November 12, 2018 • 38 mins
Doug gives his thoughts on the Cowboys getting a win over the Eagles and why Dak Prescott is the same QB, while the NFL has evolved. He also points out 1 thing NFL fans wildly overreacted to earlier in the season. And 7x All Pro offensive lineman Joe Thomas joins the show to tell Doug how much he misses the NFL.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Thanks for listening to the best of the Doug Gottlieb
Show podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weekday
from three to six pm Eastern Time that's twelve to
three Pacific on Fox Sports Radio. Find your local station
for the Doug Gottlieb Show at Fox Sports Radio dot com,
or stream us live every day on the I Heart
Radio app by searching fs R. This is the best
(00:22):
of the Doug Gottlieb Show on Fox Sports Radio. Boom,
What Up America, Doug Gottlieb Show, Fox Sports Radio. Come
intee you from the beautiful sunny city of Angels where. Hey,
I may be wrong, but it feels like we got
(00:42):
the best set of football teams of any major city
in the country. Uh, all right, we got a lot
to get to. Jimmy Butler is a member of the
Philadelphia seventies sixers. That seemed to happen really fast. Um,
and why one end of the deal you the team
that you feel like gets the better end of the deal,
(01:02):
somehow doesn't usually get the better end of the deal.
We'll get to that upcoming. Um. Also, things that we
freaked out about to start the season in the NFL.
We apparently shouldn't have been freaking out about, which is
what I told you at the time. It's this is
the I told you so. Portion of the show will
get to Joe Thomas, all Pro offensive lineman now retired
(01:22):
Cleveland Browns, gives us his take. I want to get
his take on the Saints offensive line, which is performing
as well as, if not better than anyone in the league,
and what he saw from Baker Mayfield and the Cleveland
Browns and their dominant performance yesterday against the Atlanta Falcons.
Trent Dilfer join us, Michael Lombardi will join us, Chris
Mannets will join us. Cover in the NBA for Yahoo Sports.
We have we have the entirety of the sports landscape
(01:44):
to cover for you. I just got back from calling
my first game play by play ever ever, and I
did an NFL on radio. My thanks to the people
at Compass Media Networks and Brian Baldinger. They were gentle
with me. Um and I I you learned so much
in watching an NFL game in person, and you learned
(02:05):
so much in preparing for those games and talking to
NFL people. You just do and so I'm just fascinated
at really the Cowboys win last night, because I don't
think I saw it coming, and maybe the the foreshadowing
that I had for people in the off season of
(02:28):
what the Philadelphia Eagles season would look like came to fruition.
I think that's fair. So I don't want to cast
dispersions on Dak Prescott. He was good last night, thirty
six two seventy yards, one touchdown, owner receptions. Zekiellett was
phenomenal last night. You know, nineteen carries a hundred fifty
(02:49):
one yards, best player on the field, Plus he had
six catches. Thought Dak showed the ability in the play calling,
showed the ability to spray the ball around. Gallop had
a couple of catches. Dalton Scholtz at a couple of catches.
Called Beasley had four catches, Omari Cooper had six catches.
Alan Hearns had a couple of catches. And this was
this was generally the Cowboys game plan coming into the season.
(03:11):
If you remember Ryan Music and John Ramos and Dan
buy Are good to catch up with all of you guys.
We went to Cowboys camp and their whole thing was like, look,
we may not have a number one, but we got
a bunch of you know, one Bees and two a's
and we're gonna spread the ball around to a bunch
of guys instead of locking in on Dez Bryant. And
(03:31):
and last night was probably the first time it played
out as such. And keeping in mind they haven't had
Jason Witten, who they thought they were gonna have, you know,
part of the plan was to still have Jason Witten
even if he couldn't run. He can always catch and
you could always get open. So best late plans of
mysonm and often go awry, and the Cowboys are struggled.
(03:51):
They didn't expect to not have Travis Frederick either. But
I in watching the Saints in person, watching them warm up,
watch their tape, watching their game satstin punt yesterday, and
the Saints defensive backfield is not great. I mean, they're
basically covering the fact that Eli Apple, who the Cowboys
couldn't wait to see me who the Giants couldn't wait
(04:13):
to get rid of rid of. It's actually better than
what they had working on that side of the field previously.
And they're always having to shadow him with a with
the safety anyway, like their defensive backfield air linebackers or
you know, uh, they're they're okay, you know, but there
(04:35):
their defensive backs are okay. That's the weakness to the team.
They're the number one rush defense in football, but past defense,
which is what everybody does. So how are they the
hottest team in football? We watch yesterday? They got the ball,
they had the ball for eight and a half minutes.
They sprinkle it in because they can run it, they
can pass it. They just find mismatches. They generally don't
(04:56):
hit you on many explosive plays. The only really had
one pass play over twenty yards in terms of the
ball traveling more than twenty yards down the field yesterday,
and yet they completely and utterly eviscerated the Bengals. Now,
you can tell me that the Bengals are awful defensively.
That's why they fired Tarrell Austin, their defensive coordinator. Earlier today,
(05:17):
it would be a fair argument, Hey, good offense comes
in lights up bad defense. They get rid of defensive coordinator.
But the Saints are only marginally better defensively than they
were during Drew brees Is down years. The league has
come around to Drew Brees style to the Saints of style.
The only thing missing from the Saints team is they
don't get the turnovers that they got during the Super
(05:39):
Bowl winning year. But this is an offensive game. And
so when I look at Doc and I see like,
this is this is the good the good. Doc is
two seventy yards mostly sprinkling it around in and around
the line of scrimmage. He's a viable weapon, not just
to throw it, but also to run it. Occasionally I
(06:02):
look around and I'm like, look, I don't think I
think Doc has gotten better. And because everybody gets better
with experience. I called the game yesterday. I wish I
call one today or this upcoming weekend. I would be
so much better the second time than I was the
first time. You gotta you have to experience it in
order to understand what you gotta do better. But I
(06:24):
also think that the league, they don't just catch up
to a Dak Prescott. I'm just catch up to a
Carson Wentz. Just catch up to you. The league is
also evolved into one of these. If you're not an
accurate pinpoint passer, if you don't have an offense that
tries to find that mismatch of linebacker on running back
(06:46):
or safety on slot guy, or you're a one week
cornerback getting exposed in man to man coverage. If you
don't have those, if you if you can't do that,
you can't win on third down. If you can't win
on third day, and you can't win the league. And
so I'm not telling you that the Cowboys, fresh off
(07:06):
of wind should be sitting there telling themselves that Dak
Prescott stinks. I also didn't agree with the idea of
giving Dak Prescott a contract extension, especially considering he's going
to ask for, maybe even demand to be compensated at
the level of the top five quarterbacks in the NFL,
because that's what new quarterback contracts always are. But I
will tell you that if you like Dak now you
(07:28):
liked him five months ago, you liked him ten months ago.
Two d seven yards like you want, passed the three
yards handful of times in his entire NFL career. This
is who he is. And while the league has caught
up a little bit to his style, the league has
also changed and evolved. This is no different than basketball. Look,
(07:51):
I think Dak will be fine, and if you can
sign him to a deal which ultimately kind of settles
in the middle of the pack quarterback. I think that's reasonable.
The problem is no one's ever reasonable with their asking
price for a new quarterback contract. But this is no
different than or it's slightly different, but there's some similarities
(08:11):
there too, Like Dwight Howard or Karmalo Anthony might get
cut by the Houston Rockets. Now, is Karmelo Anthony a
little bit over the hill? Sure? Does he struggle with
us accepting a role where he doesn't touch the ball?
Is often? Sure, as he struggled defensively and gets caught
on bad switches and if you're it's really really hard
to hide him. Sure, but some of those things were
(08:34):
still problems five years ago. The differences the league has changed.
Where he scores is in the mid range and the
post up, and those those are ball stopping parts to
a game which no one likes to play anymore. Now
you're either a ball screen dominant, ball dominant guard with
ball in your hands, playing downhill, or you're a catching
shoot big guy or a three and D wing and
(08:58):
he has none of these things. In the National Football
League at quarterback, either you're you're you're a guy who
can make adjustments to the line of scrimmage and as
a super brilliant Mike supercomputer with a laser accurate arm,
or you're pretty accurate, you're big, you're mobile, and you've
(09:19):
got a huge arm downfield. Dak Prescott's kind of neither
of those. He's more the big thrower, the guy who
can take some heat, the guy he can. He's like
a a mini version of a Cam Newton, but he
doesn't quite have that arm, doesn't quite have uh he
the athletic ability and isn't quite as big. So part
(09:43):
of it is the league catches up to Dak. Part
of it is the league evolves. That said, as much
turmoil as has been around the Dallas Cowboys, with a
win on the road in Philadelphia, they're sitting there at
four and five, tied with Philly in a division where
be because they'll win the damn thing. Be sure to
catch live editions so the Doug Dot Leap Show weekdays
(10:04):
in noon eastern three pm Pacific on Fox Sports Radio
and the I Heart Radio app. Remember when people were
freaking out, freaking out about the new rules as far
as hitting a quarterback, You know Miami as a guy
who gets a sack like wow, he tore his knee
because he was trying to avoid landing on the quarterback,
(10:24):
or he just tore his knee standing up non contact.
