November 14, 2019 • 45 mins
Doug wonders if we’ve overvalued the QB position in the NFL and thinks Steelers HC Mike Tomlin deserves more credit for the job he’s done this season. He also thinks Tom Brady is sending a clear message to the Patriots about what he expecting after the 2019 season. Plus, RJ Bell from Pregame.com and FOX Sports Radio joins the show to preview Thursday Night Football and the biggest games of week 11 in the NFL from a Vegas perspective.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
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(00:45):
Getting ready for Thursday Night football, which is on Fox.
Brandon Wheed, and former Brown's quarterback, will join us get
his thoughts on what the Browns need to do and
what it's like to go against that vaunted Pittsburgh Steelers
front and defense. That's twenty five after the hour day.
Neil Jeremiah, NFL Network Moved the Sticks Podcast joins us
next hour. R J. Bell pregame dot Com Straight out
of Vegas is the radio show. UH pregame dot Com
(01:08):
is the official lines provider of the Associated Press. He
will join us in the third and final hour of
the show. We've got a lot to get to. Um
Clippers lose the hands of the Rockets. Rockets remind me
of an NFL team. Clippers, I think have a similar
problem to one they've had with previous incarnations of the Clippers,
and I'm not sure that it's fixable. Interesting messaging between
(01:33):
Tom Brady and Bill Belichick. I want to get to.
I got I got a lot of stuff on my plate,
but let me let me begin with tonight's game. Tonight's
games the Cleveland Browns versus the pittsburghs Dealers, And have
many pointed out, it's you could say it's talent versus character,
or you could say it's culture versus characters. That's really
(01:57):
what's at stake here, right The Pittsburgh's deelers two most
talented offensive players, one is out league, the other one
is running for the New York Jets, and their quarterback
is out for the year. And yet here they are
with a better record, more competitive and an incredibly compelling story.
The Pittsburgh Steelers on the brink of putting themselves very
(02:18):
much in the driver's seat in the playoffs going against
the Cleveland Browns, were coming off a big win over
the Bills. But let's not kid ourselves. The Bills are
made Field go away from going overtime and to ma
made makeup a Field goes away from losing at home
to the Bills, which would have effectively ended their season.
(02:40):
But I also think that there's something else at stake
other than just a character and culture debate. I don't
think anyone can debate that Pittsburgh Stealers have better culture
and better character than the Cleveland Browns. You can tell
me the Cleveland Browns have faced adversity. Is there any
more adversity than losing your three most talented offensive players
(03:01):
then losing your quarterback who what was the general manager
said was the only adult in the room going back
to last year, who just resigned a new long term
contract of future Hall of Famer. There's no more adversity
than that. But I also think we've gotten to this
place and we do this in business, we do this
in life, and we definitely do it in sports where
(03:23):
something is undervalued, and so we sink a bunch of
resources into it and then it becomes overvalued. Right, because
what happens is we get this all the time. Well,
look at the Super Bowl winning quarterbacks. How many of
(03:43):
them are Hall of Famers. And the idea is, if
you want to win a Super Bowl, you gotta have
a Hall of Fame quarterback. Russell Wilson will be a
Hall of Famer. I don't think there's any doubt in that. Right.
He puts himself in the m VP debate enough, He's
won a Super Bowl, been in two Super Bowls. Tom
Bray video be a Hall of Famer. Peyton Manning will
(04:04):
be a Hall of Famer. You know, Ben Roethlisberger will
be a Hall of Famer. Eli Manning will be a
Hall of Famer. But what's interesting is when Peyton Manning
won Super Bowl, he was in the conversations of worst
starting quarterbacks numbers wise in the league. Right when Ben
(04:26):
Roethlisberger won his first Super Bowl, he had the lowest
quarterback rating of any winning quarterback in Super Bowl history.
His first time around hack even Tom Brady's first time around,
he was a facilitating More than anything, John Elway's first
Super actually had surpassed everybody else, and and before he
was surpassed by Ben Roethisberger was the lowest tbr Any
(04:47):
winning Super Bowl quarterback. So the idea of having a
Hall of Fame quarterback technically is right. Eli Manning is
only going to go into the Hall of Fame because
of those Super Bowls, not because of his overall play.
I think you might actually say the same about Ben Roethlisberger,
and he wasn't a Hall of Famer the first time
he went in. Didn't play like it either. But we've
(05:11):
gone from this place of maybe undervaluing financially quarterbacks. There
wasn't this great chasm between quarterback salaries and everybody else
too now overvaluing it. Yes, starting quarterbacks are in fact important.
I am not telling you they are not. It is
(05:31):
really hard to win big consistently with with a backup.
I mean the Eagles did win a Super Bowl with
a backup, but that I will actually only proves my point. Right,
you do need a quarterback. The Bears don't seem to
have a quarterback. They do have a great defense, skill
position players are hit and miss, but right now they're
(05:53):
not a playoff team, and it's because they don't have
You need a little bit of everything. You can't go
no quarterback. Look at the Broncos since the Super Bowl.
They've had massive offensive line issues and they've had major
quarterback issues, but you don't necessarily need great quarterback play.
(06:14):
Take a look at the Tennessee Titans. I'll grant you
very lucky, unfortunate, lucky to beat the Chargers, but they'll
take that luck. And they're five and five, and they've
been rotating Mariota and now Ryan Tannehill, and yeah, Ryan
Tannehill won. I guess last week. The Steelers have the
number one rated offensive line in past protection, third overall
in defense. They're in the playoff hunt with Mason Rudolph,
(06:37):
who I really like personally, and I hope he's a
long time starter, but I don't think he is, or
at least to this point, he has not proven to
the league that he is. Like if Ben Roethlsberg came
back and said he was healthy today, he'd bet the
starting quarterback today, even though they've won all these games
in a row. Why is that? Because Mason Rudolph is
He's basically just a guy right now? The success of
(07:01):
the Steelers, the success of the Panthers, the success in
many ways of the Ravens last year and at times
the Ravens this year is because of their team, their culture,
their defense, their offensive line as much as the quarterback,
if not much more than the quarterback. Look, when the
(07:24):
Eagles won the Super Bowl, they had a dynamic pass rush,
they had a damn good offensive line, they schemed them up,
and they had some good skilled position players. Carson Wentz
would have been the m v P. He was playing
at that high level. Like we're sitting here going like wow,
falls was better than Carson Wentz, Like, No, he wasn't.
(07:45):
He wouldn't have been the m v P in the NFL.
Carson Wentz would have. It was that good of a team.
And when Carson Wentz comes back and the team falters,
this Carson as Carson Wentz gotten worse. No, they don't
have a pass rush. The offensive line has been hit
or miss, They've had massive amount of drops, and they
haven't been fully healthy. You haven't had Sean Jackson the
entire season. My point is not that quarterbacks don't matter.
(08:10):
My point is not that quarterbacks matter, because they do,
but they don't. They are not the end all be all,
and the perfect example is the Pittsburgh Steelers. You know,
the old Hillary Clinton. It takes a village. It does
in life, in business, and in sports. You can't just
(08:34):
have a quarterback and expect him to sprinkle some pixie dusk,
asked Green Bay and Aaron Rodgers. How's that? How that
works out? On the other hand, it can't just have
an incredible defense and not have an offense led by
a quarterback with confidence, asked the Chicago Bears. How that's
working out. We've gone from undervaluing quarterback play and not
(08:56):
paying the guys above and beyond what they're worth too.
Now we're getting to the point of being ridiculous. And
it's not just the offensive line and the defense. The
coaching matters. Mike Tomlins never had a losing season, and
now you see why. Right when other coaches would pack
(09:19):
it in and go starting first year guy, we had
a third year, third string quarterback start on the road
against the Chargers. We got blasted against the Pittsburgh Steelers
were trying to work some things out and figure some
things out. There were no excuses given they simply shorten
the game, change the game plan, cut the field in
half for their young quarterback, simplified things and let it
(09:41):
ride on their culture, their character, their coaching. Very big seas,
throwing a little conditioning, and you got the four seas
of success. It's not the quarterback. Play doesn't matter. But
we've gotten to this point where quarterbacks get all of
the credit or all of the blame. I'll give you
an example. Who was the best quarterback last weekend in
(10:06):
the NFL. Now, the a f C Player of the
Week went to Lamar Jackson, and he was spectacular. He
completed his first ten passes, He ran, he passed. They
dominated the worst defense in football. But he wasn't the
best quarterback in football. For my money and for most
people's money, if you actually watched, it would be the
Kansas City Chiefs, led by Pat Mahomes in his first
(10:28):
game back. He wasn't good. He was great. From a
dislocated kneecap. It wasn't like a hamstring, wasn't a rolled ankle,
wasn't a pinky finger on his non throwing hand. Dislocated
kneecap thirty six, four hundred and forty six yards, three touchdowns,
(10:50):
no interceptions, an average of nine yards per completion. He
played great. Why didn't they win? He couldn't get a stop.
They couldn't run the football, They couldn't stop Derrick Henry.
He ran for a hundred and eighty eight yards eight
point two yards to carry like Tannehill gets the credit
(11:11):
for the win. He do for a hundred and eighty
one yards. No one who watches, or knows, or breeze
or knows anything about football thinks that Pat Mahomes was
anything more, anything less than spectacular. And he found Tyreek
kill eleven times for a hundred fifty seven yards. But
that is not what a great football team makes. You
have to be able to protect, to run it, to
(11:32):
stop it. And what are we gonna do. We're gonna
overvalue Pat Mahomes because we say he's worth it. He
probably is, but he's probably not because you don't win
football games that way. The Steelers are living proof that
quarterbacks matter, but they don't matter because you've got to
(11:53):
have a little bit of everything. The culture, the character,
the conditioning, and the coaching. Gotta have those you want
to in in any sport, in any league, especially the NFL.
