Latest / 3 and Out with John Middlekauff / Best of the Week: Matt LaFleur on the Hot Seat, Week 2 Previews & Predictions

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Best of the Week: Matt LaFleur on the Hot Seat, Week 2 Previews & 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 the 3NOW Podcast, and this is the best of
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: of my favorite takes, our best takes as we head
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: on into football season. When you're the coach of the
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: Green Bay Packers, it's honestly, I mean, it's just a
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: massive national brand. There is no hiding. And then when
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: you're losing in this historic fashion, someone sent me a
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: tweet that the win probability of all these losses over
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: the course of yesterday and last year that he's blown
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: was like 2.5 million to one. Or one in 2.5 million.
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: It's a statistical anomaly, him losing these games. And his
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: overall record, he's 76-40-1. But when the momentum happens, a
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: wise man once told me who's NFL executive, but he's
• 1:10
  Speaker 1: in the SEC world. He's a Southern guy. He's boys
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: with Saban. He just knows that world well. When the
• 1:17
  Speaker 1: tide starts coming against you as a head coach, the negativity,
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: there is no slowing it down. This is about all
• 1:25
  Speaker 1: the different SEC jobs, Florida, Alabama, LSU. There is no
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: stopping the tidal wave of negativity. As it grows, people
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: want you gone. We literally just saw it last year
• 1:36
  Speaker 1: with Brian Kelly and James Franklin. And you play a
• 1:40
  Speaker 1: role in that as a coach by losing an inexplicable game.
• 1:45
  Speaker 1: And I would say that's an inexplicable loss being up
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: in the second half 22-10 in complete control against Carson Wentz.
• 1:51
  Speaker 1: And there were already some whispers and people like, should
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: we give this guy extensions? Should we bring him back?
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: Because it's always the game of, well, can you do better?
• 2:00
  Speaker 1: And I think a lot of people go, well, who
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: are you going to get that's better? And I think
• 2:02
  Speaker 1: that sometimes that's a fair argument. But if you just
• 2:05
  Speaker 1: play that game, unless there's an incredible opportunity for some
• 2:09
  Speaker 1: guy on the open market, you will just keep a
• 2:11
  Speaker 1: coach forever, right? And I think LaFleur, I don't think
• 2:16
  Speaker 1: there's going to be a team in the league that's
• 2:18
  Speaker 1: more desperate for a win and an individual more desperate
• 2:21
  Speaker 1: for a win this upcoming week than Matt LaFleur against
• 2:25
  Speaker 1: the New York Jets. You talk about must win because
• 2:28
  Speaker 1: if you told me that he were to lose this game,
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: and listen, the Jets have some offensive firepower. Like, you know,
• 2:35
  Speaker 1: Brees Hall, really good player. Garrett Wilson, really good player.
• 2:38
  Speaker 1: Omar Cooper at a 30-yard catch. the Oregon tight end.
• 2:43
  Speaker 1: They got some young, explosive talent that if it goes well,
• 2:46
  Speaker 1: their offensive line is not bad at all. This is
• 2:50
  Speaker 1: what coaches always say. It's the NFL. You look at, like,
• 2:53
  Speaker 1: when you're playing the Ravens and the Bills, you try
• 2:55
  Speaker 1: to take that week no different than when you're playing
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: the Miami Dolphins. It's easier to do early in the
• 3:01
  Speaker 1: season than the players are humans. You're playing a 2-12 team.
• 3:05
  Speaker 1: It's like, yeah, I'm not taking it seriously. But I
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: think Matt LaFleur, the brand and the franchise in which
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: he coaches, you can feel it coming. You can feel
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: it simmering. And it's always easy to play Monday morning quarterback.
• 3:21
  Speaker 1: I just think not kicking that field goal, getting stuffed,
• 3:24
  Speaker 1: and then that 21-point barrage is something you don't shake
• 3:29
  Speaker 1: given that you lost two of your last three or
• 3:34
  Speaker 1: four losses of the season were against the Bears. You
• 3:37
  Speaker 1: had an embarrassing loss around Christmastime against the Baltimore Ravens.
• 3:42
  Speaker 1: when Derrick Henry, I think, is still running around Lambeau.
• 3:45
  Speaker 1: He blew a lead to Denver late in the season.
• 3:47
  Speaker 1: I'm like, all these losses against all these good teams.
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: It's like, wow, he's missed some players for injuries. Mike
• 3:53
  Speaker 1: is not coming back. Mike is not returning this week.
• 3:56
  Speaker 1: He's not returning the following week, and he's not returning
• 3:58
  Speaker 1: the following week after that. They're hoping, they've been saying forever, mid-October.
• 4:02
  Speaker 1: I don't think that's a guarantee. Could it be November 1st?
• 4:05
  Speaker 1: Things change really quickly. And also, by the time he
• 4:07
  Speaker 1: comes back, who knows who else on your team could get...
• 4:11
  Speaker 1: injured so when I look at this situation I would
• 4:15
  Speaker 1: have said a week ago guys what are we talking
• 4:17
  Speaker 1: about the way things happen matter and the way people
• 4:22
  Speaker 1: view you in certain franchises matter You know, the Steelers, like,
• 4:28
  Speaker 1: I thought it was time for a change for Tomlin.
• 4:30
  Speaker 1: And however that actually played out behind the scenes, it
• 4:33
  Speaker 1: was the right call. It was just time for a divorce,
• 4:37
  Speaker 1: a breakup. Those were healthy. No different with John Harbaugh
• 4:40
  Speaker 1: and the Ravens. Some relationships are meant to be broken,
• 4:43
  Speaker 1: especially professionally. These are all contingent in football on wins
• 4:50
  Speaker 1: and losses. And when it doesn't consistently go well, it's
• 4:53
  Speaker 1: okay to go your separate ways. And I just look
• 4:56
  Speaker 1: at this and go, this might not be one of
• 4:59
  Speaker 1: those like going our separate ways together, but I think
• 5:03
  Speaker 1: you got to go, bro. So Matt LaFleur, I don't
• 5:07
  Speaker 1: have a good answer for this. He's just going to
• 5:09
  Speaker 1: have to have one of these moments because in a
• 5:11
  Speaker 1: lot of these games, they're playing well. Jordan Love and
• 5:15
  Speaker 1: Christian Watson through two and a half quarters look like
• 5:18
  Speaker 1: pro bowl level players. Christian Watson looked like Justin Jefferson
• 5:21
  Speaker 1: out there. And then all of a sudden the game's
• 5:24
  Speaker 1: over and it's 39-22? It's insane. So the only way
• 5:31
  Speaker 1: that you can stop the tidal wave is either get
• 5:34
  Speaker 1: on your surfboard and ride it or let it take
• 5:36
  Speaker 1: you down to the reef and knock you the fuck out.
• 5:39
  Speaker 1: And I think LeFleur's kind of at a crossroad right now,
• 5:43
  Speaker 1: given how that bad boy went. Let me tell you
• 5:51
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• 5:56
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• 6:03
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• 6:09
  Speaker 1: You have access to everything. What would you like to
• 6:12
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• 6:16
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• 6:20
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• 6:39
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• 7:50
  Speaker 1: let's dive into the National Football League. Hand up. I
• 7:58
  Speaker 1: think I mentioned this early last week, but my wife
• 8:01
  Speaker 1: gets the nighttime scaries with Jack just because he's a
• 8:05
  Speaker 1: wild card. A couple nights ago, basically got up once,
• 8:09
  Speaker 1: slept 11 of 12 hours. It was incredible. Best night's
• 8:13
  Speaker 1: sleep we've had in months. It felt like an angel
• 8:18
  Speaker 1: came down. I was like, I'm going to take care
• 8:19
  Speaker 1: of you guys tonight. Then last night, he's like, oh,
• 8:21
  Speaker 1: you guys think you got this shit figured out? But
• 8:25
  Speaker 1: I get the scaries. When I turned on those eight
• 8:28
  Speaker 1: games on Sunday morning, I realized I'm a little rusty.
• 8:32
  Speaker 1: I've been doing it in college over the first couple weeks.
• 8:35
  Speaker 1: But in college, I don't have to watch every game.
• 8:39
  Speaker 1: I'm not breaking it down and talking about it and
• 8:41
  Speaker 1: having to have takes on every single team. That's just...
