Geoff Schwartz Is Smarter Than You - Ravens Look Unstoppable, Niners Look Like Pats & Hodges Eyes 2nd Start

Episode Date: November 26, 2019

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and discovered the fastest, easiest way to get into the game. So head to the App Store or Play Store now to download GameTime and score awesome deals on last-minute tickets. LJ, MVP, if you got a problem, come see me. Just run that back from last week. That's all I'm going to say. From The Athletic, I'm Jeff Schwartz. Is there a team Lamar Jackson cannot destroy?

The Niners looked awesome Monday night, and I'm pretty sure this is Jason Garrett's last season with the Dallas Cowboys. It's Monday, November 25th, and this is Jeff Schwartz is Smarter Than You. We're doing a special, as we've done a couple times this year, recording during Monday Night Football as the Ravens are up

42-6 over the Rams. RG3 is now in the game. Lamar Jackson has done such a good job, Gabe Goodwin, that he is out of the game after only attempting 20 passes. But five of those were for touchdowns. Gabe, I don't even know what to say, man.

We were trying to wait to do this until the end of this game because we thought it might be close. I mean, I thought we would learn something about, you know, a Rams defense that's got a few stars on it. Playing in primetime, I thought they might do something and teach us something new about Lamar. We keep waiting week after week after week. We keep waiting to see if somebody can figure this guy out. You know, the take I kind of want to throw at you is that he is quite literally unstoppable.

That Mike Freeman, a Yahoo, pretty good reporter, covers the league for years, checked in with a lot of guys who've already tried to scheme against him. They don't have a plan. Like no one has figured it out. If you rush from the edge, he goes up the middle. If you come up the middle and clog the box, he sprints around the corners. If you let him throw the ball, he throws for five touchdowns. I'm not trying to troll you here because we talk about him a lot, and, you know, you already ate a little crow on him being as good as he's been for as long as he's been.

But honestly, what is the play here? Give me any idea. I read something about the mush rush. Could that be a way to slow him down? Just rush him, but just not so aggressively so he doesn't just burn you. Like, what is the plan? What would you do to stop this guy? Wow.

Well, he can't play man coverage, which is what the, what you might call us Rams try to do all night, which is just wild to me. He can't play man coverage against this team. Too many crossing routes. Lamar Jack's able to take off. To be honest, Gabe, I don't have a great answer. A couple things come to mind, which is one,

and the mush rush basically means like you kind of just rush down the middle of your offensive lineman. And then you kind of like, so Lamar really doesn't know where to run. And then you hope to obviously break off. We've actually seen the Rams sack him a couple times tonight. And the Ravens' deep passing game has not really been there. So the best way to stop them, in my opinion, is actually not anything on your defense.

It's your offense. Because if your offense can start fast and put up seven points, 14 points early in the game, the Ravens' offense changes because you cannot run the ball as much. You cannot eat up as much clock. You can't do all those things if you are behind in the game. And we've seen the Ravens' defense play such a high level lately that their offense can play the way they want to play each and every game. And the Niners, who we're going to talk about next,

they play them this weekend in Baltimore. They have got to come out and score on the first drive to go up 7-0 or even tie the game at 7-7, whatever it is. They have got to score early in the game to change the Ravens just a tiny bit in the way they approach the game. But the Ravens do a couple things that are better than anyone else right now. One is their aggressiveness on fourth down. Because they're so aggressive on fourth down, they're able

to change what they do on third down. For example, earlier in the game, it was like third and 17. They ran the ball third and 17. Most teams don't. Most teams try to push the ball down the field a little bit or quick screen, something like that. They went for 16 yards, I believe. That was fourth and one. They went fourth down and converted and eventually scored a touchdown.

So they play called different other teams. Other thing they do, Gabe, they don't beat themselves. And I don't know how, if you were an opposing team, you'd get them to beat themselves. So two examples tonight of how they don't beat themselves. Well, really, the whole game. But two examples of how other teams, I should say,

beat themselves. Rams have second and five at the seven-yard line early in the game. They get a five-yard false start penalty on the left guard. Now it's second and ten. They run a terrible play call, this play action pass screen. Negative

seven yards. Third and seventeen set up for a field goal. Right? Later in the game, it's now second and five again. They're like the 18-yard line. They're in the red zone. False start on a running back. Now it's second and 10. And they end up kicking a field goal.

You cannot make these mistakes against the Ravens. The Ravens right now are playing such a level where you just can't use it to play a perfect game against them to get this done because they don't make mistakes. And lastly, people say, well, how can you prepare for – you can't prepare for this because there's no way to simulate Lamar Jackson's speed, agility, quickness, and practice. And this time of year, you're not hitting in practice.

You're not even really doing a lot of full-time practices, like full speed, I should say. There's no way to prepare for this. So I don't know how you stop them. Okay. Well, that's encouraging. I mean, but seriously, like I don't look, I mean, your jets will get a chance in a couple of weeks. Oh, well, I came up that, that seemed unnecessary. Why'd you have to bring them into this? I think Greg Williams, uh, we'll give it a go. Okay. Well, I mean, all of it, Sean McVay could come up with tonight when you know you got to do the interview at halftime and usually you don't say much he said we got to get him on the grass well yeah no crap coach um the grass actually was the only thing that

successfully tackled lamar he could have had a touchdown yeah tripped on the four yard line or something but and by the way it was i almost bet lamar plus 140 to have a rushing touchdown well that you would have been very upset then. Yes. All right. Well, I mean, I think every week we're going to have a chance to talk about him. This week, the takes are very simple. It's just he's the MVP.

