Geoff Schwartz Is Smarter Than You - Alex Smith's Return & Dak Prescott's Departure

Episode Date: October 13, 2020

Week 5 was another wild one: Dak Prescott went down with an injury, we all cringed watching Alex Smith take multiple sacks during his return, Pat Mahomes did not play well in the pocket, and another batch of games were rescheduled due to COVID. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

it's tuesday october 13th week five was another wild one dac prescott goes down with a fortunate injury alex smith does come back and more covid rescheduling is jeff schwartz alongside gabe going this is jeff schwartz is smarter than you gabe welcome and you said one last time from london you're tucked away in a different room now in the same house i think but you're in london we're making this work via technology how you doing buddy i'm doing all right i'm gonna miss you next week. Matt Ford's going to sub in for me because I will be flying over your head across the Atlantic, having probably the second worst day of my year.

The worst day being when I flew over here. So me and three young children will be zooming over your head watching Pixar movies on repeat. Oh, man. Yeah. Yeah. That doesn't sound fun. But guess what? We're going to have fun today.

We're going to make that trip a little bit better for you, hopefully. So, look, lots to get to, obviously. A lot of injury news. A lot of COVID news. It was an okay weekend of football. There wasn't even really anything that really was remarkable that stood out to me other than your Jets just, you know, the Jets and Giants 0-10 in New York. But let's start off with another NFC East opponent, the Dallas Cowboys.

Yeah, but bro, why taking shots at the Jets? Chiefs lost too, and you've been triggered all day on Twitter. The Chiefs, it's, okay, look, here's a couple of things. I'm open to having discussion on social media about a lot of things, right? Like we can talk most anything. The one I'm not is offensive line play. I am not wrong when I talk about offensive line play. You might not like to hear it, folks. Pat Mahomes is not playing very well in the pocket right now. Oops, I said it, okay? Is the Chiefs offensive line perfect? No, they're

not. They've also made errors as well. But in general, pass protection is a balance between the blocking unit, which includes the running back and tight ends and the quarterback right there has to be some sort of rhythm between those units the offense has to know where the quarterback is going to be quarterback has to get there and trust that we're going to do our job and right now in kansas city it's not happening you know pat drops too deep and bails out the very next play someone else gets beat and then the very next play it looks great but pat does this and then the next play it looks bad but pat makes a great play it's just every play is so different they need to get back on the same page so that's what's happening kansas city for those freaking out they had a loss in over 365 days i believe like they're fine you're gonna be okay everyone

it's gonna be fine lost one game um so uh enough with that let's move on to the cowboys all right we'll talk cowboys so dak prescott uh he's already been in and out of surgery since that brutal ankle injury. I think everyone saw it in the Cowboys' win. Actually, it was a win on Sunday. So, according to Schefter, Dak had the surgery for a compound fracture and a dislocation of his right ankle. Really nasty injury. Apparently, surgery went well. That's good news. Twitter blew up in reaction naturally uh lots of people immediately pointed to the money part of this you know he turned down that big deal in the offseason reportedly everyone was saying oh should he have signed now look what

happened jeff actually you seemed very shaken up by this you didn't have the same reaction as most people it takes online before we get to some of that hotter stuff i just want to know what was going through your mind as you saw d down in the heap holding that ankle? I'm glad you mentioned the emotional part of this because I feel like this is different than other injuries. We've talked a lot about injuries, and we're going to get to Alex Smith too. We've talked a lot about injuries, right? I've been injured a bunch in the NFL for a refresher. I did six surgeries in the NFL, dislocated my toe.

I fractured it, dislocated my ankle. Not the same injury, but still, you know, I left the field on a stretcher with an ankle injury, right? Like that's, it was a long rehab. And I broke it a second time, by the way. So I understand what he's going through. And you're right. We get conditioned to be emotionless, right? When it comes to injuries.

It's just part of the game. 100% injury chance. You're going to get it. And when guys get hurt, you feel sad and you move on. But it felt different for Dak for many reasons. You mentioned the contract. That's a big part of this as well. But I think because he was having such a great season as a Dallas Cowboys quarterback in a franchise year when he needed to have a great season. And I think we saw yesterday for the first time, and I can remember, real emotion from an owner when it came to a player.

When Dak got hurt, you look up in the box, they showed the video up there. I mean, Jerry Jones, there were in their masks, but I mean, Jerry Jones was visibly upset. I don't know if he was tearing up, but he was visibly upset, Gabe. Look at Steven Jones. His son was consoling, I assume it's his wife. She was crying in his arms, okay? You look at Mike McCarthy and his face.

And then Jason Garrett, who's his former coach, now the Giants' offensive coordinator, walks over there and checks on his, I would assume he loves Dak Prescott as well. And all the stories you've heard about his leadership and what he's done for that city. And also, I appreciate his openness to talk about mental issues, right? I mean, that I think is under-discussed in community, especially between men and in sports.

And I'm glad he's able to talk about that. So everything, right, about that was emotional. And I think that even for me, I was pissed yesterday. For about 10, 15 minutes, I was pissed. I was pissed because it's not supposed to go this way, right? It's supposed to play off his franchise tag and get his long-term contract. And it didn't happen that way. And it might still happen.

