The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz - Top Five NFL Games to Watch in Week 11 with former NFL Defensive Tackle Gerald McCoy, Plus Best Notre Dame Players in History with Jessica Smetana

Episode Date: November 14, 2025

Crazy to think we're already 11 Weeks into the NFL season. It's gone so fast. And now, the pressure builds for every game. (Unless you're Cleveland). That's why we have former NFL Defensive Lineman Gerald McCoy joining the show to give his picks for the Top Five NFL Games of Week 11. Then our podcast friend Jessica Smetana drops in to chat Notre Dame football ahead of the big game against Pitt. Dave Dameshek and the gang got a huge episode ahead to help you make sense of the weekend on this episode of Football America! (Photo by Nam Y. Huh/AP) Timestamps: (00:00) Too Much to Talk About. Start the Show! (00:00) Best College Triplets with Jessica Smetana (00:00) Top Five Week 11 Games with Former NFL Lineman Defensive Tackle Gerald McCoy AUDIO Football America! is available wherever you listen to podcasts. Leave us a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/football-america/id1831757512 Follow us: Dave Dameshek: https://x.com/dameshek Jessica Smetana: https://x.com/jessica_smetana Gerald McCoy: https://x.com/Geraldini93 Host: Dave Dameshek Guests: Gerald McCoy, Jessica Smetana Team: Gino Fuentes, Mike Fuentes, Bradley Campbell Director: Danny Benitez Senior Producers: Gino Fuentes, Mike Fuentes Executive Producer: Bradley Campbell Arizona Cardinals, Atlanta Falcons, Baltimore Ravens, Buffalo Bills, Carolina Panthers, Chicago Bears, Cincinnati Bengals, Cleveland Browns, Dallas Cowboys, Denver Broncos, Detroit Lions, Green Bay Packers, Houston Texans, Indianapolis Colts, Jacksonville Jaguars, Kansas City Chiefs, Las Vegas Raiders, Los Angeles Chargers, Los Angeles Rams, Miami Dolphins, Minnesota Vikings, New England Patriots, New Orleans Saints, New York Giants, New York Jets, Philadelphia Eagles, Pittsburgh Steelers, San Francisco 49ers, Seattle Seahawks, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Tennessee Titans, Washington Commanders Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hi and hello, my fellow football Americans. We got Jessica Smetana coming up to get us right on college football and a little bit of pro action. Gerald McCoy's going to break down the biggest games of week 11. We might talk some superheroes too. We have it a moment away. Start the show. Welcome to Football America. Episode number 25 were presented as ever by our pals at Draft Kings. Draft Kings, The crown is yours, and I was not jiving. We have not a second to waste, but we do have to settle our usual hash here. The player who wore the episode number best, number 25 is it. Hello, Mike and Gino, Gino on Mike Fuentes, and who you got?

Who's the best number 25 ever? Then let's go Jamal Charles, the all-time leader in Yardsburg carry. Great fantasy. Love them. Underappreciated at least. Mike. Mine is Super Bowl champion, and I believe, one of the most handsome men to ever carry in American football. That would be Reggie Bush.

Yes, beautiful man. A handsome devil. And another Super Bowl MVP is Fred Bolitnikoff, even though he didn't deserve it. Clarence Davis should have been the MVP of Super Bowl 11. Shady McCoy wore it. Like you say, Akim Taleb, I guess the best is probably Barry Bonds in all of sport. But let's go with yours there, Mike.

I think we should honor Reggie Bush. Actually, him and Jamal Charles, because I feel like they're both vaguely underappreciated. All right. So we've got that settled. Now let's cover all. things upcoming football weekend and we'll start it off with our old pal jessica smitana all right everybody in the lebitard universe knows who this is she is the podcast husband of our own mike fuentes on mystery crate of course she is married up with well wait you can't we're not in utah so this guy

mike gollick junior can't be her podcast husband i don't think but brother they they brother okay good yes brothers in irishdom on the echoes a great podcast it's so good that mayor pete buddhajudge was just on there in advance of the pit notre dame game she and i park our cars in the same garage on pro football but right now as we sit here we are arch rivals as her team pays a visit to the banks of the three rivers it's jessica smitana how are you sister how you've been hang on i was like the last time i talked to you was before the Indiana Notre Dame playoff game when we were arch rivals. How can we be arch rivals again before this Pitt Notre Dame game? All right. We'll get into that. But I did see you, I think it was Sunday night, somewhere early on during Sunday night football, in fact. And as I mentioned, we both

root for the Pittsburgh Steelers. And it was a humiliation once again, not unlike it was on the last Sunday night football game in front of the national audience against Jordan Love and the Packers. I noticed that you tweeted or posted or whatever, something along the lines of, why is this man the quarterback of my favorite team? Explain. I just can't do it anymore. First of all, I do want to say I love the Steelers, like you mentioned. I'm wearing my latest purchase from the strip, my Italians shirt that I got before my cousin's wedding a couple weeks ago. But I just can't do it anymore because we all saw this coming miles away.

and the people that convinced themselves that like Aaron Rogers has a little bit of gas left in the tank, I don't think watched very many games last year. I knew, and don't get me wrong. I didn't think Justin Fields should be the quarterback. I didn't think Russell Wilson should be the quarterback. I also didn't think Aaron Rogers should be the

quarterback. I wanted some like mystery fourth option. Give me Mason Rudolph and let's tank and get a quarterback next year, which by the way, doesn't seem like it would have been that great of an idea either. And thus, they get your guy Fernando Mendoza, maybe, Dave. Fingers crossed, but But Aaron Rogers, with his existence on that roster, does make them a tick better than they

otherwise would have been. Exactly. They just can't ever commit to actually losing football games, which as a sports fan is great and I think is commendable, but as someone who wants, you know, who exists in the NFL universe, it's very hard to do that when you don't have a quarterback. And I think you could take all the complaints about Mike Tomlin over the last five years and boil it down to the fact that he hasn't had a quarterback. And that's really all there is to it. I think the defense would look a lot better if they had a quarterback. I think the play calling would look a lot better sometimes if they had a quarterback.

