December 23, 2024 • 40 mins
John is back, breaking down another exciting week across the National Football League, capped by a BIG Dallas Cowboys win over Baker Mayfield and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday Night Football. Middlekauff salutes the Dallas Cowboys, Mike McCarthy and Jerry Jones for a hard-hitting victory to improve America’s Team to 7-8 on the season. Next, John looks ahead at the Dallas Cowboys future under head coach Mike McCarthy and gives credit to a stout Cowboys defense, and well-coached quarterback play, as the season winds down and Dallas fans wonder about their coaching future. Next, John reacts to the career renaissance from former Heisman Trophy winner and Tampa Bay Buccaneers star QB Baker Mayfield after the quarterback has “become a top-10 quarterback” this season. After, John gives his thoughts on Atlanta Falcons rookie QB Michael Penix Jr. and why the Falcons deciding to bench veteran QB Kirk Cousins is way too little, way too late this far into the year. After, thoughts on Washington Commanders sensational rookie Jayden Daniels, the Carolina Panthers up-and-down journey with former Alabama Crimson Tide QB Bryce Young and the state of young quarterbacks across the league. Finally, thoughts on the Philadelphia Eagles losing a close game to the Washington Commanders, injuries to franchise quarterbacks and another embarrassing San Francisco 49ers loss.
5:05 - SNF: Bucs at Cowboys reaction
32:42 - Reaction to Jalen Hurts injury
36:22 - 49ers embarrassing loss to the Dolphins
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
The volume. What is going on everybody, how are we doing?
Merry Christmas, Happy Honkah, a great week, and spend some
(00:24):
time with our loved ones, our families, and do a
couple of podcasts. So I did a big podcast yesterday
on Saturday Night, reacting to the Saturday night games as
well as the playoff games in college football. I recorded
a podcast with Colin after the afternoon games, and I'm
recording this podcast right now after the Sunday night game.
(00:45):
Cowboys get a big win twenty six to twenty four.
What a entertaining football game that was. That was a
lot of fun. Sign me up for the violence of
that game every day of the week that was. That
was sweet. So we'll dive into that game from McCarthy
to Baker, very very enjoyable Sunday night that I'll be
(01:07):
honest didn't see coming. We will also hit on some
other things from around the NFL. Bryce Young, we gotta
tip our hat to him, Jalen and a concussion in
the game that they ended up losing to the Commies
with Jaden threw for a bunch of touchdowns five I
think to be exact, and Kyle Shanahan the forty nine ers.
(01:30):
I think got more questions than answers right now, that's
for damn sure. But other than that, the game plan
will be I'll probably do a little podcast for Tuesday
and then obviously nothing. Christmas might react to the Wednesday games.
That'll probably be it for a couple of days. So yeah,
gotta gotta hang out the love ones. Got to spend
(01:52):
some quality time some QT as they call it, with
my people. My mom haven't seen her in a while.
So other than that, you guys know the drill. Subscribe
to the podcast three Out Podcasts and if you listen
on Collins also YouTube page, we got a bunch of
content up there as well. But before we dive into
some football, listen, I'm not a great gift giver. I'm
(02:15):
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a loved one, significant other, a brother, a sister that
you want to take care of. What is better than
(02:36):
under the tree, like, hey, here are two tickets to
you name it whatever. They want to go to a game,
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loose price is guaranteed. That was awesome. That that was
That was fantastic football. And for anyone, and I'm included
(03:17):
in this, this sometimes gets nostalgic about the day and
age which listen, I don't want anyone to get CTE
or have a shitty life that played in the NFL
when they're fifty sixty, seventy years old or any of that.
But there was something special about watching people just get
destroyed and knowing like I can't imagine playing this game
(03:41):
at that level. And then, like any young kid if
you play high school football, you realize how you get
nervous the first day you ever put on pads, like
when you're on JV and you know you get to
varsity football and you start hitting some guys that are
going Division one. Maybe some people listen to this if
you played Division ie let alone in the NFL, that
there's something about the physicality of the sport that brings
(04:03):
out kind of your manhood and separates, you know, the
boys from the men. And there was something special about
that game that I just witnessed people were getting destroyed.
That felt like a game that I would have watched,
you know, my parents' thirty inch TV in nineteen ninety six,
(04:24):
where you just watch guys every other hit get absolutely
ran over, and every other big hit you're like, is
that guy gonna get up? Is that guy okay? Sometimes defenders,
you know, hurt themselves on the hits, and the level
of play and effort in that game I just thought
was awesome. And I'll be honest, like when I saw,
(04:47):
you know, looking at the schedule like I do getting
ready for the podcast, either at the start of the
morning or as the week's going on, You're like, this
is Sunday night game. Not that I thought like the
Bucks were just gonna roll and the Cowboys were playing well,
but it's like, I don't know if this game is
going to be that great. I thought that was honestly
one of the more entertaining games you know, of the year.
And sorry started with the Cowboys. I don't know what
(05:08):
collins Worth and Tarico said because I had the TV
on mute. We're getting ready to leave tomorrow back home,
so we're talking about some stuff. Had the game on
but had had to mute it. And then they showed
the visual of this is as the Cowboys. When I
finished with Coward and I went out to the living room,
it was ten to nothing Cowboys. And then I get
(05:31):
out there and Cooper Rush is continuing just to throw bombs.
It's like they look fantastic. I'm like, they can't look
any better. And then they show which they always show
Jerry on a Cowboys game, especially in Dallas, and you
got Steven and I think I was his other brother,
one of the other Jones family sitting next to them,
and they're just wearing Jerry out. And I don't think
(05:52):
it's hard to put two and two together if you're
guessing on what they were talking about, like how good
Mike is doing or what are we going to do
in this situation with him coaching this well? Because at
eighty two years old, and Jerry mentioned this, and I
think we all thought he was crazy, and partly because
he is kind of crazy and he talks a lot,
and it's it's hard to ever know how much what
(06:13):
he says. Their substance behind it. They said we're going
all in, and then clearly it didn't feel like they
were going all in. But when he said on his
radio show that Mike could get extended, Mike could be
the coach here next year, most of us just assumed
and I was guilty of this, like Mike McCarthy's done,
especially when Dak goes out for the year. When Dak
goes out for the year with the hamstring injury and
(06:34):
you see him every game sitting in the uh you know,
sitting in the box. You go, wait, listen Cooper Rush.
Their defense has been puture the first half of the season,
like this seems screwed, how are they gonna win games?
And then Cooper Rush and the offense has looked pretty good,
Like Cooper Rush has made a lot of place, and
especially tonight in that first half when he is just
(06:55):
throwing bombs to Ceedee Lamb and those two guys were
eviscerating the Tampa Bay secondary, Like, I don't know, Jerry.
I mean, I don't know what else you could ask
from a coach in this situation. One big difference on defense,
and I was I was thinking about this watching the game.
Even if you don't have great defensive personnel on your
(07:17):
front four, you know, depending on you if you run
a three four four to three. When you have a
special pass rusher or just a special player on your front,
that takes all the energy of an offensive coordinator, the
offensive line and the blocking scheme. It takes so much
energy to focus on that guy that it it's kind
(07:39):
of like a domino effect for the other guys get
to play better than sometimes they actually are because of
the guy they're playing next to. And on the Saturday
game with Chris Jones, they talked about it with him.
He's like, I'm not having my best statistical year, but
I feel like I'm playing my best football and everyone
next to me is eating. And you see it with
(08:00):
all the great players, whether it's Miles Garrett, when Nick
Bose is playing well, obviously TJ. Watt. Even if you
have other good players, they play even better because all
the energy goes to you and their defense since Mike
has come back, just looks dramatically faster upfront. Obviously he's
a big part of that as a great pass rusher,
but the other guys were flying around and crushing Baker
(08:22):
early in that game, and since he's come back, they
just look a lot better on defense and tonight the
secondary Al Harris, who I'm pretty sure is the guy
when Matt Hasselback in the playoff game against the Packers
when they won the coin toss and Hasselback goes, we
want the ball and we're gonna score. Pretty sure that's
(08:44):
the guy that he threw the pick six to. And
clearly that's the connection with McCarthy and he's the dB
coach that defensive backfield. You know, obviously Blands back from
his injury last year, made a game winning play the
play Lewis made on the interception, but their physicality, their
you know, Diggs is out for the season with a
knee injury. Look like Ronnie Lott meets Cam Chancellor back there.
