The Athletic Football Show: A show about the NFL - Football GM: Von Miller out for season, Rams claim Baker Mayfield, Titans fire Jon Robinson, OBJ’s team tour & more

Episode Date: December 8, 2022

Mike Sando and former GM Randy Mueller discuss Von Miller’s season-ending surgery and what it means for the Bills’ Super Bowl hopes. They also talk about the Titans decision to fire Jon Robinson, Baker Mayfield being claimed by the Rams, OBJ’s team tour and their expectations for Brock Purdy and the 49ers.Follow Mike on Twitter: @SandoNFLFollow Randy on Twitter: @RandyMueller_Subscribe to The Athletic Football Show...AppleSpotifyYouTube2:56 Titans fire GM Jon Robinson13:10 Von Miller out for season18:00 Jimmy G’s injury & expectations for Brock Purdy25:50 Rams claim Baker Mayfield32:08 OBJ team tour continues34:42 Where the Patriots stand in the AFC East37:29 GM Notebook47:08 Week 14 Picks Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is the Athletic Football Show. Welcome everybody to the Football GM podcast. I'm Mike Sando from the Athletic, along with the GM, Randy Mueller of MuellerFootball.com of 35 or 40 years in the NFL, of currently XFL. What's the official title, Randy? Is it? Director of player personnel for the Seattle Sea Dragons, baby.

That's right. And we got some uniforms, right? What's going on? Yeah. Under Armour. Did him right? Did everybody right. Shout out to Under Armour.

They were outstanding. And I love the setup. The colors. The uniforms are all good. So hopefully they look good on TV this spring. Well, maybe the, you know, we got time before Christmas here. Maybe I can get a few of those and outfit the family here, you know. And swag.

That's right. Yeah. It would be nice. Really, really good. And is everything going good with that? What are you doing? Is your roster close or what do you got? We are close.

We're about 55 of 65 on board already. So we have a little supplemental draft coming up in January that will continue to build. out and no it's fun anytime like I said many times if you can build something from scratch when you do what I do my whole life it's a lot of fun and it's really fun because of the people that I'm involved with and keeps me watching film every day and kind of keeps me between you and this podcast and in the XFL I probably watch more film now than I did when I was a GM. Well no doubt as we're going to talk about with the firing of John Robinson as GM along with a lot of other great topics today there's so much that goes into the GM job

but we're going to get into this, but might as well off the top, besides picking the players, right? When somebody on the radio or a media job evaluates a GM, the first thing I do is look at the draft picks. Yeah, I know. Let's just list the things the GM actually does, Randy, right? I laugh when I see that and hear that. When the criteria comes down, when GMs are selected every year, it's always they go to the draft picks. And actually, the GMs that they're considering haven't really been a decision maker before in most cases. really haven't picked any of those players, but that's you're right.

That's the criteria. And that's about 10% of the job. Trust me, once you get in the chair, you become the Dr. Phil, you become the fixer. You become the adapter, the communicator, kind of the glue between the coaches and the owners, everybody. So yeah, it's a lot of things. And you're right. It came out this week that the Titans did make a change. Precure your timing, and I'm sure we'll get into it.

But there is a lot that goes into these roles that we all have. and they all differ from team to team. You know what I love? There's many things I love about our producer Marissa, but when you go into the feed on this, you've got the thing that tells all the topics. Remember, we used to always have to list all the topics. They can just look on there,

so we don't have to list all the topics. Let's just get on here with John Robinson because the Tennessee Titans have been a winning operation. When he got there, they were not doing as well. And so he's been part of a lot of winning. And in football, as you know, Randy, it's hard to know sometimes always where to. give the credit. You know, look, if you have Peyton Manning on your team, that's probably a lot of

the credit. But yeah, yeah. But in football, we can all debate about whether it was the coach, the GM, whatever, but three of the last four GMs, the Titans fired had winning records. So that was a little weird to me, the timing of this. Yeah. I was trying to think. We've seen surprise firings of GMs. I think John Dorsey was a June one. You'll see June one sometimes after the draft. But during the season? Yeah, it's kind of crazy. I don't think it's John's fault that they've lost two in a row or that they got 12 first downs last week and, you know, we're really bad on offense, that's for sure.

So the timing did catch me off guard. I just know having been part of that head coach GM relationship for so many years, I just don't know what would go into a splitting of the ways at this point in a season. It's almost like something crazy had to have happened, but I know both. sides. I know both guys. I don't think anything crazy happened. Now, there's, there's so much agenda, there's so much ego, and you mix that with big money that the GMs and head coaches make now. It's, it's toxic sometimes, and it can change people. And this one just to me smells like, you know, all the makings of a palace coup, you know? Yeah. What the heck? You know, I just, it doesn't make

sense to me. I can't put my finger on it. Now, obviously, John had some struggles with first round picks that were risky for all of us, but we knew that, and that's nothing that's come to light in the last 10 days. I can tell you that. So we all have known the lay of the land. I don't know, Mike. It's crazy. Yeah, you know, I was trying to think of, so when you think of the possible triggers, right, obviously there must have been some issues, but when you think of the possible triggers, you think, okay, well, last week, they did have to lose to the Eagles 35 to 10, and AJ Brown had a big game. So maybe there was a, we all saw the video during the draft when they traded A.J. Brown, Mike Rable got up and kind of stormed away from the table where he was sitting next to John Robinson and kind of like, gosh, God, you know, I don't know if it was a genuine feeling or he was trying to show the locker room that, hey, I hate to see one of our best guys go.

But that was a little bit of a pouty walk away in the moment. So then you have this tough game. The other thing that came to mind was, you know, recently they had the offensive cordial. in there with the DUI on the team playing? I mean, are these the types of things, Randy, that if you're, I was thinking, are there cultural issues? You know, you don't want to speculate too much, but you have to try to figure something out. Are those any sorts of clues to you or not really?

You know, not really. Not when you put it to a magnifying test. And those little things, and they're not little. Obviously, those are things. But no, that would not lead to a parting of the ways. I did hear one comment from. Mike, and it came a couple weeks ago in regard to, I think it was during the media session, and the media was trying to really box him in on because they've become so one-dimensional

with the running game, and that's been really the crux of everything they do and the whole offense, and I get it. And one of the days that they did this, his comment back to them was, well, who would we throw it to anyway? Kind of flip it, kind of off the cuff. But I did catch that when it happened. And it told me a couple things. One, it was kind of respectful to the receivers that they have on their team. And two, it was a backhanded slap at John Robinson, I think, for the building of this roster without, in his mind, quality receivers. So I thought that maybe had something to do with it.

