The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz - GBF- Mi Casa, Su Casa

Episode Date: January 3, 2025

Stugotz, Billy, and Mikey A try to decide which of the four CFP teams winning the Championship is the least of all the evils. Billy contemplates offering the Golics a place to stay for the Orange Bowl next week. Simms joins the show to talk about the wild Texas victory of Arizona State. Billy interrogates Simms about what he knew about SpyGate and DeflateGate. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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alcohol by volume. The Smyrnoff Company, New York, New York. Please do not share with anyone under legal drinking age. God bless football, Billy Gill. God bless football, Mikey, eh? God bless football, StuGuts. They lost to Northern Illinois. I mean... They did. Northern they lost to Northern Illinois. They did. Northern Illinois lost a ball state ball state might be the worst team in all of college football. I mean, it's

unbelievable. Stu gots. Good morning, by the way. Good morning. Happy New Year, guys. Happy New Year. Happy New Year. Thanks, Billy. Happy New Year. So we're gonna talk to Chris Sims in a little bit We're gonna have Stugats I sound a little down Right. I think that yeah, I don't I don't know if I want to say that this is a support group but she gots we need to accept something here together and it's that

Either Penn State or Notre Dame are going to be playing for the national championship you're right yeah we just got to kind of get ahead on that accept it right buys mean absolutely nothing in the playoffs yeah they mean something you don't want them. Yeah. Rust, by the way, in the rest versus rust debate. Rust, has there been one good game so far in the college football playoff? So there were five deserving teams, five. Yeah, it was one very good game. One very good one legendary classic game.

Very good. Greatest game in NCAA tournament history. Now we're getting way ahead of ourselves. But Billy, there were five. There was one of the eight games played. One of them was good. You have a team, one SEC team in the final four, one SEC team. That team was playing in the Big 12 a couple of years ago. I mean, enough with college football

Well, you do you watch just bad SEC teams playing like No, I'm just saying for all you know all the SEC zealots who think their conference is the greatest conference. Guess what? It's not oh It's a big town She's Wow for now I mean, you have two big tenss, an independent and an SEC school. Look, we're going to have either Penn State, Notre Dame. Yes. Chris Simms is Texas or Ohio State being national champions.

I don't know who I don't know who I'm rooting for here. I got to be honest with you. Right. Well, let's let's let's delve into that, because who's the lesser of the two evils with Penn State and Notre Dame? The thing with Notre Dame is then we have to hear the Golic's and Jess talk about Notre Dame winning the national championship and like, do we want that? And then we hear about how great Marcus Freeman is. You lose your joke. You lose your play like a champion because now they get to say it. Yeah.

Yeah. They have to win. I want that to go away. I'm rooting for because now they get to say it. Yeah. Yeah. The sign that to go away. I'm rooting for the Gullicks to be happy. Right. At the same time, I don't want that joke to go away. They lost to Northern Illinois. Yeah. We always have that. Yeah. But the sign then means something. And then the whole Golden Dome and all that nonsense.

But they have to win it all, right? They have to win it all for that to mean something. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Like a runner up today. Exactly. They've all that nonsense. But they have to win it all, right? They have to win it all for that to mean something. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, yeah. Like a row today. Exactly. They've done that today. I think we should set an impossible standard for that sign to mean something again.

Like they not only have to win the championship, but they got to win it by like 24 points. Back to back. Jack. Yeah. Anyone can get lucky and win one except for a kid. They're always gonna lose I think was the committee letting that team in Jesus I don't want us to be the I told you so show but like We've been talking about for weeks about how Oregon was really gonna do something stupid like this. Yes, Billy. I have an idea What's that? We're always asking whenever we go out to Arizona and we've been there a couple of times since we started God

bless football. If we could stay at the goal excess. Mm hmm. I think you should have goalie stay at your house. I'm assuming he's coming down for the Orange Bowl, Penn State, Notre Dame on Thursday. I think this next week I got bless football. You need are you looking for a gold jersey? No, this is a it's a pullout. Just thinking if it's a pullout. It's a pullout. It is a pullout. This thing pulls out.

OK, you should have Mike and his wife sleep on that. Let me see. Hold on a second. OK, he's going to. I think you should just offer it up. I don't know. Offer just offer it up. If Mike stays at your house, Mike's assuming he's taking your bed. Hold on a second. I'm going to send. OK, hold on a second. Where are they in Notre Dame? All right. He's on he's taking your bed. Hold on a second. I'm going to send, okay, hold on a second.

Where are they? Notre Dame? All right. He's on the air. Okay, good, this is perfect. I'm going to send a group text with the two of you on it right now. Okay.

This is fun, just for me really. You might want to throw Gojo. Gojo would sleep on that thing. No, no, this is Gojo. No, that's the problem. You don't want Gojo, because Gojo will do it. Yeah, Gojo will do it. Gojo will do it.

I don't really want that. You don't want to go because go go go. Joe will go. Joe will do it. I don't really want that. You don't want that. Hey, he's he'll never leave. I'll tell you this. Your kids will love him. Oh, he's great. Your kids will love him. Jesus Christ. Guy is unbelievable. Oh man. Who are you rooting for? Who am I rooting for? Yeah. Who are you rooting for?

Who am I rooting for? Yeah, who are you rooting for? I'm always rooting for the Gullicks, man. I'm rooting for the Gullicks. Guys, we don't know anyone affiliated with Penn State. What do we care? I want the Gullicks to be happy. No, we don't.

I want the Gullicks to be happy too, but I don't want to lose the jokes. We don't want them to be happy. For the sake of the show, I need the Gullicks to lose. Yeah, but I want them to be happy. I'll still the show. I need the goal to lose. Yeah, but I'll be happy. I'll still have the Penn State jokes, though. The J.J. Jokes. I mean, I think I think this text is way too comfortable and I don't think I'm going to send it because I'm a little afraid.

What's it say? Also, there's great wind. Big dog. Congrats on making it to the Orange Bowl. If you need a place to crash, I have a pullout couch with your name on it. I'm making it to the orange bowl. If you need a place to crash, I have a pullout couch with your name on it. I think you need to write Mike Golic on a piece of paper and put it on the couch.

Take a picture. It's literally his name on the couch. Mike Golic's bed. Reserved from Mike Golic. It's literally your name on it. Okay. Can I just credit where credit is due a Notre Dame with like four seconds left on the play clock taking your entire team off the field and running in a whole different unit on there just to trick the other team into jumping off sides.

And it was so cool. It was so cool. And it works. It was so cool. And it worked. It was so cool. It's unbelievable. And that's all the credit they will be getting today. That's it. Come on guys, we're not gonna root for Notre Dame.

We love Smeddy and we love the Gulliks, come on. It is funnier for them to lose in championship than in the semi-finals, I guess. Yes, now who would, okay, so Max Funny would be them losing to Ryan Day, right? Like that's. I guess. Yeah. I mean, we don't want Sims to be happy, right?

We know we know that we don't we do not want Texas to win. It seems to be happy. You definitely don't want Sims. Sims doesn't claim that. I don't think Sims would claim that victory the way the way the goal is. No, no, no, no. I'll claim no Billy. We'll see. Well, we'll talk to him later. We'll see how happy you are about Texas. No, I know. But I'm with Mikey on this.

I think a national championship with Notre Dame winning, it means more to the goalics than if Texas wins a national champion. Hold on a second. You'd hate for Sims to get smug, huh? Wait a second, Billy, I want Golic's versus Sims. No, I do want this now. Well, hold on a second, hold on a second. Get them on at the same time. Yeah, but hold on a second,

because now I'm thinking for, you know. Finally paid off. What's best for the Golic family might be Notre Dame losing. You know what I mean? Because like if Notre Dame wins the national championship, then you have a whole roster of Notre Dame legends out there that you can hire to come in and speak at your events

and do all of these things. And then maybe we say, oh, no, no, no, no, no. You know, man, Golic coming here for, we can talk to Riley Leonard. You know what I mean? Like, oh, we need a- Riley is pitching beef jerky. mean like exactly right oh go Joe okay cool he has a tattoo sleeves but what did he

ever win here he went to the national champion got destroyed by Alabama what are we talking to him for what does he know about playing like a champion let's talk to all you know Chris Mitchell or something you know what I mean if Marcus Freeman wins the national championship, he's going to the NFL There's your there's your hairs bears bears Wow, I think he wins the national championship will be at Notre Dame for the next three decades. Oh, yeah Yeah, exactly right. Wait, hold on. Is there a Keith Mitchell on Notre Dame? Chris Mitchell

There's a Chris Mitchell there. He went to FIU, he, yeah no, he went to FIU. Oh, he did, he transferred? He entered the portal and then he went to Notre Dame and honestly, in my head I'm like, was it worth it because you're getting two receptions a game. Like down here, you're getting like 180 yards a game, here you're getting 20 on two receptions.