No one can stop him. We've already covered that we agree he's probably the MVP, and we don't have a way to stop him. So I'm going to say we're not going to get people smarter today on Lamar Jackson. We'll have to wait until next week. Why don't we switch, though? You mentioned the team he's got, and I mean they're going to be people smarter today on Lamar Jackson. We'll have to wait until next week. Why don't we switch, though? You mentioned the team he's got. And, I mean, they're going to be the toughest challenge he's faced.

He's already beaten some great quarterbacks, but the defenses, who knows? He gets his chance against the Niners next week. So let's talk about them for a second. They looked incredible against Aaron Rodgers, no slouch himself. You could get distracted and talk about how crappy a game it was for Rodgers, another bust on the West Coast and a homecoming game for him. A lot of people are taking on that. Here's what I want to know.

Are the Niners just the Patriots of the West? The obvious example here is the quarterback. They got Jimmy G, the next coming of Tom Brady. They've got a dominant defense just like the Patriots in their best years. They've got these random, no-name, pass-catching running backs scattered all over the place. They run a bunch of wide receivers. You aren't really sure who the number one is. But most importantly, they've got this guy Kittle, who everyone on the Twitter machine

thinks is the next Gronk. So is that the take, that they're just the new Patriots? I don't know if that's the right take to have. They're built a little differently. Well, tell me what makes me smarter. I think they're the new Patriots. So where am I wrong? I'm getting there.

I'm getting there. The principles are kind of sort of the same right like we're going to have great defense right we're going to rush the passer and and have good back end of our defense which is the patriots have always done right um we're going to and this sounds like a slight it's not we're going to make sure we kind of manage the game on offense from the quarterback position obviously tom bray is great he's a Famer. He's maybe the greatest quarterback of all time. But the way the Niners use Jimmy Garoppolo is sort of how they used Tom Brady the last couple of years. Now, obviously, the beginning of Tom Brady's career

is nothing like Jimmy G's career. Tom Brady has been much better in his career than Jimmy G. Remember, Jimmy G only played like 18, 19 games. He hasn't had that much time. It's only the second full season of really starting. So maybe he gets there. But I would say the big difference between the Patriots and the Niners is the quarterback position.

I think Tom Brady is far better than Jimmy G is at the moment. Now, Jimmy can continue to get better. But they rely a lot more on the scheme, getting guys open via scheme. Kittle, obviously, he was huge and been back for them this week and running the football than they ever did with Tom Brady. So let's talk Kittle, though, for a second.

Is it fair to compare him to Gronk just from the way that he plays? Obviously, he's kind of a goofball and people like that. He's smaller than Gronk, but he's a very physical blocker anyways. You know, compared to like, I would say he's almost like Travis Kelsey more than Gronk. Okay.

I don't think there's ever been a Gronk, will be a Gronk. I mean, he's his own amazing athlete. I think he's more of a Kelsey than he is a Gronk. And what are you just drawing distinction there? Just physical? I think physically, and I think that the ability to run after the catch with your speed reminds you of Kelsey rather than Gronk,

who wasn't really going to outrun you, but he was going to stiff arm you and kind of get away from you, right? That feels like the difference in their games. More, you know, I'd say Kelsey and Kittle are more accomplished like route

runners than is, than Gronk was too. Like the route that Kittle scored on Sunday night, Gronk's not running that route that kind of deep no you know that deep like hey we're going to the corner now we're going to the flag that post corner essentially all right so i'm gonna see how the route so you're basically telling me it's oversimplified to just consider the niners the patriots of the west just because

there's some weird similarities yes they're doing i think tom brady is like it's just you know it's not i mean what's his face is not tom brady what's it let's leave it there what now but i think they're some weird similarities. Yes. Because I think Tom Brady is just not – I mean, what's-his-face is not Tom Brady. Let's leave it there. But I think their coaching is brilliant, though, and the way they've gotten players to fit the scheme, which is something that teams struggle with. They've overcome injuries this year.

Then the Baltimore Niners game. Again, I don't know how you stop Baltimore, but the Niners will get their chance. So when we watch that game next weekend, assuming it's a closer game than certainly like tonight was, are we going to be able to take anything away from that? Or no matter what happens, are we going to be saying, well, yeah, but that's different than most teams they'll face?

If you're sort of trying to figure out how legit the Niners are, what do you want to see on Sunday? Well, then win. Well, yeah, I know. But what do you need to see them do? I mean, a game plan to stop this offense, Lamar Jackson's offense. Okay, and then pray that Tom Brady or someone else takes care of Lamar Jackson before the Super Bowl

because the Niners have to be thinking the Super Bowl is a possibility now. Look, we've now seen one team essentially play the Ravens twice. The Browns haven't played them again. The Steelers haven't played them again. The Chargers have in the playoffs last year and shut them down. So possibly maybe the Patriots could shut them down in the playoffs if they played them a second time. We haven't seen that yet.

