Geoff Schwartz Is Smarter Than You - Kelce Was the Problem, Cowboys are a Threat, and Coaches that Deserve to be Fired

Episode Date: December 28, 2021

Geoff and Gabe talk Christmas weekend football, starting with the Chiefs’ utter dominance over the Steelers and evaluating the other AFC contenders to see if any have a shot at taking them down. Also, the Cowboys have all the pieces of a legit Super Bowl contender, and Geoff is starting to think they are the only team that could get in the way of a Brady-Rodgers rematch in  the NFC Championship. The Giants announced that Joe Judge (and Danny Dimes) will be back next season, but what about Nagy and Rhule? Geoff explains the rule changes regarding coaching searches and how it’ll effect this season’s worst teams.Plus, on Moving the Line, Geoff celebrates Fat Guy TDs, backup QBs, and Drew Brees doing whatever he wants.As always, rate, review and enjoy the show. Here’s hoping everyone had a very Merry Thiccmas.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 december 28th i'm jeff schwartz alongside gabe gill and this is jeff schwartz smart you're powered by the varsity podcast network it is our nfl tuesday recap show we're recording this before monday night football everyone sorry saints and dolphins fans do not care uh but what i do care about is my kansas city chiefs gabe as i said are back there's a team in the n, guys, who we don't want to acknowledge is possibly the one team that can knock off the Packers and Bucks from repeating in the NFC title game rematch and much, much more. Gabe, how are you, buddy?

You know, I'm feeling okay, Jeff. When we linked up yesterday to talk about college ball, I was tired. I was coming off the holiday weekend. I was coming off a week of some real adjustments. COVID playing a role in everyone's lives these days. It's been a hard week in the Goodwin family, but now I'm feeling lively. I watched a bunch of NFL football and I got my buddy here to make me smarter. Yes, you did watch NFL football and your original team won and your new team lost. Yeah.

And so you get to split the difference. You get to be happy and sad. But let's talk about my favorite team. Yes. And the best team in National Football League at the moment, Kansas City Chiefs. Yeah, that's right. So, Jeff, listen, you were right about almost everything related to the Chiefs this year. Almost everything. Okay?

You said they'd be fine when everyone else jumped ship. You said Pat would stop with the fluky picks. You said the D would improve. But you also said very famously that they needed a number two wide receiver. Well, Jeff, you were wrong.

They have like five number two wide receivers. Pringle? Who's Pringle? That dude's awesome. You were wrong about that part, Jeff. So take your L. The Chiefs have been unbelievable of late.

I truly, this is not just hyperbole. I'm not you or Nick Wright. They have never looked better to me. Super Bowl or bust. So yes, they have a couple of guys. I will tell you what, out of all the performances we've seen from Pat Mahomes, and there have been a lot of great ones,

that first half yesterday without Travis Kelsey was huge. I i mean he guys he's his blankie right like he's the guy he throws to in every moment of crisis every moment they need a big play it's travis kelsey it's travis kelsey and you're right bunch of guys stepped up i've said all season they need number two and they have a couple guys right pringle you mentioned harman stepped up robinson gray caught balls bell caught balls claude edwards hilaire, Reynover, a linebacker. They remind me very much of the Super Bowl winning team, not last year's team.

Remember 2019, about halfway through the season, their defense picked up steam, started playing better, and they won games at the end of the season by large margins. 20 points,

21 points, 25 points. Remember last year game, we talked about it. They weren't covering games and they're winning games close. And we were like, ah, whatever, it doesn't matter, right? This is like the 2019 team. They're starting to feel themselves.

They've been here before. It's very important as we get to the Bengals game this weekend. We'll talk about that game more with Matt later in the week. But we have a team who's been there and done that, Kansas City, and the Bengals who haven't been in this spot with this team ever. I think Kansas City is going to have their way on Sunday night for that reason. But, like, they win this game. They go to Denver.

They have the one seed. And it's one win, and you host the AFC title game. Like, you're right back where you want to be that quickly. We know Andy Reid is great off a bye. So they continue to win out. They have a great opportunity to win the AFC and be back in the Super Bowl again for the third straight year,

which is remarkable. I don't know if they win the Super Bowl, Gabe, but I mean, to start at three and four and make a Super Bowl and have the one seed, it's incredible. Yeah, it is. And we should note, and I guess we have to credit coaching

or the front office for building the roster but you know you mentioned kelsey that's the obvious name he was out with covid this week now it looks like ceh is gonna miss more time um you know they've had guys go down in patches yeah and they they have that sort of next man up feel so i like i guess i can't get panicked when ceh might have to miss some time it's probably okay right well okay so here's the thing about about the roster we talked about this they had about three years from the homes to the beginning of 2020 where they had kind of bad draft picks but now they pick that back up right gay and bolton and steed on defense

uh then offensively right creed humphrey, Trey Smith are crushing it. They're going to do a good job of free agency. So, yes, and running back again. Running back is more about the offensive line. If your offensive line can block, your running back is going to be fine. So, yeah, I'm not worried about Clyde Edwards and their missing time. Obviously, I hope they get the guys back from COVID. They're healthy.