He's still going to get paid. We'll get to that in a second. But it just, the whole scene, it was, yeah. I mean, Jeff Allen, a good buddy of mine, tweeted, like, I'm not watching football anymore today. I mean, I couldn't remind you the last time an injury happened when someone said that, right? And guys did it all the time. No one said that when Alex Smith broke his leg. I'm not watching football again. It just was like, I think

all those things played a role in it, especially the money. And I know you mentioned the money. Yes, he's getting paid a lot of money this season. That is absolutely correct. That does not make it any easier to break your leg. It doesn't make it any easier, okay? He just determined, and we talked about Dak for months, Gabe, right? I mean, you're the first one to bring up, really, okay? He just determined,

and we talked about Dak for months, Gabe, right? I mean, you're the first one to bring up, really we were, I think, but you were the first one, I think, all the way back in, what, December last year? January, about how the Cowboys were going to franchise Dak and not pay him long-term? Yep. So we've been talking about this for months.

It's been months, almost a year now. And they ended up playing on the franchise deck. Dak determined that this, the contract offered by the Cowboys was not what his worth is. And I think he's probably right. If he were to go on the open market, he'd make more money.

It's a market of one right now. Everyone always says, you're only worth what the market will pay you. Yeah, but this is not the market. It's a market of one team who has his rights. If he were to go on the open market, he'd get 40 million a year. So he just said, look, I'm not going to do it.

And look, we do not see very often young franchise quarterbacks have horrific injuries like this. It doesn't happen that often. Carson Wentz did his ACL. That's one. But ACLs are so common, right?

It's just, it's common. I think the visual, too, of his leg, his foot turned out sideways, you know, was really just, you know, I mean, it's, how do you get that out of your leg, his foot turned out sideways. Um, you know, it was really, um, just, you know, I mean, it's, how do you get that out of your head? Right. His foot was literally turned sideways. So it, I think all those led to us being more emotional than usual about that injury. Well, let's unpack a little bit of that then. Cause you know, you've talked about not the exact

same injury, but similar injury. And you've talked a lot about injuries and the trouble, the trouble with rehab. So we got a franchise quarterback here who is going to be fighting to get the deal that he just passed on. You know, he's going to work his butt off to rehab. What can he expect? I mean, what does this look like for him? I know you're not a doctor. You don't know every case, but try to estimate a timetable. Try to give us an insight into what he's going to be doing over the next few months so he had a he had an emergency surgery essentially right away and the reason he did that was not the injury per se because he had a compound fracture so i'm guessing his his his fibula the outside bone right the non-weight-bearing bone uh broke which is what

happened to me and it went through the skin i i the tibia to me probably didn't go through the skin so it broke open wound got to go clean it right away which we saw what happened with we're talking about alex smith again that happened alex smith right you have an open wound on the field now alex smith was in a grass field this was a turf field nonetheless got to get it cleaned out got to get it fixed and got it fixed um he's going to be fine gabe he is a young he's a young athlete he's in the prime of his career. He's having great medical care. He's a, he's slender build, right? He's a, he's a quarterback. He will be fine. Now, will, will he play great in 2021? Probably not. Probably not. Will he be ready to

play in 2021? Yes. And the question becomes, how does he get paid? Okay. Now, people I've talked to that know the Cowboys well think this will actually get Jerry to pay him. That Jerry will actually feel guilty. And from all words I've heard from Cowboys players over the years,

that Jerry Jones is a very, very player-friendly coach. And that he, not player-friendly, a player-friendly owner, right? He's a player-friendly owner. And the stories I know, by the way, that will never make, it's true.

He's very player-friendly. And he'll look at this and feel guilty that the deal didn't get done. Not that they didn't, not that he thought that they negotiated in poor faith, just that they didn't get a deal done, right? That he loves Dak and just didn't get done. And that he might feel, you know, I'll make it up to him by getting this deal done in

some sort of sense. So I think there's a good possibility that Cowboy's bringing him back on a four or five year deal. And then he just, you know, he is their quarterback of the future. So Bill Barnwell, who I think we both agree has got to be one of the top three smartest people on this stuff, particularly how the business side of things works. I won't do it justice, but the short version is he's saying he thinks it's very likely that they'll just franchise him again next year, which would mean he'd get even more guaranteed money next year, which would sort of undercut the argument that,

oh, he left all that money on the table. When you combine this season, which is all guaranteed money, 30 plus million next season, maybe as much as like 37, 38 million next year guaranteed. Then go for that long-term deal. You know, it's almost like he didn't leave money on the table even with this horrific situation. Is there anything to that in your mind? Boom. And there it is. Wireless on the most reliable network nationwide.

That's cool. But with my wireless, I get unlimited for just $30. Impressive. But does yours have 5G included? Of course, and my wireless saves me $400 a year. That's because you all have Xfinity Mobile with your internet. It's wireless so good, it keeps one-upping itself. $30 per line per month.

Taxes and fees extra. Compares pricing of top carriers. Xfinity internet required. Reduced speeds up to 20 gigabits of usage per line most reliable based on root metrics uls report results vary non-endorsement well yeah look if you do the franchise tax for two straight years you're making a lot of money it's what cousins did right for two straight years you're getting if you count what 31 this year 35 and next year is going to be up near 40 i mean that's what 75 million dollars over two years that's what quarterbacks are making

now right um but the thing about we've talked about a lot is is the um the peace of mind with a guaranteed contract and the cowboys by the way they'd love to have a franchise quarterback they would love to build their team around dak prescott or anyone else for the next four or five years they want they in a perfect world they would get years. In a perfect world, they would get this done. In a perfect world, Dak would also get his guaranteed money. Everyone's happy. So, no, he would win, quote-unquote win, by making $700 million over two years. But then he's later to free agency eventually, which will get him another big contract.

