Colin’s top takes of the week!
First, he’s joined by Jason Timpf, host of “Hoops Tonight” to talk about the spectacular play of Anthony Edwards and dissect the comparisons between him and early career Michael Jordan (3:00). Then they debate the merits of Minnesota or New York trying to add Kevin Durant as their “missing piece (7:30).
They look at the pros and cons of the Lakers hiring J.J. Reddick and why it’s any riskier than the other coaching options available (10:30).
Then Colin is joined by John Middlekauff, host of “3 and Out” to break down the NFL schedule release!
23:45 - NFL took care of the streaming services
26:30 - Jets
30:00 - Bears
32:00 - Cowboys
34:30 - Steelers got the toughest schedule
(Timestamps may vary based on advertisements.)
Follow Colin and The Volume on Twitter for the latest content and updates!
#Volume #Herd
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
The volume.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
The NBA playoffs are heating up. Man, they have been
so good. I know it's over, but Lakers Nuggets may
have been a five game series.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
It was great.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
Nicks sixers amazing. Why don't you sign up for the
DraftKings sportsbook app takes ninety seconds the official sports betting
partner of the NBA. If you're in DraftKings. Once you
sign up, you got to check this out. New customers
bet five bucks to get one hundred and fifty bucks
in bonus bets instantly great proposition right five bucks get
one hundred and fifty bucks. Download the DraftKings sports Book app.
The codes colins co l I N. It's me co
(00:33):
l I N really quick, really easy. If you've never
bet sports before, check it out. Really makes the games fun.
The code is coling. New customers get one hundred and
fifty bucks in bonus best by betting five only on DraftKings.
The Crown is yours.
Speaker 3 (00:46):
Gambling problem called one eight hundred gambler or in West Virginia,
visit one eight hundred gambler dot net. In New York
call eight seven seven eight hope and wired text hope
and y four six seven three six nine in Connecticut.
Help is available for problem gambling call eight eight eight
seven eight nine seven seven seven seven or visit CCPG
dot org. Please play responsibly on behalf of Boothill Casino
(01:06):
in Resorting, Kansas twenty one and over age varies by
jurisdiction Voyd and Ontario one. No sweat bet per new
customer issued as one bonus bet based on amount of
initial losing bet. Bonus bets expire one hundred and sixty
eight hours after issue. Ince See dkang dot com slash
promos for deposit wagering and eligibility restrictions, terms and responsible
gaming resources.
Speaker 2 (01:31):
Jason temp podcast as Hoops Tonight. Ant is spectacular, Like
I always felt this about and I'm not saying he's Jordan,
but he has some Jordan qualities and that's okay. Mahomes,
you know they're talking about Caleb Williams has Mahomes qualities. Yes,
he does. All the scouts as say, hey, he plays
like Patrick Mahomes. There are things about Aunt, but the
(01:52):
most Jordan thing about him is I remember watching Jordan
against Phoenix in his prime and I was still on
the couch with a friend watching it, and I'm like Okay,
he's not the best shooter, the best ball hand, he's
not the quickest guy in the league, and he's six
to six. Why does it look like he's like the
only Division IE player playing at the hy Like it's
(02:14):
like it. He makes it look so easy. Ant gets
past people on the first step. These are NBA athletes.
He just gets past everybody. So when you watch it
on TV, I don't think you would appreciate it. The
ability to always everybody knows where he's going. He loves
the first step. He sizes you up. He makes the
(02:36):
game look easy. Mahomes does this, Jordan did this. You're like,
why how I'm watching Aunt? And even against good offenders.
I mean Jamal Murray switched off to him one time.
I'm like, this is not even competitive. Murray's a world
class athlete. I mean, you've been in gyms with guys.
But I look at this and I'm like, when guys
start making thirty eight points look easy, there's about three
(02:59):
in the league one time that can do that. Maybe one.
Speaker 4 (03:03):
Yeah, there's athletic and then there's athletic among the athletes.
It's like an entirely different stratosphere, right, And like that's
kind of to me the difference between like a Jason
Tatum and an Anthony Edwards. Like Jason Tatum is a
very good NBA athlete, like a but like like like
he's in the he's close to that, like truly transcendent.
But there's clearly a difference between ant sizing up an
(03:26):
elite defender and beating him off the dribble and Tatum
doing the same thing. It's like that next level of elite,
top tier athleticism. Honestly, I regardless of what happens the
rest of this series, and I do think Denver is
gonna be gonna pull this out now. I think they've
effectively just rendered Minnesota's offense useless and and they're gonna
go home, and I think they're gonna win Game five.
And the biggest thing, too, is like Minnesota hasn't been
(03:48):
particularly competitive in either of these games, which is which
is a major concern, right, But like, no matter what,
it's very clear that Anthony Edwards is here to stay.
I think he's the next guy in that like line
of truly transcendent great American basketball players, Like it went
from MJ to Kobe, and it went from Kobe to Lebron,
and like, there have been guys along the way that
(04:08):
have had their little moments, but nobody that really had
the potential to take over the league for a long time.
And can't you just see it, Colin, can't you just
kind of imagine what the next ten years are like
for Ams? You could just kind of imagine him continuing
to ascend and getting better and better. I started to
think tonight, like like, if it could have pulled this
game out, it could have been one of those transcendent
(04:29):
moments you think about, like you know Lebron in like
two thousand and seven or two thousand and eight kind
of thing. And honestly, like Denver's just too good. That's
really all it is. Like Lebron ran into the O
eight Spurs and got swept. So like, at a certain point,
it doesn't matter how good you are at that phase
of your career. It is a team sport. And like, literally,
while all of his veteran teammates were falling apart, he
(04:50):
was continuing to ascend. It was really impressive.
Speaker 2 (04:52):
Yeah, I mean, and this is appropriate. Jordan couldn't get
through a fully formed Pistons or Celtic dynasty, so I mean,
Denver's fully formed, they have the experience, they're better offensively,
they have Minnesota's length. So again, this is the way
it works. It's the baby steps. He comes in, he
pushes and makes a Denver you know, step back. They
got hit in the gin. Oh we got you know,
(05:14):
they dazed the champion and they lost. That's what happened
to Jordan. That's what happens to Lebron. So to me,
this is totally appropriate. We are amazed by the individual player,
but they still have tweaking to do. I mean, we
all know what Minnesota's gonna do in the off Season's
probably gonna move Carl Anthony Towns and they're gonna get
They're gonna get more offensive players. I mean, eventually Jordan
(05:36):
needed Pippin and Kerr, you know. I mean, like they
don't have to be a nightly great player, but you
do have to find players that take something off Ant's
plate a little bit.
Speaker 4 (05:46):
There has to be Minnesota should go after KD.
Speaker 2 (05:50):
It's not terrible because again the great gift of KD.
You can give him the ball eight seconds in the
shot clock four, He'll get a great look. Doesn't need
you know, it's a little Klay Thompson, but obviously much better.
He doesn't need the ball in his hands. Why that's
why the Jalen Brunson Katie works. The emotional part of
Katie to the Knicks TIBs that style. You know, is
(06:13):
he willing for it. Let's pivot to that, because listen,
the Knicks are beat up. Nothing you can do. Just
set the guys down, get ready for Tuesday. Be embarrassed.
You know you'll be on fire Tuesday. So Og is hurt.
Og got banged up this year as well. Brunson's not
one hundred percent. We already know Mitchell Robbins and Julius
Randall are out. So this is a limited team offensively
(06:35):
without injuries. So we all kind of kept waiting for
this team that was playing with Game seven intensity to
just just collapse. Just the wheels came off and they
sort of did. I still think they have a chance
to win this series. But I was saying this earlier
this week, and I said it last time I was
on with you. There's a lot of different scenarios with
the Knicks, and it's very easy to talk yourself into
(06:55):
we're just a piece away, but the East is going
to get better. It's just gonna get better. Butler's gonna
be healthy, Dane's gonna be healthy, Yannis will probably back,
and Beat'll get help. There's so many scenarios for the
next and I do wonder if instead of looking at
Kevin Durant and Nepaul George, they just they find another
og on the market, you know, they go get another
(07:15):
really good player, because I do think, you know, playing hard,
maybe it has limitations if you fade. I don't think
they can beat a Denver a Minnesota's length. But the
Knicks have done something in the last three years that
they haven't done for twenty, which is they're patient. They're
(07:37):
like you look at them and you're like, this is
a well run team. They don't take I mean they
used to take, you know, big reaches on Amari Stadameyer
when he had bad knees. It's like, what are you doing?
Like every GM in the league's like that. Amari's you know,
he's he's got like two years left, he's cooked.
Speaker 4 (07:53):
Or trading for Carmelo when they could have sign him
as a free agent one year later, not got the roster.
