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September 15, 2020 • 85 mins

In this episode, John reacts to the Steelers MNF win against the Giants in Big Ben's return, the Titans outlasting the Broncos despite 4 missed Stephen Gostowski field goals, and why Vic Fangio's horrendous late game management is inexcusable. He also explains why he's not bailing on Tom Brady in Tampa after a bad debut, gives his take on Aaron Rodgers reverting to his MVP form in week 1, why there are still legitimate questions about Carson Wentz and Jimmy Garoppolo after rough starts. He also runs through his week 1 hits and misses, why he doesn't think the NFL needs to worry about coaches wearing masks and answers listener questions in the Middlekauff Mailbag. Follow John on twitter @JohnMiddlekauff and go to theherdnow.com to find the latest content. Subscribe now!

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Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
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(00:23):
To order today, visit one hundred flowers dot com slash
tune in. That's one eight hundred flowers dot com. Slash
tune in. What is going on? Everybody? Yeah, Middlecob Greene

(00:44):
album podcast. Football is best. Let's give it. Let's give
a golf clap. Let's give a little golf clap. Thank
you National Football League for returning from myself and everyone
listening and basically all of America. We'd like to tip
our hat to you and greatly appreciate your efforts in
doing whatever you could to get back. And I got

(01:04):
a lot to talk about. I've already actually, because we
got multiple Monday night games. I don't want to stay
up till midnight. I've recorded the majority of the show
I'm gonna hit on basically everything that happened on Sunday.
I'm gonna start by I just watched the Steeler game
in Giants game, I'll dive into that. Then i'm gonna
record this, and then i'm gonna scrape part about a podcast.

(01:27):
Then I'm gonna watch the Titans game, then I'll touch
on that come back, and then the podcast will just
keep on rock and roll and have a lot. I mean,
there's nothing that happened probably on Sunday that I don't
dive into. I'm pretty sure, and even touch on college
football a little bit. Maybe I didn't break down Gardner Minshew,
You've got a big win, but the football was fantastic.
I'm sure everyone you're either pissed off or fired up

(01:48):
for your team. I had an incredible gambling weekend, and
I'm just not a great gambler. I'd probably have lifetime
losses in the five figures. But with this Pittsburgh Steeler
win I've had, I've had a great couple days, so
I am. I'm in a pretty good mood. So we'll
dive into everything, and let's start with the Pittsburgh Steeler

(02:10):
Monday night game. But before we get there at John
Middlecoff Middlecoff Mail Baggle ill answer a couple of questions
at the end. Everyone that listens to the podcast through
Apple and iTunes, go there and leave a review if
you like the show. I appreciate it and it helps
selling the show. Like I said, so thank you. But
my overall takeaway is, listen, well, the Giants aren't going

(02:33):
to be very good. They have no talent on defense.
You know, the coach who knows, I mean, Jason Garrett
is the clapper, say Quon Barkley is nowhere to go
for a great of a player at Saquon Barkley is
he doesn't want to block a soul. He kind of
reminds me of He kind of reminds me of Adrian
Peterson that way, really physical back, doesn't want to touch anybody.

(02:55):
You know. It's like, bro, you got a block, and
that's not really his thing. Now, clearly the team stinks,
the defense stinks. They can't cover anybody. They're just not
gonna be very good. I mean, I think they're gonna
struggle to win I don't know five games. Danny Dimes
has some talent. He's an athlete. Clearly he can move around.
He plays away with his legs, unlike Eli Manning. He

(03:17):
actually has a pretty strong arm. The hype on his
arm I always thought was was not as good, but
everyone compared him like Alex Smith. He's got a stronger
arm than Alex Smith. And I just you know, they're
clearly probably the worst team in the division and it's
just gonna be a long year for Joe Judge, Freddie Kitchens,
Brett Bielma. They have quite the staff. I mean, you

(03:38):
just see some of the guys. You're like, God, who
does this guy have on this staff? Jason Garrett, Yeah,
just gonna lose. I mean, the reason they got put
on Monday Night Football because they're the New York Giants
of the New York market. Now because they're any good.
Both New York teams probably are gonna combine for seven wins.
Jets might win three, Giants might win four, maybe five,
maybe eight. I set the over under about seven and

(04:00):
a half between the New York teams. They stink the Steelers.
Their defense isn't unreal, right, the speed of the defense,
I guess the weakness would be their corners on paper
are just okay. But they you know, Joe Hayden not
the fastest corner, but he does. You know, he's a
physical dude. And their front seven, I mean, that defensive
line is just coming for blood. If you like football

(04:23):
and you like physical play, they are fun to watch
because they are coming to kick your ass. And sae
Quon Barkley missing blocks, they are destroying people. They're bringing
dbs and linebackers there feels like they're blitzing every other play.
That defense is top notch. I don't know if they'll
finish the season as the number one overall defense, but

(04:43):
they're definitely a top three defense in the NFL. Their
team speed of just all the defenses that I've watched
over the last day, I guess twenty four hours, including
I mean the Chiefs. Actually defense might not be terrible.
I mean, actually it's gonna be pretty good. I don't
know if it's gonna be a top ten defense, but
it'll be in the teams. The Steelers defense probably the
fastest defense in the league, just top to bottom. Their

(05:04):
teams speed up front, all their defensive linemen, it'd feel
like hull ass. Well, their linebackers are fast. Their dB,
especially having Minka back there helps a lot. Their defense
is just top notch, so it's gonna come down to
their offense. And the reason they went eight and eight
last year is because Ben throughout his arm and in
the probably the first quarter and a half. You know,

(05:25):
it's hard not to overreact to every snap. Were humans,
you couldn't have watched that and went, oh, my god,
has been done. You know, he looks slow, He just
looked awful. And then you know, once you take a
deep breath and you realize, you know what he missed
all last season with a torn elbow. Let him get
his legs under him. Now, he's not fast, like he

(05:45):
hasn't been fast in a while, not that he ever
was that fast, but I mean he can't really move now.
But as he got his rism throwing the ball, You're like, okay,
this is an older version of the Hall of Fame
quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. And they just dominated. I mean they
were running crossing routes, so the cows come home. He's
hitting Deonte Thompson, who can fly. Juju now, who had

(06:06):
a bad year last year because his quarterback sucked, look
like a star again. Multiple touchdowns, just getting open with ease,
everything short and intermediate and if their offense is good.
Kirk Herb Street and and almost called him Ricky Fowler
and Chris Fowler, who, by the way, God, what an
easier watch those two guys are than Joe Tessa Tour
acting like every play is to win the Super Bowl.

(06:28):
It's like, I just let the game breathe. This is
the NFL, this is the Pittsburgh Steelers, the New York Giants.
Just let the game play call the game like you know,
you know the reality too. It's way easier to call
NFL games than it is college football because most of
the players in the NFL are famous. And this you
could argue this game is probably one of the more
difficult games because the Giants have a bunch of random players.

(06:50):
But they still got Danny Dimes, se Quon Barkley, Leonard Williams,
Blake Martinez, like they got some guys you're gonna know.
And then the Steelers team is littered with star players.
In college football, even if you're doing Ohio State and
Penn State, they play like fifty guys. In the NFL,
they're like thirty five guys that play your starters, a
couple rotational backups, and you got to pay attention to

(07:12):
some of the randos on special team. It's not that complicated.
Now I'm not saying calling games is easy. I couldn't
do it, but just in terms of learning it, everyone's
like I can't believe how good they are. Well, they're good.
And then calling NFL games is pretty easy because learning
the players isn't that hard because if you just pay attention.
I would imagine most people that call games or sports
fans the NFL. It's like doing the NBA is way

(07:34):
easier than doing NC DOUBLEA. You know all the players.
So most of these guys that herb Street and Fowler
have called their games at Alabama, at Ohio State, at Michigan,
at LSU, at Georgia, right at Oregon, they call the
big games. So most of these guys, I mean a
large majority of them are coming from bigger programs, and
I thought they were excellent. It was a very very
easy watch. Now, Herb Street thought that the Pittsburgh Steelers

(07:57):
were a Super Bowl contender. Now I wouldn't go that
far because Roethlisberger does me looks his age, he looks
in his late thirties, and where I do think it'll
be difficult as they play defenses that are as good
as their own. Now he's luck he gets a practice
against that defense every year, and for the most part
in his entire career, he's practiced against elite defenses. But

(08:18):
he can't really get away. Now. He's not Phil Rivers
or Tom Brady, but part of his game, right, his
entire career has been keeping plays alive, and he's just
he looks kind as slow as he should. He's old.
My takeaway was that to the first half of him, like,
I don't know, is he gonna play sixteen games this year?

(08:39):
You know, he got rolled up on early, kind of
came limping, and I get he's a little bit of
a drama queen, but he legitimately tore his elbow. Of course,
he told them he'd been he's been hurting for fifteen years.
But if he gives them sixteen games of just top
eighteen quarterback play, I mean, they basically had the works
quarterback play in the league last year. So if you
just get top eighteen sixty quarterback play, they're double did

(09:01):
you win team, They're in the playoffs, and then you
just take your shot, right, you give him a couple
of shots to tourd he all you say, Ben, go
get them, and you just you know, first round playoff game,
maybe you get a home game. It'll be probably hard
for them to beat the Ravens, but you never know.
It's not like the Steelers are gonna be scared of
the Ravens. Like it's pretty clear you watch this game,
you went, the Giants gave everything they had and it's

(09:22):
not very good. The Steelers, you know, probably played a
C game on offense. I'd to say their defense was
probably like a B and they're gonna win by ten
points pretty easily. I mean, it's just it wasn't that
complicated first game of the year with a quarterback they
missed all last season. If I'm a Steeler fan, I'm
pretty bullish now. The one thing I'm nervous of, like
I said, is just Roethlisberger's health. You're just holding on

(09:45):
for dear life that he can stay healthy, that he
can avoid these hits, that he can stay erect, because
that's not easy. And the hard part about staying erect
when you're old and you can't move is you're kind
of a sitting duck. So I enjoy watching the Steelers.
I just put some money on the steam. Thank you,
Mike Tomlin, thank you Roethlisberger, and uh, I think they're
gonna have that. They should be a playoff team. And

(10:07):
the Giants, I guess this year is just kind of
about just seeing if Joe Judge, you know, does he
have any tricks up his sleeve? Is Jason Garrett a
legitimate offensive coordinator? I guess we'll just learn that as
the season goes on. But there their roster is probably
bottom five in the NFL right now, Okay, let's uh,
I guess dive into that. Just finished watching the Titans

(10:29):
and Broncos. Don't quite know where to start. Listen. I'm
a big Vic Fangio guy. I think he's in an
all time great defensive coordinator. I think he's one of
the better defensive minds you know, of the last twenty years.
But being a head coach is more than being a coordinator.
And he took three timeouts. He took two, Like he

(10:52):
just walked to the locker room with two timeouts in
his back pocket. Like that just can't happen. You know,
you have to call timeouts at the end of the
game to give your team a chance, and it just
that's just low level stuff. And listen, we can argue
about going forward on fourth and ones, and the analytic
community about when to punt and when not to punt.

