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3 & Out - Best of The Week: Ben Johnson vs. Nick Siriani, NFL Weekend Primer · 3 and Out with John Middlekauff

• 0:01
  Speaker 1: The Volume. What is going on? This is John Middlecoff
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: from 3NOW Podcast, and this is the best of of
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: my favorite takes, our best takes as we head on
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: into football season. Obviously, if you're a Bears fan right now,
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: you are really high on the hog. You feel great.
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: Not because your team is 2-1. Not because, you know,
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: your offense has proven that they can score 59 points
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: with Caleb Williams. They can win a game with the
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: third string quarterback. It's just the franchise is coming off
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: a season where they won the division. But it's really
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: because of the head coach. who, let's face it, is
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: a star, who is excellent at his job. And if
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: I was hiring a coach in college or in the pros,
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: I'm kind of looking for a football nut job. You know,
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: I saw Saban say this. He's doing a promotion for
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: his documentary, six-part documentary that's going to be, you know,
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: like the last dance for Michael Jordan, but the version
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: of the Alabama program. It's probably going to be really,
• 1:21
  Speaker 1: really good. And he made a comment, I think it
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: was to Greenberg, who was doing an interview with him.
• 1:28
  Speaker 1: They're like, football coaching's not a normal job. It's a lifestyle.
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: Because you work an insane amount of hours. You spend
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: all your time, especially if you're a play caller, developing
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: game plans, developing plays, and mentoring, coaching players, and being
• 1:50
  Speaker 1: around your players and your assistant coaches. And it's not
• 1:55
  Speaker 1: the healthiest lifestyle. It really isn't. But balance during the
• 2:00
  Speaker 1: season isn't a big part of the gig. And I
• 2:05
  Speaker 1: spent several years working in the office in Philadelphia. I
• 2:08
  Speaker 1: saw it firsthand with Andy Reid. His competitive football stamina
• 2:13
  Speaker 1: was unlike anything I'd ever seen. The amount of hours
• 2:16
  Speaker 1: he could put in was nuts. And you obviously have
• 2:21
  Speaker 1: to be addicted to the sport. And I would say
• 2:24
  Speaker 1: most guys are, right? Even the coaches that aren't winning
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: a lot are putting in crazy hours. But what Ben
• 2:31
  Speaker 1: Johnson brings to the table, and Case Keenum talked about
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: this after the game, was throughout the week, and Case
• 2:36
  Speaker 1: even said, he said he silenced his phone, that the
• 2:40
  Speaker 1: only two people that would buzz if they called or
• 2:43
  Speaker 1: text were his wife and Ben Johnson. And he's like,
• 2:46
  Speaker 1: you can guess who I heard from more. I think
• 2:49
  Speaker 1: he was alluding to the coach. And he said throughout
• 2:52
  Speaker 1: the week that Ben Johnson was really high on some
• 2:56
  Speaker 1: of the plays, some that worked and led to touchdowns
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: or were touchdowns. The case was like, I wasn't really
• 3:03
  Speaker 1: that comfortable with. And I was like, I didn't quite
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: see it the way he saw it. But he would
• 3:09
  Speaker 1: keep talking to me. He would convince me and I
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: would get on board. And looking back, he was right.
• 3:16
  Speaker 1: And I think the power of an offensive coach is
• 3:20
  Speaker 1: their ability to work with the quarterback, make him believe
• 3:24
  Speaker 1: in what he's selling, because what he is selling, he
• 3:28
  Speaker 1: knows will work against that defense. It doesn't mean that
• 3:31
  Speaker 1: every play call is going to work, because obviously they
• 3:35
  Speaker 1: will not. Sometimes it could be your own error, even
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: though you scouted the defense correctly, or other times it
• 3:42
  Speaker 1: could be Their defense that you thought they were going
• 3:45
  Speaker 1: to play, they did not play, and the play ran
• 3:47
  Speaker 1: right into defenders. There's a lot of different variables here.
• 3:52
  Speaker 1: But when I watched Ben Johnson, and you saw him
• 3:55
  Speaker 1: last night, it was the polar opposites of the two guys.
• 3:59
  Speaker 1: Because when I see Ben after the game in the
• 4:01
  Speaker 1: locker room, you see his emotions, you see his intensity,
• 4:05
  Speaker 1: even for the brief two-minute conversation I had at the combine.
• 4:10
  Speaker 1: He's a very serious cat. I would guess around the
• 4:15
  Speaker 1: halls of the Chicago facility, not a huge bullshit artist.
• 4:21
  Speaker 1: Not just shooting the shit. Quality I have. I enjoy BSing.
• 4:27
  Speaker 1: You want to talk some ball? You want to talk
• 4:28
  Speaker 1: stock market? You want to talk whatever? I'll shoot the
• 4:31
  Speaker 1: shit with you. I enjoy that in a lot of
• 4:35
  Speaker 1: different settings. Ben Johnson doesn't give off those vibes. And
• 4:40
  Speaker 1: when I watched him last night after he, I think
• 4:43
  Speaker 1: he would admit like the play call, the not executing
• 4:48
  Speaker 1: at the goal line, they get stuff, they get stuff
• 4:51
  Speaker 1: and they don't even get points, right? They choose not
• 4:54
  Speaker 1: to kick a field goal. He's mad at himself, but
• 4:58
  Speaker 1: he's not showing it because the entire team takes your personality, right?
• 5:04
  Speaker 1: So if you start freaking out on the sideline, everyone
• 5:08
  Speaker 1: freaks out. I think you learn having a young child,
• 5:13
  Speaker 1: if he bonks his head or injures himself, if you
• 5:18
  Speaker 1: make it a bigger deal, he will make it a
• 5:21
  Speaker 1: bigger deal. But if you keep your composure, and again,
• 5:25
  Speaker 1: my kid's not even nine months old yet, but we've
• 5:27
  Speaker 1: had a couple instances where it would be like, oh
• 5:30
  Speaker 1: my God. But if you start doing that, the cries
• 5:33
  Speaker 1: even get louder. If you start acting like everything's okay,
• 5:37
  Speaker 1: he can mentally just follow your lead and not freak.
• 5:41
  Speaker 1: It goes back to the play where Malcolm Butler intercepted
• 5:48
  Speaker 1: Russell Wilson in the Super Bowl. It's that famous video
• 5:51
  Speaker 1: of Bill Belichick where it looks like the Patriots are
• 5:54
  Speaker 1: going to lose the Super Bowl. And his pulse rate
• 5:58
  Speaker 1: looks like 75. Completely unfazed. And the Patriots, because of
• 6:03
  Speaker 1: his even keel nature, feels like they always took that on.
