Latest / 3 and Out with John Middlekauff / Best of The Week: Dante Moore DONE for the season, NFL Primer, Season predictions

Transcript

Best of The Week: Dante Moore DONE for the season, NFL Primer, Season predictions · 3 and Out with John Middlekauff

0:01
Speaker 1: The Volume. What is going on? This is John Middlecoff
0:17
Speaker 1: from 3NOW Podcast and this is the best of of
0:21
Speaker 1: my favorite takes, our best takes as we head on
0:24
Speaker 1: into football season. Dante Moore, the Oregon quarterback who got
0:28
Speaker 1: KO'd at the USC game, is out for the year. Historically,
0:36
Speaker 1: when a guy returned, most of my life, in basketball
0:40
Speaker 1: or in football that was viewed as a high pick,
0:43
Speaker 1: a lot of people went, that is very risky. Your
0:46
Speaker 1: stock could fall off a cliff because you play poorly
0:50
Speaker 1: or you could get injured. I In the NIL era,
0:54
Speaker 1: I mean, what do you think he made this year? Six, seven,
0:56
Speaker 1: eight million dollars? Probably one of, if not the highest
0:59
Speaker 1: paid quarterback in all of college football. He made, you know,
1:04
Speaker 1: maybe Arch Banning made more, and I bet it wasn't
1:06
Speaker 1: that much different. And I respect he came back because
1:09
Speaker 1: he thought they could win a national championship. And he
1:13
Speaker 1: would help provide the first national championship in program history
1:17
Speaker 1: and become a legend at the program while getting rich
1:19
Speaker 1: and then becoming a high pick. You know, as long
1:23
Speaker 1: as he doesn't have some neurological long-term effect, which we've
1:27
Speaker 1: seen a lot of guys get concussions and come back,
1:29
Speaker 1: and I know his was a bad one, but if
1:31
Speaker 1: I'm going to assume he's going to make a full
1:33
Speaker 1: bill of health based on what Dan Lanning said he
1:36
Speaker 1: will and already has, I still think he's going to
1:40
Speaker 1: be a top 10 pick. And I actually think he
1:43
Speaker 1: has a chance to be like a top two or
1:45
Speaker 1: three pick. Look at this quarterback class. Who's he competing against?
1:49
Speaker 1: I mean, I think Trinidad's performance the other night really
1:52
Speaker 1: rattled some people against an NFL defense on the road.
1:55
Speaker 1: It was like, whoa. And I'm a huge fan. You know,
1:58
Speaker 1: we'll see Darian Mensah, the better teams they play. But.
2:02
Speaker 1: Like the Oklahoma State guy has started like a year
2:06
Speaker 1: and a half of his college career. He didn't even
2:08
Speaker 1: start a game in high school. Arch Manning wouldn't get
2:11
Speaker 1: drafted in the fourth round right now. So what are
2:14
Speaker 1: we even talking about? Everything's going to be okay. He
2:17
Speaker 1: made a decision. He got compensated for it. and a
2:22
Speaker 1: freak thing happened, and it derailed his season. And then, like,
2:26
Speaker 1: and Dan Lanning, I watched some of his press conference, like,
2:28
Speaker 1: this guy's not quitting. Well, you just fired the offensive coordinator.
2:32
Speaker 1: The offense is a nightmare. So even if you could
2:35
Speaker 1: come back for a team that's not going to the playoffs,
2:38
Speaker 1: your offense, the coaching staff, is in disarray. It is,
2:43
Speaker 1: it's one of those that everyone in the NFL would
2:45
Speaker 1: be like, right decision. Right move. Start getting ready for
2:48
Speaker 1: the NFL. Just stay with the team. Keep training. Stay
2:50
Speaker 1: in shape. And then, you know, get ready for whether
2:54
Speaker 1: you want to play in the Senior Bowl or just
2:55
Speaker 1: get ready for the Combine. But there's going to be
2:58
Speaker 1: a lot of different takes about this. And he would
3:01
Speaker 1: have made more money if he would have come out
3:02
Speaker 1: and gone to the Browns or the Jets. Right? I
3:05
Speaker 1: guess he probably would have gone number two to the Jets.
3:08
Speaker 1: I actually think if you go to the Jets next year,
3:11
Speaker 1: they are much more equipped. Adding Omar Cooper Jr., adding,
3:17
Speaker 1: you know, Sadiq, his teammate. Like, they just, I mean,
3:20
Speaker 1: who knows? Maybe they could flip Garrett Wilson the next
3:22
Speaker 1: week for a first-round pick. Like, they are going to
3:24
Speaker 1: be much more equipped to handle him. You know, the
3:27
Speaker 1: Browns are no longer going to be drafting that high.
3:30
Speaker 1: And if there are some teams I would be very
3:33
Speaker 1: hesitant to go to if I was him. Like, if
3:35
Speaker 1: the Arizona Cardinals had one of the top picks, I
3:37
Speaker 1: would refuse to go. I would have some similar thoughts
3:41
Speaker 1: when it came to the Miami Dolphins. Like, I do
3:44
Speaker 1: wonder now if some of these guys are highly compensated.
3:46
Speaker 1: They're already rich. They already got some juice. They start
3:50
Speaker 1: kind of pulling some Eli Manning move of like, I'm
3:53
Speaker 1: not playing here. Because that's essentially what he did. He
3:57
Speaker 1: went back to try to win a national championship. But also, like,
4:01
Speaker 1: I'm not comfortable with the group of teams drafting high.
4:04
Speaker 1: So now, if I am coming out, which I guess
4:07
Speaker 1: technically he probably could still end up going back. We'll
4:09
Speaker 1: see how that plays out. But I think all expectations
4:11
Speaker 1: are him going to Perot. Depending on who's drafting high,
4:14
Speaker 1: and we got a long way to go. We'll see
4:16
Speaker 1: how this quarterback situation plays out. I think some quarterbacks
4:20
Speaker 1: need to start going like, I'm not playing for you.
4:22
Speaker 1: It happens all the time in the NBA. NFL players
4:25
Speaker 1: would juice historically have done it. I would not go
4:29
Speaker 1: to a place where careers go to die. And we'll
4:32
Speaker 1: have to see how it all shakes out, but... I
4:36
Speaker 1: think he 100%, I mean, it wasn't even a decision
4:39
Speaker 1: to be made. Once the OC gets fired, like, for who,
4:42
Speaker 1: for what, as my man Ricky Waters said. So the
4:46
Speaker 1: Dallas Cowboys dominate, and Dante Moore says adios, Oregon. When
4:51
Speaker 1: do the Raiders put Fernando Mendoza in the game? Early on,
4:55
Speaker 1: Raiders were competitive. Everyone's like, God, do you compete for
4:58
Speaker 1: a playoff spot with Cousins? Kirko Chains, baby. Just ride
5:03
Speaker 1: that wave. Then they almost beat the Chiefs, and I'm
5:06
Speaker 1: guilty of this. I'm like, God, the Raiders are not bad.
5:09
Speaker 1: Since then, it's imploded, and they clearly do not look good.
5:12
Speaker 1: They've been blown out, essentially, in two of the three games,
5:15
Speaker 1: are now under. 500, and feel destined to kind of
5:19
Speaker 1: unravel here, which is understandable. They don't have a great
5:22
Speaker 1: team on paper, and Cousins, at his age, has some limitations.