(11:13):
I'm a big feel of the game guy. But in
that situation, even though Goodkowski has missed seventeen million kicks tonight,
you have to start calling timeouts because you're gonna get
the ball back with like seventeen seconds. You gotta go
fifty yard. You don't have enough time it just listen.
I like you, Vick, but holy hell, use your timeouts man.

(11:36):
The Titans, I think the Broncos are fine, Like I
think they're gonna be a competitive team this year. They
had a couple of injuries a night, and they've obviously
already lost Von Miller. At Drew Locke, it's easy to
see he's got a lot of talent. You know, he
is a talented young player. It's gonna be an up
and down season for him. But his physical attributes, his

(11:56):
arm strength, his athletic ability, his accuracy on the deep
ball was a little hit or miss. He hilverthrew a
couple of deep balls by a mile. But there's a
lot there to work with. I like Drew Locke, and
I think the Broncos are going to be one of
those competitive seven eight win teams just after watching him play. Now,
maybe the Titans are good. My issue with the Titans
is love Mike Vrabel, Big, Mike Vrabel, guy big, John Robinson,

(12:20):
friend of the show, GM of the Titans. I liked
their team, defense, physical upfront. Rashaan Evans got tossed for bro.
You can't swing in another player. It's automatic objection, whether
it's a soft dejection or not. You can't swing like
it's just football one on one. You get taught that
in like high school. Can't do that. Clearly their offense.

(12:40):
I mean, Derrick Henry's a monster. I got to look
at the box score. I don't think he had a
great game the night. Obviously a j Brown baller, Corey
Davis kind of coming into his own. My issue with
the Titans is Ryan Tannehill. As someone described him to me,
he's like he's like an Alex Smith. And here's the
way I would describe me. It was twenty nine to

(13:02):
forty three for two hundred fifty yard and two touchdowns,
but he missed a touchdown to I guess that would
just would have covered the spread, they won the game
no matter what. Out like, he's a more physically gifted
Alex Smith. You know, I think he's a little faster,
he's a little like stronger, and he's got a stronger arm.
But he's not as good, Like he misses some just
kind of routine passes too often, like they were passes

(13:24):
Alex couldn't make. But Alex is really accurate. Like I
watched Ryan Tannehill and I just go, is this guy
good enough to beat? And I know they won a
couple of games last year in the playoffs, but a
lot of that was their defense kicking Lamar Jackson's ass,
kicking Tom Brady's ass, and Derrick Henry looking like Walter
Payton meets him at Smith meets Jim Brown. That's you're

(13:45):
not gonna have your running back go for one hundred
and eighty yards in a playoff game most of the time.
Even if he has a good game, he might go
for a buck twenty. You need the quarterback to be
really good. And they got some weapons, I mean a
J Brown's stud Corey Davis is a big time I
just to me, that's my question mark. Is he gonna
be good enough? Now it's the first game. I've tried
to temper my just enthusiasm slash criticism on just about

(14:10):
everything because it's just it's difficult. The timing's off for quarterbacks.
You saw with Ben as I talked about earlier, took
him as the game went on. So maybe Ryan tanney
Hill will be better. Titans are good, Like they're just
gonna play in a bunch of ugly games and probably
win ten or eleven games, probably win the division. I'm
a big variable guy. I mean, I like their Mojoe,

(14:30):
I like their squad, I like their physicality, but I
just I just like, to me their limitation. Why I
can't like that's a Super Bowl team. It's like the quarterback,
you know, Like I don't even love Lamar Jackson. Now
he looked pretty good the other day they were playing
the Browns, but I'd go, I know his ceiling is high. Yeah,
I don't know how high Tanney Hills ceiling is. Like

(14:51):
Josh Allen ceiling is high, Mahome ceiling obviously we've seen
it is the moon, right, Lamar Jackson ceiling is damn
high too, like any Hills ceiling that high? Can you
win a Super Bowl? Like you saw last year with
the Niners, like Jimmy Garoppolo ceiling is somewhat limited, but
their team around him was unreal. The guy, I don't know.

(15:11):
I don't know if this Titans team is as good
as like last year's forty nine or team, and Tannehill
is just somewhat limited. That would be my question mark
with their team, but definitely good enough to make the playoffs.
And then you have a physical defense turn the ball
over their kicking situation. I always thought Goodkowski just watching
the Patriots from Afar was elite. I saw a tweet
he was like the fourth most accurate kicker of all

(15:34):
time coming in to night after all these missus, he's
now like ninth. A bunch of guys passed him. Obviously
they didn't even play tonight. You know, they just passed
him because they were He went down percentage points. But
that's concerning I thought. The guys on the Monday night
broadcast said it pretty well is when you play in
that style of football, running the ball, defense, just ugly football,

(15:58):
you're gonna be in a lot of field goal type games.
And when your fieldical kicker can't make a kick, it's
like hold on for your ass, right, So I enjoyed
Monday night a little ugly. One thing I will say
about opening weekend, It's been a very, very physical weekend,
and as a lover of physical football, I felt like
the football was getting a little soft there for a while.

(16:19):
It didn't feel like nineteen ninety one, but it felt
like if you go over the middle and they're not
head hunting, but you're gonna get molly wapped. Dudes were
flying to the ball. I thought the effort from Thursday
to the last snap on Monday night was fantastic. Guys
are playing hard, playing their balls off, and it's just
enjoyable to watch. Now does that effort maintain as teams

(16:42):
start losing a season goes on? Who knows, But I
think I think the NFL has got a pretty good
just core teams, even their average teams play hard and
are watchable. I think it helps that there are a
lot of just functional quarterbacks. There's not many quarterbacks in
the league, even like Drew lock Right, I mean, he's
just he's watchable, Danny Dimes watchable, and those teams, you know,

(17:04):
probably not going to make the playoffs. So as long
as when your bad teams have watchable quarterbacks. Obviously, you're good.
Teams typically have good quarterbacks. I think the league's in
a pretty good spot from a competitive standpoint, as it
usually is, but I think there's way more depth at
quarterback right now, which which definitely should just help our
entertainment as a season goes on. If you love to

(17:24):
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(17:44):
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(18:26):
here outside the Perez family home, just waiting for them.
And there they go, almost on time. This morning. Mom
is coming out the front door, strong with a double
armed kid carry. Looks like Dad has the bags. Daughter
is bringing up the rear. Oh, but the diaper bag
wasn't closed. Diapers and toys are everywhere. Ooh, but mom

(18:47):
has just nailed the perfect car seat buckle for the toddler.
And now the eldest daughter, who looks to be about
nine or ten, has secured herself in the booster seat.
Dad zips the bag clothes and they're off. What looks
like Mom doesn't realize her coffee cup is still on
the roof of the car, and there it goes. Oh,
that's a shame that mug was a fan favorite. Don't

(19:09):
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ad Council. Okay, let's dive into Brady and the Tampa
Bay Buccaneers. And by the time I've recorded this, obviously

(19:33):
the game has happened. But then Bruce arians has said
things I think in his Monday morning press conference. Now listen,
I've said from the jump there was gonna be a
learning curve with Tom. He has been with the same
offensive coordinator what feels like for his whole career. But
the second iteration of Josh McDaniels right happened after he

(19:53):
got fired from Denver, Bill O'Brien took the Penn State job.
Maybe Josh, he's gone to Louis for a year, got
fired there too, Bill hired him back, and then they've
been together for basically the last decade. He has been
in the same offense, his offense which he has created
over time. Forever. Think about any job you've been in,

(20:14):
if you've been in it for a long time, or
a relationship for a long period of time, when you
change out of that job, or that relationship with that
significant other, there is a growing period with the next person.
Now there's a natural honeymoon period because it's really cool,
it's really easy. But eventually at that job or with

(20:35):
your significant other, your new one, you're gonna go through
a little adversity and it's gonna be something that at
your old place you were used to handling. It was
easy to pivot. You knew how to handle it. That's
not the case in Tampa Bay. He's never worked with
Bruce Arians, he's ever worked with all these wide receivers.
It's brand new. Now, let's face it. He threw a

(20:55):
couple of picks and a pick six. It looked a
little weird. I think sometimes we forget that Tom Brady
is forty three years old and I admire the living
hell out of the guy. I have him on my pantheon.
It goes Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods, Tom Brady of just
the guys, who's desire, drive, willingness to do whatever it

(21:16):
takes to win all time superstars in my lifetime. And
after he scored that first touchdown, he let him right
down the field. He gets the quarterback sneak. It's badass.
You see the fire in the guy. The guy's forty three,
he's got sick Lombardi, he's been to nine Super Bowls,
he's got unlimited money, he's got a supermodel wife who
makes huge cash. Like you'd say, he's got the life

(21:37):
by the balls. Yet he's still playing in Tampa Bay,
a franchise that hasn't been in the Super Bowl or
I mean even the playoffs in twelve years. But I
respect it, I really do. Now. Bruce Arian is a
high level coach. I think a lot of people in
most high level players in college, whether you're playing at Alabama,
whether you're playing at Georgia, whether you're playing at LSU,

