Baker Wins EPIC Shootout Over Darnold, Eagles FLOP In 2nd Half, Lose To Broncos, Dak In MVP Contention? Colts A Contender

Colin’s joined by John Middlekauff, host of “3 and Out” to break down the week 5 NFL Sunday slate.

They start with the epic shootout between Baker Mayfield & the Bucs beating Sam Darnold and the Seahawks. They laud both quarterbacks and give props to both Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Emeka Egbuka and Colin argues the Seahawks have found their quarterback for the future in Darnold (3:15). 

They move to the Broncos come from behind win over the Eagles in a tale of two halves. Colin argues the Eagles aren’t capable of playing a full game of competent offense and it was obvious the Eagles and Jalen Hurts tensed up in the second half (16:00). 

They blast the hapless Jets after their loss to the Cowboys and argue there’s nothing they do well, while heaping praise on Dak Prescott and arguing that he’s in MVP contention (33:00). They recap the Colts beatdown of the Raiders and Colin believes the Colts have one of the best rosters in the league and could be a real threat in the AFC (41:45). 

They move to the Saints win over Jaxson Dart and the Giants and Colin believes that Spencer Rattler may be the Saints long-term answer at quarterback(58:00), then pivot to college football and recap UCLA’s massive upset win over Penn State and argue the cross-country travel for Big Ten teams is proving to be detrimental to their performance (1:02:00). 

They break down Florida’s upset win over Texas and another rough outing from Arch Manning and wonder if Manning won’t get a second year as the starting quarterback for the Longhorns (1:10:00).

Finally, they preview Monday Night Football between the Jaguars and Chiefs and make their picks for the game (1:15:00). 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
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This episode is presented by Uber eats. When football makes
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Because games are played on Mondays, a couple of them
and Thursdays, you don't always get the greatest Sunday Slate.

(01:09):
But some of the games today were fantastic. Tampa Bay
thirty eight, walk off field goal to win it over
Seattle thirty five. It looked like young Brady and Peyton Manning.
I don't remember a game like that. Darnold's always been
a little more athletic than Baker had a couple of
all timers. Baker just kept They couldn't stop him. You know,

(01:32):
Seattle's defense has really shut down a lot of good
offenses in the last couple of years, especially at the
end of last year. Baker had no problem with it.
Ibuka had no problem with it. I guess my takeaway
from this game was if these two met in the
NFC Championship, I wouldn't be shocked. I mean, it's an

(01:54):
offensive league. I would not be shocked. I don't think
tonight was a mirage. I think those are really good
quarterback and really good teams full of excellent young players.
And by the way, John John Middlicoff two of the
best gms. These rosters have dudes everywhere.

Speaker 2 (02:10):
Yeah, I totally agree. I mean, at one point in time,
Colin it was twenty one to twenty one. They were
thirty nine of forty five for four hundred and fifty
yards and three touchdowns like this is. But it just
kept going on. I mean they made play after play
outside the construct of the play, right, both of them
scrambling around. We know, Darnold, I mean, Baker now is
a mobile, you know, behind the line of scrimmage. Keep that.

(02:31):
They were fantastic. That was as entertaining of a game
watching these two guys that have clearly resurrected their career
now for a couple of years. That was awesome. I
mean that those guys, I know, Sam, you know, the
lasting image will be a him throwing the interception. But
that was on Todd Bowles called an incredible blitz. You
saw in the slow motion replay. It wasn't a bad pass.

(02:52):
He got hit and the ball went in the wrong direction.
Both those guys could miss. They felt like, you know
Steph Curry when every time he shot, you just think
the ball is gonna hit nothing but net with both quarterbacks, Abuka,
I mean that draft pick one thing I was taught
a long time ago is at the time they drafted him,
you're like, well, they got Mike Evans and Chris Godwin's
coming back. They got hot, and they got multiple running backs.

(03:15):
Why do they need a weapon? Because a position of
strength can become a position of weakness with an injury
or two. Look at the Chargers best offensive line in
the league. Now you're looking like, who are these guys
playing tackle for him? Injuries happened. I mean this guy,
I don't want to say saving their season, but you know,
Godwin's been out and then he comes back, and then
Evans gets hurt, and this guy. Find me a better

(03:36):
rookie right now in the NFL than a Mecca. He's
been col.

Speaker 1 (03:40):
Remember a couple of years ago, of course you do.
Atlanta drafted Robinson and Jon Robinson the running back. Yeah,
and I had a GM say he's a Danny and Tomlinson.
There's no flaw, good teammate, good blocker, everything. Ibuka because
he wasn't like a four to three guy doesn't go
in the top you know, seven or eight. But I
had an executive in the league say he's a flawless receiver, routes, teammate, toughness,

(04:05):
catch hands. He's like, there's just no flaw. But he'll
drop because he's not huge and he's not you know,
he doesn't have a unicorn body type, and he's not
a complete burner. He is just a great football player.
I mean he is open, he doesn't drop it, he
runs great, He runs ten year veteran routes. And Seattle's
secondary is good. Scale's defense is good, and they torched

(04:28):
it today.

Speaker 2 (04:30):
I would say the same thing about JSN also happened
to be an Ohio State guy. I mean, I look
at the numbers right now. They combined for fifteen catches,
almost three hundred yards and multiple touchdowns. But both those
guys are good examples, right, Neither of them would go
in the top ten because they're not quite big enough.
They're more slot receivers. Like no, they can do everything.
They can play inside, they can play outside. You know
what they do. They get open every single play. Elite players,

(04:53):
elite character guys like you said, elite teammates, and sometimes
that wide receiver. Right, and you've been on this for decades,
the little diva ish. These guys a rare breeds. I mean,
these guys are wired like quarterbacks or safeties or John.

Speaker 1 (05:06):
I think a lot of it John is because when
you are as big as DK Metcalf, he was that
big in the seventh grade he was the biggest, strongest kid,
and everybody was in. All of them were a Jackson
Smith and Jigbit make a Buka. They weren't the biggest kids,
they weren't the fastest kids. They got there because they

(05:26):
had a lot of talent and they worked their ass
off to become great receivers. And I think something Mike
Evans is the rare big, strong guy, but super humble,
hard working Keenan Allen. But Keenan's not a burner either.
A lot of times, the Antonio Browns, the DK Metcalfe,
the guys that just are have been gifted. The fastest
kid in every class, Tyreek Hill with probably the fastest

(05:49):
kid in the fourth grade, fifth grade, sixth grade, and
you know, things come easy for you. So a lot
of these great receivers, like Larry Fitzgerald, you can just
see the work ethic, you know, like Puka Nakua, fifth round,
Guy amor On Saint Brown. Look at the best receivers
right now in the league, pukah amor On Saint Brown,
these two rookies. It's a lot of guys that are talented,

(06:11):
but there you'd view them as classic overachievers. None of
them are burners. None of them outside Mike Evans. You know,
don't walk into a room and inspire awe. They're just
dudes who got some genetic gifts, work super hard, and
it's just you know, it's just like you go find
a great attorney. He had smart parents, you know, he

(06:34):
didn't have dummies as parents. But the truth is he
put the effort in. Because there's a million attorneys, right
you got to fight through it. So I just watched
JSN and Abuka and I just look at to me,
you really have to be careful when drafting wide receivers.
I mean, I saw another running back drop the ball
at the goal line today Arizona Tennessee. Like you watch

(06:54):
Arizona Tennessee today, there's talent on the field, but just
not just airs and Fumbleser Murray at one point left
the game, I'm not even sure he got hit like Moods.
And I just watched Tampa and I watched Seattle, and
I see great gms and a lot of good character
guys and a lot of tough guys and a lot
of redemption stories. That was so much fun.