Be sure to catch the live edition of the Doug
Gottlieb Show weekdays at three p m. Easter noon Pacific
on Fox Sports Radio and the I Heart Radio. A
app under drafted had to sit behind Drew Bled, so
(12:18):
Bled So gets knocked in the next week from Mo Lewis,
he leads a team to a super Bowl and the rest,
as they say, is history. And because he marries the
most financially successful and maybe go supermodel all time, he
didn't need the money. And now he's in his forties
(12:40):
forty two to be exact, playing really good football. His trainer,
who of course used to be able to have a
little office inside their stadium, went on a local radio
station in Boston and said that Tom Brady feels great. Well,
you know, it all comes down to commitment. No one
thought you could play at the elite level and in
(13:02):
your late thirties and early forties, that's something we've always
felt that we could do. I certainly do believe that
forty five is very realistic goal. So you know, we
talked about it all the time, Like every year he
just adds another year he goes in, He's like, I
just feel so good still, Like I think I'm gonna
go to forty five. I'm like okay, and it's like
now he's like, oh, I think I can go like
forty six or forty seven. I will say this about
(13:26):
and I know he works very closely with Tom Brady.
I know they have this belief which they're like, it's
just about mindset, Like, no, it's really not. It's also
helped out by the fact you can't touch you a
quarterback anymore. It's and and at some point your body
will go. At some point you will be shot. Like look,
he was the same guy who threw two should have
(13:47):
been three picks in the a f C Championship game
on the road in Kansas City, and it wasn't like
they lit up the the l A Rams. It's great
and last drive. And the last time we saw them
play against the Baltimore Ravens looked old. I know. Yeah.
By the way, this is a memo to Alix Gonzale's like,
we aren't playing anything, we aren't playing dealt. He is
(14:13):
trying to play until he's forty five. ALIXE Gonzalez feeling
himself a little bit there. You know our goal, our
we you're the one standing in there when the Ravens
are trying to take your head off. Not so much,
but I I feel like, and this isn't really important.
(14:33):
I feel like Tom Brady is putting the Patriots a
little bit unnoticed, right. That this happens in relationships. When
you've been married for a long time, at some point
you gotta get valued, right. At some point you gotta
go like you get to a point in your relationship
(14:53):
where you've bought every piece of jewelry, get your bracelet
them one year at a necklace, Hey, a ring, ear rings,
I'm good, right, and you don't need anything right, like
a birthday's coming up and there's nothing she needs. She's
(15:17):
got cars, she got you know, you get her pair
of shoes. You need another pair of shoes, Yes, she
needs an other pair of shoes. That was a really
silly statement. The point is this, everyone at some point
gets to a place in a relationship where they need
to feel valued, heard, loved, adored, wanted. Right, That's where
(15:41):
Brady is. Brady's like, look, I've done this for twenty years,
taking a little bit less. So now put my house
up for sale and those things don't sell overnight. But
we also renegotiate a contract where I'm a free agent Now,
the reality of it is Tom Brady is not going
(16:01):
anywhere else. It's just he's not doing the Johnny unitis,
you know, playing in a Charger uniform like it's not happening.
I mean, I don't think it's just where is he going.
He's gonna go play for the Tennessee Titans, for one
of his former teammates, or for you know, pick it's
gonna fall is his offense coordinare gonna go take a job.
(16:24):
They're gonna go take over somewhere, like, nah, don't see it.
It's gonna go play for the Miami Dolphins in the
same division. Here's Greg Bdard, who of course covers the
newing of Patriots for the Boston Sports Journal. I think
(16:44):
that Brady finally had enough um and this is accumulated
basically since the Falcon Super Bowl when he was m
v P. They had a good group together. We all
thought that he was going to get a contract extension
after that. He didn't get it. That he didn't trade
Jimmy Garoppolo in the off season when his value what
was at the most, you know, all that sort of stuff,
(17:06):
and there were a ton of decisions and stars, you know,
weapons and things like that, and the last two contracts
he's gone for incentives and they wouldn't give him any
long term security. I think I think all of it
is accumulated. He's set up, and he finally said, you
know what, I'm not gonna make any decisions right now,
but now I want the power after the season. So
(17:27):
I think Tom Brady is going to listen to offers
from other places. I think he's hoping that he gets Hey,
here's thirty thirty five million dollars guaranteed. What are you
guys gonna do? Yeah? I just I think this is
kind of classic relationship one oh one, where he wants
to feel wanted, he wants to feel needed, he wants
to feel special, and if you don't make him as such,
(17:50):
then he's willing to leave the relationship. Nothing more than that.
And that's what Guerrera going on radio and saying, hey,
he can play untill he's seven. That's what putting his
house up for sale is all about. Right, That's that's
(18:10):
what the going and talking to other quarterbacks before the game,
taking the goat sneakers from from oh b J. That's
what that stuff is all about. Right, He's putting it
out there that he's been happily in this relationship with
the Newingham Patriots for a long time. But if you
don't make him feel valued, you don't make him feel adored,
(18:33):
you don't make him feel important. Well a look elsewhere.
Be sure to catch the live edition of the Doug
gott Leap Show weekdays at three p m. Easter noon Pacific.
Let's welcome in. Daniel Jeremiah moved the sticks as the podcast.
It's great, you should download it. You can see him
on the NFL network here on the call of the
l A Chargers games. Chargers, of course played and lost
(18:55):
in a heartbreaker last Thursday in Oakland, Oakland, now in
position to somehow sneak in and grab a playoff spot,
but Chargers not not not totally out of it. They
got the Chiefs twice, including Monday night in the altitude
in Mexico City, as healthy as they've been still without
Derwin James. Uh, what are your thoughts in the likelihood
(19:17):
of the Chargers against the suddenly beatable Chiefs. Well, Doug,
it's getting difficult to kind of predict what you're gonna
see from the Chargers on a on a weekly basis.
I mean, you come off that Green Bay Packer game
where they look like they're really ready to take off,
and then they kind of have a stinker there against
the Raiders. So, um, it's tough to know what you're
gonna get when they're when they're playing, when they're playing,
(19:37):
you know, well, the running the football like we've seen
the last couple of weeks, they've got that going a
little bit um and uh and they're making good decisions
and rivers and making good decisions. They can they can
beat this Chief's team, but man, the team that showed
up against Oakland won won't have a chance. They've they've
got to uh gotta be a little bit more efficient,
a little more secure with the football. What what is
the deal with Philip Rivers? I mean the decisions he
(19:57):
made on that last drive where he's oh of a
and he's taking chances down the field almost panicking when
he's got guys open over the middle and three time outs?
How can how has how can a guy of that
reputation at this stage in his career makes so many
uh so many ill fated decisions. Yeah, you know, lookay
(20:18):
they were down both their tackles and so he did
have some pressure on him throughout this game. But yeah,
I don't know how to explain that. The last sequence,
it was it was very bizarre closed out of game.
I don't think I've ever seen a two minute drill
close out with eight straight incompletions. Uh And and it
was just being too aggressive, you know. And and sometimes
that's that's the flaw that you get there pays off
(20:39):
sometimes with some of those shots to Mike Williams you've
seen throughout the last couple of years. But at that
point in time in the game, it's about first down,
not touchdowns. You've got a minute, you've got three time outs,
you're only chasing three points. Um, You've got a guy
in Austin Eckler who you can check the ball down to,
who's going to be a nightmare to tackle. So and
I've seen him do that in the past. I've seen
him two minute drills just to feature Austin neckwork right
(21:00):
down the field. For some reason, just got a little bit, uh,
a little bit greedy in that and that sequence, and
I'm sure it's one that he'd like to have back.
You know, there's there's a good amount of momentum for
Lamar Jackson be the m v P. And maybe I'm
biased because I've watched all the games and which there's
games which he struggled, Kansas City, Pittsburgh held even Cleveland,
(21:21):
uh the first time when they when they lost to them,
since that he threw a cup picks first time they
played against him. And I know how bad the Bengals are,
but he has played really good football of Layton did
played obviously great against a couple of bad teams to
start the year. What are your thoughts on the sustainability
of what the Ravens are doing well? I mean, in
terms of sustainability for the rest of the season, it's outstanding.
(21:44):
I mean, they've found a formula that works and um,
and teams just are not comfortable that you never see
a defense get comfortable against them, even when he's making mistakes.
We were talking about on the podcast today. I was
talking about with Bucky and we're comparing, you know, Lamar
Jackson and DeShawn Way and I said, really, it's like fighters. Um.
You know, when you look at at Lamar, he's an attacking, pushing,
(22:06):
pressing fighter. He's the Manu pact Yo, whereas Deshaun Watson
is more of a counterpuncher. You know you're gonna he's
not gonna be on a ton of design quarterback runs,
but he'd get himself out of trouble. And if you're
gonna pursue up the field, he'll make you pay for it.
But Lamar is just constantly putting pressure on the defense.
Now can he can he? You know, the question everybody's
asking is can you hold up doing that well? Long term?
(22:26):
I think there's a humutive effect, and I don't know
that that has long term viability. You're gonna have to
curb the way you play a little bit. But for
the short term, absolutely it can work. What did the
what the Chargers do last year in the postseason that
other teams haven't been able to replicate? It puts I mean,
it wasn't just that they had no linebackers. It was
just they had tremendous speed on the field and they
(22:49):
didn't sit back and wait and they just attacked. So
a lot of times, a lot of the zone read stuff,
and it's all, you know, basically option based. He's reading
and you're either gonna pick one or the other. You're
gonna pick the back or you're gonna pick the quarterback.
