The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz - Hour 2: I Really Can't Stay

Episode Date: December 21, 2023

After Tony delivers this week's Thursday Thunder, Dan wants to discuss Dan Orlovsky's Top 5 Christmas Likes and where he relates. Then, Mina Kimes is here! She and Lucy discuss if In-N-Out is overrated before Mina shares her takes on Pete Carroll's coaching style, Geno Smith, #MVPurdy, and Stugotz's Bill Belichick game. Plus, Mina answers if the Dolphins should pay Tua, what to make of Baker Mayfield's success, and field questions on her "cringey millennial" status. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You're listening to Giraffe King's Network. This is the Dunlabel Tarshow with the Stugat Spatcast. All right, everybody, Thursday, thunder time as I adjust my cowboy hat. We've got a big one for you tonight. It is, it might comparison over the last few weeks. This does actually feel like a big game. Yeah. Two seven and seven teams fighting for last little playoff spot. Grants been playing good.

We're gonna take two anytime touchdowns from this game. Wow. Yep. You think we're gonna have two touchdowns? We're gonna have two more than two touchdowns, but we're gonna definitely have two from these gentlemen right here. Number one, anytime Tuddy goes to Kyron Williams, who's excellent, by the way.

He's awesome. We haven't talked about him at all. He's very good. He's really good. I think does he still lead the league in yards after contact? And he's proven that he's a lot better than the rest of the running backs that they have on the roster, because when he's missing, you notice.

And he missed like six weeks with the ankle screen too. Second anytime, Tuddy goes to the one and only Alvin Camara. So we've got two running backs, two anytime, Tuddy's, between two teams, on Friday, time, Thursday, night, football, brought to you by Amazon. And then we're gonna go, we're not gonna go against history here. Okay?

The Detroit Pistons have lost by my count. 24 games in a row. They started two in one day Dano. Do you know? Put it on the bowl, please, Juju. Did you know the Detroit Piston started two and one? They started two and one and now have lost 24 consecutive games. We are going with the Utah Jazz on the back to back, second half of the back to back. Utah Jazz is going to take them minus one. Dan, that's the spooot. This is the spot for the Piston, so what can? No, we're going to roll it back one more Damn, that's the spooot. This is the spot for the pissing so what can? No, we're going to roll it back one more time.

Pistons lose again in a heartbreaker. We're taking Utah jams minus one and two anytime studies, Kyron Williams, Avon Kumar. Congratulations, Detroit Pistons fans on your first win in the last 25 games. As a reminder, Thursday Thunder's brought to you by Draft King Sportsbook. You can follow our parlay on the Draft King Sportsbook app.

I am embarrassed to say that while Tony was talking, I was enjoying a better show on television in here than the one we're doing. Dan Arlovsky dressed as some sort of elf glasses wearing a person in a burgundy suit. That's just his suit. A better burgundy suit than the one Mike Ryan is wearing. Did Dan's a list, top five Christmas likes,

where he just ranked the things that he likes best about Christmas. He is a famously bland human being. His flavors on food are famously bland in a way that's fairly disgusting, but Arlovsky and Christmas likes. His number one is the same as my number one. This time of year, I'm on Channel 79, Holly. I am my favorite Christmas like is Christmas music. I enjoy Christmas music this time of year. I'm embarrassed. That's your favorite. You're embarrassed to say it.

What's your favorite little ditty? Well, little drummer boy is my favorite of the Christmas songs. Yes. That's a great one. Very traditional. That's a bit of a bit of an upset here. Yes. But would you like to hear Dan Arlovsky's top five Christmas likes? Or should I create a top five better Dan O's Christmas like Christmas likes?

I'm just happy we're saying Christmas again. I need to, I need to I need to Gather myself. Thank you for this In order to do this correctly. So maybe we will do that next segment shall we? This Dan is by the way. This is a response to yesterday mad dog had his things he hates most about Christmas Dislikes. Yeah, the dislikes about Christmas number five. That was a good list. Number five was mom's wheel farm. Yeah, he hates most about Christmas. The dislikes. Yeah, the dislikes about Christmas. Number five. That was a good list. Number five was Mom's Ville Parm.

Yeah, he hates it. She always burns it. Orlovsky said his number three Christmas likes is people are nicer. Is that true? No. I think so. Dan Orlovsky has someone shopped for him very clearly.