And he doesn't have that, quote-unquote, peace of mind because he doesn't have a guaranteed deal. The Cowboys can't build their roster around his contract because he's not making any money for them in 2022. You know, the chiefs gave for 10 years now have my home's number locked in, build a roster around my home's number. Moving forward. Cowboys can't do that.

They can estimate, they can guess. Okay. Well, since I had $35 million for Dak Prescott, but they don't know, they don't know. So I think again, I think he'll be back in the cowboys uniform next year whether it's

via the franchise tag or a new five-year deal i think we can debate because he does have the leverage of the tag hey guys you're gonna pay me x amount of money next year right you sure you want to do that you sure you want to spread over um over a couple. One more thing to remember. If the salary cap drops to $175 next year, for about $200 right now, the Cowboys are not going to want to pay a quarterback 40% of the salary cap next season. It's not going to be 40%, but it's near 30%. You'll probably throw out 30%, 35% of the salary cap.

They'd rather work out a deal and spread that money out over the long haul of the deal. So I think they'll a deal and spread that money out over the long haul of the deal so i think they'll get something done actually and it's it's wild to think after an injury that they do it but that's what i think is going to happen yeah it's totally counterintuitive people should read what bill barnwell wrote about it uh jeff you just sort of said most of it much shorter um so it sounds like you're on the same page with him i will ask this the cowboys won the game close game but they win, it was a big deal when they signed Andy Dalton. He seemed like one of the best backup quarterbacks in the league.

Now he's going to play the rest of the season, we assume. I think he's probably still a capable NFL quarterback. They're 2-3. They're atop the division. We know that division sucks. Do we have to take the Cowboys seriously with Andy Dalton, or is this just like a wasted season for them? Well, I mean, their defense played a smidge better yesterday.

I mean, they got bailed out on a couple, a couple ticky tack penalties on the giants. Remember the Cowboys offensive line now is out the left tackle. He's out. They're out there center who retired. They're out the right tackles injured reserve. They're out there center who retired. They're out their right tackle as injured reserve. They're out their backup center. I mean, I think Dalton would be fine if he had an offensive line. It's going to be a problem. Okay. Well, I mean, that's never been their problem in my lifetime, but if it's his problem

this year, then they look like that seven and nine division winner. And, you know, maybe Andy Dalton wins a game in the playoffs if they get lucky, but they're building dac next year is what you're telling me let me just throw this hail mary out there just give me some possibility that this could happen i read this too any shot the cowboys make a deal for a quarterback and could that guy be sam darnold we'll take a second rounder i love that i think i saw schaefter report i love schaefter but poor like the jets are the jets are doubtful to get a first round pick for darnold yeah yeah yeah no yeah no shit you're doubtful it ain't gonna happen yeah which one of your great sources gave you that info

chef d come on man try harder we love schaefter here but that was not his not his finest work no i was like uh i was like yeah yeah yeah, yeah, no one's giving the Jets a first-rounder. I mean, how is Adam Gase not fired yet? I mean, you know, sometimes we record this and it takes a few hours for it to go up. I'm predicting between you saying that and people hearing it, he will have been fired. I really think so. We're going to get some other fire coaches later.

Yeah, our staff does a great job, by the way, because, way, because I think last week, right, we recorded an entire show. Bill O'Brien got canned. We came back on to record another, basically, show, another segment of the show, and they put it all together to make it sound good. So I appreciate it. Our staff, by the way, let's not inflate it too much. Our staff, a guy named Nick who lives with like 17 dudes

but has a nicer kitchen than either of us that's our staff right now fair enough but it sounds I wanted to sound like we were some big goal operation well you know there's Zuri Zuri's still on the team and of course we got Matt so you're right it's a staff it's a it's a staff it sounds official my my podcast staff yeah actually and Quincy Quincy does a lot of good work too too. So you know what? It is a staff. Even though you guys do like 10 times the work I do. But it's fun to say big words like that. All right.

Well, the staff helped put this next topic together. Kind of a serious one. And one that you've been great to hear talk about. But I can't say it's a great topic. I'm kind of scared to even bring it up. So listen, Alex Smith returned to the field yesterday in a very weird set of circumstances. So on, the guy literally almost died. And up until a few weeks ago, I wasn't really sure he could walk or move around like an athlete. Well, he took the field. He looked fine.

I mean, you can tell me more about how he played, but he could stand there and throw it. Problem was, he was getting sacked all damn day, and I was worried he was going to get killed. Aaron Donald was just laying on him at times. all damn day and I was worried he was going to get killed. Aaron Donald was just laying on him at times. So I think the take that everyone had, including you, I believe, was basically, I love that he came back. Now, can someone please go get him? Why is he still out there? Why was he on the field that whole time? Yeah, so it's just uncomfortable to watch. I'm not going to lie. I watched that game because I bet on the Rams big, and I was right on that. Kyle Allen gets hurt.

It's knocked out. Alex Smith comes in. And first of all, let's say a couple things. It's remarkable he's made it back, okay? And I've told you guys, I did not think he'd ever make it back. And I give him all the credit in the world for making it back on the field. It's been remarkable. Go watch Project 11.