Speaker 2 (07:17):
I also think it's if you're a defensive coach out
there like an assistant or a coordinator. It shows you
obviously these offensive coordinators have taken over the league, and
rightfully so. The quarterback's really important. But Todd Bowles is
an old school like a safety from the eighties, right
who has become you know, he was Bruce Arians right
hand man for a long time. He got some experience

(07:39):
with the Jets, like he's a really good coach, and
he's an excellent defensive coordinator. I've been saying for years
Mike McDonald is basically Kyle or Sean. He just happens
to call defense. If he was an offensive coordinator, we
would speak about him no differently than we do Kevin O'Connell.
But he's the defensive guy. And you saw today those
guys have empowered their quarterback there. I mean, Todd's probably

(07:59):
one of the great blitz callers in league history. You know,
Spags has turned into one Jim Johnson forever. It's a
skill and that call that won them the game, because
that was a game and even for a split second
when they had tied the game, I went, Todd's gonna
allow them to go for two. When it turned out
it was just Baker holding it up. Hoping they would

(08:19):
give I think Todd Gold, you know, the field goal
kicker on. But that's another thing. I mean in a
day and age, when these field goals are kind of
getting blocked. Their field goal kicker in Tampa, I don't
know if the guy's missed. I mean, he's got game
winner after game winner pretty nails. Also when the guy
hit the ground on essentially the game winning run, probably
could have got a couple more yards. But you talk

(08:41):
about coaching, clearly told him in the huddle if you
break this, it's an outbreaking run. If you get near
the sideline, whether it's a first down or not, get
to the ground right. We have seen in college and
the pro sometimes guys like they have a you know,
brain fart. They go out about they save the team
a time out. It's just just a high level operation.

(09:02):
I'm with you that game. I think Seattle's going nowhere.
I mean, the forty nine ers are four and one,
but half their teams on injured reserve. Tampa, I mean
it's Tampa forty nine er game next week. You know
Tampa now has to fly. I mean, what time are
they going to get out of their seven o'clock Pacific
standard time. They won't get home till the middle of
the night. The forty nine ers have this long break,
they're missing a ton of players. That's that's a huge

(09:24):
win for them, though, I mean that's a mass go
on the road to Seattle and forty one.

Speaker 1 (09:29):
Todd Bowles struggled with the Jets. Darnold disaster with the Jets,
Davante Adams disaster with the Jets. Aaron Rodgers much better
version of Aaron Rodgers. It's a cesspool. And we'll get
into the Jets lost today, which may have been like
rich co tight level bad think about people aren't only
leaving the Jets and winning, they're flourishing. They lead their division,

(09:52):
their MVP candidates. That is a bad organization. I remember
when Todd Bowles was with the Jets, you know, and
people would was rip him. He was a little like
Carl Durell UCLA. The first year. He didn't even know.
He didn't have much of a persona on the sideline.
He got lost within the sideline. You couldn't find him.
But Todd was always so smart and so thoughtful, and

(10:13):
he was just one of those guys like he didn't
want you know, he was the opposite of Rex Ryan,
like he didn't want any attention. But over the course
of your life, if you do good work and you
just keep your head down, a lot of people get fired.
It doesn't mean anything. You'll be rewarded. Todd Bowles was
too good not to succeed in this league.

Speaker 2 (10:31):
Toty with Sam and look at you know, I think
you brought up the two gms. You know, Mike's going
to have a long career. Came from the Ravens. But Todd,
imagine if you would have got a second opportunity with
the Carolina Panthers or some of these franchises. He got
Jason Light who anyone in the league will tell you
is easily one of the best gms. Just a high level,
humble guy who's seen it all, worked for everyone that

(10:52):
mattered in the league over the last twenty years. And
their team like, they have had so many injuries and
you watched them play, I mean offensively, they're missing their
starting running back and their Hall of Fame wide receiver.
And how many points did they just I mean they
scored thirty eight points. That's on the road against Seattle
to set.

Speaker 1 (11:09):
Wow, what in Seattle is a Sam Donald fumble and
a Sam Donald pick, and both times he like either
bumped into a teammate or had somebody bump into him
or Seattle could be an undefeated team. So this game
is Seattle's a really good team. They're the second youngest
offense in the league. So if you're a Seahawks fan,
you got some good years ahead.

Speaker 2 (11:30):
You know.

Speaker 1 (11:30):
It's it's also I don't know. I mean, I wouldn't
worry about drafting a quarterback if I'm Seattle. I think
they found I mean, Donald's still young, He's still totally
when he when he was drafted by the Jets, he
was twenty one, I think he's twenty seven or twenty eight.
Now you have four more five more peak years.

Speaker 2 (11:47):
Yeah to me, I mean, I'm sure we'll talk about Collin.
You look around the landscape of college football doesn't look
like a lot of Joe Burrows coming into the league here.
I would say this, though, sometimes there's a win win
fit matters, Like I'm way better off as a podcaster
than I was local radio, and we had ties to
the team. It's not Kubiak, Like they hire Kubiak and

(12:07):
they get rid of Ryan Grubb. Well Tys Simpson and
Alabama are rolling right, and Ryan Grubb much better fit
for college, and they get Kubiak, who's more of a
run heavy great for Sam, and it's just worked out
for both parties, right. Kubiak last year fired as well.
Sometimes in football you just get with the right person. Sam. Now,
look at Sam. Now we talk about the Jets for

(12:29):
three straight years. Kyle, Kyle embracism, prety embracism changes the
way we talk about him. Then he gets his opportunity
with Kevin. Now he's in Seattle, I mean, just flourishing.
Same thing with Baker Mayfield. He goes to Tampa, gets
around Jason Light, gets around to Mike Evans, and just
a more low key environment. I've been there. I've never

(12:50):
lived there like you, but it's just an easier place
to just kind of ease into things.

Speaker 1 (12:55):
Yeah, Baker, the media and Tampa is more supportive. Baker's
one of those guys that sometimes if he feels like
he has to overcome the GM and the coach, that
he tries too hard. He's very composed. Now, he's got
a support system, He's happily married. Baker has nothing to prove.
Everybody knows he's good. He's playing with a very controlled

(13:18):
chip on his shoulder, but it's a good chip on
his shoulder. I agree. It's it's like he doesn't have
to prove anything. Everybody loves him in Tampa and in Cleveland,
he and Hugh Jackson battled, and then Freddy Kitchens and
then the GM and and then the media was on
his ass because the Cleveland media is, you know, it's
it's it's bitter, it's it's I don't blame him. Tampa's
got trophies. They don't, so I think it's and people,

(13:40):
I know they find this hard to believe, but I
root for young people to succeed. One of my favorite
part of the volume is watching young people at my age.
You're young. I think it's great for Baker. It makes
me very happy that he's kicking butt. That was this
week's Sunday Night Foodball, brought to you by Uber Eats.
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(14:02):
delivery partner of the NFL.

Speaker 2 (14:04):
Order.

Speaker 1 (14:04):
Now I just did, Okay, another game, so I had
picked the Broncos on my Blazing five. I think it
went two and three. Today. By the way, I had
the over on Arizona, Tennessee. It should have gone over
in the second quarter. Those teams are horrific. I took
the Broncos to beat Philadelphia. They did twenty one seventeen.
It was like two games. For the record, all Philadelphia

(14:27):
games are two games. Yeah, just pick your half. So
Philadelphia led seventeen to three. Bo Nix was stemied by
Vic Fangio. But again, these are long games, and you know,
Philadelphia runs into these walls where they're just a punt factory,
and they you know, they're they're very dependent on a

(14:48):
big play over the top. Saque's numbers have been reduced significantly,
So you'll get your chance to beat Philadelphia because they'll
go into a they'll go into a punt, punt, punt situation.
Sure enough, we get to the fourth quarter, playing from
behind and Sean Payton's play calling. Bo Nicks hit on
a couple of big throws. They have some crevices in

(15:09):
the run game, and they come back to win a game.
So let's start with Philadelphia. I mean, John, they are
incapable of playing a full solid game of offense. They're
either really impressive or awful. There's no in between. To me,
it's got to be a coordinator. It's not personnel. The

(15:31):
old line is regressed badly. These guys are all in
their prime except Lane Johnson, who's older. They're all in
their prime. To me, there's a coordinator issue.