• 8:45
  Speaker 1: I just kind of get to enjoy it and pick
• 8:47
  Speaker 1: a couple games that I know are going to be
• 8:48
  Speaker 1: big and really dial in on those. In the NFL,
• 8:52
  Speaker 1: I'm trying to watch everything all at once, and it
• 8:54
  Speaker 1: can be difficult. I'm not digging ditches. I'm not building
• 8:58
  Speaker 1: bridges here. I'm not fighting on the front lines of
• 9:00
  Speaker 1: a war. But given what I do for a profession,
• 9:04
  Speaker 1: it can be a little challenging. It takes a second
• 9:06
  Speaker 1: to just kind of get into the swing of things.
• 9:09
  Speaker 1: So we did this last week. Here's the slate on Sunday.
• 9:13
  Speaker 1: We'll just fire through it really quick. We got Panthers
• 9:16
  Speaker 1: at Falcons. That's terrible. Minnesota at Chicago. That's not bad.
• 9:20
  Speaker 1: Eagles at Tennessee. They stink. Not the Eagles, the Titans.
• 9:23
  Speaker 1: Pittsburgh at New England. Green Bay at New York. Cleveland
• 9:26
  Speaker 1: at Tampa. The Saints at Baltimore. Sneaky big game. Cincy
• 9:30
  Speaker 1: at Houston. Another sneaky big game. Jacksonville at Denver. Sneaky
• 9:34
  Speaker 1: big game. Vegas at Chargers Vegas home game Washington at
• 9:38
  Speaker 1: the Dallas Cowboys Seattle at the Arizona Cardinals in my
• 9:42
  Speaker 1: backyard Miami at San Francisco and Sunday night is the
• 9:46
  Speaker 1: Colts against the Chiefs so what I did last week
• 9:50
  Speaker 1: as I said my four main games in the morning
• 9:53
  Speaker 1: slate that are going to get the four box. And
• 9:56
  Speaker 1: then I learned, like, depending on the networks, it can
• 10:01
  Speaker 1: be difficult to get the exact four games you want
• 10:04
  Speaker 1: and kind of got to play with it. But here
• 10:06
  Speaker 1: are the four that I'm picking for the morning. Pittsburgh
• 10:09
  Speaker 1: at New England, New Orleans at Baltimore, Cincy at Houston,
• 10:14
  Speaker 1: and Minnesota at Chicago. Let's start with Pittsburgh at New England.
• 10:19
  Speaker 1: That was a rough watch. I think we all agree.
• 10:22
  Speaker 1: I mean, the Falcons have like two starting quarterbacks and
• 10:25
  Speaker 1: they're both injured. The Falcons currently are kind of a joke.
• 10:29
  Speaker 1: I mean, they're pretty, it's rough sledding in Atlanta. I
• 10:34
  Speaker 1: feel for Falcons fans, it's just, it's not going well.
• 10:37
  Speaker 1: I mean, your quarterback situation is a disaster. I don't
• 10:40
  Speaker 1: know what the hell is going on with Pennix. Tua
• 10:43
  Speaker 1: gets hurt in warmups in a practice. Cooper Rush is
• 10:46
  Speaker 1: also injured. I mean, just a lot of issues going on.
• 10:49
  Speaker 1: But Pittsburgh struggled, man. I mean, you kind of dive
• 10:52
  Speaker 1: into Rodgers' numbers because you looked up. It wasn't like
• 10:55
  Speaker 1: he threw the ball 20 times. He had 40 pass attempts.
• 10:59
  Speaker 1: DK Metcalf had 10 targets. But you're like, what's going
• 11:02
  Speaker 1: on here? DK only had four catches. Rodgers only averaged
• 11:05
  Speaker 1: five and a half yards a catch. There was just
• 11:07
  Speaker 1: something missing from the offense. They didn't run for over
• 11:10
  Speaker 1: 60 yards. And you would think it's Mike McCarthy's baby.
• 11:13
  Speaker 1: They will be better on offense. But the one thing
• 11:15
  Speaker 1: you'd say about New England is like, they're pretty good defense.
• 11:17
  Speaker 1: And they've had a long, long rest advantage because they
• 11:21
  Speaker 1: played on fucking Wednesday. So you look at the situation.
• 11:25
  Speaker 1: To me, the number one story in this game is
• 11:27
  Speaker 1: Drake May. I mean, he was an MVP candidate last year,
• 11:32
  Speaker 1: and he had three interceptions in the fourth quarter, one
• 11:34
  Speaker 1: of the worst interceptions you will see all season long
• 11:36
  Speaker 1: given the situation. So the pressure of that market, like
• 11:40
  Speaker 1: that market's intense. It's one of the rare markets where
• 11:43
  Speaker 1: the sports radio station rates like it would have 20
• 11:46
  Speaker 1: years ago when we had way less options and we
• 11:48
  Speaker 1: couldn't connect our phone to the car. They do massive shares. WEEI,
• 11:55
  Speaker 1: the station that has the Patriots, is an absolute cash
• 11:59
  Speaker 1: cow for a reason. They have a lot of people listening.
• 12:02
  Speaker 1: And I've seen some clips over the course of the
• 12:05
  Speaker 1: last 10 days. They are destroying him. They really are.
• 12:10
  Speaker 1: And you come into this game like A.J. Brown's gone
• 12:13
  Speaker 1: for who knows how long. Your second wide receiver is
• 12:17
  Speaker 1: this guy you give all this money to that Packers
• 12:19
  Speaker 1: fans are like, we told you. And it did not
• 12:22
  Speaker 1: go well week one. I mean, he was atrocious. I mean,
• 12:26
  Speaker 1: every time they tried to get on the ball, there
• 12:28
  Speaker 1: was either an interception, a drop, or he basically just
• 12:32
  Speaker 1: got tackled on the spot. So you look at the situation.
• 12:35
  Speaker 1: You got Drake May, his top wide receiver. There's going
• 12:37
  Speaker 1: to be some legitimate pressure here. Now, I think if
• 12:41
  Speaker 1: you're New England and variable in the defense, you go,
• 12:44
  Speaker 1: I'm not losing too much sleep. But I saw a
• 12:45
  Speaker 1: quote today. I don't know if Rodgers talked Thursday or
• 12:49
  Speaker 1: Wednesday about But he's like, I'm not going to stop
• 12:51
  Speaker 1: going to DK. He personally loves DK. I mean, they
• 12:55
  Speaker 1: went on that Montana or wherever the hell they went
• 12:57
  Speaker 1: in the hills to ride horses and do who knows
• 13:00
  Speaker 1: what by a campfire. And that's his guy. And shit,
• 13:05
  Speaker 1: it's my guy. He's on my fantasy team. I don't
• 13:06
  Speaker 1: even think I'm going to put him in my starting
• 13:08
  Speaker 1: lineup this week. But I think they are going to
• 13:11
  Speaker 1: be very dependent, just like they were last year, Like,
• 13:15
  Speaker 1: he's got to be impactful. He just does. We'll dive
• 13:20
  Speaker 1: into who I like in this game a little bit later,
• 13:22
  Speaker 1: but this is an interesting game. Because if you're New England,
• 13:25
  Speaker 1: all of a sudden Pittsburgh comes there and wins, and
• 13:27
  Speaker 1: you're 0-2, and Drake doesn't look good, it could get weird,
• 13:31
  Speaker 1: and it could get weird fast. I mean, any time
• 13:33
  Speaker 1: a team that just has playoff aspirations start 0-2, I
• 13:37
  Speaker 1: think I saw today on TV, like, the chance of
• 13:39
  Speaker 1: making the playoffs when you're 0-2 is like 15%. It's
• 13:41
  Speaker 1: just difficult. You've got an uphill battle. New Orleans at Baltimore,
• 13:47
  Speaker 1: you guys know where I stand on the Saints. I mean,
• 13:49
  Speaker 1: I just like them a lot. And I wasn't feeling
• 13:51
  Speaker 1: good after the first half, but by the end of
• 13:53
  Speaker 1: that game, I went, hey, I know they lost, but
• 13:56
  Speaker 1: that's one of the better losses of week one. And
• 13:59
  Speaker 1: I love the way that he went for two. Now,
• 14:01
  Speaker 1: I don't love... You know, a two-point play when you
• 14:07
  Speaker 1: kind of run like a fast-hitting guy in the flat
• 14:10
  Speaker 1: or like a quick out route and he's covered in
• 14:12
  Speaker 1: which they ran to Olave. Like, I just like running
• 14:15
  Speaker 1: a normal play if you're not going to run the ball.
• 14:18
  Speaker 1: And I'm not opposed to running the ball. in that situation.