(21:58):
whether you're playing for Curb, whether you played for Urban Meyer.
I think Mario crystal Ball is like this. I know
Chris Peterson at Washington was like this. You know, and Harbaugh.
They get on guys. College players are used to having,
you know, getting ripped. I mean that's part of football,
especially your position. Coaches you get lit into, and I

(22:22):
think a lot of times in pro sports, definitely, you
see it in basketball, like you watch college basketball, tom
Izzo Calipari coach k they will light into a dude
who's about to be the number one pick. They treat them,
they coach them, and then once you get to the pros,
you start making huge money. Then you start dictating the shots,

(22:42):
and no coach can say anything to you. I think
football is kind of somewhere in the middle. There's a
select few coaches that can really get on guys, and
I think sometimes coaches can be intimidated. Well, there's a
couple old school coaches, obviously Belichick who treated Tom for
a long period of time, called him Johnny Foxboro when
he screw up and he lit into him. It were
a lot of players of his level don't really get

(23:05):
talk to you like that. I don't think Aaron Rodgers
gets lit up that often. Even Sean Payton, who does
light into guys, I think they're pretty cool with Drew Brees.
I don't think he's getting yelled at that many times
in front of the team meetings. I could be wrong.
And they always said this about the San Antonio Spurs
and Tim Duncan in that dynasty. The Greg Popovich could
treat him like the fifteenth man on the roster, and

(23:26):
they said the same thing about the Patriots. Tom Brady
was treated no different than Brian Hoyer or the backup
linebacker or the starting right tackle, and that's where that
sets the tone your whole franchise. Well, Bruce Arians is
a little different than Belichick in the sense of when
he talks to the media is pretty open. And I
respect that because because I think it's easy to like.

(23:46):
The one thing Belichick does is he says things to
the media that just aren't true. Now, I also believe
what you say to the media, what you don't say
to the media ultimately doesn't matter that much. We'll get
into optics a little bit later. I think it's the
most overrated thing in football. Like we saw Tom He's
try he struggled a little bit last year. Now this
I kind of understand. He has new offensive weapons, there
are new offensive lingo, there are offensive you know the way,

(24:11):
and different things that you do within that offense where
to throw different guys open, different routes to run against,
different coverages, might be different than New England. I don't
know exactly, but Bruce Arians said after the game, directly
after the game that the pick that he threw over
Mike evans head was on Tom Brady. That's something that
Bill Belichick would never have said, but that doesn't change

(24:34):
the fact that the pick was on Tom Brady. And
then today he you know, on Monday, Bruce Arians was
pretty open about you know, Tom Brady did things in
practice we were ready for in the game, and he
just didn't execute it in the game. And I saw
on social media a lot of the media members like,
oh my god, this is no Tom Brady is used
to being held to a high standard to why's the

(24:55):
greatest quarterback of all time? He has been held to
a high standard now, not openly in the media, but
behind closed doors for twenty years, and definitely this last
decade after he's had countless rings and they just kept
racking him up. Tom Brady wants that the best players
in football want to be coached. And this isn't Freddie

(25:16):
Kitchen saying it. This isn't Ben McAdoo saying it. This
isn't some rando saying it. It's Bruce Arians, who has
a long resume of working with elite quarterbacks and running
elite offenses. Like he knows what he's doing. Tom also
knows what he's signing up for. Bruce arians personality, and
I think now it's gonna be a little different because

(25:37):
it's out there in the public. But again, we all
saw it. Tom's passes on a couple of these, on
the pick and the pick six, like it just doesn't
quite look like Tom Brady, and it's just it's a mistake.
It's a mistake that Jimmy Garoppolo or Dak Prescott or
Jared Goff makes. It doesn't hide the fact. Whether Bruce
arians blames it on Tom Brady or blames it on

(25:58):
no one who cares, it still happened, and they need
to get it corrected. I'm sure they will. They play
the Carolina Panthers this week. That's what I would call
a get right game. I'm not selling Tampa Bay down
the river. Their defense is clearly really good. I think
I heard I have to look at the box score,
like fifteen third downs. That means they were relatively containing

(26:19):
the Saints offense. Obviously, one of the touchdowns was a
pick six Tom through and another was he threw another pick,
So you're giving them free possessions. Listen, they have so
much talent on offense. The guy that I would say
I have the biggest red flag on his gronk. I
saw people tweeting like God he looks like he's running
like an old man, doesn't look like he's kind of old,
even though he's not really that old. But he retired.
He retired for a reason. It wasn't just because Belichick

(26:41):
was a n asshole. It was because he wasn't the
same physically, and maybe I thought he would have a
bounce back game. Just watched him that game. He looks slow,
but they still got Mike Evans, they still got Chris Godwin.
I think the running I'm a bro Joe guy Fournette
will continue to gain a role as this thing goes.
And Bruce Bruce arians and definitely Brady's resume speaks for itself.

(27:02):
They are old school badasses. I do have faith that
they will get it figured out. Now. The one kind
of elephant in the room is at the end of
the day, the breeze. Thing about this Breeze and Brady
combine to be eighty three years old, right, Tom's forty three,
Drew's forty. The combined ages of the coaches in the

(27:25):
Niners Arizona game was eighty one, then Cliffs forty one,
and Kyle's forty. So it just shows you these guys
are really, really old. So there is a chance. And
we'll talk about some of these other quarterbacks, the older
quarterbacks later, that you just hit forty three, you're just
not as sharp. Now Tom's never ran, but he was
always elite in the pocket. Maybe you just lose half
a step, Maybe your accuracy diminishes just half a percent

(27:49):
or a percent like there, just it gets to a
point when you get to a certain age. I mean,
I'm thirty five. I feel pains in my body when
I got out of bed that I didn't feel five
years ago. I played golf with a buddy on Saturday
and he was like, you know, he was in his
mid delate thirties, and he's like, you know what's crazy
is I work out every day. And once I got
to like twenty eight twenty nine, I couldn't just eat

(28:10):
whatever I wanted. I had to change my diet. Like
as you age, things change. And I understand he eats
avocados and tomatoes. That there is a chance, and I'm
leaving this as an option though I still think even
if he's aging, I mean he is but diminishing as
a player, they're talent around him. If he can get
a hold of this offense and the coach has proven

(28:30):
that they will be able to score points. The Saints
potentially are the best team in the NFC. I thought,
really they were last year, and then the Niners beat
him in that crazy shootout, and I still thought they
were the second best team in the NFC. Then they
lost that inexcusable game to the Minnesota Vikings at home.
But I would not just act like the Tampa Bay Buccaneers,

(28:50):
some six win team. I would I still expect them
to win nine or ten games compete to win the
wild card. But they do this month. I think it's
fair to say it's gonna have its ups and downs
as they get on the same page. As Tom learns
his wide receivers, his personnel. It's one thing to run
it in practice, it's another thing to run in a game,

(29:11):
and not just any game against one of the best
teams in the league. It just you learn something. And
I've always been a believer of this. I think most
people I would imagine listening to this you learn the
most through adversity, not through success. So if I was them,
if I was gonna would I rather have a big
win or a big loss? If you're talking Week one,
I don't know if a big loss, and you know,

(29:32):
quote unquote big loss, you know what I mean, a
loss that I think for us on the outside of
views as god, they just kind of got handled because
they kind of did. It's not the worst thing. I
think they will learn from it. And if Tom isn't
just physically shot, which I need a little more evidence
before I just say that, I think they'll turn it
around and be Okay, Okay, let's dive into some polarizing quarterbacks,

(29:55):
because yesterday was a great day for one polarizing quarterback
and a really pretty terrible day for a couple other ones. Now,
I wouldn't necessarily include this guy as a polarizing quarterback.
I'm just gonna tip my hat to him in Russell Wilson,
He's just a star. I think he's the clear second
best quarterback in the NFL. DK Metcalf and him just

(30:17):
they kind of have a special connection. Tyler Lockett still
a baller, Carson's a baller, and Russell just as a magician.
I think he's I know, for me personally, he's one
of my favorite athletes to watch in my life. When
Russell Wilson's on television, I enjoy watching him and I
would pay to watch him play. I've paid to watch

(30:38):
him play before. I've seen him play three or four
times in person, and he never doesn't live up to
the hype. He's just a baller. And you add Jamal
Adams to that team like one thing I think Seattle
whacked last year when they added Clowney. Like Clowney's not
a huge like uplifter, He's not like an energy guy.
You know, he's just this freak talent. It's kind of

(31:00):
an underachiever who just looks great getting off the bus
and depending on if he's into the game or not,
like you're getting his best effort. Jamal Adams, if he's
in a good environment, which he was an LSU and
now he is in Seattle, is an uplifter. The guy's
an ass kicker. And you put him in that environment
in Seattle with Russ cooking like they're gonna be pretty good.