Speaker 2 (15:39):
Well, I thought Romo and Nance especially Tony mentioned it
a couple of times, like Sirianne's not the one underheat
around here. It's this Kevin Patula that's his buddy for
about fifteen years. But they finally through the first what
sixty seventy percent of this game, they were feeding DeVante Smith,
They hit AJ Brown, They had an opportunity for a
nail in the coffin moment in this game, it was

(16:01):
seventeen to three. They clearly had schemed up this play
to AJ Brown and he's wide open, and Jalen had
hit a couple deep bombs throughout the game, so when
he let it rip, you went, well, this thing, because
he's a good when his deep ball's working, it looks
great ballgame. And it flew right over his head and
then they had to punt, and then it kind of

(16:21):
flipped from there because twenty four to three, the game
is over because, like you said, bo Nicks was horrendous.
I mean I asked someone that I bet on the
Broncos to win the division, had high hopes for them.
Like a lot of people, I bought into everything. Sean
Payton was saying, and you're watching him, he's missing these
deep balls. They have big play schemes and he missed them.
And then I don't know if maybe he just kind

(16:43):
of took a deep breath, but then he hit a
couple of plays to sudden, hits the back shoulder throws
and obviously you know the game winning drive he hit
sudden over the middle on a big third down. He
used his feet a couple times, and Tony kept saying,
it's almost like, you know, if you're missing jump shots,
get to the line, get fouled. You're a really good athlete.
I think Fangio had said during the week, like kind

(17:05):
of reminds me of Baker Mayfield, and Tony's like he's
a way better athlete than Baker Mayfield. Like he can
really run, and it's like just run a little bit.
But I think he wants to prove that he can throw.
But his arm in terms of accuracy has just kind
of been off and then he just got into a rhythm,
and obviously then Philly just hit the skids and you
could tell, you could feel it on television. I've watched
a lot of games there live. It got tight, and

(17:26):
the whole building kind of went silent because they've seen
this song and dance, and like you said, they can
go through a quarter where they're clearly one of the
most talented teams in the league, where they look horrendous
and you're just you know, in Fangio's defense, you can't,
you know, in this day and age, with the rules,
it's hard to have just sixty minutes of playing like.
It doesn't work that way.

Speaker 1 (17:47):
No, and they weren't very good again when you get
him into a third and four or a third and
five and they can't do the Toush push. They weren't
very good on third down one day.

Speaker 2 (17:56):
We even see the Toush push today. I don't know
if we did. I don't definitely they.

Speaker 1 (18:00):
Were third down forty five yards rushing, huge time of possession.
I mean, it felt like in the fourth quarter Denver
had the ball the entire fourth quarter, And I wrote
that down thirty to twenty two minute time disadvantage. But
in the fourth quarter Boonix had two drives for touchdowns
fifteen points and five and a half minutes. Oh that

(18:22):
was a big sideline throw to Courtland Sutton. Then there
was that Zach Bond late hit that kind of sealed it.
I mean, at some point Philadelphia that last drive John
they were reduced to begging for PI calls on the
hail Mary and the ball down to the two yard line.
So you can kind of tell from their body language

(18:44):
they know they're struggling there, and you know, it's just
like anything else in life. I don't care if it's
a relationship or a football game or an offense. It
gets into your head and then you start doubting your
play calling and then you start forcing the ball to
certain players. Like but I go back to Sirianni's not

(19:05):
a scheme guy. He's more in the Dan Campbell culture builder,
alpha male, and so he's very dependent on who his
OC is. Remember when he first got to Philly, as
you know, he called plays it was a disaster, hands
it off to Stikeen heater Steike and leaves Brian Johnson.
Disaster that he brings in Kellen Moore. They right the ship.

(19:26):
Kellen exits, now you got the new guy. So he's
very Andy Reids, not Shanahan's not, although Shanahan's defense has
been very dependent on the right coordinator. Saula now is
dealing with kids and Fred Warner's outstanding. So I just
look at Philly and to me, it's It's one thing.
You could argue that Saquon Barkley's got fatigue from all

(19:48):
the carries, but when an offensive line regresses like it has,
to me, that's coordinator.

Speaker 2 (19:55):
Yeah. I mean they've had injury too. I mean Dickerson
got hurt today. I just think Jalen is, I think,
clearly establishing himself as a pretty streaky player. Right. He
just happened to have two of the great games and
Super Bowls, one of them he won. He could have easily.
He could easily be two and zero against Patrick Mahomes
and Andy Reid, and he's played fantastic in him but

(20:17):
like through the course of a season, he's just a
very you don't know what you're getting series this series,
and that's where it's like, is there a huge drop
off between Kellen Moore and this guy? Hard to tell,
but like Kellen had been an offensive coordinator for a
long time and coached from Dak to Herbert, Like it
just had way more. This guy never called plays in

(20:38):
the NFL. He'd been a lifetime position coach, even if
he'd been around the Eagles the whole time and been
on the staff. There's a big difference than given suggestions
and making the decisions right. I mean, that's why did
the Eagles feel pretty good about their defense. I don't know.
They have a Hall of Fame defensive coordinator who's been's
sixty five years old and been doing it for decades.
So I also think they got an elephant in the room.

(20:59):
Last year, Brandingham kind of let the cat out of
the back and he tried to walk it back. But
how often do you see a guy he's thirty five
years old, Brandon Graham's got multiple kids, Like, this guy
isn't just an immature young guy saying something stupid. He
knew what he was saying because it was the truth.
He tried to walk it back. This year's gotten weird.
They clearly tried to force feed them the ball, which
I have I'd forced feed him the ball too, but

(21:21):
like it's not in the like you watch the Vikings
with Justin Jefferson. He's just their best player and they
just give him the ball a lot because he's a
great player. Jamar Chase the AJ Brown thing kind of
feel it's weird because they got all these other options,
but they know that he can be obviously a little
fickle with his emotions, you know, and it's it's hard

(21:42):
for him to hold him in because at this point
in time, he's on like his fourth contract, so he's
made an ungodly amount of money. He's a super Bowl champ,
he's an All proic, He's he's checked all the rest. Now,
it was just like he just wants the ball. He's
just a he's just an emotional receiver.

Speaker 1 (21:56):
Feels like, remember Brandon Graham came back.

Speaker 2 (21:58):
They don't they don't like each other. Essentially, their relationship
is fractured Jalen and AJ Brown because part of it,
part of when they traded it for him, is like
these guys are really good buddies. They've known each other
and then something happened and it was like, well, it's life.
You get as you grow up, maybe your relationships aren't
as tight and you just deal with it. And they
win the Super Bowl whatever. But then this year it
feels like immediately it gets a little weird and aj

(22:21):
brings it back to the surface, can't even hide it.
And you know, part of it is Jalen, which is
a good quality. He's like unemotional even today, like with
the no time left on that final drive. It's just
this guy's unfazed. I mean sometimes I wish I had
like his emotional stability. I mean I get angry just podcasting.
He's just he's just a flatliner. And I wonder sometimes

(22:43):
in football, like some of our best quarterbacks can be
a little emotional and Jalen just has none. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (22:49):
No, I mean I was told this by somebody who
would know that's very connected to that locker room, and
they said Jalen's not the most pop. Eagle players love
emotional guys. I mean, I remember years ago, half the
league thought Westbrook was better than Steph Curry. Steph Curry's married,
he's quiet, he's not cool. You know, his shoe looks

(23:13):
like something a pharmacist would wear. Westbrook's cool, he's athletic,
he's got the music, he's got the game. And Jalen's
one of those guys. He's got an all female like
management team. He's not you know, he's not going to
hire one of your buddies. He's not. He's not one
of the guys. It's like the old Joe DiMaggio with
the Yankees. It was like Joe DiMaggio just wasn't one

(23:36):
of the guys. He was brilliant. Not everybody wants to
go out and hit it and be wild every night,
like they just Jalen's very reserved, very mature, very focused,
and he has a life beyond football. And I and
I and I love guys like that. But and AJ,
you know, I get it. When you got a trophy
and you got the bag, you're looking for legacy. He

(23:58):
wants to be a Hall of Famer.

