Bernie Fratto talk QB’s in new places and the pressure on Matt Stafford!

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
You're listening to Fox Sports. Do not do not, do not,
do not. That's enough. Do not, do not touch that dial.
You heard the man. It's time for Fox Sports Sunday.
As we kick off the day with great exuberance and
we are ready. So please put your seatbacks forward and

(00:21):
your trade tables up right. We are sent for takeoff.
My name is Bernie Fratto. I'll come to you alive
from the Las Vegas Fox Sports Radio studios. We will
take you up to three am Pacific six am Eastern,
along with my savvy and capable crew, Will Benson, Chris Perfett,
and Brian Finley, and on the update says they will
they man the ship from our Los Angeles compound. We've

(00:44):
got a ton on the agenda to night, including our
full synopsis of Hard Knocks episode four a little bit later.
By the way, we will not be talking about Bishop Sycamore.
I repeat, we will not be talking about Bishop Sycamore.
Our full average of Bishop Bishop Sycamore has just concluded.
We would not be talking about Hobby Bias. I don't

(01:05):
care if he likes some fans they like him. We apologized,
I'm done with that, but we will have a comprehensive
college football analysis, including even a mascot study, and which
of the top fifteen teams offer a key seasonal stat
that you want to know about. Plus we've got a
special guest in the final hour, all the way from
ann Arbor, Michigan to talk Big ten football and of

(01:27):
course Michigan football and the irrepressible Jim Harball, who got
out of the gate today against Western Michigan. They've got
Washington on deck in a Big ten season looming. We'll
see if Hardball can do what he was hired to do,
and that's beat Ohio State. We will see the gentleman
that will join us. Nobody connected better to Michigan football

(01:50):
than anybody I've ever known. Uh We worked together on
Anna Aarbor back in the nearly nineties. He's had his uh,
you know, finger on the pulse every since and has
been a fixture there and trust me, he's got access.
It will be a lot of fun. He's not gonna
join us in until the final hour of the show,
but you're not gonna want to miss that. But we
start with what I believe is the biggest ongoing story
of the NFL season, and that is the fact that

(02:12):
multiple quarterbacks, not just rookies, multiple quarterbacks will be under
center for their new teams this season for the first time.
You know, teams like the Rams and Saints and Denver Broncos,
teams who have real designs on getting to the promised Land.
And that's where we begin. We begin with the dose
of historical reality. And I want to start with the rookies.

(02:36):
By the way, this is going to be a very
interesting season, not for the least of which they're gonna
play seventeen games. So it's gonna take even more competitive
stamina in which of these gentlemen getting understander for the
first time of the new team can be what I
would call a force multiplier on their team. Now, as

(02:57):
far as the rookies, you know, the NFL draft, in
the last fifty years, there have been forty four quarterbacks
who have been selected either number one, number two, or
number three overall, but only two of them in the
last fifty years in this boat have actually won a
Super Bowl. And to Troy Aikman and Peyton Manning, well
they did it with the team that actually drafted them.

(03:17):
That's what I meant that that they only two of
them actually want a super Bowl with the team that
actually drafted them. This is an inexact science, and it's
certainly an inexact art. So I think patience is going
to be absolutely the order of the day when these
young men get under center. And the truth of the
matter is only one will be under center week one,

(03:38):
and that's Trevor Lawrence. As they travel to Houston, they're
actually a three point favorite. Imagine that a rookie coach,
a rookie quarterback with a terrible team in Jacksonville that
won one game their land three points on the road.
Houston is the proverbial divisional dog of which you heard
me earlier talk about six two thousand five. You might
have to hold your nose, but Houston might be the play.

(03:59):
But I digress. Just so you know, this will only
be the tenth time in NFL history that a quarterback
drafted number one overall started Week one, and in the
previous nine games they were resounding one and eight twelve
touchdown sixteen interceptions. The only quarterback to win his first
game out of the gate after being drafted number one

(04:21):
overall was David Carr of the Houston Texans, but behind
that terrible offensive line, his career was short lived. He
got hit more than rockyball ball and now he's a
TV commentator does a find job. This ain't easy, folks.
And if you don't think it's easy for rookies, how
about guys who've been in the league. I'm gonna start

(04:41):
with Jamis Winston. I've been pretty critically him because the
numbers tell me to be. Now that the New Orleans
Saints have officially named Jamis Winston is the first time successor.
He's the starter in New Orleans, but he's the first
time successor in sixteen years. Two of course, future Hall
of Famer and again current TV broadcaster Drew Brees and

(05:06):
with it Sean Pagan. They're gonna face what I consider
a pretty significant risk reward dilemma. The good news is
that Jamis Winston actually led the NFL and passing yards
with fifty one O nine and two years ago, and
it was ranked second and passed his throwing twenty yards
or more in his final season with Tampa Bay. The
bad news is he became the first quarterback to throw

(05:27):
at least thirty touchdown passes and thirty interceptions in the
same season. In the end, Jamis Winston, who was a
guy who never saw a pass he didn't like. In
his tenure at Tampa Bay through eighty eight interceptions and
lost twenty three fumbles and seventy games with the Bucks.
Put that in your pipe and smoke it. In seventy
games he threw eighty eight interceptions and lost twenty three fumbles.

(05:49):
You don't win football games by handing it to the
other team. By the way, those thirty interceptions killers six
of more on the first possession, six were in the
fourth quarter when his team was leading, and six were
for pick sixes. But he's got a waste to go
to catch Matt Stafford. Matt Stafford is the current winner
in that category, also starting for his new team. Matt

(06:10):
Stafford in his career has twenty three pick sixes. He
leaves the pack, but I digress. I will say this
though Jamis Winston now enhances the value of every Tampa
Bay pass catcher. Check that he's with the Saints now,
including Alvin Kamara, who figures to benefit from the most.
And I would say that he also makes the over

(06:32):
under total of interceptions in a Saints game. I highly
sought after a proposition, but I don't want to bag
on Winston. I'm just giving you the numbers, okay, for
all I know, you know Winston's coming to New Orleans.
He's worked hard, He's been a model citizen. I think
he's very popular in the locker room. But you gotta
win in this league or it's the old not for long, right,

(06:53):
Winston knows twenty and forty two as a starter. He's
only thirty and thirty six against the spread as a starter,
and he's twelve and two only one at home as
a starter, and seven and fourteen is a favorite. So
he's never performed with any degree of success. But he's
going to get a chance with a very stable organization,
with an excellent coach, and frankly, Jamis should be the starter.

(07:14):
He does have a higher ceiling theory than Taysom Hill.
I like Taysom Hill, and Taysom Hill will probably see
his fair share of action. But I think it makes
sense to give Jamis the start. He knows what it's
like to start in the NFL every week, and I
think he's got something to prove. He's got a chip
on the shoulder and he does have a lot of ability.

(07:34):
Let's see what happens. There. I can't say I have
high hopes, but there's a situation where Jamis Winston again
part of a crop of players who will be taking
snaps under center for the first time with their new team.
Teddy Bridgewater he won the job over Drew Lock. Teddy
Bridgewater major thumbs up for me. I think Teddy Bridgewater

(07:56):
is a winner. In Minnesota, he was a missed field
goal away from beating Seattle in the playoffs after leading
the Vikings to an eleven five record that season. Was
not his fault. Then he gets to New Orleans and
in he stepped in when Drew Brees went down in
September and proceeded to go five and oh as a starter.

(08:19):
In his first game in Seattle on the road in
and he was backing up Drew Brees after Breeze got hurt.
He held a team meeting the night before and he
won the team over. He told the team, look, I'm
not Drew Brees, but if you get on my back
and follow me, I will not let you down. And
the next day at Century Link Field, Teddy two gloves

(08:40):
through for two touchdowns and beat Russell Wilson and the
Seahawks to twenty seven not for nothing. It was the
first time with Pete Carroll coach team in Seattle lost
a home game in the month of September. He kept
a seat warm for Breeze for five weeks when five
and oh in. The Saints finished thirteen and three that season.

(09:01):
I think Teddy Bridgewater is a winner. Don't take my
word for it. By the way, Teddy Bridgewater was only
plus one five to get the starting job in May,
so he was not the favorite. It was Drew Lock
all the way to the very end. But if you
look at Teddy Bridgewater's career, right he was thirty five
and fourteen in his career against the spread. Was he

(09:24):
still is? He's still playing about the past. Tense. Teddy
Bridgewater twenty four and seven is an underdog. He's twenty
one and three against the spread. On the road, He's
nineteen and two against the spread as a road dog.
Not interestingly enough, terrible what happened in New Orleans with
Rricane Ida. It looks like the saintsa bibi's placed again.

(09:44):
Like they we're back in oh six or oh five,
and they're gonna be playing in Jacksonville. I believe they'll
be hosting Green Bay Week one, in the last five check,
I believe New Orleans is a three point underdog. I
haven't fired on that game. But any game that you
back Teddy Bridgewater in, I think you're going to find value.

(10:08):
You're going to find a situation where he's not going
to beat himself. I liked him at Louisville, I liked
him in Minnesota, I liked him in UH in New Orleans,
and I like him in Denver. I think it's a
good it's a good sort of a a situation for
them to be in. Right. Um, Look, there's never any guarantees.

(10:31):
I know a lot of people are are are upset
that Justin Fields isn't starting. He'll be starting soon, and
I don't know why people back on Andy Dalton, another
quarterback that will be under center for a new team.
Dalton in his you know at last eight nine years,
he's he's won over seventy five games. He's a starter.
He's throwing over two hunder touchdown pass, he's going for
over thirty yards. He's in good company. Justin Fields checks

(10:54):
most of the boxes. He just needs a little time.
You saw it just about got killed in that game
against Buffalo, and that was a pre snap read he
could have made. He didn't see a linebacker shift right
before he took the snap, where he could have audible
out and called for a different protection. There are things
he could have done, he elected not to, And the

(11:15):
truth of the matter is those are the type of
things you gotta clean up before you can be an
everyday starter in the NFL. New Orleans is in a
you know, tough division. Uh Carolina, I only got them
projecting to go eight and nine. But if Christian mccathery
can have his usual thousand yards season, they're gonna be
a tough out. Atlanta their new Smith, their new coach,

(11:37):
Arthur Smith. He still gets Matt Ryan, who's gonna get
Hall of Fame votes. They're not gonna be good, but
they're gonna be a tough out. And then you've got
Tampa Bay, who you can pretty much pencil in right.
Tampa Bay, Oh nothing, They got some guy named Tom Brady,
who's who people still like to make fun of. What
if I told you this? Tom Brady last year through

(11:57):
from moire yards and Aaron Rodgers more touchdown passes than
Pat Mahomes And oh, by the way, they beat the
Chiefs by twenty two in the Super Bowl. Sure, don't
give any credit say it was the defense. These are
the same people that said they only win six games
last year. All I know is this quarterback is an
incredibly important position. It's the thinnest position in all the sports.

(12:18):
And without a quarterback, who's your field general, who your
team will take in the personality of You don't want
to be a guy that you just win because of
You want to check that you might win with. You
want to be that guy you win because of that.
When the fourth quarter is staring you down the barrel
and it's a situation where here behind and it could
be the game, whether you make the playoffs or not.

(12:40):
Your team's gotta look at you and your huddle presence,
and you've gotta be able to look at them say
I got this. Josh Allen's done it, Baker Mayfield's done it,
a lot of young bucks have done it. Here's Teddy
Bridgewater's chance, here's Jamis Winston's chance. This is gonna be
a lot of fun to watch. And by the way,
here's Trevor Lawrence's chance. And maybe here's even dak Press
Scott's chance. Next Thursday night is seven and a half

(13:03):
point underdogs on the road against the defending champion Tampa
Bay Buccaneers. Coming up, we're gonna talk about Dak Prescott
and his team. Hard Knocks. Episode four is in the books.
Did I like it? What are my takeaways? Well, I'll
tell you Discovery matches all the cash back. You're owning
your credit card at end for first year. It's amazing

(13:24):
because discovers accepted at the places in the US to
take credit cards. Learn more Discover dot com, slash Yes
News to report, limitations apply. I'm Bernie Freddo, come to
you live in the Las Vegas Fox Sports Radio Studios.
Don't go away. Are listening to Fox Sports Sunday on
Fox Sports Radio. Fox Sports Radio has the best sports

(13:45):
talk lineup in the nation. Catch all of our shows
at Fox Sports Radio dot com and within the I
Heart Radio app search f s R to listen live.
We're back on Fox Sports Sunday, Fox Sports Radio and
Bernie Freddo Comedy Alive from Las Vegas Fox Sports Radio
Studios and Yes Who will take you up to three
am Pacific tonight six am Eastern talking a little Hard Knocks.