End up being a man short. A lot of times
chargers put tons of speed on the field and they
attacked that mesh point. In other words, we're gonna make
(23:10):
him make a decision and we're gonna tackle trying. You
want to send one guy, I'm almost gonna try and
tackle both of them. Just force a quick decision and
then you use all your speed to beat blocks and
rally to the football. If you're gonna try and you know,
if you're gonna try and play physical and try and
stack blocks, which means you're gonna press out martial Yondas
of the world, Like, that's not gonna end. Well, they're
gonna drive you into the bench. Um, so you just
(23:30):
gotta use quick guys, put your speed on the field
and attack. When are when when are people just gonna
sell out and hit him? I mean, because that's always
been the fear with option football, right, is that somebody's
just going to hit him every time. Yeah, there's there's teams,
like I've talked to coordinators in the league that will say, yeah,
we mix in, we mix in some zone. Right They
don't They don't obviously do it to the degree that
the Ravens do. He said, we mix it in until
(23:52):
the first time our quarterback hands it off and still
gets hit. And once he hands it off and he's
still taking a hit, then we don't call it the
rest of the game, you know. So that's how that's
how some of those other teams look at that. Now
he's uh, you know, they're they're not going to do
that with the Ravens are gonna tend to be more aggressive.
But you've got to pile up hits on him anytime
you want to, you know, make us guests, You've got
to get hit. That's the way you've got to approach it.
(24:13):
Pittsburgh taken on the Cleveland Browns tonight. I said, this
is the greatest challenge the Browns are gonna face, not
because Pittsburgh is the best team, but because Pittsburgh is
a culture team. Right. They they they got rid of
their running back, they got rid of their wide receiver,
and they've decided culture as well as you know, their
defensive style. But you know that that's what they're gonna
win with. Then they lose their quarterback and they've somehow regrouped.
(24:37):
Is that a fair assessment because I think in a
pickup game, you pick many of the Browns ahead of
the Steelers. But the Steelers app are be the better team. Yeah,
the Steelers gonna They're gonna gonna sit back and wait
for you to make a mistake. You know, they're not
capable with their offensive going out there right now or
running up a bunch of points. But they've proven you
don't have to to win a lot of football games.
You play great defense, other teams make mistakes, you capitalize
(24:58):
on it. Sometimes that's your defense just flat out scoring
on their own, like Fitzpatrick's done a couple of times.
Other times it's giving you a short field and and
they've been able to collect enough points to win football games.
And if they play, if they play, if both teams
play a clean game tonight, the Browns are gonna win.
But the Steelers are banking on the fact that they
won't be able to do that. It's the way they played.
(25:19):
It reminds me a lot. It's not that the defense
is not at the level of that old school Baltimore
Ravens defense, but they've got a lot of playmakers. And
I don't know what the number of the streak was,
but remember that Bill first year, they went like five
or six games without scoring an offensive touchdown. They didn't
even really need to because they were just dominating on defense.
That's the formula stealers are using. It's working quite well.
(25:40):
Daniel Jeremiah joining us in the Doug Gottlieb Show. You've
worked in the front office before. What's your sense of
the weird timing the day I guess Hugh Jackson is
gonna run this workout. What do you make of the
Kaepernick workout? Well, it's it's it's just unusual, man, the
way it's all that up and the way it was
(26:00):
all such kind of like sprung on everybody, just kind
of last minute. Um. You know, I think that the
people that had any type of expectation you would see,
you know, general managers or head coaches there. That's not
the way that works. Even you know, when you're having
workouts during the season at your own facility, oftentimes you
would never see the head coach or the general manager there.
It's the pro scouting department and a position coach will
(26:23):
run the workout with four or five guys at one position,
and then they kind of get together on the pro side,
on the pro scouting side and the side who they
want to sign. But Um, you know, anybody had an
expectation that in the middle of the season, is you know,
on a Saturday, you're gonna get a head coach out
of the building. That's never gonna happen on Saturday. Well,
I don't know that would make a lot of It
didn't make a lot of sense to me. Um. I
(26:45):
think to me, my view of this thing, Doug is
it's really should have been presented as we're going to
have a workout with Colin Kaepernick that we're gonna put
on video that we're gonna send to all thirty two teams.
We've got, you know, three teams. You got in touch with,
three teams that are gonna help us run the workout, um,
and then it will be distributed to everybody, and at
(27:05):
that point in time, teams can assess where he is,
you know, like I don't need to see him run
a forty or any of that stuff. I just want
to see him get on the scale, what does he weigh,
see him go through the throwing workout, how's he throwing
the football, how's he moving around doing that? And then
you send that to all thirty two teams and they
can decide if they want to bring him in for
their own workout or if they want to, you know,
pursue it further. That to me is what the value
(27:26):
is here. It's not that we're going to get all
the teams and attendance and decision makers are going to
be there. That was never going to be the case.
So I don't know why they was kind of framed
in that light. The Jets have have come out and
said and it's the dreaded vote of confidence, right because
anytime usually get you get fired. But they have said, hey,
not only Adam Gate is gonna be the coach remainer
this season, He's going to be the coach next year.
(27:47):
What what what's your reaction when you hear that? To me,
it's every decision that they're going to make, and this
is just the first one, you know, whether or not
it right or wrong. This is the basis for their
decision making is about It's about getting Sam donald Um
to play at a high level. And so they feel like,
(28:07):
you know, continuity with a with an offense and a
play caller is essential to that. And maybe you don't
love everything about Adam Gates, but you also don't want
your quarterback to be running his third offense in three years,
give him a chance to grow on that offense, and
then every decision from here on, this is just the
first one. It's gonna be about protecting Sam Donald and
helping him out, and it needs to start with a
(28:28):
with a ton of offensive line help here in the
off season. I'm sure that will be on the agenda. Yeah,
it's interesting. I mean that that is the leakiest building
maybe in the National Football League. But um, okay, the
Redskins have committed to starting the kid, but he was
he was so overwhelmed early on. Is that the right decision?
(28:49):
I think so. I think you as an organization, it's
the move you have to make, um to get out there.
Now you're gonna hopefully kind of learn with him. You know,
he's gonna be a little bit of a rocky road
because he clearly didn't look like he was ready to play.
But you're gonna have to try and craft things, um
and call plays that that he's comfortable with him, that
fit him, and find out what he can do because
(29:10):
you've got a pretty lengthy audition here. Um. That's gonna
take place over the last half of the season to
get a sense of where he is. Because as it
stands right now, they're gonna be picking a way up
there and the Cardinals, Man, that that to me is
the most undertalked about the storyline is the Cardinals took
a quarterback this, you know, two years in a row.
And as odd as that is, Doug, I don't know
(29:32):
who could argue that they didn't make the right decision
with the way Kyler Murray's played. So that opens up
a whole new door where we used to just eliminate
they took a quarterback last year. They're not in the
quarterback market. Well that's not necessarily the case, and the
money that you're paying those guys is not nearly what
it used to be in the old days. So um,
I think you gotta get you gotta find out what
we have in Haskins to see if you need to
go get another one. Yeah, and then they still have
(29:53):
Alex Smith's contract, they got the other two quarterback, they
got case Keenum's contract. Like, they got so much money
tied up in the quarterback position. I mean, maybe they
get Alex Smith to retire and get some of that
money back, but as of now, they can't. It is
that is a It is absolutely, absolutely nuts. Um. We
mentioned the Raiders, and I'm doing a little bit of
(30:15):
a victory lap because I thought, I thought, hey, here's
a guy who knows what he's doing and he's getting
the resources to do it. Has it all been perfect? No? No,
But you saw them in person against the Chargers. You
saw them twice last year. What's your assessment the Raiders
year too? The offensive line from last year to this year.
(30:35):
I mean some of the names are the same, but
there's obviously been some new additions and it's it was
it was woful last year. And start you start with
Colton Miller. Their first round pick was not good. Um,
he's gotten better, he's played better this year. You go
out and get the highest price, um, you know tackle
in the NFL, which they went out and got with
with Trent Brown, and he's played great at right tackle.
(30:57):
Richie Incognito for all of his you know faults and
issue us is a is a really really quality starting
NFL guard. And then when you've had when you have
Rodney Hudson and you've got Jackson out there, that is
a that's one of the five best offensive lines in football.
So you start with that, you go out and invest
in a running back who's physical is a really good player. Um.
Those factors combined have relieved so much pressure from Derek Carr,
(31:21):
and you've seen the impact in his play long term.
He's he's the answer. I don't know that I would
say that at this point in time. I think they're
gonna want to evaluate things. But he's playing. If he
I will say this, if he played like he's played
over the last few weeks, then yes, Um, but I
think I get the sense that you know, they want
to see this thing play out for the rest of
the year before they make that commitment. All right. Last
(31:41):
thing Dallas Cowboys coaching staff now catching some heat, is
that where the blame should lay. Well, I mean that's
been the constant, right. This is a team that at
least if you just compare talent level to overall success
postseason success. Uh. Specifically, if there's been a disconnect there,
it's been there. They've been more talented uh than the
(32:01):
results show. And when that happens, that's where the finger
is gonna get pointed. When are you head in Mexico
heading out Saturday, so you're gonna get off there and
get the I've been told it's a great city. So
I'm looking forward to going to Mexico. It is a
it is a great city. Unbelievable food. Do not get
in the green cabs and it is it is. It
(32:24):
is remarkably unsafe city as well. So but but it
is a great place. So enjoying good food, good food,
no green cabs, keep your head on a swivel. I
got it. Yep, there you go. No ice, and don't
don't do the ice cubes as well. Although you got
the at the team trainers there you might get a
little coal block up little but I'm not really sure anyway. Uh,
(32:45):
safe travels. Thanks for joining us. That's the one and
only Daniel Jeremiah Moved the sticks is of course the podcast.
Fox Sports Radio has the best sports 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. That's gonna Vegas,
(33:06):
wait to like give my money? Right? Are you tired
of losing money every week? Do you want to be
in the note? Well, we might not know, but Vegas
always knows brings. Let's go to Vegas, baby. I'll be
(33:28):
in Vegas a week from Saturday with college basketball game.
R J. Bellaby there he lives there you can hear
straight out of Vegas. Following the show on Fox Sports Radio,
Jonas knocks r J. Bell discussing all the lines, all
the games to the night, including Thursday night football. What
are the numbers as of right now? Well, right now
we're looking at and to me, Doug, this is a
(33:49):
classic trap game. Trap game, trap game exactly. I'm a
lock bar trap sounds like Nixon, a little bit uh
ac bar in Nixon do kind of sound like Trump.