Speaker 2 (07:57):
I don't know exactly what they do. I think Paul
George fits everywhere. But again, it's such a unique culture,
like it's just not for everybody. I mean, I can't
wait to watch. I don't. They're not a championship team.
I think you know, listen, they're not.
Speaker 1 (08:12):
We know it.
Speaker 2 (08:13):
They're just you can't. There's too many great players, too
many good teams in this league. Nicks are not a
championship team. I don't know what the solution is. I
want to watch it. It's not in the draft. We
know that it's not a good draft. I mean Kd's
it's it's I just don't know. KD is. Boy. You
look at him post Golden State, It's it's he's different.
(08:36):
He's running through coaches, you know, and Tibbs has power
in that room. Nobody's pushing back on TIBs. I saw
this on the internet, and I apologize for not giving credit,
but somebody said, everybody starts somewhere. Is JJ Reddick supposed
to go to the G League? You know a lot
of these guys just don't want to coach college the NIL.
They just don't want to deal with limitations NCAA. Is
(08:59):
JJ Reddick? Is he a bad idea for the Lakers?
I mean I think Budenholzer would have taken the Lakers
job and Lebron would have bought in. They couldn't get
him out of town fast enough and he had a
title in Milwaukee. Jannis wasn't a fan. Is JJ Reddick
a terrible choice? Or are we over overstepping that that
everybody starts somewhere. Where's he going to start? He's rich,
(09:22):
he's not going to the G League's not taking that job.
Jason Kidd first experiment not good. Now he's established himself.
I mean, what is your take of JJ Reddick, who
people are getting gobbled up? Could be head of the
class now for the Lakers.
Speaker 4 (09:36):
Yeah, so the experience thing doesn't matter as much to
me for a couple of reasons. One, it's the classic
like corporate ideology, where like you're constantly towing the line
between rewarding experience versus rewarding talent, and like there's always
a fine line between like, oh, well, this guy's been
doing it for eight years. But it's like, yeah, but
he's the mediocre Because that's the other question here. This guy,
(09:57):
if JJ happens to have the talent for it, if
he happens to have the basketball like you or whatever
for it, then by all means make the move. And
so much of that depends on how he's acting behind
the scenes in the interviews if they go through an
interview process. But the second piece of it is you
can counteract a lot of the lack of inexperience or
a lack of experience with just putting experienced head coaches
(10:17):
on his staff. So you can address that by just
giving him a really good assistant coaching staff. As far
as I'm concerned with JJ Reddick, like when it comes
to the Lakers, what I'm really looking for is somebody
that holds players accountable because I look at them as
a defensive minded team anchored by two big athletic forwards
(10:38):
and Lebron James and Anthony Davis. Just look at the
around the league. When the Lakers won, they won when
they defended. You know, that was always their their bread
and butter. They made it to the Western Conference finals
last year as a defensive minded team, they lost in
the first round this year as an offensive minded team.
Going back to twenty twenty, they won when they were
a defensive minded team. So I'm really interested in somebody
that's going to hold them accountable, And I don't really
(11:00):
know if if JJ's willing to do that with Lebron,
that's gonna be something that is going to have to
be flushed out in the interview process. But I'm not
concerned about the experience simply because if JJ's got the talent,
he's got the talent, and they're going to anchor him
with experienced NBA coaches that will help him navigate the
eighty two game regular season. And honestly, like it's it's
really just going to be about like a collaborative effort
(11:22):
between Lebron, James and the and JJ Redick to kind
of identify what the strengths and weaknesses of the roster
are and go from there. It's really hard, honestly, Colin,
I wonder what it's like for you cover in the
NFL too, Like it's really difficult with coaches, especially new coaches.
We're not there for the interviews. Like with a player,
I can go look at tape and I can get
(11:42):
a really good feel for what he's good and bad at.
But like with JJ, it's like, well, what's his philosophy
going to be? What are what are his core his
core principles that he's going to build the team on
Like what is is he going to continue the five
out offense they were running out of Darvin ham with
Darvin hamm Are they going to run something different? Are
they gonna do something different offensively? It's so hard to
say because we're not in the room for those interviews.
(12:03):
But if JJ interviews well and they give him good
assistant coaches and he's got the talent for it, I
absolutely think it could work well.
Speaker 2 (12:10):
I mean, Duke Kid, you know, you listen to the podcast,
he's you know, he's a thoughtful guy to me. You know,
it's experience is funny. You know, it's creating the volume
or working for years at ESPN or Fox Sports. You know,
people managers have come to me and said, hey, listen
(12:31):
to a tape or what do you make of this guy?
And my take is, if you've never done network, who cares,
Like we listened to your tape and we're like, yeah,
he's ready to go.
Speaker 1 (12:42):
Okay, I don't.
Speaker 2 (12:43):
You didn't have to be somewhere. We thought you would
be here, So it's you know, it's Jerry Seinfeld was
speaking at Duke. He had a commencement speech and he
had a great line. He said, having stuff is nice,
Becoming stuff or having stuff is nice. Becoming something is
really more important, and becoming something is missus. It swings,
(13:07):
It's an ascension. In every job I've ever had, I
was a little over my skis for the first like
six to eight weeks, like I'm bailing water here, I'm
trying to catch I've had a friend once that got
a job at Google and she was like I literally
six weeks in, I'm like, oh, I'm dumb and this
is a full of smart people. I'm too dumb to
(13:29):
work at Google. And she goes then the light goes on,
you start clicking, and then like six months into it,
you're like okay, but it's like it's okay, Darvin Ham
learned on the job. If you're smart in any industry,
you'll figure it out. Like a lot of this stuff
with coaching is like I heard Frank Vogel, you know,
some complex, defensive stuff. Beale didn't really buy in. Booker
(13:53):
was close to an assistant coach, much closer than he
was Vogel. Kevin was fine, but Kevin's Kevin at this point,
and it was like Vogel just didn't he didn't resonate
with all the guys in the room, JJ Redick. If
Lebron buys him, we'll resonate with everybody in the room.
So my take is you start somewhere. If you get Lebron,
(14:13):
there is some credibility, like with Jason Kidd, Like there
is credibility player to player that JJ has. And I
think it's kind of unspoken, but kind of the middle aged,
you know, guy that didn't play. I always think you
go into a locker room and about half the room
is like if the star doesn't buy into it, half
the room's not buying into it. Maybe that's cynical, but
(14:34):
I think everybody would buy into JJ Redick.
Speaker 4 (14:38):
Well, it's like it's like Mike Norriy from the Timberwolves
are I can't remember his name, that assistant from the
Celtics who just got signed by the Charlotte Hornets. It's like,
if you bring in an assistant, it doesn't matter how
much he's been grinding in the film room, doesn't matter
how much he impressed the previous organization. He's got to
be able to look at Lebron and be like, hey man,
I need you to do this. And Lebron's got to
be like, okay, you know, and not only that, but
I'll hold the rest of the team accountable to help
(14:58):
him along the way. And so there, I do agree
that's the gravitas piece. And by the way, that's why
they hire Darvin Ham. They thought Darvin Ham would be
able to bring some of that, yes, like real gravitas
to the situation. The thing with JJ is you got
to acknowledge the risk because you're right, Like, they let
Darvin Ham learn on the fly and he didn't really
start making huge mistakes until this season with the roster
when he was like leaning into camerad as we've gone
(15:20):
over it, but like he made too many mistakes, and
then the Lakers had a situation where they looked at
the urgency of their situation and said, we have to
make a move. And so I just I just hope
that the Lakers' front office and ownership understands that if
you do take JJ, there is a risk. And even
though I believe he could do this well, especially with
good experienced staff behind him, anytime you go for a
(15:42):
first time head coach, there's a like, what if he's
just really bad at a in game adjustments? What if
he's just really bad, Like we don't know what it's
going to be, Like we're gonna find out over time.
And so that's where like the let's say the alternative,
let's say they were to get like a Kenny Atkinson
for instance, Like Kenny Atkinson is more of a known commodity.
He might be a higher floor, but like maybe you
don't get some of the upside you get if you
(16:04):
get a freaked out to your point, Steve Kerr, like
Steve Kerr is regarded as one of the best coaches
in the league. I think he's the second best coach
in the league behind Eric Spoulstra. Like that was a
risk signing Steve Curree. By the way, Steve Kerr was radical.