5:27
Speaker 1: But it actually, seeing the situation, I think this goes
5:31
Speaker 1: back to Bill Polian, that he had a famous line
5:34
Speaker 1: that if you listen to the fans, you will be
5:37
Speaker 1: sitting with them. And I think in public jobs, and
5:40
Speaker 1: this would probably go for in relation to major public companies,
5:46
Speaker 1: obviously sports franchises, there is a huge loud noise outside
5:52
Speaker 1: the building. And the Raiders were adamant the moment they
5:55
Speaker 1: drafted Fernando Mendoza from Tom Brady to their head coach
5:59
Speaker 1: that they believed the best case scenario for any young
6:03
Speaker 1: quarterback in his shoes is to not play as a rookie. Clearly, Brady,
6:09
Speaker 1: who has a major influence over this organization, specifically with
6:13
Speaker 1: the quarterback position, is a benefactor. Now, way different situation,
6:19
Speaker 1: six-round pick, first overall pick, but... He sat the first year,
6:22
Speaker 1: he made the team, he learned by the next year,
6:25
Speaker 1: you know, by after Bledsoe gets injured in game one,
6:28
Speaker 1: like the rest is history. But I bet, you know,
6:31
Speaker 1: if you're having beers with him, that first year of
6:34
Speaker 1: seeing how everything was done helped change the course of
6:38
Speaker 1: his career. Now again, even going back to his time
6:41
Speaker 1: at Michigan, which when he was there, unlike currently was
6:45
Speaker 1: an elite program, he battled the job, he played a lot,
6:50
Speaker 1: but he was in and out of the lineup, unlike Fernando,
6:52
Speaker 1: full-time starter, national champion. It does make me think, and listen,
6:56
Speaker 1: these situations are not easy. I do think it is easier.
7:02
Speaker 1: We often see it when coaches are competing for their job.
7:06
Speaker 1: Wins and losses impact their status within the building. We've
7:11
Speaker 1: seen it countless times. They go to the guy they
7:14
Speaker 1: just drafted, whether it was the number one overall pick
7:16
Speaker 1: or whether it was a guy in the second round,
7:18
Speaker 1: just to hopefully get a spark, get some hope. and
7:22
Speaker 1: have the owner go, you know what, we can ride
7:26
Speaker 1: this out another year. Clearly with Clint Kubiak, he's got
7:29
Speaker 1: a long leash. They are not running through him of like, hey,
7:34
Speaker 1: you went 6-11, or hell, let's say they win two
7:37
Speaker 1: more games the rest of the year, he's not going
7:39
Speaker 1: to get fired. He is getting a long leash to
7:42
Speaker 1: work with Fernando Mendoza at minimum a couple years after
7:47
Speaker 1: this season, rightfully so. But I was watching the Saban documentary.
7:52
Speaker 1: I still need to finish the last episode. And one thing,
7:54
Speaker 1: a lot of things stuck out. I want to watch
7:56
Speaker 1: it again and take notes. I mean, it is. I
8:00
Speaker 1: think there are a lot of parallels to whatever you
8:02
Speaker 1: do in life, takeaways and messaging that you could use
8:06
Speaker 1: for yourself. It really is. I mean, it's a football documentary.
8:10
Speaker 1: It's a life documentary. But I think there are a
8:13
Speaker 1: lot of lessons in there that you can, you know,
8:18
Speaker 1: remove the athletic portion of it and just use in
8:21
Speaker 1: your everyday life to help you be successful in whatever
8:24
Speaker 1: you do. And one thing really stuck out to me
8:26
Speaker 1: is there, I forget what episode, maybe like the third
8:30
Speaker 1: or fourth episode. It basically documented the situation when Nick
8:35
Speaker 1: Saban fired Lane Kiffin. He fired Lane Kiffin after the
8:41
Speaker 1: final four game, which they won 24 to seven. They
8:45
Speaker 1: rolled wide. I remember watching that game. That score was
8:48
Speaker 1: not as close as the game. But in that game,
8:52
Speaker 1: they went over in the dock, like, bunch of penalties,
8:55
Speaker 1: bunch of guys didn't know the plays. It was very discombobulated.
8:59
Speaker 1: It did not look right, especially for his standards, the
9:02
Speaker 1: program standards, and the standard in which it would take
9:05
Speaker 1: to win the national championship game. And Lane had already
9:08
Speaker 1: accepted the job at FAU and clearly was basically his
9:11
Speaker 1: mind and just emotional being was already out the door.
9:16
Speaker 1: And Saban knew it. Everyone in the building knew it.
9:19
Speaker 1: But no one does that. No one fires the offensive
9:23
Speaker 1: coordinator where you have been winning and had success with
9:26
Speaker 1: them right before the biggest game of the season, literally
9:29
Speaker 1: for another ring. And Nick did it. And they were
9:32
Speaker 1: interviewing the other coaches, the strike staff, even Jalen Hurts,
9:38
Speaker 1: who all thought it was pretty nuts. I mean, Jalen,
9:40
Speaker 1: who's exceptional in the doc, was like, I was a
9:44
Speaker 1: true freshman. That's a pretty big change for them just
9:50
Speaker 1: to insert Steve Sarkeesian the week of the biggest game
9:54
Speaker 1: of my life. Mike Loxley was like, yeah, we all
9:57
Speaker 1: thought it was crazy. Like, hey, man, can't we just
9:59
Speaker 1: suck it up for seven more days? We're all cool
10:01
Speaker 1: with it. The offensive staff, we'll just deal with it.
10:04
Speaker 1: And Nick essentially said, like, I knew it wasn't right.
10:09
Speaker 1: And there are certain lines that if you cross, I
10:13
Speaker 1: have to make a decision. And no matter what everyone
10:16
Speaker 1: outside thinks, and in a gig like that, a lot
10:19
Speaker 1: of people on the outside have a lot of opinions.
10:21
Speaker 1: And people thought he was insane when he did it, right?
10:25
Speaker 1: And even looking back, it's pretty unheard of, and I
10:27
Speaker 1: don't think you'd see that ever again. I mean, most
10:29
Speaker 1: times when these teams make runs... you see these coaches
10:32
Speaker 1: continue to operate for their program. Saban's guys have been
10:38
Speaker 1: doing it forever. Last year, Bob Chesney is coaching a
10:42
Speaker 1: playoff game. He did the UCLA press conference like two
10:46
Speaker 1: weeks before. So it's proven it can be done time
10:50
Speaker 1: and time again. But now with Lane Kiffin, Nick Saban
10:52
Speaker 1: knew it and he moved on. And you watch the
10:55
Speaker 1: documentary and you go, you know, it's weird saying this
10:58
Speaker 1: because it's like, listen, he's already had a bunch of
11:01
Speaker 1: national championships. His job, it's not like he's worrying on
11:04
Speaker 1: a year-to-year basis. But that's the type move that's like,
11:08
Speaker 1: this guy's got some balls. This guy's like, I'm not
11:11
Speaker 1: having this crap happen under my watch, watching it firsthand,
11:16
Speaker 1: knowing what this guy's doing, which is essentially not trying
11:20
Speaker 1: that hard. It's not acceptable big picture. And I was thinking,
11:24
Speaker 1: think how many guys in Alabama, whether it be the
11:27
Speaker 1: coaches or even a guy like Jalen, that will never
11:30
Speaker 1: forget that and the way they operate the rest of
11:33
Speaker 1: their lives. And I think it's so easy. You get
11:36
Speaker 1: so much credit in the sport of football when things
11:40
Speaker 1: aren't going well, especially like this Cousins thing, like he
11:43
Speaker 1: can't move. So they can't run the ball. They don't
11:46
Speaker 1: really have wide receivers. Their defense isn't that good. He's
11:50
Speaker 1: not going to be able to turn into Josh Allen
11:52
Speaker 1: or Patrick Mahomes and win them games against better competition.