And, you know, I'm not saying that there's a rift between John and Mike, but I just don't see one of them leaving the building if there wasn't something between them, because usually the strength is in numbers, the strength is in those two guys being on the same page and nothing really breaks them up, especially not this time of year. At the very least, in my opinion, unless there was some fireable for cause thing that happened that we don't know about. Mike Vrable has the juice to stop this from happening. Whether or not he made it happen, if Mike Rable said, look, if he's out of here, you're

looking for a new coach, then that doesn't happen. So we can't say that he tried to stop it, in my opinion. And vice versa. If it were the coach that was leaving the gym in most cases, maybe not all the time. but has enough juice to get to stop that during the season as well. Especially when you're a winning operation. Yeah, you've won the division two years in a row. And you're up by two or three games in your division.

Now you've won 60%. So on the receiver thing, look, you could say, I look this up. You know, the Titans leaders in receiving yard. Since Vrable got there are A.J. Brown traded. Corey Davis left and free agency. Johnny Smith left and free agency. Anthony Firksor, I wouldn't even a guest, was on that list, left and free agency. And the next guy is Derek Henry, who's a running back.

So maybe there's something there. Now, for Rable to say this, he says he's tight with John Robinson, great relationship. They spoke at length the night that this happened. I don't believe that it would be pretty brazen to lie about that to me, to publicly come out and say, hey, we talked last night and you didn't. And to say we're tight and you're not. But for him to say, I was informed of the decision on John Robinson. This is a quote, it wasn't one that included me.

it was a decision that was made and I was in form of the decision. Now, wait a minute here because he's never been one to hold back on anything. When the competition committee stuff comes out with the rules, he hits reply all. And it goes to every head coach and every general manager and he puts the freaking league office on blast. That's Rayble, okay? Rabel's the type of guy that if you're on the sideline and it's an emotional thing, he may grab the middle linebacker by his chest and say, let's go and move him like he's a player. He's in the drills slamming pads with guys when he's not even wearing pads.

Are we really left to believe that, you know, he just doesn't really have a big opinion on this matter and really wasn't consulted, you know? I don't know. I think you're right. I mean, Mike Vrable's a linebacker, right? That's his DNA. That's how he operates. And sometimes that is ready, fire, aim. Yes.

But I don't know in this case, all of a sudden now we're going to be really tiptoeing and I don't know. I just, there's a lot of things that I don't know the answer to. And I always revert to this. You're going to get sick of it. There's something I don't know, the knowing of which changes everything. Yes. And so I don't know what it, I don't know. I'm missing something here.

I'm thinking through this thing. I've got to, I'm thinking through this. I let me write about this soon. I want to think through some of this a little bit more. But there's some things here that are interesting to me. But when something like this happens, you know, you always ask who benefits. right whenever something happens i mean that's right you know obviously this isn't a criminal investigation there wasn't a murderer or something when those things happen when something happens and you're

investigating something you usually go huh i wonder who comes ahead on this and so in this one it looks like a coach gaining power and we'll see what they do maybe they hold a legitimate process to find a general manager and they get somebody who uh isn't going to be pushed around by the head coach and is actually going to make the decisions and lead the bill to and do all the things that the GMs do that sometimes the owners don't even know that they do, the things that you're talking about, right? Right. No doubt.

Another interesting thing about Tennessee is, you know, this, they've had some success over the years, but through Bud Adams and in and beyond, this has been sometimes a shaky organization. And sometimes you get good people in and it masks that for a while. I would concur with that. Not just there. It happens other places too. It happens other places. But it's kind of like.

like, you know, like we've talked about the Chargers a lot. You get Justin Herbert, you win some games, but you're still the Chargers. You know, you see for whatever, you know, whatever's part of that. And, you know, and so with the Titans, it's a little bit harder because it's not Bud Adams anymore. If he was there, if Bud Adams was still there, I'd be saying, well, it's Bud Adams. What do you expect? We can tell you 20 stories about Bud Adams. But the owner isn't quite as established with the track record, but maybe we're figuring out or seeing things about that place. Yeah, it's, it has not, and it's been 24 hours for me now, and I'm still shaking my head. So I'm hoping there's, well, I don't know if I hope, but I'm hoping that we get some clarity

at some point on why, when, and all that. But hey, I've been a part of a firing like this, and 25 years later, I still don't have any clue. So there you go. Well, shoot, you know what? That didn't even come to mind to me. That's right, because you were executive of the year with the New Orleans Saints and then and took them to the, well, helped get them to the playoffs where you won a playoff game for the first time in the history of the franchise. Yep.

And then how much longer after that and you were not there anymore? We went six and ten the next year, went through all the draft. And I was part of one of those June firings like you say where I was offered a contract extension two weeks before that. And two weeks later, I had no idea. I was being asked to resign. So it's the craziest thing. Just because owners have a lot of money doesn't mean they're always sound in everything they do. So, and I'm, hey, I'm as humble and willing to take on errors and mistakes as anybody.

But I just, you know, I don't know what makes people tick sometimes. It just makes me shake my head. And what's interesting, that one, you had and still have a great relationship. Obviously with your coach at that time, Jim Haslett, he's your coach now, right? So it wasn't Jim pulling the strings on that one. And that was just a weird deal with the owner. And so. I guess.

But it shows you we don't always You can look at something from the outside You don't really know And sometimes you don't know even from the inside That's the crazy part Yeah 20 years later you don't know Any more than you knew the day you walked out of the building I guarantee you there's a lot of people who work for the Titans in Nashville

Who do not know what happened Yeah I hear you Amazing yeah So all right let's move on to our next topic here Another team in the AFC A very good team in the AFC The Buffalo Bills Luzvon Miller

Randy Tornay ACL out for the season. It's his second torn ACL in the last three years. How worried are you if you're the GM of that team? Do you need to have a message here? Or is this business as usual? What happens? Well, you never want to lose your best pass rusher. That's for sure. But I would have a message. I would have a way to go about my business every day and not to minimize the player, in this case, Von Miller, not to minimize his health or anything. But von Miller wasn't on this team last year. And the bills were 13 seconds away from a trip to the Super Bowl. So can they recover?

Yes, they can. These teams are supposed to be built with depth. You're supposed to have thought this through. What if something happened to Von Miller? What can we do? So there's a plan. There's an idea. Now it may not produce the kind of closure that Von Miller can make in a football game

by making a strip sack or something like that. But you're going to have to get a little more detailed on defense, in my opinion. You may have to come up with some pressure packages where a bunch of guys are involved and not just dependent on one guy turning the corner and blindsiding the quarterback. So it taxes everybody, but not only players, it taxes coaches, and it taxes us all to try to come up with some different formula. I'll tell you one thing. If I was Brandon Bean, I would not be hanging my head. I wouldn't be woe as me.