It's probably archived on ESPN's website. Go watch it. It's great, okay? I played with Alex for a probably archived on ESPN's website. Go watch it. It's great, okay? I played with Alex for a year. My brother played with him for two or three years. Great family. I love that Alex came back and he's healthy enough to play. He should never have played, though, Gabe.

I was so nervous for him and anxious watching him play. The Washington football team is not a good football team. Their offensive line is not good. And Alex Smith did not look very good playing with that offense on Sunday. Game was in the rain, first of all. It was sloppy. He was checked down. Checked down Charlie was like, you know, eight for 10 for 32 yards. Got sacked six times. You know, the first sign of contact, he's going right down. I mean, this is all expected, right? It's not unexpected, and it does not at all diminish Alex Smith's ability to get back on the field. And I tweeted out, like, Washington said that Kyle Allen was healthy to go the second half. And I was like, well, why didn't you put him in the game?

And Washington fans were like, well, Alex Smith gives us the best chance to win. I go, what game are you watching? You didn't give me the best chance to win yesterday. Kyle Allen did. And so Rivera announced that Allen would start this week if he's healthy. Look, I know Alex wants to play. I've talked to people about this. He's not going to listen to this.

But, dude, you did it, man. You did it. It's done. It's done. Just run off in the sunset. Be done with it. You can stay on the team and play or coach or just dress every week, go to practice.

But just you can't. I'm like, dude, I'm so terrified he's going to break his leg in half again. Like if he were to get hurt, I just don't want to think about it. He played. It happened. We cheered for him. His wife and kids got to see him back on the field. He proved everyone wrong.

Give him the, what is it? The Walter Payne, not the Walter Payne award, whatever. Come back, come back player. Yeah. The Walter Payne's for, for humanity and charity, whatever.

Ed block courage award, which is a word given to every one person, every team for the rehab and come just, and then you're it. That's it. You're done. Just, just leave,

be done. Walk away. I know it's not a popular opinion to say that, but that's, that's, I think the right, the right way to go. Yeah.

Yeah. Well, I don't know how it's not the only opinion to say that, but that's, I think, the right way to go, Gabe. Yeah. Well, I don't know how it's not the only opinion. I mean, and everyone, our shared friends in our industry all seem to be saying some version of what you're getting at in that they were just – Yeah, but they don't want to say it though. They're like, I have no problem saying it. Like everyone's like, no, he should be – just be done. You're done, buddy. Like you're done.

No, you're the only one who's spelled it out that clearly, but everyone was cringing. Um, so I want to, I want to ask you this though, cause we, you know, we believe the coach has got a good heart and is looking out for his players. I don't think he's like, he's not like that guy in a Friday night lights, the movie, like, you know, abusing his players or anything like that. But I'm confused by his answer as to why Smith was out there. He said the reason Allen wasn't out there was out of an abundance of caution because he'd been banged up. Well, where's that abundance of caution for Alex Smith?

Like, I just – I don't follow. Like, I'm curious to know how many other teams really cleared Alex Smith to play. And I get what Ron Rivera is saying. Look, I trust my medical staff. You know, Ryan Vermillion is his head trainer. He's been with him the entire time he's with the Panthers. Goes up to Washington. They say he can play.

All right, he can play. I mean, like, you know, Alex told me he could play. The doctors cleared him. The trainers cleared him. The trainers cleared him. Play. So that's why I think it's like the hard part for a coach is when everyone says he can play, it's not really your responsibility to tell him he can't play. Yeah.

I guess not. I mean, maybe I imagined this because of the headspace we were all in. But I swear, man, on one of those sacks, Aaron Donald, who, of course, loves smashing quarterbacks and he'll put a little extra on a hit when he can. I swear he was treating him like he had a red jersey on. Maybe I imagined it. I think I think he was a little bit, too. I mean, and that's terrifying if guys on the opposing team even know, man, we just got to hold the guy. Like, he's going to go down. We do not need to put any extra on it.

We don't want to be the guy who really hurts him badly. I'm with you, man. He just can't go back out there. Will they let him play again after seeing what it was like? Yeah, of course they will. Ugh, okay. All right, well, I mean, we'll keep an eye on that one. It was cool to see him out there,

and it immediately got scary. Let's talk about another sort of weird hot button topic of the weekend, where opinions are kind of coming from all different directions. So, you know, the Titans are supposed to return to the field against the Bills tonight on a Tuesday night. That's weird, but they've had that outbreak for about two weeks. It seemed like it started with players breaking protocols. That's for a different show've had that outbreak for about two weeks. It seemed like it started with players breaking protocols. That's for a different show. Some investigative journalist can unpack that one for us. Broncos Patriots Monday Night Football game postponed over the weekend.

Ripple effect basically seven teams and eight games are totally being impacted, not to mention all the whining that fans out there did yesterday. Twitter was just a bunch of people complaining and sending off memes and acting like they knew better. My buddy Matthew Barry, I think, summed it up best and said, if I had told you in June that you would get football this year, but there will be some last minute game cancellations and a lot of moving parts, you'd have signed up for the deal ASAP.

Stop complaining. People's health and safety is more important than your fantasy team. That goes for more than fantasy. Full cosign from me. How do you feel about this? So it's so interesting, Gabe. College football, as we're recording this, is having games canceled this weekend. Vanderbilt can't even field 53 guys. Virginia Tech played a couple weeks ago with 23 guys out for COVID plus contact tracing. Charlotte, the school, the city I live in, missed a game because one offensive lineman was sick. Everyone else was contact traced. Out.