• 6:08
  Speaker 1: Look at Andy Reid over the years with Patrick Mahomes.
• 6:11
  Speaker 1: Does he show much emotion on the sideline? I'm not
• 6:15
  Speaker 1: even factoring in their ability to develop plays, get guys open.
• 6:20
  Speaker 1: I'm just talking about their mannerisms. Even though Ben Johnson,
• 6:25
  Speaker 1: unlike probably Bill and Andy, is more likely to want
• 6:28
  Speaker 1: to just go nuts. But from a psychological standpoint, he
• 6:33
  Speaker 1: knows all these guys looking at him. If he does that,
• 6:36
  Speaker 1: that can be a problem. Where on the flip side,
• 6:39
  Speaker 1: you had Sirianni, who is not developing any of these plays.
• 6:44
  Speaker 1: He is the CEO, culture setter, tone setter, leader of
• 6:50
  Speaker 1: the team. And he is going nuts. Losing his composure.
• 6:57
  Speaker 1: Losing his emotion. And listen, I'd be a hypocrite if
• 7:01
  Speaker 1: I said I have not been in situations and still
• 7:05
  Speaker 1: battle that where I can't control my emotions. And as
• 7:08
  Speaker 1: you get older, you realize, whether it's just your family
• 7:11
  Speaker 1: looking at you, whether it's a professional setting, whether it
• 7:14
  Speaker 1: could be a personal setting, a lot of times you're like,
• 7:17
  Speaker 1: I got to be calmer in that situation. Because absolutely
• 7:22
  Speaker 1: freaking out doesn't do any good. And one thing I
• 7:27
  Speaker 1: noticed last night and throughout his career so far with
• 7:31
  Speaker 1: the Bears is Ben feels very in control. And Sirianni
• 7:38
  Speaker 1: does not. Sirianni can't control his emotions. And it goes
• 7:42
  Speaker 1: back to some of their big wins. When he freaks
• 7:45
  Speaker 1: out on the sidelines. Even last week against the Titans.
• 7:49
  Speaker 1: When they won, he went nuts running off the field.
• 7:53
  Speaker 1: Which again, I'm not anti-celebrating the victory. A lot of
• 7:58
  Speaker 1: coaches just do it in the locker room. They don't
• 8:00
  Speaker 1: do it, you know, on a road stadium on the sideline.
• 8:04
  Speaker 1: And I think when you look at those two guys,
• 8:07
  Speaker 1: obviously Ben is in a different stratosphere when it comes
• 8:11
  Speaker 1: to offense. Because it's his. It's clearly not Sirianni's. But emotionally, like,
• 8:18
  Speaker 1: That matters. And I think one thing, and I'm sure
• 8:23
  Speaker 1: the Eagles have talked to Nick, and Nick probably understands,
• 8:26
  Speaker 1: it's like you can't be a hothead on the sideline,
• 8:28
  Speaker 1: good or bad, because that doesn't benefit anybody. It really doesn't.
• 8:34
  Speaker 1: And I can't even imagine being a Bears fan and
• 8:39
  Speaker 1: thinking of all those years where you're just stuck kind
• 8:45
  Speaker 1: of like Andy Dufresne in the tunnel of shit, And
• 8:49
  Speaker 1: it's like, I don't see any end in sight. We
• 8:52
  Speaker 1: just keep crawling. This is miserable. No matter what we do,
• 8:57
  Speaker 1: we can never get the right coach. We can never
• 9:00
  Speaker 1: get the right quarterback. We can never get the franchise
• 9:03
  Speaker 1: to be like, every single year we're going to matter.
• 9:07
  Speaker 1: And now that you have it, it's called football heaven.
• 9:12
  Speaker 1: It's as good as it gets. It doesn't mean you're
• 9:13
  Speaker 1: guaranteed to win every year. But when you get in
• 9:16
  Speaker 1: that situation, you go– this is pretty fun. This is
• 9:21
  Speaker 1: pretty awesome. And you can go into games, because I
• 9:24
  Speaker 1: would imagine most Bears fans, their expectation for the Monday
• 9:27
  Speaker 1: night game when Case Keenum's starting was pretty low. But
• 9:32
  Speaker 1: after you have a moment like that, you go into
• 9:34
  Speaker 1: basically every game, unless there's catastrophic injuries all over the
• 9:38
  Speaker 1: place leading up to it, we're like, we can win
• 9:41
  Speaker 1: this thing. Why? Because we got the right head coach.
• 9:51
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• 9:57
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• 10:00
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• 10:02
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• 10:05
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• 10:16
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• 11:23
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• 11:34
  Speaker 1: there are some bad games, at least some pretty big spreads.
• 11:37
  Speaker 1: But New England, Buffalo, Jacksonville, Cincinnati, the, I almost said
• 11:41
  Speaker 1: the Lakers, the Rams, Philadelphia, and Dallas and Houston. There's
• 11:45
  Speaker 1: some good games in the afternoon too. Niners, Denver, and Chiefs, Raiders.
• 11:50
  Speaker 1: Seattle Chargers, in theory, would have been a good game
• 11:52
  Speaker 1: if you were looking at it like three weeks ago.
• 11:54
  Speaker 1: Right now, the Chargers could be imploding. I think I
• 11:56
  Speaker 1: saw Ladd McConkie didn't practice today. They could get their
• 12:00
  Speaker 1: ass kicked in that game. if the week of, you know,
• 12:06
  Speaker 1: going into week one, you would have said New England
• 12:09
  Speaker 1: Buffalo would have been probably one of the bigger games
• 12:13
  Speaker 1: in the first month of the season, especially for the AFC.
• 12:17
  Speaker 1: You would have said definitely this week, New England Buffalo,
• 12:20
  Speaker 1: if you were just ranking in importance before the season,
• 12:24
  Speaker 1: you're just like, hey, take a look at week four.
• 12:26
  Speaker 1: What's the biggest AFC game? You would have put this
• 12:29
  Speaker 1: one way over Chiefs Raiders, but it turns out The
• 12:33
  Speaker 1: New England Patriots are in complete shambles. I saw today,
• 12:37
  Speaker 1: I mean, Barmore and Gonzalez having practice this week, and
• 12:42
  Speaker 1: clearly they're a defensive team because their offense sucks. There
• 12:45
  Speaker 1: is a report. Out there, Vrabel pushed back against this.
• 12:52
  Speaker 1: So I'm not saying I have any inside information on it.