People are in the holiday spirit. I think there's a lot more like eye contact. I'm someone who really likes a little eye contact in a wave at a stranger. Just like a little acknowledgement that you exist, you're another human being on the planet. And that doesn't happen in the other 11 months of the year down here in South Florida. But occasionally I can see someone and just, hey, how are you? You should move out of a blue city. Can you guys take any guesses on what our loft skis top five looks like?

What are your some of your favorite Christmas likes? Yeah. And you guys take any guesses on what Arlovsky's top five looks like. What are your some of some of your favorite Christmas likes? Also, jujoo at Levitage show, put it on the pole, please. Are people indeed nicer during the holidays? I have not experienced that. Lucy, you've generally found Miami to be rude, right? I don't know anyone who comes here from any other part of the country who doesn't think that this area is unfriendly. It's very unfriendly. Yeah, people aren't nice to me. I asked them how they're doing. They don't respond. I smile. They don't smile back.

But that's weirdo behavior. Like who asks people how they're feeling? Me. You make therapists. You want something for me? I'm not like going up to someone walking down the street and being like, Hey, how are you doing? But like, if I'm at a restaurant, my server comes up to the table and say, Hey, how are you? And they usually just ignore it. And that really hurts my feelings. Oh, come let us adore him.

Oh, let us. Keep it going. Oh, come let us adore him. Christ, Lord, are you offended? Oh come let us adore him Christ Lord. Or you offended. Billy actually is right when he asked the question. It is possible in Miami that the people serving you don't speak English and don't understand what it is you're saying.

But a smile? No. Come on. Asking too much. I have a friendly face. Like, just a smile back. Just be kind. It'll ruin my day if you don't. Are people sensitive? Are people nice elsewhere? a friendly face like just to smile back just be kind.

It'll ruin my day if you don't. I'm very sensitive. Are people nice elsewhere? Like I just assume this is a human thing. No, people are nice elsewhere. Like I don't know to make me feel better. They're so nice. Like in a group in North Carolina, Southern,

very friendly. I will also a very friendly place until you start making jokes about the offense and they get really mad. They swear tweeting things at at your dad so don't do that. But in LA, they were even nice to me out there too. But here I just can't get people to be nice to me. It really hurts my feelings. Because if I ask you how you're doing, I genuinely want to know. I really can't stay. Mulkey, it's cold outside. I've got to go away. Mokey, it's cold outside. This evening has been open that you're dropping so very nice.

The smell of Christmas is on our loft skis list at number five. The smell of Christmas. Christmas trees? The Christmas tree has, well, that's the only smell I associate with. I do associate it with a food of any kind. All I do is I do like the smell of pine I like I think the first thing that ever hung from a rear view mirror of mine was the old-fashioned Christmas tree that made the car smell like Pine that sounds like an olden time. Oh my god

Put it on the pole please, dude.. Did Dan have a Christmas tree deodorant hanging from the rearview mirror of his turn up truck? The only other smell I could think of, and this is a someone in South Florida where we don't actually have fireplaces, would be a fireplace candle, or something like a log cabin candle, where you can get some of those other smells,

or cinnamon sugar cookies, or something, but all candles, candy cane work. Poverments perfect. No, it's letchone is what it smells like. That is true. It's got Hatchee and that's letchone. It's got bone. We do the seven fishes in my house, so I just think of fried smells. I ought to say, no, no, no, sir. Mind if I'm moving closer, at least I'm going to say that I tried. What's the sense and wait, how old are you?

I really can't say. The lights of New York, number four for our loftsky. The lights of New York. Good lights. Please present to valid forms of ID. Why just New York, though? You like Christmas decorations, right? There's a lot of big, giant trees there. I think that's what he's doing. Lots of lots of decorations everywhere this time of year there.

Manufacturing civil unrest, where everyone votes by mail. That's what they're up to. I like Christmas decorated neighborhoods. I like neighbors competing to have the better. Do like your mayor, solid guy. My mom is Redneck, and we keep our Christmas lights up the entire year. And we turn them on all the time.

Yeah, it was, it's very easy when people come over because you're like, oh, my house is the one with the Christmas lights on. But yeah, whole year, we had our Christmas lights up. Are they the colorful lights or the white lights? They're white lights. So classy. But in July, yeah, Christmas lights are up. I love that.

