Geoff Schwartz Is Smarter Than You - Mahomes' Injury, Hurts is Here, and What to Do About Dak

Episode Date: January 25, 2023

Geoff and Gabe are back to break down all the action from Divisional Weekend, plus take a look ahead at the matchups in the AFC and NFC conference championship, starting with how Patrick Mahomes' ankle injury affects the Chiefs outlook against the Bengals. Also, Gabe and LeBron are tired of people disrespecting Jalen Hurts, and Geoff doesn't think the Cowboys should move on from Dak Prescott quite yet.This week on Moving the Line, Geoff predicts Joe Burrow's 2023 MVP odds, Gabe tells the Niners what to do with Trey Lance, and the boys decide to kill Hank.As always, leave a comment or rating to show what you think of the pod, and tweet @geoffschwartz if you think Hank should be spared! (please)See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

I'm Jeff Schwartz alongside Gabe Goodwin. This is Jeff Schwartz of Smiring You, powered by the Varsity Podcast Network. Divisional round is in the books. We only have three NFL games left, four NFL teams, three repeat teams coming to the conference championship weekend, one new team. Gabe, a lot to react to. Some teams we expected.

Some teams failed this weekend to maybe feel more than they should have lost a ponder heading into the offseason for those teams a lot to celebrate for the teams that are still around how are you doing unfortunately i can't make fun of you this weekend there was no like jets or chargers or usc issues none of your favorite players stunk this weekend i'm sorry yeah you're right i uh i take no blame for any of the teams that lost this weekend uh that's the first weekend in a very long time where that's the case although i got some bets wrong but that's oh that that i did nail i will say i'm not always right about games of course i by the way please leave us reviews we do read them someone left us a review

the last review we got said he's not the best at picking games he also is not bad enough to fade i was like that's oh perfect perfect definition what we do here right like you said just listen for fun thank you but i nailed the giants eagles game that might have been my best prediction the entire season i called that one um but uh yeah it was uh it was a good gambling weekend for for me and hopefully we have more moving forward um let's get right into it yeah man the chiefs so you know you're mr chief and your team is there uh but i mean this is like a major major scare week because obviously pat's ankle is the biggest story in all of sports right now so he got it taped up and god only knows what else they did to him and got him back out on the field.

He finished the game, but very obviously was hurt. Now he's only got a week to get ready for the only quarterback that the NFL media agrees could rival him in Joe Burrow. One and a half point favorite at home, which to me says the experts kind of basically are saying the Bengals are the better team what are you feeling today watching Pat limp around this weekend well so much to get to um well look at it I mean the Bengals are the better team right they beat him three straight times yeah uh I said entering the playoffs i i wrote for fox sports the bangles were the best bet to win the super bowl heading into the postseason they were plus 800 i was shocked to see that number they were the best team the afc i thought and they proved it again

on sunday what they could do to a good buffalo team we'll get into buffalo's failures i would imagine in a little bit here no it's not going to come up what it's not going to come up. What? It's not going to come up? No? We're just going to skip over? We're just going to skip over talking about the Bills. So, yeah, the Chiefs absolutely have to worry about the Bengals, who they cannot figure out. And I have said this for the longest time.

What makes the Bengals so good is they don't make mistakes. And the Chiefs have lost the last three games to them when they've had a 75% win expectancy at some point in the fourth quarter. So they've been up in the fourth quarter at a point to win the game and can't close the game because they fumbled the ball, a turnover, a third down stop, can't get the Bengals off the field.

The Bengals make more plays. They don't make crippling mistakes. They don't have issues. Now you add in Paton Holmes' ankle. Look, I thought he broke his leg. I was texting around. It looked like he broke his ankle because when you sprain your ankle typically, a couple plays in, you feel a little bit better.

It looked bad, right? And then his reaction on the sidelines when they told him to go back to get an X-ray, I tweeted at the time, hey, like that, he knows. If he goes back there, he's not coming back out. He did come back out. Right. He did come back out and took him about a quarter. The third quarter wasn't great. And then he started feeling better in the fourth quarter and played fine.

I think, Gabe, he will play like he did in the fourth quarter. He will be fine. Now, will he be as mobile? No. Will they be able to run the ball with him as much? No. But the Chiefs have a week to figure out offense without that being the case. But the Bengals know that as well.

And the Chiefs have to know that. The Chiefs have to know the Bengals understand that they're going to try to throw the ball quickly, get the ball out quickly. What wrinkles do you have in your game plan? The first game they played, they did not have a good... Mahomes just didn't play his best game put it like that and they really need to make sure they're buttoned up and they have a game plan ready to go very quickly i didn't my thing's not recording does it matter we're recording on this end right

should i start my record now well um first of all i'm gonna say we're leaving this in of course yeah why don't you hit record now? Okay. That's five minutes into the podcast. Uh, that would be, no, it was, it was what? That's weird.

