November 29, 2019 • 36 mins
Dan Beyer and Jonas Knox, in for Doug Gottlieb, wonder what is next for the Dallas Cowboys after their loss to the Bills and if Jerry Jones is right to stick by Jason Garrett. The guys discuss whether or not Josh Allen and the Bills are a legit threat this year. The guys explain why they are struggling to buy into the New Orleans Saints as contenders this season. Dan and Jonas think that a little bit of nostalgia is making its way back into the NFL.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Thanks for listening to the best of the Doug Gottlip
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(00:21):
best of the Doug Gottli Show on Fox Sports Radio.
The Dallas Cowboys lost yesterday to the Buffalo Bill fifteen
in a game that didn't knock the Cowboys from first
place just yet, but they are six and six now
on the season and Jonahs. It's another loss to a
team that record wise was better than Dallas, and it
(00:44):
was another opportunity. Like if you were to pick a
situation where you could say, what is the best opportunity
that we could have an advantage, you would be like, well,
let's do it on a short week. You know what,
Let's not even do it on a Thursday night. Let's
move kick off up like three hours so it's like
in the middle of the afternoon and will be the
home team and the other team has to travel to
Dallas and face US so everything was in line for
(01:06):
the Cowboys to get on the right track against a
Buffalo Bill's team and then they were basically run over
by the Buffalo. Yeah. Look, Dallas got off to an
early start and then it was all Buffalo from there
on out. And I actually don't even think the game
was that close down the stretch. I thought Buffalo was
just a better team. They looked better prepared. Josh Allen
outplayed Dak Prescott and then, you know, because we got
(01:26):
to sell the dramas what we do. Did you notice
what the cameras did every time there was a bad
play by the Dallas Cowboys straight up to Jerry's booth,
gotta get Jerry on camera. Jerry Jones was not happy
after the game, and infect jon Us you could almost
say that Jerry Jones was sad. Here were some of
the comments and the Cowboys owner after yesterday's defeat. For me,
(01:48):
I'm looking ahead at another ball game, and I'm looking ahead.
It went in full five straight, five straight, and then
help and write a story that they'll talk about hat
looks like you were down at got it done, and
I'll make I mean, not just the way that I'm
operating every decision that I'm over the next month, we'll
be he wasn't in mind to get us in the
(02:08):
Social bowls Now, it seems like you have a lot
of tears in your ask you just talking about three
of Moses right now. Well, I have been, because I've
been in a very emotional knocker room with a lot
of other guts center emotional way to have a drink, bros,
Like come on, man, it's it's funny because the Cowboys
(02:30):
fans are also crying watching this. Cowboys like, you're still okay,
let's not. You're still in first place, all right, You
still technically in first place. You still feel like you
have the inside track on a division championship and winning
the NFC East. I know this hasn't been the most
ideal season, but I was making this point, and I
feel like I've said this um because I'll always you know,
(02:53):
put together just thoughts on on different games and matchups
as they come along. Just what is this what jumps
out to me in this game? And I'll do caps
of certain games because it just you know, kind of
jogs my brain in my mind. And for the last
three four weeks, I've said, you know, I really don't
know whether or not Dallas is a good team. And
it's one thing if you say that two or three
(03:13):
weeks in Dan it's December in a couple of days,
and I still don't know Dallas is a good yeah,
And I think it's because they're all over the map,
like they get they get shut down in the game
against New England. But yesterday Dak throws for three fifty
five yards but also then throws a groundball to Ezekiel
Elliott on a fourth down. They still haven't corrected their
(03:33):
game management issues, whether it be in New England or
whether it be yesterday they were down I think it
was nineteen. It was a three score game and they're
facing a fourth and seven and they go for it
like you need a field goal to make it a
two score game. But that then tells me that you
have such little confidence in your offense that you don't
(03:56):
think you're gonna get to that point again, or or Jonas,
you just don't understand how to manage a game, which
honestly is amazing to think that a quarterback from Princeton
who spent years as a backup to a Hall of
Fame quarterback still doesn't understand how to manage a game.
That's been Jason Garrett's name tag for his entire head
(04:17):
coaching career of Cowboys managing games, and it came up
again yesterday. Those are the things. So I am with
you in those in that assessment because it's the same
thing over and over, and you're like, these things should
be correctable. And what's the reputation Jason Garrett has had
that he's always a safety first type coach, right, doesn't
take enough chances, he doesn't he doesn't go for it enough.
He's not doesn't have didn't have the guts to to
(04:39):
do certain things that other coaches would do around the NFL.
And I wanted to see whether or not we're always
told this thing that you know, coaches and players and
you know they don't listen to the media. You know,
they don't hear all the talk out there. We're only
focused on what's going on in the locker room. Okay,
So then why did Jason Garrett, who never goes for
it inside his own territory and deep inside his own
(05:03):
territory on a fourth down early in that game, why
did he decide that that was the proper time to
go for it because he'd been hearing all week. He
doesn't take enough chances because Jerry Jones threw him under
the bus and then grabbed his corpse and pulled it
out from under the bus again to try and revive
him in one week, in the matter of a couple
of days. He's hearing the noise, He's hearing the conversations,
(05:25):
and so he went against his better judgment and his
reputation because he's hearing all the whispers. Well, this is
this is where it goes. Is I look at this,
this whole situation. You may have heard me say this
before I get Jason Garrett hearing that stuff. I get
Amari Cooper is not happy with the touches. Guess what
boom out of the gate. We're getting it to Amari Cooper.
(05:45):
That's not maybe different than another team would have. My
whole issue with this entire situation, as we just heard
Jerry Jones there, how long has Jason Garrett been on
the hot seat, Like it's been for seven years, and
it's been on and off and on and off and
on and off, and so much. When we sit here
(06:05):
and we try to compare the NFL or whatever we're
talking about two real life situations. How often does it
come back to relationships all the time? And if you
are on again, off again, on again, off again, your
relationship probably won't last. And that's the issue that I
have with all of this. Gonese is because I think
Jerry Jones is is so mad and so emotional because
(06:29):
he thought he had that window of paying guys or
without having to pay guys, and now that window is closed.
But we've had the same conversation with Jason Garrett for
so long, and now Jerry Jones is finally ready to
pull the trigger at the end of this season when
your window of opportunity vanished. To me, like, I get
Jason Garrett being the one to blame, but Jerry Jones
(06:51):
has known about this. You gotta break up with the girl,
you gotta dump the guy. If it's on again and
off and it's just not going anywhere, you can't get
to the point that you want to be. That's why
I feel that Jerry Jones is getting such a pass
because he's the one that ultimately has had the decision
to keep Jason Garrett there and he's decided to do
so so in the end, you know, fool me once,
Shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. He's
(07:13):
been fooled three or four times, and this is where
they're stuck. Yeah, And also I think that Jerry Jones
creates an environment in Dallas to where there's so much
pressure for all the loyalty that Jerry Jones provides. There's
just these ridiculous expectations and and and pressure points that
are going on there with the organization. Like there's no like,
(07:33):
find me another owner in the NFL who immediately after
a loss, everybody runs to him to get his thoughts
and then he's got two hits a week on the
fan in Dallas like it just he creates this environment where, yeah,
it's great for his bottom line because they're constantly the
topic of conversation. Like think about it, They're a five
hundred football team and maybe the most talked about team
(07:54):
in the league. It's an amazing job by Jerry Jones
to keep him relevant. But I also think that to
his detriment, it's caused this sort of vibe around the
building toward it's not really walking on eggshells, but I
feel like there's so much pressure there on on having
to perform and having to do this and having to
do that, and you've got to it's super Bowl expectations
(08:16):
or bust. All right, Well, if it's super Bowl expectations
or bust. To your point, why is Jason Garrett there
ten years? Like, if it's super Bowl or bust, why
is he there ten years? We either need to readjust
our expectations as an organization or just pull the trigger
and go in the direction you want to go. Yeah,
they've had this and it's been the same issues like
the like the issues that we're talking about now. We're
talking about because of all the pieces that are in
(08:39):
place that we expect to perform. But I think you
could go back in time and talk about game management
issues of uh, this may be happening and and and
maybe that not happening, and whether it be in whether
it be in seen when Zeke had to have a
six game ban and there was really nothing that team
could do with Zeke out of the out of the lineup.
(08:59):
There's two so much there with the Dallas Cowboys that
that's what's so difficult for me of putting on Jason
Garrett shoulders. Now, Jerry Jones says they're not going to
make a coaching change this season or for at least
remaining four games. I can't even believe that was even
an idea that was thrown out last week. Yeah, I don't.
