3 & Out - Monday Night Football Reaction, Eagles blow it, Who is on the early hot seat

John reacts to the Monday Night Football game that saw Kirk Cousins drive the Falcons down the field in the final minute of the game for a game-winning TD pass to Drake London. What does this win mean for Atlanta, and on the flip side what does this loss do to the Eagles psychologically. 

Later, John gives out his Week 2 game balls, talks about a few players that looked in the mirror this off-season and have started off the season with a new life, which coaches are on the early hot seat, and the latest edition of "Take Tuesday."

Finally, John answers your questions during this episode's mailbag segment.

7:13 - Monday Night Football reaction

22:40 - Week 2 Game Balls

27:55 - Which players looked in the mirror during the off-season

36:18 - What coaches are on the early hot seat

40:13 - Take Tuesday

46:00 - Mailbag

Follow John on Twitter, Instagram and YouTube for the latest. Check out Gametime - the fastest growing ticketing app in the US, and the official ticketing app of 3 & Out and GoLow -  for tickets to all of your favorite NFL, NBA, NHL, NCAA teams. Concert and comedy show tickets, too. Go to Gametime now to create an account, download the app and use code JOHN for $20 off your first purchase. #Volume #Herd

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Episode Transcript

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Speaker 1 (01:58):
What is going all on? Everybody? How are we doing?
I would imagine a lot better than Sirianni and Howie.
I can't imagine being at Nova Care early in the
morning on Tuesday after that loss that I tried to

(02:18):
decide before I recorded, what is that a better win
for Atlanta or a worse loss for the Eagles? And
I kind of came to the conclusion it's probably equal.
It's an incredible moment for Cousins, I mean awesome. I
mean this is King Melts on primetime. I did not
think he was playing well, terrible in the red zone.

(02:41):
He had one good drive that led him to a touchdown.

Speaker 2 (02:43):
The middle of the game.

Speaker 1 (02:44):
Where he had like three good throws, but that moment
in that spot, I get it was relatively easy because
I don't know what Fangio was doing, but very cool
for him and pretty devastating for old Sirianni. So we
will dive into it because I got I got some
thoughts on Cousin's moment. The Siriani's not vetoing Kellen Moore

(03:08):
making sure they run the ball in that spot. Obviously, Fangio,
the d line looks terrible, the coverages, just letting guys
run free was insane. Give out a couple of game
balls from Sunday. Wanted to do a little it's getting
hot in here rankings because I think a couple guys
are starting to feel some flames right now. And yeah,

(03:32):
we'll just talk a little ball. It's exciting times, it
really is. And we have a podcast, got a big
interview this week. We will have podcasts all week, So
keep your keep your ears and eyes out for those
obviously three and Out. If you listen on Collins Feed,
make sure you subscribe to three and out feed YouTube
channel has everything my golf video.

Speaker 2 (03:54):
I was texting with my video guy here in Arizona.

Speaker 1 (03:57):
I think he was close to being done so that
I think ideally would be applied Wednesday. We might go
shoot another video Wednesday as well, so we got some
new content coming to YouTube that's obviously YouTube only. But
before we dive in to the birds, you know, I
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Speaker 2 (05:13):
You know what.

Speaker 1 (05:14):
I want to start with a positive note, and this
is why you can't in a live event that is
the ultimate reality show. I had sculpted some takes and
they were gonna be negative surrounding Kirk Cousins. His red
zone performances were absolutely atrocious. I got some text from

(05:35):
like former NFL players that were like, what is he doing?
Balls are flying all over the place, not even remotely close.
I have a take that I'm not going to change,
but it would have been much better if he just
would have imploded at the end. He does look funny
in a Falcons uniform, Like, I don't think that it's
going to change as the season goes on, regardless how

(05:56):
much success they have.

Speaker 2 (05:57):
He looks funny in the uniform.

Speaker 1 (05:59):
But beside the one drive which they scored to Mooney
where he had three great passes in a row. On
third down, he hit Pitts. On fourth down, he hit
Rey Ray over the middle. Then he hit the big
touchdown drive. I thought he was not good. I thought, like,
they're playing the Chiefs next week. This Pennix talk is

(06:19):
only gonna grow. And we'll get into Sirianni and Kellen
Moore's decision at the end of the game, which gave
Cousins an extra forty seconds because they didn't have any timeouts.

Speaker 2 (06:31):
But that drive.

Speaker 1 (06:32):
Now, Vic Fangio might be the highest paid defensive coordinator
in the league. He makes like five million dollars a year,
and I listen, he knows more defense than most of
us will ever know combined. But playing that soft when
they clearly have good skill guys and Cousins despite having

(06:54):
a I would say an average game at best can
make basic outrun when guys are wide open, you know,
in just open areas and in wide open green grass.
The other thing is they weren't getting a pass rush
all night Long's we'll dive into that. With the Eagles,
They're defensive pass rush is non existent, like it just

(07:17):
doesn't get home. So Cousins marches them down the field
in three shots. It's like they're already in the red zone.
It was insane how fast they moved the ball down
the field. But all you're thinking in the back of
your head when the drive started. This is a guy
who is historically poor on primetime games, and that has

(07:39):
to be one of the greatest moments of his career, because,
let's face it, the moment they kicked off, I'm not alone,
and I would imagine a lot of Atlanta Falcons were
like this and everyone else that's not an Eagles fan,
or even if you are an Eagles fan. But there's
no chance on God's green Earth, this guy leads a
touchdown drive. Right now, I would have guessed that they

(08:00):
turned it over on downs around the fifty yard line.
Yet within three or four passes, it's like, well, they're
already in the red zone. And the one thing the
Falcons do have is like tall wide receivers. And then
Drake London turns Darius Slay like a dradal easy touched
down the corner of the end zone. The moment that happened,
he started thinking, well, the Eagles still have a couple

(08:22):
of timeouts, and then a couple of plays later, Jalen
throws the pick and the Atlanta Falcons win the game.
But Cousins in one drive tonight change an early narrative
on a season because I think it was getting bad.
He did not look like the guy that I think
they felt confident that they were getting. He obviously doesn't move,

(08:44):
He's never been able to move. But to me, the
visual of him in the uniform, the cohesion of the offense.
How poor they've been in the red zone, I think
they are. I guess they That final touchdown was a
red zone touchdown, but before that they were one for four.
The pits touchdown against the Steelers, and then you have
a moment like that and you go there is life

(09:05):
there because they do have skill guys. The Falcons defense
is pretty good. Judon's a big addition. Baits a really
good player. Belichick hates aj Terrell because he hasn't got
a interception in over one thousand days and he got
paid a lot of money, but he is a solid corner.
Like their defense is good, and that was a must

(09:26):
win because this Sunday they host the Chiefs and I'm
thinking they're about to fall to oh and two. You
got the Bucks and the Saints who feel poised to
be like five and two in a couple weeks. All
of a sudden, you're digging yourself out of a hole
at oh and three? How do you even get back
to three? To three and three? And Cousins changed everything.

(09:47):
And you saw the excitement on the sideline from the
owner who cut this guy on hundred million dollar check.
And I don't blame him because that was a massive
moment and he needed it, because the snowball of negativity
can start coming down the mountain and it doesn't stop.
We see it happen with other players, especially when you
give a guy a lot of money. He has no

(10:07):
sweat equity with your team, with your fan base, and
he earned a lot tonight. That was, I don't think
I'm being hyperbolic, one of the biggest moments of Kirk
Cousin's career.