And I would be as positive now than I probably ever was in that the message to the locker room is, hey, we got to go, boys, let's go. Don't tell me how rough the water is. Let's get in the boat. That's the kind of thinking you have to have. and be every day. That's why I never was one of those guys that wanted to have. I was never really up or really down. I was the same really on a Monday that we got our asses kicked or one big. And that's really, I think, the mentality that Brandon Bean. And I know him enough to know that's probably what he's doing is even keel. We're going to do this no matter what. It's not going to be the end of the

world. And we've got to find a way to everybody's got to pick up a little bit of the slack. Absolutely. They've had scares this year. You remember when Josh Allen, and herde's elbow. And now you got Von Miller and you're sort of reminded it. Even when you do everything kind of right, like I think they've done things pretty well there over the last few years. There's no guarantees. And this is a hard thing. And that's why you mentioned those final 13 seconds, you got to, you can't have those things happen because you never know.

We always think, oh, shoot, Aaron Rogers are going to play for 15 years. Well, guess what? It's real hard to win it. And so to me, last year when we had two four seats go to the Super Bowl, that they were the best team. They should have gone. That was their year to win it. You're right. They should have. And now they may win it. They may win it this year. They may win three more. But they may never get back. They may never get back. And that's why those opportunities are so precious. Josh Allen's going to play for a long time and he's going to be really good. But we don't know what's going to happen to

the key players around them or other teams in the AFC. And so that was a real tough one for them last season, hopefully for them, they can overcome the Von Miller thing. They still have a lot of things going for them. And they just came through a really kind of an impressive gut check sort of time of their season where they were playing on Thursdays and they were relocating games and they found a way to kind of pull them out. So there's a lot of substance there with them to get them through. But certainly when you go as all in as they did on Von Miller, guaranteeing money into the third year, that was a major put our chips in the table move that you were hoping. at least you didn't lose on, right?

Even if you just broke even on that, you're happy. But those are now resources that are not helping the team this year. And who knows next year or the year after with a guy who's had two ACLs in three years. Is he 100% when he comes back next year? Does he play a whole year? All of that. That ends up being a calculated gamble of a swing that becomes a miss. Yeah, there's no doubt.

The good news for them is they have built up some chips. They do have a little bit of margin fair as far as getting to the playoffs. I think they're going to get there no matter what. And who knows what happens when they get in. Maybe they find a way to make those 13 seconds work in their favor this time around. So it comes down to that kind of things. And there'll be a lot of talk about Von Miller and woe is me. But gosh, it's really, if you manage these teams, Mike, and you know you've been around it like I have my whole life.

It's not if you're going to have injury. Yeah. It's win. And so you have to be ready for. this every day when you walk in the door, you've got to have your ankles taped ready to roll because something's going to happen. You're going to think you have a plan and you're going to think you have everything under control. And that used to make me scared more than anything. I knew something was coming and I just didn't know what. And this is one of those days for the bills.

Well, let's go right into our talk on the 49ers then. That's a perfect example of another team that had a terrible thing befall them. Here they are surging and then they go. and lose Jimmy Garoppolo in the middle of the game. I mean, shoot, the most important position, all he's represented of that franchise this year, the way he handled himself when he was kind of being dumped on, practicing on a different field. And now we're going with Brock Purdy.

What did you see? I know you watched the film on Purdy. I think that's an interesting sort of companion follow-up to the bills because guess what? The games go on. We got to play. Well, first off, I'll say this about Jimmy G. And I saw and heard a couple takes by people I have a lot of respect for that came out saying,

see, I told you, they shouldn't have kept Jimmy G's never healthy, never played, played 16 games one times, he's played 15 another one time. You've got to be kidding me. Are you kidding me? Where would this team be without Jimmy G right now? You think they'd be in first place? No. No chance. And I know their defense is good, but there's no chance they would have done this without Jimmy G. So those takes to me fell on deaf ears. So I think the 49ers did right to this point. I think they're still doing right. And to that end, I did get to watch the film. The Brock Purdy stuff for me, I saw good, I saw bad.

But the good really for me is reflective in that the moment was not too big for him. He didn't, he made a couple questionable decisions, but he didn't pee down his leg. He didn't do every, you know, he didn't make crucial mistakes that cost them game. and I thought he looked comfortable in the moment. And even so, even, even I'll talk a little bit about the things he didn't do, but afterwards, I was, I was really happy to hear. And this maybe was a concerted effort, but coaches, players, administrators, they're all confident in this kid.

They all kind of believe in this kid. And for me, it's because of the intangibles. He has really good intangibles. He has leadership. And he has some of that poise that we just talked about. He's a competitive guy. I think that the downside of it is there's a reason he was picked last in the entire draft, and it's really the physical skills part.

I saw a quarterback that I think I counted seven missed receivers who were open, where he did not get the ball to them. You're not going to have that every week and be able to recover from it. Now, their defense helps you do that because you have a little margin for air. But in most cases, there's a fine line. Those are all throws that an average quarterback in the NFL would have made. And some of this, some of this was done now with no reps, no practice, he got thrown in there. So some of this will improve.

He will get better at a lot of these things, which bodes well for the 49ers. I thought it was interesting that they felt good enough about him and about where they're at. And this will probably take us into another topic at some point, but they didn't put in a claim for Baker Mayfield. Because I thought there may have been a chance that they would have looked outside their own building to help the process. Now, they signed Josh Johnson off the Broncos practice squad. And Josh, as we all know, well-traveled 14, 15 teams, 35-year-old career backup. But another guy with average physical skills, but really good intangibles, really good character, really good leadership,

a lot of things that I think will help purdy in the quarterback room. So just a little synopsis for me on what they had and what they saw, some good, some bad. the physical skills, the accuracy, inconsistent, but I keep going back to the fact that he had no reps. That's going to get better if he can actually have practice and a little different, a different way to prepare. I think he was always prepared and that showed because he administrated the offense really without any hiccups, Mike. You didn't see a bunch of delay of games. You didn't see struggling and communicating. He didn't see struggling in making calls. He executed

that stuff pretty good. Just some of the physical attributes that come with the throwing part are some inconsistencies there that hopefully will get better. You know, and we've seen times when Kyle Shanahan has really game planned the quarterback out of the game plan. Remember they played a playoff game? Didn't Jimmy have eight or ten passes? And everyone was like, well, he's not respecting Jimmy and all that. But the broader point is there's a lot of different ways to win a game. And I think this team's still going to win the division. They're going to play Tampa and Seattle the next two weeks. I mean, I think they probably win both.