And the Chiefs just, again, get back on track and get that one seed. So, yeah, they're playing how they're peaking at the right time. They look like 2019 Chiefs. And it has been a lot of fun to watch them. And everyone, again, guys, this is a good reminder. Week to week, there's take makers. I'm not one of those guys. The reason why is it's a long season.

I don't have the energy to have new takes every week. I don't know how these guys do it. They lose track of all the takes. You've worked on these shows, Gabe. I don't know how they do it. I tend to be more even keel. And I look at historical trends. I look at the way teams are coached and the way they play.

I understand the season's so up and down, right? Again, the Chiefs have been here before. That's very important. And that was a lot of my basis on why I think the Chiefs would be right back in this spot. And we look around the rest of the NFL after this week, it's like, oh my God, Colts are the best thing ever. Buffalo, Dallas, oh my God, oh my God, these teams are playing with Niners, Rams. It's like, just follow what we know, guys. Follow what we know. We know which teams are good this time of year. They're playing well. They're winning games. They've been there before. That's important when you get to the playoffs. And Kansas City has that look right now of a team that's getting back to

the Super Bowl. Yeah. Well, you mentioned the take makers. I'm going to mention one guy with a big take. Obviously 100% serious with this take. Some former player said, the only logical conclusion we can make is that Travis Kelsey has been holding this offense back. I'd try to get a conditional 6th or 7th round pick for him this offseason and build around B-Bell and Noah Gray. That take maker has his head up his ass, huh? Yeah, that guy, he has no idea what he's talking about.

That's my brother. He was kidding, obviously. I was surprised. I will say I was very surprised at how well the offense played without Travis Kelsey. Maybe it was a bad series team. I don't know. But they had not proven – well, they never really had the opportunity

because Kelsey was healthy. But that was – it was impressive, dude. It was a really impressive performance. And this idea that – and people always say, well, they beat a bad team. All right, well, you're supposed to kick their ass. That's what you do to bad football teams. You kick their ass.

I'm sure your Chargers would have liked to kick the ass of a bad football team this weekend. Don't do that. Don't do things like that. My Chargers will be fine. They've got a couple more games to sneak their way in. And this isn't the year they win the Super Bowl, but they look good enough. That was a strange week for them. It'd been a few strange weeks this season from the Chargers. Stay on the Chiefs for one more minute, though.

That Steelers D was supposed to be really, really good. Now, I know every team is hard to evaluate these days because some of the guys that each team is missing on COVID are actually more important than the big-name guys. But how do we explain the absolute ass-kicking that was handed out in the first quarter to a defense that has playmakers? Well, the defense had not played as well the last couple of weeks, right?

Injuries and run defense has been bad. T.J. Watt was playing, but clearly wasn't 100%. Chiefs offensive line just played really well. And the Chiefs have played the Steelers pretty well the last couple of years since Mahomes had gotten, they scored a lot of points against them. So they kind of have them dialed up and figured out. That's part of the reason why. Chiefs offensive line is really good. I mean, there was talk today about Creed Humphrey winning like offensive rookie of the year. He's been that good at center. Well, I like that because that would mean that you know who does not win it, Mac Jones. It turns out Jeff, when you don't have an ungodly, uh, weather situation going on in Buffalo, um, and you can actually, you know, throw the ball

in the air. It turns out the bills are a better team than the pats. So we learned that. Um, I know everyone was excited about a seven-game win streak for Belichick and Mack, but thank God Jared Allen smacked them around this weekend. So who are the real Pats? The seven-game win streak Pats or the two-game lose streak Pats

or just a team that barely makes the playoffs and loses in the first round? Other than their team has a rookie quarterback. Okay. It's that simple, right? They're going to have ups and downs. Like, would it surprise you if they were the five seed, played the Bengals and beat them in the playoffs?

No, 0% surprised. Right, right. But it would surprise you if they beat the Bills in the playoffs probably or they beat – who else would be the Titans? The Titans, yeah. So they are a good team with a young quarterback. The takeaway for me, though, is that Josh Allen, that Josh Allen can beat the Chiefs and win the AFC.

The problem is we haven't got that Josh Allen every week. And that Josh Allen has to play that way for three weeks in a row to win the AFC. This season, that feels unlikely. And their offensive line still has issues. Can they rush the passer consistently? But the Bills, I think, are the biggest threat to the Chiefs. All right.