He came into a Mark Jackson led team that was
spam and pick and roll, and he said, Hey, Steph Curry,
we're taking the ball out of your hands. We're gonna
lead the league in passes. We're gonna run this motion
(16:26):
ball in player movement offense. And I'm sure there were
moments in training camp where it looked ugly, and I'm
sure there were moments where the front office was looking
down like, ugh, this is weird, you know, like we
just went, you know, two great playoff runs in twenty thirteen,
twenty fourteen, just having Steph run spread, pick and roll,
So like, this is funky, but then it works and
now Steve Kerr is regarded as one of the best
coaches in the league. So like, there's upside to going
(16:48):
with the JJ, but there's also a risk. And so
for me, I'm okay with that risk because I don't
really think there's any candidate out there that's a home
run anyway, right, So I think I think there's risk
all around. To begin with.
Speaker 2 (17:09):
Former NFL scout John Middlecoff Three and Out podcast, it's
NFL schedule release, which is the closest thing to adult
entertainment for me once the season ends. This is cotton
candy when I was nine. I just I'll eat it
until my teeth rot. So and I know I like
(17:31):
it way more than the average person.
Speaker 1 (17:32):
But colle, can we push back against all the haters
because there is a lot of people, especially considered the
sports media. They're like, this isn't that the NFL is
an event business. When Dana White announces a fight card,
it's a big deal. That's what the NFL is. Like
the games do you know what the other do you
know what the NBA and Major League Baseball would give
(17:53):
to have their games in the regular season matter? This matters. Yeah,
we knew the opponents, but we didn't know the days,
the time, the bye weeks, the setup. This is an
event sport. I mean's why it's taken off the way
it has. Right.
Speaker 2 (18:07):
Listen, you can tell they want Jim Harbaugh to start
two and oh, the Chargers get the Raiders at home,
one of the weaker teams, and then the Panthers on
the road. They want a two and oh, Jim Harbaugh
they want. Listen, there are certain things the NFL they're
gonna take care of, like, let's take companies for instance.
(18:30):
This is the strongest Amazon Thursday night schedule. Remember the
first few years of Amazon it was awful.
Speaker 1 (18:37):
Oh my god, it was like Titans Texans when the
Texans were bad. It was every week.
Speaker 2 (18:42):
So the first now Thursday, they start with Josh Allen
and Tua. The next week it's Aaron Rodgers. The next
week it's Dak Prescott in Dallas. Week six, you get
the Niners Seattle. Week eight, it's Harbaugh, Jim. Week ten,
Burrow against Lamar Jackson. We know the NFL. Netflix got
Christmas games streaming service. They're taking care Amazon clearly said, listen,
(19:08):
what's your future? What are we gonna pay? What can
a network pay? I thought they took care of Amazon
as much as you can. I mean, you don't want to.
You gotta be careful on Thursday because you want some
close geographical matchups like New England Jets is a really
easy trip for both teams. That's an easy trip. Buffalo
(19:28):
Miami's not, but it's the first one.
Speaker 1 (19:30):
But there's a Niners Rams Thursday night game. They like
to doing that additional games.
Speaker 2 (19:34):
One of the things that jumped out to me is
that you know, Netflix, they did a solid they give
them Christmas games. Amazon Thursday. I mean, I'll be honest
with you. Monday Night football, John there is a what
I would call a star or high profile quarterback in
seventeen weeks now, I'm counting Caleb Williams and Tua is
(19:56):
high profile. It's the best Monday Night for ball schedule
live seat. So again, Disney money, Amazon money, Monday and
Thursday night are gonna weaken Sunday to some degree. There
are star quarterbacks being taken out of Sunday games.
Speaker 1 (20:13):
Well, in a weird way that Sunday morning for us
on the West Coast, the ten am kickoff for the
NFL is a little bit of a throwaway at this point.
It is right the afternoon, the Fox main game and
the CBS game matter. They're all in on Sunday night
football Monday night. Once they hired Troy and Joe became
a really really big deal. Peyton's involved, And let's face it,
(20:33):
I mean, Amazon's top two or three company in the world,
so they're not going away. Streaming's not going away. To me,
what jumped out though, is Netflix reportedly paid seventy five
million dollars a game, and they got two of them.
They are I looked at their market cap, top forty
company in the world. Well are they gonna grow or
are they gonna shrink over the next ten twenty years.
And how you're in the business broadcast television, the cable bundle,
(20:56):
we know how that's going. We know the change of everything.
We see it in our podcast business compared to traditional radio.
To me, when I saw what they did at Netflix,
they didn't just give them two random games on Christmas.
They gave them chiefs at the Steelers and the Ravens
at the Texans yep, so equivalent four playoff teams. You
could argue the biggest star in the sport in Mahomes.
(21:19):
The Ravens were right there to go to the super
Bowl last year. The Texans are a trajectory like this,
and the Steelers are a top five brand. To me,
Netflix a little bit of a precursor. Are we looking
at the next television deal? Are there? Is there just
a package on Netflix on Sunday? Maybe? Because let's face it,
when I get in bed and she grabs the remote
the first we don't turn on. We have YouTube TV?
(21:40):
Which are she goes to Netflix? And I looked right
before we hopped on they have eighty million subscribers in America.
Maybe they're saying we get the NFL. Is that number
one hundred within a couple of years?
Speaker 2 (21:53):
All throw give me a team individual, Give me a
couple teams individually. That jumped out to you.
Speaker 1 (21:59):
Well, I heard your theory and you talking about the
Rogers situation. I think it's just simple. And I know
coaches and executives like GMS, you know the league, all
they care about is money. I mean that's their job, right,
so the ratings, I think Rogers is still a massive,
(22:20):
massive needle mover. Yeah, and like the week one, I
thought when I was looking at the potentials, because I
thought the Niners were going to get Sunday Night or
Monday Night football. You kind of feel once you knew
Thursday Night a lot of stars that we already knew
the Friday night game. We didn't know the Sunday Night game.
But I was like, I think the Niners are getting
one of those. You looked at their schedule, It's like
I could see them throwing the Cowboys or the Jets.
(22:44):
And then once it was reported that the Cowboys did
the Brady thing, which is genius. I mean, how many
people are going to watch that game? Thirty five million
people on Sunday afternoon. The Niners, I mean the Niners
when they're winning, or a top two or three brand
in the league rating wise, Yes, And Aaron Rodgers buying,
especially coming off this injury, you know, controversial to some,
(23:04):
but he's just a polarizing player. And the Jets are
a New York major brand. I don't know if the
Jets are gonna be very good. I'm sure we'll dive
into but you put that thing on, just like they
did last year. I remember, like all of us around
the country, sitting there, Jets Bills. It's gonna feel really
big and do a huge number. But tough game for him.
It does get a little easy off the bat. Then
(23:25):
he goes to the Titans. Then he plays the Pats,
who I think are gonna be terrible. Denver rookie quarterback
mcglinch's their right tackle. The Jets have a good pass
rush Minnesota. We'll see. They're in a little transitional period.
So the Monday night game, if they can just get
through that healthy, I do think they could rattle off
a couple wins early.
Speaker 2 (23:42):
See now I saw it the opposite. My take was
that you can only do so much because the Jets.
The schedule is what the schedule is.
Speaker 1 (23:50):
Right, if you know the teams, Yeah, right, right, and a.
Speaker 2 (23:54):
Lot of it's baked in. You play the Bills twice,
Miami twice, New England twice, your conference, your division plays
certain divisions. But I thought they made Aaron's season as
tough as you could make it. So they start it's weak, right, So,
first of all, the last thing you want to do
in a rebuild a line is face the Niners defense
or front and week one that's a tough draw. Three
(24:18):
games in eleven days to start again with a rebuilt
a line. They have five short weeks and an international
game in weeks one through eleven. So the schedule the
quarterbacks they face isn't daunting. They could have done them
way more. Rest favors older quarterbacks and older people tend
(24:40):
to be creatures of habit as I've aged. You know,
I really like Peyton Manning hated Sunday night football games.
Speaker 1 (24:48):
Hated you're waiting around all day.
Speaker 2 (24:50):
So Aaron Rodgers, they give him three games and eleven
days to start, five short weeks, an international game, and
Niners with an line build. The quality of the opponent
isn't great.
Speaker 1 (25:04):
It is Will Levis and Jacoby Mersett.
Speaker 2 (25:05):
No question, I will acknowledge that the games are the games.
But old quarterback rebuild a line and a lot of
short weeks. That's it's like for older quarterbacks, like Brady
would tell you, like I want to get going. Those
old quarterbacks love one o'clock games.
Speaker 1 (25:22):
They love them, and there is not a harder travel
that than playing Monday night football. If you're a coastal team,
but on the East coast to the West coast and
flying home because what time are they you know, the
game ends at a fifteen By the time they get
out of there, they're getting home at five six in
the morning. So it is and then it's difficult on
your coach. It's it's a very, very difficult stretch.
Speaker 2 (25:43):
I also looked at the NFL with Chicago. Again, Fox
would love Chicago to pop.