(14:09):
Four down, one to go and so last Tuesday night.
I watched the episode knowing that that was the day
final cuts were going to be made, so I had
to watch it a little bit with a John de
sty But nonetheless, the same takeaway I've had since week
one about head coach Mike McCarthy. You look up clunky

(14:29):
in the dictionary and you see his picture. He's inarticulate,
and he's got this. It's the same speech at halftime,
it's the same let's win. That's when that's win this game.
You know, the most successful leaders, the most successful coaches
that I've observed, they understand this about winning in any
sport or in life. It's a process oriented endeavor. It's

(14:52):
not a situation where you focus on the outcome. You
focus on the process the leads to the outcome. That's
what Nick Saban does, That's what On Wooden did, That's
what Urban Meyer did at three colleges. That's what all
he greed or did at cal State Fullerton. The greatest
college baseball coach of all time. But Mike McCarthy is
Mike McCarthy, and I don't expect him to change. And

(15:13):
he did win his Super Bowl, So what do I know?
All Right? In the fourth episode, of HBOS Hard Knocks.
Well again, it came the night of the roster cut
down to fifty three and I I waited till the
end to watch it. But my fears were three guys
I was rooting for. Well spoiler alert, they all ended
up getting cut. But these were some of the highlights

(15:34):
of of Hard Knocks last week. These are some thoughts. Again,
I I pick on the show, but I enjoy it
and I watched it. This hasn't been the most compelling
I would say episode you know iteration of Hard Knocks
because the compoys just don't that interesting to me in
terms of personalities. I don't hold that against him. Still

(15:55):
an iconic franchise, it's just that they don't have like,
you know, the Jimmy Valvanod typecs. I get such a
kick out of COVID reared its ugly head that forced
the team in the virtual meetings again. I get a
kick out of John Fossil, the son of the great
Jim Fossil, Rest his soul, who was a great NFL coach.
He lived here in Vegas. I knew him. He was
a terrific guy and he was I I who couldn't

(16:16):
relate to his dissertation that COVID is for the birds.
But the players were able to return to the Star
after a couple of days, and but their defensive coordinator,
Dan Quinn was still in protocol, and so a guy
by the name of Joe Witz stepped in and um,
he has his own coaching style, which to me didn't
throw me once again. And the one of the serious

(16:37):
favorites the gentleman from Mexico. His name is Isaac Alercon,
not to be confused with Isaac Longcron, who's his star
here at Fox Sports Radio, and Isaac Allicoon trying to
be a star with the cowboys at the Star. And
the irony is he even though he acknowledges he's from Mexico,

(16:58):
which is extremely high there during the summer, he was
literally feeling the heat figuratively feeling the heat, and that
dallas Son was just beating down on them, and it
was obvious that with cuts looming. Um, he knew that
he had to have a good day. He knew he
was on the bubble, but the heat was getting the
best of them. It was something that I just I

(17:19):
really felt for the young man. I felt like he
was almost admitting that he knew he wasn't gonna be
able to limp across the finish line, and spoiler alert,
he did end up getting cut. Uh. Then the camera
shifted to Jaquan Hardy, the running back who had the
issue with the uh the contact lenses you remember and
all that that he had glasses and he had other issues,

(17:41):
uh uh. And then he finally settled into better contact
lenses and he has been fighting for a spot and
he kind of caught a break and it's one of those,
you know situations. He was behind a running back named
Rico Dowdle on the death chart. But it turns out
Donald you know, had an injury hip injury that was
sent him to the that sent him to the i R.

(18:02):
So you won't see him be seeing Rico Suavia Rico
Doubtle anytime this year in the Cowboys. It's a shame
to how that happened to the young man. But what
that did was opened the door for Jaquan Hardy and
the running backs coaches. Kid Pete told him, on no
uncertain terms, here's what you got in front of you, man, right,
and then they went into do Kuan Hardy a little
bit and he's just like you and I. He went out.

(18:24):
He found a restaurant there and in Dallas or Frisco
that that made his favorite southern food. And he was
sitting there, like we can all relate to that. You go,
you're looking forward to a meal. He go sit down
and uh then you know you're waiting and waiting and
he's starving and they put the train in front him.
He's got a big smile on his face. Again, that
was actually very relatable. This guy became very likable, right

(18:47):
and he was eating his uh his I think it
was some kind of fried chicken or maybe gizzards and
some kind of mashup of mac and cheese and yams.
And it was a human moment that I thought that
the hard Knocks who did a good job of giving
you a glimpse behind these people. Yeah, they're National Football League,
wanna be their players, their guys that are trying to

(19:08):
do something with their life, their human beings. Though I
found myself rooting for Jaquan Hardy. He had an okay game.
They showed you know, they caught a couple of passes
in the flat, had a couple of runs. He didn't
make the team. Michael Parsons again he stepped in and
there's a stud waiting to happen. Uh, great player out

(19:29):
of Penn State for a fron draft choice. Another lover
of Southern crew cuisine. He had the teammates over to
his house and then then he he uh, you know,
had a little game of Connect four and he's better
and connect four that he is a chest. So if
that excites you, god bless you didn't excite me. I
thought that was kind of stupid. Uh. And and one
of the things that they've really not done a lot

(19:49):
in this Hard Knocks is talk a lot about veterans, right,
but they did show a bit of a rivalry between
Mark COOPI and Trayvon Digs and the kind of one
on one battle to go on in camp. True. You know,
Digs is a is a defensive back, tough player, Mark
Cooper is a brilliant receiver and Dak Prescott was kind
of agging him on, and it was it showed you

(20:09):
kind of took you behind the scenes to show how
intense competition can be, even for guys who have already
made the team. I mean, these are world class athletes, right,
And then Dak Prescott weighed in again and who knew
he was silver both he started talking about cornhole in
the meeting and long and the short of it is,
and then he got finally back to full participation in practice,
and again you are reminded why people like Dak Prescott

(20:33):
so much. Then something unexpected came out of the left field.
A player by the name of Terrell Basham, who's a
stand up want to be comedian, took the mic at
a comedy club. All right. I don't know, man, if
this is his post career path, I don't have high hopes.
But he did manage to make his teammates laugh. He
did a rendition of his routine in a meeting as well,

(20:55):
and he told something story about going to a restaurant
and with somebody you know of a restaurant. It wasn't
he didn't, It didn't flop, right, But I don't think
anybody's gonna, you know, confusing with Jerry seinfielder Dave Chappelle
anytime soon. But give him an a for effort, right.
It was almost like the old rookie show things he
used to do. That's you know, they don't I don't
know if they do that in the NFL anymore. Maybe

(21:15):
they do, maybe they don't, but if they don't, they
don't show it. And those are those are those used
to be classic. And then Kamara was back at center stage.
This time he was you know his family, uh and
you know his This was again another human moment. His
family was shopping for jerseys at the Cowboys Pro Shop,
but they couldn't find a Comar jersey, right, and then
who shows up at a team meeting and street clothes

(21:38):
Mike McCarthy, go take a look at that shirt. I
don't know what the hell that was. I I don't
know if you buy that Omar the Tentmaker or you
have a custom made, I don't know how. I'll just
leave it right there. But you know, the players kind
of gave him his dew. He came walking in. He
he was he was kind of dressed up, sort of
half dressed up for him, and then he basically he

(22:00):
said something that he has the right to say, and
that's something that would come from a veteran coach, and
Mike McCarthy is a veteran coach. He walked in and
he gave everybody sort of this sobering reminder that guys,
look around, some of you are not going to be
with his team in a few days. And uh, and
then he took a little shot at Isaac aller con

(22:21):
not to be confused with Isaac Lowan crown about wanting
that cake. And that was one of those campy things.
Unless you've been watching Hard Knocks from the beginning, you
wouldn't know what that was. And that finally brought us
to the final preseason game against Jacksonville Jaguars. And obviously
that did not go well. But Dallas only played there
twos and threes and they were matched against Jacksonville's ones.

(22:41):
And again Jaquan Hardy was fighting to make his case
and I'm so happy to Zekiel Ellitt was on the
sideline providing commentary, was really encouraging him on and uh,
you know, Hardy did have a big role in the
touchdown drive with Gary Gilbert a quarterback, but then there
was an interception and that kind of killed everything. And
Hardy opened the second half he even made he even

(23:01):
made a tackle on special teams. Isaac Allican. He was
named the captain for the game, but his play he
didn't exactly let it up. He didn't flash. He did
play well, but he not he didn't look to be
NFL quality, and Camara still had some struggles, and these
three guys should root for him all to make the team.
I just did. I can't help what I did. They

(23:21):
didn't thull all right, you know about the outcome and
the initial fifty three man roster, and you were pulling
for these guys. But even Ben Denucci not to be
confused with Don Fernucci the black hand. Even though these
guys he you know, they did generate sympathy. But the
truth that you know, the truth of the matter is
Ben de Nucci is not a major league quarterback. And
they showed that slow most shot at his side, armed delivery,

(23:43):
and he's just he's had his day in the sun.
He got further than most people in life. But it
doesn't look like he's got a future with the Dallas Cowboys.
Maybe somewhere else. So there's one final episode next week
that was sort of cover the final touches as Dallas
gets ready to go through uh you know, and keep
you know, prepared for the first game, which will actually

(24:04):
be two days after that episode airs. But obviously it's
all done, it's all behind this now. I think the
filming is done and the cuts are done, I'm hoping
they take us a little bit more behind the scenes,
and I'm hoping maybe Jikwan Hardy or one of the
you know, Isaac Alicano, the players I just mentioned, maybe
end up on the practice squad. You never know. Sometimes
it's a longer journey to the NFL, and sometimes you know,

(24:26):
it's not always as a crow flies and they're on film,
So maybe somebody saw what they like with Jikuan Hardy
on that uh Special Teams tackle or maybe not. But
the truth of the matter is those are the things
I focused on most, the human aspect, the guys trying
to make the team and pulling them away that they're
they have lives outside of football and in many ways,

(24:46):
you're just like you and me. I still get a
kick out of Hardy going to that restaurant looking so
forward to that favorite dish they prepare for him. He
even said when they call them, they go, it's just you, Jikwan.
He goes, yeah, you got a kick out there, getna
pick smile. So at the end of the day, these
guys are human beings. We're gonna bring in the crew,
get their get their thoughts on on hard knocks and
as we had him do episode five, and if they

(25:07):
had any takeaways or maybe they disagree with some of
the things I said, or maybe they had some takeaways
on some things I missed. But first let's go to
the man. He's so respected. He was at the Louver
in France and they told him go ahead, Bruin, you
can actually touch the artwork. It's Bruin Fenny with the latest. Well,
thank you so much, Bernie and at Oderon seemingly well
respected as the l s U had football coach. You

(25:30):
might have seen that. There was some video that surfaced
of him as he was walking on Saturday into the
Rose Bowl to take on u c l A, where
he was echoed by a u c l A fan
and he called out that fan and said, you're wearing
a sissy blue shirt. I think he might have been
referencing Bernie his defense and the left hash mark at
high shotgun and snaff his back dtr pigs one over

(25:51):
the middle, let's call it. At the thirty yard line
to the five of the twenty two goes Kyle Phills.
He's still on his face, he's franking tackles, he's score stuck.
Could be the knockout punch u c l A radio
network that is their voice of the great Josh Lewin
and U c l A storms ahead of Edo and
the Tigers thirty eight to twenty seven. The final score

(26:13):
Dorrian Thompson Robinson, who was on the throwing into that
highlight there and had three touchdowns as the Bruins most
certainly are going to be surfacing into the top twenty
five next week. Number five Georgia wins a slabber knocker
against number three Clemson ten to three. The Tigers quarterback
D G. Younglele was sacked seven times as he had

(26:36):
a tough time finding any time in the pocket to throw.
Number one Alabama emasculates Miami forty four to thirteen. Rice
Young four touchdown throws as the Hurricanes, I guess they're
not back just yet after that humbling performance. Number fifteen
usc scoring seventeen points in the fourth quarter as they
dent San Jose State thirty to seven. Number two Lahoma

(27:00):
had a hard go of it against two Lane, but
the Sooners prevailed forty to thirty five. Texas A and
M the number six team in the country, obliterating Kent
Kent State forty one to ten. Up and down day
for the Pack twelve. Because on the on the downside,
you had b Yu beating Arizona to sixteen, and that
was Wildcats head coach had Fish and his head coaching

(27:23):
debut for you of a and he said, quote, I
could have done a better job. I should have called
a better game earlier. Closed quote. He didn't blame his
players one bit in that eleven minute postgame press conference.
Utah State surprises Washington State twenty six to twenty three.
This was a game where the Aggies scored the go
ahead touchdown with thirteen seconds to go in the fourth

(27:46):
quarter after the Cooks at a twelve point lead halfway
through the final period. Nevada takes it to Cal two
to seventeen. A big game for Carson Strong two touchdown throws,
looking like that potential dark or of a Heisman candidate Montana.
They shut down Number twenty Washington thirteen to seven, and
eleventh ranked Oregon finding a way to eat out a

(28:09):
win against Fresho Dty one to twenty four, and finally
from the US Open in New York third round action,
Shelby Rogers the American with the upset over Number one
Nash Party in three sets, and on the men's side,
world number one Novak Djokovic. He is through though to
the fourth round, so no upset there, Bernie, Freddo sending

(28:31):
it back to you, my friend. I heard the voice
of Josh Lou and I said, that's Josh Lou, and
I haven't seen him in years. I knew Josh Detroit nine.
He did work for Fox Force Detroit, a very versatile
and talented and funny broadcast guy. Uh say hid him
if you see him, yeah, he is. All right. Let's
stick with you, Brian uh Hard Knocks. If you didn't

(28:53):
watch it, you don't have to make anything up. Do
you have any thoughts, Bernie, I'm gonna be honest with you.
I did not watch it, so I am focused. I
was just in this glow of college football and getting
ready for this week. That was after u c l
A's Week zero wins, so I didn't get a chance
to watch that episode. So all right, Well, I thought

(29:14):
A humanized the Dallas Cowboys. I've been critical, as you
guys know, of this iterational Hard Knocks. But there's one
episode left. Next Tuesday night on HBO at airs seven
o'clock Pacific, out here. If you get a chance watching,
it's worth watching. Um. And you know, look, the Cowboys,
whether you like them or not, they have an iconic

(29:34):
place in the history on elexicon of the National Football League.
So this current team trying to live up to pass
teams and it's not so easy. Christoper Fette, I know
you could give a fine horses put about the Cowboys
for multiple reasons, and I get that, and I understand that.
Did you have a chance to sample hard knocks at all? No?
I did not get the sample of this week. I

(29:55):
It is funny though, because you mentioned about the humanizing element,
and this is the week where I think a lot
of people wake up and look at the NFL and realize, oh,
these are human beings who are losing jobs out here
because cuts come down. And it's always a harsh thing
because we go from ninety man rosters to fifty three
man roster. You do the math in your head, little
shy of about of those who were playing last month

(30:18):
no longer have a team across thirty two teams. You
start to extrapolate that out, do the math there, uh it,
But it always it's always funny to me because that
comes up very late. It's like always at this moment
where we realize the remind everyone, oh yeah, these are
real people losing their jobs. Yeah they always were. So
it's but it is good at least that we get
those reminders. I enjoyed this, you know. Episode three was

