Latest / Kenny Wallace Media / NFL Wild Card Weekend & College Football Playoff Semifinal Breakdown | Eric Messersmith & Brian Johnson

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NFL Wild Card Weekend & College Football Playoff Semifinal Breakdown | Eric Messersmith & Brian Johnson · Kenny Wallace Media

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All right, Brian, NFL playoffs. We had six games over the
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weekend, you wild card weekend. Five of them were won by the
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home team. All five of those were
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essentially blowouts. The only close game, the only
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really interesting game, was the Commanders getting the 1 lone
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Rd. win, beating the Bucks 23 to 20.
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Partially it was because our Steelers were so awful against
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the Ravens, I figured they would almost certainly lose.
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But the fact that they just got dominated in that first half and
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then gave up 299 yards rushing for the game that that put me in
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a sour mood. But also, even when I checked
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out the other games, very few of them held my interest.
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And I actually watched less than half of all the other games,
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with the exception of that Commander's Bucks game that was,
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you know, that was the one that was interesting.
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But I have to say, as much as I love the NFL playoffs, this
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weekend was kind of a dud. I think that the first round,
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the wild card round in the playoffs, and the Super Bowl are
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the bottom 2 most exciting rounds in the playoffs.
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I think the most exciting round in the playoffs is the AFC and
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NFC Championship games. Second of that is this weekend
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coming up and it's because the games tend to be more
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competitive. The teams tend to be not in all
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cases more elite. I think it's very clear in the
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AFC you have three teams that could win a Super Bowl and in
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the NFC you have the Eagles and the Lions.
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And the Rams kind of made a statement with their with their
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big win on Monday night. I watched all the games.
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I agree with you. The Steelers game wasn't
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particularly close or particularly exciting, though
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there was a glimmer of hope early on in the third quarter.
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But the Ravens are, they're great, the Steelers are good.
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And we can talk about the Steelers just for a moment
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because there's been a lot of talk on social media about
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firing Mike Tomlin. So I want to comment on this
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program and just let everybody know there's a 0% chance that
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that happens. If you believe that's going to
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happen, you have not been watching the Steelers for the
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last 40 years like I have. There's no chance they're going
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to move on from Tomlin 0%. Well, today it is press
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conferences, end of your press conference, Tomlin was asked
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what what he would tell or I forget how the question was
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phrased. It was suddenly effective.
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What would you tell or what would you advise teams calling
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the Steelers to try to trade for you?
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Because he's under contract with the Steelers, there's almost no
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chance they would fire him. The only way it would even be
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possible that he would leave is if they traded him to another
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team. And Tomlin said I would tell
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them to did not waste their time, basically to save their
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time. He he so that I assume means
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he's staying. You never know if someone calls
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and offers the Steelers like a couple first round picks, I
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would I would go to Tomlin if I were Art Rooney and be like,
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hey, Mike, you got a couple first round picks Or can we at
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least talk about this? Look, here's where I am on this.
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I I said this last week. I defended Tomlin and said he
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should not be fired. That's still where I am today.
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However, that game was really bad the first half in.
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They were dominated, right they. Were it's one thing to lose to
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the a clearly superior team with a clearly.
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Superior quarter they did. That's how the NFL works.
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We get that. But to just look like you
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weren't really prepared and to just get dominated and to have
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no. Answer to say.
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No adjustment like here's the thing that really.
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They were conservative. In the.
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First half and that's what killed them.
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They should have gone into that game.
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See, the problem with the Steelers is they they they
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approach that game as if they are an elite team.
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And this idea that we're going to run the ball and work the
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clock to keep it out of Lamar's hands and Derrick Henry, and
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we're going to play conservative and we're going to punt and
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we're going to do these things. You they need to play it like a
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wild card team should, which is balls of the walls, trick plays,
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onside kicks, nothing to lose. We're going to lose anyway.
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Where was Justin Fields and you had that third down 3rd And
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where was Justin Fields And also on defense?
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If you watch the the last regular season game where the
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Ravens dominated, Derrick Henry crushed them.
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So you could see the Steelers were selling out to stop Henry
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on those zone reads. Which was fine if that's what
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you're going to do. I understand that strategy.
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But Lamar, very wisely was reading that talking and.
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Reading because it's the playoffs.
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Without they need to win, right? Without, say, flowers there.
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OK, the Baltimore's best receiver by a mile, a Pro Bowl
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he he's out. Well, Andrew's good, but
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Xayflower is the best receiver. Andrews.