• 12:55
  Speaker 1: I just watched the New England radio stations all talk
• 12:58
  Speaker 1: about it. He's being asked about it if there is
• 13:02
  Speaker 1: almost a rift between the quarterback and the head coach.
• 13:08
  Speaker 1: And Vrabel obviously denied it and said that he chose
• 13:11
  Speaker 1: New England because of Drake May, which of course he did.
• 13:15
  Speaker 1: That was a huge, huge positive for the organization that
• 13:20
  Speaker 1: offseason when they were looking to get a head coach
• 13:22
  Speaker 1: and trying to convince Vrabel who, like he also said,
• 13:25
  Speaker 1: would have had other options. I do believe this. We
• 13:30
  Speaker 1: all know this. When things are going well, everyone's happy.
• 13:35
  Speaker 1: I don't care what business you're in. If things are
• 13:38
  Speaker 1: going well, you're not... There is just less... ability to
• 13:46
  Speaker 1: really worry about stupid stuff. You're less likely to get
• 13:51
  Speaker 1: caught up into drama because you're just in a better mood.
• 13:55
  Speaker 1: And in football, when you're losing all the time, it
• 13:58
  Speaker 1: gets really negative. Whether you're a new angle, any organization,
• 14:02
  Speaker 1: any college, like the, the thing I will never ever
• 14:07
  Speaker 1: forget is the feeling of walking into a building, whether
• 14:11
  Speaker 1: it's college or pro and, the early morning the day
• 14:14
  Speaker 1: after you lose. It sucks. And you juxtapose that with
• 14:19
  Speaker 1: the feeling of walking into that building, whether you win
• 14:23
  Speaker 1: by one point or 50 points, whether you win because
• 14:26
  Speaker 1: you dominate or you got the luckiest referee penalty call
• 14:30
  Speaker 1: you'll ever get, no one cares, everyone's happy. And you
• 14:34
  Speaker 1: start losing, especially in a place like New England, let's
• 14:37
  Speaker 1: face it, the culture up there can be a little
• 14:40
  Speaker 1: more negative. Mike Vrabel, at his core, is a defensive
• 14:47
  Speaker 1: tough guy. Like, that's who he is. Right? So, yeah,
• 14:52
  Speaker 1: he chose for Drake May. And then Drake May just
• 14:56
  Speaker 1: has turned into a pumpkin. So, when Mike Vrabel sees
• 15:01
  Speaker 1: adversity as a player and as a coach, the mentality
• 15:06
  Speaker 1: that he has had success on his entire life in
• 15:10
  Speaker 1: football is, I would say the opposite of the way
• 15:17
  Speaker 1: an offensive guy thinks. Be tougher, work harder, grind through it.
• 15:22
  Speaker 1: Probably not holding you with kid gloves. And quarterbacks, especially
• 15:29
  Speaker 1: guys who have lost their confidence, things can get weird.
• 15:32
  Speaker 1: And you have to build those guys back up. On
• 15:35
  Speaker 1: the defensive side of the ball, when it comes to
• 15:37
  Speaker 1: D linemen, linebacker, you can just scream at them constantly.
• 15:41
  Speaker 1: And that happens all the time. If you ever go
• 15:43
  Speaker 1: to a football practice in a high-level college, and definitely
• 15:46
  Speaker 1: in the NFL, typically the loudest coaches are going to
• 15:51
  Speaker 1: be on the line of scrimmage, O-line and D-line. Their
• 15:54
  Speaker 1: coaches tend to be the most animated. And I would
• 15:57
  Speaker 1: say linebacker coaches can be pretty aggressive, right? It's an
• 16:01
  Speaker 1: aggressive position. Well, what do you think Vrabel played? He
• 16:06
  Speaker 1: didn't play quarterback. So I... I don't know if they're
• 16:09
  Speaker 1: having issues. I would understand if Mike Vrabel's not happy
• 16:14
  Speaker 1: with his play, given that we've all watched it and
• 16:17
  Speaker 1: it's a debacle. Like, think about Buffalo. This couldn't have
• 16:22
  Speaker 1: gone much better. The first couple weeks, Joe Brady immediately
• 16:27
  Speaker 1: established himself. The constraints are off. Let it rip. We're
• 16:31
  Speaker 1: taking shots. And we're going to let Josh absolutely cook.
• 16:37
  Speaker 1: And then they finally get into a weird game. They
• 16:40
  Speaker 1: couldn't have played any worse. They end up winning by eight.
• 16:43
  Speaker 1: Vibes are high. I mean, you're coming into this game
• 16:47
  Speaker 1: feeling really good about yourself. Stadium's been rocking, playing a
• 16:51
  Speaker 1: team that is just licking their wounds. And now these
• 16:54
  Speaker 1: stories come out that weird stuff's going on behind the scenes. Like,
• 16:59
  Speaker 1: are Josh and Mike Vrabel having some internal issues? Does
• 17:02
  Speaker 1: Mike turning on Drake Maye? Every coach will turn on
• 17:07
  Speaker 1: a player eventually if he sucks. That is a lock.
• 17:12
  Speaker 1: I mean, I don't care how much they like them personally.
• 17:15
  Speaker 1: If I think your play is not up to par
• 17:19
  Speaker 1: and it does not change, it does not matter who
• 17:22
  Speaker 1: you are, that player will eventually be replaced. Now, in
• 17:26
  Speaker 1: a short-term period with a young player, this happens. But
• 17:30
  Speaker 1: it's been so bad... And now you're looking at we're
• 17:35
  Speaker 1: playing Josh Allen, and our quarterback just can't stop turning
• 17:39
  Speaker 1: the ball over. We can't function as an offense. Pretty
• 17:43
  Speaker 1: scary for New England. This thing could get away and
• 17:46
  Speaker 1: get really, really ugly. I mean, it's hard not to like,
• 17:48
  Speaker 1: especially if some of these defensive guys can't play. Could
• 17:51
  Speaker 1: this be blowout city? Could this look a lot like
• 17:55
  Speaker 1: last week against the Jags, where it's just a lot
• 17:58
  Speaker 1: of points to not many points? Football, you've got to
• 18:01
  Speaker 1: be careful. You just never know. Any given Sunday, these
• 18:06
  Speaker 1: teams have an understanding of each other. Even though the
• 18:10
  Speaker 1: Bills have a new head coach, he's been there for years.
• 18:14
  Speaker 1: They were used to game planning against them last year. But, man,
• 18:19
  Speaker 1: the vibes of these two franchises couldn't be any more
• 18:23
  Speaker 1: on the opposite end of the spectrum. It's pretty crazy
• 18:27
  Speaker 1: how fast this happened. I mean, last year, New England...