Yeah, we'll talk about the Bucks game in our picks. But I don't think that Seattle, That'll beats them even with Purdy, do you? No, I think you're right. I don't think this could have happened, and nobody wishes has happened, to a better coach that's equipped more to do this. He's managed game plans and called plays for a variety of quarterbacks based on their skill set, really his whole career. There's not a lot of coaches that would change a bunch of things based on the quarterback. You know, they all want to run their system and just plug the guy in there, and sometimes that doesn't work. But I think Kyle does a better job, really, than anybody in the league.

at administering a game plan and calling plays. Shoot, he has to manage it with Jimmy G. He's been managing it with him for two years now, where he has to call a different style of game. That's probably why they ended up drafting Trey Lance to start with. Yeah. Because he didn't want to manage the game every day like he has to with Jimmy G. So he's adept at this.

He needs used to it. Not that he's thrilled about it, but I do think the fact that he's the coach, the play caller, and can manage Brock Purdy going forward is a big thing. And I agree with you. I think this team still makes the playoffs. I don't know if they're a Super Bowl team yet or because of this, but I'll say this. That to me lies exactly in the eyes and we'll see it of the week-to-week development of Brock Purdy.

We're going to see this unfold. We're going to see if he gets better, if he takes a big step back, just how it unfolds, because he's got to be at a higher level for them to go win a Super Bowl. I think he can be average and they'll go to the playoffs. But to go to the Super Bowl and have a chance, which this is. team is talented enough too. He's going to have to improve week by week, and so we'll see. And we are going to talk about the Rams claiming Baker Mayfield off of waivers next.

But before we do that, I think, you know, I think that the 49ers not claiming him is perfect for them. We can talk about why this is good or bad for the Rams. But I think the situation that the 49ers are in at that position where, you know, that team has rallied around Jimmy and we saw around Purdy. I don't think they're quite in the desperate mode where you bring in a little bit of a loose cannon, a little bit of a wild card that Baker is. To me, Baker, when things go bad, he may Zach Wilson you a little bit. There may be a little bad body language. There may be, he just doesn't necessarily come right in and fit in and be

one of the lunch pail guys on your team. So I think for them, I'm totally good. I would be a little bit concerned for them if they brought in Baker and tried to make it about Baker in any way. Don't you feel better for them going with Purdy? 100%. I think it's one of those things to where they have too much at stake to teach somebody else something new. And I think that's why they went with Josh Johnson as the backup. I just think he makes more sense because of that.

But yes, they are way down the road with Brock Purdy on learning this system. It's different for the Rams to have a waiver claim. on Baker Mayfield and just have him come in and we'll call a few plays. They're not asking him to learn a system. Now, whether he plays or not, I don't know, but I think he's the best quarterback for the Rams as soon as he gets off the plane. But they're in a total different boat. And you mentioned it.

They're really playing with house money if being in last place is house money. Yeah, let's talk about that, though. You like the Mayfield addition to the Rams. Why? I'm just, I'm almost surprised there wasn't a half a dozen teams putting in claims for him because I think it's a no-brainer. He actually made sense for me in Houston, in Denver, in New Orleans, in Tampa, Baltimore. You can make a bunch of cases for Baker Mayfield right now to come in.

The number is low. It's not really a cap issue. I don't think he's, you said he's a little bit of a wild card, yes, but I don't think he's going to come in and tear up anything character-wise. I think he'll be fine in the locker room. I think you kind of want a guy if you're going to play him. him to have a little no fear, a little cockiness to him. And I think in the Rams case, Sean McVey, there's a little bit of ego talking there that he'd love to get Baker Mayfield in 10 days from now or two days from now, have him play and be

successful. So he can say, this has never been done ever before. Check, box checked. Don't you feel like that a little bit? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Because they got the Thursday game.

So we'll see it. How about that? They claim him on, what was it, Tuesday? What if he plays some snaps? on Thursday night. If he doesn't, it's because someone talked him out of it, probably McVeigh out of doing it. Yeah. I feel like he wants it to happen. You're right. Yeah. Yeah. Now, longer term for Mayfield, you know, I've wondered if, you know, have you watched much Carolina? You probably have, right? Did you watch some Carolina? I'm going to ask you, where do you think

he's at in his career? Because we do see, shoot, we've seen it this year with Gino Smith. You do see some guys who've had some struggles occasionally come back. In my mind, I just don't know that there's been enough distance between those struggles for a maturing process or whatever it is with Baker Mayfield to happen. Is that totally overrated? Do you have concerns on that? Do you think he can have success in the short term? Where do you think he's at in all this?

Well, my answers are always a little bit of a, and it's a bore, I understand it, but the quarterback success failure is more than the quarterback. And I think in Carolina, he was in a tough spot. You're talking about a coach that has to win. He knew he had to win. It's a new offensive coordinator. It's a new system. Baker got there late.

When did that trade happen? Like July, you know, end of July, something like that. It was late in the summer. Yeah. So it wasn't an ideal fit to start with. They didn't have success. I thought when I watched some of their film, their offense was a mess. They had their design and their game planning was very, oh,

all over the place. And I don't think there was, Baker didn't play great. Don't get me wrong, but it wasn't all him. So I think there's a chance that he can find a new home and can be successful. I wouldn't ride him off. The good thing about the Rams is, who knows what's going to happen with Stafford. Yeah. He's already more talented than John Wolford and Perkins. So I think it could end up being one that, hey, they might find a way to keep Baker at a reasonable number and at least gives them some insurance against Stafford and his injuries and everything else that's going on in his world. So I think it's a really good fit. I think you could have made, like I said, this case in several cities. I'm more of a Baker guy than I am. Hey, the tank is empty and nobody's going

to get anything but a career backup out of Baker. I think there's too much there still. Okay. So that's interesting to me too, because if somebody asked me, hey, what does Mueller like about quarterbacks? Well, I don't know tell him, he likes the guys who can stand in the pocket, who can see the field and make the throws. Where's he on that? I think I'm as kind of a smaller guy, you know, and you don't like the small guys. You don't like the small guys usually. No, I don't. And I'm not saying I want to make him a franchise quarterback. I'm not saying I want to pay him $30 million. I'm just saying, is he better than what we have? And he is better than what the Rams have. Suffice to say Stafford's not healthy. That's all I'm saying.

You could say that about New Orleans. He's an Andy Dalton. I don't think he's in no worse than Andy Dalton. And James seems to be on the outs there. So, So where are they going after this year? They have no future either. So that's a free look at somebody down, you know, for the last three or four weeks as well. Make the case in some other areas, too. Who's going to be Tampa's backup when Tom leaves next year or their starter? Who knows?