11:55
Speaker 1: It's not really possible. The longer the season goes, I
11:58
Speaker 1: also think the worse he's going to look. The freshest
12:01
Speaker 1: he was going to be was in September. Wait until
12:04
Speaker 1: it looks like in November. But I also think this
12:07
Speaker 1: is a situation that is not equipped very well for
12:09
Speaker 1: Fernando Mendoza. You throw him out there, one, only they
12:14
Speaker 1: know truly behind the scenes. Like, how comfortable is he
12:17
Speaker 1: in the offense? How comfortable is he under center? Is
12:21
Speaker 1: this a situation where we put him out there and
12:23
Speaker 1: it's like, I don't think he really knows, or is
12:25
Speaker 1: that comfortable doing a lot of the stuff that Cousins
12:28
Speaker 1: is doing, which he's been doing for over a decade
12:31
Speaker 1: in this offense? He knows this offense, this terminology, the checks,
12:37
Speaker 1: what to do with the line of scrimmage, like the
12:38
Speaker 1: back of his hand. And one day, in a perfect world,
12:42
Speaker 1: Fernando Mendoza will too. But there's currently no possible way
12:45
Speaker 1: for that to happen. And to stick with your guns,
12:49
Speaker 1: knowing that if you do throw Fernando Mendoza out there,
12:52
Speaker 1: and clearly he reiterated today, we have Cousins, our guy,
12:57
Speaker 1: he's playing well. They're not doing it anytime soon. But
13:00
Speaker 1: the moment a Monday comes and he just goes, they
13:04
Speaker 1: could have lost seven straight games. Fernando Mendoza is starting
13:07
Speaker 1: this week. Everyone would give him an applause. Everyone would
13:10
Speaker 1: be excited, even if it's the wrong decision. And that's
13:13
Speaker 1: part of, that's why you make all this money. Because
13:16
Speaker 1: you're really paid for your decisions. Obviously, as the offensive coordinator,
13:20
Speaker 1: you're paid for your schemes too. But as the head coach,
13:24
Speaker 1: you've got to stick with your guns. And this is
13:27
Speaker 1: where organizational alignment really matters. And this is also where
13:33
Speaker 1: organizations that people are always worried about their jobs make
13:37
Speaker 1: poor decisions and you put yourself in bad spots. So, listen.
13:42
Speaker 1: If he truly was ready and was kicking ass at practice,
13:45
Speaker 1: it'd be a no-brainer. But I think it's an easy
13:47
Speaker 1: one where you go, you know, we are not equipped.
13:52
Speaker 1: He could use some knowledge and more understanding of watching
13:56
Speaker 1: Cousins go through. This is part of paying Cousins. Like,
13:59
Speaker 1: in a weird way, you paid to throw him to
14:02
Speaker 1: the Wolves and get his ass kicked. And that's kind
14:05
Speaker 1: of what's happening. And listen, he hasn't played that bad
14:07
Speaker 1: by any means. But if I was a betting man,
14:10
Speaker 1: this thing's only going to get worse. And that's why
14:12
Speaker 1: I said it yesterday on the podcast. I would be
14:16
Speaker 1: shopping Max Crosby. And if you were in a position
14:18
Speaker 1: to get more draft picks, get more players, because as
14:22
Speaker 1: you see, they're in a position now where Max can
14:24
Speaker 1: be a high-end player, and they're down 28-3 to the Rams,
14:28
Speaker 1: who have played like shit and just had to put
14:31
Speaker 1: like six guys on injured reserve. And that was a
14:34
Speaker 1: practice for the Rams. In Vegas. You know, so... I
14:40
Speaker 1: think the key here, and I don't expect it to change,
14:43
Speaker 1: stick with your guns. And speaking of sticking with your guns,
14:46
Speaker 1: people keep asking Shane Steichen every week as the Colts
14:50
Speaker 1: keep losing. And Daniel Jones was just getting punked. I mean, Flores,
14:53
Speaker 1: I saw some clips last night of people breaking down.
14:57
Speaker 1: He was faking stunts to run other stunts. I mean,
15:01
Speaker 1: the shit he's doing, he blitzed them almost 90% of
15:03
Speaker 1: the plays. Like at this point in time, he's going
15:05
Speaker 1: to have a game where he blitzes every defensive play call,
15:09
Speaker 1: which is awesome. You know what I mean? They just
15:12
Speaker 1: got a bunch of guys in the line of scrimmage.
15:14
Speaker 1: Everyone runs one is running stunts and twists. You got
15:17
Speaker 1: guys coming through creases. It's crazy. And they're just crushing
15:21
Speaker 1: the quarterback. And if they don't land the quarterback, they're
15:24
Speaker 1: getting in his face. I mean, Flores is easily right
15:27
Speaker 1: now the coordinator of the year. And kind of carrying
15:29
Speaker 1: that team with how poor Kyler Murray played. But Shane
15:33
Speaker 1: Sykin was asked, like, do you have any plans? Like,
15:36
Speaker 1: we're going to make quarterback change? He's like, absolutely not.
15:39
Speaker 1: And essentially like, you know, he's got to play better.
15:43
Speaker 1: You know the reason that Daniel Jones is not going
15:45
Speaker 1: to get benched? Because football is not stocks, right? You
15:49
Speaker 1: can't just take the loss and, you know, you paid
15:54
Speaker 1: X for some stock and all of a sudden you're
15:56
Speaker 1: down 30%. You're like, I want out and you just
15:59
Speaker 1: sell it and you invest in something else. That's not
16:01
Speaker 1: how it works in the middle of the season, especially
16:03
Speaker 1: with a guy like him. It's not like you could
16:04
Speaker 1: trade him. You're stuck with the guy. But the most
16:07
Speaker 1: important number in this Shane Steichen, Daniel Jones conversation, when
16:12
Speaker 1: Daniel Jones signed his two-year $ 88 million contract, They gave
16:16
Speaker 1: him a $ 44 million signing bonus. So they essentially gave
16:20
Speaker 1: him half the total amount of the deal, which, unless
16:24
Speaker 1: I'm reading this wrong, a couple weeks within signing the deal,
16:28
Speaker 1: a direct deposit. They gave him a huge sum of
16:32
Speaker 1: money for a guy coming off an Achilles, a broken leg,
16:34
Speaker 1: which is crazy. I mean, they hitched their wagon to
16:38
Speaker 1: a broken down Ford Taurus, right? And now they're stunned
16:44
Speaker 1: that they're on the side of the road needing to
16:46
Speaker 1: call AAA. That's the situation they're in. We all saw
16:50
Speaker 1: this coming except them. Now you could argue they didn't
16:53
Speaker 1: have any other options. My argument would be, even if
16:56
Speaker 1: I don't have any other options, I could not choose
16:58
Speaker 1: that option, but they did. And once you give a
17:01
Speaker 1: guy that much money and they sound like they have
17:03
Speaker 1: anyone else on the roster, clearly Steichen can't stand Anthony
17:06
Speaker 1: Richardson as a player. Uh, They're going down, like, the
17:11
Speaker 1: ship is going down with Daniel Jones and Shane Steichen
17:14
Speaker 1: on it. So, unless he gets injured, which is obviously
17:17
Speaker 1: always in play, given his career arc, he's not going
17:21
Speaker 1: to get benched. No matter how many bad picks he throws.
17:25
Speaker 1: I mean, there wasn't, for a second, listen, Minnesota's a very,
17:27
Speaker 1: very tough matchup. If they just, I mean, God, they
17:32
Speaker 1: didn't cover the six and a half, but if their
17:36
Speaker 1: quarterback just played a little bit better, they don't get
17:38
Speaker 1: a field goal block, like, it's, They should have won
17:40
Speaker 1: that game by double digits. The Colts stink. I mean,
17:43
Speaker 1: they are not good. And a lot of it starts–
17:45
Speaker 1: Daniel Jones is a very good player. And I know
17:47
Speaker 1: he had a good stretch last year, but this all
17:50
Speaker 1: gets back to the money. And this is how football
17:53
Speaker 1: works for a long period of time. And now the
17:55
Speaker 1: money is so astronomical. You see all these teams in
17:58
Speaker 1: the offseason cutting guys, paying them to go away, which
18:01
Speaker 1: I would imagine, you know, depending on how the cap
18:03
Speaker 1: works and who the new coach is and administration is,
18:06
Speaker 1: Daniel Jones probably won't be on the team next year.