Like I don't know if this was worth it for you. Anyway. By the way, our thoughts and prayers prayers and we should have started here go out to all the families that were impacted by the tragic events that took place a new year's morning in new orleans and so we had the game delayed yesterday noter dame beat pens i noted it won that game they'll advance to the semi-finals to take on penn state you You have Texas, Ohio State, but our thoughts and prayers do go out to all the families And it's hard to transition out of that, but I'll try the NFL guys We have a big weekend as well and still you gots picks those picks are coming up. I'm on fire

I've had a great year. They're coming up. Chris Sims is going to join us as well. What do you have Billy? It's two guts You interviewed Lewis Riddick for your GM opening reportedly. How do you have Billy? Stugats, you interviewed Lewis Riddick for your GM opening reportedly. How do you feel about that? It's an odd thing that Lewis Riddick's name comes up every single year for some sort of G. I just he never gets the job. I mean, I'm not saying he wouldn't be good at it. He just never gets the job. Yeah. Maybe you guys are the guys that give him the job. Him and Vrabes because Vrabes interviews coming up I would like to have Mike Vrabel is my head coach. I don't know how Mike he's getting interviewed today. He's getting in He doesn't want your job though

This is the leverage this is the leverage No, he might be no hold on a second because I think one of the jobs that he definitely coveted was Ohio State. But there's no way Ohio State is getting rid of Ryan Day after what he did to Oregon. There's no it's not happening. We'll see. It's early. Billy, you think Ryan Day could be fired if they lose to Texas? No. Early. What do you mean?

It's early. Early still. So I think that's one of the jobs you wanted and he's not gonna get it so um he wants the Patriots job so he I think the thing is gonna be open I think it's gonna be between the Raiders and the Jets I if okay so now let's have let's have a conversation that people will probably get mad at us for having but does variable have another bad job on his resume you know I mean like how many more head coaching jobs as he get after this one if this if he goes to the wrong team and

it doesn't work out he took Tennessee to add to a one seed and me and I off there is not a bad team I speak on behalf of the Browns the Jets all them there's not a bad team who wouldn't take that in a second. So, no, I know that. But I'm saying if you're variable and you take the Jets job and it's an utter disaster, but you really want the Patriots job down the road, are you going to get the Patriots job if you feel at the Jets?

Did he do enough in Tennessee to override whatever? Sure. Lack of success. There's a lot of coaches that that got that third chance. And because if if he really wants the Patriots job, like you may be able to just if Gerard Mayo has another bad season and he may be out next year, you know, the Patriots have it out. The Patriots have a quarterback, Billy. They also have the number one pick in the draft.

They'll probably get Travis Hunter if they want to. We'll see. I mean, I would love to have Rable. I would. That would be great. So listen, this is a guy who took Ryan Tannehill as Mikey just pointed. Ryan Tannehill. Yeah. Who will one seed in the AFC, and I believe they went to two AFC championship games. I could be another one to one. And perhaps they went to a second.

If you could take Ryan Tannehill to a one seed in an AFC championship game, you're a good coach. Talk about misplaying your hand Ryan Tannehill waiting around to get a starting quarterback offer that just never came, even with injuries. Like, nope, I don't want to be a backup. Maybe it wasn't him that was waiting. Maybe that wasn't the case. Maybe the phone just never rang. Oh, that's what I'm saying. But like, he should have taken a backup job. Like in a second, he should have taken a backup job if it was offered to him. But no, I want to once to be a starter that with the reports and guess what? He watching Carson once this week with Envy.

Oh, man. Oh, man. I could have been I could have been there. I could have been my week. Seven years already. There's the past couple of weeks and he could have been looking at the Eagles with Envy, he could have been looking at the Eagles with envy he could have ended up winning a Super Bowl as a backup quarterback had had a couple games where he went out there it's like you know what

Tana Hill still hasn't next year gotten the Sam Darnold deal like I don't know what he was thinking saying you know what I'm just not gonna play this year because because like okay look even Teddy Bridgewater Teddy Bridgewater left the game went coached a high school team to a State championship and now is back with the Lions. Yeah, I Don't know what Tannehill's doing. Anyways, I don't know how do you feel about the right Tannehill today? Well, well now we were talking about for able and making the point that he took right To the number one seed the AFC

How do you feel about the Dolphins chances of making it here? A lot needs to have. I mean, Denver needs to lose. The Dolphins need to win. They need to be the Jets. This is the kind of game the Jets normally win. But how do you feel about your chances here? I can't wait because Chris Sims was bashing.

I can't wait for Sims today because Sims was bashing to and to his effort and to his play in big games for the Dolphins saying he hasn't been very good. So this is gonna be interesting to see what Sims has to say and what you have to say to Chris Sims about this. But how do you feel about your chances? I don't know. I don't know, cause this also might be Aaron Rodgers'

last game, right? So we'll see. Is he gonna wanna put on a show? Is he just gonna kinda, if this is his last game, go out like a fart in the wind in a game that's completely forgotten. His last game was not good. They took him out.

What are we going to do here? I don't know, because I don't know. It all gets down to Kansas City is Kansas City like try telling. To Mikey's point earlier, he just mentioned Carson once. He actually didn't make a point. But try telling Carson once this game doesn't mean anything. That's the thing. Right. That's the thing. You have a lot of players like just they could go rogue this weekend because of their own selfish needs.

So like you got to send it out on. We were talking about the incentives and who's going to get one and whatever. And one of them was like Dawson Knox needs eight receptions. They're like, is he going to get that? And we're like, Mitch Trubisky going to decide he wants Dawson Knox to get incentives incentives or is Mitch Trubisky going to decide he wants a job next year? Like what are we doing here? Yes. What does he say to him?

Does he say, listen, you need eight catches? I'm going to throw you nine balls. It's up to you. Game plan is throwing DOS and Knox the ball nine times. I don't know what we're doing. Because also Josh is going out there to start. Josh is going out there to start to keep his streak alive, but like, good luck getting him off the field.

You know what I mean? I feel like Josh is like... Once he starts a football game, he likes to finish him, right? He's going to go out there, he's going to scream for a flag, and they're going to pull him. Just one more drive, coach. Just one more drive. You know? Anyway. You should just go out there, take the victory formation and walk off.

That would be funny. It goes out there, just kneels the ball and first down. He gets his start and he's up off the field. Billy, I got a sneaky feeling the Dolphins are going to get in. I think so, too. Yeah, I really do. I could see both joking in this game, man. What happened?

I think Cincinnati is going to just be devastated because they're going to be set up. And I think the Dolphins are going to pull right. I'm told I'm with Mikey on this. Cincinnati beats Pittsburgh on Saturday. And then at one o'clock, I believe that's a one o'clock kick, right? Kansas City in Denver. No, they're four o'clock and other both. They did it all the same. Yeah.

Four twenty five or whatever time. What was I thinking about? That would be 10 a.m. in Denver, I think. But I do think Kansas City is going to win that game. And I think the Dolphins are going to be the Jets because the Jets have no interest in winning that game. And Aaron Rodgers had no interest in playing football. So how about that?

He says he's going to assess and he's going to figure it out. How much time do you think? I mean, I'm sorry. I'm assessing. How much time do you think? I mean, I'm tired of him assessing. How much time do you think he gets to think about this? I don't care. Take all the time you want. Just don't come back to our team. He's cut by Friday.

Is really unless unless Mike Frabel's like, yeah, I'll come back, but I still want Rogers. I think, OK, OK, you can have it. Why on earth? I love you. Assess all I want. I don't know, but they'll give Mike Brayboy whatever the hell he wants.

I bet Lewis Riddick, huh? Yeah, we'll see. Sweet Lou. I mean, I love that Mike Tannenbaum is going to hire all the guys at ESPN to run the New York Jets. This is amazing. I wonder what Greeny's job will be. What do you think?

Media relations, maybe. Is that what you have, really doing that? People are. I'm sending greeny a text about getting pre-sol on. You still won't get them on for you. No, never. The I'm with Hembo. Who?