Well, then you're calling him that, Josh Allen. Can you define a little bit more for me? What did he do on Sunday that looked right? The one who makes incredible throws on the run. The one who's extremely accurate. The one who's using his legs in the fourth down run. That was a complete Josh Allen game. There's some YOLO to that, throwing across his body,

some throws that maybe gets a better defense or whatever faster defense he can't quite make, but he made them against New England. That Josh Allen is indefensible. There's nothing you can do as a defense. He was great on Sunday. Yeah, no, he was great on Saturday, Sunday, Sunday.

Yeah. Yeah. No, he really was. And I think it's too late to put him back in the MVP conversation. You know, they got too many losses, but yeah,

I, I would be scared of them and them only if I were the chiefs at this point, I'm not all that scared to be honest. But, you know, they could drag you into like a 2320 kind of game and maybe sneak one out. But, you know, they could drag you into like a 23-20 kind of game and maybe sneak one out.

That would be really the only thing that I think the Chiefs have to worry about. I think we're done talking about the Ravens. Sorry, Ravens RIP. I'm glad to say we're probably done

with the Pats. I don't think we ever really got excited about the Titans. The only other AFC team that all these same take makers talk about, we don't like talking about them. We don't have to, right? You know where I'm going.

Look, there is... Gabe, I don't... They beat a good team. Yeah, they did. I don't understand. It really interests me. If you guys want to, at Jeff Schwartz, leave a... Send me a DM, send me a tweet,

Instagram as well, whatever you want to use, communicate with me. I don't care. Why do people root for Carson when it's to be something he's not? I don't get it, man. I mean, there is a reason, not for this podcast, but I just don't get it. There's almost nothing that tells you he's a good quarterback besides, oh, he's thrown 25 touchdowns and five interceptions.

All right, what about all the throws that he could have been intercepting? He threw six of them against the Patriots. They should have been intercepted. Like, I love how after this game, they beat Arizona. The Colts beat writers. A bunch of them tweeted out something like, for the first time all year, Carson went to one-us a game.

Week 16? Like, come on. That should tell you everything you need to know. No. No, they're not a threat in the playoffs. How many times have these rushing teams played Kansas City and not won playoff games? Browns, Titans, right? Bills.

Well, Bills, I guess, last season was a little different than this year. But teams that can control the line of scrimmage. It's not Titans, right? Bills. Well, Bills, I guess last season was a little different than this year. But teams that can control the line of scrimmage. It's not how you beat the Chiefs. It's not how you do it. All right. Well, good. I never had to say the quarterback's name or the team's name. And I think you and the audience both knew who we were talking about. So I'm glad we can move on from them. The only other team that's floating out there is the team that we're not bothering to watch this week uh this is out now after the saints and dolphins played and i am assuming that the dolphins stayed hot because they were playing against like the ninth string saints quarterback with ian book ian book ian book

notre dame quarterback who couldn't really make a roster who they got after drew breeze turned them down apparently so we're not expecting much from the saints no we're not and i was i don't want to look at over under oh that is right here number six yeah we'll get to who the saints called um to play the rest of the season in about 20 minutes oh i spoiled it a little bit by mentioning him already but okay so i other than the dolphins there really don't seem like any afc teams that could screw things up for the Chiefs. So they're red hot. The only team, Jeff, and this is where you get to gloat even more. The only team that might be hotter or at least opening eyes more than the Chiefs are the Cowboys.

They might have it this season because to my stupid fan eyes, defense and special teams have been carrying them more than the offense. We all knew their offense was good and actually they haven't played as great as we expected, but they're doing a lot of stuff right on defense and special teams, especially this week. They're at 11 and four. They're competing with the Packers for the one seed. I, uh, I don't know, man.

They got a tough couple of games to close out Cardinals and Eagles, but I think maybe a lot of people are starting to like them more than the Packers and Bucks. Crazy? All right. So let's talk about the Cowboys. And I've been on them all season, as you know. Yeah. If I told you, blind resume, okay, as you enter the playoffs, let's assume Teron Smith, their offensive tackle is healthy.

Yeah. So you have a top five offensive line. You have one of the best pass rushers in the NFL. You have a pass defense that's top 10 and you force a bunch of turnovers. You have three great weapons at wide receiver. You have two good running backs and you have a quarterback

that doesn't turn the ball over. You'd be like, I am, I'm in. Now, let's add in good Dak Prescott, healthy Dak Prescott. And that elevates them even higher, right? We talked about him. He's not been great. He was good yesterday, but again, that game plan was very, like,

short passes, long gains, right? Some good passes, but it wasn't like he was going downfield a bunch. So if the Cowboys, you know, if the Packers win this weekend, I think the Cowboys are pretty much out of the one seed. And so they might rest Dak in week 18, which will be good for him to get him ready to play in the wildcard round. The Cowboys are the only NFC team that can derail a Tampa Packers reunion in the NFC Championship game.