That means that knee was going to go no matter what.
All the penalties that Clay Matthews had, you know, seven
two weeks in a row between the Packers and has
anyone had this discussion the last month? Nope? I haven't
(10:45):
heard it once. I so so my process. People ask
this all time. I want to do to prepare for
your show. Honestly, I watch a lot of games. Um,
I do a good amount of reading, and then I
listened to other people's sports show that I like, and
I go, there's a topic that. Now it doesn't mean
I like or steal their takes. I got my own
way of kind of looking at things, but I want
(11:06):
to know what everybody I feel like. It's talking about
the guys I respect nationally on Fox Sports Radio and
occasionally other places. You know, I haven't heard in last month.
I haven't heard anybody bring up, oh you that terrible
new rule where you can't land on a player? Do
you know why? As we told you, players will adjust
and the officiating will adjust. Right. It's it's like the
(11:32):
start of a relationship started the relationship. You'd never go
out on shaven, he'd always go out with a belt on.
You're never gonna pick her up in sweats. You're always
gonna be super early, your car is gonna be clean.
And then eventually you get to like the real representative
of who you are, and you're like, look, I've been
pretty clean, and I've been pretty formal, and how I've
(11:53):
and pretty conservative and how I've approached this whole thing.
Let's kind of go with that. But you kind of
loosen up as the that the dating continues. That's what
happens in sports. Early on, they draw hard and fast
lines because they want to keep the quarterbacks on the field.
We don't want any more Aaron Rodgers. We just don't
(12:17):
um don't want another Aaron Rodgers situation where somebody lands
on him and breaks his collar bone. Don't want another
Tony Romo. We want these quarterback as many quarterbacks to
stay in the league as possible, to keep him up right.
Can't him below the knee, can't above the neck, and
he can't land on him. And you know what, it's worked.
(12:40):
It's worked. Tell tell me the quarterback that's that's hit
and torn up his knee. Tell me the quarterback that's
been out with a concussion, right. I mean the hardest
hit was on the Deshaun Watson who who had a
collapse long. I mean, that dude is so tough they
end up driving him to a game. But that was
a good, clean heart hit, not preventable. We didn't penalize anybody.
(13:03):
Aaron Rodgers playing this year? Yep? Did he play last year? No,
he got hurt. Russell Wilson, Why does every Russell Wilson
game end up with him running around trying to lead
a come back with the Seahawks. Sometimes they pull it off,
sometimes they don't. I was watching that last drive in
the airport in Chicago last night, and I turned to
somebody was like, isn't every Seattle game in like this?
(13:25):
Dan Buyers And they're going, yes, every Seattle game actually
ends like this, every single one. But Russell Wilson still playing,
Jared Gals still playing, Matt Ryan still play. I mean
it's Joe Flacco is the only one who might sit
because of a hip. That's it. Like Jamis Winston got pulled,
(13:45):
but he got pulled because he sucked, not because he
got hurt. So they established rules that would help keep
guys healthy at the most important position. It's worked. And
oh yeah, by the way, they've dialed it back, because
guys have dialed back how they're getting after the quarterback
and we haven't heard high nor hair like. The only
(14:05):
thing I've heard less of is remember when the NFL
was going to conduct a study on the air pressure
in Football's that no one's ever heard any results of that.
By the way, it's because the Patriots, I probably didn't
take any air out of football. They probably were just
playing with lightly inflated footballs, that's it. And the weather
(14:26):
did cause the balls to lose lose inflation, and that
does actually happen. That is a real thing in sports,
and the only logical conclusion because if the NFL we
got them, we got the Patriots, they would have announced
it as such, but they didn't. That's the only thing
I've heard less of. That is the only thing that
(14:47):
ranks above the can't land on a quarterback, which everyone
seemed to complain about in the preseason the first two
weeks this season, and no one has spoken of since. Right, Oh,
this is football as we knew it is over. It's over.
There's no contact two hand touch. Why don't we put
flags on them? Remember that now we're not doing jacked
(15:11):
up segments. But I saw Quinn Nelson. You guys see
the video Quenton Nelson as a pulling guard from the Colts,
screaming while he does it, and he just road graded
a dude from Jacksonville. You remember then, Yeah, yeah, this,
And I've I've heard people of football is under attack
lest not just trying to keep your quarterbacks healthy and
(15:34):
trying to keep people's brain healthy. And then if you
want to be a battering ram, you still have injuries.
Cooper Cup sadly towards a c l in Sunday's game.
My guess is that he had a weakness in the
knee going back to the original injury in Denver. But
still you still have injuries. Still stinks, But the quarterbacks
(15:55):
are still playing. And all of that nonsense about ruining
the sport and completely changed in the sport. NFL offenses
around all time high. They wanted that quarterbacks are in
and not getting hurt. That's one of the reasons that
scoring and and points are up. And whenever contact you make,
you can obviously adjust, Otherwise there would be more penalties.
(16:17):
I hate to be the guy who mentions if the
ratings are up to be sure to catch live editions,
So the Doug dot Leaps show weekdays in noon eastern
three pm Pacific. Joe Thomas was seven time All Pro.
Sure to be a Hall of Fame offensive of all
the Fame offensive lineman kind of have to join us
on the Doug Gotlup Show on Fox Sports Radio. Joe,
I've gotten really soft. I mean I was, I lived.
(16:39):
I was born in Wisconsin. I lived in Connecticut like
twelve the last sixteen years. I've been on the West
coast now back for oh about thirteen fourteen months. I
went to Cincinnati. Was only forty degrees, it was sunny,
and I scored it out my hands. My feet were
absolutely freezing. You haven't gotten soft in your retirement, have you.
(16:59):
It didn't even take me a year to get soft.
I got soft within the first six months. But I'd
say had a bunch of times. And that stadium can
get pretty cold. That wind off the river can just
cut right through that stadium. And some of the coldest
games I've ever played. And we're actually at Paul Brown Stadium. Yeah,
the river is right outside the stadium. And uh and
and it is kind of open, sort of in that
(17:20):
end zone. I want to ask you about the Saints
who are so dominant. They got Garrll Austin fired right,
and they don't punt yesterday and I was working with
Brian Baldinger and he's like, you gotta watch this offensive
line work from the New Orleans Saints. What have they
done to get it all together to be the perfect
offensive line for the way Drew Brees plays. Well, they're
(17:41):
always blocking for a spot that's you know, seven yards deep,
so they're they're trying to create a firm pocket up front.
But then all of those rushers to try to rush
up the field. And they know that Drew Brees, he
gets through the ball so quickly that if somebody tries
to rush up the field, they just can't get there.
So they fit their scheme perfectly with how Drew Brees
loves to play. Joe Thomas joining us on behalf of Polaris,
(18:02):
We'll get to that in a moment. Cowboys get a
win on the road over the Philadelphia Eagles. There's been
a lot of talk about, Hey, you lose Travis Frederick,
and that's why this offensive line hasn't looked as cohesive,
hasn't looked as dominant as it had going back two
years ago. What do you see from the Cowboys offensive
line last night against the Philadelphi Eagles. Well, I think
(18:24):
what you see as a quarterback that's playing better. A
lot of times, the offensive line they get way too
much credit, uh when a quarterback plays well, and they
get too much blame when the quarterback doesn't play well
because a lot of times just the quarterbacks not throwing
the ball in time. It doesn't matter who's up there
blocking in front, they're gonna be getting that quarterback hit
and they're gonna be taking a lot of the blame.
But do you get a quarterback that's playing a little
(18:44):
bit better. Dank Prescott plays a little bit better the
other night, and all of a sudden everyone says that
all the problems that they have to have been fixed.
And I agree. Missing Travis Frederick is a is a
big blow to that offensive line. But I still think
overall they're a really good offensive line and they can
play really well, but they just need that quarterback position
to play much better. Obviously, your former team, the Browns,
made a change head coach and coordinator and UH last
(19:08):
week he was as really conservative game plan this week,
obviously that game plan has helped out when Nick Chubb
runs for one seventy six. What's changed in not just
the play calling but also the personnel groupings UH, in
the in the past two weeks since changing play callers. Well,
I think usually in Duke Johnson on the field a
lot more with Nick Chubb, and that's given defensive problems
(19:29):
because they don't know how to handle both those guys. Uh.
Duke Johnson being targeted targeted in the passing game has
made a big impression on that offense and and really
helped boost that offense. Baker Mayfield, he's playing really well.
He was really efficient in the game yesterday. I think
he was like seventeen out of twenty and three touchdowns
as many touchdowns as he had incompletions. He was just
(19:50):
lights out. But you got an offensive coordinator and Freddy Kitchens.
He's calling great games because he's got nothing to lose.