• 14:22
  Speaker 1: I just don't like just doing half the field in
• 14:24
  Speaker 1: a red zone situation. The field is much more compact
• 14:27
  Speaker 1: than it is long. You just get limited options really fast.
• 14:30
  Speaker 1: I actually think the Saints might've been better being at
• 14:32
  Speaker 1: like the seven yard line than at the two yard line.
• 14:35
  Speaker 1: That being said, I mean, the quarterback threw for 410 yards.
• 14:39
  Speaker 1: A lot of they did leave practice today because of
• 14:41
  Speaker 1: a hamstring. They claim precautionary reasons for, Makes me a
• 14:46
  Speaker 1: little nervous. I mean, he was exceptional last week. But
• 14:50
  Speaker 1: the Ravens, I mean, say Flowers mispracticed. Jacoby Lane's on
• 14:54
  Speaker 1: injured reserve. Now, I saw like the top 10 all-time rushers.
• 15:01
  Speaker 1: Derrick Henry's like two seasons away from being in the
• 15:03
  Speaker 1: top three. I think Emmitt Smith said this week, it's
• 15:06
  Speaker 1: not inconceivable that he passes me. He's like 5,000 yards behind.
• 15:10
  Speaker 1: So let's say he's in his prime these next couple
• 15:13
  Speaker 1: years at like 1,500, 1,500. All of a sudden, you're
• 15:16
  Speaker 1: just a couple thousand yards away. You're 34 years old.
• 15:20
  Speaker 1: I probably wouldn't bet on it, but when all the
• 15:23
  Speaker 1: dust settles, assuming he just stays healthy this year, he
• 15:27
  Speaker 1: is going to jolt way up. Like all of a sudden,
• 15:29
  Speaker 1: he's going to be a top five rusher of all time.
• 15:31
  Speaker 1: And that feels right. So even with some of these
• 15:33
  Speaker 1: wide receiver, just not around. I saw a bunch of
• 15:40
  Speaker 1: quotes from the offensive coordinator. He does feel pretty impressive.
• 15:45
  Speaker 1: He does. I'm quick to change my opinion on these
• 15:47
  Speaker 1: things when it's like, you know, I don't know. And
• 15:49
  Speaker 1: then it's like, okay, the more and more I see
• 15:51
  Speaker 1: you in your element, see you in the line of fire,
• 15:54
  Speaker 1: see you in the arena, see you talk. You can
• 15:57
  Speaker 1: win me over pretty quick. And this guy started to
• 16:00
  Speaker 1: win me over a little bit. He just is. So
• 16:04
  Speaker 1: this is a big spot for New Orleans. You know,
• 16:07
  Speaker 1: this would be another one. You could go 0-2, but
• 16:09
  Speaker 1: if you go toe-to-toe with them, I think you'd feel
• 16:11
  Speaker 1: pretty good about your chances, especially because literally everyone in
• 16:15
  Speaker 1: your division has not won a game by 0-4. It's
• 16:18
  Speaker 1: not like, well, you're 0-2 and this team's 2-0. No,
• 16:22
  Speaker 1: that's not the case. So, listen, Lamar, Derrick Henry, this
• 16:26
  Speaker 1: game's in Baltimore. It should be pretty raucous. But I
• 16:30
  Speaker 1: think the Saints, man, they got some firepower. Kamara's coming
• 16:34
  Speaker 1: back this week. Houston, Cincinnati at Houston. Last year, Houston
• 16:41
  Speaker 1: got off to that terrible start and then started rattling
• 16:44
  Speaker 1: off the wins and still had a chance to win
• 16:46
  Speaker 1: the division by the end of the season. They just
• 16:48
  Speaker 1: couldn't make up the ground. And Jacksonville just kept playing
• 16:51
  Speaker 1: really well. That was a massive loss given that you're
• 16:57
  Speaker 1: coming into this game and it looks like Nico Collins
• 16:59
  Speaker 1: is not going to be able to play. So Nico
• 17:02
  Speaker 1: Collins had seven catches for 75 yards and a touchdown.
• 17:05
  Speaker 1: and just his presence out on the field. Like he's
• 17:08
  Speaker 1: just a unique player. I mean, he's a freak. And
• 17:12
  Speaker 1: I think most of us like what we saw from CJ,
• 17:14
  Speaker 1: given the intensity of, uh, I guess the negativity surrounding him,
• 17:21
  Speaker 1: but you go, Oh, and two, cause let's face it.
• 17:24
  Speaker 1: Cincinnati's defense probably gonna be pretty good all season, especially
• 17:27
  Speaker 1: right now when they're healthy, they forced four turnovers last year.
• 17:30
  Speaker 1: They were peppering Baker Mayfield last week. Uh, So if
• 17:35
  Speaker 1: Nico's gone, all of a sudden, like you go 0-2
• 17:38
  Speaker 1: at home, and I'm someone that loves Houston, but this
• 17:42
  Speaker 1: type makes me nervous. Now, Joe Burrow's like, yeah, my
• 17:44
  Speaker 1: back's tight. It's like, Joe, you mean like you feel
• 17:47
  Speaker 1: a little tweak or like you feel it when you
• 17:50
  Speaker 1: throw or you're not able to pass at practice? You
• 17:53
  Speaker 1: just hurt the majority of last season. Is this something
• 17:56
  Speaker 1: that's going to be an issue? Are you going to
• 17:57
  Speaker 1: end up missing games? Could this get worse in a game?
• 18:00
  Speaker 1: What if, you know, Will Anderson or one of those
• 18:04
  Speaker 1: cats blindsides you? Are you going to be able to
• 18:06
  Speaker 1: get up? Is your back going to tighten up? Definitely
• 18:10
  Speaker 1: makes me nervous. Now, Jamar Chase had two catches. You
• 18:14
  Speaker 1: would think they're going to involve him more. The problem is,
• 18:17
  Speaker 1: you know, Houston, you know, Stingley is– the best or
• 18:22
  Speaker 1: one of the best corners in the league. I mean,
• 18:24
  Speaker 1: last week, basically what they did is I was, an
• 18:28
  Speaker 1: NFL buddy was telling me they basically came out in
• 18:31
  Speaker 1: a three tight end situation to change the personnel for
• 18:35
  Speaker 1: Houston and then just attack linebackers on the tight ends. Right.
• 18:40
  Speaker 1: And we basically are just going to Laster side of
• 18:42
  Speaker 1: the field every time. And Laster is a good player,
• 18:45
  Speaker 1: but like, we're not going after the cream of the
• 18:47
  Speaker 1: crop on the right side. And does Joe Burrow do
• 18:51
  Speaker 1: something like that? Is he much more inclined to spread
• 18:56
  Speaker 1: around no matter what, just because if Jamar Chase is
• 18:58
  Speaker 1: on him, whatever, I like my chances. You know, obviously
• 19:01
  Speaker 1: LSU on LSU on LSU crime right there, Jamar Chase, Stingley,
• 19:04
  Speaker 1: and Joe Burrow. But it's a big game. You know,
• 19:09
  Speaker 1: if Cincinnati wins, it all of a sudden is like, okay,
• 19:14
  Speaker 1: you beat Tampa, who– They're not what they probably were
• 19:18
  Speaker 1: a couple years ago, but they're still probably an 8
• 19:20
  Speaker 1: or 9 win team. You beat Houston that people like
• 19:23
  Speaker 1: me thought they had a chance to be the number
• 19:25
  Speaker 1: one overall seed, even if that doesn't necessarily play out.
• 19:28
  Speaker 1: I think we would all agree more than likely, even
• 19:32
  Speaker 1: if Houston went 0-2, they're still probably a 10 win team.
• 19:36
  Speaker 1: It's a big game. To me, if Joe Burrow is
• 19:39
  Speaker 1: playing well, this is probably the best game of the day.
• 19:45
  Speaker 1: Then last but not least Minnesota at Chicago It's like what?