(30:42):
a little bit more entertaining. Episode four was a little
more poignant, if that's a fair word to use. Uh.
The one thing I've you know, the one thing Rod
Marinelli always said is everything you do is on tape.
And so a player who might not have a spot
with the Cowboys because maybe this position are loaded. If
you are on tape and do something good, some other
team is gonna find you and you might still get

(31:04):
a job. Plenty of guys get cut, Plenty guys end
up on other rosters and down the road end up
as starters. So it's always a you know, a long journey.
It's a it can be a marathon, not a sprint. Look,
only fifty of first round draft choices actually make it.
So the truth of the matters, you know, just because
your cut doesn't mean your career is over. Bull Benson,
are we gonna go for three? Did you watch you

(31:26):
Hard Knocks? I actually went on the HBO Max app
and I was going to watch Hard Knocks, um, and
then I saw they added Jurassic Parks, so I got
to I'm sorry. I was I just said I'm sorry.
I just channeled my inner Afroman there. That was always
I was going to watch Our Knocks. But then I
got high go ahead, I cut you off, buddy. Yeah, no,

(31:47):
I I I decided to watch Jurassic Park instead of
Hard Knocks. So, um, we'll go ahead and do a
movie review. What we got you? No, Durassic Parks one
of my favorite. Yeah, yeah, I think I remember seeing
it in the movie theater. Um, and my my dad
told me that I stood up in the middle of
theater and started spinning in circles and saying, I don't

(32:08):
want to be there. I don't want to be there. So, um,
you didn't want to be at dressing Parker. Yeah, no,
I think that dress kind of freaky. Man. Yeah, I
think I think I can you know what I remember
most about that movie? Do you remember the villash Raptors? Okay,
they're conniving little sons of guns man and uh, I
forget it was the female actor actress, and then I

(32:29):
think it was Richard Attenborough. They're running from the Villas
Raptor and they're hiding a freezer and they look at
each other and say, all right, well he hasn't figured
out how to work at door knob. And you look
and the door knob starts to turn you from the inside.
So do you remember that scene? Yes, I don't think
that movie is for little kids. Uh No, it wasn't.

(32:49):
But I think I was four or five and I
was super into dinosaurs. So my parents were like, oh,
it's it's a movie about dinosaur. Let's go see it. Yeah,
but stick to Barney Man. Yeah that's you know what
I'm saying. Yea, All right, good off, guys. Look here
here's the deal. I'm gonna ask a small favor. This
coming Tuesday is episode five. Sample a little bit of it.
Let me know what you think I want to It's

(33:10):
it's topical. There's a reason HBO has done this for
seventeen years. And whatever happens this year for the Cowboys,
whether or not they win the division and make the playoffs,
stay healthy, something bad, I don't know. I'm always gonna
juxtapose this season versus what I think I saw on
Hard Knocks. So we may refer back to it later
in the year. It's got a little bit of homework
assignment for you guys. It's it's only about fifty five minutes.

(33:32):
You don't have to watch the home thing, the whole thing,
But if you get a chance, please sample episode five
of Hard Knocks this Tuesday and we'll talk about it
again next Saturday night. All right, coming up, you know
you love Nickinley without him the Raiders. Mike Mayock made
an interesting comment this week, and Mackenzie will comment on

(33:53):
Mike Mayock's comment. Keep it right here for mac annown Sports.
I am Bernie Fritto, were comedy live from the Fox
Sports Radio studios here in Las Vegas. So keep it
locked righty here, don't go away. They're listening to Fox
Sports Sunday and Fox Sports Radio. All We're back on
Fox Sports Sunday, Fox Sports Radio and Bernie Fratto Company
alive from the Fox Sports Radio studios right here in

(34:15):
Las Vegas. Would take up to three am Pacific, six
am Eastern. Want to remind you discover matches. All the
cash back here earn on your credit card at the
end of the first year. It's amazing because discovers accepted
at the places in the US and take credit cards.
Learn more at discover dot com slash yes Nielson Report
limitations apply. Okay, it's that time. We're taking you back

(34:39):
out to Vegas. You know you love me, Candley Without them,
we go to macin on Sports from the Kenzie Rivers. Mackenzie,
what do you make of a coach who has an
over underwind total of seven and a half saying we're
gonna make the playoffs this year or we have to
make the playoffs this year? You've got the floor. Yes,
it was Raiders GM Mike Mayock who spoke for himself
oddly and coach Gruden saying, and I will tell you

(35:01):
we feel like we need to be a playoff team
this year. We've done the infrastructure infrastructure work necessary, We've
got to take care of business. Well, I don't know.
They're over three so far. They failed to make the
playoffs in each of their first three. Is in this
reincarnation of Gruden's Raiders and have the odds right here?
The Raiders odds to make the playoffs are less than
twenty percent in their fourth season plus three fifty. If

(35:23):
you think they can do it and make the playoffs
minus for eighty if you want to lay the lumber.
So let me ask you this, Bernie. For someone who
seems to be saying this is do or die time,
do you think there's an eighty percent chance that John
Gruden Mike Mayock are on the hot seats? I don't
think they're on the hot seat because I think Mark
Davis really likes John Gruden. He gave him a ten

(35:45):
year deal for a hundred billion dollars. But what I'm
trying to figure out on and I went against a
lot of practice psychology is not a license, is why
does Mike Mayac feel he has to come out and
make this statement? Don't tell me, he show me. And
the truth of the matter is, McKenzie and I don't
mean to pay you on the spot another seventeen games.
How many of the Raiders gonna be favored this year?
I don't have their schedule in front of me, but

(36:05):
it's gotta be five exactly exactly less than less than half,
because we know they're not. They're an underdog Week one
at home against Baltimore. Then they're gonna go to Pittsburgh
week two. This is from memory. You know there'll be
a Dog. Then they come back home against Miami. Now,
I don't know what the record will be of the teams.
The Raiders won't be better than one and one. They

(36:26):
might be owing to and Miami. I know they got
New England week one. Regardless, there's no way the Raiders
will be laying more in the field goals. So that
bas basically makes these teams even on a neutral. Then
week four, you've got the money Night game in Los
Angeles against the Chargers. Oh, I also think are going
to be improved. One of the things we have to
factor in, Mackenzie forget playoffs, what ops, you know, just

(36:47):
to win their division. Last time I looked at it
was like eight to one for the Raiders. The Broncos
and Chargers are both steaming both, you know, optimistic in Vegas,
but not the Raiders. It's funny you mentioned Mark Davis.
His response was hilarious. He's not much of a quote,
but this was this one was was quite a chuckle.
It's always nice to hear somebody say that. Talking about

(37:09):
how make Mark Mayock said they have to make the playoffs.
I'd be much more impressed if they did it. Yeah,
you and the rest of the Raiders Nation would be
much more impressed if Mike Mayock stop saying, hey, we
have to make the playoffs and actually did it. I
got there straight up an a t S record. The
three years together they failed. Gruden and Mayock have to
beat expectations or have a winning record. In each of

(37:30):
their three years together, there were six and ten against
the number. Then they went eight and eight the last
two years, So there's zero evidence to say this is
going in the right direction. Why is Mike Mayock saying
this despite Mark Davis giving Gruden a ten year contract.
Probably the most powerful guy in the building can't get
fired because Mike Mayock can get fired. And if they
failed to meet expectations for a fourth straight year, heads

(37:51):
got a roll. Derek car has been balling out. His
numbers are great. John Gruden is a made man. Mike
Mayock understands that it's it's up to him to getting
playoff results sooner rather than later. I like that data
you just gave because it has to do with what
they compiled versus quote expectations. So this year, their expectations

(38:12):
based on the markets are that they're over underwin total
is seven and a half and that's with seventeen games.
The money I see coming in, Mackenzie is that the
Raiders are gonna win under seven and a half games
because they have the twenty five ranked defense and remade
offensive line. I'm not so sure they're bringing John Brown
to replace Nelson Aguilar then they cut them. I really

(38:32):
don't know what the hell they're doing, and maybe you
can enlighten me as to what the hell they're doing.
But when you added up in the sixth toughest schedule,
I think expectations and I like that data you gave
because not only did they not make the playoffs, not
only did they not, you know, compete in a manner
that would be befitting of what they believe they are,

(38:53):
they didn't even meet expectations. Weren't which weren't that how
to begin with? Yes, and you mentioned that the seven
and a half wind total, you can still bet that.
But there are a lot of places, a lot of
sharper books, that are moving closer to seven flat. The
sharpest betters are saying, I know the Raiders have a
good offense, but they have the thirty two ranked defensive
back according to Sharp Football Defensive Backfield. Not a lot

(39:16):
of high not a lot of hype here in Vegas
for the Raiders, and I think there's gotta be changes.
I just don't see how this core gets a lot better.
The analytics crew that they have installed says, oh, defensive backs,
linebackers don't really matter. Well when you keep losing, you
keep giving up four points to Patrick Mahomes and Justin Herbert.
Eventually you got to address that side of the ball.
Despite what your analytics analys statisticians might say, you gotta

(39:40):
have solid play on both sides of the ball to
compete in this league. No coach in the league would
tell you otherwise. Oh yeah, absolutely, you gotta have salad
play from all three phases. And I like Mike Mayock
and I like John Gruden, but at the end of
the day, this is a bottom line league. And whenever
I hear a statement of that nature reminds me of
comedy show called Lee Squad with Lizzie Nielsen about this

(40:02):
boxer who used to tell his promoter, I can beat
the champ blindfold I can beat the champ blindfolded. Finally,
the promoter gets tired of here, and he says, but
what if the champ wasn't blindfolded. The point of the
matter is the Raiders. Why do they run their mouth?
McKenzie just got a few seconds. Do they make the playoffs? Yes?
Or no? No? They don't make the playoffs, and they
run their mouth to try to set the right expectations

(40:22):
to keep their job longer. But I don't think it's
gonna work. And you just nailed it. It's transparent and
the numbers don't lie. Just look at the last three
years failing to meet expectations coming up. Can he need expectations?
I think he had amnesia. I'm gonna talk about Matt Stafford.
Keep it locked right here. You're listening to Fox Sports
Sunday on Fox Sports Radio. The Fox Sports Sunday train

(40:44):
keeps rolling right on. I'm Bernie Frattle Comedy Alive from
the Las Vegas Fox Sports Radio Studios. We're gonna take
you up to three am Pacific, six am Eastern, and
I want to remind you to discover matches. All the
cat back you earned on your credit card at you
in your first year. It's amazing because Discovers accepted of

(41:06):
the places in the US to take credit cards. Learn
more at discovered dot com. Slash y has Nielsen Report
limitations apply. Alright. One of the big offseason acquisitions in
the NFL this year, which will lead to a year
long story, is that of Matt Stafford, who is spent
a decade or a little over a decade, twelve years

(41:28):
in Detroit. And this is something that it's a subject
matter that's very near and dear to my heart. And
I've often said that if you didn't, if you didn't,
if you weren't there in ford Field to see Matt
Stafford playing these games, uh, well, you kind of have
to recuse yourself from the argument. Mm hmm. Now people
don't do that. They're of the belief that he was

(41:51):
with this moribund franchise that couldn't get out of their
own way, which is not untrue. Okay, by and large,
the years that Matt Stafford in Detroit, we're in Detroit.
Uh the team was subpar, But as Peter King once said,
you couldn't you just one year out of twelve put
the team team on your shoulders. And one of the

(42:12):
things that really hacks me off, as Marty morning Wood
used to say, is this notion that during his entire tenure,
the cupboard was bare every time well, they did go
to the playoffs three times, and Matt Stafford played in
seven playoff games. Check that he played in seven games

(42:32):
that have you would call playoff implications, meaning a regular
season game, if you win, you're in the playoffs. If
you lose your out And then they played in three
playoff games all and three in playoff games and seven
games with playoff implications. And he said something Mats Stafford
last week in an interview, And before I go into this,

(42:53):
I want to make sure everybody. I want to be
completely clear with everybody so that folks don't selectively listen.
I'd have nothing against Matt Stafford. He didn't do anything
to me. I don't have I don't hold a Grudgenny
ill Will. I just call him as I see him.
I thought Matt Stafford in Detroit was beloved. He was

(43:15):
a warrior. He played hard, he played hurt, He had
a lot of heart and soul. Matt Stafford did everything
but win tenants sixty five against teams who finished above
five hundred. And I just gave you his playoff record,
and he said the other day I'd really like to
play a meaningful game. And that mattered in the fourth quarter, Matt,

(43:38):
are you suffering from amnesia? Look, first of all, the
two thousand and fourteen Detroit Lions team was was a
very good team. They were not only eleven and five,
they had the number two ranked defense in the NFL,
and you know guys like Dominan, Sue and Nick Ferret.
They had the number two defense in the NFL with

(43:59):
five Pro Bowlers. They were eleven and five, and they
made the playoffs and they played the Cowboys. And before
I tell you what happened in that game, since obviously
Stafford has amnesia and forgot that he had opportunities to
play in games like that, and I'm gonna tell you
what happened. By the way, that team that was eleven
and five, they were one in five versus teams who

(44:21):
made the playoffs that year. So there you have it.
Before I tell you what happened against Dallas, and I
think it was January, I also want to share that
in eleven Alliance also had a very good team. They
were ten and six, a top ranked defense, three Pro bowlers,
and Stafford. In that playoff year, the first time you
went to the playoffs, they lost to New Orleans, and

(44:43):
Stafford did his part by turning the ball over twice.
But let's fast forward to January in a game against Alice,
because what Matt Stafford said this past week is I'd
really like to play in a game in the fourth
quarter that's meaningful. It happened multiple times in the regular season,

(45:06):
and it happened in the playoffs twice, and I'm gonna
share what happened because I consider this to be the
poster child game of Detroit Lions fans, long suffering Detroit
Lions fans who deserve better, and Matt Stafford had his
chance to rewrite a different legacy. So let's set this
up in that playoff game against Dallas again. This is

(45:28):
a team that was eleven and five, the Lions with
the number two ranked defense in the NFL. The Lions
were leading with eight left in the fourth quarter when
Matt Stafford threw a pass to his tight end, the
guy by the name of Brandon Pettigrew. Now the ball
bounced off a cowboy linebacker by the name of Anthony Hitchins.