That's like the Christmas themed bars all year long. That's like my favorite type of dive bars. Going to one that has Christmas lights up all year long. I would love to. Go to a lot of those. Do those, a lot of those exist. Yeah, there are a lot of those. Those exist.

I've never seen one in Miami ever. Yeah. Well, that's on you. I've learned so much about Lucy today. Like in the pre-show meeting in the show. It's pretty incredible. Well, what did you learn in the pre-show meeting? Because I'm learning all of this for the first time. What did her dad do other than she was worried about what she was going to get her dad for

Christmas? Her dad is a bit of a star. People are noticing him and he's defending his daughter against the crazies in Iowa. Did you know the first Christmas was in March? I can't believe that Lucy still had Christmas lights in June and July. That doesn't make any sense to me. It sounds lazy. It's redneck. It's redneck is hell. It's when JC was born. Put it on the pole, juju at Levitage show Christmas lights still on your house in July lazy or red neck. Also, the earth is only 6000 years old. Finally, somebody says it.

I was telling Billy this morning about how when we were younger, my dad loved to lie to us to like an insane extent. Because we were talking about the New Year's fairy and it reminded me of this time where they built a McDonald's next to my dad's house, like right down the street. So my dad typed up an official letter from McDonald's Corporation, had his co-worker sign it, sent it to our house to my little sister that said, if you go to this McDonald's, you will be arrested and suffer the same fate as the hamburger. And he thought it was the funniest thing in the world.

She's like six years old. Or she's probably like eight terrified because she just wants to go to McDonald's. She feels like she's going to get arrested if we do. Months later, my dad's like, I old. Or she's probably like eight, terrified. She just wants to go to McDonald's. She feels like she's gonna get arrested if we do. Months later, my dad's like, I'm not gonna cook. We're gonna go to this McDonald's. My sister starts having a panic attack in the drive-through line.

And we're like, what's going on? She's like, I can't be here. The cops are gonna show up. I'm gonna get arrested. And he would just do stuff like that for fun all the time. Is the hamburger still around or did we end that character? Because I could see where the hamburger would be scary to a child. If a parent is saying the hamburger still around or did we end that character because I could see where the hamburger

would be scary to a child if a parent is saying the hamburger is going to come and arrest you. There's going to be an arrest situation. He wasn't going to arrest my sister. She was going to suffer the same fate as the hamburger and be in jail with him. Yes. Same cell and everything. Isn't the hamburger girl scary to kids? Wouldn't he be a little bit scary?

I think she was more scared of just like going to jail. Going to McDonald's. She was eight years old, like she believed it. And he had the fish and letterhead and everything. Like you would have believed it was a real letter from McDonald's. He typed up the whole thing. Has McDonald's discontinued the hamburger or is the hamburger gler still a character for McDonald's?

Number two on Orlovsky's list, by the way. Puh, rump-ump-ump-ump. Of Christmas likes, Christmas movies. Duh. Diehard. Sound the freedom. I don't like Christmas movies. Does that make me?

You have something against Kirk Cameron being a real Grinch, Dan. Does that make me shitty that I don't like Christmas movies? When I'm telling you I'm driving around, I'm enjoying the holiday spirit in my car. I'm listening to Holly Channel 79. It's not that I don't want the Christmas spirit. It's just I don't need Christmas movies. Have the Christmas movies on, but the sound down listening to Christmas music. I'm the asshole here.

Always. Don Lebertard. Are you back on the caffeine? Are you back on the red bowl? Yes. Yeah. See, um, you are something strong. I mean, it's unbelievable how manic he is and he's sort of just the keeps. He keeps chewing on his bottom teeth in a way that's scaring me a little bit.