(09:06):
So if you're Jerry and you're Steven and you're trying
to figure out what to do, you look around the landscape.
You go, Mike's really good with offense and quarterbacks, Like
that's not really debatable. DA's played his best football with
him calling plays. And then tonight Cooper Rush is twenty
six of thirty five for basically three hundred yards. Now,
(09:28):
he could have thrown a pick there late in the game,
got pretty lucky the dude dropped it. But overall, to
have a backup quarterback look that competent is a reflection
of the coaching staff and is a reflection of just
overall coaching in general. So I think that visual showed
I would be stunned, honestly if they weren't talking about that,
(09:50):
like this is going pretty well, what are we gonna do?
Go on a interview? Who are we going to hire?
That's gonna be better than the situation we're in. Plus,
the reason that we struggled this year was more of
a personnel issue than coaching. Now. Is McCarthy perfect, Of
course not. But I've been pretty impressed this last month
because I think universally, cowboy fans, just football fans would
(10:15):
have said six seven games ago, they are completely screwed,
like this thing could just fall off and become derailed.
You look around the NFL, you look at some of
these teams that are dealing with injuries. They just don't
look the Niners good example. I mean, the Giants are
the worst case scenario. It's like, what is going on there?
This team is the opposite. It's like, damn they are playing.
(10:36):
They are a muff punt screw up by the dude
that they elevated from the practice squad from winning five
straight games, and currently they would be instead of seven
to eight, they would be eight and seven and they
would be right in position, like god, could they make
a playoff run? You know? Do they have an opportunity
to get in? So I think that I've been blown away.
(11:00):
I mean the defense clearly under Zimmer with Micah back,
has become much better, and I think McCarthy has just
done a really really good job. That's as hard of
an effort just in terms of guys playing start to
finish in a game. Is I remember in a while
from a team that, I mean, the season's over. They're
not going like what are we doing? Sunday night football
(11:23):
lights are on and we approach that game like it
was winner get into the playoffs. So that was awesome.
That really was right down to the final play when
Bland stripped that ball away from Irving. So congrats to
the Cowboys because it would have been pretty easy to
wave the white flag. And I think this is a
(11:43):
separating factor in the NFL that so many teams. The
Panthers are a good example, We'll dive into them, like
every team worth their salt, battles their ass off till
the bitter end. Whether you're gonna win four games, whether
you're gonna win nine games, whether you're trying to get
the number one overall seed. It's what truly makes the
sports special. And partly because if you don't give full
(12:07):
effort in this sport at that level, you will get injured,
you will get hurt. And just fantastic win by the Cowboys.
I actually think it was a pretty impressive effort by
the Buccaneers as well. One thing that at this point
in time, we just have to acknowledge Baker Mayfield's a
top ten quarterback. Baker Mayfield is a big time player now.
(12:27):
And you look at that twenty eighteen draft. Obviously, Lamar
Jackson's won multiple MVPs and became one of the best players,
I mean in the history of the league as an
all round quarterback running and passing. Josh Allen might be
the most talented player we've ever seen at the position.
Those guys are everything you could possibly dream of as
(12:50):
first round picks in franchise quarterbacks. This twenty eighteen. Obviously,
Josh Rosen's long gone out of the league. Sam Darnold's
career was crazy. He's having a career year. He is
leading the Minnesota Vikings to the opportunity to get the
number one seed, and it's gonna end up throwing for
somewhere between thirty five and thirty eight touchdowns. Baker Mayfield,
(13:13):
we didn't know if last year was I don't know.
I don't want to say a one year wonder, but like,
could it get that much better? I just looked. Only
Lamar Jackson and Joe Burrow have more touchdown passes than him.
And clearly, since you know, I think he's talked about it,
he lost a little weight. He moves early on in
his career. He reminded me of Johnny Manziel that he
(13:34):
thought like what he could do in college, and Johnny
was much more of a runner, but Baker scrambled around
a lot at Oklahoma as a playmaker. It's like, you
got to be really careful the random defensive lineman will
run your ass down. And I remember it might have
been Johnny's first start or one of his first games.
(13:54):
They were playing the Panthers, and he thought it was like,
you know, playing some team in college, and it was Kekley,
and he thought he could outrun him to the corner,
and Luke Keigley caught him like he was a lion
on the Serengetti in like three steps. Like Johnny, this
is a different world. And that used to happen to
Baker a lot. He looks dramatically faster. I don't know
if it's his confidence, but his running ability is a
(14:17):
legit weapon. And then as a pastor, like he's always
had an explosive arm, he just now is just a
really good player, right, I mean deep balls, intermediate balls,
play making, obviously running and listen, they now have the
same record as the Atlanta Falcons, and the Atlanta Falcons
hold the tiebreaker. But do you think Michael Pennix, who
(14:41):
I thought looked pretty good today, It's one thing playing
at home against the worst team in the NFL. I mean,
there is no one more gutless and just who looks
shittier right now than the day Ball led New York
Giants like they are currently in terms of the effort
and execution and just overall production. They play with an
embarrassment to the NFL. I mean, it's really really bad,
(15:05):
but listen, I can't it was your first start, like
I thought, regardless of the statistics, he looks solid going
on the road to Washington, coming off one of their
biggest wins. I mean, it's gotta be like a top
five win for the Commanders in the last decade. Now.
I know a large portion of it was against their
(15:25):
backup quarterback, but still Jaden throwing five touchdowns against Fango
in that defense, a lot of momentum. That place is
gonna be going fucking bananas. It's gonna be a tough
spot for Penix and like coaching advantage, I'm going Commanders
over the Raheem Morris led operation. But and I'm a
Michael Pennix guy, I just think it's gonna be challenging.
(15:47):
They could easily lose that game. I haven't seen the
line yet. They're gonna be an underdog in that game,
so they control their own destiny. But I think they
lose that game, and the Bucks are still very much
alive playing the Panthers, which is no easy out the
way they're playing, and the Saints both at home. So
I think if they win those two games, they're still
in the playoffs, and that'd be back to back playoffs
(16:08):
for this guy that replaced Tom Brady. And listen, like,
I think the Bucks are solid. It's hard to overcome.
They've had a bunch of injuries, obviously losing god Win
a long time ago. You know, they're playing with some randoms.
It's basically they feel a little like the Cowboys. It's like,
if you can just somehow neutralize Mike Evans, you can
at least slow them down. But Baker's throwing fucking balls
(16:28):
to I was like, who's this tight end? What's this
guy's name? And I was just really really impressed. And
that play vide Vea made to stop Ferguson from a
first down at the end of the game to force
a punt and give the Bucks an opportunity was just fantastic.
I mean, what a special player. And was there anybody
that once the Bucks got the ball back that didn't
(16:50):
believe that Baker at minimum was going to get them
in field goal range. Honestly, I thought he was gonna
lead him down to score a touchdown, and not because
the Cowboys defense was playing bad, just because I had
that much leaf in Baker Mayfield. But you look back
at the twenty eighteen draft, you know, Alan and Lamar
a like hall of famers, what Baker and Donald which
is kind of ironic just because a couple of years
ago their careers were in shambles playing together, right, they
(17:14):
traded for Donald on the Panthers. Then a year later
they traded for Baker, and it was like, this is
a disaster, and both those guys left that place and
now look at him. It's just awesome. As a football fan,
I loved watching Baker Mayfield at Oklahoma. I would say
over the last decade plus, he's easily one of my
(17:36):
favorite college players to watch. And I remember battling with
Coward who thought you didn't like him coming out because
there were a lot of, you know, immaturity questions about him.
But I was like, I don't know, man, I think
he's so good he will overcome it. And clearly some
maturity stuff. I think his life changed, and I think
they've kind of alluded to it and even talked about it.
(17:58):
You know once he got married, had a child, he
feels like a different human being. And if you look
at Jason Kelcey, when Jason Kelcey became a star player,
and he's definitely talked about this, his career was not
going that well. There were rumors that he might get traded.
Right around twenty sixteen, met his wife start having kids.
Look when Jason Kelsey started making Pro Bowls in all
(18:20):
pro teams and he never looked back. And I feel
like whatever happened once Baker got to Tampa, his life
calmed down. He's become a top ten quarterback. And honestly,
he has moments where it's like that's a top five
quarterback on some of these drives, avoiding players, hitting guys
getting hit and still making the throw. He's not just
(18:40):
a fun player to watch, like, he's a really really
good player. And I think Tampa that situation last year
of just they kind of took a flyer on him
and he earned it. And this year he's doubled down.