Speaker 1 (25:49):
I mean, she change target.
Speaker 2 (25:51):
What do they get with a rookie quarterback Tennessee at
home to start new coach, new staff, and then week
five home Carolina a very winnable game against Washington early
they get a buy into it, so two weeks to
prepare for a very winnable game. Those feel like wins
to me for Chicago. I do think again, you could
(26:14):
have stacked green Bay on the road early. You could
have stacked this schedule. You know, Detroit open at Detroit
because though you know Chicago's a big brand, they gave
them a couple of layups early.
Speaker 1 (26:28):
I do think when it comes to a rookie quarterback,
let's use Jaden Daniels and bow knicks for example, they're
playing the long game. Sean Payton's not going anywhere. This
new operation in Washington's so if there's up and downs
and you gotta lose his confidence, takes them a couple
weeks to gain it back. Whatever, We're okay winning six
games this first year. There is tangible pressure on the
(26:48):
coach in Chicago, right, he can't afford to go seven
to ten or he'll be fired. Yes, I agree with
you on the Titan situation. But then their next three
games for a young quarterback who is extremely talented, Like,
it's not like he's coming off an eleven wins seasons. Yes,
I mean it was just it was a lot at
the Texans at the Colts. I think both those teams
are going to be really good. Yeah, they both loaded up.
(27:10):
You know, Indy disdrafted a pass rusher in the top fifteen,
the Texans added one during free agency. And then you
play the Rams like, that's just a tough early stretch.
I don't care how talented you are. Young people, confidence
can eb and flow, and the pressure of Chicago, the hype.
I do think that's just a tough early stretch. Now,
if all of a sudden they're three and two, I
(27:32):
mean we might be looking at a ten or eleven
win team.
Speaker 2 (27:35):
Did you notice with the Cowboys schedule and we know
in the last month mostly the NFL wants division games.
You know, you want your Miami Buffaloes, although Miami bipe.
Speaker 1 (27:47):
So you're good. You're good teams, so you think are
going to be compete for now.
Speaker 2 (27:50):
Miami Buffalo both played pretty early. But Dallas has three,
you know, out of division games that are pretty tough,
the Niners, the Ravens, and the Lions. They're done with
all of them by week eight. So so with Dallas
again McCarthy, dak this is an experienced team. They they
don't backload it because you know the Giants in Washington
(28:11):
won't be great. They get their three toughest to me,
the three games that you look at and go the
three best rosters they play will probably be San Francisco, Baltimore,
and Detroit and those are all done by week eight.
So if even if you go one and two on those,
they could have stacked a couple of those, you know,
week fourteen, week thirteen, so you go into these tough, brutal,
(28:33):
cold weather road games and divisions. No, they got rid
of their tough games early. Again, what do I like
Harbaugh getting a two and zero start. Listen Dallas Is.
I thought it went in their favor. That was my take.
Speaker 1 (28:49):
I do think that Cleveland, I'm not expecting the same
what we saw last year. I mean, obviously they're all
in a Deshaun Watson, his cap hit has really kicked
in the rosters. I don't think gonna be as good
just moving forward, obviously, and I'm not sure he's still
a good player. But even if they take a huge
step back, we all know Week one is tough, right,
(29:13):
You could play the worst team in the league in
Week one. Everyone has the same hopes and dreams. They're
everyone's OH to oh, especially at home, and Cleveland is
a tough place to play. And the hype on that
game with Brady calling it, that's a sneaky big game
because then all of a sudden, like I think most
people think the Saints were really shitty last year. They
did go nine to eight and their offense was mainly putrid. Well,
(29:34):
they had Kubiak's kid who comes from Shanahan. I think
the Saints are gonna be better, and then you got Baltimore.
It's just a tough little early stretch for a team.
Speaker 4 (29:43):
That.
Speaker 1 (29:44):
I don't want to say they're walking on eggshells, but
the McCarthy story, the Dack, if they don't extend them,
it could get weird, and it could get weird fast.
I just got that Cleveland game circle. I think that
is going to be very I can see Cleveland winning
that thing and Cleveland being a six to seven win team.
Speaker 2 (29:58):
I'm gonna make an argument and that the toughest schedule
in the league I saw was the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Speaker 1 (30:05):
Oh it's really hard.
Speaker 2 (30:06):
Okay, so you start, you have better rosters than these teams,
but they load them up at Atlanta, at Denver, at
Indy and Harbaugh. That's a rough start. I mean again,
you have better rosters than Atlanta, Denver, the Chargers, Nindy,
three of the four on the road, and you come
out of that road streak with Dallas two weeks later.
(30:28):
Aaron Rodgers like, that's rough. And did you see the
last six quarterbacks Pittsburgh Faces Burrow, Deshaun Watson, Jalen Hurts,
Lamar Jackson, Mahomes and Burrow Like, good, look, Mike Tomlin
is going to be on a network broadcasting and by
the way, I predict he'll be great. I've talked to
(30:49):
two network execs who would hire Mike Tomlin tomorrow.
Speaker 1 (30:53):
Are you short in the Steelers this year?
Speaker 2 (30:55):
I am short in them. I mean, did you have
to put at the end of the year the last
three quarterbacks, Lamar, Mahomes and Burrow in the last month.
Speaker 1 (31:04):
Did you see the story though about Burrow's hand surgery
the percentage of it keeping You know, most surgeries are
ninety to ninety five percent that risk. Hand surgery is
like seventy to seventy five percent success rate, and then
it no matter how well it goes, there's basically guaranteed inflammation.
It's a little trickier than just your ACL or your
broken leg. I do think that's something to keep a
(31:25):
heavy eye on. Now. If he plays seventeen games, I
think we'd all acknowledge they're going to be one of
the better teams in the NFL. But if that thing
crops up where it is, I mean, it would be
a major problem. I thought the moment that they signed Russ,
before we even knew their schedule or who they were
playing one. They're not financially invested in them at all, right,
They're paying them about a million dollars or even Denver
(31:48):
last year. Let's say hypothetically Sean Payton was out on
him by October. First, financially, he had to see if
he could make it work. And then the least there
is not going to be long. They have no draft
cap invested, they have nothing invested, and they do have
another guy in a one year contract who might not
be good either, but at least this physically brings a
lot more to the table. And we saw Arthur Smith,
(32:10):
you know, win with Ryan Tannehill and Mark's Mariota. So
it's like, I just don't think this guy's getting a
long leash. He's not going to be Dnking and Duncan
and they're one to three and he gets to keep
his job. No, I mean, I just I look to
you move teams and they're not paying anything. He better
play well and they better have success or he will
go to the pine.
Speaker 2 (32:28):
I looked at Pittsburgh today and I thought, I know,
Mike Tomlins never had a losing season. That last six
game stretch, You'll have the second best quarterback in all
of those games, all of them. You know, one of
the things I always look at is how many great
quarterbacks do you face, the Jets don't face a lot
of great quarterbacks. But again, they have seven standalone games,
(32:50):
six night games, five short weeks, an international game. So
the Jets schedule's pretty easy. The NFL didn't do him
any favors with Knight, standalones, international. I look at Pittsburgh
and there's just no way if the Jets have the
easiest schedule in terms of facing elite quarterbacks. The Steelers
(33:10):
got hosed that last month and a half. They'll be
underdogs potentially in all those games.
Speaker 1 (33:15):
Well, I mean, if everyone's healthy, they usually could lose
to the Ravens twice. I mean the Bengals, the Eagles,
the Chiefs. Yeah, it's just that's really really brutal. And
let's face it, by that time, you're not one hundred percent,
you're gonna have some injuries. They've kind of been at
a similar spot the last several years. They usually don't
(33:36):
have some huge margin for error, right they don't start
the seasons nine to three that They've been hovering around
five hundred right till the bitter end these last couple
of years. So I understand what they did. I would
have done with their moves at quarterback, getting rid of
Kenny Pickett, getting rid of the group they had for
Russell Wilson and Justin Fields. But just because those guys
(33:58):
are much more famous does mean they're going to be
much more effective. And I'm not a Deshaun Watson guy,
but obviously, if Lamar is healthy and Joe Burrow is healthy,
the gap between Russell Wilson Justin Fields quarterback room is
a mile long.
Speaker 2 (34:15):
The volume. Thanks so much for listening. If you've enjoyed
the podcast, take a moment rate and review.