• 18:31
  Speaker 1: Let's not even talk about the play. Just won the division.
• 18:35
  Speaker 1: Just won the division. And now it feels like, would
• 18:39
  Speaker 1: you feel confident saying the Patriots are going to have
• 18:41
  Speaker 1: a winning record this year? Because I surely would not.
• 18:45
  Speaker 1: Jacksonville and Cincinnati. This is a good game. I mean,
• 18:51
  Speaker 1: this is a really good game. Liam Cohen, he just
• 18:54
  Speaker 1: looks so swaggy every week and skinnier by the day.
• 18:58
  Speaker 1: I don't know what he's got flowing through his body,
• 19:00
  Speaker 1: but it's probably a few GLP-1s. And I'm jealous. He's
• 19:04
  Speaker 1: got a good jawline going. He's got great play calls.
• 19:07
  Speaker 1: He's vibing. He's got a cool look. And he's turned
• 19:12
  Speaker 1: Trevor Lawrence into a big-time player. The Jags are not
• 19:16
  Speaker 1: a running team. If they're going to beat you, they're
• 19:18
  Speaker 1: going to beat you through the air. which I would
• 19:21
  Speaker 1: say for the first time last week, Cincinnati, Jalen Warren
• 19:24
  Speaker 1: started gashing them. I mean, he busted out like a
• 19:26
  Speaker 1: 90-yard run and just got called back because of DK's
• 19:29
  Speaker 1: kind of phantom holding play. But I looked it up today.
• 19:33
  Speaker 1: The longest run for Jacksonville so far this season is
• 19:38
  Speaker 1: 16 yards. So they're not exactly some explosive ground game.
• 19:44
  Speaker 1: It's kind of Trevor Lawrence throwing to Parker Washington and
• 19:49
  Speaker 1: Jacoby Martins. The crazy part is a couple years ago,
• 19:52
  Speaker 1: it looked like Brian Thomas Jr. was going to be
• 19:53
  Speaker 1: a star in the NFL. He's probably their number three.
• 19:56
  Speaker 1: And now Travis Hunter, they're trying to phase him out
• 19:59
  Speaker 1: of offense and just get him focused on defense. Here's
• 20:01
  Speaker 1: the one thing I would say about Jacksonville is last
• 20:04
  Speaker 1: week they beat the living you know what out of
• 20:05
  Speaker 1: the Patriots. Little different animal in terms of defending the
• 20:10
  Speaker 1: pass against Jamar Chase and Tee Higgins. So the Bengals
• 20:15
  Speaker 1: have to just be kicking themselves over last week, just
• 20:18
  Speaker 1: unforced errors, especially when Chase and Higgins were making plays.
• 20:24
  Speaker 1: They gave up some blown coverages on defense. Their defense
• 20:27
  Speaker 1: just didn't play up to snuff. And they got lucky.
• 20:29
  Speaker 1: Rodgers missed a couple too. There were a lot of
• 20:32
  Speaker 1: big plays there to be had for Pittsburgh who had
• 20:35
  Speaker 1: not looked like a big play offense at all the
• 20:37
  Speaker 1: previous two weeks. So this is a game that I'm
• 20:41
  Speaker 1: staying away from. I have a lot of respect for Jacksonville.
• 20:46
  Speaker 1: And we are a Texans and Colts L this weekend.
• 20:52
  Speaker 1: If things keep going well, Jacksonville, could they win this
• 20:55
  Speaker 1: division in early, mid-December? So these other two teams in
• 21:00
  Speaker 1: that division, if they want to have a snowball's chance
• 21:03
  Speaker 1: in hell, they better start winning some games. Speaking of
• 21:06
  Speaker 1: better start winning some games, Jerry Jones, I got the
• 21:11
  Speaker 1: notification at I think around 8 p.m. Pacific Standard Time yesterday,
• 21:17
  Speaker 1: which means Dallas, I'm pretty sure, is two hours ahead
• 21:19
  Speaker 1: of me. Jerry Jones is making a trade at 10
• 21:22
  Speaker 1: o'clock at night on a Wednesday. Now, I was reading
• 21:25
  Speaker 1: that Joey Porter had Claimed his back hurt after practicing
• 21:31
  Speaker 1: Monday and Tuesday, and that was the final straw. And
• 21:34
  Speaker 1: at first, I hear, you know, I'm at this dinner,
• 21:38
  Speaker 1: and they're like, everyone's texting me, second round pick. Well,
• 21:41
  Speaker 1: it's two years away, second round pick, which is usually
• 21:44
  Speaker 1: valued in the league as, you know, a third round
• 21:46
  Speaker 1: pick because it's a year out. So the value is
• 21:49
  Speaker 1: not the same. It's like time value money. But, and listen,
• 21:56
  Speaker 1: he's a 6'2 corner with 34-inch arms who can run. Uh,
• 22:03
  Speaker 1: you know, you have an owner in his eighties, he's
• 22:06
  Speaker 1: going to second round pick in a couple of years.
• 22:07
  Speaker 1: Cause I think the initial reaction is who else is
• 22:10
  Speaker 1: doing this? And clearly when the deal that they accepted,
• 22:13
  Speaker 1: there wasn't some crazy market. Now, part of it is
• 22:17
  Speaker 1: he's a guy that wants millions of dollars, 30 plus
• 22:21
  Speaker 1: million dollars a year, a contract probably exceeding $ 100 million.
• 22:24
  Speaker 1: We'll see how the Cowboys handle that. But I also,
• 22:29
  Speaker 1: you got to ask, like, are the Cowboys a player
• 22:32
  Speaker 1: away on defense? They don't necessarily feel that way. Their
• 22:35
  Speaker 1: defensive coordinator's like, anytime you get a guy, they can
• 22:37
  Speaker 1: take out half the field. I mean, you're not getting
• 22:40
  Speaker 1: Darrell Rivas here. You know, this isn't Richard Sherman or
• 22:45
  Speaker 1: Deion Sanders in his prime. A good player, but you
• 22:49
  Speaker 1: look up there, this isn't Derek Stingley here. Now, they
• 22:52
  Speaker 1: must feel really confident. He fits the defense. I don't know.
• 22:57
  Speaker 1: I mean, my initial take was, seem bold, seem bold,
• 23:01
  Speaker 1: but that's kind of what Jerry's doing. I'm also not
• 23:05
  Speaker 1: of the camp of like every trade Jerry makes is
• 23:09
  Speaker 1: just moronic. Because when he traded for Quinn and Williams
• 23:12
  Speaker 1: last year, everyone's like, what's he doing? It's like, well,
• 23:13
  Speaker 1: Quinn and Williams is one of their better players. And
• 23:16
  Speaker 1: he's a team captain. He's an all pro level talent.
