3 & Out - Chargers take down the Broncos, Herbert Shines, Woody Johnson is at it again - The Herd with Colin Cowherd

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
The volume. What is going on, my people? How are
we doing? Hopefully everyone's having a beautiful day. It's a

(00:22):
good day to be alive. You're Jim harbab because he
just won his ninth game and now he's got the
Patriots and the Raiders to finish out the season. Very
good chance the Chargers will win eleven games. Obviously they're
headed to the playoffs. Same I think with the Broncos
as well. So tonight was a good little playoff teaser.
We will dive into the game, Harbob, Justin, Herbert, Sean Payton,

(00:44):
bow Knicks just a really just an old school knockdown,
drag out. Lad mcconkee making some plays, Herbert making some throws.
Bownicks made a lot of plays in the first half,
quite a little in the second half. But that Denver
Bronco defense give us some big plays for the first
time in a while. And we obviously got to dive

(01:04):
into the Woody Johnson story of picking players based on Madden.
I think it sounds a lot crazier. I think we'd
all be surprised that this type of stuff's happening in
some of these teams. I just would imagine it happens
more than we realize. And then it's obviously it's Fugazi Friday.
The game plan. We're gonna have podcasts, I think all

(01:24):
weekend because of these college football playoff games. So I'll
have something tomorrow reacting to Notre Dame as well. We
have a big mailbag stuck. You will join the show
today as well, so subscribe to the podcast three and
out if you haven't, as well as what else I
need you to do, Oh YouTube channel, go subscribe to that.
And yeah, but before we dive in, you know what's

(01:46):
right around the corner. This little thing called Christmas as
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prices guaranteed. You know it's funny, uh, I mean, for

(02:52):
a large portion of that game, it felt like Denver
was gonna win. And I had the television muted right
around halftime when it felt like, you know, it was
just gonna go to half with them being down twenty
one and nothing, and then I look up and I
see that that kicking play and I detext people like,
what the hell just happens the first time it's happened

(03:13):
or been converted since nineteen seventy six, it's a one
hundred year old rule. But then even down the stretch
of the game, Harbaugh finds a way to win, and
Justin Herbert, who of all the good players in the league,
feels like he gets like the Kirk Cousins treatment, right,
Brock Purty, Dak Prescott. It's like, guys, he's in the

(03:35):
group with Mahomes, Allen Lamar, and Joe Burrow, Like that's
the crew that NFL people talk about him. But there
are a couple of arguments that like I just don't wasit.
I don't have the energy anymore to even argue with
other people. Now, after Jim Harbaugh won the Super Bowl,
or not the super Bowl but the NCAA Championship last year,

(03:56):
like he did get the monkey off his back that
he could win the big game. But I would say
for a long period of time he was a very
polarizing individual. It's like, how good is he? I don't know,
really freaking good now in this situation, a lot like
the forty nine ers situation which he took over, A
lot like the Michigan situation. Now, I would say, Brady Hoke,

(04:17):
you know, I don't consider the guy a phony or
a fraud. I mean, Mike Singletary got run out of
an awful high school program like five years ago, and
Brandon Staley is one of the most fraudulent individuals I
have ever seen in the history of humanity. He would
be up there with a lot of politicians and scam artists.
You know. I was listening to my guy Tim Kawakami's
podcast today about the forty nine ers, and he expects

(04:40):
Brandon Staley to not be on the staff next year.
Obviously he's you talk about toxicity. It's like, get that
guy away from us, bring that guy in, you lose.
They won five games last year. This franchise was a joke,
I mean, an absolute train wreck. And they had been
trending in this weird direction of not knowing what they
were doing in Brandon Staley was at the helm and

(05:01):
you remove him and you bring Jim Harbaugh in. The
identity was set from the jump. It's why I'm kicking myself.
I told everybody, I'm betting on this team to make
the playoffs. I'm betting on this team to make the playoffs.
Everyone's like, don't have enough skill guys, Like, have you
guys watched Jim Harbaugh coach football? Like he's one of
the rare guys that doesn't really need wide receivers to

(05:24):
win a lot of games. I don't know how he
does it, but he doesn't. And this year, but it
goes back to March, and it goes back to April
when he had four guys that made a lot of money.
And everything in vogue is wide receivers, wide receivers, and listen,
a lot of like tough minded old school coaches invest
in wide receivers. Kyle Shanahan drafts them all the time
and pays them. It's like, what are you doing? And

(05:46):
you got Jim Harbaugh's like, you know what, Keenan Allen,
Mike Williams, see you later, Joey Khalil, I want you
to stay with me because I care the most about
the trenches. And then he has a first round pick
and everyone's like, what's Jim Harball gonna do? He got
rid of these wide receivers. Is he gonna draft one
of these sweet guys to go with Jim Herbert and

(06:06):
Justin Herbert? And he laughed in their face, and he
took an offensive lineman who is dominant, I mean, is awesome,
who looks like the next Lane Johnson. And instead of
taking the receiver high, what does he do? He gets
this little guy in the second round who just is
gonna end up with like ninety catches and looks like
some version of Wes Welker meets Julian Edelman, and now

(06:28):
he has a core of young guys, a starting tackle.
He already had another tackle, so he's got two tackles
and a stud slot receiver to go with this star quarterback.
And this team is built with his identity and the
only reason they've been struggling because it turns out that JK.
Dobbins is like Walter Payton and they removed him and
they haven't been able to run the ball. I thought

(06:49):
Gus Edwards's a solid player, but up until that run tonight,
he is, Like they have really really been struggling to
run the ball before that final drive that solidified the
game and put the nail in the cop And I looked,
if you remove Justin Herbert, they had two guys that
combined for like barely fifty yards. They have no running game.
I saw on Twitter up until that final or maybe

(07:11):
it was like with two drives left, Herbert was like
ten of ten on play action pass attempts, which is
crazy because they had no running game. It just shows
you that, like I don't know, you just playing Jim harball.
You just think he's gonna run the ball. No matter what.
But then he finally gets a big run, which if
Jim Harball can run the ball with this level of

(07:33):
a quarterback who is by far the best quarterback he's
had since I don't know, a guy named Andrew Luck,
he's gonna win, and he's gonna win a lot. Now
he has nine wins. His next two games are the Patriots,
who fucking suck and the Raiders, who might be worse.
So there's a decent chance in his first year as
the head coach, taking over a franchise that had five wins,

(07:55):
taking over a franchise that had just complete negative aura
all around, and despite rafting well, having a ton of
stud players for most of my adult life. Hell, they
told a stat tonight which was crazy. The Denver Broncos
have both these two teams started in like the sixties, right,
and both of them have been playing for whatever that is,

(08:16):
seventy five years. The Denver Broncos have been to eight
Super Bowls. Obviously they lost a lot of them, but
they've been to eight. The Chargers have been to one,
which most people would say was pretty lucky for them
even to get there in nineteen ninety four. Technically it
was like January of ninety five, and in that game,
they were an eighteen point underdog. They've been to one

(08:38):
Super Bowl, they've never won one. In the one game
they attended, they were an eighteen point underdog. Now, that
nine four Niners team is one of the great teams
of all time, But still, can you imagine a Super
Bowl in like the day and age we're living in
that the spread was eighteen points. I feel like that
would be one of the biggest stories in the history
of America because it wouldn't just be like, yeah, the

(08:59):
quarter injured, like quarterbacks out, you know, the head coach
got mono, the offensive coordinator's got a kidney stone, he's gone.
The defensive coordinator his wife left him. He had a
mental breakdown. He like, how's that even possible? And it
just that's the franchise he took over, and immediately they're good,
and immediately they're in the playoffs, Like how have we

(09:22):
argued about this individual for so long? Same thing with
Justin Herbert. Like football, there's a lot of context that
goes into the sport. Right, it's by far the most
confusing of all the major team sports. It's by far
the sport that most fans know very little about the
actual nuances of the game because it is so complicated.

(09:43):
We're so fascinated when you hear like Matt Ryan or
Drew Brees or whoever, like, yeah, this was our play
call and they list off like seventeen words, You're like,
how do you even function on this? And anyone that's
played at any level, you know, JV High school, let
alone College of the Pros, knows the factors that go
in the intangible stuff, mental toughness. Uh, just you have

(10:07):
to have football IQ to understand what's going on. You
gotta have physical ability. You gotta be physically strong, you
gotta be have cardio like, you gotta have the total package.
And we have been arguing it feels like justin Herbert
for a long time. I mean, tonight, they're rolling out
a team and rightfully so, because they kind of had to.
They had to flip the script and they had to
choose the two guys, and they chose the right two

(10:27):
guys and they let Keenan. So their wide receiver corps
is lad McConkey, a former first round pick, Quentin Johnson
who actually has eight touchdowns and last week was like
tied for fourth most in the NFL. He literally can't
catch the ball. He has eight touchdowns. He can't catch
the ball. He plays wide receiver. If you play dB
and you're a good dB and you can't catch like whatever,

(10:47):
if you play a linebacker and you can't catch whatever,
he literally plays wide receiver and can't catch he has
eight touchdowns. They're running backs right now are Gus Edwards
and some dude with the last name Videl. I mean,
I know little to nothing about him. He had five
carries for twenty four yards. Hayden Hurts finally came back.
They have this other guy named Stone Smart, who actually

(11:08):
is pretty interesting. Number eighty four. They're throwing to Joshua Palmer,
who got six targets tonight. Now, I like mccaukeey, and
he is going to be a core player for them
when they're competing for Super Bowls in like two years.
But the rest of these cats, they ain't gonna be around.
So that's what Herbert's dealing with. I mean, I love
Joe Burrow like everybody else. He's got Jamar Chase. He's

(11:29):
one of the most talented players I've ever seen. His
second wide receiver is t Higgins right. Obviously, Mahomes for
a large portion of his career has had Tyreek and
Kelsey removed those I mean, look what he's got going
on right now. Lamar obviously has always had talent running
backs around him and skill guys, and obviously he's just
a runner. But like, what are we arguing, like when

(11:50):
we're just watching this guy play. There's nothing he can't do.
He's like the light version, you know, if he's Core's
original or Budweiser is Josh Allen, He's like Bud Lighter Corslight,
like that's Herbert. He runs really fast, he is massive.
He like his ability to throw the ball at every

(12:11):
level with ease. Obviously his arm, I mean he has
some in his short career some of the great passes
down the field we've ever seen him and Josh Allen.
His accuracy on out routes on just like basic intermediate
routes is fantastic. And then he also has touch, like
he's not just only throwing one hundred miles an hour.
He literally is the total package, super high character guy.

(12:34):
Everyone likes him. It's not just a franchise quarterback, Like
that's a high level max franchise quarterback. We talk about differentiating.
He's with the crop of the elites. The other guys
we argue. And the only reason we argue with him
is because one guy went to Andy Reid, another guy
went to John Harbaugh and the Ravens, Josh Allen just

(12:55):
perfect timing, went to two guys that really know what
they're doing, and Joe Burrow is just a rare talent
that can overcome dysfunction. But this guy went to the
fucking Chargers. The Chargers won Super Bowl in seventy five
years and they were an eighteen point underdog. And if
it wasn't for Dean Spanles finally going yeah, I'll spend
some of this unlimited money we have, his career might

(13:16):
have been completely wasted. And he's leading a team I mean,
I think they're gonna end up with eleven wins and
their leading receiver is a slot, little white guy from
Georgia who's a rookie. They have no outside threat for
the majority of the season. They're starting running back is
at home injured. So it's just like, these arguments are done.