(31:22):
And Jamal Adams is going to compete to be the
defensive player of the Year if he can stay healthy,
because he's gonna be on a winning team. He's gonna
be an impactful player. They're gonna score points on offense,
and Seattle I just wanted to mention them, even though
I wouldn't consider Russell Wilson polarizing. But I think Aaron Rodgers,
who I said on a previous podcast either last week
or yeah, I think last week I said a big

(31:44):
reason Aaron Rodgers now one he learned from far how
much shit you take when you know you're kind of
an asshole to the younger guy. Like in pro sports,
you don't get to pick and choose where you go,
right you get drafted. This isn't You're not, like, you know,
trying to work in the tech sector and be like
do I want to work at Google? Do I want

(32:05):
to work at Facebook? Or do I want to work
at Apple. That's not how it works. You don't get
to pick your employee, They pick you. Like Aaron Rodgers
was forced to go to Green Bay, right, he wanted
to go to the Niners and the number one overall
pick in the drafts and the tumbles, and he goes
to Farve. Then Far's not nice to him. Well, I
understand why Farv wasn't nice to him, because it was
probably pretty clear pretty early on that Rogers was gonna
take his job. And then Rogers turned into one of

(32:26):
the greatest quarterbacks we've ever saw. So really you could
argue Farve, well, he had his own issues, and I'm
a Brett Farve guy, but the way that situation happened
was probably is really just all on Brett Farve. Now
Rogers pretty prickly or whatever, but it's tough spot for
a young guy and the opposite. This year, we've seen
all the information come out of Green Bay one. Jordanov

(32:48):
is not any good. He was in street clothes yesterday
on the bench, can't even dress for the game. Couldn't
beat out Tim Boyle guy I've never even heard of.
I literally fallow football for a living, played at Eastern Kentucky.
No, no no, no, anything about the guy beat him out,
And from all accounts and just some videos I've seen
on NFL Network of love practicing, I don't think it
was close. Like the guy. If he was an undrafted

(33:09):
free agent, he probably would have been cut. It's the
one great part about sucking. When you're a first round pick,
you're on scholarship, and so Rogers immediately goes, well, I
can get credit here. Be nice to a guy that
couldn't hold my jock right now. It was an easy one,
and I'm not trying to diminish Rogers being nice to
the guy, but if Jordan Loves showed up and looked
like Peyton Manning, would they have a normal relationship. I

(33:31):
don't know, but here's clearly what it did is we
already know that Rogers takes a lot of things personally
and listen, I do too. I think a lot of
people listening. I'm sure. I mean, we're all humans. It
had to motivate the guy a little bit. And then
I think there's a natural progression in this offense where
you see it with Kyle Shanahan and Matt Ryan and

(33:52):
the second year had a big explosion. We've seen guys
in Jared Goff's second year with Sean McVay, big explosion,
Jimmy Garoppolo hard to tell. Like last year, you know,
had took a big jump in the second half of
the season. Then it gets a lot easier to play
in once you kind of master it. Because from all
accounts listening to Cotton, the Shanahans and the mcvay's, those

(34:13):
guys talk, it is a complicated offense for quarterbacks. It
can be uncomfortable with turning your back to the line
of scrimmage because you're under center the zone, play action stuff.
Matt Ryan says he didn't feel comfortable at all that
first year, turning his back to the line of scrimmage
and Rodgers, you know, did something a certain way under
McCarthy and then it changed dramatically under Matt la Floor.

(34:35):
Another big question with Rogers, like is he old? Because
my always issue with him was, like, you know, his
fundamentals aren't great. He just as you get older. The
reason Peyton Manning and Tom Brady and Breeze like these
guys hang their hat on fundamentals, footwork, you know, stepping
into throws because your arm strength, even if you throw
one hundred miles an hour, is gonna come down to

(34:55):
ninety five as you age. And if you throw like
ninety two like Philip Rivers, you know in your prime
you're gonna end up throwing eighty seven. Where you can
still get guys out in the big leagues throwing eighty seven.
You just better be able to locate. And last year
watching Aaron Rodgers, like God, he's not as accurate. I
know the numbers were good, but he was just he
was off yesterday. Listen, say what you want about Minnesota's

(35:16):
defensive backs. All these young guys, dude, with no experience,
I don't give a shit if he's playing a college team.
Rogers looked elite like he was making plays that looked
like MVP twenty fourteen Aaron Rodgers. That was a clinic.
That was a major f you to the league, FU
to team management, because it's not the media's not making

(35:36):
this up. The management literally just drafted a quarterback in
the first round. And Rogers looked pissed off for greatness yesterday.
That's what Ray Lewis told the Stanford Cardinal one time
in a before an n i T Final four. They
brought him in the locker room and he told him,
you got to be pissed off for greatness. And that's
what Rodgers looked like. And he just looked in general,
like I'm going to eviscerate people this year. And DeVante's

(36:00):
a star, and they have some other guys that I
think we're all and even Packer fans would say, you know,
Scantling Lazard, like we'll see you know this. This isn't
Randall Cobb or Jordy Nelson or you know, Greg Jennings.
But maybe the great quarterbacks, they elevate, Right, I didn't
know who the hell Julian Edelman was when he first
showed up to the New England Patriots. Ten years later,

(36:20):
he's had walk off touchdowns and great years for right,
Tom Brady, you could argue kind of made him, and
that's what great quarterbacks do. Like DeVante would have been
good no matter where he goes. But these other guys,
Pete Rodgers makes these guys look better. The Rodgers I
saw yesterday, You're gonna win a lot of games if
he if he's got ten more of those in the
bag of the next fifteam, Like this team's a lock

(36:41):
to go to the playoffs because they're gonna run the ball.
And if you just have a quarterback playing at an
elite level in the NFL, when he's a Hall of
Fame level guy, it's gonna be hard to beat you.
It just is Rogers just a winner. I mean, the
resume speaks for itself. I think our question was has
he fallen off the map? Well, yesterday it looked more
like five years ago than it did last year. And

(37:03):
then the two polarising guys. Let's start with Carson Wentz.
I think Carson Wentz is a special talent, right like
Dak Prescott. I like Dak Prescott. I don't think he's
a special talent, right. He's a good athlete, average arm.
You know, when he's on, he's accurate, like Carson. Wentz
is a freak, but I think sometimes he struggles with touch,

(37:24):
and he struggles with not always throwing fastballs. And listen,
I understand they had a ton of injuries, have a
lot of guys out, like Jimmy g I'll get into
it a little bit. When you're missing top receivers or
you're missing top offensive linement, it's challenging. But there's a
reason when a team cuts you a check for twenty
five million dollars a year, thirty million dollars a year,

(37:46):
they're putting on you to overcome it. Like at the
end of the day, Lebron is a max player. Kevin
Durants a max player because he's winning with whoever he
plays with, Like Aaron Rodgers when he's on, could play
with me or you, and he's gonna compete to beat anybody.
Russell Wilson could play with nobody's and win mahomes. People
ask me this all the time, like what if you

(38:07):
put Mahomes on the Jaguars, like they fucking win, I mean,
they would win ten games. I mean just they'd be awesome. Why,
because he's an elite player, He's an uplifter, and I
think sometimes Wentz did this at the end of last year.
But the winch yesterday just made some awful mistakes. I mean,
to pick at the end of the half, pick early
in the second half, it just leads to points and

(38:30):
you give especially early in the season, we don't really know.
Like bad teams, like at the end of the day,
Washington might win six or seven games, right, but right
now Week one, they don't look at themselves when they
get ready for the game on Sunday morning any differently
than the Eagles look at themselves. I think we're gonna
go win this football game, you know what. Why, It's
just that's what any football team thinks early in a season,

(38:51):
because you look at your record, you're like, well, or oh,
oh right, or one to oh or one on one.
It's one thing you start thinking you're a loser if
you're two and ten, but that's months away. So you're
margin frere as a quarterback, like you gotta be on
point and just his mistakes. But but I think sometimes
he's just everything's got to be so earth, so like
strong and so hard. It's like, bro, you gotta be calm.

(39:14):
Like you watch Rogers and Russell in Mahomes. They can
throw the dart right, they can hit the deep ball,
but they also have no problem throwing a little wheel route,
throwing a you know, an on time, a little route
over the middle that takes a change up to throw.
I think that's the biggest thing Wentz has to work on,
to not be so powerful with everything. To be a
great quarterback. You could argue you actually don't need the

(39:38):
great arm, you just need the accurate arm. But touch,
touch is so big with a quarterback. And I think
when Wentz gets off and that was a terrible loss
for the Eagles, I mean, being up huge against Washington,
who I don't think many of us expect to be good,
though I think it's fair to say their coach and
even Jack del Rio I saw in Oakland like, they
will be tough, they will be physical. They're not just

(40:00):
tap out. And I think just Wentz made some inexcusable plays,
and Jimmy Garoppolo I think had one of his worst
games as a forty nine er, he was inaccurate. Now
his top two receivers were out, But like I said,
you pay him twenty five million dollars. There are gonna
be games and moments where you have to overcome it.

(40:21):
You're paying what I think is playing the worst defensive
coordinator in the league, Advanced Joseph. They're gonna be plays debate,
and you have to hit guys. And I'm not just
talking about wide open guys which he missed. I'm talking
about when a running back is in the flat, not
throwing it behind him, so he has to catch the
ball and basically stop running, and then he gets tackled
because he couldn't hit the ball and stride like being

(40:43):
an accurate quarterback. There's a reason Drew Brees gonna walk
right to the Hall of Fame. He's not tall, he
can't run, and he doesn't have a strong arm, but
every ball, for the most part, is in the majority
of his career right is pinpoint accuracy. You watch Russell
Wilson when he's on, it's just hitting guys in stride.
When you're throwing balls behind guys or getting guys over

(41:04):
the middle, and you're throwing it at their hip as
they're running full speed. It's hard to make these plays.
Even in the NFL. It's easy to be like if
you touch it, clutch it. Well, if I'm a if
I run a four to four forty and I'm hauling
ass and I got a corner right behind me, and
I gotta reach back. Even if I do catch it,
I'm immediately to get tackled because I have to slow down.
And at the end of the day, a coach, when

(41:26):
it comes to the quarterback, like if I'm Kyle Shanahan
or I'm Doug Peterson, I scheme these guys open. Well,
if my guard gets smoked and my quarterback can't just
complete basic you know, out routes or in routes, you
know stuff intermediate in I got problems. And then when
the big plays are there to be hit, I gotta
hit them. And Jimmy Garoppolo missed underthrew a ball, and

(41:50):
I think, and I see this sometimes with Derek Carry
when you get a guy wide open. I think sometimes
quarterbacks who aren't the elite guys are so terrified to
miss them with a strike. Did they throw like this lollipop,
this lob pass well, the problem with a lob pass
when it's underthrown, it's the one ball that a dB
that's ten yards behind the wide receiver can catch up

(42:12):
to and make a play on the ball. If anything,
I can live with overthrowing a guy, especially if my
wide receiver has a little room to kind of jump
or run back and make a play. I hate under
thrown balls on wide open guys. I despise it because
you have so much room behind him. It's the only
place the dB can make a play. And Jimmy Garoppolo

(42:34):
at Kendrick Bourne wide open in the end zone and
he under throw him, and Patrick Peterson made a play
on the ball, and that was basically the game, and
he was just bad. I mean, there's just there's no
way around it. We'll get into Kyler Murray probably a
little bit later, but Jimmy Garoppolo and Carson Wentz second half,
it was just bad football for guys that make like
a combined fifty five million dollars. It's just I heard
Doug Peterson say it. He's probably a little more candid

(42:57):
than Kyle on it. I mean, I use the same
It's just unacceptable. You know, It's one thing to lose
and get beat and you can miss a throw, but
when you consistently miss throws in the second half, it's
one thing you know early in the game not to
have a rhythm. I get it. But once you're a
pro and you're a veteran player, once you get in
the flow of a game and you've been in the
same offense. It's why I give Tom Brady a little leeway.