Because he was good last year, he's way better this year.
And now they just they got to win the next
two games. And the biggest commander fans Sunday Night, which
(19:03):
I think, listen, if Atlanta wins that game, they deserve
to go to the playoffs. And I think if Atlanta
loses that game, what they'll be asking themselves would we
have won this division if we would have bench cousins
a month ago? And my answer is yes. And I
Colin and I talked about this briefly, but you guys know,
I did not like the sequence of events because having
(19:25):
been with these you know, with a team and knowing
the way the build up is, you have a really
if you're a good GM, you really really know the
draft pool after the combine, who you like, who you
don't like. Now, when you're a good team, like if
you're Andy Reid and Viach, you don't have a great
idea after the combine, like who's gonna beware, But you
(19:47):
got a pretty good idea the group of twelve to
thirteen guys that are gonna be top ten picks. But
you don't have a great idea when you're drafting thirty
first or thirty second. Who's gonna be there when you pick?
So when you leave the combine, if you are decent
at your job, you have a really good idea who
you like in the top ten if you have a
(20:08):
top ten pick, and who you would want. And when
the combine ended, most people knew for a fact like
Michael Penix was available in the top ten, like you
didn't have to trade up to get him. If you
were drafting eighth, he one thousand percent was going to
be there. So for them to do the Cousins move
and then do the Penix thing, they did not know
(20:28):
they liked Pennix when they signed Cousins at that level,
because if they had, they would not have signed Cousins
and they just would have drafted Pennix and done what
the Bucks did last year, sign a guy like Baker
for five million, Bucks signed Sam Darnold or Gardner Minshew
and had that guy be Penix's backup. Why because Penix
is a twenty four year old, ready made pro prospect,
(20:51):
doesn't mean he was gonna be good. But he was
not a guy that needed to sit. And I heard
Scheger mention it this week that he wasn't getting any
reps in practice. Of course not, because the starter gets
them all. So when you're the backup, you just serviced
the scout team defense. So the Atlanta Falcons, if they
do miss the playoffs, and the Bucks win these last
(21:11):
two games and they lose to the Washington Commanders. That's
on the front office, because you can't convince me that
they would not have been better off with Pennis playing
this whole time. I don't believe it. His arms much
more lively, he's way bigger threat to throw the ball downfield.
He's just a better player today. There is not one
coach or GM in the NFL for the next three
(21:34):
games that would take Kirk Cousins over Michael Pennix. And
that was the case five weeks ago. So I just
I think the Bucks got a little lucky because they've
had a million injuries. This year has been hard. Baker's
played out of his ass, obviously, throwing all these touchdowns
and keeping them in games that, like even a night
like they were getting outplayed and he just kind of
(21:56):
willed them to that game. But because the Atlanta Falcons
stuck with Cousins for so long, that will be a
big reason if this plays out the way that I
think it will play out. But just a fantastic game
that I that was awesome. It's the most wonderful time
(22:18):
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Speaker 1 (23:52):
One to hit on a couple other things. When you're
a young player and you get thrown into the fire
and you struggle, it's natural. Most guys aren't Micah Parsons
or Justin Jefferson that just hit the ground running and
become instant stars. Even a lot of guys and whoever
your favorite team is that drafts like a guard or
(24:14):
a linebacker or something in the third or fourth round
and he's just an immediate starter and he's just solid
like that. That's an anomaly. Most guys kind of come
in and out right if they play wide receiver, tight end, linebacker,
dB kind of mix in, have some good plays, have
some bad plays, maybe kind of get bench, go back
to special teams. It's a work in progress. The sport's
(24:36):
really really difficult physically, mentally, the length of the season,
the different schemes that you've never seen in college. It's hard.
I it's why everyone that was like Caleb Williams and
the Bears are gonna be awesome, Like, do you guys
not realize how difficult this is. So it's why what
Jayden did today was mind blowing. But he played five
(24:56):
years and caught five year starter. Like he has a
lot of reps. Oh, next, same thing, Like these guys
have an abnormal amount of reps for being rookie quarterbacks.
Bryce Young looked really, really bad. I think we gave
him somewhat of a pass last year because the franchise
was so bad, right and rightfully, so it's like, listen,
(25:17):
giving him a little pass, just like the Bears. I'm
giving them a little pass. We'll see who they hire
and we'll hold them to a different standard next year.
Then this year started and it felt like he was
even worse. It was like, this is crazy. I liked
him out of college. It was hard not to. You
watch him play at Alabama, but then you watch him
in the pros the second year, You're like, he looks
(25:38):
so small, his arm looks terrible. He's inaccurate. You can't
function like this is not this is not gonna work.
And he got benched rightfully. So and let's face it,
whenever you get benched in the pros at quarterback, especially
a high pick, it's a really really big story. It
was a huge story when Anthony Richardson get benched. I
(26:00):
mean it's a big deal. And Anthey Richardton came back.
It kind of looks the same inaccurate throw. Some bad
picks can run, but it's just like the same thing.
Bryce Young comes back. He's a completely different human. If
he just box Score scouted him, it will not tell
you how dramatically now the bar was really low. But
(26:21):
against the Eagles, you watch him today like he's a
real player. He makes real plays. They couldn't get it
first down with him, He couldn't throw a wheel route.
He was completely lost. And maybe it was just simple
is he needed to take a step back, he needed
to take a deep breath. I don't know what he did.
(26:41):
And if your Panther fan, maybe you've read articles about this,
maybe he's talked about this. I don't know if he
went to therapy. I don't know if he just got
away from football. I don't know if he just was
completely humbled. It doesn't seem like it's not like he
was cocky about it, So I don't know if he
needed humility, but it worked and today he made some awesome,
(27:03):
awesome place with his legs, run around, he ran over
a defender, threw a couple of touchdowns. Chewba Hubbard went nuts,
and listen, the Cardinals aren't that good. But like we
talked about with the Cowboys this season, for the Panthers,
once they kind of benched him and came back to him,
he's like, whatever, this team's just gonna lose every week.
(27:23):
Because when he was playing, it felt like they were
one of the worst teams we'd ever seen. It's like,
this doesn't get any worse. And since he's come back,
like they're a real NFL team. They could beat anyone.
That's you know, I'm giving the Bucks to win. That's
going to be a very difficult game. They just benefit from,
you know, the games in Tampa, and it's obviously must
win for them, but that's gonna be hard the way
(27:45):
they're playing. So Bryce, I can't tell you how much
respect I have respect for anyone who just goes to
a really really shitty moment in life, and most of
the moments that we go through all aren't, you know,
depending on your industry or personal life, it's not a
public thing. Now your friends and family may know about it,
(28:07):
and people in your co workers, but it's a pretty
isolated thing. It feels like a big deal. But at
that level to be that public, to be the number
one pick, it had to probably feel pretty lonely, and
there had to be times where he looked in the
mirror and go, do I suck it? I can I
play in the NFL? And to find a way to
(28:28):
be mentally tough enough to battle through it and come
back and play like he's played like that. That's you
don't play for Saban and excel for Saban if you're
not a mentally tough motherfucker. And clearly listen, he doesn't
have elite talent. He doesn't throw the ball like Baker,
he doesn't run it like Kyler, but he can he
(28:49):
can be an NFL quarterback. And as crazy as that
sounds for a guy that was drafted number one pick
like middle Coff, I hope. So two months ago, no
one could say that, no one could say that you
couldn't watch him play and think like, yeah, this guy
could be a starter, and now you watch him, you
go like, this guy could be a starter. Now, how good?
At what level? I'm not gonna go there yet, got
(29:11):
a long way to go, but he can be a
starter in the NFL for a team that clearly competes
every week, and they should have a big offseason because
they should have money and high draft picks. So congratulations
to Bryce Young for just battling his ass off the Eagles.