Speaker 2 (10:18):
And it was cool. I mean, it was fun to watch.

Speaker 1 (10:22):
He seems like a he doesn't seem he is a great,
high character guy.

Speaker 2 (10:26):
He's an easy guy to root for.

Speaker 1 (10:28):
After that Quarterback documentary a couple of years ago on Netflix,
and as someone who was kind of out on him
midway through. This game changes just like that, because the
whole point of this whole thing is to win, and
he found a way to get his team a w
in the biggest moment possible. And on the flip side,
that's a devastating loss.

Speaker 2 (10:49):
For the Eagles.

Speaker 1 (10:50):
I mean, I don't think it gets much worse. That's
on the level of the Seattle loss last night or
last year on Monday Night football, and I would say
the big difference, I think it's almost worse at home
in front of your fans, especially they were vibing all night.
But there are two things that really stood out to me,
obviously the end of the game, like I don't put

(11:13):
the defense situation and the play calls on Sirianni because
ultimately they're paying vic Fangio five million. Sirianni has nothing
to do with that. Vic Fangiol that's atrocious. That has
to be better. You can't call the soft coverages when
your defensive line has been horrendous. They've paid a huff
a lot of money. He's nowhere to be found. The

(11:35):
pressure from their front four is basically non existent these
last couple of weeks when they've invested in high draft
picks and paid a lot of money. So Fangio's not
a blitzer. Well, if you're just sitting back, that was
a pretty risky proposition and it backfired.

Speaker 2 (11:51):
In your face.

Speaker 1 (11:52):
But before that, Sirianni's not the offensive coordinator either, but
he is the boss. And on that situation on third
down when they have no timeouts left, I underd Saquon
is a fantastic He looks incredible for the Eagles. I
don't think you take the risk Jalen hits him in
the hands. Saquon catches that ninety eight times out of

(12:14):
one hundred. The problem is that in that situation when
it is one of the two times that he drops.

Speaker 2 (12:20):
It, it screws you, and it screws you.

Speaker 1 (12:22):
Hard because the Falcons ended up getting the ball back
with one thirty nine and that's the difference of under
sixty seconds. And I also think there is a psychological
effect when you're on offense knowing you have less than
a minute and no timeouts and you have to go
seventy yards. There's just there was less of an urgency
once they hit two plays because they had so much time,

(12:46):
Like time is on your side when you're close to
the two minute mark. If you hit a fifteen yard
chunk play, you can take a deep breath, especially now
where they start you with a thirty yard line. So
I think you hit a ten yard play, boom, you're.

Speaker 2 (12:58):
At the forty.

Speaker 1 (13:00):
It used to be you'd be at the twenty and
if you hit a ten yard play, you'd only be
at the thirty. You still got a long way to go,
but you're already at the forty. You're a play away
from already flipping the other side of the field. And
I just think Sirianni, under no circumstances, can be on
the headset and go Kellen, call a run here. And
I understand the Eagles are probably the most progressive organization

(13:23):
in being aggressive. Now, there are a lot of other
teams that are like that as well, but they've been
on the forefront of aggressive nature. And we saw it
in the first quarter when they were at the nine
yard line.

Speaker 2 (13:37):
It's zero to zero.

Speaker 1 (13:40):
So I'm all four in the middle of a game
in the second half going forward on fourth down situations,
you have absolutely no clue how this game is gonna
play out. And it turned out it was an extremely
low scoring game. And those three points would have been
very valuable to your cause. And he went for it

(14:02):
and they didn't get it. And that was something in
the back of my mind throughout the game, like, what
are we doing? It is zero to zero. I understand
if you're down twelve points in the second half, like
we need a touchdown.

Speaker 2 (14:15):
Okay, totally get you.

Speaker 1 (14:18):
But in that situation with all the unknown analytical people
love to say that's why you go for it, to
give yourself a percentage chance to win. You cannot say
that in the first quarter, with ten minutes left to
go and basically an entire game.

Speaker 2 (14:34):
I'm sorry. I can't get behind that.

Speaker 1 (14:36):
And I'm pro aggression in football, in life, in every
aspect of society. Basically, that is stupidity. The thing I
get having a conversation, Hey, we like this play to
Saquon in the flat. It's been open throughout the game.
It'll be stealing candy from a baby. First down ballgame, Kellen.

(14:59):
I understand. I like to play too, but it's week two.
We got him by the throats, run it, they have
no timeouts and make him go seventy yards on us
in fifty five seconds. I don't believe cousins can do that.
It's dramatically different than a buck forty and it clearly
bit him in the ass.

Speaker 2 (15:18):
Hell.

Speaker 1 (15:18):
They ended up scoring so fast that the Eagles got
the ball back with you know, around thirty seconds, which
is sad because Jalen was awesome tonight and I think
you saw the Jalen that was competing to be the
MVP two years ago. He was accurate, he was great
throwing on the move, and when he runs, he turns

(15:41):
into the like power Lamar Jackson. The running disappeared last year.
So like, for as shitty as this loss is, if
you're an Eagles fan, the one bright spot is if
he can play like that, we're gonna beat a lot
of teams. The Falcons are good like they have a
lot of talent I don't know meaning good like what
they're record's gonna be, but they do have a lot

(16:02):
of good players on their team, and their defense is
playing really well. And Jalen was dominating him because as
a runner, he's not Lamar in terms of the speed.
He actually turns into much more like a running back, slow, steady,
picking holes, can break guys off, and here's what he
can do. Nobody in the league wants to slide anymore.
Nobody two was running into guys can cuss. Who knows

(16:25):
when he'll be back. Jaden Daniels tries to run over everybody.
Anthony Richson, it's like guys slide. He can pick his
poison because he knows when I can run over a
certain guy. But he also can slide no problem. He
is an elite runner of the football, and we know
he's a great deep ball thrower. When he combines those two,
he's a high end player and he's worth every penny.

(16:48):
Like that was winning football tonight from Jalen. I know
he throws the pick at the end. They're kind of
in a tough spot. Maybe we could argue, don't throw
the ball, which would be fair, but I thought subtract
that play would They were already in major trouble the
moment Cousins scored. Now you could argue, like, why are
we even taking shots? We got we still have a timeout,
which is fair. But I thought beside that play, he

(17:11):
was excellent. And I do think big picture, like the
Eagles have an issue with their defensive line. If it's
going to be average to below, like they're just not
gonna be good on defense. They simply are not. And
I understand their high end first round pick that got
spun around on the play. They're paying Slay a lot
of money. He gives up a touchdown. There's you know,
CJ had a fantastic tackle on that short yardage fourth down.

Speaker 2 (17:34):
I mean it was elite.

Speaker 1 (17:35):
Looked like Brian Dawkins in his prime. But their defensive
line to me, is just not living up to the billing.
So bright note Cousins awesome, I mean, what a moment
for him. Jalen was awesome. But Sirianni, Fangio, that's one
the coaching staff like Fangio, what are you doing.

Speaker 2 (17:55):
On the last drive?

Speaker 1 (17:56):
Sirianni, how are you okaying that third down pass? It
just unless sometimes in life you gotta pump the brakes
and be a little more conservative in search and situations.
I'm all for putting your chips in the middle of
the table. I don't think that's playing Monday morning quarterback.

Speaker 2 (18:14):
That was stupid and just.