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Yeah, Yeah, you're right. In terms of pass catchers,
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Andrews is good, but he's not as dynamic as Xayflower.
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My point is they were limited in their passing game and you had
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Joey Porter back your top corner, who's developing into a
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really, really good corner. I would have I would have said
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if if you're gonna if you're gonna send your edge rusher to
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try to tackle Henry on his own reads, then you need to bring
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you need to sell out, stop the run 8-9 man boxes, have the
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safety down there so that if Lamar talks, he's then got
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somebody on the edge to deal with rather than him getting a
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four or five yard head start before he he sees anybody.
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And so I just think the game plan was flawed.
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I think they were too conservative this year.
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I will say this though, in Tomlin's defense, because a lot
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of people have been have been shitting on Tomlin.
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And, and again, I talked about last week some of the things I
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don't like about him and I went through some of the historical
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comparisons. I won't, I won't do that again.
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But I'll just say this. Look at the quarterbacks left in
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these eight teams. Patrick Mahomes, who's obviously
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a Hall of Famer, Lamar Jackson, who's about to win his third MVP
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headed to the Hall of Fame. Josh Allen, who if he keeps this
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up, will also be in the Hall of Fame.
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So you've got 3 Hall of Famers plus Matthew Stafford, who if
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you look at his numbers, won a Super Bowl.
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I mean, he's going to be on the borderline for a Hall of Fame
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vote. So you so half the quarterbacks
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are probably or likely to get in the Hall of Fame and are still
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playing at a very high level, 4 of the 8.
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The other 4, you have CJ Stroud, who was the number two overall
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pick two years ago and looks like a franchise quarterback for
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the Texans. You have Daniels for Washington,
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who was the number two overall pick this year, is the best
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rookie quarterback we've seen probably in a while and looks
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like he's going to be the franchise guy.
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You have Jared Goff, who was the number one overall pick, but in
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20, what was 2017? It was pretty damn good for the
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Rams, not great, and then went to Detroit.
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It's just been one of the best quarterbacks in the league the
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last couple years. And then the 8th quarterback is
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Jalen Hurts, who is not necessarily a dynamic passer,
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but when healthy, the combination of his legs and arm
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make him an incredible threat. And a few years ago, he was in
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the MVP discussion when Philadelphia had that great run.
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These are the 8 quarterbacks the Steelers have.
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Russell Wilson at 36. Now look, Russell Wilson was
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nice. He did some nice things.
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He was an upgrade this year. He he, he made some plays, but
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he's not in that group of those other eight men.
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He was 5 or 10 years ago, he would have been in that group,
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but he's not today. And this is now, I mentioned
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this last week, this is 6 years where the Steelers have not had
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that kind of quarterback play. The last three have been where
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he was injured slashing off the same guy.
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You had two when you try to do it with Kenny Pickett as a as a
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rookie in second year guy, and now you have this year.
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That's six of the years Tomlin has been in this playoff
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drought. Most of that time you could look
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at it and say, well, they've they've they've lost and they've
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been won and done in the playoffs.
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Or you could look at it and say Tomlin hasn't had that level of
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quarterback in a long time and he's getting them to the
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playoffs. That is the other way to look at
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it. And I just think some of these
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I, I understand the frustration with Tomlin.
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I have my own frustrations. He's not a perfect coach.
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But part of what has made the Steelers, the Steelers and so
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successful is that consistency of Chuck Noel to Bill Power to
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Mike Tom 3 Hall of Famers covering what are we up to now,
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60 years? There are teams that have had
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three coaches in the last four years.
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Do you want to go down that road of the potential revolving door?
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When you have a guy with the track record he has had and when
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he has had the elite quarterback in or near his prime, he has had
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success regular season and playoff success.
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And just like many teams, when he hasn't had that level of
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quarterback play, he has struggled to breakthrough in the
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post season. That is not an exception in the
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NFL. That is the norm.
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And I get it, he has he has say in the decision making.
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I understand that. But he's not making the decision
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entirely himself. And remember, even if he was, it
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is tough to find that high level franchise quarterback.
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It's not easy, especially if you don't ever draft in the top 10.
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If you don't ever draft in the top 10, it's tough to find that
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guy. It really is.
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Look around the NFL. Big Ben was a top ten pick.
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Do you know what the biggest barrier to beat to greatness is
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in the NFL? If you had to guess, what's the
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biggest barrier to greatness in the NFL?