That job's open. Denver, Baker Mayfield at minimum salary to go with Russell Wilson, maybe that's too much of it can to open right now. But it's not unheard of that Denver at some point, if Russell doesn't get better, they're going to have to have another option. Trust me. Now, it may be a second or third round pick that they draft, but you can't continue to roll Russell Wilson out there with no plan or no option. And they're going to have to address that at some point. Yeah.

So now the interesting thing about Baker going to, I agree that he's better than what they've got and they should do it. Isn't it amazing, though? The Rams are now a bad situation. Here he goes from Carolina. I don't know how much of a better situation it is with the Rams now good coach, but they don't have an offensive line. They don't have a run game unless they're playing Seattle and get 170 yards. Well, this just in, Mike, those teams at the top of the waiver wire? Yeah, they're bad.

They're bad. So I don't know. It's good for them to get him in the program. I wonder how much success he can have. Yeah. Oh, it's visible to us. That's fair. We'll see.

But I would love to, I mean, having him there for the offseason. And certainly if Stafford were around or not, could be a good thing for him and them. Because he probably is to the point. Baker's to a point right now where the best he could ever hope for is competing for a job somewhere, right? He's not going to be signed as somebody starts. order. But if you could just convince him, hey, spend the year in our program here, maybe you get to play. And if not, we'll rehabilitate you. That might not be bad for him. And what a good guy to back up in Stafford in every way, right? I mean, it's just a nice fit for him. He's not going to

muddy the water. Stafford's top character guy. You can learn what you can from him, be supportive. Gosh, they're worst jobs. Trust me. Hey, and if Matt Stafford says, look, Baker, you think you had it hard? Let me tell you about Detroit 2008 or 9 or whatever, 2009 or whatever it was. So Stafford's seen all sides of the coin during his career. Odell Beckham Jr. Let's touch on that one because he's visited now. A few teams gone to Dallas. We discussed that early in the season before we kind of knew anything about the medical.

And you had thought, and I agreed that might be smart for someone to get him in the building. But it looks like maybe just not meant to be from a health standpoint. know. Yeah, I think the take for me was that Buffalo brought him in, Giants brought him in, Dallas brought him in. The only time we heard the negatives about the medical stuff was from Dallas. And that I didn't like. I just don't like the way that Jerry made that public. I think he kind of sold OBJ out. If I was OBJ or the agent, I would have been pissed that that information is out there. There's no reason they had to react to that other than to try to cover your own butt because you had made this. so public and that you were going to sign him. And now this is your out for not signing him. Did you hear one word out of the Giants when he went in there? Nope. One word out of Buffalo when he went there?

Nope. Just a different way of doing business. And I don't know if this comes back to haunt Jerry sometimes, but he just, he didn't need to go public with all this information. That's just my opinion, Mike. But it was classic, though, because remember before the trade deadline? Oh, yeah, we're in on this. We're in on that.

And then when it comes time to actually do something, yeah, no, we didn't do anything. But we were close. We were trying. We were trying. We're close. And now, now to the point that it benefited him when the OBJ thing was kind of a hot thing on social media and reporters and everyone was talking about OBJ, he was all about, oh, yeah, yeah, we're in for some OBJ. And then he's, no, yeah. And really, he says, it's so medical. So I just didn't, I don't like it. Why did he have to make that public about the medical stuff? I just, I don't understand why you do that to the kid, to be honest with you. OBJ should say, you know, it just wasn't a good fit for me, just all the stuff off the field with Jerry the lawsuits against some paternity suits and all that. You know, it's just not really the fit that I'm looking for. You know, I would love to say that if I was OBJ. Well, what's stopping at this point? I don't think there's any way they mend it and go back after Jerry aired his laundry publicly. I think it's crazy. Ridiculous. Okay. Before we get to the GM notebook, which is always a big hit here on the football gym podcast. It is. I usually, it's so good. I usually steal from him. You accused me from stealing from the GM notebook last week, which I did. Randy puts the things in the GM notebook, then suddenly Sandos claiming him his ideas.

Hey, Randy, I got another one here. What about? Okay, so this could be the GM notebook. It's a prelude to the GM notebook. Can the Patriots afford to sit still and just expect to play harder and top Buffalo for the next five years? Randy, Buffalo, what about the other teams in the division? I don't know if they can even do it with them. you said that's fighting tanks with a 22 rifle.

These are those are little notes here. So what are you thinking? Well, I just was watching this game last week on Thursday night and I'm thinking, this is a no contest. I mean, this is, this is Ferraris against, you know, Volkswagen buses. I mean, I saw nobody running fast on one side. I saw a lot of fast guys on the other side.

I saw the only fast guy in the Patriots outfit was a defensive back that they threw a bubble screen to that ran for 48-yard touch. So they just had really nothing going. And I'm thinking, well, afterwards, Bill's going to say, yeah, we got to play better, we got to execute better, we got a game plan better. I got news for you. And I think Bill's the greatest coach ever. I'm not sure it's going to get any better when they play the bills.

And you're right. I'm not sure it's going to get a lot better against Miami. Maybe they can get the Jets. They still seem to have a little, you know, swag with them. And they got after them good. But this team might, might, you know, it's just, it was depressing for me to watch. and I'm sure Patriot fans concur. I just don't know where they go.

I guess that's my point. Mack Jones is going to play against Josh Allen for the next 10 years twice, and we're going to win what? Maybe two, maybe three out of ten? I don't know. Yeah, you mentioned you compared it to a Ferrari against a Volkswagen bus. That reminds me, my neighbor growing up, his parents had a Volkswagen bus,

and we used to take that thing from Sacramento down in the valley up to Tahoe. You know how fast you can go up the hill? It was so freaking scary. We're going like 40. are going past us at like 80. So I was in the Patriot lane. Yeah. I was in the Patriot lane. And the bills are in the Autobahn lane. You see a semi who's even going to pass you going up the hill. You're like, oh, geez, we're going to get run over. And the last second he swerves around you. So, you know, I was looking at the playoff odds, the numbers cruncher that we've got at the athletic. Austin Mock does, has this model. So here it is. To make the playoffs, the bill's 99%. Just like you said. The Dolphins is 93%. Jets 54, Patriots, 31. And that just kind of. feels like an accurate barometer right now of where these teams are, doesn't it? Yeah.

Well, they're six and six. They're not out of it. I always say 500 at Thanksgiving. They're six and six. But I just don't know how Bill can put his stamp on this group. It's kind of like Bill the GM is letting down Bill to coach a little bit just from a talent standpoint. That's all. And at some point, the talent's going to be equal or the coaching isn't going to matter.