• 23:20
  Speaker 1: He also plays at premium position. Like, I don't hate
• 23:22
  Speaker 1: that as much. Now, the way he structured the deal,
• 23:25
  Speaker 1: it turns out the Packers could be a disaster, and
• 23:28
  Speaker 1: he's going to give it the Packers pick. This year,
• 23:31
  Speaker 1: it's like that could be a top 10 pick. That's
• 23:33
  Speaker 1: where it gets a little dicey. But Jerry just likes
• 23:35
  Speaker 1: wheeling and dealing. I find him entertaining. And the Pittsburgh
• 23:39
  Speaker 1: Steelers were clearly done with this guy. So they start
• 23:42
  Speaker 1: shopping him, and they're giving up a six-round pick this
• 23:46
  Speaker 1: upcoming year. So basically, they get two years of this
• 23:50
  Speaker 1: guy until they have to pay anything, which I don't
• 23:54
  Speaker 1: really have an issue with. But like the other guys,
• 23:57
  Speaker 1: I mean, the expectation, you know, they traded for Pickens,
• 24:00
  Speaker 1: they traded for Quinn and Williams. Your expectation when you
• 24:03
  Speaker 1: give up a premium pick, even if it is a
• 24:05
  Speaker 1: couple years out, are high. You want this guy to
• 24:08
  Speaker 1: be an impact player, right? And, you know, Joey's his dad, right?
• 24:14
  Speaker 1: Blue chipper would be strong, but I mean, guy was
• 24:17
  Speaker 1: picked 32nd, which that year was the first pick in
• 24:20
  Speaker 1: the second round. And, you know, their defensive coordinator is
• 24:24
  Speaker 1: already hyping them up. Now, will the defensive coordinator be
• 24:27
  Speaker 1: here for years? Time will tell. Better step it up. Now,
• 24:30
  Speaker 1: I think, you know, I've never lived in Texas, but
• 24:35
  Speaker 1: I've lived most of my life or a large percentage
• 24:39
  Speaker 1: of it in Northern California. First 18 years of my life.
• 24:43
  Speaker 1: And then basically from 2012 to 2021, so another 10 years,
• 24:49
  Speaker 1: and where there were two football teams. And one team
• 24:53
  Speaker 1: sucked up the majority of the oxygen. And there's, I think,
• 24:57
  Speaker 1: a little brother complex. There always was, you know, in
• 25:00
  Speaker 1: the Bay Area with the Raiders at the... The 49ers
• 25:03
  Speaker 1: got more publicity. The radio stations talked about them more.
• 25:06
  Speaker 1: They got, from a business standpoint, more of the corporate dollars.
• 25:10
  Speaker 1: It was always a push and pull of not wanting
• 25:17
  Speaker 1: to accept your kind of lot in life. And I
• 25:20
  Speaker 1: would imagine Houston and Dallas a little bit like that. Like,
• 25:24
  Speaker 1: what's the biggest team in Texas? By a mile, it's
• 25:27
  Speaker 1: the Cowboys. And if you're Jerry, you're playing this team
• 25:30
  Speaker 1: that has not won. You are playing a team whose
• 25:33
  Speaker 1: offense has not been good. I mean, they just can't
• 25:36
  Speaker 1: score points. And it looks like, you know, Nico Collins
• 25:40
  Speaker 1: comes back. I would guess. I mean, Joey plays this week.
• 25:47
  Speaker 1: But like everything that happened last week, the ending, how
• 25:53
  Speaker 1: adamant Jerry was about like, this is unacceptable. I didn't get,
• 25:58
  Speaker 1: there was no way he could explain it to me
• 26:01
  Speaker 1: because there was no proper answer. And he's not wrong.
• 26:04
  Speaker 1: Like sometimes when, Ben Johnson, for example, he made a
• 26:09
  Speaker 1: comment about Jared Goff's mobility the other day. About like,
• 26:13
  Speaker 1: I've coached a guy before that couldn't move. And then
• 26:16
  Speaker 1: I saw Jared Goff, who's on St. Brown's podcast, said
• 26:20
  Speaker 1: that Ben called him the next morning. It was like, bro,
• 26:22
  Speaker 1: I wasn't, I didn't mean anything by it. And Jared's like,
• 26:24
  Speaker 1: I totally, I get it. But also kind of like,
• 26:27
  Speaker 1: why'd you have to say that? Jared, we all know
• 26:30
  Speaker 1: you can't move. He just said something literally every human knows.
• 26:34
  Speaker 1: I never understand when someone says something, especially if it's
• 26:38
  Speaker 1: not that serious. that is a 100% fact, then it's like, well,
• 26:43
  Speaker 1: you got to be careful. No, you don't. Jared Goff's
• 26:45
  Speaker 1: not a mobile quarterback. Ben Johnson's like, I've coached a
• 26:48
  Speaker 1: non-mobile quarterback before. He just happened to be the number
• 26:51
  Speaker 1: one pick and an excellent player. You know, it's like,
• 26:53
  Speaker 1: you don't think Ben Johnson thinks highly of Jared Goff.
• 26:57
  Speaker 1: So I just think sometimes that you get in these
• 26:59
  Speaker 1: situations that's like, Jerry just says what everyone's thinking. Now,
• 27:06
  Speaker 1: sometimes he says some crazy stuff. But any of the
• 27:08
  Speaker 1: comments based on the Rio de Janeiro game against Baltimore,
• 27:12
  Speaker 1: he's 100% justified to say. Now, I think sometimes where
• 27:15
  Speaker 1: he gets in trouble is, you know, when things are
• 27:19
  Speaker 1: going kind of well or there's some gray area. Like,
• 27:22
  Speaker 1: there was no gray area with that situation. And there
• 27:25
  Speaker 1: is pressure on this Cowboy team because, one– Eagles are
• 27:29
  Speaker 1: leaking serious oil. The Giants quarterback situation is a disaster.