So I think you would hope that you play the but you're thinking it was you could never root to you never want to play the patriots in the playoffs ever never like that you see yeah you might try to play baltimore than you would rather play except uh new england the patriots i think honestly tonight is the first night that anyone might be saying man we gotta get the patriots we can't go through bal. And honestly, they look that good. And by the way, you know, we have a show this week where we're talking about, you know, the best players and even coaches of the decade. And obviously, you know, you mentioned, I'm sure,

Brady and Belichick as coach and quarterback. John Harbaugh, man, like what a decade for that guy. Oh, yeah. He's doing something right here. This isn't just a great player. The ability to just all in right analytics all in on lamar jackson all in on this offense you know the personnel for this offense going against the grain um and by the way we one last comment on this game and it's almost over now and there's four two minutes left in this disaster for

the the rams great for the ravens you know I think that Lamar has played so well that we've overlooked the stinker that Goff put up tonight Goff is not good folks he has not been good well I'm I mean I'm glad you brought that up um because I think we've been talking about McVay all year and they're in the same division as the Niners team we're just talking about so are we ready to just move on from the Rams uh is this you know are they going to be a eight and eight nine and seven team that misses the playoffs just because they're not going to make the playoffs they're not making the playoffs but the question is um you know whether or not they adjust next season but they have a lot of money tied up in golf and they made early cooks and like some of the guys that don't really help you win a lot of games in the end so i don't know about them all

right well so let's talk about another very mediocre nfc team who has a lot of money tied up and a coaching issue and you know you were ed hot on this team um but the pats uh the pats beat the cowboys this week and i'm hearing two basic takes from my buddies in the media, okay? Talking about your Cowboys. Take number one, Jason Garrett sucks at coaching. His team is soft, and he's costing a great team wins. Or take number two, Jerry Jones is meddling in things as usual. Jason Garrett can't win this way. He's being boxed in by the owner. I actually would say both are probably right, but what do you make of this mediocre Cowboys team? Whose fault is this?

Is it Garrett, the owner, or something else? Well, it's Garrett. Look, he plays not to lose, all right? So you have a fourth down at the end of the game. You've done nothing all game, right? You have six points all game. You barely move the ball. You've not been able to run the football.

Dak Prescott, who had been, you know, a candidate people had said for a long time now, really the last couple of weeks, not a long time, you know, needs to be in the MVP. He had like 100 yards passing. Fourth and six. And everyone knew you should go for that. And of course, he hit the field goal and went down 13-9, and he lost the game. And today he said, well, I don't want to do analytics.

I don't want to do anything that gets me better. Just like old-school football coach mentality. That stuff gets you fired, man. And we saw Jerry Jones actually get really angry last night. They had special teams mistakes. He said it's all in coaching. And it is. It's all in coaching.

This line was five yesterday because of Jason Garrett against Bill Belichick. Think about the Cowboys team compared to the Patriots. They're better at quarterback this season. They are better at running back. Better offensive line. Better at running back. Better offensive line. Better tight end. Better wide receiver. Better defensive line.

Better linebacker. Probably not better in the defensive backfield. That's it. The Patriots are better at one position. The Cowboys were not competitive in this game. At least offensively they weren't. Defensively they played well. Now the Patriots offense is another issue. But the Cowboys were not competitive in this game at least offensively they weren't defensively they played well now the patriots defense another tuition but the cowboys should fire him yes 100 okay but hold on not not now so you mentioned jerry being frustrated the owner

uh he says with the makeup of this team i shouldn't be this frustrated and uh he he's clearly saying i gave the coach what he needs to win, and the coach isn't winning with it. Yeah, that's fair. Okay, is it? Because it's kind of hard to be evaluated by the very guy who's giving you the things that you need to win or lose. That's a tricky situation. That's what it always is.

Okay, but you're looking at Belichick. It's not how it is. Belichick is using the players that he wants. Now, his problem is with his quarterback, who seems frustrated, he doesn't have what he needs. But he's still that guy's boss. Oh, so you're basically saying that Garrett doesn't have the guys he wants. I don't know that. But I'm wondering if maybe, you know, it's hard to be judge and jury at the same time, which is what Jerry Jones is trying to do.

So it feels like if I wanted to defend Jason Garrett, which I really don't, but if I wanted to, I would say, well, maybe he doesn't have what he needs. Why does everyone keep saying his team's so stacked? I just laid out all the players they have on their team that are good. I mean, well, then he's in a really tough spot. He's in a tough spot because he sucks. That's why he's in a tough spot.

At the beginning of the year you were telling me that this was going to work that they were running more play action that Dak was a better than they went back in their shitty ways because he's a Garrett okay so what is it then because Callen Moore I was told was going to fix it there was a lot of things talked about to give them promise they just don't win against good teams oh and four against teams with winning records when they go into the the game that they obviously suck against good teams. 0-4 against teams with winning records when they go into the game. They obviously suck against good teams. And that falls on coaching.

They're not prepared enough. What does that mean? That's all he does all day is get prepared. How is he not prepared enough? I understand what you're saying, but how is that even possible? He's not prepared enough. He doesn't know when to go for a fourth down. That's a preparation thing.