So that's it. There was just a struggle. And maybe it was just me. But when I was watching that game, I just didn't feel it. I didn't feel like the Patriots ever were going to make a go of this, you know? Maybe Bill can fire the GM. You know, that seems to be the hot thing around here lately. All right.

What is in the GM notebook this week? Well, a couple of things for me. I thought this was, and I got a preferences by saying I'm a San Francisco Giants fan, right? That's the one pro sports team I kind of allow myself to be a fan of, them and the New York Rangers. How did you get to be a Giants fan? I'm just curious. Well, I grew up in the Northwest. and when I was a kid, there's no Mariners.

The closest team was San Francisco. So believe it or not, and you probably know this, living in the Northwest as long as you have, a lot of Giants fans, a lot of 49er fans in the Northwest because those were the teams that were close. It was the Broncos, it was the 49ers. Yeah, Denver, yeah.

Yeah, and it was the San Francisco Giants and some guys that weren't thinking straight went with the Dodgers, but most of the time it was the 49ers, and that was the local team. So that's how I always, I always rooted for the for the Giants. So anyway, today as we taped this, we all know Aaron Judge resigned with the Yankees.

And the competitors in this month-long parade have been the Giants as the opposition against the Yankees. So I just thought it was interesting that, and I don't know how close you followed this, when the Yankees stopped negotiating with Aaron Judge back, I don't know if it was before the season or it was early in the season. It wasn't like April or something like. somewhere way back when they they were at a certain number well they signed him today it was at a 70

percent increase over what their best offer was before and i got to thinking that's crazy no one in football ever does this who would do this i thought well maybe this is what lamar thinks lamar jackson with the with the ravens you know they stopped negotiating before the season starts maybe he thought or thinks that if they win a soup bowl all of a sudden the ravens are going to come to their senses and give him 70 percent more than he did before and fully guarantee the whole contract. Do you think that's going to happen? This would never happen in football, right? Never. No, but you know, football has all these, you know, the labor attorneys have done a much better job in baseball. And it's a different sport. The injuries aren't the same and all of that

and the rosters are smaller. But, you know, in football shoot, there's franchise tags. There's all these levers that you have as a team to have power over the individual. And then beyond that, most individuals can be replaced. You know, you have all the mechanisms for your quarterback. If you have to double franchise some or whatever you can. But in football, there's just not one guy who's going to probably affect your team so much that you have to move up to 70%. The closest thing I could think of that I don't think comes close, but the closest was, you know, when Joe Flacco won the Super Bowl with the Ravens, and then he signed a deal for six years,

$120 million. So $20 million a year, which now would buy you a good backup. But there's no way that was a 70 or even 50% increase, I don't think. Because if he was, if they were at 20 after the. the Super Bowl. What were they before 15, you know, a year or something like that? It wouldn't have been that huge of a change. So I can't think of that. Now, you mentioned Lamar. Now he's injured. Their season isn't as good. We talked a little bit about this last week. I just occurred to me as you made the parallel to Aaron Judge. Has anything really changed there? No, we'll just go on the

offseason and I don't think there has because of this. I think the Ravens did put their best offer out there. I think they know what they have with Lamar. They know what he comes with. And I don't think they're sliding him at all. I also think Lamar put his chips to the table that he wanted a fully guaranteed deal, much like Deshaun Watson did. I don't think he'll ever get that. And to that end, if you remember when they stopped negotiating before the season started, the Ravens within minutes put out a release saying, we're done, we're happy that, you know, Lamar's our quarterback. We're going to continue to try to make that happen. But it's like they couldn't end that the negotiations fast enough. They were happy, it almost in my opinion, that they didn't pay him $40 million a year

and that they could run off from it. So I just don't see a lot changing in this regard. They have kind of underachieved as a group. I don't think Lamar has had a great year, but I don't think they would devalue him. What I think is going to happen is they're going to use a tag, like you said, and maybe have a couple one-year deals. That's probably the smartest business move for them to make because it's probably more evident now, to me anyway, that this style and this system may not get them to the Super Bowl. It may not. It may win them a lot of games, but is it good enough to get them over the top? I don't know. And it seems like at some point, you got to do that if you're going to run this system forever. And it's different than all these other offenses. It's a different

way of life. And obviously the quarterback has a different skill set. So I just don't know. That's the only what if to me is, is, is, you mentioned, I think we talked about Greg Roman last week being a candidate for the Stanford job. If he is able to get that, would the Raven stick with this offense? Yeah, so I was asking. Yeah. Yeah. I don't know. But I feel like, you know, you look at these teams that help their quarterbacks, whether it was Josh Allen, who was rough around the edges and runs a lot, or Jalen Hertz, who was a little rough around the edges and runs a lot, what did they do? They got him Stefan Diggs and they got him AJ Brown. You know, I know Mark Andrews is there and we can say that

Lamar Jackson isn't a great consistent passer and all this, but I'm sorry, those guys weren't either. Let's get him one of those guys, right? I could make that case. Now, on the guaranteed contract, I think Lamar has a completely valid position, but I don't think it's a winnable one, right? Deshawn Watson getting it with all the crap he's done.

All Lamar's done is show up and be there for his teammates and play pretty good. So he has a totally valid point saying that's ridiculous that he gets fully guaranteed. I should get it. That's valid, but it doesn't mean he can get it. And I'm with you. I don't think he can. Not with the Ravens, yeah.

No, no. Now, in a different situation, if he were to hit the market, it just takes one team. One desperate team, maybe they would. But I don't think the Ravens are going to do it because they don't have to. Yep. And if I'm the Ravens and go to year to year with them are a couple years, I'm actually okay with that. Now, he may not show up and it may turn into an ugly.

thing, but I'm not looking for a huge, an over, I'm not looking to overcommit because, you know, I'm concerned about the playing style and how long, how far we can go and how long he can hold up. Yeah. And I've been saying this for the last couple years, even since the MVP years, if I'm them, I'm looking for options. I'm not looking to replace Lamar, but I've got to have an option down the road where I can't have to make a bad deal just because we don't have another option. And I'm not sure it's Hunley.

I don't know who it is. But I would be searching for an option so we don't have to make a bad deal. That's for sure. Number two item in the GM notebook this week is. George Pickens, the receiver from the Steelers. We heard, we saw, we came out vocally voicing his displeasure with lack of targets. Would this bother me as a GM? I would say this would not bother me at all.

I happen to think George Pickens is probably their most explosive place. player and maybe their best offensive player. I would be ticked if I was him too, okay? So I would, if this happened for me, I would probably go down to talk to Mike Tomlin and take his temperature on it. And I heard Mike Tomlin's comments about it. I think he agrees with George Pickens. Tomlin was great.