(13:39):
They're over now. If you want to argue, like, can
he ever win a Super Bowl? Can he be head okay,
but this argument is he a good player or this
guy's really overrated. It's just like, you don't know fucking anything,
you know nothing. You might as well just stop talking
about football. The hardball argument ended a couple of years ago,
but the Herbert has in the Harbor argu even while

(14:01):
it was going on, was mind numbing. It's like, how
are there this many dumb people in society? Then all
you have to do is just look on the internet
and you realize there are a lot of those around here.
But the Herbert arguments has been going strong. It's like,
what are we talking about at this point? Now? Can
this team make a legit run? You know, their defense
has got to play a little better. They were getting

(14:22):
gashed in the first half. Now they were better in
the second half, and they definitely you know, if Bosa
is healthy to go along with Khalil Mack who's playing
his ass off, Derwin James is playing his ass off.
They got some other young defensive backs they got to
pre rotating in as a backup outside pass rusher. So like, yeah,
I think both these two teams have a formula that

(14:44):
in the first round as potentially the six and seven seed.
Now We'll see what happens to the Ravens over the
next four or five days. But I think if you
were a betting man right now, you'd say probably the
Ravens or the Steelers end up as the five seed
in the These teams and some order end up as
the six and seven. They're gonna be a problem because

(15:05):
they can play defense. They have you know, obviously Sean
Payton and bow Knicks, who will dive into in a second,
you know, have functional quarterback play. They're not explosive offenses,
but they're mentally tough teams. They're physically tough teams. They're
one knock. I mean, Denver is a better running team
than the Chargers, but it's not that much better. I mean,

(15:26):
looking tonight, they're leading rusher. Was this the rookie from
Notre Dame had basically fifty yards. Chievante Williams, who I
thought was going to be a star after he heard
his knee, has never quite been the same. Obviously, Bo
and Herbert can run. I mean they can bine today
for over fifty yards on Herbert ran it more than Knicks.
But I mean both of them are threats to move.

(15:47):
But this is both these two teams are missing star
running backs and maybe the rookie from Notre Dame can
become that. Obviously, the Chargers, I mean big picture, they
are like, they're not going to draft a wide receiver
high in the first round, Like who are they gonna take? Well,
if they get bounced in the first round of the playoffs,
wouldn't shock me if they drafted the kid from Penn
State number forty four warned like they had, or just

(16:09):
another defensive player, like they will draft skill guys later.
And luckily this draft is loaded with running backs. I mean,
there are probably ten guys that are gonna go in
the first three rounds. So I would imagine that Jim Harbaugh,
Joe Ortiz and the Chargers are going to invest into
one of those guys because if you put one of
those guys with McConkie and either a stud tight end

(16:31):
or a wide receiver, this offense is gonna be real
because they already got two bookend tackles who are big time.
So it's like, and we know that hardball is good
at finding guards and centers, so this offense is gonna
be fine. And no matter where he's gone, their defense
is always good. So the Chargers. What a freaking season again.
Five wins last year, five wins with one of the

(16:53):
biggest scam artists in the history of football leading them,
Brandon Staley. In to Denver. I was impressed, I really was.
And I know, you're up twenty one to ten late
in the first half, and then that situation happens at
the end of the half that gives them some free
points on the free kick to make it it was

(17:14):
I mean, just yeah, twenty one thirteen, and then obviously
they came storming back. But listen beside that big run
by Edwards. I think this defense. I mean that I've
been talking about Denver all year long, about their secondary
I'm like, who are these guys? The one rookie that
picked off Herbert? Obviously, they have arguably the best corner

(17:37):
in the NFL. To me, it's between him or Stingley.
I mean, they're just all around stud players. But they
mentioned a time on the broadcast they are one of
the most dominant pass rushing teams in the NFL. All
their defensive linemen can play. There's a physicality and a
speed in which their defense plays with like that shit translates. Honestly,

(17:57):
the one downfall of both these two teams is not
having a better running attack to win a road playoff game.
Because I do think their defense is when they play well,
especially Denvers, they can really cover you and they can
really get after the passer and they play well against
the run like that that's gonna work. Denver's defense is real.

(18:18):
And one thing, and listen, this happens during the draft,
and I'm guilty of this, is there's a hype machine
and once it starts, there's no slowing it down. There's
also like a negative narrative machine. And this used to
exist a lot. I think when like Legacy Media had
a lot more pull now that it's dying. You know,
we're so splintered on the way we think about things.
But when it comes to the draft, like it's we're

(18:39):
talking every single human's talking about the main guys at
the top of the draft. So you hear a million
different opinions on like one or two things on an
individual guy. And I would say, out of all the
top guys, bo Nicks had the least amount of supporters.
And as someone that loves West Coast football and watched

(19:00):
him a lot at Oregon, it's it's hard, and I
remember being in the NFL, like hearing people talk like
you got to learn to kind of put your blinders
on to not listen to that stuff because it can't
impact you. Even if you know more or you're more
convicted in your belief, Like you just start listening to
stuff and seeing stuff on television, it can start swaying
your belief and it's like, how good is this guy?

(19:21):
This guy's over. But then once Sean Payton just loves
him and everyone's like, wow, Sean Payton's just this arrogant guy.
He's gonna tell you that he thinks he invented football.
And then we're in the middle of December and you're
watching him, going, well, he's six two, he's two hundred
and twenty pounds. His ability on the move is fantastic.
He has a long way to go in the pocket,

(19:42):
but he still makes a lot of good pocket throws.
His arm strength is much better than the way he
was discussed of just being this like spread offense, quick
screen guy. Now, there was a deep ball tonight that
thank god they didn't call past interference with which was
a bad threat. He kind of did what the Derek
carthrow I used to call it like this long lollipop.

(20:04):
It's like the guy's open. You don't need to throw
like a Bret fav laser, but just put a little
air under it and just get it out there. Do
not throw it, you know, basically at the roof. But
their ability to make you know, obviously get the ball
out of his hands fast. He's really really good at that.
Anything behind the line of scrimmage and that they got,
you know, Sutton's a big play guy and Mims you

(20:24):
just get the ball in his hands. He's fantastic player
in space. I think bo Nix is really impressive. I've
been blown away this year, and I think both these
two guys, I've said it forever. The thing we don't
talk about at that position. It's always like how tall
is he, how strong's his arm? How many touchdowns as
he throws? How about the intangible stuff? And I don't

(20:45):
mean the intangible leadership stuff, which clearly both these guys
are team captain. I'm talking about toughness. It feels like
the entire season Herbert's been limping around out there. No
one disputes bow Nick's metal toughness. I mean, the dude
went through it at Auburn after going to becoming royalty
there and failing, and then going to Oregon resurrecting his career,

(21:06):
and then going to play for this guy who clearly
is not easy to play for as an offensive player,
let alone a rookie quarterback. And I think he's been fantastic.
I thought tonight for the most part, he was awesome.
I mean, there was one late drive when they were
down twenty seven to twenty four. I wrote down, like,
what can bow Nicks do on this drive? And they

(21:26):
got the ball relatively close to midfield on the first
play of the drive. It's not his fault. The offensive
line fucks up and he gets sacked with eads because
a guy comes right up the middle. They or maybe
that was Bud dupresack. They don't block it correctly. You know,
it was like a delayed tight end. He was going
to the route. He blocks him originally, and it looked
like Bowles was supposed to get over. He doesn't, and

(21:48):
he just goes right to bow Nicks. All of a sudden,
you're second and twenty you got no shot. And that's honestly,
that was kind of the game. Then they ended up punting,
and then the next drive is when Charger busts off
that big run and basically put the nail on the coffin.
But if I was a Bronco fan, I would be
thrilled because the physical skills of this guy. I was

(22:08):
texting Colin and I honestly kind of he has a
lot of purty qualities, but he's a little bigger and stronger,
and I mean, there's a reason he went twelveth in
the draft. It's just weird because in his draft he
was the last quarterback taken right of any of the
guys that matter. And he wasn't only the last quarterback
of the group, he was the guy with the least
amount of positive, optimistic support behind him that there weren't

(22:33):
many believers. You know, most people did not think the
Chargers were going to be a playoff team. I would
say all people didn't think the Denver Broncos were going
to be a playoff team, and I'd probably fall into
that category. I underestimate their defense. I mean, I had
no clue their defense was going to be this good.
But offensively, like Mims is probably a little better than
I thought, and I've watched him since Oklahoma. They are

(22:56):
a little bit like that, Like this offseason, they're gonna
need to find kind of their running back to lean
on if they can. And yeah, I mean, I what
a year for these two guys. And we've been talking
about it kind of you know, beating a dead horse here.
But this is why you pay coaches fifteen to twenty
million dollars when they deserve it. This is why you
get big time guys in to run your franchise. You

(23:18):
can take swings on coordinators all you want, like a
like a first round draft pick. It's probably a flip
of a coin. Maybe he'll be your next coach for
ten years. Stats would show he probably won't get a
second contract for you when Jim Harbaugh is available. When
Sean Payton's available, you pay him a premium and basically
guarantees you not just relevancy, but the playoffs. And think

(23:39):
how many shitty teams right now are in the NFL.
It would die to be in the playoffs. And that's
not going to be an issue for the Broncos or
the Chargers. And listen, this is where Sean Payton won
because Russell Wilson did not fit what he did and
when everything happened last year, and they benched him, and
then obviously they cut him and they ate the money.
I mean it was pretty bold. It was pretty bold.

(24:01):
But now you got nine wins, you win one more
your ten, you're in the playoffs. It's like it was
all worth it, and you got your rookie quarterback that
you can build around that fits your skill set of
what you were looking for. Because he always looked for
this guy. He wanted Taysom Hill to be this guy.
But Taysom Hill didn't pass like this, but he clearly
wanted to transition from Drew Brees to more of that

(24:24):
mobile guy. I remember early in this game, I was
taking notes. I'm like, anytime they get bo Nick's moving,
stuff happens. Just get them moving immediately, quick roll out,
get him to scramble to his left, any sort of
play action. Obviously, he's a really good athlete, but he's
very confident thrower on the run. To me, where I'm
less confident on him is when he's just sitting in

(24:44):
the pocket and kind of having to pick you apart.
That's not really his game right now. Or Herbert is
much more confident. It's also you know, Nix is six
to two Herbert's like six ' six, way easier for
him to see his crappy receiver's attempt to get open.
Really enjoyed that game tonight, really did. It's the most

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Speaker 1 (26:44):
A couple more things on this Fugazi Friday. We got
to dive into Woody Johnson and uh, you know, Bill
Simmons used to have this thing back in the day
when he wrote for ESPN called the Tyson Zone, and
it was essentially describing a situation in Mike Tyson, for example,
who was you could not tell a story about Mike Tyson.