18:09
Speaker 1: But as of right now, when you gave him that
18:10
Speaker 1: much money up front on a short-term deal, I'm just
18:15
Speaker 1: telling you, the ship is going down with this guy
18:17
Speaker 1: steering it. And don't be shocked. He's going to get
18:21
Speaker 1: this question asked after every single loss, and it's probably
18:24
Speaker 1: only going to get worse if they do the right thing,
18:26
Speaker 1: which is a full-on fire sale. I do not understand
18:30
Speaker 1: why I'm recording this part in the afternoon before the
18:33
Speaker 1: Monday Night Football game, how there haven't been five different
18:37
Speaker 1: stories today of like, hey, The Colts are in negotiations
18:40
Speaker 1: with these two players. What are you waiting for? Like
18:43
Speaker 1: part of leadership, and this is what the Raiders, like
18:46
Speaker 1: we are not playing him. I don't care how ugly
18:49
Speaker 1: this gets. We aren't pivoting. Now, three and four, it's
18:52
Speaker 1: easier to say that than, you know, four and nine,
18:55
Speaker 1: but they better stick to their guns. It's part of leadership. Well,
18:58
Speaker 1: Carly Ursae, if you want to be a leader, like, hey,
19:02
Speaker 1: we need to get rid, we're two and five, we
19:03
Speaker 1: fucking suck. The money's already been spent. I read an
19:07
Speaker 1: article today that like her dad was always big on
19:09
Speaker 1: the cash going out. And this gets back to some
19:12
Speaker 1: of these families that are living in like the 80s,
19:15
Speaker 1: even the 90s, like the money's way different. While $ 44
19:18
Speaker 1: million to give a signing bonus is a lot of money,
19:21
Speaker 1: relative to some of these contracts, it's really not. You know,
19:25
Speaker 1: you just saw a center for the Raiders get $ 27
19:27
Speaker 1: million a year. You see random guards get $ 25 million
19:32
Speaker 1: a year. I mean, Brandon Ayuk, who was at best
19:35
Speaker 1: a good number two, solid player, who had, I mean,
19:39
Speaker 1: now is a disaster, but at the time, they gave
19:41
Speaker 1: him $ 75 million. $ 75 million. I mean, it's just like
19:45
Speaker 1: the money is way different. I do think it's hard
19:47
Speaker 1: for some of these families to kind of wrap their
19:50
Speaker 1: head around. It's human nature, right? If you're a guy
19:54
Speaker 1: making a hundred thousand dollars and you're used to living
19:57
Speaker 1: on that amount, right? How much your rent costs, how
19:59
Speaker 1: much you live, and that's then whatever you actually take
20:02
Speaker 1: home net after taxes and stuff, you have a pretty
20:05
Speaker 1: good idea. Well, if I tell you in five years
20:08
Speaker 1: or 10 years, you're going to go from $ 100, 000 to
20:11
Speaker 1: $ 7 million. It's a pretty big jump. But the key
20:16
Speaker 1: is if you want to change lifestyles, if you want
20:18
Speaker 1: to send your kid to private schools, if you want
20:19
Speaker 1: to start flying in first class, if you want to
20:22
Speaker 1: upgrade your house, you're going to have to change your
20:24
Speaker 1: mindset a little bit because the money coming in is
20:26
Speaker 1: a lot different than what it once was. And I
20:29
Speaker 1: think for some of these families, it's hard. There shouldn't
20:32
Speaker 1: even be a question. But when I saw that comment
20:35
Speaker 1: of the one thing her dad taught her was about
20:37
Speaker 1: cash going out. And there was a comment in Mike
20:41
Speaker 1: Sandoz's article today. He's like, you know, the irony is
20:44
Speaker 1: Ursae could be cheap at certain things, but then go
20:47
Speaker 1: pay an unlimited amount for Johnny Cash's guitar. And listen,
20:51
Speaker 1: none of these owners... are being very frugal when it
20:54
Speaker 1: comes to the fun shit outside. But, like, I'm sorry. Like,
20:59
Speaker 1: I understand the Ravens being like, are we super comfortable? Like,
21:03
Speaker 1: is this guy going to get injured a bunch moving forward?
21:05
Speaker 1: But the cost of Lamar Jackson, you're talking hundreds of
21:09
Speaker 1: millions of dollars. Like, that is the cost of an extension. Like,
21:13
Speaker 1: you just have to be comfortable with it if you're
21:15
Speaker 1: going to sign it. And I do understand them being
21:18
Speaker 1: a little uncomfortable. Because we said the stat yesterday, he's
21:21
Speaker 1: missed more games since 2021 than Joe Burrow. Yet when
21:26
Speaker 1: we talk about Joe Burrow, and I'm guilty of this
21:28
Speaker 1: all we ever say, guys always hurt. Elbow, wrist, knee,
21:33
Speaker 1: turf toe, fucking always on the training room, the blue tent.
21:37
Speaker 1: It's like, well, if we're saying that about him, we
21:39
Speaker 1: definitely got to say it about Lamar. And the cost
21:42
Speaker 1: of extending guys like that is just a lot of money.
21:46
Speaker 1: So I get it. Like I'm not one of those
21:48
Speaker 1: got to pay everybody. I saw someone online was like
21:52
Speaker 1: billionaire propaganda. I've defended John Snyder on here because it's like, well,
21:57
Speaker 1: they couldn't pay Kenneth Walker. Guys, they paid a ton
21:59
Speaker 1: of money to other guys literally this off season. I mean,
22:03
Speaker 1: the highest paid players in league history, DB and wide receiver.
22:07
Speaker 1: And both guys are worth every penny. But you got
22:10
Speaker 1: to make tough decisions. But your core big-time guys like
22:13
Speaker 1: your quarterback, like Daniel Jones, relative to the league, is
22:17
Speaker 1: a bargain. Turns out he just sucks. If Daniel Jones
22:20
Speaker 1: was just solid, two-year $ 88 million is an incredible deal.
22:25
Speaker 1: But when he's one of the worst quarterbacks in the league,
22:28
Speaker 1: it's awful. Because, you know, you see other guys. You
22:31
Speaker 1: see Bridgecourt. I mean, what's Cousins making? $ 10 million a year.
22:35
Speaker 1: And Cousins is just a way better player. So I
22:38
Speaker 1: think some of these families have a really, really hard
22:40
Speaker 1: time because they're stuck in the past. And a lot
22:42
Speaker 1: of humans are like that. A lot of humans hold
22:45
Speaker 1: on to what things used to be. And listen, if
22:48
Speaker 1: things aren't going well, I've always defended people like I
22:51
Speaker 1: never have a problem with people being cheap that don't
22:54
Speaker 1: have money. But like Tiger Woods taking a bunch of
22:57
Speaker 1: Marines to cheeseburgers and just paying for himself, it's like,
23:01
Speaker 1: come on, Tiger. I get you didn't grow up with
23:03
Speaker 1: a lot of means, but once you are worth hundreds
23:06
Speaker 1: of millions of dollars, time to be a fucking grown-up. Now,
23:08
Speaker 1: you don't need to be Charles Barkley or Mike Ditka
23:10
Speaker 1: and just be taking care of everybody all the time.
23:12
Speaker 1: That's a personal wiring. But, like, you got to change
23:16
Speaker 1: the mindset. I think you're honestly kind of a loser
23:19
Speaker 1: if that's how you think. Once you have the means
23:22
Speaker 1: where it's not that big a deal. And this gets
23:24
Speaker 1: back to Rodgers yesterday talking about the Roonies of like, yeah,
23:27
Speaker 1: you know, the league should mandate we come out a
23:29
Speaker 1: week early. Well, why did the Roonies not come out
23:33
Speaker 1: a week early? Saved them a bunch of money. And
23:35
Speaker 1: what's one of the biggest talking points this year when
23:36
Speaker 1: they traded away Joey Porter? It's like, well, they don't
23:39
Speaker 1: guarantee after the first year. That might have been cool
23:42
Speaker 1: with like Lin Swan and, you know, some of your
23:46
Speaker 1: guys in the mid-90s. Times have fucking changed, guys. I mean,
23:51
Speaker 1: this is that you didn't buy, you know, I get
23:53
Speaker 1: you bought the franchise for $ 7, 500 and it's worth $ 8
23:57
Speaker 1: billion now. But the revenue you have coming in, like
23:59
Speaker 1: you got to adapt. You got to change your mindset.
