First Things First - Coach’s predictions, Arch Manning & Texas struggle, Must-Win for Belichick & UNC, Packers S.B.o.B?

Episode Date: September 1, 2025

(0:00) Texas & Arch Manning lose to Ohio State, Packers S.B.o.B with Parsons? (26:21) Cowboys upset or Eagles blowout, Must-Win for Belichick & UNC?  (41:09) Tyreek Hill not named Dolphins team captain (46:00) Coach’s Picks, Will the Cowboys be better without Micah Parsons?  (01:06:52) Arch Manning’s struggles, Jayden Daniels named top young QB (01:21:59) Eagles want “Contributions over credit”, Like this mentality?  (01:26:13) Things “seemed personal” with Micah & Cowboys, What’s the Packers’ ceiling? (01:49:23) Stock Up, Stock Down: Alabama, Carson Beck, and LSU (01:59:11) Caleb Williams’ sophomore expectations, Big season for CMC?  (02:07:05) Guaranteeing an Eagles blowout vs. Cowboys?  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Live from New York, it's a show that's been a very happy Labor Day, and I hope you had a great weekend watching all the college football. And I know it wasn't lost on Drew, the irony that on Labor Day of all days is maybe the first time ever you call for someone to lose their job. Alabama's head coach, first words out of your mouth on the lock-in video. We were all, everyone was stunned. Wilds called just immediately. I mean, I'm not saying you're wrong.

Hot seat. His seat is burning up. He needs to win like the next 11th straight. Eleven straight seems like a lot. I mean, I like Alabama's attitude. Fan base-wise. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah.

Like we're 0 and 1 change things up. Well, that's coming off of last year when they lost those five. I also think his buyout, though, is like $60 million. 74. Yeah. Yeah. It seems like a little too much. We'll see how much they're really.

It seems like you have to ride out the storm here. I will contribute a little bit. Why do you like Alabama? Roll time. Why do you like Alabama? Because they're the best. But they're not. But they are traditional.

Okay. I am surprised you. Yeah. I think you're an Ohio state guy. My wife did a documentary. Yeah, but your wife went to Wisconsin. Yeah, I like Wisconsin too. Okay, here we'll start this second.

Another hot seat. Yeah. Three nothing at a half time. Today, Arch struggles to Texas under deliver or is Ohio. Ohio stayed just that good. We discussed. Meanwhile, podcast problems.

Was Micah's podcast an issue for the Cowboys? And is there a chance? Where we hear that from before? Exactly. Dallas might have a case of addition by subtraction. And finally, Belichick's debut. What are we expecting from the goat as he takes on the horned frogs? Alongside Nick Wright and Chris Brousard, I'm Kevin Wilde.

Brew. How was your, what did you do this weekend? Watch football. Anything else? Yeah. I went to a couple of nice restaurants. I heard you're talking about caviar in the back. Yeah, I didn't have caviar.

Fried chicken place, but real she, she poopoo fried chicken. You know what Wilds did brew? You don't follow Wilds on Twitter. But you know what Wilds didn't do after every five days for the last 60 days? I was waiting for three. Sending out 40 days, jail and hurts, blah, blah, blah, all of it. He missed day five. This is the weekend.

He is what I'm saying. He missed it. That doesn't make sense. He missed it. He forgot. He's going to go with an excuse. He forgot. I'm going to do three days.

Three, two, one. Even I started to get a little tired of it. It takes real discipline. Just so you know, three days would have been today. Oh, shoot. Three. It's tricky. Are you doing kickoff?

We start with Arch's Dudd, 17 for 30, 170 yards, one touchdown, one interception, one one overall lackluster performance. Here he is after the loss to the Buckeyes. the Buckeyes. Ultimately not good enough. Obviously you don't want to start off the season 0-1. They're a good team, but I thought we beat ourselves a lot and that starts with me and I got to play better for us to win. Can't wait until the second half to kind of get things going. I thought we could have played better and I could have played a lot better. So just bombed. We couldn't execute. Okay, so here are the numbers. 17 for 3, which we discussed 5.7 yards

per pass. One touchdown, air quotes, hit the ground. One intercept. It was good enough. 10 rushes for 38 yards. And here's what I liked on the bottom line. One for five on those intermediate throws. And by my own personal charting, five of 18 on passes past the sticks. Ooh. Like just by why, I mean, again, just watching, I rewatched it.

And some of those were short. Yes. Because I only had three passes of 10 or more yards. Yeah. Three completions. But one of them was it was third and one and they threw it. Just past the sticks was very. So what do you make of his performance?

overall. It's kind of what I was talking about all week. You called this classic one. And thank you, KW. And I understand that one of the media's Achilles heels is people don't embrace a classic three the way I do. Instantly, obviously wrong. And so for a lot of folks who were telling us for the last few weeks, how great he was going to be, the answer can't be. oh, I overrated him

or he just wasn't quite ready or maybe the kid who went to a small high school hasn't played much, has never started on the road in Ohio State, in Columbus against that defense was going to be a tough put. The answer is, man, Matt

Patrish is just Dick LeBoe reincarnate and in fact, no there's no college player ever has to go against an NFL failed defensive coordinator. Meanwhile, in a few hours tonight, Josh Hoover is going to go up against Bill Belichick, and I think he'll look better

even though I don't think he is better than Arch Manning because he's experienced. Like, this is an insane, this was an insane ask. For Arch Manning, who is thrown, like we talked about, less than 100 passes, who did not come from, like,

a 6A Texas school going up against a bunch of pros. So you think he was overrated in a high school? I think that he had, if you look at his high school numbers, Again, not a football power, but his family's history there. They're just fine. The team never was dominant.

You know what I mean? They never. A lot of it was the measurables, the name, and the projection, which is fine. I'm not saying I'm out on Arch Manning. I'm saying him struggling in Columbus in the first big spot of his life or of his college career should not have been shocking. And I thought it was about, now I didn't expect they only scored seven points, but I thought they'd lose. I thought he would look shaky. I don't think it's an overall indictment on him.

I think the commentary leading up to the game was a little overly optimistic because he's a manning playing college football for what was the number one team of the nation. And by the way, ESP and FBI still number one with a bullet. Ohio State's three. Maybe if they beat them again, they'll pass them. Is that true? Yeah, it is true. By a lot. Number one, by a lot.

I told you, the FBI stuff's nonsense, but go ahead. Definitely nonsense. He was terrible, period. Now, and I, look, I don't know if you're not giving Matt Patricia credit. I thought Patricia did a great job, especially for a former offensive coordinator. Yeah, exactly. He had to switch signs of the ball. Right.

But, I mean, he disguised, you know, he threw some NFL stuff at him. Disguises up front, disguised in the backfield. Guys were covered. Obviously, they have Caleb Downs, the best defensive back in the country. So Patricia and all that was great. But he was, Arch Manning was off. First pass of the game. Yeah, only 38% of his passes, according to PFF, Pro Football Focus, were off target.

This is the first play of the game, bro. Yeah. I mean, and I counted, we were talking about it earlier. He didn't complete a pass for 10 yards or more until the fourth quarter. He only completed three. and that was Ohio State's up 14-0. They just get a little softer. But it was sweet.

Like the first one that he finally connected on. That was a great pass. Oh, okay. Yeah, and I'm not, look, I'm not out on him. I'm not saying he's not going to be great. And I think you'll have a very good season, maybe a great season. And I agree with Nick, first start on the road against Ohio State. We know they got a bunch of pros on that defense.

So that's fine. But look at these, like, I'm going to say this. As great as Ohio State was, hold on, Dust, hold on on this. as good as Ohio State was, I think if Archmany had been on target, Texas could have won this game. Well, we were just watching, it was eight minutes left in the game,

it was fourth or third and three, I believe. The guys open past the sticks, first down right there, and he just under throws him. Yep. So this is, yeah, he just throws it right at his feet, okay? And then they score. a nice throw on the touchdown and made another nice throw late in the game where he threw,

it wasn't a completion, but he put it in the right spot. It was just well-defense. But the last drive of the game for Texas, they're down seven. They need to score. There's about two minutes left. He misses this guy's wide open, wide open. So you're going to be at their 40-yard line. You complete that. This one just throws him behind them. That's the second and five. Then this is third and five, and he's got the guy open. Look at that. That was really bad, man. Yeah.

And he throws a ball. And then they're in business. So they could. And again, I'm not taking anything away from the Buckeyes, but Texas could have won this game had he been on target. What's the other play he couldn't execute? Well, look, it's so effective that you've got to ban it from the NFL. But when anyone else does it, you can't solve the tush push.

To that point, I want to. I wonder if our, and he wasn't great and the stats weren't great, and we'd put up a full screen and it wasn't great. If that tush push had been successful and it was poorly executed, it didn't look like at a chance, it didn't even look like a tush push. It just looked like a bad sneak. Sneak, yes. Would we be like, wow, defensive battle in Columbus, Texas and Ohio State going at each other,

it came down to a field goal 70s. Maybe, maybe. And listen, they have San Jose State than Utep, than Sam Houston State. So I think he'll, you know, he could have 11 touchdowns and one pick in the next three games. But then they're in Florida, and then they play Oklahoma, and it's just going to be tough, and this is where I push back on a little bit of the expectation. You mentioned Caleb Downs, who's the best player in college, certainly the best defense player, made the best player in college football.

They're the same high school class. He has, you know what I mean? He's not a 19-year-old. This is one of the reasons I am to this day, obviously, despite a, you know, a underwhelming rookie year, so sure about Caleb. Is Caleb's first ever college action

came trailing in the Red River shootout against Oklahoma and immediately was like, oh, that guy, I don't care that he's 19, that guy looks like the best player on the field. And so, but that is incredibly rare. And so asking Arch to do that to me was, unfair and asking Arch to do that when Texas last year decided hey even though it's year two

we're better off with Quinn Ewers who by the way was a very good right was a very good college player and they were trying to win a national championship they got in the playoff but still there we we don't yet have evidence on the football field high school or college that this guy is the future no doubt number one overall pick and so I'm not. And he did look. In fairness to him, and it wasn't a great competition, he looked very good last year when he played. Yes. Like the moments he played, it was like, oh, wow.

A lot of people felt like he should have been ahead of viewers. Yeah. And he probably could have, but obviously tough, tough, tough to deal with Ohio. Yeah. More on arches throughout the day. Coach Manjini will be here. Danny Parkins coming up a little bit later to podcast problems. Albert Brewer of Sports Illustrated with an autopsy on his trade and tenure in Dallas. He's writing, there's a difference between this negotiation in the previous three. Martin Lamb and Prescott R. Slash, we're very popular in the locker room.

It's not the case with Parsons, who has rankled teammates in different ways, seen by some as egotistical and self-centered. His podcast, Brew, has created issues, too, that go all the way up to quarterback Dak Prescott, your reaction, and could Dallas be better off without Micah? No. Now, look, in the future, if the first round picks they got from Green Bay pop and they make great picks or they turn it.

Jerry mentioned maybe turning it to five players. And, you know, they could theoretically make some good draft picks and trades or moves where they get better everywhere, right? They've got more good players than they have now. So that could work out. But this year, no way. All right, we've already talked about it. And I won't get all into the EPA and all that. But how a lot of these numbers suggest that Dallas with Michael on the floor, on the court, or in the field,

all of the above. For four years, they were the best defense in the league. With him off the field, they were the worst defense in the league. And Jerry can talk about, well, we're going to be better against the run. Well, you know how, let's say theoretically, and we'll see if that's proven out, they are better against the run. But they don't have, they're not going to have as good a run. of a pass rush, if any pass rush

at all. So you know what teams will do? Throw, gash them through the air, which will open up the run. All right, so there's no way they're going to be better. And I get it if, you know, we, I even mentioned it. There have been little reports here and there about the locker room and Micah

and people the wrong way. And not just reports. We saw the safety was it Malik Hooker. Yeah. Who had an issue with it. DeMarcus Lawrence on his way out of town. It's not just like anonymous reports. Like there was there. There was some issues there. some stuff. You don't, every, whether it's the NFL, NBA, Major League Baseball, like, every team's

not going to get along. Everybody doesn't have to be buddies, all right? As long as you get it done on the field. And if there's issues with DAC and Micah, Dax on one side of the ball, Michael's on the other right. Like, that, no, there's no way they're better off without Michael Parsons. Listen, Brian Curtis, the great writer and media reporter, always talks about these, like, post-trade stories or post-coach firing stories as the,

Now they tell us. You know what I mean? The emptying the notebook and some of the lines in this were egotistical and self-centered. You know what I mean? About Mike is one of the quotes. To which I say, I don't care. I have a weird rule about football. Your past rusher and or your wide receiver can be kind of jerks or a little crazy or a little lot to deal with

because that's the history of the greats at that position. Can't have your quarterback doing this. I oddly don't think you can have your center doing this. either. You know what I mean? There's and he has the ball. No, I just I think there are, but I think that yes, I understand Dwight Freeney and

Bruce Smith were consummate pros but Lawrence Taylor and Derek Thomas and newly minted Hall of Famer Jared Allen and our friend Terrell Suggs and all-time legend Von Miller and Patriot great Chandler Jones and cowboy legend Charles

Haley all did a bit more than podcasting in route to Hall of fames and championships and 100 plus sacks. Like, it's okay. It is the team's job to deal with the kind of erratic, crazy guy, which I don't think Micah is, by the way, that goes after the quarterback. Micah's not crazy. He's not a bad guy. He's not getting in trouble. He's a little talkative. He has the podcast. You know what I mean? But so in the grand scheme of things, that's my point. Even what they've dealt with in Dallas. That's my point. In the grand scheme of things, It is so much better than if we were to tell you, we have an all-pro pass rusher, but he's a lot to deal with.