(45:51):
It bounced off his back and a flag was thrown,
and initially, the referee on the call, his name is
Pete Morelli, initially announced a past interference penalty against Dallas.
But then the officials reversed the call without explanation, which
took away the penalty that would have given Detroit a

(46:13):
first down in Dallas territory. And for Lions fans, this
was the end of the world. Everybody else's fault but ours.
Here's the reality because this call became notorious only because
of what happened after the call was made. First, Dallas
takes gets the ball back deep in their own territory

(46:34):
and Tony Romo leads the Cowboys on an eleven play
drive that culminated in a touchdown pass to Terrence Williams
with too forty left in the game. What does that mean?
Matt Stafford would get the ball back with almost three
minutes left in the game and three full timeouts. That's

(46:56):
where the MDJI comes in. He said he'd like to
plan a game that matter in the fourth quarter, that
was meaningful, that was impactful, that the playoff implications, Well,
he must have forgotten about the game against Dallas in
so what did he do with that opportunity that day?
This is all a matter of record. This is not
a fairy tale. You can look it up on the

(47:18):
second play of the drive where Matt Stafford had an
opportunity to lead his team to victory with the number
two defense with almost three minutes to go on three
full time outs. On the second play of the drive,
Stafford was hit by the Cowboys Anthony Spencer and promptly fumbled.
The ball was in scooped up by DeMarcus Williams, who

(47:40):
proceeded to go leon lett and he tried to return
the ball for a touchdown instead of falling on the
damn fubble like they teach you in high school. But
the Lions miraculously recovered William's fumble and Boi Stafford now
has a second bite at the apple. So what did
Stafford do with his post more than life? On the

(48:02):
eighth play of this drive, with one oh seven left
in the game, Stafford fumbled again when he was hit
by You guessed it to Marcus Lawrence, only this time
Lawrence secured the ball. Game set match. Dallas wins twenty.

(48:25):
Now Stafford played hard. He was part of that eleven
and five, part of the reason they got to the playoffs,
But when it mattered most in the fourth quarter in
a playoff game, he couldn't get it done. How is
it that a guy like Baker Mayfield comes into the
league within his first four years he wins a playoff game.
Josh Allen, with his first three years win the playoff game.
Staffords never won a playoff game. Jared Goff, who's in Detroit.

(48:49):
It's actually won three or four playoff games, including won
this past year, even got to a Super Bowl. You
can give me all the nuance you want as to
whose fault it is and whether or not these stars
weren't aligned properly, and Matt Stafford just got dealt a
bad hand by the NFL gods in after twelve years now,
it's all gonna be rightfully corrected and he's going to

(49:11):
be the difference between the Rams winning a super Bowl
and not winning one. I've always said that Matt Stafford
is a guy you could win with, but not because
of For the record, the Lions defense that day against
Dallas was pretty stellar. They held the Cowboys to six
out of fourteen on third down third down conversions and

(49:34):
Tony Romo and company could only manage just a little
over three yards of total offense. That defense kept the
Lions in position to win that game. That was the
number two ranked NFL defense. You've not heard me repeat
twenty times you also had I'll follow famer first ballot
Hall of Famer by the name of Calvin Johnson and
other top receivers too. I'm not gonna name the roster.

(49:58):
I'm not gonna read the box score. The bottom line
is the Lions could have won that day moreover, moreover.
In addition to the Lions defense doing their job holding
Dallas off, you know, making him punt on third down,
the eight out of fourteen times the Lions under Matt
Stafford's direction didn't score a single point the final twenty

(50:18):
two minutes of the game. As I've said before, you
do find the moment or the moment that finds you.
Now the reason I said what I said about if
you aren't in Ford Field to see what happens. A
lot of times, uh, A lot of those meaningless yards
and points that the Lions got when they were trailing
by two or three scores late in the fourth quarter

(50:39):
against teams who didn't even make the playoffs. A lot
of times the Lions felt found themselves in a hole
because the Stafford's misgivings. He threw a lot of it,
you know, what next week, I'm gonna give some stats
about the interceptions he threw and his turnovers over a
ten year period. And by the way, as I said
earlier in the show, he picks sixes in his career.

(51:01):
He leads all current NFL quarterbacks. I'm not throwing the
guy under the bus. What I'm doing is giving you
an objective analysis. There are there are personal feelings, and
there are objective truths. These are objective truths. Ten and
sixty five against teams who finished above five three in
the playoffs, oh and seven against games and playoff implications,
in games with playoff implications, And it was in the cupboard.

(51:23):
Wasn't always as bare as they want to make it
out to be. And I'm gonna go back to the
games in ford Field, when you're actually there, there are
times he'll do. By the way, does he have armed talent? Absolutely?
Can he make the deep out through when he gets
his feet set in the pocket? Can he drill it
over the middle? Does he throw the ball? Can he
can he throw the you know, the bomb with touch? Yes?
He can? Can he throw the fate He could do

(51:45):
all that, But when it matters most and the games
on the line, against the team above five hundred yet
to see it. That's when I see him try to
keep a play alive and roll right role right role right,
throw a floater across his body into a sea of
hands when you're in the red zone. Maddening. You'll see
him not secure the ball in the pocket when he's
a whirling dervish trying to do just a little too

(52:05):
much instead of going down and trying to live another day,
or force a pass into bracketed receivers in the end zone.
Or maybe he's on the goal line trying to score
a touchdown on a quarterback sneak and he feels to
secure the ball and he loses it. Maybe all those
things will magically go away when he puts on a
Ram uniform this year, And if he does, I will

(52:26):
tip my cap. If Matt Stafford leads the Lion, leads
the Rams to the super Bowl, forget winning it. If
he just gets the Rams into the super Bowl, I
will tip my cap. When you get to the super Bowl,
it's a one game affair. Anything can happen. As the
Baltimore Colton super Bowl three, There's been lots of upsets
over the years, a lot of folks didn't think forty

(52:47):
four year old Tom Brady would win the Super Bowl
last year against the Chiefs. I did, but a lot
of people didn't. So just to get to that game
would be quite an accomplishment. But all I can say
is this, I I'm not. I am not on the
belief that Matt Stafford would be the reason the Rams
get to the Super Bowl. He's a guy you might
win with, but not because of and by the way

(53:10):
the division they're in. He struggled against all those teams.
He struggled against Seattle, he struggled against the Rams. He
didn't play the Rams because he's on the Rams, but
he struggled against Arizona, he struggled against the forty Niners.
None of those teams feared Matt Stafford. That Matt respect
Matt Stafford, even the Week one opponent. He's about five
hundred against the Bears, who were under five hundred every year,

(53:31):
just about Matt Stafford had some success against the Bears.
They don't fear him. They respect him, but they don't
fear him. These are just the facts, and this is
the way I see it. Matt Stafford has never won
a playoff game in his career. But as long as
you can blame the refs while avoiding accountability, Matt Stafford
can remain a full hero. Not in my eyes. Don't

(53:51):
tell me, show me, and I'm telling trust me on this.
I have a long memory. If we get to December
and are in the playoffs, and we get to January
and they went a playoff game, and they went to
blayoff games, I will give Matt Stafford credit if credit
is due. I'm not rooting against the guy. I don't
have a personal vendetta. I just my teeth ditch when

(54:13):
I hear this false narrative over and over about how
he played in this moribund franchise and never had a
chance again. By and large, for the years that Matt
was there, the Lions were laughing stock. But not every year.
I just shared with you what happened. They lost three
playoff games that he started. They got out class by Seattle,

(54:34):
they got out classed by New Orleans, and they got
beat by the Dallas Cowboys. Tony Romo, he's an announcer now.
Most you don't remember when he played quarterback. Was he great? Yeah?
But not that great? But he duled I'll duel Matt Stafford. Look,
the key is is do we look forward or do
we look backward? We do both because you cannot assess

(54:56):
what's likely to happen in the future without least taking
the consider duration what happened in the past. Now, I'm
not currently living in l A, but my crew is,
and they pay attention. And I think the Ram fans,
and I know Chris is a big time Stafford fan.
I'm going to give them the floor, and what I
want to do is hear a couple of things from them.
I want to hear, first of all, what is the

(55:18):
expectation for Stafford and the Rams this year? Is it
super Bowl or bust? Does it get to the playoffs?
Is it win a playoff game? Does it win a
super Bowl or just get to the Super Bowl? You
tell me. I don't want to ask and answer my
own question. I don't want to put words in your mouth.
The second thing is if if the expectations are not met,
whatever they may be, because we remember, you can only

(55:40):
assess the ultimate performance based on its juxtaposition against whatever
the expectations are. If the expectations are just to make
the playoffs and it's gravy, then it will be a
successful season. But if they fall short of the Super Bowl,
considering they already got there with a guy that just
traded Jared Goff, well then I don't see how you
can call that a successful season. Again, I don't think
he has to win the Super Bowl to be successful,

(56:00):
but I do think he has to at least get there.
But just as I call people out for not being
in ford Field, you can't have an opinion. I'm going
to recuse myself because I'm not living in Los Angeles
and I have nothing invested in the Rams. So coming up,
we're gonna talk to the crew about Matt Stafford in
the Los Angeles Rams and get their perspective as they
are closer to the team out there in Los Angeles

(56:22):
than I am. I'm Bernie Fraddle Company Alive from Las
Vegas Fox Sports Radio Studios. Stick and stay. You're listening
to Fox Sports Sunday on Fox Sports Radio. Right back
on Fox Sports Sunday, Fox Sports Radio and Bernie Fratto
Comany Alive from the Las Vegas Fox Sports Radio Studios
will take you up to three am Pacific, six damn
Eastern before I call him the crew to talk about

(56:45):
this Matt Stafford subject because they're all there in Los Angeles.
I want to read a tweet from a gentleman named
Eric is Twitter handles e hell of time. It's clever.
I'm thinking he lives in Green Bay. Here's what he said.
I'll read it verbatim. Staff Fred was slower than Brady,
with no brain, never did anything until down twenty one
on the fourth. I loved it because it helped us

(57:06):
greatly in Green Bay. Week three. He's out for the year,
and here's his plan words saw mcbond voyage money. He
was making a little fun of Sean McVeigh. There saw
bond voyage money with another great spending debacle. I'm reading
that because all my years I spent in Detroit, I
always believe that behind the scenes, that's how they felt

(57:29):
in Green Bay, and I know that's how they felt
in Chicago and probably in Minnesota. It's pretty good. He's
not bad. He's not gonna beat you. He doesn't scare us. Now.
He's gonna go to Los Angeles and he's been missing
link between winning a Super Bowl and not winning a
Super Bowl. That's where I threw a flag and that's
why I'm just a little harsh on this subject matter.

(57:49):
But let's go to a guy who's also been there
in Detroit and saw what I saw, although he's probably
more optimistic. Chris Perfett. Respond to any or all or
none of what I just said, so Bernie, as you say,
if you weren't in ford Field, I was in ford Field.
I I cover this team, since I continue to cover
it with a podcast and with the prior to Detroit,

(58:10):
I believe that in the past that was maybe true Stafford,
that it wasn't someone you could really win with, and
he had a lot of faults and put the ball
in some bad places. His work, however, with Jim Caldwell
moving forward after that time made him a completely different quarterback,
since he has not thrown more than eleven interceptions in

(58:30):
a year. In sixteen, he had eight game winning drives.
He had four eight fourth quarter comebacks. In fact, speaking
fourth quarter comebacks, he has tied seventh among all active
and retired NFL quarterbacks for fourth quarter comebacks. He's tied
at seventh with John Elway. That's fair, but against to
Chris against two. If you're tenants sixty five against teams

(58:53):
have finished about five. He's coming against moribund teams. You
can only play the team that's in front of you.
You know, it may be Chicago thought it was. He
wasn't a big deal. He beat Chicago like six times straight,
maybe seven times straight, if I'm if I'm not mistaken.
Everything about him is that you have had. You caught
him early in his career, he threw a lot. He

(59:13):
had seven attempts in. However, since that time, I've watched
him be it in before he got hurt, where he
was doing things with the ball where he puts it
in a very tight spiral, he puts it between he
puts it between defenders, and he looks very tight and
very very very competent. The big thing that he's gonna

(59:36):
have to worry about now in Los Angeles is that
the last couple of seasons, near the end of the season,
he's been hurt and it's really hurt him where he's
jammed his hand, and he's gonna have to stay healthy
for them at the Rams. However, I think for the Rams,
they're they're going to make the playoffs, and I think
at the very least, and you maybe get a win
out of it, but they've got at least two years

(59:57):
for him, probably longer as they will eventually restructure his contract.
But there's not a doubt in my mind looking at
the NFL right now, that Stafford isn't a top ten
quarterback and he's very deserving of that title. All right.
I think that's a fair comprehensive analysis, and I think
you maintain some objectivity your assertion is early in his career,
he was guilty a lot of the things, but in

(01:00:18):
the last couple of years he's basically matured. Here's the situation.
I've got to see him do it when it matters.
I've got to see him do it when the heat
is hot and it's hard to breathe, and he's putting
the team on his back against a playoff team, not
just anybody. But again, I think he covered a lot
of ground there and it was an objective analysis, and
so I'm gonna keep an open mind. Brian Family, you

(01:00:40):
carried away in on this. Yeah, I think there's a
lot of pressure on Sean McVeigh here, Bernie, because with
you with a talent in a quarterback like Stafford, you
basically despite the fact that the Rams right now have
some question marks at the running back position, they've got
so many weapons as far as pass catch or is.
Their defense doesn't have a lot of holes here. So

(01:01:04):
I think that there might be a hotter seat on
Sean McVeigh than the vast majority of the public seas
here because if this experiment doesn't work, I could see
that there's not a lot of other excuses to go
with here then looking right at Sean McVeigh. Although the
one thing that does set this team back, Bernie, is
what's going to happen at the running back position, which

(01:01:26):
could affect an impact how well a guy like Stafford
is gonna play this year. Well, okay, a couple of
good things here, Brian. First of all, we know cam
Akers got hurt, he's out for the year, and they
brought in Sony Michelle, who's not going to replace cam
Akers in terms of production. Truth of the matter is
New England flee sto Rams. I think Sonny Michelle is
gonna get cut. That's how deep New Inland is. But

(01:01:47):
we're back to the age old argument again. The Stafford
needs perfect conditions around that's not fair, but he needs
optimal conditions around him to win. So he's gonna need
a running back just like everybody else. He's not gonna
be the reason you win. He just might be a
guy you win in because of the other thing you
brought up that I like, Brian was, this is really
on Sean McVeigh. He has hitched his wagon and pushed

(01:02:08):
his chips to the center of the table. For a
guy who's never won a playoff game in twelve years,
I think that's gonna be an interesting storyline. The question
is if the Rams don't win for whatever reason, well
Matt Stafford be the teflon man and escape scrutiny. And
I also think Chris also brought up a good point.
He's got to stay healthy. Stafford plays hurt. He basically

(01:02:30):
had a broken back a couple of years ago, but
we were told in twenty nineteen if he hadn't gotten hurt,
the rant the line started out like two oh and
one or they might have gone to the playoffs. No,
they wouldn't have. Stafford was healthy last year and he
stunk it up every every time it's mattered, he hasn't
come through. But again you meld with Chris and Brian
had to say there this is on McVeigh as well.