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Or a team. Or a player for a team.
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Not having an elite quarterback. No being good, because when
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you're good all the time, you can't be great.
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And that's the problem. The teams that have had have
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success and the teams that you've mentioned have also had
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long periods of not being successful.
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That's exactly right. And they've and they've gotten
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higher draft picks and they've got elite players.
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You mentioned the position that some of these quarterbacks were
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drafted in. I think the Eagles and the
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Chiefs may be a little bit to that exception.
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But remember, Patrick Mahomes was a top ten pick.
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They traded up to get him and get Mahomes and they hit on him.
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Big Ben I believe was the number 8.
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Pick because. That was during the three bad
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years that we often reference when Big Ben came in.
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So it again, it was a high draft pick.
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You made it really simple. You're saying it's Russell
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Wilson. Is the problem the problem?
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It's not having that guy. It's not well, it's not just not
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having that guy. I think for the players they
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have drafted and the positions that they have got them.
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You mentioned Joey Porter, junior TJ Watt is a good player.
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I think they hit on friarum youth.
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You know they've Naji Harris was a first round pick.
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He's been a four 1000 yard rusher Four Seasons in a row.
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But you're not getting the elite great player and a good example
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is it wide receiver. Remember early on the Steelers,
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they drafted Plaxico burst in the first round.
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They drafted Troy Edwards in the first round.
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They hit on one, didn't really work out.
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Troy Edwards was a bust, but at least they were higher draft
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picks. My overall point to this is that
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the Steelers are going to continue to be good.
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They'll probably be pretty good next year if they stick with
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Fields, if they sign someone, I don't think Russell Wilson's
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going to stay. Oh, really?
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It seems unlikely. He I think he's just going to
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want too much money and I don't think they're going to give it
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to him. But the Steelers have to be
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content to have a few seasons where they don't do so well.
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And I don't know with Tomlin as a coach, because you mentioned
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his record, if that's even possible.
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Well, it's possible if you hit rock bottom.
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But you're right. He he and, and look, Omar Khan
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now is in charge of the the personnel and he's done a really
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good job. You talked about some of the
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guys. I agree.
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They've done they're, they just hit on picks, right, Kevin?
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Colbert, who's a previous GM, he had a nice run for a while, but
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his last 5-6 drafts were mostly trash and Khan's done really
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well replenishing the talent again outside of the of the most
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important position sadly. So if you're not now, look,
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maybe you hit lightning in a bottle.
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Lamar Jackson was what he I think he was picked in the 20s
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after he should have been picked in the 20s.
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Those guys were picked really late.
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Jalen, well, Jalen Hurts I think was a second round pick.
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You I mentioned Jared Goff coming over in a trade.
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It is possible without being awful, but it's a lot harder.
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And again, you look at those eight teams playing this
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weekend, like, like the the Bills were really bad before
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they got Josh. But Jay Watt is too good for
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them to be bad. He is.
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Well, although, although where was he the last month of?
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The season, no, I think he's been.
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Hurt whatever. I think his elbow or what I hope
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because he had 0 tackles in that game and I don't think he had a
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sack in the last four games, maybe one.
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I know they got beat up by the Ravens, but the Ravens have a
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really good shot to win or be in the Super Bowl.
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Do you remember Chase Young? He plays for the Saints.
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He he back when the Commanders were the Redskins, he was like a
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number two pick. Well, the Steelers played the
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Redskins and the Steelers won and Mike Tomlin went up to Chase
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Daniel or not Chase Daniel, Chase Young after the game and
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said, I hope I'm never in a position to draft a player like
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you because that will mean that they're bad.
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Because that's Tomlin's mentality.
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That's the Steelers mentality. And I'm telling you that until
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they get, I mean, my God, Jaden Daniel is a pleasure to watch.
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He just is. I love how the Redskin, I'm
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sorry, the Commanders. Just can't.
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Say that. So sorry.
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I love how the Commanders just go for it on 4th down because
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they're like we have Jaden Daniel.
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We're just going to go for it. They like go for it constantly.
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You know, that was the first game that a rookie quarterback
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has won the game and the team didn't punt.
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So in his career, Jayden Daniel, Jayden Daniels has three games
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where they won the game and the team didn't punt.
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Now part of this is skewed because of going for it on 4th
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down so much, but if you add up Joe Montana, Peyton Manning, and
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Tom Brady in their career combined they have 3.