He's got some issues. How hard down. He's got a microphone. He's got an RSS fee. He doesn't think that's one of the best five quarterbacks in the league. Right. So that's what I'm saying. And as far as the, you know, he plays out of structure, don't care either.

Like I care if it's not effective. and my you know what I mean like so I think last year I'll give you a example there were a lot of you guys know how much I love local talk radio a big topic in Pittsburgh on talk radio last year was Minka Fitzpatrick is undermining the defense by kind of doing his own thing and it's hurting everybody whatever it is I'm yet to see the evidence that you know what Mike is hurting us like does is it boom or bust at times are there times that plays get away that we're wouldn't have if he would have just stayed within the assignment, I'm sure. But all, to Bruce's point, the data backs up. He more than makes up for it with the strip sacks and the other things. So to me, this is what the kids would call cope, like trying to make it you feel better about trading away the best player on your team. I do wonder if we're about to get another round of stories coming out, which is the classic, you know what? In Green Bay, it's all about football.

Back in Dallas, there's a lot of other stuff. I was doing my pod. I bet he's still going to do it. Either from Micah or, I don't know, but I just wonder how Micah's, we've seen that story come out a few times. And I wonder if Micah's, not behavior, but like, will his attitude towards the game be different in Green Bay than it is in Dallas? Not that there was anything wrong within Dallas.

No, there was. That's true. That's my whole mantra these past several years. Other teams, including the Packers, obviously, they're football franchises. It's about football in Green Bay. Dallas is a circus. And when it comes from the top down, of course players,

particularly ones with personality, they might lean toward that way anyway. When the owner is talking all the time, sure. Give me a podcast. Give me a microphone. I'm going to say whatever I want. But you don't think he's going to stop the pod. I don't.

I don't know. I mean, I won't have a problem if he keeps it going, but to your point, maybe he does. And say, you know what, we're about football here? It's a different atmosphere. I don't know. I just, I thought some of the, if you read, and as I know, Brew did, I'm sure you did as well,

but Drew read the whole thing twice. For the audience, they didn't read it. There was a few lines in there that I just thought were not indicative of the player I've watched for four years. One of them question how much he loves football. I think that's nonsense. I think that's unfair and the type of thing that, man, I would have needed multiple people that I really respect to tell me that before I write that down.

Because there is nothing in Micah's entire football career that says he does not love the game, how much he's improved, his ability to change positions, his ability to thrive under different coordinators, his overall health. I know he hurt his ankle last year, but he's not a guy it's like, oh, came in, out of shape, and now he's got a soft tissue. Like, there's none of that. And so you can be a captivating

or, you know, polarizing personality and also be a crazy hard worker. Like, I don't think people say, there's questions how much Jason and Travis Kelsey love football. They podcast more than he does. LeBron does a lot of stuff. Nobody questions his love for basketball. And so, yeah, so I just don't, I don't, go ahead, Kate.

Lamello. Speaking of Biden, Michael Porter Jr. Oh, my God. I told you he's got to stop podcast. Hey, hey, I got to do the media on Budzman on Thursday. Okay. The government needs to get involved. Pull his FCC license.

Yeah. If you put Michael Porter Jr. on it, you got to stop. You got to stop. Oh, my gosh. And you got to wear clothes when you're doing. What is he doing? What's he doing? What's he doing?

I'm still mad about it. If I knew the podcast for that bad, I would have never sent those tweets out of him. Debra Winning. Holy cow, brew, don't listen to those. No footage of Micah in his Packers uniform. Here he's in, you know, just jogging. But there's some good footage, too, where he looks healthy.

Well, all of a sudden, his back is fine. Well, no, Rappaport is saying there was some. Lightle. Here you look at it. There's a new report that he actually is getting injections, though. I do love that he's number one. Earlier in the week, he donned a colorful sweater and met with the media in Green Bay. He talked about the historic success of the Packers and his place in it.

Take a listen. Winning is everything to me. I don't think you're going to find a more competitive person on the team or anywhere in NFL. When you talk about winning and the stage of what it takes, I haven't been there. And I don't know what it takes, but I got a funny feeling that, you know, a lot of this history, this program does. Packers Super Bowl odds under Matt LaFleur. So now they're fifth. It's the highest since 2020.

Since they still at Rogers. Yeah. And none of those have worked out of that in 2022. They're 8 and 9 missed. So Brewer are the Packers officially S Bob. This may surprise you because they are my pick to win the NFC. No. Oh, my God.

All right. Because here's the definition as the inventor of the term. Yeah, of course. All right. Here's the definition of. invest, Bob. If you don't win or at least reach the Super Bowl, it is painfully disappointing. That's the key. Painfully dis- I didn't realize. Look, when the Texans or the Texans, the Titans, whoever, don't get to the Super Bowl, they're going to be disappointed.

But it is painfully disappointing. And here's the S-Bob teams. Kansas City and Philly, obviously, Kansas City for obvious reasons. Question. Philly because they just won it. Is it always the people that were just in the Super Bowl? Are they always us, Bob? Yeah, unless you lose, unless you lose a bunch of your great players. Yeah, your quarterback retires. Like the Broncos right after Elway retired or even paid. Or even pay.

ACA. Billy. All right. This is the second group, Baltimore, Buffalo, and Detroit. Because obviously Baltimore and Buffalo, your quarterbacks are in it, start, hit their prime. They've been knocking on the door. Detroit has been knocking on the door and has some disappointing losses.

The next group, and now, put Green Bay with that. Green Bay and Washington. Washington is so well, no, I'm just saying the quarterback's so young it's not going to be like probably painfully disappointing, but they had enough success last year, made enough moves where they feel like hey, we can win the Super Bowl. Green Bay

same way. And this is why I'm saying, Nick, they're so young. For the third straight year, they're the youngest team in the league. So yeah, they'll be disappointed if they don't get to the Super Bowl, but they're so young, they're going to be like, man, we we got something here. We're

we're going to win one next year or the year. Like, I just think they're so young that you're not like, oh, they got to win it this year. I'm glad you had it painfully disappointing to the definition. Because Brew forever, when we've argued about this, has said, like, you're telling me that they're going to be happy if they lose in the conference championship game. And then I say, well, they're not going to be happy. Everyone's going to be sad. But a week later, they're going to say it was a good season. And so now Brews added a little sauce to it.

So I appreciate that. still, by the way, not to derail this, would include Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh is on that list. They're not a young team. They're the oldest team. They think it's realistic. Dallas is always Espo. Of course.

That's understood. Can I, listen. Actually, they're not to say it. Gosh, this show forces. You agree with it. You know you agree with. Why? What are you going to say now?

They're not Es Bob. They're not as Bobbacue. I don't even remember what that means. That's not going to take off. That's not going to take it. But they might be J-Lobb. Oh, God. Jordan Love or bust?

Because. Not to the Super Bowl. Just a great seat. No, what I'm saying, what they, there is, I can't remember a quarterback ever. Certainly since we've been doing this show that had the type of playoff game Jordan Love had. And I don't think it was mentioned, 48 hours after the game wasn't mentioned again. That's right. Like right now, if I say to the audience, like, hey, how Jordan Love playing that Eagles playoff game?

They're like, eh, not that bad. Three picks. He had three picks against an Eagles team that at the moment was not thought of as this unstoppable juggernaut. And in that game didn't look like an unstoppable juggernaut. They got better every single round. And that's on the heels of the previous year's playoff game where he obviously was great against the Cowboys. Don't you think he gets a little grace because his first playoff game, he's great against the Cowgirls? In Dallas.

But then the next game, they're down three with a minute left and, you know, around midfield and just throws a, horrifying pick. They lose that and then the game against Philly's bad. And everyone's like, okay, it's fine. You know what I mean? Obviously, Herbert's gotten hell for his playoff game. Lamar's gotten some flack for his two

turnovers. Golf got a lot. Like, he's the one guy who didn't. The Packers clearly believe we've got everything we need because we believe in him and everything else. So that's, this to me, the most interesting person involved in the Micah Parsons trade is Jordan.

Love. Because we know Mike is going to be excellent. We know the Cowboys are going to be what the Cowboys are going to be.

The question for the Packers is, is Jordan Love good or is Jordan Love great? If he's great, then they are S. Bob, even if they don't, you know. So when you say Jay Lobb,

Jay, Jordan Love, do you mean he has to get them to the Super Bowl or he has to have a great season? What I'm saying is, if he is the guy that they clearly believe he is, then they are S Bob moving forward. You know what I mean?

Like, then they've got every, everything in place and he's the guy. That's what I've said. That's right. He's in that fluid area. Yes. He is. That part of it is true. Is Belichick facing a must win next on FS1 on Fox Sports Channel on Sirius XM?

That's my criticism is a gift. Podcast has been doing well and our YouTube channels out here Cook. We got a million views on that Micah Trade clip. That was good. So keep watching. I appreciate it. Subscribe if you give a chance. A million people watch. Can I tell you, can I make a terrible

confession? No. I have to tell you. Is it like personal life related? I, I subscribe to the YouTube page. I thought I was subscribed. I thought I was subscribed. I thought I was subscribed. I thought I was subscribed. I went to check our Micah thing and I realized the thing wasn't clicked.

Oh, sorry. Coach Mangini's here and prepared to talk about the Eagles. Jordan Milata is not preparing to face Micah Parsons. And that sounds good to him. Take a listen. It's just kind of crazy more you. You build up, for the last four or five years that we've played in, played the Dallas Cowboys, we've come up with a game plan because, you know,

Mike is a game record. So it is a side relief that you don't have to plan like that anymore. However, that is a talented D-line and talented defense. And so you've got to treat them with the same respect with or without, you know, Michael Parsons. It always sounds smarter with an accent. Yeah, that's true. Defending Super Bowl champion season openers, this season. Century Air 20 and 5 score about 26 points.

The opponent score about 20. More likely on Thursday, on Thursday, a Philly blowout or a Dallas upset. A route. Dallas is going to get routed, all right? One, Philadelphia is just much better. All right. Obviously, defend the Super Bowl champions. But their offense is great.

And Dallas's weakness is the defense. And then their defense is very good. They probably won't be as good as last year. But the defense is good. The defensive backfield is good. So I think they'll be fine. But last year, coach, and I said this about three times last week, they outscored the Cowboys 75 to 13 in their two games.

I get it was without DAC. But one of the games Kenny Pickett played, started for Philadelphia. And I also think that Dallas, even with Micah gone, has had an offseason full of distractions. Obviously, you have a new coach. But just, I mean, Micah, everything, it's just been a bunch of distractions. Philly, I think, has been set on football.

I think they have the right mentality coming off for Super Bowl. I just think that they have had no drama this offseason. Dallas has had nothing but drama. And so I just think everything is leading up toward the Eagles route. Yeah, I went back and looked at the three games after we won our Super Bowls. And the first one, we blew up the Steelers. I think it was like 30 to 14, but it wasn't that close. And then the next one was close against a really good Colts team.

And the last one was against the Raiders, and we beat them by like 20. So the emotion of dropping that banner is real. And it's a positive. It's a positive and it's powerful. And it should give you an edge over whoever you're playing. Now we've seen a little bit of a transition, I feel like, in the last four or five years where guys have lost that game after win the Super Bowl, which to me is incredible. And then you do factor in it is a first-time head coach.

So that's a challenge. And all the recent distractions, that's problematic. I think you're right. Philly has done a good job of really limiting the storylines this off-season, especially comparatively. Now, the thing I would say is Dallas is used to off-season destruction, so I guess that's not as big a deal for that group. I would say their best chances to being a first-time head coach and all these things

being new and the first game of the season, you do have an element of surprise. So try some different things. Maybe come out and go all no huddle to start the end. Do some things that are completely uncharacteristic to try to change at least the complexion of the game early. So for those who care, Vegas says a Cowboys win is the same odds in one direction as the Eagles winning by more than 17. So like and that's a huge winning by 17 is massive in the NFL.

So I thought the the Vegas odds say a Philly blowout. If you consider a blowout to be 14 or more, you know what I mean? That that that is that that's more likely. 14's a blowout. Yeah, that's exactly. Yeah, I'm not thinking 30. So here's here's what is interesting though. In the last decade, only one defending champ has won by more than seven.

And that was the chiefs over the Texans the year after the two. 24-0-0 playoff game between them. In the last decade, the two biggest blowouts have been the other team blowing out the defending champ. The Bills blew out the Rams and the Chiefs blew out the Patriots, Prima Holmes. That was the Tom Brady's Dunn game, remember you guys, the first one of those. And so we haven't had a true route by the defending champ since Seattle blew out Green Bay a decade ago. So I don't know what's changed.

They have switched to, because it used to be teams that played each other in the playoffs the previous year played. And now they've switched to. Yeah, where Detroit played Kansas City. This is a divisional matchup. Yeah, they changed the way it's worked. This is where I will say Dallas has going for it. And I'm very curious where you're saying because I watched your walk-in video and you seem to be preemptively playing both sides here. No.

Where you set a blowout and I felt like you set up. I watched it a couple times, upset alert. That there was a major upset alert. So I think you're... Wow. It's playing both sides. Believe it or not. Upset alert and a blowout prediction are like cousins of each other.