Speaker 1 (18:15):
Too risky, Like the risk reward there if he drops it,
it's just too I mean, it's crippling and it was
and you could feel it right away. Turned out a
bit him in the ass.

Speaker 2 (18:40):
Let's give out some game balls.

Speaker 1 (18:42):
And these are the type that if you're a fan
of this team, if you saw the guy at a bar,
you'd buy him around to drinks, like I owe you one.
That was awesome, whether it be a coach or a player.
And I shorted the Packers this week. I said, under
no circumstances can they win a game with Malik Willis Now?

(19:06):
It turned out Malik Willis is on the Indianapolis Colts
right now, Anthony Richardson who is playing at a really
really low level, and the Indianapolis Colts defense is not good.
But Matt Lafleur might have had his Picasso moment that
was and he's had some great moments right won a
lot of games with Rogers, won.

Speaker 2 (19:25):
A couple MVPs, created Jordan Love.

Speaker 1 (19:30):
But to get Malik Willis after the fifty three man
cut down and be forced to start him week two
and absolutely kick the crap out of the Colts was
really really impressive. He went twelve or fourteen, didn't have
to do much through a touchdown, but they ran for

(19:50):
two hundred and sixty yards. Two hundred and sixty yards.
If you're playing Malik Willis and you're the Colts. I
would say the only thing that is gonna give them
a chance to win if they dominate us on the ground.
And two hundred and sixty yards is not domination. That
is like, uh, the best rushing performance of the year. Like,

(20:16):
how many teams throughout the season are gonna run for
over two hundred and fifty yards? Absolute clinic by lafloor So,
game Ball, Cocktails cheers the Mattiel Alvin Kamara, who I
think a lot of people thought was somewhat I don't
want to say washed, but the best football of his

(20:37):
career is behind him. And here's the thing. When you
get in the Shanahan offense and you're a good running back,
but you can catch the ball, they will feature you.
And Alvin Kamara ran for one hundred and fifteen yards
and three touchdowns. Caught two passes, had like a fifty
eight yard screen pass to the Hiszzie another touchdown. He

(21:00):
had four touchdowns yesterday. Absolute clinic by Kamara, game Ball
Pat Jones, who Pat Jones of the Minnesota Vikings, I
gotta be fully transparent here, didn't know much about this guy,
honestly didn't. They drafted him in the third round in
twenty twenty one. I think he has been a backup

(21:23):
because they've had, you know, good defensive linemen over the
years in Hunter in Zadarius. But yesterday Pat Jones had
two sacks and four tackles. He was lining up against
Trent Williams. This guy was always in Brock Purdy's lap.

Speaker 2 (21:40):
He was excellent.

Speaker 1 (21:42):
I mean, this guy, I don't know if you can
keep this up all season long, but yesterday that guy
was given Trent Williams fits.

Speaker 2 (21:52):
He's long, he's got a little spin move, he's got some.

Speaker 1 (21:55):
Speed contract the year, So you know, playing baby a
little out of is you know what. But hey, I mean,
who cares. If you're the Minnesota Vikings. If you can
get ten sacks from this guy this season, that would
be big number ninety one for the Minnesota Vikings. Pat Jones,
cheer's to you last but not least. I didn't pull

(22:18):
the trigger, but I didn't do much on Saturday. I
was gonna play golf, I worked out, and I was like,
you know what, I'm just gonna lay around and watch football.
And the football was mainly terrible. It was a lot
of really bad matchups. But I was like whatever, could
be worse things to do. And the four thirty slate
came on and Colorado State was like a seven and

(22:39):
a half point underdog.

Speaker 2 (22:40):
You get them at like plus two.

Speaker 1 (22:41):
Fifty to win, And I said, you know, I need
a little juice on this game to get me through it.
And the game started and I ended up not making
the bet, and I was glad I did because Colorado.

Speaker 2 (22:53):
State was at home.

Speaker 1 (22:54):
Both these two teams goes back to last year. Just
an incredible game. These teams hate each other. I thought,
you know, there's a tough spot for Colorado right maybe
it just implodes here. And Dion had the boys ready.
They had some freshmen running back who looked like an
NFL player and they kicked their ass, So props the
prime time for keeping the squad. It could have unraveled

(23:17):
absolute rough l in Nebraska. You had Chador thrown his
offensive lineman under the bus. Thought there might be some
chinks in the armor. But it didn't happen and they
dominated dominated c issue. Now it's gonna get a little
harder in the Big twelve. But I watched a lot
of that game and it gave me help, Like, yeah,
this team, if they play like that with that much

(23:40):
intensity and run the ball well that they have a
chance to be somewhat I mean relative for their standards,
really successful this season. So game ball to prime Chador
in the boys, lit'sten on a couple other things I
wanted really quick before we dive into little hot seat.

(24:02):
I think we're seeing a couple guys. And I'm a
huge believer in this, and I've said it one hundred
times and I'll probably say it one hundred more only
because I can speak from experience. I think you learn
so much. Let's face it, there are two roads that
you can take when shit hits the fan in life,
and the longer you live, it is inevitable you're gonna

(24:23):
have rough times, whether it be professionally or personally. People
are going to pass away in your life. You're gonna
have rough moments in your life personally, whether it be relationships,
whether it be with family, you know, professionally unless.

Speaker 2 (24:39):
You're like.

Speaker 1 (24:41):
I don't even know, you're gonna hit bumpy roads. Whether
it's getting fired, whether it's a business idea not working out,
whether it's a company going down, whether you fail at
an idea. It's inevitable, and I think you have two
choices when that stuff happens. It's like you either put
one foot in front of the other and kind of

(25:02):
mentally power through it, or just go into the tank.
And let's face it, you're allowed to go into the
tank immediately.

Speaker 2 (25:08):
It's called life.

Speaker 1 (25:09):
But some people in this world never get out of
that state and it derails their life. And I think
the successful people have a characteristic. I don't know if
it's necessarily innate. I think you can work on it
over time to like battle through. I'm gonna figure this out.
I'm not gonna let this define my life. I've been

(25:31):
fired a couple times. Who gives a shit. I mean,
those are the best moments looking back that have ever
happened to me. Because I had to make a change,
I had to look in the mirror. I'm sure a
lot of people listening to this have had rough professional
moments and you look back and you can smile. Though
at the time it wasn't something you would want to
smile about, but looking back, you're like, hell, yeah, some shit,

(25:53):
I'd go through it again. It only makes you better.
And I think it happens with quarterbacks a lot. Bryce
was benched. It's gonna be an opportunity for him to
like kind of look in the mirror and go, do
I want to let the last season in two games
define my NFL career?

Speaker 2 (26:12):
Or am I gonna do everything humanly.

Speaker 1 (26:14):
Possible to figure this out? And I look at two
players right now, who, let's face it, are just it's short.
It's only been two games. We got fifteen more to go,
but look poised to have really, really good seasons.

Speaker 2 (26:27):
Obviously, as a quarterback, you're.

Speaker 1 (26:28):
Very dependent on a couple of things that are out
of your control. Who's calling the place, because you're not
calling the place. This isn't the NBA where you just
get to do whatever you want when the ball's in
your hand and what's around you.

Speaker 2 (26:42):
You don't pick the players. You're not in charge of
free agency or the draft.

Speaker 1 (26:47):
So who your GM is in the front office, like,
better keep your fingers cross are good?