Still gots. I've been up since 5.30 a.m. producing content. And in terms of being able to be on, my body needs a little boost and that's why it turns to cocaine. VCC dan le buttarsho with this Tugats. I want Mina's best information, most informed insight on Brock Purdy in a second. But I want to, before we get to Mina Kimes, bring up before her a subject that Lucy is claiming in and out is overrated as a hamburger franchise. And there was an eight hour line recently,

where was this Lucy that there was an eight-hour line for in and out. So they opened up the first in and out and I believe somewhere in Idaho, eight-hour weight in the drive-through for in and out. I remember when I first went to LA when I moved there for the first time I was like, I'm going to try in and out this is going to change my life. It's fine, it's fine. The fries taste like cardboard, the burgers are good. Worth eight hours absolutely not, no way. Meena, do you have a verdict you want to make here as someone who is now a defender of all things West Coast? Am I, I'm not a defender of Innenow. I agree with Lucy. It's fine. I think the burger

is good. She's right. The fries are not that great. I feel like it's all about what alternatives you have. Like if you live in a city where you don't have really good fast food or really good burgers, I can see why you'd be excited. But out here, there's plenty of better places to. Los Angeles does food well, but In and Out has an exceptional reputation throughout America. Does it not? You are saying something fairly shocking when you say that In and Out is overrated. Am I? It's just like the hype of it.

I remember I had never been to California, I grew up in the South, so In and Out was just like this thing you would see in TV shows and movies. So you're like, it's gotta be great. And the drive-by line is always so long and it moves so slow. So you're like, this is gonna be phenomenal.

And it's just fine. And also there's all these weird little tricks you need to know that you can order something this is gonna be phenomenal. And it's just fine. And also, there's all these weird little tricks you need to know that you can order something animal style or extra crispy. Or it's like, it's just too complicated of a system and it's not worth an eight hour wait or even an hour wait. I don't know these act.

I mean, there's like two things you can order. I don't know. I don't know how to time. Two difficult. I'm just calling. I'm a chick-layed stand. Like I will go, if I'm in like New Year's airport, I will go to a different term.

You'll do your charge. Who doesn't love Paul and he should toss. I like KFC around these parts. KFC, don't do that. Oh, whoa. I don't know about that. Meena, real quick, before we get to the party stuff, I wanted to bring you in on something Pete Carroll related.

Pete Carroll, I saw Mike Lombardi. I thought you'd be good because on this subject, the Seattle Seahawks, you love that team. And Pete Carroll's style that Mike Lombardi described as spreading love, the word love, not just positivity, but the loving of players. Can you please tell me how common that is in that sport? Can you tell me about the idea of Pete Carroll somehow leading through love? I don't think it's common to the degree that he espouses it or acts upon it or the way his players talk about him, especially you see a lot of former players who come back, whether it's rejoining the team, being around the team. I've talked to a lot of former players about Pete and almost to a man, the way they speak

about him, I would say is unique having talked to other players about other coaches. They absolutely adore him. He is like the definition of a player's coach. They talk about how he believes in them. I think Gino Smith was fantastic on that interview earlier this year about how Pete almost like made him believe in himself and quiet the critical inner voice, which I thought, wow, if that's not coaching,

I don't know what is. And I know I sound probably like a homer and I'm not like Pete has his flaws, including trying to get a time out. But in terms of the way players feel about him, I do think it is unique. People are making fun of me here because I don't know what that does for an environment to have love in an environment, especially that kind of environment that's just all military feel all over it, but they were making fun of me because I was actually moved, not because Seattle beat Philadelphia the other night, but because of how happy Geno Smith genuinely seemed on the sideline

for Drew Locke and their friendship being something that could feel like that, even where I could see the emotion on Geno Smith, even though I couldn't physically see his face, because he was just happy for his guy. I was moved by that and I was surprised that I was moved by that. How could you not be moved by it? It was cool to see Drew in his interview with Lisa Salters, clearly holding back emotion, talking about how, you know, at times he had lost belief in himself, which is so integral to playing the quarterback position and his voice caught a little bit. And I was emotional watching that.

But then when you saw the clip of Geno Smith, the context, the history, the awareness that we all have, that Geno Smith, more than maybe any starting quarterback in the NFL right now, understands what it is like to come out as a starter. Drulach, you remember, was a starter earlier in his career to lose a job to be seen as a backup, to question your own bonafides and abilities. And then to come back and do what Geno did last year was amazing. He gets the big contract, generational money. That's fantastic.