24:02
Speaker 1: And if you don't, you're going to get lapped. So, yeah,
24:06
Speaker 1: I mean, I just think if you're a Colts fan
24:09
Speaker 1: or you think, you know, this is going to change,
24:11
Speaker 1: it's not this year. And it gets back to them
24:13
Speaker 1: giving them $ 44 million over the summer. I need to
24:23
Speaker 1: tell you about this new sports trading app called Polymarket.
24:27
Speaker 1: It's the best way to trade in sports. In the past,
24:30
Speaker 1: if you wanted some action on the game, you'd put
24:32
Speaker 1: some money in. And if your team was doing well
24:34
Speaker 1: and you wanted to cash out, they'd lock the trade
24:37
Speaker 1: and take a huge fee. But Polymarket is a prediction market.
24:42
Speaker 1: It's a stock exchange for sports, buying in and selling
24:45
Speaker 1: out on your terms. When your team goes down to 20%,
24:48
Speaker 1: you can buy in. and sell it off at 40%
24:52
Speaker 1: when they come back, double your money. I've tried them all.
24:55
Speaker 1: Polymarket is simply the best. We're talking DraftKings, FanDuel, Couchy,
25:00
Speaker 1: you name it. Polymarket's better. They're so confident you'll never
25:04
Speaker 1: go back to the other guys. They're giving you a
25:06
Speaker 1: free $ 50 on your first trade when you deposit just
25:09
Speaker 1: 10 bucks. And now they've launched a new feature. squads
25:14
Speaker 1: a group chat where you can see what everyone is
25:17
Speaker 1: trading on so download the polymarket app today and use
25:20
Speaker 1: the code three out when you sign up that's code
25:24
Speaker 1: the number three out to get fifty dollars free after
25:28
Speaker 1: you trade just ten bucks 18 plus only restrictions and
25:32
Speaker 1: eligibility requirements apply not available in all jurisdictions trading is
25:37
Speaker 1: risky 100 loss can occur See polymarket.com slash TOS for
25:43
Speaker 1: more information. The Polymarket US app serves as an independent
25:47
Speaker 1: software provider and affiliate of Polymarket US and Polymarket Clearing.
25:52
Speaker 1: The CFTC regulated exchange and clearing organization. Okay, let's dive
26:05
Speaker 1: into the weekend games. We've struggled the last couple weeks.
26:08
Speaker 1: We have the Saints, thank God, the Giants, the Niners,
26:12
Speaker 1: and the Texans on buys. We have, for the first
26:16
Speaker 1: time in several weeks, no international game. So there's no
26:19
Speaker 1: Rodgers complaining about going over the day before, sneaky shots
26:22
Speaker 1: at the Roonies, even though it was a big Pittsburgh game.
26:26
Speaker 1: We don't have to get up super early. And I
26:27
Speaker 1: think we're rewinding the clocks Saturday night of Halloween. But
26:32
Speaker 1: let's dive into the four box. And we got Baltimore, Buffalo, Tennessee, Cincinnati, Arizona, Dallas, Minnesota, Detroit,
26:40
Speaker 1: Vegas at the Jets, the Browns at Pittsburgh, Atlanta at Tampa,
26:45
Speaker 1: and Indy at Jacksonville all in the 11 a.m. hour.
26:49
Speaker 1: This one was pretty easy for me. We'll go in
26:53
Speaker 1: order that I'm most excited. I think Tampa, Atlanta is
26:55
Speaker 1: a pretty good game. You know, it's actually a massive game.
27:00
Speaker 1: Because if Tampa wins, all of a sudden they're 3-5,
27:04
Speaker 1: they would have a lot of life. I'm recording this
27:06
Speaker 1: before the Carolina game, but even if Carolina wins, they'd
27:10
Speaker 1: only have one more win. And if you're Tampa, you're
27:13
Speaker 1: just like, 9-8 is winning this division. So this is
27:16
Speaker 1: not one of those where we've got to dig ourselves
27:18
Speaker 1: out of the hole and try to get to 11 wins.
27:20
Speaker 1: We got to get to a number so high just
27:22
Speaker 1: to ensure that we'll get a wire. This division to me,
27:25
Speaker 1: if you go 9-8, I feel like you have an
27:28
Speaker 1: extremely good chance of winning it. I mean, we saw
27:30
Speaker 1: last year 8-9 won it. It does feel like there'd
27:33
Speaker 1: probably be one win more at least this year, but
27:36
Speaker 1: you never know. These teams have to play each other.
27:39
Speaker 1: I would have told you I think Carolina, hell, I did.
27:41
Speaker 1: I bet on Carolina in that game. And then they played,
27:46
Speaker 1: you know, when they played Tampa and they were down
27:47
Speaker 1: 33-6 at half. But my question is, and this gets
27:51
Speaker 1: back to last week, the 49ers didn't touch Penix. And
27:54
Speaker 1: they had three pressures the entire game. And when he's
27:57
Speaker 1: untouched with their weapons, he's just a big-time player. He's
28:02
Speaker 1: a very accurate thrower in a clean pocket. He has
28:05
Speaker 1: been since college. He has been going back to Indiana.
28:10
Speaker 1: If you do hit him, you throw their entire operation off.
28:14
Speaker 1: And the one thing Bowles will do, he's not quite...
28:17
Speaker 1: I would say he doesn't have to do it like Flores,
28:20
Speaker 1: but he will make the quarterback uncomfortable. And every time
28:24
Speaker 1: I looked up last week, it felt like Bryce was
28:27
Speaker 1: getting just demolished and just engulfed. And Bryce is a
28:32
Speaker 1: better athlete in terms of movement-wise, not that he's a
28:34
Speaker 1: great one, than Penix. So to me, that's the question mark.
28:38
Speaker 1: If they can rattle with Penix, because last week he
28:41
Speaker 1: was untouched and he sliced and diced him. It was
28:44
Speaker 1: kind of a joke as the game went on. But
28:46
Speaker 1: to me, if Tampa gets the momentum off that win
28:50
Speaker 1: and generate pressure, I like Tampa in this game. Number two,
28:56
Speaker 1: who would have thought that Cleveland and Pittsburgh would be
29:01
Speaker 1: for first place in the division? I mean, I was
29:04
Speaker 1: just watching some clips of some of the Steelers players.
29:08
Speaker 1: You can tell, and part of it is, you know,
29:10
Speaker 1: you played them earlier in the season, you lost in
29:13
Speaker 1: kind of embarrassing fashion. They're 5-2. They have a bunch
29:17
Speaker 1: of young, high-end players. This is a massive game. And
29:24
Speaker 1: when I saw the stat, and obviously anyone in Cleveland
29:27
Speaker 1: or Pittsburgh knows because it's been a running total for
29:29
Speaker 1: a long time, and maybe when they played in that
29:33
Speaker 1: playoff game, the Fugazi year when there weren't any fans,
29:36
Speaker 1: I'm sure we were talking about it a lot, but
29:39
Speaker 1: this is five years later. The Cleveland Browns have not
29:42
Speaker 1: won a game in Pittsburgh in the regular season in
29:47
Speaker 1: 22 attempts. Pittsburgh Steelers have won 22 straight games in
29:52
Speaker 1: Pittsburgh against Cleveland. That is an insane stat. That feels
29:56
Speaker 1: a little Belichick-y in the Jets' But I feel like
30:02
Speaker 1: his carried over to a way and road. Bill didn't
30:06
Speaker 1: lose to him for eight straight seasons in both games.
30:10
Speaker 1: I like Pittsburgh a lot in this spot. I really do.
30:15
Speaker 1: And you could see the players, the seriousness, like Cam Hayward.
30:19
Speaker 1: I think they're approaching this bad boy. Not that they
30:22
Speaker 1: wouldn't in years past. But let's face it, the Browns
30:25
Speaker 1: have kind of been a joke many of the years.
30:28
Speaker 1: They've typically had to take the game seriously against Lamar,
30:31
Speaker 1: the Ravens, and Flacco. And then once Burrow got there
30:34
Speaker 1: and Andy Dalton, like those were the two teams. Even
30:37
Speaker 1: though this rivalry, that's a weird thing about sometimes NFL rivalries.