Speaker 2 (26:52):
And Sam Darnold was.

Speaker 1 (26:55):
Not good early on in his career, Like, I won't
argue that, but he played for Adam Gase and then
he played for Matt Ruhle, who Matt rule is a
better coach in terms of what he's good at as
a college coach than Adam Gay, So I don't even
think it's in the NFL. But Matt Rule as a
college coach and got run out of the NFL. He
had Joe Brady, Like I'm watching Joe Brady with the Bills,

(27:18):
like kind of knows what he's doing and they couldn't
figure it out. And then Sam Darnolds got with Kyle
and now with Kevin O'Connell, and he looks to be a.

Speaker 2 (27:26):
Very capable quarterback.

Speaker 1 (27:27):
He's always going to turn the ball over a little bit,
it's going to be part of his repertoire. But his
arm's really explosive. And one thing he's shown from last
year with Kyle to now this year, he's actually pretty accurate,
especially down the field and some of those throws he
made against the forty nine ers. Obviously the highlight throw
was the ninety seven yard touchdown bomb to Justin Jefferson,

(27:48):
but I thought he made some really really good throws
on second and third and long in some big spots,
and he just looks good. He clearly is confident. But
you know what, he might be pretty good player who
just needed to be in a spot where things are productive,
like the talent around him and the guy's calling the
plays now a little bit different because unlike Sam, this

(28:12):
guy Sam started. I looked it up today. This is
a seventh year in the NFL. He started fifty eight games.
Derek Carr has started one hundred plus more games than
Sam normal He's thirty three years old. He started one
hundred and sixty games. And I think he's been a
pretty polarizing player over his career because his good can

(28:32):
look good and his bad can look really bad. But
I will defend him on this. And I was in
the Bay Area the majority of his college career or
his NFL career. I was around him one year in
college and then followed his college career really closely. In college,
he had a pretty i would say stable situation, even
though there was a coaching change during his tenure.

Speaker 2 (28:54):
Pat Hill got fired and.

Speaker 1 (28:56):
Tim de Ruder came in Fresno State. Still to this day,
like they've had my entire adult life. They have excellent
offensive skill guys. They have NFL wide receivers and NFL
running backs, and they usually have a good offensive line.
And then he gets to the NFL and it's the Raiders.
And in his first year he had two coaches and

(29:17):
through his tenure there, he went through.

Speaker 2 (29:19):
A bunch of coaches.

Speaker 1 (29:20):
He went through. Only the Raiders could pull this off,
like we're gonna move, we're moving, but we need to
stay in this stadium and in where we live right
now for another couple of years. No one else could
pull that off. The Rams didn't. They immediately moved to
Los Angeles.

Speaker 2 (29:38):
The Chargers didn't. They immediately went up to the home depot.

Speaker 1 (29:40):
The Raiders just stay because that's kind of the Oakland dysfunction.
The A's did it literally the last couple of years,
like we're moving, we are not gonna stay here, but
we're gonna play here right now.

Speaker 2 (29:51):
That is not easy to.

Speaker 1 (29:52):
Overcome when you're the quarterback. And I watched him do it,
and he handled himself because from a maturity class, dam point,
like he checks all those boxes. But I actually think
he's better than people realize. His touchdown to interception ratio
over the course of his career is like two and
a half to one. He's thrown two hundred and forty
five touchdowns and like one hundred and five picks. He's

(30:13):
been a productive player. He's also relatively accurate. I wouldn't
call him Drew Brees or Steve Young, but he's not
an inaccurate player. The reason I like the Saints this
year one he has so much experience. There's nothing in
the NFL he hasn't seen. We hasn't seen pass the
first round.

Speaker 2 (30:30):
Of the playoffs.

Speaker 1 (30:31):
But he's better the playoffs a couple times, and for
the most of his careers played on the Raiders, who
never go to the playoffs. So last year with the Saints,
like everyone acted like they sucked. It's like, guys, they
weren't as bad as you thought. They were, not a
four or five. They won nine games, and for half
the season the offense was a joke. So you get Kubiak,

(30:51):
who I didn't realize was going to be this good.
But I know that offense works because everyone around the
league that runs it is successful and is gonna be
successful in this offense, and they have skill guys around him,
and they invest in the offensive line right away, and
their defense is good. So am I shocked that they
are dominating as much as they have, Of course I am,

(31:13):
But I thought they'd be an eleven win team for
a reason. I thought this offense was gonna work, and
I thought the defense would be good, and I don't
expect their offense to sustain.

Speaker 2 (31:23):
This level of play, But like, he's a pretty good player.
You know, he's he's pretty good.

Speaker 1 (31:30):
Everyone anointed cousins over the years is like, you know,
this is the best second tier quarterback. It's like, yeah,
I don't see much difference between Derek or even like
Jared Goff when he's playing well, and right now he's
playing well.

Speaker 2 (31:43):
I wanted to do.

Speaker 1 (31:46):
You know, for those of us that are in our
late thirties, you were probably in junior high in high
school when Nelly came out and Country Grammar's still one
of a it's, i mean, an all time album.

Speaker 2 (31:57):
I don't even think they call him albums anymore.

Speaker 1 (31:59):
They're just go to Apple Music or whatever, Spotify and
just listen to whatever the songs are. But in my
days there were CDs and cassettes and they were called albums.
And one of my favorite Nelly songs is is getting
Hot in Here. And I think when you look around
in the NFL, there are two guys it's a little
early for hot seat, but there were guys with tangible

(32:21):
pressure coming into the season, and it's safe to say
when they walked into their office Monday morning at zero
to two. It's getting hot in her because Brian day
Ball was already being asked about his job status. And
let's face it, the off season hard knocks made everything
dramatically worse.

Speaker 2 (32:42):
It really did.

Speaker 1 (32:43):
Right the Saquon Barkley situation, the way his general manager
interacted day Ball takes back to play calling, it felt
they were loyal to Daniel Jones, and I think they're
in major trouble. They stink. I said this on Sunday,
and I just look at the box score.

Speaker 2 (33:02):
I watched a decent amount of that game.

Speaker 1 (33:03):
I had it on my computer with like eight other
games going on TV, and I had some money on
Brian Robinson, so I kept watching. Every time I looked,
the Commanders were driving the ball down the field. They
were just terrible in the red zone. Like they got
worked in that game, I mean worked. So it's like
it's one thing to get your ass kicked Week one
against the Vikings. Maybe the Vikings are ten win team to.

Speaker 2 (33:26):
Lose like that.

Speaker 1 (33:28):
The score was closed, the game was not and now
their schedule. I just looked at it is at Cleveland,
which feels like a tough matchup for them given Cleveland's defense.
Dallas short week Thursday night football at Seattle, Sincy, Philly
at pitt This thing get ugly really fast. And I'm

(33:49):
not acting like day Balls the village idiot, but this
thing has not gone well, and it gets back to
the owner, like I don't think he wants to fire
these guys, but I think he's going to be very,
very difficult if they win four games and Daniel Jones
just implodes. Now, Daniel Jones ain't lasting the entire season

(34:10):
if he plays bad. But it's not like they're bringing
Kurt Warner off the bench with Tommy Cutltz. And listen,
I like this guy a lot. He's been really cool
to me. He is a great guy. Everyone that knows
Doug Peterson loves the guy. But this is not going well,
and it's not going well at all, and fair or

(34:31):
not the moment they gave Trevor Lawrence two hundred million dollars.
If he doesn't look good, he can't get blamed immediately,
even if it turns out he's one of the most
overhyped players of my life who's not like terrible. It's
not like he's Bryce young, but he clearly isn't remotely
close to like a top six or seven quarterback in

(34:52):
the NFL, and.