Speaker 4 (34:22):
Hey everyone, it's Jason timp host of Hoops Tonight. Make
sure you check us out live after games on the
Hoops Tonight YouTube channel as we provide instant reaction and
analysis of all the big NBA playoff games. Again, that's
the Hoops Tonight YouTube channel and wherever you get your
podcasts
The volume.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
The NBA playoffs are heating up. Man, they have been
so good. I know it's over, but Lakers Nuggets may
have been a five game series.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
It was great.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
Nicks sixers amazing. Why don't you sign up for the
DraftKings sportsbook app takes ninety seconds the official sports betting
partner of the NBA. If you're in DraftKings. Once you
sign up, you got to check this out. New customers
bet five bucks to get one hundred and fifty bucks
in bonus bets instantly great proposition right five bucks get
one hundred and fifty bucks. Download the DraftKings sports Book app.
The codes colins co l I N. It's me co
(00:33):
l I N really quick, really easy. If you've never
bet sports before, check it out. Really makes the games fun.
The code is coling. New customers get one hundred and
fifty bucks in bonus best by betting five only on DraftKings.
The Crown is yours.
Speaker 3 (00:46):
Gambling problem called one eight hundred gambler or in West Virginia,
visit one eight hundred gambler dot net. In New York
call eight seven seven eight hope and wired text hope
and y four six seven three six nine in Connecticut.
Help is available for problem gambling call eight eight eight
seven eight nine seven seven seven seven or visit CCPG
dot org. Please play responsibly on behalf of Boothill Casino
(01:06):
in Resorting, Kansas twenty one and over age varies by
jurisdiction Voyd and Ontario one. No sweat bet per new
customer issued as one bonus bet based on amount of
initial losing bet. Bonus bets expire one hundred and sixty
eight hours after issue. Ince See dkang dot com slash
promos for deposit wagering and eligibility restrictions, terms and responsible
gaming resources.
Speaker 2 (01:31):
Jason temp podcast as Hoops Tonight. Ant is spectacular, Like
I always felt this about and I'm not saying he's Jordan,
but he has some Jordan qualities and that's okay. Mahomes,
you know they're talking about Caleb Williams has Mahomes qualities. Yes,
he does. All the scouts as say, hey, he plays
like Patrick Mahomes. There are things about Aunt, but the
(01:52):
most Jordan thing about him is I remember watching Jordan
against Phoenix in his prime and I was still on
the couch with a friend watching it, and I'm like Okay,
he's not the best shooter, the best ball hand, he's
not the quickest guy in the league, and he's six
to six. Why does it look like he's like the
only Division IE player playing at the hy Like it's
(02:14):
like it. He makes it look so easy. Ant gets
past people on the first step. These are NBA athletes.
He just gets past everybody. So when you watch it
on TV, I don't think you would appreciate it. The
ability to always everybody knows where he's going. He loves
the first step. He sizes you up. He makes the
(02:36):
game look easy. Mahomes does this, Jordan did this. You're like,
why how I'm watching Aunt? And even against good offenders.
I mean Jamal Murray switched off to him one time.
I'm like, this is not even competitive. Murray's a world
class athlete. I mean, you've been in gyms with guys.
But I look at this and I'm like, when guys
start making thirty eight points look easy, there's about three
(02:59):
in the league one time that can do that. Maybe one.
Speaker 4 (03:03):
Yeah, there's athletic and then there's athletic among the athletes.
It's like an entirely different stratosphere, right, And like that's
kind of to me the difference between like a Jason
Tatum and an Anthony Edwards. Like Jason Tatum is a
very good NBA athlete, like a but like like like
he's in the he's close to that, like truly transcendent.
But there's clearly a difference between ant sizing up an
(03:26):
elite defender and beating him off the dribble and Tatum
doing the same thing. It's like that next level of elite,
top tier athleticism. Honestly, I regardless of what happens the
rest of this series, and I do think Denver is
gonna be gonna pull this out now. I think they've
effectively just rendered Minnesota's offense useless and and they're gonna
go home, and I think they're gonna win Game five.
And the biggest thing, too, is like Minnesota hasn't been
(03:48):
particularly competitive in either of these games, which is which
is a major concern, right, But like, no matter what,
it's very clear that Anthony Edwards is here to stay.
I think he's the next guy in that like line
of truly transcendent great American basketball players, Like it went
from MJ to Kobe, and it went from Kobe to Lebron,
and like, there have been guys along the way that
(04:08):
have had their little moments, but nobody that really had
the potential to take over the league for a long time.
And can't you just see it, Colin, can't you just
kind of imagine what the next ten years are like
for Ams? You could just kind of imagine him continuing
to ascend and getting better and better. I started to
think tonight, like like, if it could have pulled this
game out, it could have been one of those transcendent
(04:29):
moments you think about, like you know Lebron in like
two thousand and seven or two thousand and eight kind
of thing. And honestly, like Denver's just too good. That's
really all it is. Like Lebron ran into the O
eight Spurs and got swept. So like, at a certain point,
it doesn't matter how good you are at that phase
of your career. It is a team sport. And like, literally,
while all of his veteran teammates were falling apart, he
(04:50):
was continuing to ascend. It was really impressive.
Speaker 2 (04:52):
Yeah, I mean, and this is appropriate. Jordan couldn't get
through a fully formed Pistons or Celtic dynasty, so I mean,
Denver's fully formed, they have the experience, they're better offensively,
they have Minnesota's length. So again, this is the way
it works. It's the baby steps. He comes in, he
pushes and makes a Denver you know, step back. They
got hit in the gin. Oh we got you know,
(05:14):
they dazed the champion and they lost. That's what happened
to Jordan. That's what happens to Lebron. So to me,
this is totally appropriate. We are amazed by the individual player,
but they still have tweaking to do. I mean, we
all know what Minnesota's gonna do in the off Season's
probably gonna move Carl Anthony Towns and they're gonna get
They're gonna get more offensive players. I mean, eventually Jordan
(05:36):
needed Pippin and Kerr, you know. I mean, like they
don't have to be a nightly great player, but you
do have to find players that take something off Ant's
plate a little bit.
Speaker 4 (05:46):
There has to be Minnesota should go after KD.
Speaker 2 (05:50):
It's not terrible because again the great gift of KD.
You can give him the ball eight seconds in the
shot clock four, He'll get a great look. Doesn't need
you know, it's a little Klay Thompson, but obviously much better.
He doesn't need the ball in his hands. Why that's
why the Jalen Brunson Katie works. The emotional part of
Katie to the Knicks TIBs that style. You know, is
(06:13):
he willing for it. Let's pivot to that, because listen,
the Knicks are beat up. Nothing you can do. Just
set the guys down, get ready for Tuesday. Be embarrassed.
You know you'll be on fire Tuesday. So Og is hurt.
Og got banged up this year as well. Brunson's not
one hundred percent. We already know Mitchell Robbins and Julius
Randall are out. So this is a limited team offensively
(06:35):
without injuries. So we all kind of kept waiting for
this team that was playing with Game seven intensity to
just just collapse. Just the wheels came off and they
sort of did. I still think they have a chance
to win this series. But I was saying this earlier
this week, and I said it last time I was
on with you. There's a lot of different scenarios with
the Knicks, and it's very easy to talk yourself into
(06:55):
we're just a piece away, but the East is going
to get better. It's just gonna get better. Butler's gonna
be healthy, Dane's gonna be healthy, Yannis will probably back,
and Beat'll get help. There's so many scenarios for the
next and I do wonder if instead of looking at
Kevin Durant and Nepaul George, they just they find another
og on the market, you know, they go get another
(07:15):
really good player, because I do think, you know, playing hard,
maybe it has limitations if you fade. I don't think
they can beat a Denver a Minnesota's length. But the
Knicks have done something in the last three years that
they haven't done for twenty, which is they're patient. They're
(07:37):
like you look at them and you're like, this is
a well run team. They don't take I mean they
used to take, you know, big reaches on Amari Stadameyer
when he had bad knees. It's like, what are you doing?
Like every GM in the league's like that. Amari's you know,
he's he's got like two years left, he's cooked.
Speaker 4 (07:53):
Or trading for Carmelo when they could have sign him
as a free agent one year later, not got the roster.
Speaker 2 (07:57):
I don't know exactly what they do. I think Paul
George fits everywhere. But again, it's such a unique culture,
like it's just not for everybody. I mean, I can't
wait to watch. I don't. They're not a championship team.
I think you know, listen, they're not.
Speaker 1 (08:12):
We know it.
Speaker 2 (08:13):
They're just you can't. There's too many great players, too
many good teams in this league. Nicks are not a
championship team. I don't know what the solution is. I
want to watch it. It's not in the draft. We
know that it's not a good draft. I mean Kd's
it's it's I just don't know. KD is. Boy. You
look at him post Golden State, It's it's he's different.