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Wow, that's amazing. That's an incredible stat.
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That's amazing. I read that stat and I was like,
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that's amazing. But again, what did Washington
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have to do to get him sock for a long time?
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No, they had to have Daniel Snyder as the owner and it
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worked out. But they were bad for a long
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time. And and that's the thing, the
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Steelers don't go through that. And I guess you could say, well,
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what you should do is bottom out and then you can win again.
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But here's the thing with bottoming out.
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It doesn't even guarantee it will work.
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You could be The Jets, right? You could be The Jets or the
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Lions. So you know the last time the
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Cleveland Browns won the AFC North?
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20 years ago. 30/19/89. Oh my God.
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And like I, I mentioned the Lions.
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Look, I I love what the Lions are doing.
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Dan Campbell's amazing. They're 15 and two.
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Good for them. They've been mediocre bad up
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until the last few years. For four decades. 4 decades. 75
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years. It's no guarantee that you're
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going to just while you stink for a couple years, then it'd be
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great or you bring in a new coach and that coach will be
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wonderful. Maybe it will.
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Maybe that coach will be the next Sean McVay with with
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Russell Wilson or Justin Fields or a player of that ilk, which
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is probably who's going to be available for the next couple
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years. I doubt it.
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I doubt it, but maybe. All right, Brian, let's talk
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about the the College Football Playoff.
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By the way, one more thing on the NFL this weekend, I think
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will be different. At least some of these games
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should be closed, although the line is 6 or more in three of
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the four games. Yeah, but you got Bills, Ravens.
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You got Bills Ravens, and that should be.
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That is setting up to be a. Classic the kids to bed.
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I think the Ravens are gonna win it, I really do.
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Maybe it's 'cause I've been watching Hard Knocks and as a
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Steeler fan, this is hard to admit.
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One thing about Hard Knocks, are you watching it on Max?
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It has made me actually start to like players and even and and
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coaches on the the Ravens, the Bengals and the Brown.
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I love Joe Burrow. Like and Jameis.
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Winston is my favorite player in the league.
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Wins Harbaugh looks great Lamar Jackson and maybe that's just
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Hard Knocks giving that shine not like hard knock shine, but
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I'll tell you man, I'm like you know the Ravens aren't so bad
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and I and. Stop it.
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How dare. You I know, I know.
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By the way, can we just say this too?
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People were talking about how awful Tomlin is and how great
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you know, team like the Ravens playoff success is Lamar Jacks
17:08
about to win his third MVP award has won a total of now in his
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NFL career three playoff games. Yeah, OK.
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And he is an elite quarterback that what does that tell you?
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It's really hard to win consistently in the post season.
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The the the. It's because of the.
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Chiefs and the people. That's right.
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It's Andy Reid distorting it last few years and then before
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him, Belichick and and by the way, even with Belichick, who I,
17:35
I admit is an amazing coach and probably the greatest coach
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over, I said this last week, he had the best quarterback in the
17:42
history of the NFL. They won six titles together.
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Then that man laughed, and the next four years they had losing
17:52
seasons, three of the four, and Belichick essentially got fired.
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Now, does that mean Belichick's a bad coach?
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Of course not. What it shows you is how
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essential it is to have that quarterback.
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And when you don't have him, it doesn't matter who you are.
18:08
And that's why I say, you could look at Tomlin and say they've
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lost these playoff games and they've looked bad in most of
18:12
them recently, and that's all true.
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Or you can look at it and say, you know, he's a hell of a coach
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to get them there based on the quarterback play they've had
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that that you know, it's. Yeah, I mean, I think the
18:26
expectation of fans is insane. The level 'cause I was actually
18:31
talking to Sebastian about this earlier.
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With movies, the problem with like sequels and you get to you
18:37
know, the 3rd and the 4th 1 is like once you have been great.
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And this is the thing with the Steelers, the Steelers have 6
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Super Bowls. And I'm not saying that like a
18:47
Yankee fan 27 championships. What I'm saying is the Steelers
18:50
have won a Super Bowl fairly recently with a player who just
18:54
very recently retired in Ben Roethlisberger.
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So it hasn't been a lifetime ago like the Detroit Lions.
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So you've been great and once you've been to the mountaintop,
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I don't know why, but people have this expectation that
19:05
that's just that's the norm now. Like we're just going to be
19:08
great all the time. And you know this, the reality
19:12
is it's not sustainable. It's not sustainable for the
19:15
Patriots. It's not going to be sustainable
19:17
for the Chiefs. It's not sustainable for the
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Steelers. It just it, everything ends.