(27:05):
You know, this was like twenty years ago. That could
be crazy enough that someone wouldn't believe it, Like you
could be like this is in the heyday of Mike Tyson, Uh,
just off the wall behavior, like Mike Tyson russell the
cow killed it and just ate the raw meat and
eight ninety percent of the cow. He'd be like, yeah,

(27:27):
that probably happened, right. You could say Mike Tyson jumped
off a ten story building and got right up and
walked away and wasn't even faced. There's no story you
could tell about Mike Tyson that you wouldn't believe. I
think the Jets have entered that category. There is no
story that can come out about Woody Johnson did people

(27:50):
won't believe. And I've said this before, there's a nugget
that's continuing in this about Joe Douglas firing the assistant
GM rex Hogan, and he was forced by Woody Johnson.
I had been told by multiple people that's not true
that Joe Douglas wanted to fire him, that Joe Douglas
and him had a bad you know, some sort of

(28:10):
splintering of a relationship. Now, maybe it's true that Woody
Johnson didn't allow him to replace the position, but I
think sometimes so I'm always hesitant when these stories come
out like this one, because you're like how much is
this true? But it was so egregious, even if some
of it, you know, I want to believe it all.

(28:33):
That this guy's son is telling him to sign guys
or not to sign guys, or that we shouldn't trade
for this guy, or we should trade for this guy
based on his Madden rating. That is incredible. I can't
even tell you how much that made me smile reading
that part of the story about Elijah Moore, or it

(28:55):
was Jerry Judy's, whether it was short Airy Quickness or
Joe Simpson the guards awareness based on Madden ratings on
Woody's Sun. But I've been saying this for a while
that this sounds absolutely insane. And I think there was
a quote in there from Joe Douglas or someone close
to Joe Douglas saying that I basically answer to a teenager,

(29:17):
which is somewhat ironic because I think most people, if
you asked around the NFL, who's feeding this story would
be Joe Douglas. And Joe Douglas has always been a
very anti being a leak media guy. I guess when
you get fired or it's about you, it's cool to
do all these guys, you know, leaders can be very
hypocritical about that, like who's allowed to talk to the media,
who's not. But this listen, Woody is getting roasted and

(29:41):
there's no way to read this article even if it's
not all true, and ninety percent of it is true
to go why would anyone want to subject themselves to this?
And I've been saying this like this sounds insane, but like,
who do you think a lot of these super super
rich guys that own these teams talk to They're kids.

(30:03):
Most people in their life cannot be honest with them.
Most people in their life are on the payroll and
want to stay on the payroll. The kids, well are
also on the payroll. Are the one people that can
just say whatever the fuck they want to that billionaire
and honestly not care what they think. And they're probably
with one person or very few people in their lives

(30:28):
that like there's a trust factor there of that is
not comparable to the other people, whether it's your team president,
whether it's your lawyer, your accountant. I guess my overall
point here is this happens way more than people realize.
Not we're not trading for that guy because he's got

(30:48):
a bad score. In Madden. But if you don't think
that some of these guys that own teams are going
back to their GM or coach and saying no. Now,
they might not tell you where they heard it, but
like the Son, convince them that's a bad idea. I
think it happens all the time. So everyone's gonna say
the Jets is the worst job in the history of jobs,
and there's probably a lot of validity to that, especially

(31:09):
as part of this article saying that Woody Johnson and
I didn't know this. I just assumed he was going
back to Europe. I guess Trump went with someone else,
and Woody Johnson's not going back, So wood He's not
going away. And clearly his personality relative to Christopher is
a lot different. He's a lot more aggressive, screaming at
players in the locker room, which I also saw a

(31:30):
lot of people say, like, that's so me and him
screaming at Mike White. Now, listen, is it a little
weird to see the owner scream at a guy or
talk some shit. I do think it happens a lot
with coaches and players and players and players, so it
sounds a lot more salacious than it is. I just
think all these owners at this point in time, and
these guys are worth billions of dollars. It's the one

(31:54):
profession where winning no longer matters at all. It really
doesn't your franchise for the next The Raiders have sucked
so much ass for the last couple decades, it's it's
hard to even describe. Yet they have never been more
flesh with cash, moved into a sweet new building, are

(32:14):
getting four or five hundred million dollars a year from
the league. The money is flowing with the Las Vegas
Raiders like never before. Mike Brown never had that much money,
but he does now. Why because whether he wins or loses,
that NFL check based on the media deal is automatically coming.
I was thinking about it today with Dan Snyder, how

(32:37):
crappy the Redskins were during like the majority of his tenure.
And I remember, like the middle, maybe it was the middle,
or maybe a little bit toward the end, when he
bought that yacht. It's like, his team has sucked so bad,
they aren't winning any games, and this guy's making so
much money because he owns this NFL team. He bought
a yacht. It's why when anyone ever dms me like, listen,

(33:00):
we need George McCaskey to sell, or when do you
think Mark Davis would sell? And I go, why would anyone?
Would you rather have six billion dollars cash or would
you rather own a six billion dollar NFL team? Your
life doesn't change either way because your entire life is

(33:20):
expense through the franchise. So actually it's incredible to have
the business because everything you do is write off. Your
entire life is through the business, and all the cash
you get from the bank is because of the business.
Where if I give you six or seven billion dollars
for the Raiders or for the Bears, well, immediately Uncle
Sam takes forty five to fifty percent of that, So

(33:42):
that seven billion dollars is now three point five billion dollars,
which is obviously an astronomical amount of money. But you're
just a three point five billion guy worth three point
five billion that no one really cares about, doesn't own
anything cool, No one's talking about you on dedicated television
shows and podcasts. The only time any one of these
people ever sell is when they have complete infighting with

(34:04):
a family and someone dies. Why the Denver Broncos end
up with the Waltons well because Pat Bollan died and
his daughters were fighting. Same thing, you know with some
of these other franchises, it's someone dies and when someone
dies and there's no one in the family that wants
to own the team. But like Woody Johnson, who born

(34:26):
into wealth, is clearly just a nut job. But that's
the case with a lot of these franchises and even
some of these people that made it themselves, which is
an incredible story, right, Like what Robert Kraft accomplished from
nothing to what he's got is an incredible business story.
But as you get older and you that rich, you
kind of become a little cuckoo. And then your kid

(34:48):
as you get eighty two, like you're not doing the
day to day quite like you once did. Well, Jonathan
Craft gets more control, Like is there that big a
difference between like Jonathan Craft than Brick Johnson. One guy's
eighteen years old and the other guy's fifty years old.
They all fucking kooky, weirdo ideas. That's what you deal with.

(35:08):
So I see all these people like you can't touch
the jets like this what all these teams are? You're
constantly hearing crazy things now If this is true based
on Madden ratings, that would probably take the cake, But
it doesn't change the fact of these requests you're getting
from these owners. And it just gets to like, do
you feel that you can find a quarterback, you can

(35:30):
land a coaching staff, because you're gonna have to deal
with one of these nutty owners no matter what. Some
are telling you you can't sign a guy based on Madden.
The other are saying you can't sign a guy because
they just have a bad feeling about it. But it's
all under the same umbrella. I really do think that
even if the Jets and Woody might be at the
top of the list, I think the difference between the

(35:52):
top of the list and like the middle of the
list is the gap is not that wide. It feels
wide when you read things like this, But if you
just polled fifteen NFL coaches and gms right now, I
think they would have somewhat similar stories that they have
to deal with, especially around free agency and the draft,

(36:12):
and even during the season after bad losses, very relatable
stories will shit like this. Okay, Fugazi Friday a couple
things really quick. The Alabama Athletic Director put out a
tweet last night essentially asking fans for money because unlike

(36:35):
you know, the Oregons and the Ohio States and the Michigans,
they don't have the high, high end donors that can
compete at this nil level. And when I saw that Alabama,
a program that has won whatever six national championships in
the last like fifteen years, is literally having to beg
for money from not like they're not dming or calling

(36:58):
or emailing. They're rich. Boost These are just like your
common fan dude that makes fifty k DoD They make
seventy five k maybe a season ticket holder at the
you know, the third level of the of the stadium, Like,
hey man, can you give me money? Just made me
realize like this thing's over, Like this thing's about to break.

(37:18):
And the NFL, do you know how they ask for
money from us, the consumer, the fans to pay their players.
Can you guys just watch our games? Just hey, we'll
play Thursday nights all day Sunday and Monday nights. Can
you guys just watch the games that pays for a league? Yeah,
no problem. I'll be on my couch watching the game.
Cause I think that's what fans would be like with Alabama,

(37:39):
Like aren't we watching the games? Like isn't that generating
all this television money which is historic. It's like, yeah,
well we also got to pay you know, our soccer
coach makes three hundred grand, or volleyball coach you know
makes two eighty and all the scholarships there and then
we got all this and this. It's like, well, yeah,
it's like we got to figure this out because if
we want to pay for football, which is the reason

(38:00):
and all this stuff exists. But once you start begging
for money, and I don't I think it's heart's in
the right place. It was optically, and I think optics
can be a little overrated. It just doesn't get any worse.
It's like the story a couple weeks after the election
that Kamala's campaign was still asking people for money. It's like,
you guys already lost, Like why are you doing that?

(38:21):
And like people that ran the Democratic Party were like,
we got to cut this off. The problem is they
were like millions in debt. It just looks bad, you know.
And I think this. There was a ruling on the
Vanderbilt quarterback today that got an extra year of eligibility
that JC kids now have four years instead of two years,
which is a major revelation and a major change. I've

(38:45):
never been against anyone getting money. I am as pro
capitalism as anyone that talks about sports, I promise you that.
But this thing is fucking lost. It really is. And
they just got to get to the point. And Jim
Harbaugh was banging this drum last year, is like, we
need to split revenue, we need to split revenue. Well,
I think why they've been hesitant to do that because

(39:06):
they use that revenue to subsidize all this other shit.
Those days have to end. You can either make it
on your own or you can't. This is no longer
a WNBA NBA situation, no longer subsidizing all the other sports.
And I'm not anti these non revenue sports. My children
probably aren't gonna be playing at Alabama football, if anything,
They're more likely to be on one of those other

(39:27):
teams if and probably not even do that. But like it,
it's all gonna end, and we are about to see
whether it's next year and two years whenever that does happen,
because we're clearly at the end of the road. Uh,
it's gonna change. College athletics forever. In terms of the
non revenue Olympic sports, they would be fucked. And last,

(39:49):
but not least, one hot topic is the NBA and
they're struggling ratings and everyone's I see constantly all these
people talking about like what they need to do, like
at a four point shot, no more three pointers. You're
only allowed to take thirty three pointers. It's like, guys,

(40:11):
it's over. I'm a good example. I love the NBA.
Growing up, I idolize Michael Jordan. I still do. I
fucking love Michael Jordan. Michael Jordan. If he did, if
he had some TV show for thirty minutes tonight, I
would watch every second of it. My generation that love
sports will watch and consume anything Michael Jordan. And then

(40:34):
I love the NBA up until the two thousands and
even the Warriors run, and I still do follow the Warriors.
Tonight they lost somehow by fifty. But I don't watch
the NBA anymore and I haven't for years. And I
have a simple life philosophy. When the talent does not care,
I'm surely not gonna care. When do they stop and listen?

(40:57):
There are a lot of variables, and everyone argues, like
the politics is ad of silver. It was over exposure
of Lebron. It was a three point shot years ago.
Years ago, these guys stopped playing in regular season games.
And I can't tell you how many people I know
that bought tickets to an NBA game to go watch

(41:18):
a Steph Curry, a Lebron James, whoever, and when they
got there, that person was resting that night. And as
a television consumer, when you turn on the TV and
you go, well, no one's even playing a night. They
stopped caring, and you lost me, and it's hard to
lose me. I've dedicated with my life to talk about sports.