Okay. Could the Bucs, who are in the mix, could they be better on offense and worse on defense? And could that be the reason that they aren't the real competitor in the NFC? Levante David's out at least until the end of the regular season. Obviously, we know they have issues in the secondary. JPP, Shaq Barrett are out at the moment. I think they'll be back. Offensively, Godwin out for the season. Leonard Fournette on short-term IR as well.

He can return for the playoffs. Mike Evans is down. Gronk always up and down. The injuries are kind of piling up for them. That's a concern for the Bucs. Okay. Well, I mean, maybe that accounts for some of the difference in numbers. But, I mean, they've become the best offense in the league this year, and they were just a very good offense last year when they won.

But they were also a top-10 defense, and now they're sort of middle of the pack defensively. Yeah. And I don't know if the defensive side isn't really an injury thing. You're naming a lot of offensive players there without. They keep replacing those guys. The defense is what worries me. But eventually when you play better teams,

that does catch up to you. All right, fair enough. And then we get the, you know, staying in the NFC then, if you're starting to get really hot on, or you were always hot on the Cowboys, but if they're looking like they're healthier and more prepared, really, what about the Rams? I mean, you know, and we're going to talk about him

in over-under as well, but like, this is working with Stafford and Cooper cup. Like it just is. It's one of the best combos we've seen in many, many years. Um, Odell's there now he's playing. Okay. Like, are we sure the Rams aren't a thing? Did you see Matt Stafford's arm punt in the second quarter the other day? He's Matt Stafford. He's entitled to a few of those a year. He has three interceptions. Yeah, okay. Yeah, you're not winning a road game with three interceptions in the playoffs.

Sorry to let you know that. That's the problem. I mean, it's like Matt – I call him today Matt Goff on the radio. Like, looks like Goff half the time. Makes better throws than Goff a lot of times. But half the game looks like Goff from last season or a year before that. They're not winning because of him. He's never won a playoff game before.

I mean, he hasn't had many chances. Fair, but he's never won a playoff game before. I mean, it's a lot of faith to put in someone who's never won a playoff game. Okay. Well, I made a prediction before the season that we would have an L.A. team and an L.A. Super Bowl, and it's not looking like my Chargers. So the Rams are – It's certainly not like my Chargers. So the Rams are... It's still not your Chargers.

No, the Rams are our only hope, and they seem like maybe the fourth best team in the NFC. So I'm not going to bet on them either. All right, let's skip to a team that's from my hometown, but worse than all the teams we've discussed, and that's the Giants. They're terrible. And yet, reportedly, Coach Joe Judge's job is still safe.

Okay? This guy is 10 and 21 since taking over but apparently according to multiple reports he and the quarterback danny dimes will be back next year i guess ownership believes in them so this brings up a question i have for you and i and i think i'm speaking for a lot of fans when i ask this, why can't we fire these guys faster? What do we have to wait around so long and give certain coaches so many chances? He was hired for upside because he had some connection to Belichick. It hasn't come true. He's already fired his excuse, Jason Garrett. Okay, that wasn't the problem.

They've only gotten worse on offense. Like, what are we waiting for? Why isn't he gone? Why isn't Nagy gone? Why isn't Rule gone? It just seems like we're delaying the inevitable here. Yeah, so there's a new NFL rule this season where you can start, if you have an open job, you can start interviewing coaches today.

You used to have to wait until the end of the season. So there was a thought there might be some coaches let go today, Matt Nagy being one of them. Now the Bears went to Seattle and won. It's not going to be let go today. So let's talk about the Giants specifically. They don't want to fire Joe Judge because they don't want to look bad after firing now the third coach after two seasons.

So they're hoping and wanting and wishing Joe Judge will be something different next season, right? Okay, we have a new OC. We have a healthier team. He's going to be different, which he's not. You're right. You're shaking your head. He's absolutely not going to be. But that's where they're keeping him.

And the reason they announced it before the game Sunday was because they know they're getting their asses kicked in three straight weekends in the season. They're playing Jake Fromm and Mike Lenning and a beat-up team. And they got their ass kicked in the second half of that game against the Eagles. I don't know. I think they play, they're on the road this weekend somewhere, they're going to get their ass kicked this weekend. They're going to lose each

game down the stretch. That's why they're not firing him. Now, Gabe, I'm of the opinion that... They're at Bears and then home against Washington. The Bears are going to kick their ass. I'm telling you. The Giants are done, man. They're done.