19:23
At some point the only two times that we have seen it in our
19:28
lifetime in the in the really I would say in the salary cap era,
19:31
which the salary cap started around 1990, early 90's.
19:35
The only two times we have seen it for a long extended period of
19:39
time, well, there's three. The Cowboys.
19:42
But that was. They built that team No for the
19:45
salary 4 year stretch. That was and it was a four year
19:48
stretch where they were amazing. But but it's it's with the two
19:51
probably the two greatest quarterbacks ever, Tom Brady and
19:55
Patrick Mahomes. So I think Mahomes will go down
19:57
as the second best quarterback ever if he stays healthy.
20:00
That's it. That's that's the teams that
20:03
sustain what what these Steeler fans want, which is these years
20:07
of consistently deep playoff runs.
20:09
It just doesn't happen in the real world.
20:12
What I want to ask you is I was actually really happy with this
20:15
season, like in terms of what was achieved.
20:21
Obviously it's really disappointing at the end, but at
20:25
the beginning of the year I didn't know if we had a playoff
20:28
team. No.
20:30
I didn't either, but not with that quarterback room.
20:32
Feels it had been unproven. Russell was washed and the other
20:36
thing. The other thing we taught that
20:38
that is so weird too is so much of how we view the season is
20:41
based on the ebb and grow of how it evolves.
20:45
Part of the reason, I would say the main reason the Steelers
20:49
were really good or pretty good the first part of the season and
20:52
then really bad at the end is the schedule got.
20:56
Really hard. You played the freaking Eagles,
21:00
the Chiefs, the Ravens, all still.
21:03
Playing, and then the Bengals, who were.
21:04
On fire, On fire. If those four games had been the
21:08
first four games or in the middle of the season and then
21:11
they had the easy games at the end, now we might be like, oh,
21:14
well, you know, they didn't beat the Ravens, but man, what a
21:17
great run to end the season to get them into the playoffs.
21:19
Good job, Tom. Right.
21:21
So I think it depends on the the sometimes the fate of the
21:25
schedule as well, which is why you have to look at the whole
21:28
body of work, not just a game, not just a month, not even just
21:33
a season with a long time coach like Tomlin, but the breadth of
21:36
his career and what he has accomplished.
21:38
The guy did not forget how to coach.
21:40
Football. No.
21:41
If Vince Lombardi showed up to coach this game they still would
21:46
have lost 28 to 14 because Derrick Henry would have ran
21:51
over people like they were small children.
21:54
Dude, that guy is an alien. We do not talk about Derrick
21:59
Henry as one of the greatest running backs of all time, and I
22:03
think it's time that we have that conversation.
22:06
I mean, he is at his age with the tread that's on those tires.
22:12
To still be just toying with people is remarkable.
22:17
I do think his decline is going to be fast once it happens,
22:22
yeah. But I also think for right now,
22:24
we really have to enjoy his greatness.
22:26
Oh, absolutely. And obviously he and Lamar are
22:28
such a great compliment. They they benefit each other so
22:32
much because part of the reason obviously Henry has these lanes
22:35
is everyone is terrified that Lamar is going to tuck and run
22:38
that zone read and vice versa. Part of the reason Lamar has
22:43
that gap is because every like the Steeler, sometimes sell out
22:46
to stop. And I know we're doing a lot of.
22:48
Sports What a match made in heaven.
22:49
But. Anyone could have had Derrick
22:52
Henry for one year and $10 million.
22:55
That's insane. It is insane.
22:57
And this I'll tell you what, again, we're talking a lot about
22:59
the Steelers, but hey, we're, we're central PA guys.
23:02
That's right. One, the Steelers, yes,
23:04
quarterback obviously has to be addressed and that that's the
23:07
most important position of football.
23:09
But beyond that, because of their lack of depth at receiver
23:13
and also how what's the right word mercurial that Pickens is
23:18
there was a. Report today he I dislike him
23:20
very much. There was a report today he was
23:22
late for the game at Christmas. Tomlin did not confirm that
23:25
during the press conference. But they need they need a a
23:29
really good receiver and they need a really good running back.
23:31
And and that I think trying to get those guys I think would
23:35
really help if you had some part, it wasn't just on the
23:38
conservative part of the reason the game plans were so they
23:41
didn't have playmakers on offense.