• 27:34
  Speaker 1: I mean, they just traded for a guy whose team
• 27:37
  Speaker 1: drafted him 10th overall within a couple days, scathing article
• 27:41
  Speaker 1: about him. And, you know, the commanders just aren't that talented. And,
• 27:46
  Speaker 1: you know, their quarterback is going to try to play
• 27:48
  Speaker 1: with a brace on his arm. So, like, if not now,
• 27:51
  Speaker 1: then when? And here's the other thing with Jerry is
• 27:55
  Speaker 1: just a couple years ago, they won 12 straight games,
• 27:58
  Speaker 1: three straight years. Now, obviously, Micah played a huge role
• 28:01
  Speaker 1: in that, in their coaching staff. McCarthy and Dan Quinn
• 28:04
  Speaker 1: coaching the defense, you would say, I mean, on paper,
• 28:08
  Speaker 1: by far, it's a more impactful duo than Schottenheimer and
• 28:14
  Speaker 1: Christian Parker. But you lose to an 0-3 team, even
• 28:18
  Speaker 1: if the 0-3, to me, there are differences of 0-3 teams.
• 28:22
  Speaker 1: I think we would all agree that if you pulled
• 28:25
  Speaker 1: every team let's say, team with a winning record right now.
• 28:30
  Speaker 1: And you talk to their coach and said, who would
• 28:32
  Speaker 1: you rather play next week? The winless Dolphins or the
• 28:37
  Speaker 1: winless Texans, right? Clearly, every human would pick the Dolphins. But, like,
• 28:44
  Speaker 1: this team has flaws. And if you do go 0-4, like,
• 28:47
  Speaker 1: just do the math. There's 13 games remaining. For you
• 28:50
  Speaker 1: to go 10-7, which... We've got a long way to go,
• 28:54
  Speaker 1: but does that guarantee you most years a spot in
• 28:57
  Speaker 1: the dance, even with the extra team, is you'd have
• 29:02
  Speaker 1: to go 10-3. Your next 13 games, is a team
• 29:06
  Speaker 1: going 10-3? And you go, well, they went 12-5 last year,
• 29:08
  Speaker 1: similar spot. True, but I think if you just play
• 29:12
  Speaker 1: that game every single year, you can get yourself in
• 29:14
  Speaker 1: trouble really, really fast. You know, I heard someone say this,
• 29:19
  Speaker 1: and I haven't done a good job thinking of it,
• 29:22
  Speaker 1: under this lens is, you know, in the previous iteration
• 29:27
  Speaker 1: of the playoff setup, where only six teams made it in, right,
• 29:31
  Speaker 1: per conference, the Packers would have missed several years. So,
• 29:36
  Speaker 1: I give LaFleur a lot of credit when I go,
• 29:37
  Speaker 1: look at his record, he makes the playoffs every year. Well,
• 29:39
  Speaker 1: some of those years, he's the seventh seed. So if
• 29:42
  Speaker 1: you're the seventh seed back-to-back years or three or four
• 29:45
  Speaker 1: years or two or three years, it's like kind of
• 29:48
  Speaker 1: an accomplishment. But is it as impressive as it sounds
• 29:52
  Speaker 1: when you really take a step back? Probably not. You know, so...
• 29:58
  Speaker 1: I don't know what to make of this Dallas-Houston game.
• 30:01
  Speaker 1: I talked about this yesterday. I don't feel as great
• 30:06
  Speaker 1: about my Dallas pick because of the unit in which
• 30:10
  Speaker 1: I was depending on, the offense, which obviously has looked
• 30:13
  Speaker 1: pretty good. In the most crucial situation, their play caller,
• 30:17
  Speaker 1: that's what he came up with. It's like, how does
• 30:20
  Speaker 1: he not have something in his back pocket? And he
• 30:23
  Speaker 1: just didn't. And it's clearly going to be more difficult
• 30:27
  Speaker 1: in theory, against this defense. So this is a fascinating game.
• 30:32
  Speaker 1: And I would say the other fascinating game, and I
• 30:34
  Speaker 1: know they're one and two, is I saw some clips
• 30:38
  Speaker 1: today of Puka back at practice. Again, it's just practice film.
• 30:41
  Speaker 1: He's just running some slants and some in-routes. Did look
• 30:44
  Speaker 1: like he was moving pretty good. And the one thing
• 30:47
  Speaker 1: that happened last week against Denver is, like, they were
• 30:49
  Speaker 1: hitting some big plays. And that was with Puka in
• 30:52
  Speaker 1: street clothes on the sideline. It's kind of just been
• 30:55
  Speaker 1: Devontae for a couple weeks. It's like, I'll carry the load.
• 30:57
  Speaker 1: Puka can't do it. Feed me the pill. Well, now
• 31:00
  Speaker 1: you bring him back into the mix. This is a
• 31:03
  Speaker 1: Philly defense that just doesn't get near the quarterback. All
• 31:08
  Speaker 1: the stats in terms of pressures, obviously sacks, and just
• 31:12
  Speaker 1: the eye test kind of speak for themselves. They paid
• 31:16
  Speaker 1: a lot of money for Jordan Davis and for Jalen
• 31:20
  Speaker 1: Carter to And, you know, half that game I didn't
• 31:23
  Speaker 1: have the audio up loud, but you don't hear their
• 31:26
  Speaker 1: names called very often during these games. And specifically Jalen Carter.
• 31:32
  Speaker 1: Part of the reason he was such a fascinating kind
• 31:35
  Speaker 1: of test case in that draft is everyone agreed, based
• 31:40
  Speaker 1: on pure talent for this draft, he's the best player
• 31:43
  Speaker 1: in it. But major question marks off the field. A
• 31:46
  Speaker 1: ton of teams that obviously could have used him passed
• 31:49
  Speaker 1: on him. Then the Eagles get him, and over the
• 31:51
  Speaker 1: course of a couple years, it was clear when he's on,
• 31:54
  Speaker 1: he's an unstoppable force. And had some weird moments because
• 31:58
  Speaker 1: he's a little bit of a roller coaster. That's why
• 32:01
  Speaker 1: he did not go one or two. That's why he
• 32:03
  Speaker 1: was there, you know, toward the end of, you know,
• 32:06
  Speaker 1: right around pick nine. Is that where they picked him?
• 32:08
  Speaker 1: Pick nine? And you just don't feel his presence as
• 32:11
  Speaker 1: much now after they paid him a boatload of money.
• 32:13
  Speaker 1: Like if I'm Howie and Vic, like that guy, especially
• 32:18
  Speaker 1: with all these veteran players gone over the years, their
• 32:21
  Speaker 1: edge pressure is not what it was a couple years ago.
• 32:24
  Speaker 1: I mean, a huge part when we talk, you know,
• 32:26
  Speaker 1: Jalen takes a lot of shit. I think he's kind
• 32:29
  Speaker 1: of been a similar guy throughout his career when people
• 32:34
  Speaker 1: thought really highly of him and people think not as
• 32:37
  Speaker 1: highly of him after games like last week. He didn't
• 32:39
  Speaker 1: play that great in the Titans game. He had a
• 32:41
  Speaker 1: couple awesome drives. He also essentially threw a pick six
• 32:45
  Speaker 1: in the red zone. You know, so, and the Titans stink.
