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November 23, 2025 • 81 mins

Colin is joined by John Middlekauff, host of “3 and Out” to break down all the week 12 NFL action.

They start with the Cowboys overcoming a 21-0 deficit to beat the Eagles on a walk off field goal and they highlight the Eagles inability to run the ball as a massive problem for the defending champs. They argue that Jerry Jones HAS to extend the contract for George Pickens after another dominant performance and credit Dak Prescott’s leadership (3:00). 

They move to Shedeur Sanders making his first start in a game where the Browns dominated the Raiders, and believe he showed enough to get the next start at quarterback (25:00). 

Colin puts the blame on Daniel Jones for the Colts blowing a late game lead to the Chiefs and Patrick Mahomes, and believes the Chiefs will still make the playoffs despite their 6-5 record (30:45).

They move to the Bears beating the Aaron Rodgers-less Steelers and Colin argues that Caleb Williams isn’t a great fit for Ben Johnson’s system, but they’re finding ways to make it work and have cleaned up a lot of the mistakes (38:30). 

They recap the Packers win over the Vikings and they declare that J.J. McCarthy has proven he is NOT an NFL caliber starting quarterback and made a huge mistake moving off of Sam Darnold (54:00).

They break down the Seahawks win over the Titans and highlight the incredible play of JSN at wide receiver for Seattle (1:00:30), and Colin calls the Lions victory over the Giants a “bad win” and that the Lions defense will sink them despite a great offense (1:05:00).

Finally, they pivot to college football and Colin explains why USC can’t ever win big games and why Lincoln Riley deserves the blame (1:17:45). They also speculate on the future of Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin (1:27:45).

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Transcript

Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
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is a Sunday. John Middlecoff, former NFL scout three and out.

(01:10):
We got a lot to talk about. We are starting
with the Cowboys wild come from behind twenty four twenty
one win over the Eagles. It was so lobsided in
the first half it had a collegiate feel in the
second half, leading twenty one to nothing with no ability

(01:31):
to run the ball. The second half possessions for the
Eagles John were punt, punt, punt, punt, miss field goal, fumble,
punt return, fumble punt. It really comes down to it.
It's not a Jalen Hurts thing necessarily. They can't run
the ball at all, is my first takeaway.

Speaker 2 (01:54):
I don't see how the game starts and he is
just slinging that thing to aj Brown and you're like, Okay, Lacks.
The Cowboys short week about to melt down. It's gonna
be weird. Eagles win this thing. What thirty one to
ten or something? Yeah, yeah, it just and then all
of a sudden, the Cowboys scored at the end of
the first half. But even at twenty one to seven,

(02:14):
I had no imagination to go, you know what, the
Eagles are gonna do nothing in the second half because
they had looked so good throwing the ball, yes, And
it's one thing, like you know, you've talked about this,
forcing the ball to aj it just in the flow
a just look, it just looked natural. It looked like
you did at times over the course of the last
couple of years. But then to have that stretch, I mean,

(02:35):
if you're the Eagles, they've had a lot of these
where they start the game like that and then it
kind of gets a little bit better as the game
when you start the game as well as they did,
scoring a bunch of touchdowns, and then all of a sudden,
the second half is as anemic as that. On the
to the Cowboys, that one's tough, Colin. That's a devastating
meltdown for the Eagles, I mean devastating. Here's the thing

(02:56):
with the Cowboys. Dak is confident against Philadelphia history, right,
and they have some fire. I mean George Pickens massive day,
CD's playing like crap and they're still coming back on you.
That's the one thing. It's not like both those guys
are going for one hundred and fifty yards. He's seeds
dropping balls left and right. That this is gonna test
Nick Sirianni. These next couple nights, Colin. They got a

(03:16):
big game.

Speaker 1 (03:16):
On Friday, the Chicago Bears. Yeah, right, and they're coming
off now. It's almost feels like because this game is
so late, it's like a short week Friday, and the
Bears are feeling great about themselves. Yeah. I mean they
had they had two fourth corner journal version, they missed
the field goal. So George Pickens, by the way, we
can say what we want about Jerry Jones. Demarvin over

(03:39):
shown that Texas linebacker who is now healthy. He's a
really good player. I think he was a third round pick,
second or third round pick. I think it was second second.
He is a really good player now. He tore his
ACL a couple of years ago. He was the kid
out of Texas. Tons of talent. Quentin Williams. Nice pickup.
Didn't do a ton today. George Pickens and absolute that's

(04:01):
the fourth game for Pickens this year with Dallas. The
fourth game with one hundred and I remember you got
Ceedee Lamb on the other side, and they're running the
ball this year. Fourth game with one hundred and thirty
plus receiving yards. Steelers have done that zero times this
season with Aaron Rodgers so I think it is easy
to lampoon Jerry. But they have hit. They have hit

(04:24):
on some draft picks. This offensive line doesn't pass block
as well as they run block. To this point, they're young,
they're inexpensive. But Pickens, I mean, I think we felt
this going into the game. Didn't Pickens just earn himself
a three year deal in Dallas?

Speaker 2 (04:39):
Yeah? I mean if I was Jerry, I try to
extend him right now. You know, Jerry likes to wait
till the last second.

Speaker 1 (04:44):
Though.

Speaker 2 (04:44):
That is Jerry likes to hold that money in that
money market fund or wherever he's keeping this cash because
he does not like to pay guys early. But there
is no way at this point in time you can
let George go. I would say this Colin who in
a million years. At the start of the season, the
negative they got not the two to our own horn.
But I would say universally everyone was like, how could
you get rid of Micah Parsons? Like you guys were

(05:06):
winning nothing with Micah. They get a couple first round
picks and then people are like, wow, you're trading for
Quinn Williams. What are you guys doing? He has their
defensive tackle play looks dramatically better. Oh, I mean totally different.
It just split like the Red Seed before. These two guys,
especially once you put Quinn with Kenny Clark. Listen, Yeah,
could they use you know, some edge rush power. Well,

(05:27):
they got two first round picks. They're gonna have some
extra cap space because of getting rid of Mica. Now
they might have to use that on George Pickens, but
they really these last two games, right, they've played two
games now and what six nights he has twenty catches
for one hundred or two hundred and ninety yards and
two touch. George Pickens has been as good as any
player in the NFL at skill you know, at wide receiver,

(05:49):
tied end or running back.

Speaker 1 (05:50):
And Logan Wilson, who they brought now is getting tackles
because Quinn Williams and Kenny Clark are eating up their men.
So Quinn didn't have a ton of prediction Kenny and
Quinnen didn't have a ton ofduceuction today. But what they
do is they force you to use multiple players to
block Quinn Williams, freeing up Logan Wilson and overshown. So
what you're watching with Dallas and your eyes aren't deceiving you.

(06:14):
They're athletic. Without my caparsons, this is a very athletic
defense now that it's healthy. And I said this the
brilliance of Jerry giving up a first round pick, but
not next year, the following year, as he knows this
is supposed to be the big quarterback year and doesn't
he doesn't need one. So the Rams don't necessarily have

(06:34):
to draft it with their two firsts, but they probably
should because of Stafford's age. They'll probably use the second
pick to get like a Seller's out of South Carolina,
a late first. They move into the second. Dallas doesn't
need quarterback what they I mean they could. I've looked
at mock drafts edge rusher Caleb Downs. I mean, can
you imagine that? So when everybody crushed, sometimes trades work

(06:59):
for both people. Green Bay's a team that was leading
games in the fourth quarter. They needed their Mariano Rivera.
They needed a closer. That's Micah and green Bay and Halfley.
They're generating a real pass rush. JJ McCarthy saw today.
Dallas wasn't leading games. Dallas was struggling. Dallas could not
defend the run. At the start of the season, so

(07:19):
since the start of the season, Kenny Clark, Quinton Williams.
You watched them today against Phladelphia. Philadelphia couldn't do anything.

Speaker 2 (07:23):
On the ground. I also think, you know, by twenty
twenty seven, Jerry's going to be like ninety years old.
So by the time that first rounder becomes a good player,
I mean, Jerry's like I might not even be around.
I think Jerry deserves a lot of some credit now
because I'd even go to the head coach when he
made the move, which, let's face it, I think he
kind of looked around. He didn't want to pay premiums
for Ben Johnson to Mike Vrabel, so he went a

(07:45):
little cheaper. But this is it's not like he hired
Brandon Staley. I mean, this guy in his thirties was
a guy turning down head coaching offers. His career got
derailed the guy with the wrong head coaches. But I
would say, Brian Schottenheimer, listen, what do you do well
if you're coach, Well, I'm an offensive coach. I call
the offensive plays and my quarterback and my wide receiver.
Who listen. George Pickens was pretty toxic. Jerry took a

(08:08):
lot of shit for that, because like, I don't think
you're gonna be able to handle this. I even thought
putting this on Brian Schottenheimer. Jerry's pretty risky. Well, Brian
Schottenheimer Dak Prescott have handled George and kind of made
him a star. I mean, Colin, he's a pro bowler.
Like if you go, well, who's gonna go to the
Pro Bowl at wide receiver, It's not Ceedee Lamb, It's
George Pickens, Javonte Williams. Again, Jerry takes a lot of

(08:32):
heat because he talks a lot. But like just from
a pure GM standpoint, I think we got to say,
over the course, going from the McCarthy era, that stretch
of twelve twelve twelve, a lot of good players on
those rosters. Yeah, Jerry's the one picking them all, and
now he's five to five and one. Who would have
thought a month ago like this Kansas City Dallas game
on Turkey Day, there's a lot on the line. I mean,

(08:52):
the Cowboys are not dead by any means in terms
of like the wild card. If if they win that
all of a sudden, you're six five and one, you
still got the Giants, And I would imagine the commanders
on the schedule like this are some winnable games.