I don't know where that would go, but I do wonder,
and I just let's just say the Cowboys. And I
(09:20):
know this is crazy because we said, well, let's say
if they reel off five wins, but what about they
do win their last four? What about something does turn around?
Is there any anyway for Jason Garrett to stay. I think,
deep down, Jerry Jones doesn't want to fire Jason Garrett.
He's the most loyal owner in the NFL. He he
doesn't he doesn't want to fire. He's looking for reasons
(09:40):
not to fire Jason Garrett. I think that's also part
of the reason why he's emotional. I can't recall another
time that Jerry Jones has cried after a game. I mean,
he was emotional there after the game. Now, either he
had a couple of drinks up in the press box
and they didn't catch it on camera, and they the
booze caused the emotions or whatever. But I think deep
down he doesn't want to have to fire Jason Garrett.
But the reality is getting closer and closer that you
(10:01):
got to make a move, and he's trying to put
it off for as long as he can. I just
think and and maybe it was Matt Moseley, who covers
the Cowboys UM and he was on with us during
the off season. We did a show together and I
remember one of us asked Matt Moseley, what does Jason
Garrett have to do in order to keep his job?
And he said, at least a conference title game. Dallas
(10:24):
is not going to the conference finals. Like, this is
not happening. So what we're saying is they're gonna get
into the postseason. Possibly they're going to host a playoff game.
If they win that playoff game and get to the
divisional round of the playoffs, that's when you fire Jason Garrett.
It's just the handling of it is so odd. It's
just so strange how this has worked out to where
you've seen coaches, like you know, when normally around the NFL,
(10:47):
you know when a coach is gonna be gone, but like,
I don't know that I can recall another time that
a coach has been told, hey, if you do not
get to a conference championship game, you're out of here?
What well, what bench? What bar is that you've said?
It's amazingly high. I wonder if things would change, and
let's say two or three weeks when you can start
(11:09):
to talk to someone maybe like Lincoln Riley. And I'm
sure that there's been feelers have been put out there,
but I mean, you're not gonna see a change this season.
But I I think a four game winster, as crazy
as it sounds, for if past history is going to
teach us anything, I still don't think that his job
is in jeopardy considering I think that Jerry could be
(11:29):
completely swayed by any late push that he just talked about.
So to your point about him wanting it so badly
of of wanting them to do it, I mean, if
he's in tears, he doesn't want to fire, and he
really doesn't want to and you'll find any reason, just
like he has the last two or three years. I mean,
and and for all the talk about Jason Garrett and
(11:49):
and how he doesn't you know, bad coach, and now
he got to get rid of him. It was eighteen
games over five hundred for his career. He's got one
losing season as a head coach. Yeah, And you know what,
that's the other tough part about it is because I've
heard people say, well, how can you fire Jason Garrett
when they've had that success. That's why it's on Jerry
Jones because that's his team. He's the one that makes
that decision. And if you're seeing the same things go
(12:11):
on and on, whether you're eight and eight or thirteen
and three, you're the one that has to make the decision.
That's why it's all in jury. A lot of people
didn't like the Mark Jackson firing when they brought in
Steve Kerry. A lot of people thought that was a
dumb firing, and it turned into multiple championships and a
dynasty and Hall of Fame careers were made. So sometimes
you gotta make tough decision. Be sure to catch the
live edition of The Doug gott Leap Show weekdays at
(12:33):
three p m. Easter noon Pacific on Fox Sports Radio
and the I Heart Radio app The Cowboys get all
this love yesterday, and by love, I mean conversation over
what happened. Yeah, people forget about the Thanksgiving in that
game yesterday, which was the Buffalo Bills who looked really
damn good. Uh, it completely forgotten as we move on
(12:53):
to the Dallas Cowboys, but the Bills look good. Josh
Allen played outstanding, And I think a lot of people
get their first taste of Josh Allen on a national
stage because he plays in Buffalo, and maybe some people
don't see those one Eastern time kickoffs. I love watching
Bills games for some reason. Orchard Park just seems like
a place I want to go see a game at.
I don't know if you've ever been, but I desperately
(13:15):
want to go see a game in Buffalo. Josh Allen's
playing really good football right now. Yeah, it's amazing when
you look at that quarterback class because now it's all right.
At first it started Baker Mayfield against Sam Donald and
and really everybody else, and there were there were five quarterbacks.
But then now this season it's it's all Lamar Jackson.
(13:35):
And considering how things have gone for Baker Mayfield and
how things were going at times for Sam Donald in
New York, you know, Josh Allen is is now in
this area where you're like, how good is he? Like
like like could this be a guy that we really
consider a legit threat to one of the top spots
in that draft class. By the way, your point about
(13:57):
a new era field as they call it out the
stadium in Buffalo, I think is because it's older, yes,
and it hasn't been renovated like other places where renovations
end up becoming just like everything else, if you're trying
to renovate the stadium or there's a new stadium. There's
so many new stadiums in the National Football League, but
(14:18):
every stadium kind of you know when it's a Falcons game,
you know when it's a Vikings game, and it has
a little different look that's just more unique than anything else.
It's it's like the setup of the stadium is totally
unique from the rest of it. And there's just the
way they present games and it's not even the fans
jumping through tables and what other you know, objects are
(14:38):
it's because the camera angle is so low because the
stadium is not that high. Like that's what I think
it is, and I feel like it's also it's it's
one of the few environments that hearken back to the
greatest era of football, which was the late eighties into
the nineties, which you and I both love that been
era of football, So maybe it's part of my youth
that comes back. But I see the Bills, so I
(14:59):
I want to a lot of their games, and it's
hard to argue that if you were to, you know,
look at who's had the who's playing the best of
those quarterbacks from the draft class a year ago. I mean,
Lamar Jackson clearly is number one. Josh Allen's number two,
And and the Bills are a good football team. They
can run the football, they play defense, and I don't
(15:19):
care what you say that travels in the postseason. And
and let's not forget they were in the playoffs a
couple of years ago. So Sean McDermott's did a really
good job to get him back to this point. At
one point they had to turn to Nathan Peterman late
in that game, but they were in that game on
the road at Jacksonville is a wild card team. Buffalo
is a much better team. They get credit for. What
is it about Josh Allen because honestly, you know, passing
(15:42):
stats aren't there. He can run the football and gives
them a different dynamic. Well what is it about? Because
I think he's the only quarterback in the NFL, who
one pass can go one of three ways? Right, And
this is how it is, all right, It's either going
to be or one play can go in three ways.
He can either run for nine yards and a touchdown,
(16:06):
throw a ninety eight yard touchdown in the air, or
throw a ninety eight yard pick six. And you don't
know which one it's gonna be. It's like this weird surprise,
like what's it gonna be this time? I have no idea.
He's he's got he's got a cannon for an arm um.
He reminds me a lot is similar to a J.
Cutler type Ben Roethlisberger type, to where agile enough to
(16:29):
make moves, can throw the ball on the run. But
he feels like he's getting better and better. And and
you can say whatever you want about the Bills, and
they know who have they played. And you know what, man,
I don't care who you are if you're five and
one on the road, Like it's tough to win on
the road in the NFL. It's it's tough. It's why
you don't see point spreads where they are as they
normally would be. Another circumstances based on a team that's
(16:51):
home or away, you're winning on the road, you're five
and one. I just I don't think they get the
respect they deserve. I'll tell you this. I think that
Josh Allen is the poor man's Lamar Jackson. Mark Jackson
is so dynamic and what he does, but how do
they win? They win the ball, They win the games
by running the football, by having him make plays with
(17:14):
his arm and really with his legs. It's what makes
Lamar Jackson so dynamic. What is different about what Josh
Allen does in Buffalo, aside from maybe the yard pick
six that you could have, but realistically for what the
Bills are doing, what the Ravens are doing actually pretty
similar and how they want their quarterback to be dynamic.
(17:37):
And Josh Allen at least has this in Buffalo where
he has two wide receivers that are legitimate threats, Gold
Beasley and John Brown, and they don't have to go
out and have a hundred and seventy yards. But cold
Beast is gonna get you a third down on third
and seven. John Brown will get you a big play
if you needed, or throw a touchdown pass like he
(17:57):
did yesterday. Like the pieces are rather there, they're not
there to to set NFL records and go to Pro Bowls,
but the pieces around him are very similar to In
my mind, Buffalo is better receivers than Baltimore, but how
the teams go about winning are the same. The same
thing to do in Baltimore similar to what they do
in Buffalo. And I also think it's a better match
than people realize. What John Harvard did with Lamar Jackson
(18:20):
is he basically built an entire offense around Lamar Jackson.