30:41
Speaker 1: It's like they still mean a lot to the owners,
30:44
Speaker 1: but there can be stretches of like, are the Chiefs
30:47
Speaker 1: and the Raiders rivals? Well, like in theory, the history
30:51
Speaker 1: of the league, yes. But if you just look over
30:54
Speaker 1: the last like 20 years, and definitely since Andy Reid
30:57
Speaker 1: got there, like one team's a high-end franchise, the other
31:00
Speaker 1: doesn't sniff the playoffs, right? Same with them and the Broncos.
31:04
Speaker 1: I remember like, this is a Raiders-Broncos rivalry. And then
31:07
Speaker 1: Peyton Manning would roll in, they'd win like 50 to 10.
31:09
Speaker 1: He'd be like, oh. These aren't really equals. And this
31:13
Speaker 1: is how this game has been for a long time.
31:15
Speaker 1: They haven't been equals. And now, at least based on record,
31:19
Speaker 1: they are. The underrated part about the, whenever I see
31:22
Speaker 1: someone's like, and listen, I like Peter Schrager, but I
31:25
Speaker 1: saw a clip that his show put out of like,
31:28
Speaker 1: could they have to pay and extend Deshaun Watson? Guys,
31:32
Speaker 1: have you watched Deshaun Watson play? Like statistically, everything he
31:36
Speaker 1: does adds up to like bottom third to bottom of
31:40
Speaker 1: the league in terms of quarterback rankings. He is not
31:43
Speaker 1: a good player. Now they have good players around him,
31:47
Speaker 1: but under no circumstance, I'll promise you this, are the
31:51
Speaker 1: Cleveland Browns going to give Deshaun any more money whenever
31:54
Speaker 1: this contract is done? I feel very, very confident on
31:57
Speaker 1: that one. But last time they played, he didn't beat them.
32:02
Speaker 1: He tried to get the game away in the second
32:03
Speaker 1: half because he completely unravels. And if you watch him
32:05
Speaker 1: in stretches when he's bad, he's really bad. But they
32:09
Speaker 1: have really explosive players that you can get to around
32:12
Speaker 1: the line of scrimmage and then they can do more.
32:15
Speaker 1: I mean, Concepcion has been, his speed jumps off TV.
32:19
Speaker 1: Jumps off TV. Now, Jared Verst was taking some shots.
32:23
Speaker 1: You know, saying like, you know, they were chipping and
32:25
Speaker 1: double teaming me. And then I saw Cam Hayward's like,
32:28
Speaker 1: is that against the rules? Like, welcome to the NFL.
32:32
Speaker 1: What do you think fucking happens to TJ Watt and
32:34
Speaker 1: Miles Garrett? It's like, this is the league, buddy. And
32:37
Speaker 1: if you're going to be their best edge rusher, yeah,
32:39
Speaker 1: people are going to bring more attention to you. So
32:43
Speaker 1: I like Pittsburgh in this spot. I by no means
32:45
Speaker 1: take Cleveland like I'm not looking past them at all.
32:50
Speaker 1: I do think there's got to be, you know, water
32:52
Speaker 1: finds its level. Deshaun's going to have one of these games.
32:55
Speaker 1: And listen, having those explosive players like do you totally
33:00
Speaker 1: trust the secondary of Pittsburgh to run around with those
33:02
Speaker 1: guys in space? No, but. I think Deshaun's due for
33:08
Speaker 1: one of those two-picks, fumble, just disastrous games. And historically,
33:14
Speaker 1: history would tell you that typically happens in Cleveland. This
33:19
Speaker 1: game is pretty fascinating because Minnesota's the last unbeaten team
33:22
Speaker 1: in the NFL. Their quarterback play has been atrocious. But
33:27
Speaker 1: everyone's been talking about it, rightfully so, Flores. I said
33:30
Speaker 1: this yesterday. I don't think he's the assistant coach of
33:32
Speaker 1: the year. I think he's the coach of the year.
33:34
Speaker 1: I would give him the, as of October 29th recording this,
33:38
Speaker 1: like who's your coach of the year? Well, it's like,
33:40
Speaker 1: I'd want to go with the defensive coordinator. Here's a problem.
33:45
Speaker 1: Since 2021, or excuse me, I guess the last three years.
33:49
Speaker 1: So that'd be 2023. So 20, 23, 24, 25, or
33:50
Speaker 1: maybe it's 24, 25. And then this year, no quarterback
33:52
Speaker 1: is better against the Blitz than Jared Goff. He's thrown
33:59
Speaker 1: 21 touchdowns and three interceptions over that period of time.
34:02
Speaker 1: He's the number one quarterback ranking, and he's number one
34:05
Speaker 1: in pass yards. This season, only Brock Purdy has as
34:09
Speaker 1: many touchdown passes, eight, as Goff does against the Blitz.
34:13
Speaker 1: He is a dominant player against the Blitz. Well, here's why.
34:18
Speaker 1: Because last week, you know, Daniel Jones, you know, he's
34:21
Speaker 1: probably not the athlete right now that he was a
34:24
Speaker 1: year ago before he got injured, just coming back off
34:26
Speaker 1: the injury. But Daniel Jones is viewed as a good athlete.
34:29
Speaker 1: And I think when you blitz athletic quarterbacks, if you
34:33
Speaker 1: do scheme them up correctly, it can throw them off
34:36
Speaker 1: because they'll see something and they are more likely to
34:39
Speaker 1: see like a one read and then move to keep
34:42
Speaker 1: the play alive. When you cannot move, Brady, Peyton Manning,
34:49
Speaker 1: you go the history of the non-mobile guys. They know
34:52
Speaker 1: they got to get rid of the ball. So that
34:54
Speaker 1: entire week, there is no, well, if this doesn't work,
34:58
Speaker 1: Move away, you know, if the blitz is coming to
35:00
Speaker 1: your left, scramble right or vice versa. Jared Goff knows
35:04
Speaker 1: he has to get rid of the football. That's his
35:07
Speaker 1: only way to survive when people are pressuring him. That's it.
35:12
Speaker 1: Because he can't run away from me or you. Which
35:14
Speaker 1: is his greatest strength. It's why these elite quarterbacks that
35:18
Speaker 1: have never been able to move always dominated so much
35:21
Speaker 1: against the blitz. Because they had to dial in the
35:25
Speaker 1: game plan going in that week knowing they were going
35:27
Speaker 1: to get a bunch of pressure. And Jared Goff knows
35:30
Speaker 1: that on a given week, if you're a team that
35:33
Speaker 1: can't get a lot of pressure with your down four guys,
35:36
Speaker 1: that you're going to have to bring guys. And then
35:38
Speaker 1: throughout the week with his offensive coordinator, they're building hot routes.
35:41
Speaker 1: They're using their Laporta or Amon Ra across the middle.
35:45
Speaker 1: Throw it to the running back out of the backfield
35:46
Speaker 1: and just get the ball out of your hands. And
35:49
Speaker 1: I just think this is a terrible matchup for Minnesota.
35:52
Speaker 1: Their last three games, 15, 23, 16 points. And it
35:56
Speaker 1: feels like it's been pulling teeth in a couple of
35:58
Speaker 1: those games to get to that number. Now, last week,
36:01
Speaker 1: they had a play that was overturned on a holding
36:04
Speaker 1: where he hit Jordan Addison late in the game that
36:08
Speaker 1: instead of 16, that number could have been 20, I guess.
36:14
Speaker 1: They might have scored a touchdown if there was like
36:16
Speaker 1: three minutes left in the game. Maybe they run the
36:18
Speaker 1: ball in. But still, you're talking about Vikings fans have
36:22
Speaker 1: to agree. When you watch Kyler Murray, there isn't just
36:25
Speaker 1: a lot to be desired. You go, you understand this
36:28
Speaker 1: is the player now. And you go, this is it?