(43:19):
Never run this offense. They're kind of like they're trying
to mix all this stuff together. Carson Wentz and Jimmy Garoppolo,
even Dak Prescott like they got some new terminology. I'm sorry,
McCarthy's doing some stuff. Jimmy Garoppolo and Carson Wentz and
have been talking the same verbiage for years with their
head coaches. So once you get in the rhythm of
the especially the second half, you're sweating, you're coming out
of the halftime, you're loosened up. Like my expectations for

(43:42):
these guys who are just higher. It's just it's not
good enough, and it wasn't got them both beat You
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(45:07):
The forest is closer than you think. Find a forest
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and the AD Council. Okay, let's do something. I get
asked about this a lot, like what's your biggest hit?
What's your biggest miss is a scout, and I thought
i'd do something. I didn't want to copy Colin. I

(45:28):
mean his segment of where Colin is right and where
Colin is wrong, it's just fantastic. So I thought i'd
do a little something my hits and missus from the
first week, because if you listen to me, you know
I got a lot of bold takes. I just I
say what I mean. Let me rephrase that. I don't
feel I have bold takes. I just I'm an opinionated guy.
Give my opinion. I don't I have never said anything,

(45:50):
you know, and I know people in the media, at
least the consumer feels that a lot of guys just
make shit up. To take a stance. I think if
you listen to me for long enough, you know I
don't do that doesn't mean I'm always right, but if
I take a stance on something, I truly believe it.
At the end of the day, I'm talking about football.
It's not like I'm talking about life or death. Start
with my first hit, Rivers, he's a liability. Now. His

(46:12):
numbers didn't look that bad. I haven't watched the entire game,
but you lose to the Jacksonville Jaguars, and I did
see the final drive where he threw a pick. Rivers
just throws interceptions, you know, and listen, I have nothing
but respect for Philip Rivers' career. I think he's just
a tough s ob. I think he's a passionate player,
and I think when he was on he's a badass.

(46:34):
But he's thirty eight, thirty nine years old, his arm
is average at best now and he just throws the
ball to the other team. One thing is clear. When
you throw interceptions, it's a killer. It's a killer for
Jamis Winston, it's a killer for Tom Brady, and it's
clearly a killer for Philip Rivers. And the problem for
Philip is his interceptions seem to come in the fourth

(46:58):
quarter and real pick at the end of the game,
and the Colts lost, and they also lost Marlon Mack. Now, Luckily,
part of being a good GM is, you know the
thing with the football, a strength can become a liability immediately.
And so it looked like on paper, Marlon Mack and
you draft Jonathan Taylor. Boom, it's a strength. Well, Marlin
mac tours Achilles, but that's why you draft Jonathan Taylor.

(47:19):
I'm a step up rook one. Miss. I've talked a
lot of shit about the Arizona Cardinals. I don't believe
they're a playoff team, and I might be wrong on that.
Now let me say this. I still don't believe Cliff
Kingsbury's ever won anything in his life as a coach,
because he hasn't. Most wins he's ever had in college

(47:41):
was seven. They drafted what in the top seven last season.
I don't think his defensive coordinator is not very good.
Here's where it might be wrong. He deserves credit for
Kyler Murray because the GM had just drafted Josh Rosen.
And Josh Rosen. Now, if you saw the picture I
posted on my Instagram watch the Saints Buccaneers games from

(48:03):
the stand in his sweats, So they nailed that. Cliff
gets to meet all the credit like he pushed for that.
He got it. Kyler's a star and sometimes when you
have a quarterback who's a star, it can overcome the coach. Now,
Cliff knows what he's doing offensively. That was never a
problem at Texas Tech. I just don't know if their
defense is good enough now. Buddha Baker Chandler Jones is
good getting DeAndre Hopkins. The Niners couldn't cover him. I mean,

(48:26):
DeAndre had fourteen for one fifty. I swear to God
watching the game, it felt like he had twenty five catches.
He's a monster. DeAndre is a star, a baller. But
at the end of the day, their team is going
to go as far as their quarterback, and their quarterback
is a stud. I love Kyler Murray. So while I
diminished Cliff and the coaching staff, I have never said
anything bad about Kyler. I think he pops and he

(48:49):
has one negative and it's small, but he's doesn't it
doesn't FaZe him. He plays smart, he slides, he avoids hits.
He's a stud man. I tip my hat to him.
So that's a miss right now. They just went on
the road beat the Niners. That's that's a big time win.
Got a late touchdown too to win that game, blocked
a punt. I mean, they played a good game. They
were they were legit. Tyrod Taylor, I've been saying over

(49:12):
and over and over. You start Tyrod Taylor, you're not
gonna be very good. I get Anthony Limn likes him.
If you watch Hard Knocks. He's a high level guy.
He's a first guy there. He's lifting when it's dark.
He's not a very good player. They have really good
players on offense, Keenan Allen, Mike Williams. Those two guys
are ballers. Austin Eckler is a really good running back.
They have Hunter Henry. Like you just drafted a guy.

(49:35):
You don't even have to listen to me. Their own
team just drafted a guy six overall. His name Justin Herbert.
Justin Herbert. It's not mister bisky. He wasn't a one
year starter. He was a four year starter at Oregon.
A four year starter at Oregon. Pretty sure. He was
the rose Ball MVP last year. Make him the starter.
Tyrod's a good backup. Let him be a backup. Let
Justin Herbert be a starter. Where I come from cal Pauly,

(49:58):
we have a motto earned by doing throw the guy
in the deep end. You have enough rafts and floaties
that he's not gonna sink. You get your team's good enough,
can't be any worse. I mean, you could barely beat
the Bengals, the Bengals who just had the number one
overall pick. Honestly, the Bengals should have won that game.
So I just as long as you start Tyrod Taylor,

(50:20):
I can't take you seriously. Where I was wrong is
a miss. I took the Browns to cover last week,
and the Browns not only didn't cover, I would say
of all the teams in the league on Sunday, probably
even more in the Texans too. On the Thursday night
game I'm recording this part before the Monday night game.

(50:40):
Is that the Browns were a joke. I mean that
that was as embarrassing of an effort as you'll see
from a team. It's one thing, you know, the Jags
or the Giants or the Jets, teams that I think
any football fan, especially a fan of that team, goes listen,
it sucks. Sucking. I want my team to be good.
But if you're being real, like it's we understand in

(51:01):
twenty twenty, teams that have talent, teams that don't have talent, Right,
the Browns have talent. They have a hundred million dollars
pass rusher. They have the number one overall pick at quarterback.
They have Odell Beckham, they have Jarvis Landry. They signed
Austin Hooper, they got Nick Chubb, and then they signed
Kareem Hunt. They sign a right tackle, they draft a
left tackle, like they get a new coach. What I

(51:22):
mean they scored six points. Listen, I was way wrong
because I expected Baker Mayfield. Where I'm not wrong on
Baker Mayfield is he's a terrible player. Right now, someone
needs to tell Baker Mayfield you are not an athlete.
When you step on a football field. Think of yourself
like Drew Brees, the fattest defensive line in the league

(51:45):
can catch you every time that you step on an
NFL field for the rest of your life, every time,
not counting a kicker or punter, and even I would
say the majority of those guys are better athletes. You're
gonna be the worst athlete on the field. You know
what Breeze and Rivers and Brady know. They know they're
the worst athlete. They don't ever try to run away

(52:07):
when it's not open, throw the ball away when you're
getting when you got a pass, hit the ground. Every
time I looked up and I had that game on.
I guess that was in the morning, so it actually
only came on red zone. Not very much for the Browns.
I'd see these highlights of Baker Mayfield. It's like he's
running around in the pocket, like, bro, what are you doing?

(52:29):
Come John harbaughck can catch you, let alone his defensive lineman.
Stop running around Baker Mayfield. Listen. I don't. I hate
this term because it gets thrown out so often by
media and it's just stupid. Like once you get into
year three and four, like I do, think we can
start throwing the bust word around. You were the number
one overall pick and your offense has talent. I can't believe.