And both takes over greedy slot. Yeah. Oh, Hembo leads analytics. Come on, man. Let's just let's just that's true. People in the chance to succeed. That's true. Does her medboards have a position?

I mean, yeah, her. But he's going to coach the defensive backs. He's a former Jets coach, so he'll have a position. Right. All the former Jets coach. You for'll have a position. Right. All the former Jets coach is more free. Yes, we had. Yeah. Except Rex. Rex. Rex. Get the job. Oh, Rex.

His rable does. If Rable doesn't know, Rex gets that job right. And this ESPN Jets scenario is going to be Aaron Glenn. It's going to be. Would you take would you take would you take him back, Rex? I would. I would. take would you take him back Rex? I would I would I mean, I mean, it's not it's definitely not my first choice It's definitely not my top three choices. You would want he is he is the least of the evils that I would be like

Okay, you would want to have a Rex then Matt Nagy. I would rather Rex than, uh, Oh man. Some of those other guys, cod Monkin, I'd rather rather Aaron Glen over Rex. No. Wow. No. I'm sick of hiring first time defensive coaches, giving them a young quarterback and go figure it out. And then when they don't, we go, I don't know what went wrong. Right. That's fair.

I mean, Herm with Pennington, Rex with Sanchez, Todd Bowles with Darnold, Sala with Wilson. Like how many times are they gonna do the same thing over and over and then wonder why it doesn't work? The only thing I'll say, the only guy who embraced being the Jets head coach and really loved truly loved it and made the fans feel like he was in the fight with them is Rex Ryan. That's that's that's the guy.

And there's something to be said about that because as much as the Billy's of the world get to make fun of us For yeah. Yeah, I'm looking at you Billy get to make fun of us for being the dumpster fire that we are There's one guy out there banging the table saying please give me the job that I mean again. He's not my first choice But if the worst thing that happens is we give the person that wants the job and only that job the job. I'm good. I Deleted my texticle. Look, I'm good I I deleted my text to go look I'm not sending that text just just a pic then just send the picture just send the picture Mike Goldick written on the couch and just let him let him infer the

rest Mikasa Tsukasa something like that okay we Hey, big dog, Mikasa Tsukasa. See, Billy thinks it's easy to send a hey, big dog text until you actually fire it up and it's there. You have to send it and you don't want to send. We're back. Mikasa Tsukasa. I can't wait to record with you next week. And Golic is sleeping on that couch behind you.

It would be so funny. Golic is sitting over my shoulder. Gullick getting up in his underwear. Yeah. In the background, scratching himself. Mike, any chance you could drop my kids off at school, running a little late for work? I'm like doing the drop off.

Mike, not standing here for free. Take out the trash. They'll be calling him Grandpa. Oh, Grandpa Mike. You'll have your kids written into the will. Oh my God. Pop, pop Mike. I'm so excited.

That's a good looking will too. I know. We gotta make this happen. How do I kidnap the goleks? It is time for this week's edition of Steve Yagout presented by DraftKings Sportsbook. Stay tuned because you'll hear more about DraftKings and all it has to offer throughout the show.

DraftKings, the crown is yours. We'll pick the final four in college football next week. NFL, week 18, final week of the regular season, 6-1 a week ago, 78- 43 and two on the season. Holy tricky week. But here we go. Bengals minus two at the Steelers on Saturday. I'm taking Cincinnati here they win they cover. They leave themselves a shot to make it to the playoffs. We'll see what happens. The Bengals win and cover the Bengals by eight points on the road over Pittsburgh. The

Packers minus 10. They're taking on the Bears. By it down to nine and a half, take Green Bay. They win by 17 points. The Packers cover. The Commanders minus five at Dallas. Commanders win and cover on the road. Commanders by 10 points over the Cowboys.

Bucks minus 13 and a half. They're taking on the Saints. They're at home. They win. They're in. Baker Mayfield. I'm taking that guy. Buy it down to 13. The Bucks win and they cover. The Bucks by 21 points over the Saints. The Chiefs plus 10 and a half. They're at Denver. Denver needs to win to get in. They're gonna win. They're just not gonna cover Don't tell Carson Wentz this game doesn't mean anything. How about that? I don't know what it means. I do know what it means It means the Chiefs cover Broncos win. They go to the playoffs Broncos by four points The Chiefs get the cover plus ten and a half. Chargers minus four and a half on the road

They're taking on the Raiders by a down to four. The Chargers win and they cover the Chargers by 10 points on the road. Big game, Sunday night, Vikings, Lions, winner, one seed, loser, likely facing Baker Mayfield. Jesus Christ, this game is for everything. I can't believe it. The Lions are three point favorites. We have doubted the Minnesota Vikings the entire season. I doubt them no more. How about that? You know what the D and Darnold stands for? Doubt them no more

Vikings they're plus two and a half buy it up to three. They're gonna win the game outright They're gonna be the one seed the Vikings win by four points over the Lions. Those are the picks everyone. Good luck. We got to hear from my friends over at Miller Lite. The holidays are here. It is a great time of year. Happy holidays to all and listen, there is nothing like celebrating the holidays and bringing in the new year with friends, family, football,

sports, music, and of course, doing all of that with an ice cold Miller Lite in your hand. It's a holiday tradition in my family, that's for sure. From family gatherings to holiday parties with friends this season is for enjoying time with the most important people in your life and doing it with Miller Lite. Miller Lite is brewed for taste. It hits different than other light beers, the original light beer since 1975 and still the best one. Miller Lite. Great taste. 96 calories. Go to MillerLite.com slash Dan to find delivery options near you or you can pick up some Miller

Lite pretty much anywhere they sell beer. Tastes like Miller time, celebrate responsibly. Miller Brewing Company, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. 96 calories and 3.2 carbs per 12 ounces. Stugatz here, I wanna thank the folks over at Smirnoff for being a loyal sponsor to both God Bless Football and the Dan Leventar Show with Stugatz. Smirnoff knows there is no I in football.

Football is a we thing, an experience that is best enjoyed together. With good drinks and good folks, Smirnoff is the world's number one vodka and is an official vodka partner of the NFL. And this year, there are more opportunities to watch football and make delicious Smirnoff cocktails than ever before over the holiday season. From Thanksgiving to Black Friday and Christmas, Smirnoff and the NFL are with you every step of the way. So this holiday season, when you're enjoying the game and your cocktails, please make sure to drink responsibly. Take a minute, make a plan,

never drive impaired. Smirnoff, we do game days. Please drink responsibly. Smirnoff number 21 Vodka, distilled from grain, 40% alcohol by volume. The Smirnoff Company, New York, New York, please do not share with anyone under legal drinking age. ["Sweet Home Run"] Billy, like right as I put it on, I mean, Billy's sick. I can see it on him. I can hear it on him. I mean, he's got issues. Yep. Excuse me, sir. We're trying to on him. I can hear it on him. I mean, he's got issues

Excuse me, sir. I'm trying to get you out of your dinner plans, man Yeah, don't go to your dinner plans and get everybody sick. Don't be an asshole This is classic deflection from you Chris is because your team almost the bed yesterday and it was ridiculous How many chances did you have to win that game? How many times did the referees have to cheat with a clear targeting call that would have cost you the game? There was a clear targeting call the drive before on Arizona State that they let them go with too, so I knew that was coming I don't hear everyone making an uproar about that one today. I mean, I know exactly right. It's who gives it. We should have won the game by 20. It doesn't matter.

We were the better team. We missed field goals. We had a ball that like should have been returned for a return on a punt return to start the game. And I don't know what the guy did. He was literally like punting anywhere but on me. I mean, yeah, it wasn't impressive. We got it done.

We're still alive. But don't change the subject and that you're sick and that you might go to dinner and infest other people tonight. Listen, don't change the subject in that Ohio State is waiting for you and it is going to be an ugly scene for Texas. It's scary. I'm going though. I'm going. No, no, why? I'm going to waste your money. Are you really going? Don't do that. Yes, sir. Don't do that. I care about it.

You guys were probably the same three guys that were telling Ohio State they suck and they should fire Ryan Day. Now you're gonna tell me, look at them, they're gonna just steal all our money. No, big loss. There's an important loss that they had to Michigan. Yeah, that's right. As a Michigan fan, I love Ryan Day.