Speaker 2 (23:59):
So I kind of defended that, you know, and part
of being an all time great quarterback because Jalen has
the opportunity. He's already been to a couple of Super Bowls,
he's won one, like he's going to be a starter
for a long time. Is like, by the end of
Peyton and especially Tom, how could they relate to anybody?
Yet you never have met anyone that has been in
the locker room with Tom over the course of like

(24:19):
the last decade of his career. It wasn't like, yeah,
he was the easiest guy to deal with. He was
great anything I needed, he was always he could bow.
He wasn't going out and drinking beers with him anymore
or hanging, but he knew exactly how to be a
I've heard the same thing about Peyton Manning or Philip
River is a good example. Has had like seven kids
with three years to go in his career. I know

(24:39):
multiple people that played with him that said I would
have run through a wall for his family, let alone
the guy, like there is a skill to be able
to and listen. When you get top by Saban like
that doesn't really matter. You just kind of do what
he says. Then you get to the NFL and maybe
it's just an attribute that Jalen's really gonna have to
focus on just moving forward because it's clearly not his personet,

(25:00):
which listen, our personality is our personality. But at that position,
especially if you're not gonna be like Patrick Mahomes, how
does Patrick Mahomes relate to an undrafted free agent rookie.
He can't anymore. He's worth five hundred million dollars, But
ask anyone with the Chiefs. He does right, Yeah, and
Josh Allen, Now at this point, Mary to some haulay
like that. You have to do that, Lamar Jackson. I've

(25:20):
known people that have coached here that just said, people
love this guy in the locker room. Yeah, he's not
hanging out with them all. So it is the onus
is on the player at that position. You've said this forever,
not about any other positions. You can act like however
you want as a corner wide receiver, not a quarterback.
So sometimes you got to go above and beyond and
just kind of almost fake it, you know, to be
friends with a guy.

Speaker 1 (25:41):
And Jalen's pretty stoic, you know how. That's his personality.
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I'm reticent to talk about the Jets, but Dallas beats
the Jets thirty seven to twenty two. I always judged I.

Speaker 2 (27:27):
Don't think it was that close either. When when I
turned the game it.

Speaker 1 (27:30):
Felt like forty seven to three. It was awful. I mean,
it was twenty three to three at half and it
wasn't that close. No, So the best drive of the
day for the Jets, I think was the first one
where they settled for a field goal. It was eleven plays.
You know, my takeaway is always been when a coach
is hired, what's his side of the ball. Like their

(27:51):
defense is bad and it's gotten worse every week. It
feels like, I mean, the second half was a seven
on seven drill. It looks like one of those seven
on seven college drills where you take a really good
quarterback you know, in high school or college and he
just boom, boom boom. Dak was terrific. Dak's having his
best year as a pro because he's having to carry

(28:11):
a team. And this isn't the zeke top o line
in the league, Amari Cooper, That's not what this is
without Ceedee Lamb John I'm not sure they have a
definitive number two. Their tight ends probably a two to
a three on most teams. The running backs are absolutely two's.
The O line is still in a semi rebuild. Tighter
Smith's great, but this is not. This is not an

(28:32):
elite head coach, It's not an elite O line, it's
not an elite roster. I've I've been blown away by Dak.
I've never thought this highly of Dak. I think again,
like Jalen Hurts, mature, head down, not highly emotional, an adult.

(28:52):
Do I want to pay him? When I'm paying him?
You know what? Right now, Dak's worth his contract, He's
worth it.

Speaker 2 (28:57):
Yeah, could be the MVP, you know. I think what
really puts the Jets into perspective is probably no one
had a bigger question mark next to their name as
a coach than Brian Schottenheimer. And you just said how
you're defined as a coach, especially on a team that's
not great. What does your side of the ball look like? Well,
he's the offensive play caller. And they've been awesome all
year awesome, and now they've lost one of the highest

(29:21):
paid and best wide receivers in the league for several games.
And like you said, George Pickens is a two, and
you know, Ferguson solid. I mean, this isn't Michael Irvin
and Emma Smith walking through the door. And the offensive
line is definitely a question mark. And the offense like
it's listen, Brian Schottenheimer's kind of throwing it back to
back in the day when he was declining head coaching interviews,

(29:41):
like pretty good offensive coordinator. I kind of know what
I'm doing, and I've been blown away. I mean their
team they got very you know, the Packers got very
lucky a week ago that that ball didn't bounce in
the air and said to hit the ground. Or the
Cowboys would be what three and one right now? Or
I mean they I guess they are two and two.
They would be they'd be three and two, like they

(30:01):
would be just good, Like there's be no disputing, Like
they're just a solid, like they could could they win
nine games?

Speaker 1 (30:07):
And also the weather in the Northeast and the north
is beautiful. I was in Chicago over the week as
Chicago was like eighty degrees. So it's a good time
to have a good quarterback in this league because you're
not dealing. You know, we're about four or five weeks
out from me getting ugly. Dallas is built for good weather,
they're built for domes. They don't have a number one
receiver without CD, but they've got enough guys. You know,

(30:30):
It's funny. I was watching Justin Fields. He's never seen
the field particularly well, and they don't This coaching staff
hasn't figured out that. Listen, just use his legs, just
run him. Seven step drops don't work with him, I
mean multiple and the Jets pass pro is awful. They
can't pass protect at all. It's gotten worse again. The
Jets are getting worse every week. I was reading a
couple of the Jets beach reporters and they're like, okay,

(30:52):
I've covered three hundred games. This is rich co type.
I mean, this is how bad this team is. And
we're at week five. I mean it's not like they're
you know, everybody beat up, but Justin Fields has had
three defensive head coaches and he's just not good enough.
You know, if you give him McVeigh. Maybe he would
have gotten a second decent contract, but he's just you know,

(31:14):
he's the classic athlete, not a quarterback. So but the
fact that he was with Pittsburgh who couldn't run the ball,
struggled with their offensive line. But last year I think
he was was he four and two or he had
a pretty good record early and you looked at Justin
and you're like, oh, he could get in her contract.
Pittsburgh got rid of him. Pittsburgh went with old Aaron Rodgers.

(31:37):
Because if you go back and if you remember Justin's
numbers in Pittsburgh, Mike Tomlin replaced him with Russell Wilson.
We were all like, Justin actually extrapolate those numbers out,
he'd be like a you know, nine to ten win quarterback. Well,
Pittsburgh move off that moves off him. It shows you
the difference between a Steeler team last year that struggled

(31:58):
offensively and how how bad the coaching and the infrastructure
is of the Jets. Because Fields looks completely over his skis.

Speaker 2 (32:05):
Yeah, I mean I get that. Maybe they were bidding
against some other I thought, giving him two years and
forty million dollars and thirty guaranteed based on his history
was pretty insane. Like to me, he felt like a
one year, seven million dollar quarterback just to kind of
get you through your year one As a coach, I
do believe though they came in like I understood extending
Garrett Wilson. Garret Wilson's starter on any team. You know,

(32:26):
we've seen good wide receivers on shitty teams. It's hard
to play when no one gets you. The quarterback has
or gets you. Quarterback gets you the ball. Sauce Gardner,
if you just ask people around the league or just
watch football, to me, is living off a reputation from
several years ago. And as a wise man told me
in the league, said, you know what changed last year?
John Why had such a bad season. They started not
allowing him to just commit pass interference every play. He

(32:49):
is not Deon Sanders or Revus in terms of a
foot athlete. He is a long corner like Richard Sherman. Well,
Richard Sherman is a physical player, like a linebacker, the
great hitting and tackling corners in league history. Sauce doesn't
want to tackle and has elite ball skills. Sauce does
not either. They gave him one hundred million dollars column.

(33:10):
They had never even coached them, so they came in,
they had some sexy names, and now you're kind of
stuck with a guy like that. Not making any places
does nothing for your team. It's not like he's a
winning player. And there's no court like, there's not a
savior coming in this draft. It looks like you're an
unwatchable team like that. That's when the Saints, they've been bad.
I've watched the Saints three or four times. They're actually

(33:32):
kind of entertaining Rasler.

Speaker 1 (33:34):
It's kind of getting there.