Okay. All right. Because it's like whenever I feel 100% confident that the Eagles are going to route the cowboys. Every time I listen to Jalen Hertz, we saw what they did last year. They can't stop the run. I think Sequin has something to prove. I think Jalen has something to prove. There's a new clip.

What does Sequin have to prove? Well, you can't have a 2,000 yards. What? You're out of down here. What? What off year? What off year? Who was saying this about Selequin?

No, one off year. Who is saying that? Everybody can do it one year. That's the definition of a strong man. He's got the chip on his shoulder. Everything else I agree with you. He's got a... He's got a...

One person said, I expect a... Two thousand yards? No, nobody expects back-to-back to... I feel like the conventional wisdom on Saquan is great year. Zero chance he can be that good. He will have a significant fall off and it will still be good. Yeah, but that's, but if I'm Sequin. Predicting 1500 yards and a dozen touchdowns is not, you think that's like bulletin board material?

Last year he was hurtling guys backwards. Okay, all right, sorry, go ahead. I interrupt you. I think the term is chip on his shoulder. Sure. Because he's still got to get that Hall of Fame resume. Yeah, sure. But that's nowhere near the level of chip of leaving your team.

Yeah. Like, no, that's fair. I think there's real doubt about all the success in some circles, Siriani in some circles. I don't think there's real doubt about Seguan. But I do feel like there's. Yes, no. Kansas City has the ultimate straw man motivation.

where it was like, you'd bring the bulletin board out. Did you hear something on GeoCity's blog from a few years ago, 99 out of 100 people surveyed, chiefs only got 99 votes. Put them on the board, GeoCities. Blog spot. And that was motivation. We'd go to the parade and like no one believes in us. Right, exactly.

I think there's a lot of that for the Eagles, and they're going to want to prove a message. to the Cowboys. And it's a rival. It's a division rival. They're not going to take the Cowboys lightly, no matter who they trot out there. So here's, and we can I guess talk about this more later in the week or in the show. I think it's pretty clear

from what Jerry said, from what they're saying, that they are going to sell out to stop the run in this game. Like the whole mantra has been, we got to get better against the run. Kenny Clark, you know, we think we might be better because addition by subtraction, whatever it

is. And so I do think like this is going to be a game. And by the way, the Chiefs did this in the Super Bowl and actually did a good job against Saquan and got crushed. So I'm not, the, where they're like, okay, Duran Blan, freshly minted, 80 million dollar man because we have all this extra money

because we didn't expect to have. Jalen Hertzco beat us. And I think Dak, like, Cowboys' only hope is that it's a shootout. Is that Dak, who has historically done really well against Philly, continues that. And then, you know what I mean? mean, and that it's something, you know, the games in the high, 20s, low 30s.

Let me ask you this, Nick, because you seem to think Dallas has a real chance to win. If you give them a legitimate chance to win, why not think they can have a really good season and maybe get a playoffs? Because I don't think that they are, I don't think the Cowboys are a good team one through 53. I think that picking blowouts in divisional football games is a fool's errand. That's kind of what, you know what I mean? I think the Browns have a legitimate chance to beat Cincinnati in week one. I do not think there's any chance they have a good season. After an offseason with more headlines about his girlfriend than his team,

Bill Belichick will finally make his debut tonight when North Carolina hosts a TCU. Hornfrogs are favored by three and a half over the tar heels. Is this a must win for Bill Belichick? Yes. Wow. Absolutely. 100%. The last four head coach in North Carolina won their opening game.

You got $10 million. You got everything you wanted in terms of the support staff. You're the greatest head coach in the history of the NFL. You're going to college football. Yeah, it's a must win. You talk about distractions and then you create distractions. Yeah, it's a must win. Not only should you win, you should win handily.

I mean, I'll take TCU, by the way. I mean, I think TCU's experience, in that Colorado game. I know it's new players, but same coach, will actually help them. I think they were a favorite against the kind of one of the storyline teams of the off season. They were supposed to be better than, and that team came in and beat them, you know, in Colorado with Deion and them. So I think that actually helps Sunny Dykes a bit, like to make sure the team's ready for this game.

And I just think the level of turnover that UNC had, I know it's common in college football, but to this level is, it's great. 70 players. Right. And so I just think that should be an advantage. You went out and got the guys that you wanted to get. I just think it'll be old. But you can't sit there and say, oh, I don't have my guys.

Yeah, you do. You got all 70 of them. There you go. I like your spunk. There's a lot of players. There's no spunk. I just don't see how he can. But if you're that strong on must win, it almost sounds like, and I don't think

you're necessarily saying this. But then it's like make the playoff. like that's kind of how I think because I don't feel like it's a must win because I think it'd be a great win and it'd be a great story and maybe it would you know pretend something really successful coming this season but TCU is getting votes for the top 25 their top 25 adjacent I get it they got a bunch of new players so maybe last year only winning six games in North Carolina doesn't matter but I just feel like I don't feel like

they're expected to win this game here's what Bill always said to who much is given, much is expected. You've been given a lot. You've been given everything you wanted. Much as expected. I think that, I mean... It'd be a great win. I think it would be a great win, but I don't expect it.

Oh, I'm not hoping they win. But I also think TCU will win. So do you... Do you think they're going to out-coach them? No. I honestly value, and I, in college football, unless there is a massive talent discrepancy, I'll just go with the experience. experienced quarterback. And the fact that this kid at TCU's been there three years and North Carolina's

kids coming from South Alabama and it's his first start, I'll just go with T.C. He's supposed to be pretty good, though. Against a guy who's torn up experienced quarterbacks for 50 years. Look at what Matt Patricia did to Hart. They can cluster Peyton Manning. I think we should be able to let him. Yeah. So that's where, and that's kind of a cousin, I guess, of the take.

I think Patricia did a great job in that game and I know we're going to talk about it more. think that the coach is getting way more credit than the players, and I think that's inaccurate. I think Ohio State has a bunch of pros who are awesome, who were able to snap, implement Patricia's complex schemes. Like the reason you don't run all of the complex schemes you run in the NFL and college football is typically, don't know what I'm wrong. The kids are going to screw it up. Like, they're not going to, you know what I mean?

And so I don't know that UNC is going to be able to do that in day one. I know these are his players. I know that it's not what Ohio State has. So I think people saw what Patricia did and like, oh, Belichick's Patricia times 100. Yeah, he doesn't have Caleb Downs. He doesn't have, you know what I mean, eight first round picks on his defense. You sound like you think it's a must win. It is a must win.

Okay. 100%. So the amount of bad press that he brought on to the program, they turned a blind eye to that the 60 Minutes interview, the book, the girlfriend on the field. So, okay, I want to know this for you guys. Got the Hulu documentary. There's a, the documentary, we're on NFL films.

We're not doing NFL films. They were like, you know, we got the t-shirts out, we got the sweatshirts in the airport. You have to win. They turn to blind out of all that. Okay. It's worth it. If he wins, he's the goat.

So what do they have to do this season in? For it to be a successful season, what are you saying? I think they're saying they've got to win at least eight games. Is that eight and four? I mean, I mean, I didn't. projected out, but I would imagine, I just go back to the same line of you have your guys, you've been given what you've asked for, and you've got this wealth of experience, you should be able to go and out coach a lot of the people that you play.

Dolphins revealed their captains voted on by the players for the first time since he became a dolphin. Tyreek Hill, not a captain. Also, not a total surprise. Marcel Luis Jacques's writing for ESPN. During spring practices, Hill admitted that. They'd have to earn back his captaincy and prove he deserves it after removing himself from his regular season finale. Once it became clear, the team would not make the playoffs. You know what?

Not in the behavior you're usually looking for from the captain. So Tyreek Hill, not a captain. Is this something or nothing? It's something and it's something dumb. Like, this is a good lesson in life, in relationships. Either get over it or don't. Interesting. Don't say everything's fine and then bring it up.

every six months. Don't do that. Don't say everything. Like, no, I'm, that's the, I'm not talking about, I'm just saying in general, like move on or don't. I like that, actually. There's 32 teams in the league.

I checked, you know, a loose official list of captains. So again, this is not Josh stamped. Sure. But every team I checked, you know what, they all had in common, the best player of their team was one of their half dozen captains.

but not this one. And if this is how you feel, then you probably should have broken up. Yes. And if you really, everything really is fine, then say everything's really fine and move on. But the players voting.

Right. It's not like a mic. So I know, but so I'm not, I'm not. So you're saying they should have made him a captain or trading. Yeah. I'm saying that this half measure of,

dramatic, don't you think? Yeah. I think this half measure of Tyreek is going to have to, Pay a penance all year. Like, you know, like I just feel like it's not, that's not going to work, guys. We just, that's not going to work. Well, why can't it work?

They're not saying that we don't want you here. They're just saying we don't want you to lead us while you're here. And he's said over and over through his actions, through his deeds, through the way that he responds to adversity, that he doesn't want to lead either. So he doesn't want to lead. They don't want him to lead. He can still play really good football. So what's the downside of everything has to be? Is it part of like signing that big contract like, hey, we want you to catch the ball and lead?

Yeah, but when someone says, I will not do what you want me to do, I will catch the ball, but I will not lead, at what point you said, okay, we get it. Yeah, he's not the leader. He's not a leader in it. Yeah, I'm more with coach on this. Like, I do think it's something because it shows that he hasn't, you know, throughout training camp hasn't earned everybody's, respect or belief back in him. So I get that. But look, I think this is something in that he could be traded during the season.

So. Yeah. And they'll know right. Look, four of their first five games are winnable in my book. Indianapolis, the Patriots, then you got Buffalo, which you're going to lose, although it's a division game. The Jets and Carolina. They should be at least three and two.

I mean, could be four. I get it. The Patriots are expected to be better. But I'm saying four of those fives are winnable. If they look bad and have a bad record after that, that's when I think he could be. Listen, I just, the other, he's not, is the Dolphin's goal to have him finish his career a dolphin? If it is, then you had to fix this. This just feels like we are marching inevitably towards him not being on the team next year.

But in a relationship, don't both parties have to fix it? Not always. Why is it the Dolphins' job to fix it? Isn't he the one that kind of shut it down on the team? Listen. So now it's a Dolphins job, like, oh, we're going to give you a ton of money. And by the way, we're going to allow you to act any way that you want to act and still give you this type. Hold on.

He's apologized multiple times. Two has called him out publicly. He's apologized again. You know what I mean? That was an ongoing story. He has this offseason said the right things. Do I think his behavior is actually going to change? Probably not.

I think that you, they got into business with Tyree Kill because of his speed, his athletic greatness, what he does on the field. That, once you get into that relationship, as long as you continue that relationship, these like little slaps on the wrist to me are not productive. And I think that. How much do you think Tyreek even cares about you? I think it's something. Does it matter to him? I don't know. When all of the stars across the league or team captains, and you're not?

Maybe act differently. It is the show that is worried about Alabama. Coach, we might have to get you. Guess who's the first person on the show to call for someone to be fired this year? I didn't call for him to be fired. But I did not say he should fire. You did. You said they literally said they need to fire the coach.

That was an emotional all burst. I'm in everybody in Alabama. Right about that. Command excellence. You can't even be mad at it. Don't take over for a legend. By the way, that is the lesson. That is the lesson. Yeah, don't take over for it.

You want to be the second guy. Yes. You came up with that, Prince. You want to be the guy that takes over for the guy that takes over. That is a famous phrase, isn't it? You came up with it trademark, but he didn't come up with it. Now you're admitting it? You want to come in like Brable.

Like, let the dust set out. The first guy is always going to take that. That doesn't work. Second hour of first things first. Today, Buckeye shut down Archman and Coach Mangini tells us if the defense was that good or is it time to worry about Arch? Meanwhile, predictions week overtime. Coach Mangini's surprise Super Bowl pick. But right now we are talking about a Dallas regroup.

No Micah, no podcast, no change in goals. However, Albert Breers writing in Sports Illustrated that Parsons rankled teammates in different ways, seen by some as egotistical self-centered. Podcasts created issues as well. Go all the way up to Dak Prescott. Meanwhile, Coach Schott-Nheimer says, you know what? The goals are the same with or without, Micah.

Take a listen. Nothing's changed. My goals haven't changed. Our team goals haven't changed. I hit the players on that today after I talked about, you know, just the tough couple days, you know, for all the guys.

And it doesn't change. You know, the standard is the standard. I said that. With all the new pieces and people we had in there, I needed to hit the goal, which is the winner world's championship. What are the chances Dallas is better off without Micah? Listen, on Friday, I tried to do a fair job of explaining the rationale behind the trade long term and about how, you know what I mean?

Once you pay DAC and it's not what I would have done, but once you've paid DAC, you've paid CD, you have these other holes on your roster. So I do think there is a chance, as you were alluding to earlier, Brew, that long term this works out. Chance they are better this year is 0%. There is a, and I like Kenny Clark a lot. I've known Kenny Clark for a while. There is no chance Kenny Clark gives you more value this season than Micah Parsons does. If we're assuming, you know, neither one of them suffers some significant injury.

And I don't care how many locker room murmurs there were. about did you hear what Micah said on his podcast, it was not enough to offset a dozen sacks and league leading pressure. So for the 2025 season, coach, there is no chance they are better off without their best player. When we started talking about this, I felt like this contract was different than the other ones that we had talked about. And I think there was some blowback from Dax's contract, from Zeke's contract, for making another guy. We coach hasn't gotten his victory lap on being the only part. person who thought this might happen.