36:31
Speaker 1: What happened to this guy that was one of the
36:33
Speaker 1: great athletes that have ever been drafted in the NFL?
36:37
Speaker 1: There will never be a guy with his size profile
36:41
Speaker 1: that everyone's like, yeah. It wasn't even a question. I
36:43
Speaker 1: would take him one too. Because he was such an
36:45
Speaker 1: elite athlete. I don't even think he hit 300 in college.
36:49
Speaker 1: And Billy Bean took him 9th. just because of the
36:51
Speaker 1: physical upside with how explosive he was. He could be
36:56
Speaker 1: a plus defender. He could be steel base guy. If
36:58
Speaker 1: he does make contact, I mean, you look at that
37:00
Speaker 1: dude for the Tampa Bay Rays. Tell Maria, that guy
37:02
Speaker 1: looks like a defensive back. There aren't athletes like that
37:05
Speaker 1: in baseball anymore. So, fuck, ball gets on the ground.
37:09
Speaker 1: Dude's already at second base. And by the end of
37:13
Speaker 1: the series, I mean, he looked sweet. But I just
37:18
Speaker 1: think when the thing you hang your hat on as
37:21
Speaker 1: a franchise, which has worked incredibly well this year, we're
37:26
Speaker 1: going to blitz every play. Literally. It's not like, bro,
37:28
Speaker 1: he's blitzing like half the time. No, he's like, he
37:31
Speaker 1: keeps approaching low 80s, mid 80s, high 80s. So is
37:36
Speaker 1: this week he's not going to blitz his butts? Is
37:39
Speaker 1: he going to throw a curveball and go, well, we
37:41
Speaker 1: can't do that to Goff because he'll burn us? I
37:44
Speaker 1: think that's the knock on the personnel. It's like, well,
37:47
Speaker 1: their talent. This is not peak Mike Zimmer years where
37:51
Speaker 1: their defense was loaded with dudes. That's why Flora's been
37:56
Speaker 1: so incredible. I think there's a big overachievement aspect to
38:00
Speaker 1: this team, which speaks to his brilliance as a coordinator.
38:04
Speaker 1: I just don't know if that pitch works against this team.
38:07
Speaker 1: And based on Goff's numbers, it 100% does not. And
38:11
Speaker 1: then the weakness of the Vikings, like, well, they're secondary defense. Like,
38:15
Speaker 1: Kyler Murray going to make you pay? Because the Vikings
38:18
Speaker 1: get to 25. Can you get to 26? If they
38:23
Speaker 1: get to 24, are you in the teens? It's why
38:28
Speaker 1: I like Detroit big in this game. This last game,
38:33
Speaker 1: on paper, is incredible. I don't really know what to
38:35
Speaker 1: make of it. Lamar's practiced the last couple weeks. He's
38:39
Speaker 1: obviously playing. But the way he was playing before he
38:44
Speaker 1: rolled his ankle or got rolled up on, I guess
38:46
Speaker 1: the guy tackled him from behind in the Titans game,
38:50
Speaker 1: you've just been like, this guy's MVP contender. And then
38:53
Speaker 1: you take the weeks off. It's been weird. And here's
38:56
Speaker 1: the other thing. It's kind of crumbled around him. I
38:59
Speaker 1: saw Wink Martindale, the former defensive coordinator for the Vikings,
39:02
Speaker 1: or excuse me, the Ravens under Harbaugh, was kind of
39:07
Speaker 1: shitting on him. It's like they just look like they
39:09
Speaker 1: have no leaders. It's like, damn. And no franchise. I
39:14
Speaker 1: think this year they are first in point differential in
39:18
Speaker 1: the first half and dead last in the second half. Now, granted,
39:21
Speaker 1: three of those games Lamar hasn't played, but that was
39:24
Speaker 1: a bugaboo for them the last couple years they would
39:26
Speaker 1: just unravel and i i think there are some negative
39:32
Speaker 1: question marks that are just coming up around this team
39:35
Speaker 1: obviously the lamar kawaii like weirdness with injuries but just
39:40
Speaker 1: when you watch them play you're like are they missing
39:42
Speaker 1: something was it because i heard i heard uh I
39:48
Speaker 1: forget who said it, but they brought up a good point. Like,
39:51
Speaker 1: look at the Ravens right now. They fired John Harbaugh.
39:55
Speaker 1: He is, like, because everyone just said he was the problem.
39:59
Speaker 1: John Harbaugh was their issue. And listen, I'm a big
40:02
Speaker 1: believer sometimes you need a fresh start. It's called life.
40:05
Speaker 1: It'll run its course. But he's with the Giants, kind
40:10
Speaker 1: of making chicken salad out of chicken, you know what.
40:14
Speaker 1: with his quarterback situation and how hard they play and
40:16
Speaker 1: how buttoned up they are. And just some of his
40:18
Speaker 1: moves like the scataboo move. We have Jesse mentor. You
40:22
Speaker 1: have a 31 year old offensive coordinator, and now they're
40:25
Speaker 1: starting to feel some pressure. And then, you know, you
40:28
Speaker 1: desperately need to win Lamar's back. You got to go
40:30
Speaker 1: to Buffalo. Now they're coming off a buy should be fresh.
40:37
Speaker 1: I don't know. This is stay away from me from, uh,
40:40
Speaker 1: putting money on it. But I, I don't trust Baltimore
40:44
Speaker 1: right now. Now, if you tell me Lamar just hits
40:46
Speaker 1: the ground running, he's exactly where he was before he
40:49
Speaker 1: got injured, I'd be like, yeah, this thing should be
40:52
Speaker 1: a down-to-the-wire game. But how can a guy that just
40:55
Speaker 1: told everybody that he felt weird and he wasn't close
40:58
Speaker 1: to 100%, part of the reason he just didn't play
41:01
Speaker 1: in this game, he's just healed now? He's going to
41:03
Speaker 1: be completely fine? Like, does the athleticism just come all
41:07
Speaker 1: the way back? He's not worried about the ankle at all?
41:09
Speaker 1: There's a high ankle sprain? He said it was. They
41:11
Speaker 1: kind of, like, what's going on? So this... Buffalo's in
41:16
Speaker 1: a position right now where it does feel... Especially, let's
41:19
Speaker 1: just assume the Steelers win. They're 6-2. Then all of
41:23
Speaker 1: a sudden, if you're the Ravens, you'd be 4-4. They
41:27
Speaker 1: would be clear out ahead of you. Which would be
41:33
Speaker 1: a little problematic. Not that the Bills are worried about
41:37
Speaker 1: the Steelers... but this is a chance which they would
41:41
Speaker 1: benefit from. You kind of got this team against, they're
41:43
Speaker 1: just kind of against the ropes. You're coming fresh. You
41:47
Speaker 1: got some momentum. Now your quarterback's balling. You kind of
41:51
Speaker 1: hit him with an overhand Mike Tyson, right? And just
41:54
Speaker 1: knock him to the ground because at four and four
41:57
Speaker 1: with a young, inexperienced head coach would be a pretty
42:02
Speaker 1: tough spot, would be a pretty tough spot to, to
42:06
Speaker 1: come back from. Um, Any of the other games interest me?
42:13
Speaker 1: I do think the two teams have just made the trades.
42:17
Speaker 1: I was a week early on the Colts quit watch.
42:21
Speaker 1: Would anyone be shocked if Jacksonville just runs them out
42:24
Speaker 1: of the building? One, they've always had trouble in Jacksonville.
42:26
Speaker 1: And two, this is the type of deal in a
42:29
Speaker 1: locker room where just everyone's thinking that has a pulse,
42:32
Speaker 1: like I could get traded on Monday. Are they going to,
42:36
Speaker 1: is Jonathan Taylor playing in this game? Like, if they
42:38
Speaker 1: got some serious offers over the course of the next
42:41
Speaker 1: couple days, and they go, let's wait and see what
42:44
Speaker 1: happens to our team Sunday, do you just inactivate them?