Speaker 1 (09:04):
Collen, Yeah no. And the other thing is twenty four
unentered points. That says leadership. I mean to me, you
trail twenty one nothing you got to I mean, there
are teams that quit in this league. We've seen it.
There are teams that quit, you know, Jerry Jones said
last week, and I've always felt this about Dak is

(09:24):
that his intangibles are better than the tangibles. He's okay
in terms of just a pure passer, he's okay. But
his leadership, his toughness, his respect in the locker room.
And the other thing is, think about this, John Zeke,
Circus des circus, Jerry can sometimes be a circus. There

(09:45):
was the cultural the Black Lives Matter, which was you know,
it was for about a year of people like Dak
took stands and not always popular stands, and you know,
we had it was a very tumultuous like year or two,
we had COVID. There was just a a lot of
stuff happening in our country. And you know, and I
remember Dak getting a lot of heat standing behind Jerry Jones.

(10:07):
But leadership is not a popular position and Dak sometimes
has always been the most popular teammate. You know a
lot of guys in that locker room love Zeke, they
love Dez their young locker rooms. He's dealt with a
lot of noise. George Pickens was trouble in Pittsburgh. George
Pickens has been great. He's been absolutely great. I mean,

(10:28):
in fact, today the disappointment was Ceedee Lamb dropping them
all the end zone. Like it's not just that Pickens
production has been great, but it's been George has been
like like a big game performer. He's often played better
at the biggest moments.

Speaker 2 (10:41):
Well, I also think one of the knocks on the
on the flip side of the team they were playing
is like Jalen's not that outspoken. He's not the you know,
the leader of maybe by his actions, but it's like, Jalen,
we're in your six or seven. Now you're the highest
paid guy on the team. Like there's no question when
it comes to Dallas or most good teams. Patrick Mahomes,
Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson, like these guys are very vocal

(11:03):
leading in the front. It feels like Jalen hurts and
that's where the Eagles kind of get weird, and that's
a moment. Like listen, Sirianni's record speaks for itself. Coming
in this game, I think he was like fifty five
and twenty two, so anyone could be critical of him,
but this is a bottom line league and he wins
a lot. But as a coach, like your star quarterback,
you sometimes need that guy right there with you, screaming
at guys, getting on guys. And they have this AJ

(11:26):
Brown thing. It's just it won't go away. And I
think AJ he's not intimidated by Jalen. He's like, well
Dallen's are just say anything. So it's just gotten weird.
And you saw a moment today like they kind of fractured.
Now you could freak things happen. They fumble a couple
of times, but the offense like they have had now
stretches throughout this season. When you have DeVante Smith, who

(11:48):
is I mean, I don't know if he's an elite player,
but he's a high highs AJ Today, I mean, I
don't know how many catches he had down the stretch,
but he had eight catches one hundred yards. Looked like
the version of the guy that they trade a first
round pick for and trade on this money. They got
Dallas Goddard, they got Saquon Barkley, they got multiple other
running backs they can roll in, and they just do
nothing on offense. It's it's a bizarre experience watching this

(12:09):
Eagles team. It really is, because defensively, up until the
second half, like Fanjo had really had them, they'd become
a defensive team. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (12:16):
They If you took the ten worst offensive halfs in
the NFL this year, I made the Eagles have four
to five of them. That's a couple of weeks ago.

Speaker 2 (12:24):
They led the league in three and outs. I don't
know where they stand at today, but they if that's
a stat that you lead the league that's usually reserved
for like the Raiders, that you know, a team that's
gonna be drafting in the top two or three, right,
not a team that up until they lost this game,
I was like, Oh, the Eagles is gonna have the
number one seed. It's gonna be weird, but it's gonna
be hard to beat them on the road. And now
you go, I don't know, I mean this today. That

(12:46):
was an enlightening experience watching up twenty one nothing even
twenty one seven and a half, you're playing a rival.
I would have bet a decent amount of money the
final score would have been like thirty one to fourteen
or something. At the halftime to lose twenty I would
imagine if we looked at the halftime odds, the Cowboys
would have been what five to one underdog to win
the game out right, they would have been a massive underdog.

(13:09):
So I that's that's one of the crazier outcomes I
think we've had this season, Collin, what we just witnessed
dak Is.

Speaker 1 (13:15):
I bet if you went and looked at Dak's career splits,
he is just damn good at home.

Speaker 2 (13:21):
He really is, you know.

Speaker 1 (13:23):
So it's it's I found I have found Dak over
the course of my you know, career covering Dak Is,
I've I think I like him more now than I've
ever liked him. And it's probably one of the weaker
teams he's ever been on. But his ability to take
kind of a temperamental player, his ability from COVID through

(13:44):
it and all the stuff that was happening to just
twelve wins, twelve wins, twelve wins with Mike McCarthy, who
was criticized. He's had Jason Garrett, Mike McCarthy, Brian Schottenheimer.
Most people have been very critical of those coaches. Every
time he's been upright and healthy with all three of them,
he wins double digit games. And you start looking at
their schedule this year, Dallas. Dallas is not that much

(14:07):
fun to play. I mean, let's let's be honest about Dallas.
It's hard to find one great corner in this league.
Dallas has two elite wide receivers. It's just really hard
to defend him. George Pickens isn't a burner, but he's
got incredible catching radius. Ceedee Lamb is a separator. So
Dallas is hard to play. And Javonte Williams now they're

(14:27):
run games better because this offensive line is a better
run blocking than pass blocking line like Dallas is a handful.
If you get into track meets with Dallas and they're
they're tough to defend, but.

Speaker 2 (14:37):
And their tight end could catch four or five six
balls a game. Ferguson today had five catches for sixty yards.
I mean, think about that story. Wasn't last year that
Jerry would take people on tours throughout the facility. You know,
guys are lifting weights, watching film and Dak has to
wave and take pictures. It's not an easy place to operate.
You talk about the home splits. Dak doesn't have a
big arm, so if you put him outside in Pittsburgh

(14:59):
in December, side in Baltimore, it's not gonna look as good. Well,
who else falls into that category? Jared Goff Tierre Goff
doesn't have a huge arm, so he looks better in
southern California, the Bay Area, a dome, a controlled environment.
You know, Drew Brees was the best version of this.
Drew never had a big arm. Well, where could he
dominate in a controlled Peyton Manning? Peyton Manning and Tom
Brady had polar opposite arms. Peyton had I would say,

(15:21):
an average arm at best. Now he had accuracy like
Drew Brees, at an elite level. But in terms of
like piercing through the wind like Dak's even Dak today
through a couple of balls, one went right through Zach
Bond's hands, could have been an interception. I would say
from an arm strength standpoint, yeah, it's pretty average. But
when he gets into a rhythm, timing, understanding of the offense,
all that type stuff. This is why I think and

(15:43):
I'm with you players like this. They earned my respect
over time because I'm like, you know what, you see
so many guys ebb and flow and then wash out
of the league like Dak Prescott when it's all said
and done. Yeah, is he Josh Allen or Patrick mahomes
Lamar Jackson? Of course not. But I think his career
he's maximized. He's an overachiever, you know. And when you're

(16:04):
an overachiever and you're Tom Brady or Peyton Manning, you
have the talent, you're Hall of famer. When you're Dak Prescott,
a mid round pick that if he wasn't overachiever, Dak
Prescott would have been a backup years ago. So I
respect the hell out of him because and today's a
great example of I think most people would have just
punted that game. You just one Monday night, you're playing
again on Turkey Day, and I don't they win. I

(16:25):
still can't believe they won Collin twenty four to twenty one.
That's insane.

Speaker 1 (16:28):
I don't miss doing local radio, although I listen to it.
I'm glad I do what I do. I would love
to be a radio host in Philadelphia tomorrow and just
take calls for three I would just take calls for
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the second biggest game, but it's notable. Shaduur Sanders debuted

(19:10):
his Cleveland Browns beat the hapless, listless Raiders twenty four
to ten. Listen, I know it's two two and eight teams,
but there's a tebow effect here with Shadur Sanders. Let's
just get it right out of the way. So Cleveland
hammered the worst coach team in the league, the Raiders,
twenty four to three. Pete Carroll left Seattle, they immediately

(19:31):
got better. He arrived in Vegas. They're immediately noticeably worse
than Antonio Peers. Nothing against Pete, but they don't do
anything well. Okay, So I'll just first of all, I
thought Kevin Stefanski was really smart. I loved they used
the wildcat when they got down to the goal line,
so take that out of Shadur's hands. Congested area. Judkins

(19:51):
is an emerging stud out of Ohio State. He and
Treyvon Henderson both excellent. He is a big, strong power back.
Shadur was seven for eleven and a half. They moved
the pocket a lot. He deserves credit. He didn't have
a lot of running backwards, not a lot of negative plays.
You can tell they worked on timing. He got screwed
by Jerry Judy, who has zero self aware in the

(20:16):
first half. Overall, he was okay. I wrote it down.
If Gino Smith is a franchise quarterback, Shadur deserves to be,
at least for a year, a franchise quarterback. I thought
it was a smart game plan. I thought he was fine.
He had one awful pick. I predicted he would go
thirteen of eighteen one TV and one bad pick. It
was pretty close to it.