I don't want to say lost the game because Jalen
got concussed, but Kenny Pickett I tweeted this out. I
(29:34):
will tell my children one day about the stretch of
quarterback inflation that we had that guys like Mac Jones
and Kenny Pickett got drafted in the top twenty. I
do believe that Mac Jones going fifteenth is one of
the craziest draft picks of my entire life. For example,
Trey Lance going three, It's like Middle Cough that was
an all time bust. We have seen guys be dramatic
(29:56):
busts with physical skills that are big, that are athletic,
that can row get it. But guys with Mac Jones
and Kenny Pickett's skill set the majority of at least
my life and the history of the NFL, those guys
go in like the fourth through seventh round. And because
the quarterback inflation got so out of whack because of
guys like Mahomes and Josh Allen, that everyone was reaching
(30:19):
for quarterbacks and we learned a valuable lesson. You can't
do that. Like the Eagles what they get them for
six or seventh round pick, like they paid the proper price.
But I think the Jalen Hurts situation today shows you
how fast shick can change because especially so many of
these quarterbacks, Like look at all the good teams. Jared
(30:41):
Got's probably the one guy who doesn't run, but Jordan
Love moves, obviously, Jayden Daniels moves, Jalen Hurts moves. You
just go through the quarterbacks. You know, Baker Mayfield moves
that Sam Donald moves and obviously the AFC guys all
scramble around it. Forever it was like you could get hurt,
(31:02):
but you were gonna get hurt in the pocket. Now
because these guys are scrambling around either sliding or diving,
they just open themselves up for an injury and we're
coming down the home stretch before we knew it was
a concussion, which in a weird way, I think everyone's
relieved because you're like, what happened to Jalen? He's like,
(31:23):
worry something serious? And he still got a pass concussion
protocol or whatever to go back. But obviously that's way
better than some high ankle sprain or a broken collarbone
or whatever. The you know, list of injuries could be
can change like that. It really can't. And that's the
(31:44):
thing about the sport that guys get injured. Position players
get injured. When your quarterback get injured, your entire heart drops.
And you see Kenny Pickett, Like, if Kenny Pickett had
to play a lot in a playoff game the Eagles have,
you could argue the best roster top to bottom, you
would bet against them, because I mean, he's a backup
(32:06):
for a reason. But he's also just a very flawed
player and in these bigger moments, one thing like he
could beat the Giants or whatever, but you play him
in a playoff game against the Vikings, against the Packers,
against the Lions where he had to score a bunch
of points, it would be a major, major problem. So
I think it just sometimes I forget. You just think
it's just gonna go on go on, especially Mahomes. He
(32:28):
gets injured, he comes right back. You just realize to say,
how fast things can change it. And no one knows
that better than the Eagles that experienced that in twenty
seventeen when Carson wentz all of a sudden, he just
tears acl and he's just out. Now, that was the
best case scenario. Big Dick Nick came in and let
him to a Super Bowl. But I think we all
know most of the time that is not the way
it plays out. Last but not least. I can't get
(32:51):
over how bad of a loss that was for the
forty nine ers. Kyle Shanahan's protege was my McDaniel. He
started working for him in the late two thousands with
the Houston Texans. The stories are out there. You know,
he had a drinking problem and Gary Kubiak actually fired him,
(33:12):
and then they brought him back to Washington. He went
with them to Cleveland, he went with him to Atlanta. Obviously,
he played a huge part in San Francisco and went
on to help Kyle Shanahan build up the forty nine
Ers and then got the Miami job, and this year
has been a disaster. Like there has been talks in
Miami about them firing Mike McDaniel, partly because their owners
(33:33):
will loon, but just because, like what is going on,
this team just looks shitty. Then the Niners go on
the road and lose to him. I just it's hard
to put into words how terrible the forty nine ers
season has been. Today, they had nine penalties for ninety
(33:58):
yards on bay. Things like guys not lining up on
the line of scrimmage, guys being off sides on defense,
like just pretty basic shit where Kyle obviously field goals
continuing to miss because their field goal kicker is an
erratic guy. Their defense is a shell of itself. If
(34:18):
you told me the forty nine ers are going to
miss the playoffs, I guess I could have seen at
the beginning of the year. It's the NFL. Weird shit happens.
I don't know if I could have envisioned it going
like this. Last week, they score six points at home
against the Rams. This week they have ten points the
majority of the game. They can't score against the Miami
Dolphins in a game where Debo and Kittle are going
(34:41):
nuts and the pretty thing is throws a pick to
end the game essentially, and there's talks about fifty the
money per year. I hate that because you can manipulate
any contract in the NFL. Clearly when you're talking a
(35:01):
quarterback contract though that they're talking about with Perdy, you're
talking one hundred and seventy to two hundred million dollars.
And I just don't know how these last two games,
the games have ended on his interceptions, and last week
they tell you, well, Juwan Jennings got bumped. Why are
we throwing double move passes to Juwan Jennings with the
game on the line. How does that make any sense
(35:24):
today that there's not a soul in sighte He hits
the Miami Dolphins guy right in the hands as he's
getting destroyed. This is a business, and you can make
mistakes financially on most contracts because most of them aren't
that detrimental big picture, because they're not even a fifty
(35:45):
million dollar guarantee. It's like it's over in a year
and a half. When you guarantee one hundred and seventy
two hundred million dollars, that is like a three year window.
I was looking the other day. I think at Trevor
Lawrence's like they are in bed with Trevor Lawren for
the next three seasons. The contract starts next year. Really
kick it in. That was the big thing with Russell Wilson's.
(36:08):
It was like it really kicks in now. So I
think when you invest in these contracts just because the
market's the market, I have a hard time with that logic, Like, yeah,
if you want a big time quarterback, it costs two
hundred million dollars, Well the guy better be a big
time quarterback. If you just want to pay like we
like the guy, but the market's the market, then that's
(36:29):
on you. I never have a problem seeing these high end,
elite guys getting a ton of money ceedee lamb every
time I watch them, Like, yeah, I would have paid
him to Justin Jefferson is like Jesus, like Randy Moss
two point zero TJ. Watt like shit underpaid. And then
you see these quarterbacks, you go, yeah, lamar Josh, I
(36:49):
mean the Tampa Bay bucket. Jason Lyt does cartwheels every
day down the whole way, knowing that he got Baker
Mayfield for one hundred million dollars to think that you
would pay Brock already based on what we're seeing this year. Again,
I'm not acting like you cut the guy, but he
still has another year two hundred million dollars. I couldn't
(37:11):
do it. I couldn't and listen, if Kyle's adamant about it,
someone needs to step in. And I'm not pro for
an office people the owners meddling, but there has to
be some common sense and sometimes you know, you're kind
of too close to the sun to kind of see everything.
And that's how it feels like with Kyle. If he
truly is dead set on like yeah, Brock star guy,
(37:33):
I'll give him the market value. That's just it's one
thing everyone's gonna make a mistake, a draft pick, a
free agent signing. It's football. It happens when you sign
a quarterback to these huge deals. You clearly have all
this information, Like the Atlanta Falcons knew Kirk Cousins was
coming off in Achilles. They knew Kirk Cousins I think
(37:57):
had won one career playoff game, Like they had that
he was thirty six, thirty seven years old, Like they
had that information. But when you sign your own guy,
like the Miami Dolphins did. McDaniel spent every day for
two years around the guy, like they do what they
were getting. He'd already showed them. The Packers kind of
rare situation where it's like, yeah, we're kind of betting
(38:19):
on the company, but they had still spent four years
around the guy. The forty nine ers, he's been the
starter for three years. They seemed the good, but they're
really starting to see the bad. And when you pay
a guy look at the Chiefs, you just don't have
as many options, right because that money impacts your cap
in a lot of ways when you're just paying these
huge salaries, and once that starts happening, even as the
(38:41):
salary cap goes up, it's harder to build a good team.
So I think there has to be some deep breast taking,
Like this is a fluid conversation, and as of right now,
i'd beat in play it out mode. We got another year.
You're making a lot of money off the field. We
like you. But here's the Baker Mayfield contract. Is he
(39:03):
better player in Baker Mayfield right now? Is he? I mean,
I'm watching Baker Mayfield for one hundred million dollars about
to throw probably forty touchdowns on the season. It's like, well,
Baker Mayfield doesn't No, it's team's been injured all year long.
I mean injuries left and right. Mike Evans missed half
the season. Godwin's leg got pointed the other way. They
(39:24):
didn't find out Bucky Irvin was sweet till like halfway
through the season. They have a new offensive coordinator make
a hundred million dollars total. That was his contract, thirty
three million dollars a year. I don't know, man, I'm
just not one of these. The markets the market, but
that feels like, yeah, the market's the market. If I
got a sweet Hall of Fame quarterback. If I don't,
(39:45):
then we gotta have real conversations because if we want
to win here, we can't win maxing you out. The
Dolphins are never gonna win with two on that contract.