I think he would look a lot better if he had a quarterback. And they just haven't had one. And I still don't think they're going to have one next year at this rate, unless they get a little bit lucky. But my other dread for the season, which I don't think will happen now for a number of reasons, is, oh my God, the Steelers are going to go 500. Maybe they'll miss the playoffs. But they'll get a high enough draft pick that they can get Drew Allar from Penn State,

which I was not going to add they wouldn't do that they're not that foolish now they're not now they're not but like before the season started I was very out on drew LR but I don't think a lot of people had caught up to it the most recent game I had seen play was the orange bowl game against Notre Dame where he threw the game losing pick to Christian Gray and I was like I just don't see it he has not been good against any of the good teams he's played again so I don't think that's going to happen anymore obviously he got hurt and had a really bad season before that but Dave that was one of my fears and then my other fear was like Like, they're going to get Aaron Rogers and just suck with Aaron Rogers, and it's not going to be fun to watch. And I also, like, don't even want to really root for the guy because he seems like a jerk. He has like a mystery wife. So, I don't know. It's just been kind of a mess this year. And I'm very disappointed and sad. I'm not surprised, though.

In fact, I was one of the few people that I'm aware of somehow, because it seemed obvious, as you say, if you had actually watched the man play football in 2024, you knew that the idea of depending on him to be a positive difference maker week to week was, was. not available to them. The other thing is, because you sit here in between college football and pro football, and I just, it makes me loco that around this time on the football calendar and specifically the draft calendar, we have now recognized what I was talking about in spring, which is the promise of the QB class that is 18 months away. Hey there, fellow football Americans, Do you feel that bit of chill in the air? I feel it, and I'm in Los Angeles. Bad news, it's going to be 90 this weekend.

But in the here and now, we can still celebrate the shared cool weather, because it means football. And from tailgates to watch parties, there's only one beer to pair with fall and football. I'm, of course, speaking about my beloved Miller Light, the light beer that's been the one for beer lovers like me since 1975. I wasn't drinking it in 1975 because that would have been against the law. but you take my point. For me, it's still the go-toe every time. Why? Because Miller Light is the great tasting light beer for people who love beer.

It's brewed for taste and's been trusted by beer lovers for 50 years. I've mentioned I'm one of those beer lovers, yes? Miller is the kind of beer you can drink from kickoff to the final whistle without missing a beat. It's the smooth golden flavor that somehow feels like football season with the iconic golden color and the malted barley. It's not too heavy. It's not too light. the perfect addition to a football Sunday. You know what?

I go the extra mile. I drink it on football Saturdays too. Fun fact. Football Mondays. Whether it's a crowded bar or kickback on the couch, it's the beer I reach for on any of those days I just mentioned, and or all of them. Miller Light, great tasting, 96 calories.

Go to Miller Lite.com slash FBA to find delivery options near you, or you can pick up some Miller Light pretty much anywhere they sell beer. It's Miller Time. Celebrate responsibly. Miller Brewing Company, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 96. calories and 3.2 carbs per 12 ounces. Hey, football Americans, quick detour into the NBA, which I'm sure you've noticed by now, is in full throat and Draft King's newest game.

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Well, they were all these. They were a part of the all-time loaded 2026 class. And just put a pin in this one, everybody, within the sound of our voices here. They have already begun talking about, don't take a quarterback in 26. If you have seen what the 27 glass looks like, sheesh! I'm going crazy with it. Anyhow, let's move on from that because I really want to talk to you about this big game upcoming here. But before we jump into that one, you said just before we got going here, you had Mayor Pete on, which is super cool with My Golick Jr.

By the way, he and I have, we park our cars in the same garage on this. Crumble cookies are delicious. And everybody is a cynic who speaks out against them. How say you? I've never had a crumble cookie. So maybe I'll partake someday. Who's this Golic character? Don't they just are?

Isn't he these days just being flooded by by everyone who makes food for a living so that he'll bite it? He doesn't, he can't pass a nice cookie off to you? I do love his food reviews. I have to say, I think our podcast is really good. We're very informative. I think we often tend to be right about a lot of our analysis about Notre Dame football.

But I do think he's even better at doing food reviews. So if you don't follow him on his social media, you're missing out. He did that Baja Blast pie last week, Dave. Oh, my God. And he gave it a six out of ten. It was a six out of ten that felt like a three out of ten. So anyways, I will not be trying that either. I didn't know that he gave that a six out of ten.

It hasn't passed my lips and shame the devil if I come off as a dim cynic, a vapid cynic. By the way, much like Gino and Mike Fuentes, who in advance of this conversation when I said, oh, guess what? Smetana's going to be on at the end of the week. You know what they said? Oh, great. More Steelers talk. I'm about to disprove them because we're going to jump in.