I didn't think this contract was going to get done. He kept saying that. You thought it was going to be a trait? I didn't think he was going to get the new deal in Dallas because Jerry has treated this offseason differently than he's treated every other offseason. The same thing with Brings Schottenheimer in. And to me, this is somewhat of a reset and somewhat of we don't want to get into another giant contract that we can't get out of without the ability to maybe push the resources

other places. And I do think there was a lot of internal fighting or lack of chemistry between Micah and a bunch of the guys. And that was problematic. And so when you look at this, will they be better long-term? They could be. I just want to bring up a graphic of other guys that have been traded for two or more first-round draft picks.

And when you look at it, it's not like the team that got these guys has been sitting there going, oh, my God, we just knocked it out of the Park with the trade. Now you could argue that the Matthew Stafford trade. Yeah. That was the best one of the group. But all these other ones. Jalen Ramsey, they won a Super Bowl too. Yeah, but was it, was it really Jalen Ramsey? I mean, you could, there's an argument that that they paid too much for that. But what I'm saying is the money that they spent, the amount of draft picks, Kenny Clark does have some value in immediately. He's been practicing. He should play this week. he should add some productivity.

So long term, we're going to have to see how the picks play out. But I never felt like this was going to be a fit for Micah in Dallas because of the dynamic that's been there. Yeah, look, I think long term, I echo what you guys said. If those picks pop or if they turn them into nice trades and they get better, you know, instead of just having one great defender in Micah, now you got three really good players or four on that side of the ball, they could be better long term. But like Nick said, this year, I think they're going to suffer. Coach, I feel like I get how Clark could help them against the run.

But to me, the opponent, the past rest isn't going to be the same. And they'll throw on Dallas. And then that'll loosen up the defense for the run anyway. So I just think defensively, they're really going to struggle. And there's all types of analytics numbers that show they were like the best defense in the league with Micah. and the worst when he's not on the field. So, yeah, I think this, I think Jerry's trying to do the Cincinnati formula.

But DAC, as good as he is, isn't Joe Burrow, and they're not going to be at a score like the bench. The pressure is on DAC. And I think DAC really wanted this as well. I think, when you hear. Micah Out of there? Yeah, I think DAC wants it to be the Dak Prescott show and the offensive show.

And when you hear the way that he talked about Micah and you hear the way that the things not just he says what he doesn't say about this trade it's pretty obvious there was some sort of tension there and he wants the Dallas Cowboys to be the Dak Prescott show

so let me my feeling and I think Nick echoes it I don't think they have to be everybody has to be buddies in the locker room like I think you can have a guy he's full of himself whatever but if he's that great I mean you've been you've had teams where that was the case and stuff like

How big of a deal is it if they weren't feeling Micah, so to speak? I mean, they won 12 games, three straight years with the players being sick of Micah. You know what I mean? So I just think you don't have to, everybody doesn't have to get along and sing kumbaya for you to be a good team. No, I don't think everybody has to get along. And you'll tolerate a lot of behaviors and a lot of personalities as long as they're incredibly productive and they're helping you win. We also don't know what's going on behind the scenes. We don't know how disruptive it was.

don't know any of those things. But I do feel like DAC to some degree probably feels underappreciated, undervalued. And now this gives him the opportunity if the Dallas Cowboys go out and win a bunch of games, it's about him. It's not about the defense. It's not about Micah. And we've talked a lot about the Cowboys defense over the last four years. It's going to be because he did it.

He wants that. No, all right. Well, that very well may be true. But I also think that this is an amazing. recreation of history by some. I'm not talking about here, but the idea that Dallas was itching to get out of the Micah Parsons business.

Jerry made a big show all summer of how much he offered Micah. About how, oh, I reached far, and then I reached further. And then, not shockingly, the day the trade happened was the first time anyone officially reported at least ESPN did what the number was,

that Jerry had offered him, $40.5 million back in March on a five-year deal. So back in March, Jerry Jones was ready to pay Dak Prescott damn near with the chiefs pay Patrick Mahomes. So at that time, Coach, they weren't trying to get out of the Micah Parsons business. Then it went sour sideways on them in a bunch of different ways. And then by the time Micah made the trade demand, they clearly were open to getting out of the Michael Parsons business. But this, he was not a distressed asset.

He was not a guy that you look at him as if, okay, he's a great player, but we have all these issues. Like, that's not a fair portrayal of Micah. The one thing we know about the Dallas Cowboys and Jerry Jones is if he wants to get something done, no one's going to beat him. Right? Financially, like, he's going to get things done that he wants to get done. he may have made that offer, but he probably knew going into that offer that wasn't going to get it done.

See, I don't, I disagree with you, coach. I think he made that offer, thought he got the deal done. They shook hands. Jerry felt like that's over. I'm not dealing with the agent. And then it went sideways on him. But like, this is professional football where a lot of the best players in the league, when we say, you know, they have off-field concerns, that is us glossing over. like a really awful allegation or one, you know what I mean, a bad, bad night where they did

some bad, bad stuff. Micah has never been in trouble. Micah is, listen, boisterous, maybe a bit of a distraction at times, and has a podcast that he's pretty unfiltered on and doesn't include Cowboys in all of his top five lists or whatever. It's not like, I'll bring up, the Cowboys are hoping this turns into their version of the Tyree Kill Trade. We traded a great player, got a bunch of picks and revamped the side of the ball. Tyreek had a real history of, like we're a little worried about any time, you know, we get a phone call about Tyreek.

That is not Micah Parsons. And so I just think it's, and I'm not saying you're saying it's that. I'm not saying that it's anywhere near that. I'm just saying that if Jerry Jones wants to get something done. He would have gotten it done. Yeah, he's not going to be that upset about a handshake deal that went south. He would just spin it however he wanted to spin it so he could make the deal.

and get it done. And I don't feel like he ever really wanted to get this done like he has with deals in the past. Okay. Well, Predictions Week overtime. Coach, you were not here last week. I was not. The conclusion of Predictions Week,

but we still need to get all of your predictions. I don't hope you guys forgot about it. Last year, you were the only one to correctly predict the stratospheric rise of Jaden and the commanders. So we're waiting to see what surprises you have. store that are accurate this time, starting with AFC division winners. Okay, I would go AFC division winners. A lot of surprises coming here.

Not that exciting. No, I don't think it's too surprising. So if you pull up the first one, I've got the bills, I've got the Ravens, I got the Texans, I got the Kansas City. It's a little boring. I was actually. This is all had it. Yeah, I was.

No, I had the Jags winning the division. I was wavering somewhat on Houston of all of these. you know, Buffalo I got burned on last year, so maybe this is too reactionary for me, but it's hard for me to think someone else is going to overcome that. But Houston was probably the one I was wavering on the most. For what team? Come on. You know what team.

Yeah. You like it. Come on, coach. You know what team. Don't you dare. You've got to be hitting. Yes, I knew it. What do you mean?

Not that. Why? Who else would it be? Because he likes Travis Hunter. He likes Brian Thomas. He likes the friends. He likes Liam Cohen. He likes Liam Cohen.

Come on. Yeah. I couldn't do it, though. I like CJ. I like CJ a little bit too much, and I think that we're going to see him continue to progress in year three. So that's what I worked there. AFC wild card.

This is going to be a little bit different. I think you're going to like this. Take a look now. We've got our friends, the New England Patriots. Let's go. Wow. We've got the Cincinnati Bengals, and we've got the Chargers. Love it.

Wow. And here's where I went with the Patriots. I'm not a Drake Mae fan, as you all know, but I am a Josh McDaniels fan. Can we stop there for a second? Sure. You've never said that. I have said that. No, not as black and white as you just did.

You've kind of hinted around, like, are we sure Drake's the guy? I said he reminds me of Sam Darnold coming out of college. Oh my. Hello. So I feel like there may be a Sam Donald-like progression, So we may not see... They're about to make the playoffs? No, no. He means...

Oh, I see what you. Josh. He may have to go somewhere else. That was my concern. But with the addition of Josh McDaniels, who is the last first round draft pick? Mack Jones turning into a pro bowler went to the playoffs. So I think there's a real significant chance for growth

under Josh McDaniels. And then I'm also betting on Mike Rable and what he brings, not just from this, being his second head coaching gig, but the fact that he left the family tree, he went other places and coached. He brings that back to New England

where he also understands that culture very well for them to have a chance for growth. And with Cincinnati, to me, it's about Burrow. Yeah, can I ask a question about two teams you left out? Yep. Yeah. You have Cincinnati over the Steelers, and you have the chargers over everybody's darling, the Denver Broncos.

Yeah, so the Steelers, I can't get my head around Aaron Rogers and Arthur Smith working together and really elevating that offense. That's a problem for me. With Denver, you know, they got into the playoffs late, but really they got in the playoffs late because Kansas City didn't play their guys. And I get they added two very significant defensive pieces. I just think that Chargers and the way that they're going to run the ball is going to be too much for a lot of people. Okay. I'm going to, as the host and leader of the show, okay. I'll be honest with you. I have coach's predictions on this paper. You guys do not. Correct.

I'm just going to, I don't want to spoil it, but the following predictions are horrible. All right, let's see. Wow. Coach take away, NFC division winners. With that introduction, I don't know, you know, you know, where we're going to go with this. Wow! I cannot believe it. Way to go to coach. Bears winning the NFC North.

Coach, my God. I can't believe it. I love it. Unlike, unlike Nick, I'm not getting off Caleb right away. I'm not getting on Caleb right away. Did you pick him to win the division? Well, it's team sports.

You're now the Caleb guy on the show. Danny, Danny, from Chicago, he didn't even have him winning the division. I think that when you look at what you look at what you're, He did last year, and I get that it wasn't what any of us wanted, but 20 touchdowns, six interceptions. He sacked, what, 60-some odd time, which is 10% of the time. So they revamped the offensive line. I've really liked, I've liked collectively their talent level.

I liked him a lot last year. I like him again this year. And there's something to me about the head coach, that the more I listen to talk, not just about the offense, but about his approach and team building. There's a lot that I like about him. So I don't see why they can't elevate in year two and why Caleb can't potentially become the player that everybody expected him to be.

The six best quarterback? And it's easy to predict, you know, the same teams that went to the playoffs last year and they're going to be there. I'm shocked. I might have to become a bearish guy now because I respect coaches as much. I, you know, it's, let's go to the,

let's go to the wild cards. Yeah, wild cards, please. Oh, you're going to hate these too. I love this. Wow. I love these. Wow. Love it.

No Packers? No Packers. I'm going. No Niners. Now here's where I strode a little bit. I don't love the age of the Washington Redskins. And Kevin's going to kill me because he keeps hearing me talk about how old there. That's where I'm concerned is that they're the oldest team in the NFL, but obviously I'm a Jaden Daniels fan.

So I like them. With the Giants, you know, you can say what you want about the. giant that they've revamped the quarterback room. Maybe Russ elevates. If not, Jackson Dart is a really exciting candidate. And then you've got James Winston, who's always fun to watch. I think their defense, their defense could be a lot better than anybody expects them to be. Are you worried before you move on to the Lions coach, are you, I will, because you have been dissing Drake May and like pumping up the Giants and dayball's your guy, I wanted to make the Giants pick as well. But then I looked at the schedule and I got scared off.

It's rough. It's not going to be easy. Not just the division either. Dayball was the coach of the year, what, a couple of years ago? It's not like he's forgotten out of coach. They've added some good pieces. We've got to see where the quarterback's situation goes when Jackson Dart plays, whether or not Jackson Dart can elevate the team or whether it's Russell Wilson's leadership that can, you know, hopefully carry him through a very challenge.

Why no Packers? You know, I made this prediction before the trade, and I didn't want to just jump on the Micah Parsons bandwagon. Especially with that bad back. And where I struggle is with Jordan Love, he's so, to me, he's streaky. So when he's good, he's awesome. He might be the new roller coaster. When he's not good, it's in the 70s, that type of thing. So I hadn't seen that consistency from him, and that division guys could beat up each other.

And with the Lions, I'm going with two new coordinators, but going with people. And I'm hoping Johnny Martin keep that offense going. Wow. No more time now. Are we doing MVP? MVP and or Super Bowl here. Yeah. Which one do you want?

MVP. MVP. MVP, okay. MVP is Joe Burrow. I like that. All right. And here's my thought for us. The only way that the Bengals are getting to the playoffs is if Joe Burroughs is the MVP.

So since I have him going to the playoffs, and with those offensive, of weapons, which it's not just the wide receivers. It's the tight ends. I like the running backs. I think collectively they're going to have to score a ton of points. And if they do that, it's going to be hard to deny why they have the success that they have. Now we get to hear Coach. Thought growingly about Andy Reed, Patrick Mahomes, and the Chiefs Dynasty.

I really think that Kansas City has done incredible things over the last three years. but it's just hard to do that over and over and over again. So for my Super Bowl prediction, going to Baltimore Raven. Ballbirds. Coach! I like it! I like it. Philadelphia Eagles.

And here now, wow, Eagles. I really believe that the Eagles have a chance to repeat, and I love the way that they're talking about things. I really like the offseason they've had. I just don't have the conviction that they're willing to just do what it takes every game and not get caught up in, we're going to show that we can throw the ball a million times. We're going to show that we can be this.

So that's my concern. And for Baltimore, Lamar's made strides each year. He's sort of broken down barriers each season, broke down some significant ones last year, incredibly talented across the board. Got to imagine this is their year. Excellent. Excellent job.

