have been a
senator from New York in Woody Johnson, because they were
both born into this. It's not like either of them
or self made men. But wood he feels a little
bit more like a wild card and a guy that like, yeah,
(46:12):
he's just all over the map. And every story that
comes about out about him that has him meeting with
his coordinators and you know, his general manager and there's
seven people lined up next to him that you've never
heard of them. They're like, yeah, that's that's Woody's cronies.
And it's just like just John Morrow walking around the organization.
And listen, you saw it in Hard Knocks. Seems like
a gnuice guy, seems like a guy doesn't seem as
(46:34):
crazy as Woody Johnson flying in on a helicopter to
fire Joe Douglas, as Jay Glazer reported, Yet the actions
in this organization feel too parallel the Jets. And whenever
I hear these older people talk about like, you know,
the league's gonna get involved, the League's gonna do this.
(46:55):
They want the Jets and the Giants to win. The
league is better when the Raiders are good. I got
news for you. It's all bullshit. The league has never
had more people watching, and the Giants haven't been good
now in almost a decade. The league is better when
the Raiders are relevant. That's bullshit because for twenty plus
(47:17):
years of the Internet age, the NFL has never made
more money and the Raiders have played in like one
important game over that entire period of time. So if
you suck now and you're a big market, a small market,
an any market, you just don't matter. But I never
in a million years would have thought the Giants would
stoop to the level of Tommy Cutlet's over Drew Locke.
(47:41):
Why because he's from the area and people like him. Well,
is he the best quarterback? And when you saw all
these players on the team being mad over Daniel Jones,
I actually think it represented more that we're just a
joke now because Drew Locke, who listen, has played in
the league for a while and I'm not acting like
he's Joe Montana, but you paid them five million dollars
(48:03):
to be the backup and he literally bend the backup
all season long. So are we all just part of
the circus. Now, is that what this is? And that's
where you get performances like today where the teams just like,
fuck it, we don't care. This is so stupid. And
I think there's a level of that with the Jets.
All I hear and all I see is like, Sauce Gardener,
(48:25):
what happened to Sauce Gardener? Well, you do realize that
most players, just like most human beings, aren't leaders. They're
not Moses part in the sea with everyone fallowing them.
They're not Peyton Manning walking into practice like motherfuckers follow
my lead. Most of us follow. Successful people are following,
(48:49):
and Sauce looks around, like, who do I follow? Well,
there's no one, So what happens? He falls off a cliff?
And you see the Giants today like everyone's kind of
looking around, what do we do? And no one has
any answers. It's pretty sad. Sometimes you lose, like Commanders today,
(49:09):
they lost, They got beat. Turbot had a great play,
Cooper Rush made some plays. Parsons was making the plays
like it's the NFL. It's difficult. If the Chiefs had
lost today, it would have been a big headline. But
it's like, yes, the NFL, if the Panthers win four
or five games, like they're gonna beat a good team
or two it was at home, you know, in Carolina, Like,
(49:32):
it's not that crazy, it's it's football. It's difficult. If
you do not come to play, you will lose. If
you're a step slice out with the forty nine ers,
they missed ten tackles in the first quarter, so you're
just a little little hesitant and all of a sudden
it's snowballs and you start getting worked. But what's going
on with the Giants right now? I don't It's pretty embarrassing, honestly.
(49:53):
It's just a lover of football as a lover of
like the NFL and what certain things stand for. That's
not the team that when I lived in the Northeast,
did I have any recollection of being like that, Like
Tommy Cutlet's like, what the fuck are we doing? If
I was a Giants fan, I would be furious, And
(50:15):
this is there's a difference, Like, I don't know. It's
not about Daniel Jones. It's about what is going on
right now with our franchise and who can help us?
Because John you fired Tom Coughlin, and ever since then,
it's been the same shit year after year after year,
and all I hear, ever hear anyone, is like, well't
(50:37):
Jet's problems starts with Woody? Well, don't we have to say? Then?
The Giants problem starts with John moraw A couple other
quick things. Dion has had a remarkable season. He got
worked by Kansas, and Kansas like Florida are like two
of the hottest teams in the in the college football.