You don't have time for a deep dive on the Steelers because we have to talk about Pitt Notre Dame after all. All right. Well, first of all, screw you guys. Literally started. First thing he brought up, Steelers quarterback. And you guys ripped on that for like five minutes. Dave has to try really, really hard to not.

talk Steelers the entire. He just stopped himself completely reset everything. Okay, now I'm going to back around. I'm not talking to Steelers. My passions are my passions, and I'm not going to apologize for them. Same. The, so yes, so a great show there that you have going with Golig, but you were reacting to, along with looking ahead to the pit game, looking back at the Navy game. And it begs this question for me. My favorite rivalry in sports is Army Navy. I think it's super cool for obvious reasons. But the question is this, how come the Air Force don't get a part of that action? How come we don't celebrate that? They play each other and you like see the score on Saturday night. Like, oh yeah, the Navy and Air Force played. Why not the national celebration that we get

for Army Navy? You know, I can't speak to the Army Navy rivalry because I'm not a fan of either, but I can't speak to the Notre Dame Navy rivalry, which Notre Dame gets a lot of flack for because people make fun of them for like, oh, you're padding your stats against the service academies, et cetera, et cetera. And trust me, I understand that. And I don't love, we talked about this with Mayor Pete. I asked him if I was on Patriotic for not loving the Navy Notre Dame rivalry. He said I was, which was a shocking response. Agreed with Mayor Pete. I don't love playing against the triple option every season. I would rather Notre Dame just play a group of five team that runs a normal offense that doesn't cut block

all the time. But Navy helped Notre Dame stay in business during World War II. So it is a debt of gratitude to continue to play the rivalry, which is Notre Dame's longest standing rival. I believe this past weekend was their 98th ever meeting between the two schools. So I do understand the history of it. But yes, as it pertains to the other service academies, I mean, why doesn't Coast Guard have a D1 FBS football team? Let's talk about Notre Dame and Pitt and all the rest of it. This is a big game. The dues, Pat and our doozy, says not a must-win game for Pitt.

does that hit your ear? I mean, that was a crazy thing for him to say. It's one thing for a television analyst to say, hey, if Pitt loses, the good news is they still have two more ACC games against ranked teams where they can, you know, make it to the ACC championship game. But I think he's technically wrong because if Pitt did lose by 100 to Notre Dame, I mean, kiss your playoff chances goodbye as an art. Disagree, though. Well, they have no chances in that large team unless they would have to run the table, right? If they ran the table, if they ran the table, I don't know. I mean, this is a crazy hypothetical, and it's still mid-November, so anything can happen.

But if they did win out and beat Notre Dame but lost the ACC championship game, wouldn't you rather be 10 and 3 with a shot knocking in the door? And maybe some other crazy things happen in the other conferences, too, versus lose to Notre Dame by 100. And then you still have to win your next two games, have a chance at winning the ACC championship, obviously. I don't know. I mean, I think technically he is right, but I do see like a 1% chance where it's like, no, you still want to win all your games. Why are you saying this? I get, well, I do get it, and I don't understand exactly why a head coach would say that, but on a piece of paper, he is right, I think. Yeah, yeah. I don't want Mike and Gino to be angry with us by indulging Pitt. They're not in the conversation plausibly for the tournament unless they were to win the ACC and probably have to win that title game at minimum to get in.

Now, your team had a fascinating start, and I beliaked a ton about it, that even at 0 and 2, they remain ranked, which is proof, as if we needed more proof for the million time that you shouldn't rank teams in preseason because that's what it leads to. But in the here and now, Notre Dame is playing very well. I assume you agree that any stumble the rest of the way eliminates them. Yeah, absolutely, which is also why I think it's foolish to get too upset with the committee rankings at this point, because. She called me a fool. Did everybody hear that? She just insinuated I'm a fool because I did. You're right. I did insinuate that. I think every year we argue about the first couple sets of rankings, but then something crazy always happens. I mean, we still have rivalry weekend coming up over Thanksgiving where there's always a big upset game. So I'm not going to get to ahead of myself and worry about it now. But I would also say for Miami fans that are upset that Notre Dame was ranked ahead of Miami, I think if Miami had really put the gas on in the second half, and that played extremely conservative football and let Notre Dame get back into the game and only lose by three points. I really don't think Miami would be behind Notre Dame, even with the SMU loss. But I think the margin of victory is something that the committee is considering there.

And the fact that Miami just hasn't looked good the last few weeks. But Miami also could stumble in the last three weeks of the season. And then why are we even arguing about 10 and 2 Miami if they're not 10 to Miami? Well, I've said to you offline, I really question how many teams from the ACC belong at all. I mean, I think if you could take away that automatic bit, I don't know that anybody, with the possible exception, I guess, at Georgia Tech, has any claim to belonging among the best 12 teams in the country. But, again, you're headed to the banks of the Three Rivers for the second time in a month.

And a month, and you're really gilding to Lily. You know, I'm jealous. I saw your pictures of the cookie table, the wedding cookie table in Pittsburgh. This is a tradition there. If you had to gauge it overall, though, which is, I ask Matt Liner at this in advance of the USC, Notre Dame game. Okay. Tell me one thing better about South Bend, Indiana than Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Well, I love Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

So I think that that is difficult to say about any city in comparison to Pittsburgh. But I would say South Bend, Indiana, Notre Dame has a better college football stadium than Pitt does. I don't know if that's up for debate. No, it's not up for debate, and people want to argue with me about it. I mean, it's the same thing with UCLA. The idea, the shiny keys, the dangling of like, this is a pro football stadium, you understand. And that should provide some allure to kids or for students who want to attend the game. They want to wake up a little hungover and walk over to the stadium.