(01:02:50):
He's gonna need help from a running game. And oh,
by the way, maybe he has matured after being unergym
Jim called Will's two Ledge would call Will did make
the playoffs too? Were the three years never won a game?
But they did make those playoffs. And the bottom line is,
can Stafford do it now? With the bright lights in
the big city. I gotta see it. Don't tell me,
show me, Bull Benson, you got the final word on this. Um. Yeah,

(01:03:12):
I think Sean McVeigh is not going anywhere. He's He's
set here in Los Angeles. Um. I The way I
think about Matt Stafford is I just I just listened
to the way that his contemporaries and the people around
him talk about him. Um. Aaron Rodgers, I think, called
him like the most underrated quarterback in football, and uh,

(01:03:32):
Kyle Shanahan, everybody's favorite coach up in San Francisco, went
on Sean mcveigh's podcast with Peter Stregor and just talked
about how upset he was when he saw that it
was the Rams that we're gonna get Stafford because he
was trying to get him to replace Jimmy Garoppolo and
San Francisco. So, I mean, that's sounds like coach speak
to you though. I mean there's a decorum. Even Lou
Holtson said, we're playing Davy this week. They're incredible. There

(01:03:53):
are forty eight point favorite that's how that's how you
do it. That Shannahan and Shannahana McVeigh friends, And it's
a very inform a podcast. It sounded sincere when I
when I listened to it. I and we all know
that San Francisco was doing everything they could to not
have to start Jimmy Garoppolo this year. Um, but I
don't think they need to win this year. I don't
think there's any immense pressure on them to win a

(01:04:14):
super Bowl right away. Uh. If you try to say that,
like you know, Jared Goff got them there, I would
argue that Jared Goff played a small role in that
Hen getting the Super Bowl. Uh. If you watch that
team that year, it was all Todd Gurley and as
soon as he got hurt, they couldn't do anything. Um
So yeah, I I just it's we'll see what happens

(01:04:35):
at the end of the year. But I don't think
there's any immense pressure on on the Rams or Matt
Stafford to win a Super Bowl right away. Just because
there's not really that many people in Los Angeles. They
care too much about what happens with the Rams this year,
and that was That's where this is a nuanced conversation.
I get it that Jared Goff, no one's going to
confuse him with Johnny Uniteds and no one's going to

(01:04:56):
confuse him with John Elway. But he was under center
for three playoff wins, including getting to the super Bowl
and played quite well, I thought, and a playoff win
last year against the Bears. Look, the long and the
short of it is, Uh, it's a bottom line league.
And whether or not Stafford's given a hall pass if
they don't win, or is given credit they do, when
it remains to be seen. He's not chop Liver. Matt

(01:05:19):
Stafford is a is an extreme competitor. He's got the
heart of a line no pun intended, and he won
the city Detroit over because he was a gamer. He
but he did everything but win, and I think people
are gonna be disappointed if they don't win. Now, maybe
there's not immense pressure, but they sure moved having on
earth to bring him over, and they're paying him a
lot of money. So it remains to be seen. I

(01:05:41):
think it's gonna be a continued fluid situation as to
West African do Look, he's done enough in the league
guys to warrant the respect of guys like Kyle Shanahan
and guys like Sean McVeigh and and and right on
down the line. Right, he's done enough in the league
throwing for fifty tho yards. Whatever the case. Maybe he compete,
he plays hard, he did everything but win. I rest

(01:06:03):
my case. Coming up, I'm gonna give my prediction on
what happens in the NFC West and what the Rams
actually do. But first let's go to the man. He's
so cool. When he buys a new car and drives
it off a lot, it actually gains value. It's brewn
fitting with the latest. Thank you so much. I believe
that would be my motor home that I drive around.
If not, it's usually my school bus that I drive

(01:06:23):
by myself. Number So, speaking of schools, a lot of
college football happening on Saturday, including number five Georgia getting
past number three Clemson ten to three. The one touchdown
was a pick six, as Clemson falls behind in this
season early on. Then there was number one Alabama torturing

(01:06:47):
Miami to thirteen. Bryce Young had four touchdown tosses and
Kane's QB dear A King had two interceptions. Number fifteen
USC torching San Jose State thirty to seven. The Trojans
put up seventeen points in the fourth quarter to assaults
away the wind. While over at the Rose Bowl U
c l A ridicules Number sixteen LSU thirty eight to seven.

(01:07:11):
Dorian thompsonid Robinson had three touchdowns, including one to the
former walk on and Greg doulser j seventy five yard
scamper for a score where Dulcinch made several l s
U players miss on his way to the end zone.
Number two Oklahoma veers past two Lane forty to thirty five.

(01:07:32):
Texas A and M the number six team in the
land gets a win. Cincinnati with a victory as well
as they continue to play well with their quarterback in
does Ritter. A couple downsides on the Pack twelve slate.
You had a loss for Arizona, Washington State, Washington, and

(01:07:53):
Cal just to name a few here. So those are
a couple of teams that did not quite go as
they would have liked as far as their first games
of the season. As far as what else took place
on Saturday, we did have a marquee baseball game that
I did want to point out. Dodgers and Giants are
now tied for first in the n L West after

(01:08:13):
Los Angeles took it to San Francis to one. The
final game of that series will be later on today.
And then there's the U s Open, which rolls on
from New York and Ashbar the number one seed in
the women's draw, had a five games to to lead
in that third set the decider, and she imploded on
the court and it was a win for Shelby Rodgers,

(01:08:35):
the American who is able to pull through and make
her way to the fourth round. As we sent it
back to a man who, well, he might be a
fourth rounder at the US Open, or maybe a fourth
rounder in the U s Open. Of Sports Radio, it's
our guy, Bernie Freddo And those are the dulcet tones
of the silver tongue devil Bruin Finley with the updates.

(01:08:58):
Before I get to my predictions on the FC West,
I had to reread this tweet a couple of times.
I'll go ahead and give him a second bite at
the Apple Eric e hell of time. Let me paraphrase
this by basically, he's basically implying, and he's not wrong,
that he is within his rights to question the Stafford
signing because he sees Stafford as someone who's old and slow,

(01:09:22):
and that's not wrong. But they're committed to forty three
million dollars. The Rams are committed to forty three million
dollars win loser draw. And this is on the heels
of signing a running back two years ago, three years
ago for fifty seven million and then cutting him two
years later. That's, of course Todd Gurley, and then paying
Jared Goff a hundred and thirty four million and cutting
him two years later as well. Remember he was a

(01:09:44):
number one draft choice and also very high in Sean
mcbath's book. So using deductive reasoning, it's not unreasonable, not
unfair to call him. The question the decision of Rams
made be that as it may guess what. This is
not a subjective argument. It will be decided on the field.
So what will the Rams do? In these are my predictions.

(01:10:07):
I am not predicting the Rams are gonna win the
NFC West. I believe that's gonna be the San Francisco
forty Niners. I've got them going eleven and six and
what I consider to be the toughest division in football.
Right This is a very tightly packed division. But the
forty Niners get to play five games against last place

(01:10:28):
teams from and that's gonna help them quite a bit.
They open up, The Niners open up at Detroit and
then Philadelphia. Come on, man, those are those are two
ws barring something crazy, and they're gonna get out of
the gate quick. And it's not gonna hurt that they
get back George Cattle back, they get back Nick Both,
So they get back Raheem Molstred Deebo, Samuel, Jimmy g

(01:10:49):
He's and eight as a starter. I gotta believe Trey
Lance only gets better. Maybe they create some packages for him.
This is a team that's one year removed from a
thirteen and three season that ended in the Super Bowl.
Last year was a debacle. It's not gonna happen two
years in a row. Kyle Shanahan is breaking into new coordinators.
But the Niners, if they stay healthy, are loaded. They

(01:11:09):
will win the NFC West in my opinion. All Right,
I'm gonna give the Rams. In benefit of the doubt,
I still think they can go tenants seven. Losing cam
Akers is gonna hurt he. He's gonna miss the entire
season with a torn achillies. That puts a major damper
on the team that was banking on, you know, having
a nice running attack to compliment Matt Stafford's arrival. And uh,

(01:11:31):
you know they lost a couple of starters off last
year's defense as well. You're bringing Sonny Michelle. I do
not think Sonny Michelle will fill the shoes of what
uh cam Akers would have done. And the Rams are
gonna be tested early, all right, no way to rest
for the wicked. I know they get the Bears first,
but four of their first five opponents were playoff teams,

(01:11:56):
so you don't want to fall behind. As I just said,
I believe, I believe that Anders will start out two
and oh if the Rams, you know, start out three
and two or two something along those lines, and they're
gonna be digging up hill. But I don't think they're
gonna win the division anyway. Seattle, I think is gonna
be right behind the Rams at nine and eight. You
never count out a team with Russell Wilson you never

(01:12:16):
count out a team that's only missed the playoffs once
in the last nine season. And as long as you've
got Russell Wilson and Bobby Wagner, you are going to compete.
But the Seahawks have significantly downshifted from a team that
was clearly a perennial championship contender and a championship playoff
team or perennial playoff team. Perhaps they're not only two

(01:12:36):
reliant on too many veteran imports from other teams that
haven't won. Uh, Wilson, I still don't know if I
trust the relationship. After all, this mischiegoss happened back in February.
They say it's all cleaned up, and but you know,
are they gonna let Russ Cook? Are they gonna run
the ball? Whether offensive line protect him? Still some holes

(01:12:57):
on defense there are nowhere near the legional boom team
that they had years ago. But again, as long as
you've got Russell Wilson and Bobby wagen you're gonna compete.
I still say the Seahawks are only gonna be nine
and eight now. The Arizona Cardinals are gonna be an
interesting team. To me. I think they're only gonna be eight, nine, seven,
and tens some along those lines. And I would say

(01:13:17):
Cliff Kingsbury and his team are going to have to
figure out a way to finish the second half season.
It's even it's a seventeen game season now. And when
you look at what Arizona has done the last two years,
and I like Kyler Murray and I don't dislike Cliff Kingsbury.
I think they've done a good job. The problem is
if the season was eight games long instead of sixteen

(01:13:38):
and now seventeen, they might have been a playoff team.
But it's not because in the last two years, Cliff
Kingsbury's first two years, they are combined five and eleven
in the second half of the season. So that's not good.
They've got to figure out a way to play a
whole season. They're also gonna have to figure out a
way to run the ball better and not be so
reliant on Kyler Murray and his legs. They got to

(01:13:58):
convert more third downs, and you know, I don't know
how they practice. Maybe they I don't know. They're just
not fresh down the stretch. So the other issue that
Arizona is going to have is they have showdowns with
five playoff teams in the final seven weeks, so I
think Arizona will fade at the end most likely have
passed this prologue. They got five playoff teams, so I've

(01:14:21):
got the Niners winning the West, they ran finishing second,
the Seahawks third. So I'm going to give the Rams
a hall pass and say they're gonna make the playoffs
and they're a good team. I think they're a playoff
caliber team. Now what happens, they might win a playoff
game in the wild card round. I'm not gonna guarantee that,
but that's where it's gonna end. That's my prediction. Save

(01:14:44):
this tape. I'll eat my words in January. I made
a lot of predictions in this time slot the last
three or four years and had a lot of good
ones go right, including both of New England or both
of Brady Super Bowl runs. All right, look, let me
just say this before I break my arm patting myself
on the back. The Rams might win a wildcard game,
but the reason they won't go any further is because

(01:15:05):
if they get the divisional round, they're gonna have to
you to beat the forty Niners. The Packers of the Buccaneers.
That's the way it's gonna roll. Stafford's not doing that. Sorry.
That's my story and I'm sticking to it. Coming up,
Speaking of stories, We're gonna bring it back out to Vegas,
you know what I mean. Love me can't lee without them.
We're gonna switch to baseball. But Keenzie's got some stuff

(01:15:26):
on a certain team that's the scourge and the hate
of the Western hemisphere, including the Dodgers. But yet, lo
and behold, they're back in you know, they're They're almost
said they're back in black, but that's just so lame
to say. They're back in the hunt, on the shortlist
of the teams that could get to the World Series,
and they're betters have been benefiting. Mackenzie will have the

(01:15:47):
information for you. I'm Bernie Fratto Company Alive from the
Las Vegas Fox Sports Radio Studios. Keep it locked right here.
Don't go away. You're listening to Fox Sports Sunday on
Fox Sports Radio. You are back on Fox Sports Today,
Fox Sports Radio and Bernie fred A Comedy Live for
the Las Vegas Fox Sports Radio Studios. It's that time again.
We bring it back out to Vegas. You know, I

(01:16:08):
mean love in Candlie without a macinov sports, Mackenzie rivers,
we turn our attention to baseball unless we forget there's
plenty of ways to cash on certain teams in baseball. Mackenzie,
you've got your eye on a particular team. It's actually
performed pretty well for their betters. Yes, let's take a
look at the Houston Astros, who may not remember this.
They were one of the worst teams in history in

(01:16:31):
memoryeen they won less than sixty games a year. Their
average line was plus one seventy. Now as bad as
they were for that four year stretch, the last four
year stretch, for the last five years stretch, five years
ago they won the World Series. They've been as dominant
as any team in baseball. And I think the betting market,

(01:16:51):
believe it or not, is actually kind of missing the
boat on this. I think because of the huge controversy,
which was the betting scandal, people have kind of you know,
they've soured on the Houston Astros if you look at
their average line. So they won the World Series in seen,
so they're gonna be a public team after that. A
lot of you know, notoriety is gonna come with that.