Completely done. I know that look. I don't care. The Bears are favored by six. They're going to cover the six. I'm telling you. So there's so many things wrong with this because they're going to let,

are they going to let Joe Judge hire the new GM? Are they going to hire a new GM and then he has to stick with Joe Judge? Why is that? Then partnership never works. That never works, ever, ever. And if you don't think he's your guy, you got to cut bait with him. But he's a nice guy. He does, the players like him, like blah, blah, blah.

I'd rather have a prick who wins. Belichick is a douche. I said take that back. He's. The players like him. I'd rather have a prick who wins. Belichick is a douche. I said take that back. He's not a douche. He can be a little prickly. By the way, how about that lady in the press conference? Go get it. Who asked him about a New Year's resolution after losing to Buffalo.

And he gave a great Belichick answer, but also a very polite answer. Like, I thought he was going to lose it. He actually showed a tiny momentary sign of humanity. Yes, he did. When he didn't lose it on her. Yeah, so he's not a douche. He's just prickly. He's a little prickly.

Maybe douchey is the right word to use at times. Yeah, sure. But like, very prickly. I'd rather have that than win a bunch of football games than a nice guy who loses a bunch of football games. I don't see it with Judge. I never saw it with Judge. People are going to make the argument that Belichick started slow as a head coach

or so-and-so started slow as a head coach. But where is this like we're promised discipline and physicality and no turnovers and it's like not what his team is at all. I don't get it, buddy. I don't get it. Yeah, I mean just a couple years ago, the Giants job looked like the best job around because the Giants have this great history, you know, of being winners. They're obviously, you know, everyone's favorite team in town.

They have, they had money, they had cap space, they had draft picks. They went out and they got the quarterback and the coach. It looked like it could have been like the best possible situation to drop into for someone. And they've just squandered it. And I know people in New York are upset, but I guess I just, the new rules about interviewing with coaches are an interesting wrinkle here because it seems to me they should have fired him and competed for the right guy ASAP. And I don't really know maybe what owners or GMs are looking for in a coach these days, other than, hey, maybe this person who once sat in a meeting with Belichick or Andy Reid, maybe this guy will turn

out to be the next genius. Let's see if it happens. Like, it doesn't seem like there's much other recruiting strategy than that. where are just like the competent capable coaches who are probably going to win more games than they lose so honestly game there's not 32 good head coaches there never has been and people just grasp for straws and they'll try to find the right guy. They try to hit lightning in a bottle. I'm not sure. For example, I would hire Jim Caldwell in a heartbeat.

The dude won in Detroit. Jacksonville should hire him today. It should be done. He's not flashy. He's not cool. He wins football games. We overlook winning football games for flashy cool young bright colwell's a great coach hire jim colwell now now jacksonville yeah well i mean i i'm not

sure joe judge is flashy or sexy i mean he he was a nobody well no but but he worked for saban and belichick so that that's okay great he sharpened pencils well. There's other parts of this that I want to discuss, which are basically, do we, the fans, really understand the role of a head coach on game day? Because I was thinking about watching people we both like, Amina Kimes is who comes to mind, you know, calling out Cliff Kingsbury for some in-game decision making, right? Just stuff that with hindsight, it looks like bad decision making. Game management, he's not great at it, at least it seems. And I'm wondering, Jeff, because you know this better than anyone, like, do we just have the wrong understanding of what a head coach really is supposed to do? Like, isn't the job to delegate to a bunch of experts who run rooms of like dozens of people? shouldn't like shouldn't we reimagine what we think a head coach is supposed to do during the weekend on game day do we have it wrong so the way the game plan works all week and the way you prepare is you go over every situation right so you sit there in the meeting room and you're just game planning what's okay this is what we're

going to do for this this part of the going to do for this part of the game, this part of the game, this part of the game, this part of the game. What happens if they do this, that, blah, blah, blah. You go over scenarios. In two minutes, this on the clock, the ball's here. What are we doing? What are we doing? And so you have it all scripted out on your head.

You're talking to someone. But then during games, things happen, right? Personnel changes. The flow of a game is different. You panic. I'm not going to take a timeout here. What i do what do i do what do i do boom you act on your gut and in the end it all comes back to the head coach he's getting paid the big dollars it's his decision in the end so if analyst tells him hey coach go for it here and he goes no i won't kick a field goal it's on him right the end, he has to defend the decision.