People forget Sean McDermott was in Carolina for a long time.
There's a lot of similarities between Josh Allen and Cam Newton.
There there's a lot there um even though Cam you know,
obviously injuries and all that plays apart and to where
he's where he's at at this point. Like if you
go back to the game against New England, Listen, Buffalo
(18:41):
was in that game to the end. They stayed competitive
in that game at home after getting down early, and
there were multiple opportunities for them to try and go
down and as we found out that New England defense
is a real defense. I just I want nothing more
than Buffalo to get into the postseason. They've got an
outside shot, they would need several things to go their
way at getting a buy in the postseason. I can
(19:04):
outside shot. I'm not saying it's gonna happen, but there
is still that possibility. If New England loses a game,
uh and Buffalo rattles off some games, They've got another
meeting coming up later on. I just I love what
they're doing, and I don't think it gets enough respect
because it's Buffalo, and people just don't put Buffalo on
an act. That's really the unfortunate thing is they could
(19:25):
end up with the second or third best record in
the a f C and then I have to navigate
on the on the road for those three games, and
you actually maybe gonna have a worse situation in the NFC,
especially in the NFC West where you have Seattle in
San Francisco battling. But yeah, to your point about Buffalo,
it's unique. They are. They have got a cushion like
it is. They are going to the playoffs. I mean,
(19:46):
I mean realistically, because you can't count on the other
teams that are sitting there at six and five to
run the table and get eleven wins or get ten wins.
I mean, those the teams that are behind them at
six and five for the wild Card, whether it be
the Raiders, the Titans of the Coal It's or you know,
even Cleveland, that's someone in the mix. You can't count
on them to run the table considering how they've played
this season. So I think Buffalo with one more win
(20:10):
and they're gonna you're gonna have that opportunity to get
the ten wins. Yeah, you're in the postseason. Be sure
to catch the live edition of The Doug Gottlieb Show
weekdays at three p m. Easter noon Pacific. There's something
about the New Orleans Saints that I'm struggling buying into.
There's something about him. There's something about the Green Bay
(20:32):
Packers that I'm struggling buying into. The Packers has been
going on for longer than the New Orleans Saints, but
it just feels like there's something missing there and I
can't put my finger on it. I think when you
look at a team like Green Bay, Aaron Rodgers isn't
once or what he once was. It's just not. I mean,
it's you can look at the numbers and you can
(20:52):
see what's there. The defense, while it had some bright points,
at the start of the season really isn't a juggerna.
They got a couple of good players that they added
via free agency, but as an entire unit, you're not
hanging your hats on Green Bay. Now. The Saints defense,
I do think is a different story. And one of
the reasons we saw what happened last night was them
(21:12):
getting after Matt Ryan. I think that helps them. But
offensively of the Saints, and maybe they're a victim of
their own success. And I'll even go back to when
they were winning, when they won the Super Bowl ten
years ago against the Indianapolis Colts, whether it be when
they had Robert Meetchum and Deverorie Henderson and Marcus Colston
(21:33):
were then transition to to Jimmy Graham and Marcus Colston
was still there. The weapons that they have right now.
I I think it's because they rely so much on
Michael Thomas and even Alvin Camara's season. When you look
at what Camara did last year when mark Ingram was
was there with and remember Ingram missed those first four
(21:53):
games of the season, Camara was unbelievable. He was he
was he was lights out. He hasn't had that type
of game, and when you see Jared Cook dropped some passes,
when you see maybe Ted Ginn have a ball fall
through his hands, you realize that the options that the
Saints have for as good of a team that they are,
(22:15):
when you look at the winds that they have. I mean,
they went to Seattle, they you know, beat the Cowboys.
The Rams game is the the weird one because Drew
Brees was knocked out of that game. There's there's some
good wins at their schedule, but I think when it
gets down to it, there there's something missing in my
mind offensively, and it's not even like defense, Like I
think they can do enough defensively to get after the quarterback.
(22:38):
I don't think you get a stop when they when
they really really needed. But something is missing, and I
think it's because they rely so heavily on Michael Thomas
and really on Alvin Kimara, and Kimara hasn't been the
Alvin Kimara that we saw, say a year ago, from
when he was letting things up. Were the Saints better
with Teddy Bridgewater? I don't think so. Do you think
(22:58):
that they are? I think that they and this may
have just been expectations we assumed, you know, you split
a couple of these games while he's gone, they end
up going undefeated while he's out, So maybe there was
the expectations were lower, so the results looked better than
maybe they were in my mind. But it felt like
they were a little bit more dynamic, And I argued
at the time that I'll bet Sean Payton was quietly
(23:21):
happy that Teddy Bridgewater was the quarterback at that point
because it felt like there was more that they could do. Um,
Drew Brees is limited at times. Um, we've seen him
fade late in the season to where you know, his
the the arm strength isn't there, And I just wonder.
I think the next couple of games are gonna be
pretty telling for New Orleans because Drew Brees had five
(23:41):
or six games off this season, so the arm strength
and all that, you know, because of fatigue, you can't
go there anymore. Because he had extended rest this season,
He's gonna play like a tenor at eleven game season.
I just wonder if you were to ask Sean Payton, hey,
are are you a more dynamic football team with Teddy
Bridgewater as your quarterback? I wouldn't be surprised if Sean
(24:03):
Payton said yes, I feel like they're in debt to
Drew Brees because he's what he's done for the community
and the football team. But I just wonder what this
team would look like, how they stuck with Teddy Bridgewater.
I just don't think that you play the Saints with
Drew Brees out on the field defensively, I think you
have to you you have to, you would play defense differently.
(24:26):
I mean, you just do you You're passing game is
more under attack. That's what I just don't think that
for just the threat of Drew Brees is a big
enough deal. Is if if Drew God forbid, something happened
and Drew Brees was missed for the playoffs? How much?
How how down would you be on the Saints with
(24:48):
Teddy Bridgewater going into the postseason. I wouldn't be that
down on No, No, And I think they would be
a little different team. But yeah, yeah, I think that's
it's it's that's fair. They would take a step down.
In my mind. I don't know if they could win
at all, but considering there the best win on their schedule,
(25:09):
which I just gave them credit for, and in beating Dallas,
and then really the win in Seattle when you do
look at their other winds, maybe it isn't as much
of a murderous row as you would think. But Teddy
Bridgewater is the one that got the win. Who's also
a game where they took a kick back and ran
it back for a score. They recovered a fumble and
ran it back for for a touchdown. So there are
other facets of the Saints team. Maybe they're more team oriented, yeah,
(25:33):
just breeze oriented. And I also think you can't it's
easy to go around the NFL and you can spot
an NFL team and you can and you can point to, yeah,
well they're a good team because of this, or they
got a break here. You know, we did it last
year with the Bears. We did it the year before
with the Jacksonville Jaguars. We did like there are always
teams that come and go every single season, which is
why consistency in the NFL is so hard to find.
(25:55):
Which is why what teams like New England and Pittsburgh
up until last year and Kansas City have done and
Seattle has done because they've been successful for multiple years
in a row. Maybe they don't win a Super Bowl
when you get to the postseason that many years in
a row, it's impressive. I'll say this for the Saints,
I may not totally buy into them as of now.
You cannot dispute whether or not they're a good football
(26:17):
team because when you have your hearts ripped out in
Minnesota on a fluke play at the end of a
playoff game that you should have won, and then look
if if New Orleans goes on the road to Philly.
I liked New Orleans in that game. I I thought
New Orleans had a real good chance at beating Philly
in that game and going to a super Bowl. And
then you get your hearts ripped out again at home
on that you know, non call pass interference. To be
(26:40):
sitting here where they are a year later, there's a
lot of other organizations that would have folded and said, well,
those are two shots. I guess that's it. And but
they're here. So they're a good roster and a good
football team. I just don't know how good. I think
Drew brees Age has something to do with that, because
you see this window and you feel the sense of
urgency every single season that he's still there because you
don't know how many more they are going to be
(27:02):
I would say is we're trying to really feel out
this tenant to Saints team. As he said, they are
one of the best teams in the NFL. Just can't
figure it out. We know if the Seahawks go to
the Super Bowl, how they're likely going to go on
the arm of Russell Wilson like that, that's how they're
going to go, or Russell Wilson having something to do
with it. If the forty Niners go to the Super Bowl,
we know how they're going that defensive line and then
(27:23):
running the football. If you watch the Minnesota Vikings make
a run, you know how they're doing it with Dalvin
Cook and Kirk Cousins is playing well. If those things
don't happen for those teams, they're not going to win.