Speaker 2 (34:52):
You gave him two hundred million dollars.

Speaker 1 (34:55):
So watching some of that Cleveland game, the highlights, I
didn't watch much of it, but watching last week, he
just something's not right. And Trent Balkey has known to
try to backstab guys over the years. Now I don't
know if he has enough juice where he could survive
this one. I would imagine shod Cohn fires everybody. I
mentioned this last week. The guy to keep an eye

(35:16):
on is William Belichick. But this thing get ugly, and
this thing.

Speaker 2 (35:21):
Get ugly quick.

Speaker 1 (35:22):
For some reason, there's a double header on Monday night football.
I don't I don't love doubleheaders on Monday night, Like
I just like to enjoy one game. But there are
two games and one of them happens to be the
Jags at Buffalo. I don't know about you. I don't
love that spot for the Jags. So all of a sudden,

(35:42):
you're zero to three and you're going, we got problems.
I think Doug is in major, major trouble now. Unlike
day Ball, I do think that they would let those
guys coach all season. I could see a scenario and
I'd have to look at his staff. I'm not acting
like they got reinforcements on it.

Speaker 2 (36:03):
But you just pay the.

Speaker 1 (36:05):
Quarterback two hundred million dollars and you're one in seven
and you get acts in the middle of the year. Okay, last,
but not least. It's take Tuesday and something that just
drives me nuts.

Speaker 2 (36:19):
Sean mcvayh talked about this because in.

Speaker 1 (36:23):
That playoff game against the Lions, he blew a bunch
of timeouts in the third quarter and did not have
him at the end of the game.

Speaker 2 (36:30):
And then when.

Speaker 1 (36:30):
Vrabel got fired, he had this right hand man who
was in charge of rules in kind of game management
that McVeigh immediately hired because he's like, I have to
be better. Well, we're not blowing timeouts in the third quarter,
so I have him at the end of the game.

Speaker 2 (36:47):
This is not college football.

Speaker 1 (36:49):
You're not going to see Tennessee Kent State where it's
sixty five.

Speaker 2 (36:52):
To nothing at halftime.

Speaker 1 (36:54):
All these games, even when they don't feel close, the
score usually is. That's why a massive point spread in
the NFL is like seven points.

Speaker 2 (37:03):
That's huge.

Speaker 1 (37:05):
Kyle Shanahan and I put the quarterback in the coach
on the same level because if your quarterback, if you
are calling timeouts to save a delay of game in
the third quarter, I might give you a little leeway
if you're at like the five yard line in the
red zone because scoring a touchdown is a big deal.
But if you're at the middle of the field or back,

(37:28):
I'd even say, like thirty yard line and back, that
cannot happen and it is not allowed. And even if
your quarterback does it, because in the forty nine er game,
perty does that.

Speaker 2 (37:39):
I put that on the head.

Speaker 1 (37:40):
Coach because the head coach is in charge of everything.
You can go over these situations all off season, all
training camp, and during the week. Under no circumstances. If
we get down close to zero in the third quarter,
are we blowing a timeout? And I said this yesterday

(38:01):
on the old X channel because I was watching games
and it was driving me nuts. If I was an owner,
I would say this, if you call a timeout in
the third quarter on a delayed game, I am finding
you as a head coach or your quarterback does one
hundred thousand dollars and at that time out.

Speaker 2 (38:21):
That you called on that drive, you end up punting.

Speaker 1 (38:24):
I'm doubling it. It cannot happen because in the Niner
game at the end, they didn't have any timeouts.

Speaker 2 (38:29):
Because they're blowing them in the third quarter.

Speaker 1 (38:32):
I'm sorry, Like I don't pretend to be Warren Sharp
here and some genius with analytics, but it's pretty black
and white that it is not worth the five yard
penalty in the middle of the third quarter to not
have a timeout in the end of the game, even
if you're down, because it's inevitable you're gonna be in
a one score situation, like ninety percent of NFL games

(38:54):
find themselves in that situation. So I just do not
understan and with the data we have, with which how much,
with how much we have talked about this specific instance,
not having timeouts at the end of the game because
you're using them for delay of games to avoid them
with six minutes left to go in the third quarter,

(39:16):
so instead of being second eleven at second and sixteen,
who cares, I'm sorry, it is not the juice isn't
worth the squeeze on that one. And if I was
an owner, I would have a stern talk. I think
there are probably rules. You can't find them one hundred grand.
But it's like, this is unacceptable. Don't want you to
ever do that. It is not worth it. Again, maybe

(39:38):
you can justify it if you're at like the goal
line or within the five yard line. I'd even give
you maybe the ten, but not when you have seventy
yards to go. That's just bad ball. Okay, let's dive

(40:01):
into a little thing we call the Middlecoff mailbag at
John Middlecoff. At John Middlecoff is the Instagram fire in
those dms. Thank God the Saints and Derek Carr are awesome,
but the Lions and Niners losing this weekend is shocking
and I'm just breaking even for the Morning Slate. So

(40:23):
he sent this on Sunday morning. My question for the
pod is just about gambling on straight money line bets.
By October, we kind of know who's good and who's not.
But right now I feel clueless. I think the most
fun part about gambling on the NFL, even throughout the
season is underdog's win. Like yesterday, if you think about it,

(40:48):
Tampa was a seven and a half point underdog, The
Vikings were a five and a half point underdog. Cleveland
was a three point underdog. I mean those the Saints
were I don't know what it kicked off at six
or six and a half. I mean those are pretty
big spreads. Now, I thought the Tampa thing was crazy,

(41:09):
like Tampa was a playoff team, won a game and
went toe to toe with the Lions. The Niners have
not won in Minnesota since nineteen ninety two. But the
thing with I would say, a lot different than than
college football is the New York Giants. Let's say they
win four games, have just a disastrous season, four and

(41:30):
what would that be? Four and thirteen, A couple of
like they're gonna beat probably like the Cowboys, the Eagles,
I mean a couple of their wins are going to
be stunning. If they win four games, I would say
there's a decent chance, especially if they come in November October.
One of those comes is like an eight point dog.

(41:52):
So it's there's a lot of value in betting money
line underdogs in the NFL. Now, the Raid were I
don't know what was the spread on that, like eight,
eight and a half. I mean there were a ton
Sunday was a little out of character because I think

(42:13):
the lines got a little aggressive on some of those games. Like,
I like the Raiders in that game. Now the problem
was is I just I did a bunch of parlays.

Speaker 2 (42:23):
But I think.

Speaker 1 (42:24):
Early on hammering big spreads. Look at the Titans, they
might tap out in a month because their defense plays
so hard. It's early on in the season, hopes are high.
You're zero to one, You're like, shit, we win this
were one to one. But when you're one and seven,
it's hard to play with that same fury. But early

(42:46):
on in the season, Like, I like betting dogs, especially
because we don't know who's good beside like some of
the usual cast of characters. But I hear you, yesterday
was a bloodbath for the big favor Two questions your
thoughts on the Connor Stallions documentary. I haven't watched it yet.