Speaker 2 (33:35):
Kellen Moore can call some plays. You're like, okay, listen,
we're not that talented. At least our head coach brings
some to the table. Aaron Glenn, I have a lot
of respect for what he did last year with the Lions.
I would say this about the Jets, and I'd even
throw the Raiders in there with my guy Spy Tech
and Pete Carroll. There are a couple franchises that are
just hard to overcome that they've been taking down everyone
for a long time now. And maybe these guys, you know,

(33:57):
Brady and kind of that crew in Vegas. It is
not an overnight fix, and there is an ethos. And
just like a culture that is permeated through the building
and the walls and the Jets and the Raiders, it's
hard to shake because guys leave you they excel. You
bring guys in, they get worse. You bring incredible coaches
or young energy, it still looks the same. And I'm

(34:19):
watching the Jets and the Raiders and I just go, God,
these teams are just They're terrible. I mean, they feel
like they have no hope. The rosters are bad. Yeah,
I just the Cowboys. I mean when Dak Prescott's looking
like Tom Radio paidon Manning in his prime against you
with no CD lamb, I mean, that's this is a
pretty low point. I mean, and the Giants now feels

(34:41):
like they're not very good again. You know, Dark gave
them a little hope. It's like, God, the New York
teams and the Yankees are getting killed. This is you
better hope. Mike Brown coach up the Knicks. You know.

Speaker 1 (34:51):
It's interesting the one franchise in New York that isn't impatient,
that doesn't blow it up is the It's also easily
the most successful franchise and all they get is heat
from their fans. And you know, Cash Ben's been there
thirty years, you know, I think eight years for Aaron Boone.

(35:14):
But their take is, you know, the upstairs sets the lineup.
It's analytics. The Yankees don't make moves. They're patient to
a fault. The truth is, if Garrett Cole was healthy,
they didn't have a chance to get, you know, to
the America League Championship Series. They just I'm not sure
they have the pitching. They've gotten boxed and back to
back games by Toronto. Yeah, so you know, New York

(35:35):
is its own animal. And now for our next segment,
Whiskey Business. Yes, Whiskey Business, brought to you by Green
River Whiskey, the official whiskey of the Colin Coward Podcast.
I want to talk about the Colts beat the Raiders.
This was my favorite pick of the week. Got this
one forty to six. Coltspeed the Raiders. I will die
on this hill. I think the Colts have a top

(35:57):
six roster in the league. I love their offensive line.
I think they have stars. I don't care if it's Pittman, Warren,
Jonathan Taylor's outstanding. He just doesn't He's not a you
know Saquon Barkley is. You know, you get these running
backs who stylistically they pop. And Jonathan Taylor was always
just a speed guy out of college. He wasn't shifty.

(36:18):
He was like, uh oh, like track guy. Just oh
behind that offensive line. I swear to God, John like,
it's just he three yards before he gets touched. I
don't know what Pete Carroll's fascination. That's nine picks and
six games for Gino in his last six games. I
think it's something like that. Six touchdowns and nine picks
this year. Six touchdowns, nine picks for Gino. That is

(36:42):
the Geno comeback Story's over. It's the opposite of what
Pete Carroll likes. He is so much about clean football. Run,
run the game, run the ball. I think the Raiders
are just a big work in progress. When Colton Miller
gets hurt o line, it's just one of the worst
five in the league. But you look at the Colts,

(37:02):
I mean, the Chiefs will probably beat the Jags tomorrow.
I don't know. I look at the Colts like I
look at Tampa. Now, Baker's better than Daniel Jones, But
coaches who some people started doubting, you know, like stiking
with Anthony Richardson. Oh Stikins lost his magic. But that
Tampa roster when healthy, that Colts roster. I know they're

(37:24):
a middle of the country, flyover country. I think the
cults are good. I really do.

Speaker 2 (37:30):
DJ had to pass a touchdown where he rolled out
and everyone's gonna be it's the Raiders. It's not about
the opponent. Where he was just on the move guy
in the back of the end zone. He split it
through a defender. You know, I've always compared him to
Alex Smith. He's got a better arm than Alex Smith,
no question. His arm actually is better than I thought.
And sometimes it just takes you with a credible offense

(37:52):
to really get to see that arm talent. It's pretty
You watch Baker and Samuel like these guys can sling it.
You're watching Daniel Jones in twenty twenty five, I would
have said forever he's got an average to below average arm,
Like his arm is more than strong enough. Not Josh Allen,
but it's he's even that thing in there. And I'm
a big guy to me. The Warren pick looks fantastic.

(38:13):
He has been easily one of the best rookies in
the league. I mean, obviously the Raiders are bad, but
I would say the Colts. John, I think the Colts
can win a playoff game. I mean, I think the
Colts can be a factor in the AFC, especially now
it's definitely opening more up right.

Speaker 1 (38:29):
They are the most efficient offense in the league. They
went eight for ten on third down, so they become
an incredibly efficient offense. John, they had the ball only
twenty six minutes. They scored forty points. No offense in
this league is more efficient. I know going into the
Rams game, Daniel Jones is twenty to twenty nine. So
it's like we look at Baker and Sam.

Speaker 2 (38:49):
I mean, it's really.

Speaker 1 (38:50):
The store this year is the story of redemption. I mean,
Baker leads his division, Sam's great, Daniel Jones, it's.

Speaker 2 (39:00):
I do wonder if you got Shane Stike in over
Cocktails and Ballard, if they knew, like when they truly
was it a week into training camp? It's not even
this isn't even a close competition. Did they know before
training camp? Just based on they did?

Speaker 1 (39:15):
I think they did. I had listen. I was talking
to Steve Kayen about a year ago and we were
out and I said, what do you make Anthony Richardson
And Steve Steve said, man, Colin, he said, you got
to be able to hit those layups in the flat
and he said, you know, I looked at some of
the film and he's like, you know, if anybody can
do it, Shane Steiken can fix it. But kyme and

(39:37):
I were talking about it, and he just said, you know,
if you have to work on that stuff, if you're
spending a lot of practice time on that stuff, it's
really hard. And because you know generally with with with Baker,
you're you're dealing with high end stuff. Baker solved all
that stuff with Baker's it can be concepts and defense.
You're not worried about the layup stuff. So and then

(40:00):
I talked to somebody else, a GM, an active GM
in the league, and he echoed what Steve Kaiman told me.
It's just like, Gosh, if you're struggling with the underneath stuff.
You know, you're spending a lot of time on that.
You have to spend so much time on that to
get that right, but then you're not really that's elementary
stuff in the league. You're not dealing with the second
and third and fourth level stuff. You also can't call

(40:21):
a game that you want to call in the NFL.
I remember I got off the phone with this GM
in the league and my take was, well, God, if
if I don't trust a guy to throw a downfield,
I can't call the same game. I just eliminated thirty
five percent of the playbook. So I think with Daniel Jones,
you can use the whole playbook. That's the difference.

Speaker 2 (40:37):
Isn't it crazy? You know, the redemption season, even watching
Carson Wentz with Kevin O'Connell, it's like he actually doesn't
look that terrible, you know. I mean it's like this
the power of some of these offensive coordinators. That also,
because what are usually offensive coordinators are head coaches have
pretty good skill guys around them, Right, Kevin O'Connell, they
got a pretty loaded roster, you know, Shane Sich. They've

(41:00):
invested some picks and some money into the offensive skill guys. Right,
you play for Shanahan, you play for McVeigh, you play
for lafleor Like they emphasize that side of the ball
in terms of people, you know, the wide receivers, the
running backs, the tight ends, these guys look a lot
better than some of the franchise that failed them. I mean,
you go back to the Giants, I mean, Daniel Jones
was horrendous. I get asked a lot like, is this

(41:22):
gonna if Daniel Jones? I mean, is in the MVP
conversation this team wins thirteen or fourteen games? Clear the
Giants aren't. Were they gonna win five games? And listen,
it was time for a breakup. I didn't blame them,
it was not working. But this is one of those
things like, oh, ultimately Saquon Barkley is much better with
the great offensive line. But if I'm you know, the
Giants ownership, I paid my head coach, who's the play caller.

(41:46):
I know he's kind of bounced around being the play caller,
but he's an offensive guy to fix that position. And
this guy we had this guy. Hell, we paid this
guy and then he goes to another offensive coordinator as
the head coach and looks like Sam Darnolds with Baker May.

Speaker 1 (42:00):
How's that possible?