They don't care how shiny. tailgate. They want a tailgate right by the stadium too. That's why Notre Dame Stadium is great. The tailgating is all in close proximity. The stadium's obviously historic and there's been countless historic games played inside of it. But yeah, the UCLA thing is sad. I think I guess the only difference is that the Rose Bowl isn't close to the UCLA campus. So it's really too far away stadiums. But you're the LA geography expert, not me. So no matter where they're playing, I guess they're in traffic. But yes, I think you'd rather tailgate and play at the Rose Bowl than, at SoFi Stadium. And I think I love Acrecher Stadium as a professional stadium. I think it's a lot of, I've had a lot of great memories there. But it's so far away from Pitts Campus. And, you know, it just doesn't have the, I guess the character of an on-campus college football stadium. Okay. So the stadium you lean towards South Bend. Here's one thing that Pittsburgh has over South Bend is the people who play inside that stadium specifically. This may sound like a hot take to you. I think if we cobbled together, and as it happens, I already have, the ultimate all-time rosters, I think Pitts would beat Notre Dame's.

Really? Yeah, I've cobbled it together. Marino's my quarterback. Montana is yours. They had a showdown, as you may have heard before you watch the big blue marble in Super Bowl 19. Montana won that one. But, I mean, this isn't Notre Dame. This is Pitt.

This is against any team in the country. country. I think, I mean, let's just start with that. Like, I think obviously Pitt's football program hasn't been what it was, but I have the most respect in the world for those Pitt teams that really made the Pittsburgh Notre Dame rivalry great in the 80s and 90s when they were both still at their peak. So, okay, let's go through it. I'll, I'll, you count, so you as a Notre Dame person, count Pitt as a rival? Well, I'm already ahead of the game that if you still think that that exists. I don't know if the rivalry really exists, but I think that if you looked at all-time games played against each other, I think Pitt's probably in the top 10 for Notre Dame opponents.

Oh, I bet. And by the way, before you go in here, I just want Mike Fuentes to play the Canes representative, even though he's not a grad of the Canes. I think that they are a worthy team to include in this conversation as well. And he has his roster for that team all time. Anyway, take it away, Jess. So we're going Joe Montana, even though I think there's, probably historically some other quarterback candidates, but we won't go back to like the Johnny Lou Jaxx of the world. We'll just stick with Joe Montana. Throw Lujack in there if you want. Go ahead. Maybe Brady Quinn too, because I think Brady Quinn still holds all of the passing records and single season touchdown records and all

of that. But never won the Heisman trophy, fair enough. But I'll go with Joe Montana because I think it's hard to not take Montana. Who's the greatest quarterback at the alleged QBU down there in South Beach, Mike Fuentes. I mean, if you're doing college careers, probably Ken Dorsey just because, you know, being the quarterback in 2001. But if we're doing like, we're mixing in pros. I'm picking Jim Kelly. While Pitt's guy only went to the sewer bowl and lost once.

My guy went four times in lost. So, yeah. So get back to the other, buddy. And I'd be interested in, you know, maybe like an Oklahoma or Texas and how they factor into this. But the Kane's offensive line is where they fall apart. The Irish and Pitt are sturdy and they would push the canes around. I think it comes down to a head-to-head, maybe for all of time in college football history.

I think USC would have a say in this as well. But it's fun. I bring it up because it feels like of all the teams you would list, if you said, like, let's do an all-time tournament of the greatest teams of all time. The team that would be the outlier, you'd be like, wait, Pitt? Why would they be in there? And when you look at the roster, you're like, oh, yeah, I guess they absolutely, Aaron Donald would be a part of that Pitt team. Tony Dorset, one of the great running backs. In fact, I can make a case that Pitt is RBEU over Penn State, Notre Dame, or anywhere else.

I think Pitt definitely has a really strong case there. And I looked up head-to-head major opponents for Notre Dame. Pitt is number four all time. They are behind Navy, USC Purdue, and then Pittsburgh. I mean, I think that qualifies for rivalry material. 70 games played in history. That's a lot of games, Dave. I came by my hatred of your Irish, honestly, in 1982, Alan Pinkett and Company came into Pitt Stadium and ran all over the highly ranked Pink Panther. Jerry Faust, the only good win he ever had in his tenure there.

Bottom line, give us a pick here. How do you think this one plays out? It does on a piece of paper, once again, the strength of the pit defense this season is the ability to stop the run. As it happens, Jeremiah, love and company love doing nothing more than pushing around their foes on the ground. How do you think it turns out? Well, I think that's been the key for Notre Dame's offense over the last five weeks is that they've played against a lot of defenses like Pitts, like NC State, Boston College Navy, were really adept at stopping the run game. But C.J. Carr was able to beat all of those defenses by being very accurate passing. I think USC is the only game we've seen the season where their defense was more concerned with. stopping C.J. Carr, and lo and behold, Notre Dame rushed for, you know, career highs for all the running backs on the team Judarian Price also had a kickoff return touchdown in that game.

So I think, like, Notre Dame has shown that even despite games where they haven't been able to get the run game going, C.J. Carr and his receivers have been, have been very solid. But C.J. Carr is also his first season as the starting quarterback. So I think he hasn't had a lot of games other than that USC game where he has been mistake prone. But Pitt has a good enough defense that I think they'd be able to capitalize on near mistakes that maybe other defenses haven't been able to. So I think really the key is C.J. Carr's got to have

a really sharp game passing. And I think the other thing that I'm sort of maybe a little concerned about is Notre Dame's offensive line now down three starters. Their interior offensive line, both all three positions, first year starters, but especially

their center and their left guard, only on like their third and second starts of the season after the starters went down. So the pass blocking has been pretty good this season from the O-line, but I am kind of like a little concerned about the run blocking. Jessica Smatana, the echoes, like we say, mystery create with Fuentes and company, keep up the gangbusters work. I almost called you, as I said hello to you, one of the rising stars in sports media, but that diminishes you. The rise is over. You're already there. You're already there. We have Mayor Pete on our show. I mean, come on. I mean, legitimately.