Can't play. There were 30 games moved or canceled. Houston had five different openers this year. Five different openers this year. And yet, no one gives a shit. No one cares. No one cares. The NFL has four guys test positive right three in the patriots now let's take tennessee out of it for a second three in the patriots one of the chiefs one of the raiders so five guys

and everyone's social media is like shut it down shut it down can't play quit the season shut it down and i don't I don't understand. The NFL is actually an example, in my opinion, of how you can do it without a bubble. It's an example. They've had one viral outbreak, the Tennessee Titans. And we will eventually get an investigation into what happened in Tennessee. One viral outbreak. People say, all my mentions are like this, Gabe.

Well, the NFL didn't have a plan for this. What? Because they didn't tell you their plan? They don't have a plan? Is that what you're telling me? Because every time there's a game that needs to be moved, guess what? Snap our fingers, two hours later, there's a brand new schedule. Of course they thought about this.

Of course they have. Everyone's like, well, you should give every team two buys. How does that matter? How does that every team two buys how does that matter how does that matter seriously how does that matter one team has a buy here one team is about you can't you same thing would have happened you just want to switch everything up again like this idea that the nfl is some bumbling france is bumbling you know organization that just kind of is new the business business, doesn't know what they're doing. Guys, overall, they prove you wrong with that. The NFL has done a great job. They've played now six weeks of training camp, or six weeks in the building, five regular season weeks, and right now have zero games postponed. Zero games postponed. Yes, they play on a Monday night, they play on a Tuesday, they move stuff around. The Chargers had four games moved. Oh, well, that's what playing football like is in 2020.

And I know people are rightfully afraid of COVID. And it's okay if you are. It's okay if you're not. I think you should be a little bit concerned about it. But nonetheless, I'm not going to crush you either way. If you're scared or nervous about it or if you don't even care at all, whatever. But, like, you can't project your feelings onto the NFL season. The NFL season is happening. We're in the middle of it. It will continue to happen. The NFL, if needed, will put a week 18 on.

They've booked out a month of hotel rooms in Tampa Bay. They can push the playoffs back they'll do it but as of right now they're doing it they're making it work and i think gabe the nfl should get a round of applause for making it work without a bubble right now okay i mean i don't have anything i strongly disagree with in there i think that fans of teams who are seeing their schedule thrown around and imagining that this is problematic for their team or unfair to their team. You know, these guys screwed up and now it's messing things up for me. That's not fair.

Therefore, I blame the NFL mean tweets to follow. I don't agree with those people, but there are a lot of them. Guess what? It's not fair this year. It's 2020. What is fair about 2020 besides the Lakers win the championship? Congratulations, LeBron. What is, what is fair about, about 2020?

Like what is fair? Nothing. And the NFL is playing in a pandemic. The NFL players, they know Tom Telesco, the Chargers general manager said, if you're not flexible in 2020, that's like your fault basically. Right? Like this is what, this is what it is this year. It's different.

Now, I would agree with people that say the NFL has done too much for one team, which is the Titans, right? The NFL has changed everything for one team that clearly there's a problem. I get it, Titans fans. You hate me. I'm a Titans hater, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. But how come you have a viral outbreak and nobody else does why is that like that the question have to be answered okay so the nfl has put protocols in

place to avoid this explicitly avoid this six feet apart in meeting rooms six feet apart um in you know in uh in in the gym six feet apart in the meal meal room. It's very clear that outdoor activity, like outdoor practice and games does not spread COVID, right? The Vikings and Titans played two weeks ago now, and not one Vikings player has gotten COVID, right? The Chiefs and Patriots played. We know Stephon Gilmore had COVID. No one on the Chiefs so far has gotten COVID from that game.

So the protocols in place in the facility should limit the spread of COVID, okay? And it did in Tennessee. So they're obviously doing something they shouldn't be doing in that facility. And the question could be asked, Gabe, is the NFL doing too much to accommodate the one team who clearly did not follow the rules? Yeah, well, I don't know if it was you

or someone else I like who said, it's time to start talking about forfeiting games. I mean, at some point – It was probably me, but I've said that for a while now. But just – that feels very punitive, so I don't know if you can do that. Yeah, and it's also – it's almost unfair, right? So let's say you start handing out forfeits to the Titans. Let's say you prove that they broke every rule and they brought this upon themselves.

Somebody deems that the truth. All right, you forfeit games. That means whoever was on their schedule is just gifted a win. That's also not fair in a way. If you're in a division with a team who just got a free W, didn't even have to travel to Nashville, that also sucks. So there's, again, no fair solution in 2020. Well, imagine if you're the Chiefs who did lose, but the Bills get a free win against the Titans. The Chiefs get a free win against the Titans. I mean, that's – so I get that.

But the Bills kind of get screwed here, right? They go from playing Sunday, then playing Thursday against the Chiefs in a short week, to now they're on a short week. They go Sunday to Monday. Yeah. We have a Monday night football game at 5 p.m. Eastern next Monday. Chiefs and Bills.

So that's – we're going to figure out what we're going to do for this podcast for that.m. Eastern next Monday. Chiefs and Bills. So that's fair. We're going to do for this podcast for that. That's a great game. And so, yeah, there's it's not perfect. It's not fair. But so far, the NFL, I think, is doing a great job. Look, the NBA did a great job, but they're in a bubble.