The Bears one was through me for a loop. That takes gut. Coach's predictions took the most guts. It was same with last year and he was right last year. Coach, you're going to get a sandwich. I'm going to give you a sandwich. I don't know. The Rayvago back in the good graces of Baltimore.

Yeah, that's the other thing. People of Baltimore are mean to coach. People of Baltimore need to be nice to coach. I think I'm a hater for a little hour. Yeah, he bit to make the Super Bowl. New England now. Talking trash about break in. Coming up next.

Why did Arch a struggle? Next on first things first. Now Saturday's game that we were discussing, number one, Texas loses to number three, Ohio State. Archmanning, ineffective. Why? Overhyped, nerves, lame play calling. Matt Patricia Masterclass, hello. Here's Sark's take. Take a listen. Rhythm in the passing game was one of them today, and they've got an excellent secondary. If there's a strength on their team, you know, granted the receivers are really good, but they've got an excellent secondary, and they've got a good scheme, and they've got a very smart secondary. So they made Arch work.

Okay, Coach, here were Arch's number, 17 for 30, 170 passing yards, one for five on intermediate throws and just missed a couple of easy ones. What was your number one reason for Arch's struggles? Well, you talked about Matt Patricia a little bit, and I think that for him it was the best case scenario. So going from pro football to college football, there's so many things that you don't deal with in pro football that you deal with college football, whether it's, you know, some of the exotic quarterback-driven runs or gadget plays, just stuff that you don't see very often the pro game. So for him to go and face Arch Manning, who is a much more traditional pro-type passer, I thought that was as good a situation for Matt as there could be.

So now he could disguise the coverages, he could, you know, disguise the blitzes. And Arch, he's going to sit there and try to diagnose what it is. And there wasn't a lot of shifting and motioning, similar to the way Peyton liked things and to some degree, Eli, because they want to assess what the defenses is and go to the right spot. So I thought that really played well for Matt. In fairness to Arch as well, this is the first start that he's had. You're going to Ohio State, which is, I mean, playing there as loud as it is for your first start. And then playing the defending champions, just like we're talking about with the Eagles, there's an emotional. component to that as well

for Ohio State. So it's a lot to ask for a young player. I know people are saying, oh, the hype train's over. It's over for Texas. It's the first game against the defending national champions and about as hostile environment as you can get. I would say don't sell your

Texas stock right now. I agree with that, and I don't, the it's not that I think the hype train's over. It's that I thought the hype train was overdriven going into the game. Way too over. And I just, Arch Manning, there are a lot of things to like, but the biggest thing to like is the pedigree. And by the way, that's not nothing.

Like, I care about that in sports. I care about literal athletic DNA. I care about the fact that he has been around football's whole life. So I'm not acting like that's meaningless. But for a player who was, you look at some of these guys who are number one kids in their class at their. high school numbers. It's like, oh, he threw for 8,000 yards and 75 touchdowns over his last two years. That wasn't Arch. And then a lot of these guys, it's like, oh, okay, he's a 19-year-old true freshman who might win the starting job immediately. This is, arch is the same year as Caleb

Downs, who has been starting and making impact plays for three years now. That wasn't Arch. And then you add to it, his limited experience in college was all at home against overmatched opponents. I just thought all week when we were talking about the game that people that thought Arch Manning was going to walk in and light things up were being unrealistic. So, yes, I think Patricia did a great job. But I also think that I don't think this game would have looked that different if Matt Patricia was still in the NFL.

If it was that Ohio State personnel with just regular, you know what I mean, just typical Ohio State coaching in that building for this kid's first career road start, it was going to be a tough ask. And Brew, I thought you saw from the first play of the game was not because of Matt Patricia. And the first play of the game, Arch Manning, by five yards, short-armed to throw, he makes his every day.

You know what I mean? And so, like, that to me, and it's one play, I understand. But you also, there were a few other times where. It threw behind the receiver. Yeah, and it also looked like, and listen, I'm not a quarterback mechanics expert, obviously. But sometimes they showed like the end zone camera of a throw. And it's like that kind of looked weird.

You know what I mean? Like that it just looked like it was a lot for him, which is I think totally reasonable, but not that surprising, bro. We talked last week about his press conference and he was asked about the pressure and hype and everything. And he said, well, it's all the Texas players. Like he put it on the team, which I thought made sense. But rather than being a smart way to deflect it and I'm putting it on.

the team, not just me, maybe it was him trying to get away from the hype so much because you're right. Like I do think, I think Patricia had him seeing ghost toward the end of the game or the second half of the game, the last three quarters, whatever you want to say.

But that first pass, that wasn't seeing ghost. That was just, you know, you're nervous. Yeah. And then coach, like, look, he was off target on, depending on the different stat you look at, 38, percent of his passes.

And I thought coach, as well as Ohio State played, as good as they are, I think they're the best team in the country. I think Texas could have won if Arch had been on target. Like they had a chance as it was, and I had some tape earlier. In the fourth

quarter, I mean, here they are about to score. This is third and three, I think. Like, the guy's right there as a first down and he just throws it at his feet. And that was like eight minutes left. At that point, at that point, they didn't have a touchdown.

They were down 14-0. And then with two minutes left after they do score, they're down 14-7. They have a real chance to march. He misses this guy, again, pretty wide open, overthrows him. And then second and five, third and five right here, wide open. That's going to be a first down. The third down one. And this one, yeah, I mean, the guy actually had room to run.

This is similar to the opening pass of the game in that, like, How do you miss that throw? That's got to be nerves or something. So I'm not writing him off either, but I think. Yeah, those plays that you showed are really disappointing. Oh, yeah. Those are layups that you miss. And he's made those, what, thousands and thousands of times?

And now in this moment, he couldn't connect. Can I say some real quick where you go? I'm certainly not writing him off as one day being a great collegiate player or even being the number one pick like people will expect all those things. I am close to saying he's not going to win the Heisman. Like I think that

this game, first of all, I'm talking about this year. I'm not saying ever. But like this game hurts him. And I don't. There was enough concerning moments in this game that make me think it's unlikely

he's about to rip off 10 of the next 11, a plus game. You know what I mean? I mean, the Nussmeyer and Clubnik, they didn't put up huge, number so yeah but i just thought yeah and that's fair and we don't know who's gonna you know when borough won it right nobody saw going into that year so there could be this kid from south

a surprising what was what was he so he's tied for seventh now what was he earlier was a favorite he was a favorite he went from favorite to seventh yeah i mean yeah i mean he was a big it was a big drop he's got to really but that's what i thought was unfair to him that's kind of my point that he was yeah i thought it was unfair that he was the heisman favorite because i again did i expect him to score seven No, like, but I thought they were going to start their season with a loss that he kind of had a tough game in. And then so I didn't think he should have in the Heisman favor. Quick question before we go to quarterbacks under 25. Coach, there was a there was a point in the game where Joel Clatt was like in the second half,

Joe Clatt was like, oh, that looks different, that he felt like he was looking for something different out of Texas's offense. And I just compared what you can see without like really grind and tape. We got to stay late tonight, by the way. Look at all the college football. Versus like what Florida State was doing to Alabama. They were doing like wacky stuff where like the offensive line was frozen and they were doing like these fake plays. Was any of it too much of a professional setting for arts?

Like, all right, arts, just do your thing and not enough creativity from Texas. Well, it depends on the strength of the quarterback. Like some guys really like shifting and motioning and gadget plays. But the problem is when you do all those things, you're creating problems for the defense. but you don't know necessarily how the defense is going to respond to what you do. So now there's uncertainty where with Peyton he never had any movement. And with Tom, we had very little movement, if anything, it looked like motion, but it was really a shift because they wanted certainty.

So that's the tradeoff. If you have a quarterback that you feel like is going to diagnose what he's seeing and then get you to the right spot, then you want stationary. But from a defensive perspective, that's a lot. better because now you can move your guys around and you can disguise stuff and see whether or not you can fool them. All right. San Jose State. Yeah. They have very straight teams that San Jose State, Utef, San Fuson State.

Sports Illustrated, rank the top 12 quarterbacks under 25. Jaden grabs the top spot. Spencer Rattler at 12. In between, we've got Brock at 2, C.J. Trevor, Drake May, who coached not a fan of, Bownex, Caleb, at 7. Bryce, my guy, Cam Ward, Pennix, JJ McCarthy, and that Spencer Riler. Outside of Jaden, because he's got to graduate. He is what he is. People love the podcast.

Yeah, I know. That's how it was nice of you. Trying to juice those numbers. For those people listening, Kevin Wilde's wearing beautiful aquamarine tie. Little flowers on it. Going left to right. Salt and pepper hair. Me.

Yeah, go ahead. Outside of Jaden, which quarterback has the best year? All right. I like a lot of these guys. It's a third of the league. I think I know who you guys are going with based on your predictions. Caleb is my guess. I broke it down to four.

Gosh, bro. But I'm going to pick one, but Purdy, C.J. Stroud, Bow, Nicks, and Caleb. You picked half the list. Because I got all those guys making it last. You just eliminated Trevor and Drake. Yeah, yeah, all them. I think, look, CJ, I think they're going to win the division two. He's going to have a big year, but he's got it.

a great receiver, I think, in Nico Collins. Nix, I think he's going to have a good year. I got them in the playoffs coach as a second best in that division. But I don't think his numbers are going to be as huge as the guy I'm going to pick. Caleb, I got them making the playoffs as a wild card, so he's going to have a good year. But I think he's got, I like what's around him. The guy that I think is going to emerge is Brock Purdy. Wow.

And that's saying a lot because he's already emerged. Wow. But here's the thing. To figure out how you got there. You know I like Ricky Pearsall. I think he's going to make Pearsall. Like, Pearsall is going to have a good season, I believe. And I think Brock's going to get a lot of credit for that because he didn't play as much last year.

Some people didn't see him as much. Look, you got McCaffrey and then Brian Robinson and Kittle. But I'm talking about on the outside. I think people are going to look at their receivers on the outside before Iyuk gets back and say, they don't really have a lot. But they're going to be playing well winning. and I think Purdy's going to put up numbers. So I think people are going to begin, not everybody,

but a lot of people are going to begin to move away from, you know, Purdy is actually good himself, not just with the avengers. So your answer is Purdy will have the best year of the time. Yeah, yeah. I think that CJ will actually have the best year of all those guys, even better than Jaden. I think better than Jaden.

I think Jaden fights the sophomore pressure. Ooh. I think Brock Purdy fights the new contract pressure. And I think Caleb, even though I'm worried that happened, he fights the bus pressure. So those guys are all fighting certain things that CJ's now not fighting because he's past, you know, he's into the end of year three. So I think he'll have the most. So here, so I, Brew, I had, I did a similar thing where I kind of took a, there's some guys just eliminated from it. Like?

I don't, the, I, I didn't, Bryce. I don't think Bryce has a chance to have the best. year of those guys. Sorry, KW. I don't. So, Bo Nix and Purdy. You eliminated them? No, no, no, they're in the group, but I am worried as far as having the best year worried about their receiver weapons. You know what I mean? I think the Niners have really good. I think they have great running back and catch the ball, great with a tight end, but I'm worried about that piece of it. And for the Niners, not the Broncos, I'm worried about the offensive line a little bit, to be totally honest. There's Trent Williams, and then to me a bunch of

question marks, Trent Williams is old. For Cedger. It's just the offensive line I'm worried about. Plus, the lack of a running game. Like, Joe Mixing is, you know what I mean, out. They have Nick Chubb. I know, but I don't, Nick Chubb post the catastrophic knee injuries, not the same guy. I think Drake is in one hand tied behind his back this year. I just, I don't love their weapons.

I don't love their offensive line. I will see. They're not like their running backs? Well, I was going to say, we'll see about the rookie running back who I do. He was very good in preseason. He's a rookie running back. But I like Trayvion Anderson. Great.

It's maybe a stretch. Great. So that, and to be totally honest, Trevor's broken my heart too much for me to put him on this list for this. Caleb, I don't have, Caleb has everything around him. And I know I'm setting, that's setting him up to where if he doesn't do it,

it's on him. But that's fair. I think he has a sharp head coach. I think the head, he's a sharp play caller, which is the head coach. I think he's got a fine offensive line, unlike last year.

And I think he has well above league average. weapons. And so for all those, and I like that Ben Johnson is coaching him hard. I like that Ben Johnson has shown you when it comes to this type of thing. He likes running up the score when they can. You know what I mean? So I think he could get some free numbers late if they are in games where they are blowing people out if that happens. And so I expect, again, I don't think it'll, I did what the question said. I'm saying outside of Jaden, of those guys, I expect Caleb to have the best year. Okay. What's your answer, KW?

Drake May. Catch of the year. Oh, no, he has this graphic. KW. has the yards per rush graphic. That Drake May is the most prolific rusher since Mike, Vic, and Randall. One guy's out there like Michael Vick. Tomorrow, it's the official return of the chilliest segment in all of sports.

The debut of Mahomes Mountain. Do we have a new mountain? I'm not in charge of it. Hubbs, do we have a new mountain? We got a new mountain? I don't know, maybe. I mean, the content will be fresh. The props potentially reused.

Interesting. Oh, really? Okay. I was getting excited. I know. Right now, Top Dog Performance, sponsored by Good and Fun. Let Dog's Dog. The Eagles have a new team mantra.

It's awesome. Here's Jalen Hertz on it. It doesn't really matter how it gets done. You know, just a little bit. matter of getting it done, you know, as a team and really buying into that collective. As a team, we just have to continue to, you know, kind of be all in on that, trying to find a way of win, and it not mattering how it looks. So that was Jaylen on the contributions over credit mentality.