(43:08):
I don't even know if I will. To be honest
with you, I thought it was awesome. Maybe I should
check it out. Actually, if you thought it was awesome. Second,
why does the NBC B team suck? Colt McCoy Jason Garrett?
Really thanks? I had a bunch of you. I want
to get Colt on this podcast. I think he'd be

(43:29):
pretty interesting. He just has had an interesting football life.
But I know, a lot of people have fired in
my DMS and said he was pretty boring in the.

Speaker 2 (43:36):
Game he did.

Speaker 1 (43:38):
Was it two weeks ago? I think he did the
Boise State Oregon game, because he did a couple of
Peacock games. Maybe he did the Notre Dame game. Now
I'm confusing my teams, you know, my broadcast teams. But
I do think the hard part for some of these
guys that immediately quit football and then do that job

(44:00):
is the energy that it takes to bring it. You know,
it's understandable to not know how you sound because you've
never been in that situation. There's a big difference between
being in a press conference, being asked questions, doing a
radio interview where there's nothing on the line for you
as a player, then then just immediately transition to being

(44:23):
the entertainment. I didn't watch Brady on Sunday, but by
all accounts, he was much better, which I hope he is.
I want him to be good. But I do think
like we are all professional football consumers, like that's what
we've been doing our whole life. Yet for these guys,
you know, Colt McCoy, Brady, they've been playing in the

(44:48):
NFL for so many years that like they don't watch
football like we do because the majority of their Sundays
they're not sitting at home watching the games, and they're
definitely not viewing it. When you're playing through the lens
of like how's this guy sound, they're actually looking like, oh,
we play this team in two weeks. I wonder what
they're doing. So it's a tough transition. It's why these

(45:11):
huge personalities Madden, Gruden, Berkley, it kind of makes sense
that they're just good. They're just a mass I was
a huge, huge believer that Philip Rivers would have been awesome.
Why he's a big personality. He's just a gregarious aggressive
in a in like a you know, PG way, he

(45:33):
would have been awesome. But Drew Brees is a good example.
He keeps and I saw this recently as like I
think I would be the best in the business if
I got another shot. Like I don't know if you would, Drew,
I really don't. Not because you're not a great guy,
not because you weren't a great player, not because you
know you're a smart guy.

Speaker 2 (45:51):
But like this is entertainment. You watch Collinsworth.

Speaker 1 (45:55):
One thing I've really noticed these last, Collinsworth is just
he's an entertainer, and that's what This is the biggest
television show in America now.

Speaker 2 (46:04):
Are football games.

Speaker 1 (46:06):
Millions of people are watching it, and that guy, while
he has a tough job because he talks in little
ten twenty second increments, has to be entertaining and has
to have a lot of energy. Like ultimately, at this point,
Trey Aigman hasn't played in the NFL in twenty five years. Well,
you're Treyigman retire ninety nine, two thousand. He's been gone

(46:28):
for a long period of time. So there is a
twenty four year old who's gonna I'm recording this part
before Monday Night. But every night on Monday night football
that watches that never saw one snap of Troy Aigman.

Speaker 2 (46:41):
I bet most people my age.

Speaker 1 (46:43):
That are casual football people have no clue what position
Chris Collinsworth played, or that he even played. By the
time I was a kid, I never saw John Madden coach.

Speaker 2 (46:56):
It didn't matter though, because he was just a TV star.

Speaker 1 (46:58):
I think how many people on television watch Charles Barkley
have no clue that he was one of the great
players of his generation.

Speaker 2 (47:05):
It doesn't matter.

Speaker 1 (47:06):
Because he's a TV star, it's not his playing career.
At this point in time, it's kind of irrelevant. He's
ever entertained me, and that's his job and he's great
at it. So I think that's a problem for a
lot of guys is like they get in the situation
on television and there's a time and a place for it.
You go to Belichick's YouTube channel like they're kind of

(47:26):
getting nerdy, but like the casual fan doesn't need super nerdy.
I want to be entertained. So you have to balance
like telling me what's going on with a little pizzazz,
and definitely you gotta have energy. You gotta have energy.
If you don't, I'm not necessarily gonna change the game

(47:47):
because this is not a podcast, right I'm going to
the game to watch the game. But who's calling the
game is very additive, and if it's good, it makes
for a really nice experience. NBC's got a good thing
going right now. Love the show, Appreciate it. You're a
fact based Some people would disagree with you. I'm a

(48:08):
big Niner fan, grew up in Modesto that would be
the valley in California and have family that are alumni
for Fresno State Go Dogs. Question, in your opinion, is
brock perty a top ten quarterback? I feel like your
boy on the Herd, who I listen to a lot,
and Nick Right are always hating.

Speaker 2 (48:30):
Yes, he's a top ten quarterback, but.

Speaker 1 (48:33):
He's like the reality is, and this is why he's
such a polarizing player. He's closer to ten than he
is one. I mean, he's probably somewhere between eight to ten,
which if your quarterback or your head coach is Kyle Shanahan,
and you know you're in pretty good shape. If you
give Kyle Shanahan the eighth best, ninth best quarterback in
the NFL, you're gonna win a lot of games. I

(48:56):
have what I think is an unpopular opinion.

Speaker 2 (48:59):
Would love to hear your thoughts.

Speaker 1 (49:01):
I think Anthony Richardson is just another Instagram quarterback.

Speaker 2 (49:06):
Like Justin Fields.

Speaker 1 (49:08):
Justin Fields watch the last two Steelers weeks. He's not
playing bad. He looks better than he did with the Bears.
Crazy talented, but he can't throw accurately and intentional and intentionally.
He just has huge splash plays and looks cool on
social media. Ar is just the newer version, what do

(49:30):
you think beside two throws so far this season.

Speaker 2 (49:36):
He's been abysmal.

Speaker 1 (49:38):
He's been really, really bad, and I'm rooting for him,
and I'm guilty. I put out that throw on all
my social media channels because it was exciting week one
where he threw it really far in the air off
his back foot. But to lose that game yesterday and
to look as atrocious as he did was pretty disheartening.

(50:00):
And as someone who believed the Colts were going to
be a playoff team, obviously their defense is not good
right now at all, but you can't make the playoffs
with that level of quarterback play. And Shane Stiken gets
a lot of credit for what he did with Jalen,
but Jalen had a lot more touch than Anthony Richardson
at the same time. You know, now he didn't have

(50:20):
as big of arm, but he was a better thrower.
Anthony Richardson against the Packers looked man really bad.

Speaker 2 (50:31):
Question for the POD.

Speaker 1 (50:32):
With Week one seeing the fewest three hundred yard passing
games in almost a decade and the most one hundred
yard rusher since eleven, do you think the league is
turning back to being more running back reliant or do
you think that can be contributed to something else. Well,
I think the training camps being so watered down. You practice,

(50:55):
you get an off day, like basically twice a week.
You can only practice.

Speaker 2 (50:59):
Three eight days.

Speaker 1 (51:00):
Most teams are not that aggressive in terms of the pads.
No one for the most part plays in the preseason.
I do think when you look around the league, there
are a lot of good running backs, like really good
running backs. Just watching football yesterday, think about like who

(51:21):
played well. James Connor, really good player, Alvin Kamara, pro
Bowl level player the Vikings, Aaron Jones, pro Bowl level player,
Jordan Mason, really good player, Josh Jacobs for the Raiders,
high end player, Brian Robinson really good player for Washington.