Hockey, they're in a bubble. They're on a bubble, you know, and they're doing a fabulous job do you take anything seriously coming out of new england when the players they're all tweeting cryptic nonsense and basically insinuating that they're unhappy with the league about how it was handled that they traveled after a player tested positive they were still asked to travel and keep to the schedule they seem to be saying like why did we have to play you know do you take that seriously i mean i yeah i think they're upset about it i think they would be but i mean you know they agree they kind of agreed to it right so that was the deal the way i summed it up on our our text thread is if bill

belichick can get on board with this and even he can just go along and go with the flow then every other human on earth should be able to do it. If that guy can relax and play ball. And it sounds like Bill Belichick too was like, was the catalyst with the Patriots shutting down. Yeah, right. When he's being careful and serious and football isn't coming first, that's probably an indication everyone to just take a deep breath and think about priorities. But I digress.

Bill's's like 70 he doesn't want to get coveted either no um all right let's move the line jeff we sort of teased this earlier because i couldn't help myself uh and you were coming in hot at the beginning of the show so i just want to know real quick here percent uh jeff is worried about the chiefs right now. Over under 25% worried. Not worried at all. Zero worry. I lost one football game.

The pass defense was atrocious. Pat didn't play terribly well. The offensive line had their issues. I mean, lost a football game. Scored 32 points still. A penalty called back at another touchdown. Pat threw the ball 63 yards in the air. It was unbelievable.

And a really bad penalty. I'm not worried at all. Raiders, by the way, I'd like to formally congratulate you guys for winning the Super Bowl in October. It's a great accomplishment. You should hold that trophy. You should fly that banner in that new stadium in Vegas. Congratulations. You've won the Super Bowl in accomplishment. You should hold that trophy. You should fly that banner in that new stadium in Vegas.

Congratulations. You've won the Super Bowl in October. We should probably start keeping track of the fan bases that think you hate them most in a power ranking order. They all do. The Chiefs fans are just killing me today because I'm telling the truth about Pat Mahomes and his poor pocket presence.

Yeah. They think that, just so I can make sure our audience understands, they believe that you are defending your brother who plays on the offensive line when you are critical of the way Pat fails to use the blocking setup. Yes.

I'm not even talking about my brother. Mitch is fine. He's not of my concern. He's a four-time All-Pro. I don't need to defend my brother on social media. I'm just telling you guys how it is. And this is why I'm good even talking about my brother. Mitch is fine. He's not of my concern. He's a four-time All-Pro. I don't need to defend my brother on social media. I'm just telling you guys how it is. And this is why I'm good at my job. Because I tell you how it is.

Even though you don't like it. My brother plays for the Chiefs. They all follow me. The entire team follows me. The coaching staff follows me on Twitter. I'm going out of my way to basically put an X on my fucking back talking shit about Pat Mahomes. I'm not even talking bad about him.

I'm saying like he's bad in the pocket right now. You know, anything I say too falls back on my brother. So I have to be careful what I say because they're going to think he told me, which of course he doesn't tell me anything about that. That's not what I'm talking. So like I have to, I put myself on a limb to talk about Pat Mahomes on social media in a negative light. Yeah.

I can just say, having worked with you for a while, I've tried. You don't give any inside scoops and you're brutally honest. And if your brother screwed it up, you'd be the first guy to say it. So I don't think we have to worry about your fairness. All right, let's move to another one. You know, we don't know why Adam Gase still had a job as of Monday. Dan Quinn is out in Atlanta. So I want to know Games Raheem Morris, who's stepping in to take over. Games Raheem Morris needs to win to keep the job in Atlanta over under, let's say, two and a half.

Asked if Raheem Morris could be a candidate for the head coaching position. Arthur Blank said if Raheem ends up 11-0 then he'll certainly be a candidate. Okay. Over. Over. He needs to go over two and a half, I guess.

Yes. But I mean, seriously, this is a guy who's on some people's shortlist anyway, right? Did a good job with their receivers, kind of moved around position groups. Now he's coaching the defense or coordinating the defense. Wouldn't say that's been so great for his resume, but he's in charge. Apparently the players like him. He was credited with some of their second half resurgence last year. Um, you know, for, for people who do not know he's African, African American. So, um, that's something that a lot of teams are thinking about when they're hiring these days. Uh, you think he, he's got to win a few games, though, to keep the gig?

Yeah. I don't think he'll be the coach next year, but I don't think any sort of change would be welcome for the Falcons right now. All right. Well, yeah. For now, just fade the Falcons every single week, and you'll probably make some money. All right.

Let's do this. Over under Browns wins, over Seahawks wins the rest of the way. So we know where they are. We got 11 more regular season games. Who's going to win more games? All right, Browns have Bengals, Jets, Jags. You're cheating. You're looking ahead at all the notes.

This was going to be my ammo against you. Oh, I thought I'm allowed to look at the notes after you announce. I would say Browns and I'll tell you why. Oh, boy. I'll tell you why. So Seattle, I need to pull up the tweet from, and this is why it's fun to do this like we have no reaction. The Seattle Seahawks have won some really like odd games.

Yeah. Kevin Clark tweets out I love it the Seahawks have literally never played a normal game I mean they they like they they've won the other one last night on a weird ending they've won another game in a weird they've won a bunch of stuff in weird endings like this I just I don't know but I think I'm

gonna I'm gonna oh man i don't know i think i'll just go browns for fun browns are gonna win more games here on out than the seahawks okay here's a seahawks won a week two on a fourth down stuff with the goal line yeah they won a week three on an end zone interception yeah they won a week five on four on two five on three fourth down conversions on the final drive. Yeah. Yeah, it's been weird. And yet they've been a good bet most weeks. Oh, yeah.