But if those things do happen for those teams, there's
a very good chance that they can succeed. With the Saints.
I don't know. I can't. I can't like. Okay, they
(27:45):
get after the quarterback like they did last night. It
was the only thing that saved them against the Falcons,
but it didn't win the game. If Drew Brees is
throwing a Michael Thomas a lot. Well, does that mean
that Jared Cook's not catching passes? Is you know, Latavius
Murray not being the compliment to Alvin Kmery, Like that's
the thing is the other teams, I think at least
we know their identity and how they're going to get there.
For the Saints, for a team that we've seen so long,
(28:07):
I still feel that we're trying to feel them out.
We're still watching Taysom Hill take snaps and running three
yards around end Like it's just that's the difference of
the Saints that I just feel like I just can't
get the right field. And look, if we want to
be honest about what we saw with the game last
night against Atlanta. One, Atlanta stinks. Everybody knows that dan
Quinn's on his way out. Don't be fooled by the
(28:29):
little two game winning streak they put on, and also
one of those was against New Orleans coming off a
bye week in which they came out flat. Last night
was as motivated as the Saints were going to get
for a bad football team because they just got embarrassed
two weeks ago at home, and yet Atlanta was still
in that game late like they still had an opportunity
to go down and possibly tie the game. So it's
(28:51):
just I don't I mean, I guess, be happy he
gonna win. Anytime you getna win and it's on the road,
be happy. But I just don't know that I would
look at last night's game and go, yep, that it's
the best team in the NFC. I don't know. Fox
Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in the nation.
Catch all of our shows at Fox sports Radio dot
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(29:12):
s R to listen live. You and I are very
nostalgic when it comes to the NFL um and it
kind of feels like a little bit of nostalgis creeping
back into the NFL. Well, let's let's look at who.
Let's let's look at the teams that we're talking about,
and we're talking about the top teams in the National
Football We're talking about the Baltimore Ravens. We're not talking
(29:32):
about the Redskins. We're talking about the Ravens. We're talking
about the Saints. We're talking about the forty Niners. We're
talking about the Minnesota Vikings, talking about the New England Patriots.
We're talking about these teams, and you know what, those
teams aren't past happy teams that like to go up
and down the field of of offense, offense, offense, of
(29:54):
of supreme quarterback ability at this minute, taking all here
and just dissecting defenses, getting in shootouts. You're not seeing that.
What you're seeing this year in the National Football League
our teams having success that have a strong defensive front
that can stop the run and get after the quarterback.
Teams that can run the football like a Baltimore or
(30:17):
a Minnesota. Teams that like the New England Patriots, who
are winning with defense. Those are the teams that we
are seeing have success in the NFL. And to me,
this is really what it's all about. I I hope
that you remember when I when I said this at
the beginning of the year when we had done shows together.
But the Baltimore Ravens, to me, I loved for the
(30:39):
simple fact of I didn't think they were gonna be
this good Jonas, but I like that they were doing
something different than what everybody else was trying to do,
and that's trying to throw the ball and score more
points and be dynamic on offense, they're saying, we're gonna
do our thing. And for the other fifteen weeks you
can try to shut down those teams. But when you playoffs,
we're gonna be a nightmare. We're gonna to be a
(31:00):
mismatch a team that you aren't used to. And when
you look at the success of these teams and how
they play, I don't think it's just a random occurrence.
I don't think it's a coincidence. I think defense and
running the football is the way that you win in
the National Football League. I think it's the way that
it's always been in the real blip on the radar
where all these past happy teams trying to score the
ball up and down the field. Yeah, if you were
(31:21):
to just go down these statistics and you were to
look at the teams with the best that average in
most yards per game via rush in the NFL, the
top eight are as follows Baltimore, San fran Indianapolis, Minnesota, Buffalo, Seattle, Houston,
and Dallas. All of those are teams that are fighting
for playoff spots or teams that are basically already in
(31:43):
the postseason. But and that makes up eight of the
twelve that's three four of your entire playoff teams playoff
catalog this season because twelve teams get in, six from
each conference. So if sevent of postseason team are the
top of the league when it comes to rushing the football, Like,
(32:05):
how is that not showcasing to you? Listen, run the
ball and you increase your odds for success because you
can go to a team that leads the league in
passing yards and you can say, well, yeah, but that's
garbage time, Like it's not really a true, a true
telltale sign of Okay, well you know that team is
a really good team. No, it just means that maybe
they were down by forty and had to throw the
(32:26):
ball a bunch towards the end. That's garbage time stats.
That's jamis Winston, Blake Bortles quarterbacks like that. But if
you really want to know who the best teams in
the league are, they're the teams that have a lead
and then run the ball to milk the clock, to
grind games out and get wins. And eight teams all
eight at the top of the rushing yards per game
list in the NFL, or all teams that are either
(32:48):
in the playoffs are fighting for a division title. It's
why because you have to take Tom Brady out of it,
considering he's the greatest quarterback to play. He's he's the anomaly,
he's the guy, he's the outlier, He's the exception to
the rule. Jonah. So when you look at Super Bowls,
I think you can make an argument. You know, even
a team like the Atlanta Falcons had scored so many
points three years ago, if they end up running the
(33:10):
ball in the fourth quarter, they end up winning a
Super Bowl. And they had good running backs man DeVante Freeman,
Tevin Coleman or maybe the best one to punch in
the league at that point. Absolutely, and even the Philadelphia
Eagles with Nick Foles being lad. I mean they had
like a fourheaded monster at running back with a gy
E and Corey Clement and uh and La Garrett Blunt.
So you had guys who ran the football. When Denver
(33:31):
won their Super Bowl against the Carolina Panthers, even even
though Cam at his m v P or one of
the reasons made Cam m VP was his ability to
run the football. But they Denver and how do they
win it? Defense? And C J. Anderson like that was
his Peyton Manning couldn't throw the ball. Those are the
things that have have gone on. When the Seahawks win
their Super Bowl, they do it when Russell Wilson isn't
(33:52):
the Russell Wilson that he is now. But they do
it with defense when they had one of the better
offensive lines in Marshawn Lynch. You just keep on going
back and back, and you're like, really, the last ten years,
outside of Tom Brady, it's been teams that play defense
and can run the football that really have success when
it comes down to winning in the National For Look
when when people were upset at the decision making by
(34:14):
Pete Carroll and Darryl Bevil with the Seahawks at the
goal line in that Super Bowl, What were they mad
about that they didn't run the football? Why would you
pass there? Like? What sense does it make Peyton Manning's
first Super Bowl. Look, Joseph A. Die and Dominic Rhodes,
I think both had hundred yard games in that Super Bowl,
but it was Peyton Manning who got the m v P.
I just everything cyclical and we all get really excited
(34:37):
over these new trends and new fads, but there's been
one constant in the NFL can you run the football
and can you play defense? And if you can do that,
you're at least in contention for some games. You're at
least gonna have an opportunity to win some games. What
Baltimore did is maybe the easiest thing that anybody could do.
They took a quarterback and they said, now, we're not
(34:57):
gonna make him do what we do. Let's what he does,
which is how the thinking should have always been. And
I wonder how many quarterbacks careers have been spoiled by
them being mismanaged when they get to the league. And
so Baltimore is one of the best teams, if not
the best team in the league. Team's fortunes of trying
to get out of the rut that they're in because
they're always trying to find the franchise quarterback that's gonna
(35:18):
be with them for fifteen years and be that guy
that's gonna be a Hall of Famer and lead them
to Super Bowls. That's not easy to do. That's not
that's if you can find a guy that fits what
you want to do, or have a scheme or a
system that allows you to take advantage of their strengths.
You don't have to find the next time. You don't
have to go out and find the next Patrick Mahomes
(35:39):
that you've got. It works for Kansas City with what
they do, but it's not gonna work for every team.
And that's what drives me nuts when we talk about
like finding franchise quarterbacks, It's like, how are we defining
franchise quarterbacks and what are you doing around the team
to make that. I'm fine if my quarterback seventeen in
the in the NFL out of thirty two, if I
could run the ball of my defensive line can get stopped,
(36:00):
I am fine with Totally agree and the Tom Brady
That's that's why I've been saying this about the Patriots.
You know, the Patriots remind me of because everyone says, well,
you know, Tom Brady just doesn't have what he used
to have, Okay, but they've got a defense that continues
to force turnovers and scores a lot of points on
that side of the ball. There was a team in
the NFL last year whose defense converted on a lot
of turnovers, scored a lot of points, and were dominant
(36:22):
at times. And because of that, that team was in
contention and in the playoffs that team was the Bears.