23:44
Well, Pickens played so poorly the last game of the season, he
23:48
looked like he didn't even want to beat.
23:50
He looked terrible against Cincinnati.
23:51
To his credit, he played well against the Ravens.
23:55
He's good. Oh, he's a, he's a good, he's a
23:57
good player. I don't think he's a good human
24:00
being. Well, that's a different.
24:02
I don't Eric, he's my least favorite player in the league on
24:06
my favorite team. Like that press conference with
24:09
him. Like, look, man, if my Children
24:13
Act like that in public, I will go to that press conference and
24:17
drag them off the stage because that's ridiculous.
24:21
He's an he's embarrassing. He is embarrassingly human
24:24
being. But look, he's not the first
24:26
wide receiver to act like this. Who's been?
24:27
No, I know. It's it sort of comes with the
24:30
territory. It's like dating the.
24:32
The really hot girl you. Know, I felt like Tyreek Hill at
24:35
the end of the year, captain for the Miami Dolphins, made some
24:39
comments about, you know, maybe not being there anymore and
24:43
whatever it was the last game of the season.
24:45
He was emotional. He refused.
24:47
To go in the game. He refused to go back in the
24:50
game. He should not have done it.
24:51
He should not have said it. Here's the thing.
24:54
He's Tyreek Hill. He's the cheetah.
24:57
He's one of the best receivers in the league.
25:00
George Pickens is a delusional ass clown.
25:04
He's earned shit. Nothing.
25:07
He's done nothing to earn. Acting like this and he had the
25:10
Tyree kill resume or even the Antonio Brown resume.
25:13
You'd be like, wow, that's where you got to put.
25:14
Out dude, Antonio Brown could have done anything.
25:17
Antonio Brown was and did, and he did.
25:20
But here's the thing. What did Antonio Brown do?
25:23
He scored Tuddies. He made it happen on Sunday.
25:28
I've made this comment a million times and this is a crazier
25:31
conversation. I don't care how many waitresses
25:35
Tiger Woods sleeps with or what he does off the field, as long
25:38
as that white ball goes in the hole and he makes me happy, good
25:42
for you. But you can't have it both ways.
25:45
You can't be an idiot like George Pickens and play like a
25:49
moron and not play well. That's not a thing that happens.
25:52
You don't get that in sports if you're elite.
25:55
Been great. We can, dude.
25:57
I'll forgive anything. A little domestic violence.
26:00
You know what? Go to class.
26:02
Do you think? Not great, dude, Michael Vick
26:05
ran a dog ring, right? But you know what?
26:08
Michael Vick was elite and they let him back in.
26:12
They were like, you made a mistake, you fought some dogs,
26:15
but you know what, you're on A4440 and you can Chuck it 70
26:18
yards. Come on over to.
26:19
The come on back. All right, Brian, I did want to
26:22
talk about college football real quick because the championship
26:24
game is coming up Monday night, Ohio State versus Notre Dame.
26:29
So far, most of these games have been blowouts.
26:31
We've had two good games, including one in the semi final
26:34
where Penn State lost a heartbreaker. 2 Notre Dame, my
26:38
alma mater, but near where we both grew up.
26:41
But I again, I love that this playoff overall, even though the
26:45
games haven't been really good, I think this format has been
26:47
great for college football. Once they tweak the seating next
26:50
year, which I'm sure they will do, it will be even better.
26:53
And it just goes to show you needed to expand.
26:55
I mean, Notre Dame is 7, is the seven seed, Ohio State's the
26:59
eighth seed. Now part of that was because
27:01
Arizona State and Boise were ahead of them because they were
27:04
conference champions. But even if you took out Arizona
27:06
State and Boise under a fourteen playoff, Notre Dame and Ohio
27:09
State would not have made it. They would have been the 5th and
27:12
six teams. And here they are playing for
27:15
the championship. What a redemption story if it if
27:18
it happens for Ohio State. I mean, people again, we talk
27:21
about people are calling for Ryan Day to be fired after that
27:24
Michigan game. And now he's on the He's an 8
27:26
point favorite to win a national championship.
27:30
I think this is the best way to crown a champion in college
27:37
football. I've wanted to play off of some
27:40
kind for years. Here's the thing that people
27:43
need to accept about college football is it's never going to
27:46
be perfect. There is no solution like James
27:50
Franklin. Who the same people that want to
27:52
fire Mike Tomlin want to fire James Franklin, by the way, Penn
27:55
State, who was molesting children just over a decade ago.