But who understands what Dulac was going through in that moment more than Geno Smith? And we know that. We see that. And then you see the connection between two of them that shared experience is beautiful. Can you explain to Mike Ryan and the rest of us with your best of analytics? What were presently witnessing from Brock Pertie? I'm confused, Mina, when I see that most are isn't valued with money at a disposable position, but he has as many touchdowns as Christian McCaffrey. When all of these teams have to find value, cheap players who overperformed contracts, what is Brock Pertie? What's the best assessment

of Brock Pdy? Well, I think there's two things. We're not seeing something with Brock Purdy that we haven't seen. We're seeing something with this offense. And that is not a detriment to Brock Purdy or any individual players. What they are doing as an off, right now, Dan, they're on pace to break a lot of records as an offense.

I think they're fourth in the NFL history in yards for players, something, but they're clearly best offense in the NFL. They bring first in just about every category, they're phenomenal, and there's a lot of reasons for that. The players, the coaching, the scheme, all of it. What we're seeing from Perdi is a quarterback who has improved, who I think is executing the offense at a really high level, who's executing better than other quarterbacks have in the system, and deserves a ton of credit for that.

But when we talk about what this offense is, which is an absolute buzzsaw in nightmare, it's not because of the quarterback, it's because of the offense. And you mentioned most, who's fantastic, but Christian McCaffrey, when you watch this offense on tape is so clearly to me, the straw that stirs the drink, because what he can do on a football field, there's no one else in the NFL right now who can do it. It's why I object to, when we move people point to running back contracts and they say, well, you know, look at Christian, well, no, Christian McAfry is a unicorn and he's also paired by the way with a coach who has optimized him in a way,

a coach who already was a better best play car in the NFL and has optimized him in a way we haven't seen is ability to run. He's like an incredible pure runner, run routes, catch passes and block at a high level makes him the queen on the chess board in this offense and it makes him almost impossible to defend. Correct me where I'm wrong in this oversimplified analysis, but Brock party couldn't do much of anything when McCaffrey, Debo and Trent Williams were all limping around or hurt. There was, that's where they lost their games and that's where people started questioning

Brock party again. Yeah, I was most, it was Williams and Debo were out for both of those games in completion and I think it's tricky because on one hand, you can say, well, any quarterback, if you took out two of their best players, it would be worse. However, if you took away, I don't know, Kelsey or Digs, those quarterbacks would have no one. We're asked in San Francisco, you still had Giddle and I, like, they're so, they're the monsters.

So it's not really comparable. But I think it cuts to it doesn't mean Brock Perty isn't a good quarterback or that he's not a great fit for this offense. It to me highlights the fact that the offense is it's the way they all fit together that makes it so deadly. It's not a case. And we're seeing this by the way with quarterbacks where we sometimes when you watch, I don't Lamar Jackson over the years, this is the one of custom mind, Josh Allen at Poise's career. And you watch them and you put them on, you say, that quarterback is putting this team on his back.

Oh my God, everything is running through him. That's not the case since everyone just go, and that's fine. I don't know why, like that, even to say that allowed has sort of been positioned as hate or bias or anti-perty. It's just a reality. It's acknowledging the context that he's playing in. And if you're a nice fan, you should be thrilled. Your offense is a machine that is not entirely dependent, by the way, on one player of the way other offenses are.

How much better is San Francisco healthy than the second best team in the league? I think it, I think is a pretty significant gap to be honest. Although, you know, we'll see, I think Baltimore probably matches up with them better than any team in the NFL. So we will see that, which at the test of Christmas, of course. But they're so balanced, you know, the defenses, though they have some struggles against the run, top five defense as well. And then offensively, I just think it's such a nightmare to defend this

offense. I think the NFC, there's a pretty significant gap between them and everyone else. The AFC, the top four teams would make it a little bit more interesting, you know, my homes. I think the dolphins would be an interesting matchup as well, the bills the way they're playing right now in the Ravens, but they are clearly clearly the best team in the NFL to me. Who is the second best team in the NFC? Because a couple of weeks ago, clearly it would have been Philadelphia, and I'm really confused by what I'm watching. Yeah, their schedule's gotten tougher,

but that game on Monday night was certainly a winnable game, and they seemingly went out of their way to keep Seattle in it. I don't think it's Philly. I think it's, I still think it's Dallas, which I know they got stomped by San Francisco and they just got stomped. So that feels off. But the reality is Dallas can play a lot better than what we saw of some of that had to do with Game Script too. Whereas Philly, I think the offense can be better and that they've been the more disappointing unit, but that defense is not good. And it's not good in a way that's fixable.