• 32:50
  Speaker 1: I mean, they are terrible. And I get it, it
• 32:51
  Speaker 1: was 700 degrees on the field. Guys' cleats were burning off.
• 32:55
  Speaker 1: But like, Jalen's had, obviously he's played well in the
• 32:58
  Speaker 1: Super Bowl, but he plays in a lot of games
• 33:01
  Speaker 1: that kind of look like that. He just usually has
• 33:04
  Speaker 1: some magic in him in the second half, and they're
• 33:06
  Speaker 1: able to win. But this team is not nearly as deep,
• 33:10
  Speaker 1: and this is what happens when you pay a quarterback,
• 33:13
  Speaker 1: is you kind of got to cut some costs. And
• 33:16
  Speaker 1: then you start depending on some younger players. Well, that
• 33:19
  Speaker 1: year they had, you know, countless guys. A couple of
• 33:23
  Speaker 1: them are retired. Another one plays for the Patriots after
• 33:27
  Speaker 1: getting $ 25 million a year. And you're very dependent on
• 33:30
  Speaker 1: the other two guys who are on rookie salaries who
• 33:33
  Speaker 1: are now making a lot of money. So if those
• 33:37
  Speaker 1: guys aren't creating a bunch of havoc in the backfield,
• 33:39
  Speaker 1: and one thing we know about Matt Stafford, a lot
• 33:41
  Speaker 1: like what Ben Johnson said about Jared Goff, is if
• 33:45
  Speaker 1: he's not moving. So if you're pressuring him, you can
• 33:48
  Speaker 1: throw him off. If you can get him off the spot, he,
• 33:52
  Speaker 1: unlike some of the other guys like Goff and Cousins,
• 33:54
  Speaker 1: because his arm's so strong, can still make throws, but
• 33:57
  Speaker 1: that is your best chance to throw him off, right?
• 34:01
  Speaker 1: Is to move him around. Well, they're the one team
• 34:04
  Speaker 1: or one of the teams in the league that just
• 34:05
  Speaker 1: doesn't get close to the quarterback. So if you're not
• 34:07
  Speaker 1: going to touch him, and now Puka's back, could be
• 34:10
  Speaker 1: a long day. And that's... You know, McVay's a little
• 34:16
  Speaker 1: back against the wall. You got Aaron Donald, who I
• 34:20
  Speaker 1: wasn't just trying to be, you know, opposite of everyone
• 34:24
  Speaker 1: else and just have a counter take to try to
• 34:27
  Speaker 1: stand out. I just truly went, this guy took off
• 34:31
  Speaker 1: a couple years, had not been playing football, and is
• 34:34
  Speaker 1: going to come back, and we expect him to look
• 34:37
  Speaker 1: like he previously looked, where he's one of the greatest
• 34:40
  Speaker 1: players to ever play. We all agree that Aaron Donald
• 34:44
  Speaker 1: would have thrived in any era. And in his own era,
• 34:48
  Speaker 1: he dominated. So you're getting him back, and your expectations
• 34:52
  Speaker 1: are like, well, they're getting back a plug-and-play. Even if
• 34:55
  Speaker 1: it's not like Hall of Famer, he could be a
• 34:56
  Speaker 1: Pro Bowl-level guy. It's like, well, how does his body respond?
• 35:01
  Speaker 1: What's he going to feel like the day after the game?
• 35:03
  Speaker 1: Older players feel differently than younger players. I was thinking
• 35:07
  Speaker 1: about this today. Some guys, like, some people's body, I guess,
• 35:13
  Speaker 1: as Brady would call it, pliability, flexibility, maybe it's their
• 35:17
  Speaker 1: bone structure, maybe it's just their God-given, the way they're constructed.
• 35:24
  Speaker 1: If the same player got tipped the same hit, some
• 35:27
  Speaker 1: guys get a serious injury and other guys bounce up.
• 35:31
  Speaker 1: It's remarkable how that happens. And there's not really much
• 35:34
  Speaker 1: explanation for it. Especially if you go, both guys train hard,
• 35:38
  Speaker 1: It's not like one guy mails it in. They both
• 35:40
  Speaker 1: eat well. They both rehab well. They both do the
• 35:43
  Speaker 1: cold plunge. They do everything humanly possible on every given
• 35:47
  Speaker 1: week and throughout the year to get ready to play football.
• 35:50
  Speaker 1: Yet on the same play, if you put two different
• 35:52
  Speaker 1: players in, the same type hit or the way their
• 35:55
  Speaker 1: body would stretch or be flexed, one guy might tear
• 35:59
  Speaker 1: a knee or break a bone and the other guy
• 36:01
  Speaker 1: just pops right up. And as you get older, your
• 36:05
  Speaker 1: margin for error on that stuff all becomes neutral. Everyone's
• 36:09
  Speaker 1: kind of become similar. I saw Case Keenum tell the
• 36:12
  Speaker 1: part of my take, guys. Every hour that went by
• 36:15
  Speaker 1: on Tuesday morning, I got more and more sore. He's
• 36:19
  Speaker 1: 38 years old. So I think the impact of Aaron Donald,
• 36:23
  Speaker 1: I always thought was a little oversold. And again, maybe
• 36:26
  Speaker 1: I was being more pessimistic. I clearly was being more
• 36:29
  Speaker 1: pessimistic than most. But it doesn't feel like he's exactly...
• 36:34
  Speaker 1: in his prime defensive player of the year ass kicker.
• 36:37
  Speaker 1: And now it's like a back's a little tight. I mean,
• 36:40
  Speaker 1: what are you getting out of him? And obviously the
• 36:41
  Speaker 1: Miles Garrett disappearance is not ideal with the injury. And
• 36:45
  Speaker 1: who knows when he ever comes back? I mean, there's just,
• 36:48
  Speaker 1: to me, the storyline, like to me, New England Buffalo,
• 36:51
  Speaker 1: that's all about New England. Like I already know Buffalo's good.
• 36:54
  Speaker 1: And if Buffalo plays well, I expect them to dominate.
• 36:57
  Speaker 1: And I think the story is going to be like,
• 36:59
  Speaker 1: could this really get weird for Vrabel? Could this really
• 37:02
  Speaker 1: get weird with him and Drake Maye? Right? The Houston game.