27:59
Whoa, just one guy and he's on probation.
28:02
He's in. Prison.
28:03
No, I know. But you get my point.
28:06
Penn State, who had received the air quote death penalty, is now
28:09
in the Final four. These same fans are upset at
28:12
James Franklin anyway. There's no there's no way to
28:18
crown. There's no fairness.
28:20
James Franklin said he wanted to make it fair.
28:23
He is. He's joking.
28:26
That's not a thing. Like there's no fairness in
28:29
college football. It's too vast, it's too big.
28:32
There's no way to make it fair sometimes.
28:35
SMU is going to have a lopsided schedule and they're going to
28:39
make the playoff and then there's going to be other years
28:41
where they have a loaded conference schedule and they
28:44
don't make the playoff. And we're because you can't
28:47
really predict from year to year the second tier teams.
28:51
We know generally speaking, the first tier teams are always
28:54
going to be there. I mean, Ohio State and Notre
28:58
Dame being the first tournament based championship game, in my
29:01
opinion is a great first championship.
29:06
I mean, these are two of the most storied programs in college
29:10
football history. Notre Dame's not in a conference
29:15
and people are complaining about that.
29:17
I mean, if you look at the recruiting classes going back to
29:20
3-4 years, what a surprise that they've had some of the top
29:23
recruiting classes every year. They put out more money in NIL
29:27
than almost anyone else and now they're in the championship.
29:30
I just, I think this has been great for college football.
29:33
The one thing you talked about that I, I, I, I've been thinking
29:36
about all day is the thing about these haven't been great games
29:39
or close games. I think your perception of this
29:42
and a lot of fans perception of this is warped by the red zone.
29:45
Because what the red zone does without commercials is it tricks
29:49
you into all these games being close because there's eight
29:53
games going on at one time. And they do this magic trick in
29:56
the witching hour where the games that they're showing you
29:58
are all the close competitive games and it's exciting.
30:02
So we just think, well, that's how football is.
30:04
No, every weekend someone in college football is losing 70 to
30:08
three, right? Like that's happening somewhere
30:11
in the country. Like they're not all last second
30:14
six overtime field goal. Games no, you're right.
30:16
And and as I said, I think given that what you're talking about
30:19
and the disparities between the haves and the haves not have
30:21
nots even at the highest level some years, I think this is the
30:24
best you can do. And look, you're always going to
30:27
have controversy about the team left out that's.
30:29
That's what makes it great. That's what's great.
30:32
But I would that controversy needs to be about who's number
30:34
12, who's number 13, not who's number four, who's number 5.
30:38
And I think Ohio State Notre Dame proves that for the.
30:41
State being left out last year was criminal.
30:44
You get these blue blood programs in there too, and it's
30:47
it College football has problems.
30:49
They need to get standardizing, standardization of the name,
30:52
image and likeness thing. They need to figure that out.
30:55
But the the 12 team playoff, if they tweak it to to to seed it
30:59
based on the caliber of the teams, not conference champions,
31:03
I think it it's something that has been a tremendous spoon for
31:06
them. I've enjoyed college football
31:07
more this season from start to finish than I have probably in
31:11
20 years, probably since I was in college myself at Penn State.
31:14
And I'm I'm looking forward to the championship game and these
31:18
two programs going at it. One of the things that I had
31:21
thought about was expanding it to 16 teams and making the first
31:28
round the conference championship games.
31:31
And I'm sure people wouldn't like that, but it would put
31:34
stakes into the conference championship games.
31:38
And I also think it it would make them count.
31:41
And then look, if you lose your conference championship game
31:43
that you're out of the bracket. That's brutal.
31:46
That's I don't the big 10 in SEC would never.
31:48
Go for that. You could have like Alabama and,
31:52
you know, Texas. Alabama and Texas, Alabama and
31:54
Georgia. It's a first round match up.
31:56
Yeah, and the loser goes home. I think you don't like that
31:59
idea. No, I don't like the idea.
32:00
I don't like the. Ball, The best team should be
32:03
getting well, the. The nice thing about the bars is
32:05
if this year it didn't work out because you were almost better
32:09
off losing the conference championship game because the
32:11
weird seating thing like Penn State on an easier Rd. than
32:14
Oregon did, which was crazy because Oregon beat Penn State
32:17
in the Big 10 title game. That won't happen next year when
32:19
they change the seating or the year after whenever whenever
32:22
they do that. But I think the buy does give
32:24
you a nice reward just like it does in the NFL.