Mm-hmm. I thought of Oregon came back, but Ohio State still won the game. They were gonna fire Ryan Day afterwards. Seriously, seriously. Right. Well, it was, you know, they came back when Ohio State still won the game. They were going to fire right day afterwards. Seriously, seriously. Right. Well, it was, you know, they came back within 20. We have to fire you.

So you're going to the cotton bowl. That's it. I'm going. I was so excited. My kids have never been to a Texas game. I was telling my wife the night before I was like book the flights and the hotel room right now. Like now. Right. We were having a drink. It was New Year's Eve and then she was like, well, I'm a

little tipsy. I don't want to do this. And I'm like, please do this. And she said, well, we'll do it during the game tomorrow. And of course she didn't do it during the game. So we looked up all this stuff. And of course, as soon as the game was over in Texas won, everything went double, right? Everything. So yeah, we're going but not for the price I'd like because my wife decided nobody blows money like my wife. She's the best blower of money in the

history of the planet. Raising. Yes. She likes to go through your money is you're rooting for Texas. You'll be fine paying slightly more than what you were going to pay had she booked it the day before. You'll be fine, Chris. Yeah, I mean, I will be fine, but like, no joke, double. Like, I'm not even joking you. Everything. Like, the room rate, double. Everything was double, but nonetheless, we're going and we're going to have some fun at the Cotton Bowl. Everything's bigger in Texas. You know that, right? Put us there as your kicker in regulation is trying to win the game and he hits the up right. Are you cursing him out? What are you doing there?

I was cursing him out before he even kicked it. I was like, this mother F'er better knock this in. Stop with all these talks and this crap. Just knock at the damn end, like knocking in. He's a really good kicker other than in the state of Georgia. I don't know what it is. He missed those field goals against Georgia in the SEC championship game too. Other than that, he's damn smooth. But I still think at our best, we're as good as anybody in college football. We have these moments like yesterday where you see it and you go, damn, Texas looks real. And then they kind of fall asleep at the wheel wheel I think they lose their way offensively. They kind of get away from their game plan

They'll be highly motivated and focused They know who's coming to town this week and they know this is one of the few times all year that they won't just step on A field that'd be the more gifted team on the field Automatically with Ohio State on the field first. I feel like they should start at the Elite 8 there's no need for more than eight playoff teams. Like they needed that. The committee needed that game to be close yesterday. They got a close game.

Arizona State is a deserving team that probably would have been left out of a 14 playoff. So I feel like eight teams is the right amount of teams. I don't mind the 12 either. I just want it to be the right 12. I don't want pre-existing narratives to make it work, right? See, this is my problem with the whole process. Like they knew Indiana wasn't going to travel, so they're going to have Indiana play Notre Dame and Notre Dame

because that'll make sense. They wanted the Rose Bowl to have the big 10 pack 12 look, right? So they finagled it to where two of the four best teams in the country are playing in the quarterfinal round. That's stupid because they wanted to make. So when you go in with pre existing narratives, you that's how you screw things up. They knew Arizona State wasn't going to sell out the Peach Bowl in Atlanta. They knew they had a team like Texas coming there to play it. So that's the problem. That's the we're not. There's too much business and narratives being filled instead of just going these are the best 12 teams and we'll see what happens And that's why it's led to some crappy matchups, but hopefully we'll well that's the end of that

We won't see any more of that. Hmm Billy you were shocked that Chris has never taken his kids to a Texas game. Yeah kind of them I mean, I think I think they've forgiven you Chris like I think that they I mean, I think I think they've forgiven you Chris like I think that they When are you gonna get it through your thick skull that I work on weekends and it's just a little job called football on the NFL Like when are you gonna get that through your skull? You got some pull over there to NBC. You say you know what we got to do a show on on location Let's go to Texas. Let's cover a game there You go to Universal Studios when you got to go to a theme park you talk them into that

That's cuz they tell me to do that. That's not because I'm telling them to do that. And I did, I already tried this year to make them let me and Maria go to the Texas Georgia game, even though that wasn't our game. It was ESPN ABC. And I was like, let us do our pregame. Me and Herb will be there at the game and you can come in and check in on us every now and then. Yeah. He said no. So that's, you know, that's not going to happen. This game's on a Friday. I'll get there Thursday. I'll leave early Saturday morning

so I can be back on my couch to watch wild, super wild card Saturday and go all that's perfect timing. I'm looking forward to it. Did you make it up till midnight on New Year's or what happened? I did. Yeah. I made it. I was, I went past midnight. Yeah, I did.

I mean, I went pretty hard on New Year's night. I had definitely a lot of smokey, smokey, drinky, drinky that night. Right. You have some friends over or how that? No, you know, kept it low key. I mean, it was me and my wife alone. Right. And we were like, man, this is awesome. You know, I was like, hey, get naked. Just let's go crazy. And then my daughter called and she's like,'re coming home her boyfriend like we're coming home early And I was like great. Well can't wait to see you awesome

No, so yeah, they could they ruin my night. You threw some underwear on I mean kid Yeah, I had to put my wife's clothes back on and we had to act like we were just sitting there normal on the couch now You should have a kid Chris like another one like now. I feel like you having a go for you would be great I put in all that good work already. You deal with it now. I'll watch your misery. You don't enjoy that. You just keep being miserable.

I actually am enjoying it. I think that you need a kid in your life. He has you. Yes, exactly. Wipe your nose. Blow your nose. Don't touch that. Keep your fingers out of your nose. You'll get sick Billy. Right.

Well, since we're trying to get Billy out of dinner plans tonight, have you used like have you what's your go to excuse what you want to get out of dinner plans? Work, work, right? Yeah, usually with God bless football. Usually work. It's it's always it's usually work related or schedule changed and I oh I gotta I didn't know I was gonna have to do this and they made me do this now I gotta go do it I'm sorry I think that's one of my but I'm like I'm like that doesn't really happen to me anymore just because I'm so like you know hey let's

do dinner one night I'm like yeah yeah we'll figure it out sometime after the season like I am NOT gonna put myself out there and put myself in those like, oh, hey, let's do dinner one night. I'm like, yeah, we'll figure it out sometime after the season. Like, I am not going to put myself out there and put myself in those positions. I've just learned. So, it's very rarely that I have to bullsh my way out of

something anymore. Right. Just kick the can down the road. That's all. That's a better strategy. Exactly. Kick it down the road. Exactly right. Pft with Mike Florio every day up Peacock, the Unbuttoned Podcast, Football Night in America. Final week of the regular season. NFL is coming up. It flies by every single year. Chris, I saw your piece, by the way,

last week. You went to DC. You spent some time with Jaden Daniels. And I was thinking on the field, it's obvious how talented he is. But that's the exact kind of kid or person you want to be the CEO of your franchise. He is grounded. He is confident off the field on the field. He seems like a guy who's never going to do the wrong thing. Say the wrong thing. He's that kind of guy. He's that guy Chris agreed agreed. I mean vibes are high in that Washington facility because of him. You you could feel that I was there a few years ago. It didn't feel like anything like I felt when I was

here just last week and visiting him He's just a everything you see and everything you said you're spot-on He's just a cool smooth customer nothing bothers him right to the point where he's so nice and everything you're like I think you might need to learn to be a little bit more of a jerk if he wants to win in this league Right, I mean, you know not that he really needs to but you know what I'm trying to say Like is there a meanness about him? Because I even joked with him. I was like, you throw an interception, you have a little grin on your face. You throw a touchdown, you have a little grin on your face.

You win the game, you have a grin on your face. You lose the game, you have a grin on your face. It's just the way he is. But he talked about how he wants to portray that. That he used to think about, hey, we're down or things are bad. And let me still act positive. So people are positive around me. And he said now he's become like that so much that he doesn't have to think about it anymore. And that's just the way he is naturally.

What has been your assessment of Michael panic through two games? It's been good. It's an incredibly tough situation as I've been trying to explain to people to get thrown out there at this point of the year when everybody's just, you know, all systems go all hitting on all cylinders total football shape and all that. But the one thing you cannot deny is that the ball comes off that guy's hand in a special way. It does. I mean, it's it's it's a different look. He's got a powerful arm. He sits there in the pocket. He lets it rip. They're not doing a ton on offense, but in a lot of ways, I think they're somewhat more dangerous on offense, even though it might not be as many plays and formations. He just capable of hitting certain throws that Kirk Cousins is not capable of hitting. And hey, this is only the tip of the iceberg. When he gets a full

off season, and they really get to orchestrate the offense and he gets to feel real comfortable and all that, I think you're gonna see Michael Pennex look a lot like you saw Jayden Daniels and Bo Nicks look in a hurry. It's gonna look real damn good. Did the Falcons wait too long? No, I don't think they did. I think that, you know, that was a tough situation.