Until this week they hadn't covered, yeah. Yeah. Okay. And meanwhile, you started to give it away. But just so – a lot of people who listen to this show pay attention to what you say about the Browns. They're on that list, by the way, the Browns fans. They've still got – It's easier to make a list of who's not on my fair enough hate list well if now

if the chiefs are on the the shit list too i mean we really got very few fan bases left uh bengals jags jets texans eagles and giants all still remain on the browns schedule which means those are all almost gimmies so that gets them to 10 right there. If they steal a game that maybe they shouldn't win in division, they could be talking about 11 or 12 wins. So I think the Browns are a real team. They're, they are definitely a real team. They're doing a great job so far.

All right. It's just a very different, very different Jeff Schwartz this year. He's seen some things he likes with Stefanski and I never, but I wasn't telling the Browns this year. No, you weren't last year. You pounded the shit out of them this year. He's seen some things he likes with Stefanski and... I never, but I wasn't down in the Browns this year. No, you weren't. Down in last year. You pounded the shit out of them last year. Okay, here's a team

that, or a guy really, that's been your punching bag for the last few weeks. Probably your neighbor. I bet he lives in that fancy neighborhood you live in. He might want to come by and take a dip in your pool. No, he actually bought a house. Go ahead and announce who it is first, I'll tell you. So total wins without Christian McCaffrey

versus wins with Christian McCaffrey this season. So he bought a house for $7.5 million on Lake Norman. It's probably the most expensive house

that's sold in Charlotte in years. No one buys houses that expensive in Charlotte. Panthers are 3-0 without McCaffrey now. Their offense looks much better. But of course, you know, they paid him. So I tweeted out that the Panthers' 3-0 without McCaffrey now their offense looks much better but of course they paid him so I tweeted out that the Panthers

offense is better without Christian McCaffrey and Panther fans were angry another fan base angry with me I mean evidence is right there right the offense is better without Christian McCaffrey I mean what do you want me to tell you guys so he'll come back they'll force feed him again

I think the story here is that is that Matt Rule has done a fantastic job. And you, by the way, you did not like the Matt Rule hire. You said that it was just whatever. Why is everyone so up on Matt Rule? You're pissed because he rejected the Jets. No, no, no, no, no.

I thought it was just a bunch of media garbage that he had a good agent who leaked the right stuff to a few important people. They probably all shared an agent. And all of a sudden, Matt Rule went from a guy who won a few games at Baylor and like Temple or someplace, is the next Vince Lombardi. And I was just calling BS on that. But he's done well. He's the next Vince Lombardi.

Yeah. All right. So they'll bring Christian McCaffrey back and they'll win some games and lose some games. But you're going to say they're a better team without him currently. Yes. Okay.

Fair enough. By the way, while we're talking about his mansion and your mansion, what is this I'm reading about your wife wants chickens

in your backyard? Oh, man. Yeah. She said yesterday, we're getting a chicken coop. I said, oh, okay, we're doing it. She said, yeah, we're going to actually build it. We're going to order the parts and build it ourselves.

I said, okay. We're going to have four chickens. All right. And we're going to let them just roam the backyard and they can just come back in the coop at night. Okay. And then we're getting a turkey. What? We're going to name it Thanksgiving. We're going then we're getting a turkey. What?

We're going to name it Thanksgiving. We're going to raise it and then slaughter it and eat it for Thanksgiving. So a couple of things. A couple of things you should know, guys. I grew up in Los Angeles, okay? I am not an outdoors person. I'm not a, I have chickens in my backyard person. I'm definitely not raise turkey, slaughter it and an outdoors person. I have chickens in my backyard person. I'm definitely not raise turkey, slaughter it, and eat it person.

I have no problem with eating turkey. I have no problem with the actual slaughter part of it. I don't know where I'm going to slaughter it. I sit there and say, so what do I do? We have this turkey in the backyard. Our kids love it. They're going to grow up to love this turkey named Thanksgiving. And then what?

Daddy's just taking a knife to its neck in the middle of the backyard and bleeding it out and then just picking the feathers off just taking a knife to its neck in the middle of the backyard and bleeding it out and then just picking the feathers off and cleaning it up and throwing it in the fire. Like, she's like, oh no, we'll take it to a butcher. So then I have, so instead of paying $25 for an organic turkey at Whole Foods for Thanksgiving that we're just going to dump in a bunch of peanut oil, I have to then pay to raise a turkey, then pay to get it butchered, and then cook it myself.

Yeah. I'm doing a giant waste of time. Gabe, I don't even eat eggs for breakfast. Why do we need chickens? Hey, Jeff, these are all the questions that were racing around in my brain when I saw you eating. I don't want a chicken to shit all over my backyard. I just paid six figures for a new backyard, a new pool, and landscaping.

Figures for a new backyard, a new pool and landscaping. Last thing I want is A, a chicken to fall in there and die. And two, just shit all over my backyard. And we have a rat snake that lives basically between my property and the neighbor's. A six foot rat snake. It just eats all the rodents. I haven't seen it yet. I know.