Speaker 2 (20:38):
Your thoughts well, to me, he brought an explosive element
to the offense, He had a big play that probably
easily could have been a touchdown. The guy was tackled
at the one yard line. The play to Judy was
an explosive play. Dylan Gabriel did not bring him that
to me, just with those two passes alone. Now you're
playing the Raiders. He's starting next week, and clearly they
talked about it these articles coming out the last couple

(20:59):
of weeks. He felt the pressure of you have to
show something or we will go back to the other guy.
He knew it. He knows. It does feel like the organization,
in a weird way, is a little more pro Dylan Gabriel. Right,
they drafted them higher, which makes sense. And to me,
he showed enough to get another start for sure. Yes,
so to me, Dylan Gabriel isn't very good, So it's

(21:22):
not really a conversation of like going back and forth
now should or just get starts for the foreseeable future?
And god, the Raiders are terrible. I mean, that is
an organization. You know. People make fun of the Browns,
and rightfully so, they're in a different universe than the Raiders.

Speaker 1 (21:38):
Listen, the Jets and the Giants have fight. Yeah, the
Raiders have no fight. I mean they don't even play hard.
They don't do anything. Well, you say what you want
about the New York Giants. That was one of the
more entertaining games today. It was great. For sure. The
Jets fight their ass off. They just don't have a
good coach of many good players. Raiders have nothing. And
Pete's got to look in the mirror. Pete left Seattle

(22:02):
and they got really good, really fast, and Pete Antonio Pierce.
I talked to Tom Telesco about this. Both got let go.
Tom's thing was, those guys played hard. He got that
locker room unified because Josh McDaniels had separate, couldn't galvanize
the locker room. So like, Pete's got to look himself
in the mirror, like he's no longer, like he's not current,

(22:24):
Like his defense isn't current.

Speaker 2 (22:27):
Why I think, you know, almost like a draft pick,
where you go, this guy's floors high. I just assume,
you know, Pete would get the train back on the
tracks and get them going, And it's been the opposite.
It feels like they're not only regressing. They've had a
lot of bad teams over the last what twenty plus years.
This is as ugly as it gets. Collin This I
mean lifeless. But you remove Max Crosby, the one guy

(22:49):
who a lot of respect for him, playing his ass
off in given the situation their offensive line. I mean
it felt like every play Miles Garrett, Miles Garrett could
have broke the single sack record in the game. So yeah,
I'm with you. I know they don't want to do this.
They have some new Brady venture capital money. I think
you have to think about this is not the answer,

(23:10):
and especially this offseason. You know that the Browns they
do have some young pieces. It looks like they got
a good young draft.

Speaker 1 (23:16):
Draft, Lias got players.

Speaker 2 (23:17):
I think if you're spy tech, you got to go
to Mark and Tom and go listen. We had the
right logic, but this blew up in our face. Do
we just need to get a young coach? Trade Max
Crosby this offseason and kind of think to the future
because what they're doing right now he has no value
on their team, you know. I mean they're headed toward
three wins, so yeah, I mean, props the Shador and

(23:39):
look like Dean was having a good time. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (23:41):
No, I mean I I the final numbers. I think
it's realistic to think he was going to have one
bad pick. But last time I checked in ten to
seventeen hundred and forty three yards one TV one pick
passer ratings about sixty. Because it is a.

Speaker 2 (23:55):
Pretty easy opponent, you know. I mean, we'll see him
when he plays some more credible opponents. But yeah, it
is what it is.

Speaker 1 (24:03):
Yeah, And to your point, I always pushed back on
the he's a pocket quarterback. He moves fine. He moves
better than go for a Stafford kirk cousin. He moves fine.
And by the way, he tends to a couple of
times today he just moved in the pocket. He just
glided left or right. And Stefanski, who I think is excellent,
they moved the pocket a lot for him. They baked

(24:25):
in some easy completions and he had two big throws
down the field. Jerry Judy. When Jerry Judy made that
play trying to high step people at midfield, Sean Payton,
Denver is a bye week, I guarantee you sees that,
and just rolls his eyes. He couldn't get Judy out
of Denver fast enough. So Cleveland goes on. They hammer
the Raiders, who right now are absolutely lifeless. Okay, Well,

(24:50):
Kansas City in overtime beats the Colts twenty three to twenty.
And it really came down to this is that when
the Colts made the sauce gardener move and they gave
up a couple of first people said, well, where do
you get your quarterback? And I think the Colts felt
like we have Daniel Jones. Here's some pretty stark numbers.
So Indy led twenty to nine, started the fourth quarter

(25:12):
and recovered to Kansas City fumble. The game was theirs.
The game was in the Colts, and we know they
have a star running back and an above average offensive
line and good receivers Pittman Pierce, Daniel Jones, four consecutive
three and ounce eighteen total fourth quarter yards now Mahomes

(25:32):
fourth quarter and overtime, thirteen first downs the Colts zero,
Kansas City two hundred and thirty six yards in that time,
fourth quarter and overtime the Colts eighteen. So again you're
in the AFC, you're in the Mahomes Conference, and the
Kansas City now maybe on life support. But they get Denver,

(25:54):
the Chargers and the Texans three of their toughest games,
all at home. So this wasn't just a win. They
went from life support to a It looks like this
was one of the tougher Ones Colts on a bye.
Daniel Jones was so bad, so limited fourth quarter in overtime.

(26:14):
I mean it's you say what you want about Kansas City,
look at their schedule. I'm gonna take him to win
playoff games and make the playoffs.

Speaker 2 (26:22):
You yeah, I mean, I Mahomes had a stretch in
that game where he was like, I don't think he's
playing that well. This is you know, I'm talking like
the second and third quarter when Kansas City was pretty lifeless.
It's not like Indy was running away with the game.
I walked out of the room right when the game
early on, and I come back. I'm like, Kansas City
just had the ball and Indy had the ball in
like the five yard line. They just gifted them, you

(26:42):
know that interception he threw, So Daniel Jones was gifted
a touchdown, right. They went up seven to nothing, and
then they had a good drive after Kansas City punts
and I think it's fourteen or it's fourteen to three.
So once it's fourteen to three. They don't even come
remotely close to score in a touchdown. And I actually
think a lot of his co copletion throughout the game
or on Shane side can scheme in the ball or

(27:03):
scheming guys wide open. I mean, they do a great
job with the tight end, who's a really good player,
but they scheme him. I mean, to me, he is
a game plan specific quarterback.

Speaker 1 (27:12):
Right now, Daniel Jones did not have a single attempt
over twenty yards, not a single attempt. And again, this
is an above average offensive line, and Pittman and Pierce
both get downfield, as does the tight end. So I
think it's what they said, what Kansas City said with
that game plan is don't give him anything cheap over

(27:34):
the top, make him beat us on sixteen play thirteen
play drives. We don't trust Daniel Jonathan in the second half.
He didn't do anything in the fourth quarter.

Speaker 2 (27:44):
Yeah, to me, they have no chance to win the
AFC with that quarterback the way he's playing right now,
especially if they're going to have to be in situations
where they have to go outside on the road to Denver.
What if it's a two seven, it's against Kansas City
in the first round. Who are you taking? I mean
Kansas City was try to give them the game. And
when I say Kansas City, I mean Mahomes missing guys,
I mean how many He still misses a lot of

(28:06):
guys down the field. But when he had to have it,
he settled down. He made some big plays where she
Rice was fantastic. I mean he was. He was an Elitala. Yeah,
Kareem Hunt was running his ass off, and listen, Andy
is not the the run is not the go to
thing with Andy Reid, and today he didn't have a choice.
They leaned on Kareem Hunt. I think they had over
forty carries a day. Obviously in short yardage. Kareem Hunt's fantastic,

(28:29):
but that Mahomes they just could not pull away. And
whenever you do that, you know, to the great players
in my lifetime, you give them an opportunity at the end,
then you lost it. So to me, it just comes
back to Daniel Jones when you hit him in big spots.
I have no faith sitting on the couch watching him
on a third and seven late in the game that
he's going to complete the pass and listen, he's He's

(28:51):
better than the guy who saw low points in New York. Right,
clearly he's an okay player. Yes, but I think we
got a little and I'm guilty of this, we got
a little over excited early on in the season and
we you know, I think people would say, well, that
happened with Sam Donald last year. Sam Donald's a way
better player than Daniel Jones.

Speaker 1 (29:10):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, no, And Sam's also a better athlete.
Sam throws deep ball, bigger arm, throws a better deep ball. Sam.
I don't think his confidence doesn't dip much with Danniel Jones.
You can feel if he throws a pick, you can
see if he's getting pressure. Yeah, I mean it's I

(29:30):
just look at those fourth quarter numbers. I mean it's
just incredible. Mahomes in Kansas City. Between the fumble and
the red zone pick, there's no way in a twenty
to nine fourth quarter league, there's no way the Colts
should lose that football game.

Speaker 2 (29:48):
Yes, score eleven unanswered to go to overtime and then
lose on any I think it was eighteen yards to
colin all of the fourth quarter in overtime, so it
was for the Colts. Yeah, we're talking twenty five minutes
of game play. Or game of actual on the field
game and they got the ball first, right, they won
the coin toss and they accepted and they put it
on him and didn't go anywhere. Then Kansas City Boom

(30:11):
hit some big plays and all of a sudden, I mean,
they truly saved their season because at one time. One
thing we've learned this year is you can never be
too safe for the league. But you're looking, you're going
twenty to nine, Mahomes was a little off. You're like,
this is really how this little dynasty's gonna come to
an end this season? And the answer was, no, that's
not on the.

Speaker 1 (30:30):
Colts watch no. And I mean, if you look at
the AFC, Trevor Lawrence, oh he's terrible. Oh god, he's
just it's over like it's just he's had a college coach,
offensive coach. Now he's got another offensive coach. Trevor just
makes too many bad throws. It's just and by the way,

(30:51):
Jacoby Myers, Brian Thomas, he has a couple of nice backs,
he's got an offensive coach. Trevor Lawrence just you know
what I mean, he was just never it never worked.
And so and then you have Daniel Jones, so you
start looking around. Right now you have Josh Allen, but
Josh Allen didn't have a defense, So you can sell
all your stock you want. They get the Denver Broncos,

(31:12):
the Chargers and Texans at home Kansas City at six
and five. My money, they make the playoffs and win games.