So here's the thing. What is a trap game. It's
when almost everybody, the casual fans, even the hardercore fans,
(34:10):
are gonna say, wow, that side looks pretty good. Well,
when Vegas is enticing you into a side, you gotta
be careful. Well, let's think about it. The Browns Mayfield
against the Steelers and oh my, look at how many
games they have won, and that fits Patrick's a ball hawk.
What's the line three? Pittsburgh's getting three? I mean, come on,
(34:35):
of the public's gonna want Pittsburgh there, wouldn't you say?
Why do they make a line that so many people
are gonna want Pittsburgh it's because they want you, or
at least they're comfortable with you betting Pittsburgh, So to
me decide not to play here Steelers, not just because
it's got the makings of a trap, but because we
all know turnovers tend to even out in the long run,
(34:57):
especially defensively taking the ball away. I'm that's saying some
guys aren't a little bit better at a read or whatever.
But boy, oh boy, that is a rare exception, and
most of the time it's just a matter of luck
the ball bounces your way. Some of the best Dealers
defenses from two thousand, ten, eleven twelve under Dick lebou
they had horrible takeaway numbers. Did that mean they weren't
(35:19):
a good dat No, it meant the ball just wasn't
bouncing their way. It has for Pittsburgh d so far.
On the other side, if you look at Rudolph and
let me ask you, Doug based upon Pittsburgh seeming pretty
comfortable with him after Big Bank got hurt, specifically, they
were willing to trade for Fitzpatrick, which said a lot
of optimism for the team. He's underperformed, wouldn't you say, uh, yeah, yeah,
(35:44):
that's I think that's very fair to say. So if
Pittsburgh's want some close games, Pittsburgh's won those games with
some luck, maybe even more luck than skill. I think
just by definition, they're overrated by if you flip the
native Pittsburgh Pittsburgh Pittsburgian aynzer yzer Za, you know where
(36:07):
I grew up, Literally, people would say, so Yin's you's
going out tonight. I mean that was it. I think
there was only like a hundred square miles that whatever
say that. So Brown's just a tough schedule. I mean
if you actually look at their schedule, Wow, So I
think they're a little the dust the Broncos. Yeah, they
(36:28):
barely beat the Bills. Bills miss you know, talk about
first off, if you win against the Bills. I mean,
the Patriots barely beat the Bills. I got it, I
got it. But there at home, I was supposed to
on the road like the Patriots were, and the Bills
miss two field goals late. Otherwise they're they're they're they're
three and six. Do I agree they have a difficult
schedule like yeah, okay, but remember Doug, I think we
are saying the same things, just from a different direction,
(36:50):
meaning I'm not saying the Browns are good. I'm saying
the Browns are underrated. They're better than they seem. That's
all I'm always looking. But Vegas takes all this into account.
They put the line. That's why their three point favorites,
even though even though they um you know, they had
a four game losing streak before winning against the Bills.
I agree, So I think in general, you bring up
a very sophisticated point, Vegas is gonna probably if the
(37:13):
public goes let's just say, for the sake of argument,
Vegas believed the line should be three and a half
in this game. And if the public believes the line
should be Pittsburgh favored by one, which is probably right,
what meaning what the public thinks. What they're gonna do
is you're gonna go almost to the right line three
and a half and then bring it back just a
little to make it a little bit more attractive for
(37:36):
the Pittsburgh battors. They're trying to bait you, and that's
why they call it a trap. They're trying to split
the result, but they're trying to make it where amongst
the corridor of okay, the result is gonna be between
fifty two. Between these couple of numbers, they're gonna push
it to the direction that's gonna entice more betting, because
they don't make any money if you don't bet. Doug
(37:58):
gottlib Schell on Fox Sports Radio forty one and a half, Right,
that's the overrunder I'm I'm seeing. Yes, stands the reason
low scoring game. Uh? Do you like the over the under?
I don't like betting. I like the under, but I
don't like betting unders on low totals just because it
can be one or two turnovers either short field or
(38:20):
defensive touchdown can swing the whole thing, so I won't
probably bet it. But the reason I like the under
is I believe all the conversation about the Steelers taking
the ball away will make Freddie Kitchens even more conservative.
He doesn't want Mayfield to have a four turnover night.
That's talked about NonStop. A mutual friend of ours would
probably do an hour on it right right here in
(38:43):
fs Are, So I think they're gonna be extra conservative.
I think Pittsburgh's offense is overrated because a lot of
their scoring has been about the defense putting them in
good spots. So I would lean towards under forty one
and a half. It is curious. Forty forty one is
a key number, so if you think about it, it's
combinations of threes and sevens. So for example, thirty there's
(39:06):
a key number. So if you can go under forty
one and a half, that's much better than under forty
one the week Pick of the week, it's a rare thing.
Double did your favorite? John Gruden and the Raiders. And
here's the thinking. Raiders haven't been favored by more than
a field goal the entire season, So the fact that
they are clearly better than the Banals, I don't think
(39:28):
they're gonna be flat. They've been craving. You would think
an easy game because Browns have had a tough schedule,
Raiders probably tougher. I'd make the case right up there
amongst the toughest schedule in the NFL. But then think
about how many road games they had, right twenty thousand
miles of traveling between home games to London, all kind
(39:48):
of tough ones to Houston, and now this is their
third straight home game, so the whole season, I think
you could make the case to varying degrees, the Raiders
have been hindered circumstances. Now the circumstances are in their favor.
Third straight home game. Bengals, Yeah, worst team. I think
that's true. I would love love Miami. Let's say pick
(40:11):
him on a neutral against the Bengals. I don't think
i'd get it right. Vegas considers Dolphins better now. But
I think the worst part of the Bengals is the
coaching staff. I think this is the worst coaching staff
in the NFL. And because of that, Gruden who loves
to get the profile who are we kid? And he's
done very well with it. I think he puts a
(40:32):
couple of trick plays in and they look for margin
because when you've had a bunch of close games, you
get up by twenty one, it's gonna feel good. They're
gonna keep kind of celebrating on the field, I think.
And in the NFL, if you lay doubles, you gotta
ask yourself, why does this team want margin? I think
the Raiders want it. Raiders best better the week. Um.
(40:54):
I might be crazy, but I love the Texans of
the Ravens. Ravens laying floor and the reason is the
Texans are a good football team. They're coming off a
bye week. Uh, And I think the Ravens are a
little overvalued as you give. You give a coach like
Bill O'Brien, you know, two weeks prepare. Granted they don't
have J. J. Watt, but two weeks prepare. And he's
(41:15):
seen all the tape of Bill Belichick and what his
team did early on to get themselves out of position.
I like the Ravens. There, am I crazy? So we're
saying ballot check what he did against the It's about
it's about coaching families, right. You look at what somebody
else does that that you relate to. And Bill O'Brien's
b O b is a former Belichick dude, And I
(41:37):
and and look, part of what you're saying about the
Bengals is they're just awful. They're non competitive. So as
much as I'd love to say Lamar Jackson is the
greatest thing ever, part of it is the Bengals are
just awful right now. I think everybody's gonna ring them up.
But if anything, I think that the Ravens last week,
if they would have won by four against the Bengals,
we would have all excused it. In fact, the physic
(41:59):
our main fel going straight out of Vegas right up here.
Next on FSR, he had one of his best bets
on the Bengals. His thought was flat spot for the Ravens.
You know what I say. You know what I said yesterday?
I said, maybe the Ravens were flat. I mean, the
Bengals are so bad. Maybe that was flat. So I
don't know what to make of the game last week,
but I know I'm not valuing the Ravens much. I'm
(42:21):
not giving them a big upgrade because of it. I'm
giving them an upgrade because they went into Seattle, and
in hindsight, that win looks even more impressive. Right because
they go in and beat San France. I know that
that's not a one to one, but boy, Seattle's better
Seattle too. I agree. I I listen, My one, probably
two or three of my biggest points this whole year
(42:44):
where I've taken a stand has been I thought Seattle
was overrated, but to some degree, you got to give
credit where credits due. I still think they're overrated, but
I think they're better than I thought. They wore Seattle.
Now you go in with Baltimore. We know the Patriots
don't get manhandled very often. It's specially in the game, uh,
in which they were really focused. That was a game
(43:04):
they cared about, right because it could be for the
number one seed potentially. So I don't think you can
say Houston and and and maybe this is the way
to finish the handicap neutral field, all things equal, And
I know they're not this week, but let's set that
aside quickly for a second. How much better are the
Ravens than the Texas? Uh? I don't know. If they
(43:27):
are all right, then you're on the right side if
you believe that. I believe the Texans are Jack Owen
high team, and I just don't meaning that they Listen,
they look great in London, no doubt. They looked pretty
good or really good against Kansas City, though obviously Kansas
City in hindsight was in a swoon, a little bit
of a swoon at that point. But boy, they've had
(43:50):
some bad results. What's been the other than the Browns game,
which is to me inexplicable how the Browns dominated the Ravens.
I don't I don't see the Ravens playing a game
the whole year. They didn't play well the first time
against Cincinnati. Uh, they didn't play well. He didn't really
they didn't really play well offensively against Kansas City. They
were they were down big. The final score is not
(44:12):
really indicative of that game. That game was not a
close game. Yeah, I agree, But listen, if you and
let's just say this, if you're halfway through the season
in the bad games are the ones that covered the spread,
then they're not that bad. Right, You're right. There was
a backdoor there no doubt. So to me, I think
this is really the crux of this game. If you
believe the Ravens are better, this line is a little
(44:32):
short because Ravens have maybe the fifth or six best
home field in the NFL. They're about three and a half.
And I also think O'Brien I was very surprised to
hear you say that one to thirty two. I personally
put a Brian about twenty where it sounds like you
got him as a top dozen coach. Yes, and that's
the question. What's he gonna do with the buy? And
(44:53):
to me, those are two questions. And how you don't
have his you don't have his numbers out to buy?