It was recording, but it was never actually recording. Oh, huh. Okay. Kind of like the bills defense. They were there, but were they,

we don't know. Huh? Huh? This, as you guys can tell, if you're listening, um, recorded as live, even though not live. this is being recorded monday okay well now it's actually now it's actually recording

so we're back we're good to go just like pat we basically had a brief moment yeah we weren't sure we figured it out we're back so they they have to the chiefs will have to understand obviously the bangles know this right the bangles have done a great job of game putting the Chiefs will have to understand, obviously, the Bengals know this. And the Bengals have done a great job of game-putting the Chiefs' offense. Now, the part that's so fun about this game game is that the Chiefs are one of the only teams in the NFL that play the regular season for Sunday. That's all they play it for, is to play the game on Sunday. And they play well against Jacksonville. They play the regular season for the playoffs. That's all they played for is to play the game on Sunday. And they play well against Jacksonville. As far as like, they play the regular season for the playoffs. That's all they care about.

Like they just care to play the game on Sunday against the Bengals. And so everything they did this off season was to prepare to play Buffalo or Cincinnati most likely in this game on Sunday. So we will, in my opinion, we'll see the best of the Chiefs and the Bengals. Again, not discredited at all what the Bengals can do on Sunday. So I can't wait. Chiefs are at home. I'm glad the neutral site thing got shot straight to the moon. I think that's so stupid.

The NFL, do not play neutral site games, please, in the conference championship game. And man, look, the Bengals played so well in Buffalo, man. I'm watching that film back right now. And the Bengals kicked their ass. Like the Bengals had three backup offensive linemen. I can give you an explanation. I can do the best I can. But most of the time, if I tell you your favorite team is missing three starting offensive linemen,

you're like, oh, we're screwed. F this. We can't move the ball at all. Doesn't matter for the Bengals. Does not matter. They even looked better without the starting offensive linemen. Joe Burrow's good. We know that. No question now. No question's asked. He's either 1B or 2 in nfl for quarterbacks right it's pat mahomes joe burrow um or joe burrow pat mahomes however you want to list i think pat's

slightly better does not knock on joe burrow but 1a 1b there's no doubt about that now the ball got out quickly against buffalo and they won the line script say out physical buffalo buffalo is an outdoor team that plays like a dome team. Like, they get bullied up front, man. Gabe, they were in the NFC Championship game three years ago now. Do you feel good? If you're a Buffalo fan right now, do you feel like you're close to that again? You can't, right?

You can't feel that way right now. You have not drafted a Pro bowler in four seasons. You're getting bullied in the offensive defensive line at home in a snow game. You look slow on the field. You let a backup offensive line push you around. I saw the stat. They ran the ball 14 times out of shotgun in this game

for one total yard. You got punked at home by the Bengals, which is, I mean, the Bengals, which is, I mean, the Bengals played well, but again, but Buffalo's got to figure things out right now. And the Bengals are coming in this game.

He's Kansas city, man. They are the best team in the AFC until the chiefs can beat them. Hands down. Come from a chiefs fan. And so the chiefs can beat them. The Bengals are the top dog in the AFC. Okay.

A few things to pull on there. But first let's start by going back to Pat for a second. So I thought it was interesting what you just said. In the back of their minds all season long, they were preparing for or thinking about this coming Sunday. Whether it was the Bills likely or the, excuse me, the Bengals likeliest or the Bills also likely, this was always on their mind, which means what?

Any free time, any extra film, anything they could put into this, 5% a week was about this game. Is that fair to say? I think so, yeah. I think every time it's like, I don't want to work out today or I just need some motivation. It's like, well, the Bengals came, kicked our ass in the second half of the AFC Championship game.

Okay. So it wasn't like a divisional rival. It wasn't the Chargers. We got Chargers in two weeks. It was we want to play the Bengals in the AFC Championship game. We got to do that. All right. So then let me ask you this.

How does that in practical terms affect practice this week, specifically knowing that Patrick Mahomes probably can't do much? I don't know a lot about this. You do. Ankles are your thing. What the heck can he do and what should they focus on this week? A couple things. Was not going to practice probably at all. I would imagine they play Sunday.

I would imagine he practices. I would imagine they want him to get out there a little bit on Thursday if they can. Now, this time of year, the Chiefs don't practice very ton. I would imagine they want him to get out there a little bit on Thursday if they can. Now, this time of year, the Chiefs don't practice very much. A lot of it is more of a walkthrough. They're not putting pads on this time of year. I would imagine Thursday, they hope he's out there for some part of practice, right? Friday, of course, on Friday, a little bit on Friday, and then Sunday. So the game plan is going to be a get the ball out quick game plan. I'd imagine. But they know the Bengals know that as well.

So they have to have everything in place. Look, they had the full game plan in place with Pat playing the second half of that game. Nothing changed. He was limping his ass out to hand the ball off on those wide zone plays. So I'd imagine most of the game plan is still in. They called an option play where Pat was supposed to run the football in the second half of that game. He pitched it pretty quickly. But the full game plan is still in they they ran they called a an option play where pat was supposed to run the football in the second half of that game he pitched it pretty quickly but the full game plan

was in i would imagine the full game plan is in again and they know the bangles know that the ball must be out quickly you know there's two schools of thought here right there's a school of thought where um with a bum quarterback like pat that you, right? You just bring a ton of pressure and you try to hit him. And the other school of thought, you just sit back in zone and you make sure no one's open. I kind of like number two.