If you took Tom Brady and you put them on
last year's Bears, I got news for you. They're doing
a hell of a lot more than one and done
in the postseason because of a Cody Parking double doink
a hell of a lot more. So, you tell me
Tom Brady and that defense. They're still legitimate and still
(36:43):
a threat in the postseason. 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 app.
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
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(00:21):
best of the Doug Gottli Show on Fox Sports Radio.
The Dallas Cowboys lost yesterday to the Buffalo Bill fifteen
in a game that didn't knock the Cowboys from first
place just yet, but they are six and six now
on the season and Jonahs. It's another loss to a
team that record wise was better than Dallas, and it
(00:44):
was another opportunity. Like if you were to pick a
situation where you could say, what is the best opportunity
that we could have an advantage, you would be like, well,
let's do it on a short week. You know what,
Let's not even do it on a Thursday night. Let's
move kick off up like three hours so it's like
in the middle of the afternoon and will be the
home team and the other team has to travel to
Dallas and face US so everything was in line for
(01:06):
the Cowboys to get on the right track against a
Buffalo Bill's team and then they were basically run over
by the Buffalo. Yeah. Look, Dallas got off to an
early start and then it was all Buffalo from there
on out. And I actually don't even think the game
was that close down the stretch. I thought Buffalo was
just a better team. They looked better prepared. Josh Allen
outplayed Dak Prescott and then, you know, because we got
(01:26):
to sell the dramas what we do. Did you notice
what the cameras did every time there was a bad
play by the Dallas Cowboys straight up to Jerry's booth,
gotta get Jerry on camera. Jerry Jones was not happy
after the game, and infect jon Us you could almost
say that Jerry Jones was sad. Here were some of
the comments and the Cowboys owner after yesterday's defeat. For me,
(01:48):
I'm looking ahead at another ball game, and I'm looking ahead.
It went in full five straight, five straight, and then
help and write a story that they'll talk about hat
looks like you were down at got it done, and
I'll make I mean, not just the way that I'm
operating every decision that I'm over the next month, we'll
be he wasn't in mind to get us in the
(02:08):
Social bowls Now, it seems like you have a lot
of tears in your ask you just talking about three
of Moses right now. Well, I have been, because I've
been in a very emotional knocker room with a lot
of other guts center emotional way to have a drink, bros,
Like come on, man, it's it's funny because the Cowboys
(02:30):
fans are also crying watching this. Cowboys like, you're still okay,
let's not. You're still in first place, all right, You
still technically in first place. You still feel like you
have the inside track on a division championship and winning
the NFC East. I know this hasn't been the most
ideal season, but I was making this point, and I
feel like I've said this um because I'll always you know,
(02:53):
put together just thoughts on on different games and matchups
as they come along. Just what is this what jumps
out to me in this game? And I'll do caps
of certain games because it just you know, kind of
jogs my brain in my mind. And for the last
three four weeks, I've said, you know, I really don't
know whether or not Dallas is a good team. And
it's one thing if you say that two or three
(03:13):
weeks in Dan it's December in a couple of days,
and I still don't know Dallas is a good yeah,
And I think it's because they're all over the map,
like they get they get shut down in the game
against New England. But yesterday Dak throws for three fifty
five yards but also then throws a groundball to Ezekiel
Elliott on a fourth down. They still haven't corrected their
(03:33):
game management issues, whether it be in New England or
whether it be yesterday they were down I think it
was nineteen. It was a three score game and they're
facing a fourth and seven and they go for it
like you need a field goal to make it a
two score game. But that then tells me that you
have such little confidence in your offense that you don't
(03:56):
think you're gonna get to that point again, or or Jonas,
you just don't understand how to manage a game, which
honestly is amazing to think that a quarterback from Princeton
who spent years as a backup to a Hall of
Fame quarterback still doesn't understand how to manage a game.
That's been Jason Garrett's name tag for his entire head
(04:17):
coaching career of Cowboys managing games, and it came up
again yesterday. Those are the things. So I am with
you in those in that assessment because it's the same
thing over and over, and you're like, these things should
be correctable. And what's the reputation Jason Garrett has had
that he's always a safety first type coach, right, doesn't
take enough chances, he doesn't he doesn't go for it enough.
He's not doesn't have didn't have the guts to to
(04:39):
do certain things that other coaches would do around the NFL.
And I wanted to see whether or not we're always
told this thing that you know, coaches and players and
you know they don't listen to the media. You know,
they don't hear all the talk out there. We're only
focused on what's going on in the locker room. Okay,
So then why did Jason Garrett, who never goes for
it inside his own territory and deep inside his own
(05:03):
territory on a fourth down early in that game, why
did he decide that that was the proper time to
go for it because he'd been hearing all week. He
doesn't take enough chances because Jerry Jones threw him under
the bus and then grabbed his corpse and pulled it
out from under the bus again to try and revive
him in one week, in the matter of a couple
of days. He's hearing the noise, He's hearing the conversations,
(05:25):
and so he went against his better judgment and his
reputation because he's hearing all the whispers. Well, this is
this is where it goes. Is I look at this,
this whole situation. You may have heard me say this
before I get Jason Garrett hearing that stuff. I get
Amari Cooper is not happy with the touches. Guess what
boom out of the gate. We're getting it to Amari Cooper.
(05:45):
That's not maybe different than another team would have. My
whole issue with this entire situation, as we just heard
Jerry Jones there, how long has Jason Garrett been on
the hot seat, Like it's been for seven years, and
it's been on and off and on and off and
on and off, and so much. When we sit here
(06:05):
and we try to compare the NFL or whatever we're
talking about two real life situations. How often does it
come back to relationships all the time? And if you
are on again, off again, on again, off again, your
relationship probably won't last. And that's the issue that I
have with all of this. Gonese is because I think
Jerry Jones is is so mad and so emotional because
(06:29):
he thought he had that window of paying guys or
without having to pay guys, and now that window is closed.
But we've had the same conversation with Jason Garrett for
so long, and now Jerry Jones is finally ready to
pull the trigger at the end of this season when
your window of opportunity vanished. To me, like, I get
Jason Garrett being the one to blame, but Jerry Jones
(06:51):
has known about this. You gotta break up with the girl,
you gotta dump the guy. If it's on again and
off and it's just not going anywhere, you can't get
to the point that you want to be. That's why
I feel that Jerry Jones is getting such a pass
because he's the one that ultimately has had the decision
to keep Jason Garrett there and he's decided to do
so so in the end, you know, fool me once,
Shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. He's
(07:13):
been fooled three or four times, and this is where
they're stuck. Yeah, And also I think that Jerry Jones
creates an environment in Dallas to where there's so much
pressure for all the loyalty that Jerry Jones provides. There's
just these ridiculous expectations and and and pressure points that
are going on there with the organization. Like there's no like,
(07:33):
find me another owner in the NFL who immediately after
a loss, everybody runs to him to get his thoughts
and then he's got two hits a week on the
fan in Dallas like it just he creates this environment where, yeah,
it's great for his bottom line because they're constantly the
topic of conversation. Like think about it, They're a five
hundred football team and maybe the most talked about team
(07:54):
in the league. It's an amazing job by Jerry Jones
to keep him relevant. But I also think that to
his detriment, it's caused this sort of vibe around the
building toward it's not really walking on eggshells, but I
feel like there's so much pressure there on on having
to perform and having to do this and having to
do that, and you've got to it's super Bowl expectations
(08:16):
or bust. All right, Well, if it's super Bowl expectations
or bust. To your point, why is Jason Garrett there
ten years? Like, if it's super Bowl or bust, why
is he there ten years? We either need to readjust
our expectations as an organization or just pull the trigger
and go in the direction you want to go. Yeah,
they've had this and it's been the same issues like
the like the issues that we're talking about now. We're
talking about because of all the pieces that are in
(08:39):
place that we expect to perform. But I think you
could go back in time and talk about game management
issues of uh, this may be happening and and and
maybe that not happening, and whether it be in whether
it be in seen when Zeke had to have a
six game ban and there was really nothing that team
could do with Zeke out of the out of the lineup.
(08:59):
There's two so much there with the Dallas Cowboys that
that's what's so difficult for me of putting on Jason
Garrett shoulders. Now, Jerry Jones says they're not going to
make a coaching change this season or for at least
remaining four games. I can't even believe that was even
an idea that was thrown out last week. Yeah, I don't.
I don't know where that would go, but I do wonder,
and I just let's just say the Cowboys. And I
(09:20):
know this is crazy because we said, well, let's say
if they reel off five wins, but what about they
do win their last four? What about something does turn around?