Do you know I couldn't? You know what I can
do is I literally can email them to your producer
right when we hang up. All right to hang up. No,
I'm serious. Bye, Thank you, Doug,
Thanks for listening to the best of the Doug Gottlip
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
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(00:22):
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Hope you are doing well. Doug Gottlip Show is brought
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(00:45):
Getting ready for Thursday Night football, which is on Fox.
Brandon Wheed, and former Brown's quarterback, will join us get
his thoughts on what the Browns need to do and
what it's like to go against that vaunted Pittsburgh Steelers
front and defense. That's twenty five after the hour day.
Neil Jeremiah, NFL Network Moved the Sticks Podcast joins us
next hour. R J. Bell pregame dot Com Straight out
of Vegas is the radio show. UH pregame dot Com
(01:08):
is the official lines provider of the Associated Press. He
will join us in the third and final hour of
the show. We've got a lot to get to. Um
Clippers lose the hands of the Rockets. Rockets remind me
of an NFL team. Clippers, I think have a similar
problem to one they've had with previous incarnations of the Clippers,
and I'm not sure that it's fixable. Interesting messaging between
(01:33):
Tom Brady and Bill Belichick. I want to get to.
I got I got a lot of stuff on my plate,
but let me let me begin with tonight's game. Tonight's
games the Cleveland Browns versus the pittsburghs Dealers, And have
many pointed out, it's you could say it's talent versus character,
or you could say it's culture versus characters. That's really
(01:57):
what's at stake here, right The Pittsburgh's deelers two most
talented offensive players, one is out league, the other one
is running for the New York Jets, and their quarterback
is out for the year. And yet here they are
with a better record, more competitive and an incredibly compelling story.
The Pittsburgh Steelers on the brink of putting themselves very
(02:18):
much in the driver's seat in the playoffs going against
the Cleveland Browns, were coming off a big win over
the Bills. But let's not kid ourselves. The Bills are
made Field go away from going overtime and to ma
made makeup a Field goes away from losing at home
to the Bills, which would have effectively ended their season.
(02:40):
But I also think that there's something else at stake
other than just a character and culture debate. I don't
think anyone can debate that Pittsburgh Stealers have better culture
and better character than the Cleveland Browns. You can tell
me the Cleveland Browns have faced adversity. Is there any
more adversity than losing your three most talented offensive players
(03:01):
then losing your quarterback who what was the general manager
said was the only adult in the room going back
to last year, who just resigned a new long term
contract of future Hall of Famer. There's no more adversity
than that. But I also think we've gotten to this
place and we do this in business, we do this
in life, and we definitely do it in sports where
(03:23):
something is undervalued, and so we sink a bunch of
resources into it and then it becomes overvalued. Right, because
what happens is we get this all the time. Well,
look at the Super Bowl winning quarterbacks. How many of
(03:43):
them are Hall of Famers. And the idea is, if
you want to win a Super Bowl, you gotta have
a Hall of Fame quarterback. Russell Wilson will be a
Hall of Famer. I don't think there's any doubt in that. Right.
He puts himself in the m VP debate enough, He's
won a Super Bowl, been in two Super Bowls. Tom
Bray video be a Hall of Famer. Peyton Manning will
(04:04):
be a Hall of Famer. You know, Ben Roethlisberger will
be a Hall of Famer. Eli Manning will be a
Hall of Famer. But what's interesting is when Peyton Manning
won Super Bowl, he was in the conversations of worst
starting quarterbacks numbers wise in the league. Right when Ben
(04:26):
Roethlisberger won his first Super Bowl, he had the lowest
quarterback rating of any winning quarterback in Super Bowl history.
His first time around hack even Tom Brady's first time around,
he was a facilitating More than anything, John Elway's first
Super actually had surpassed everybody else, and and before he
was surpassed by Ben Roethisberger was the lowest tbr Any
(04:47):
winning Super Bowl quarterback. So the idea of having a
Hall of Fame quarterback technically is right. Eli Manning is
only going to go into the Hall of Fame because
of those Super Bowls, not because of his overall play.
I think you might actually say the same about Ben Roethlisberger,
and he wasn't a Hall of Famer the first time
he went in. Didn't play like it either. But we've
(05:11):
gone from this place of maybe undervaluing financially quarterbacks. There
wasn't this great chasm between quarterback salaries and everybody else
too now overvaluing it. Yes, starting quarterbacks are in fact important.
I am not telling you they are not. It is
(05:31):
really hard to win big consistently with with a backup.
I mean the Eagles did win a Super Bowl with
a backup, but that I will actually only proves my point. Right,
you do need a quarterback. The Bears don't seem to
have a quarterback. They do have a great defense, skill
position players are hit and miss, but right now they're
(05:53):
not a playoff team, and it's because they don't have
You need a little bit of everything. You can't go
no quarterback. Look at the Broncos since the Super Bowl.
They've had massive offensive line issues and they've had major
quarterback issues, but you don't necessarily need great quarterback play.
(06:14):
Take a look at the Tennessee Titans. I'll grant you
very lucky, unfortunate, lucky to beat the Chargers, but they'll
take that luck. And they're five and five, and they've
been rotating Mariota and now Ryan Tannehill, and yeah, Ryan
Tannehill won. I guess last week. The Steelers have the
number one rated offensive line in past protection, third overall
in defense. They're in the playoff hunt with Mason Rudolph,
(06:37):
who I really like personally, and I hope he's a
long time starter, but I don't think he is, or
at least to this point, he has not proven to
the league that he is. Like if Ben Roethlsberg came
back and said he was healthy today, he'd bet the
starting quarterback today, even though they've won all these games
in a row. Why is that? Because Mason Rudolph is
He's basically just a guy right now? The success of
(07:01):
the Steelers, the success of the Panthers, the success in
many ways of the Ravens last year and at times
the Ravens this year is because of their team, their culture,
their defense, their offensive line as much as the quarterback,
if not much more than the quarterback. Look, when the
(07:24):
Eagles won the Super Bowl, they had a dynamic pass rush,
they had a damn good offensive line, they schemed them up,
and they had some good skilled position players. Carson Wentz
would have been the m v P. He was playing
at that high level. Like we're sitting here going like wow,
falls was better than Carson Wentz, Like, No, he wasn't.
(07:45):
He wouldn't have been the m v P in the NFL.
Carson Wentz would have. It was that good of a team.
And when Carson Wentz comes back and the team falters,
this Carson as Carson Wentz gotten worse. No, they don't
have a pass rush. The offensive line has been hit
or miss, They've had massive amount of drops, and they
haven't been fully healthy. You haven't had Sean Jackson the
entire season. My point is not that quarterbacks don't matter.
(08:10):
My point is not that quarterbacks matter, because they do,
but they don't. They are not the end all be all,
and the perfect example is the Pittsburgh Steelers. You know,
the old Hillary Clinton. It takes a village. It does
in life, in business, and in sports. You can't just
(08:34):
have a quarterback and expect him to sprinkle some pixie dusk,
asked Green Bay and Aaron Rodgers. How's that? How that
works out? On the other hand, it can't just have
an incredible defense and not have an offense led by
a quarterback with confidence, asked the Chicago Bears. How that's
working out. We've gone from undervaluing quarterback play and not
(08:56):
paying the guys above and beyond what they're worth too.
Now we're getting to the point of being ridiculous. And
it's not just the offensive line and the defense. The
coaching matters. Mike Tomlins never had a losing season, and
now you see why. Right when other coaches would pack
(09:19):
it in and go starting first year guy, we had
a third year, third string quarterback start on the road
against the Chargers. We got blasted against the Pittsburgh Steelers
were trying to work some things out and figure some
things out. There were no excuses given they simply shorten
the game, change the game plan, cut the field in
half for their young quarterback, simplified things and let it
(09:41):
ride on their culture, their character, their coaching. Very big seas,
throwing a little conditioning, and you got the four seas
of success. It's not the quarterback. Play doesn't matter. But
we've gotten to this point where quarterbacks get all of
the credit or all of the blame. I'll give you
an example. Who was the best quarterback last weekend in
(10:06):
the NFL. Now, the a f C Player of the
Week went to Lamar Jackson, and he was spectacular. He
completed his first ten passes, He ran, he passed. They
dominated the worst defense in football. But he wasn't the
best quarterback in football. For my money and for most
people's money, if you actually watched, it would be the
Kansas City Chiefs, led by Pat Mahomes in his first
(10:28):
game back. He wasn't good. He was great. From a
dislocated kneecap. It wasn't like a hamstring, wasn't a rolled ankle,
wasn't a pinky finger on his non throwing hand. Dislocated
kneecap thirty six, four hundred and forty six yards, three touchdowns,
(10:50):
no interceptions, an average of nine yards per completion. He
played great. Why didn't they win? He couldn't get a stop.
They couldn't run the football, They couldn't stop Derrick Henry.
He ran for a hundred and eighty eight yards eight
point two yards to carry like Tannehill gets the credit
(11:11):
for the win. He do for a hundred and eighty
one yards. No one who watches, or knows, or breeze
or knows anything about football thinks that Pat Mahomes was
anything more, anything less than spectacular. And he found Tyreek
kill eleven times for a hundred fifty seven yards. But
that is not what a great football team makes. You
have to be able to protect, to run it, to
(11:32):
stop it. And what are we gonna do. We're gonna
overvalue Pat Mahomes because we say he's worth it. He
probably is, but he's probably not because you don't win
football games that way. The Steelers are living proof that
quarterbacks matter, but they don't matter because you've got to
(11:53):
have a little bit of everything. The culture, the character,
the conditioning, and the coaching. Gotta have those you want
to in in any sport, in any league, especially the NFL.