• 37:06
  Speaker 1: Both those two teams are storylines. Like Dallas Jerry, Brian Schottenheimer,
• 37:10
  Speaker 1: defensive coordinator trade for this guy. Houston going to go 0-4.
• 37:14
  Speaker 1: You know, LA and Philly, it's kind of the same thing.
• 37:18
  Speaker 1: And like the pressure on both teams is immense. This
• 37:22
  Speaker 1: Eagles thing, I mean, there was a report, not even
• 37:24
  Speaker 1: a report, Seth Joyner said it. And listen, I'm not
• 37:29
  Speaker 1: acting like I know this for a fact. I don't.
• 37:30
  Speaker 1: First time I ever heard of it. It kind of
• 37:32
  Speaker 1: went viral on the internet. That the reason that Sean
• 37:36
  Speaker 1: Mannion is in the booth is so Nick Sirianni can
• 37:42
  Speaker 1: kind of keep him at bay and Jalen, when he
• 37:45
  Speaker 1: comes off the field, can't just bypass Sirianni, go to
• 37:49
  Speaker 1: the play caller. and try to dictate the terms of
• 37:52
  Speaker 1: the offense or whatever. It's just harder to, you know,
• 37:54
  Speaker 1: you got to go over, get on the phone. I
• 37:56
  Speaker 1: don't know how much truth to that or not, though
• 37:59
  Speaker 1: the way he laid it out, it's like, yeah, I
• 38:01
  Speaker 1: can see that. I don't know if it's an insecurity
• 38:02
  Speaker 1: of Sirianni. You would think if, you know, the guy,
• 38:06
  Speaker 1: wherever he wanted to be to give the offense the
• 38:08
  Speaker 1: best chances, that's where he would be. But the situation
• 38:12
  Speaker 1: simmers over fast. And the other thing is, like, if
• 38:16
  Speaker 1: you want to be glass half full, you'd be like,
• 38:18
  Speaker 1: this is a team that won a Super Bowl. This
• 38:19
  Speaker 1: is a team a couple years ago. That does feel
• 38:23
  Speaker 1: like a distant memory. And the closest thing we have
• 38:26
  Speaker 1: of what this team has accomplished is the implosion that
• 38:30
  Speaker 1: was last season. And the offense, which I don't know
• 38:34
  Speaker 1: if they ended up leading the league, but, I mean,
• 38:36
  Speaker 1: toward the end of the season, they lead the league
• 38:37
  Speaker 1: in three and outs. And then you just watch them play.
• 38:39
  Speaker 1: They just go three and a half still all the time.
• 38:42
  Speaker 1: It's a short sample size to even try to gauge that.
• 38:45
  Speaker 1: But if things don't dramatically change, they're going to be
• 38:49
  Speaker 1: in the mix to lead the league again. So you've
• 38:51
  Speaker 1: got to run the ball. And I don't know what
• 38:56
  Speaker 1: happened last week. I thought it was embarrassing, and I
• 39:00
  Speaker 1: talked about this after the game, of like, Saquon's working here. Like,
• 39:04
  Speaker 1: just stick with it. If you're going to go three
• 39:06
  Speaker 1: and out, just give him the ball three times and
• 39:08
  Speaker 1: see if he can break a run. And when I
• 39:10
  Speaker 1: say break a run, I don't mean 50 yards, like 12, 15.
• 39:13
  Speaker 1: Like your explosive plays can come from the run game.
• 39:16
  Speaker 1: And that's a huge part of kind of the Shanahan
• 39:18
  Speaker 1: tree guys, especially Kyle, is running the ball. You know, Manning,
• 39:23
  Speaker 1: Green Bay guy, like that's a huge problem for Matt LaFleur.
• 39:27
  Speaker 1: They can't run the ball. If you can't run the ball,
• 39:29
  Speaker 1: the offense if you are a run-oriented coordinator, and like
• 39:35
  Speaker 1: that's a problem. And I think Sean Manning's kind of
• 39:38
  Speaker 1: lost in no man's land. I saw some people saying
• 39:40
  Speaker 1: that they kind of shifted the second half offense, more shotgun.
• 39:44
  Speaker 1: I mean, I would say shotgun is much more a
• 39:47
  Speaker 1: part of that tree of in 2026 than it would
• 39:51
  Speaker 1: have been 20 years ago. I mean, it's a huge
• 39:52
  Speaker 1: part of the NFL. Quarterbacks are comfortable in that. I
• 39:56
  Speaker 1: got no problem being shotgun. I got no problem with
• 39:58
  Speaker 1: shotgun runs, but just run the ball. So this could
• 40:03
  Speaker 1: get really weird really fast. And I'm fascinated, especially, you know,
• 40:08
  Speaker 1: these home games, right? Like they'll start booing. If you
• 40:15
  Speaker 1: told me they went three and out on their first series,
• 40:19
  Speaker 1: they would boo. they would 100% boo. And they'd be
• 40:23
  Speaker 1: justified to do it. Because everyone in the crowd who's
• 40:26
  Speaker 1: paid a lot of money to be there, if I'm
• 40:28
  Speaker 1: looking right now, the cheapest get-in price, I mean, you're
• 40:32
  Speaker 1: talking to sit at the top, is like $ 175. So
• 40:37
  Speaker 1: to have a good seat at Link, to go to
• 40:38
  Speaker 1: this game, I mean, it's really, really expensive. Parking, what
• 40:41
  Speaker 1: you pay. These fans, to me, I've always said this
• 40:44
  Speaker 1: since experiencing being around them, kind of get a bad rap.
• 40:48
  Speaker 1: They love football. They're excited for football. And their expectation
• 40:51
  Speaker 1: is now pretty high. They have a lot of high-priced guys.
• 40:55
  Speaker 1: And they've seen a lot of those same core guys
• 40:58
  Speaker 1: have a lot of success. But what they've witnessed lately
• 41:01
  Speaker 1: has not been good. And the other thing is coming
• 41:04
  Speaker 1: off that Bears game is really, really bad. I mean,
• 41:07
  Speaker 1: McVay's coming off a game where I saw you admitted
• 41:10
  Speaker 1: this week that the NFL told them they should have
• 41:12
  Speaker 1: called a defensive pass interference. It's like, do we really
• 41:15
  Speaker 1: want all that stuff out there? You guys are balls
• 41:17
  Speaker 1: deep with all this– gambling prediction markets and everything involved
• 41:22
  Speaker 1: and you're coming out and saying that that's why i
• 41:24
  Speaker 1: said after the game like that's a pretty big moment
• 41:28
  Speaker 1: because it wasn't just passing affairs like i picked it
• 41:30
  Speaker 1: off the volume