It's not a coaching problem, which is why I thought it was kind of strange that they made the coaching change going to map Patricia because watching them all season, they have personnel problems. There are holes all over that defense injuries as well, talent age, that sort of thing. That's not getting better. Whereas I think with Dallas, there are things that can be fixed. Entertain in a minute or less for us, Stugots is hypothetical from yesterday.

Build Bella Check is hypothetically available. How many teams are firing their present coach for that availability? Oh, I maybe half. Are you surprised that we are headed toward a space where Belicec is available and it can look like the younger minds are the minds that you'd prefer to have, the younger styles of peep carols and he's not younger, but the younger style of a peep carol which connects with players.

You know, yes and no. He's the best coach in the history. So of course, it's surprising that he's not going out on his own terms. Like that is, if you say that's not surprising, you're lying. The fact that we've gotten to this point, but I think what makes it not surprising and what makes it likely to happen is his failures as a GM. And the problem is that those things have gotten so intertwined. You can't, like the, the ideal outcome in my mind for New England would be to fire Bella check the GM and keep Bella check the coach who's still very good at coaching defensive football situationally. I think the offense, like the, the failures of this team are because of the roster, which

he built. So he deserves blame. I think what likely has happened in New England, I'm sure we'll get, you know, a 8,000 word Seth Wickers in peace in time to actually kind of tell us what really happened is Bill checked they couldn't split it. Like they couldn't say to him, okay, we're going to it was too humiliating or not something he wanted to give up would be my guess as to why this is coming to an end. To be clear, that is something that I just did.

I just pointed out the young style of Pete Carroll, who is the oldest coach in the NFL. Don LeBatard. I heard the hotel industry is moving away from providing shampoo and soap. Oh, don't get me started on that. You're not going to be started on hotels. Oh, God. They do. What they take from me, I feel like I'm a title to take something from them. That is the ability. They're going to throw away the shampoo. They're going gonna be started on hotels. Oh, God. They do what they take from me. I feel like I'm entitled to take something from them.

That's the ability. Yes. They're gonna throw away the shampoo. They're gonna throw away the soap. I'm not even talking about that. I'm talking about the sheets and I'm talking about the towels. Still gots. Oh, we really care about the environment. So please hang up your towels and get out of here. You just don't want to wash these towels because it's gonna cost you money to wash these towels. All right, this whole thing about you're saving the whales, you're saving the turtles or whatever, because I put my towel on a hanger. It is so full of it. All right, you just don't want to give me fresh towels

every day. Just call it what it is. Tell me you don't want to give me fresh towels. I'm still going to throw it on the floor. All right, I feel like water is a renewable resource. And you're not really saving the ocean by using water to clean my towel, are you? Am I missing something?

What am I missing? Am I missing something? The end of the story. This is the Dan Lebatars show with their stugats. I will pose to Mina Kimes, the question that Chris Long asked me. The dolphins lose in the wild card round. They have a chance here at the end of the season to either be the one seat if they can beat the Ravens or fall out of the playoffs under certain circumstances and it seems a likely scenario that they'll have to face

Buffalo two weeks in a row. The last week of the season and then first week of the playoffs that can happen, do you pay to a, what do you pay? I'm going to ask that. I do it. What do you pay to a, what do you pay? Nearing ass that, I do it. What do you pay to a, how do you handle the finances of this? Have you seen that TikTok video of the guy with the ponytail who keeps saying I reject the question and saying both, I don't know if Dan is online enough to have seen? No.

It's excellent. I saw that, I related to it because I feel like I am that guy or at least I try to be that guy every time I come on the show and Dan, you asked me a difficult question, especially when about the Niners or dolphins, I feel like because my answer is never going to be a definitive yes or no because I am a snake. My answer is it depends on how to replace in those games. If to a really struggle struggles with pressure, he makes, we can't extend. God forbid he gets hurt, whatever. Then I think you have to ask serious questions.

But if he plays well and they lose, yeah, you still pay him, um, you know, I think down the stretch, it really just comes down to actually what it looks like on the field for me. But the reason I want to press you on this is because I would think that you can make your evaluation already. Why do I need two extra games? Why do I need one game? You're telling me, one game. I'm making a decision about five years of franchise.

And you're telling me I've got one game to make it and how he plays in that one game. And I'm like, don't you already know what he is if you're evaluating from the inside? Don't you already know what his value is? I would say, well, first, I was thinking more like down the stretch and in the post season than just one game, honestly.