That's the look I had too. I haven't seen it yet. And nor do I want to see it because I would be terrified of it. And it would eat all the chickens. Wait, wait, wait, wait. There's a six-foot snake living in your property? And that's not the first headline of the whole show? No, I mean, that's what my neighbor says.

There's a rat snake. You're saying rat snake, not rattle snake. No, rat, R-A-T. It just eats rodents. It's not like venomous or nothing rat, R-A-T, it just eats rodents. It's not like venomous or nothing. It's just like a black snake that just eats rodents. Okay. But six foot is long.

That's enormous. I don't want that anywhere near my kids. I don't want either, but it just eats the rodents. One more question here. Obviously, your wife's done a little bit of research, but do turkeys and chickens live together? Is that that doesn't seem natural to me. Yeah, they just would just leave them in the backyard together.

OK, another dumb follow up question. They have wings. Can't they just like flap their way? I know they can't fly, but can't they just like flap away? Dude, you're asking the wrong person. I have no idea. OK, all right. this is going to probably be a theme of the next few episodes of this show because i need to hear more about this

i can invite her on and she can tell you all about it i think we should um i just want to be here when that happens so okay we'll wait a couple weeks yeah maybe give it a couple weeks till she's done some more research and we'll do a special we'll we'll just do a segment called jeff schwartz wife makes us smarter about chickens um all right i want to know real quick fantasy question here percent of leagues where chase claypool is already taken 95 over under um i mean he's already over now i mean that the four touches and then also um you know how how how funny was it uh the the tom brady terrific he put his face over four it was fantastic he was ready man he he was all over it so he was ready to go he looked good here's the thing i i thought when i saw this obviously had

a great day it bummed me out because i i drafted juju and i was like what the hell all these balls should be going his way clearly this kid can play here's the thing though It reminded me of a conversation we had a few weeks ago. We were talking about Aaron Rodgers and his weapons and how they never draft him a first round wide receiver. Big Ben, probably the best possible comp to Aaron Rodgers in terms of resume in the same time period. He has made stars out of Antonio Brown, Emmanuel Sanders, Juju. Now, this guy Chase looks pretty good. Martavius Bryant, Deontay Johnson, James Washington. None of them were first-round picks.

How does Ben do it? Who the hell is Chase Claypool? Why do you look so good? I don't have a great reason for you. He's good at wide receivers. I don't know. Kevin Colbert, the GM, is just good at picking wide receivers. Or Ben's just good at throwing easy balls.

I mean, he's not throwing deep balls. He's just putting it where they need it. And then they just basically kick return from there. I mean, and he's always been good at deep passing. Well, okay. Last question, because your Lakers did win. Sort of my Lakers. Our friends at ESPN and Fox are having the MJ LeBron debate all day, of course. So I'll just ask you this. Over, under,

one and a half more rings for LeBron? I would say under. I'd say just one more. You think he gets one more with the Lakers? Yeah, I think say under. I'd say just one more. You think he gets one more with the Lakers? Yeah, I think one more. What's the limitation? Somebody gets better than him or he retires? I just think that it's just hard to win titles in the NBA. And the Warriors will be back to full strength pretty soon. The Clippers, I don't know if they're going to be back to where they are. He's also like 100 years old.

I mean, he averaged what, 29, 9, and 9? Almost 9. I think it was like 29, 9, and 8. Probably his best finals of his career. It's the highest shooting percentage in his history. He made, by the way, the highest percent of twos in NBA history in a final series. He made over 60% of twos. He was remarkable.

He was fabulous. it was odd to watch that with no fans honestly but you knew that after game five game six was going to go that direction um and i think one i feel better just saying one i just it's hard to win nba it's hard to have a dynasty um hard to win three years in a row right we haven't seen that since the bull since the lakers right when i think one three in the early 2000s yeah early 2000s right yeah i think that's right yeah the lakers won two in nine and ten or yeah and then i believe the warriors warriors had a chance at it they won three and four right they won three and four and then maybe another one a few a couple years later yeah but not i don't think a three Yeah, so it's really hard to win three titles in a row.

So I would say that I would probably – I would say no. Okay. Just keep in mind that Davis expected to re-sign. He'd be a five-year deal. He's in his prime. One-year deals are possible for a few of the other role guys there they've got cap room like the war is only one the war is only one they won they won uh three of five with the five straight three of five they beat the calves one lost the calves yeah and then two in a

row they played the calves four times in a row. Four times in a row. They beat the Cavs, lost to the Cavs, beat them twice in a row, then lost to the Raptors. Oh, right, and then they lose to the Raptors. That's right. They were supposed to three-peat them. So the Bulls won 96, 97, 98, and the Spurs, 99.

The Lakers won three in a row. That's the last time someone had won three in a row. There you have it yeah over under Rafa titles or Fed titles who's going to have more at the end of the day what that's the answer I wanted

I stupidly asked you a tennis question and I don't even care about the answer so I'm glad that was your reaction I knew they are but I just who I'm not. Who cares? It doesn't matter. It's a bunch of guys smacking a tennis ball.

I'm not participating in this discussion. All right. Great show, everyone. Really appreciate it. We're getting a lot more listeners and subscribers and really appreciate the downloads. It's really great to see this podcast continue to grow. So we appreciate you guys for listening and tuning in and providing feedback. We'll continue to give you good shows.

So have a great couple of days. We'll be back with a gambling episode on Thursday. We had a winning week. We'll hope to continue that rolling over into week six. All right, guys. Take care. Have a good couple of days.