So I feel like number one, if you pressure Pat, you leave more one-on-ones. The ball's out quickly. I think what you want to do is drop Aiden to coverage and make him have to sit in the pocket and bounce off that ankle

and move around a little bit and try to bounce off that ankle and move around a little bit and try to find who's open and scramble a little bit and constrict that pocket slowly, slowly, slowly. We saw the drop eight has worked. It's interesting. The Chet Henney drive, the Chiefs ran the ball, traditionally ran the ball really well in that drive. Like, guys, you can run the ball 30 times against the Bengals.

It's okay. You can run the football. You've done it well when you've had to run the football before. And so I wonder how much Andy Reid puts in the game plan some more traditional run concepts and whatnot. I'm very curious what they do. We know what the Bengals are going to do. What makes the Bengals impressive offensively is they're no longer just taking deep shots.

Like last year, and the reason why people called their offense fluky last year is because it was a lot of, let's just find Jamar Chase downfield and see if he can catch the ball. That's not their offense this season. It's not. They are a very under control offense, taking what's there, trying to find the running back underneath if he's open. because of that they're very hard to stop um but if their offensive line doesn't play Chris Jones I mean the Chiefs have advantages they just haven't been able to tackle

Joe Burrow in three games like all these things that you traditionally say, okay, Chris Jones against the Bengals' offensive line, check. Check to the Chiefs, but it hasn't mattered. It's befuddling, dude, how this offensive line has not mattered.

It's wild to me. It's crazy. It was a pre-written narrative last year, and this year it seems like it's going the other way. year. And it was a pre-written narrative last year. And this year, it seems like it's going the other way. So let me risk something here, because I think you yourself tweeted you didn't want to jinx it. The defense in Kansas City has looked pretty good. Well, it's played better.

All right, you're willing to go as far as better. It's become a little stoke. Okay. They played a ton of rookies this season. They played four rookie defensive backs at points this season. They have a rookie defensive end as well. And they're playing better. They're absolutely playing better.

They're tackling better too, which is hugely important. It is crazy when you watch like the Niners and Eagles play defense and just a tackling the Bengals, like tackling is so important. It's, you know, Gabe, a second and eight becomes a third and four when you tackle someone know Gabe a second and eight becomes a third and

four when you tackle someone instead of a first and ten or a third and one like just get the guy down get him down and the Chiefs are tackling so much better now look the first game they put against the Bengals the defense wasn't that bad they sat back in the soft zone said look we're not gonna let you kill us and they didn't now they had the boy dropped the touchdown pass wasn't great and the Chiefs to get lucky with the Christian Kirk drop pass from Jacksonville as well in that playoff game. But the Chiefs defense is playing a little bit better. The problem with them is their special teams is so bad.

It's ranked 32nd in the NFL. And it's a clear problem that Kansas City has. It almost cost them with Jacksonville. It might cost them this weekend. Okay. You seem like you're doing a lot of hedging here, Jeff. I don't know if this is like a reverse jinx. Hedging what?

No. I don't know. You picked the Bills at one point this season. Yeah, I feel like you're playing some mind games. The Chiefs this season have put a lot of young guys on the defense. They swapped out tyreek hill like they're i don't think they thought they would be at this point realistically thought they'd be at this point okay hey can you explain whether or not cadarious tony is good he played well last week he played well against jacksonville didn't he i thought so but i can't tell if they're

like he they're treating him like their Debo. He's not their Tyreek. I don't quite know if he's like a luxury item or a real part of their offense. He had one rush for 14 yards and five catches for 36 yards. I thought he played pretty well. Travis Kelsey had 14 receptions and the rest of the team had 13. No, I mean, well, that was the last thing i wanted to ask you about was kelsey so it seems to me that the more under pressure the more difficult the situation and obviously playing

against a very good team in the afc championship with a hurt quarterback is kind of as pressurized as it gets the more it feels like that the more the playbook starts to become i don't know travis find some space yes so if the bangles know that how do they counter that we all know that's coming yeah well the bangles have done a good job of doubling travis kelsey um at times when they played each other um so look obviously So, look, obviously, if you know where he'll line up, that's helpful. But the Chiefs do a really good job of moving Travis Kelsey around every step. Also, they put him in motion a bunch. And when you move him in motion, it's hard to double him because then it changes who – if you move him in motion,

it changes who doubles him. And then if someone screws up, either he's singled or someone else might get open because you screwed up the coverage and that's what they do so well and i was watching film today it's so much fun to watch travis kelsey because dude he does his own thing a lot of the time it feels like and it's so much fun to watch because you can tell when it's a call route pat like hits him right away but there's the other times when pat's looking at his first option second oh shit okay let me find travis now and travis is just like weaving in and out of the defense finding a hole sits sits in the zone and makes a catch and so

even if you're doubled or tripled man travis is able to find those little areas that are that just those little pockets with defense is soft soft. It might not matter. I am a little bit worried about the Chiefs still don't have a real reliable wide receiver. And this is a game where that would be helpful to have. Yeah. Yeah. You mean Eli Apple isn't going to lock someone down? No. That's the one thing Apple isn't going to lock someone down? No. That's the one thing they don't have in this game.