He's on an interim basis. He can go out there
and call trick plays. He can be unpredictable, you can
call play action passes when his offense is in their
own end. Zone. So I think it's a great position
for that offense to be in. And I think you're
seeing that good growth from Baker Mayfew that quarterback, and
(20:12):
that's exactly why they decided to make the changes that
they did in the middle of the season. Yeah, a
little bit of bowl game offense, right that that's when
you when you when you're an interim offensive coding or
you can gotta run that bowl game Like, how let's
just take a shot at it. That's a great way
to put it. Yeah, it's it's that bowl game offense. Hey,
it doesn't matter. We can take some risks. If they
don't pan out, oh well, but let's have some fun
(20:33):
with it. Let's cut it loose. Let that let these
guys play some football, and I think you're seeing some
great results. Joe, you miss it. You did it for
a long time. Do you miss it? You always miss
it when things are going well. And it's easy now
that you're retired to only remember the good parts and
the only remember the easy stuff that was fun. But
I think I have enough of a elephant memory that
(20:56):
I remember how hard it was for me to get
out of bed on those Mondays and how difficult it
was for me to be able to prepare for those
games on Sunday, and how really it was just not
tenable anymore. And so as much as you miss the
winds in the locker room and everything, you can't ever
separated in your memory, you know how the pain that
you went through, especially at the end of the season,
(21:16):
from how much fun it is to go out there
and strap it up and win a game. Joe Thomas
joining us in the Doug Gallup Show on Fox Sports Radio,
I want to ask you about the Steelers. Tomorrow is
the day in which Levan Bell. We're told he won't
show up, um, but tomorrow is the day which will
know officially he shows he doesn't show up, And I
don't think anyone would argue whether or not he has
(21:37):
more overall God given talent than James Connor. But there's
something about Connor. Maybe it's his personal story, Maybe it's
connection to Pittsburgh having played college football there. Maybe it's
the fact that you know, he has shown the ability
to step up when there was all the noise about
Levy on Beltman. It's probably all of the above. But like, look, man,
(21:58):
you've been in those locker rooms and we're hearing offensive
lineman speak out essentially on his behalf, which is kind
of unheard of to ever, you know, divide a locker
room with players that may happen inside the locker room,
but but never publicly from offensive lineman outside the locker room.
Have you ever seen this before where a team just
goes like, hey, you know what, James Connor is our
guy and we're kind of over Levian Bell. Because that's
(22:20):
what it feels like to us the fan. It's definitely
an unusual situation. I'm not sure I've ever seen it before. Obviously,
going back to the contract dispute, the player just flat
out saying, hey, I don't want your franchise take I'm
just not gonna play this year. I'd rather take zero
dollars this year and go to free agency. That's obviously unique.
And then to have your own offensive line players in
the locker room calling you out in the media, it's
(22:42):
really unique. And man, honestly, if Levian Bell shows up,
that's gonna be a toxic situation. We don't think he will,
but I guess anything can happen in this type of situation,
So if he does show up, it's I was gonna
make some for some good drama me myself and the media. Now,
I would love for him to show up because that
would give me something to talk about for a few
weeks my award winning Tomahawk podcast. Yeah, it's It's fascinating
(23:04):
though if you think about it, like there is something
to guys who people believe in in people like as
opposed to a guy who might have more talent. Right,
is that that's fair, isn't it? Oh? Absolutely? I mean
desire and want to that has a big impact on
how well you play on Sundays. And just because somebody's
got ability doesn't mean that you have what it takes
to make it in the NFL. There's thousands of guys
(23:27):
that have had way more ability but not been able
to make it in the NFL because they don't have
to drive, they don't have to want to that it
takes to be able to go out on a Sunday
and take those hits that you have to take and
then wake up on a Monday morning at six am
and get in the weight room and getting the training
room and get yourself right to do it again the
next week. That's not something that every person has, and
(23:47):
so you've got to have that drive if you want
to make it in the NFL. Right, I read what
you're doing this deal with Polarish to kick off Ranger
Country Heroes Hunt. It's a program to develop and celebrate
veterans and raise awareness for funding for LEAK that's L
e e. K hunting and Mountain Preserve. What is what
is Leak and what's Polaris? What are you even players
doing for? Yeah? So I'm really excited to be partnering
(24:10):
with the Polaris Ranger on their Ranger Country Heroes Hunt
program where this year they're raising money for LEAK, which
is a hunting preserve out in Pennsylvania that I got
a chance to go to this fall that helps rehabilitate
our nation's veterans. And I got a chance to go
out there and spent some time with some Army and
Marine Corps vets and just see firsthand how being in
(24:32):
the outdoors and sharing that fellowship with fellow marines is
giving these guys an ability to heal as they transition
back to civilian life. And it's really a special thing.
And Rangers trying to donate a hundred thousand dollars so
that LEAK is able to expand their program to be
able to serve and help more vets. And the cool
thing I think about LEAK that separates itself from a
(24:54):
lot of other veterans programs is all veteran run. It's
owned by a former veteran or excuse me, a veteran
of I think he was in the Army, And it's
just a really neat program to be involved with. And
I think it's a great program um this Veterans Day
as we're celebrating today, to be able to go out
there and donate and uh support our vets. Alright, So
(25:15):
last thing, obviously, famously, when you were drafted, you were fishing,
which is pretty much the coolest thing ever. Uh. When
you hunt, you dear You're a dear guy. You a
bird guy, you a bear guy, You're a wild hog guy.
Like you can only elk, you can only go hunting
for one thing. What's your what's your what's your game?
Best at? I like to get out and do all
(25:36):
of it, you know. When I was at LEAK this fall,
it was really cool because we got to do some
deer hunting in the morning with some of the vets,
and then we actually did a little pheasant hunt in
the afternoon. So the outdoor opportunities at Leak are endless, hunting, fishing.
Even if you're not into that stuff, they do camping.
They allow vets to bring their whole family out there.
It's it's really a lot of fun, and for a
guy like me to be able to be just a
(25:56):
little bit of part of that was really cool. I'm
great lyman. Thanks for joining us so much. We really
appreciate by the way. You go to donate dot one
cause dot com, slash Heroes Hunt or text to five
one to five, five to one. That's the one and only.
Joe Thomas joining us on the Doug Gottlip Show on
Fox Sports Radio. Fox Sports Radio has the best sports
(26:19):
talk lineup in the nation. Catch all of our shows
at Fox sports Radio dot com and within the I
Heart Radio app search f s R to listen live.
Michael Lombardi is a former general manager in the NFL.
He also has a great, great podcast called gm Streech
download listen to it, I do, and then you can
pick up his book, grid Iron Genius Master Class and
(26:40):
Winning Championships and Building Dynasties in the NFL. It's on
sale now. Let's work backwards, shall we, Michael, Let's let's
start with the Dallas Cowboys. Obviously, when they can run
it with Zeke Elliott, uh, it changes the entire game. Um,
do you think last night's performance bodes well for the
rest of the season for the voice? You know, that's
(27:01):
always gonna be a hard one. I'm not sure he's
gonna have that kind of game every week, especially when
he faces a better defense. So you know, the Eagles
run defense typically was very good. Now this week he
goes against Atlanta, which doesn't have a run defense, so
you know they're gonna have to make some plays in
the passing game like they did last night. But I
think more than anything, their defense played to a level
(27:22):
that it didn't play against Tennessee on Monday night. It
created some problems for Carson Wentz. It forced him to
to make some froze he wholy didn't want to make,
and I thought they were around the ball quite a bit.
I don't know how far this Cowboy team can go
because at some point when teams take away the run,
they're not a very good left handed team. No, no,
they're not. And that that brings you back to last
(27:43):
week's comments where Jerry Jones said Dak's gonna get an extension,
which obviously leads you to think that there's going to
be some sort of coaching change unless they win this
division get to the playoffs. Um, if you were advising Jerry,
they don't have to give Dak an extension and they
can let him play the market at the end of
next year, they can franchise, tag him whatever. But there
(28:04):
is the idea that he's been a starting quarterback playing
in a fourth round picks contract. How do you realistically
approach that if you were in that front office, Well,
I think you got to design an offense that fits him.
I don't think they utilize his skill set very well. Doug.
I think he's a guy who can run. He can
do more with his feet than they allowing him to do.
He's not a classical drop back passer. You know, he
(28:26):
can run that read option. He can do a lot
of things that these mobile quarterbacks are doing in the
league today. And I think if they took a little
bit more of what he did at Mississippi State with
Dan Mullen and utilize that kind of attack, I think
they would be better suited for Dak. Prescott and it
would help his receivers get open because they have a
hard time separating. So for me, I think that this is, uh,
(28:47):
this is a situation. I don't think we've seen the
best at DOC. I think when you look at it
last year, when you look at it this year, just
take third and short, third and four plus. You know
the Cowboys ranking twenty nine in the NFL in that
category this year when he was coming really good with
Jason Witten and Dez Bryan in two thousands sixteen, they
ranked fourth. Now, has Dez gotten that worse from his
(29:07):
rookie season? I doubt it. But people know their plays
pretty well. Their scheme isn't exactly complex. Uh, you're talking
about Dez Briant. He came back all thirty six hours
he was with the Saints, he tears his achilles tendon
um and and look at this. Some of this becomes
social media or people don't know how to react to it.
But my point on social media was, hey, when you're
(29:27):
in your thirties and you're not with the team, even
if you're in regular shape, you're not in football shape.