(52:51):
I I didn't actually put money on that game, thank god,
but I was way off on that one. The Lions
where a hit for me. The Lions are just a
terrible franchise. It's just a it's just a trash franchise.
And I just they can't ever get it right hiring

(53:11):
the right people, because at the end of the day,
no matter how rich your owner is, no matter how
glamorous or stadium is, if you do not hire good
gm and a good head coach, you will lose like
Jerry Jones, Robert Kraft, all these guys that have unlimited money,
they are they don't control anything with football. Like the

(53:32):
reason Robert Kraft became a legend is he hired Bill Belichick.
When Jerry Jones had the most success, it was because
of Jimmy Johnson. This isn't that complicated of a formula.
Jeffrey Lewie went from bad owner to immediately a good
owner when he hired Andy Reid, and then the moment
he kicked Chip Kelly out of the building and gave

(53:52):
Howe Roseman more juice, they became a credicable franchise. Again.
The reason Dan Snyder always stinks up until now, I
think with Ron Rivera he hires bad coaches, or when
he hired a good coach in Mike Shanahan, he micromanaged
and made it a disaster. Jed Yorke genius with Harbaugh,
moren with Tom Seula, Chip Kelly, good owner again with
Kyle Shanahan. You gotta hire the right people. And for

(54:14):
whatever reason, it feels like the majority of my life
the Lions never hire the right guy, and now they
got It's fair to say the worst coach in the league.
They were up twenty three to six against Mitch Trubisky
and lost the game. I'm not a big fan of
like a win win probability because it's like it's all

(54:34):
just based on previous games about that game, who knows,
like weird things happen, But it's safe to say when
you're up twenty three to six in the fourth quarter
at home against miss Trubisky, the win probability should be
about and they lost. I mean, how does that happen?
I don't know if this is quite a miss for me,

(54:56):
but I've seen this guy's praises. I think he's a
big time talent and he's not playing very well. And
I talked about him a little bit earlier, but Carson
Wentz was just was just not very good. He just
to lose to Ron Rivera. And I'll take a little
hit on this because as a positive, I've said, Ron

(55:16):
Rivera is a grown up. He's a winner. Look what
he did at Carolina, a joke franchise. When he got there,
they had the number one pick, and then I think
four of the last eight years here four ot the
last seven years he went to the playoffs. So I
guess he'd missed it the last two when Cam got hurt,
but he had a stretch I think it was four
of six years where they were going to the playoffs.
Like he's a he's a legitimate NFL head coach, and

(55:38):
like Carson Wentz, you can't just you can't. Like I
said earlier, you can't try to force every ball with
one hundred miles an hour power. You gotta learn some touch.
You don't need to throw deep all the time. I
think last year when he started playing well, he started
having every pass in his arsenal, the short, little wheel routes,

(55:59):
the quick timing routes. And then because he has a
huge arm, and I get if you have a huge arm.
It's like, if you're a power hitter, you want to
hit home runs. If you're Bryson d. Shambo, you want
to hit three hundred fifty yards. Sometimes in golf you
need to pull out the three iron, just hit the
fairway two hundred and twenty yards in front of you.
You can't always hit. There's a reason Dustin Johnson's winning.
He hits fairways. He'll take something off it. There's a reason.

(56:21):
Like you know some of the great players, you know
Barry Bonds in the peak of his powers. Even though
he was a home runner hitter, he was a great
contact hitter. And I think sometimes Carson Wentz is just
all or nothing, and you all or nothing with good coaches.
And the one thing with the Redskins, excuse me, the
Washington football team it's hard is that, Like they don't
have just some joke coach anymore. This guy's team's gonna

(56:44):
be tough, They're gonna play hard, They're definitely just not
gonna quit. So you gotta play smarter. Okay, let's touch
on a couple other quarterbacks. At the end of the day.
I say it all the time, for as good as
your defense is, for as great as your pass rush is,
if you don't have an above average quarterback, Like if
you have a really good defense, you don't need Aaron Rodgers,
but you need like the Niners last year, Jimmy Garoppolo

(57:07):
the second half of the the season played really well. You
can't win in the foot in the NFL with a
low level quarterback no matter how good your team is,
Like he has to be operating at like a top
fifteen level. It's why Kirk Cousins he can win when
your team's good. Jimmy Garoppolo, he can win when your
team's good, and like his team wasn't as good yesterday,
jim Garoppol lost Trubisky. If I have an angry tweet

(57:30):
mid game, it usually because I have money on the game,
and I had a parlay this weekend. I had the
Raiders minus three. Kind of just swept that one out,
though it was pretty clear that Raiders were much better
than the Panthers. Their defense just pretty questionable, but the
Raiders offense is gonna be pretty good. And I had
the Lions, or excuse me, I had the Bears. I
think I got him at plus three. I think that

(57:50):
closed at three and a half. Now, again a little biased,
but I believe him, my guy, Naggy Trubisky, I was
just open minded. Maybe it improved a little bit, we'll see,
and then they're down basically twenty three to six in
the second half. Trubisky is just atrocious, I mean awful
overthrowing balls, skipping balls, look like the miss Trubisky from
twenty nineteen. And somehow, you know, texting with a couple

(58:14):
of guys, you just he hit a throw and he
just got a little confidence and then down the stretch,
he was basically twelve to sixteen, three touchdowns. In the
fourth quarter, he was exceptional. I mean, he looked he
looked really good. And I'm not saying Trubisky turned a corner,
but I do think like any player, because Trubisky has
physical skills, he has a powerful arm, and he's a
good athlete. His problem, he's inaccurate, and I think a

(58:38):
guy like him, the Bears have to find a way.
And this is why Naggy and John D. Philip, all
these guys get paid all this money to get him confidence,
because when he's confident, he's not terrible. And their defense
is clearly good enough that if you just get middle
of the road quarterback play, you can win with Miller,
with Alan Robinson, they got some playmakers, They're gonna have

(58:58):
a run game as a season goes on, and their
defense is just really good. So if you can just
get top twenty quarterback play, Because the first half worst
quarterback in the league, beside Baker Baker Mayfield, I'd say
after Week one, worst quarterback in the league, I would
put mister Bisky through halftime, probably even third quarter, second
worst quarterback in the league. Then somehow he looked like

(59:19):
Stafford and then the fourth quarter. Now, you're not gonna
always get that Trubisky, But if you can just find
a way to get the guy confident just so he
can make half the plays that he's missing, you'll be okay.
You'll give yourself a little more potency in the in
the passing game, and your defense is good, then you'll
be fine. Josh Allen, I think you saw it yesterday,
like it kind of looks like he's taken another step.

(59:40):
I know there was the past in the back of
the end zone they win viral. Did he overthrow? Did
he over I mean he didn't just airmail it. He
threw it in like the second row, like the second
he threw it over the first bowl. I mean the
guy was wide open the back of the end zone.
He's roll into his left terrible throw. It's okay, you
can have terrible throws. He rushed it, I bet he.
If he he just took a deep breath, set his feet,

(01:00:02):
it would have been a layup throw. But you look
at his numbers. He was thirty three forty six, three
hundred twelve yards, two touchdowns. I just I watched a
lot of that game. I just you know, this guy's
pretty good, and once him and Dix can get on
the same page, he could be really potent. Like I
think it's clear of that draft class three years ago,
Lamar Jackson is clearly the best quarterback in that draft class.

(01:00:23):
Josh right now is solidified at number two, and then
it would probably be Sam, which also in that game.
I don't know what to make of Sam Darnold because
I do like his physical attributes. I liked him a
lot coming out of college. But he is in a
train wreck franchise, I mean a just trash franchise right now.
I think every Jets fan would agree with that. I'm

(01:00:46):
not talking about your history or even the brand, because
there's there's some history there. The brand, if they're good,
is fantastic the New York market. But what they got
going on right now, and it's not Joe Douglas's fault.
Adam Gase is just an awful head coach. Doesn't look
like they have with that much talent around, And that's
part of that is Mike mccagnant and the team he built.
Levion Bell, who got hurt yesterday, is just not good.

(01:01:07):
Frank Gore, who I love, I am a Frank Gore
stand he should not be in the NFL right now.
He had six carriages for twenty four yards. Like, if
you just look around the league, you don't need to
draft Clyde Edwards Hilaire in the first round. Though, if
you're the Chiefs, you just kick everyone's aff with them.
You can find guys in the middle of the round
that are immediately just starting running backs. The Niners. They're

(01:01:32):
rolling out Raheem Mozart, the Brams, Malcolm Brown, the Seattle
Chris Carson, like young, vibrant backs, and they're stuck with Frank,
who's wailed again. I respect the hell out of Frank
and Levon Bell, who just stinks. And then you look
at their wide receivers. You know, Crowder had the one
big play, they got nothing else, and you just look

(01:01:54):
across you know the field, the Bill's add digs. They
already had Jeron Brown, Cole Beasley's a solid slot receiver.
They can throw it to Singletary the running back. Alan
can run. That's the one big difference between Alan and Darnold.
Like Alan is a pretty potent runner. At any moment,
he could bust out a twenty yard run, so why
I like playing him in daily fantasy because he can
get you a couple of passing touchdowns. He can get

(01:02:15):
you a rushing touchdown, especially on those boot plays. He's
like the poor man's cam. So you know, Mitch is
a major work in progress. He surely showed some signs
of life because he does have some physical attributes. His
just downfall, he's he's inaccurate, and that can be a deadly,
deadly downfall. But when he does get in a rhythm,

(01:02:37):
you're like, oh, Mitch is pretty good quarterback right now.
Granted he's playing the Alliance. But next week they play
the Giants, and then they play the Falcons. There's a
chance Mitch, like the Bears, could start three and zero.
The Bills, I mean, are just gonna be good. The
Jets are are gonna be awful. I mean, the Jets
play the Niners this week, the Niners coming off a loss.

(01:02:58):
I haven't I haven't seen the line yet. I guess
would be six or seven points. The Niners should destroy
the Jets. I don't see how the Jets score on them,
and I don't see how the Jets stop the forty
nine ers. I mean, the Jets just let me pull
up their schedule right now. They got the Niners loss
at the Colts. I don't even love the Colts, but
how are the Jets gonna be the Colts? The Broncos

(01:03:19):
again recording this before the Monday night games this part,
so I don't know how they'll look. But the Broncos
have way more talent than the Cardinals and the Chargers
and the Bills and the Chiefs and the Patriots. There's
a chance the Jets don't win many games, Oh my god.
They They got a couple of games with the Dolphins.
Who the Dolphins are better, the Raiders, Seattle, the Rams,

(01:03:40):
the Patriots again. I mean, it's just Jets are in
for a long season, man, and Sam Darnold probably not
gonna have very good numbers. People are gonna question it.
I'm not trying to make excuses for the guy, but
he's had I think what we all agree, probably the
worst coach right now in the NFL, if not I
mean top bottom three Patricia. He has a franchise that's

(01:04:02):
just like the Lions and shambles. Now, Stafford's good enough
to overcome that, and they got some weapons. Darnold's not.
He's young, he's inexperienced, they don't have any weapons around him,
and the Bills are just kind of in the driver's
seat to win that division. Okay, let me I gotta
go off about this because I saw it definitely started

(01:04:22):
with the Raider game. Gruden didn't really wear his mask.
He has his mask around his chin the whole time.
Then the Niners game Kyle Cliff did not have a
mask on, and then the night game Sean McVay never
had his mask over his face. And I wake up
this morning Chefter tweet like, I couldn't sleep last night.
Maybe I'm just so giddy off football. On Monday morning,

(01:04:44):
Schefter has his tweet that the league led by I
think Troy Vincent, who's like one of Roger Goodell's right
hand and then sends out a memo kind of saying like,
hey guys, for those of you that didn't wear the mask,
and a lot of guys, I think that's why Andy
Reid wore the fish face shield. He knew he'd take
it off. I'll give Bill O'Brien credit. He wore it
the whole time. Jerry didn't have one on, but who cares.