Is there any anyway for Jason Garrett to stay. I think,
deep down, Jerry Jones doesn't want to fire Jason Garrett.
He's the most loyal owner in the NFL. He he
doesn't he doesn't want to fire. He's looking for reasons
(09:40):
not to fire Jason Garrett. I think that's also part
of the reason why he's emotional. I can't recall another
time that Jerry Jones has cried after a game. I mean,
he was emotional there after the game. Now, either he
had a couple of drinks up in the press box
and they didn't catch it on camera, and they the
booze caused the emotions or whatever. But I think deep
down he doesn't want to have to fire Jason Garrett.
But the reality is getting closer and closer that you
(10:01):
got to make a move, and he's trying to put
it off for as long as he can. I just
think and and maybe it was Matt Moseley, who covers
the Cowboys UM and he was on with us during
the off season. We did a show together and I
remember one of us asked Matt Moseley, what does Jason
Garrett have to do in order to keep his job?
And he said, at least a conference title game. Dallas
(10:24):
is not going to the conference finals. Like, this is
not happening. So what we're saying is they're gonna get
into the postseason. Possibly they're going to host a playoff game.
If they win that playoff game and get to the
divisional round of the playoffs, that's when you fire Jason Garrett.
It's just the handling of it is so odd. It's
just so strange how this has worked out to where
you've seen coaches, like you know, when normally around the NFL,
(10:47):
you know when a coach is gonna be gone, but like,
I don't know that I can recall another time that
a coach has been told, hey, if you do not
get to a conference championship game, you're out of here?
What well, what bench? What bar is that you've said?
It's amazingly high. I wonder if things would change, and
let's say two or three weeks when you can start
(11:09):
to talk to someone maybe like Lincoln Riley. And I'm
sure that there's been feelers have been put out there,
but I mean, you're not gonna see a change this season.
But I I think a four game winster, as crazy
as it sounds, for if past history is going to
teach us anything, I still don't think that his job
is in jeopardy considering I think that Jerry could be
(11:29):
completely swayed by any late push that he just talked about.
So to your point about him wanting it so badly
of of wanting them to do it, I mean, if
he's in tears, he doesn't want to fire, and he
really doesn't want to and you'll find any reason, just
like he has the last two or three years. I mean,
and and for all the talk about Jason Garrett and
(11:49):
and how he doesn't you know, bad coach, and now
he got to get rid of him. It was eighteen
games over five hundred for his career. He's got one
losing season as a head coach. Yeah, And you know what,
that's the other tough part about it is because I've
heard people say, well, how can you fire Jason Garrett
when they've had that success. That's why it's on Jerry
Jones because that's his team. He's the one that makes
that decision. And if you're seeing the same things go
(12:11):
on and on, whether you're eight and eight or thirteen
and three, you're the one that has to make the decision.
That's why it's all in jury. A lot of people
didn't like the Mark Jackson firing when they brought in
Steve Kerry. A lot of people thought that was a
dumb firing, and it turned into multiple championships and a
dynasty and Hall of Fame careers were made. So sometimes
you gotta make tough decision. Be sure to catch the
live edition of The Doug gott Leap Show weekdays at
(12:33):
three p m. Easter noon Pacific on Fox Sports Radio
and the I Heart Radio app The Cowboys get all
this love yesterday, and by love, I mean conversation over
what happened. Yeah, people forget about the Thanksgiving in that
game yesterday, which was the Buffalo Bills who looked really
damn good. Uh, it completely forgotten as we move on
(12:53):
to the Dallas Cowboys, but the Bills look good. Josh
Allen played outstanding, And I think a lot of people
get their first taste of Josh Allen on a national
stage because he plays in Buffalo, and maybe some people
don't see those one Eastern time kickoffs. I love watching
Bills games for some reason. Orchard Park just seems like
a place I want to go see a game at.
I don't know if you've ever been, but I desperately
(13:15):
want to go see a game in Buffalo. Josh Allen's
playing really good football right now. Yeah, it's amazing when
you look at that quarterback class because now it's all right.
At first it started Baker Mayfield against Sam Donald and
and really everybody else, and there were there were five quarterbacks.
But then now this season it's it's all Lamar Jackson.
(13:35):
And considering how things have gone for Baker Mayfield and
how things were going at times for Sam Donald in
New York, you know, Josh Allen is is now in
this area where you're like, how good is he? Like
like like could this be a guy that we really
consider a legit threat to one of the top spots
in that draft class. By the way, your point about
(13:57):
a new era field as they call it out the
stadium in Buffalo, I think is because it's older, yes,
and it hasn't been renovated like other places where renovations
end up becoming just like everything else, if you're trying
to renovate the stadium or there's a new stadium. There's
so many new stadiums in the National Football League, but
(14:18):
every stadium kind of you know when it's a Falcons game,
you know when it's a Vikings game, and it has
a little different look that's just more unique than anything else.
It's it's like the setup of the stadium is totally
unique from the rest of it. And there's just the
way they present games and it's not even the fans
jumping through tables and what other you know, objects are
(14:38):
it's because the camera angle is so low because the
stadium is not that high. Like that's what I think
it is, and I feel like it's also it's it's
one of the few environments that hearken back to the
greatest era of football, which was the late eighties into
the nineties, which you and I both love that been
era of football, So maybe it's part of my youth
that comes back. But I see the Bills, so I
(14:59):
I want to a lot of their games, and it's
hard to argue that if you were to, you know,
look at who's had the who's playing the best of
those quarterbacks from the draft class a year ago. I mean,
Lamar Jackson clearly is number one. Josh Allen's number two,
And and the Bills are a good football team. They
can run the football, they play defense, and I don't
(15:19):
care what you say that travels in the postseason. And
and let's not forget they were in the playoffs a
couple of years ago. So Sean McDermott's did a really
good job to get him back to this point. At
one point they had to turn to Nathan Peterman late
in that game, but they were in that game on
the road at Jacksonville is a wild card team. Buffalo
is a much better team. They get credit for. What
is it about Josh Allen because honestly, you know, passing
(15:42):
stats aren't there. He can run the football and gives
them a different dynamic. Well what is it about? Because
I think he's the only quarterback in the NFL, who
one pass can go one of three ways? Right, And
this is how it is, all right, It's either going
to be or one play can go in three ways.
He can either run for nine yards and a touchdown,
(16:06):
throw a ninety eight yard touchdown in the air, or
throw a ninety eight yard pick six. And you don't
know which one it's gonna be. It's like this weird surprise,
like what's it gonna be this time? I have no idea.
He's he's got he's got a cannon for an arm um.
He reminds me a lot is similar to a J.
Cutler type Ben Roethlisberger type, to where agile enough to
(16:29):
make moves, can throw the ball on the run. But
he feels like he's getting better and better. And and
you can say whatever you want about the Bills, and
they know who have they played. And you know what, man,
I don't care who you are if you're five and
one on the road, Like it's tough to win on
the road in the NFL. It's it's tough. It's why
you don't see point spreads where they are as they
normally would be. Another circumstances based on a team that's
(16:51):
home or away, you're winning on the road, you're five
and one. I just I don't think they get the
respect they deserve. I'll tell you this. I think that
Josh Allen is the poor man's Lamar Jackson. Mark Jackson
is so dynamic and what he does, but how do
they win? They win the ball, They win the games
by running the football, by having him make plays with
(17:14):
his arm and really with his legs. It's what makes
Lamar Jackson so dynamic. What is different about what Josh
Allen does in Buffalo, aside from maybe the yard pick
six that you could have, but realistically for what the
Bills are doing, what the Ravens are doing actually pretty
similar and how they want their quarterback to be dynamic.
(17:37):
And Josh Allen at least has this in Buffalo where
he has two wide receivers that are legitimate threats, Gold
Beasley and John Brown, and they don't have to go
out and have a hundred and seventy yards. But cold
Beast is gonna get you a third down on third
and seven. John Brown will get you a big play
if you needed, or throw a touchdown pass like he
(17:57):
did yesterday. Like the pieces are rather there, they're not
there to to set NFL records and go to Pro Bowls,
but the pieces around him are very similar to In
my mind, Buffalo is better receivers than Baltimore, but how
the teams go about winning are the same. The same
thing to do in Baltimore similar to what they do
in Buffalo. And I also think it's a better match
than people realize. What John Harvard did with Lamar Jackson
(18:20):
is he basically built an entire offense around Lamar Jackson.
People forget Sean McDermott was in Carolina for a long time.
There's a lot of similarities between Josh Allen and Cam Newton.