Speaker 2 (42:01):
You know? How can that happen? This guy is going
to get I mean, change Psyching and Chris Ballard are
going to get contract extensions. I would imagine before the
playoffs start, it's going that well, well, so.

Speaker 1 (42:12):
The airth thing is and we have you know, it's
the elephant in the room. There's been multiple reports that
have surfaced the last couple of years Chris Ballard in
the front office, Jim Orsay had relapsed into some really
problematic behavior and this stuff. You know, I think Chris

(42:34):
Ballard will never will never ever say it, maybe to
his wife. There was I think it was exhausting and
energy sapping for the entire organization to deal with an
owner who was beloved in the community but was going
through some really tumultuous personal times and so and I

(42:56):
said this at the time when he passed away. Two
things can be true. You can love somebody and be
broken hearted, but you also think to yourself, it'll be
a less chaotic organization upstairs. And I think Balller's really good.
I think Stiking's really good. I mean the last several years,
go look at the last two or three drafts, they've
had great players in the first round fall to them.

(43:17):
Like remember the draft where everybody, I think Baller got
the first defensive player taken in the draft, the UCLA edge,
who was the best pass rusher in the league fell
to him at like fifteenth and he was laughing about it.
They had a camera on him.

Speaker 2 (43:28):
He's like, we just got the best pass rush. We
didn't even move up.

Speaker 1 (43:31):
And then Warren, you know, is available. So I think
my take is problems Earla's upstairs number. When the Athletic
the subscription service about two weeks ago, I talked about
it on my show. They had the best ten front
offices in the league based on GMS and coaches, and

(43:52):
it might as well have been the top ten teams
in the league. Is this college football? This is why
Belichick struggling. College football is about talent recruiting. If you
can recruit, you can hide a lot of problems. The
NFL is about upstairs and a great scheming coach. Saula
is a very good schemer. Suddenly Fred Warner and a
bunch of dudes look great and I and so I

(44:14):
think if you have Ballered upstairs and Shane Steike and
scheming and the coach and the quarterback is capable, you're
gonna win the AFC South. It's not a very good division.

Speaker 2 (44:23):
Yeah. I also think you know everyone and in the
NFL goes through adversity, you get an injury, you know,
something happens. Help coaches I've saw get you know, get sick,
get cancer. Who knows all sorts of crazy stuff happens.
I would say Andrew Luck randomly retiring when no one
saw coming is one of the most traumatic events. Just
like in life, there are certain things that are that

(44:44):
are easier to come back from that. That event had
ripple effects on the franchise for a long long time,
and most teams could not have overcome that. And they've tried.
They actually kind of they have not been embarrassing, but
they finally found like they been ban dating it Philip
Rivers to Matt Ryan, and they finally found a younger player.

(45:06):
You know the thing with Philip Rivers and Matt Ryan,
like it was over for those guys, right, and then
they took this swing on Anthony Richardson, who's just not
a good player, right, Yeah, So they got Daniel Jones,
who I think we're honestly on one of the great runs.
I remember being around the Raiders a lot, and they
talked about Jim Plunkett, I mean, one of the craziest
redemption stories of all time, right, high pick Heisman Trophy

(45:27):
and then wins the Super Bowl. But that, for a
long period of time didn't really happen. In the NFL.
It was a lot of paid Mannings and Eli Mannings
and Roethlisberger's Like Philip Rivers, you were drafted high, Carson Palmer,
and you were good, you know, and if you stunk,
you were just bad. And now we got these guys
who were just really bad went through who are just thriving,

(45:47):
and we got these mid round of late round picks
kicking ass and taking names. I mean, look at Mac Jones,
who just kind of all of a sudden, this guy's
terrible to just had one of the great Thursday night
performances in the league. Three. So it's just it's a time.
It's a great time to be a quarterback with some talent,
because you're gonna get opportunity.

Speaker 1 (46:09):
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(46:31):
the Saints beat the Giants twenty six fourteen Jackson Dart
twenty six to forty couple hundred yards. Giants first two
drives were really good. And then and I don't think
I've ever seen this, they had five straight possessions with
turnovers and the Saints went on a twenty three on
an unanswered point run. I wrote a couple of things. Now,

(46:55):
Malik Neighbors wasn't there, Tyrone Tracy the running back for
the Giants, So they're not great to begin with. They
didn't have a lot of their juice. And next week
the Giants now play Thursday against the Eagles off a loss,
so you know they're one in four is one and five.
But you know, I watched Spencer Ratler, and I've been
doing this this year. I've been watching because it's supposed

(47:17):
to be a strong quarterback draft. We'll get into that
it's not as strong as we thought. But Rattler was
good on third down twenty to thirty. He's always had
a nice arm. That's never been a question. He I
don't know if it's a power arm, but it's a
I would say he's kind of an easy thrower. But
I watched Spencer Rattlers today, and I'm not sure the
Saints draft the quarterback. I'm not sure they do. What

(47:38):
do you make of it?

Speaker 2 (47:39):
Yeah, I mean, I mean they just drafted the guy
who's like forty years old, the rookie, and Spencer Ratler
beat him out pretty easily, I would imagine. I've I've
been really impressed with the Saints on offense. They are
good on offense. It's defensively, they don't have much talent
and most weeks they have no chance to stop anybody.
Like you said, I mean, they cost five turnovers. Some

(47:59):
of them are like punched out of Scataboo's hands, like
that's not happening most weeks. But their offense has not
been the problem. I don't think. Listen, I watched a
lot of football on Saturday most weeks like you do.
I do not see a lot of Saviors coming into
the lague next year, so I who knows. I mean,
this draft is pretty open. It doesn't feel even like

(48:19):
that potent of a draft. So I think a lot
of these quarterbacks that are on bad teams are going
to continue to get to play. And if you need
an answer at that spot, you're in some trouble because
you know, you better hope to hit, you know, strike
oil in the third or fourth round with one of
these random guys. But for every Dak Prescott and Brock Purty,
most guys are like Tyler Shuck. They get drafted in

(48:42):
the second, third round, you never see anything of them.
The history of the league is not a bunch of
third round ers thriving in the NFL.

Speaker 1 (48:49):
No, No, it's people always I've heard this before. Oh
it's such a coin flip. Now, your best your best
offensive tackles, your best defensive tackles, your best quarterbacks are
all overwhelmingly first round guys. I mean, Jalen Hurts, Drew Brees.
There are occasional guys that dropped the top of the second,
but I mean, there's a reason we all know what

(49:10):
round Tom Brady was drafted him. You know, there's a
reason we know that Dak went in the fourth round,
like there's a reason because it didn't happen very often.
You know, there's a couple of college things I wanted
to talk about with you, because again I didn't think
one of the downsides to the NFL being quarterback reliant.

(49:30):
If you don't have a quarterback, you're out of it
by week five. I mean, the Jets and the Giants
are out of it. It's over. They're just they can't compete.
The outther thing is when you have so many games,
like I think these dual Monday night football games are ridiculous.
Nobody likes it. Well, it also takes another game out
of the Sunday rotation. So you know, again, if you

(49:51):
had to put Rams Niners today in the late window
along with the Seahawks Buccaneers, you'd had one of the
great late windows in recent memory.

Speaker 2 (49:59):
Right, business sense behind the doubleheader because they're clearly doing it?
Are they just trying to?