You know, the Saints put out there that he was
five pounds overweight, so they might not addressed him on Sunday.
Anytime you put out that guy's five pounds overweight, he's
probably more ten pounds overweight. Is this one of those
warnings to older players or is this just the numbers
game and guys happened to get hurt sometimes? You know,
(29:50):
I think the Achilles tending to me is strange because
guy's young. Ronald carry toward twice when he played for
the Raiders, and he was under twenty seven years old,
you know, and in shape. So it's kind of a
funny thing. You just never really know to wear and
tear on a guy's body and how it how it
affects him. Back in the day when you had an Achilles,
your career was over. Now they can prepare him. They
come back stronger than ever. But you're right, I mean
(30:11):
Das wasn't doing anything he went up to Cleveland. I
didn't think he was in shape, just watching them do
that stuff there on hard knocks. I don't think he
put the time or the effort. And that will be
the question of Levy on Bell besides to sign his
tender to bar what kind of shape is he actually?
And I know he's been working out in Miami, but
working out in football shape are two different things. So
I would say every time a guy and mrs time,
he's gonna pull a hamstring, pool calf, muscle, something's gonna happen.
(30:33):
That's gonna set him back. It's it's a great point. Okay,
So Levy, there's talk that Levyan Bell won't show up.
Let's say he does show up. And obviously that locker
room loves James Conner. On the other hand, Levy on
Bell is a remarkably talented guy. How does that work.
You're in the you're in the stretch runt of the season,
the teams playing really really well. You do have this guy,
(30:54):
he is talented. You have to pay him, so you
might as well play him some How do you handle that?
Look at the way I would handle him, as vert,
real simple. I would just bring I would bring him back,
make him earn his way back onto the team. I
wouldn't give him anything. I don't think you can. I
think you lose your team if you do that. You
know he's been he's been in Miami. You know Jet
Ski and as Don Martindale said, and meanwhile, everybody's been
(31:17):
in camp since July. I don't think he just turned
around the hand out starting jobs. You've got to earn
them back. And the way Connors played, you'll lose your
team if you don't. And the other thing is if
you give him too many reps, he's gonna pull a
muscle and he's gonna miss you in a significant time.
I mean, just look at Leonard for Nett. Not that
he missed camp, but once the back pools, it's hard
to get it back. We saw it with other players
(31:38):
in the league. So I would bring him back. I
would take my two week exemption that the league is
gonna give me. I wouldn't dress him for two weeks.
I would go about my business and I would integrate
him back in until he proved that he practiced hard
and wanted to help the team, and he showed his
teammates he wanted to come back, not just me. Michael
Lombardi joining us in the doug Outlives show here on
Fox Sports Radio. Let's get to the Baltimore Ravens. Joe
(32:01):
Flacco has got a hip issue, may keep him out
this week. They gave the guys a bunch of time off,
and there's the thought of using Lamar Jackson but you've
got to completely change the offense. Then you got r
G three there, who actually won the backup job um
in the preseason. What do you do if your Baltimore.
I really think Baltimore desperately needs to get Lamar Jackson
more integrated. And if Taysom Hill can have a significant
(32:25):
role for the New Orleans Saints, why can't Lamar Jackson
have one. I mean, Taysom Hill has been outstanding. He
runs hard, third and two they put him, and Drew
Brees is having an m VP season. He doesn't seem
to have a problem being extended out Tastom Hill control
a pass. Lamarkets throw a way more passes. So I
think that I think the Ravens are doing themselves a disservice.
They don't make enough big players on offense for them
(32:46):
to not utilize the skill set of what Lamar Jackson
can bring. And it can't be just a trick play
here or there. They've got to have him involved with
the offense and they've got to utilize his skill set.
To me, it's now or never for Baltimore. Look, they
all know they're getting fired if they don't advanced into
the playoffs. That's not been a secret that owners mandated
at back last spring. We either go to the playoffs
(33:07):
or I'm cleaning house. And if that's the case, then
I would utilize all the talent that I have a
board to try to get there. I think that I
think they've done a poor job offensively of trying to
utilize the skill set of Flacco and then trying to
integrate what Lamar Jackson can do. They just just want
to run their plays and they don't seem to be
adhering to what their talent based tells them. Doug gotlib
(33:28):
show here on Fox Sports Radio that that's the voice
of Michael Lombardi. A lot of people have been praising
the l A Chargers. They're set to get Joey Bosa back.
They handled their business well enough against Raiders, but now
they lose Denzel Perriman as their middle linebacker. How much
does that change them? Well, I think it's gonna hurt them.
Hayes Pollard isn't the same player, obviously. I think Bosa
(33:50):
back will help. But I didn't think they played their
a game yesterday. They really didn't look as Sharper as
Chris offensively. Melvin Gordon was sensational. I mean, you talk
about the screen past, Wow, what a play. But to me,
I think one of the greatest runs I've seen this
season was the fourth and one that he got three
yards on. It looked like he was gonna lose five yards.
I mean, that was one of the best runs I've
ever seen in my NFL career. It was remarkable. He
(34:12):
had him tinned on the silent and yet he games
they gained two more yards. I didn't think Rivers was
as sharp as he's been in the past, and I
just didn't think their team was in it. The good
part was it didn't miss the field go or an
extra point. Now that's something to celebrate if you're a
Los Angeles Charger fan. I think they got to take
their game up and notch. They played to the level
of the Raiders, and they played well enough to beat him.
But I think they got to get much better and
they've got to improve, and they can't let have these
(34:35):
laws because these laws will create some issues for him.
Michael Lombardi joining us on the Doug Gotlib Show. How
good are the Bears? I think that's the great question. Look,
the Bears level of cops and the teams at the
Bears have won six games against combined record as eighteen
and thirty seven. You know, and the Bears have are
the beneficiaries are really of a soft schedule other than
(34:56):
playing the Rams in Los Angeles having to go to Minnesota.
I don't think there's a hard game on their schedule left.
They're gonna make the playoffs. I think now we're gonna
see what Mitchell Trobinsky can do. I love how all
the Chicago media saying the national media doesn't understand. You know,
we do get direct TV, we do get the Sunday ticket.
We've seen every Bears game, and going into last week,
Mitchell Drabinsky was nine on frozen over ten yards eight
(35:20):
eight eight touchdowns, six interceptions. A lot of his work
is done behind the line of scrimmage or within ten yards.
Yesterday he made a couple of froze broken coverages. Look,
the Lions defensively are one of the worst secondaries in football.
They didn't have Darius Flay. They give up an opposing
quarterback rating of a hundred and twenty, and they give
up a ton of big plays. I'm gonna temper it
back a little bit, like, let's not put Drabinsky in
(35:42):
Tenton just quite yet. I'm with you. I'm with you.
And I talked to a couple of defensive coordinators in
league and like, look, pre snap, they're really good. But
but he already makes up his mind where he's gonna
go with the football before the football has snapped. And
when you get to November and December, that's when a
lot of that's let that when people figure out what
(36:03):
you're gonna do before you do it, that's when, all
of a sudden, you gotta think on the fly. And
there's a lot of questions about his accuracy pushing the
ball downfield, and uh and and and and mentally whether
or not he can go through those progressions when the
first read that he was convinced was going to be
there isn't there no no doubt. I see it. I
see it exactly the same way. I see him more
(36:23):
of a running back than the quarterback. He can make
some loose plays if you don't contain him in the pocket.
But I'm not down that road. And you know, I
think that he's going to have to prove against really
Mike Zimmer's week off the events where Mike Zimmer's got
some athletes, and he can disguise coverages and he would
take away that short game. Look, the New England Patriots
have gotten beat there. They are two and three on
(36:44):
the road this year, and their three losses where by
are by double digits. They're not a good road team
this year. And they walked into Chicago. The score was
not as close as the game actually ended up being.
And I think that's really an indictment of really what
the Bears are. Michael Lombardi joining us on the Doug
Otlive Show here on Fox Sports Radio. How concerning is
(37:06):
not just that the Patriots were beaten, but how handily
they're beaten. Look, as I said, they're a bad road team.
I mean you have to go back to two thousand
and thirteen. It was the last time that they didn't
play as well on the road. They were four and
four that year. This year their two and three. They're
gonna have to sweep the remaining three road games just
to get about five. Typically this is a six and two,
seven and one road team that always is. I mean,
(37:26):
Tom Brady did not play well yesterday. He's been sacked
ten times Doug on the road so far this season.
So that's to a game, averaging under seven yards per
tenth on the road. This year, they haven't been able
to get the ball down the field. They haven't been
able to make explosive place. They do not look like
the same team. Even though they played against Green Day
and played well. It took some trick plays to do it.
(37:47):
I think they're they gotta work ahead of them. They've
got to get much better on defense. I mean, they
could not stop Marcus Mariota yesterday. They couldn't stop they
could not stop the run game. They couldn't stop Corey Davis,
who typically he said, one past play over fifty yards.
The entire season, he said, none others over twenty five
yards until yesterday when he made a couple of big plays.
(38:09):
They've got a lot of work ahead of us. Awesome stuff, Michael.