(41:40):
I have been a hardcore sports fan since the moment
I could think, talk, and definitely consume, you know, at
seven eight years old, and it's like I'm just out
and I think I represent a lot of people that
it's like, you don't bring us back with like oh
that no more three pointers now, or they're gonna have
hand checking. That's none of that matter. We're gonna change

(42:01):
the All Star Game. No, I've been watching the All
Star Game my whole life. It used to be cool
when I.

Speaker 3 (42:06):
Was a kid.

Speaker 1 (42:06):
They used to feel like they played hard. I've watched
the last I mean, actually I did in the last
couple of years, but about six seven years ago it
is clear like this is this is an embarrassment happened
in football, and they just canceled it. It's like, yeah,
we can't do this anymore. And I understand for the NBA,
it's difficult. It's a money revenue generator in the middle
of the season on like football, it's the end of
the season. But like all these things add up once

(42:29):
you treat the consumer like shit. Right, If I go
to a restaurant and they have awful service usually my experience,
then a week or two weeks later, I don't go, Hey,
let's go back to that restaurant, never going there again.
Part of Amazon's success if you think about it, and
I forgot about you know when I talk about great

(42:50):
bald guys, obviously Bezos would be near the top of
the list. Whatever you order off Amazon, one, the majority
of it gets to your house in like forty eight hours.
And two. Any issue you have, something's too small, something
doesn't fit, something's broken you or the wrong thing, immediately
send it back. It's the easiest most consumer friendly thing

(43:11):
I think I've ever used in my life given the
volume how much most people use it. Yet the NBA
for a decade plus with load management, starting with Greg Popovich,
san Antonio Spurs just said, fuck you, we don't care
that you are giving us your time, and never forget
the most valuable thing we have in our life is

(43:32):
time by far, and the older you get, you realize, like,
I only got so much time. I got to dedicate
it to my kids, I got to dedicate to my wife,
I got to dedicate to work. So if I am
going to give you a couple hours, that's why football
is so easy. You only got to give it a
couple hours on your off day on Sunday. That they're
built in to dominate let alone. You know, like, hey,
Patrick Mahomes got hurt, more likely still gonna play. It

(43:55):
was an NBA player, you'd be out a month. So eventually,
drip drip, drip drip. You use someone. Maybe in the
sixties and seventies eighties, when there was less going on,
it was easier to get someone to come back. I
think it is a lot more difficult. We have more
options than ever to fill my palate. So if I
want entertainment, whether it's sports, whether it's movies, whether it's music,

(44:17):
whether it's podcasts. There's never been more options, right, It's like,
I don't think this is that complicated. And I see
all these people diving so deep into their ideas. It's like, yeah,
I think you guys lost the plot on this one.

(44:46):
As we head into Christmas, I got my guy, Stucky,
who was I think put on the earth for this moment.
The college football playoffs we got four games. It's crazy.
I mean, the NFL is on Saturday with marquee teams,
and I gotta be real, they feel a little bit
like an afterthought, even though I mean these games are

(45:09):
pretty massive in the NFL, with you know, Chiefs need
to you know, win a couple more to get the
one seed. You got the Steelers and Ravens battling out
for a division. But starting Saturday or Friday night in
through all day Saturday, it's hard to beat this. Stucky man,
I know, as a college football I would consider you

(45:30):
an addict. This this We've been waiting for these times
for a long long time. Man.

Speaker 3 (45:36):
Yeah, it all goes back to the NFL's desire to
dominate the NBA and every holiday and every day because
all four of these teams that play on Saturday are
playing on Wednesday because they're like, we need to have
Christmas Days games, so you can't play them on Sunday.
So if it wasn't for that, they probably wouldn't have

(45:58):
done this. But the NFL wants to dominate. And the
problem I actually disagree with the NFL doing it. I
mean they know better than me because you have these
two market games while college wall playoffs going on, which
is gonna be cool. I mean you have you know,
SMU Penn States at noon, it's well, you know, Texans

(46:18):
Chiefs is at one fifteen, Clemson, Texas is at four,
Steelers Ravens at four thirty, Tennessee, Ohio States at eight o'clock.
Would have liked it a little better. Staggered, but that's
a great day of football. But the problem is because
the NFL wanted to have football on Christmas, they they
ruined the I mean, next Sunday. Have you seen next

(46:40):
Sunday slate Week seventeen? I know it is, here are
the games. This is a whole Sunday slate of week seventeen.
Falcons at Commanders is at night. I guess that's intriguing
to watch with. Let's put that's your night game.

Speaker 1 (46:55):
That's Sunday Night football.

Speaker 3 (46:56):
Yeah. Then in the daytime you have Jets at Bill,
Titans at Jags, Raiders at Saints, Colts at Giants, Panthers
at Bucks, Packers at Vikings. There's your only good game.
And then at four o'clock you only have two games
Dolphins at Browns and Cowboys Eagles. That's as bad as

(47:21):
a Luckily there's Packers Vikings, but that's as bad as a.

Speaker 1 (47:24):
Sunday Niners Lions. Is Monday night football, huh yep.

Speaker 3 (47:29):
Yeah, And there's only two four o'clock games. One of
them is Dolphins Browns, the other ones with Cooper Rush.
So yeah, I get why they're doing it. They just
want to take over every holiday. But regardless, Saturday will
be an epic day for football fans and for betters
like myself. I can't wait. I also can't wait for
the Friday night game between Indiana and Notre Dame. That's

(47:53):
a fun one and I really just can't I like
every Bowl game. People hate it because the portal, but
as a better that's it's just opportunity. It's not like
you can dig for info, get ahead of these line moves.
There's there's money to be made.

Speaker 1 (48:09):
Who won the Cal UNLV game?

Speaker 3 (48:12):
Un LV one cow is down to its third string quarterback.
Mendoz went to the portal. The backup got hurt in
the finale. They don't know the third quarterback who got hurt.
And then they had to go to their fourth string
freshman who will looked like he never threw a forward
pass before. And unlv rallied to end a trend, a
long trend of in this new portal are three years

(48:34):
running of coach. Teams without a coach hadn't won a
single bowl game. I think they were er and eleven
and until UNLV, but most of the UNLV players played
it looked like they cared. Yeah, except for Ricky White.
There's their receiver who will get drafted. And it was competitive,
but they had a Cal quarterback situation was a disaster.

Speaker 1 (48:54):
I feel like UNLV is kind of an up and
coming program with the nil ERA because they signed they
hire Barry Odam, who's a real coach for a Mountain
West program, and then they get Dan Mullen. I mean,
you look at Washington State, who you know leech it
had enough leaves and then they just you know, elevate
a Rollovich who then quits because he won't get the

(49:17):
jab and then what's his name Dickert takes the job.
He clearly understands like Washington State and Oregon State are
probably lower than Boise at this point moving forward, So
you look at UNLV, could they kind of take you know,
essentially become Boise, Fresno State and forever they sucked and
now it's like they're clearly spending some money. So college football, man,

(49:39):
it's the obviously the top, the big dogs. But even
you see Alabama their ads begging for money, you know,
Notre Dame. Their alumni is so big. You know, UNLV
just has this built in money pit right behind him
that people are just gonna want to get involved. Uh yeah,
I just think we're we're in fascinating times.

Speaker 3 (50:00):
Yeah, it's it's you look at some of these teams
and you don't also get to play in a football stadium.
You're in Vegas. There's a lot to like there. I mean,
it's some of the money being thrown around. I don't
know how sustainable it.

Speaker 1 (50:13):
Is, but it can't be right. Payton Jackson Arnold three
million dollars It's just it's.

Speaker 3 (50:18):
John Mattier getting between three and four million reportedly who
the Washington State quarterback and Washington State is I mean,
that program is. I don't know where they're going to go.
That bowl game that was one they played, Syracuse said
that's probably gonna close like eighteen. They got to all
their starters and in the portal Matier left, their coach
just left, Their coordinators are gone. But it sucks there

(50:42):
three or four million for this guy kid. He's he's good.
He's not elite John Mattier. I mean, Brock Perdy has
made three and a half million, will make three and
a half million over the first four years of his
deal in the NFL as a starting quarterback. I mean,
it's pretty wild that you can there's these players making
more money than NFL starting quarterbacks and they're not even

(51:06):
like the elite of the elite guys.

Speaker 1 (51:09):
Why do you think that the Oklahoma thing before we
dive into these games. One thing that used to happen
in college basketball a lot because it was like you
could be one and done, and a guy like if
you could get so and so Anthony Davis. I remember
Michael Porter who went to Missouri right, am I thinking

(51:29):
the right guy? They hired his brother too to be
the coach. That was when Kwanzo Martin. I don't know,
is he still the coach there? No? But yeah, it's
like is that like Oklahoma? They hire the Wazoo offensive
coordinator and then they get the quarterback? Like is that
a packaged deal to get the coordinator they want? I
don't know, I'll be honest. I don't think I've watched
a snap of Washington State, so I don't know nothing

(51:51):
about this quarterback. But Jackson Arral was just a top
five recruit and then a couple of years later he's
just gone to Auburn, who another SEC school. Just it
just seems like, I don't know, people are just throwing
shit at the wall hopeful and they stick it and
the reality is of the transfer portal. Besides, like the
Caleb downs and the no doubt about it, there is
a complete randomness. Like if anyone knew that Skataboo was

(52:12):
gonna be this good, he would not have ended up
at Arizona State, right, he'd be the starting running back
at like A and M or you know, Michigan or something.
But you're gonna get some of these programs on a
given year. Arizona State's a good example this year, but
it could be you know, Arizona or a Texas Tech
or you name it, like any kind of mid tier
program in their own conference. If they hit on two

(52:34):
or three transfer portal guys that then are just NFL
players and their schedule breaks right all of a sudden,
you're like, God, they're a nine or ten win team
that everyone thought was gonna win four or five. But
you've been talking about this over unders in college. How
the fuck would you know who Skataboo was two years ago?
No one would.

Speaker 3 (52:50):
Yeah, but then if you don't hit for a couple
of years.

Speaker 1 (52:53):
Well yeah, screw, it's the opposite. You could then even
do in one game.

Speaker 3 (52:56):
For an how you're gonna get And it's becomes so
much harder to drawkids if you just don't, if you're
not one of the schools with an unlimited piggy bank. Yeah,
it's it's a fast, it's fascinating. It has to be
it eventually has to be regulated. Uh, but I don't
know how that's going to happen. But this it's just
it's the wild wild West right now in college basketball
there's actually, I think a potential trend. There's a team

(53:19):
if you want a team the root for in March.
I don't know if they'll make the tournament. But Drake,
who usually I think the past couple of years. They yeah,
they they played Gottlieb coming up, but they have one
of the best coaches in the country. He was so
what they did and you can't do this in college football.

(53:39):
But what we've seen it a couple of times. We've
seen like these teams at FCS level where like Western
Kentucky did it with Bailey Zappy. You have these programs
where their coordinator will come and all their skill position
players with them. But what Drake did is they there
was a D two powerhouse, north West Missouri State, I think,

(54:01):
and their coach was really highly respected in inner circles
of basketball. He brought his entire team to Drake. They
lost everybody. He brought us entire team. There are a
bunch of D two guys and the D two coach.
They have all that continuity kind of bridge the gap
and good you know, there's some like there's some good
coaches at the D two level and they're ten and zero.

(54:22):
They just want at Kansas State, very unathletic team, like
you can tell that that there's a reason why they
were D two, but run in beautiful offense, and so
they'll be a great store. Like talk about a Cinderell story.
Just basically just the D two team now in D
one if they make the tournament. But yeah, fascinating times
throughout college athletics.