That really was. I don't know if there was any right answer there. They, of course, were in a playoff run. They were the quarterback who's been very good for a long time. They were trying to give him the benefit of the doubt that he can work himself out of this, right? I think they made the move right at the proper time.

I do. That's a tough one. It really is. And hey, like we know, it was there to be had last week. They should have called the timeout, in my opinion, you know, when they got that one completion up the right sideline, they dilly-dallied there too long because it's a rookie quarterback and he's trying to get everybody orchestrated. If it's Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, veteran quarterback, the Homes, whatever, I understand saving the timeout because he's going to be able to get up the line and be

like, hey, this formation, blah, blah, blah, let's run the play set hot. But Michael Pettix is young and he's communicating a little slowly to everybody and making sure everybody's on the page. And that's where precious time went by. How long was that adjustment for you from, you know, college to the NFL timing wise? Because like we've seen Caleb Williams struggle with it seemingly this season as well, where the game, I don't want to say it's moving too fast. Some guys get it right away, Billy. But it seems like he like he has trouble with the play clock. It seems to just be moving at a lot different speed for him.

Yeah, well, nothing's been easy for them, right? I mean, nothing. They've been just a dumpster fire, really. And I think there's a little bit sometimes too much of like, they give him too much. And to where he's at the line of scrimmage, and yeah, he's young and he's trying to figure it out. And it's like, oh gosh, it's five, it's four, it's three.

Hold on, check this. And you know, set hut. And it kind of looks like discombobulated at times. It does. And that's where they got to help them. That's the biggest thing. But it is a big adjustment. That 40 second running clock in the NFL

compared to what college football, it comes in a hurry. Let alone the plays are a lot longer. They're a lot more descriptive. And really in the NFL, more times than not, you got to call two plays in the huddle. So then you get out of the huddle, you get that long play call, the clock's been running anyways, and you get out and you go, oh crap,

there's only 13 seconds left. And I still got to send a guy in motion and try to figure out what coverage they're in, and then try to get to the right player the one or two or three that we called in the huddle and that's where the coach can help the quarterback at times and try to simplify things and maybe not call plays like that on a consistent basis just every now and then when need be

Chris there aren't a lot of games this weekend that actually means something in terms of the playoff picture, but for every team They got a couple of players who were trying to get some Contract incentives a couple of bonuses and stuff like that How much is that like discussed in the locker room and how much do players be like? Hey? Hey, I I got this you're gonna run this one in no matter what I I mean it happens a lot It happens a real lot. Who do we see? We saw Brady and Gronk is the one I remember. Well Brady and Gronk we had the

old Lions running back who was in last year in New Orleans right? Didn't they score late in the game to give him a touchdown because there was Jamal Williams right? That's right yes. They got an incentive remember? And they were whoever they were playing the coach got pissed because the players went renegade. They were like, the play called by the coach. We're running it up the middle and then get him an incentive. But it is talked about.

It definitely is. And the thing you hope for, because the players can't sway in your favor totally, right? You might try to help out your guy. You need the coaches to be on board. That's the big thing. And hopefully the coaches aren't too much of a kiss ass to the owner where they're worried about the owners,

you know, endless pit of money and him saving a few extra dollars. Like, right, I was in Tampa once and we were coming down this stretch. We weren't even in the playoffs officially, but we were going to be in the playoffs more than likely. We had two games left and we could win the division. We ended up win the division.

We ended up winning the division and all that and getting a home wild card game. But Ike Hilliard needed like seven catches in the two games to get like $250,000 and they came to him before the second to last game and they're like, Hey, I think we're going to arrest you these next two weeks. We're going to arrest you to make sure you're ready for the playoffs. And of course he told us and me and Joey Galloway and there was a little bit of uproar and I think he was like, no, I'm playing. That's not happening. And yeah, he got that. We made sure he got it. And I was happy to see that. But teams can be annoying when it comes to that stuff at times. Wait, so I kill you're the coaches said you're not playing and he said, you want playing and he

ended up he goes, no, no, I'm playing. He goes, I'm playing. They tried to say it early in the week. And then he told us to, to where we were. I think, I think they started to realize, whoa, like the teams got his back. He told a few guys, the quarterback, Joey Galloway, they all know what's going on here. I think we got to play him. And he played really well for us in the last two games and helped us win the NFC South and get that home playoff game. Chris, this is so tricky for the Chiefs because I've seen teams and coaches do it. I've seen Bill Parcells with your dad play his starters when they've already clinched home field throughout the playoffs. So is Andy Reid doing the right thing here? I do. You got to play. Well, I mean, listen, I understand not playing Kelsey in my homes and Chris Jones. I get that. But like sit out the whole team,

let all the backups play. No, I don't agree with that. I don't. You got to play a little bit like the way it sets up right now. And I did a video on Instagram this week about this. I mean, they're going to go three and a half weeks without meaningful football, a meaningful football game. That's scary. That's a recipe for getting upset in the divisional round. That's what happens. Remember when the Ravens got upset by the Titans a few years ago in the divisional round?

They didn't have to play anything the last two games of the year. Oh, bam, bam, boom. Oh, wait. This is what it is. It's a street fight again? We forgot what it's like. We haven't played football in four weeks.

So that's what I worry about. Even for a team like the Patriots, I mean, like the Chiefs, right? Like you mentioned it, whether it was the Parcells, Giants or the Belichick Patriots, they had a lot of games where week 17, it was all locked up. They didn't really need to do anything, but Brady and everybody played like maybe into the third quarter and then they took them out because yeah, it's too long of a time and you don't want to do that. And you want to go into the playoffs somewhat sharp and and ready to go. So I hope the Chiefs play a good majority of their guys, at least a good amount of the football game. I will say if you have the ability to keep Joe burrow out of the playoffs, you should

probably take that opportunity. I mean, I hear you there. I hear you there. Now, listen, like, you know, Denver's no easy thing either. You just saw them go toe to toe with Joe Burrow. We saw them. They should have beat Kansas City as well. I don't think Kansas City gives a fuck, Stu Gotts. I don't think they give a shit. I think Kansas City is like, bring on whoever you want to bring on. We're ready.

And as much as Joe Burrow scary, they're less scary than years past because of that defense, right? You know, the those other years when Kansas City had to play Cincinnati, those defenses are pretty good. This is one I think they look at this year and go, we can score thirty on this defense for sure and I don't think there's quite the fear from those top teams in the AFC of Cincinnati like there used to be. The only difference is

that's the one match up they play in with a quarterback. Maybe he is to be. Bruce, the only difference is that's the one matchup they play in with a quarterback. Maybe he is, maybe he isn't. But the quarterback thinks he's the better quarterback on the field. Yeah. Or he's certainly not afraid. That's for sure.

Yes. But I mean, that's why I'd love to see him get in because, I mean, are you kidding me? I mean, Burrow, Mahomes, Allen, and Lamar all on the same side of the playoff bracket. I mean, the four guys, the four guys that are clearly in a class of their own right now and quarterback in the NFL.

It's like those four, and then we can make a list after that, right? I mean, they stand alone and that's, I would love to see all four get in. I'm already feeling bad for Lamar Jackson, Chris, because you know, the rap on him is doing it in the post season. He's won the MVP multiple times.

He might win it again this year, but if it holds, if the if the seating holds right now, Lamar Jackson is going to have to be Josh Allen in Buffalo. And then if he does that, he's likely going to have to beat my homes in Kansas City. It ain't happening, Chris. Well, he's going to have to earn it. You know, this is this is a Super Bowl. This is the NFL. You got to take it. That's that's what the Chiefs have been doing, and that's what it's going to take. You want to be the man? You got to beat the man.

That's what you got to do. And yeah, you know, this is some of those early season losses to the Raiders and the Browns, right? That's come back to bite them in the ass. And now they're going to have to go on the road and do it. But damn, they're hot. Their offense is playing as good as it's played all year. Their defense is definitely better than it was

at the halfway point. So certainly capable of doing those type things. I think Baltimore is the worst matchup in the world for Buffalo. I think Buffalo would rather see any team in the AFC rather than Baltimore. I think Baltimore really causes some problems for them, but to your point Lamar is under more pressure I think than anybody in the NFL in this playoffs.