• 19:50
  Speaker 1: can you do to follow up a 59-point performance? I
• 19:54
  Speaker 1: saw it's gone pretty viral this week about PFF. They
• 19:57
  Speaker 1: gave Caleb Williams a shitty grade. and Collinsworth, who I like,
• 20:02
  Speaker 1: like posted something today, even though he sold that company
• 20:06
  Speaker 1: to another company. It's like, I think at this point
• 20:09
  Speaker 1: in time, no one gives a shit about these grades. Like,
• 20:12
  Speaker 1: I don't give a shit. I don't pretend to give
• 20:14
  Speaker 1: a shit. I can't even pretend to get worked up
• 20:17
  Speaker 1: on a grade that's like, oh, he said he was
• 20:19
  Speaker 1: the fifth, who cares? It's kind of, to me, it
• 20:22
  Speaker 1: felt like it used to matter more. It doesn't feel
• 20:25
  Speaker 1: like it's as relevant anymore. Now maybe more and more
• 20:28
  Speaker 1: teams utilize some of the data, but I think it's
• 20:30
  Speaker 1: more personnel than the grades. Whatever some dude in a
• 20:34
  Speaker 1: room that you have no clue who that human being
• 20:37
  Speaker 1: is giving it. It's never really meant that much to
• 20:40
  Speaker 1: me personally, but I did understand the discourse. In 2026,
• 20:44
  Speaker 1: I can't even pretend to think it's that relevant. I
• 20:46
  Speaker 1: really can't. Not after like multiple sales and random people
• 20:50
  Speaker 1: now working there. I just don't care. But if I
• 20:53
  Speaker 1: was a Bears fan, I'd be like double middle finger,
• 20:55
  Speaker 1: screw you. You're saying he didn't play well? Because I
• 20:58
  Speaker 1: think we'd all agree like, listen, No one's acting like
• 21:01
  Speaker 1: this is the greatest game of all time. But we
• 21:04
  Speaker 1: all watched it, and it sure looked pretty good to me.
• 21:06
  Speaker 1: You know? Sure looked pretty good to me. It's like
• 21:10
  Speaker 1: he threw an interception. Yeah, the play didn't count. It's like,
• 21:13
  Speaker 1: so you count plays that don't count? That's... I saw
• 21:19
  Speaker 1: Collinsworth was like, well, it was an awful play. The
• 21:21
  Speaker 1: play didn't count. Like, if there's a penalty, even if
• 21:25
  Speaker 1: it's the worst play of all time, the play did
• 21:26
  Speaker 1: not count. So you are counting something... that literally doesn't
• 21:31
  Speaker 1: exist in the football archives of actual gameplay because it
• 21:36
  Speaker 1: was a penalty and it was negated. But, yeah, it
• 21:41
  Speaker 1: kind of is what it is. I mean, we got
• 21:42
  Speaker 1: the Carson Wentz experience, J.J. McCarthy, one snap away. You
• 21:47
  Speaker 1: got to give Kevin O'Connell some credit, even once– Kyler
• 21:52
  Speaker 1: gets KO'd. They still found a way. I mean, obviously
• 21:55
  Speaker 1: the bomb was pretty sick. That play where he came
• 21:58
  Speaker 1: in motion and kind of reached out to the pylon, like,
• 22:03
  Speaker 1: Justin Jefferson's a badass. You know, that guy is a menace.
• 22:08
  Speaker 1: That guy's a problem. So, I don't know. I mean, this...
• 22:14
  Speaker 1: These divisional games can get weird. Obviously Flores blitzes like
• 22:18
  Speaker 1: literally every single play. Are you going to bring all
• 22:21
  Speaker 1: this pressure against Caleb who can run like 21 miles
• 22:24
  Speaker 1: an hour and looks to be much more accurate? Feels
• 22:28
  Speaker 1: like a little bit more of a give and take
• 22:30
  Speaker 1: than versus like, let's face it, I mean Ben Johnson
• 22:34
  Speaker 1: and Caleb strike more fear in most people than Matt
• 22:37
  Speaker 1: LaFleur and Jordan Love right now. Even though I thought
• 22:41
  Speaker 1: Jordan Love was playing pretty well until he wasn't. But
• 22:43
  Speaker 1: that's the thing. When you're blitzing all the time, if
• 22:45
  Speaker 1: some of these start getting home, if some of these
• 22:47
  Speaker 1: start rattling you, it can unravel you really, really quickly.
• 22:50
  Speaker 1: So this is just, this to me is a very,
• 22:52
  Speaker 1: very interesting game. I just, like how many points are
• 22:55
  Speaker 1: Chicago going to score? Like, can you imagine going into,
• 22:58
  Speaker 1: is it just going to be, that's the thing with
• 22:59
  Speaker 1: week one, week two. Score 59 one week, like are
• 23:02
  Speaker 1: they just going to score 20 this week? Could they
• 23:04
  Speaker 1: have just an awful game and score 15? Or are
• 23:06
  Speaker 1: they just going to score like 45? And through two weeks,
• 23:09
  Speaker 1: I think I saw Big Cat say that Eberflus' last year,
• 23:13
  Speaker 1: Caleb's rookie year, it took them four weeks to score
• 23:17
  Speaker 1: 59 points. Now, this is clearly a different animal. You know,
• 23:20
  Speaker 1: Rome had that sweet catch. It's the ninth pick in
• 23:23
  Speaker 1: the draft. I mean, as.
• 23:27
  Speaker 1: They score 59 points, and Loveland, I don't even think,
• 23:29
  Speaker 1: had a point in fantasy. Which, if you would have
• 23:32
  Speaker 1: said they score 59 points, you'd be like, I bet
• 23:34
  Speaker 1: Loveland scores a couple touchdowns. It's like, no, he didn't
• 23:36
  Speaker 1: do anything. Kalief Raymond looked like Jerry Rice out there.
• 23:39
  Speaker 1: But that's part of having a great offensive coordinator, is
• 23:42
  Speaker 1: you get random guys. This is what I always say.
• 23:45
  Speaker 1: You can manipulate offense. You can dominate with random players. Now,
• 23:51
  Speaker 1: Rome Adunze is not a random player. Obviously, DeAndre Swift isn't.
• 23:55
  Speaker 1: But my point is, in a good offense, there are
• 23:57
  Speaker 1: going to be role players that excel. And even Rome.
• 24:00
  Speaker 1: I don't think anyone's viewing Rome like Justin Jefferson or
• 24:03
  Speaker 1: Jamar Chase or CeeDee Lamb. But Luther Burden, that's a
• 24:08
  Speaker 1: Ben Johnson guy. Just this Carson Wentz. I saw Florio writing,
• 24:13
  Speaker 1: is Carson Wentz ever giving his gig back? And if
• 24:16
  Speaker 1: they were to win, like, no, he ain't giving his
• 24:18
  Speaker 1: gig back. They keep winning. They're paying Kyler Murray a
• 24:21
  Speaker 1: million dollars. They'll do whatever it takes to just keep winning.
• 24:24
  Speaker 1: So if you tell me that they win this game
• 24:28
  Speaker 1: in Chicago and they're 2-0 and they're leading the division,
• 24:31
  Speaker 1: I'm recording this part before the Thursday night game, so
• 24:36
  Speaker 1: they technically could be tied if they were to win it.
• 24:38
  Speaker 1: But this is... If Chicago wins, all of a sudden
• 24:44
  Speaker 1: you've got a win against the Panthers, who were a
• 24:46
  Speaker 1: playoff team, and I think still going to have a
• 24:48
  Speaker 1: very good chance to compete to win that division if
• 24:49
  Speaker 1: their offense is going to play like that. In Minnesota,
• 24:52
  Speaker 1: who is just going to be extremely feisty because of
• 24:54
  Speaker 1: their coaching staff, and they do have some talent. You're
• 24:57
  Speaker 1: feeling pretty good to start the season. You're feeling pretty
• 25:00
  Speaker 1: good to start. Remember last year, the Bears started 2-2,
• 25:03
  Speaker 1: and it didn't start great. Because Caleb and Ben John,
• 25:06
  Speaker 1: it was just kind of weird. Doesn't feel weird at all.
• 25:09
  Speaker 1: But that's the thing with football. All it takes is
• 25:11
  Speaker 1: one loss, one weird moment. Things can change in a dime.
• 25:14
  Speaker 1: That's what makes this sport so great. Because there's no
• 25:16
  Speaker 1: such thing as an overreaction. We are just literally reacting
• 25:20
  Speaker 1: to the games. And every game matters. Meaning that every
• 25:23
  Speaker 1: reaction is going to be pretty intense. And that's, I
• 25:27
  Speaker 1: think when you look at some of the other games,
• 25:30
  Speaker 1: I don't think there's any... coach going into this week
• 25:35
  Speaker 1: that has more tangible pressure on them than Matt LaFleur
• 25:40
  Speaker 1: you lose to the Jets I mean I you could
• 25:44
  Speaker 1: convince me that he doesn't make it to Halloween because
• 25:48
  Speaker 1: once you start slow and then you lose a game
• 25:51
  Speaker 1: that no one three weeks ago thought you would ever
• 25:54
  Speaker 1: lose it could come unraveled and you're still Micah Parsons
• 25:59
  Speaker 1: who knows when he's coming back Josh Jacobs probably never
• 26:02
  Speaker 1: coming back. It could get really weird. Here's the thing
• 26:05
  Speaker 1: with the Jets. You just look at their box score
• 26:09
  Speaker 1: on offense. They're not just playing with me and you.