Speaker 2 (31:18):
I'd even throw. I mean, clearly Lamar is banged up
this year.

Speaker 1 (31:21):
He does not look this He's not nearly as elusive.

Speaker 2 (31:25):
And the Steelers are in a complete free fall right now,
and I mean they're starting quarterback can't even play. So
I think when you look at that division, which over
the last three or four years, you know it's produced
Burrow obviously, Pete Lamar, even the Steelers have been feisty.
I'm selling my stock on that division. You look at
the you know, the AFC South, you go not taking
the Jags, definitely not the Colts. So to me, it's

(31:47):
just it's back to the Chargers would have a chance.
They didn't have a million injuries. I just think the
the AFC West. But the Chiefs, I mean, they did
lose to the Jags. It's why today, I mean their
season was kind of on the line, but they've got
some work to do, Colin. It's not quite over yet. Now.
They played Dallas this upcoming week, which is obviously going
to be huge.

Speaker 1 (32:07):
Yeah, and the Jacksonville lost. In fairness, it was a
standalone game, probably the biggest regular season game in Jacksonville
in a decade. I mean, it felt like one of
those rare games where you know Jacksonville could have a
national imprint.

Speaker 2 (32:20):
So freaky play too, when he throws the pick in
the end zone and they taken one hundred yards for
a touchdown. I mean, that's that happens to a Mahomes
of Brady, a paid manny what once every five years,
something like that.

Speaker 1 (32:32):
Yeah, Okay, Chicago holds on to beat Pittsburgh thirty one
to twenty eight. The Bears are eight and three in
first place. Now, if you don't follow the Bears, to
give them credit, Montes Sweat was very good defensively today.
They were missing five starters, so there were band aids
in Bondo. That was not a Chicago Bears defense. So

(32:53):
Aaron Rodgers didn't start and TJ. Watt and Pittsburgh had
the one thing I'd said all week on FS one
was just play clean football, don't tease TJ. Watt, Well,
what did they do? He didn't let go of the
ball early. It's a strip sack. They trail fourteen to
seven to Pittsburgh and then come back. But Chicago was

(33:13):
missing a lot of defensive starters, so it just be fair.
I wrote some notes down. Now, again, this is something
John I've been on since he was at USC. Caleb
three touchdowns, no picks. He doesn't throw picks, one hundred
four passer rating two hundred and forty yards. He was

(33:34):
solid to above average on third down. Also, Colston Loveland
the tight end for Michigan, the rookie. That connection now
over the last two to three weeks is a real connection.
So he had that really bad strip sack.

Speaker 2 (33:47):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (33:48):
I also wrote down he missed three throws in the
first half. I've come to the conclusion that you just
you get the playmaking. This guy's going to complete sixty one,
son of his throats. I mean, if he can't do
sixty four sixty five, I wrote this down, John, this
is the I think it's the seventh time this season

(34:11):
Caleb's under sixty percent, and that's again with pretty damn
good protection. I've my take is Ben and Caleb it's winning.
It's not a great fit necessarily, but I think he
just deal with some inaccuracies because you get the upside
the ceiling so high.

Speaker 2 (34:29):
I thought today was the best game he's played it
probably as a pro, you know. I mean, obviously his
rookie season kind of throw away, but this year once
he got sacked by TJ. Watt and he kind of
felt like, oh when the Steelers did that to Daniel
Jones and the Colts right TJ Watt made the play,
It flipped that entire game, and then they kind of
just bull rushed them, and I was like, is this

(34:50):
gonna happen? Is he going to go into a shell?
He got. He was awesome in the second half. He
was really good, and to me, the mental toughness after
that play, I mean, that was a disaster risk play.
You know, even JJ Watts like that cannot happen holding
the ball when you're backed up in your own end zone.
So I thought like, oh, this thing could now kind
of unravel if anything. He went the opposite way. He

(35:12):
made a ton of plays in the second half. He's
not accurate. He's not you know, Steve Young or Drew Brees.
That's not his style. I saw stat today that he
was under two point seven seconds getting rid of the ball,
which is second fastest so far this year. Like, he
was getting rid of the football quickly, and to me,
that's gonna work with Ben Johnson, So listen, I've been
critical of him over the course of this season. Today

(35:35):
is not one of those days for me. I was
impressed in the second half, especially that TJ. Watt moment.
I can imagine when he's running over He's like, oh
my god, Ben's gonna want to kill me because that
is a no no with an offensive coach, right, And
he was lights out in the second half. I mean,
getting rid of the ball, fast, explosive plays Him and
DJ Moore were excellent today that you know they have

(35:57):
I think coming into this game, obviously they didn't run
the ball well today. I mean they're one of the
best running teams, I think second best in the league.
Today they couldn't really do it. So if you told me, hey,
they're not really going to run the ball, He's going
to have a fumble six to the Steelers on TJ. Wad,
I'd be like, oh, this might not be a good
day for him. If anything, it was the opposite. So
I think if you're a Bears fan, I'm feeling pretty good. Now.

(36:18):
We got a long way to go to win the division. Still,
you know, the Lions kept alive, and obviously the Packers
defense is elite, but you're eight and three. It is
pretty incredible little stretch here for Caleb and definitely the
head coach Ben Johnson. That was a massive and a
devastating loss for the Steelers.

Speaker 1 (36:34):
Yeah, so they were three and seven and one score games.
If you want to see coaching three and seven last
year in one score games and they look disorganized in
close games. They're now six and one, and that's coaching.
That's the touchdown swing you get. Caleb's a touchdown and
a half, like like seven and a half points better,
at least he was a couple of weeks ago when

(36:56):
I checked in. They score about seven and a half
points more a game, and again they probably update after today.
But I also think what Caleb's showing you. I remember
before the season started, you and I both talked about this.
You and I didn't care about wins. It was like,
cut the sacks in half and that'll be fine, which
he's john They've cut like seventy five percent of the

(37:16):
snack sacks. They don't get sacked at home. I mean,
so there's two or three things you just have to say, Wow,
he doesn't get hurt. The kid doesn't throw picks high
school college bro, he doesn't throw picks today three touchdowns,
no picks, and he's coachable anything that you and I
his college issue. I remember talking to two gms about this.

(37:37):
They were like, he's really a erradic throwing it, they called.
One guy said, he's like a streaky NBA shooter. He
gets into these streaks where he'll go eight for eight
and you're like, oh, you'll come out the next series
and you're like, he just misses. This guy's badly. He
skips balls. He's a streaky passer. And I don't think
it's based on confidence. I just don't think he has
the world's best mechanics. You know, like he had a

(37:57):
couple today where you know, it's just it's the Steelers,
it's Soldier Field, it's a big game, he's coming back
and he just sailed it. You know, it's like a
roll as Chapman. Everything's one hundred and four miles an hour.
Even tho it was absolute gas. But he is clearly coachable,
and I mean it's you know, and I'll say it.

(38:17):
Chicago's a pretty young team. This is a new staff.
It's a growth model. They're ascending, and I mean, I'm
looking at it all my notes right now. I think
Rogers flip flipping off a cameraman before the game.

Speaker 2 (38:32):
That made me laugh. I think one thing that's been
big for Chicago to these last couple of weeks. I
saw Ben Johnson say going into this game, Luther Burdens
earned a bigger role. He had a bigger role today.
I think he had three or four catches. He had,
you know, an end around for a big first down. Loveland,
who I think early on you're looking at Tyler Warren,
You're going, this guy looks like the next George Kittle

(38:53):
or something. There's gonna be added pressure. Well, Loveland's really
come on this last month. So you're getting a massive
impact from the tenth over pick. I forget what number
he was, but mid second round pick with Luther from Missouri.
So you're getting those impact guys to go along with
DJ in Rome and a head coach who is I
think he's like the Midwest version of Kyle Shanahan loves

(39:13):
to run. It wants the scheme runs. It's all kind
of coming together. And like you said, if you're not
turned over the ball. I can live with some inaccuracies.
If you're scoring touchdowns, you said, I live with interceptions.
If you throw four touchdowns and one interception, who cares?
It doesn't matter. Right, It's where it's like you have
no touchdowns, one interception. It's like, well, you threw seventy
percent completion percentage. Great job. You want to cookie. I mean,

(39:35):
so he's scoring points, he's moving the ball. And again,
to me, the mental kind of fortitude of after that sack.
Some guys get rattled by that moment. I mean that
you're at home. TJ. Watt slams you to the ground.
I was like, god, I was kind of expecting it
to go the other way, and he battled and he
was good. I'm telling you, I was. That's that's the

(39:56):
most impressive second half for the Bay and the quarterback
and for the Steelers. I mean, you talk about a
team just in a free fall right now. They are.
They got a lot of issues and who knows, it's
not like Rogers's bone's gonna heal overnight. I mean, they
got Mason Rudolph wasn't the biggest issue. I mean, he was,
oh fine, But they are. They're just not that good.

(40:17):
I mean, let's just call it space.

Speaker 1 (40:18):
And they did an average they did. Yeah, they had
some ingenuity, which is rare for the Steelers. They did
that push push counter, which was their play of the game.
But basically, you know, all they did was dink and dump.
They didn't throw anything down the field big. So I
mean when you were watching that game, I don't know
how you felt, but Chicago was a better team. Chicago
was more explosive. Chicago had a better offensive, like symmetry, rhythm.