Not gonna happen. They got no shot. So I'll get
out of here around that. I just that that pick.
It's just that'd be seared in my mind if I
(40:06):
was the guy either writing the check his you know,
John Lynch, people just in the forty nine Ers front office,
like can we just can we just take a deep
breath on this one. The volume
The volume. What is going on everybody, how are we doing?
Merry Christmas, Happy Honkah, a great week, and spend some
(00:24):
time with our loved ones, our families, and do a
couple of podcasts. So I did a big podcast yesterday
on Saturday Night, reacting to the Saturday night games as
well as the playoff games in college football. I recorded
a podcast with Colin after the afternoon games, and I'm
recording this podcast right now after the Sunday night game.
(00:45):
Cowboys get a big win twenty six to twenty four.
What a entertaining football game that was. That was a
lot of fun. Sign me up for the violence of
that game every day of the week that was. That
was sweet. So we'll dive into that game from McCarthy
to Baker, very very enjoyable Sunday night that I'll be
(01:07):
honest didn't see coming. We will also hit on some
other things from around the NFL. Bryce Young, we gotta
tip our hat to him, Jalen and a concussion in
the game that they ended up losing to the Commies
with Jaden threw for a bunch of touchdowns five I
think to be exact, and Kyle Shanahan the forty nine ers.
(01:30):
I think got more questions than answers right now, that's
for damn sure. But other than that, the game plan
will be I'll probably do a little podcast for Tuesday
and then obviously nothing. Christmas might react to the Wednesday games.
That'll probably be it for a couple of days. So yeah,
gotta gotta hang out the love ones. Got to spend
(01:52):
some quality time some QT as they call it, with
my people. My mom haven't seen her in a while.
So other than that, you guys know the drill. Subscribe
to the podcast three Out Podcasts and if you listen
on Collins also YouTube page, we got a bunch of
content up there as well. But before we dive into
some football, listen, I'm not a great gift giver. I'm
(02:15):
not good at it at all. I'm not an outside
the box thinker. I struggle. Kids are relatively easy, especially
little kids, but for older family members. If you want
to do something nice for you know, maybe your dad,
a loved one, significant other, a brother, a sister that
you want to take care of. What is better than
(02:36):
under the tree, like, hey, here are two tickets to
you name it whatever. They want to go to a game,
a concert, take care of them in twenty twenty five.
The official ticketing app of this podcast, game Time is
the best. Been using them for a long time. Make
someone's week. So take the guest work out of buying
tickets with game Time. Download the game Time app, Create
(02:56):
an account and use the code John for twenty dollars
off for his purchase terms. Apply again, create an account
and redeem the code John for twenty dollars off down
in the game Time at today last minute. Take us
loose price is guaranteed. That was awesome. That that was
That was fantastic football. And for anyone, and I'm included
(03:17):
in this, this sometimes gets nostalgic about the day and
age which listen, I don't want anyone to get CTE
or have a shitty life that played in the NFL
when they're fifty sixty, seventy years old or any of that.
But there was something special about watching people just get
destroyed and knowing like I can't imagine playing this game
(03:41):
at that level. And then, like any young kid if
you play high school football, you realize how you get
nervous the first day you ever put on pads, like
when you're on JV and you know you get to
varsity football and you start hitting some guys that are
going Division one. Maybe some people listen to this if
you played Division ie let alone in the NFL, that
there's something about the physicality of the sport that brings
(04:03):
out kind of your manhood and separates, you know, the
boys from the men. And there was something special about
that game that I just witnessed people were getting destroyed.
That felt like a game that I would have watched,
you know, my parents' thirty inch TV in nineteen ninety six,
(04:24):
where you just watch guys every other hit get absolutely
ran over, and every other big hit you're like, is
that guy gonna get up? Is that guy okay? Sometimes defenders,
you know, hurt themselves on the hits, and the level
of play and effort in that game I just thought
was awesome. And I'll be honest, like when I saw,
(04:47):
you know, looking at the schedule like I do getting
ready for the podcast, either at the start of the
morning or as the week's going on, You're like, this
is Sunday night game. Not that I thought like the
Bucks were just gonna roll and the Cowboys were playing well,
but it's like, I don't know if this game is
going to be that great. I thought that was honestly
one of the more entertaining games you know, of the year.
And sorry started with the Cowboys. I don't know what
(05:08):
collins Worth and Tarico said because I had the TV
on mute. We're getting ready to leave tomorrow back home,
so we're talking about some stuff. Had the game on
but had had to mute it. And then they showed
the visual of this is as the Cowboys. When I
finished with Coward and I went out to the living room,
it was ten to nothing Cowboys. And then I get
(05:31):
out there and Cooper Rush is continuing just to throw bombs.
It's like they look fantastic. I'm like, they can't look
any better. And then they show which they always show
Jerry on a Cowboys game, especially in Dallas, and you
got Steven and I think I was his other brother,
one of the other Jones family sitting next to them,
and they're just wearing Jerry out. And I don't think
(05:52):
it's hard to put two and two together if you're
guessing on what they were talking about, like how good
Mike is doing or what are we going to do
in this situation with him coaching this well? Because at
eighty two years old, and Jerry mentioned this, and I
think we all thought he was crazy, and partly because
he is kind of crazy and he talks a lot,
and it's it's hard to ever know how much what
(06:13):
he says. Their substance behind it. They said we're going
all in, and then clearly it didn't feel like they
were going all in. But when he said on his
radio show that Mike could get extended, Mike could be
the coach here next year, most of us just assumed
and I was guilty of this, like Mike McCarthy's done,
especially when Dak goes out for the year. When Dak
goes out for the year with the hamstring injury and
(06:34):
you see him every game sitting in the uh you know,
sitting in the box. You go, wait, listen Cooper Rush.
Their defense has been puture the first half of the season,
like this seems screwed, how are they gonna win games?
And then Cooper Rush and the offense has looked pretty good,
Like Cooper Rush has made a lot of place, and
especially tonight in that first half when he is just
(06:55):
throwing bombs to Ceedee Lamb and those two guys were
eviscerating the Tampa Bay secondary, Like, I don't know, Jerry.
I mean, I don't know what else you could ask
from a coach in this situation. One big difference on defense,
and I was I was thinking about this watching the game.
Even if you don't have great defensive personnel on your
(07:17):
front four, you know, depending on you if you run
a three four four to three. When you have a
special pass rusher or just a special player on your front,
that takes all the energy of an offensive coordinator, the
offensive line and the blocking scheme. It takes so much
energy to focus on that guy that it it's kind
(07:39):
of like a domino effect for the other guys get
to play better than sometimes they actually are because of
the guy they're playing next to. And on the Saturday
game with Chris Jones, they talked about it with him.
He's like, I'm not having my best statistical year, but
I feel like I'm playing my best football and everyone
next to me is eating. And you see it with
(08:00):
all the great players, whether it's Miles Garrett, when Nick
Bose is playing well, obviously TJ. Watt. Even if you
have other good players, they play even better because all
the energy goes to you and their defense since Mike
has come back, just looks dramatically faster upfront. Obviously he's
a big part of that as a great pass rusher,
but the other guys were flying around and crushing Baker
(08:22):
early in that game, and since he's come back, they
just look a lot better on defense and tonight the
secondary Al Harris, who I'm pretty sure is the guy
when Matt Hasselback in the playoff game against the Packers
when they won the coin toss and Hasselback goes, we
want the ball and we're gonna score. Pretty sure that's
(08:44):
the guy that he threw the pick six to. And
clearly that's the connection with McCarthy and he's the dB
coach that defensive backfield. You know, obviously Blands back from
his injury last year, made a game winning play the
play Lewis made on the interception, but their physicality, their
you know, Diggs is out for the season with a
knee injury. Look like Ronnie Lott meets Cam Chancellor back there.
(09:06):
So if you're Jerry and you're Steven and you're trying
to figure out what to do, you look around the landscape.
You go, Mike's really good with offense and quarterbacks, Like
that's not really debatable. DA's played his best football with
him calling plays. And then tonight Cooper Rush is twenty
six of thirty five for basically three hundred yards. Now,
(09:28):
he could have thrown a pick there late in the game,
got pretty lucky the dude dropped it. But overall, to
have a backup quarterback look that competent is a reflection
of the coaching staff and is a reflection of just
overall coaching in general. So I think that visual showed
I would be stunned, honestly if they weren't talking about that,
(09:50):
like this is going pretty well, what are we gonna do?