Speaker 1 (50:04):
Amazon just paid a billion dollars for very few games,
So I get that. I understand Amazon. You want to
get a streamer in, but it takes her. Really, they
usually put a pretty good game up, so Amazon gives
you that money. Amazon's like, we'll do it, but we
want winning teams. Remember when they first started Thursdays and
the Thursday games, oh mostly sucked and then kind of

(50:24):
quietly Fox did it for about a year. Remember that
Fox did it for a very brief time, got out
bit eventually by Amazon, but foxed it for about a
year and the games got better. And you know the
reason I think it got better under Fox. This is
my guess is I watched the Fox schedule for about
a year. I forget how long Fox had it. It
wasn't very long. But you started seeing division matchups, which

(50:46):
are easier because the teams don't have to travel as
far and they're built in rivalries, So Ravens Steelers or
Bucks Falcons, it's not as disruptive Enners, right. So that
then the NFL looked at it and thought, you know,
this whole thing we did on Fox, it kind of
makes sense, like, don't have multiple time zone differences on
these short week games, which is how it started. And

(51:08):
then Amazon's like, okay, we like, we like the way
you're doing it now, and we want more good games.
So they're putting pretty interesting games. If you go to
these Thursday games, there's always at least one star quarterback.
So you take Matt Stafford out of Sunday, well, okay,
Matt Stafford's great, and you know, then you do a
dual Monday. Okay, well you take really good quarterbacks out

(51:29):
of Sunday. So I mean today, I mean there were
three or four games I wanted to watch and I
mean like, and there was half of the lineup. I
mean Minnesota, Cleveland, you know, Cincinnati, Detroit, Arizona, Tennessee. Either
it was a mismatch or it's lobsided, So I don't
like it at all. I thought Saturday was once again fascinating,

(51:51):
So there was always this kind of feeling. The SEC
would always say, hey, man, the reason this is such
a great conference anybody can beat anybody. Well, well, Ucla
beat Penn State forty two to thirty seven. So I
don't hear SEC fans saying, you know, they look at
the Big Ten is weakness. Well, you used to always
pat yourself in the back because the eight seed would
beat the number two seed. And my takeaway was, I've

(52:14):
always been a James Franklin supporter, but this is one
of the things that makes the Big Ten tough. In
the SEC, everybody's in the same time zone. You're asking
Oregon to go all the way cross country, and now
you're asking Penn State to go all the way cross country.
I watched Washington play Maryland. Washington was asleep in the

(52:36):
first half, didn't wake up until the late third quarter,
and then the offense looked great, but they just got
beat up by Ohio State had to travel three thousand miles,
and then I'm watching UCLA and Penn State. Penn State
didn't wake up until midway through the third You're asking
these college kids, you're traveling cross country. You don't travel
nearly as well as the NFL does. You don't stand

(52:56):
in the kind of hotels, you don't bring in twenty
six trainers. The NFL now travels john as you know.
I mean, it's like Stan at the Rich Carlton going
to a spa six hours a day. So I think
what makes the Big Ten the problematic for these coastal
teams is you're gonna get some of these games in
the middle of the season. Off a huge Oregon game,

(53:18):
Penn State cross country was just no juice. That was
my take on it.

Speaker 2 (53:23):
Yeah, well, I think it's twofold one. I think Penn
State had treated that Oregon game like their super Bowl.
That was going to be a season defining game because
if we beat this team, we finally get that you know,
kind of monkey off our back. We beat a top
team who's not as good as they had been in
theory because they're a much younger we should win this game.
It's at night, and then they lose. So the way

(53:46):
they had built the schedule leading into that game was
a joke. Right They were playing FIU Nevada, and then
they lose that game in dramatic fashion. Almost felt like
they had checked out. So you show up long cross
country against my guy, Tim Skipper, Fresno State, guy that
takes over for Sean Foster, who's Tim Skipper's brother, is

(54:06):
the running back coach for the Bills. His dad's a
longtime NFL coach, just gonna bring them juice. Jerry Neuheisel,
who's been at UCLA as a player and a coach forever.
They just kind of had a fuck it mentality, and
they unleashed Nico as a runner. And Penn State's just
coming off this game that was their super Bowl, lost
it and let's face it, no chance they had a

(54:27):
great week of practice. I don't believe that for a second,
which I understand because when you build something up anything
in the life.

Speaker 1 (54:33):
Of young kids with twenty two year olds.

Speaker 2 (54:35):
Yeah, so then all of a sudden they were down.
If that game was six quarters, Penn State would have
came back and won the game, right, But they were
down and then all of a sudden, their quarterback's pretty overrated, right,
I mean that's I mean, it wasn't his fault. They
lost the game. The defense wasn't jo John.

Speaker 1 (54:52):
When I watched Drew Aller, there's not a lot of
juice to it. He doesn't have a lot of he does,
doesn't have great instincts. He's not inspiring, he didn't have
tons of energy. He's just a big, strong kid. But
when I thought that was a game where you sort
of needed your quarterback, say, fellas, get on my back.

Speaker 2 (55:14):
Nico was doing that. Nico was doing that running guys over.
It was. It's just a fan of football, and I
grew up actually a pretty big UCLA fan. My cousin
was a walk on there in the in the late
nineties and early two thousands. That had to be the
coolest Ucla moment in football in ten fifteen years. Well,
remember when Josh rosenbat A and M yep.

Speaker 1 (55:35):
I remember they came back at halftime, Similarly, not a
lot of fans in the stands and they beat Texas
A and M, and it was like forty four forty one.
It was just wild football game. But I don't know,
I like James Franklin, but I think he's a great
energy guy and a great recruiter.

Speaker 2 (55:51):
But I think it's over after that moment. I mean,
it's it's one thing to lose to Oregon, which it
sucks because he's lost that game a lot, but you know,
they lose in overtime. They literally right there. They were
just in the final four. But you can't lose to
UCLA as a twenty five that is, you know, I
think USC losing to Harbaugh and Stanford was more out
of left field. Right that was in the peak of

(56:12):
the Harball of the Dynasty. Stanford was an embarrassment. I
think they had just been one to eleven to Vita Pritchard.
They were forty point underdogs. This might even be crazier though,
because of the hype that was around this team, even
though they just lost to Oregon. I mean, I didn't
think maybe they would cover because it was twenty five points.
But if you said, what would you guess to score

(56:33):
forty five to twenty five or something? Colin Penn State
Jim Knowles, the guy that they took from Ohio State,
is the highest paid defensive coordinator in the country. That's
what Penn State just paid the defensive coordinator to come.
Ucla had scored fifty seven points to start the season.
They just scored forty two. They scored fifty seven points.
Nico had become kind of a running joke. He left

(56:54):
all this money at Tennessee to come to this bad program.
And you talk about inspiring, like how many runs? He's
just running over guys. He looked like Cam Newton meets
Lamar Jackson. He was. If he had played like that
over the course early on against with UCLA, they clearly
would have been in more games. I mean, it was

(57:15):
just to me there was the human element too. I mean,
I loved Tim Skipper, I've known him forever. But they're
seeing Rick new heisl who had coached at UCLA, watching
his son who had played there, and now, you know,
as an assistant coach calling place. Jerry new Heizel found
out he was calling plays like Tuesday night.

Speaker 1 (57:32):
You know, it's been very chao practices.

Speaker 2 (57:35):
Yeah, it's been very chaotic in that program. Just I
mean the coaches that probably includes like seven total coaches
right now, what a I mean the Rose Bowl. It
feels like they've sold signage all over the place because
they know people won't show up. The whole thing's boarded off.
Remember those old Raider games and like the twenty years
ago that would used to be blacked out. They Mount

(57:55):
Davis was all tarped off. That's what the Rose Bull
feels like. I if buyouts did not exist, I would say,
if you told me James Franklin was fired this morning,
I would have believed you. But obviously the buyouts, the
fifty million. It does feel like it's at the point
in time like I saw someone comparing it to Calipari.
You know, Calipari eventually just kind of leaves. You know,

(58:17):
James Franklin, it's kind of like John Harbaugh. Like if
it's John hart, no one thinks John Harball. Or when
people say it was a time for Mike Tomlin. These
guys are bad coaches. You put James Franklin at one Florida,
he'd be fine, he'd win, was he is he Saban
or Kirby. No, But like maybe it's just run its course.
He's been there twelve years and the resume speaks for itself.

(58:38):
Last year was his opportunity and Alur throws that ball
across his body and they lose a Notre Dame or
else they're in the national championship. Yep. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (58:46):
And I think the Calipari comp is spot on, is
that you know, John could still coach, but when you're
a Gant, when you're a dominating recruiter, the expectations ramp
up because that's US now so transparent, there's so many sites,
and fans get so worked up. The expectations ramp up.
You know, Mark Fuo has told me that he because

(59:07):
it's the great thing about Gonzaga. He goes, I can
get three star recruits. He goes, if I went to
UCLA and I recruited the exact same class I did
at Gonzaga, I get heat. And he goes, yeah, but
that's our system. It works for our system and our players,
and we keep getting to, you know, the tournament and
winning games. You go to these big schools, fans pay
attention to that recruiting and they go crazy when you

(59:28):
get it. But then you got to win all these games.