I appreciate it. Check out his UH podcast GM Street
or pick up his book. It is an absolute must read,
a master class and winning championships and building dynasties in
the NFL. The book is called Gridiron Genius. Michael, Thanks again,
Thanks Doug,
Thanks for listening to the best of the Doug Gottlieb
Show podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weekday
from three to six pm Eastern Time that's twelve to
three Pacific on Fox Sports Radio. Find your local station
for the Doug Gottlieb Show at Fox Sports Radio dot com,
or stream us live every day on the I Heart
Radio app by searching fs R. This is the best
(00:22):
of the Doug Gottlieb Show on Fox Sports Radio. Boom,
What Up America, Doug Gottlieb Show, Fox Sports Radio. Come
intee you from the beautiful sunny city of Angels where. Hey,
I may be wrong, but it feels like we got
(00:42):
the best set of football teams of any major city
in the country. Uh, all right, we got a lot
to get to. Jimmy Butler is a member of the
Philadelphia seventies sixers. That seemed to happen really fast. Um,
and why one end of the deal you the team
that you feel like gets the better end of the deal,
(01:02):
somehow doesn't usually get the better end of the deal.
We'll get to that upcoming. Um. Also, things that we
freaked out about to start the season in the NFL.
We apparently shouldn't have been freaking out about, which is
what I told you at the time. It's this is
the I told you so. Portion of the show will
get to Joe Thomas, all Pro offensive lineman now retired
(01:22):
Cleveland Browns, gives us his take. I want to get
his take on the Saints offensive line, which is performing
as well as, if not better than anyone in the league,
and what he saw from Baker Mayfield and the Cleveland
Browns and their dominant performance yesterday against the Atlanta Falcons.
Trent Dilfer join us, Michael Lombardi will join us, Chris
Mannets will join us. Cover in the NBA for Yahoo Sports.
We have we have the entirety of the sports landscape
(01:44):
to cover for you. I just got back from calling
my first game play by play ever ever, and I
did an NFL on radio. My thanks to the people
at Compass Media Networks and Brian Baldinger. They were gentle
with me. Um and I I you learned so much
in watching an NFL game in person, and you learned
(02:05):
so much in preparing for those games and talking to
NFL people. You just do and so I'm just fascinated
at really the Cowboys win last night, because I don't
think I saw it coming, and maybe the the foreshadowing
that I had for people in the off season of
(02:28):
what the Philadelphia Eagles season would look like came to fruition.
I think that's fair. So I don't want to cast
dispersions on Dak Prescott. He was good last night, thirty
six two seventy yards, one touchdown, owner receptions. Zekiellett was
phenomenal last night. You know, nineteen carries a hundred fifty
(02:49):
one yards, best player on the field, Plus he had
six catches. Thought Dak showed the ability in the play calling,
showed the ability to spray the ball around. Gallop had
a couple of catches. Dalton Scholtz at a couple of catches.
Called Beasley had four catches, Omari Cooper had six catches.
Alan Hearns had a couple of catches. And this was
this was generally the Cowboys game plan coming into the season.
(03:11):
If you remember Ryan Music and John Ramos and Dan
buy Are good to catch up with all of you guys.
We went to Cowboys camp and their whole thing was like, look,
we may not have a number one, but we got
a bunch of you know, one Bees and two a's
and we're gonna spread the ball around to a bunch
of guys instead of locking in on Dez Bryant. And
(03:31):
and last night was probably the first time it played
out as such. And keeping in mind they haven't had
Jason Witten, who they thought they were gonna have, you know,
part of the plan was to still have Jason Witten
even if he couldn't run. He can always catch and
you could always get open. So best late plans of
mysonm and often go awry, and the Cowboys are struggled.
(03:51):
They didn't expect to not have Travis Frederick either. But
I in watching the Saints in person, watching them warm up,
watch their tape, watching their game satstin punt yesterday, and
the Saints defensive backfield is not great. I mean, they're
basically covering the fact that Eli Apple, who the Cowboys
couldn't wait to see me who the Giants couldn't wait
(04:13):
to get rid of rid of. It's actually better than
what they had working on that side of the field previously.
And they're always having to shadow him with a with
the safety anyway, like their defensive backfield air linebackers or
you know, uh, they're they're okay, you know, but there
(04:35):
their defensive backs are okay. That's the weakness to the team.
They're the number one rush defense in football, but past defense,
which is what everybody does. So how are they the
hottest team in football? We watch yesterday? They got the ball,
they had the ball for eight and a half minutes.
They sprinkle it in because they can run it, they
can pass it. They just find mismatches. They generally don't
(04:56):
hit you on many explosive plays. The only really had
one pass play over twenty yards in terms of the
ball traveling more than twenty yards down the field yesterday,
and yet they completely and utterly eviscerated the Bengals. Now,
you can tell me that the Bengals are awful defensively.
That's why they fired Tarrell Austin, their defensive coordinator. Earlier today,
(05:17):
it would be a fair argument, Hey, good offense comes
in lights up bad defense. They get rid of defensive coordinator.
But the Saints are only marginally better defensively than they
were during Drew brees Is down years. The league has
come around to Drew Brees style to the Saints of style.
The only thing missing from the Saints team is they
don't get the turnovers that they got during the Super
(05:39):
Bowl winning year. But this is an offensive game. And
so when I look at Doc and I see like,
this is this is the good the good. Doc is
two seventy yards mostly sprinkling it around in and around
the line of scrimmage. He's a viable weapon, not just
to throw it, but also to run it. Occasionally I
(06:02):
look around and I'm like, look, I don't think I
think Doc has gotten better. And because everybody gets better
with experience. I called the game yesterday. I wish I
call one today or this upcoming weekend. I would be
so much better the second time than I was the
first time. You gotta you have to experience it in
order to understand what you gotta do better. But I
(06:24):
also think that the league, they don't just catch up
to a Dak Prescott. I'm just catch up to a
Carson Wentz. Just catch up to you. The league is
also evolved into one of these. If you're not an
accurate pinpoint passer, if you don't have an offense that
tries to find that mismatch of linebacker on running back
(06:46):
or safety on slot guy, or you're a one week
cornerback getting exposed in man to man coverage. If you
don't have those, if you if you can't do that,
you can't win on third down. If you can't win
on third day, and you can't win the league. And
so I'm not telling you that the Cowboys, fresh off
(07:06):
of wind should be sitting there telling themselves that Dak
Prescott stinks. I also didn't agree with the idea of
giving Dak Prescott a contract extension, especially considering he's going
to ask for, maybe even demand to be compensated at
the level of the top five quarterbacks in the NFL,
because that's what new quarterback contracts always are. But I
will tell you that if you like Dak now you
(07:28):
liked him five months ago, you liked him ten months ago.
Two d seven yards like you want, passed the three
yards handful of times in his entire NFL career. This
is who he is. And while the league has caught
up a little bit to his style, the league has
also changed and evolved. This is no different than basketball. Look,
(07:51):
I think Dak will be fine, and if you can
sign him to a deal which ultimately kind of settles
in the middle of the pack quarterback. I think that's reasonable.
The problem is no one's ever reasonable with their asking
price for a new quarterback contract. But this is no
different than or it's slightly different, but there's some similarities
(08:11):
there too, Like Dwight Howard or Karmalo Anthony might get
cut by the Houston Rockets. Now, is Karmelo Anthony a
little bit over the hill? Sure? Does he struggle with
us accepting a role where he doesn't touch the ball?
Is often? Sure, as he struggled defensively and gets caught
on bad switches and if you're it's really really hard
to hide him. Sure, but some of those things were
(08:34):
still problems five years ago. The differences the league has changed.
Where he scores is in the mid range and the
post up, and those those are ball stopping parts to
a game which no one likes to play anymore. Now
you're either a ball screen dominant, ball dominant guard with
ball in your hands, playing downhill, or you're a catching
shoot big guy or a three and D wing and
(08:58):
he has none of these things. In the National Football
League at quarterback, either you're you're you're a guy who
can make adjustments to the line of scrimmage and as
a super brilliant Mike supercomputer with a laser accurate arm,
or you're pretty accurate, you're big, you're mobile, and you've
(09:19):
got a huge arm downfield. Dak Prescott's kind of neither
of those. He's more the big thrower, the guy who
can take some heat, the guy he can. He's like
a a mini version of a Cam Newton, but he
doesn't quite have that arm, doesn't quite have uh he
the athletic ability and isn't quite as big. So part
(09:43):
of it is the league catches up to Dak. Part
of it is the league evolves. That said, as much
turmoil as has been around the Dallas Cowboys, with a
win on the road in Philadelphia, they're sitting there at
four and five, tied with Philly in a division where
be because they'll win the damn thing. Be sure to
catch live editions so the Doug Dot Leap Show weekdays
(10:04):
in noon eastern three pm Pacific on Fox Sports Radio
and the I Heart Radio app. Remember when people were
freaking out, freaking out about the new rules as far
as hitting a quarterback, You know Miami as a guy
who gets a sack like wow, he tore his knee
because he was trying to avoid landing on the quarterback,
(10:24):
or he just tore his knee standing up non contact.
That means that knee was going to go no matter what.