Good for you. Keep it up. You deserve it. You're one of the great talents, one of the funniest people too, doing what we're doing for a living. So keep the role going, best of golic, make them give you one of them nice cookies or maybe three of them and let's talk at some point, maybe around the playoffs, the college playoffs. Oh, I hope so. I'll see you soon. All right, time now for pick six presented as ever by Draft Kings. Draft Kings, the crown is yours. I would like to have a crown, but I assume it costs like a million dollars to get a good one and so far we haven't won the million dollars yet and i keep talking about it and i expressly say i want to win the million dollars and

yet no justice at least until now let's see if we can figure this out this week gino and mike mike and gino fentes i'm going touchdown scores again i'm going to give you three guys that are going to find the end zone either on the ground or catching a pass and then i'm going to give you a couple of touchdown throwers or three touchdown throwers who are going to have at least two touchdown throws. First of all, the guys who are going to get into the end zone carrying the ball. Jalen Warren against the Cincinnati Bengals, they have a terrible defense made even worse by trades and injuries. I mean, it would be an abject embarrassment if Jalen Warren, who is clearly the guy carrying the ball for the Steelers this year, can't get in there at least once. On the other

side of things. Jamar Chase has a knack of beating up that Pittsburgh Steelers defense through the air. You saw that on Thursday night football a few weeks ago. I say he'll do it at least once again. And then Puka Nakua, you can set your watch to him dominating. I know we love to talk about the mythical best receiver in football. Isn't it clear when this guy is healthy that the answer is him? Which is weird because it wasn't that long ago. You would have said the same thing about Cooper Cup. Now, two touchdown throwers, the decrepit Joe Flacco. Why? would he not throw two more against that atrocious Steelers' defense that you saw Justin Herbert beat up on Sunday night football, Matthew Stafford. We have gone in on him as a legit MVP candidate. In fact, I think you'd put him maybe right at the very top of it alongside the youngster Drake May.

And then there's a Lamar Jackson who has been turning it on since his return along with the rest of his pals. I see no reason why the Ravens aren't going to continue that off the right arm of number eight there. Fuentes, boys. How say you? All right. I'm going to go Aaron Rogers because he threw four touchdowns against Cincinnati last time, all the tight ends. And I think they don't have Trey Hendrickson this week. They do not.

I mean, I would assume he can do it at home too. And Aaron Rogers never misses a chance to pat his stats. Who would you take out? I would take out. I'd probably take out Puka, just because the preferred option at the goal line tends to be Devante Adams. Or another of the harem of tight ends that they have there. Yeah. A harem of tie dance.

I like that. I'll say you, Mike. I'm going to take Devon A-chan and the first ever NFL game in Espania, 9.30 in the morning. Devon A-Chane, he's the everything man for the Miami Dolphins. Just been fine in the end zone more often than not this year. So I'm going to go Devon A-Chane. I think it's A-Chane. And also, Daron Payne.

A-chan. A-chan. Yeah, and Duran Payne out for that game. Commanders are, to me, dead in the water. Defense is not that great. So I'm going to take Devon A-chan in Espania. What this is exposed to me is my shortcoming intellectually or whatever it is that I noticed in talking to Mike Fuentes the other day that Devon A-chan is way up there in fantasy points and I obsess so much about the teams and where they are that I sort of lose sight of the great performers on the bum teams at some point in the year and I kind of lost sight of what kind of year A-chan is putting together down there in the lost year for those dolphins. but good call on that one because he has been cooking with gas pretty much all season long.

Good list there. I'll see you on the other side with a million dollars in hand. All right, very excited to get to Yap with this fella. I think it's been about a decade since I last did. He was on my old show on NFL Network a couple of times, and I remember the majority of it being consumed by superhero talk. I don't know. Maybe it'll come up here.

Now he's a star in NFL Network. It's Gerald McCoy. What's happening, man? Man, thank you for having me. I took a break from Daddy and. I had a field trip that I was on, but you got to say. Anyway, I appreciate you having me. What was, what, I mean, field trip always sounds good until you get the specifics.

When you go to the amusement park, that's great. When you go to the science center, you're like, really? Yeah, this is. yeah this one wasn't crazy the first part of it they went to a musical a little play that was at the local high school but the part i was at was the lunch and the playground and that's where i'm just like hey listen yeah i got to get these kids under control i can only watch my one i ain't got nothing for you yeah you're not paying me to wrangle yeah egg no all right listen i know we could do an hour here so and we and we only have a few minutes so i want to cash in as much as possible

First question for you is maybe a little bit random. I am obsessed by the idea of way back when you were a little kid or maybe not even alive yet, the Dallas Cowboys of the early 90s rose up and they were built on the triplets. Troy Aikman, Emmett Smith, Michael Irvin. I now have stretched that out to college football, but for all of time. Not on one single team, but in the history of the schools. Oklahoma grad, defend your greatest triplets, a cube. be a running back and a pass catcher. Let's see how it stacks up with what I've got in front of me

here. Oh, Lord. Running back is going to be Adrian Peterson. Ooh, you know what? I had Billy Sims because I'm older than you and I love Billy Sims, but Adrian Peters are pretty good too. Yeah, I love Billy Sims too. I love him at all the Heisman ceremonies. You always know when Billy's in the building. Let me just say that. But I'm going to go Adrian Peterson. That's my time. quarterback, man. So is this for a season? Is this just like who I think is the best Oklahoma quarterback ever? You do you, Gerald, you do you.

However, it hits your ear. That's the response I want. Oh, Lord. Why would you do that? You got the run of the Lincoln Riley. That voodoo somehow did not make the trip along from the Midwest over to SoCal. I don't know why. I know, I know, because maybe it is the players and not the coach anyway.