Speaker 1 (54:42):
Okay, let's go, let's go, Cinderella story. We'll start Friday night.
This game is going to look pretty sweet on television.
There's no debating that. You know, this guy, I was
actually watching some of jmu's bowl game. That pass rush
they have looks like an NFL guy who got the
MVP that game, So clearly that's a good program. Signetti
brings them all. Listen. I just feel like I'm not

(55:03):
a huge Notre Dame guy, but my gut tells me
this is like got twenty seven to ten or twenty
seven to seven written all over it, and they just
smother them with defense and running the ball. Now. The thing,
the curveball in this game on Saturday night, the Penn
State game, but definitely the two night games is you know,
in college football, it's not like the NFL like Kansas

(55:24):
City's gonna play a home game. Now they're gonna play
a home game in the playoff. It's gonna be freezing cold.
Same thing with Buffalo. Most of college football, you get
a cold game maybe early November, but they don't get
the frigid weather in December and January because they never
play those games. And then their bowl games. If Notre
Dame's in the Orange Bowl or whatever, it's fucking beautiful weather,
it's like the Super Bowl for them. This game is

(55:46):
supposed to be freezing cold. You know, it's just obviously
it's you know, these Midwest games. I mean, it's gonna
be cold in the middle of December at night, no sun.
I think that has to hurt Indiana. That's a passing offense, right,
and they've hung their hat on like these outside receivers
or the back shoulder throws. I don't know. I mean,

(56:07):
I this would be the one game where I'd be like,
I'd probably hammer laying the points with Notre Dame.

Speaker 3 (56:12):
What say you, I'm against you. This is my favorite
underdog of the four. It's the lines coming down. So
I have seven and a half. I'd want to get
seven and a half if you like Notre Dame.

Speaker 1 (56:23):
Wait, because it was seven this morning on DraftKings. All
lines here presented on draft by DraftKings, So this was seven,
So could that be six by kickoff? You think?

Speaker 3 (56:31):
I don't think. I think they would get the would
be buyback at six and a half. It probably settles
at seven. I like Indiana over a touchdown. I think
they can keep this close. I don't think the cold
will bother Indiana. And their quarterback works Canadian and he
played in the MAC and nothing but cold and weather
games before this his whole career, so I think he'll
be fine. Where I think Indiana can hang in this
game is their run defense is legitimate. You go back

(56:56):
to that Ohio State game, you go back to the
Michigan game. All year, you would even if you adjust
for schedule. This is an elite, elite run defense. Their
secondary has talent, But these are like Sun Belt all
conference players, like some of them came from Jamius, some
of them came from other conferences. They're not elite NFL

(57:17):
caliber corners. So where they'll they'll struggle is you know,
if this game was in a dome and they have
to go up against NFL caliber receivers like they did
in you know, the Ohio State game. The Ohio State
couldn't run the ball on them. Now Notre Dame, their
offense goes as you know, Jeremiah Love and their backfield goes.

(57:39):
And he's a little banged up. We'll see how healthy
he is, but he got hurt in the finale. He's
had a lot of time to recover. But Bepoortly was
wearing a brace. But that's their there. It's a rushing offense,
and then Riley Leonard can use his legs too. But
the way that you beat this Notre Dame team is
you make them, you turn them in to you turn
Riley Leonard into a dropback passer, unknown passing downs. Their

(57:59):
offense been bad on third down specifically, you know in
third and medium DeLong and they're like eighty I think
eighty third in the country and third down percentage, whereas
Indiana's offense I think is top twenty in the country.
You have to stop them on really down. So if
you look at Notre Dame schedule, no one's really been
able to do that. Northern Illinois did it, but they
haven't really played an elite run defense. I think Indiana'

(58:21):
run defense can hold up. You turn Leonard into a
pocket passer on known passing situations. I think their defense
can hang here. And the Notretame defense is very very good.
It's not as a lead to say in Ohio State
that doesn't have the same level of talent up front.
You know, they do have a couple of really good
interior defensive linemen, but it's not that same caliber. And again,

(58:44):
the Notre Dame defense, they didn't really play that many
good teams. They put a bunch of they pick a
couple of service academies. You know, you played Virginia with
a bunch of backups. But you go back to a
couple games where I think the Notre Dame defense might
be a tad overrated. Losall went into Noted, moved the
ball up and down the field. That LOOKI turnovers probably
should have won that game.

Speaker 1 (59:04):
And they're a pretty good offense, right Yeah, And.

Speaker 3 (59:05):
They're a pretty good offense, and they put up four
hundred plus yards. USC put up nearly six hundred yards
in the regular season finale against Notre Dame. That's probably
the best offense they faced all year, and it was
with a backup quarterback where I mean Miller Moss went
to the transfer portal. Maiba hadn't looked good the previous
few weeks against like UCLA, and he looked awful. They

(59:27):
also lost their best player what he marks was going
to play in the NFL. In the first play of
the game, and they were moving the ball up and
down the field at will. So I do think that
this Notre Dame defense has some holes. I think this
line is a bit too high. Signetti a bunch of
time to prepare here. I think we'll have them ready.
I think it'll be a close game. Notre Dame also

(59:48):
has shaky special teams. Their kicker, they run out a
kicker who's hurt, who misses a bunch of kicks every week.
I don't know why they keep doing it, but so yeah,
I think Indiana hangs here. I think it'll be so.
I took the seven and a half.

Speaker 1 (01:00:02):
Okay, let's go to Happy Valley. It's weird, like when
you look at the bracket, you're like, I can see
a scenario where Penn State's in the national championship, right,
they win this game, then they play Boise, they win
that game. You know in college is not like the NFL.
So Kirby doesn't have to say shit, especially off of
Bye about about his quarterback. Is it fair to assume

(01:00:22):
that his quarterback got the brock Purty injury and is
out or we just in the dark, like what would view?

Speaker 3 (01:00:28):
He might be back for later, but he's out for
that first game.

Speaker 1 (01:00:33):
Okay, so there's Yeah, there's a scenario where it's like
Penn State's in the National Championship yet on an individual
game basis, even that Boise game, like, yeah, I can
see this thing being weird. Like, yeah, it's like I
like Penn State at home, but wouldn't shock me if
it's you know, fifteen to fifteen in like middle of
the third quarter, No, you know, and that whole place

(01:00:54):
is getting tight and it's cold, even though they should
dominate in the cold run game defense tight end, like
it should translate that being said, I liked what I
saw against Oregon. I know it was you know, Oregon
obviously had some big plays offensively, but Ali's kind of
growing on me. The backup quarterback who does play obviously

(01:01:16):
is gone, and it's not you know, it wasn't like
a nefarious situation kind of like Mendoza's just like, I'm
out after he cries on the field. Like even James
Franklin's like this bullshit, he didn't want to leave. So
it's not like I don't think there's like dissension or
whatever locker room. But I don't know. I mean, I'm
not some huge SMU consumer. So watching them against Clemson,

(01:01:38):
obviously they look like shit early on in that game,
came storming back. In theory, I should like Penn State
to dominate this game, but I have a hard time
betting on Penn State, even though I kind of like
him to like make a run.

Speaker 3 (01:01:52):
Yeah, I don't have a strong feel in this game,
to be honest. I mean, SMU is gonna go fast.

Speaker 1 (01:01:57):
Don't they have a good run defense? SMU.

Speaker 3 (01:01:59):
Yeah, it's very good, which matters here now. But then
you can go back and you can question the level
of competition because SMU they avoided, you know, all the
top teams in the ACC and they lost to Clemson.
I mean, who else did they play all year? Nobody? Really,
They had such an easy schedule and then you know
Clemson was able to score, uh pretty easily on them.

Speaker 1 (01:02:23):
So but they do flip flopped SMU, and you put
SMU versus Texas and Clemson versus Penn State. Are those
lines Like, is then SMU a twelve point dog against Texas?
And is Clemson a nine point dog against Like how
do you think that would? Like? Who? Who do they
view as the better team? Here? Are they basically a
coin flip between the two? Well we just witnessed. Would

(01:02:45):
you say people think Clemson's gonna be better?

Speaker 3 (01:02:48):
I mean, I I between Clemson and SMU.

Speaker 1 (01:02:51):
Yeah, Like, I don't know, Like to me the nine
point are they just like, yeah, we don't know if
if this should be fourteen or this should be six,
So we'll just throw like nine or ten to get
people to bite. Like, I feel like they don't quite
know with SABU and Clemson where to put them. Like
I feel they got a pretty good idea of Tennessee
in Indiana. But I feel like with the ACC teams

(01:03:12):
against you know, Texas and Penn State, it was they're
kind of in no man's land with these two lines.

Speaker 3 (01:03:18):
Yeah, I think Texas is a couple of points better
than Penn State, SMU is a couple better points than Clemson. O.
But yeah, I mean you're right on the bracket. This
is why the bracket's broken. Like you just can't give
the four teams automatic buys. Because Oregon and Georgia beat
Texas and Penn State in the conference championship games. Oregon

(01:03:41):
goes undefeated, and they're gonna have tougher paths in these
They're gonna have a tougher game in the quarterfinals. You know,
Texas and Penn State at two games is double digital favorites.
Oregon's got to play the winner of Ohio State Tennessee.
George is gonna have to play either Notre Dame or Indiana.

Speaker 1 (01:03:57):
Because I ideally, ideally these four games, there should be
a where the lines are like two or three points, not.

Speaker 3 (01:04:02):
Yes, and you're one seed shouldn't have the hardest game
in the second round, which they're gonna have. So you
should either reseed or you just seed one through twelve.
You can get your automatic but you don't get automatic buys.
I don't know. I don't have a really good strong
feel in this game. Sm is gonna want to go fast.
They don't really run it efficiently. You can't really run
it on Penn State.

Speaker 1 (01:04:22):
This is going to be cold too.

Speaker 3 (01:04:24):
I mean it's gonna be which favors Penn State. But
it is at noon, which I think helps SMU a bit.
You know, it's not at night in Happy Valley. It's
gonna come down, you know the way to attack this
because you mentioned the sum run dy it's off schedule.
But I do believe in their run defense because their
their defensive line has dudes. The guys that came from

(01:04:44):
I mean all of them. I think three or four
starters came from Miami. They were at Miami at one
point and they transferre in so they have like real
power five guys. They have good safeties, two that can
come down and defend them wrong. Where they're week is
at corner, so you have to attack them on the
outle side. How does Penn State approach this because their
offense is kind of like gimmicky and you know it's

(01:05:07):
run first and then you want to get Warren involved
at tight end in different ways. But the weakness of
Penn State is their wide receiver room. They don't really
have great wide receivers and that's really how you attack
this SMU defense. So I'm not sure it's going to
win on the outside between Penn State and SMU and
then Ken SMU protect. You know, they have a really

(01:05:27):
good back in Pritchard Smith, but they don't really run
it efficiently, and you can't really run it on Penn State.
And the reason they don't run it efficiently is their
offensive line isn't very good. Really weak left tackle that
they lost from last year. He was really good, and
then a center. They had a really good offensive line
last year, lost their center, left tackle. I haven't been
able to replace them, so they don't get a great push.
They also struggle to protect at times. So is Penn

(01:05:50):
State just going to get so much pressure and overwhelmed Jennings.
That would be a bit of my concern as well.
So I don't know. I think this line is about
right I got. I had nothing heading into it. If anything,
I would think Penn State finds a way Colden Nick's
a great quarter and he's had time to prepare. SMU
is going to go fast. I think that they'll find

(01:06:12):
ways to the Penn State defense. It's very good, but
I do think that they're vulnerable on the back end.
It's just gonna come down to Ken smu protect. Because
you look at the Penn State schedule and you just
parse out certain games. USC put up thirty on them,
and then you saw Oregon, and Oregon is a really
good office, but they put up forty plus on it.
So there's there's some opportunities to move the ball. So

(01:06:33):
maybe the over, but as of right now, not a
game I'm involved in.