(01:05:07):
Most coaches it felt like was hit or miss. Here's
my overall issue. I think optics are the most overrated
thing just in sports, but in any business. Optics like
what the media thinks. Who cares what John Middlecoff saying
about you? Now, Granted, I'm not gonna say anything bad
because I think it's so stupid. I've seen the same
thing with the NBA. All these guys are tested every

(01:05:32):
single day. There is not anyone on that football field
that hasn't been tested for forty five straight days. No
one has corona on the field. Now, I don't know
all the rules with the referees, but I would be
shocked if they're not also not getting tested daily because
you couldn't afford bringing one of those guys in having
it on. The NFL has billions of dollars on the line.

(01:05:52):
It's why they have. I did some numbers, probably between
fifteen to twenty million dollars a month to test everybody.
The NFL is spending a ton of money to make
sure no one has the coronavirus. And the way that
you find out is you test every day. In the
moment someone has it, you quarantine him or whatever. Right,
it's not that complicated. The NBA same thing. It's why
I never understood in the NBA coaches. Their coaches take

(01:06:14):
it off all the time, but they have players like
I remember in the first round series the Clippers, Patrick
Beverley plays in Game one, Game two, he gets hurt,
so he's out and he has to wear a mask
on the sideline. It's like he was literally just on
the court, sweating and diving on everyone. Now he tweaks
his ankle, he's off the court where has to wear
a mask. Then a couple of games later he's back,

(01:06:35):
not wearing a mask on the court. What are we
worried that, like people in the mainstream media are going
to freak out, You guys are all tested. Why are
we making a big deal of this now? To counter
my own argument of just I think the whole thing
is worried too much. What people are gonna think. I
do understand from the league's perspective, the games are paying
for everything, so the money is all coming from the games,

(01:06:59):
So under no circumstances would you want an outbreak on
just something you can't control. So I do get them
from being over the top, But I also understand I
saw John Gruden say. Gruden was like it's one hundred
degrees and superhuman. I could barely breathe. I get tested
every day. I got to do a better job. But like,
I'm gonna pull it back down, what are you gonna
find these guys fifty thousand dollars for not wearing a mask.

(01:07:19):
They don't have the coronavirus. We know for a fact,
you couldn't test these guys anymore. It's not even humanly possible.
And I'm not some anti masker. I follow the rules.
You tell me to wear a mask, I wear a mask.
I approach it like anything else. You tell me to
wear shoes in your restaurant, I wear it. I just
follow the rules, and I get these are technically the rules.
But I can understand from the coach's perspective, like guys,

(01:07:41):
I'm tested every day. I need to talk to my players.
I need to I'm the play caller. I want to
speak into the mic. So I just I think this
is kind of a tough spot for the league trying
to crack down because they're terrified it's all about money.
They don't want anything to happen, which I completely I'm
I'm as pro business anyone you're ever going to hear

(01:08:03):
the talks for a living in the talks about sports,
so I get it. But I also understand, like I
understood why Cliff Kingsbury and Kyle didn't have their mask on.
Like what, I've had something stuck up my nose for
forty five straight days every day negative. I do not
have the coronavirus. Every single one of my coaches, every
single one of my trainers, every single one of my players,
same thing. The Nighters, for example, Fred Warner got it,

(01:08:26):
put them on, put them on COVID list for like
twelve days, he was gone. So I mean, it's like
we know immediately when a guy has it and they're
not allowed. So it's just one of those things, Like
I I think optics is just the most overplayed thing
in business. What people in the consumer speaks, and clearly
no one in the NFL. I think there was also

(01:08:47):
a report on Monday morning, like the NFL hasn't not
a positive test like a week like it just the
NFL knows what they're doing in terms of the players
and the coaches, like they all fall on the rules,
and partly they immediately know when some guys has it,
you immediately sent him to quarantine. This isn't this is
rocket scigns here. The NFL has got it down pat.
But to act like you're gonna find these guys if

(01:09:08):
they got to pull down their mass to call a play,
to me, it's kind of stupid. Okay, let's bang out
a couple of questions from the Middlecoff mail bag at
John Middlecoff is my Instagram dms open. Welcome to come
on in and interact on the show. Hey, dude, big
fan of the pot. When are the pundits finally gonna
give up on Carson Wentz. I'm watching him get owned

(01:09:30):
by the Washington football team. Never gets weird saying that,
and you can almost hear Coward defending him Monday morning.
I'm not an expert, but seems like he's either injured
or is frankly pretty lackluster. He has a big arm,
but it massed poor decision making, like rolling out of
the pocket way before it breaks down. Yeah, he wasn't

(01:09:51):
good in the second half, just bottom line, and really
to end that first half when he threw that pick
and I think it didn't lead to a touchdown. I
talked about it earlier. He just I thought he had
a lot of mojo going at the end of the
last season. I get he was playing shitty teams, the
divisional teams basically. I think he played either the Giants
or Washington twice and then one of the other ones

(01:10:11):
once and then obviously that Cowboy game, and he just
he played well and he got his mojo back going
into that playoff game against Seattle, and then Clowney hit
him and clearly he got hurt in this training camp,
that game was weird. Right now, He's more talent than
he is football players. It's sad because he is really talented.
Even if you're kind of out on Carson, I think
we all can admit that. I think someone send me

(01:10:33):
a DM like compared him to Jeff George. I wouldn't
go that far, but yeah, I mean there's an elephant
in the room with him. They can't really be argued
right because we've seen his high end. Unlike Darnold or Baker.
It's like those guys haven't done anything. Carson. We saw
him play at MVP level. We saw they were the
number one seed, and then he got hurt, and it's
just kind of been weird ever since. Can you give

(01:10:56):
an assessment on Sam Darnold. I know he doesn't have weapons,
Gays is a head coach and the line has not
been good. Still, should Jets fans be worried? He doesn't
seem to have a presence on the field in terms
of being able to get guys lined up or make plays.
He often seems nervous, indecisive, and not willing to take
a hit. If this year continues, should the Jets move on?
The whole roster is a mess anyway? I feel bad

(01:11:17):
for fans of just crappy teams. You know, we don't
like we get to pick our job in theory. I mean,
you can if you hit your job, you can always
quit and go pick another job, or at least, you know,
try to do something different. We get to pick our
mate in theory, you know, our significant other whoever we
want a date or mary. But we don't really get

(01:11:38):
to pick our team, right. We're just born. Like when
I was born, my dad was a big forty nine
er fan, and I was just born in northern California,
So I was either probably gonna like the Giants or
the A's or the Kings or the Warriors. Like I
wasn't gonna end up liking like the Cowboys or the Yankees. Right,
if you're born in Ohio, you're just probably gonna like
the Bengals or the Browns. If you're born in Philly,

(01:11:58):
you're just gonna like the Eagles. It's just or the
Sixers or whatever. We're just we're tend to like where
we're born, and we clearly don't determine where we're born.
So if you're born I don't exactly know. I've only
been in New York a couple of times how it
breaks down, But clearly a Jets are a Giants fan.
You don't get to choose that. Now. If I if
you were my age thirty five, you've been a Giants fan.
You had a pretty good run, right, You've won a

(01:12:19):
couple of Super Bowls in your adult life, it hasn't sucked.
If you're a Jets fan, you go, why is God
doing this to us? And I say, I don't know. Okay,
I believe Sam Darnold, like Wentz, is talented. Now Wentz
has proven way more in the league. The Jets are
a mess. To me, It's really really hard to judge

(01:12:39):
a quarterback in this situation. The coach is a dead
man walking. Do you have one offensive player that you
would feel good about on like a high level playoff team,
beside the young left tackle serious maybe the tight end,
you know, I mean the running Frank Gore. I talked
about him earlier. I just I don't know. To me,

(01:13:00):
that one's tough that you know the grades, like when
you're in elementary school and you get like ABC D
or D or f right or just even in high school,
and then there's one like incomplete I n C. I
just I'd give it an incomplete. I don't even know
what to even say at this point. Like it's easier
to make judgments on Josh Allen right. See him with

(01:13:22):
good players, you see him making improvements, you see his talent.
It's just like you kind of see it all, even
though there's things to be desired, even like Drew Locke tonight,
You're like, Okay, I see the talent. I see him
moving around, see him with Judy's dropping some balls and
Melvin Gordon and I just know a fan, I'm like, okay,
I can see this right. It's like I watched Sam
Darholm's like I don't even know love the Pod looks

(01:13:46):
like the best team in the NFC. West. The forty
nine Ers got beat by the most overrated team in
the NFL, the Cardinals. A question, does this make you
change your opinion on the Bird Gang and some of
what makes you pull back on the forty nine ers.
Usually the team that loses Super Bowl does not make
the playoffs the following year. Also with Hopkins and the
genius of Cliff Kingsbury, you know, the coach that has
never won more in seven games in a season, Cardinals

(01:14:07):
looking like a a contender. I know it's Week one, but
it's time to stop the Redbird hate and jump on
the bandwagon. DeAndre Hopkins, one of my favorite players in
the league, said earlier, I love Kyler. I think I
spoke on this earlier. My take on the forty nine
Ers is they got a shitload injuries. I mean, as
of earlier today. Kittle now has a spraying knee. Who

(01:14:27):
knows if he plays this week. They're lucky they play
the Jets and the Giants the next two weeks. Deebo
Samuel had a setback last week. That's not ideal. Their
wide receiver snak I mean Dante Pettis I would have
cut yesterday. Trent Taylor was good like three years ago,
I would he's not any good now. Kendrick Bourne is
the only decent receiver they have, but in reality he's

(01:14:47):
a third wide receiver, but he's the best wide receiver
they have that's healthy. Now Kittle's limping around. It's just
the Niners have some short term issues. They just can't
stay healthy in their quarterbacks off and their defense is
still really good relative to the NFL, but it's not
as good as it was last year. I mean, the
defense helped carry them to an eight no record. You know,
I don't know the pass rush. I mean, Bossa's dominant,

(01:15:10):
but it's like he can only do so much. You know,
Buckner's gone, Eric Armstead's not going to be as good
without Buckner de Ford who even knows kin laws or
work in progress? So yeah, I mean, as I say
it all the time, I think Kyle Shanahan's an elite coach.
They'll make the playoffs. It's really that simple. And I
you know, listen, you got Kyler Murrain. He's that good.