(08:36):
He's running through coaches, you know, and Tibbs has power
in that room. Nobody's pushing back on TIBs. I saw
this on the internet, and I apologize for not giving credit,
but somebody said, everybody starts somewhere. Is JJ Reddick supposed
to go to the G League? You know a lot
of these guys just don't want to coach college the NIL.
They just don't want to deal with limitations NCAA. Is
(08:59):
JJ Reddick? Is he a bad idea for the Lakers?
I mean I think Budenholzer would have taken the Lakers
job and Lebron would have bought in. They couldn't get
him out of town fast enough and he had a
title in Milwaukee. Jannis wasn't a fan. Is JJ Reddick
a terrible choice? Or are we over overstepping that that
everybody starts somewhere. Where's he going to start? He's rich,
(09:22):
he's not going to the G League's not taking that job.
Jason Kidd first experiment not good. Now he's established himself.
I mean, what is your take of JJ Reddick, who
people are getting gobbled up? Could be head of the
class now for the Lakers.
Speaker 4 (09:36):
Yeah, so the experience thing doesn't matter as much to
me for a couple of reasons. One, it's the classic
like corporate ideology, where like you're constantly towing the line
between rewarding experience versus rewarding talent, and like there's always
a fine line between like, oh, well, this guy's been
doing it for eight years. But it's like, yeah, but
he's the mediocre Because that's the other question here. This guy,
(09:57):
if JJ happens to have the talent for it, if
he happens to have the basketball like you or whatever
for it, then by all means make the move. And
so much of that depends on how he's acting behind
the scenes in the interviews if they go through an
interview process. But the second piece of it is you
can counteract a lot of the lack of inexperience or
a lack of experience with just putting experienced head coaches
(10:17):
on his staff. So you can address that by just
giving him a really good assistant coaching staff. As far
as I'm concerned with JJ Reddick, like when it comes
to the Lakers, what I'm really looking for is somebody
that holds players accountable because I look at them as
a defensive minded team anchored by two big athletic forwards
(10:38):
and Lebron James and Anthony Davis. Just look at the
around the league. When the Lakers won, they won when
they defended. You know, that was always their their bread
and butter. They made it to the Western Conference finals
last year as a defensive minded team, they lost in
the first round this year as an offensive minded team.
Going back to twenty twenty, they won when they were
a defensive minded team. So I'm really interested in somebody
that's going to hold them accountable, And I don't really
(11:00):
know if if JJ's willing to do that with Lebron,
that's gonna be something that is going to have to
be flushed out in the interview process. But I'm not
concerned about the experience simply because if JJ's got the talent,
he's got the talent, and they're going to anchor him
with experienced NBA coaches that will help him navigate the
eighty two game regular season. And honestly, like it's it's
really just going to be about like a collaborative effort
(11:22):
between Lebron, James and the and JJ Redick to kind
of identify what the strengths and weaknesses of the roster
are and go from there. It's really hard, honestly, Colin,
I wonder what it's like for you cover in the
NFL too, Like it's really difficult with coaches, especially new coaches.
We're not there for the interviews. Like with a player,
I can go look at tape and I can get
(11:42):
a really good feel for what he's good and bad at.
But like with JJ, it's like, well, what's his philosophy
going to be? What are what are his core his
core principles that he's going to build the team on
Like what is is he going to continue the five
out offense they were running out of Darvin ham with
Darvin hamm Are they going to run something different? Are
they gonna do something different offensively? It's so hard to
say because we're not in the room for those interviews.
(12:03):
But if JJ interviews well and they give him good
assistant coaches and he's got the talent for it, I
absolutely think it could work well.
Speaker 2 (12:10):
I mean, Duke Kid, you know, you listen to the podcast,
he's you know, he's a thoughtful guy to me. You know,
it's experience is funny. You know, it's creating the volume
or working for years at ESPN or Fox Sports. You know,
people managers have come to me and said, hey, listen
(12:31):
to a tape or what do you make of this guy?
And my take is, if you've never done network, who cares,
Like we listened to your tape and we're like, yeah,
he's ready to go.
Speaker 1 (12:42):
Okay, I don't.
Speaker 2 (12:43):
You didn't have to be somewhere. We thought you would
be here, So it's you know, it's Jerry Seinfeld was
speaking at Duke. He had a commencement speech and he
had a great line. He said, having stuff is nice,
Becoming stuff or having stuff is nice. Becoming something is
really more important, and becoming something is missus. It swings,
(13:07):
It's an ascension. In every job I've ever had, I
was a little over my skis for the first like
six to eight weeks, like I'm bailing water here, I'm
trying to catch I've had a friend once that got
a job at Google and she was like I literally
six weeks in, I'm like, oh, I'm dumb and this
is a full of smart people. I'm too dumb to
(13:29):
work at Google. And she goes then the light goes on,
you start clicking, and then like six months into it,
you're like okay, but it's like it's okay, Darvin Ham
learned on the job. If you're smart in any industry,
you'll figure it out. Like a lot of this stuff
with coaching is like I heard Frank Vogel, you know,
some complex, defensive stuff. Beale didn't really buy in. Booker
(13:53):
was close to an assistant coach, much closer than he
was Vogel. Kevin was fine, but Kevin's Kevin at this point,
and it was like Vogel just didn't he didn't resonate
with all the guys in the room, JJ Redick. If
Lebron buys him, we'll resonate with everybody in the room.
So my take is you start somewhere. If you get Lebron,
(14:13):
there is some credibility, like with Jason Kidd, Like there
is credibility player to player that JJ has. And I
think it's kind of unspoken, but kind of the middle aged,
you know, guy that didn't play. I always think you
go into a locker room and about half the room
is like if the star doesn't buy into it, half
the room's not buying into it. Maybe that's cynical, but
(14:34):
I think everybody would buy into JJ Redick.
Speaker 4 (14:38):
Well, it's like it's like Mike Norriy from the Timberwolves
are I can't remember his name, that assistant from the
Celtics who just got signed by the Charlotte Hornets. It's like,
if you bring in an assistant, it doesn't matter how
much he's been grinding in the film room, doesn't matter
how much he impressed the previous organization. He's got to
be able to look at Lebron and be like, hey man,
I need you to do this. And Lebron's got to
be like, okay, you know, and not only that, but
I'll hold the rest of the team accountable to help
(14:58):
him along the way. And so there, I do agree
that's the gravitas piece. And by the way, that's why
they hire Darvin Ham. They thought Darvin Ham would be
able to bring some of that, yes, like real gravitas
to the situation. The thing with JJ is you got
to acknowledge the risk because you're right, Like, they let
Darvin Ham learn on the fly and he didn't really
start making huge mistakes until this season with the roster
when he was like leaning into camerad as we've gone
(15:20):
over it, but like he made too many mistakes, and
then the Lakers had a situation where they looked at
the urgency of their situation and said, we have to
make a move. And so I just I just hope
that the Lakers' front office and ownership understands that if
you do take JJ, there is a risk. And even
though I believe he could do this well, especially with
good experienced staff behind him, anytime you go for a
(15:42):
first time head coach, there's a like, what if he's
just really bad at a in game adjustments? What if
he's just really bad, Like we don't know what it's
going to be, Like we're gonna find out over time.
And so that's where like the let's say the alternative,
let's say they were to get like a Kenny Atkinson
for instance, Like Kenny Atkinson is more of a known commodity.
He might be a higher floor, but like maybe you
don't get some of the upside you get if you
(16:04):
get a freaked out to your point, Steve Kerr, like
Steve Kerr is regarded as one of the best coaches
in the league. I think he's the second best coach
in the league behind Eric Spoulstra. Like that was a
risk signing Steve Curree. By the way, Steve Kerr was radical.
He came into a Mark Jackson led team that was
spam and pick and roll, and he said, Hey, Steph Curry,
we're taking the ball out of your hands. We're gonna
lead the league in passes. We're gonna run this motion
(16:26):
ball in player movement offense. And I'm sure there were
moments in training camp where it looked ugly, and I'm
sure there were moments where the front office was looking
down like, ugh, this is weird, you know, like we
just went, you know, two great playoff runs in twenty thirteen,
twenty fourteen, just having Steph run spread, pick and roll,
So like, this is funky, but then it works and
now Steve Kerr is regarded as one of the best
coaches in the league. So like, there's upside to going
(16:48):
with the JJ, but there's also a risk. And so
for me, I'm okay with that risk because I don't
really think there's any candidate out there that's a home
run anyway, right, So I think I think there's risk
all around. To begin with.
Speaker 2 (17:09):
Former NFL scout John Middlecoff Three and Out podcast, it's
NFL schedule release, which is the closest thing to adult
entertainment for me once the season ends. This is cotton
candy when I was nine. I just I'll eat it
until my teeth rot. So and I know I like
(17:31):
it way more than the average person.