Something as simple as, hey, do notice that um the wind is an issue so how about we play better you know we move our returner up a little bit like stuff like that man like he's not prepared all right so what do you say to shannon sharp um it's on fox sports and obviously has you know a lot of experience in the league shannon said quote jerry jones is responsible for the mess that the Cowboys are in because all he does is undermine his head coach. His head coach is nothing but a figurehead. All he has the ability to do, you call him Coach Clap, because that's all Jerry has allowed him to do.

With Shannon missing it, what's wrong there? I feel like this is not really on. I mean, the culture of the Cowboys and allowing Jason Garrett to be mediocre is definitely on Jerry Jones, but I don't think that he's not allowing him to do his job. Well, what do you think somebody means by that, if they even say that? How would an owner get in the way? Well, not getting the players he wants, I guess.

I don't really know. I don't know. Okay. Well, I mean, it certainly seems like he's out, and then the question will be who replaces him. And you have said Lincoln Riley. I would just say I don't know why you would want that job. They're going to offer it to him. I don't think he's going to take it. Okay.

I don't think I would take it either. Matt Rule. Okay. Now you're going deeper. Why? No, I like it. I'm with you yeah you said it here now now that's official when he gets the big gig we'll say that uh you told everyone after the uh after the ravens game that one night well the final score uh 45 6 um golf through another

interception the balls are the the balls being knelt as we speak i was gonna bet by the way uh the rams in this game oh thank god i didn't i i thought that they would have kept it closer i really did all right let's talk about another weird game um and another strange dynamic involving coaches and players and everyone really um so the steelers replaced mason rudolph with devlin duck hodges on sunday uh duck led the Steelers to a touchdown and a win over the Bengals, but still a win. They've got the Browns coming to town. All right, Duck's looking good. Motions are still running hot from the whole Garrett Rudolph situation.

Plenty to dive into there. According to Schefter, tonight during the game, Tomlin is sticking with Duck. So Mason goes to the bench. Very smart move if you ask a good chunk of the game. Tomlin is sticking with Duck. So Mason goes to the bench. Very smart move if you ask a good chunk of the internet. They could probably have their own reasons for that. They're avoiding any more issues with Rudolph and the Browns. They're seeing what they got in Duck. Do you like the move? Yeah, I think Rudolph has shown us that he's not the guy. I think the Sears didn't really have high hopes for him and thought maybe, hey, he could be the guy.

And maybe when Big Ben moves on in a year or two, he gets a chance. Right now, by the way, real quickly, Jalen Ramsey and Marcus Peters are going to having words on the field. I hope they fight. That'd be incredible. I don't think are now now now someone got in the way i i think i think if this happens we're doing play by play we may have another another helmet incident we'll say i don't think neither neither ones are carrying their helmets um for the record yeah the players are on the field after a really bad game in L.A. for the Rams.

And two pretty opinionated guys going at it with each other. Like, that doesn't necessarily mean there's going to be a fight. But, yeah, we'll have to keep an eye on that. Who knows? Now, you know, when we're talking about the Steelers and Browns, you never know. So talk about the Steelers and Browns. Do you think it was a good idea to kick Mason Rudolph to the bench and stick with this guy who wasn't even really an NFL quarterback at the beginning of the season?

You have to, right? I mean, at this point, you don't have a choice. You're still in the playoff hunt. You're playing a Browns team that you have to score points against. The Browns offense looks rejuvenated. And by the way, a team that can definitely make the playoffs. They're still in a spot to do that. And you need some life on offense.

Your defense is playing really well. You need that life, that spark plug on offense. And I think playing the Browns, knowing what happened last time with Rudolph, and Rudolph played terribly at like four interceptions. Shota Richardson was so savage, asked him, defensive tackle for the Browns. Said about like, do you hope Mason Rudolph plays this week?

And he's like, yeah. Did you watch him last time he played him? Like, yes, I do. I do want him to play. So I'm good with Hodges getting opportunity. They need someone to, and Mike Tomlin said that, need someone to give him a spark. Okay, but so then, so do you believe, though,

that this is essentially a death sentence for Mason Rudolph? Because if we're believing this is just a football decision, then they already have sort of given up on the guy when they need a good quarterback to win. We don't think Big Ben's going to come back healthy next year, do we? Well, they do. I think that's why they tried the first-round pick for Micah Fitzpatrick. I don't think it's the end of Rudolph because, you know,

give him a season to prepare as the starting quarterback, and they might not do that anymore. This might have been his audition. But I don't think he has it. Look, Gabe, out of the 32 starting quarterbacks in the NFL, I think 27 were drafted within the first 46 picks. Benjamin was the third-round draft pick. He's an outlier.

I've said that from the beginning about him. If he made it in the NFL, he would be different than anyone else, most everyone else, I should say. So this does not surprise me he's not playing well. And Duck will probably won't play well either.

But he's going to do something. He'll do something. And so, I guess the Browns are going here. This game, wow, dude, they're going to have to do,

I know you're a baseball guy, at least I think you are. And you know how they warn teams before a game, like, hey guys, if we're throwing each other, we're tossing everyone. They're going to have to give some warnings before this game.