(01:15:32):
Maybe I should, maybe I should shut my mouth. Huge
fan of the show, A huge cowboy fans here, A
true one, not like the other ones. In the opener,
offense look proficient right, tackling tight end being the two
glaring holes, but the defense is seriously lacking. After seeing
Week one's performance, do you think Dallas front office maybe
having second thoughts of saving cap room that signing a

(01:15:52):
stud dB. Do you believe the need is great enough
for a mid season signed in trade or do you
think the secondary can be sharpened up and be serviceable? Yeah?
I mean, what was the final score twenty seventeen, Like,
it's just I wouldn't be that worried now. Vander esh
breaking his collarbone and probably who knows out for the season.
He's a neck, his collarbone, He's always having issues. That's
a pretty big issue. Alden Smith was a badass. To me,

(01:16:16):
their offense needs to be more potent. I never understood
the hiring of Mike Nolan. I get he put Mike
McCarthy on the map, but you cannot hire Mike Nolan
two twenty to be your defensive coordinator. I hated that,
like the Tom seu La hire. And if you look,
their defensive line is gonna be fine. To me, their
offense needs to dominate. They need to score thirty points
a game, and would with Zeke with Dak with CD

(01:16:39):
with gallop, like even with the tight end tearing his
acl which sucks because that guy's pretty talented. They should dominate.
I mean, Zeke looks in fantastic shape, like there's just
to me, Dak leaves a little something to be desired,
like there's I watched Dak and Go. I like Dak,
but I can understand where if I was running the Cowboys,
where I'd hesitant, like do I want to pay this guy?

(01:17:01):
Everyone in the media is like, you gotta pay him?
I do? Why? What's what am I winning with Dak?
Do I actually have to pay him? Because I don't
think I do, because I'll play this year to year.
You know, it might be closer to Kirk Cousins, Say
what you want. The one thing Washington gets a lot
of credit on over the last four or five years
as people go, you know what, they played the Kirk

(01:17:23):
Cousins situation, right, Kirk Cousins is fine. He made the
playoffs last year at Minnesota, And you know what, Dak
probably would have made the playoffs with Kirk Minnesota. Do
you know why? Because Minnesota's team last year was stacked.
You know who else would made the playoffs? With Minnesota,
every quarterback that's like a top eighteen quarterback. Would have
you gave Rogers or Stafford or you know, Russell Wilson

(01:17:45):
or Mahomes Minnesota? The last couple of years they dominated,
They'd win fourteen games. So like, would Dak have been
any different than Kirk Cousins. I don't know. Again, I'm
a Dak fan, but I'm not saying he's the problem.
But are we sure he's the solution? Regarding the Eagles
injuries year over year, I think they are currently down

(01:18:07):
eight of twenty two starters. Have you seen anything like
this and at what point should you finger? The staff
in the front office would also appreciate your take on
the Eagles melt down against Washington General I had someone
else dm me this. I listen in my backyard. The
Niners have had a ton of injuries the last several years.
They are borderline hand in hand with the Eagles. Maybe

(01:18:28):
the Eagles have one more, but the Niners are not
far behind. I'm just I just went to a state
school with California. I'm not a medical grad, so I
don't pretend to know what causes injuries and what I'm
not a strength coach. I don't get it. I've just
been around in the front offices. I've talked a lot
about it. I obviously watched this stuff closely. My expert

(01:18:49):
opinion would be a somewhat random, Like there is no
chance I know how much money, for example, of the
Eagles spend. I've seen it. They spend every possible penny
on doctors, on raining, on the scouting, on the whole
deal and the coaching whatever it takes to get guys
in pristine shape ability practice to get ready for these games.

(01:19:10):
So I no one wants anyone to get hurt. I
think it's just I think there's some dumb luck randomness
to it. That's my expert opinion, to be completely honest
with you, Like, does Andre Dillard get hurt because of
something the staff did? Like, no way, I don't buy
that for a second. Miles Sanders, like these guys just
get hurt, like the Deebo Samuel just break his foot,

(01:19:32):
Brandon I you pull his hamstring, George Kittle get laid out.
You know, it's just these injuries, just it's football. Sometimes
you just go on a bad three or four year stretch,
you know, and sometimes like it feels like the Ravens
never have a guy injured. You know, last year the
Chiefs had some injuries. So it's just I don't know, man,
I it is crazy. I'll give you that. The Eagles

(01:19:53):
do feel pretty extreme, but I know those guys. I've
seen it, and I know the way the owner thinks
they're spending every possible penny to avoid this. So it's
just I don't know what to say and the meltdown.
I do think in the NFL early in seasons, even

(01:20:13):
if the Eagles are better than Washington, you get into
a position where you know you're playing, like you said, undermanned.
Your quarterbacks starts playing kind of crappy, like if Carson
Wentz has bad stretches, the Eagles just won't be good.
Like at the point at their given situation right now,
he has to be an eight out of ten or

(01:20:34):
more every game for them to win, and clearly once
the second half, right at the end of the first
half and then the second half, you start turning into
like a five five out of ten, like it's just
you're gonna lose. I don't care if you're playing Alabama,
let alone an NFL team like you just they're not
good enough right now. Now. If he's really good, they
would have won that game thirty to ten. Right but

(01:20:56):
he wasn't good because they're not gonna be able to
really run the ball right now, and they just need
him to be good. To me, here's a key too.
When your team is limited from a personnel standpoint because injuries,
you can't turn the ball over. Philip Rivers the end
of the game, pick Carson Wentz the two picks. You know,

(01:21:20):
you just the Tom Brady the pick. Like. You throw
picks against good teams, you're gonna lose. You throw picks
against average teams. If your team's you know, not full strength,
you can lose. You can't turn the ball over. Anyone
that's played high school football, let alone college football, let aloune. Obviously,
I've never played in the NFL, but I've been around
enough NFL coaches. Every coach I've ever been around, from

(01:21:42):
college of the pros never stop talking about turnovers. And
you know, sometimes like okay, shut up, we get it.
But then the game happens and you fumble or you
throw a pick, You're like, you realize it ruins the
mojo of your team, I mean, and it gives all
the mojo to the other team. There is no just
swing in a game like a quarterback throwing a pick,

(01:22:05):
especially in a tight game. Just close your eyes and
think about your team getting a pick in a game
where you're like down seven points, and just the explosion
of your squad and how much they're celebrating as they're
going back to the other sideline the offense come on
the field. It's an incredible feeling. And how the quarterback
unbuckles his chin strap and his head goes down and
the whole aura of the sideline just goes to shit.

(01:22:30):
So to me, the turnovers, you can't turn the ball over,
and he did. Do you feel the Cam showing off
some signs of good form against an improving Dolphins defense
might be enough for Bill to look Bill to put
some experience pieces around Cam if available, or will this
just see how Cam does with the tools offer on

(01:22:53):
this roster? Also, do you think Cam running his mouth
against the defense will put a target on his head
when they return to Miami? Probably not the wisest move
from a player that has been banged up the last
couple of seasons. My thing is Camp, if you're wearing
a chain is hanging out. Like if I was on
the other team, i'd grab your chain a keep to
leave when he grab crabtreets chain, Like you wear a
chain that's hanging out of your pads. Guys are gonna

(01:23:16):
grab it. It's football, you know, it's it's a it's
a physical sport. There's just everyone's looking for an edge, pinching, biting, tackling.
It's just it is what it is. So like your
chain's gonna be hanging out, guys are gonna grab it.
I think they're just gonna ride Camp till the wheels
come off. They paid him five hundred grand. They gave
him fifteen carries. I think or fourteen of those were designed.

(01:23:38):
I read this morning that just I would just run
him until he falls apart. Why why why does Belichick care?
Like a Belichick knows they're not potent enough passing the ball,
They're just gonna run them on quarterback powers. They're just
gonna run them down people's throats. Now, is he gonna last?
I don't know. He's enormous, but he's broken down before.
I just don't think Belichick cares like he's just gonna

(01:23:59):
ride Cam till the wheels fall off. After watching that
performance and just looking at the box score, it's clear
Belichick goes, you're our best offensive player running the football,
so we're gonna run you to try to score and
get first downs. And you can do that. Now, can
you do that against like the Steelers and the and
the Ravens and some of the better teams the Bills.

(01:24:20):
I mean, you might get you might not get up.
I mean they're gonna try to take him out. But
it's enjoyable to watch. I like watching Cam run around.
It's fun. Appreciate everyone listening longer pod today and have
a good week. Are you coming to bed hunt? Yep, honey,

(01:24:56):
I'll be right there. I just gotta turn out the light.
Oh some thing's never change, like your kids always leaving
tiny toys on the floor for you to step on,
and Geiko saving folks lots of money on their car insurance. Sweetie,

(01:25:17):
I think I left the downstairs light on. Please don't
make me go. Fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent
or more.
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