(01:17:14):
Their minus one nine on average, do great win of
their games. They win sixty of their games. The market
was very aware minus two ten on average. And then
the scandal happens. They have to they lose Cole, they
lose Verlander, and they're not as good of a team.
They only win fifty of their games. But the average

(01:17:35):
line is minus one forty, so it corrects. This year, Bernie,
their average line is only minus one fifty. They're being
treated like the team that were last year when they
were almost five hundred. But if you look at their record,
you look at their players, they're more like the team
they were in when they were dominating the game. So
I think they're they're a team that intellects spots. There's

(01:17:56):
a lot of value on This is really good data, mackenzie,
because if you're serious about betting, it's that kind of
mathematical model that can made the difference between big profits
are not so big profits. Currently, the Astros are twenty
three games above five hundred. There's seventy nine and fifty
six around the road tomorrow in San Diego. If you
were to compare the Astros, and I don't mean to

(01:18:17):
put you on the spot, but hopefully you have something
to compare another team of that same record not named
the Astros. Are they priced differently to the best of
your knowledge, Yes, and the Padres are a good example.
They're They're a team that I was surprised actually made
a big bet on the first game of that series
between the Astros and the Padres because I was thinking,
if you look at the starting pitching, these teams are

(01:18:38):
being priced like pretty much even teams, and maybe by
this year's record they're pretty close. But if you look
at the five year history, you look at the moving
trend line like stock market watchers do, it's not close.
The Astros were much better than the Padres, especially, and
this is a great nugget in the first game of
a series, since they won the World Series plus thirty units,

(01:18:59):
they're even better than that when that first game of
the series comes on the road, and even better than
that twenty one and two straight up when they're coming
off a road game, they're playing a series opener on
the road and they've had a day arrest. I think
it has everything to do with the analytics department, that
scouting department working with those players with an extra day.

(01:19:19):
Just think about all the different modes of communication that
can happen in that extra day when the best analytics
and scouting team in baseball gears in on that opponent
twenty one in two and that very particular and we
saw it with the Padre very particular spot. I think
it has everything to do with the way the Astros
approached the game and the right things that are doing.

(01:19:41):
You give them an extra day to cheap Burnie. They're
unbeatable almost well, you know what. I'm never going to
defend the Astros, but in that infamous World Series, Game
seven was played in Los Angeles, So I'm just saying, okay,
I'm not giving it. But by the way, real quickly,
perception is reality. The Chicago Whites action been the media
darling this year and they deserve it. Right. So if

(01:20:02):
the White Sox been more expensive than the Astros on average,
that's a great example one of those news I'll tell you,
and I'll tell you why they got basically the same record.
The White Sox is seventy nine in fifty seven, the
Astros are seventy nine and fifty six. You got about
thirty seconds. Continue, yes, and the and the White Sox
have a better World Series odds than the Astros. Doesn't

(01:20:24):
make any sense to me. White Sox are a brand
new team, Tim Anderson playing well, they had the Field
of Dreams, miracle, a lot of great things on the
South Side right now. But you talk about how good
this team is, you got to give me more than
one one years of data. I like the Houston Astros
as an underrated team in baseball this year. Okay, And
that's the kind of data you want on this show.
If you're a serious better and you bet every day,

(01:20:44):
and you bet the board or you find value. You're
looking at a team in the Houston Astros. The numbers
are telling you they're everybody as good as the White Sox,
but they're cheaper. They're not as expensive as the White Sox.
Do with that what you will? Come it up? Go
back to Cops football. I've got fifteen teams in the season.
Stat stick with us. I'm Bernie Fratto, Fox Sports Sunday

(01:21:06):
rolls on Two down and one to go. I'm Bernie
Freddo come to your live in the Las Vegas Fox
Sports Radio studios will take you up to three am
Pacific sixtm Eastern. I want to remind you discovered matches
all the cash back you earn on your credit card
at the end of your first year. It's amazing because
discovers accepted at the places in the US to take

(01:21:28):
credit cards. Learn more and discover dot com slash Yes.
Nielsen Report limitations apply. Coming up in about fifteen minutes,
you'll be joined by Dennis fifty in from w t K.
N ourbor, longtime veteran in the Michigan area, Michigan market
as it were, has his finger on the pulse of

(01:21:49):
Michigan football like no one I've known sincerely nineties. He
was a huge part of my first show, The View
from the Cheap Seats that we've always maintained contact. We'll
talk about Michigan and Big ten foot all because they
always managed to be in the news. Weren't. By the way,
real quickly, I want to talk about this topic because
it's sensitive, but it's important because college football has a

(01:22:13):
four ft A forfeit policy this year that they didn't
have last year in this sense. And here's what I
mean by that. So, uh, the COVID thing, you know,
it's they're managing it, but it hasn't gone away, and
so it could rear its ugly ahead at any time,
and every Power of five conference has announced that college
football teams who are unable to play due to COVID

(01:22:36):
this fall must forfeit a game and receive a loss.
And here's why it matters, because clearly now this gives
teams with a higher vaccination rate and competitive advantage. And
when the NFL announced a similar policy, it really led
to a huge uptick and vaccinated players. I just want
to give this some quick perspective because we just finished
week zero and week one. So far, so good, fingers crossed,

(01:22:59):
even though Lane Kiffin tested positive. And look, you wish
this thing would go away, but so far it's stubborn.
And here's why this is an important subject matter to
just broach. Ever so quickly, let's have a little flashback
last year, and remember this was a reduced schedule last year.
A hundred and eighteen games were postponeder canceled last year

(01:23:21):
due to COVID. Now, if the same rules had been
in place last year, the college football playoffs would have
looked much different. Let's take number one Alabama, number nine Georgia,
and number ten Iowa State. Believe it or not, they
were the only top ten teams in the final college
football ranking that did not cause a single postponement or cancelation.

(01:23:46):
So last year you had postponements and cancelations. This year
it's going to be forfeit. But number two Clemson, number
three Ohio State, number four Notre Dame, number five Texas
A and M number six Oklahoma, and number eight Cincinnati
wold have each been handled a loss under last year's policy.
Check that under this year's policy that matters. Number seven Florida,

(01:24:09):
they were responsible for two postponements, so they would have
plummeted down the standing. Florida when you add in the forfeits,
would have had five losses this year last year. If
if this year's policy had been in place last year,
so the planoff would look a little different. So this
is serious business. Remember not being talked about a lot,

(01:24:31):
but it's there. There's actually a forfeit policy. Let's continue
to keep our fingers crossed, all right. If you've ever wondered,
if you've ever asked a professional better, or you've ever
asked someone that you consider to be sharp or knowledgeable,
or someone who just seems to know a little bit
more than the average bear, why are you betting that
team this week when it doesn't seem to make senser,
you're just not understanding. It's typically because they're aware that

(01:24:55):
better is aware of a trend or a circumstance that
will take place down the road that they've got penciled
and circled on their calendar. And I'm gonna give you
a handful of these that will rear their head in
college football this year. Right for instance, Alabama, Look you,
they're rock solid. You saw what they did today and

(01:25:17):
they covered to day easily. But as the season goes
on to be more and more expensive, and they are
you know, if you're gonna bet Alabama, you're gonna pay
the Alabama tacks. And the books are not in business
to lose money. The the the spreads are not a predictor.
They're just trying to create equal action on both sides.
Obama only plays four true road games this year, and

(01:25:38):
they may be very well. They may very well be
undefeated when they travel to Auburn in the season finale.
The Orange Bowl is always a tough matchup no matter
what throughout the records. Here's the situation on Alabama that
you want to pay attention to. Alabama has covered nineteen
of the last twenty one games. When they have to

(01:25:59):
play back to back road games, they covered nineteen and
twenty one, the first of back to back road games.
So when Saban goes down the road for that business
trip sometimes they'll play back to back road games, they
cover that first one at the time. When is that
situation they're gonna be in that situation? Coincidentally, October nine
at Texas A and M, when you know Jimbo Fisher

(01:26:20):
will be lying in wait and that could be, you know,
the one game that Alabama could trip up. I don't
know what the number is gonna be yet. I would
say Alabama is going to be a short favorite on
the road, but it will be the first to back
to back road games. They cover those nineteen twenty one.
Clemson has a difference a similar situation. They're only one
and nine to the spread versus nonconference teams when they're

(01:26:42):
coming off a win a ten or more. All right,
So what does that basically mean. It means that and
nonconference games. Maybe Clemson lets their guard down just a
little bit. They want to win their conference games. They
want to win all their games, of course, but they
have to be a double digit winner. So keep an
eye out because is November. They go to South Carolina.

(01:27:03):
South Carolina, and that'll be a nonconference game, and if
Clemson wins that game the week before on November by
more than ten, you might want to look to fade Clemson.
One of the rare times you might want to do that.
Someone might say, well, why are you betting against Clemson November?
Here's the line against South Carolina because guess what, they're
one and nine to the spread versus non conference teams

(01:27:25):
when they won the week before by more than ten points.
Even ohiw State. They don't cover all their games, depending
on where you got the number they didn't cover against Minnesota.
Some numbers were fourteen and a half. Some we're fourteen only,
a few were thirteen and a half. As you know,
the Ohio State Michigan rivalry, whether you want to call
it a tenure war, it's just an amazing, amazing college rivalry.

(01:27:49):
From my money, I think it's the most intense college rivalry,
if not sports rivalry going. And I will tell you
it's pretty clear Ohio State to very serious. They own
that rivalry right now. But before this long streak started,
Michigan was seventeen and twelve against Ohio State and this rivalry,
so the bottom line is it's gonna be hotly contested.

(01:28:11):
But did you know that Ohio State is only one
or nine against the spread the game before Michigan And
so what's interesting is when they play Michigan this year,
the week before Ohio State actually plays Michigan State, and
Michigan State will have revenge on their mind. Is o
howse State beat him by forty last year and Michigan

(01:28:33):
State has a way of covering against Ohouse State. So
the game before Michigan House State's only covered one of
their last ten this year it happens to be against
Michigan State. Michigan State might be a play on that
day Sooners. They didn't look great today, but they won.
Here's a statue you're gonna want to know about them.
They are eleven or over of the spread before back
to back games away from home. So when they they're

(01:28:56):
like kind of like Mick Saban when on that first
road game, this is a little different. The bottom line
is when Oklahoma knows they're going on the road for
back to back games, they cover that last home game
to take it serious. That situation occurs on September twenty five,
when they're at home against West Virginia. Jot it down.
These are little factoids. You're not gonna go a hundred

(01:29:16):
percent on all these, but you're gonna find that over
the years if there's a reason he's cover more than not.
Did you know Notre Dame they're not a great They're
not a great team. This year they lost a lot,
but they're still six and two against the spread as
a road favorite. Guess what that's gonna get tested Monday.
I don't know if I like this game, but they're
laying seven at Florida State. I love Kirby Smart and

(01:29:38):
Georgia the guys. A stud coach, he was a Nick
Saban disciple. He's the one team they're just not intimidated
by Alabama. Boy, if Georgia and Alabama lock horns in
the SEC Championship game this year, that'll be a site
to see. But did you know Georgia is fourteen and
oh against the spread is a favorite of twelve or
less points. If if especially they lost to the team

(01:30:00):
they're playing the year before, well, guess what on October
check the line versus Florida. If they're laying less than twelve.
You want to jump on Georgia at the revenge game
against Florida, And I think anytime you backed Georgia it's
like buying IBM or something. You you're betting on the
new New, the new England Patriots. All those years when
Brady and Belichick recovering blindly sent at the time, you

(01:30:22):
never felt like you made a bad bet. Boy. You
know who looked really good today? And I'm I think
they can go into Indiana and beat them. Uh and
fingers crossed. Maybe you know, if the football gods are
smiling down, maybe Cincinnati will be the first non Par
five team you get to the final four. They're loaded,
they look good. Uh. The only game they lost last

(01:30:44):
year was a bowl game against Georgia. They improved a
lot this year, even more. They crushed today on October seven.
Check check it out October two. You want to check
the line as the Cincinnati Bearcats. Here's the situation. They're
seven and oh to the spread on the second of
back to back road games. Have you heard my stat

(01:31:06):
about Nick Saban the first road game? Then you hear
my stat about Oklahoma their last home game before going
on back to back road games. Cincinnati is actually seven
oh against the spread on the second of back to
back road games. That means when they go to Notre
Dame this year, it'll be the second of a back
to back road game. They're likely going to be an underdog,
and I would not be surprised if Cincinnati is a