All the penalties that Clay Matthews had, you know, seven
two weeks in a row between the Packers and has
anyone had this discussion the last month? Nope? I haven't
(10:45):
heard it once. I so so my process. People ask
this all time. I want to do to prepare for
your show. Honestly, I watch a lot of games. Um,
I do a good amount of reading, and then I
listened to other people's sports show that I like, and
I go, there's a topic that. Now it doesn't mean
I like or steal their takes. I got my own
way of kind of looking at things, but I want
(11:06):
to know what everybody I feel like. It's talking about
the guys I respect nationally on Fox Sports Radio and
occasionally other places. You know, I haven't heard in last month.
I haven't heard anybody bring up, oh you that terrible
new rule where you can't land on a player? Do
you know why? As we told you, players will adjust
and the officiating will adjust. Right. It's it's like the
(11:32):
start of a relationship started the relationship. You'd never go
out on shaven, he'd always go out with a belt on.
You're never gonna pick her up in sweats. You're always
gonna be super early, your car is gonna be clean.
And then eventually you get to like the real representative
of who you are, and you're like, look, I've been
pretty clean, and I've been pretty formal, and how I've
(11:53):
and pretty conservative and how I've approached this whole thing.
Let's kind of go with that. But you kind of
loosen up as the that the dating continues. That's what
happens in sports. Early on, they draw hard and fast
lines because they want to keep the quarterbacks on the field.
We don't want any more Aaron Rodgers. We just don't
(12:17):
um don't want another Aaron Rodgers situation where somebody lands
on him and breaks his collar bone. Don't want another
Tony Romo. We want these quarterback as many quarterbacks to
stay in the league as possible, to keep him up right.
Can't him below the knee, can't above the neck, and
he can't land on him. And you know what, it's worked.
(12:40):
It's worked. Tell tell me the quarterback that's that's hit
and torn up his knee. Tell me the quarterback that's
been out with a concussion, right. I mean the hardest
hit was on the Deshaun Watson who who had a
collapse long. I mean, that dude is so tough they
end up driving him to a game. But that was
a good, clean heart hit, not preventable. We didn't penalize anybody.
(13:03):
Aaron Rodgers playing this year? Yep? Did he play last year? No,
he got hurt. Russell Wilson, Why does every Russell Wilson
game end up with him running around trying to lead
a come back with the Seahawks. Sometimes they pull it off,
sometimes they don't. I was watching that last drive in
the airport in Chicago last night, and I turned to
somebody was like, isn't every Seattle game in like this?
(13:25):
Dan Buyers And they're going, yes, every Seattle game actually
ends like this, every single one. But Russell Wilson still playing,
Jared Gals still playing, Matt Ryan still play. I mean
it's Joe Flacco is the only one who might sit
because of a hip. That's it. Like Jamis Winston got pulled,
(13:45):
but he got pulled because he sucked, not because he
got hurt. So they established rules that would help keep
guys healthy at the most important position. It's worked. And
oh yeah, by the way, they've dialed it back, because
guys have dialed back how they're getting after the quarterback
and we haven't heard high nor hair like. The only
(14:05):
thing I've heard less of is remember when the NFL
was going to conduct a study on the air pressure
in Football's that no one's ever heard any results of that.
By the way, it's because the Patriots, I probably didn't
take any air out of football. They probably were just
playing with lightly inflated footballs, that's it. And the weather
(14:26):
did cause the balls to lose lose inflation, and that
does actually happen. That is a real thing in sports,
and the only logical conclusion because if the NFL we
got them, we got the Patriots, they would have announced
it as such, but they didn't. That's the only thing
I've heard less of. That is the only thing that
(14:47):
ranks above the can't land on a quarterback, which everyone
seemed to complain about in the preseason the first two
weeks this season, and no one has spoken of since. Right, Oh,
this is football as we knew it is over. It's over.
There's no contact two hand touch. Why don't we put
flags on them? Remember that now we're not doing jacked
(15:11):
up segments. But I saw Quinn Nelson. You guys see
the video Quenton Nelson as a pulling guard from the Colts,
screaming while he does it, and he just road graded
a dude from Jacksonville. You remember then, Yeah, yeah, this,
And I've I've heard people of football is under attack
lest not just trying to keep your quarterbacks healthy and
(15:34):
trying to keep people's brain healthy. And then if you
want to be a battering ram, you still have injuries.
Cooper Cup sadly towards a c l in Sunday's game.
My guess is that he had a weakness in the
knee going back to the original injury in Denver. But
still you still have injuries. Still stinks, But the quarterbacks
(15:55):
are still playing. And all of that nonsense about ruining
the sport and completely changed in the sport. NFL offenses
around all time high. They wanted that quarterbacks are in
and not getting hurt. That's one of the reasons that
scoring and and points are up. And whenever contact you make,
you can obviously adjust, Otherwise there would be more penalties.
(16:17):
I hate to be the guy who mentions if the
ratings are up to be sure to catch live editions,
So the Doug dot Leaps show weekdays in noon eastern
three pm Pacific. Joe Thomas was seven time All Pro.
Sure to be a Hall of Fame offensive of all
the Fame offensive lineman kind of have to join us
on the Doug Gotlup Show on Fox Sports Radio. Joe,
I've gotten really soft. I mean I was, I lived.
(16:39):
I was born in Wisconsin. I lived in Connecticut like
twelve the last sixteen years. I've been on the West
coast now back for oh about thirteen fourteen months. I
went to Cincinnati. Was only forty degrees, it was sunny,
and I scored it out my hands. My feet were
absolutely freezing. You haven't gotten soft in your retirement, have you.
(16:59):
It didn't even take me a year to get soft.
I got soft within the first six months. But I'd
say had a bunch of times. And that stadium can
get pretty cold. That wind off the river can just
cut right through that stadium. And some of the coldest
games I've ever played. And we're actually at Paul Brown Stadium. Yeah,
the river is right outside the stadium. And uh and
and it is kind of open, sort of in that
(17:20):
end zone. I want to ask you about the Saints
who are so dominant. They got Garrll Austin fired right,
and they don't punt yesterday and I was working with
Brian Baldinger and he's like, you gotta watch this offensive
line work from the New Orleans Saints. What have they
done to get it all together to be the perfect
offensive line for the way Drew Brees plays. Well, they're
(17:41):
always blocking for a spot that's you know, seven yards deep,
so they're they're trying to create a firm pocket up front.
But then all of those rushers to try to rush
up the field. And they know that Drew Brees, he
gets through the ball so quickly that if somebody tries
to rush up the field, they just can't get there.
So they fit their scheme perfectly with how Drew Brees
loves to play. Joe Thomas joining us on behalf of Polaris,
(18:02):
We'll get to that in a moment. Cowboys get a
win on the road over the Philadelphia Eagles. There's been
a lot of talk about, Hey, you lose Travis Frederick,
and that's why this offensive line hasn't looked as cohesive,
hasn't looked as dominant as it had going back two
years ago. What do you see from the Cowboys offensive
line last night against the Philadelphi Eagles. Well, I think
(18:24):
what you see as a quarterback that's playing better. A
lot of times, the offensive line they get way too
much credit, uh when a quarterback plays well, and they
get too much blame when the quarterback doesn't play well
because a lot of times just the quarterbacks not throwing
the ball in time. It doesn't matter who's up there
blocking in front, they're gonna be getting that quarterback hit
and they're gonna be taking a lot of the blame.
But do you get a quarterback that's playing a little
(18:44):
bit better. Dank Prescott plays a little bit better the
other night, and all of a sudden everyone says that
all the problems that they have to have been fixed.
And I agree. Missing Travis Frederick is a is a
big blow to that offensive line. But I still think
overall they're a really good offensive line and they can
play really well, but they just need that quarterback position
to play much better. Obviously, your former team, the Browns,
made a change head coach and coordinator and UH last
(19:08):
week he was as really conservative game plan this week,
obviously that game plan has helped out when Nick Chubb
runs for one seventy six. What's changed in not just
the play calling but also the personnel groupings UH, in
the in the past two weeks since changing play callers. Well,
I think usually in Duke Johnson on the field a
lot more with Nick Chubb, and that's given defensive problems
(19:29):
because they don't know how to handle both those guys. Uh.
Duke Johnson being targeted targeted in the passing game has
made a big impression on that offense and and really
helped boost that offense. Baker Mayfield, he's playing really well.
He was really efficient in the game yesterday. I think
he was like seventeen out of twenty and three touchdowns
as many touchdowns as he had incompletions. He was just
(19:50):
lights out. But you got an offensive coordinator and Freddy Kitchens.
He's calling great games because he's got nothing to lose.