Speaker 1 (01:06:38):
Okay, Texas is a twelve point favorite, which I gotta
be honest, when I first saw that number fell a
little big to me for a team. Now they handled
A and M right. The only way they got back
into it was with yours a couple of turnovers. But like,
they're not scoring forty points a game. So you look
at that game. Now, A and M on the road,

(01:06:58):
good defense, you know. You look at the Arkansas game
they won twenty to ten. The Florida game they molly
wopped him. That was kind of a perfect storm. But
the Vanderbilt game was a struggle. Obviously, they lost the
Georgia game. Even the Oklahoma game, that was a tight
game till like the last couple of minutes in the
first half and there was like back to back fumbles

(01:07:19):
and then it just kind of unraveled. But to me,
twelve points for an offense that I just don't trust
the quarterback. Now, their defense is good and physically, I
mean they have NFL dudes all over that defensive line.
But I don't know. I mean, I cad klembit. He's
played well down the stretch. Obviously, his legs are a
big factor, you know, so he can run and pass

(01:07:40):
that some of those young wide receivers look like they're
coming on. You know, it's a perfect spot if you
just kind of look at Dabbo, underdog everyone, no one
thinks they can do shit. He just showed in the
conference championship game like they jumped out to him. They
were bludgeting that team, right, and then I obviously kind
of let off the foot off the gas and they
came act SMU fans will be in your DMS, be

(01:08:03):
like the refs were against us, Like now you're getting
your ass kicked. I don't know, man. My first it's like,
twelve points feels like a lot against this Texas team
that's being treated like their fucking organ or something.

Speaker 3 (01:08:16):
It was the first game in like seventy years that
Clemson didn't the game, but there wasn't any penalties called
in that game.

Speaker 1 (01:08:25):
I think an acc crew where they trying to get
Cleanson to win, so they get SMU in.

Speaker 3 (01:08:29):
Yeah, I mean it worked out for them. Whatever they
were trying to do, they got and then they got
SMU to come back, and then you couldn't keep Alabama out.
So it worked out for the ACC financially. I you know,
my numbers actually leaned.

Speaker 1 (01:08:42):
Because because this big picture, it would be bad if
they both get destroyed. If they both lose by like
fifteen to twenty points, it's it's bad.

Speaker 3 (01:08:50):
Yep. Yeah, that deck you get. There's going to be
that bias, right or not with the committee on a
year to year basis based on what happened the year prior.
And then you know the the SEC talking heads. If
SMU you want to go on, you want to Twitter

(01:09:10):
to get insufferable. And I'm an SEC country, But if
SMU and Clemson get blown out, you're gonna you're gonna
hear from all the SEC people after the weekend's over
about how Alabama should have gotten in. Yeah. I actually
like I I don't think this Clemson team is that
great and I have them to make the College Ball Playoff.

(01:09:32):
Got lucky because Miami lost. If you look anytime they
stepped up in class this year it didn't go great.
I mean, this is a team that lost at home
to Louisville, they got blown out by Georgia. They fought
for a half and you know then they beat SMU.
You got to give them credit for that. But I
don't think SMU is in the elite tier of teams.
And the reason is they just don't have as much

(01:09:53):
talent as they used to and that's because they don't
hit the portal and so it's just not as talented
of a The talent disparity in this game, even just
going like the offensive line disparity is massive. Texas, who
should get their left tackle back Banks healthy, who's probably
the best offensive lineman in college football. He missed that
Georgia game. Their offensive line for Texas is unbelievable, and

(01:10:18):
they're gonna get protection. They're gonna be able to run
the ball, and I think that's going to like set
up all of the RPO easy passes for yours. Because
what my fear is when you back Texas is a
big favorite, because you're right, are their offense in these
big games this year? Because they also had a soft
schedule for an SEC team. They have the softest schedule
of any team of who they avoided. And if you

(01:10:39):
look like what happens is yours will have like a
couple head scratching turnovers a game and they can't score
in the red zone. They are just incapable of doing it.
And it was a problem last year as well. So
that's hard to cover if you turn the ball over
a couple times and then you're settling for a couple
of field goals. Hard to cover a big number. But

(01:10:59):
I just think at the line of scrimmage, they're going
to dominate. I don't think Clempson's gonna be able to
run the ball and they're running back them Off is
banged up. They're gonna really they need Club Nick to
have like a perfect game and one of their you
know guy like Westco. They're gonna need some of their
young receivers to step up. But it's just such a
talent disparity in this game. And yours extra time off,

(01:11:21):
does he get healthier like he's been dealing with an
ankle injury, and then do you see more arch which
I would or like. So I don't know how TeX's
gonna handle this. Do they wait and for like the
arch packages when you're not as big of a favorite,
right and don't show it as much or do you
just Hey, we're gonna show it every game from here
on now, because I actually think Arch is a better

(01:11:41):
fit for this offense because he's a better runner for
the RPO style. But I just think they're gonna be
able to run like Clemson's run the all year has
been not been good. And once you once, if Texas
can establish around, everything else becomes so much easier. Safety
asn't start to come down, and then you know your
your screen, your quick pass game, everything from there then
makes it easier for yours and you don't have to

(01:12:01):
make him, you know, a drop back passer, known passing
situations where he might make a mistake or two. So
and then this Texas defense is kind of built to
stop this Clemson offense. And we've seen it before Texas
when TCU made that run with Garrett Riley, the offensive coordinator,
Peekwakowski shut him down the defensive coordinator for Texas. So yeah,

(01:12:24):
I actually I lean Texas. I'm having trouble pulling the
trigger right now just because I'm worried about the red zone.
I'm worried about yours making a bonehead and mistake or two.
But this is a big, big talent disparity that many
not be many, you know, casual betters than I'm found colletable.
It might not be. It's like, hey, Clemson, I'm going
to take the twelve. Dabo can play his cards here

(01:12:45):
and he's great as an underdog. But as of right now,
I'm I'm actually leaning towards a favor.

Speaker 1 (01:12:50):
Well, I think if you told me you could flip
quarterbacks like yours was on Clemson and Club Nick was
on because I think Club Nick, as you watch after
that Georgia game, like this guy, I mean, you're dabbing.
You need to cut this guy. By the end of
the season, he had he felt like one of the
more improved players in the country. I think I heard
Danny Knell or someone say that they you know, if
you look at twenty one and twenty two, yours was

(01:13:12):
the number one quarterback coming out in twenty one, he
was the number one quarterback Club Nick in twenty two.
Two Texas guys, they've played each other, I think in
the state championship either in nineteen or twenty. I mean,
these are like haralded all time great quarterback prospects coming
out the state of Texas, which is like quarterback state
for producing these guys. And I just think Club Nick

(01:13:33):
is a much better player, especially the way he's playing
right now when you dual threat. But like you said,
I mean, are they talented enough? That is a major
question mark because there's no disputing Texas's roster. It's just
the quarterback play. I mean, even that A and M game,
which A and M obviously you know relative the resis
college football has the lead roster too, and it just
felt like, God, Texas is fucking overwhelming them here, and

(01:13:55):
so it's like and all yours has to be is
kind of that, you know, kind of Alex myth game manager.
But sometimes he's like I'm Patrick Mahomes, you know, and
that's where's and you feel Sark sometimes, who's grown on
me a lot. They go shots of him, it's like
he fucking wants to wring his neck. It's like, what
are you doing? But the problem is Arch and you

(01:14:16):
and I have talked about this. If he was their
version of like what Trevor Lawrence was or whoever he
would already be in. I think they don't think he's
quite as good as the hype. That's why I think
they've kind of eased it in. You know, if he
was as good as the way he's talked about, I
think he'd already been their starting quarterback.

Speaker 3 (01:14:36):
Yeah, but his legs and using this this package is
definitely I think they're going to use it. More curious
to see how much in this game, in particular, because
if you look at their path again, Texas has an
easy path. Do you wait and to like really show
everything that you're going to show with his packages? But yeah,
I agree with you, And we'll see if like yours,

(01:14:57):
is if that ankle injury that was contributing to things
and he looks a little better here, ye right, Yeah,
so that could be another angle as well. But it's
definitely an interesting club hasn't playing a lot better. His
offensive line is. He's gonna be under pressure, he's gonna
have to use legs, he's gonna have to get some
explosive plays downfield because the difference in this offensive line,

(01:15:18):
that's gonna be the clearest thing that you'll see, I
think in this game. And that might end up being
the difference. But Texas for just they just they find
ways to make games close at times against like their
special teams aren't good, their red zone offense isn't good,
and then viewers will make a couple boneheaded throws. But
they are so much more talented.

Speaker 1 (01:15:39):
So it just one thing looking at these matchups. You know,
Indiana Notre Dame didn't playoff for championship weekend SMU, Penn
State did, Clemson in Texas did Tennessee, and Ohio State didn't.
So they basically, you know, neutralized any rest advantage of
a team that had to play in that spot and
then a team that didn't. You know, so Tennessee Ohio State,
like this feels like Otto hammer Tennessee. You know when

(01:16:02):
you just factor in their strengths. They can run the
ball and they have a fantastic defensive line. And obviously
Ohio State, who I saw chips quotes all the days
and running together. It might have been last week or
might have been earlier this week where he's like, we've
gone over that Michigan game with a fine tooth comb.
We realize how we screwed up. Part of where I

(01:16:24):
think everyone thought they screw up. It's like, guys, they're
fucking Will Johnson's in the training room. They've had a
bunch of guys drafted the last couple years. In the secondary,
you have elite wide receivers throw the ball, which was true.
It was crazy they didn't. They kept like running the
ball up the middle. I think at one point time
it was like fourteen runs just right up literally between
the guards.

Speaker 3 (01:16:43):
With four to four NFL guys on the defensive line.

Speaker 1 (01:16:45):
Yeah, it's like they're only strength on their team right now.
You know, Tennessee, you know, I think a little bit
like Michigan, like their passing game. I mean, Nico, everyone
like bet the farm on him. I know, I was
one of those guys like this guy get you know,
it's like kind of like Josh Rosen. Early on, it's
like this guy's gonna take the world by storm. And
then by the end of the year you're like, oh,

(01:17:05):
it's pumped the brakes on his future. But from a
defensive line standpoint, it's gotta be tough. I mean, they're
missing their center, they're missing their offensive line. The pressure
in this game. Unlike a lot of teams from the
south right, you know, like a Miami that if they
would have had to gone to Penn State, it's a
lot like Tua and that crew when they got to
go to Green Bay. It's a huge Knoxville's cold now.