• 26:13
  Speaker 1: I mean, Brees Hall is a highly paid running back.
• 26:16
  Speaker 1: Garrett Wilson was a top 10 pick who's also a
• 26:19
  Speaker 1: highly paid guy. Those two guys would probably start on
• 26:24
  Speaker 1: basically every team in the league. Every good team would
• 26:27
  Speaker 1: utilize both those guys. Omar Cooper was drafted in the
• 26:32
  Speaker 1: first round. Kenny Sadiq, first round pick. Their offensive line
• 26:36
  Speaker 1: has multiple high picks. Geno Smith before with other talent
• 26:41
  Speaker 1: around him has looked like a solid quarterback. So all
• 26:44
  Speaker 1: of a sudden you start looking around and you go,
• 26:45
  Speaker 1: this is not the shittiest version of, this is not
• 26:48
  Speaker 1: the Miami Dolphins. That's the thing with the Arizona Cardinals.
• 26:51
  Speaker 1: It's like, yeah, they've got some pretty good players. Trey McBride,
• 26:55
  Speaker 1: all pro level guy. Mike Wilson, really good wide receiver.
• 26:58
  Speaker 1: Marvin Harrison, top 10 pick. They drafted Jeremiah Love, third overall.
• 27:04
  Speaker 1: When you're playing a team like that with firepower, and
• 27:07
  Speaker 1: early in the season when they get a little momentum,
• 27:09
  Speaker 1: especially like the crowd is just going to believe at
• 27:13
  Speaker 1: this point in time. I don't know, man. I don't
• 27:18
  Speaker 1: feel confident at all, the Green Bay Packers. I really don't. Now,
• 27:21
  Speaker 1: if you told me they end up winning by 15,
• 27:23
  Speaker 1: 20 points, wouldn't be shocked. But if you tell me
• 27:27
  Speaker 1: this is like, 17-17 midway through the third quarter. I
• 27:33
  Speaker 1: think that is 100% on the table. I'm rooting for
• 27:36
  Speaker 1: Aaron Glenn. I love that Lions team a couple years
• 27:39
  Speaker 1: ago when they had Ben, Aaron Glenn, Dan Campbell, and
• 27:42
  Speaker 1: were just making runs a couple years ago to the
• 27:45
  Speaker 1: NFC Championship game. He seems a very, very tough job,
• 27:49
  Speaker 1: but I understand that they played the Titans week one,
• 27:54
  Speaker 1: but They just look pretty capable. I mean, they did.
• 27:58
  Speaker 1: Because they have more than capable talent on the offensive
• 28:02
  Speaker 1: side of the ball. Now, defensively, like Jordan Love, Christian Watson, Golden,
• 28:09
  Speaker 1: like those guys should probably kind of get loose. And
• 28:14
  Speaker 1: I was thinking that there was a quote today. Not
• 28:18
  Speaker 1: a quote. I mean, he said it. Cam Ward was asked,
• 28:21
  Speaker 1: or maybe Cam Ward said, I think I'm a great player.
• 28:25
  Speaker 1: Which I saw Coward had a rant about Deshaun Watson
• 28:29
  Speaker 1: of like, the thing that kills more quarterbacks in the
• 28:32
  Speaker 1: NFL isn't arm strength or mobility or being able to
• 28:40
  Speaker 1: understand the offense. It's like no self-awareness. Like if you're
• 28:45
  Speaker 1: not a runner, don't run. if you don't have the
• 28:47
  Speaker 1: arm strength, don't make that pass. Like, know your limitations.
• 28:51
  Speaker 1: Understand your situations. I do think Cam Ward feels a
• 28:55
  Speaker 1: little lost, like in the wilderness. And I don't know
• 28:58
  Speaker 1: if he's trying to talk himself into confidence because some
• 29:04
  Speaker 1: people try to do that. Like, it's not going well.
• 29:07
  Speaker 1: You had 80 plus yards in the middle of the
• 29:09
  Speaker 1: fourth quarter last week. Like, you've kind of been an
• 29:11
  Speaker 1: embarrassment and your franchise has. It's not all your fault.
• 29:14
  Speaker 1: Your team sucks as well. But like, you're pretty terrible.
• 29:18
  Speaker 1: And then the reporter followed up like, well, if you're
• 29:19
  Speaker 1: a great player, shouldn't you show great results? Shouldn't you
• 29:25
  Speaker 1: just look like a great player? And it kind of
• 29:28
  Speaker 1: got a little weird after that. This week, you're playing
• 29:31
  Speaker 1: Vic Fangio. This thing in Tennessee, everyone assumes the Browns
• 29:36
  Speaker 1: are just going to suck. No one thinks the Browns
• 29:39
  Speaker 1: have any shot. Tennessee gets to fly a little under
• 29:42
  Speaker 1: the radar. They're in an area where college football is king.
• 29:48
  Speaker 1: They've just been out of sight, out of mind for
• 29:50
  Speaker 1: a while. This is one of those that, what if
• 29:54
  Speaker 1: it looks exactly like last week? Obviously the Eagles are
• 29:57
  Speaker 1: just better. You know, I mean, I saw some of
• 30:00
  Speaker 1: these clips on Landon Dickerson, like a breakdown. I was like, God,
• 30:03
  Speaker 1: he looked really, really bad. Well, they put him on
• 30:05
  Speaker 1: injury reserve. So whoever is playing is just going to
• 30:09
  Speaker 1: be a major upgrade there. You know, I think the
• 30:11
  Speaker 1: Eagles after that game was a little closer than they
• 30:13
  Speaker 1: would have liked. This is one of those, especially early
• 30:16
  Speaker 1: in the season. If you told me this was late
• 30:18
  Speaker 1: in the season, I'm like, yeah, things get weird when
• 30:19
  Speaker 1: you're playing a crappy team. Week two, like you're kind
• 30:23
  Speaker 1: of trying to prove some stuff. This is a game
• 30:25
  Speaker 1: where the Eagles should win by like 20 points and
• 30:27
  Speaker 1: just smother them. And definitely defensively with Fangio, this could
• 30:30
  Speaker 1: get really, really ugly for Cam Ward. This would be
• 30:34
  Speaker 1: one of the last people you would want to play.
• 30:37
  Speaker 1: If you just needed to kind of take a deep breath,
• 30:40
  Speaker 1: there would be so many teams that you would choose. Hell,
• 30:42
  Speaker 1: you'd rather play the Bears. You'd rather lose 50-25. You
• 30:47
  Speaker 1: play Fangio, all of a sudden it's like, they have
• 30:51
  Speaker 1: 17 yards at halftime. Weird stuff like that, and all
• 30:55
  Speaker 1: of a sudden everyone in the area is like, this
• 30:57
  Speaker 1: guy isn't just a complete bust. He cannot play. He
• 31:01
  Speaker 1: cannot play. And I don't think we're that far away
• 31:05
  Speaker 1: from that conversation really kind of growing on a national level.
• 31:10
  Speaker 1: This game is just fantastic. To me, the afternoon window...
• 31:15
  Speaker 1: I mean, the Niners are like almost a two-touchdown favorite.
• 31:18
  Speaker 1: Seattle's coming off a 10-day break, and Arizona's kind of
• 31:21
  Speaker 1: feeling themselves. Washington-Dallas, like, that game doesn't do that much
• 31:26
  Speaker 1: for me. But Jags-Denver, I mean, last year the Jags
• 31:31
  Speaker 1: went into Denver and won by two touchdowns and kind
• 31:35
  Speaker 1: of beat the crap out of them. Parker-Washington just went nuts.
• 31:38
  Speaker 1: Denver's coming off, I mean, just an absolute embarrassment. In
• 31:43
  Speaker 1: front of 20, I think I saw 4 million people
• 31:45
  Speaker 1: watch Monday Night Football. And the Jags are good. I
• 31:51
  Speaker 1: didn't pick them to make the playoffs. Part of it,
• 31:53
  Speaker 1: I just didn't really want to. But while I do
• 31:56
  Speaker 1: talk some shit about the franchise and its relevancy, I
• 31:59
  Speaker 1: will not diminish how awesome their head coach has been,
• 32:03
  Speaker 1: how good Trevor Lawrence has looked under their coach, how
• 32:07
  Speaker 1: many talented players they have on defense. They're a real team.