He's on an interim basis. He can go out there
and call trick plays. He can be unpredictable, you can
call play action passes when his offense is in their
own end. Zone. So I think it's a great position
for that offense to be in. And I think you're
seeing that good growth from Baker Mayfew that quarterback, and
(20:12):
that's exactly why they decided to make the changes that
they did in the middle of the season. Yeah, a
little bit of bowl game offense, right that that's when
you when you when you're an interim offensive coding or
you can gotta run that bowl game Like, how let's
just take a shot at it. That's a great way
to put it. Yeah, it's it's that bowl game offense. Hey,
it doesn't matter. We can take some risks. If they
don't pan out, oh well, but let's have some fun
(20:33):
with it. Let's cut it loose. Let that let these
guys play some football, and I think you're seeing some
great results. Joe, you miss it. You did it for
a long time. Do you miss it? You always miss
it when things are going well. And it's easy now
that you're retired to only remember the good parts and
the only remember the easy stuff that was fun. But
I think I have enough of a elephant memory that
(20:56):
I remember how hard it was for me to get
out of bed on those Mondays and how difficult it
was for me to be able to prepare for those
games on Sunday, and how really it was just not
tenable anymore. And so as much as you miss the
winds in the locker room and everything, you can't ever
separated in your memory, you know how the pain that
you went through, especially at the end of the season,
(21:16):
from how much fun it is to go out there
and strap it up and win a game. Joe Thomas
joining us in the Doug Gallup Show on Fox Sports Radio,
I want to ask you about the Steelers. Tomorrow is
the day in which Levan Bell. We're told he won't
show up, um, but tomorrow is the day which will
know officially he shows he doesn't show up, And I
don't think anyone would argue whether or not he has
(21:37):
more overall God given talent than James Connor. But there's
something about Connor. Maybe it's his personal story, Maybe it's
connection to Pittsburgh having played college football there. Maybe it's
the fact that you know, he has shown the ability
to step up when there was all the noise about
Levy on Beltman. It's probably all of the above. But like, look, man,
(21:58):
you've been in those locker rooms and we're hearing offensive
lineman speak out essentially on his behalf, which is kind
of unheard of to ever, you know, divide a locker
room with players that may happen inside the locker room,
but but never publicly from offensive lineman outside the locker room.
Have you ever seen this before where a team just
goes like, hey, you know what, James Connor is our
guy and we're kind of over Levian Bell. Because that's
(22:20):
what it feels like to us the fan. It's definitely
an unusual situation. I'm not sure I've ever seen it before. Obviously,
going back to the contract dispute, the player just flat
out saying, hey, I don't want your franchise take I'm
just not gonna play this year. I'd rather take zero
dollars this year and go to free agency. That's obviously unique.
And then to have your own offensive line players in
the locker room calling you out in the media, it's
(22:42):
really unique. And man, honestly, if Levian Bell shows up,
that's gonna be a toxic situation. We don't think he will,
but I guess anything can happen in this type of situation,
So if he does show up, it's I was gonna
make some for some good drama me myself and the media. Now,
I would love for him to show up because that
would give me something to talk about for a few
weeks my award winning Tomahawk podcast. Yeah, it's It's fascinating
(23:04):
though if you think about it, like there is something
to guys who people believe in in people like as
opposed to a guy who might have more talent. Right,
is that that's fair, isn't it? Oh? Absolutely? I mean
desire and want to that has a big impact on
how well you play on Sundays. And just because somebody's
got ability doesn't mean that you have what it takes
to make it in the NFL. There's thousands of guys
(23:27):
that have had way more ability but not been able
to make it in the NFL because they don't have
to drive, they don't have to want to that it
takes to be able to go out on a Sunday
and take those hits that you have to take and
then wake up on a Monday morning at six am
and get in the weight room and getting the training
room and get yourself right to do it again the
next week. That's not something that every person has, and
(23:47):
so you've got to have that drive if you want
to make it in the NFL. Right, I read what
you're doing this deal with Polarish to kick off Ranger
Country Heroes Hunt. It's a program to develop and celebrate
veterans and raise awareness for funding for LEAK that's L
e e. K hunting and Mountain Preserve. What is what
is Leak and what's Polaris? What are you even players
doing for? Yeah? So I'm really excited to be partnering
(24:10):
with the Polaris Ranger on their Ranger Country Heroes Hunt
program where this year they're raising money for LEAK, which
is a hunting preserve out in Pennsylvania that I got
a chance to go to this fall that helps rehabilitate
our nation's veterans. And I got a chance to go
out there and spent some time with some Army and
Marine Corps vets and just see firsthand how being in
(24:32):
the outdoors and sharing that fellowship with fellow marines is
giving these guys an ability to heal as they transition
back to civilian life. And it's really a special thing.
And Rangers trying to donate a hundred thousand dollars so
that LEAK is able to expand their program to be
able to serve and help more vets. And the cool
thing I think about LEAK that separates itself from a
(24:54):
lot of other veterans programs is all veteran run. It's
owned by a former veteran or excuse me, a veteran
of I think he was in the Army, And it's
just a really neat program to be involved with. And
I think it's a great program um this Veterans Day
as we're celebrating today, to be able to go out
there and donate and uh support our vets. Alright, So
(25:15):
last thing, obviously, famously, when you were drafted, you were fishing,
which is pretty much the coolest thing ever. Uh. When
you hunt, you dear You're a dear guy. You a
bird guy, you a bear guy, You're a wild hog guy.
Like you can only elk, you can only go hunting
for one thing. What's your what's your what's your game?
Best at? I like to get out and do all
(25:36):
of it, you know. When I was at LEAK this fall,
it was really cool because we got to do some
deer hunting in the morning with some of the vets,
and then we actually did a little pheasant hunt in
the afternoon. So the outdoor opportunities at Leak are endless, hunting, fishing.
Even if you're not into that stuff, they do camping.
They allow vets to bring their whole family out there.
It's it's really a lot of fun, and for a
guy like me to be able to be just a
(25:56):
little bit of part of that was really cool. I'm
great lyman. Thanks for joining us so much. We really
appreciate by the way. You go to donate dot one
cause dot com, slash Heroes Hunt or text to five
one to five, five to one. That's the one and only.
Joe Thomas joining us on the Doug Gottlip Show on
Fox Sports Radio. Fox Sports Radio has the best sports
(26:19):
talk lineup in the nation. Catch all of our shows
at Fox sports Radio dot com and within the I
Heart Radio app search f s R to listen live.
Michael Lombardi is a former general manager in the NFL.
He also has a great, great podcast called gm Streech
download listen to it, I do, and then you can
pick up his book, grid Iron Genius Master Class and
(26:40):
Winning Championships and Building Dynasties in the NFL. It's on
sale now. Let's work backwards, shall we, Michael, Let's let's
start with the Dallas Cowboys. Obviously, when they can run
it with Zeke Elliott, uh, it changes the entire game. Um,
do you think last night's performance bodes well for the
rest of the season for the voice? You know, that's
(27:01):
always gonna be a hard one. I'm not sure he's
gonna have that kind of game every week, especially when
he faces a better defense. So you know, the Eagles
run defense typically was very good. Now this week he
goes against Atlanta, which doesn't have a run defense, so
you know they're gonna have to make some plays in
the passing game like they did last night. But I
think more than anything, their defense played to a level
(27:22):
that it didn't play against Tennessee on Monday night. It
created some problems for Carson Wentz. It forced him to
to make some froze he wholy didn't want to make,
and I thought they were around the ball quite a bit.
I don't know how far this Cowboy team can go
because at some point when teams take away the run,
they're not a very good left handed team. No, no,
they're not. And that that brings you back to last
(27:43):
week's comments where Jerry Jones said Dak's gonna get an extension,
which obviously leads you to think that there's going to
be some sort of coaching change unless they win this
division get to the playoffs. Um, if you were advising Jerry,
they don't have to give Dak an extension and they
can let him play the market at the end of
next year, they can franchise, tag him whatever. But there
(28:04):
is the idea that he's been a starting quarterback playing
in a fourth round picks contract. How do you realistically
approach that if you were in that front office, Well,
I think you got to design an offense that fits him.
I don't think they utilize his skill set very well. Doug.
I think he's a guy who can run. He can
do more with his feet than they allowing him to do.
He's not a classical drop back passer. You know, he
(28:26):
can run that read option. He can do a lot
of things that these mobile quarterbacks are doing in the
league today. And I think if they took a little
bit more of what he did at Mississippi State with
Dan Mullen and utilize that kind of attack, I think
they would be better suited for Dak. Prescott and it
would help his receivers get open because they have a
hard time separating. So for me, I think that this is, uh,
(28:47):
this is a situation. I don't think we've seen the
best at DOC. I think when you look at it
last year, when you look at it this year, just
take third and short, third and four plus. You know
the Cowboys ranking twenty nine in the NFL in that
category this year when he was coming really good with
Jason Witten and Dez Bryan in two thousands sixteen, they
ranked fourth. Now, has Dez gotten that worse from his
(29:07):
rookie season? I doubt it. But people know their plays
pretty well. Their scheme isn't exactly complex. Uh, you're talking
about Dez Briant. He came back all thirty six hours
he was with the Saints, he tears his achilles tendon
um and and look at this. Some of this becomes
social media or people don't know how to react to it.
But my point on social media was, hey, when you're
(29:27):
in your thirties and you're not with the team, even
if you're in regular shape, you're not in football shape.
You know, the Saints put out there that he was
five pounds overweight, so they might not addressed him on Sunday.