There there's a lot there um even though Cam you know,
obviously injuries and all that plays apart and to where
he's where he's at at this point. Like if you
go back to the game against New England, Listen, Buffalo
(18:41):
was in that game to the end. They stayed competitive
in that game at home after getting down early, and
there were multiple opportunities for them to try and go
down and as we found out that New England defense
is a real defense. I just I want nothing more
than Buffalo to get into the postseason. They've got an
outside shot, they would need several things to go their
way at getting a buy in the postseason. I can
(19:04):
outside shot. I'm not saying it's gonna happen, but there
is still that possibility. If New England loses a game,
uh and Buffalo rattles off some games, They've got another
meeting coming up later on. I just I love what
they're doing, and I don't think it gets enough respect
because it's Buffalo, and people just don't put Buffalo on
an act. That's really the unfortunate thing is they could
(19:25):
end up with the second or third best record in
the a f C and then I have to navigate
on the on the road for those three games, and
you actually maybe gonna have a worse situation in the NFC,
especially in the NFC West where you have Seattle in
San Francisco battling. But yeah, to your point about Buffalo,
it's unique. They are. They have got a cushion like
it is. They are going to the playoffs. I mean,
(19:46):
I mean realistically, because you can't count on the other
teams that are sitting there at six and five to
run the table and get eleven wins or get ten wins.
I mean, those the teams that are behind them at
six and five for the wild Card, whether it be
the Raiders, the Titans of the Coal It's or you know,
even Cleveland, that's someone in the mix. You can't count
on them to run the table considering how they've played
this season. So I think Buffalo with one more win
(20:10):
and they're gonna you're gonna have that opportunity to get
the ten wins. Yeah, you're in the postseason. Be sure
to catch the live edition of The Doug Gottlieb Show
weekdays at three p m. Easter noon Pacific. There's something
about the New Orleans Saints that I'm struggling buying into.
There's something about him. There's something about the Green Bay
(20:32):
Packers that I'm struggling buying into. The Packers has been
going on for longer than the New Orleans Saints, but
it just feels like there's something missing there and I
can't put my finger on it. I think when you
look at a team like Green Bay, Aaron Rodgers isn't
once or what he once was. It's just not. I mean,
it's you can look at the numbers and you can
(20:52):
see what's there. The defense, while it had some bright points,
at the start of the season really isn't a juggerna.
They got a couple of good players that they added
via free agency, but as an entire unit, you're not
hanging your hats on Green Bay. Now. The Saints defense,
I do think is a different story. And one of
the reasons we saw what happened last night was them
(21:12):
getting after Matt Ryan. I think that helps them. But
offensively of the Saints, and maybe they're a victim of
their own success. And I'll even go back to when
they were winning, when they won the Super Bowl ten
years ago against the Indianapolis Colts, whether it be when
they had Robert Meetchum and Deverorie Henderson and Marcus Colston
(21:33):
were then transition to to Jimmy Graham and Marcus Colston
was still there. The weapons that they have right now.
I I think it's because they rely so much on
Michael Thomas and even Alvin Camara's season. When you look
at what Camara did last year when mark Ingram was
was there with and remember Ingram missed those first four
(21:53):
games of the season, Camara was unbelievable. He was he
was he was lights out. He hasn't had that type
of game, and when you see Jared Cook dropped some passes,
when you see maybe Ted Ginn have a ball fall
through his hands, you realize that the options that the
Saints have for as good of a team that they are,
(22:15):
when you look at the winds that they have. I mean,
they went to Seattle, they you know, beat the Cowboys.
The Rams game is the the weird one because Drew
Brees was knocked out of that game. There's there's some
good wins at their schedule, but I think when it
gets down to it, there there's something missing in my
mind offensively, and it's not even like defense, Like I
think they can do enough defensively to get after the quarterback.
(22:38):
I don't think you get a stop when they when
they really really needed. But something is missing, and I
think it's because they rely so heavily on Michael Thomas
and really on Alvin Kimara, and Kimara hasn't been the
Alvin Kimara that we saw, say a year ago, from
when he was letting things up. Were the Saints better
with Teddy Bridgewater? I don't think so. Do you think
(22:58):
that they are? I think that they and this may
have just been expectations we assumed, you know, you split
a couple of these games while he's gone, they end
up going undefeated while he's out, So maybe there was
the expectations were lower, so the results looked better than
maybe they were in my mind. But it felt like
they were a little bit more dynamic, And I argued
at the time that I'll bet Sean Payton was quietly
(23:21):
happy that Teddy Bridgewater was the quarterback at that point
because it felt like there was more that they could do. Um,
Drew Brees is limited at times. Um, we've seen him
fade late in the season to where you know, his
the the arm strength isn't there, And I just wonder.
I think the next couple of games are gonna be
pretty telling for New Orleans because Drew Brees had five
(23:41):
or six games off this season, so the arm strength
and all that, you know, because of fatigue, you can't
go there anymore. Because he had extended rest this season,
He's gonna play like a tenor at eleven game season.
I just wonder if you were to ask Sean Payton, hey,
are are you a more dynamic football team with Teddy
Bridgewater as your quarterback? I wouldn't be surprised if Sean
(24:03):
Payton said yes, I feel like they're in debt to
Drew Brees because he's what he's done for the community
and the football team. But I just wonder what this
team would look like, how they stuck with Teddy Bridgewater.
I just don't think that you play the Saints with
Drew Brees out on the field defensively, I think you
have to you you have to, you would play defense differently.
(24:26):
I mean, you just do you You're passing game is
more under attack. That's what I just don't think that
for just the threat of Drew Brees is a big
enough deal. Is if if Drew God forbid, something happened
and Drew Brees was missed for the playoffs? How much?
How how down would you be on the Saints with
(24:48):
Teddy Bridgewater going into the postseason. I wouldn't be that
down on No, No, And I think they would be
a little different team. But yeah, yeah, I think that's
it's it's that's fair. They would take a step down.
In my mind. I don't know if they could win
at all, but considering there the best win on their schedule,
(25:09):
which I just gave them credit for, and in beating Dallas,
and then really the win in Seattle when you do
look at their other winds, maybe it isn't as much
of a murderous row as you would think. But Teddy
Bridgewater is the one that got the win. Who's also
a game where they took a kick back and ran
it back for a score. They recovered a fumble and
ran it back for for a touchdown. So there are
other facets of the Saints team. Maybe they're more team oriented, yeah,
(25:33):
just breeze oriented. And I also think you can't it's
easy to go around the NFL and you can spot
an NFL team and you can and you can point to, yeah,
well they're a good team because of this, or they
got a break here. You know, we did it last
year with the Bears. We did it the year before
with the Jacksonville Jaguars. We did like there are always
teams that come and go every single season, which is
why consistency in the NFL is so hard to find.
(25:55):
Which is why what teams like New England and Pittsburgh
up until last year and Kansas City have done and
Seattle has done because they've been successful for multiple years
in a row. Maybe they don't win a Super Bowl
when you get to the postseason that many years in
a row, it's impressive. I'll say this for the Saints,
I may not totally buy into them as of now.
You cannot dispute whether or not they're a good football
(26:17):
team because when you have your hearts ripped out in
Minnesota on a fluke play at the end of a
playoff game that you should have won, and then look
if if New Orleans goes on the road to Philly.
I liked New Orleans in that game. I I thought
New Orleans had a real good chance at beating Philly
in that game and going to a super Bowl. And
then you get your hearts ripped out again at home
on that you know, non call pass interference. To be
(26:40):
sitting here where they are a year later, there's a
lot of other organizations that would have folded and said, well,
those are two shots. I guess that's it. And but
they're here. So they're a good roster and a good
football team. I just don't know how good. I think
Drew brees Age has something to do with that, because
you see this window and you feel the sense of
urgency every single season that he's still there because you
don't know how many more they are going to be
(27:02):
I would say is we're trying to really feel out
this tenant to Saints team. As he said, they are
one of the best teams in the NFL. Just can't
figure it out. We know if the Seahawks go to
the Super Bowl, how they're likely going to go on
the arm of Russell Wilson like that, that's how they're
going to go, or Russell Wilson having something to do
with it. If the forty Niners go to the Super Bowl,
we know how they're going that defensive line and then
(27:23):
running the football. If you watch the Minnesota Vikings make
a run, you know how they're doing it with Dalvin
Cook and Kirk Cousins is playing well. If those things
don't happen for those teams, they're not going to win.
But if those things do happen for those teams, there's
a very good chance that they can succeed. With the Saints.