(40:41):
Chicago's a big play offense, you know. And I said
this when it comes to Caleb Williams and bow Knicks,
they're uneven, but they're really good second half quarterbacks. And
it's like, if you could choose something, you choose a
great second half quarterback. That was Mahomes. Remember his first
two years in the league. He'd fall behind twenty seven
to ten and come roaring back. So yeah, I mean

(41:02):
that's the one thing. Drake may is much more even
like he's good first drive, he's good last he's separated
a little bit. But Caleb and bow Nick say whatever
you want. They're both exceptional quarterbacks when they have to
be great. When they have to do it, it drives
you nuts. But overall, I would say it was a
performance for Caleb. This week's Crnstein Performer, brought to you

(41:27):
by McDonald's new Buffalo Ranch Sauce, is Jamir Gibbs. Whole man.
Was he good? He bailed the Lions out from losing
to the pesky New York Giants. Jamir Gibbs career high
two hundred nineteen rushing yards. His performance was satisfying, just
like the first bite at bacon Crispy Buffalo m crispy

(41:49):
all right. Green Bay twenty three, Minnesota six. It's official.
JJ McCarthy just not work in this league. So Minnesota
had four yards and three turnovers in the second half,
four yards and three turnovers. JJ McCarthy sacked five times,

(42:12):
no confidence, two picks. The Vikings had one hundred and
forty five total yards. This is with an elite offensive coach,
Justin Jefferson, above average O line. I mean I watched today,
green Bay coached this game. This is what the film
told you Emmanuel Wilson. I lost track after about twenty

(42:36):
seven carries. Twenty six carries, Green Bay told you because
Jordan Love had a bruised left shoulder, so they were
gonna protect him. They told you in this game as
they settled for field goals, you wouldn't do that if
you played if you're playing Detroit or you're playing Caleb Williams,
you wouldn't do that or Sam Darnold in the NFC.
They were telling you, we're dominating time of possession. We

(42:58):
don't think JJ McCarthy can get into the end zone
with our defense. We don't think he can get in there.
My takeaway in this whole game was they were protecting
Jordan Love. His left is just non throwing shoulder. But
their commitment to the run game I think was also
a nod because they're not a great running team, although
they had over one hundred yards today as they committed
to it, but their game plan told me a Jordan Love,

(43:22):
we don't want them throwing forty times b we can
win this game on field goals. Because it was beyond
conservative by Green.

Speaker 2 (43:30):
Bay, I thought my favorite game on the board coming
into this weekend. I don't even know what that number
would have had to be for me to take the
Vikings against the Packers on the road with what we've
seen out JJ McCarthy. I you know, a lot of
talk about JJ McCarthy changing his mechanics and then working
through it. That is impossible when you are actually playing

(43:53):
in games right when they if you go back to
Aaron Rodgers when they drafted him from Jeff Tedford and
he used to hold the ball up, they spent years
changing his mechanics in practice and wiring that muscle memory.
They're trying to do this on the fly with a
team full of veterans. It's an epic disaster because this
guy's getting worse by the game. I mean he looked

(44:15):
by the game. It was pretty embarrassing today. And if
you're I always defend like there's a big difference of
acting like you know, Terrell Owens or Antonio Brown's being
a full malecontent and just being a wide receiver who's
kind of angry like AJ Brown's. Some of his arguments
have had some validity behind him. You know, I don't
think he's always wrong. Now we can argue how he's

(44:35):
handling it, but what he's saying is not incorrect. So
when I see Justin Jefferson sometimes get a little Poudy
like kind of understandable. He's the best player at his
position in the sport, and he's playing with a quarterback
who probably wouldn't be a backup on a lot of teams. Colin.
I mean, I'm watching the NFL this year because so
many I mean everyone is, but the amount of backups

(44:56):
that play that are just from Mac Jones, did Jacobey
Wessett he it would be one of the worst back
even Mason Rudolph today, like JJ McCarthy can't function, Colin,
they can't function.

Speaker 1 (45:07):
Davis Mills beat Josh Allen. Davis Mills, Mac Jones. These
guys are more Shador Sanders today. They're functional. They can
move the ball down the field.

Speaker 2 (45:16):
So listen, this thing is it feels over before it
even started. Because you're like, well, we gotta have patience.
It's like, well, this team's not gonna have patients because
this offseason they're gonna have to be aggressive to find
some sort of veteran. And how is JJ McCarthy beating
that guy out. We've seen this time and time again.
They will bring in whoever and they'll claim it's a

(45:37):
competition and that guy will be the start of the
week one. You can see this coming from a mile away.
They made a bold move and it didn't work. I mean,
it just simply didn't work. It backfired in their face
and Sam Darnold, every time I look up, there was
another bomb to Jackson Smith. It's like that, there's just
no way. If you're justin Jefferson. When you get home,
you put your feet up after the game and you

(45:58):
turn on some highlights and you see that you're not
really disappointed because, listen, you try to be a team guy.
He tried to be a company guy. But when you
screw up the quarterback position for a un no, I
mean just because you drafted them high. We've seen a
lot of guys. I mean we know for a fact
that half the guys that are drafted fail, right. Yeah,
So I just think that JJ McCarthy today that was

(46:23):
the score doesn't even reflect what we witnessed. I mean,
half of that is just like you said, the Packers
are conservative slash. They're not that explosive of an offense.
They weren't even trying. They were like, we're not even
gonna put anyone in position. It felt like half the
balls could have been interception.

Speaker 1 (46:36):
Yeah, I mean Jeff Halfley, the Boston College coach who
took the DC job. It's a very solid game plan.
They don't allow anything over the top, so they didn't
they didn't give They were going to force JJ McCarthy
to throw the ball somewhere between eight yards and eighteen
and he can't. It's you know, he actually moves pretty well,

(46:57):
Like I thought, Stefanski did a good job to really
utilize Shador's mobility, and I think JJ McCarthy is has
better mobility. But there's just there's nothing about JJ. Nothing works.

Speaker 2 (47:10):
I think with a lot of guys, Like in baseball,
if you need to work through things, you go to
the minor leagues and they work on mechanics. That happens
with pitchers all the time, right, they work their way
through the minor leagues working on mechanics and getting something
right so when they get to the big leagues they
can just play. You see it in football at the time,
guys on practice squads. That's how they developed, just in practice,

(47:32):
so we can change something that we didn't like from college.
They didn't get a chance to do this last year
because he was hurt, he couldn't practice, and then this
year he just becomes the starter. It's hard to develop
a guy when he's starting, when your expectation is to
win immediately, and it is just backfiring in their face.
I mean you see it on Kevin O'Connell's face. I
mean he knows it because of injuries that you know,

(47:54):
Carson Wentz is you know, his whole body fell apart.
They have no one to go to. So it's the
other player in his situation that was a second you know,
a second year player that was just drafted would be benched, right,
But they're kind of screwed that he's going to continue
to start. And I do think it's in one of
those spots where it could get worse, like this thing

(48:16):
could keep unraveling, you know, because you are playing, you know,
is Caleb's kind of getting better. Obviously the Packers defense
is awesome. How are you gonna get into a scoring
contest with the Lions. So it's just it's a tough spot.
I don't this year, they're just it is what it is.
You're just stuck with them, and you just got to
ride it out and You're gonna take a lot of
heat because it's gonna it's gonna get uglier. Colin.

Speaker 1 (48:36):
It just is speaking of Sam Darnold. Seattle eight and three.
Their defense took the day off. They beat Tennessee thirty
to twenty four. Jackson Smith and Jigba broke Seattle's season
record thirteen hundred and thirteen yards. He's on pace for
two thousand yards as a receiver. It's never been done before.

(48:57):
Eight catches today, two touchdowns, one hundred and sixty seven
year yards. Basically, Donald played clean football one hundred and
eighteen passer rating. So this is why Seattle and John
Snyder elected to let DK Metcalf walk out the door.
We don't see practice footage, right, You and I don't.
We don't see it, Seattle did. Seattle knew in the

(49:17):
off season that JSN was a more complete wide receiver
than Metcalf, less moody, more productive, better route tree. Maybe
not the home run potential, although it looks like he
has it. I love JSN. He's another one of these
Ohio state receivers They've got, I mean two more coming out,
Carnell Tates coming out this year. He's unbelievable than a

(49:38):
year after that. It's Jeremiah Smith. Seattle clearly off that
wild Rams loss. The defense just didn't. I thought cam
Ward and they dominated a time of possession. But my
take on JSN and Donald is the thing I'll give
Sam Darnold.

Speaker 2 (49:55):
Credit for is.

Speaker 1 (49:56):
I went and looked up his passer rating today. His
passer ratings still top six in the league. Like the
reality what Sam Donald is. He has these Andrew look
stink bombs. But when I watched today, he really is
hard to defend because Sam is one of those guys
where he runs looking to throw. Mahomes does this. Some

(50:17):
guys run to run justin fields. He's running to run.
Sam's running to throw, and I don't think he used
to do that years ago. But Sam Donald today is
running to throw. His eyes are downfield. He did a
couple times today against the Titans. He'd run, he'd pull back,
he'd throw it. Seattle's a handful. Are you shocked at

(50:38):
JSN is this dominant?