(01:17:27):
It might not be Ohio State cold, but it's that
they're not sitting in eighty degree weather right now. And
their style of play is a little bit like the
Rams and the Niners. It's like their shit translates whether
they're playing in the cold or whether they're playing in
a warm weather, you know, kind of bowl environment. If
they win this game, I don't know. I just love
Tennessee in this spot seven and a half. And Herb

(01:17:48):
Street said it the night that they did the bracket, like,
if this is seven to nothing going into halftime or something,
Ohio State's loud, that place is gonna be so fucking mad,
you know, and that environment could get ugly. So I
if All State's gonna win this game, like I don't
think it's Penn State where they're down ten tough and
then they come storming back like they need an early lead,
they need an early touchdown, everyone get excited and get

(01:18:11):
that crowd behind them, because that crowd would turn on
not on the team, but on Ryan Day.

Speaker 3 (01:18:17):
Yeah, this game is very fascinating, and I agree with
that point. I think that's the key to this game,
which makes it tough to bet. Where where is Ohio
State out mentally? And then where do they go if
they start slow? Because I was just in Cleveland this
past week and talking to a bunch of a high
oft defense and they're all like, Ryan Day's got to
go and.

Speaker 1 (01:18:32):
They want him to lose this game, right so they
can like go try to offer vrable one hundred million dollars.

Speaker 3 (01:18:37):
They'll be like, if they start something, they'll be fire
Ryan Day chance and in the crowd, and then like,
I think part of what happened against Michigan is Ryan
Day wanted to win. That game is so bad and
the play Caong was awful too, but just they were
so tight, like there was so much that we have
to get our revenge, and then Michigan played so loose,
like well to see was so much more talented. Playcong

(01:18:59):
is bad, yes, but I think that they just they
were all like so overwhelmed with trying to win and
just weren't playing football. Could that happen again? If they're
they're tight here like and they start slow. The start
in this game is massive because you also want to
make Nico throw it, not let Tennessee get their run,
can going. Look, the Tennessee offensive line has issues too.

(01:19:19):
I don't think Tennessee's gonna have a ton of success
on offense. I mean Nico and his road games this year,
Like against Vandy he was fine, but that was basically
a home game. You know, he went to Georgia, he
was bad twenty thirty three for one sixty, at Arkansas
where they lost against a bad day. He was seventeen
to twenty nine for a one to fifty eight. And

(01:19:40):
then at Oklahoma, who ended up being a bad team
thirteen to twenty one for one to ninety through. You know,
it wasn't it just wasn't great, and all year just
wasn't overly impressive. This and their receivers are pretty banged
up too. We'll see how healthy they are. They've had
like no non contact practice, non contactors. He's on in practice.

(01:20:00):
So this is just going to come out of the
star because I don't think Tennessee is going to score
a bunch.

Speaker 1 (01:20:04):
Now.

Speaker 3 (01:20:07):
What makes this fascinating to me because initially when I
saw this matchup, I said under because I think both
defensive lines will dominate, and I don't see and will
Howard's been dreadful under pressure completion presented drops I think
from seventy eight to fifty two percent when he's under pressure.
And the Ohio State offensive line they lost the two
most important players. They're center in the left tackle. So

(01:20:29):
but I said under, and then Ohio State plays really slow.
Tennessee plays fast, but they're just not that explosive this
year because Nico's just he's just not there yet. So
I said, d lines dominate this game. Under. But my
worry is Ohio State do they come out here? Because
I saw the Chip Kelly comments too. They tried to
run it way too much the one drive they had successful,

(01:20:52):
and I'm surprised they didn't do this in the second
half two minute drill. They had to. They had to
do this. At the end of the first half. They
were throwing it and going fast and they want right
down the field and squit a touchdown who's there? Only
then they didn't score the rest of the game. So
are they going to say, now, Okay, we're going up
against another elite t let's go hurry, let's go with
more tempo, and let's throw it more. Because the Tennessee

(01:21:13):
weakness of their defense is their secondary and then you
try to tire out their pass rush by going with
more tempo. So that's what scares me off the under
a bit. And then another thing to keep in mind
is it looks like Ohio State's going to make changes
on the offensive line. They've had a couple weeks prepare.
You might see there's this kid Montgomery, another kid Padilla,

(01:21:33):
might see two new young kids in there in the interior.
So how does that work out? Does it solve some
of the issues? Is it just a mess? There's not
that much community, but there has been some time that
a lot of uncertainty in this game. I wouldn't blame
anything taking the points. My numbers actually I'm really low
in Tennessee. My numbers actually show a little bit of
value in Ohio State. But I truly believe this comes

(01:21:55):
down to the start.

Speaker 1 (01:21:56):
Who's a better coach? Like, if you had a program
and all things were equal, would you choose Josh Hipel
and his staff or Ryan Day and his staff?

Speaker 3 (01:22:06):
Uh, that's a great question.

Speaker 1 (01:22:10):
I feel like I know more about Josh Hypel, like
he's done more with let I mean, when he took
over Tennessee, they sucked what he did at UCF. Like,
let's face it, I mean, Ryan Day took over a
fucking Ferrari and it's no longer a Ferrari anymore. Not bad,
but I think it's like no one cares that you
beat Minnesota and Iowa, like no one gives a shit,

(01:22:31):
can't beat Michigan, and he just loses all these big games. Honestly,
his his his uh performance against Oregon was actually kind
of impressive. You know, I thought they actually played pretty well, but.

Speaker 3 (01:22:43):
They still box the end game exactly. He turtles up
too much in big games. But Hypel hasn't gotten to
like that next level yet, so I know, at least
like Days gotten close. I'll say it's a push as
of right now.

Speaker 1 (01:23:00):
Favored in this game if it's in Tennessee, yes, but
three point would be two.

Speaker 3 (01:23:09):
Let me see what I have home field that would
be Like I mean this, this line is saying three
three and a half small favorite under a field goal
probably maybe minus two. Nice one and a half. And yeah,
I'll say this game is gonna well, we'll decide it

(01:23:30):
for me now. Even if Tennessee just covers all, he'll
probably say high people, so fascinating gaming all odds on
that start. As you alluded to, like I actually think.

Speaker 1 (01:23:41):
To lose a bowl game, I think it's easier to
lose a bowl game sometimes than these home playoff games
because it's like kind of a way, half your fans
are there. This is just like a normal game for
Ohio State, right, like their local radio that the postgame show.
It just would feel he drives to his house. You know,
you would rather lose this game at the Orange Bowl
right against Tennessee, didn't lose it at your fucking home stadium.

Speaker 3 (01:24:05):
Yeah, and I'm sure there's gonna be a decent amount
of Tennessee fans. I'm curious to see that. But I
would I in a way, you know, from a number
of perspectives, this isn't true. It's you know, six point difference.
But in a way, Ohio State might have benefited from
going on the road here because you get away from
there's so much noise right now and everyone is there's
just around campus. It's all like you gotta win, and

(01:24:27):
all the noise on the talk radio. It's like like
you said, sometimes it's good to get away from that
and go on the road. Obviously, ox was not a
fun place to play, but uh yeah, all eyes on
the start there. I wouldn't blame anyone for taking the points.

Speaker 1 (01:24:42):
Okay, the Chiefs are either gonna have like the craziest
sixteen in one season you've ever seen, or they're gonna
lose a couple of games here down the stretch. Now,
it looks like Mahomes is good to go, practicing full
at least on Wednesday. I guess that would have been
Tuesday whatever. I mean, it's he clearly avoided major injury,
which feels like he pulls off sometimes he's got a

(01:25:03):
little NBA to him where you just feel like, oh
my god, it's his season over, and then like a
week later he's playing in the game. I do think
this Texans matchup, though, is kind of tough for them,
given that, I mean, they got two guys that could
end up with fifteen sacks coming off the edge where
the Chiefs have struggled, and even if Mahomes is playing,

(01:25:23):
he's not one hundred percent and he naturally kind of
gimps around even when he's healthy. It kind of looks like, obviously,
the Texans have had a disappointing season relative to the hype,
though they won the division pretty easily. I like the
Texans a lot here plus three and a half plus
you just the factor in the Chiefs. Every game they

(01:25:44):
play in is close. But just in terms of the
exact matchup that pass rush against you know, a somewhat
hobbled Mahomes against an offensive line that is just really
struggled all season long protecting him. So I think they're
bound to lose one of these two games. Whether it's Saturday,
you would say they'd be more likely to lose the
game on the road, right Pittsburgh short week. But I

(01:26:07):
wonder if this game kind of is the one that
kind of bites them.

Speaker 3 (01:26:11):
I don't mind the Texans here taking the points now
that it's over three. It's funny this this a big
regret of mine actually was not taking the Chiefs when
this line, this line was Texans minus three early in
the week, and like everyone assumed, ma Holmes is gonna
be out, And I said to myself, what Momes, He's
had like six ankle injuries in the past, He's never

(01:26:32):
missed a game. And immediately tweet out like they don't
have to lock them away to keep them out of
the game. You remember that that playoff game when he's like,
wouldn't refuse to go to the locker room. So I
was like, he's definitely gonna play. I did I should have.
I don't know why I didn't. I should have just
taken the points of the Chiefs knowing that he's probably
gonna play, and then I can come back. But now
I think he would.

Speaker 1 (01:26:50):
I think he would have done the same thing in
that game against the Browns if it was tied and
they had to win it to get the number one seed.
But they're up twenty one to seven. The fucking team
couldn't move the ball, and he's like yeah, cool, Like.

Speaker 3 (01:26:59):
Carson went, yes, Now this is a three and a half,
you're and my homes isn't gonna be at one hundred percent.
And I guess there's still an outside shot he doesn't play.
There's also an outside shot. I think he's going to
but there's also an outside shot he gets hurt, Like
there's a bigger higher percentage that he that he hurts
that ankle even more. And you know, when you're going
up against this pass rush ken, the Texans score is

(01:27:24):
where this offense needs to figure it out. They like
they're not going to run on Kansas City. You got
to throw in them. Their secondary is vulnerable. They've had
some injuries back there and their past he's been vulnerable since.
But the Texans every week it's like where is this
passing offense? I mean even last week against Miami, the
DA had like a one hundred and ninety total yards of offense,
so ken they and a lot of it is they

(01:27:46):
have the worst early down offense in the NFL. They
run it way too much on early downs. In this game,
in particular, you need to find your passing offense if
you're going to win to win a super Bowl, which
should be your goal, and in order to win the
Super Bowl, you're gonna have to beat the likes of
Lamar Josh, Allen Mahomes. You can't. You're not going to
win these games twenty to seventeen. You need to find

(01:28:07):
your offense. They're already in the playoffs. You need to
find your office. This is the perfect game to do it.
Throwing early downs. Let Stroud, you know, get out of
his funk and throw it. And this is kind of
like a risk free opportunity to do that. If you
lose this game, who cares, You're still going to win
your division. Not in the one seed, you can prove
to yourself you want it. If not, you can be like,

(01:28:28):
all right, we need to make these adjustments. But yet
the three and a half points. With this Texans defense,
which has been dominant, and they have their two corners,
Lassiter and Stanley, I mean they ranked in the top
both of them are in the top three, and catch
rate allowed they've been great. And then you have this
edge rush that's going to get after Mahomes and a
very vulnerable offensive line. Tooney helped kicking them out the

(01:28:48):
left tackle against Cleveland, but he was still under fire
the whole game. So yeah, a lower scoring game against
the team that usually just wins by two or three,
I would take the points here.