They're going to have to give warnings before the next time they play, next year when Garrett comes back, and the game after that. I mean, this is going to be a warning for 10 years every time they play each other. Okay, but so do you think that that's part of the calculus here that Coach Tomlin is using? Yes, I think it is. I think it's part of the calculus because Mason Roof did not play play very well and he'll be a very emotional heading to this game.

And obviously, listen, everyone can choose to believe what they want to believe. But it came out this week that Miles Garrett, in what he thought was a private conversation with the league, explained the situation that led to him swinging that helmet. And in that, he claimed that Mason Rudolph used a racial slur. Now, we don't know exactly what he said or how he said it, and Rudolph immediately denied that. And Garrett then said he was sort of disappointed that that even got out in the first place, and some other teammates and guys in the field were like,

oh, we didn't know that happened. It's all a bit confusing. But is it possible that many of the guys either on the steelers or the browns do know what was said and are just not going to talk about it because that sort of player code no i i know i i think that um if this happened we would have known about it already um with the way the news travels nowadays and the way that people uh like to talk and the way that sports gets covered and the media gets covered now um i think we would have known about this night it happened if something was said you know i think the biggest tell for me and look miles garrett and, and he said, look, I heard it.

I heard what I heard, is when one of the Browns reporters for ESPN went and interviewed all the players after it happened in their locker room, said, hey, have you heard about this? And they said, no, it's the first time I've heard about it. Even like Shelly Richard, who's just a defensive line teammate. Baker Mayfield, all these guys, never heard it. Didn't hear one peep about the racial slurfield. All these guys. Never heard it.

Didn't hear one peep about the racial slur being used. The referee didn't hear it. None of the Sears players seemed to acknowledge they heard anything. No other source, by the way, besides Justina Anderson, has mentioned this at all, all week. Remember, she put out a tweet right after this happened, saying, I bet there was a racial slur being used and then she deleted the tweet of course because it was inaccurate and really um shouldn't have been doing that speculating like that no one else reported this except the person who first reported

the rumor so i think this didn't happen no i don't think i don't think anything was said oh well somebody reported it miles garrett well he but yeah but yeah, but he told but the person who broke this was the person who had to delete a tweet claiming this is what I mean. I hear you, but that's that's irrelevant. And her sort of journalistic ethics are not really what we're questioning here. I guess what I want to know is let's just follow me on this on this set of facts. If if Miles Garrett said it to the league and he is telling the full story and being truthful,

if we believe that, then it means that either the other players who've been asked about it either genuinely didn't hear and don't know or are choosing not to comment on it and say that they don't. I don't think they're choosing not to comment. I think they generally either don't know

or that was not said. Okay. Because here's the thing, too. We haven't had the anonymous teammate who's corroborated Miles Garrett. We haven't had any of that. We have none of that. I will admit I'm a little surprised that if he's going to claim that, that that hasn't been leaked.

We haven't heard like Steelerers player says they heard you know racial slur used by mason we've heard from neither side none of that stuff okay so let me just throw this last hypothetical at you and i'm not looking to you know i'm not trying to judge anyone here but what if a few of the guys around that scuffle maybe did hear something or maybe maybe have the same feeling about mason rudolph that miles must have and went to coach and explain this. Hey, listen to what I heard or hey, I'm not comfortable around this dude. You can't be saying stuff like that. They don't want to be on the side of like, you know, throw their quarterback under the bus, even off the record.

And they certainly don't want to, you know, defend what Garrett did to him for it. But maybe they're like hey coach this dude's a bad dude and maybe that's why he's riding pine is that totally insane I don't know any of I don't think that's accurate yeah all right well I guess none of us will ever really know because it seems like players code is to sort of keep this stuff in the locker room no but not I don't think so I think that if this was said we would know about it it'd be it'd be a much bigger story did you ever have encounters with teammates who did something you deemed awful and it stayed within the locker room that you felt it

wasn't necessarily you just didn't like the guy anymore. There's a difference between it happening in the locker room and happening on the field where people can hear it. Well, I mean... I mean, unless he whispered it in his ear when they were on top of each other. Otherwise, it didn't get said. All right. I don't think we're going to make anyone smarter at this point. I feel like I'd like to learn more about sort of player code

on this kind of stuff i mean there's a player code but like i think when this when this big situation happens and we know you know the kind of the background of mason rudolph and his politics and kind of the climate we're in right now if this was said and a miles Garrett told people right away or be someone else heard it, we would have known about before Thursday. Okay. But then I don't mean to make a false comparison here, but a lot of guys have been involved in some pretty ugly incidents away from the field where it's pretty obvious they did something wrong and teammates wouldn't approve of it. And those teammates don't say anything about it. They just stay quiet. Yeah, but I think the difference is that this happened on the field.

Okay. Well, we can leave it there and say that is the distinction. But also, what do you think we're doing with each other? We're not off the field committing crimes. What do you – I don't know what you mean by what do we not tell people about. I'm not suggesting you're covering up crimes, Jeff. What I'm saying – No, I'm saying – I'm curious. What will we be covering about? I'm not suggesting you're covering up crimes, Jeff. What I'm saying – No, I'm saying like – I'm curious. Like what will we be covering up?