(51:45):
I'm just thinking, off the top of my head, some
of the running backs.

Speaker 2 (51:48):
Cook for the Bills really good. I just think most
teams feel.

Speaker 1 (51:52):
Really good about their starting running back. So maybe there's
just been an influx of really good, just solid running
backs all over the NFL. Most teams have good ones,
right Look at the Sunday Night game. DeAndre Swift's good player.
Joe Mixon's got banged up in that game, but he's
a good player.

Speaker 2 (52:10):
So I think if you.

Speaker 1 (52:12):
Just go around the league, Kenneth Walker for Seattle, Stevenson
for the Patriots, like most teams, feel pretty good. Like
my running back would start on most teams in the NFL.
Even my most optimistic views for my Saints didn't have
games like that on the Bingo card at all. With

(52:33):
the way Kubiak has the offense looking, combined with the
way Dennis's defense has always and continues to look, and
a schedule with a trip week five to KC for
a little Monday night football. God, I haven't even looked
ahead at the schedule that is a good Monday night
football game. Are we a sneaky one seed contender?

Speaker 2 (52:55):
Uh? That's funny.

Speaker 1 (52:58):
I was texting with someone in the Saints world and
today and I asked him like, did you guys think
you're going to be this good? And he basically said,
I saw a lot of potential in training camp. Our
offensive system is too good. It's literally original Bill Walsh

(53:19):
West Coast offense, no additives or preservatives. I don't think
defenses nowadays are used to that. We're not gonna abandon
the run. And I say this all the time about
Kubiak's and the Shanahans. They're the same family. Gary Kubiak
played for Mike Shanahan, then he worked for Mike Shanahan,
was his quarterback coach and his offensive coordinator. Then Kyle

(53:42):
worked for Gary. They are one and the same, and
there is a small percentage of offensive coaches in this
league that will stick with the run, and it makes
it so much. Obviously, you have to have success in
the ground game, but you have to like you can't
abandon it. And when you stick with it, it wears

(54:04):
out your defense. And when you practice like that, it
hardens your defense. And their defense was already good. So listen,
I didn't know Clint Kubiak. I assumed he was gonna
be good. He clearly has been better. But if you
can run the ball that well, it makes it way
easier on Derek, who's proven if he's on good teams,
he can function like you know, somewhere between the eighth

(54:25):
and twelfth best quarterback in the NFL. Obviously, he started
really hot this year. But my point is is run
the ball, and when you can run the ball effectively,
which the Shanahan's and Kubiaks won't just do, they will
stick with I say this all the time. McVeigh gets
much more pass happy. Lafleor is much closer to a

(54:45):
Shanahan Kubiak. Look at that game, like the game against Indy,
was this Picasso right for.

Speaker 2 (54:52):
Two hundred and sixty yards? Two hundred and sixty yards.

Speaker 1 (54:56):
I think a lot of coaches would have still tried
to have some of their passing place work with Malik
Willis once they had a little early success, We're just
gonna run the shit out of the ball. So Saints, listen,
you guys know where I stood on them. I was
high on them. I didn't think they'd be this good.
Dennis Allen, Derek Carr didn't think they'd be this good.
You go in and curb stomp the Cowboys like that

(55:17):
in the home opener with Tom Brady calling the game.
Afternoon Big fan thoughts on the Niners and Vikings game.
Even though it sucked, we lost, It's only Week two
and I'm really worried about the Niner season moving forward.
Definitely think we need to lose early in the season
then later when it matters. Definitely think the O line

(55:38):
needs to tighten up and Perdy getting sacked six times,
and I would like to see Perdy in those situations
if you can move around. I also think it's a
good lesson for a defensive coordinator and secondary facing teams
with good wide receivers. So I think we're still good
looking forward wasn't even a question. Deebo Samuel has a
calf injury and is going to miss several weeks, which

(56:00):
is not ideal. Luckily, they're playing the Rams, whose entire
team is in the hospital. I don't think I can remember.
I don't think there's been a team that's been as
banged up.

Speaker 2 (56:13):
As early as the Rams. I mean, they just lost.

Speaker 1 (56:17):
In a two week span Poka Nakua and Cooper Cup.
They can't afford to lose those two guys. Their offensive
line was always already had a lot of moving parts,
but to lose those two players, how do they function
as an offense? How much do owners and gms pay
attention to what fans are saying, whether it be on radio,

(56:38):
social media, or in public settings. The reason I asked
because the Colts fans essentially begged or say, to fire
Gus Bradley. They of course didn't, and now he looks
like one of the worst DC's in the league.

Speaker 2 (56:49):
This season.

Speaker 1 (56:50):
Imagine letting two hundred and sixty two rushing yards in
a half against a team that has Malik Willis at quarterback.
Do owners listen to the fans? I think you have
to separate listening here. I think coaches, because of their
work schedule, it's harder to.

Speaker 2 (57:08):
Read and listen to everything.

Speaker 1 (57:10):
Now their family is going to you know, if their
wife's at home, their parents, their brothers or sisters are
going to see a lot of the content. But their
weeks are pretty busy, especially early on right Monday Long Day,
Tuesday Long Day, Wednesday Long Day. So by the time
they kind of come up for air and have a

(57:30):
little free time Thursday Friday, everyone's kind of looking ahead.
Gms and definitely owners have way more time. Their televisions
are always on, whether it's NFL Network, whether it's McAfee.
Like I would imagine in basically every GM's office during
the day, McAfee or Coward is on, and McAfee and

(57:52):
Coward are on through the majority of the league on
their televisions, and a lot of gms listen to that
stuff and owners as well. I would say owners are
probably more inclined to listen to the local radio where
GM's probably fifty to fifty. They might be listening to
podcasts or whatever. But if you're in their position, like

(58:14):
you might just flip through when you're driving around to
hear what they're saying. So they hear everything. Now do
they listen to it or do they let it impact
their decision? I would say not always. Sometimes for sure,
like they know what's being said, like John Moran knows
what's being said. Jeffrey Lewy last year knows what's being said.

(58:37):
It's unavoidable tell you this, scouts listen to it all.
I have a technical football question for you. I have
seen and heard you talk about the nonsense of calling
timeouts in the third quarter instead of taking a five
yard penalty for delay a game. Well, that makes sense
the majority of the time. I wonder if there is
ever an exception. For example, watching the chief first, the

(59:00):
Bengals and Burrow took a time out on third and
inches inside the five yard line. A five yard penalty
in that case changes a lot from a play calling perspective.
But you obviously don't want to lose a time out
when this game will probably come down.

Speaker 2 (59:16):
To the wire.

Speaker 1 (59:18):
If you are the coach, do you burn a time
out in this situation, or trust Burrow to make a
play on third and five at the nine yard line. Thanks,
I don't have the game book open right now, but
let's just let's just pick a score for our And
I might be off on this, but let's just say

(59:39):
at the time it was a one point game, you're
down one point. I can live with taking a time
out in that situation. Five yard line, third in inches one,
you get a first down your more. You know, percentages
are heavy on your side to score a touchdown, and
a touchdown in that situation is enorm miss where I

(01:00:02):
can't get behind. So I can live with that. It
is difficult for me when it's like a ten point
game and you are at the fifty yard line and
you feel like you have to score to get back
in the game, where really like you're still gonna get
four positions left, You blow the time out, you end
up punting anyway, and all of a sudden you've given

(01:00:24):
up a timeout. More likely you get a stop, you
get the ball back, you're back in the same position.
I know, a little time's off the clock, but it's
like a ten point game in the third quarter is
not that big a deal. You're one big play in
a good defensive situation away from being right in the game,
and then all of a sudden, it's a three point
game with five minutes left, and you look at you
got one timeout, and let's face it, because of the

(01:00:46):
two minute warning. If you got the three timeouts in
an under four or five minute situation, you really got
four timeouts in your back pocket because of that two
minutes clock stoppage. Make exceptions depending on the score and
depending on.