I do. And what I mean you bring him up with the MVP stuff. I mean this year blows last year out of the way right? Last year there was almost really like Lamar Lamar wanted by default. There was no like unreal single guy that was like oh wow. I mean you look at Lamar's stats default. There was no like unreal single guy that was like, oh wow. I mean you look at Lamar's stats last year, they're good, but they're not eye-popping. This year's been his best season, yes. But yeah, yeah, but last year they had some moments at the end of the year, right? They blew out Miami and they blew out San Francisco in San Francisco on Monday night. That's what I think Josh Allen has the advantage on Lamar this year, right? Josh Allen stats are close to Lamar's but not quite there.

I don't think Josh Allen support is as good as Lamar's is on the offensive side of the ball. And Josh Allen had a run of games there where it was the Chiefs, the 49ers, the Rams, and the Lions that like were all national televised games and you were all going, oh my gosh, is this guy the best football player we've ever seen? And I think those moments will get him over the top to win the MVP as long as he doesn't just totally, you know, screw it up this weekend. He's also had times where he's just sat out quarters, right? Because they're blowing people so out of the water that it's like, well, he's not going to get passing or is going

to get touchless. He's just not playing, which is weird because like, they did mention he's gonna play this weekend just to keep his streak alive. So I would think that's like a series or two max. I think so. For Josh Allen. Because why put him at risk for anything there? Yeah, no, I think it's more of like,

yeah, get the start. It's also, let's just go through the process, and you know, go through warmups, and act like we're gonna play. So the next week when, you week when we're sitting at home and it's a wild card game and the Chargers are here, it's like, OK, we're ready to go. We feel pretty good or whoever might be there.

So I think that's what it's about. But yeah, I wouldn't expect to see him real long either. But like, man, it's crazy. Last year, like I said, it was like there was barely an MVP. This year, we got four guys that I would go, holy ****, they win the MVP in any other year if they weren't just competing against each other right now in this year. It's a crazy year. Billy, did you just put the Dolphins in the playoffs? Is that what I heard there? You never know. You know what Sims had to say about two in big games last

week? I mean, listen, I, I Chris, and I'm setting you up here to just be murdered by dolphins fans, but I'm not a hundred percent in disagreement. He doesn't need your help. I listen, cause I, I'm kind of with you. I, I think two a loss, a lot of people last week, like it's not his call. He can't just decide that he wants to play the, you know, medical team, the coaches and staff, whatever, sit them out. But man, you want to see your franchise player get out there when the season is on the line. The Dolphins got lucky and Stupe Huntley won the game for them.

But you have two out, you have Waddle out. In Indianapolis, you had Anthony Richardson out. All teams that have a chance to make the playoffs all in must win games, all just out? No, you're exactly right. I mean, it's big. And again, it's not like, two is good. I'm not against any of that, right?

I'm not. I'm just against the fact of I don't understand $55 million a year to a guy like you've heard me say. In big games, he's usually the biggest question we have in a big game and His ability to be available is a problem that does not match up with oh That's the guy we pay and put the franchise and all the chips on that's bad team building I will say the same thing that the 49ers do the same thing with Brock Purdy

Dan Patrick asked me about it today and I brought up these examples and I went if I'm the 49ers, I go here Brock Purdy. Here's 30 million. Show me somebody else that's going to give you 30 million. Here you go. I wouldn't have done much different with Miami and two. I would have gone. Here's 30. Here's 35. Show me who else is going to give you more. Oh right. Crickets take it. No. Okay. See you later. I don't know. But that's what I don't understand. And that's where I do. I've heard teams that I talked to a lot of people. As you guys know,

I think it's going to start going this way a little bit. There's going to be a land in the, uh, uh, uh, a line in the sand a little bit with some of these teams start going, no, you're not this guy at all positions. And you're not just cause you're up for the next contract and you're a pretty good player, doesn't mean you get to flirt with the top of the market at that position. I think teams are wising up to that. And I think Tua, Deshaun Watson, all that stuff

is kind of a warning sign for that kind of stuff. Well, you also have people like Baker who takes like a $30 million deal. Exactly, I was gonna say- Who is a franchise quarterback. Exactly. You kind of then have people think like, well, what if I go out there and what if I was going to say- It's a franchise quarterback. Exactly. You kind of then have people think like, well, what if I go out there and what if I give

money to a Sam Darnold for a lot less? Maybe Sam, not that Sam will be that guy for a team, but when you have guys that succeed under that thought process, it seems like more of that is going to happen. Right. Like the Giants a few years ago, they could offer Daniel Jones $30 million a year and he was going to take it. Why did they offer $40 million? Like what? Why? Like these teams are negotiating against themselves. They're literally like raising the price tag on themselves. Like here's 30. Oh no, let's

make it 34. Oh wait, you're good with 34 now. We'll make it 38. And it's like, what, why, why is it going up? Nobody wants this guy. What are we doing? Who's, who's bidding against them? I don't understand it. We'll see what happens. Chris became a suit. He used to be a player guy. Now, he's a suit. Yeah. They're just trying to save money. Not to get back in

the. No, no. See, that's wrong. See, this is where. This is where I'm totally the player guy. This is where I'm totally a player guy because Tua and some of these other guys are not worth three and four guys on the football team. That's what I'm trying to say here.

Let's start paying some of these other guys a little bit more and stop paying just because he's our quarterback and we won with him. We're going to pay him and ruin the whole organization over that. That has got to stop. Two is not worth three times some of the other good players on your football team.

I'm sorry. It costs the Dolphins guys like Christian Wilkins. It costs them Andrew Van Genko, who just got named to the Pro Bowl for the first time. Exactly. That's what I'm sorry. It costs the Dolphins guys like Christian Wilkins. It caused them. And exactly who just got named to the Pro Bowl for the first time. Exactly. That's what I'm trying to say to you. Yes. See you're coming around. You're sick a little bit, but you're not totally sick in the brain. I get it. Sell out. Pro management guy. Wait. So what happens here? What happens with Sam Darnold? I keep telling

you the Vikings are going to have a tough time walking away from Sam Darnold. So if Sam Darnold, what's like what kind of money is Darnold looking at next year, Chris? If I'm them, I want to see another year. I don't want to go total long-term contract guaranteed money. I mean, you just heard some of the things I just said that would go against that. Also saying that though, I wouldn't want to let him out of the building with the way he's playing and what he's doing right now. Franchise him. Franchise him.

That's what I would do as we sit here right now. I think that's the right play. It's about $40 million. You buy yourself a year. If I'm Minnesota, I want to see one more year. I know this has been really good, but sometimes teams can get hot and a quarterback can get hot and that vibe of that year and they

do it for one year and they can't replicate it like like me. That's what I did. Okay, there you go. So that happens, you know, hey, whoa, they're hot, they're good. And then that quarterback can never replicate that again, and his career and that's where I'd want to see I'd want to see it a little bit more before I just totally, you know, empty out the Brinks truck for him. Unless they go to the Super Bowl, of course, right? Well, yeah, unless they go to the Super Bowl,

then that's a whole different ball game. And then maybe that's where you get into. Again, I'd still want to see it. Interesting. But maybe I'd go a two-year deal with a little bit more money than the franchise or something like that. But as I sit here right now, I'd be thinking franchise.

Chris, you got the Vikings this Sunday. They take on the Lions in Detroit for the one seed in the NFC. Who needs it more? Who needs that more to make a run? I think the Vikings. I I I actually think it's Detroit. Now, both offenses are special. But yeah, hear me out, Stu Gotsen. I'm not saying I'm right, but I'm just going to throw some logic at you here. Both offenses are awesome,

right? Kevin O'Connell, does anybody get 25 and 30 and 20 and 25 yard, you know, completions open more than Kevin O'Connell and the damn Minnesota Vikings is incredible. Ben Johnson, I think Ben Johnson is the best offensive coordinator about to be head coach since Shanahan came from the Falcons to go to the 49ers, or maybe McVeigh from Washington to the Rams. I think it's that quality of a guy though, on that side of the ball, he's special. But here's

where I think Detroit needs it because I worry about Detroit's defense. I mean, you saw the other night. I mean, the 49ers were carving through it like they weren't even defense. I mean, you saw the other night. I mean, the 49ers were carving through it like they weren't even there. I mean, it was a fun game to watch, but you got to be worried about Detroit's defense. And I think at home, the advantage of the crowd noise is a big deal.