• 32:11
  Speaker 1: if you told me they won 13 games, would not
• 32:13
  Speaker 1: discount it. And if the Colts are just going to
• 32:16
  Speaker 1: be in free fall and Houston's got some issues, maybe
• 32:18
  Speaker 1: they just win it again and I'm an idiot. But
• 32:21
  Speaker 1: this is the type of game, if you're Denver, it's twofold.
• 32:25
  Speaker 1: Embarrassed in front of the country. Your quarterback, I mean,
• 32:29
  Speaker 1: looked like a peewee football, like a JV football player.
• 32:34
  Speaker 1: And the team you are playing beat the shit out
• 32:37
  Speaker 1: of you last year. Like, this got to be a little,
• 32:41
  Speaker 1: you know, draw a line in the sand moment. And
• 32:43
  Speaker 1: even Liam Cohen joked this week that Sean Payton came
• 32:46
  Speaker 1: up to him at the owner's meetings like, I've been
• 32:48
  Speaker 1: thinking all offseason about you. I'm coming for you. Kind
• 32:53
  Speaker 1: of tongue-in-cheek, but also, like, you embarrassed me last year.
• 32:56
  Speaker 1: I can't let that happen again. This is a fantastic game.
• 33:00
  Speaker 1: You know, I mentioned this to Haberman. I think Liam Cohen,
• 33:11
  Speaker 1: even Sean Payton said it last year about during that week,
• 33:16
  Speaker 1: they're a great team from a little small market. Kind
• 33:18
  Speaker 1: of took a jab at them. But it's kind of true.
• 33:21
  Speaker 1: There's a reason the Jags, if the Cowboys were as
• 33:24
  Speaker 1: good as the Jags, they'd lead every show. I mean,
• 33:28
  Speaker 1: they just would. If the Packers were as good as
• 33:30
  Speaker 1: the Jags, if the Steelers were as good as the Jags,
• 33:33
  Speaker 1: they would lead the majority of these shows. But when
• 33:36
  Speaker 1: you're in that market, you're in that division, You get
• 33:38
  Speaker 1: to fly under the radar, but all of a sudden
• 33:40
  Speaker 1: you win this game and you've won 13 games last year.
• 33:43
  Speaker 1: You start 2-0 this year. It'd be hard to say
• 33:48
  Speaker 1: anything about this franchise. A couple other pressure. The Dallas
• 33:54
  Speaker 1: Defense Coordinator needs to have a good night. He really does.
• 33:58
  Speaker 1: Because there was the video that went viral of him
• 34:01
  Speaker 1: dealing with the players and Obviously, from a scheme standpoint,
• 34:05
  Speaker 1: guys were wide open. No one knew where to line up.
• 34:07
  Speaker 1: No one knew who to take. I guess people knew
• 34:09
  Speaker 1: where to line up. They didn't know where to go,
• 34:12
  Speaker 1: which I don't care who you're playing in the National
• 34:15
  Speaker 1: Football League. If you don't know where to go and
• 34:19
  Speaker 1: where to stand and where to be, your defense is
• 34:21
  Speaker 1: going to be horrendous. And when you get to the
• 34:23
  Speaker 1: spots where two guys are chasing one guy and there
• 34:27
  Speaker 1: is just open grass, you're going to get smoked every time.
• 34:31
  Speaker 1: I've seen everyone say, and I agree, it's the best
• 34:33
  Speaker 1: I've ever seen Jackson Dard play. A lot of those plays, though,
• 34:37
  Speaker 1: he's thrown to wide open guys. So it's like probably
• 34:41
  Speaker 1: be a different animal for him on Monday Night Football
• 34:43
  Speaker 1: against the Rams. The snowball of pressure and the intensity
• 34:51
  Speaker 1: of a football season is can really grow on you.
• 34:54
  Speaker 1: That's why I thought week one, the most important team
• 34:59
  Speaker 1: to win a game was Cincinnati. It's like they had
• 35:02
  Speaker 1: these crazy high expectations. They were playing a solid team
• 35:06
  Speaker 1: at home. It was a must win. All of a sudden,
• 35:08
  Speaker 1: you start 0-1, people would just be like, what? Same
• 35:11
  Speaker 1: old song and dance. Even more important than Buffalo. If
• 35:15
  Speaker 1: Buffalo had lost to the Texans, I don't think anyone
• 35:17
  Speaker 1: would have freaked out. And I think... When you're the
• 35:22
  Speaker 1: Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator and you were viewed as the
• 35:25
  Speaker 1: guy that was going to save it, and I kind
• 35:26
  Speaker 1: of bought into it, but it shows you you're 34
• 35:29
  Speaker 1: years old, young guy, kind of fast riser. It's like
• 35:33
  Speaker 1: he's a fan geo guy. Well, so is Brandon Staley.
• 35:36
  Speaker 1: Just because I worked for Bill Walsh doesn't mean I'm
• 35:39
  Speaker 1: the next Mike Holmgren. And it makes me a little
• 35:42
  Speaker 1: nervous as someone that has the Cowboys winning this division.
• 35:46
  Speaker 1: The Niners play the Dolphins. I mean, that game. I'm
• 35:49
  Speaker 1: playing multiple Niners on my fantasy squad. Like Mike Evans, Debo,
• 35:54
  Speaker 1: if you've got Christian McCaffrey, Purdy. I mean, I think
• 36:00
  Speaker 1: they landed home, what Habermas said, like Friday afternoon. They
• 36:04
  Speaker 1: didn't work Saturday. They didn't work Sunday. He gave them
• 36:07
  Speaker 1: Monday off. They had Tuesday as a mandatory day off.
• 36:09
  Speaker 1: Like they're back on their time. And this is not
• 36:13
  Speaker 1: one of those where you just look at the Dolphins
• 36:15
  Speaker 1: and you go, okay, they're 0-10. It's week two. It's
• 36:18
  Speaker 1: what I do like about some bigger spreads is with
• 36:21
  Speaker 1: good teams playing bad teams. It's like week two, you
• 36:24
  Speaker 1: still should get a really good effort from the good
• 36:26
  Speaker 1: teams against the bad teams in terms of the week
• 36:27
  Speaker 1: of practice and preparation. Sometimes it can get weird in
• 36:30
  Speaker 1: November or December. I've always defended teams. If you lay
• 36:35
  Speaker 1: an egg, but you win, it's like, yeah, these guys
• 36:37
  Speaker 1: are humans. I'm playing like one of the worst teams
• 36:39
  Speaker 1: in the league. And I think the Dolphins are probably
• 36:42
  Speaker 1: going to end up being the worst team in the league.
• 36:44
  Speaker 1: So the Browns might have something to say about that
• 36:47
  Speaker 1: as well. But Niners should murder them. Couple predictions brought
• 37:05
  Speaker 1: to you by my friends at Pauly Market. Maybe I'm
• 37:09
  Speaker 1: just a sap for this squad. Maybe I'm just a
• 37:12
  Speaker 1: Tyler Shuck fan. Maybe I'm just still holding on to
• 37:16
  Speaker 1: Kellen Moore's greatness from Boise State. But if you take
• 37:19
  Speaker 1: the Ravens, no, to cover the eight and a half.
• 37:23
  Speaker 1: $ 100 pays 187. Eight and a half's a lot of points.
• 37:28
  Speaker 1: I mean, no Zay Flowers, no Lane. I saw Declan Doyle,
• 37:34
  Speaker 1: which is a great name, talking about how they're going
• 37:36
  Speaker 1: to feed Rashad Bateman, get him more involved. You know,
• 37:40
  Speaker 1: they're coming off that huge win. If they could just... Now,
• 37:43
  Speaker 1: this is a problem. Jameer Gibbs ran for 160 yards. Now, granted,
• 37:47
  Speaker 1: they gave him the ball like every play, but I'd
• 37:50
  Speaker 1: probably like Derrick Henry's chances against that defense. Kamara's back.
• 37:54
  Speaker 1: I think eight and a half is a lot if
• 37:56
  Speaker 1: you're someone like me and think the Saints are like
• 37:57
  Speaker 1: a nine-win team. If they're a nine- or ten-win team,
• 38:01
  Speaker 1: eight and a half, that could even be a backdoor cover.