(50:58):
You know, the crazy thing is if Arizona State beats
Arizona this week, which they should easily, the Deon Sanders
won't even be the coach of the year in his
own conference. Kenny Dillingham went to Arizona State, which was
equally as shitty a couple of years ago as Colorado
(51:19):
and unlike Prime, and I'm not blaming Prime. His son's
a top pick in the NFL. His guy Travis Hunter
might be the second pick in the NFL draft. Like
he has two of, if not the two best players
in college football on his team. Kenny Dillingham's star offensive
player is like a white running back from sax State
(51:40):
who's actually pretty good, but like it ain't the same
and it's gonna be crazy when it happens, because a
lot of people are gonna be like, wait, what if
they win next week in Colorado does not make it
to the Big Twelve championship, Kenny Dillingham is going to
be the coach of the year in the Big Twelve,
(52:01):
not Deon Sanders. So I wouldn't have seen that coming.
Arizona State and Dion's done a great job this year.
If they win this last week and are nine to three, remarkable.
But a lot of people, even if you didn't think
they'd be this thought that, you know, be six seven wins.
I probably thought five or six. Everybody. Everybody picked Arizona
(52:24):
State to be dead last in the Big Twelve. And
this is why with the transfer portal, it is so
hard to figure out college football. I was thinking about
this watching some of these you know, depending on what
game you were watching. It was senior day. So on
senior Day, a lot of the coaches, right before the
game starts, stand out there and basically hug and the
(52:45):
player comes up the senior with his family, with his girlfriend,
with his brothers and sisters. It's a cool moment, and
I was thinking, like, how many dudes now go up
to their coach and like they just met him six
months ago. They barely know the guy. Where in the
history of college football, if you are a senior at
a program, or even like Quinn, you wers of Texas
(53:08):
who participated in a senior day because he's going to
go to the pros, you've been in that program at
minimum for several years. So you're watching all these college
programs all over Saturday lose. The turnover in these programs
is it's unprecedented, It's never happened. So to just be
shocked when some of these ranked teams lose, I think
(53:32):
it's a little disingenuous the way we talk about it.
This is not twenty fourteen. So when so and so
team Ole Miss loses to Florida, they haven't had the
same core for four straight years. When whatever team loses
in a big upset, like they have a lot of
new players. And that's not just freshmen, that's guys that
(53:54):
were literally all over the country. So I actually think
what we just wentness on Saturday night with Alabama losing
or Miss losing, uh Texas A and m losing obviously
Indiana getting worked, which is a separate conversation from this
is going to be something we need to get used to.
And the other thing is Indiana got worked. Indiana in
(54:21):
the second half got absolutely curb stomped like that. That
was JV vers varsity. That was not a fair fight. Now,
if these other teams hadn't lost, I was one hundred
percent fine with them missing the playoffs. Now they're gonna
get in because they're only gonna have one loss. But
(54:43):
in college football, we do have to acknowledge some teams
getting to ten or eleven wins their path is dramatically
easier than the other. I'm not from the South. I
don't care about SEC football like in terms of deep
in my soul, I have a bias for them. I
(55:03):
just watch the sport, and I've been watching college football
religiously and really for a living now for a long time,
for fifteen plus years. And if you have eyes and
you spend any time on Saturdays in the fall, you
will see that the way better players, especially on defense,
play in the SEC, and the tougher road environments are
(55:27):
in the SEC. So when I see Alabama lose at
Oklahoma or a and M lose at Auburn, their records
don't mean that much to me because I watch the
players that those programs have on defense, I go, God,
those look like a bunch of NFL guys. Their speed
is a lot faster than when I watch Wisconsin or
(55:50):
Indiana or Rutgers or Maryland. It looks like a different sport.
And listen, if it wasn't for Oregon being part of
the package, the Big Ten would be an embarrassment this year. Obviously,
Ohio State's could they're good. Every year we saw Penn State.
They can't win a big game to save their life,
and honestly, they should have lost to Minnesota. So these
(56:13):
people are arguing, and I see Danny Kanell and Joel
Klatt the SEC is the best conference, and honestly, I
don't even think it's that close. I think there's a
pretty wide gap. And obviously, if you're determining the twelve
teams that are gonna make the playoffs, your record and
whether you won or lost the game matters. But there
(56:35):
are a lot of teams with six or seven wins
in the Southeastern Conference that if you flip conferences, I
think would have a way better record. If you put
Indiana this year in the sec. I think, best case
they win seven games. That I was blown away. I
was rooting for him. I wanted to see them have
(56:56):
success against Ohio State. And after that first drive it
was kind of a joke, and once the punter missed
that snap, it was on like Donkey Kong, and that
second half looked like Ohio State. What they do to
all the shitty programs in the Big Ten, which this
year happens to be a large percentage of them. Have
(57:17):
a good night, have a good day whenever you're watching this,
and we'll see you tomorrow. The volume
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