Like, they don't have – when I was watching the Jacksonville game, I wasn't like – and it might be Kadarius Toney. He's just – they don't let him do a lot of the route stuff yet. A lot of that. So they don't have a guy that's like, hey, man, it's open i trust you they don't have that guy right now it was obviously tyreek hill for so many years yeah you know who has that guy but doesn't necessarily use him in the right moments the cowboys with cd lamb yet yet when it really matters they can't seem to find him or really anyone who's going to stay in bounds

or catch the ball. What a disaster the end of that Cowboys Niners game was. Let's just say the Niners are a pretty good team and probably a lot of people's Super Bowl contender all season long, but the Niners basically blew that game, right? And now they have to have some very serious conversations, just like the Bills are having about, about we're pretty good but if we don't kind of blow this up we're never going to be good enough isn't that kind of where things are for the cowboys so cowboys is they're in a spot where you hate to sort of be in if you're an fl team which is you're good but not good enough right like the cowboys it wasn't as striking this weekend watching even like Trevor Lawrence compared to Dak Prescott.

And the Niner's defense is really good. Don't get me wrong. They're not the Chiefs defense. But when you watched Pat Mahomes and Burrow and Allen and Lawrence and Jalen Hurts and then watched Dak Prescott, it was like, eh, not the same guy, right? And it's one game against a good team on the road. I get it.

But not the same guy. There was a play that Dan Arlovsky broke down when they threw to CeeDee Lamb on a four-verts concept where Fred Warner made a nice play. And T.Y. Hilton's wide open. And it's like the league quarterbacks were just thrown to the wide open guy, but he tried to force the ball to CeeDee Lamb. And it's like the league quarterbacks were just thrown to the wide open guy, but he tried to force the ball to CeeDee Lamb. It's plays

like that. You're like, Dak, just take the easy throw, man. And the Cowboys are in a terrible spot. They paid him, right? And you're not firing McCarthy. What are you going to get rid of McCarthy for? What are you going to get Kelly Moore for? They've done a good job, but they're not good.

They're just not good enough as constructed to win a Super Bowl with Dak Prescott right now. It's just not the way it is. And then you look at the way that game ended, and there's a couple moments that let you know they're not as buttoned up as they should be. Dalton Schultz catches the pass, and you have to be going up the field as you go out of bounds, or at least horizontally.

Still trying to gain yardage. Still trying to gain yardage to be ruled out of bounds with the clock stopping. Correct. If you're going backwards, it's not all the time, but if you're going backwards and they run the clock, Dalton Schultz is like, stop moving. The clock's still running. Then they throw him another pass. He just doesn't get a second foot down. Like, what are you doing, buddy?

Inexcusable. Inexcusable. So you cost your team like 30 seconds right there. However many times that was. And yards. And then that final play of the game

was such a perfect Cowboys play. You spend all that time working on that dumb play and then it lasts all of three milliseconds before you get tackled and it's over. It just sums up the Cowboys perfectly. Defense was good. You know, Tony Pollard getting hurt did not help their offense.

But Dak is just good, not great. Or he's above average, not elite. That's the difference right now. And without Dak Prescott being elite, the Cowboys are kind of stuck right now. They can't move on because he makes too much money. And who are you going to move on to? That's the issue. He just won, you know, what, 11, 12 games?

He's not terrible. But is he good enough to beat Patrick Mahomes? Is he good enough to beat Joe Burrow? Is he good enough to beat Jalen Hurts? Now, the thing that's worth pointing out in the NFC versus the AFC, right, is the NFC has these two teams in Philly and the Niners that are so well-rounded, they're built in the trenches, right, off of the defensive line. The Niners' are so well-rounded, they're built in the trenches, right? Offensive, defensive lines, the Niners offensive line

is honestly like Trent Williams and four dudes. Nonetheless, they're built on this physicality and the quarterback that kind of not is... Brock Perry's long for the ride. Jalen Hurts is part of the ride. But like Dak would do fine on those teams. He'd be absolutely fine on those teams

with those play callers and those offenses. Do fine on those teams. He'd be absolutely fine on those teams with those play callers and those offenses. Do fine on those. But in the offense he's in now, with the Cowboys, he's not that guy. He can't be that guy. So you either have to change the offense for him or just accept this is what you are.

Maybe one year you get lightning in a bottle and you hit it and you... But he's not beating... Even if they won this, even if they beat, they won this game 13, 12, they're not, they weren't being Philly next weekend.

This is kind of the max of what you, what you have for the Cowboys. All that being said. And as we on Monday hear a lot from Jerry Jones and see that Cowboys own account, basically throwing Dak under the bus, go check that out on Twitter. It's just stupid.