Speaker 1 (17:32):
But colle, can we push back against all the haters
because there is a lot of people, especially considered the
sports media. They're like, this isn't that the NFL is
an event business. When Dana White announces a fight card,
it's a big deal. That's what the NFL is. Like
the games do you know what the other do you
know what the NBA and Major League Baseball would give
(17:53):
to have their games in the regular season matter? This matters. Yeah,
we knew the opponents, but we didn't know the days,
the time, the bye weeks, the setup. This is an
event sport. I mean's why it's taken off the way
it has. Right.
Speaker 2 (18:07):
Listen, you can tell they want Jim Harbaugh to start
two and oh, the Chargers get the Raiders at home,
one of the weaker teams, and then the Panthers on
the road. They want a two and oh, Jim Harbaugh
they want. Listen, there are certain things the NFL they're
gonna take care of, like, let's take companies for instance.
(18:30):
This is the strongest Amazon Thursday night schedule. Remember the
first few years of Amazon it was awful.
Speaker 1 (18:37):
Oh my god, it was like Titans Texans when the
Texans were bad. It was every week.
Speaker 2 (18:42):
So the first now Thursday, they start with Josh Allen
and Tua. The next week it's Aaron Rodgers. The next
week it's Dak Prescott in Dallas. Week six, you get
the Niners Seattle. Week eight, it's Harbaugh, Jim. Week ten,
Burrow against Lamar Jackson. We know the NFL. Netflix got
Christmas games streaming service. They're taking care Amazon clearly said, listen,
(19:08):
what's your future? What are we gonna pay? What can
a network pay? I thought they took care of Amazon
as much as you can. I mean, you don't want to.
You gotta be careful on Thursday because you want some
close geographical matchups like New England Jets is a really
easy trip for both teams. That's an easy trip. Buffalo
(19:28):
Miami's not, but it's the first one.
Speaker 1 (19:30):
But there's a Niners Rams Thursday night game. They like
to doing that additional games.
Speaker 2 (19:34):
One of the things that jumped out to me is
that you know, Netflix, they did a solid they give
them Christmas games. Amazon Thursday. I mean, I'll be honest
with you. Monday Night football, John there is a what
I would call a star or high profile quarterback in
seventeen weeks now, I'm counting Caleb Williams and Tua is
(19:56):
high profile. It's the best Monday Night for ball schedule
live seat. So again, Disney money, Amazon money, Monday and
Thursday night are gonna weaken Sunday to some degree. There
are star quarterbacks being taken out of Sunday games.
Speaker 1 (20:13):
Well, in a weird way that Sunday morning for us
on the West Coast, the ten am kickoff for the
NFL is a little bit of a throwaway at this point.
It is right the afternoon, the Fox main game and
the CBS game matter. They're all in on Sunday night
football Monday night. Once they hired Troy and Joe became
a really really big deal. Peyton's involved, And let's face it,
(20:33):
I mean, Amazon's top two or three company in the world,
so they're not going away. Streaming's not going away. To me,
what jumped out though, is Netflix reportedly paid seventy five
million dollars a game, and they got two of them.
They are I looked at their market cap, top forty
company in the world. Well are they gonna grow or
are they gonna shrink over the next ten twenty years.
And how you're in the business broadcast television, the cable bundle,
(20:56):
we know how that's going. We know the change of everything.
We see it in our podcast business compared to traditional radio.
To me, when I saw what they did at Netflix,
they didn't just give them two random games on Christmas.
They gave them chiefs at the Steelers and the Ravens
at the Texans yep, so equivalent four playoff teams. You
could argue the biggest star in the sport in Mahomes.
(21:19):
The Ravens were right there to go to the super
Bowl last year. The Texans are a trajectory like this,
and the Steelers are a top five brand. To me,
Netflix a little bit of a precursor. Are we looking
at the next television deal? Are there? Is there just
a package on Netflix on Sunday? Maybe? Because let's face it,
when I get in bed and she grabs the remote
the first we don't turn on. We have YouTube TV?
(21:40):
Which are she goes to Netflix? And I looked right
before we hopped on they have eighty million subscribers in America.
Maybe they're saying we get the NFL. Is that number
one hundred within a couple of years?
Speaker 2 (21:53):
All throw give me a team individual, Give me a
couple teams individually. That jumped out to you.
Speaker 1 (21:59):
Well, I heard your theory and you talking about the
Rogers situation. I think it's just simple. And I know
coaches and executives like GMS, you know the league, all
they care about is money. I mean that's their job, right,
so the ratings, I think Rogers is still a massive,
(22:20):
massive needle mover. Yeah, and like the week one, I
thought when I was looking at the potentials, because I
thought the Niners were going to get Sunday Night or
Monday Night football. You kind of feel once you knew
Thursday Night a lot of stars that we already knew
the Friday night game. We didn't know the Sunday Night game.
But I was like, I think the Niners are getting
one of those. You looked at their schedule, It's like
I could see them throwing the Cowboys or the Jets.
(22:44):
And then once it was reported that the Cowboys did
the Brady thing, which is genius. I mean, how many
people are going to watch that game? Thirty five million
people on Sunday afternoon. The Niners, I mean the Niners
when they're winning, or a top two or three brand
in the league rating wise, Yes, And Aaron Rodgers buying,
especially coming off this injury, you know, controversial to some,
(23:04):
but he's just a polarizing player. And the Jets are
a New York major brand. I don't know if the
Jets are gonna be very good. I'm sure we'll dive
into but you put that thing on, just like they
did last year. I remember, like all of us around
the country, sitting there, Jets Bills. It's gonna feel really
big and do a huge number. But tough game for him.
It does get a little easy off the bat. Then
(23:25):
he goes to the Titans. Then he plays the Pats,
who I think are gonna be terrible. Denver rookie quarterback
mcglinch's their right tackle. The Jets have a good pass
rush Minnesota. We'll see. They're in a little transitional period.
So the Monday night game, if they can just get
through that healthy, I do think they could rattle off
a couple wins early.
Speaker 2 (23:42):
See now I saw it the opposite. My take was
that you can only do so much because the Jets.
The schedule is what the schedule is.
Speaker 1 (23:50):
Right, if you know the teams, Yeah, right, right, and a.
Speaker 2 (23:54):
Lot of it's baked in. You play the Bills twice,
Miami twice, New England twice, your conference, your division plays
certain divisions. But I thought they made Aaron's season as
tough as you could make it. So they start it's weak, right, So,
first of all, the last thing you want to do
in a rebuild a line is face the Niners defense
or front and week one that's a tough draw. Three
(24:18):
games in eleven days to start again with a rebuilt
a line. They have five short weeks and an international
game in weeks one through eleven. So the schedule the
quarterbacks they face isn't daunting. They could have done them
way more. Rest favors older quarterbacks and older people tend
(24:40):
to be creatures of habit as I've aged. You know,
I really like Peyton Manning hated Sunday night football games.
Speaker 1 (24:48):
Hated you're waiting around all day.
Speaker 2 (24:50):
So Aaron Rodgers, they give him three games and eleven
days to start, five short weeks, an international game, and
Niners with an line build. The quality of the opponent
isn't great.
Speaker 1 (25:04):
It is Will Levis and Jacoby Mersett.
Speaker 2 (25:05):
No question, I will acknowledge that the games are the games.
But old quarterback rebuild a line and a lot of
short weeks. That's it's like for older quarterbacks, like Brady
would tell you, like I want to get going. Those
old quarterbacks love one o'clock games.
Speaker 1 (25:22):
They love them, and there is not a harder travel
that than playing Monday night football. If you're a coastal team,
but on the East coast to the West coast and
flying home because what time are they you know, the
game ends at a fifteen By the time they get
out of there, they're getting home at five six in
the morning. So it is and then it's difficult on
your coach. It's it's a very, very difficult stretch.
Speaker 2 (25:43):
I also looked at the NFL with Chicago. Again, Fox
would love Chicago to pop.
Speaker 1 (25:49):
I mean, she change target.
Speaker 2 (25:51):
What do they get with a rookie quarterback Tennessee at
home to start new coach, new staff, and then week
five home Carolina a very winnable game against Washington early
they get a buy into it, so two weeks to
prepare for a very winnable game. Those feel like wins
to me for Chicago. I do think again, you could
(26:14):
have stacked green Bay on the road early. You could
have stacked this schedule. You know, Detroit open at Detroit
because though you know Chicago's a big brand, they gave
them a couple of layups early.