I'm curious. Like what? If you think of any of the famously bad things that some NFL players have done, and I know it's a very small percentage of guys who do these things, but the famous events – I don't think we do – I played with a player who i lockered two lockers away from or one locker away from who was who allegedly was being his wife the entire time i was in the locker room i didn't have any idea we actually went on it we actually went on a

a date with him and his wife and a couple other couples no idea no clue well i mean not now looking back on he got super religious and kind of made sense like when you look back i'm like oh yeah this is when he was trying to read both times but like it was it we had no idea dude like like we just kind of like go like our own ways a lot of times okay so then so that's that's a really nasty story so imagine here wouldn't guys just kind of not want to know? That's what I'm saying. Like if maybe Mason said that thing, but he's our best quarterback, I don't want to know. He never said it to me.

I'm going to look the other way moving on. Like I can see that being the attitude, and I wouldn't judge anyone for feeling that way. Let's move along. I think we're wading into waters that are deeper than this show can handle right now, and you've said how you feel about it. I think it's an interesting football decision to go with a third stringer

who nobody really thought was NFL caliber, was just there in case. And now he's the starter in a playoff push. It's odd. Crushing it at work, laser focused on beating that boss level. That doesn't mean you shouldn't eat. DoorDash can help you get your next meal

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a little over-under game where I make up some over-unders. Sometimes I make real ones, but mostly they're just nonsense. So let me start with this. I think you'll get where I'm going with this. Chances Tom Brady still has Gronk's cell number saved in his phone. Over-under 99%. Do you think that they're still in touch? Oh yeah.

Really? Even though gronk was basically saying tom lighten up what the hell's the matter with you why are you bummed out after going eight and one and nine and one what are you so frustrated about he went on fox he's an analyst there and basically said they gotta have more fun they gotta relax um i think they've been calling him a lot really yeah They need him badly. Well, then you don't want to go play there because he's on TV talking about how fun it looks. And he's obviously enjoying the CBD life.

I think he's got his number, but he and I think I wanted to play. Just he's not going to play. Obviously, he's enjoying the mock turtlenecks he's wearing on Fox. He looked great. I thought I don't know why. I haven't watched much of him. Has he been good? He's not going to play, obviously. He's enjoying the mock turtlenecks he's wearing on Fox. He looked great, I thought. I don't know why he was taking it. I haven't watched much of him. Has he been good? He's Gronk.

You know? Okay. All right. He's entertaining. He's very entertaining. He knows the game. And every now and then he says something you're kind of surprised to hear on TV. He's refreshing.

I wouldn't say he's. Okay. Like, you know, your boy Arlovsky over there at ESPN is a lot better at explaining the game. But Gronk's a fun guy to have on the set. Let me ask you. By the way, I want someone in my life who loves me as much as Dan loves Carson Wentz and Matt Stafford.

No, that's not going to be possible. I need someone like – I don't think my wife loves me as much as Dan loves Wentz and Stafford. Dan, I love you, buddy. He loves talking about some of those guys. Dan's a very positive guy. I'll tell you how it is. Dan is just going to tell you the best of parts of life, which is great.

Just two different personalities. It's great. I love Dan. I think, going back to Gronk, I think Gronk's saying what I've been trying to say, except he's Gronk and I'm the guy on this show. They aren't having enough fun, and that's Belichick taking the joy out of football. I don't think that the kids at Alabama are having much fun with Saban, and I think that for some reason we're just complimenting these coaches

who've made this sport into machine factory work, and the joy is gone, and it's a shame because I don't think it would be fun to play for those guys. It's a shame because I don't think it would be fun to play for those guys. Probably the fun is the winning. That's the fun. All right, fine. Michael Thomas, reception records broken this season, 1.5. Is he going to get one or two of them because there's two on the line?

Let's see here i'll set it up for you he's on pace to set the receptions record for a single season which is 143 by marvin harrison he's on pace to go 151 he's just off the pace of setting the yards record. Calvin Johnson had 1,964. He's on pace for 1,806. Are both those records in danger? Just one? Neither? I think yards probably not in danger, but I definitely think receptions is. He's their record, dude.

I mean, he's their record. He's their dude. He's their only guy on offense they have, and they obviously are scheming ways for him to get open. Now, they put the Niners coming up soon, which will be tough. They play Thursday night this week. I would rather I go under here

because I think that he's not getting both of these. Okay. Do you think that it's a little bit problematic that he seems maybe just not quite as good with Breeze, that he had some even better games with Bridgewater. Like that's, that's just a coincidence, right?

I mean, he and Breeze are locked in nothing to think about there. Uh, no, they're fine. Okay. Um, all right.

Over under, um, two and a half. How many more weeks I will ignore the now six and five Titans. Can I just over every single week? You think we're going all the way to the end of the season before we even think about them. Oh, yeah, by far.

So they are 6-5. They're winners of two in a row, four out of five. They beat those Chiefs that we talk about so often. Really? They made a switch midseason. It's looking like it worked with Tannehill. They got, you know, a tough sort of defense. Like, we don't have to worry about them or think about them.