Is there a possibility? I'm not being tinfoil hat guy here. I'm genuinely asking this question. Is there a possibility that they are planting seeds to change quarterback and coach? And could the solution be what Miami couldn't pull off? Could it be Tom Brady and Sean Payton? The two biggest names available come to dallas even if they don't get further than they did this year

jerry jones is probably happy with those two guys as his guys now i i don't think you can take the risk of tom brady for d. But why is it a risk? You're a playoff team again. And then because like if because Dak is not a bad enough to take that risk. That's why. Like if you're the Raiders or the Jets or what other teams that like the Niners that

Dak is not bad enough to be like, see you later, buddy. We're bringing in one year of Tom Brady. He is not bad enough to be like, see you later, buddy. We're bringing in one year of Tom Brady. He's not that bad. That's different than Brock Purdy is not ready for the moment type of thing or the Raiders or the Jets needing a quarterback.

I wouldn't know. No. I tweeted this. I want to just bounce it off you. Tell me where you have edits. All right. Let me throw it. I tweeted this. I want to just bounce it off you. Tell me where you have edits. This is my quarterback rankings right now. Mahomes, then a nice little space before Burrow, Herbert, Allen, one-legged Mahomes, then a little space, Trevor Lawrence, Lamar Jackson, Jalen Hurts, Brock Purdy, Kirk Cousins, Aaron

Rogers, Dak, and Tua. You want to argue with any of that? That sounds about right. And then Carr, Dimes, Geno, Brady, Kyler, Russ, and everyone else. I mean, I think there is an upper tier that is probably Burrow, Mahomes right now. And then there's a tier two of Allen. So you think that's where the break is, though? You're saying Burrow is at the pat level.

Oh, yeah. And then it's a drop. Not the other way around. Yeah. Allen this year, man, he regressed back half of the season. Blame the elbow all you want, but there was something missing from this Bills offense.

He turned the ball over a lot, too. There's something missing. And maybe it's Brian Dable not being the ball over a lot too. There's something missing. And maybe it's Brian Dable not being there. I don't know. But something's missing. Again, the Bills were the AFC Championship game three years ago in 2020. They don't feel close to being back to that game. Well, I mean, I think I texted the group chat this, but let me ask you that.

Brian Dable. Brian Dayball. So sorry, let's have like a continuum, like a line, right? So there's Daniel Jones with whoever the hell the Giants coordinator or coach would be. That's crap. Then there's Josh Allen without Brian Dayball. Then there's Daniel Jones with Brian Dayball. And then there's Josh Allen with Brian Dayball. Right?

Like that's kind of the power ranking there. But Brian Dayball is the thing that makes you good. Presumably. It seems that way. Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. But I'll tell you what though.

All these people that want to annoy Daniel Jones. A $40 million quarterback. He's still paying him $40 million after this past weekend. Like the Giants finally played a really good team and got freaking smoked like and I told you this is gonna happen but can we slow down the Daniel Jones hype train now like you put a really good team for once like it's like pull back a little bit guys Daniel Jones is what he is I get it but the the thing about the playoffs is it's very clear to see where the talent is and where it's not. And Daniel Jones is not even a Dak Prescott.

And Dak Prescott struggled in the postseason against the Niners. So Daniel Jones has a long way to go to even be up to Dak Prescott. Okay, so then let's go right into that game. I have this problem. This is my own weird bias here. I perceive people to write off guys like Jalen Hurts because they want to sound smart around the draft, right? So even though this guy has only ever won

and has seemingly all the tools and looks like a great dude, no, it's too simple. We got to outthink this one. We got to find some guy from North Dakota State or something to convince ourselves he's better than a proven winner with all the physical tools. So we all act surprised that Jalen Hurts is going to an NFC championship game after another great year statistically. Why do we do this, Jeff? Shouldn't it be obvious that Jalen Hurts is pretty damn good and with a good roster is very good? Oh, yeah.

He's yeah, he's very good. this uncomfortableness, this uncomfortable way, or this feeling of, like, ick, when they talk about a system a quarterback is in and how that affects the way they play, right? So there are quarterbacks that we think don't need a system to be good, right? Like, let's use Mahomes and Burrow. They're going to be good wherever they play. Build a system around them. Wherever they play, right?

Like, if you take Jalen Hurts and you put him in a different offense, you put him in the Cowboys offense. Let's just say the Cowboys offense. Is he better than Dak Prescott or is he the same sort of player? I'd argue he's about the same. Sure. I don't have a lot of basis for this, but a lot of fans like me would say better.

You think he'd be better than Dak Prescott? I think he's, well, maybe because he just has less tread on the tires. I think he's more mobile. I think he would run better. I think he would run the ball more than Dak does. But I think passing-wise, he'd be about the same. But I think that the guys in the huddle,

you've talked me into this. Look at Jalen Hurts and go, you're going to win. No, but I'm talking about him and the Eagles. I'm talking about how we talk about quarterbacks and why the conversation always stinks. Because in Philly, in this offense, with this team, he is great. He is really good in this offense. He's really good.

The system you're playing is very important to how we judge you. That's part of football. It's okay to say Jalen Hurts is really good with the Eagles, but not as good as Pat Mahomes or Joe Burrow. That's fine to say. But people are uncomfortable with that. Someone has to always be better than someone else for them to be validated.