Is anyone like this? And that's Sirianis. Sirianis. Yeah, it's actually Harry S. Truman's, but that's fine. Like the, I know you don't like when I reference old. Yeah, but the amazing. The amazing what you can accomplish if no one cares who gets the credit

is like what was Truman's famous line. But did he actually say that? No, I'm saying it's contributions over credit is this, it is a disciple of a long, it's, my point is this. It is not a, he doesn't want to give

Syriotic credit. No, it's just, he's not the first person to say, hey, we'll be better if we don't care who gets the rewards for our success. He's the first to say contributions over credit. What you said, I can't even remember. Right, right. He put it into a nice little catchy phrase.

Okay, go ahead. Iron. Look, I think this year, and we've talked about the threat of, you know, does A.J. Brown? Is he looking at numbers? He wants to be a Hall of Fame. He's got his Super Bowl rings, got his money, which I kind of understand, because if I was in his shoes, I want to put up numbers, too. But I do think, I think Jaylen's leadership, which I always. already was good, goes to another level.

Now that he has not only won a Super Bowl, but played great in the Super Bowl, been Super Bowl MVP. Like, I just think it's harder for AJ if they're eight and three for A.J. Brown to come out like, man, we got to, I need some more targets. Or we got, you know what I mean? Because I think Jaylen's, I think his credibility goes even higher.

So I like this mentality with the Eagles. KW. I love it, obviously. It's not news to me. This is what Jalen Hertz has been on the straight and narrow since Alabama. Yeah, I am not worried about Jalen Hertz all of a sudden being like, I got to get mine. If that's the... No, and then it trickles down from him.

Yeah, so that's the... We'll see. Like, that's the part that I, the... What are we nervous about? So, AJ, you think, AJ Brown? The same thing that's happened... Just reads his book. Hold on.

The same thing that's happened to a lot of champions across sports throughout history. like that there is disease of me yeah I mean there is an element of in some sometimes you win a championship it's so satisfying it's now the only thing you want and the only thing you care about

and in other circles it's like okay I'm a champion now forever like no I've done that and so I'm not I'm not picking this is not an eagle specific thing you where we I think disagree is I think you might

believe the Eagles are particularly almost immune to it because of the personality of their quarterback. And I, and what I am They weren't two years ago. Right. And what I'm saying is I don't, I don't know that I agree with you because

as Bruce said, they had the same quarterback when what we're talking about here somehow afflicted the team in a way we still don't really know what happened. And so I am not worried about Jalen Hertz all of a sudden coming out and being like, I got to throw for 4,500 yards.

That's not a concern. The other things could be. Third hour, first things first, and it's the show reminding you that Drake May had just as many rushing yards in some way through something that we did from the research department as Michael Vick and Randallying. He was the third most yards per carry by quarterback in the season with a minimum of 50 carries. I know the staff better than you. Nailed it. Yeah, exactly. And he had the benefit of never having a lead, so never.

Nealing wrong you look Josh look that up. Oh yeah? Yeah, it still works. Okay. Randall Cunningham that's a misleading graphic on the level of Danny's Peyton. Whoa. What is it? The Peyton Herbert graphic has replaced the best graphic ever. Jimmy G. Roger Stalbock graphic is one of the worst. Micah versus the lions on Sunday. Will the newest Green Bay Packer have a huge contribution and news about his back injury saying it was real. Not that I doubt it. Meanwhile, fresh episode of Parkin's stock up, stock down. How much trouble is Bama in and is CMC primed for a big season? We'll find out pretty soon. But it turns out, Brew was right all along. Albert Breer, reading that Micah's podcast, was a distraction.

Parsons rankled teammates at different ways, seen by some as egotistical and self-centered. and podcast created issues that went all the way up to deck. Now, Dak himself told us that he expected the team to reach a deal with Micah, but that didn't happen. And now he's saying, you know what, not surprised. Take a listen. I can't say I was completely surprised. But I definitely didn't think he was going to get traded.

I'll say that. But just with the way that our negotiations went down, obviously, to some extent, I mean, y'all are asking me questions. It seemed like it got personal. their ends. So like that's why I wasn't surprised. Honestly, glad that, I can't say glad, but yeah, glad they were moved past that and everybody seems happy because of it. Okay. Nick, we'll start with you, your reaction to Dax. Well, listen, coach came out an hour ago and said, you know, that he thought Dack was more or less relieved this happened. I, you know, that Dack

wanted to be able to take full ownership of the team. If that's the case, then that would make me think less of Dax football acumen than I currently do. Like I don't, I do buy the idea that Dack would occasionally roll his eyes or say to his brother or close, you know, confidant on offense. Like, you hear what Micah said on the podcast and that it was a pain in the ass. And you know what? That's too strong. An annoyance at times.

You know what I mean? I totally buy that. I do not buy that Dak Prescott. thinks it's positive at all that the Cowboys, 10 days before their season or a week before their season started, traded away their best defensive player when he knows that every year is essentially a referendum on him. Like at the end of, Dak Prescott is the guy with the all-time bad quarterback record in the playoffs. Like we, two and five, which for quarterback, with that many starts, it's tied for the worst record. And I, it would be impossible for me to believe that

Dak thinks they are closer to winning this year. Now, maybe he has the super long view, but that's hard for a player. So, no, I don't, I don't really believe him. Well, that's the key, though, that you have to not believe what he said, because coach didn't pull that out of thin air. Like, Dak was talking about the resolution being a relief, and if Micah was still on the team, it would have been a distraction. Well, Micah and not being signed. Micah is not just, he wasn't referring to Micah being here. He's just like, look, we got to get something. But the fact that there was not, they were not heading towards a resolution.

If Micah Parsons was still there, that would have been this distraction. And that is just so hard to square the logic on. Like, I would rather have Micah Parsons the distraction, but you have Micah Parsons the pass rusher than this situation where he's got Kenny Clark and draft picks that aren't going to help him for a couple of years. So I fully, I think this is all spin, PR, damage control. I think you called it coping earlier in the show. You traded Micah Parsons. Jerry Jones is going to have to say some ridiculous things.

Dak Prescott's going to have to get up there and he's going to have to spin it. He can't say, we're screwed. We're a seven and a half point underdog to Philly. We're going to win six games this year. We got no chance. So that's the best he could do. See, I think if I understand you correctly, I think you're misreading it. I think Dak was not saying if Micah's here, he's a distraction.

And now he's gone so we don't have to deal with it. I think he was saying, The contract. Yeah, not being under contract. I believe that when he said, I thought it was going to get done. And just like they did it with me, I thought that Michael was going to be signed and playing in week one. He did it with CD. He did it with me.

Did it with Ezekiel Elliott. You know, you can even go back to Emmett Smith at some point. So I think that believed he'd be here and was just like, and I get it. I'm like, if I'm the quarterback and we want to have a bounce back year and our best player isn't signed and there's all this back and forth between him and the owner, it is a distraction. And the reason I think Nick that Dak, like when he said,

I think he's just being honest. And when he said, he was asked, are you better without Mike? He could have been, Jerry said we're better. Right? We're better at stopping the run. We're a better football team. Dak could have went that route.

If Dak, and this is where I did this, we were a coach. If Dak wanted Micah out of there, he could have been the same. way. Like, look, we couldn't stop the run. Yes, Micah's great at Pass Run, but we couldn't stop the run. We gave up a ton of points last year, and I do think we are a

better team now than we were. He didn't say any of that. He said I can't say we're better. That's saying, we ain't better without that guy. But the Breer, I'm looking at this, and maybe this is a bad job by me, I'm looking at this in conjunction with Albert Brewer report

that name checks Dak Prescott as one of the people that might be you know, a little relieved that Mike is gone, right? They're he saying that the only person he mentions that the podcast bothered what he writes up to, you know, up to Dak Prescott.

See, I don't think it might not even have been that. Right. I don't know that it was that. I just think it was just the kind of at large, you know what I mean? Other Cowboys players had kind of popped up but DAC is the name. Right. And DeMarcus Lawrence talked about

Micah when he left. Last offseason, Malik Hooker, the safety, and Micah had the issue. It doesn't have the same pop if you say all the way up to Malik Hooker. No. I know. I buy that. But I am, the point

that I am making is that if Dak heard this news and his initial reaction was not God dogged, then I think he's missing how vital Micah's was to their ability to actually compete in games that matter this year.

Oh, that's interesting. Yeah, how bad could it have been? That's what the reaction? No. How could it have been with Micah? How much of the distraction? The guy is double-digit sacks every single year. I think Dak wanted Micah back.

Do you guys disagree? Well, I mean, that's, I'm trying to square. Question, right? Yeah, this. I don't think the Breer article on this. He said we're not better without him. He said, I mean, look, I can be annoyed by a guy on a podcast and still be like, we need him. Wow, that's exactly how I won him.

When I watched the video, it seemed like he was minimizing it. He's like, I don't feel like I need to say anything to the team. Guys are in the locker room playing ping pong. But I think as the leader, he's got to say. Like, I don't think you want him going out there like. Oh, what was us? Yeah. I mean, Mike is great.

He's got to worry about the offense. Yeah, he can't. I don't think you want your leader going out. I think you want your leader going out there showing confidence, but not being silly and saying, oh, we're better without him. He was, he's solid. He said, I can't say we're better. He said, but, you know, Kenny Clark is an adult. He's a great guy in the locker room.

I think he can help, but, you know. Dak is pretty flawless when it comes to public statements. Okay, that is in three days. You tell me, but. Well, I didn't send my tweet out. I missed you. Yeah. New video of Michael looking spry at Packers practice.

Ian Rappaport, friend of the show, while most assumed writing on Twitter, while most assumed Micah's Holden was due to a phony back problem, Guilties charged me. He looks pretty good. It wasn't said partially due to a real back problem. He'll continue physical therapy in Green Bay. Well, here's Micah on playing week one with his new team. Take a listen. I think physically, you know, I'm great.

You know, I think I can contribute a lot. My plan is to be here. You know, they didn't give up what they gave up for. me to sit on the sidelines and make this big of a, you know, risk and change for me to do that. So I'm trying to get my all. Okay. What's the Packer's ceiling with Micah? That's Bob.

That's right. There you go. I mean, that's why they trained for it. That is the ceiling here. You're all, I think we're all agreeing. You just have the great. Well, you know it's don't happen to playoffs. Well, no, I know.

But their ceiling is. Yes. Best team in football. Yes. Right? Because people think Jordan Love had this. You don't think that's the ceiling? Oh, I don't think there's.

I don't close my eyes and see the Packers as the best team in football. Jordan Love had like a crazy opinion? I think that's a crazy. Now, I'm not predicting them to win the Super Bowl, but you guys are saying, hold on. It's not even a possible. Hold on. Now we're going to be, do something a little annoying, but that.

Oh, I love it. Can you close your eyes and see them winning the Super Bowl? No. Okay. So, I bet you can. I bet you can. No, so I, this is the annoying thing was I can't close my eyes and see them being the clear-cut best team in football. I could see them win the Super Bowl.

Right. I don't think those are necessarily the same thing. That's what I thought you were doing there. You think Jordan Love is going to step on the field with Patrick Mahomes and beat him in the Super Bowl? Well, I didn't think Jalen Hertz was, buddy. I've seen Jalen Hertz do it once. I've seen Jalen Hertz in a Super Bowl play great and lose. I could see it.

I could see it. I've seen John Love. Instead of fumbling it. Go into Dallas where they hadn't lost in 16 straight games. Oh, shocker. Dallas legs and egg in the playoffs. In his first year as a starter. Okay.

Michael Parsons was on that team. He was on that defense. I mean, I guess we've seen Jordan Love have that, what, nine games stretch where he was 21 touchdowns and one pick, looked like he could win an MVP. Last year, they were third in turnover. differential. They were seventh against the run. Seventh against the run is going to be worse for their

defense. Like, yeah, the ceiling is the Super Bowl. Yes. I assume they're not going to hit their ceiling. Most teams don't. Yeah, I mean, I knew what Brew's answer was going to be. I was a little curious what Danny's answer was going to be because he hates the Packers so much. He also hates being wrong a little bit more. That's right. Which is in conflict here. So I, I'm shocked that you don't think that's their ceiling.

Like I, the, I mean, I think. I mean, I think that, if I were to just very quickly, cursory, teams whose ceiling is winning the championship, Chiefs, Bills, Ravens, obvious, Eagles, lions, obvious,

Rams, Packers, trying to see if there's Washington, to me, those are eight obvious ones. And then, and then, right, and then I could, I knew I was leaving one out.

Tampa Bay, I think some would have San Francisco, I think there's, I think about a third of the league is their ceiling, that's 10 teams, is, you know what I mean, is the Super Bowl. I think, where I think Micah changes things is I did not believe they could come January win a low scoring game. I think now maybe they can. I thought, and one of my reasons of skepticism before this trade brew was I'm not as high on Jordan love as you are. You know what I mean? I do think he's a big Delta quarterback right now as far as

high highs and low lows. And do I trust that he could have four straight really good playoff games? The Eagles last year, I didn't think they needed that from Jaylon. And by the way, they didn't. You know what I mean? Those first two playoff games, Jaylon's job was don't make mistakes. Last two playoff games, he was excellent. But we knew they could win different ways. I think now with Micah, you have a guy who can flip a game defensively, like what we've, like what Aaron Donald was able to do for the Rams. Like, I don't think that's an overstatement. I don't either.