Man, I got to do it, man. I'm going Sam Bradford as my quarterback. Wow, bold. Listen, I know. Is there anybody more forgotten? I think the greatest sooner quarterback because of longevity and everything he did is Baker. But I'm just going, I'm going Sam, man. Sam was a dog.

And I know a lot of people are, you know, down on him because of his NFL. career, but people forget who Sam was as a red shirt freshman as a sophomore. You know, Tim Tebow had won the Heisman as a sophomore, and then right after next year, Sam did it. So I think people forget that, you know, and him being 06, the class I was in, I'm going Sam Bradford. It might be a little biased, but I'm going Sam Bradford, Adrian Peterson, and then Y receiver, this is where it gets shaky. but just so you know

it's out of Mark Clayton and Ryan Brooks I love CD but it's out of Mark Clayton and Ryan Brooks I played with I played with Ryan but I grew up

watching Mark oh man I'm gonna go with Ryan Brow's so I'm gonna go Sam Bradford Adrian Peterson and Ryan bro. Those will be my three. Old man Dave throws in Keith Jackson, not the broadcaster,

but number 88, the great and big tight end, who would have dominated in the 21st century more than he even did when he was with the Eagles and Beyond and pro football. Just for the record, because I'm a completionist here, and I don't mean to talk at you here. But Mike Fuentes, who do you have for the U here? Who are the greatest triplets in the U history? So based on his pro career, we took Jim Kelly. And then we had a debate here between Edron James and Frank Gore. I'll go Frank Gore. Yeah, and I think I'm taking Edron James because he won a Super Bowl.

And then for Michael Irvin, the playmaker, is our receiver. Yeah. I'm going to Edge because Edge more at his heights in the NFL was better than Frank Gore. If you go-Longervity, I think. If you go pure numbers on the wide receiver, it would be Reggie Wayne, but Michael Irvin's the playmaker. You had Andre Johnson there, too. Michael Irvin, yeah.

The reason I bring it up, Gerald. Y'all threw a lot in there. Like, I'm going to tell you this right now. I've seen a graphic the other day about, like, one person, like the best run as a sooner or whatever, and it was all these different people. The best, if I'm going one season, I need one player, one individual season at my quarterback.

I'm going Kyle Murray. What he did in that one individual season is comparable to anybody in history. Like, to throw for that many yards and to run for that many yards, for that many touchdowns with that few of interceptions. Yeah, K1, just that one season. Yeah, K1 is, he was different.

But I got to go Sam Bradford, but just if we just get one season. That's because that, he then gets sort of lumped in with the machine. Like, anybody they put in a quarterback at this point is going to be in the Heisman conversation. And Kyler got lost in that. The thing, my longstanding theory about Sam Bradford is that the reason people haven't held on to how good he was. was because how he looked in the pads.

There was something about like his arms were skinny and his jersey hung long and out. Right? He looked like a boy. That's a real thing because when I look at Gary Wilson, I'm like, dude, you're a wire receiver. Come on, man.

What are you doing? What are you like? Some protein shakes. Yeah, it's ridiculous, man. Tighten that jersey up. I hate it. I hate them loose jerseys. All right.

And by the way, bring it up again because uh because i'm a dork who has to do this but the weird the weird answer in my book is pit marino tony dorset larry fitzgerald who can beat that no one now let's before we pick a game or two here with gerald mccoy let's talk about the thing i mentioned to the top there comics superheroes more specifically and uh let's start with um with this one in your your book, who played the best Spider-Man? Not best movies. Who was the best Spider-Man the character on film? Toby McGuire. Toby McGuire. Quick answer. Okay. Yeah. What are we thinking now? I'm going with his predecessor, Andrew Garfield. Why? Because I thought he captured what the

essence of Spider-Man is. Has a sense of humor, was dorky. Toby McGuire captures the dork, but he's not as funny as Andrew Garfield is. And part of Spider-Man, Peter Parker is supposed to be kind of like a wiseacre, and he gets off better quips. And then, oh, wait, no, you're saying Toby Maguire. I'm thinking of the kid, whatever that I can't think of the kid's name. Yeah.

Yeah, the new guy. He's, and also. I said Toby McGuire. Toby McGuire. Yes. He's a little too cool. You're thinking of Tom. You're thinking the Tom Holler.

Yeah, Tom McGuire wasn't, he wasn't too cool when he played it. He might have been too cool afterwards and the stuff off, off the camera. Yeah. But when he played it, like, think about this. Okay, just think about this for a second. We didn't see what happened with Tom Holland's Uncle Ben. We don't know. He was already Spider-Man.

We've seen Andrew Garfield Spider-Man, and he's, like, losing his mind, and he's crying, and he's upset, whatever. Toby McGuire didn't play. So that's why I don't know if off the camera was really, fake because that on the camera uncle ben died that night he off buddy within an hour buddy was out of here the dude did he he was out of here through the empty warehouse you're out of here uh green goblin called messing with ame by the end of the night y'all can ignore that all you won't i'm just saying i'm not here to fight by the way

Sandman was the coolest of the adversaries, I think, in all the Spider-Man movies. I thought... No. No. No. Mysterio was awesome. The way they portrayed Mysterio, Jake Gyllenha, where it was like the illusion machine, and then they had that whole sequence where he's all like a zombie Spider-Man and all stuff. Great scene in the movie. But the thing about Spider-Man is he such a heart...

He was cool. How he became Sandman, and you felt sad for him a little bit? I don't like the empathetic villain. He was clumsy. Yeah, and... Just to fail. I want guys that are evil. I don't want, like, to feel bad for guys at the end.