Jalen Hunter's a really good quarterback on a great football team. Now, is he the best player in the NFL? Is he the MVP? I don't think so. Is he a Hall of Fame talent? I don't know. But like, he's good game right now with the Eagles. He looked good this weekend with the Eagles.

I think he'll play well against the Niners next weekend with the Eagles. He's good right now. I did not understand, and you go back and listen last week. I said this. I didn't understand why people were picking the Giants. It made no sense to me whatsoever. And J.H. Hart's proved me right. They looked really good now.

The same problem existed, though. They didn't play as well in the second half. They played really well in the first half and just kind of existed in the second half. And that will become a problem against the Niners. But, Gilligan, for the people that do not think Jalen Hurts is as good as he gets credit for, guess what? You'll find out Sunday.

The Niners defense will tell you whether or not jalen hurts as good as we think he is yeah i guess lebron summed it up for me this is this is my take this is lebron's tweet yeah like they were saying anybody would look great at quarterback for the eagles yeah okay haters man jalen hurts is special clowns like this is not the first guy who this has happened yeah but but i just look man to me we were arguing about something over text message earlier i'm not gonna bring that up because it's so freaking stupid at no point and my point in text message was like i why do we care why do we care why do i care about that right why do we care? Why do we care? Why do I care about that, right? Why do I care where, if Jalen Hurts is this, like, why do we care?

Like, who, like, why does LeBron care? Like, just watch him play good football. Like, I don't, like, the need to always rank quarterbacks, the need to always say, like, this, I saw people talking today, well, Joe Burrows better than Pat Mahomesomes why can't they both be really good why can't jalen hurts just be good in exist in where he is like i don't know why we have to do that all the time now i know it's our job to make lists and it drives ratings i get all that i'm in the business i get lists are great for for business game you know that i know that. I know that. It's fantastic. But why can't Jalen Hurts just exist in where he's at?

And we can say, Jalen Hurts, you're doing a great job this season, man. You're playing some good football. But we can also say that Pat Mahomes is really good too. And Joe Burrow is really good. And I don't know why there has to be this and or, or LeBron has to come caping for Jalen Hurts. Like, I don't get it, Gabe. It just doesn't make sense to me.

I don't have the energy to do that. I like that it frustrates you. I'll give you not, this is not to be a troll. I'm going to give you the real answer why I think we get caught in these little rabbit holes. Because every single year, as soon as the Super Bowl ends,

we dedicate two, three months to talking about the future quarterbacks in the league. And we bring in experts and we analyze what they've done. the experts just kind of decide like in our political system some people are electable some people are at that level and other people are not and it's based on i don't know what because we we act like it's some miracle that brock purdy is good at football all he ever did was succeed and win with the tools around him that's all he's ever done and as soon as he got a chance he did it

again jalen hurts same thing why are we surprised yeah yeah i mean i the purdy thing we get to in a second. No, you're right about that. And, you know, he got – Hurts, again, got put into a place where he has the best offensive line. Obviously, things are more going in his favor for once. It's a huge job for him. Which is great. But, like, that's my point. It's like, it's okay.

People get really upset when you say what I just said. He has a good offensive line and good weapons. They think that's a diss. It's okay. People get really upset when you say what I just said. He has a good offensive line and good weapons. They think that's a diss. It's not. He has those things. That's physically what he has on his team. Does it discount him? You'd be the judge of that.

But that's what he has. He literally has the best offensive line in the NFL. He does. It doesn't change. If you want to ignore it, you can ignore it all you want. So, and I think also, too, like, it's – you can spin film any way you want sometimes, too. I mean, there's –

any way you want to spin the narrative any way you can. But to me, Jalen Hurts is good. And we can just appreciate him for what he is. And I think Eagles win this weekend. We'll get to that later this week. All right, well, then let's end on this. Our buddy Tyler – and we can just appreciate him for what he is, and I think Eagles win this weekend. We'll get to that later this week. All right, well, then let's end on this. Our buddy Tyler, I know you listen closely to the show. Pretty sure he's a Chiefs fan.

He sent this one to me over DM. It's a tweet from Jamal Binballen. Dallas played in the NFC Championship on January 21, 1996. Jalen Hurts was born on August 7, 1998. Baby Hurts grew up, learned how to play football, went to college, squatted 600 pounds, graduated, got drafted by the Eagles, and made it to the NFC Championship before Dallas went back. Can we just agree that that is nice?

I saw a tweet today, something like, the time between Abbey Road and the Cowboys' last championship and the Cowboys' championship and now the Cowboys' championship is almost the same amount of time. It's like that. They haven't won in a long time, man. Yeah. Youngest combined age of two quarterbacks in the NFC championship game

in ever? i think ever is isn't it funny how when at the end of like this rogers brady manning roethlisberger breeze you know there was just like oh who's next and then we get an afc championship you AFC divisional round with every quarterback under 27, plus Lamar, plus Justin Herbert, and the NFC of Hertz and Dak and Brock Purdy, like,

they're just, the quarterbacks just shuffle on in. All the young guys are here, man. It's great. Yeah, it is. All right,

let's take a quick break. Let's come back. Let's move the line with a few more topics. All right, Jeff, we're back. Let's go with a few more topics all right jeff we're back let's uh let's go through a few more topics quickly we're running out of teams to talk about so i'm going to find some different angles on a few things you sort of touched on this 25 chance excuse me 25 of nfl players fully understand clock rules over under 25%. What do you think?