I mean, I prepared this. Like, the Packers defense last year was pretty great except when they played the great teams. Like if you, and if you throw that in there, rest of the NFL, those numbers on the right absolutely is a Super Bowl caliber defense. And now you add Micah Parsons to it. So can Micah Parsons when you play the great quarterbacks to your point? you're playing the good teams in the NFC, you need three or four good games.

I'm with you. I think Jordan Love is going to be turnover prone. He has been. But you add Micah Parsons to a top 10 defense from last year, the margin for error for Jordan Love improves. Can I ask you? Yeah. Who are your NFC teams whose ceiling is the Super Bowl?

Is it just Philly and Detroit? Coach had him leaning bears, I felt like. No. Yeah, probably. Maybe I'm just like. Captain Houston. Philly and Detroit. Maybe I'm biased.

I don't know. I don't. I'm not as. I just am not as enthralled with the Packers as everybody else is. I mean, they were a very good team last year. They won two games with Malik Willis playing quarterback. I think Willis played pretty good. He played pretty well in those games.

Matt LaFour is good. I get it. Here's the other thing from sitting in this chair. And again, I'm not enthralled with them either. I have, and again, I don't really love doing intrasport comparisons, but I'm just telling you, I do feel like we suffer. from recency bias or recency. Dane Lillardtray?

Yeah, exuberance, where something happens like, well, now, like, I don't know. We do get a little bit excited when a move happens. We're like, that's it. That's going to happen. Oh, Lucas on the Lakers. Lakers of the championship. It's like, all right, let's just,

take a breath. But there wasn't a, I, yeah, that's a good one. Sayquine goes. But that was an unconventional take that he was going to have a CMC. Right. I was the only one that saw it. Not everybody was like, all start printing the T-shirts. Same with Derek Henry.

No, he's like, oh, that's going to 100% work. No, but everyone's like this will 100% work. It's going to be a huge. Because I don't think. And probably will. I'm just a little burned by it. I don't think Star Pass Rusher doesn't work. Like, you know, I think this is really just a question of how good did you see the Packers being before?

Like Bruce saw the Packers being good, but winning the division before, so this was enough to take him over the top. Danny had him out of the playoffs, so this is enough to get him in the playoffs. And so you probably had them fighting for a wild card. And so that's it. I also think Mike is going to benefit from Green Bay where it's just football. I mean, he went to Penn State. He didn't go to USC or, you know, some place where there's a ton of stuff going on. And he's from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

I think he can be a small, in a small town and be fine. He'll be great. He will be great. Packers, more debate. You weren't saying that when your head was on the desk. He will be great. He didn't pick him to make the playoffs, though. Don't get it twisted.

That's true. He still didn't put him in the playoffs. He just said they're not going to finish last. All right. Talking about Texas, Ohio State, Archmanning era started off with the dud. Complete 57% of his passes, one touchdown, one I-N-T, 7-7. points failed push push here's Joel Klatz take take a listen

it's important when talking about Arch Manning that we throw out the last name because if you throw out the last name then you lessen your expectations a little bit and I alluded to this even before the game these were unfair expectations

he had never thrown a pass outside of Austin so did he play well no no he didn't play well but that's to be expected. Starting on the road, your first time is hard. Doing it against that Ohio state team and in that environment, almost impossible. Okay. What did you make of Arches' 2025 debut? I 100% agree with Joel. That's what I was saying before the game. Like, and I think that this deification of, man, Matt Patricia invented the exotic blitz to college football. No, I think he did do a good job. He's in offensive

But I think that is, I honestly think he did a very good job. And also, it's a way for people to cover their own Archmanning takes. Oh, sure. You know what I mean? Like, oh, like, it's not that I over, at least in the short term, overrated this kid. It's that Matt Patricia is, you know, a combination of Dick LeBoe and Vince Lombardi. They also knew Matt Patricia was the D.C. Correct.

back. But Danny, to Joel's point, I honestly believe if his name was not Manning, the point spread would have been different. I think if it would have been number one recruit from a couple years ago who hasn't played yet starting on the road in Ohio State, there's no chance that it's going back and forth between one and a half point favorite one and that point dog. I think everybody, I don't want to say drank the Kool-Aid because it sounds like I think he'll never be good. But I thought it was a huge ask. And one of the reasons that I am so certain Caleb is going to be great is because he's

one of the guys I saw dropped into an environment like this as a true freshman and be awesome being dropped into the Red River shootout at 19 and playing great. I just think it's so rare and so difficult that I'm not shocked that Arch seemed nervous, which is what he seemed to me, just flat nervous. I mean, the first pass of the game, he short-arms it. It was like a shockingly bad pass. And, yeah, if his name was Arch Jones, he certainly would not be the favorite for the Heisman Trophy.

I don't know about that. It's a good name. Matt Jones, Cousin? Yeah, so I thought. Actually, you probably, right. You'd love him. Oh, John's cousin. Arch Smith.

It was really disappointing, though, because so much of this was about pomp and circumstance and the last name. and now let's see it. But now, I mean, Archie, his grandfather said, and I know Arch walked it back, he's like, I think he's going to be there for two years. We could have 25 more games of Arch Manning in college this year and next year.

And so what I thought was fascinating about this was we've treated this kid like he was a basketball prospect. It's totally common for a high school recruit before they really play any meaningful college basketball to be talked about as the number one pick in the NBA draft. It never happens in football. Never. Like Trevor Lawrence, maybe a smidge.

Jimmy Clausen, maybe a smidge. But it really never happens until you do something in college. This kid has never done anything in college. And his family namesake actually suggests we have two more full years of this. So he said that after the game? No, Archie said it two weeks ago. Yeah, but so I just, I think we, a lot of people because of the hype, because of Ohio State, because of the last.

name because of the Heisman Trophy, we wanted it to be true. And maybe it will be, but we're at the beginning of the book, not the end of it. Yeah, look, Joel is right, but think about it. If you take, ignore the last name, take off the last name, his stock plummets. Yes. So, like, are we even talking about him? I mean, you said to yourself, like, that he wasn't, it wasn't like he was lighting up the best high school opponents in the, in the country. And so he has benefited.

And look, I actually think he's going to be good and an NFL quarterback and eventually maybe live up to the height. But he's benefited from that last name his whole entire career. And so it's just impossible to ignore it. But if you do, what is he? Christina, before we go, do we have that Ohio State graphic on how dominant Ohio State has been? Okay. Against top five teams lately? Yeah, so the other story that's kind of flying under the radar here is like,

oh, to go into Columbus, you are playing the defending national champions. And Ohio State has been just beating top five teams consistently. Now, granted they've been able to, they've gotten an opportunity to play a top five team because of the playoff. But they've just been crushing teams. So I don't know. I lean towards us giving, here it is. These are some like legendary runs. and now Ohio State has it all packed in because of the playoffs.

But when you say, oh, by the end of the year, are we going to look back at this Archmanian game? Like, yeah, he's the first one to, you know, get into the buzzsaw of Ohio State. So that's what I, that's where I don't think, and I know we got to go. I think there will be, and I don't have Ohio State's next three games committed to memory, I think they're going to go up against a future undrafted free agent quarterback, who's a four-year college starter, who's going to look fine. You know, not beat them, you know what I mean, but going to look, I think it's the...

Look better than the first. Right, and I also thought Coach's point that the fact that Arch is a traditional pro-style passer might have actually helped Patricia in this game. Sure. As opposed to Patricia's first game against a kid that wants to throw the ball 12 times and run the ball 15, could give him more trouble. Coming up next. Tide, rolled, not good. Are you calling for a hot seat?

Yeah, very hot. Thank you. More break in first after the break. Time now for stock up, stock down. I'm Danny Parkins, alongside coach mangini and Willie Cologne. Stock up, stock down, college football edition, boys. That's right. NFL kicks off on Thursday. We begin, though, with our first stock up. And this was an obvious one to me. Carson Beck. What a journey and odyssey this man has had in college football. Dominant against Notre Dame was dominant in 2023. Was going to be the number one pick, according to Mel Kipe.

in 2025 that has the bad year, enters the transfer portal, and just delivers the hurricanes, their first win over a top 10 opponent since 2017. And when I'm watching that game behind that offensive line, I wanted to pencil in the U for the college football playoff coach. Yeah, I didn't feel as strongly as you felt. I didn't love them blowing two leads in the second half. I didn't love the going four straight drives without getting a first down. That to me was a concern. I thought You know, overall, he has to be happy with the way guys are catching the ball. A little different than what he experienced last year. That's true.

But where I got concerned with the blown leads late, I thought they were going to be able to start running away with it. Yeah, I'm with you. I didn't know which Carson Beck was going to show, but it was going to be 2003 Carson Beck where he, you know, he threw for 24 touchdown. They went 13 and 1 or it was going to be 2024 Carson Beck when he was. A lot of interceptions.

A lot of, he threw 12 interceptions, insufficient. He looked unsettled. He looked like he was a clear. progression for 2003, but what we saw Saturday was a guy who showed up and was ready to lead. And I thought that was significant. I also thought Shane Dawson, who was the OC for Miami, they shouldn't lean on him more and third down. They ended up going 5'14 in the game. I didn't like that. Overall, I thought he was a clear example of what a Heisman candidate looks like, as far as showing up for the big dance. I thought he was, I thought he led, I thought he was efficient.

Now, the issue right now with them right now, if you're talking about Miami football, is they got the seven part of schedule in the division, right, in the conference overall ACC. They don't play their next, their first row game to October 4 against FSU. That's going to be a pivotal game. So if I, if I had to put a stock up, yeah, stocks up with him and his team. And I'm with you. If they land into the playoffs, I can see them knocking on door for a national championship. Not bad for a you fan to go from Cam Ward to Carson Beck. Stock down. Alabama. Stock down. And Kalin DeBoer. Roll damn tied. There are a 14 point favorite. and they get blown out by 14 to Florida State.

This is Kalin DeBoer's fifth loss in 14 games. And Alabama fans don't know what it's like to lose to an unranked team. Nick Saban did it four times and 128 chances. Kalin DeBoer has done it 40% of the time. His buyout though, Willie, north of $60 million if they wanted to move on from Kalin DeBoer tomorrow. Yeah.

Listen, what's interesting about Sadd is, game was I felt like Alabama got caught resting on their lawns, right? One of the things that you never thought about Alabama was lack of grit or effort. We saw that. Can we throw to the clip? I'm going to show you something that I thought I would never see any play in Alabama. Look at the nose tackle number 20 here. Loafing on the 23.

He gets beat by number 20 behind him. Number 18 in the back, he slowed the ball. Number three misses the tackle. That's called lack of effort. This game is tied at that point, right? You talk about a defense that needs to make a stand and make a play. Bama players know what it takes. you're going to Hossa territory, you got to be foaming out that mouth, right?

You're talking about a team that was nine and three, got beat up by Michigan last year. You talk about really setting the tone and making sure this season is on the right track. You had to beat this Florida State team, and they look like a grade lower than Florida State. You talk about what coach can tell you right now, one of the hardest things to do when you're competing at this level or any high level was to match the intensity of your opponent, right? You don't expect that for Bama. You always expect them to be the bullies on the block, and they got bullies. So that was extremely disheartening. Stock down for me.

I think in Alabama, they could start a go-fund me and raise that $60 million right now. Because people are so mad. And look, this is the problem for taking over for a legend. And when you take over for a guy like Nick Saban, who set the bar so high, it's really hard to do. Patriots fans went through that experience, too, where, you know, things changed dramatically. And they had to get used to not being a dynasty anymore. But the reality is they're not a dynasty anymore.

Nobody fears Alabama like they used to fear Alabama. And unless they come out and re-instill that fear in their opponents, there's going to be a lot more games like that. And I want to add this, Danny, I know you got going. I apologize. They had eight penalties of 70 yards. That is not, saving would never have that. You think of going to call on him?

Hey, leave the air-condition TV studio. Come back to the sidelines. I can see that coaching again. This might have been my favorite thing that I saw in college football this weekend. Stock up. The whole Nussmeyer family, Garrett Nussmeyer, the quarterback, at LSU. He was Jaden Daniels backup.

Yes. Then he has a great season last year. He is playing behind four new offensive linemen as a four and a half point underdog in Clemson. Clemson arguably came into the year that, them, Ohio State considered one of the top five defenses in college football. The beginning of the game is a struggle. Nussmeyer gets better as they go. He ends up pulling off the upset. But what I thought was amazing, he's playing in front of his dad.

Doug Nussmeyer. Why is that significant? Doug might not be able to go to a lot of games this year. games this year because he is the offensive coordinator of the New Orleans Saints. Oh. The New Orleans Saints are going to be in the market to draft a quarterback. That kid to me looks like a pro. Coach, how cool would it be to coordinate an NFL offense and I know Kellynmore calls the plays but still you would be coordinating an NFL offense with your son as the signal caller. LSU kid goes to the Saints, your dad's the

OC. I'm calling it now. Yeah, that would be amazing. Hopefully you didn't ever have to bench him. You know that? Always thinking like a couple. That would be problematic at home trying to explain that to your wife. But yeah, it's a, it was a great story. And what is this, the first win that LSU's had in the opener in five years, and then for them to come back, him to play a clean game, I thought all those things were great.

And for him to have an opportunity to then potentially play for his dad, be an awesome story. Yeah, I thought this was a checklist game. I expected Nussmeyer to play well, believe it or not. it or not. He was good last year. Yeah, I thought he stood up big time in the fourth quarter. But as far as checklist game, I think this is about Brian Kelly, right?