Anytime you put out that guy's five pounds overweight, he's
probably more ten pounds overweight. Is this one of those
warnings to older players or is this just the numbers
game and guys happened to get hurt sometimes? You know,
(29:50):
I think the Achilles tending to me is strange because
guy's young. Ronald carry toward twice when he played for
the Raiders, and he was under twenty seven years old,
you know, and in shape. So it's kind of a
funny thing. You just never really know to wear and
tear on a guy's body and how it how it
affects him. Back in the day when you had an Achilles,
your career was over. Now they can prepare him. They
come back stronger than ever. But you're right, I mean
(30:11):
Das wasn't doing anything he went up to Cleveland. I
didn't think he was in shape, just watching them do
that stuff there on hard knocks. I don't think he
put the time or the effort. And that will be
the question of Levy on Bell besides to sign his
tender to bar what kind of shape is he actually?
And I know he's been working out in Miami, but
working out in football shape are two different things. So
I would say every time a guy and mrs time,
he's gonna pull a hamstring, pool calf, muscle, something's gonna happen.
(30:33):
That's gonna set him back. It's it's a great point. Okay,
So Levy, there's talk that Levyan Bell won't show up.
Let's say he does show up. And obviously that locker
room loves James Conner. On the other hand, Levy on
Bell is a remarkably talented guy. How does that work.
You're in the you're in the stretch runt of the season,
the teams playing really really well. You do have this guy,
(30:54):
he is talented. You have to pay him, so you
might as well play him some How do you handle that?
Look at the way I would handle him, as vert,
real simple. I would just bring I would bring him back,
make him earn his way back onto the team. I
wouldn't give him anything. I don't think you can. I
think you lose your team if you do that. You
know he's been he's been in Miami. You know Jet
Ski and as Don Martindale said, and meanwhile, everybody's been
(31:17):
in camp since July. I don't think he just turned
around the hand out starting jobs. You've got to earn
them back. And the way Connors played, you'll lose your
team if you don't. And the other thing is if
you give him too many reps, he's gonna pull a
muscle and he's gonna miss you in a significant time.
I mean, just look at Leonard for Nett. Not that
he missed camp, but once the back pools, it's hard
to get it back. We saw it with other players
(31:38):
in the league. So I would bring him back. I
would take my two week exemption that the league is
gonna give me. I wouldn't dress him for two weeks.
I would go about my business and I would integrate
him back in until he proved that he practiced hard
and wanted to help the team, and he showed his
teammates he wanted to come back, not just me. Michael
Lombardi joining us in the doug Outlives show here on
Fox Sports Radio. Let's get to the Baltimore Ravens. Joe
(32:01):
Flacco has got a hip issue, may keep him out
this week. They gave the guys a bunch of time off,
and there's the thought of using Lamar Jackson but you've
got to completely change the offense. Then you got r
G three there, who actually won the backup job um
in the preseason. What do you do if your Baltimore.
I really think Baltimore desperately needs to get Lamar Jackson
more integrated. And if Taysom Hill can have a significant
(32:25):
role for the New Orleans Saints, why can't Lamar Jackson
have one. I mean, Taysom Hill has been outstanding. He
runs hard, third and two they put him, and Drew
Brees is having an m VP season. He doesn't seem
to have a problem being extended out Tastom Hill control
a pass. Lamarkets throw a way more passes. So I
think that I think the Ravens are doing themselves a disservice.
They don't make enough big players on offense for them
(32:46):
to not utilize the skill set of what Lamar Jackson
can bring. And it can't be just a trick play
here or there. They've got to have him involved with
the offense and they've got to utilize his skill set.
To me, it's now or never for Baltimore. Look, they
all know they're getting fired if they don't advanced into
the playoffs. That's not been a secret that owners mandated
at back last spring. We either go to the playoffs
(33:07):
or I'm cleaning house. And if that's the case, then
I would utilize all the talent that I have a
board to try to get there. I think that I
think they've done a poor job offensively of trying to
utilize the skill set of Flacco and then trying to
integrate what Lamar Jackson can do. They just just want
to run their plays and they don't seem to be
adhering to what their talent based tells them. Doug gotlib
(33:28):
show here on Fox Sports Radio that that's the voice
of Michael Lombardi. A lot of people have been praising
the l A Chargers. They're set to get Joey Bosa back.
They handled their business well enough against Raiders, but now
they lose Denzel Perriman as their middle linebacker. How much
does that change them? Well, I think it's gonna hurt them.
Hayes Pollard isn't the same player, obviously. I think Bosa
(33:50):
back will help. But I didn't think they played their
a game yesterday. They really didn't look as Sharper as
Chris offensively. Melvin Gordon was sensational. I mean, you talk
about the screen past, Wow, what a play. But to me,
I think one of the greatest runs I've seen this
season was the fourth and one that he got three
yards on. It looked like he was gonna lose five yards.
I mean, that was one of the best runs I've
ever seen in my NFL career. It was remarkable. He
(34:12):
had him tinned on the silent and yet he games
they gained two more yards. I didn't think Rivers was
as sharp as he's been in the past, and I
just didn't think their team was in it. The good
part was it didn't miss the field go or an
extra point. Now that's something to celebrate if you're a
Los Angeles Charger fan. I think they got to take
their game up and notch. They played to the level
of the Raiders, and they played well enough to beat him.
But I think they got to get much better and
they've got to improve, and they can't let have these
(34:35):
laws because these laws will create some issues for him.
Michael Lombardi joining us on the Doug Gotlib Show. How
good are the Bears? I think that's the great question. Look,
the Bears level of cops and the teams at the
Bears have won six games against combined record as eighteen
and thirty seven. You know, and the Bears have are
the beneficiaries are really of a soft schedule other than
(34:56):
playing the Rams in Los Angeles having to go to Minnesota.
I don't think there's a hard game on their schedule left.
They're gonna make the playoffs. I think now we're gonna
see what Mitchell Trobinsky can do. I love how all
the Chicago media saying the national media doesn't understand. You know,
we do get direct TV, we do get the Sunday ticket.
We've seen every Bears game, and going into last week,
Mitchell Drabinsky was nine on frozen over ten yards eight
(35:20):
eight eight touchdowns, six interceptions. A lot of his work
is done behind the line of scrimmage or within ten yards.
Yesterday he made a couple of froze broken coverages. Look,
the Lions defensively are one of the worst secondaries in football.
They didn't have Darius Flay. They give up an opposing
quarterback rating of a hundred and twenty, and they give
up a ton of big plays. I'm gonna temper it
back a little bit, like, let's not put Drabinsky in
(35:42):
Tenton just quite yet. I'm with you. I'm with you.
And I talked to a couple of defensive coordinators in
league and like, look, pre snap, they're really good. But
but he already makes up his mind where he's gonna
go with the football before the football has snapped. And
when you get to November and December, that's when a
lot of that's let that when people figure out what
(36:03):
you're gonna do before you do it, that's when, all
of a sudden, you gotta think on the fly. And
there's a lot of questions about his accuracy pushing the
ball downfield, and uh and and and and mentally whether
or not he can go through those progressions when the
first read that he was convinced was going to be
there isn't there no no doubt. I see it. I
see it exactly the same way. I see him more
(36:23):
of a running back than the quarterback. He can make
some loose plays if you don't contain him in the pocket.
But I'm not down that road. And you know, I
think that he's going to have to prove against really
Mike Zimmer's week off the events where Mike Zimmer's got
some athletes, and he can disguise coverages and he would
take away that short game. Look, the New England Patriots
have gotten beat there. They are two and three on
(36:44):
the road this year, and their three losses where by
are by double digits. They're not a good road team
this year. And they walked into Chicago. The score was
not as close as the game actually ended up being.
And I think that's really an indictment of really what
the Bears are. Michael Lombardi joining us on the Doug
Otlive Show here on Fox Sports Radio. How concerning is
(37:06):
not just that the Patriots were beaten, but how handily
they're beaten. Look, as I said, they're a bad road team.
I mean you have to go back to two thousand
and thirteen. It was the last time that they didn't
play as well on the road. They were four and
four that year. This year their two and three. They're
gonna have to sweep the remaining three road games just
to get about five. Typically this is a six and two,
seven and one road team that always is. I mean,
(37:26):
Tom Brady did not play well yesterday. He's been sacked
ten times Doug on the road so far this season.
So that's to a game, averaging under seven yards per
tenth on the road. This year, they haven't been able
to get the ball down the field. They haven't been
able to make explosive place. They do not look like
the same team. Even though they played against Green Day
and played well. It took some trick plays to do it.
(37:47):
I think they're they gotta work ahead of them. They've
got to get much better on defense. I mean, they
could not stop Marcus Mariota yesterday. They couldn't stop they
could not stop the run game. They couldn't stop Corey Davis,
who typically he said, one past play over fifty yards.
The entire season, he said, none others over twenty five
yards until yesterday when he made a couple of big plays.
(38:09):
They've got a lot of work ahead of us. Awesome stuff, Michael.
I appreciate it. Check out his UH podcast GM Street
or pick up his book. It is an absolute must read,
a master class and winning championships and building dynasties in
the NFL. The book is called Gridiron Genius. Michael, Thanks again,
Thanks Doug,
Host
Doug Gottlieb
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