I don't know. I can't. I can't like. Okay, they
(27:45):
get after the quarterback like they did last night. It
was the only thing that saved them against the Falcons,
but it didn't win the game. If Drew Brees is
throwing a Michael Thomas a lot. Well, does that mean
that Jared Cook's not catching passes? Is you know, Latavius
Murray not being the compliment to Alvin Kmery, Like that's
the thing is the other teams, I think at least
we know their identity and how they're going to get there.
For the Saints, for a team that we've seen so long,
(28:07):
I still feel that we're trying to feel them out.
We're still watching Taysom Hill take snaps and running three
yards around end Like it's just that's the difference of
the Saints that I just feel like I just can't
get the right field. And look, if we want to
be honest about what we saw with the game last
night against Atlanta. One, Atlanta stinks. Everybody knows that dan
Quinn's on his way out. Don't be fooled by the
(28:29):
little two game winning streak they put on, and also
one of those was against New Orleans coming off a
bye week in which they came out flat. Last night
was as motivated as the Saints were going to get
for a bad football team because they just got embarrassed
two weeks ago at home, and yet Atlanta was still
in that game late like they still had an opportunity
to go down and possibly tie the game. So it's
(28:51):
just I don't I mean, I guess, be happy he
gonna win. Anytime you getna win and it's on the road,
be happy. But I just don't know that I would
look at last night's game and go, yep, that it's
the best team in the NFC. I don't know. 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 apps search f
(29:12):
s R to listen live. You and I are very
nostalgic when it comes to the NFL um and it
kind of feels like a little bit of nostalgis creeping
back into the NFL. Well, let's let's look at who.
Let's let's look at the teams that we're talking about,
and we're talking about the top teams in the National
Football We're talking about the Baltimore Ravens. We're not talking
(29:32):
about the Redskins. We're talking about the Ravens. We're talking
about the Saints. We're talking about the forty Niners. We're
talking about the Minnesota Vikings, talking about the New England Patriots.
We're talking about these teams, and you know what, those
teams aren't past happy teams that like to go up
and down the field of of offense, offense, offense, of
(29:54):
of supreme quarterback ability at this minute, taking all here
and just dissecting defenses, getting in shootouts. You're not seeing that.
What you're seeing this year in the National Football League
our teams having success that have a strong defensive front
that can stop the run and get after the quarterback.
Teams that can run the football like a Baltimore or
(30:17):
a Minnesota. Teams that like the New England Patriots, who
are winning with defense. Those are the teams that we
are seeing have success in the NFL. And to me,
this is really what it's all about. I I hope
that you remember when I when I said this at
the beginning of the year when we had done shows together.
But the Baltimore Ravens, to me, I loved for the
(30:39):
simple fact of I didn't think they were gonna be
this good Jonas, but I like that they were doing
something different than what everybody else was trying to do,
and that's trying to throw the ball and score more
points and be dynamic on offense, they're saying, we're gonna
do our thing. And for the other fifteen weeks you
can try to shut down those teams. But when you playoffs,
we're gonna be a nightmare. We're gonna to be a
(31:00):
mismatch a team that you aren't used to. And when
you look at the success of these teams and how
they play, I don't think it's just a random occurrence.
I don't think it's a coincidence. I think defense and
running the football is the way that you win in
the National Football League. I think it's the way that
it's always been in the real blip on the radar
where all these past happy teams trying to score the
ball up and down the field. Yeah, if you were
(31:21):
to just go down these statistics and you were to
look at the teams with the best that average in
most yards per game via rush in the NFL, the
top eight are as follows Baltimore, San fran Indianapolis, Minnesota, Buffalo, Seattle, Houston,
and Dallas. All of those are teams that are fighting
for playoff spots or teams that are basically already in
(31:43):
the postseason. But and that makes up eight of the
twelve that's three four of your entire playoff teams playoff
catalog this season because twelve teams get in, six from
each conference. So if sevent of postseason team are the
top of the league when it comes to rushing the football, Like,
(32:05):
how is that not showcasing to you? Listen, run the
ball and you increase your odds for success because you
can go to a team that leads the league in
passing yards and you can say, well, yeah, but that's
garbage time, Like it's not really a true, a true
telltale sign of Okay, well you know that team is
a really good team. No, it just means that maybe
they were down by forty and had to throw the
(32:26):
ball a bunch towards the end. That's garbage time stats.
That's jamis Winston, Blake Bortles quarterbacks like that. But if
you really want to know who the best teams in
the league are, they're the teams that have a lead
and then run the ball to milk the clock, to
grind games out and get wins. And eight teams all
eight at the top of the rushing yards per game
list in the NFL, or all teams that are either
(32:48):
in the playoffs are fighting for a division title. It's
why because you have to take Tom Brady out of it,
considering he's the greatest quarterback to play. He's he's the anomaly,
he's the guy, he's the outlier, He's the exception to
the rule. Jonah. So when you look at Super Bowls,
I think you can make an argument. You know, even
a team like the Atlanta Falcons had scored so many
points three years ago, if they end up running the
(33:10):
ball in the fourth quarter, they end up winning a
Super Bowl. And they had good running backs man DeVante Freeman,
Tevin Coleman or maybe the best one to punch in
the league at that point. Absolutely, and even the Philadelphia
Eagles with Nick Foles being lad. I mean they had
like a fourheaded monster at running back with a gy
E and Corey Clement and uh and La Garrett Blunt.
So you had guys who ran the football. When Denver
(33:31):
won their Super Bowl against the Carolina Panthers, even even
though Cam at his m v P or one of
the reasons made Cam m VP was his ability to
run the football. But they Denver and how do they
win it? Defense? And C J. Anderson like that was
his Peyton Manning couldn't throw the ball. Those are the
things that have have gone on. When the Seahawks win
their Super Bowl, they do it when Russell Wilson isn't
(33:52):
the Russell Wilson that he is now. But they do
it with defense when they had one of the better
offensive lines in Marshawn Lynch. You just keep on going
back and back, and you're like, really, the last ten years,
outside of Tom Brady, it's been teams that play defense
and can run the football that really have success when
it comes down to winning in the National For Look
when when people were upset at the decision making by
(34:14):
Pete Carroll and Darryl Bevil with the Seahawks at the
goal line in that Super Bowl, What were they mad
about that they didn't run the football? Why would you
pass there? Like? What sense does it make Peyton Manning's
first Super Bowl. Look, Joseph A. Die and Dominic Rhodes,
I think both had hundred yard games in that Super Bowl,
but it was Peyton Manning who got the m v P.
I just everything cyclical and we all get really excited
(34:37):
over these new trends and new fads, but there's been
one constant in the NFL can you run the football
and can you play defense? And if you can do that,
you're at least in contention for some games. You're at
least gonna have an opportunity to win some games. What
Baltimore did is maybe the easiest thing that anybody could do.
They took a quarterback and they said, now, we're not
(34:57):
gonna make him do what we do. Let's what he does,
which is how the thinking should have always been. And
I wonder how many quarterbacks careers have been spoiled by
them being mismanaged when they get to the league. And
so Baltimore is one of the best teams, if not
the best team in the league. Team's fortunes of trying
to get out of the rut that they're in because
they're always trying to find the franchise quarterback that's gonna
(35:18):
be with them for fifteen years and be that guy
that's gonna be a Hall of Famer and lead them
to Super Bowls. That's not easy to do. That's not
that's if you can find a guy that fits what
you want to do, or have a scheme or a
system that allows you to take advantage of their strengths.
You don't have to find the next time. You don't
have to go out and find the next Patrick Mahomes
(35:39):
that you've got. It works for Kansas City with what
they do, but it's not gonna work for every team.
And that's what drives me nuts when we talk about
like finding franchise quarterbacks, It's like, how are we defining
franchise quarterbacks and what are you doing around the team
to make that. I'm fine if my quarterback seventeen in
the in the NFL out of thirty two, if I
could run the ball of my defensive line can get stopped,
(36:00):
I am fine with Totally agree and the Tom Brady
That's that's why I've been saying this about the Patriots.
You know, the Patriots remind me of because everyone says, well,
you know, Tom Brady just doesn't have what he used
to have, Okay, but they've got a defense that continues
to force turnovers and scores a lot of points on
that side of the ball. There was a team in
the NFL last year whose defense converted on a lot
of turnovers, scored a lot of points, and were dominant
(36:22):
at times. And because of that, that team was in
contention and in the playoffs that team was the Bears.
If you took Tom Brady and you put them on
last year's Bears, I got news for you. They're doing
a hell of a lot more than one and done
in the postseason because of a Cody Parking double doink
a hell of a lot more. So, you tell me
Tom Brady and that defense. They're still legitimate and still
(36:43):
a threat in the postseason. 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 app.
Host
Doug Gottlieb
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