So there are primary play callers that call plays. There are coaches like Joe Judge who don't call plays. John Harbaugh doesn't call plays. Bruce Aarons doesn't call plays. They're in charge of game management. That's the way it works. Well, all right. But I mean, I think about like my only experience that i might compare

is to being in a live control room making a tv show and being a producer with a headset on and you know being in charge of the rundown and being in the ear of multiple talent and several other producers watching about 50 screens communicating right to people right next to you but also people on your headset, thinking, thinking about all the various technical issues that could go wrong and all of that crap. And so, you know what you do? You give that person a back bench, right? There's a producer, but then there's also a coordinating producer who's just thinking about what's coming in the segment next or can say, I got it. Don't worry. Yeah. They have those coaches, but in the end though, you're still in charge of things, right? If they coordinate to you and you will do something different, that's on you because

you're a show. Yeah, that's right. That's how the NFL is. So you might have someone telling you, go for it. And you might be like, you know what? I'm going to kick a field goal. That's the way it works. All right. So you're saying that the work is distributed correctly. The delegation system works on game day. It's just some coaches make good calls and other coaches don't. Yes. That's what you're telling me. Yeah, it's just human nature, right?

Yeah, I guess. It seems like too much to juggle. I just look and I'm like, of course, like I watched a coach. Who was it? He turned his back on like a punt. He was just like, I'm done. The guy's punting. I'm thinking, of course, like I watched a coach. Who was it? He turned his back on like a punt. He was just like, I'm done. The guy's punting. I'm thinking about the next thing. And he was like walking away as the team punted and there was a penalty. It's probably Andy Reid.

I forgot who it was now. I think it was McVay actually. Andy Reid goes like after the, he's an offensive coordinator. He goes with Pat Mahomes. He sits on the bench with a wall of defense on the field. Yeah. And so that makes sense to me, though. But you could say, like, what's he doing? He doesn't even know what's going on in the game. It's like, no, no, no. But he also has Steve Spagnuolo, who's a former head coach,

calling the defense. Exactly. He's got coaches there that can help him. Yeah, and I mean, there's not that much you can do to fix the problem, even if it comes up. So, like, it seems to me. But what's he going to do on defense? Like, why does he need to be out there for?

What decision? There's no scenario other than, like like the defensive coordinator want to cover his butt by running it by the head coach. There's no reason that he's needed. I don't, but I don't think, I don't think spags ever has to run anything by Andy Reid. All right. Well, so, so we'll take a quick break here. And then this is my last question on the topic is all right. Then how much of a problem will it be? We talked about this yesterday on our college show, but talk about it with a little bit more info today nick saban trying to get ready for you know the playoffs without his coordinators in person like it seems like we're saying that the head coach can delegate all of that stuff but now he has basically no one to delegate it to that

that should be a problem well yeah i mean but save is not the offensive coach so it's not his problem per se i mean it's his team's problem right that that's the that's the concern i think for that i mean it's a problem of of really just you know preparation right like that that's the that's the issue is is do you prepare practice to make adjustments in practice the same way without your coach there it's not really about game delegation. To me, the game delegation, if you miss an OC, is not that big of a concern. I mean, you have someone else calling plays. It's a matter of how that game plan goes in and then the adjustments made with or without the coach there.

All right. Fair enough. Well, you made us a little smarter on some things that probably don't get covered on those take here shows this week. Congrats on your Chiefs. Let's take a quick break. We'll come back. We'll move the line.

We'll talk about Rogers, Burrow, your boy, Drew Brees, a few others. We'll do that in a second. All right, we're back. It's time to move the line. Jeff, a little over under game. First question over under 1% chance. Rogers beats Brady in the NFC Championship game. 1%.

Give me some hope. Over, like 1.5%. 1.5%. That's good. You're saying there's a chance. There is a chance, buddy. You teased earlier. I think you were referring to the Cowboys.

You teased that there was one team out there that you think could get over the Bucs. You sort of touched on this, but yeah. Okay, so you're just saying definitively of the teams not named Bucs, Cowboys are your favorite. Yes. Okay. Well, I hope that I'm a Cowboys fan. All of a sudden, it just happened. I want to see the Cowboys beat Tom Brady.

They look good. The Bucs. I mean, I know they weren't playing a very good team, but the Bucs looked very, very good this weekend. They did. They're playing the Bum Panthers. Yeah, who seem completely lost and their coach is another one who I'm not sure why he's still there.

Over under 2% chance the Dolphins win a playoff game should they find a way into the postseason. No. Offensive line, not good enough. They'll get dominated in the playoffs. Okay. I mean, it would be an unbelievably crazy streak for them

to make it all the way, though. So if they get there, having beaten who they would have had to beat to get there, you still would not sort of believe that they're on just some unprecedented hot streak? I wouldn't know. Okay. All right.

Well, I mean, we covered the AFC plenty early on, so I'm not going to beat that one to death. This one I'm interested in hearing your take on. Over under Borough MVP votes versus Cooper Cup MVP votes. Who's going to get more? So remember, MVP vote in game is one total vote. Yeah. So it's not a system where you vote for your tier of the guys, right?

That's right. Neither of them are going to get a ton of votes. I'm just saying. I want to know who might have more. I think neither of them get a vote. Neither gets a vote? Yeah. Nah, dude.