32:26
You get to have the team. In the NFL it's one team but
32:28
have those teams get a buy. You get the get the games at
32:31
college. Everyone would want to buy.
32:33
If you ask the coaches, of course you want to buy.
32:36
I think tolls a good number. Brad, we're running out of time
32:38
here. I really have not.
32:39
I have been watching a lot of football and obviously a lot of
32:43
because of what's going on here in LAA, ton of the wildfire
32:46
stuff and then like dumb reality stuff with my wife.
32:49
So I really have don't have any any reviews this week.
32:52
Do you have anything in TV or movies you want to talk about
32:54
before we get out of here? I don't.
32:56
I have one more college football James Franklin thing to talk
32:59
about. Oh, you got one more hot thing.
33:01
I'll make this your final thought.
33:02
This can be your parting thought for the show.
33:05
James Franklin also made the comment about playing the extra
33:08
games of like, God forbid we talk about the education in
33:11
college. And I almost spit my water out.
33:15
It was in my mouth because, like, who does he think he's
33:19
fooling? Like, do you, especially now?
33:23
Do you, do you think that linebacker is at Penn State to
33:26
get the great Penn State education?
33:29
That's why you had him here. That's why you invited him to
33:32
give this young man an opportunity, Eric, to get a
33:35
great education. It, it is insulting to the
33:40
intelligence of every human being alive that you think that
33:44
these football players, and now I'm talking about the top
33:47
programs at the top level, are there because they want to get
33:52
an education. That's that's why the the guy
33:56
Beck from Georgia is transferring to Miami.
33:59
It's not for the $4 million they're going to give him to try
34:03
and win a championship in Miami. He's going there to get the
34:07
great private Miami University. Education I I I generally agree
34:12
with you, but I do think there are a lot of guys on that team
34:15
who aren't ever going to play in the NFL who, yeah, they're
34:18
making some NIL money, but I think they do care to some
34:21
degree about the education. But you're right in terms of the
34:24
system as the whole. Yeah, as we have, we have given
34:27
we long ago prioritizing education over the money
34:31
involved. That horse left the barn right a
34:34
long. Time.
34:35
But that's why I'm saying is like, I don't like or dislike
34:38
James Franklin. I'm not not a Penn State grad.
34:41
You know, obviously I grew up in the area and I wanted Penn State
34:44
to do well. I wanted them to win because you
34:46
went to Penn State. My dad went to Penn State and
34:49
you know, I, everyone remembers player Thomas in the 1986
34:52
Pennsylvania State and any lines.
34:53
But I, I just, when he said that I could no longer take him
34:59
seriously, but everything else that came out of his mouth after
35:03
that about all the things that he wanted to do, I just thought,
35:07
OK, man, you just basically made the craziest comment in the
35:10
world. And then you're like, let's talk
35:11
about something serious. Like how do you listen to
35:13
anything after that? But anyway, that's my final
35:16
thought. I'd still think James Franklin,
35:18
though, he's won a lot of games. He had a good year.
35:20
Penn State had a good year. Like, don't you think 13 to
35:24
three final four, That's a. Good.
35:25
Well, I mean, look again. They have kind of the Steeler
35:28
issue. Depends on how you look at it.
35:30
They do essentially what the Steelers do.
35:32
They lose the biggest games and even they did win two playoff
35:35
games this year, but the schedule was soft.
35:37
It was the weird seating thing. We know that the biggest games,
35:39
they all were Notre Dame, Ohio State, they were good that
35:43
that's right, they were very good.
35:44
But the biggest games and that's what happens with Franklin.
35:47
He loses the biggest games, but he also gets them in a really
35:50
good position year after year after year, so.
35:53
And 100,000 people show up in white and it's like.
35:58
And important to remember, it's not like Penn State was crushing
36:00
Ohio State of Michigan before he got there.
36:02
No, like Ohio State of Michigan have always dominated Penn State
36:05
ever since Penn State joined the Big 10, essentially.
36:07
Well, all Carrie Collins and Kajana Carter with like a work
36:11
couple. They would like a couple of
36:12
exceptions. Yeah, A.
36:13
Couple of exceptions. All right, we'll get out of here
36:15
for Brian Johnson. I'm Eric Messer Smith.
36:17
Thanks for being with us this week.
36:19
We hope that you enjoyed the show, but if not, please take no
36:22
offense.