Dalton Schultz is who we're targeting here. You already talked about it. I would imagine that there's an over 25% chance that players have no idea overtime went to equal play or whatever. We've established that over the last few years. Guys don't know how overtime works.

I would say over. I don't think everyone knows. I think more than 25% of players do not know. Sorry. I phrased that question very poorly. Just say it in plain English for me. You think that the average NFL player would be stumped to find out the things Dalton Schultz obviously didn't know about the clock? Yes.

The going backwards thing, yes. Elijah Mitchell, for no reason whatsoever, running out of bounds. So frustrating. And that's the same guy who probably would lay down at the goal line thinking he was doing the right thing. Just that nonsense that players don't get. Yeah, just don't get it. I'm with you.

And are there guys, like, does a team have a Jeff Schwartz, who's smarter than everybody who's out there like hey hey remember like is there somebody reminding people of that clock management type stuff on the field who isn't coach or is that all on coach um your coaches should typically tell you that those things no i know but like i'm just thinking about i've worked with you for a while i worked with joe th Thomas a little bit. Joe's a smart dude. He always sort of knows what's going on. Well, yeah, I mean, there's someone in the huddle that probably says that.

That's what I'm wondering. Like, hey, remember, you got to give yourself up. Remember, you got to get out of bounds, heading upfield or whatever. Yes. Okay. All right. 75% chance Joe Burrow, love, gets so carried away even after losing to Pat that he goes into next season as the MVP favorite.

No, if he loses to Pat, it will be Pat Mahomes. Really? You think so? Yeah. You don't think that Pat's in the LeBron camp now? I think we've talked about this. Even though he is the best player, he can't win it because he's so much better. No, he'll win this year. He'll win this year.

He'll win next year. He'll be the favorite next year. And if Burrow beats him, Burrow goes into the season as the favorite. Yes. Okay. Over under 85% chance this tweet explodes your brain. Here goes. Aaron Rodgers plays through a broken thumb and rib injury.

Rodgers haters. He's selfish and hurting the team. Patrick Mahomes cusses his coach out because he doesn't want to come off the field. This guy is such a competitor. Did that break your brain? Ah, jeez. Sounds like it's breaking your brain. I'm in a lot of pain.

It's like the front of my brain is hurting a lot reading that tweet. I saw some Charger fan be like, everyone basks Brandon Staley for playing Justin Herbert, but Andy Reid gets a pass for playing Pat Mahomes. I'm like, you guys are so fucking dumb. So dumb. So dumb. Sorry, kids.

Covering your ears. So dumb. Why? Not everyone should have Twitter. Elon's making Twitter far worse, by the way, like by the day. He's eliminated some of these accounts along the way, like if we're doing this. No, I said the F word, Hank, by the way, like by the day, he's eliminated some of these accounts along the way. Like if we're doing this. No, I said the F word, Hank, by the way,

if you're wondering in the chat. If you want to beep that out there. Is Hank old enough to hear the F word? I don't know. I don't know if he's old enough to hear that word either. But like, why do we need, very quickly, why do we need a for you page and a following page? I don't know, man.

A lot going on on Twitter these days. Let me ask you this. If we were going to appoint, so you know how we've learned a lot about how Twitter sort of monitors information. If you want to give them the benefit of the doubt, does their best to moderate content. It's a different show where we can talk about that. If they had to appoint a czar of NFL misinformation, would you want to be that guy? Or you could be like, nope, sorry, this is

too, this is misinformation, this is too stupid, people can't see this tweet. I would, jeez, I'd be good at that job, wouldn't I? I would start with people posting videos claiming that every injury is intentional by every defensive player.

Yeah, I see a lot of tweets, this is a dirty tackle. And then people like you are like, nope, that's a tackle. That's allowed. I feel like you could do anything. If you do, anything in slow motion can be nefarious. Anything in life. Anything you show in slow motion can look as you want it to look. Yeah.

Okay. All right, Jeff, you're my new twitter nfl twitter misinformation thank you appreciate all right 50 chance trey lance is a week one starter somewhere next season no no chance is he playing for the niners next season yes okay so we're gonna keep asking this question till the end of time uh when all the dominoes. You say he's still there and he starts the season as the presumed backup. Yes. Why wouldn't they trade? Who's going to take him?

I don't know. Somebody who wants... No one's going to take him. That's why. I don't get it. You're saying in one year his stock has fallen to no one wants him? The Niners traded like three first round picks for him. They might get a ham sandwich back.

Okay, so wouldn't they just take the ham sandwich at this point? What do they need him for? They're not going to trade him, I don't think, yet. Alright. I'd give him up. Unless they just are worried he'd beat them somewhere else. I feel like it's time to get rid of him.