So I agree with you. It wouldn't be just one game, but I think you know what his ceiling is. I think there are still questions about his ability to routinely hit that ceiling against really good teams. And I'm not calling them frauds and whatever Mike B. Daniel said about the narrative. But if I'm a fan based and I want to feel comfortable with having him as a long term answer

a quarterback and devoting a great deal of the cap to him, I want to feel comfortable with the idea that he can rise to that occasion in those moments, overcome adversity. He has a point during his career, but I think this is a very crucial postseason for them. Do you have a think piece to answer for me on how football can't keep its quarterbacks healthy because football happens to them? I don't. I think it can be random, to be honest. The amount of injuries you've seen this year,

the last time was actually like 2014. So it's not like, I don't think the game has changed in a way that is suddenly leading to more injuries. I think these things kind of just happen in clusters. Obviously they change the rules a lot to try to stop them from happening with quarterbacks, but it feels to me like this is just a bad luck year. You've said that before and I'd like to believe that that is so, but

it seems weird, Meena, that they've gone out of their way so much to change the rules and it can just be mathematical. Happens, Dan, but they've gone so far out of their way to make sure that these players are not hit. The fact that all of them are still getting hurt is super weird to me. But there's some of the injuries are all different. Like Joe Burrow broke his wrist, right? I mean, it wasn't like, you know, he took like a crazy hit and he broke his leg or anything

like that. And Dan, like, it is, like, it didn't happen last year to this extent. Like, I'm not watching the sport and thinking, oh my gosh, they need to protect them even more. Or this is a trend. It just feels kind of fluky to be honest. I really believe that to be the case. Mina Trevor Lawrence, Matthew Stafford, bum Joe burrow, Justin Herbert, Patrick Mahomes

and Josh Allen. All these quarterbacks have one thing in common. And that is they are presently ranked behind Baker Mayfield in passer rating this season. How has Baker turned his career around in Tampa? Um, I think that he is playing in a scheme and situation that we have seen him have success with in the past. Mike, you have seen him with a front row seat and Cleveland have success with a couple of things jump out. The past protection has been actually pretty good in Tampa. They were struggled last year. The offensive line is back on track.

That matters a lot for Baker Mayfield, who's always been a quarterback who plays the best football. When he's protected, it struggles a time with pressure. I also think that Dave Canalis, who's our offensive coordinator, used to be in Seattle, is a really called an offense that leans into his skills. You saw that on display against the Packers, the use of play action, throwing over the middle of the field. When Baker is in the right situation, he is a good quarterback. He's accurate. He's got a strong arm. He has struggled just when that hasn't been the case. As you get to turn into a pumpkin because it's pretty outrageous. We're this late into the season. And he has a better passer rating than Patrick Mahomes. That's pretty impressive

for my guy. Josh Allen too, right? Yeah. Yeah. Passer rating is not a good stat. So okay. Well, he's also pretty damn impressive from QBR. So you are you are alleging that Baker Mayfield, for my money, easily the comeback player of the year, uh, is going to turn into a pumpkin. How do we feel about comeback player of the year? And this was the case, Gino won last year being about coming back from being bad or the increase. That's what it should be.

That's what it should be. Don't worry. Hamlin has one tackle on the year. What did he come back from? Half a tackle. Come on. I know who'd be him. Oh worry. Hanlon has one tackle on the year. What did he come back from? Half a tackle. Come on. I know who'd be him. Oh, God.

That was a bit of a surprise. That was the thing for a while. We still a thing, Dan. No. Oh, it's still a thing. No, I can't still be a thing. Oh, come on. They're all still there, Dan.

We just don't hear about it. We don't explain not this president. A lot of hope players just not even seeing the field. No, come on. It's not still a thing. It can't still be a thing. I want to believe that Baker is for real. And I kind of feel that you're trying to let me down easy that he's going to turn into

a pumpkin as soon as this week. But I want to believe he's proven that he's going to have a career now in the NFL. Where last year, it kind of felt like it was in jeopardy. I think that is a totally fair assessment. I do not think he's better than the quarterbacks you named at the top. But I do think he has demonstrated this season that in the right situation, he can still play. He can, he still deserves to be a starter in this league, which is, uh, being crap. Like it's a crazy accomplishment.