Speaker 1 (01:29:01):
I don't really have a feel for this other game.
I mean, I guess you just naturally take Tomlin and
the points. The Steelers have kind of dominated this matchup.
I think what if they wont eight of the last nine? Uh?
I think that Eagles game rattled me. I was like
so close, It's like, I think I'm taking I was
about right before the game kicked off to hammer Pittsburgh

(01:29:22):
money line, and I kind of got cold feet and
then like ten minutes into the game, you knew like,
thank god I didn't do that. I mean, they couldn't
cover anybody. So you know, now TJ wats a little
banged up. It's a huge game for the Ravens. I
don't know. I mean, I don't really have a great feel.
It's like to me, the Eagle game was a pretty

(01:29:43):
enlightening experience on Pittsburgh kind of got exposed. Now. I'm
not putting too much thought into the Ravens against the Giants.
I mean, you put them when they're a little motivated
against a bad team, they will fucking bludging you. You know,
Lamar has had his issues against the Steelers, obviously, what
are your thoughts? I mean, Ravens, you win this game,
you're right back in the mix to win this division.

Speaker 3 (01:30:05):
Yeah, my gut says that the Ravens are going to
win and cover this game. But I know better. I
know that these games are always close, no matter what
I mean. Since two thousand and eight, when Harball got
the Baltimore favorites of three or more. In this matchup
of Harball Tomlin are two nineteen and three against the spread.

(01:30:30):
That's less than ten percent. Two nineteen and three. Harball
is a favorite of a field goal or more against
the Steelers OH eleven and two against the spread. Twenty
seven of these of thirty three matchups have been decided
by one possession. The average score in these games is
nineteen point five to nineteen point four. Over half the

(01:30:51):
games have been decided by a field goal or less.
There's always close, there's so much familiarity. Toman usually does
a good job against mobile quarterbacks. Now the reason I
can't bet this yet, Like I think this line should
be seven if what and Pickens are out, so that
I can't really bet this game without knowing their status.

(01:31:11):
What is so important? I mean if you look historically,
their defense falls off a cliff without him. He not
only is the important for home makeup, game changing play
almost once a game, but he draws so much attention
so freeze up other guys. It's also solid against the run.
I think their defense it gives up like a touchdown
more historically when He's been out of the lineup and

(01:31:34):
then Pickens, they need him. This offense is not very
efficient with Ross. He just they need to hit explosive
plays downfield right, It's like run, run, run, punt, relioner
d run, run, run, punt, hit, an explosive play, score
a touchdown. Like that's just how the Steelers want to play,
and Pickens is the key piece to that. So does

(01:31:54):
he play. I don't know. It feels like your most
important offenseve player and the most important defensive player. I
think that's the difference in whether this game is close
or not. I think because the Ravens. Yeah, they're one
in eight against the Steelers. By the way, this is
the first time la Mar will play in Baltimore against
the Steelers with fans in the stands, first time ever.
The only other time he did it was in twenty

(01:32:15):
twenty in COVID. The other four matchups since it's been
in the league hurt, Week eighteen rested, Week eighteen rested,
pretty crazy. But his numbers against the Steelers are not good.
But I will say this Ravens defense is trending up
and they're passing their run. He's been good all year
and they're getting healthy again on the defensive line. But
they move Kyle Hamilton back to safety and he's allowed

(01:32:38):
over the last five games. You know, he was playing linebacker,
edge corner. He's playing all over the place and doing
it at all pro level. But they said, our back
end of our defense is broken, and it's all good
this kid is, and they just put him. He's just
playing keep safety a lot more. He's loft one catch
in five games for three yards, so they put him
back there. They benched the veteran safeties who were playing

(01:32:59):
really poorly, guys like Williams, and they put our areas
Washington back there. He's been great. And then Wiggins the
rookie is starting to play really well. He's he along
with Lassiter and Stanley. I mentioned he's top three in
catch rate aloud, so you know, and then they Humphrey
just manning the slot. So their past, he's really coming together.

(01:33:20):
And this is like a defense that's trending in the
right direction for the playoffs, kind of going a little
under the radar because you know, it's the Giants, and
but their past is actually better than people might think
because it was a mess early on in the year.
They couldn't anything deeper and over the middle was a disaster.
There's still some weak areas in the middle of the
field because of the linebackers, but trending up. But man, I

(01:33:45):
also it's worth mentioning because this was decided the first
meeting the Kickers. He's my guy, Tucker, but again, tough stadium,
the kick in Steelers have the edge here in Kicker,
and if it's gonna be a close game, maybe that's
a different. But I can't do any This is a week,
a weird week in the NFL. There are so many injuries,
so many key injuries, you know, from Mahomes to Pickens,

(01:34:08):
want Gino Smith, and then you have all these backup
quarterbacks playing. It's a crazy week. I just need to
know the status of what and Pickens if they're both out.
I like the Ravens, but I might not bet it,
just because I've been watching this rivalry for fifteen years
and no matter what, no matter what these teams look like,
who's out, it's just close somehow.

Speaker 1 (01:34:29):
So yeah, I get a couple more games for you.
Speaking of the injuries, the Niners, I guess, Kyle just
you know Grendo who played last week probably out now
with a different injuries. So they're on the like they're
seventeenth running back. I think Miami fucking stinks. And the Niners,
you know, for a bad team, are still going to
try to finish hard like that. If you're Kyle, you
desperately eve you're going to miss the playoffs, want to

(01:34:51):
finish nine to eight because it's not like you have
the second pick in the draft. They're drafting fifteen right now,
so they're gonna try really hard down the stretch. But
Trent Williams is out now for good. You got banged up.
I mean it's really difficult, you know, And they're favored
on the road. I don't know that that's a game
that I love the Niners, you know, getting a point

(01:35:12):
against Miami, but you just have to wonder, like does
it eventually catch up to them. Maybe they're a little
motivated after what happened with Campbell. And the other game
that stands out to me is like, you know, this
happening in reverse to the Rams two weeks ago when
the Bills came out, they get a massive win and
they just kind of lay an egg. Those cross country
flights I used to make them from Philly to the

(01:35:32):
Bay or Sacramento, it's just it's a long time in
the air, even if you're flying like these guys are flying,
and whether you're gaining hours you're losing hours. I do
wonder a little bit. You know, the Rams, they control
their own destiny with those last two games. Now, Seattle's
kind of in chambles, and hell, Seattle could easily lose
this weekend in Minnesota. I don't want to say lay
an egg, but just come out flat a little against

(01:35:54):
this Jets team who's just shown a little more life.
I got that thing circled as just a potential to
get a weird result and definitely a weird early game, like, ah,
the Rams look flat.

Speaker 3 (01:36:06):
You well, you nail two games. Two bets that I made.
I bet I bet the forty nine ers reluctantly because
who knows who's showing up in that game. But I
trust the forty nineers more to show up and if
they have extra rest here, hopefully they get a couple
of guys back like Gustafa Bosa because of the extra rest.

Speaker 1 (01:36:24):
And Party and Kyle are like a combo deal. They
need to justify with the owner, like we're gonna pay
you right, yeah, because Kyle wants to pay him, Party
wants his money. They got to play well.

Speaker 3 (01:36:34):
Dolphins play a ton of zone. Party usually rips that up,
and the Miami's beat up their offensive line. They have
no tackles. Wattle I think is going to be out.
That means they only have three healthy receivers. You got
Tyreek Hill, Washington and River Craykraft well know on the
entire roster. I mean, they're going to bring some guys up,
but that's it. Just Bracket Hill, who's not the same
player right now. And the Dolphins, you can't run the

(01:36:54):
ball right now because their offensive line injuries. So it's tough.
But I like the forty nine on the road in
a matchup of two teams that basically got eliminated last week.
And then yeah, I bet the Jets plus three and
a half. It's too many points. I can't get to
this number like the Jets have. They're not great, but
they've lost seven one possession games, like most of the

(01:37:14):
time they're in games. They just they were unlucky early
in the year. Their offense is finally showing some life,
Like Rogers looks a bit better. I think he was
dealing with an injury earlier on the season. In the
last four games, he's eight touchdowns, one pick, sixty eight
percent completion percentage. They're averaging twenty seven points per game,
and you know, when.

Speaker 1 (01:37:30):
I devanted obviously last week.

Speaker 3 (01:37:34):
Yeah, and this Ram secondary you can get. I think
some of their younger guys are hitting the wall a
little bit on defense. And yeah, this is just a
sleepy spot for the Rams, who on the road all year.
What have they done? This is an indoor team and
they go on the road outdoor. Its not the same
offense on the road all year. This team, I think
they covered one time. I mean they lost at the Bears,

(01:37:58):
at the Patriots was a close game too late. At
the Saints was the close game until very late. And
you know at the Seahawks they won. They should have
lost that game they won an overtime. They come out
flat on the road almost every week, so I think
this is another spot with.

Speaker 1 (01:38:15):
That Stafford was horrendous in the first half against the Niners.

Speaker 3 (01:38:19):
Yep, And if you go back to last year, this
same exact spot happened. The Rams went on their late
season serge and the week before playing the forty nine Ers,
which was like a huge game for the playoffs. I
think the Rams needed to win. They went to New York.

(01:38:39):
Now they didn't play the Jets, but the Giants, and
I think Tyrod Taylor was starting and they won, but
they won. They were like minus five. They won twenty
six to twenty five, and the Tyrod Taylor almost picked
them off. And yeah, I mean that game was super
close right till the end. So I think this game

(01:39:00):
is close. This line is just too high because people
see how bad like the Jets record, the Rams have
been surging. But I don't think the Rams are you know,
five six points better than the Jets, who are showing
life of late. And yeah, you get a playoff team
in at home. I think they'll carry here. And you
got some corners who can match up with the Rams receivers.

(01:39:22):
So yeah, I think too many points here.

Speaker 1 (01:39:25):
Like we're heads a stuck. You Well, let's let's enjoy
a historic first year of the playoffs Saturday and Friday
night football at Notre Dame at Ohio State. That's listen,
that's that's pretty cool. If you would have told someone
that five years ago would have put a lot of
smiles on people's faces. And now gambling, we get to
bet on it legally all across the country. So have

(01:39:48):
a great weekend, stucky and go Jets.

Speaker 3 (01:39:51):
Yeah. So, by the way, Vawn Nugget, it will be
the first Friday home game for Notre Dame since nineteen hundred,
when they beat the Chicago Physicians and Surgeons five nothing,
And I think someone sent me that. I don't even
know if that's truly could be a but I note
that it's let's say it's the first time it's on

(01:40:14):
a network, first time in Notre Dame home games, not
on the NBC since nineteen ninety.

Speaker 1 (01:40:23):
My guess is the Chicago Physicians and Surgeons lack some
team speed. We're always in the right spot, very smart group,
but probably not too dynamic in space. If I had
to give a scouting report without watching the film, we would,
you guess that would probably they probably didn't have much
speed on the outside, might guess, and not much bulk

(01:40:43):
in the middle.

Speaker 3 (01:40:44):
I think my friend might have been sending me a
fake tweet.

Speaker 1 (01:40:47):
If that's true, that's fucking incredible. It's very believable. I'm
gonna believe that meant one hundred and twenty years.

Speaker 3 (01:40:52):
Ago, so I know it's the first one on a
Friday in forever. I think my friend.

Speaker 1 (01:40:57):
Shanahan, like in one of the quarterbacks on the Physician
and Services team. Enjoy the weekend, brother, see you I'll
see you brother. The volume m hmm

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