Speaker 2 (01:01:09):
The yard line.

Speaker 1 (01:01:11):
So in your example, yeah, that's not the end of
the world. But I also think then it puts extra
pressure on like we better score this touchdown. NFL adding
another game, not that one game dilutes the inventory that much,

(01:01:32):
But I've wondered if it would be smarter, if it
would be smarter quality wise to add another bye week
for every team and it gives them one more week
of games without the wear and tear. The stadiums don't
get another week of ticket sales, but TV gets another
week to spread games out. It might help the money

(01:01:53):
they put games on different weekdays too. Yeah, I mean,
I I don't think it's a lock, because it's not.
If it's when they add this eighteenth game that we
get the second by even though everyone and their mother
wants it to happen, all the players, all the coaches,

(01:02:15):
I don't think it's a lock. Elijah Mitchell was a
six round pick or something. He was there were games
just like Jordan Mason where he was getting thirty carries
a game. Nobody else in the league asked their backs
to do that much. Mitchell has what bounced out of
the league after too many injuries. Now I question it

(01:02:38):
the forty nine ers are being smart or even ethical,
burning these guys out so fast to them their cheap
draft picks, and maybe these guys get their best possible
NFL life this way.

Speaker 2 (01:02:49):
Any thoughts why?

Speaker 1 (01:02:52):
I think it's reflective of They got Christian McCaffrey, they
paid him a bunch of money and they ran him
into the ground. And last year Mason was on the
team and they refused to give him touches, and Kyle
in the first game at like halftime was like, yeah,
he's got a lot of carries, like Kyle, a lot
of carries.

Speaker 2 (01:03:08):
He had like forty last.

Speaker 1 (01:03:09):
Year he easily could have had eighty. And Christian McCaffrey,
the wear and Teart. Now would that have avoided where
he's sitting today. I don't know in terms of McCaffrey's injury,
but they wrote him into the ground. And I think
Kyle really struggles with this is you can ride receivers, right,

(01:03:30):
I think when you ride running backs the way he does,
it's hard. Jordan Mason said after Week one, he looked
at Christian McCaffrey in the locker room and said.

Speaker 2 (01:03:38):
How do you do this?

Speaker 1 (01:03:40):
It was one game. It's just it's a lot to
ask these guys. We're all around the league people rotate backs.
I think the moment Kyle trusts one guy, he just
won't relent. And I understand when you have Christian McCaffrey healthy,
he's so good. But it's like, you don't ask Nick

(01:04:02):
Bosa to go every snap. Why are you asking this guy?
Why wouldn't you treat him like some other position that
you rotate.

Speaker 2 (01:04:10):
Receivers all the time? Get a blow after a couple
of routes.

Speaker 1 (01:04:14):
I know it's week two and I trust Sean Payton,
but I'm scratching my head after the Broncos loss. Granted
we have a tough start to the season and bo
Is a rookie, but he made some solid throws today
and the receivers could not come up with him. Then
you have Sean Payton not going for the onside kick
at the end, which makes no.

Speaker 2 (01:04:31):
Sense to me.

Speaker 1 (01:04:32):
Maybe I'm overreacting, but it's been a rough nine years
as a bron fan.

Speaker 2 (01:04:35):
Broncos fan, what say you?

Speaker 1 (01:04:37):
That was a rough watch? Uh, it was a tough matchup.
Like I would not if I did bet on that game,
I was gonna hammer the Steelers. I did not like
bow Knicks against the Steelers defense. There was a visual
that went viral of Sean Payton giving the play call
to bow Nicks and like bow Knicks had to call

(01:04:58):
for it again and then look at his arm. I
do wonder if if Sean Payton is approaching this like
he has Drew Brees in your ten, Like shouldn't we
dumb everything down for this rookie quarterback and make a
soft landing to start and then you can get aggressive
as time goes on. And I do wonder if his

(01:05:21):
offense is just too complicated off the bat for a
guy who's making a second start of his NFL career,
Because think about this, and I'm not defending bo Nicks.
I thought, for the most part he.

Speaker 2 (01:05:31):
Was really bad.

Speaker 1 (01:05:32):
He looked overwhelmed, like I'm not acting like he's gonna
win the Offensive Rookie of the Year anymore. He's got
a long way to go. But if you're playing those guys,
and if you're bo Nicks, you have to worry about
Sean Payton's offense, which is clearly complicated from a verbiage
standpoint alone. And then you're looking over there and you

(01:05:55):
got fifty six and ninety high Smith and Watt, You're like, any.

Speaker 2 (01:05:59):
Moment and I could be crushed.

Speaker 1 (01:06:01):
I got McGlinchey out there, whose athletic ability relative to
NFL players is not great, and TJ. Watt is a
high end athlete in running circles around him, and I'm
running around for my life. But I'm trying to worry
about that. It's just a lot going on, and I
wonder if Sean Payton just needs to kind of dumb
it down. Take a deep breath question for the pod

(01:06:22):
and an apology. I've noticed coaches, mainly offensive minded coaches
taking notes on their play sheet after a play. Are
they writing the success of the play, what the defensive
tipped or showed whenever you made your prediction that the
Saints would be good and maybe even win the division.

Speaker 2 (01:06:44):
I turned that episode off and called you crazy.

Speaker 1 (01:06:50):
You were right, I was wrong. We got a long
way to go. But they're a playoff team. Uh, that's
a good question. I'm having a former head coach on
the podcast in the next couple of days. I will
ask him that question. I've obviously, I've never been a
head coach. I've never done that. My guess is a

(01:07:12):
lot of different things. It might be as simple as
that play we've been running against a certain coverage. Standing
here on the sideline, it's not gonna work. Or I
see something that they're doing that we should implement, so
make a note, or just a big picture like so
and so is not doing this right, but you don't

(01:07:35):
really have time to like coach everything up in the moment,
or maybe just some big picture thoughts like I hate
the way we're coming off the ball, or I don't
think our nickel corner is lining up in the right
spots on a certain coverage right, or our running back
is not going to the right spot on a certain play.

(01:07:57):
I think it could be an unlimited amount of things.
So I don't think it's just each play worked or
didn't work. I think it would encompass anything you could
possibly think about. Light so and so looks heavy. He's
playing slow. We need to really harp on him about
his diet. I bet there's nothing under the sun that

(01:08:22):
a coach hasn't written down because it's just a note
to himself, so he doesn't forget maybe even later that day.
It might not even be specific to that game. It
might be something that he wants to address on Monday
to the team or to a player or to a
position coach. So I think it's just it probably encompasses

(01:08:43):
a lot, and I don't think it's just did it
work did it not work. It might sometimes I hate
this play against this coverage, or we should keep this
in our back pocket, We should have ran this against
what that look they're giving us when we go to uh,
you know, five wide or you know whatever. Certain personnel

(01:09:07):
groups the volume m