I think people are really questioning that about Mayfield. I mean, I have a question. If Trevor Lawrence was in a bigger market, would he be getting a lot more heat than what he is now? Because he's kind of a bum. I don't think he's a bum. I think he's at a down year. I think the situation stinks. The Jacksonville Jaguars have one of the worst rushing attacks and football, the offensive line is not good. The White receivers, I think have maybe the most drops in the NFL behind the Kansas City chiefs. So I wouldn't put it all on Trevor's feet.

I do think, though, however, like you're probably right, like if he was the quarterback of I did all the Dallas Cowboys, he would be inciting a lot more debate. We would be talking a lot more about, can you trust Trevor Lawrence, you know, is he letting the nation down? Should he be sent to prison in the way that we talk about Jack Raskov? Trevor Lawrence's stats, some people were pointing out with a lot of glee, look a lot like Daniel Jones's, at least the counting stats, your thoughts there or what? I think you should watch the games and come to an assessment based on the product that you see on the field.

I am a stats person, but quarterback play in general simply cannot be captured statistically in a way that I think maybe like we lose sight of like there it's just so many things go into whether a quarterback is actually playing well you have to watch the game, you have to see the context around the music, you have to see the play calling, you have to see he's going up against, you have to see the protection, all of that, the decision making, what does he ask to do? And I think to the point about Trevor, like I want to be clear, I don't think he's having a great season, certainly not by his standards, but he is not the biggest problem on this Jacksonville team by any stretch. And he is definitely better than the data Jones.

I mean, I'm usually not here on Thursdays and I feel like we're, I don't want to be too forward and say we're friends, but I feel like we're friends enough, right? To bring something, there's been some chatter around the office and I'm not here so it's the first I hear of it so I wanted to bring it to your attention. The sign behind you that says dogs welcome people tolerated. There's some concern that you may be quickly reaching the territory where you have like a bathroom that's themed like a beach or you have signs in your kitchen that say live every day like it's Taco Tuesday. And I just wanted to bring that to your attention in case you were unaware of these rumblings

around this office in particular. I have more of those signs. Do you want to see? I, every one of them. You definitely have one that says it's wine o'clock somewhere, right? Okay, hold on. Let me find the other one. One second.

Okay, we will wait for you. Cannot wait to see what she, what kind of... But first, coffee. So what are you accusing her of? Maximum bombing? Are you, what is the actual accusation? The way that it was described to me was elder millennial. Yeah. Yeah.

Also known as millennial cringe. Mm-hmm. I didn't say it. And present. Present. You were thinking Lucy. Oh, no, Lucy. See the good. The signs emerged with.

Okay. You have just been, I don't want to say that you were accused of being Millennial cringe, but I was asking them, what are you accusing her of? Maximum momming? Basic. I think this is basic is how we would describe people who have these signs. And they are all gifts from my mom. So you guys are criticizing the sun in times. You haters, the most love person

on the internet. Why are you so mean? The reason I keep this sign up there is just as sort of like a message to her when I'm on TV that I'm thinking about her. Why do you hate my mom? Yeah. Yeah guys. Why do you know I legitimately feel terrible. I'm going TV that I'm thinking about her. Why do you hate my mom, Billy? Yeah, guys, why do you hate mom? No, I legitimately feel terrible. I'm gonna carry this with me to rest of the day. Oh, it's me. I'm not gonna name names, Mina, but they said, we wanna ask Mina about this,

but we're all afraid Billy, you do it. And they said, okay. No, no, no, it sounded like you meant it, and it hurts, honestly. You know what I'm gonna have to ask her? That says, family, fall, football. I would love what I like that. Finally, do you have a towel? I have to ask her. That says family, fall, football. I would love what I like about that. I would love what I like about that.

Do you have a sign that says, in this house we get wild, but only till 9 p.m.? I have another one that she sent me that says, if my dog's not invited, I'm not coming, which is pretty good. Pretty good sign. She really, she took out. She has a sign that says protected by Fafo.

She took out the heavy artillery on you guys. She not only summoned our dog love. Fuck around and find out, but also her mother. He's in her seven minutes. Mina, thank you. What you do, elder elder millennial. See you later, Mina. So rude.

It wasn't me for the record. Thank you.