Be sure to catch the live edition of the Doug
Gottlieb Show weekdays at three p m. Easter noon Pacific
on Fox Sports Radio and the I Heart Radio. A
app under drafted had to sit behind Drew Bled, so
(12:18):
Bled So gets knocked in the next week from Mo Lewis,
he leads a team to a super Bowl and the rest,
as they say, is history. And because he marries the
most financially successful and maybe go supermodel all time, he
didn't need the money. And now he's in his forties
(12:40):
forty two to be exact, playing really good football. His trainer,
who of course used to be able to have a
little office inside their stadium, went on a local radio
station in Boston and said that Tom Brady feels great. Well,
you know, it all comes down to commitment. No one
thought you could play at the elite level and in
(13:02):
your late thirties and early forties, that's something we've always
felt that we could do. I certainly do believe that
forty five is very realistic goal. So you know, we
talked about it all the time, Like every year he
just adds another year he goes in, He's like, I
just feel so good still, Like I think I'm gonna
go to forty five. I'm like okay, and it's like
now he's like, oh, I think I can go like
forty six or forty seven. I will say this about
(13:26):
and I know he works very closely with Tom Brady.
I know they have this belief which they're like, it's
just about mindset, Like, no, it's really not. It's also
helped out by the fact you can't touch you a
quarterback anymore. It's and and at some point your body
will go. At some point you will be shot. Like look,
he was the same guy who threw two should have
(13:47):
been three picks in the a f C Championship game
on the road in Kansas City, and it wasn't like
they lit up the the l A Rams. It's great
and last drive. And the last time we saw them
play against the Baltimore Ravens looked old. I know. Yeah.
By the way, this is a memo to Alix Gonzale's like,
we aren't playing anything, we aren't playing dealt. He is
(14:13):
trying to play until he's forty five. ALIXE Gonzalez feeling
himself a little bit there. You know our goal, our
we you're the one standing in there when the Ravens
are trying to take your head off. Not so much,
but I I feel like, and this isn't really important.
(14:33):
I feel like Tom Brady is putting the Patriots a
little bit unnoticed, right. That this happens in relationships. When
you've been married for a long time, at some point
you gotta get valued, right. At some point you gotta
go like you get to a point in your relationship
(14:53):
where you've bought every piece of jewelry, get your bracelet
them one year at a necklace, Hey, a ring, ear rings,
I'm good, right, and you don't need anything right, like
a birthday's coming up and there's nothing she needs. She's
(15:17):
got cars, she got you know, you get her pair
of shoes. You need another pair of shoes, Yes, she
needs an other pair of shoes. That was a really
silly statement. The point is this, everyone at some point
gets to a place in a relationship where they need
to feel valued, heard, loved, adored, wanted. Right, That's where
(15:41):
Brady is. Brady's like, look, I've done this for twenty years,
taking a little bit less. So now put my house
up for sale and those things don't sell overnight. But
we also renegotiate a contract where I'm a free agent Now,
the reality of it is Tom Brady is not going
(16:01):
anywhere else. It's just he's not doing the Johnny unitis,
you know, playing in a Charger uniform like it's not happening.
I mean, I don't think it's just where is he going.
He's gonna go play for the Tennessee Titans, for one
of his former teammates, or for you know, pick it's
gonna fall is his offense coordinare gonna go take a job.
(16:24):
They're gonna go take over somewhere, like, nah, don't see it.
It's gonna go play for the Miami Dolphins in the
same division. Here's Greg Bdard, who of course covers the
newing of Patriots for the Boston Sports Journal. I think
(16:44):
that Brady finally had enough um and this is accumulated
basically since the Falcon Super Bowl when he was m
v P. They had a good group together. We all
thought that he was going to get a contract extension
after that. He didn't get it. That he didn't trade
Jimmy Garoppolo in the off season when his value what
was at the most, you know, all that sort of stuff,
(17:06):
and there were a ton of decisions and stars, you know,
weapons and things like that, and the last two contracts
he's gone for incentives and they wouldn't give him any
long term security. I think I think all of it
is accumulated. He's set up, and he finally said, you
know what, I'm not gonna make any decisions right now,
but now I want the power after the season. So
(17:27):
I think Tom Brady is going to listen to offers
from other places. I think he's hoping that he gets Hey,
here's thirty thirty five million dollars guaranteed. What are you
guys gonna do? Yeah? I just I think this is
kind of classic relationship one oh one, where he wants
to feel wanted, he wants to feel needed, he wants
to feel special, and if you don't make him as such,
(17:50):
then he's willing to leave the relationship. Nothing more than that.
And that's what Guerrera going on radio and saying, hey,
he can play untill he's seven. That's what putting his
house up for sale is all about. Right, That's that's
(18:10):
what the going and talking to other quarterbacks before the game,
taking the goat sneakers from from oh b J. That's
what that stuff is all about. Right, He's putting it
out there that he's been happily in this relationship with
the Newingham Patriots for a long time. But if you
don't make him feel valued, you don't make him feel adored,
(18:33):
you don't make him feel important. Well a look elsewhere.
Be sure to catch the live edition of the Doug
gott Leap Show weekdays at three p m. Easter noon Pacific.
Let's welcome in. Daniel Jeremiah moved the sticks as the podcast.
It's great, you should download it. You can see him
on the NFL network here on the call of the
l A Chargers games. Chargers, of course played and lost
(18:55):
in a heartbreaker last Thursday in Oakland, Oakland, now in
position to somehow sneak in and grab a playoff spot,
but Chargers not not not totally out of it. They
got the Chiefs twice, including Monday night in the altitude
in Mexico City, as healthy as they've been still without
Derwin James. Uh, what are your thoughts in the likelihood
(19:17):
of the Chargers against the suddenly beatable Chiefs. Well, Doug,
it's getting difficult to kind of predict what you're gonna
see from the Chargers on a on a weekly basis.
I mean, you come off that Green Bay Packer game
where they look like they're really ready to take off,
and then they kind of have a stinker there against
the Raiders. So, um, it's tough to know what you're
gonna get when they're when they're playing, when they're playing,
(19:37):
you know, well, the running the football like we've seen
the last couple of weeks, they've got that going a
little bit um and uh and they're making good decisions
and rivers and making good decisions. They can they can
beat this Chief's team, but man, the team that showed
up against Oakland won won't have a chance. They've they've
got to uh gotta be a little bit more efficient,
a little more secure with the football. What what is
the deal with Philip Rivers? I mean the decisions he
(19:57):
made on that last drive where he's oh of a
and he's taking chances down the field almost panicking when
he's got guys open over the middle and three time outs?
How can how has how can a guy of that
reputation at this stage in his career makes so many
uh so many ill fated decisions. Yeah, you know, lookay
(20:18):
they were down both their tackles and so he did
have some pressure on him throughout this game. But yeah,
I don't know how to explain that. The last sequence,
it was it was very bizarre closed out of game.
I don't think I've ever seen a two minute drill
close out with eight straight incompletions. Uh And and it
was just being too aggressive, you know. And and sometimes
that's that's the flaw that you get there pays off
(20:39):
sometimes with some of those shots to Mike Williams you've
seen throughout the last couple of years. But at that
point in time in the game, it's about first down,
not touchdowns. You've got a minute, you've got three time outs,
you're only chasing three points. Um, You've got a guy
in Austin Eckler who you can check the ball down to,
who's going to be a nightmare to tackle. So and
I've seen him do that in the past. I've seen
him two minute drills just to feature Austin neckwork right
(21:00):
down the field. For some reason, just got a little bit, uh,
a little bit greedy in that and that sequence, and
I'm sure it's one that he'd like to have back.
You know, there's there's a good amount of momentum for
Lamar Jackson be the m v P. And maybe I'm
biased because I've watched all the games and which there's
games which he struggled, Kansas City, Pittsburgh held even Cleveland,
(21:21):
uh the first time when they when they lost to them,
since that he threw a cup picks first time they
played against him. And I know how bad the Bengals are,
but he has played really good football of Layton did
played obviously great against a couple of bad teams to
start the year. What are your thoughts on the sustainability
of what the Ravens are doing well? I mean, in
terms of sustainability for the rest of the season, it's outstanding.
(21:44):
I mean, they've found a formula that works and um,
and teams just are not comfortable that you never see
a defense get comfortable against them, even when he's making mistakes.
We were talking about on the podcast today. I was
talking about with Bucky and we're comparing, you know, Lamar
Jackson and DeShawn Way and I said, really, it's like fighters. Um.
You know, when you look at at Lamar, he's an attacking, pushing,
(22:06):
pressing fighter. He's the Manu pact Yo, whereas Deshaun Watson
is more of a counterpuncher. You know you're gonna he's
not gonna be on a ton of design quarterback runs,
but he'd get himself out of trouble. And if you're
gonna pursue up the field, he'll make you pay for it.
But Lamar is just constantly putting pressure on the defense.
Now can he can he? You know, the question everybody's
asking is can you hold up doing that well? Long term?
(22:26):
I think there's a humutive effect, and I don't know
that that has long term viability. You're gonna have to
curb the way you play a little bit. But for
the short term, absolutely it can work. What did the
what the Chargers do last year in the postseason that
other teams haven't been able to replicate? It puts I mean,
it wasn't just that they had no linebackers. It was
just they had tremendous speed on the field and they
(22:49):
didn't sit back and wait and they just attacked. So
a lot of times, a lot of the zone read stuff,
and it's all, you know, basically option based. He's reading
and you're either gonna pick one or the other. You're
gonna pick the back or you're gonna pick the quarterback.
End up being a man short. A lot of times
chargers put tons of speed on the field and they
attacked that mesh point. In other words, we're gonna make
(23:10):
him make a decision and we're gonna tackle trying. You
want to send one guy, I'm almost gonna try and
tackle both of them. Just force a quick decision and
then you use all your speed to beat blocks and
rally to the football. If you're gonna try and you know,
if you're gonna try and play physical and try and
stack blocks, which means you're gonna press out martial Yondas
of the world, Like, that's not gonna end. Well, they're
gonna drive you into the bench. Um, so you just
(23:30):
gotta use quick guys, put your speed on the field
and attack. When are when when are people just gonna
sell out and hit him? I mean, because that's always
been the fear with option football, right, is that somebody's
just going to hit him every time. Yeah, there's there's teams,
like I've talked to coordinators in the league that will say, yeah,
we mix in, we mix in some zone. Right They
don't They don't obviously do it to the degree that
the Ravens do. He said, we mix it in until
(23:52):
the first time our quarterback hands it off and still
gets hit. And once he hands it off and he's
still taking a hit, then we don't call it the
rest of the game, you know. So that's how that's
how some of those other teams look at that. Now
he's uh, you know, they're they're not going to do
that with the Ravens are gonna tend to be more aggressive.