Go on a interview? Who are we going to hire?
That's gonna be better than the situation we're in. Plus,
the reason that we struggled this year was more of
a personnel issue than coaching. Now. Is McCarthy perfect, Of
course not. But I've been pretty impressed this last month
because I think universally, cowboy fans, just football fans would
(10:15):
have said six seven games ago, they are completely screwed,
like this thing could just fall off and become derailed.
You look around the NFL, you look at some of
these teams that are dealing with injuries. They just don't
look the Niners good example. I mean, the Giants are
the worst case scenario. It's like, what is going on there?
This team is the opposite. It's like, damn they are playing.
(10:36):
They are a muff punt screw up by the dude
that they elevated from the practice squad from winning five
straight games, and currently they would be instead of seven
to eight, they would be eight and seven and they
would be right in position, like god, could they make
a playoff run? You know? Do they have an opportunity
to get in? So I think that I've been blown away.
(11:00):
I mean the defense clearly under Zimmer with Micah back,
has become much better, and I think McCarthy has just
done a really really good job. That's as hard of
an effort just in terms of guys playing start to
finish in a game. Is I remember in a while
from a team that, I mean, the season's over. They're
not going like what are we doing? Sunday night football
(11:23):
lights are on and we approach that game like it
was winner get into the playoffs. So that was awesome.
That really was right down to the final play when
Bland stripped that ball away from Irving. So congrats to
the Cowboys because it would have been pretty easy to
wave the white flag. And I think this is a
(11:43):
separating factor in the NFL that so many teams. The
Panthers are a good example, We'll dive into them, like
every team worth their salt, battles their ass off till
the bitter end. Whether you're gonna win four games, whether
you're gonna win nine games, whether you're trying to get
the number one overall seed. It's what truly makes the
sports special. And partly because if you don't give full
(12:07):
effort in this sport at that level, you will get injured,
you will get hurt. And just fantastic win by the Cowboys.
I actually think it was a pretty impressive effort by
the Buccaneers as well. One thing that at this point
in time, we just have to acknowledge Baker Mayfield's a
top ten quarterback. Baker Mayfield is a big time player now.
(12:27):
And you look at that twenty eighteen draft. Obviously, Lamar
Jackson's won multiple MVPs and became one of the best players,
I mean in the history of the league as an
all round quarterback running and passing. Josh Allen might be
the most talented player we've ever seen at the position.
Those guys are everything you could possibly dream of as
(12:50):
first round picks in franchise quarterbacks. This twenty eighteen. Obviously,
Josh Rosen's long gone out of the league. Sam Darnold's
career was crazy. He's having a career year. He is
leading the Minnesota Vikings to the opportunity to get the
number one seed, and it's gonna end up throwing for
somewhere between thirty five and thirty eight touchdowns. Baker Mayfield,
(13:13):
we didn't know if last year was I don't know.
I don't want to say a one year wonder, but like,
could it get that much better? I just looked. Only
Lamar Jackson and Joe Burrow have more touchdown passes than him.
And clearly, since you know, I think he's talked about it,
he lost a little weight. He moves early on in
his career. He reminded me of Johnny Manziel that he
(13:34):
thought like what he could do in college, and Johnny
was much more of a runner, but Baker scrambled around
a lot at Oklahoma as a playmaker. It's like, you
got to be really careful the random defensive lineman will
run your ass down. And I remember it might have
been Johnny's first start or one of his first games.
(13:54):
They were playing the Panthers, and he thought it was like,
you know, playing some team in college, and it was Kekley,
and he thought he could outrun him to the corner,
and Luke Keigley caught him like he was a lion
on the Serengetti in like three steps. Like Johnny, this
is a different world. And that used to happen to
Baker a lot. He looks dramatically faster. I don't know
if it's his confidence, but his running ability is a
(14:17):
legit weapon. And then as a pastor, like he's always
had an explosive arm, he just now is just a
really good player, right, I mean deep balls, intermediate balls,
play making, obviously running and listen, they now have the
same record as the Atlanta Falcons, and the Atlanta Falcons
hold the tiebreaker. But do you think Michael Pennix, who
(14:41):
I thought looked pretty good today, It's one thing playing
at home against the worst team in the NFL. I mean,
there is no one more gutless and just who looks
shittier right now than the day Ball led New York
Giants like they are currently in terms of the effort
and execution and just overall production. They play with an
embarrassment to the NFL. I mean, it's really really bad,
(15:05):
but listen, I can't it was your first start, like
I thought, regardless of the statistics, he looks solid going
on the road to Washington, coming off one of their
biggest wins. I mean, it's gotta be like a top
five win for the Commanders in the last decade. Now.
I know a large portion of it was against their
(15:25):
backup quarterback, but still Jaden throwing five touchdowns against Fango
in that defense, a lot of momentum. That place is
gonna be going fucking bananas. It's gonna be a tough
spot for Penix and like coaching advantage, I'm going Commanders
over the Raheem Morris led operation. But and I'm a
Michael Pennix guy, I just think it's gonna be challenging.
(15:47):
They could easily lose that game. I haven't seen the
line yet. They're gonna be an underdog in that game,
so they control their own destiny. But I think they
lose that game, and the Bucks are still very much
alive playing the Panthers, which is no easy out the
way they're playing, and the Saints both at home. So
I think if they win those two games, they're still
in the playoffs, and that'd be back to back playoffs
(16:08):
for this guy that replaced Tom Brady. And listen, like,
I think the Bucks are solid. It's hard to overcome.
They've had a bunch of injuries, obviously losing god Win
a long time ago. You know, they're playing with some randoms.
It's basically they feel a little like the Cowboys. It's like,
if you can just somehow neutralize Mike Evans, you can
at least slow them down. But Baker's throwing fucking balls
(16:28):
to I was like, who's this tight end? What's this
guy's name? And I was just really really impressed. And
that play vide Vea made to stop Ferguson from a
first down at the end of the game to force
a punt and give the Bucks an opportunity was just fantastic.
I mean, what a special player. And was there anybody
that once the Bucks got the ball back that didn't
(16:50):
believe that Baker at minimum was going to get them
in field goal range. Honestly, I thought he was gonna
lead him down to score a touchdown, and not because
the Cowboys defense was playing bad, just because I had
that much leaf in Baker Mayfield. But you look back
at the twenty eighteen draft, you know, Alan and Lamar
a like hall of famers, what Baker and Donald which
is kind of ironic just because a couple of years
ago their careers were in shambles playing together, right, they
(17:14):
traded for Donald on the Panthers. Then a year later
they traded for Baker, and it was like, this is
a disaster, and both those guys left that place and
now look at him. It's just awesome. As a football fan,
I loved watching Baker Mayfield at Oklahoma. I would say
over the last decade plus, he's easily one of my
(17:36):
favorite college players to watch. And I remember battling with
Coward who thought you didn't like him coming out because
there were a lot of, you know, immaturity questions about him.
But I was like, I don't know, man, I think
he's so good he will overcome it. And clearly some
maturity stuff. I think his life changed, and I think
they've kind of alluded to it and even talked about it.
(17:58):
You know once he got married, had a child, he
feels like a different human being. And if you look
at Jason Kelcey, when Jason Kelcey became a star player,
and he's definitely talked about this, his career was not
going that well. There were rumors that he might get traded.
Right around twenty sixteen, met his wife start having kids.
Look when Jason Kelsey started making Pro Bowls in all
(18:20):
pro teams and he never looked back. And I feel
like whatever happened once Baker got to Tampa, his life
calmed down. He's become a top ten quarterback. And honestly,
he has moments where it's like that's a top five
quarterback on some of these drives, avoiding players, hitting guys
getting hit and still making the throw. He's not just
(18:40):
a fun player to watch, like, he's a really really
good player. And I think Tampa that situation last year
of just they kind of took a flyer on him
and he earned it. And this year he's doubled down.
Because he was good last year, he's way better this year.