They're not real. Ryan Tannehill,hill by the way in five starts for the titans 71 percent of passes completed 12 almost 1300 yards 11 touchdowns three interceptions plus three rushing touchdowns or 14 total touchdowns times are four in one of those games yeah yeah but they're the titans no one cares sorry that's really making us a lot smarter thanks um all right no i mean dude that's making us smart right no one really it's the titans like whatevs all right i mean sorry titans the losses um they do have losses to the colts bills and panthers doesn't doesn't simmons have that theory of like the teams in the south like just no one even can name their logos i don't know if that's his theory but i'm like if you had to think right now think hard about what what are

the titans jerseys look like there's a lot of blue in them i don't even know what their logo is like it's just a lot of blue i i think there's like a sort of like roman era like a t sword or something in the in the titans logo I don't know what it is. I don't know. We don't know. I feel like there might be like a little star. It's sort of like an homage to the Oilers maybe in there somewhere. I don't know.

Would that make sense? I don't know. I don't know what the hell the Titans are. This is exactly the point. Yeah. I mean. Okay. Their logo.

Let's look at their logo. Their logo is. Well, they have the one with the sword and the three stars, and they also have the flaming T. I don't know what the flaming T is, but that sounds like what their offense should be called. Okay, let me inflame you with this next one. I'm not going to get worked up tonight about this next one.

I just want you to stay awake, man. The chances Kaepernick goes to the Panthers over under 25% chance. Under. He's not playing the NFL. How come his lawyer went on Fox News and talked about this and, or excuse me, went on Adam Carolla's

show and then Fox News sort of followed up on it. Apparently two teams are interested people are speculating that might be the panthers josh allen was okay this week but apparently according according to one report i saw the lions were trying to sign josh johnson i don't even remember which johnson that is but got blocked by an xfl team so now a bad team and the lions are thinking about signing josh johnson but can't because he's tied up in the xfl they wouldn't go for kaepernick like what what is happening look not to get into

this again we know why cap's not playing all right in detroit the panthers have had time to sign him and haven't done it like they're i mean they obviously still can, but I don't think they're going to. I think if they had somehow beaten the Saints on Sunday, if they'd stunned everyone, we're alive in that division, and we're then looking at, hey, Josh Allen is our quarterback. Kyle Allen. Whatever. They had 31 points on offense.

He wasn't a problem the other day. He wasn't a problem the other day. He wasn't a problem the other day. That's to be fair to him and his real name. He was not the problem. I just, hey, the reports are out there. I wanted to ask, you're saying under 25% chance. Under, yes.

Let's keep an eye on that Detroit story. That one's interesting. All right, last one. Chances Alabama still makes the college football playoff 50%. Over under that. You had to find a way to slight my ducks here, didn't you, buddy? Yeah, well, I wanted to hear your take. You couldn't make it all podcast without, you know, USC wins one

crosstown rival game. Hey, don't. I wasn't going to bring that up. I wasn't going to bring that up. Along 35 points to a bad Bruins team. They got a quarterback for the future. They're going to be just fine. Watch out. Do they have a coach in the future? All right. I still think it's under.

I'll kind of give you a couple reasons why. This Utah team is really good. Oh, God. You're one of these people? Dude, they're good, dude. Oh. They're actually good. Okay, cool.

You know what everyone's take is? Here's everyone's take on the college football playoff. My teams are, and then they name the three no-brainer obvious choices. So Ohio State and Clemson is in there, and then LSU. So everyone just has those three in some order. And then everyone gets cute with number four. So you see Utah, you see whoever, and then five is always bama the question is the question is not whether so here's a question about the console playoff are you putting

the four best teams no matter what are you putting the best teams combined with what they you know what kind of they've done on the field? Or are you putting the most deserving teams on there? Obviously, you have to have some talent to be deserving. If you think those 12-1 beats Oregon, they're deserving of being in the playoff. If Oklahoma goes 12-1, they're deserving of being in the playoff. Alabama's better than both those teams,

but they're 11-1, and they'll have one win if they win out against Auburn. It's a good team. So I, especially with Matt Jones in there, I don't think they're going to get in. I'll go under 50. Okay. I'm happy to hear that. I mean, if Tua was healthy, they would get in 11-1, yes. Well, I'm happy to hear that they would be out,

and I think that deserved is an important word versus earned. The distinctions there are significant. It'd be nice to see a Pac-12 champ or a Big 12 champ get in there, especially with a one-loss team. I just think when people start getting cute and throwing teams in there on the if chance it it always confuses me it seems like somebody just doesn't want to admit that bam is better but you've explained it all right let's quickly hit some social um we noticed you tweeting along there's some memes going around people talking about uh you know their their hottest food take um i saw this one from a guy named at jeff schwartz pizza with vegetables and desserts with fruit aren't acceptable pumpkin spice anything sucks peanut butter is gross these are all jeff

schwartz takes i need you to defend them go i mean what's there to defend if you have uh you can eat your vegetables and then you eat pizza. They're two separate things. You don't have to put them together. Okay, so I agree with that. Pizza should not have toppings, period. Well, I mean, pepperoni, sausage, meat's fine. No, that's lazy. That's just for people who've never had New York pizza.

Well, that's fine. Okay, snob. Pizza snob. I mean, in California, though, you probably eat cauliflower or vegan pizza, right? I don't eat pizza in California. I'll eat it if somebody buys me pizza. So if your young children want a pizza, what are you doing? You're saying, sorry, girls, not having it?