That'll just give them a little bit more of an advantage because of why, because, hey, now whoever's coming in there, you can't call two plays or three plays in the huddle you got to kind of simplify things it's too loud to do all this stuff with the line of scrimmage and call these plays in the huddle and that would be an advantage Detroit for their defense to a degree so that's my only reason I say that but I mean you know just to got your point but both teams could use it that's for

sure are we are we going to be witnessing Aaron's final game in the NFL this weekend? If I had a bet, I'd say yes. I mean, I don't want to, I wouldn't want to bet a lot of money on this. I think he's definitely done with the Jets, but I just don't know or feel like there's a clear landing spot. And as I think you've heard me say, and I've said to Floreo, I mean, Roger's reputation around the NFL is not very good. Like, nobody's signing up for, let me deal with the Aaron Rogers circus and all that comes with it for him at this age and his style of play

and how he plays now. So, yeah, I want to say no. I'm going to say this is the last game we see Aaron Rodgers. This is an interesting one to me. Saquon Barkley has a chance to break the single season rushing record. The Eagles are not going to play him. They're playing the Giants. Are they doing right by Saquon Barkley? Barkley said he's at peace with it. I'm not certain that he is. So the Eagles doing right by Saquon Barkley.

I'm sure he wants to, but I do think they're doing right by Saquon Barkley. Sometimes you got to save the player from himself. And this is what I would say to say come on Barkley. I've been saying this all week. Like, yeah, I know you want to break the record. I get it. But but if you win a Super Bowl and their Super Bowl MVP, that'll pay you a whole lot more money through your lifetime than just being the single season rushing record leader. Right? You win the Super Bowl, that's big deal forever.

And then you win the Super Bowl and you're the MVP, which we know there could be a real possibility with him running for 150 yards and three touchdowns. You go into the legends category forever. Every time you sign your name, Super Bowl MVP, Super Bowl 59, blah, blah, blah. the best team in the NFC. If I do my playoff bracket, I'm going to pick the Eagles to go to the Super Bowl and the NFC. I could tell you that right now. Okay, so if Sirianni loses in the NFC, I'm going to pick the Eagles. I'm going to pick the

Eagles. I'm going to pick the Eagles. I'm going to pick the Eagles. I'm going to pick the Eagles. I'm going to pick the Eagles. I'm going to pick the Eagles. I'm going to pick the Eagles. I'm going to pick the Eagles. I'm going to pick the Eagles. I'm do my playoff bracket, I'm going to pick the Eagles to go to the Super Bowl at the NFC.

I could tell you that right now. OK, so if Sirianni loses in the first round, is he getting fired? Because there's a good chance he might. I mean, Chris, they're going to have a tough match up. I know. I don't know. I don't think so.

And this is something that I haven't dug into or tried to find any back channel information on or anything like I think if they got upset in the first round, there'd probably be yes, he'd be in danger for sure. I think if they get by the first round, I think he's okay no matter what. But if they get upset at home and wildcard weekend with that team, yeah, he's in trouble. I mean, Chris, we're talking about Green Bay or Washington. I mean, I know the NFC is a gauntlet, man. Definitely, definitely. But as we've seen

here, like, and Green Bay is going to play all their starters because they have to. I mean, that's a bad way to go into the playoffs the way they played last week. And Jordan Love, as you've heard me say all year, and again, you saw it last week, too many missed throws and plays early on in the football game. That was why they were down 20 to 3. So they got to try to continue to build him up. That would be big for them. And Washington, I don't think they're gonna get a Cowboys team asleep at the wheel. I expect them to win, but I do think the Cowboys will fight at home after being embarrassed last week against Philadelphia. Chris, we're all friends here, right? You think we're all friends here? For the most part,

depends about what you're about to say here. Well, this is a safe space, just amongst friends. You just said, like, this isn't something that you've gone, you've done too much digging, you haven't heard rumblings. What are some rumblings you're hearing that you can just tell a couple friends? You know what I mean? Not the masses, just like, tell us things

that you may be hearing, maybe not have come to fruition yet, maybe rumblings that are out there. Don't tell us, yeah't tell us like who's telling you obviously, but just little things maybe we can keep an eye on that only insiders like you know. Ben Johnson, Jacksonville, Chicago, real things there. Okay, that's what I'm saying. Floreo's gonna hear you. How many scoops has Floreo stolen from you? Vrabel, well Vrabel, there's talks about him up in New England and all that, too. I got to see that to believe that they're going to get rid of Gerard Mayo after one year.

The other one that's out there is that Brady's got his hooks in Vrabel already, too, to try to come and be the Raiders head coach. So those would be ones that I can share with you. There's a few other coach-GM combinations, I'm not that good of friends with you that I'm gonna talk to you about that quite yet Billy did you say tampering I didn't say that Did you see Chris did you see at suga to Mike you haven't asked you either

Just you had Nick Wright said the other day where he painted a scenario Where the Patriots get get a drink? Hey, yeah, they trade Drake may they get your door they get Travis Hunter and then they bring in Deon to be their head coach Wow, yeah, I don't know if I'm gonna buy into that one. That doesn't seem like a patriot like move I don't think and especially the way Drake May is looked and played. I think they're in love with him up there. There's no way they're got a zig one other. Zag, let me ask you something, Chris.

You worked for the Patriots for a little bit. The Patriot way that they tell us about who's responsible for the Patriot way because I always thought that it was like a Belichick thing, right? Like it's just kind of like the tone that Belichick said. And now he goes down to North Carolina So like is there still a patriot way? The patriot way is in like it's into goes back to like Parcells and then it was handed off to Belichick It's it's that the patriot way is like no excuses

Shut the fuck up do your job and then come back and do it all again tomorrow And maybe we'll pat you on the back when it's all said and done. I mean it's just the giant to the 80s Chris. It's it's it's it's what's the same thing. It's just detail. It's a mantra. It's not something that they gave themselves this name. They weren't like we're doing it. The well, I didn't hear that in the facility. This is the Patriot way. This is how we do it. No, that was kind of like what the media started

to say because yeah, the Patriots are different in that they don't talk on the field to other teams. Their coaches don't talk to anybody. The front office wouldn't talk to anybody, right? Things were done differently. Week in week out preparation, all that type of stuff, work ethic, you know, the way they dug into certain little details was special. So that's what the Patriot way means. I mean, yeah, I'm making a video of some guy over in Germany who might try to play football, but I'm up in the scouting department. They want to get eyes on them. So it's like, oh, well, we looked under a

rock in Germany. There's a guy there that's got the right height, weight, and speed. Let's scout them out. That's the Patriot way. That's the s**t that the Patriots do. The Patriots are most, most coaches did not want to hear me explain the Patriot way. Cause when they didn't like to hear all the work and detail that it went, they wanted to just believe Tom Brady did it. That's all. Most coaches that I talk to, they're like, Oh, just, it's like they had Brady. That's why I don't want to be like, uh, no, they were 15-5 without Brady when he didn't play. And the first year he left, they went to the playoffs with the rookie quarterback. No, there's a little bit more to it than that. And it is a different level of how they practice, how they prepare, how they scout.

All of it is different than any other team I was a part of at any moment. You broke down tape for them, right? I did. I was the, you know, I called myself the bitch boy, but you know, quality control on the offensive side of the ball. So we're like, again, just amongst friends, how involved are you with Spygate?

Did you see the tapes? And if not, what are their spy tapes did you maybe see that we don't know about? I was there after that, right? Yeah, and then all of us, the slap on the wrist that you guys said, you know, Patriot way, we need to really straighten up. We're going to stop doing that. Well, that would go into your detail stuff and all that, too.

And this is where, you know, Belichick is brilliant and that there wasn't definitive language about some of the stuff they were doing at that point in the rulebook. Right. So he's almost like a lawyer. And like I tell everybody, like Bill's like, is one of the smartest humans ever. It's not just football. If Bill was on Wall Street, he'd be the wolf of Wall Street too. So that that's where, you know, it's a little different. But yeah, they're there. Obviously, they did some things back then there was

always rumors that they might defense alignments, right? So then the next time they played that team, they go, they could hear the quarterback's calls at the line of scrimmage. There was always rumors like that. But I can also promise you that I saw nothing of that. They were the biggest rule followers in the world when I was there.