I want Spider-Man to kick his ass, and I'm like, yeah, kick his ass. You know, that guy sucks, you know? But, and Spider-Man's such a weird character, I feel like always to play, because obviously we're getting these guys, like Toby McGuire was probably in his mid-20s when they cast him. Spider-man's a teenager. I think he's 14, 15 years old when he starts in the comic books. Then he gets bit by the spider. He has to deal with real shitties.

He's his uncle die. And then he has to do, like, all these grown-up decisions really fast. And then that was going to be my question for you, Gerald. You know, in the MCU, they have Spider-Man dealing with like these big, epic, universal things. He's fighting with the Avengers. But in the Toby McGuire films, he's just your local neighborhood Spider-Man. So I don't know which one people prefer. Do they want that localized Spider-Man or like that big galactic Spider-Man?

Well, I think that the way MCU went about it is incredible because if you think about Toby, he's a ground-level, you know, hero. Like, it's right here and your neighborhood, these things that happen right here. and then you go to Tom Holland this is what made him him and this is why the movies worked because of what you just said he's a kid he's 15, 16, 17 he's still trying to figure out how to

talk to a girl properly and he gets thrust into this world war or universal war as a child and he's operating in that as a child people were so upset about him for giving away the glasses to Mysterio

but think about he's a kid he's doing kid things. If you think about him going to Dr. Strain and saying, well, I want MJ and I need Aunt May and my best friend. Those are the only people I really want to remember me

and this and this. And he's going back and forth with, well, I don't know. He's a child. So people get upset about these things. I think the way they wrote it is excellent. Now you go into his newest movie. He's back to ground level because all the universal stuff is over with.

well they're going to have to bring him back a little bit i'm okay with that yeah they're going to have to bring him back a little bit because i know they want him in doomsday so maybe it's like well i think he gets through his movie yeah and then at the end right when dr doom shows up they gotta you know do what you got well gerald i'm sorry you're going to have to uh announce your absence from the rest of the field trip because you and mike fentes are apparently going to have to have like three hours on the side make sure you record it all so we can post it because i'm very interested in this we are nominally a football show So let me get you some football picks here as we head into NFL, week 11. We do our countdown from five down to one, the best games and how we think they're going to turn out. Let's start with your old team there. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers paying a visit to Buffalo.

Bills lay in six at the time of this recording. I cannot believe that we are on the cusp, the way people are talking now, that the bottom line is like, oh, bills are struggling. I don't know if they're going to get over the hump this year. this is going to happen again if they don't get to the super bowl this year when are they ever going to get there anyhow let's talk about the matter at hand here how do you think they fare against bacon company this weekend uh this is a this is a toss-up because the bills are not very good at stopping the run um so the bucks are for sure going to try and run the ball uh but if defensively we've seen that amecca buc is really taking

talented but now granted christian gonzalez took him away because that's just who he is you know and he's that great but we've seen what can happen if you take him out of this offense it can get really stagnant now i believe in baker to be able to get the job done so but it's just a toss-up and then defensively we can't rush the pastor to save our lives without blitzing like we can't take four guys and just get after the passer. And if anybody is the guy you don't want to do that against, it's Josh Allen.

So this game makes me nervous because I'm not sold on Buffalo, but Josh Allen is great at putting on his cape and these types of games are the games that he goes out and he wins because they can run the ball. And Josh Allen

is Josh Allen. Not afraid of any of his weapons, not named James cook, but he's still Josh Allen. And if you don't get him off his spot, because he's great when he's on the run anyway. But if you don't get him off his spot, but sure, if he can just stand back there and deliver the ball, you're in trouble. So I'm going to lean bucks just because that's what I do. But this one scares me because this is a game tailor-made for us to lose. You know, a lot of pro football players have told me over the years, things don't get real until somewhere in mid-November. Some guys say around Thanksgiving, and it's getting real now. We're

in double-digit games now, and the bills are running out of room to convince themselves, if no one else. There's a lot of buzz that is negative towards them, but as you say, Josh Allen has obscured a lot of flaws for a lot of years now up there in Buffalo. At number four on our countdown here, it's the Chicago Bears. It's the Minnesota Vikings. It feels essential just about for both sides here to get this one. The home team is the Vikes. They're laying three. Gerald McCoy, how say you? I'm taking the bears because I like the trajectory of where this thing is going. The defense is taking the ball away at a high clip right now, and that's very contagious. You know, those takeaways, sacks and takeaways come in bunches. Are they? Because I've been

having this discussion. I'm a Steelers guy, and the idea, you know, the Steelers defense tends to win when they force, you know, multiple turnovers and they're and also ran defense when they do not do that. And so debating how contagious as you say is that, in fact, in pro football? It's very contagious because when they take the ball away

the game, they're taking them away, are they getting one? Are they getting just one? Are they stacking them? When they have these games, they're stacking them. So that's the contagious part of it. You know, sometimes you get, when people think about something contagious, most people think, Like, you get sick.

Well, being sick, don't just, sometimes it off and on. Sometimes you wake up and you like, well, freak, I feel great. And then a couple hours later, it's like, what the heck just happened to my body? Yesterday, I felt great than tomorrow. I'm super sick. That's just how Pittsburgh is right now. But when they do get a takeaway, take away, take away, takeaway, take away, take away. That's just how they are.