Yeah. I wrote it down. I wrote it down. Here's what Tomlin said. I'd rather say woe than sick him. He said it so fast. I had to almost replay. I'd rather say,

whoa than sick him. I want a guy that wants to be a significant part of what it is we do. now the appropriate and professional, mature way to express that, we're growing and working on. We'll continue to do that. But that spirit, that competitive spirit, that guy wants the ball. I want that guy. Now, in the back of my mind, is that also a sign of where they're at with the offensive coordinator of Matt Canada, too?

I think it's probably all tied together without a doubt. I mean, who would go into this and have your best player have one target, you know, or whatever? It was at that, at some point in the proceedings, we all said, you've got to get this guy the ball somehow some way it's crazy not to have the most explosive player on the field not have the ball so i don't know i mean yeah it was just good tomlin it was just good tomlin you know yeah it was good tomlin and i do think there's going to have to be some things change there uh to get better and to better utilize some of their parts without a doubt because i think they found that the quarterback's pretty good and i think he's going to be there and develop in that system that he whatever works

best for him is going to be what has to be used going forward not necessarily the belief of the offensive coordinator and his special system. So while I 100% applaud Tomlin for what he said, and I really am a fan of him in general and just a lot of the things that he says and how he says him and his leadership, the reason the guy Pickens doesn't have these targets, Tomlin's responsible for that too. And we've talked about this before.

And the staff and having it squared away and being good on that side of the ball, because he's not Mike Tomlin's not the offensive scripter or play caller. You have to have great people in that spot and they have gone the opposite direction of from proven to unproven. You look at the great coordinators in Pittsburgh over the years from, you know, that were Bruce Ariens or Ken Wizz and Hunts.

These were guys who became head coaches or they have play calling success. They've been to Super Bowls and things. And that's not the direction they've been in and they need to get that to help this quarterback next year. So, totally agree. That rounds out.

Let's get to our picks here, Randy, this week. We're a couple of, we're a couple 500 pickers last week. You know, is that bad, though? I beat myself up over it. Is 500 bad when you're picking NFL games against the spread? No, it's not. It's not. Yeah, yeah.

Well, we would know a lot more about it if we actually were wagering. Then I would know exactly. I'd probably know if I was. Some of the listeners probably know that it's not worth of shit. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. So I went one and one. I won with Cleveland, giving seven, although that.

went different from how I expected. I mean, shoot, they were suddenly, now there's winning on defense and special teams. And then I lost, uh, with Tennessee and taking four points by a lot. It wasn't even close. It was so bad. They fired the GM. Yeah. Now I tiptoed up to the line trying to take the Raiders with a point and a half and the

chargers, but I backed off. I checked out I should have taken that one because the Raiders did win. Randy, you won with the Giants, uh, taking a point and a half, right? That was a tie. Yeah. Lost for Seattle minus four and a half. before we're getting in the picks, all the wins are good.

I came away feeling like, I don't know, Seattle, that was kind of, you barely beat that RAM team. I mean, I don't know. Well, I need him to beat them by another point in a half. That's what I needed to beat them to win by. They were dang near losing the game. They couldn't stop them.

I know. It was crazy. So what do you got for your picks this week? Well, I have been hovering, like we talked about, around the 500, and I usually pick two games. I'm going all in this week, Mike. I'm going to pick four games. which never happens for me, but actually these games kind of, they jumped out at me.

I know. That's like having two ice cream pounds. I got one in each hand, baby. We're going to roll. Miami, minus three over the Chargers. I'm giving the points. I think Miami's going to bounce back. I don't think two is going to play like he did last week.

And let's face it, the Chargers defense is not the 49ers defense. I think they're the better team here. I don't like where the Chargers are right now as a group. So I'm taking Miami, given the three points. Are you worried about Tua physically holding up and starting to affect his accuracy? And I didn't watch him fully all the way through. I just know he got smashed a couple times. I am always worried about Tua holding up.

I can tell you that right now. I'm always worried about that. That was the biggest detriment I had with his skill set coming out was the injuries. He had had several before he got to the pros, and he's a small guy. It's a long grind. These NFL games are made for big people who run and hit hard, and it's not for everybody. And they're going to have late season games at Buffalo. Lowe in New England, but you got them over the chargers who are not bad.

I got them over the chargers, yep. No doubt. What's your next one? I also like the 49ers, and I'm given three and a half to put Tampa out of their misery. I just feel like Tampa was more lucky than good last week. I know it was a great comeback. I didn't really drink the Kool-Aid of, hey, Tampa's, you know, trending in the right direction now.

I just don't think it's going to happen. So I like the 49ers in this case. I think the 49ers are just too physical on defense. I think they'll rough up the receivers, and I think they'll get after Brady pretty good. So that's the difference for me. I also like Seattle this week, and they're given three and a half. They play Carolina. I think for Carolina to come cross-country to Seattle, I don't like the match-up.

I do think Seattle's a little desperate. They have to play good. I think G-Nos is really better at home. I just think that's a game that I don't have a lot of faith in where Carolina is right now to make this long trip and beat a playoff team in Seattle. So I like Seattle. And then I like Minnesota. And how about this?

Minnesota is a one-point underdog. I thought it was a misprint. I thought it was a misprint. I'm all over that. I'm taking Minnesota. I'm getting a point against the lions. I can't believe I'm saying that. And you're not calling me a liar.

I'm just, I don't get it. But so here's where it comes down to, I think the odds makers and all these betting models and on it. So they're 9-0 in the one-score games. There's a really cool thing. I know I texted it to somebody. I'm going to call it up here. There's a really cool thing.

It's called the what-if NFL standings, Randy. You may roll your eyes at this, but I love it. So the idea. It's a pretty good chance, I will. The idea, I'm really selling this up. I'm really showing this. I may already be rolling in mind. But there's a lot of people kind of around the statistical side of football who are like,

hey, these one-score games can go either way, and you take credit for them at your own peril, because you're going to lose some of them too. And sometimes in a year you win all of them. Some years you lose all of them, but they're really, they're really kind of a 50-50 thing and when they're the real close games.

So what would happen if you, if every one-score game, the result was the opposite, meaning these sort of 50-50 games that are close. What if you flipped them around? And it was very interesting because the Vikings would be one and 11. Is that right? That's crazy.