(01:31:27):
strong play that day. Iowa State again, they escape with
a win today. This is all about survive in advance.
You don't have to kill everybody. But here's a here's
a here's a pretty cool stat about Iowa State. There's
seven and one against the number when they're coming off
of bye week. Guess what they're in that spot? October
sixte at Kansas State coming off of bye week seven one. Obviously,

(01:31:52):
when two weeks to prepare, Matt Campbell knows how to
get it done. Florida, North Carolina, Oregon wisconstant. They've all
got trends that I'm gonna get to in a in
a couple of weeks. Check that next week as well.
I'll tell you what. Let's squeeze one more in here,
all right, Georgia, Florida the largest cock what it was
the world's largest cocktail party, right, Flora's oh and five

(01:32:16):
to the spread when they're a dog against the team
they beat the year before. That's gonna happen this year
against Georgia. So you're gonna want to get on Georgia
and fade Florida, right. I just talked about that on
October thirty. If they'll take on Georgia. They beat Georgia
by sixteen last year world's largest cocktail party. Not sure
what the land is gonna be, but if it's less
than twelve, Georgia covers that a ton and Florida I

(01:32:40):
just told you what their record was there, oh in
five as a dog when they're playing a team who
they beat the year before with revenge. I'm gonna continue
this next week actually because Oregon's got some stuff Wisconsin, uh,
Miami of Florida not Miami, Ohio, and in North Carolina
as well, and I'm gonna save that for next week

(01:33:01):
because most of these games don't take place until later
in the season. And look there, you're you're dealing with
human beings. They can't get it. You know, no team
every week, weekend, and week out is going to bring
their best effort. They're gonna they're gonna bring their best effort,
but they're human and they're not gonna be able to
perform in a way. You know, You're just not gonna

(01:33:22):
Michigan just isn't gonna get up for you know, uh,
Northern Illinois, who they've gotten a couple of weeks, the
same way they're gonna get up for Ohio State. They're human.
So you watch these things and these trends who have
you know, they've been established over years with a track record.
These are things that you want to put in the
in your backpack and call upon later for when the

(01:33:43):
season rolls around, and those you know, those specific dates
so you can try to find an edge. All right,
coming up, we're gonna go out to ann Arbor, Michigan.
Welcome and a gentleman who's got his finger on the
pulse of Michigan football and Big ten football as well
as anybody I've known since the early ninnies. His name
is Dennis fifty and you don't want to miss this segment.

(01:34:04):
I'm Bernie Frido wor Company live from Las Vegas Fox
Sports Radio Studio. Stick and stay keep it locked right
here on Fox Sports Sunday. Fox Sports Radio. We're back
on Fox Sports Sunday, Fox Sports Radio on Bernie Friddo
Company Alive to the Las Vegas Fox Sports Radio Studios.
You're tired of waiting around for hot water. Choose Navy
and a gat instant hot water for spotlight comfort while

(01:34:25):
you lower your bills. Save hundreds on a Navy and
Tacklets water heater with local rebates at Tackles made Simple
dot Com. All right, let's welcome to our guests. Gentlemen,
I got great respect for We go back almost thirty years.
Did the Detroit Lions pre and Pulse game show together
back in oh seven. Spent many years together in ann Arbor.
No one has more of a finger on the Pulse

(01:34:45):
than the Michigan Wolverines. And this guy say hello to
Dennis fifty and Dennis, thanks for getting up earlier, staying
up late either way, I really appreciate it. Yeah, well, Bernie,
I've been watching college football since Thursday. It's been awesome. Hey,
we're gonna get to you get in just a second.
But you're right there in Big ten country. What was
your biggest takeaway today from the first slate, whether it's

(01:35:06):
Penn State, Wisconsin, Indiana, Iowa, what are your thoughts. Well,
you know what, Uh, my biggest thought is that Michigan
is playing in Washington next week and it was a
shocker to see Montana feed them. But if I stay
within the conference, uh, you know, a house State looked
pretty good against Minnesota. That was that was a fun

(01:35:27):
game to watch. It showed you that if you if
you don't turn the ball over, you're gonna hold down
some big plays. You know, you might be able to
stay in there with a team like Ohio State, But
I don't know. Pet State. You go on the road
and and win in conference against another top twenty five
team and Wisconsin, I think it's gonna be a top
twenty five team even if we're talking in uh in

(01:35:49):
a month or so. So to me, that's the biggest one.
But you know, I like, uh, in the end of
this year with Michael Pennock Jr. Is the quarterbacks guy
is gonna be playing in the NFL. Oh he could
be picked in the early rounds of the draft. I
think everybody thinks that. And to see them getting man
handled like they did in Iowa, A lot of teams

(01:36:10):
man handled like that. But the physicality there, the defense
that I was that defense was was Hummings. Yeah, they
look really good, Dennis. So, I think this is a
pivotal year for Michigan football in the sense that coming
off the last year, the COVID year and the and
the Hardball contract extension as it were. Um, Look, it's

(01:36:35):
no secret that hardball continues to nationally be a polarizing figure.
And rather than look backward, let's look forward. What is
Michigan expected to do this year to avoid embarrassment? You
mean the teams you just mentioned, they've got to go
to Wisconsin, You've got to go to Penn State, they
get Indian at home, they get Ohio State at home.

(01:36:57):
It's hard for me to believe Michigan is at that
level anymore, with those schools putting a gun to your head.
What do you expect Michigan to do this year? And
how do you expect the administration to react? With respect
to Jim Harbaugh. No, you know, they came out with
the original schedule and I had Michigan on seven and five,
and then they adjusted the schedule where they had them

(01:37:17):
travel to Michigan State, bringing in Indiana, and then uh
I changed and had the winning eight games, and you know,
over and under their in vegas of seven and a half.
So I thought that that was fair and that's what
I thought. And I was a little bit surprised because
Michigan is one of those teams that even with the
with the media, you know, you're gonna find certain people

(01:37:39):
that are gonna look at the team and glowing terms
and always give them the benefit of the doubt. And
you know, they're a big time hype program. They always
have been, you know, popular that way. And I saw somebody,
I saw somebody. They put out a a little a
poll of fifteen media members that were that followed Michigan,

(01:38:01):
and they asked him, you know, all kinds of different questions,
but one of them was the record, and uh, I
was surprised to see that all of those responders had
Nobody had him winning more than eight games. There are
a couple of sixes, but mostly seven wins, eight wins,
And I think I thought that was telling to the
off season, like you know, the Michigan fans, Michigan media, like,

(01:38:24):
nobody's thinking that that this was gonna be some kind
of year where they beat Ohio State or compete in
the Big Ten. It was looked at as uh, you know,
as a ceiling eight win team, and now that's never
been the case. Uh and uh, you know, since Rich
Rodriguez is last year, maybe Brady Hopes last year. Uh,

(01:38:45):
two years out of fifty years were people in the
off season. It was this miles of off season with
expectations and hype that I've ever seen. Dennis, want to
ask you a question because prior to Ohio State on
this massive run with which has made this rivalry completely
one sided since two thousand four, Michigan was actually seventeen

(01:39:06):
and twelve versus Ohio State in the prior twenty nine years.
I don't believe they want to lower their standards in
ann Arbor and say we're just not at Ohio States level.
What's the solution. Can Jim Harbaugh get over the hump?
And if not, does he just have a lifetime contract there?
You know, break down the dynamic for people outside of
Anna Arbor. Yeah, well, I mean even lifetime contract can

(01:39:30):
be broken. I think that that's important though, to look
at the two previous coaches I mentioned, Rich Rodriguez and
Brady Uh, Michigan fans really felt what it was like
to you know, be down to the dumps like you know,
getting beat by a mac team, you know, just getting routed.
And then Ohio State, which has always been good and
has always been an elite program, used everything they could

(01:39:53):
and uh, you know, hit turbo charge. I thought two
years ago that that was gonna be the time where
the thing to shifted back. It was gonna be cyclical.
You know. You mentioned Michigan. I had a pretty good
record against uh John Cooper, you know, and two and
one something like that, and so they were dominating the series.
But I thought two years ago, Michigan had the team

(01:40:13):
at home, they had a returning starting quarterback, and see Patterson,
the most important thing in college football show everybody's listening
notes is the head coach. And Erman Meyer was retiring,
so you had a new head coach, and oh yeah,
how State was breaking and yet another quarterback ended up
being justin fields. But those were four big factors. And
I thought, hey, and Michigan had a really good offensive
line too, and that proved out to be in the case.

(01:40:36):
I thought all those things, uh favored you of them
to get back and and to turn this thing around.
And you know, and instead in the h you could
tell within the first couple of games of the of
the season that you know, field Paddent. We came out
through five touchdowns and uh, I think in the first half, uh,
and then open are You're like, oh, well, you know

(01:40:56):
this is uh, this is gonna be a lot of
the same. But you know, I think you know, you say,
you know, the Michigan fans, uh, you know, should expect
the bast and all these things that people are really
resigned to the fact here that it's a it's an
Alabama Clemson even after last night and Ohio State World

(01:41:17):
and everybody else. It's just living in it. And even
though Michigan loves to have the rivalry with Ohio State,
a lot of the fans look at other programs like this,
you know, just Notre Dame was in the big TENNIST
state Wisconsin. For as good as they are, they were
sitting over there in the Big ten East, they wouldn't
they wouldn't be in Ohio State. And I think that

(01:41:39):
people who have lowered their expectations that way, they run
a clean program, uh, and they and they know that
there's one guy that knows about the rivalry, a guy
that guaranteed to win after those of the Minnesota you know,
back in the eighties. Yeah, that's it. So I think

(01:42:00):
they know they they've got the guys. If anybody's gonna
do it, he is. But you know, there's only so
much you can take. I'll tell you that, Bernie. If
if the Bears would have made the playoffs last year,
I think Jim Harbon would be in Chicago right now,
and I think Matt Campbell would be the head coach
at Michigan. I think there was a real chance of
that happening. And right now, if you look at the
contract situation as salaries, Scelshtonhannah, it's a very easy buyout now.

(01:42:23):
So even though it's a lifetime contract. You know, so
speak of those air quotes. You you hit a five
at seven or five season, or you the game in
um with Michigan O house State is any in harbor
this year? It's a it's a blood letting. It's scarlet
and gray in the stadium and people are bowing me.

(01:42:43):
You know at that point, your word, man, you've gotta
look out there and say, oh, yeah, it's gonna be pretty.
It's gonna be pretty obvious. I think wrapping it up
with Dennis fifty in Longtime Radio Mobile in Michigan w
t Knaan Harbor, CBS Radio in Detroit. Uh, Dennis, the
thing is, I remember Hardboss press conference in December, and

(01:43:06):
I really thought the masses believed he was gonna do
what Davos Swinney did at Clemson and what Irvin Meyer
did when he got to Utah and Florida and then
back at Ohio State turning around, he was gonna be
the messiah. But I from what I think I know, Dennis,
I don't think they'll be Penn State at Penn State
this year, Wisconsin at Wisconsin, don't think the bat Ohio State.
So if they have a three or four last season,

(01:43:29):
is Jim Harball back next year? Well, I think there'll
be a couple of factors. One is that Michigan fans
of a lot of traditional top twenty five teams or
top ten teams, and you still put them in there
certainly with popularity. Is uh, if they're recruiting, well, if

(01:43:49):
they go out on the recruiting trail and even in
the Michigan fans are looking to say, hey, the top
five recruiting class, Michigan fans loved that off and uh,
that would help him. I think also they've got to
beat Michigan State this year. They lose that game, I mean,
everything's gonna turn you smart that down for everybody that's listening,

(01:44:11):
that is uh. You know, at the end of October,
they're gonna be at Michigan State. They lost to him
last year on Halloween when they were close to a
thirty points favor and they can't happen. So if they
lose that game, everything's uh gonna switch, and I think
the tides get to turn against Hardball. People will start
talking about him in the past tense. But I think
they they can't get embarrassed in these games. You know

(01:44:34):
last year. I know it's COVID, but you know they
were embarrassed in some of those games. And the one
thing that's been a uh that's earmarked of the hard
Boss failure and in Arbor, which is you know, crazy
to think about if we were sitting at that introductory
news conference and you told me, you know what, he's
just gonna have a hard time picking a quarterback. He's
just not gonna be able to get the right guy.

(01:44:55):
Come on, this is what this is. If there's one
guy in the country that you should put and say
it was it was gonna be the best with with
a with a QB, It's gonna be gonna be freaking
Jim Harbaugh. So you know that's been his failure. So
if if Kate McNamara looks pretty good or j. J.
McCarthy was a five star got into an awesome pass,
probably the highlight of Michigan game yesterday, you see some

(01:45:18):
development for the quarterback. They're hanging in games, they beat
Michigan State, they're doing well in recruiting. You know, eight wins.
You know, Jim Harbaugh is probably coming back and people
are listening saying, wow, man, they're settling for that. Nann Arbor.
I think people it's it's a reality check. They know it. Yeah, Dennis,
good stuff. Wish we had more time. I'd like to
get you back on the week before the Ohio State game.