Cooper Cup's getting some votes. The vote getters are going to be Rodgers, Taylor, and either Mahomes or Brady. Rodgers, Taylor. Mahomes now sneaks in and gets some. Or Brady. Brady is still alive. I bet Rodgers gets 42 out of 50. Wow.

See, so I think, the reason I think it's going to get diluted is I think there's still enough kind of, I don't know what I would call it, frustration with Aaron Rodgers among... Yeah, but he's so far and a way the mvp right now that it's really hard to do that okay but i think there could be a few people who are like the same way in in hall of fame voting you know with your boy barry bonds people try to get pretty creative

and they're in their protest of voting for him for their stupid reasons they don't want to vote for him they pick like these rando guys just to like make a statement and i could see cooper cup getting some like i want to make a statement votes he's having an all-time year he is having an all-time season i think people will forget about his covid comments i have forgotten about his covid comments what were cooper cups covid oh i'm sorry that's hard to say wow do that i just did that just did that. Did you hear that? Cooper Cupp's COVID comments? No, sorry. Sorry about that. I was thinking about Rodgers.

Oh. Okay. I thought you were breaking news here. Cooper Cupp waited on COVID? Cooper Cupp has not made any comments about COVID. He's not getting one MVP vote, though. Okay, fair enough. Even though he's leading the league in receptions, receiving yards,

receiving touchdowns, and receiving yards per game. And, you know, granted granted he has an extra game, but he could break the record for most receiving yards in a season and most receptions in a season. You think none of that would get him a single vote? I do not think so. Again, if you're voting, if you're honestly voting for this, if you're honestly voting for this, if you're honestly voting for this, you get one vote. Are you voting for Rodgers or are you voting for Cup? Me? I don't know. It's a hard decision for me.

I think Aaron Rodgers has proven that he is more valuable to his team. However, I think it's hard to overlook what Cooper Cup has done and somebody out there will not. Do you know wide receivers never won the MVP before? Yeah, well, because usually any success they have is just given to their quarterback. How bad do you feel that a kicker has won the MVP, but not a...

Right, that's insane. How did a kicker win the MVP? This feels impossible. It's a weird stat that someone pulled up in the last couple of weeks, and I hate it, and I don't want to talk about it because kickers are stupid and shouldn't exist. But how that – what happened – okay, 1982.

So he was 20 of 21. He made 19 of 16 extra points. What is so good about that? Buddy, I don't know. You're asking me to figure out why a kicker won MVP almost 40 years ago. I mean, you know, thank God they fixed whatever allowed for that to happen. Imagine watching football where the kicker was somebody people had heard of and was winning an MVP.

How boring would that be? And he isn't even lights out. The kickers are better now. Dan Fouts was the runner up. He threw for 2,800 yards. Yeah. This is the silliest. All right. Well, let

me ask you this. Guy who should be in the, I guess, in the rookie of the year conversation? He won't be, of course, but he's had a nice little run in the last couple of weeks uh so over under 50 chance davis mills is the texans week one starter at quarterback next season they're keeping him and going with him oh yeah watson's gone yep so we think watson's gone and mills has enough right. Obviously, you know, win over the Chargers this week.

He's putting up some points. Why couldn't he be the guy, right? I mean, he had a nice college career. He's the third round draft pick on a team with a bum roster. Let's see them build a roster around him and see what happens. That's what they're going to think. Yeah, and do you think it'll work out? Probably not.

No, probably not. But guys drafted much later than him have had a hell of a career so if he gets the right coordinator and the right weapons some quarterbacks not a lot no not many but i'm just saying like he has a chance all right odds that jeff asked santa for the fattening uh it was an all-time weekend for fat guys jeff mary thickness it was a day of historic proportions for offensive linemen three offensive linemen cut touchdown passes yeah including buddy lane johnson it was a great day for the offensive linemen of the National Football League. It really was. So over under 80% chance, Santa played offensive line in college up at the North Pole.

Oh, 100% chance. Yeah, 100% chance. He respects the big men. How was your Christmas? Was it good? Yeah, it was good. It was extremely overwhelming and tiring. And there's more gifts than you ever think any kids need.

And they like the weirdest crap you spend so much money and time on certain things then my son gets a headlamp oh they love love it he's obsessed he get a headlamp and some goggles you wear in the pool and he thinks he's been scuba diving for two days straight he's obsessed yeah well it's like 30 bucks maximum you you know? We got COVID for Christmas, so that's how things are going in the Schwartz household. The kids had fun though.

Make me feel like an asshole. Like I should have asked, and how are you doing, Jeff? And you dropped the COVID thing on us. No, but I mean, Christmas was, besides my wife taking the tree out immediately on Christmas morning, it was fun for us. It was fun for us.