Because the Vikings are 10 and 2. But if you just, to go 9 and 0 in every one-score game is really rowing the dice and hey, it's like at the blackjack table, you know, you wished you would have bet it all every time after you, you know, suddenly won five in a row. So I don't know if that's, you know, fair to them,

but there's some of these teams, like the Giants would be two, nine and one. Well, the truth on these teams is probably somewhere in between. I mean, they're good teams. Those are teams that may not be quite as good as their record, you know. And so maybe that's where that comes through. And the other thing is Detroit, since they're by, Yep. Has looked pretty good.

You know, they've looked better defensively. So, I get it. You know, I think, I think this is a real, this is a corner turner type game for Detroit if they get it, maybe a little bit, right? Because they've really been in a low spot, but it feels like, hey, they took Jacksonville the Woodshed, 40 to 40. They have, yeah, they have momentum, no doubt. And you're right.

They've played pretty good on defense, considering that they were considering changes halfway through the year or less, a third of the way through the year. Yeah. So we'll see. I just think it's an interesting game. That's interesting for the odds makers, because the odds makers have to put their money where their mouth is. So they're saying it's only one point towards Detroit. That's eye opening to me.

Maybe that's why I just, I was shocked so I took it. Yeah. Yeah. So those are my four games. I don't know. I think you should be required to pick a fifth game just so you can't be two and two. Well, I'm going to wait to see what you pick and maybe I'll jump on your bad wagon. Tell us where you're at.

I'm surprised. I'm surprised you weren't on first. I'll take the Jets and a half against Buffalo. I think a division game, I don't think they're going in there with saucers for eyes going, oh my gosh, it's the bills. No, they haven't lost by more than seven points in their last eight games. They lost a couple big games early in the year by a lot. But I think they've regulated a little bit out of there with a little bit more mature quarterback probably and Mike White in the game.

I think the teams rallied around him a little bit. They had a lot of problems in the red zone last week. But shoot, end of the game, they're right there. They got a pass in the end zone with a chance to even take the lead in the game. I'm not saying they're going to beat Buffalo, but I would much rather have the Jets and nine and a half than Buffalo and giving nine and a half, wouldn't you? Yeah, I guess so. I mean, I tell you, that wasn't a real convincing sell there. I'm a reluctant jet coolade drinker.

I am too. Yeah, I'm just a little reluctant. But I hear where you're saying, they have been better, they've been respectable. I can't put my finger on why I'm not jumping on board. You may just kick me to the curb, but I'm just not. I've been that way the whole year and I felt like I hung on into it too long so that I picked whatever I picked

I picked against them one week too long because I've been skeptical to the opposite side of the ball in particular but I think I don't know I just think they're gonna I expect kind of a competent game and they hang around shoot they beat Buffalo once already 20 to 17 you know and the familiarity in the division and all that I just think I'll take the nine and a half I'm going to take Kansas City

and give eight points at Denver. I'm just sorry. Denver, true story last week's games. So Denver led for 98% of the offensive and defensive plays in the game against Baltimore. And Baltimore couldn't do crap on offense. I mean, their offense looked terrible. They lose Lamar Jackson. I mean, it was just a slog.

And I don't know, there's a minute or less than a minute left. I just went upstairs to grab myself something to eat. I come back downstairs and they're showing, Huntley, the quarterback of Baltimore, and it says eight for eight, 50 yards with touchdown run on the last drive. And they won the game. And Denver had nine points. And I, so I did this research after the game. So Baltimore turned it over twice, forced no turnovers, and failed to exceed 10 points. And I put that all into the little computer at pro football reference. For the last 25 years, a team had done that 206 times, and they were 0 and 206.

Really? And it's now 1 in 206 because Baltimore did it against Denver. Denver doesn't score 15 points a game. They're averaging, I believe, 13.8. And, you know, shoot, Seattle, we remember the 91 team that was bad on offense in Seattle. This is like what Denver is. And so I'm putting Kansas City down for 20 to 24. points at least.

Maybe this. No way Denver, well, if you're given eight, so Denver's got to score what? If Denver really breaks out and goes for 13 to 16 points, if they really go hot, I feel like I'm okay. And I'm wondering if this is the week that the Denver defense breaks, it's back breaks, that, you know, we talk about these teams. It's almost a credit to them that they've played the way they have because we've talked about other teams with business decisions, you know, and seeing, seeing, yeah, they're still

playing. They're still playing, but is there a point here where enough is enough and you're playing Kansas City, you just can't keep giving the ball back to them. And is this, is this the first Denver, Kansas City game of the year? I think it is. That I don't know. Denver, Kansas City. I'm still laughing at year. If Denver cuts loose and gets 13 to 16 points. So yes. So Denver has, Denver for all of its misery has not played Kansas City two more times. Oh my gosh. So I'm looking at the teams that they have played. And there's no.

Well, here's one. The Raiders have a pretty good offense. The Raiders won 32 to 23. Okay, so the Raiders won, and then the Raiders won 22 to 16. So the Raiders are beaten them by 7 to 12. I just feel like this may be the week that it really gets out of hand sideways for them. It's one I could probably get on board with. If you were going to make me have a fifth game, I would back you with this for sure.

Take this as your fifth game. I finally sold you on something. I'm in. I'm good. I've been stealing GM notes all year and you finally take one of my things. I'll never do it again. Denver's going to win now and you'll never trust me again. Mark it down.

It's a tandem bet. All right. My last game is the one you took. I'm taking San Francisco too. Tampa Bay, short week, they played Monday night, going across the country to face a pretty good 49ers team that I think will rally around Brock Purdy for a week. And tell me what you think about this, Randy. I don't know if Jimmy G's really going to play again or not. But when it came out that he, you know, Schepter tweeted, hey, he could be back in seven to eight weeks, no surgery or whatever.

Or I don't know if there is, but he's back in seven to eight weeks and you do the math and you're like, shoot, that's in the middle of playoffs. I think that's a real good thing for that locker room to know that they've got this guy out there. Let's do it for Jimmy. Let's stay. Let's keep this thing going. Not that they were going to quit, but you can't fake. We got our quarterback coming back. They needed a shot in the arm, and I think you're right.

This should help along those lines. I agree with you 100%. As a GM or as a head coach, you look for messages like this. Not that you're trying to con anybody. It's just this. factual. He may come back and I want people to know it. So I agree with you 100%. I think it's great just for their vibe and where they're at right, their spirit. Because that was crushing, you know, and then you start to feel like what can we do? You know, the woe is us thing will

happen eventually. Because who knows, it could be rough up and down a little bit with birdie. We'll see. What else we got? Is that it? Is that the football game podcast? All right. We are winding down, everybody. You can find Randy Mueller on Twitter at Randy Mueller underscore. You can find his work at Mueller Football.com. I'm Mike Sando for the football GM.

We'll talk to you next time. This was the athletic football show.