You know, it's funny you mention that. I was at Friends the other night for the SC game. They ordered some pizzas. I was very grateful. It was nice of them to host. And I said to them, hey, listen, appreciate this. This pizza is actually pretty good. It had 1,000 toppings on it.

I just – I'm not going to have my kids have their first slice of pizza be here. I need to wait until they get back to Sal's Pizza in Mimarnik, New York. Wow. People understood. We have a good pizza place here called Pizza Peel. But it's like $18 for like a large cheese pizza. And I'm like, I love my kids to death, but we're getting $7 Domino's pizza from now on.

The kids eat just the same. Okay, fine. We have to move. Okay. Pizza with vegetables, we agree, though. Desserts with fruit? What's your problem with that? Like, just, I don't,

you should just be eating chocolate pies. An apple pie is just fruit. I could just eat a plain apple. I don't want an apple pie. I don't want a pecan. Pecan's nuts you get that's fair i don't want to cherry pie the fruit tart crap banana bread oh disgusting really i don't like banana i don't like really bananas anyways um i'm not on banana bread um yeah i don't need i don't need i don't need a pumpkin pumpkin spice is disgusting it's not everything now come on people i don't actually know what it is i don't need a pumpkin spice. Pumpkin spice is disgusting. It's not everything.

Come on, people. I don't actually know what it is. I don't know if pumpkin really has anything to do with pumpkin spice. I have to confess, though, a pumpkin spice latte is actually delicious. You don't need to add any sugar or anything. It's great. You are a true Californian now. Your friends from back home would be disgusted if they heard you.

That's like an East Coast thing. They'd do a pumpkin spice latte. An iced pumpkin spice latte they would be very upset with you yeah but they'd be wrong i i'm getting it right with the iced pumpkin spice all right and then this one is the only one i actually am like offended by peanut butter is gross what are you talking about i don't like peanut butter man can't do it why no texture can't do it what happened to you when did you what what went wrong like people i don't think i've had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich my entire life then how do you know you don't what

are you talking about because the smell i can't do the smell it really bothers you like peanuts oh yeah so you'll eat a bag of peanuts at a ball game and i'm technically allergic to peanuts too what the you're disqualified you can't tell us not to eat peanut butter if you are allergic no i'm allergic to like peanut butter sunflower seeds, cantaloupe. I eat it all, though. It's never been a problem. I'm allergic to every type of ragweed and dust mite. I'm a mess.

You're allergic to cantaloupe, but eat it anyway? Cantaloupe I wouldn't eat, even if it was good for me. No, I eat sunflower seeds all the time. I had some in the car today. Yeah, well, they're delicious. Oh, yeah. But you know what my favorite brand is, by the way? There's only one good brand of sunflower seeds.

I mean, the easy choice is David, but what are you going to say? No, it's Spitz. Oh, I don't know if I've had those. Dude, Spitz, if you're listening to this, I would gladly take a box of your barbecues. The best part about Spitz, I think a Canadian company, by the way, is, and so we have some fine listeners in Canada,

send this over to Spitz, please. They don't leave the aftertaste in your mouth. They're not very salty, but they're good flavored. And when you're done with them, you don't have that salt aftertaste thing that happens when you eat the Davids. Yeah, well, what you're describing is sort of like the layer to a

skin is just sort of rubbed off your inner cheek because i imagine you do it like like i mean i i chew a lot of seeds yeah i throw in 10 or 12 at a time at least and you're like a baseball player and you just sort of pack them into your cheek and sort of suck on the salt for a long time and then spit them out um that'll just burn through your lips, basically. That's what you're describing. This is not the problem with the spits. And they're nice and big, too. Oh, okay. Dude, if I come to L.A., I'm going to bring you a bag of spits. I'll tell you what. I'm going to have a peanut butter and jelly sandwich here waiting for you.

Just, oh, God. Yeah, we'll get a big old bag of spits. No, I'm not doing it. Wash it down with some milk and peanut butter and jelly. I've had sunflower butter. Sunflower seeds make it like a peanut butter, but it milk and peanut butter. I've had sunflower butter. Sunflower seeds and make it like a peanut butter, but it's not peanut butter. I don't have almond butter.

Are you into that? No. Too Californian for me. I feel like you're from California, and you're throwing so much shade. I've lived here for three years. How long have you been there for? It's almost four years.

Oh, that's not even that long. That's right. And that's how you just adopted USC all of a sudden it's like your full-time team it's just disgusting i mean i adopted because i didn't have a team and my wife went there and i live in the damn city and i can't watch football on sunday because my team sucks and they keep winning games they should be losing so that's the problem i have jeff i don't know if anyone why are you why are you the the it's except your your jets man they're playing well just accept it no i'm sorry one be won't the jets you don't even believe that you know that they're fraudulent

right now and this is all this is going to do is push out the expiration date on the whole setup another year we're now going to just keep on going along with coach and quarterback and everything as is. They're great. I'd keep it up. All right, everyone. This has been another Just Short to Smarter Than You. Appreciate you tuning in. I like having this one up every now and then.

A little earlier than usual after the shellacking the Ravens gave the Rams. It's a lot of fun to do these. Hope you guys enjoyed. And talk to you guys next time. Take care, everybody.