Like if you wanted to bet $5 on the US Open, like Bill would find out and they'd send a memo to everybody in the office. I had no gambling on NFL premises. And you were like, what? It was like two friends were like, I bet five on tire to win. But that's the way they were. But I'm telling you the detail. Nobody can mess with what New England did and how they broke down games. No way. I charted for us. Yeah. Page your way. Chris Sims. Deny, deny, deny. Well, pie charted for us. Okay. Brady Belichichick, cheating, Chris Sims. Pye charted for us. Yeah, where were you on the cheating scale?

How much did you help them, let's not say cheat, how much did you help them work within the rules there was no language for? Well, I mean, I don't know, I was there for about 18 months and I mean, like I said, I saw nothing other than the, maybe the, like, I started to get an inkling about the balls being not properly inflated right like that and that's why you've heard me be a strong advocate for yeah that

was messed up they took care of the footballs he took him not they he as in Tom Brady that's all there was to it but you know he didn't need to as we know to the balls were properly inflated for Super Bowl 49 and he won the. That's what was annoying me about it, is that Tom Brady, one of the greatest throwers I ever seen, did not need to take the arrow to the ball, and he did that. But no, man, I can't tell you. The breakdowns of those games, everything I did for that, another level.

I'm just telling you, nobody broke games down the way Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots. So if you knew that he was doing this, Belichick knew this was going on. Everyone knew this was going on. What an interrogation that is going on right now. I'm just saying, like, where are you going to bring a bull sh-t, Billy?

But I would hang out back there in the ball. I would hang out back there in the ball boy area a lot. Like, if I got a break, I would go down and hang out there. So that's where I am. Because that's the way I always was with the player. And you just want to get away a little bit. That was always the spot to get away from. Man of the people. But it couldn't be. All you got to do, like you got to stop. Like the the the Patriots

and Mr. Kraft tried to confuse the situation by putting misinformation out there and all that. All you got to do is read theing text and listen to anybody that knows anything. He took the air out of the ball. That's so be it. So what? He did it, that was messed up, right? And all they really fought of against the end was that they thought the punishment was too severe.

At the end, they really didn't deny it anymore. And that's so be it. And I'm sick of talking about it. Shut up, Bill. Chris, when you woke up this morning, okay. And you should be by the way, I don't know what Billy's doing, but when you, when you woke up this morning and you said, Hey, I got my show to do. I'm going to go on Dan Patrick. Did you think it all DP, right?

Did you think it all? Someone's going to interrogate me about the flake 15 years ago. No, but it does happen with me a lot. And it comes up no matter what, almost every two or three weeks in my life. It always does some. Yeah, it does somehow, some way. Well, because I've also, I was one of the few people out there

that was like, that's messed up. Because I still hear people go, well, what's the big deal about taking the air out of the football? Well, what's the big deal if we lower the basket to nine feet, 10 inches? I mean, what there's lots of things. What's the big deal? Then why do we have a high school football and a college football? Just let the guys throw the high school ball. Damn Tom Brady and Brett Farber and Aaron Rodgers up and they'll throw it a hundred yards. The game will be exciting. Whoa, whoa. There's a reason the balls are the way they are. And yes, he took the rules of the game into his own hands for self-benefit.

And I'll always have a problem for that. And he knows that. I'm never going to just like let that go totally. Never. But Chris, there is nothing more fun than playing on like a six foot or seven foot hoop. I mean, you feel like a keem Elijah. You feel like Ewing. Yeah, of course. It's great. Yes. And yeah, I would have loved to throw in a smaller football in the NFL too. I did but just boom, boom. I mean, there's a reason there's a there's a size difference there.

As you grow, your hands grow this game, you need more skill, whatever else and that goes up with the ball as well. So yeah, it's there is a difference there 100% PFT with Mike Florio every day on Peacock the on button podcast football night in America Lions of Vikings coming up on Sunday night Final question before before we get you out of here because Mikey is right There aren't a ton of games with a ton of consequences But seeding is still up for grabs and I am wondering here who would you rather face? Okay, would you rather face the Rams or Tampa?

They're both scary. Because of the offenses on the quarterbacks. I think right now I'd probably say bucks though. The Rams defenses become a pain in the ass. Yes, I am a little scared of the Rams offense, right? I am. It's a few weeks in a row. We saw in the past game, Cooper Cup does not look the same. They have to ride Puka Nakua too much in the pass game. That scares me, but not as much as it scares me. And because they have experience and we know the Rams

are playoff tested and all that, the Bucs defense really scares me. That's my big problem with them. I got no worries about the offense. It's their defense. It's one of the worst in football. And in pass defense, it's pitiful. Right. I asked that question about the offense. It's their defense. It's one of the worst in football. And in past defense, it's pitiful. Right.

I asked that question because the consolation prize for the team that loses Sunday night is going to Tampa to play Baker. I mean. I know. And that's gonna be fun because we're gonna see a shootout. Well, you're gonna see a shootout. That's what's gonna be fun.

Yes. You know, Tampa versus Minnesota or Tampa versus Detroit is gonna be a lot of big plays on the offensive side of the ball. And it'd be a fun game to watch that's for sure. Who do you like in that game? I'm gonna take the Lions. I took the Lions. I'm just taking them because they're at home. I am. I'm gonna I'm gonna say that they find a way to get this done but man I'm worried about their defense. I think I took them 31-28. I'm going Lions. Right. Chris I'm'm just saying like Washington, the Lions or Vikings, whoever loses has had

a great season might be the second best team in the NFC. And yet Washington, in my opinion, I'd rather play the Bucks. I'd rather play the Rams at home than the Bucks. I don't want anything to do with Baker Mayfield. Like Washington to me has a better matchup than a team that has three losses this season. That's not right. No, I hear you there. I mean, you're right. It's it's it's crazy what we're seeing. I mean, between Minnesota, Detroit and

Philadelphia, those are three damn good football teams in the NFC. And yeah, one of them won't even be in the NFC championship game. So that's crazy. We could see this matchup in the divisional round, right? There's a very good chance Detroit wins this game, Minnesota beats Tampa, and then they go on and end up playing in Detroit once again. So we'll see where it goes. There's a lot of football to be had, but yeah, I worry about Detroit's D and they're going to have to play through their offense and be super aggressive. All right. PFT with Mike Floreo on podcast, the unbuttoned podcast as well on Peacock, excuse me, the unbuttoned podcast as

well. Football Night in America, Sunday Night Football, Lions and Vikings. Apologies for the interrogation, man. Yeah, sorry. It's OK. Don't worry. I expect it. It's Billy, and he's sick in the head today.

So I understand it. You just said that you waited until yesterday to book these tickets to Texas. No invite? Why don't you want to hang out with us ever? Well, you're sick, and I don't want to get the Black the robotic plague. I don't want to get, you know, I don't want to hang out with us ever. Well, you're sick, and I don't want to get the black, the robotic plague. I didn't want to, I don't want to get, you know,

I don't want to do that. I want you to invite him one time and see if he shows up. Go ahead, invite him to the Cotton Ballsons right now. Yeah, I know. He's going, well, I gotta sit here and watch my kids. And I gotta, yeah, yeah. So we'll see, maybe one day I'll invite him, but this ain't the time.

This is a special game. He's not special enough to be a part of this. This is the classic blow-off you told us that you do forever now for during football season. It's a little hard Maybe I know it's a Friday night game so I can do it That's why I'm doing it and it's my school and it's not you that's really the bottom line That's why okay reach out to Sark after the game couple sideline passes what happened? Almost on the hot seat here Sorry, it was almost on the hot seat of blue that game Sark get out of town. What do you think?

No, he's there's no hot seat shut up get out of it if you lost that game He was telling you guys telling Aubrey like that second kid was like If you miss they're gonna fire my ass all right I'm like, Aubrey, we really gotta kick this thing, because if you miss, they're gonna fire my ass. Alright, bye Chris, have fun. See you guys. See ya. I hope you don't go to dinner tonight and get those people sick.

That'd be a jerk move. You're a jerk. I'm not sick, I'm fine. Yeah, right, right. Okay, see you later. Alright, see you buddy. Happy New Year. I mean the interrogation, Jesus Christ. I felt bad for Sims.

Holy crap. Just curious, you know. Guy wants to know what color underwear I wear too. What color? What color? I'm gray or black guy. Ah, yeah. We got to hear from my friends over at Miller Lite? The holidays are here. It is a great

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