Speaker 2 (50:40):
Yeah? I mean I couldn't even imagined that he'd have
a two thousand yard season. I mean, every time you
look up, he looks like a mixture of Jerry Rice
meets Randy Moss because you think this guy was more
of a slot receiver. I think that was the knock
why he didn't go that high. Typically, guys that are
more outside Jimar Chase, Justin Jefferson went in the twenties.
But like that's a AJ Green Julio Jones, like your

(51:03):
blue chip outside guy can go in the top five.
This guy looks like how did this guy fall so
far in the draft and no one knew he was
this good? I mean, but John Snider did, and I
think he gets credit as he should for some all
time great moves this offseason, punting on Geno Smith to
acquire Sam Darnald and punting on DK Metcalf to just

(51:26):
kind of feature this guy. I mean, it was a
double whammie. The money that he saved. I mean, Gino
costs more than Sam Donald and DK Metcalf the Steelers,
which honestly to me, have made no sense, Like, hey, guys,
you're not a wide receiver away, let alone a guy
this is his third contract, right, This is not Jamar
Chase or Jefferson or Ceede Lamb. What are these guys

(51:47):
twenty five twenty six going into their second contract you're
trading this guy. I mean most players this is gonna
have four contracts, Like, it's pretty risky for you guys
to make this move with a second round pick, where
you can just find guys like Luther Burden George Pickens.
And that's the other thing they get rid of George Pickens.
Every time I look at the Cowboys, George Pickens is
making place. So you look at the Steelers some terrible

(52:08):
personnel moves, and you look at John Schneider. You know
it goes back to hiring Mike McDonald which it's not
the sexiest thing to hire defensive coaches anymore. Everyone wants
the Kevin O'Connell's, the Sean mcvaz and rightfully so. But
he hired it looks like the right guy, and then
he made incredible personnel moves this offseason. And I anytime
you go on the road against a terrible team, it

(52:30):
didn't really shock me that it was three to three
kind of lifeless environment. It's just it's a tough spot
for any good team. Once you get November December and
you're playing a two to three win team, Like, I
give you a little grace if you're down seven to nothing,
after the first quarter. But then they flip that switch
in the team's speed. It was like, this thing's over
once they score thirteen on answer, You're like, this is
the Titans. Titans are really bad. Like that's that's one

(52:52):
of those jobs that I don't know if I would
leave if I was a coordinator. Yeah, that's pretty risky.
It's that's a place where I know you get more
money to be a head coach, but feels like where
you get your career kind of goes to get derailed.

Speaker 1 (53:04):
Okay, Detroit thirty four New York Giants twenty seven in
overtime over one thousand yards of offense. John, I'm gonna
I'm gonna describe this as a bad win for Detroit.
Now Jamiir Gibbs had two hundred and sixty yards of
scrimmage yards saved. He was, I mean he literally he was.
He saved them, but nine penalties surrendered five hundred and

(53:28):
twenty yards. New York dominated time of possession. Jamis Winston
had three hundred and sixty passing yards with no number
one wide receiver. The Lions now Chicago's eight and three,
Green Bay seven and three, Detroit seven and four, and
they still have to face the Bears in Chicago and
the Rams in LA. They are not. The Lions do

(53:51):
not feel as sharp to me, They just don't. They
had to be saved by Jamiir Gibbs. Amaran Saint Brown
had a drop today that never happened. There is a listen.
I love their personnel and I love the culture that
Dan Campbell has created. But the New York Giants multiple
times today, if they had any kind they've got to

(54:13):
make some changes on that staff. Defensively, they couldn't make
any stops today, big holes all through their defense. I
didn't love this for Detroit. I thought it was a
bad win.

Speaker 2 (54:25):
Yeah, I think defensively they are a team that you
can't bet on to win. You win the NFC, to
compete for Super Bowl. They're falling apart. I mean for
Jamis Winston, who again, honestly, if he had been the
backup insaid of Russell Wilson, maybe Brian dabol is still
employed by the Giants. I mean they are a functional
offense with him now. Granted he's throwing it to Wan

(54:46):
Dale Robinson, who looks like Odell Beckham in his prime
out there against the Lions, which is really concerning because offensively, obviously,
you know, Gibbs is an elite player at any moment,
a lot like Saquon last year. He can take one
fifty sixty seventy yards. You know, am In Ross Saint
Brown is just he's an exception. He had a huge day,
nine cats from fifty yards. Offense is not gonna be

(55:06):
their issue because he just have too much talent. But
even offensive line today they were kind of they were
getting after golf a little bit. The problem is is,
I don't think they're gonna win the division. So do
you like Jared Goff to go on the road to Philly,
to Green Bay to whoever in the first round. You
can't because outside you talk about Dak Prescott being in
a controlled environment. Jared Goff is even more because Dak

(55:29):
is not the athlete that he once was, but he
still can move a little bit. Jared Goff can't move
at all. So we saw a couple weeks ago. I'm
getting my weeks whenever he played in Philly. I guess
that was last Sunday night. You know it gets cold,
he's got those two gloves on. You're like, this is
not gonna go. Well, he is not comfortable in the cold.
He just isn't that The numbers speak for themselves. So

(55:49):
like you're not gonna be playing the big playoff games
in the Dome like you your chances really were the
last two years. You know, it looked like the Ravens
their windows close, the bills their windows close. The Lions
had a twenty four to seven lead against the forty
nine ers two years ago. Last year they had a
home game against Washington who didn't have that. Now, granted
they had a bunch of injuries, but those two teams

(56:09):
were Taylor made. You know, given their record, what is
this an eleven win team? Like last year they won
what fifteen games? Like this is probably eleven win team.

Speaker 1 (56:19):
John We know that Dan Campbell's not a scheme guy.
So when he had a great scheme guy in Ben
Johnson and was been there three years or three or.

Speaker 2 (56:32):
He was there the whole time, but he didn't call
plays the whole time.

Speaker 1 (56:35):
So when Ben started calling plays, that that's your zenith.
That's when you are at your best, where a culture
creator with a great GM has a brilliant play designer
and play caller. And they had two to three years
of that and they were the talk of the league.

Speaker 2 (56:51):
We talked.

Speaker 1 (56:51):
I mean, Ben Johnson was off of the Washington job
or the Indie job, and he decided on the plane,
I don't want to take it. And then he goes
and gets the Bears job because he likes Caleb. He
knows that they and so here was a This was
a team that was romanticized. We loved this team. We
loved Ben Johnson. And it does feel like they're not
as sharp offensively. They had to be saved today. They're

(57:14):
not as good defensively. I mean, Aaron Glenn may not
be a great head coach, but fifty top coordinators don't
make it as head coaches. So when I when I
watch them right now, I feel like I'm getting if
last year the fastball, two years ago, the fastball was
ninety nine. Last year it was ninety seven. Now it's
about ninety three. I just think it's hittable. I don't

(57:35):
think they just I mean, listen, they're just too talented
on the offensive side to not score points. Somebody's oh
as hot. But when I watched that game today, I
was like, I thought the Giants had it won.

Speaker 2 (57:51):
Yeah, I mean the line should have lost, like you said,
I mean gives bailed them out, give save their season,
gives save their season. Now he's an exceptional player, just
save any single game. But it felt like the Lions
were gonna lose that game all of a sudden. Would
they not be a lock to be in the playoffs,
I mean they would be in major, major trouble. I
just think sometimes you have the perfect combination, you know,

(58:12):
to be like having like a General Patton having sealed
team six, like good luck against them. And I think
you know, a couple of years ago, Lamar Jackson had
Mike McDonald as his defensive coordinator with John Harbaugh leading
the troops. It doesn't get any better than that. And
now you look back, it's like, well it's not the same.
You know. Dan Quinn once had Kyle Shanahan his offensive coordinators,

(58:32):
like and they had a lead in the Super Bowl,
like these windows. Most people are not Andy Reid mahomes
where you get time and time again you're in the
Super Bowl. Sometimes you look back and you go, God,
that was our one shot. And it does feel like
the Lions, cause again, Aiden Hutchinson is gonna need a massive,
massive contract. They are paying these guys a lot of money, right,

(58:52):
Jared Goff makes a lot of money. Saint Brown makes
a lot of money. Panee Sewell makes a lot of money.
Jamiir Gibbs is going to need a contract. You know. Laporta, now,
who was an exceptional player, just had back surgery. I
love watching the guy. I keep my fingers crossed. But
you never know how guys respond to back surgery. You
just things change really really fast. So I as a

(59:14):
fan of the Lions and kind of what they stood for,
it feels dramatically different this year, he said, personnel wise,
and definitely coaching wise.

Speaker 1 (59:21):
No Jackson Dart, no Scataboo, no Molik Neighbors. The Giants
had five hundred and seventeen yards, dominate time of possession,
twenty five first downs, fifty percent on third down. Like,
I'm sorry, that's that's awful. And Jamis is weird. I
mean he's just such a bizarre I mean he really

(59:42):
he made a couple throws. I mean he's always been
one of those guys. He and Marcus Mariota came out.
They were the top two quarterbacks. Mariota more of a
runner than a thrower. Jamis was a pure thrower, but
he was an interception machine. He's always been productive nobody
and he's got kind of a spirit and a joyfulness
that he's like easy to root for. I watched games.
I'm wildly entertaining.

Speaker 2 (01:00:01):
Same. Can those guys be any more polar Opsit either
Marks Barry Otis says nothing. He's a dink and dunk quarterback.
Jamis never stops talking and flings it fifty yards down
the field every play.

Speaker 1 (01:00:12):
Just just a wild But I Detroit just feels like
it's a very hittable fastball. And that's what I feel
like now, and that's what I Listen, John, this was
this was my off season.

Speaker 2 (01:00:22):
Bitch.

Speaker 1 (01:00:23):
When you lose two elite coordinators, they had coaching jobs,
you have to leave the building. You can't hire both
guys in the building. It's one thing, by the way,
if you had the next McVeigh behind Ben Johnson, but
you lose Ben, you just go to a guy in
the building. And I say this because I've worked in
newsrooms for years and years and we would lose a

(01:00:43):
news director and it was like, we'll go get the
best news director. The assistant news director who's been the
nine years is the news director. If he was that ambitious,
he would have left us and gotten a news director job.
Like so, just always like giving it to the guy
in the building. I'm not a fan of that. I've
seen too many college football programs do the same, where
they hire the popular assistant or coordinator. Ninety percent of
the time, it never works.