• 38:04
  Speaker 1: You could be down, I don't know, 14 points with
• 38:10
  Speaker 1: five minutes to go, and all of a sudden Tyler
• 38:12
  Speaker 1: Shuck does what Tyler Shuck does. He leads a touchdown
• 38:14
  Speaker 1: drive late in the game. New England-Pittsburgh. I just, maybe
• 38:22
  Speaker 1: I'm kind of out on New England. I was coming
• 38:24
  Speaker 1: into the season. After watching Drake May, I definitely don't
• 38:28
  Speaker 1: feel that much better about it. A.J. Brown, out. Dobbs,
• 38:31
  Speaker 1: definitely do not trust. If you take New England to
• 38:36
  Speaker 1: not cover the 5.5, $ 100, like the previous game, pays $ 187.
• 38:43
  Speaker 1: I'm taking Pittsburgh in this spot. Pittsburgh's defense looked pretty solid.
• 38:47
  Speaker 1: You would think Rodgers would be a little more crisp
• 38:50
  Speaker 1: a game in. You know, DK Metcalf is going to
• 38:53
  Speaker 1: be way more explosive than anything New England can bring
• 38:55
  Speaker 1: to the table. You know, New England trades the LSU
• 38:59
  Speaker 1: guy right before the season to Houston. Then AJ gets injured.
• 39:03
  Speaker 1: Now we got question on Dobbs. And this position that
• 39:05
  Speaker 1: was like a position of strength all of a sudden
• 39:06
  Speaker 1: is like, how good are their weapons? Now the one
• 39:10
  Speaker 1: thing New England always has and is going to have
• 39:12
  Speaker 1: as long as they're relatively healthy is their defense is
• 39:14
  Speaker 1: pretty solid. But like Pittsburgh, they just play in kind
• 39:17
  Speaker 1: of ugly games. I mean, it'd just be like 13-13
• 39:20
  Speaker 1: late in the third quarter. Like, this is the most
• 39:22
  Speaker 1: boring game on television. That's kind of what the Steelers
• 39:25
  Speaker 1: have done last year with Rodgers and what they did
• 39:27
  Speaker 1: through one game this year with Rodgers so I I'd
• 39:30
  Speaker 1: expect this game to be kind of close uh and
• 39:32
  Speaker 1: last but not least this gets back to the Fangio
• 39:37
  Speaker 1: uh against Cam Ward if you talk about a mismatch
• 39:41
  Speaker 1: it'd be like a light heavyweight getting in the ring
• 39:43
  Speaker 1: against the heavyweight it's like they just don't really have
• 39:45
  Speaker 1: a shot especially if that light heavyweight isn't that good
• 39:49
  Speaker 1: and the heavyweight is good. Now, I know they had
• 39:52
  Speaker 1: a 5-3 and outs. People have been firing in my DMs, Middlecoff,
• 39:56
  Speaker 1: Jalen Hurts played better than... We get it. He makes
• 40:00
  Speaker 1: a lot of big plays. I would expect even more
• 40:02
  Speaker 1: big plays against this defense. This roster just isn't very good.
• 40:06
  Speaker 1: So if your roster isn't very good and your quarterback
• 40:09
  Speaker 1: might legitimately... be like not your starting quarterback next year,
• 40:13
  Speaker 1: and you drafted a number one a year ago and
• 40:15
  Speaker 1: it's been that big of a disaster, and the media
• 40:18
  Speaker 1: every single day keeps asking him, why aren't you good
• 40:20
  Speaker 1: at football? This gets like, even if you're kind of struggling,
• 40:26
  Speaker 1: the conversations that Cam Ward and Deshaun have feel a
• 40:30
  Speaker 1: little bit different. Now, I hate comparing Cam Ward to Deshaun.
• 40:36
  Speaker 1: To my knowledge, never been in trouble. And I think
• 40:39
  Speaker 1: Deshaun would say, I might suck now, but I was
• 40:42
  Speaker 1: once kind of good. There's some truth to that. I've
• 40:44
  Speaker 1: been to a Pro Bowl, made a lot of money.
• 40:46
  Speaker 1: Like Cam Ward at this point in time, you'd be like,
• 40:48
  Speaker 1: that doesn't look like he's going to get a second contract.
• 40:52
  Speaker 1: If you take the Eagles to cover 7.5, $ 100 pays 207.
• 40:57
  Speaker 1: This just feels like it's going to be a pretty
• 41:00
  Speaker 1: tough spot for Tennessee. Like if you were Tennessee, I
• 41:04
  Speaker 1: feel like the Eagles would be one of the last
• 41:05
  Speaker 1: teams you'd want to see. to just try to get
• 41:08
  Speaker 1: the train back on the tracks. And listen, some quarterbacks,
• 41:12
  Speaker 1: some draft picks are just fugazis. You know, they're just like,
• 41:17
  Speaker 1: regret that one. And sometimes you force the quarterback. I
• 41:21
  Speaker 1: think it's a good lesson when it comes to drafting,
• 41:25
  Speaker 1: specifically quarterbacks. But you could just argue like forcing needs.
• 41:30
  Speaker 1: I think that's where you get in trouble. Like, do
• 41:32
  Speaker 1: you truly believe this guy's a number one overall quarterback
• 41:35
  Speaker 1: or are you just so desperate to get a quarterback?
• 41:38
  Speaker 1: Because if you don't truly believe it and you're just desperate,
• 41:42
  Speaker 1: just take Abdul Carter. Take a guy that is legitimately
• 41:45
  Speaker 1: worthy of being a top five pick and a couple
• 41:47
  Speaker 1: years later be like, listen, is it the best first
• 41:51
  Speaker 1: round pick of all time? No, but we thought he
• 41:53
  Speaker 1: was the best player in the draft. We didn't think
• 41:54
  Speaker 1: the quarterback was worthy of it. And then where you
• 41:57
  Speaker 1: really get in trouble as a GM is when you
• 42:00
  Speaker 1: do take that guy and then it's just a nightmare
• 42:03
  Speaker 1: when another guy in that guy's draft has success. And
• 42:08
  Speaker 1: I don't know if Jackson Dart is going to continue
• 42:10
  Speaker 1: to do what he did, but it does feel like
• 42:12
  Speaker 1: Jackson Dart's going to be pretty solid. It does feel
• 42:15
  Speaker 1: like Jackson Dart has a lot of potential to be
• 42:17
  Speaker 1: a really good player in this league. Where it's like
• 42:19
  Speaker 1: Cam Ward, what does he bring to the table? What
• 42:21
  Speaker 1: are his strengths? And you kind of look back, they
• 42:28
  Speaker 1: just kind of played freestyle ball at Miami. You kind
• 42:31
  Speaker 1: of run around, throw it around. It's like, okay, that's
• 42:35
  Speaker 1: not really working in the NFL. He's not a super
• 42:37
  Speaker 1: great athlete, doesn't have the biggest arm. He just kind
• 42:40
  Speaker 1: of was a playmaker. And I think you've got to
• 42:41
  Speaker 1: be very careful with quote-unquote playmakers. Like, Caleb's a playmaker.
• 42:47
  Speaker 1: Josh Allen's a playmaker. Pretty unique. Hell, Jalen Hurts is
• 42:50
  Speaker 1: a playmaker. Jalen Hurts didn't start out at Incarnate Ward.
• 42:54
  Speaker 1: He started out at Alabama in the peak of their dynasty.
• 42:57
  Speaker 1: And then Lincoln Riley wanted him. You know, Cam, and listen,
• 43:02
  Speaker 1: you don't have to go to some big-time school to
• 43:05
  Speaker 1: be a big-time player, but when you're going to be
• 43:07
  Speaker 1: the playmaker type, Josh Allen is an all-time outlier. Typically, like,
• 43:12
  Speaker 1: went to Clemson in the peak of their dynasty. Went
• 43:14
  Speaker 1: to Alabama in the peak of their dynasty. Like, that's
• 43:17
  Speaker 1: Caleb Williams, number one overall recruit to Oklahoma and then
• 43:21
  Speaker 1: USC following Lincoln. Like, blue chippers. Cam was the opposite
• 43:26
  Speaker 1: of a blue chipper. He was literally like, clearly no
• 43:30
  Speaker 1: one wanted him if that's where you're going to start
• 43:31
  Speaker 1: at Incarnate Work. I actually listened to a podcast. Part
• 43:34
  Speaker 1: of my take had Eric Morrison, who, fascinating story, like
• 43:39
  Speaker 1: played for Mike Leach, worked for Kingsbury, coached Patrick Mahomes.