Speaker 2 (59:31):
Chris Peterson's a great example, right the team he had
at Boise. If he had at UCLA or he had
a Washington, they would have loved crushed, but they would
have hated the They would have loved the team, but
they would have hated the classes as the kids were
coming right. Maybe like Kellen Moore, we don't want this
guy as our quarterback. We want arch Manning.

Speaker 1 (59:47):
One more college topic. Florida beat Texas Billy Napier. Every
every time you think he's done, he pulls one out.
They beat Texas and arch Manning twenty nine to twenty one.
So and they have four new offensive linemen at Texas.
The past protection is not great. But I got to
tell you I sat there and watch arch Manning. He

(01:00:10):
holds onto the ball way too long and he doesn't
have a great instinctive feel. When I watched him this weekend,
there were a couple of moments John where I thought
the game was in his head, like he like double
pumped on stuff, or he looked almost mechanical. He was
afraid to take a big shot down the field. And

(01:00:31):
you know it's I don't want to be too harsh.
I'm not sure arch Manning. You know, there were some
when he came out that said he went to a
small school, he dominated average competition, but I've not really seen.
I mean, he's got a great he moves well, he's
got the body. He's got the name, but there is
something to be said about he's still young. About there's

(01:00:52):
an it. You know, some guys just they you get
him the ball and there's a confidence and there's an it.
This Texas team, you know, the stark For all the criticism,
you know, he wins a lot of games. They're not
a good football team now.

Speaker 2 (01:01:12):
Well, I think if you go back fifteen twenty years ago,
a guy like Arch gets several seasons. I think in
the day and age where you're paying so much money
to individual players, I think his spots in major jeopardy
in twenty twenty six, you just pay too much for
the roster to leave it in the chance of seems
like a good guy. Obviously, his uncles are legends. Like

(01:01:35):
this isn't Peyton or Eli Son, this is Cooper's And
if you removed he threw a beautiful, like deep bomb
for a touchdown, you remove that play. I thought he
was mostly atrocious yesterday, Yes, yeah, And this is they
played Florida. You know they didn't just play you know,
Georgia Obama. So they still A and M looks excellent
and you know Elko is known now with Saban retiring

(01:01:57):
right there with Kirby is like the best defensive coordinator
in the in the country. So this could get even weirder,
and it's like, well, the kind of a transition year,
there are no transition years anymore at the top programs
with the money. Ask Oregon, we're in a transition year.
We bought it and we're moving and in that.

Speaker 1 (01:02:14):
Place they had to replace eleven offensive starters Oregon and
they're great.

Speaker 2 (01:02:18):
So to me, I would say, I would say Arch's
positions in major jeopardy in twenty twenty six because their mentality.
Wouldn't you agree with the amount of money you're paying
for a roster and a coaching staff and the transfer
portal now is to compete for national championships every single
year and you don't get like a three year runway
like out the Drew Aller experience that this is his

(01:02:40):
third year pretty rare, but by his second year, you know,
they were in the basically the final four. I don't
know that Arch is getting a second year, you know.
And I bet there would be some people that said, well,
what if we had transitioned last year? I mean, there
are people in Penn State saying we shouldn't have let
the backup go to Missouri. We should have gone with
that guy over Drew Aller. But these are the type
questions you asked when you're at the top programs and

(01:03:03):
you have access to all the sweet players. Right, So
if they go eight and four and he continues to
look like this, I just don't see him as a
quarterback in twenty twenty six. I really don't. And that's
just how this thing works. It's because you basically can
cut a guy, slash, move on from a guy, force
him out. Remember a couple of years ago at Ohio

(01:03:26):
State when they basically blamed it all on Kyle McCord.
It's different because McCord's last name is not Manning. But again,
like this pretty cutthroat now. I mean, as you hear
these Lane Kiffin, it's become very transactional. You either get
it done or you're done. And they're like Kyle McCord.
They blamed everything on Kyle McCord for losing the Michigan Ironically,
they lost to Michigan again. Now granted that they won

(01:03:47):
the national championship Will Howard, but they just kind of
force you out. It's not like other people would want them.
I'm sure, but he his arm talent. That there was
a throw that Lagway made a deep bomb down the
middle and you just went, yeah, got the physical attributes
on this kid are just our eye opening. And then
you watch Arch. You know, you said he was a
good runner. They ran a couple like quarterback powers for him.

(01:04:09):
He's okay. I mean, he's not Cam Newton or Lamar Jackson.
So with that letticism, he can't just take over that way.
He's like Drew Out. He can move a little bit
and he can bust off some runs, but I wouldn't
call him a runner. And then watching the arm, he
misses a lot of layups too. That's that's part of
the problem. So the layups and Sarks getting guys open.

Speaker 1 (01:04:29):
Yes, Sarks always gotten guys open, and he not only
misses layups. But when you watch him sometimes you're not
quite sure he's got the right arm angle or the mechanics.
Like some of it looks bad. It just doesn't look right.
It's it's you know again, Dante Moore can spin it,
he can miss and you're like, you know, like Sam

(01:04:50):
Darnold could throw a pick and you still like the delivery,
you like the velocity, like I don't know.

Speaker 2 (01:04:56):
I just if his name was Arch middle Cough and
he was just a five star normal quarterback, not famous.
Last name is he benched right now?

Speaker 1 (01:05:05):
Yeah, all of our odds are presented by hard Rock Bet,
a new and great partner at the volume. Let's talk
Monday Night football. Kansas City minus three and a half
at Jacksonville. So Jacksonville's probably the weakest home field advantage
in the league. I don't trust them in big spots,
and Trevor Lawrence is always good for a bad pick.

(01:05:27):
I think I think I would take Kansas City in this.
You know, it's one thing to say Kansas City just
came off this impressive win over Baltimore, but we watched
Baltimore get housed today at home by Houston, so I
don't I don't think it was a big win for
Kansas City. I think by the third quarter, you know,

(01:05:48):
they were on cruise control. But my takeaway is adding
Xavier Worthy opens up the underneath routes for them. I
think I'd probably take Kansas City to cover, but because
they don't have a run game, if they do lead,
it is hard for Kansas City to eat the clock

(01:06:09):
up and kind of just squeeze you to death, you know,
which gives Jacksonville a chance for a backdoor cover. But
their home fields not much of a home field. I'll
take the Chiefs by a touchdown. What say you?

Speaker 2 (01:06:22):
Yeah, I'm in complete agreement here. I think Kansas City's
got a little I mean, when you have the success
they do, almost like the Kevin Durant Warriors, like they
need extra motivation. Sometimes it's not just the slow start
kind of woke them up. But now the Chargers have
all these injuries that they're not going to look the same,
missing their tackles.

Speaker 1 (01:06:39):
Yeah, Charges are a mess.

Speaker 2 (01:06:41):
The Broncos are clearly still figuring it out. You got
the Ravens now imploding. You think Kansas City is losing
sleepover Aaron Rodgers. So the AFC, the Bills, they've played
them a million times, they beat them every time that
mattered in the playoffs. They're not intimidated to go to Buffalo.
I think Kansas City now looks at the AFC goes, God,
we just win a couple games. We're right back in it.
This is it's still our conference.

Speaker 1 (01:07:01):
Here's the thing, Denver win helps the chief side. They
watched that game and They're all in their hotel room
tonight in Jacksonville going guys, forget the Chargers and the Raiders,
we got to keep up with Denver.

Speaker 2 (01:07:13):
So here's the thing. Jacksonville's defense is clearly pretty good.
Like that unit is solid. The Trevor Lawrence thing, I
don't see. I wanted to believe a couple of years ago.
I'm completely out. You got. Brian Thomas is having a
weird year. He's banged up. Travis Hunter has been just
like Miage, is not really working out for what they
give him. I love Spags in this spot against Trevor Lawrence.

(01:07:34):
Liam Collins, good offensive coordinator Trevor Lawrence. Even last week
against Robert Sala, wasn't that good to me? This got
like a twenty to ten type feel, kind of ugly.
That's how the Chiefs like to play the volume