Speaker 2 (01:01:05):
You know, you look at these three teams, the Lions,
the Bears, and the Packers, you know, looking at their schedules.
The Bear still they got to play the Eagles, they
got to play the forty nine Ers, they got to
play the Packers twice. The Lions play the Packers this week,
and then the Packers obviously the Bears twice. I can
see this thing going any all three directions. I think
the most pressure given that they made that trade and
they paid Micah. I think you'd be hard pressed to

(01:01:28):
feel good about yourself if you're the Packers and you know,
win this division. I think the pressure solely on them.
The Bears, You're kind of like they're in the casino
right now and they've won a lot of hands of
blackjack and they only came in with one hundred dollars
and they look down. They got a five k next
on them they're playing with a little house money, right, Yeah,
they have the least amount of pressure on them, right,
But you go eight and three, you know, you can't

(01:01:48):
just end the season nine and eight. So there's the
pressure of okay that you get a wild card. But
the pressure is squarely on the Lions Dan Campbell, this
high price roster, and the Packers. One of those two
teams has to win the division. If the Bears do,
something's gonna happen somewhere.

Speaker 1 (01:02:04):
Well, and also the Bears, as you and I watched today,
the Bears are getting better and that's CALO's best game.
Detroit's going the opposite direction, you know, like if you
have an average boss, you get worse over time.

Speaker 2 (01:02:16):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (01:02:16):
Like I feel like Detroit had a couple of really
good weeks, but I don't feel like consistently I get
a good effort from Detroit. I always feel one side
of the ball or the other disappoints me. I think
Chicago's feeling different.

Speaker 2 (01:02:27):
Well, the other two teams have it, you know, the
Packers Half Lee calling the defense, La floors the offense, right,
the Bears, Ben Johnson the offense's baby Dennis. He doesn't
even mess with Dennis Allen and listen, their defensive personnel
is not great. They create a lot of turnovers. You
got Campbell who was yanking to play calling back. I
look today, you know he didn't have the glasses on,
so it's like, is he letting the other guy call plays?

(01:02:48):
It didn't necessarily matter because the offense was humming. But
obviously defensively, you know, Aaron Glenn could just kind of rout.
He just had a lot more experience than the young
guy Kelvin Sheppard this year, who like, they just have
a lot of injuries. And I've kind of theorized I
think that the forty nine ers, I think that the Bears,
I think the Lions. Those programs like to run the ball.

(01:03:10):
I think it wears on you in practice. You know,
back in the eighties and nineties, guys were much more callous.
Do you had double days? I think now in the NFL,
some of these teams that practice hard throughout the season,
the players, there's not like a build up over time.
And I think there might be a little correlation because
the Lions and the forty nine ers, two teams that
want to run the ball, they have a ton of
injuries every single year, and I just wonder if they

(01:03:30):
practice like pretty physical. And I don't know that there's
not a right or wrong way to do it, but man,
these teams have a lot of injuries every single year
coming down the stretch.

Speaker 1 (01:03:47):
All right, two college topics to finish, this will take
ten to fifteen minutes. Number one USC in another big game.
We all knew the three biggest games for USC this year.
At Illinois they surrendered over five hundred yards. At Notre
Dame they gave up four hundred and forty two yards,
and at Oregon they gave up forty two points four

(01:04:09):
hundred and thirty six yards, and the Ducks were missing
their top three receivers. So once again, here we are
in year four, and every time USC is in one
of these big games, those three are all on the road.
They're a very mediocre defense, they're special teams in big games.
A wrack, totally inconsistent. And it was interesting I saw

(01:04:33):
a quote after this loss and Lincoln Riley once again
really kind of snippy with media, very kind of snarky,
and you know, just not able to get through a
press conference with any pointed criticism or anybody questioning anything.

(01:04:53):
His quote was we're very, very close. So they carry
them all twenty seven times for fifty two yards. What
do you think Smart would say four years in if
his Bulldogs had twenty seven carries for fifty two yards
in a big game, he would be embarrassed to say
we're close. He would be freaking on fire. He would

(01:05:15):
be lamenting the physicality he would call on his team.
I just think four years in, I know Lincoln's smart.
I know he's a good offensive coach. I know he's
taken Jade and myav from a reckless UNLV player to
like a second round, third round quarterback draft pick. But
I'm watching another big game with USC and they're not close. Defensively,

(01:05:38):
they're not close. First three years, he didn't recruit Southern
California efficiently. I mean, he's not gonna They're not letting
him go. But it's frustrating to hear right now their
ball proposition, the projection is BYU. Now what USC fan
wants to play BYU in a ballgame and be satisfied

(01:06:00):
with that?

Speaker 2 (01:06:01):
I think the hard thing, too, is that Bred venables
and the Oklahoma is sixty minutes away from being in
the College Football Playoff and Bred Venables is a good example. Right,
He's a defensive guy. His defense dominates and there's a
toughness to his team, and they have a clear identity
if usc and that was I mean, did you think
they had any chance on the road at Oregon? Because not.

(01:06:23):
I feel if they played Let's take Oregon and Notre Dame,
two playoff teams. Oregon's obviously had some injuries. Notre Dame
looks fantastic. If they play those two teams ten times,
I think they lose nine times to both teams. It's football.
It's a one game scenario. Maybe you fumble a couple
of times, get a pick. Weird things happen, but they
aren't even remotely close to those two teams that when

(01:06:44):
you hired Lincoln Riley and the Hoopla and I bought it.
I said, hey, that's a coup. Like what you got
this guy to come, It's going to be awesome. You're
four years in and you're watching these playoff teams. Okay,
they have a great recruiting class in twenty twenty six,
Well what took so long? Yeah, So going into the
fifth year, we finally have the number one or two
recruiting class. I heard something maybe with Bruce Feldman mentioned

(01:07:08):
this that Oregon now, granted they have been a better
program for a while, but part of bringing Lincoln back.
And this is what you know. USC fans like yourself
want the Pete Carroll days. Well, Oregon looks like that
version in USC just looks like an average, you know,
eight nine win college football team. They look you could
replace USC with just Arizona or you know, just a

(01:07:30):
random program. That's what a random program looks like, not
someone that you gave one hundred and twenty million dollars
to and have unlimited in il Now.

Speaker 1 (01:07:37):
John, they didn't have to play Indiana this year, they
didn't have to play Indiana last year. They didn't have
to play Ohio State this year or last year. And
they got Harbaugh out of the conference before they joined.
This could be so much worse. They've gotten complete breaks.
They got Penn State once at home. They got Harbaugh's replacement.

(01:07:59):
We don't know if he's the guy. They didn't face
the buck guys of the Hoosiers. So next year they
face Ohio State and Oregon and Washington and Penn State
and Indiana and Notre Dame. So now they get several
at home. But it's just four years in. When they

(01:08:19):
play elite teams, especially on the road, special teams are
often a disaster and the defense is completely mediocre. That
is the reality. They're pretty good at home. I mean
they played really different football at home because they're comfortable.
Well that's the Big Ten. The SEC road games are

(01:08:43):
discomfort That's how you win in the SEC and the
Big Ten. Ohio State can go into Penn State and win.
It's not about winning the comfortable games. So I you know,
and I'm I am surprised at how efficient and how
successful Oklahoma's been because Brett Venables had never been a

(01:09:07):
head coach, and he was a defensive coach. And the
whole world now moves. The rules are all helping offense.
But I think at this point, four years in with
USC to say we're close, if you face the Buckeyes
both years, you'd have two more devastating blowout losses. You're
not close.

Speaker 2 (01:09:26):
I like Dan Lanning. He seems like a really impressive guy.
He took over kind of a ready made operation. I'd
say the same thing. I would imagine Chip would admit
to this too. Now Dan took him to another level.
The Mario just like Chip took him to another level
from Blotti. But those things Okay, they went from the
seventeenth ranked team to the fourth ranked team. Right, it's

(01:09:46):
a lot different. Lincoln Riley took over Oklahoma, it was
a lot like Dan Lanning kind of Taylor made now
he took it to another level than Stoops had had him.
But that's it's a good landing spot for a job, right,
take over Arkansas tomorrow. If I'm Dan Lanning in four years,
would he be? I don't know. You know, Lincoln came
to USC like that was a very challenging job, right,

(01:10:09):
and a small percentage of guys right in the if
you I don't know if Kirby fits the LA kind
of ethos, but any good code urban nick, like a
high level coach would be able to handle it. But
not everyone can. And there's a level of to me,
it's there's a craziness to you. You can't just be like, oh,
I have a lot of offensive ingenuity, create plays. Okay,

(01:10:30):
there's a lot more to that. You'd be able to
score points any college you're coaching. What about the culture
you set in practice of physicality, because that's how it's
going to translate in this conference. In a lot of
places that come October, let alone November, the weather's not
gonna be great and it might not be freezing cold,
but you're gonna have to play kind of tough bully ball.
Well that's not really how Lincoln wants to play. Why, Well,

(01:10:52):
who taught Lincoln Riley how to coach football? Mike Leach
once upon a time. That's like his roots and what
was Mike Leach who got to higher highs or as
equal Like one thing he struggled with that Lincoln struggles
with is just defensive guys because the style of offense
it doesn't really create a physical element or what Dan
Lanning knows. He knows Nick Saban and he knows Kirby
Smart what their ethos is. That there's a toughness to

(01:11:14):
their team. You see it when you watch them play.
It's why they've transitioned and will transition perfectly with Ohio State.
Indie like their culture is that Michigan like they are
the same. So when I watch Lincoln Riley, you know
Pete Carroll's greatness was physicality and defense. Now, I think
when most people just know Matt Lioner, Reggie Bush but

(01:11:34):
they were defined by their defensive draft picks pros.