Alright, Jeff. we're recording Monday. The Lakers have two games before your next show on Thursday. 99% chance LeBron and the Lakers make the playoffs. All right. The most important storyline with the Lakers is Shannon Sharp. Okay, we're going here. Let's do it. How many people would be allowed to do that?

I think Shannon went on and apologized for the scene he created. I loved it. to do that well i think shannon went on and apologized for the scene he created i just loved i love like it wasn't an actual pro basketball game where a a hall of fame like a a one of the best players in nfl history yes okay like he's a one of the best is on the court screaming and cussing at NBA players. And they go at him. And then he argues with a parent of one of the players on the court. And then everyone just like continues the game.

Like nothing happened. It's like the greatest. It's like, I just, I love it. I know he apologized today. It's technically my coworker, Fox. I'm going to get in trouble for talking about this probably. It's like the most incredible thing ever. It's like, coworker, Fox. I'm going to get in trouble for talking about this probably. It's like the most incredible thing ever. It's like nothing happened.

They just continued the game. He went back to his seat. It was like, I'd never seen anything like it, Gabe. It was incredible. It was like a scripted show that happened for 45 seconds in the middle of the game. The game was happening. It wasn't like it was halftime before the game. In the middle of the game, the game was happening.

It wasn't like it was halftime before the game. During the actual game, a former NFL player whose court side is cussing at current players who argue with each other. A dad comes over. It was incredible. Incredible. Far more important than anything the Lakers are doing on the court. All right. I can't take issue with much of what you just said.

It was great drama. It was the videos. I couldn't get enough of said. It was great drama. It was the videos. I couldn't get enough of it. It was unbelievably great. Yeah. I like Shannon Sharp. I've never met him in my life. He seems like a cool dude.

I don't know. Maybe I'm reading the situation wrong about who he is. But I just liked it. It was great. The chutzpah that Sharp had to do that is like, I could never. I would never. If LeBron, if anyone gave me courtside seats i wouldn't say a word to anybody the entire be so happy to sit in the courtside seat i wouldn't say a word to

anyone the entire game uh i hear you i think shannon is uh is a lot bigger deal than just the hall of fame tight end i think i know he is he's just a blocker according to dylan brooks so become something bigger than that. I love how that's a diss and bloggers make millions of dollars now. It's like the funniest thing ever. Just a blogger. Make a lot of money being a blogger. If being a blogger was having Shannon's paycheck,

I think I'd sign up real quick. All right. Last question. I think if you watched football all weekend you were uh you were shown in a trailer for a new movie by m night shamalan uh he's coming back he's been away for a while i forgot the name of this movie the plot is very specific it's explained right there in the trailer so jeff if me you and hank are held captive in a cabin in the woods and told we have to agree to sacrifice one of us to save most of the world from a

catastrophe 99.9 chance you and i align and we kill hank right oh absolutely he said he had no kids he's nothing yeah sorry hank that's his roommate and his dad who are going to hear this in a day or two so they're feeling bad about this but right like we have we have the majority on this yeah you're yeah you're gone i got kids i got a mortgage to pay for i got things like i i got this job i mean this podcast it has to continue right well i don't know how it would if hank was dead i don't know how we'd record this but maybe something else hank's gone hank's gone now he he's a he's a larger gentleman than i thought like he might try to overpower us but uh yeah he's gone so that's interesting that's probably a problem for me because if he tries to overpower us he can't overpower you he

might have a chance against me he might convince you to get rid of me yeah but i he's he's me and you would we're about the same age like we got kids we have life like hank's gone sorry buddy yeah yeah that that sucks hank i'm sorry about that i wouldn't want to do it i would it would haunt me for the rest of my days but i but think about it this way we're saving everyone else who loves hank who's listening to this show and we're all saving we're saving our kids like we're saving our jobs even stranger thousands of strangers we're saving the the commanders and the wizards and the nationals all the things in the texas longhorns yeah he loves listen if we we would be sacrificing hank so texas can finally be back and arch manning can play all the things that you want in life would happen if we sacrificed you

hank yeah so feels like that's the only correct the only the only way to handle it and there's a report now that jeff bezos might might by the commanders like all these things that wouldn't happen they're gonna happen if we have to to ax you buddy they'll probably make a statue for you or something hank oh we'll do it quickly don Don't worry. Yeah, you'll be gone real quick. Okay, well, I'm glad we cleared that up. I obviously don't want that to happen, but at least it's clear now if it comes to it. Quick choice. We don't even need

a movie to tell that whole story. We'll just say that's no problem, guys. Kill him. Save everybody else. Jeff, you're back later. You're making some picks with Matt. Yes, we'll be back later this week. We'll talk about NFL news and notes. Maybe by then we'll have a confirmation that Bezos has bought the Commanders. Who knows?

The richest NFL owner combined everyone's ownership together. He'll still be the richest one. We'll have our picks for Championship Weekend. We'll do all that. Please remember to subscribe to Powerball Varsity Podcast Network. Have a great couple days, everyone. Talk to you guys then. Sorry,arsity Podcast Network. Have a great couple of days, everyone. Talk to you guys then. Sorry, Mr. and Mrs. Groberg.

It just had to happen. Take care.