Speaker 1 (26:28):
I do think when it comes to a rookie quarterback,
let's use Jaden Daniels and bow knicks for example, they're
playing the long game. Sean Payton's not going anywhere. This
new operation in Washington's so if there's up and downs
and you gotta lose his confidence, takes them a couple
weeks to gain it back. Whatever, We're okay winning six
games this first year. There is tangible pressure on the
(26:48):
coach in Chicago, right, he can't afford to go seven
to ten or he'll be fired. Yes, I agree with
you on the Titan situation. But then their next three
games for a young quarterback who is extremely talented, Like,
it's not like he's coming off an eleven wins seasons. Yes,
I mean it was just it was a lot at
the Texans at the Colts. I think both those teams
are going to be really good. Yeah, they both loaded up.
(27:10):
You know, Indy disdrafted a pass rusher in the top fifteen,
the Texans added one during free agency. And then you
play the Rams like, that's just a tough early stretch.
I don't care how talented you are. Young people, confidence
can eb and flow, and the pressure of Chicago, the hype.
I do think that's just a tough early stretch. Now,
if all of a sudden they're three and two, I
(27:32):
mean we might be looking at a ten or eleven
win team.
Speaker 2 (27:35):
Did you notice with the Cowboys schedule and we know
in the last month mostly the NFL wants division games.
You know, you want your Miami Buffaloes, although Miami bipe.
Speaker 1 (27:47):
So you're good. You're good teams, so you think are
going to be compete for now.
Speaker 2 (27:50):
Miami Buffalo both played pretty early. But Dallas has three,
you know, out of division games that are pretty tough,
the Niners, the Ravens, and the Lions. They're done with
all of them by week eight. So so with Dallas
again McCarthy, dak this is an experienced team. They they
don't backload it because you know the Giants in Washington
(28:11):
won't be great. They get their three toughest to me,
the three games that you look at and go the
three best rosters they play will probably be San Francisco, Baltimore,
and Detroit and those are all done by week eight.
So if even if you go one and two on those,
they could have stacked a couple of those, you know,
week fourteen, week thirteen, so you go into these tough, brutal,
(28:33):
cold weather road games and divisions. No, they got rid
of their tough games early. Again, what do I like
Harbaugh getting a two and zero start. Listen Dallas Is.
I thought it went in their favor. That was my take.
Speaker 1 (28:49):
I do think that Cleveland, I'm not expecting the same
what we saw last year. I mean, obviously they're all
in a Deshaun Watson, his cap hit has really kicked
in the rosters. I don't think gonna be as good
just moving forward, obviously, and I'm not sure he's still
a good player. But even if they take a huge
step back, we all know Week one is tough, right,
(29:13):
You could play the worst team in the league in
Week one. Everyone has the same hopes and dreams. They're
everyone's OH to oh, especially at home, and Cleveland is
a tough place to play. And the hype on that
game with Brady calling it, that's a sneaky big game
because then all of a sudden, like I think most
people think the Saints were really shitty last year. They
did go nine to eight and their offense was mainly putrid. Well,
(29:34):
they had Kubiak's kid who comes from Shanahan. I think
the Saints are gonna be better, and then you got Baltimore.
It's just a tough little early stretch for a team.
Speaker 4 (29:43):
That.
Speaker 1 (29:44):
I don't want to say they're walking on eggshells, but
the McCarthy story, the Dack, if they don't extend them,
it could get weird, and it could get weird fast.
I just got that Cleveland game circle. I think that
is going to be very I can see Cleveland winning
that thing and Cleveland being a six to seven win team.
Speaker 2 (29:58):
I'm gonna make an argument and that the toughest schedule
in the league I saw was the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Speaker 1 (30:05):
Oh it's really hard.
Speaker 2 (30:06):
Okay, so you start, you have better rosters than these teams,
but they load them up at Atlanta, at Denver, at
Indy and Harbaugh. That's a rough start. I mean again,
you have better rosters than Atlanta, Denver, the Chargers, Nindy,
three of the four on the road, and you come
out of that road streak with Dallas two weeks later.
(30:28):
Aaron Rodgers like, that's rough. And did you see the
last six quarterbacks Pittsburgh Faces Burrow, Deshaun Watson, Jalen Hurts,
Lamar Jackson, Mahomes and Burrow Like, good, look, Mike Tomlin
is going to be on a network broadcasting and by
the way, I predict he'll be great. I've talked to
(30:49):
two network execs who would hire Mike Tomlin tomorrow.
Speaker 1 (30:53):
Are you short in the Steelers this year?
Speaker 2 (30:55):
I am short in them. I mean, did you have
to put at the end of the year the last
three quarterbacks, Lamar, Mahomes and Burrow in the last month.
Speaker 1 (31:04):
Did you see the story though about Burrow's hand surgery
the percentage of it keeping You know, most surgeries are
ninety to ninety five percent that risk. Hand surgery is
like seventy to seventy five percent success rate, and then
it no matter how well it goes, there's basically guaranteed inflammation.
It's a little trickier than just your ACL or your
broken leg. I do think that's something to keep a
(31:25):
heavy eye on. Now. If he plays seventeen games, I
think we'd all acknowledge they're going to be one of
the better teams in the NFL. But if that thing
crops up where it is, I mean, it would be
a major problem. I thought the moment that they signed Russ,
before we even knew their schedule or who they were
playing one. They're not financially invested in them at all, right,
They're paying them about a million dollars or even Denver
(31:48):
last year. Let's say hypothetically Sean Payton was out on
him by October. First, financially, he had to see if
he could make it work. And then the least there
is not going to be long. They have no draft
cap invested, they have nothing invested, and they do have
another guy in a one year contract who might not
be good either, but at least this physically brings a
lot more to the table. And we saw Arthur Smith,
(32:10):
you know, win with Ryan Tannehill and Mark's Mariota. So
it's like, I just don't think this guy's getting a
long leash. He's not going to be Dnking and Duncan
and they're one to three and he gets to keep
his job. No, I mean, I just I look to
you move teams and they're not paying anything. He better
play well and they better have success or he will
go to the pine.
Speaker 2 (32:28):
I looked at Pittsburgh today and I thought, I know,
Mike Tomlins never had a losing season. That last six
game stretch, You'll have the second best quarterback in all
of those games, all of them. You know, one of
the things I always look at is how many great
quarterbacks do you face, the Jets don't face a lot
of great quarterbacks. But again, they have seven standalone games,
(32:50):
six night games, five short weeks, an international game. So
the Jets schedule's pretty easy. The NFL didn't do him
any favors with Knight, standalones, international. I look at Pittsburgh
and there's just no way if the Jets have the
easiest schedule in terms of facing elite quarterbacks. The Steelers
(33:10):
got hosed that last month and a half. They'll be
underdogs potentially in all those games.
Speaker 1 (33:15):
Well, I mean, if everyone's healthy, they usually could lose
to the Ravens twice. I mean the Bengals, the Eagles,
the Chiefs. Yeah, it's just that's really really brutal. And
let's face it, by that time, you're not one hundred percent,
you're gonna have some injuries. They've kind of been at
a similar spot the last several years. They usually don't
(33:36):
have some huge margin for error, right they don't start
the seasons nine to three that They've been hovering around
five hundred right till the bitter end these last couple
of years. So I understand what they did. I would
have done with their moves at quarterback, getting rid of
Kenny Pickett, getting rid of the group they had for
Russell Wilson and Justin Fields. But just because those guys
(33:58):
are much more famous does mean they're going to be
much more effective. And I'm not a Deshaun Watson guy,
but obviously, if Lamar is healthy and Joe Burrow is healthy,
the gap between Russell Wilson Justin Fields quarterback room is
a mile long.
Speaker 2 (34:15):
The volume. Thanks so much for listening. If you've enjoyed
the podcast, take a moment rate and review.
Speaker 4 (34:22):
Hey everyone, it's Jason timp host of Hoops Tonight. Make
sure you check us out live after games on the
Hoops Tonight YouTube channel as we provide instant reaction and
analysis of all the big NBA playoff games. Again, that's
the Hoops Tonight YouTube channel and wherever you get your
podcasts
Host
Colin Cowherd
Popular Podcasts
True Crime Tonight
If you eat, sleep, and breathe true crime, TRUE CRIME TONIGHT is serving up your nightly fix. Five nights a week, KT STUDIOS & iHEART RADIO invite listeners to pull up a seat for an unfiltered look at the biggest cases making headlines, celebrity scandals, and the trials everyone is watching. With a mix of expert analysis, hot takes, and listener call-ins, TRUE CRIME TONIGHT goes beyond the headlines to uncover the twists, turns, and unanswered questions that keep us all obsessed—because, at TRUE CRIME TONIGHT, there’s a seat for everyone. Whether breaking down crime scene forensics, scrutinizing serial killers, or debating the most binge-worthy true crime docs, True Crime Tonight is the fresh, fast-paced, and slightly addictive home for true crime lovers.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.