And now they just they got to win the next
two games. And the biggest commander fans Sunday Night, which
(19:03):
I think, listen, if Atlanta wins that game, they deserve
to go to the playoffs. And I think if Atlanta
loses that game, what they'll be asking themselves would we
have won this division if we would have bench cousins
a month ago? And my answer is yes. And I
Colin and I talked about this briefly, but you guys know,
I did not like the sequence of events because having
(19:25):
been with these you know, with a team and knowing
the way the build up is, you have a really
if you're a good GM, you really really know the
draft pool after the combine, who you like, who you
don't like. Now, when you're a good team, like if
you're Andy Reid and Viach, you don't have a great
idea after the combine, like who's gonna beware, But you
(19:47):
got a pretty good idea the group of twelve to
thirteen guys that are gonna be top ten picks. But
you don't have a great idea when you're drafting thirty
first or thirty second. Who's gonna be there when you pick?
So when you leave the combine, if you are decent
at your job, you have a really good idea who
you like in the top ten if you have a
(20:08):
top ten pick, and who you would want. And when
the combine ended, most people knew for a fact like
Michael Penix was available in the top ten, like you
didn't have to trade up to get him. If you
were drafting eighth, he one thousand percent was going to
be there. So for them to do the Cousins move
and then do the Penix thing, they did not know
(20:28):
they liked Pennix when they signed Cousins at that level,
because if they had, they would not have signed Cousins
and they just would have drafted Pennix and done what
the Bucks did last year, sign a guy like Baker
for five million, Bucks signed Sam Darnold or Gardner Minshew
and had that guy be Penix's backup. Why because Penix
is a twenty four year old, ready made pro prospect,
(20:51):
doesn't mean he was gonna be good. But he was
not a guy that needed to sit. And I heard
Scheger mention it this week that he wasn't getting any
reps in practice. Of course not, because the starter gets
them all. So when you're the backup, you just serviced
the scout team defense. So the Atlanta Falcons, if they
do miss the playoffs, and the Bucks win these last
(21:11):
two games and they lose to the Washington Commanders. That's
on the front office, because you can't convince me that
they would not have been better off with Pennis playing
this whole time. I don't believe it. His arms much
more lively, he's way bigger threat to throw the ball downfield.
He's just a better player today. There is not one
coach or GM in the NFL for the next three
(21:34):
games that would take Kirk Cousins over Michael Pennix. And
that was the case five weeks ago. So I just
I think the Bucks got a little lucky because they've
had a million injuries. This year has been hard. Baker's
played out of his ass, obviously, throwing all these touchdowns
and keeping them in games that, like even a night
like they were getting outplayed and he just kind of
(21:56):
willed them to that game. But because the Atlanta Falcons
stuck with Cousins for so long, that will be a
big reason if this plays out the way that I
think it will play out. But just a fantastic game
that I that was awesome. It's the most wonderful time
(22:18):
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Speaker 1 (23:52):
One to hit on a couple other things. When you're
a young player and you get thrown into the fire
and you struggle, it's natural. Most guys aren't Micah Parsons
or Justin Jefferson that just hit the ground running and
become instant stars. Even a lot of guys and whoever
your favorite team is that drafts like a guard or
(24:14):
a linebacker or something in the third or fourth round
and he's just an immediate starter and he's just solid
like that. That's an anomaly. Most guys kind of come
in and out right if they play wide receiver, tight end, linebacker,
dB kind of mix in, have some good plays, have
some bad plays, maybe kind of get bench, go back
to special teams. It's a work in progress. The sport's
(24:36):
really really difficult physically, mentally, the length of the season,
the different schemes that you've never seen in college. It's hard.
I it's why everyone that was like Caleb Williams and
the Bears are gonna be awesome, Like, do you guys
not realize how difficult this is. So it's why what
Jayden did today was mind blowing. But he played five
(24:56):
years and caught five year starter. Like he has a
lot of reps. Oh, next, same thing, Like these guys
have an abnormal amount of reps for being rookie quarterbacks.
Bryce Young looked really, really bad. I think we gave
him somewhat of a pass last year because the franchise
was so bad, right and rightfully, so it's like, listen,
(25:17):
giving him a little pass, just like the Bears. I'm
giving them a little pass. We'll see who they hire
and we'll hold them to a different standard next year.
Then this year started and it felt like he was
even worse. It was like, this is crazy. I liked
him out of college. It was hard not to. You
watch him play at Alabama, but then you watch him
in the pros the second year, You're like, he looks
(25:38):
so small, his arm looks terrible. He's inaccurate. You can't
function like this is not this is not gonna work.
And he got benched rightfully. So and let's face it,
whenever you get benched in the pros at quarterback, especially
a high pick, it's a really really big story. It
was a huge story when Anthony Richardson get benched. I
(26:00):
mean it's a big deal. And Anthey Richardton came back.
It kind of looks the same inaccurate throw. Some bad
picks can run, but it's just like the same thing.
Bryce Young comes back. He's a completely different human. If
he just box Score scouted him, it will not tell
you how dramatically now the bar was really low. But
(26:21):
against the Eagles, you watch him today like he's a
real player. He makes real plays. They couldn't get it
first down with him, He couldn't throw a wheel route.
He was completely lost. And maybe it was just simple
is he needed to take a step back, he needed
to take a deep breath. I don't know what he did.
(26:41):
And if your Panther fan, maybe you've read articles about this,
maybe he's talked about this. I don't know if he
went to therapy. I don't know if he just got
away from football. I don't know if he just was
completely humbled. It doesn't seem like it's not like he
was cocky about it, So I don't know if he
needed humility, but it worked and today he made some awesome,
(27:03):
awesome place with his legs, run around, he ran over
a defender, threw a couple of touchdowns. Chewba Hubbard went nuts,
and listen, the Cardinals aren't that good. But like we
talked about with the Cowboys this season, for the Panthers,
once they kind of benched him and came back to him,
he's like, whatever, this team's just gonna lose every week.
(27:23):
Because when he was playing, it felt like they were
one of the worst teams we'd ever seen. It's like,
this doesn't get any worse. And since he's come back,
like they're a real NFL team. They could beat anyone.
That's you know, I'm giving the Bucks to win. That's
going to be a very difficult game. They just benefit from,
you know, the games in Tampa, and it's obviously must
win for them, but that's gonna be hard the way
(27:45):
they're playing. So Bryce, I can't tell you how much
respect I have respect for anyone who just goes to
a really really shitty moment in life, and most of
the moments that we go through all aren't, you know,
depending on your industry or personal life, it's not a
public thing. Now your friends and family may know about it,
(28:07):
and people in your co workers, but it's a pretty
isolated thing. It feels like a big deal. But at
that level to be that public, to be the number
one pick, it had to probably feel pretty lonely, and
there had to be times where he looked in the
mirror and go, do I suck it? I can I
play in the NFL? And to find a way to
(28:28):
be mentally tough enough to battle through it and come
back and play like he's played like that. That's you
don't play for Saban and excel for Saban if you're
not a mentally tough motherfucker. And clearly listen, he doesn't
have elite talent. He doesn't throw the ball like Baker,
he doesn't run it like Kyler, but he can he
(28:49):
can be an NFL quarterback. And as crazy as that
sounds for a guy that was drafted number one pick
like middle Coff, I hope. So two months ago, no
one could say that, no one could say that you
couldn't watch him play and think like, yeah, this guy
could be a starter, and now you watch him, you
go like, this guy could be a starter. Now, how good?
At what level? I'm not gonna go there yet, got
(29:11):
a long way to go, but he can be a
starter in the NFL for a team that clearly competes
every week, and they should have a big offseason because
they should have money and high draft picks. So congratulations
to Bryce Young for just battling his ass off the Eagles.
I don't want to say lost the game because Jalen
got concussed, but Kenny Pickett I tweeted this out. I
(29:34):
will tell my children one day about the stretch of
quarterback inflation that we had that guys like Mac Jones
and Kenny Pickett got drafted in the top twenty. I
do believe that Mac Jones going fifteenth is one of
the craziest draft picks of my entire life. For example,
Trey Lance going three, It's like Middle Cough that was
an all time bust. We have seen guys be dramatic
(29:56):
busts with physical skills that are big, that are athletic,
that can row get it. But guys with Mac Jones
and Kenny Pickett's skill set the majority of at least
my life and the history of the NFL, those guys
go in like the fourth through seventh round. And because
the quarterback inflation got so out of whack because of
guys like Mahomes and Josh Allen, that everyone was reaching
(30:19):
for quarterbacks and we learned a valuable lesson. You can't
do that. Like the Eagles what they get them for
six or seventh round pick, like they paid the proper price.