You talk about the five straight opening losses. Three of those were under his tenure. So I thought he had to get that monkey off his back. He was able to do that. But I really was concerned with the run game. You know, they didn't run the ball particularly well. They had 20 carers. I think they had 20 rushes, 20 carriers for 31 yards.

And I thought that was the one buggable. But overall, Nussmeyer showed up. If there was a battle he had, he won it. And I can see, listen, LSU, they needed this game. They got it. Clemson was clearly ranked, I think, number fourth in the country. And they answered the bell, so it was a good start.

All right, last one. This is like a preemptive stock down. He makes his debut tonight. Bill Belichick. Oh, God. Bill Belichick, how long is he going to enjoy doing this? He is a home underdog to TCU. They are picked eighth in the ACC.

Yes, sir. The Tar Heels against an unranked TCU team. And their next, quote, unquote, big game. because this is a big game. It's Monday night football, Michael Jordan, Julius Peppers, Lawrence Taylor, Mia Hamm, Eric Church, North Carolina. Tall Hills in the building. Chapel Hill royalty is coming out tonight, Coach. But I got to imagine they're not coming out for a four-win team when they play Wofford.

Like how long is Bill going to be enamored by Chapel Hill? Well, how long is Chapel Hill going to be enamored by Bill? And Bill used to say all the time, to whom much is given, much is expected. Well, they gave them a lot. They're getting $10 million. They revamped the entire roster. What's there? 70 new kids.

Yes, sir. They paid his staff. He's arguably the best head coach in NFL history. So you should be able to go. Now, the other thing is the last four head coaches in North Carolina, they all won their openers. So you need to go win the opener. You need to go show the difference between your level of coaching

and the coaches that you're working against. And it's not just about him being enamored with North Carolina. There are a bunch of distractions this offseason that had nothing to do, with any of the players or other coaches on the staff, they had to do with him. So to whom much is given, much is expected. Let's go see what you can do with this stock. Yeah, I just don't know what to expect, right?

I know he's not going to embarrass themselves. It's the great Bill Belichick, right? And I also never expected Brady and Belichick to end the way they ended. It felt like you were wrestling fan. I felt like when Sean Michaels kicked Marty Genetti through the mirror, right? Like it was like, it was like heartbreaking. Right? I just never saw it.

But then when you think about Bill, you know, he's 83, he has 83 wins at 104, losses without Brady. And then he goes into the pros. And yes, it's been to sell, be carols, the hardballs of the world. But now I'm sitting here looking at Bill, man, like, this is a different game, you know, because there's going to be a moment where you can't rely on the experience of a pro because an experience pro knows how to get through this grip. This overhaul on this office, they're going to have to grow and learn as they go. Does he have the patience for that? Especially if things don't go the way as we expect it. So for Marie right now, I'm going to say flat stock.

Okay. The flat stock, I just don't know what to expect, but I hope them to, I hope for this start. And the other reality is you're recruiting. all season long because not only you're recruiting outside the building, you've got to recruit inside the building to maintain the players that you have, very different from pro football where guys under contract for extended period of time. And how's it going to be recruiting if you're a six-win team losing to TCU finishing eighth of the ACC? Not that easy. All right, so those are the stock ups and stock down for college football. Coming up next, though,

in our no huddle. How big of a season is Christian McCrappy Prime for? Talk to the guys next on First Things First. Welcome back to First Thanks First. Danny Parkins here with Coach Manjini and Willie Colon. Let's No Huddle. We began in my city of Chicago. A lot of change to end last season, to put it mildly. General manager Ryan Poles spoke with the athletic about the outlook heading into this season's Monday night opener against the Vikings. The plays Williams will run. Williams being Caleb on Monday night football will be different. The guy making the calls in his ears will be different. The guy snapping him the ball is different. It's still football. It's a defense he saw twice last season and ideally going through the challenges of last season will make what's next a little bit. easier. Now everything's been cleaned up. And I think it's almost like taking the weight off the bat where you're singing free, swinging free now from your lips to God's ears. Ryan Poles as a Chicagoan. I will just say this in terms of goals for Caleb Williams. It's got to be high. You have to hold him to a high standard. New coach, new play caller, 60% new guys on his offensive line. So I put together my own personal goals for Caleb Williams. And you guys tell me if you think this is ridiculous. All right. All right. High standards. All right. I'm, I, I'm, I'm a high standards. All right. On the left, we now have what Caleb Williams did last year. I have all of these numbers basically committed to memory. 62% completion percentage. He took 68 sacks.

Too many? Too many. It hurts. Only five wins. So the goals are 65% completion percentage up from 62. Sacks below 50. He took 68 last year. Be the first 4,000-yard passer ever for the Bears.

be the first 30 touchdown passer ever for the Bears, and nine or more wins. Too much? Nothing. No goal for turnovers? He only had six interceptions last year. I know, but if we're going to go 30 touchdowns and 15 picks? Well, coach, it's not on the grass.

But I will say that I actually said about turnovers that I'd be okay with a few more interceptions if it led to more touchdown. I thought that he ate the ball too much to take all of those sacks, and he wasn't seeing NFL open and throwing it down the field. So I want him to push the ball a little bit. My biggest concern is that we're not talking enough about the run game. There's so much put on his shoulders to be perfect.

This is the second year in the league with a new head coach in a new system. You've got to be able to run the ball. The bails are ranked 25th in the league in rushing the ball, right? Coach, you understand. If you want to be an efficient often, you've got to be able to run the ball. A lot of his issues last year was when he didn't go through his progression or his progression didn't click right away. He was escaping out of prock and they kind of went backwards.

was he did take care of the football, but sometimes what neutralizes in the office or get them in the right position or create momentum is being able to run the ball. They have Jonah Jackson. They have Tuning. They have these guys who are experienced. So they should have a better president in that regard. I also believe it has to come down to the relationship with Ben Johnson and him. Because there was reports that this man was watching film by himself after games, that he was left in the building to try to correct his own mistakes. Coach, like, let's keep it 100. I've never been in a situation where I've had a bad game and I didn't have somebody lean. on and coach me through it, right? This man who was gifted the franchise put on the shoulders

felt like he was left alone. So there's a relationship that needs to be established between him. And then we also forget Ben Johnson. We love to talk about what he was able to do in Detroit. You know what he was able to do in Detroit? Run the ball. You ever heard of Sonic and Knuckles? It wasn't all Jared Golf. It was a really high elite office line that can be able to run the ball and keep third and short pretty much throughout the game. And they put up numbers in a high value. So, yeah, we can expect a lot for Caleb Williams. But we got to have a, we got to have a philosophy in identity that's built with him. It can't just all be on this young man to be Superman in year two. Yeah, I think he has an opportunity for real growth. He's over all the rookie related things

where he's just learning about the NFL. So he's gone through that process. That's good. Getting Ben Johnson, someone that he should be able to grow with as a play caller. I don't totally agree with the narrative that he didn't have someone to watch tape with. I know that's been put out there. to me, like when you're putting out things like that, you're not totally taking accountability. Okay. As we all know, if there's a problem, there's someone in a building that will help you. And if you feel like you're not going to help, especially if you're the number one overall draft pick, it's pretty easy to find someone that will guide you.

So I don't love that part of it. But I do think at 20 touchdown, six interceptions, positive ratio there, he was sacked almost 11% of the time. So we can get that down to 7, 8%. That's positive. Love the idea of building all. off the running game. I think that can go a long way as well. But the pressure of last year is gone to some degree.

And just now we should see some growth. And just real quick, you picked him to win the division. Come on, now. Come on, now. It's predictions week for coach. We saw that. Bears and FC North champions. Meanwhile, in San Francisco, I love the eye test.

I trust my eye test. Head coach Kyle Shanahan confirming numbers matter, but how a guy looks matters for the evaluation. He says with Christian McCaffrey is looking. like the 2023 version. Last year, only four games before the injury. Kyle Shanahan on noon improved CMC. I like to watch how a guy moves and how he is out there.

And I see Christian looking the same as he always has looked. So I don't really think about that number when it comes to that case. Now, if he started looking different, then I'd probably start question some things. And then I'd probably be look at how old he is or look at that 30 thing. But Christian gives us no reason to think that. He came in healthy this year. He had a hell of an off season. He's had a hell of a training camp, and I believe that's going to leave to a hell of a year.

Every running back performs with Kyle Shannon. It doesn't matter if it's Alfred Morris or Defonte Freeman. Everyone has a career year with Kyle Shannon. You give him Christian McCaffrey. It's a cheat code. The Niners are 27 and 10 with McCaffrey playing under Kyle Shannon. You think he's going to have a big year? Yeah, as long as he's healthy.

I agree with Kyle. I don't think it's going to be about the number with him. It's never been about the number or the number of carrier. It's just been about his durability. The value. Yeah, and the reason that he left Carolina is because there's that string of years where he couldn't stay healthy. They wore the tread off of him. Yeah, they did.

They did. I mean, he's taking a beating over the course of his career. So if he can stay healthy throughout the course of the season, to me, there's no reason he can't be the same guy that he's always been. Yeah, listen, I think coach is right. It's about volume and his endurance through the course of the season. But I think a lot is put on him to be the difference maker when really it's this receiving court that's depleted, right? You got Brandon, I, you coming off ACL, MCL. You talk about Ricka Perel, who's like in second year.

Who knows what he looks like and how he comes into fruition? There's so much dependent on these aging superstores to be great through 18 games, and I think that's a lot. Now, I know George Kittle, he's also another guy that gets injury prone. If that's the case, you're talking about Luke Fuller and Kyle Husek, really stepping up from a volume standpoint, and you're going to see more on 12, 13 personnel. What scares me about the Niners moving forward is I don't know if they have enough to compete in their own division because I think the Rams are way better than them. I see the Rams winning the division.

And I think we're looking at a point where it's going to take a year or two to recognize the Niners that we grew to love. What is it about Kyle Shanahan and these running backs? They're all good. And then you give him this Rolls Royce. It just seems like a cheap go for his office. But Brian Robinson Jr. is no joke either. Yeah, they got depth now. Yeah, he's going to be great for that office.

Yeah. And it's a really creative scheme. and it creates a lot of adjustments defensively. So it's typically it's hard for the defense, but it's simple for them. And especially from a running game perspective, the things that they create with the movement, the defense has to adjust, but the run for them is the same.

So there's consistency there. And they'll line up McCaffrey all over the field. Speaking of a matchup nightmare, Micah Parsons is, but that's not Philly's problem anymore. So we'll talk about the week one matchup between the Eagles and the Cowboys come on next time. Well, we made it to game week. And Thursday, the Cowboys visit the champs to kick off the NFL season.

Of course, Philly's been putting in work for this matchup. The schedule has been out for a while, but it changed. Now that Micah Parsons is on the Packers, what impact is that have heading into the game Thursday night? Here's Eagles left tackle, Jordan Milano. It's just kind of crazy. You build up, for the last four or five years that we've played in, play the Dallas Cowboys, we've come up with a game plan. up with a game plan because, you know, Mike is a game rocker. So it is a sigh of relief that you don't have to plan like that anymore.

However, that is a talented D-line and talented defense. And so you got to treat them with the same respect with or without, you know, Michael Parsons. I felt like the first thing he said was true and the last thing he said was not true. He's like, it's a sigh of relief when they don't have Mike and Parsons. He's like, but they're really good and you have to treat them with respect. I know you treat every team with respect and, you know, one week at a time and all of that. But the idea of like blowout potential here, the Eagles blew out the Cowboys both times last year. And through the playoffs, they had the best point differential in terms of blown out playoff opponents going all the way back to the 2000 and two bucks.

So I feel like every time Philly plays blowouts on the table. Yeah, it's also interesting because after winning a Super Bowl, that first game, you get to lower the banner in the stadium. Yeah. And it's a really emotional moment. and all the great memories from the previous season and understanding what that meant and what that journey was about, it's pretty powerful. And when we had it in New England,

I remember after the first one, we played the Steelers and then they beat him 30 to 10 and definitely riding some of that momentum. So I think that's a challenge for Dallas. Having a first-time head coach, that's going to be a challenge as well, the mechanics of time management, all the things that come with that responsibility.

And, you know, the emotion. of the last week, I think it's good that they've cleared it up. A lot of the guys might not agree with how they cleared it up, but they cleared it up, but still getting through that is the challenge as well. My lot is lying. They're happy. They're happy if Michael Parsons is not in the line.

That's kind of a chip off, you know, they're kind of like, oh, that one's gone, let's go play football. But coach is right, it's going to be emotional night for the Eagles. They're going to be jazzed up and ready to go. I think I'm a little, I'm empathetic with the Cowboys and the defense because they don't have a defensive identity, right? When they need somebody to make a play, They usually lean on Michael Parsons.

Sure, they got Diggs and Duran Blan who just got paid. But overall, it's Micah, who comes to save the day for most of the game. I'm worried about this team right now from a defense standpoint, trying to find themselves when Sequin in this office line get rolling. You know what I mean? There's a sense of momentum that happens in the game where you can't stop the bleeding. That's when you start blaming the guy next to you. And that's when it gets cancer.

So we'll see what happens, but it's going to be tough without Michael Parsons. And Phillies, they're saying all the right things. They seem like they want nothing to do with last year. Like, drop the banner. They have to say that. And then just move on. Seems impossible. We move on to more FTF tomorrow.