42:49
Speaker 1: And just be like a wait and see approach? Because
42:51
Speaker 1: if he's not playing, you just lost your best O-lineman,
42:54
Speaker 1: you just lost your best defensive lineman, I don't know.
42:59
Speaker 1: I could see this thing being a bloodbath. And the
43:01
Speaker 1: Titans just stink to begin with. But I was watching
43:05
Speaker 1: the clip of Robert Sala today. He's like, you know,
43:07
Speaker 1: we had to tell everybody this is what happens when
43:08
Speaker 1: you're 1-6. 1-6 could turn into 2-13 pretty quickly. And
43:16
Speaker 1: I think the Titans who have, you know, they've battled.
43:19
Speaker 1: But you remove him, who was by far their best
43:22
Speaker 1: player today. Quarterbacks getting peppered about his footwork every week
43:26
Speaker 1: and people thinking he sucks. He keeps thinking he's good.
43:29
Speaker 1: It's bizarre. You know, it's weird. Like the Titans brass
43:34
Speaker 1: of reporters, like their core group, kind of coming after him.
43:38
Speaker 1: He is going the opposite of like, I'm like Lamar Josh.
43:42
Speaker 1: He's not saying that, but he kind of, he's like,
43:44
Speaker 1: I'm good. It's not my fault. It's just weird. It's bizarre.
43:47
Speaker 1: I'm out. Arizona, Dallas. That game could be terrible. Vegas Jets,
43:54
Speaker 1: that game's terrible too. The afternoon games, I've seen a
43:58
Speaker 1: lot of people with big opinions about how could Andy
44:01
Speaker 1: Reid sign Justin Tucker? One, I say it all the time,
44:07
Speaker 1: if you're looking for your NFL teams to set the
44:10
Speaker 1: moral standard for society, you're wasting a lot of time
44:14
Speaker 1: and effort. It's on you to parent your children. Teach
44:18
Speaker 1: them wrong and right. The NFL's not going to do that.
44:20
Speaker 1: They care about winning games and making money. Everything else
44:24
Speaker 1: is white noise and a bunch of BS. But I
44:27
Speaker 1: saw Coach Reed's like, well, he started a suspension. Like,
44:30
Speaker 1: what the hell? Everyone just took back, and again, I'm
44:33
Speaker 1: recording this part before the Thursday night game. Josh Jacobs
44:38
Speaker 1: admitted without essentially saying it. Like, yeah, two or three
44:41
Speaker 1: seconds can really derail your life. Matt LaFleur last week, like, yeah,
44:46
Speaker 1: it's not an ideal situation. Hopefully learn from it. And
44:49
Speaker 1: then he's boom, backscores, touchdown. People are like, Jacobs is back!
44:52
Speaker 1: Deshaun Watson's been the quarterback for two years, whatever, since
44:55
Speaker 1: he got back from suspension, and he has double the
44:58
Speaker 1: amount of the complaints, and he paid them all to
45:00
Speaker 1: go away. So it's like, if everyone else, no one
45:03
Speaker 1: else gives a shit, why should you? But why would
45:07
Speaker 1: they sign Justin Tucker? It's like, well, you're just bringing
45:09
Speaker 1: the practice squad. Why not some random kicker? Because they
45:13
Speaker 1: want to get Butker back making field goals. And the
45:17
Speaker 1: only way to do that, they feel like they're out
45:20
Speaker 1: of ideas, light a little fire under them. Well, if
45:24
Speaker 1: you bring John Middlecoff or Billy Lopez from one of
45:28
Speaker 1: these team's practice squad or some random guy on the street,
45:31
Speaker 1: do you think Butker thinks that guy can beat him out?
45:34
Speaker 1: Of course not. But if you bring in Tucker, who,
45:38
Speaker 1: before everything happened, looked like a Hall of Famer, I mean,
45:41
Speaker 1: probably still a Hall of Famer, but in there, that's gonna, okay.
45:47
Speaker 1: I better get my shit together because they will get
45:50
Speaker 1: rid of me despite my longevity and resume in Kansas
45:57
Speaker 1: City if I don't start making some kicks. Like, to me,
46:00
Speaker 1: it was 100% a motivational tactic. And like, yeah, they
46:03
Speaker 1: got a bunch of bad PR. Half the teams in
46:06
Speaker 1: the league just... We saw two prominent teams bring back
46:09
Speaker 1: players like, yeah! Not ideal, but too good to pass up.
46:14
Speaker 1: Watson made $ 230 million. Started for the Browns. We're like
46:18
Speaker 1: one of the stories of the league. So I can't
46:20
Speaker 1: just sign a kicker and put him on the practice squad?
46:24
Speaker 1: I think sometimes the reaction to this stuff, everyone else
46:29
Speaker 1: is doing it. It's why Lane Kiffin is like, Lane,
46:32
Speaker 1: you can't sign these pro guys. It's like, well, no
46:36
Speaker 1: one else is doing it. You're the only one doing it.
46:39
Speaker 1: If you're the only one doing it, then yeah. But
46:42
Speaker 1: literally every team does it. And the teams that say, like,
46:45
Speaker 1: we're above that bullshit, no one is. I did see,
46:51
Speaker 1: my guy Shane sent me a tweet that, I don't
46:57
Speaker 1: remember this, but in June, the Patriots were playing the Dolphins,
47:02
Speaker 1: where historically they've had some weird games. that Elliot Wolfe
47:06
Speaker 1: over the offseason acknowledged that A.J. Brown had a degenerative
47:11
Speaker 1: knee condition, but the Pats still signed off on it medically.
47:16
Speaker 1: Fast forward to this week, and Brown has a knee
47:19
Speaker 1: issue that's flared up and his status for Sunday's game
47:22
Speaker 1: is up in the air. I do think that trade
47:27
Speaker 1: was absolutely insane. And I get it, the first rounder's
47:32
Speaker 1: in two years, but Part of the reason, remember, the
47:36
Speaker 1: Rams were in on it. They were going to get
47:37
Speaker 1: rid of Devontae. And they're like, yeah, his knee, no way.
47:40
Speaker 1: But why do you think the Patriots did it? Because
47:43
Speaker 1: the boss is not Elliot Wolfe. The boss is Mike Vrabel.
47:46
Speaker 1: And Mike Vrabel's not worried about three years from now.
47:48
Speaker 1: He's worried about trying to win right now. But if
47:50
Speaker 1: the knee ain't working, and when you watch him play,
47:52
Speaker 1: doesn't even feel like he's playing that hard, not an
47:56
Speaker 1: ideal situation. Honestly, kind of like the Dolphins and the
47:58
Speaker 1: points this week. Okay, let's do a couple quick predictions
48:01
Speaker 1: by my friends at Pauly Market. And I mentioned this earlier.
48:07
Speaker 1: I was a week early. Quit watch on full display
48:11
Speaker 1: this weekend. The Jags to win by 10.5. I'm going yes.
48:15
Speaker 1: $ 100 plays 201. I could see the Colts folding like
48:22
Speaker 1: a cheap 10 here. Just a complete unraveling of a
48:25
Speaker 1: franchise in front of our eyes. Liam Cohen, Trevor Lawrence,
48:30
Speaker 1: foot to throat. The Steelers. You just got to ride
48:34
Speaker 1: the trend, baby. 22 straight years. I think they make
48:37
Speaker 1: it 23. I think they win this game by 10
48:39
Speaker 1: plus points. Especially lost earlier. Bunch of motivation. Steelers to
48:45
Speaker 1: win by three and a half points. Hit yes. $ 100
48:49
Speaker 1: pays 197. Maybe my favorite game of the weekend. It's
48:54
Speaker 1: simply just a matchup. Jared Goff versus the Blitz. Advantage,
48:59
Speaker 1: Jared Goff. The Lions, at home, minus three and a half. Yes,
49:04
Speaker 1: $ 100 pays $ 203. If you want a little extra, I
49:09
Speaker 1: also do not hate the Titans to fold against the Bengals.
49:16
Speaker 1: The big spreads, but I just think these two teams
49:19
Speaker 1: just fractured. at the seams the volume