But I think the Jalen Hurts situation today shows you
how fast shick can change because especially so many of
these quarterbacks, Like look at all the good teams. Jared
(30:41):
Got's probably the one guy who doesn't run, but Jordan
Love moves, obviously, Jayden Daniels moves, Jalen Hurts moves. You
just go through the quarterbacks. You know, Baker Mayfield moves
that Sam Donald moves and obviously the AFC guys all
scramble around it. Forever it was like you could get hurt,
(31:02):
but you were gonna get hurt in the pocket. Now
because these guys are scrambling around either sliding or diving,
they just open themselves up for an injury and we're
coming down the home stretch before we knew it was
a concussion, which in a weird way, I think everyone's
relieved because you're like, what happened to Jalen? He's like,
(31:23):
worry something serious? And he still got a pass concussion
protocol or whatever to go back. But obviously that's way
better than some high ankle sprain or a broken collarbone
or whatever. The you know, list of injuries could be
can change like that. It really can't. And that's the
(31:44):
thing about the sport that guys get injured. Position players
get injured. When your quarterback get injured, your entire heart drops.
And you see Kenny Pickett, Like, if Kenny Pickett had
to play a lot in a playoff game the Eagles have,
you could argue the best roster top to bottom, you
would bet against them, because I mean, he's a backup
(32:06):
for a reason. But he's also just a very flawed
player and in these bigger moments, one thing like he
could beat the Giants or whatever, but you play him
in a playoff game against the Vikings, against the Packers,
against the Lions where he had to score a bunch
of points, it would be a major, major problem. So
I think it just sometimes I forget. You just think
it's just gonna go on go on, especially Mahomes. He
(32:28):
gets injured, he comes right back. You just realize to say,
how fast things can change it. And no one knows
that better than the Eagles that experienced that in twenty
seventeen when Carson wentz all of a sudden, he just
tears acl and he's just out. Now, that was the
best case scenario. Big Dick Nick came in and let
him to a Super Bowl. But I think we all
know most of the time that is not the way
it plays out. Last but not least. I can't get
(32:51):
over how bad of a loss that was for the
forty nine ers. Kyle Shanahan's protege was my McDaniel. He
started working for him in the late two thousands with
the Houston Texans. The stories are out there. You know,
he had a drinking problem and Gary Kubiak actually fired him,
(33:12):
and then they brought him back to Washington. He went
with them to Cleveland, he went with him to Atlanta. Obviously,
he played a huge part in San Francisco and went
on to help Kyle Shanahan build up the forty nine
Ers and then got the Miami job, and this year
has been a disaster. Like there has been talks in
Miami about them firing Mike McDaniel, partly because their owners
(33:33):
will loon, but just because, like what is going on,
this team just looks shitty. Then the Niners go on
the road and lose to him. I just it's hard
to put into words how terrible the forty nine ers
season has been. Today, they had nine penalties for ninety
(33:58):
yards on bay. Things like guys not lining up on
the line of scrimmage, guys being off sides on defense,
like just pretty basic shit where Kyle obviously field goals
continuing to miss because their field goal kicker is an
erratic guy. Their defense is a shell of itself. If
(34:18):
you told me the forty nine ers are going to
miss the playoffs, I guess I could have seen at
the beginning of the year. It's the NFL. Weird shit happens.
I don't know if I could have envisioned it going
like this. Last week, they score six points at home
against the Rams. This week they have ten points the
majority of the game. They can't score against the Miami
Dolphins in a game where Debo and Kittle are going
(34:41):
nuts and the pretty thing is throws a pick to
end the game essentially, and there's talks about fifty the
money per year. I hate that because you can manipulate
any contract in the NFL. Clearly when you're talking a
(35:01):
quarterback contract though that they're talking about with Perdy, you're
talking one hundred and seventy to two hundred million dollars.
And I just don't know how these last two games,
the games have ended on his interceptions, and last week
they tell you, well, Juwan Jennings got bumped. Why are
we throwing double move passes to Juwan Jennings with the
game on the line. How does that make any sense
(35:24):
today that there's not a soul in sighte He hits
the Miami Dolphins guy right in the hands as he's
getting destroyed. This is a business, and you can make
mistakes financially on most contracts because most of them aren't
that detrimental big picture, because they're not even a fifty
(35:45):
million dollar guarantee. It's like it's over in a year
and a half. When you guarantee one hundred and seventy
two hundred million dollars, that is like a three year window.
I was looking the other day. I think at Trevor
Lawrence's like they are in bed with Trevor Lawren for
the next three seasons. The contract starts next year. Really
kick it in. That was the big thing with Russell Wilson's.
(36:08):
It was like it really kicks in now. So I
think when you invest in these contracts just because the
market's the market, I have a hard time with that logic, Like, yeah,
if you want a big time quarterback, it costs two
hundred million dollars, Well the guy better be a big
time quarterback. If you just want to pay like we
like the guy, but the market's the market, then that's
(36:29):
on you. I never have a problem seeing these high end,
elite guys getting a ton of money ceedee lamb every
time I watch them, Like, yeah, I would have paid
him to Justin Jefferson is like Jesus, like Randy Moss
two point zero TJ. Watt like shit underpaid. And then
you see these quarterbacks, you go, yeah, lamar Josh, I
(36:49):
mean the Tampa Bay bucket. Jason Lyt does cartwheels every
day down the whole way, knowing that he got Baker
Mayfield for one hundred million dollars to think that you
would pay Brock already based on what we're seeing this year. Again,
I'm not acting like you cut the guy, but he
still has another year two hundred million dollars. I couldn't
(37:11):
do it. I couldn't and listen, if Kyle's adamant about it,
someone needs to step in. And I'm not pro for
an office people the owners meddling, but there has to
be some common sense and sometimes you know, you're kind
of too close to the sun to kind of see everything.
And that's how it feels like with Kyle. If he
truly is dead set on like yeah, Brock star guy,
(37:33):
I'll give him the market value. That's just it's one
thing everyone's gonna make a mistake, a draft pick, a
free agent signing. It's football. It happens when you sign
a quarterback to these huge deals. You clearly have all
this information, Like the Atlanta Falcons knew Kirk Cousins was
coming off in Achilles. They knew Kirk Cousins I think
(37:57):
had won one career playoff game, Like they had that
he was thirty six, thirty seven years old, Like they
had that information. But when you sign your own guy,
like the Miami Dolphins did. McDaniel spent every day for
two years around the guy, like they do what they
were getting. He'd already showed them. The Packers kind of
rare situation where it's like, yeah, we're kind of betting
(38:19):
on the company, but they had still spent four years
around the guy. The forty nine ers, he's been the
starter for three years. They seemed the good, but they're
really starting to see the bad. And when you pay
a guy look at the Chiefs, you just don't have
as many options, right because that money impacts your cap
in a lot of ways when you're just paying these
huge salaries, and once that starts happening, even as the
(38:41):
salary cap goes up, it's harder to build a good team.
So I think there has to be some deep breast taking,
Like this is a fluid conversation, and as of right now,
i'd beat in play it out mode. We got another year.
You're making a lot of money off the field. We
like you. But here's the Baker Mayfield contract. Is he
(39:03):
better player in Baker Mayfield right now? Is he? I mean,
I'm watching Baker Mayfield for one hundred million dollars about
to throw probably forty touchdowns on the season. It's like, well,
Baker Mayfield doesn't No, it's team's been injured all year long.
I mean injuries left and right. Mike Evans missed half
the season. Godwin's leg got pointed the other way. They
(39:24):
didn't find out Bucky Irvin was sweet till like halfway
through the season. They have a new offensive coordinator make
a hundred million dollars total. That was his contract, thirty
three million dollars a year. I don't know, man, I'm
just not one of these. The markets the market, but
that feels like, yeah, the market's the market. If I
got a sweet Hall of Fame quarterback. If I don't,
(39:45):
then we gotta have real conversations because if we want
to win here, we can't win maxing you out. The
Dolphins are never gonna win with two on that contract.
Not gonna happen. They got no shot. So I'll get
out of here around that. I just that that pick.
It's just that'd be seared in my mind if I
(40:06):
was the guy either writing the check his you know,
John Lynch, people just in the forty nine Ers front office,
like can we just can we just take a deep
breath on this one. The volume
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Colin Cowherd
Jason McIntyre
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