Speaker 1 (01:11:39):
They had four linebacker Clay Matthews couldn't start. I mean,
they were just rivers of mal Luga and everybody was.
They were just so good within the front seven.

Speaker 2 (01:11:49):
Yeah, I just I just think it's going to be very,
very challenging. He's lucky Jim's gone because Michigan wouldn't have
and who knows, maybe they upset on how State can,
but how do they match? Like Signetti clearly listen, I
know he rubbed me wrong at first with it, but
he's backed it up. He's clearly a tough guy. You know,
he's he's he's a tough guy. Like you can't. I've

(01:12:09):
always said that you can't fake it. You either are
you aren't. And some offensive guys just aren't, you know.
But like I don't think Sean McVeigh would be known
as like the toughest guy in the block. But he
really values defense, drafting those guys, investing in those guys,
and it's something that he emphasizes, right, And it just
feels like when you watch Lincoln Riley's teams, like you

(01:12:30):
can't convince me that they emphasize that that part of
the ball. You can't just because you pay a defensive
coordinator a lot of money, that doesn't solve your problems.

Speaker 1 (01:12:38):
Yeah, and I think they went heavy into the NIL,
spent their money poorly in some instances outside of Jade
Mayava and Caleb Williams and Jordan Addison, and they neglected
Southern California recruiting in that big pursuit of NIL players.
And they have kind of a I mean, I mean
their defense, they were missing Kamari Ramsey this weekend. They

(01:13:00):
just don't have They don't have any high level pros.
I mean it's at their offense is Makay Lemon and
Jade Myovitz a two man offense. So they just don't
have enough talent. And that is over spending in NIL
and spending poorly and under recruiting Southern California. Former USC
coach briefly Lane Kiffen this and nobody exits quite like Lane.

(01:13:22):
You know, the Tennessee situation like they wanted to burn
his house down. The Raiders was messy. USC got fired
in a tarmac. I was listening to Rick Neuheisel joke
about it this week. He nobody leaves and exits worse
than Lane. Kiffen to me, stay at ol MISS or
go pro. I just think for me, I don't want

(01:13:44):
to bounce around a conference. If you can make twelve million,
old Miss, I'll take that over the sixteen million at LSU.
The governor's involved in LSU. The pressure is much greater
at LSU. Here's what I believe to be true. Lane
knows that high school players IL recruits will follow an
offensive coach. He'll go to the whiteboard and he'll sit

(01:14:05):
down with quarterbacks, tight ends, tackles and receivers, backs and
draw up plays. Offensive players follow the coach. Defensive players
go to the five or six Clemson, Georgia, Notre Dame,
Ohio State. Defensive players aren't as likely to follow coaches
in schemes. They want to go get paid at Texas

(01:14:26):
right or at Georgia. Here Clemson, that's right. Lane can
get those players there. Lane doesn't think consistently, I believe
that he can get elite five star defensive in the
box players. He knows he can get them offensively. Where
he go back to USC and get him it doesn't matter.
And so to me, I think Lane's certainly good enough

(01:14:48):
to do NFL but I think the Lane has proven
over time that when you put him in pressure situations,
he's he doesn't have a filter, he didn't have a governor.
He can be a little bit snarky and off putting
and needs to put his phone down probably more often.
In the end, I think Ole Miss is a great fit,
and I think he'd be excellent in certain NFL cities

(01:15:08):
like Arizona where he could go back west, not high pressure.
They'd be, you know, an offensive coach with McVeigh and Shanahan.
What do you think happens, Well.

Speaker 2 (01:15:18):
I think he feels, you know, he's mastered this college
thing because he goes We just had the greatest three
years in the history of the program at Old Miss,
and it's because of me. Like Lane's feeling himself right
now pretty big so and I don't blame him. I
mean what he's done at Ole Miss is pretty remarkable.
But when I see a lot of people saying he
can't leave because they're not going to let him coach
the playoffs by all accounts in all reports, right, So

(01:15:39):
if they win against Missippi State, he's gonna leave, Like
that will be it. Now. If he loses and leaves
Ole Miss misses the playoffs, it would get as ugly
of an ending as he had in Tennessee. I mean,
it would be pretty Remember Nick Savid told him to
pack his bags and get the hell out of there
going into the National Championship game. But by all reports,

(01:16:00):
and it looks like he's going to LSU. And I
understand because I think he goes, this is not a
sustainable thing at ole Miss, because they're changing the nil
at least, you know, we'll see if it holds. But
you're not just gonna be able to buy players like
ole Miss has been doing. They have been the leader
on the front of just buying guys and lanes on
the right guys. Lane's talent acquisition and I would say

(01:16:22):
talent evaluation has been pretty lights out. I mean, from
Walter Nolan last year to this Division two quarterback he is,
so he goes, you put me at LSU. You put
me you know, if Kaylin Dubore were to go to
Penn State, you know's some rumors out there on that one.
He's just going I will have the best roster. I'll
just have Ohio State two point zero in the South.

(01:16:43):
And so to me, it does feel like he's gonna leave.
I do think this thing is gonna be ugly. Don't
necessarily blame him. I understand people in the South, you know,
kind of especially if you're an old misfan, think you're
getting screwed. But up until three years ago before Nil, well,
there's not a coach alive that would a state at
Old Miss over going to LSU or Florida. Right, So

(01:17:05):
this has changed recently, and maybe he knows that this
is not a sustainable model the way it is, but
only Lane Kiffen can create this type drama. I also
will defend. You know, people go, well, how are you
leaving a team that has a chance to win the
national championship? My pushback would be Ole Miss has no chance.
Their defense isn't good. No team in college or the

(01:17:25):
NFL can win and win a championship with a bad defense.
Now can they win a playoff game? Absolutely, But are
they going to win four straight games? I mean, look
at the two teams last year in the night where
Ohio State and Notre Dame defense matters Texas Georgia. Look
look at the teams making Penn State runs last year. Defense.
His defense isn't good, so he knows that like this
might be as good as it gets. Now listen the

(01:17:48):
timing and I this thing is going to be a
shit show here come Friday, because they play the Egg
Bowl on Friday. You know all this stuff. I mean,
is there an announcement the moment that game ends if
they win that Lane Kiffin has agreed to a ded
with LSU feels like Jimmy Sexton's kind of being the
puppet master here the SEC, the O, the other thing
Colin all these schools like the NFL, right, the SEC,

(01:18:10):
they're all in business together and they have a historic
television deal making seventy five eighty million dollars a year.
Say no different in the NFL, right, the Rams and
the Niners and the Steelers and the Ravens, they're all
in business together. Yet they all work together like you
can't the Giants just because they have Jackson Dark can't
just go steal McVeigh or Kyle right because they're all
under the same umbrella. Yet in college athletics, the SEC,

(01:18:34):
the two other SEC schools that look down upon Ole
miss are trying to steal their coach. So you know,
I hear all this stuff about the business model. You
could argue, it's all out of whack. You can just
steal coordinators. When USC needed a coordinator, what did they do?
They just took UCLAs. If I just need a defensive coordinator,
I just can't steal Robert Sala from the forty nine ers.
It doesn't work that way. So whenever I hear about

(01:18:56):
the business one thing college athletics, whenever they do get
to kind of the NFL version of wherever they end up,
there has to be some sort of if you're under
contract with me, right, you can't just steal go to
That's not the way it works. There's a you know,
another broadcast network can't just steal Colin Coward. If I'm
under contract with you, I can't just go to someone else,

(01:19:16):
a podcast network steal me. That's not the way business works.
Yet in college it's like, yeah, I'm LSU, I plan
on stealing you before the playoffs even start. Like that's
just their own business models a little out of whack.
Given the numbers in which they're now generating, they got
to figure that out.

Speaker 1 (01:19:32):
Yeah, well, I mean they listen. It's they didn't play
the same number of I mean SEC for years didn't
play the same number of conference games as other conferences,
so they can't get their schedule. You know, that's a
podcast all onto itself. So all right, hard rock bet.
I like Carolina plus seven. The two dogs I like

(01:19:54):
this week were Dallas that was the one blazing five
pick that I left on the edit room floor, or
I like Carolina plus seven. First of all, they've been
a pretty good road team. Second of all, offensively, t
mac is a star. He is a bona fide number one.
Bryce Young has played well at home and on the road.
The team is playing well, and I think if you

(01:20:17):
go look at the Niners this year after wins, they've
been wildly uneven. They've played some of their worst games
this year. At just the moment, you feel they're focused
in getting it back together. So everybody now is all
in on the Niners. But now they're healthier. But seven points,

(01:20:37):
I mean, look around the league today. That Pittsburgh Chicago
game went down to the end, there were very few
Seattle Tennessee was tight touchdowns, a lot of points. Carolina
fighting for a playoff spot. I'm taking the Panthers to
keep it within a field goal though the Niners win
at home.

Speaker 2 (01:20:57):
Yeah, I'm with you with the Panthers and the points.
I do like the Niners to win this game. They're
a bright light primetime team. Kyle Shanahan usually does his
best work on primetime. But Nick Bosa, Fred Warner, they're
missing a lot of bodies that they can't stop a soul.
I like the Niners to win this thing. About thirty
five to thirty.

Speaker 1 (01:21:15):
Well, we discussed a lot wild win for the Cowboys
and the Bears. The Vikings are in trouble. We're not
sure what to make of the Lions, the Packers. Shudure
probably better than most thought. Good for him, John Izolis,
what a crush. Let's go watch the Rams and Bucks.

Speaker 2 (01:21:31):
See you con

Speaker 1 (01:21:35):
The volume
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