• 43:44
  Speaker 1: The kid he's coaching now, Mestenberger or whatever, didn't even
• 43:48
  Speaker 1: start a game in high school. It's like the Matt
• 43:50
  Speaker 1: Castle of college football, but probably better than that, is
• 43:56
  Speaker 1: sometimes going to be concerning. And maybe he peaked at Miami. Like,
• 44:00
  Speaker 1: maybe that was his peak, Miami. Because even, let's look
• 44:03
  Speaker 1: at some of the guys, like, I know he hurt
• 44:05
  Speaker 1: his ribs and hasn't played since, but like Carson Beck.
• 44:08
  Speaker 1: It's like, Carson Beck sucks. Well, he was struggling, he
• 44:11
  Speaker 1: was banged up, and then by the end of the
• 44:14
  Speaker 1: Miami run, you're like, okay, this guy's a legitimate player.
• 44:16
  Speaker 1: But then you look, it's like, he went to Georgia
• 44:19
  Speaker 1: out of high school. Went to Georgia. To me, that
• 44:22
  Speaker 1: matters a little bit. It does. It doesn't mean, it's
• 44:26
  Speaker 1: not the end-all, be-all. But it's like, this guy was
• 44:29
  Speaker 1: fucking pretty good. And sometimes you kind of look back,
• 44:32
  Speaker 1: you're like, yeah, kind of no wonder this guy wasn't
• 44:34
  Speaker 1: a huge recruit. Because this isn't the NFL, like 32
• 44:38
  Speaker 1: teams pass on you. You're talking like 100 plus Division
• 44:42
  Speaker 1: I teams passed on you when you started at a
• 44:44
  Speaker 1: place like that. So I just think this, I think
• 44:49
  Speaker 1: the Eagles, I think the Niners, who are the Browns playing?
• 44:55
  Speaker 1: You could just go with the logic to... to basically
• 44:59
  Speaker 1: just short the awful teams. The Browns playing at Tampa.
• 45:05
  Speaker 1: The Titans hosting the Eagles. The Dolphins at the Niners.
• 45:11
  Speaker 1: I think Atlanta stinks. I would throw Atlanta in that category.
• 45:15
  Speaker 1: I would remove Arizona. A couple years ago when the
• 45:18
  Speaker 1: Panthers looked like the worst team of all time, I
• 45:21
  Speaker 1: called them the port-a-potty Panthers. Because they smelled and looked
• 45:27
  Speaker 1: as bad as the worst version of going into a
• 45:30
  Speaker 1: porta potty in a summer event. I was thinking about
• 45:35
  Speaker 1: when I went to the Ryder Cup and I went
• 45:36
  Speaker 1: to the porta potty at the end of the day.
• 45:38
  Speaker 1: It's in New York. It's hot. It couldn't be any
• 45:40
  Speaker 1: more disgusting. It's humid in the porta potty. The porta
• 45:44
  Speaker 1: potty's full. I would say the Browns and the Titans
• 45:48
  Speaker 1: kind of lead the charge. I think Atlanta's going to
• 45:52
  Speaker 1: be right there as well. Arizona, you cannot say that
• 45:57
  Speaker 1: at all. And the Jets so far, you cannot say
• 46:00
  Speaker 1: that at all. I think Tennessee and Cleveland are clearly... Miami,
• 46:06
  Speaker 1: I respect what they're doing. Ultimately, in a weird way,
• 46:11
  Speaker 1: I don't really respect Cleveland. I'm kind of like Tomlin.
• 46:16
  Speaker 1: When he's like, Browns is going to Browns. I'm kind
• 46:18
  Speaker 1: of in agreement. I just don't have any respect for
• 46:21
  Speaker 1: that operation. None. I really don't. I think it's just
• 46:25
  Speaker 1: kind of a clown show. It really is. I was
• 46:29
  Speaker 1: in the steam room today. Actually, I was coming from
• 46:33
  Speaker 1: the steam room. I went in the super hot sauna.
• 46:35
  Speaker 1: I only last like five minutes. But right when I
• 46:37
  Speaker 1: walked in, dudes were talking football. And it must have
• 46:41
  Speaker 1: been a finance guy. Because he's like, yeah, we were
• 46:43
  Speaker 1: representing the... One of the guys was in the bidding
• 46:47
  Speaker 1: process for, so it must be a guy from a
• 46:49
  Speaker 1: bank or something, but they were talking about Seattle playing
• 46:53
  Speaker 1: the Cardinals this week. And this guy had lived in
• 46:55
  Speaker 1: Arizona for a long time, just clowning on the Bidwells,
• 46:59
  Speaker 1: just clowning on the family. He's like, you know, this
• 47:01
  Speaker 1: franchise has been around for like 105 years and they've
• 47:07
  Speaker 1: won seven playoff games. I'm like, say that again. He's like, yeah,
• 47:11
  Speaker 1: they're basically averaging a playoff win every 15 years of
• 47:14
  Speaker 1: franchise existence. And that there are just certain franchises that
• 47:18
  Speaker 1: are just hard to respect for whatever reason. It doesn't
• 47:22
  Speaker 1: mean they don't have individual players on the team that
• 47:24
  Speaker 1: you don't respect or a coach on the staff that
• 47:26
  Speaker 1: doesn't respect. But it was like that with Snyder in Washington. Like,
• 47:28
  Speaker 1: this is a clown show. Or back when Donald Sterling
• 47:32
  Speaker 1: owned the Clippers. And whatever's going on in Cleveland, it's like,
• 47:36
  Speaker 1: what the fuck? The Titans... I'm a solid guy. I
• 47:42
  Speaker 1: want to like Borgonzi. But if something isn't working, you
• 47:47
  Speaker 1: can't hold on to a draft pick like an anchor
• 47:50
  Speaker 1: in the ocean and let it sink you. You cannot
• 47:54
  Speaker 1: do that. You have to pivot. Now, he's got to
• 47:57
  Speaker 1: get more reps and more of a sample size. But
• 48:00
  Speaker 1: Miami's the youngest team in the league. They're literally trying
• 48:05
  Speaker 1: to nuke the building. Cleveland's been doing that forever. It's like,
• 48:09
  Speaker 1: is this just Hugh Jackson all over again? You guys
• 48:12
  Speaker 1: try to lose all the time. This just sucks. It's
• 48:17
  Speaker 1: back to the Pittsburgh thing. It's like, why don't they
• 48:20
  Speaker 1: ever bottom out? Because they refuse to. And this is
• 48:23
  Speaker 1: why Tomlin, I think, is prideful about talking shit about
• 48:26
  Speaker 1: the Browns. We have nothing in common with you. Nothing
• 48:30
  Speaker 1: in common with you. Because our mindset, our operational... focus
• 48:36
  Speaker 1: on what we care about has... Listen, it doesn't mean
• 48:39
  Speaker 1: we're going to win playoff games or whatever, but you
• 48:42
  Speaker 1: guys are literally trying to lose. Literally trying to lose.
• 48:47
  Speaker 1: And rolling out Watson each and every week is one
• 48:51
  Speaker 1: of the most embarrassing things I've seen in a long time.
• 48:54
  Speaker 1: It truly is. Beside the media acting like arch... It
• 48:59
  Speaker 1: felt like by the end of like the week, it
• 49:02
  Speaker 1: felt like the media was acting like Arch actually physically
• 49:05
  Speaker 1: beat up a woman. It started with crazy reaction to
• 49:10
  Speaker 1: the AI video reaction to like two days later. It's like,
• 49:13
  Speaker 1: he's gotta he's gotta be accountable for you can send
• 49:18
  Speaker 1: him to jail it's.
• 49:20
  Speaker 2: Like shut the fuck up you whack jobs uh and
• 49:25
  Speaker 2: that's what I think of the the Cleveland Browns bunch
• 49:28
  Speaker 2: of whack jobs who just aren't gonna win any games
• 49:32
  Speaker 2: so let's uh let's enjoy the weekend of football All
• 49:35
  Speaker 2: of a sudden, you'll just look, and.
• 49:36
  Speaker 1: It'll be like week seven. You're like, football's flying by. Remember,
• 49:39
  Speaker 1: it wasn't that long ago that it's the summer. It's like,
• 49:41
  Speaker 1: when's football going to be here? Now it's here. And
• 49:43
  Speaker 1: now we're humming. I'll talk to you next week. Adios.
• 49:49
  Speaker 1: The Volume.