But you've got to pile up hits on him anytime
you want to, you know, make us guests, You've got
to get hit. That's the way you've got to approach it.
(24:13):
Pittsburgh taken on the Cleveland Browns tonight. I said, this
is the greatest challenge the Browns are gonna face, not
because Pittsburgh is the best team, but because Pittsburgh is
a culture team. Right. They they they got rid of
their running back, they got rid of their wide receiver,
and they've decided culture as well as you know, their
defensive style. But you know that that's what they're gonna
win with. Then they lose their quarterback and they've somehow regrouped.
(24:37):
Is that a fair assessment because I think in a
pickup game, you pick many of the Browns ahead of
the Steelers. But the Steelers app are be the better team. Yeah,
the Steelers gonna They're gonna gonna sit back and wait
for you to make a mistake. You know, they're not
capable with their offensive going out there right now or
running up a bunch of points. But they've proven you
don't have to to win a lot of football games.
You play great defense, other teams make mistakes, you capitalize
(24:58):
on it. Sometimes that's your defense just flat out scoring
on their own, like Fitzpatrick's done a couple of times.
Other times it's giving you a short field and and
they've been able to collect enough points to win football games.
And if they play, if they play, if both teams
play a clean game tonight, the Browns are gonna win.
But the Steelers are banking on the fact that they
won't be able to do that. It's the way they played.
(25:19):
It reminds me a lot. It's not that the defense
is not at the level of that old school Baltimore
Ravens defense, but they've got a lot of playmakers. And
I don't know what the number of the streak was,
but remember that Bill first year, they went like five
or six games without scoring an offensive touchdown. They didn't
even really need to because they were just dominating on defense.
That's the formula stealers are using. It's working quite well.
(25:40):
Daniel Jeremiah joining us in the Doug Gottlieb Show. You've
worked in the front office before. What's your sense of
the weird timing the day I guess Hugh Jackson is
gonna run this workout. What do you make of the
Kaepernick workout? Well, it's it's it's just unusual, man, the
way it's all that up and the way it was
(26:00):
all such kind of like sprung on everybody, just kind
of last minute. Um. You know, I think that the
people that had any type of expectation you would see,
you know, general managers or head coaches there. That's not
the way that works. Even you know, when you're having
workouts during the season at your own facility, oftentimes you
would never see the head coach or the general manager there.
It's the pro scouting department and a position coach will
(26:23):
run the workout with four or five guys at one position,
and then they kind of get together on the pro side,
on the pro scouting side and the side who they
want to sign. But Um, you know, anybody had an
expectation that in the middle of the season, is you know,
on a Saturday, you're gonna get a head coach out
of the building. That's never gonna happen on Saturday. Well,
I don't know that would make a lot of It
didn't make a lot of sense to me. Um. I
(26:45):
think to me, my view of this thing, Doug is
it's really should have been presented as we're going to
have a workout with Colin Kaepernick that we're gonna put
on video that we're gonna send to all thirty two teams.
We've got, you know, three teams. You got in touch with,
three teams that are gonna help us run the workout, um,
and then it will be distributed to everybody, and at
(27:05):
that point in time, teams can assess where he is,
you know, like I don't need to see him run
a forty or any of that stuff. I just want
to see him get on the scale, what does he weigh,
see him go through the throwing workout, how's he throwing
the football, how's he moving around doing that? And then
you send that to all thirty two teams and they
can decide if they want to bring him in for
their own workout or if they want to, you know,
pursue it further. That to me is what the value
(27:26):
is here. It's not that we're going to get all
the teams and attendance and decision makers are going to
be there. That was never going to be the case.
So I don't know why they was kind of framed
in that light. The Jets have have come out and
said and it's the dreaded vote of confidence, right because
anytime usually get you get fired. But they have said, hey,
not only Adam Gate is gonna be the coach remainer
this season, He's going to be the coach next year.
(27:47):
What what what's your reaction when you hear that? To me,
it's every decision that they're going to make, and this
is just the first one, you know, whether or not
it right or wrong. This is the basis for their
decision making is about It's about getting Sam donald Um
to play at a high level. And so they feel like,
(28:07):
you know, continuity with a with an offense and a
play caller is essential to that. And maybe you don't
love everything about Adam Gates, but you also don't want
your quarterback to be running his third offense in three years,
give him a chance to grow on that offense, and
then every decision from here on, this is just the
first one. It's gonna be about protecting Sam Donald and
helping him out, and it needs to start with a
(28:28):
with a ton of offensive line help here in the
off season. I'm sure that will be on the agenda. Yeah,
it's interesting. I mean that that is the leakiest building
maybe in the National Football League. But um, okay, the
Redskins have committed to starting the kid, but he was
he was so overwhelmed early on. Is that the right decision?
(28:49):
I think so. I think you as an organization, it's
the move you have to make, um to get out there.
Now you're gonna hopefully kind of learn with him. You know,
he's gonna be a little bit of a rocky road
because he clearly didn't look like he was ready to play.
But you're gonna have to try and craft things, um
and call plays that that he's comfortable with him, that
fit him, and find out what he can do because
(29:10):
you've got a pretty lengthy audition here. Um. That's gonna
take place over the last half of the season to
get a sense of where he is. Because as it
stands right now, they're gonna be picking a way up
there and the Cardinals, Man, that that to me is
the most undertalked about the storyline is the Cardinals took
a quarterback this, you know, two years in a row.
And as odd as that is, Doug, I don't know
(29:32):
who could argue that they didn't make the right decision
with the way Kyler Murray's played. So that opens up
a whole new door where we used to just eliminate
they took a quarterback last year. They're not in the
quarterback market. Well that's not necessarily the case, and the
money that you're paying those guys is not nearly what
it used to be in the old days. So um,
I think you gotta get you gotta find out what
we have in Haskins to see if you need to
go get another one. Yeah, and then they still have
(29:53):
Alex Smith's contract, they got the other two quarterback, they
got case Keenum's contract. Like, they got so much money
tied up in the quarterback position. I mean, maybe they
get Alex Smith to retire and get some of that
money back, but as of now, they can't. It is
that is a It is absolutely, absolutely nuts. Um. We
mentioned the Raiders, and I'm doing a little bit of
(30:15):
a victory lap because I thought, I thought, hey, here's
a guy who knows what he's doing and he's getting
the resources to do it. Has it all been perfect? No? No,
But you saw them in person against the Chargers. You
saw them twice last year. What's your assessment the Raiders
year too? The offensive line from last year to this year.
(30:35):
I mean some of the names are the same, but
there's obviously been some new additions and it's it was
it was woful last year. And start you start with
Colton Miller. Their first round pick was not good. Um,
he's gotten better, he's played better this year. You go
out and get the highest price, um, you know tackle
in the NFL, which they went out and got with
with Trent Brown, and he's played great at right tackle.
(30:57):
Richie Incognito for all of his you know faults and
issue us is a is a really really quality starting
NFL guard. And then when you've had when you have
Rodney Hudson and you've got Jackson out there, that is
a that's one of the five best offensive lines in football.
So you start with that, you go out and invest
in a running back who's physical is a really good player. Um.
Those factors combined have relieved so much pressure from Derek Carr,
(31:21):
and you've seen the impact in his play long term.
He's he's the answer. I don't know that I would
say that at this point in time. I think they're
gonna want to evaluate things. But he's playing. If he
I will say this, if he played like he's played
over the last few weeks, then yes, Um, but I
think I get the sense that you know, they want
to see this thing play out for the rest of
the year before they make that commitment. All right. Last
(31:41):
thing Dallas Cowboys coaching staff now catching some heat, is
that where the blame should lay. Well, I mean that's
been the constant, right. This is a team that at
least if you just compare talent level to overall success
postseason success. Uh. Specifically, if there's been a disconnect there,
it's been there. They've been more talented uh than the
(32:01):
results show. And when that happens, that's where the finger
is gonna get pointed. When are you head in Mexico
heading out Saturday, so you're gonna get off there and
get the I've been told it's a great city. So
I'm looking forward to going to Mexico. It is a
it is a great city. Unbelievable food. Do not get
in the green cabs and it is it is. It
(32:24):
is remarkably unsafe city as well. So but but it
is a great place. So enjoying good food, good food,
no green cabs, keep your head on a swivel. I
got it. Yep, there you go. No ice, and don't
don't do the ice cubes as well. Although you got
the at the team trainers there you might get a
little coal block up little but I'm not really sure anyway. Uh,
(32:45):
safe travels. Thanks for joining us. That's the one and
only Daniel Jeremiah Moved the sticks is of course the podcast.
Fox Sports Radio has the best sports 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. That's gonna Vegas,
(33:06):
wait to like give my money? Right? Are you tired
of losing money every week? Do you want to be
in the note? Well, we might not know, but Vegas
always knows brings. Let's go to Vegas, baby. I'll be
(33:28):
in Vegas a week from Saturday with college basketball game.
R J. Bellaby there he lives there you can hear
straight out of Vegas. Following the show on Fox Sports Radio,
Jonas knocks r J. Bell discussing all the lines, all
the games to the night, including Thursday night football. What
are the numbers as of right now? Well, right now
we're looking at and to me, Doug, this is a
(33:49):
classic trap game. Trap game, trap game exactly. I'm a
lock bar trap sounds like Nixon, a little bit uh
ac bar in Nixon do kind of sound like Trump.