(01:45:42):
Would be a lot more history taking place between now
and then. Yeah, there's gonna be a lot taking place
between now then. You got that, right, Bernie, anytime, Thanks
so much. That is appreciated, buddy. That is Dennis fifty
in w T KAN and Harbor CBS Radio Detroit had
his finger on the pulse of Michigan football since it
LEAs when I first got to know him. He's a
big part of my first show, The View from the

(01:46:04):
Cheap Seats. Dennis. He's very humble and understated. He knows
Jim Harball personally. He's had full access and uh, I
think he tries to keep it down the middle, but
he knows that nothing lasts forever. So we've got to
see how this unfolds. It's not just gonna be wins
and losses, although that will typically be the driver at Michigan.
We'll see what happens. A lot of history to take

(01:46:24):
place between now and Thanksgiving when Michigan plays Ohio State
coming up. Look, the most popular sport in the world
is beginning a key part of their schedule, as it were,
and you're gonna want to know about that. Chris Prefett
will check in, but first let's go to the man.
As you know, when the small clears over southern California,

(01:46:46):
you see l A. Brian Finley with the latest Thank you, Bernie.
I'm gonna talk about u c l a statement win
in just a moment, and they have a former Michigan
transfer who you guys were talking about a lot of
Michigan football, Zac Charmon. He stood out in a big way.
So we'll get to his performance in a minute, But
as far as college football is concerned, the big story

(01:47:06):
had to be number five Georgia hanging on against number
three Clumps and ten to three in a blood bath
that was all defense here. The only touchdown that was
scored was by a pick six, and afterwards, Bulldogs said
coach Kirby Smart said, as far as his team played
quote aggressive and getting after it, you're either elite or

(01:47:27):
you're not close. Quote Number one Alabama wrecking Miami forty
four to thirteen games. Quarterback Deeric King had two pix
that U c. L. A. Brewin team now out to
two and oh on the season. After they flush out
number sixteen l s. U. Humble embarrassed them thirty eight
to seven. Afterwards, Bruin said, coach Hip Kelly said, quote

(01:47:49):
there are maybe some people surprised out there by the result.
There wasn't anybody surprised in our locker room because of
the preparations that our guys put in this week. Close
quote Number fifteen USC prepared to beat San Jose State,
and the Trojans did just that thirty seven. The final
score Number two Oklahoma has some trouble with two lane,

(01:48:11):
but a win nonetheless forty to thirty five. Number thirteen
Florida goes for four hundred yards rushing on the dot
as they squelch Florida Atlantic thirty five to fourteen, a
win for Texas. A and M the number six team
in the land, victories for number twenty one Texas. How
about Montana going into Seattle and baffling Number twenty Washington

(01:48:34):
thirty to seven as Jimmy Lake, the head coach for
the Dogs, looks for answers as the Grizzlies have their
first win against those Huskies since nineteen twenty. Number eleven
Oregon Exhales pass Fresno State. It was closed, but a
late touchdown for the Ducks allowed them to finish on
top thirty one to twenty four. In baseball, the Dodgers

(01:48:55):
victorious against the Giant six to one, so both of
those teams tied for first in the NL West. A. J.
Paulock of Los Angeles is going to be out two
to three weeks with that great to hamstring stream Showhyotany
booms his forty three home run as the Angels are
winners and in tennis, Shelby Rogers, the American tiptoes past

(01:49:16):
the number one seed in Ash Bartie, who won Wimbledon
earlier this year. It was a three set victory for
Rogers as she rallied from down five games to two
in the third set and will make her way to
the fourth round. As it worked, the microphone back to
our man in Vegas folding things down. It's Bernie Fredell.

(01:49:37):
All right, before we get to Chris Profen's feature, how
about a quick rousing edition of What my Name? Hit
that button? Chris? All right? I played baseball for the
New York Yankees in My roommate was Babe Ruth. Then
I went on to own a famous NFL football team.
What my Name? Bull Benson, Uh, Peewee Reese? Not a

(01:50:02):
bad yes, not a bad yes, Bruin Finley, Judge, Judy,
look at you close, But no cigar, Chris Perfette. I
want to go with Gerald Jared Jones, No, sir, I'm
gonna go with a name by the name of George Hallis.
Played outfield for the New York Yankees, roomed with Babe Ruth,

(01:50:24):
went on to own the Chicago Bears. All right, another
rounding rousing edition of what my name? A fan favorite everywhere?
All right, another fan favorite everywhere? It looked the most
popular sport in the world. We're talking about FIFA, not
your dog named FIFA. A true sport. They call it football,
we call it soccer. Consider this, would you want to
see an n c A tournament every six months? Or

(01:50:46):
how about a Super Bowl every six months? Sounds like
a lot, But that's the question that soccer's biggest tournament
is facing. Chris Perfett brings us up to date, That's right, Bernie.
So this is kind of outrageous news here in a
lot of different ways. But one of the things before FIFA.
We are now into two weeks into the club calendar.

(01:51:08):
We're already into the international break. Clubs have gone on
break because all their players are flying out to play
for their countries for the first wave for another wave
of World Cup qualifiers. So Brazil's out there, Italy is
out there. But FIFA meanwhile has sent out a a
questionnaire to a lot of their federations asking them. They

(01:51:29):
want to know what the their federations think if they
can plan to hold the World Cup every two years. Now,
usually the World Cups held every four years, and they'd
also like to hold the European Championship, which was held
this year to a lot of a lot of people
in the US watched, they want to have the European
Championship every two years as well. So I'll kick it

(01:51:51):
back to you, Bernie, just as an outsider, it sounds
really cool to have the World Cup every two years.
What would you think about that? I would like it
because it's two years, not every year, not every six
months or every year like the Super Bowl. And I
think the World Cup is currently every three years out right, No,
it's every four it's every four years. Recovering it ninety
four at the Silver Dome. I would I would be

(01:52:12):
for it. I would be for it because I see
the incredible international uh pomp and circumstances, recognition. There's this
is serious business. I mean countries literally shut down during
the game, right, It's incredible to watch World Cup before.
It is big business and a lot of the smaller
federations are for it because it brings a lot of
money to them. However, I know that YUWAFA, which runs

(01:52:34):
europe European Soccer, is vehumanly opposed to it. Right now,
for a lot of different reasons. For one, as I said,
a lot of clubs have to go on break so
they can't like Premier League can't play while these go on,
so obviously it puts them in a head on collision
with the with the clubs, which is where a lot
of the money is. And for me, at least as
a soccer fan, there is a mystique in that you

(01:52:55):
get to play every four years. Look, Belgium is the
top ranked nation now in FIFA's ranking going into this
World Cup, and a lot of that though rides on
Belgium to do well in this World Cup because if
they don't get it done, it will be another four
years and some of their players this is kind of
the last go for their quote unquote Golden Generation. There

(01:53:15):
is something special about that. You only get so many
bites of the apple and then you consider to like
it will probably mess up things like the Olympics and
other other tournaments around there. But it's funny because we
don't really have these kind of conflicts between club and
international here in the United States. The biggest one for
US is probably you know basketball NBA Team USA. But

(01:53:39):
by the time the Olympics come around, the NBA is
usually on a break. What if, like in the middle
of the NBA season, the Olympics happened, they'd have to
shut down. We have that in hockey, and hockey decided
a few years ago they were just not going to
allow their players to go the Olympics. There's always a
back and forth, and baseball obviously does not take time
off to send players to the Olympics either. Good stuff, Chris.

(01:54:02):
That's an excellent report, and when you put it in
that perspective, I might have to recant my answer. They
are allowing the NHL players to participate in this year's
Winter Olympics, which are right around the corner in China.
But I know it's going to turn the NHL season
into upheaval. Just look at the schedule. Some of the
teams have to play down the stretch. I know the
Golden Nights we're talking about that they gotta play like

(01:54:24):
games in forty days when they get back to the Olympics.
So let's maybe continue on with that next week, Chris,
because I'll be curious to find out what the final
decision is. This is a feature we're gonna run every
week at this time. This is the most popular sport
in the world. If you don't believe me, just turn
on the TV when these tournaments are going on and
you talk about money. We talked about the Cowboys being

(01:54:45):
worth six point five billion. How about Manchester United, the
richest team in the world. Coming up? We bring it
back out to Las Vegas. You know what me love me,
can'tlee with AUTOIMI wrap things up tonight. It's never too
soon to start projecting draft picks next year in the
end to fail and yes you can even bet on them.
Mac and Sports or check that try to get in English.

(01:55:07):
McKenzie Rivers macking on sports will bring us the data.
I'm Bernie Fratto, come to you live from the Las
Vedias Fox Sports Radio Studios. Keep it locked right here.
You're listening to Fox Sports Sunday on Fox Sports Radio.
We're back on Fox Sports Sunday, Fox Sports Radio. I'm
Bernie Fratto company live from the Las Vegas Fox Sports
Radio Studios. Before I go any further, I want to

(01:55:28):
thank my crew back in Los Angeles tonight. That would
be Boll Benson, Chris Poper, Fetton, Bruin Finley on the updates.
Great job, guys, could not do this fine show presented
to a great ful nation. Without your teamwork back in
our Los Angeles compound, we bring it back out to
Vegas for our final segment of the evening. You know
what me love me Candley without him making on sports

(01:55:51):
with Mackenzie Rivers and you know Mackenzie. There's all kinds
of things you can bet on here in Las Vegas,
and it's never too soon to look ahead. Case in point.
While Trevor Lawrence is out of the spotlight at one
time last year, he's in the same boat as guys
like well. Spencer Rattler asked to who will be the
number one pick next year? And there are even odds

(01:56:14):
and it never hurts to give some historical perspective. Yes,
Trevor Lawrence, even as that John Elway Andrew luck esque
prospect was no lock to go number one, although he
was a minus money favorite at this time last year.
Right now this year, this early September, there's no consensus
at all about who's gonna go number one. You mentioned him, Spendler.

(01:56:35):
Spencer Rattler is the favorite at plus two fifty. He's
buying to be the third Lincoln Riley Oklahoma quarterback to
go number one overall, following the steps of Baker Mayfield
and Kyler Murray. Behind him, you have North Carolina Sam Howell,
he's plus three fifty and then number three Cavan Thibodeaux

(01:56:55):
of Oregon. I know he went out wishing him to
get back quickly. You went out early in this game
against Oregon today. But those are the top three picks
to go number one overall, and there's no consensus. Like
I said, some places, Howell might be a slight favorite,
some places Rattler a slight favorite. But those are the
three that we're looking at well. And part of that, Mackenzie,

(01:57:16):
I gotta believe is the fact that when you look
at Trevor Lawrence's pedigree, he actually had a national champion
champ Hunter's belt before senior year. That had to change
the dynamic and the way he was perceived by the markets.
I mean, the eighteen year old performing that well on
the biggest stage in college football, you know he had
he was made to be a number one overall draft pick.

(01:57:37):
He had all the pedigree. Spencer Rattlers not like that.
Spencer Rattlers scored three points in the second half today,
barely winning by five. As a thirty one point favorite.
Here's a Pewter report on Twitter, some strong words. Spencer
Rattlers overrated, He's not a first round QB. Lots of
draft experts are gonna look foolish saying he's the top

(01:57:57):
quarterback to prospects, Well, he looks a little smart today
because Spencer Ratler, despite putting up forty points, had an
early pick six. Did not look like that guy that's
the bona fide number one. But then again we go
to Friday, Sam Howell didn't really look like that guy either.
He had a fifty PF grade. Eric Eager of PF said,
and just like that, Sam Howell is no longer a

(01:58:18):
Heisman contender. He had a fifty five grade. That's replacement
level if it was the NFL. This is a guy
that had a ninety three grade on average last year.
Both these players have huge expectations, neither in Week one
or up to the task. And Sam how comes from
this game school to produce. Mitchell Drabinski, who people think
as a bust even though he's twenty five and thirteen
the last three years and had a winning season in

(01:58:40):
the last three years. Through for his passage, you know
what's interesting, Mackenzie is these odds again, they're not predictors.
They're basically market driven numbers designed to attract action. If
you're if you're not gonna bet on spending Spencer Rattler
or Sam Howe, who are you going to bet on?
Because what odds? What book is gonna put up any

(01:59:01):
odds of any circumstance to put themselves at risk. I
think if you look at recent history, it has to
be a quarterback. So I'm not looking at number three
kble Thibodeaux, who's plus four hundred. I would actually look
down the list at a guy like J. T. Daniels
who got a big win today at sixteen to one,
or even usc kdn Slov's at fifteen to one. Guys
that someone's gonna be the best quarterback in this draft.

(01:59:23):
I'm not convinced the market is not convinced that Spencer Rattler,
even though he has the lead at the moment. So
I think one of those distant quarterbacks might pop up
the way Zack Wilson did. Nobody was talking about Zack
Wilson as a first round draft. He went number two overall.
He had a big year. That's what happened and Spencer Rattler,
would you agree part of what's driving this market because
fundamental factors and technical factors comprise a betting line or

(01:59:46):
betting odds as it were. In this case, Spencer Rattler
is in the national spotlight and Oklahoma did make the
four team playoff, so and they're expected to make the
four team playoff. I gotta believe that affects his odds
as well. Yeah, I mean, you look at what Mac
Jones did last year in the four team playoffs. You
look at two of the year before that. It's it's

(02:00:07):
kind of like the n C Double a tournament where
you see that one point guard have that run through
the final four. Jalen Suggs in this case end up
being a top five pick. Spencer Ratlers every opportunity in
the world to get that number one pick. He's the
leader in the clubhouse right now. But he's got to
play better. He's got to score more. They gotta win
by more than five when they're covered, when they're supposed

(02:00:28):
to win by thirty one. So thankfully for him, his
odds didn't worsen because his number one rival, Sam Howell
also lost as a favorite Verse Virginia Tech lost against
the spread as well, So, like I said, I would
look down the list. I don't think there's very much
consensus about who's the best QB. But I do think
the number one pick will be a QB might be

(02:00:50):
j T. Daniels, might be Malik Willis of Liberty Guy.
We haven't mentioned yet, eight the one check him out.
But this is this is gonna be very interesting in
the next month. These odds are gonna shape up. I
think there's gonna be a lot more consensus in the
market as we see these college quarterbacks play. And that's
a good point and good stuff mackenzie, and this will
shake out. Sam Howell loses one game and the writer

(02:01:12):
loses his mind. But that's the way these things work,
and that's why they are assessed odds and probabilities. Hey,
beauty of it is, the college football weekend is not
over right. You've got Louisville at Old Miss on Monday,
and you've got Notre Dame and Florida State tomorrow. So
stick and stay with us. I'm Bernie Frattle, this is
Fox Sports Radio. Keep it right here. Up next, Andy

(02:01:33):
Furman and Brian no keep it locked

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