It was fun for us. Yeah, the kids like just weird stuff sometimes, man. It's wild. Did you suffer any new injuries helping with the tree? No, my wife does the whole tree. I know she does, but you were... No, I didn't suffer any injuries.

So the reason I post that video every year is because it's funny, but two, do you see some of the comments and people get really, really worked up that we take the tree out on Christmas? Yeah. It feels a little grinchy.

It is grinchy. My favorite comment was about Fox News when it was going to feature me on the war on Christmas. Yeah. The Jewish family that has a tree out

for a month, the war on Christmas. That'd be really funny. So my wife does the same thing for Hanukkah, for Thanksgiving. We take decorations down like night of, man. That's what she is. You know what's funny? Your wife actually inspired me.

You know what I cleaned up yesterday? What'd you do? Got rid of our pumpkins from Halloween. You haven't rotted yet? No, man. I don't know what it is about living in LA. I thought they would have rotted weeks ago. They were sitting there. They haven't rotted yet? No, man. I don't know what it is about living in LA. I thought they would have rotted weeks ago. They were sitting there. They were fine.

I probably could have cut it open and eaten it. Gabe, it's been two months. Yeah. Did not look even a little bit rotten. So when's your Christmas tree going to come down? Don't have a Christmas tree this year. Not even a fake one? Nope. Didn't do it. We had a little, almost like dr seuss

looking one but nothing you can even put a present under oh okay but yeah the pumpkins lasted till the end of the year i they would have been fine into january i'm sure of it and after driving rainstorms nothing could stop these pumpkins that's incredible that's impressive wherever you got those from they need to know that. Long-lasting pumpkins. All right, speaking of long-lasting here, last over-under from me. Over-under two and a half more teams that will call Drew Brees

and beg him to come play for them down the stretch. So the Saints call Drew Brees and Phillip Rivers, and Drew Brees supposedly sent them back a picture of himself golfing and said no. Would he have to lose all his hair then if he goes back to playing football? Yeah, I don't know how that works. So I would say, I mean,

between now and then a season, none, but I think in the offseason teams will call him. And do you think there's any chance he would hear the calls? No. What if, okay, just, this seems crazy and even I am not necessarily rooting for this, but let's say between the NFC Championship game and the Super Bowl.

I knew you were going to say this. Tom Brady gets hurt. Yeah. Yeah. Tom Brady gets hurt. Or Chiefs or Rodgers or something. Like a team with at least a 50% chance of winning the game. It's like we have nobody.

Call Breeze. What if there's a COVID issue? Yeah. And the Chiefs need Drew Breeze. Because covet issue yeah uh and the chiefs need drew breeze because honestly like wouldn't the chiefs so i'm i'm convinced you tell me i'm wrong once we get to the the super bowl matchup all the testing all that stuff's thrown out like these guys are going to play absolutely no matter what and the league will probably make it are you allowed to sign players in the playoffs i'm not 100 sure how that works you're the one who's supposed to tell me that stuff but what would they rather do in the super

bowl play chad henney or whoever the hell the backup is now it's jenny i think yeah or sign drew breeze sign drew breeze 100 right it'd be a way cooler story that'd be the greatest ringer story ever dude yeah like just like join the chiefs, get two weeks to prepare, and go out and win the Super Bowl. I was thinking, a real question here. Didn't the price for backup quarterbacks, since COVID isn't going anywhere, I mean, honestly, by next September, we may still be dealing with COVID protocols in the NFL.

Did the price of backup quarterbacks go up? You're going to need to carry at least two good guys, aren't you? No, they didn't go up. But will say nick foals beating seattle gave him two more years of contracts 100 i mean he keeps on just barely staying relevant and i don't know i would i feel like i've never wanted to see a more competent backup than i did the last couple of weeks watching some of these guys go out there like completely not at NFL levels is infuriating. The problem is, Gabe, is you can say that, but there are only so many competent backups.

Like when you're a third string quarterback, there's no competent third string quarterback. No, I mean, you got a few teams who you can learn that from. But I mean, that's why having a second guy who's actually as good as some of the starters out there seems like the most important thing if he was that good he'd be starting somewhere yeah okay all right jeff well listen you got a betting show to handle later this week we've got two amazing college football games to watch we're rooting for cincy or at least i am

uh and then we get the final two weeks of the nfl season so busy time of year it is i'm glad you guys were able to join us for power by the varsity podcast network and i'll And then we get the final two weeks of the NFL season. So a busy time of year. It is. I'm glad you guys were able to join us. We're powered by the Varsity Podcast Network. And I'll catch you guys on Thursday. Another winning week. We're climbing out of it. Slowly but surely.

We'll talk to you guys in a couple days. Take care, everybody.