Well, Chicago, their sick is lasting. Their contagious is week after week after week. And they're going to need to take the ball away, man. and J.J. McCarthy, he's just got, he's got something to him. I don't know how good he is yet, but he's just got something to him. He brings whatever they need in their locker room where they want to play hard for him. But the way Ben Johnson has his offense going and the trajectory that they're doing like this with the Bears, I just feel like it's going to continue. And I like the Bears to win this. I know it seems simplistic, but, you know, a lot of people have been

talking about Ben Johnson, including me for a couple of years as the, the guy to try and get if you want to punch up your offense. And it is taking hold now. It didn't happen in week one, but we're seeing the results there. At number three, AFC West shootout Chiefs, Broncos, maybe not a shootout. The home team Denver is getting points plus three and a half at the time of this recording. How do you think this one goes? I'm going Kansas City. Andy Reed, 22 and 4 coming off five weeks. This is what he does. Denver is undefeated. it at home, but I think that ends this weekend. Top to bottom, collectively.

Don't look at the record. A lot of people look at the record and say, oh, well, how you say that better than this team? Well, because defensively, Kansas City is not that far off from Denver. I think we, I believe Denver has obviously a better pass rush. Overall, collectively a better defense. But Kansas City's defense is still a really, really, really good defense. Okay, so now we got to go to the other side of the ball. Who do you trust more?

Bo Nix and Sean Payton or Patrick Mahons and Andy Reed? I don't know. I'm going to debate that one in my head. I don't know which one. Oh, no, no, no. I got my answer. I'm going to take 15. Okay. So that's what it comes down to for me. I know Bo Nix is playing well in the fourth quarter, but it's a lot of BS leading up to that.

So I just think top to bottom collectively coming out of a byweek, Kansas City will be healthier. year. I have two weeks to prepare for this team. I played against Sean Payton for a lot of years. He's a mastermind. However, I just think Patrick with Holmes and Andy Reed combo that defense is going to be too much for Denver. I'm going here they come, AFC. I think we're getting that repeat the way it's starting to shape up a repeat of a repeat of a repeat. And as a matter of fact, now what could be what kind of looks like the NFC final four come January, let's tackle both these games here.

At number two, it's the Rams at the Seahawks. Hawks laying three in Seattle. Last week, the Seahawks played better at home. We talk about this defensive line in this front

and this defense as a whole. They just drawn it up and they're able this front, even whether they blitz sent pressure or they rush four, they've been getting home. But before, last week, 20 of their 23 sacks were on the road. They were struggling playing better at home than on the road. I think they had won, like they last 10 or something like that on the road.

They're great role team. They travel well, and that's something you're going to have to do if you don't have a high seed going into the playoffs. But because they're at home and I feel like Matthew Stafford is top two and MVP right now, I love what they can do offensively and the mastermind that Sean McVey is. And that rush, that pass rush for the Rams, I just see them forcing Sam Darno into a late game mistake. So I'm going Rams on the road. Man, keen analysis.

You talked me into that one. I like the Rams, but it was close for me. But I think you're right about the effect of the pass rush there in Seattle. oddly since Seattle, that was what they were predicated on a decade or 15 years ago, was that tick of a jump that they could get because of the noise from the home crowd there up in the clink. Okay, number one, the other half of the NFC Final Four potentially, the Detroit Lions, the Philadelphia Eagles, Eagles laying only two and a half. A little weird that number to me.

Either way, how say you on this game? This was tough, man, because if you just look at team, team and just look at the numbers. You say, oh, Detroit wins this. Because the Philadelphia Eagles, the offense, we don't know what's going on. AJ still saying what he's saying on streams and in the media, whatever, you know, they still understand that the offense is not where it needs to be. Defensively, they played great this last game.

You know, Jalen Phillips definitely is going to help for sure. Getting healthy on that defensive front, I like this front. and they are deep. The depth on this defense is incredible. However, if they cannot stop Detroit from running the ball, they are in trouble because Jared Gough is a top five quarterback when he's allowed to do play action. That is what he has mastered.

And Aiden Hutchinson is, you know, having a resurgence year. But Philly just, man, I don't know how to. at doing it, some teams just know how to win. They just know how to win, man. They just find a way. So this was tough for me because Philly's at home,

but if they have, if they do what they just did, see what saved them if they were on the road, we know if Philly did what they did offensively throughout the game and they were at home, then fans would have been booed. That's just what the fans do. I just don't know if

Detroit have the defense to do what Green Bay did. So I'm going to take Philly at home. Yeah, I'm going to take Philly at home, man. The offense, I feel like, has enough to get by on this defense. And Philly's defense is enough to at least slow this offense down. One extra possession. So I'm going to go Philly. I'll just quickly say that what I forecasted in August,

I think is going to finally start taking root as the Lions play the Eagles. I have kept saying about the Lions this year that it is not going to be a week one change without Aaron Glenn and Ben Johnson. It's going to be a gentle decline, not that they're going to be a bum team, but they're just not going to be at the height of their powers as they were probably last year. And my point of reference is the Eagles in between their two Super Bowl years. They lost those coordinators, and it didn't reveal itself as a problem until the back half, the last third of the season. That's exactly where we are right now. I think the Lions are going to

slide back a little bit and the Eagles will continue their rise. Gerald McCoy, continue your rise, man. You're as good as it gets with the football analysis and superhero analysis too. Let's do more of that at your convenience after the season or whenever you'd like to do it. We'd love to have you back here on Football America. In the meantime, have a great weekend talking about football in front of it on NFL Network and all the rest of it, man. All right. Thanks, thanks, brother. I appreciate you. Gerald McCoy is out the door, and so are we. So with that all being said, I think you're now right for NFL Week 11. We'll be back on the other side of it for you to try and make sense of what we just saw.

Until then, for everybody involved in Football America. Thanks so much, my fellow Football Americans. It's been a thin slice of heaven.