So here's the thing. What is a trap game. It's
when almost everybody, the casual fans, even the hardercore fans,
(34:10):
are gonna say, wow, that side looks pretty good. Well,
when Vegas is enticing you into a side, you gotta
be careful. Well, let's think about it. The Browns Mayfield
against the Steelers and oh my, look at how many
games they have won, and that fits Patrick's a ball hawk.
What's the line three? Pittsburgh's getting three? I mean, come on,
(34:35):
of the public's gonna want Pittsburgh there, wouldn't you say?
Why do they make a line that so many people
are gonna want Pittsburgh it's because they want you, or
at least they're comfortable with you betting Pittsburgh, So to
me decide not to play here Steelers, not just because
it's got the makings of a trap, but because we
all know turnovers tend to even out in the long run,
(34:57):
especially defensively taking the ball away. I'm that's saying some
guys aren't a little bit better at a read or whatever.
But boy, oh boy, that is a rare exception, and
most of the time it's just a matter of luck
the ball bounces your way. Some of the best Dealers
defenses from two thousand, ten, eleven twelve under Dick lebou
they had horrible takeaway numbers. Did that mean they weren't
(35:19):
a good dat No, it meant the ball just wasn't
bouncing their way. It has for Pittsburgh d so far.
On the other side, if you look at Rudolph and
let me ask you, Doug based upon Pittsburgh seeming pretty
comfortable with him after Big Bank got hurt, specifically, they
were willing to trade for Fitzpatrick, which said a lot
of optimism for the team. He's underperformed, wouldn't you say, uh, yeah, yeah,
(35:44):
that's I think that's very fair to say. So if
Pittsburgh's want some close games, Pittsburgh's won those games with
some luck, maybe even more luck than skill. I think
just by definition, they're overrated by if you flip the
native Pittsburgh Pittsburgh Pittsburgian aynzer yzer Za, you know where
(36:07):
I grew up, Literally, people would say, so Yin's you's
going out tonight. I mean that was it. I think
there was only like a hundred square miles that whatever
say that. So Brown's just a tough schedule. I mean
if you actually look at their schedule, Wow, So I
think they're a little the dust the Broncos. Yeah, they
(36:28):
barely beat the Bills. Bills miss you know, talk about
first off, if you win against the Bills. I mean,
the Patriots barely beat the Bills. I got it, I
got it. But there at home, I was supposed to
on the road like the Patriots were, and the Bills
miss two field goals late. Otherwise they're they're they're they're
three and six. Do I agree they have a difficult
schedule like yeah, okay, but remember Doug, I think we
are saying the same things, just from a different direction,
(36:50):
meaning I'm not saying the Browns are good. I'm saying
the Browns are underrated. They're better than they seem. That's
all I'm always looking. But Vegas takes all this into account.
They put the line. That's why their three point favorites,
even though even though they um you know, they had
a four game losing streak before winning against the Bills.
I agree, So I think in general, you bring up
a very sophisticated point, Vegas is gonna probably if the
(37:13):
public goes let's just say, for the sake of argument,
Vegas believed the line should be three and a half
in this game. And if the public believes the line
should be Pittsburgh favored by one, which is probably right,
what meaning what the public thinks. What they're gonna do
is you're gonna go almost to the right line three
and a half and then bring it back just a
little to make it a little bit more attractive for
(37:36):
the Pittsburgh battors. They're trying to bait you, and that's
why they call it a trap. They're trying to split
the result, but they're trying to make it where amongst
the corridor of okay, the result is gonna be between
fifty two. Between these couple of numbers, they're gonna push
it to the direction that's gonna entice more betting, because
they don't make any money if you don't bet. Doug
(37:58):
gottlib Schell on Fox Sports Radio forty one and a half, Right,
that's the overrunder I'm I'm seeing. Yes, stands the reason
low scoring game. Uh? Do you like the over the under?
I don't like betting. I like the under, but I
don't like betting unders on low totals just because it
can be one or two turnovers either short field or
(38:20):
defensive touchdown can swing the whole thing, so I won't
probably bet it. But the reason I like the under
is I believe all the conversation about the Steelers taking
the ball away will make Freddie Kitchens even more conservative.
He doesn't want Mayfield to have a four turnover night.
That's talked about NonStop. A mutual friend of ours would
probably do an hour on it right right here in
(38:43):
fs Are, So I think they're gonna be extra conservative.
I think Pittsburgh's offense is overrated because a lot of
their scoring has been about the defense putting them in
good spots. So I would lean towards under forty one
and a half. It is curious. Forty forty one is
a key number, so if you think about it, it's
combinations of threes and sevens. So for example, thirty there's
(39:06):
a key number. So if you can go under forty
one and a half, that's much better than under forty
one the week Pick of the week, it's a rare thing.
Double did your favorite? John Gruden and the Raiders. And
here's the thinking. Raiders haven't been favored by more than
a field goal the entire season, So the fact that
they are clearly better than the Banals, I don't think
(39:28):
they're gonna be flat. They've been craving. You would think
an easy game because Browns have had a tough schedule,
Raiders probably tougher. I'd make the case right up there
amongst the toughest schedule in the NFL. But then think
about how many road games they had, right twenty thousand
miles of traveling between home games to London, all kind
(39:48):
of tough ones to Houston, and now this is their
third straight home game, so the whole season, I think
you could make the case to varying degrees, the Raiders
have been hindered circumstances. Now the circumstances are in their favor.
Third straight home game. Bengals, Yeah, worst team. I think
that's true. I would love love Miami. Let's say pick
(40:11):
him on a neutral against the Bengals. I don't think
i'd get it right. Vegas considers Dolphins better now. But
I think the worst part of the Bengals is the
coaching staff. I think this is the worst coaching staff
in the NFL. And because of that, Gruden who loves
to get the profile who are we kid? And he's
done very well with it. I think he puts a
(40:32):
couple of trick plays in and they look for margin
because when you've had a bunch of close games, you
get up by twenty one, it's gonna feel good. They're
gonna keep kind of celebrating on the field, I think.
And in the NFL, if you lay doubles, you gotta
ask yourself, why does this team want margin? I think
the Raiders want it. Raiders best better the week. Um.
(40:54):
I might be crazy, but I love the Texans of
the Ravens. Ravens laying floor and the reason is the
Texans are a good football team. They're coming off a
bye week. Uh, And I think the Ravens are a
little overvalued as you give. You give a coach like
Bill O'Brien, you know, two weeks prepare. Granted they don't
have J. J. Watt, but two weeks prepare. And he's
(41:15):
seen all the tape of Bill Belichick and what his
team did early on to get themselves out of position.
I like the Ravens. There, am I crazy? So we're
saying ballot check what he did against the It's about
it's about coaching families, right. You look at what somebody
else does that that you relate to. And Bill O'Brien's
b O b is a former Belichick dude, And I
(41:37):
and and look, part of what you're saying about the
Bengals is they're just awful. They're non competitive. So as
much as I'd love to say Lamar Jackson is the
greatest thing ever, part of it is the Bengals are
just awful right now. I think everybody's gonna ring them up.
But if anything, I think that the Ravens last week,
if they would have won by four against the Bengals,
we would have all excused it. In fact, the physic
(41:59):
our main fel going straight out of Vegas right up here.
Next on FSR, he had one of his best bets
on the Bengals. His thought was flat spot for the Ravens.
You know what I say. You know what I said yesterday?
I said, maybe the Ravens were flat. I mean, the
Bengals are so bad. Maybe that was flat. So I
don't know what to make of the game last week,
but I know I'm not valuing the Ravens much. I'm
(42:21):
not giving them a big upgrade because of it. I'm
giving them an upgrade because they went into Seattle, and
in hindsight, that win looks even more impressive. Right because
they go in and beat San France. I know that
that's not a one to one, but boy, Seattle's better
Seattle too. I agree. I I listen, My one, probably
two or three of my biggest points this whole year
(42:44):
where I've taken a stand has been I thought Seattle
was overrated, but to some degree, you got to give
credit where credits due. I still think they're overrated, but
I think they're better than I thought. They wore Seattle.
Now you go in with Baltimore. We know the Patriots
don't get manhandled very often. It's specially in the game, uh,
in which they were really focused. That was a game
(43:04):
they cared about, right because it could be for the
number one seed potentially. So I don't think you can
say Houston and and and maybe this is the way
to finish the handicap neutral field, all things equal, And
I know they're not this week, but let's set that
aside quickly for a second. How much better are the
Ravens than the Texas? Uh? I don't know. If they
(43:27):
are all right, then you're on the right side if
you believe that. I believe the Texans are Jack Owen
high team, and I just don't meaning that they Listen,
they look great in London, no doubt. They looked pretty
good or really good against Kansas City, though obviously Kansas
City in hindsight was in a swoon, a little bit
of a swoon at that point. But boy, they've had
(43:50):
some bad results. What's been the other than the Browns game,
which is to me inexplicable how the Browns dominated the Ravens.
I don't I don't see the Ravens playing a game
the whole year. They didn't play well the first time
against Cincinnati. Uh, they didn't play well. He didn't really
they didn't really play well offensively against Kansas City. They
were they were down big. The final score is not
(44:12):
really indicative of that game. That game was not a
close game. Yeah, I agree, But listen, if you and
let's just say this, if you're halfway through the season
in the bad games are the ones that covered the spread,
then they're not that bad. Right, You're right. There was
a backdoor there no doubt. So to me, I think
this is really the crux of this game. If you
believe the Ravens are better, this line is a little
(44:32):
short because Ravens have maybe the fifth or six best
home field in the NFL. They're about three and a half.
And I also think O'Brien I was very surprised to
hear you say that one to thirty two. I personally
put a Brian about twenty where it sounds like you
got him as a top dozen coach. Yes, and that's
the question. What's he gonna do with the buy? And
(44:53):
to me, those are two questions. And how you don't
have his you don't have his numbers out to buy?
Do you know I couldn't? You know what I can
do is I literally can email them to your producer
right when we hang up. All right to hang up. No,
I'm serious. Bye, Thank you, Doug,
Host
Doug Gottlieb
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