The Herd with Colin Cowherd - 3 and Out - Bills/Bengals Decision, Lamar/Ravens Weirdness, NFL Week 18 3 for the $$$

Episode Date: January 6, 2023

John reacts to some positive updates related to Demar Hamlin’s recovery, and the NFL’s decision not to reschedule the canceled MNF Bills/Bengals game. He also discusses the weirdness surrounding Lamar Jackson’s return for the playoffs, if the Raiders can keep Davante Adams happy without Derek Carr, why flexing the Packers into SNF was a no-brainer for the NFL, and if now is the right time for Sean McVay to leave coaching for TV.  Then, he runs 3 Week 18 NFL games by Action Network sharp Stuckey to see if there's professional agreement or disagreement on this week’s picks!  Subscribe NOW and follow Middlekauff and The Volume on Twitter, Instagram and YouTube for the latest content. It's always FanDuel for the best wagering action! #Volume #HerdSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Have another one out today. The game plan, I think, is to not do one for React to the games on Sunday morning. But if the games get pretty crazy, especially the elimination game, you never know. not like I'm doing anything else but watching them. So I got the mic right here. Be on alert, but definitely Sunday Pod, Monday Pod, Tuesday Pod. We'll keep them firing as well as the Middlecoff mailbag at John Middlecoff. We'll definitely put out a mailbag this weekend.

And you listen on Collins feed, make sure you subscribe to the three and out feed. Thankful and grateful to all you guys to do. Everyone that listens to this podcast, couldn't do this without you. A lot going on this weekend. We'll dive, we've got getting positive news out of the Hamblin situation. which is very good, and then a lot of other moving parts that we will dive into today on the show. Before we dive into football, though, I wanted to touch on my friends at game time. Here's what I need you to do.

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Game time, download the app, promo code John. Okay, a lot going on, a lot of different stories out there. But before we dive into that, I just wanted, there's a lot of positive news, coming out of the Hamlin camp and the, you know, from the hospital, positive signs. You basically see, feels like there's a lot of positive momentum. From him holding his family's hands to his being able to communicate with the doctors with a pen and paper, writing it down.

So any positive news is fantastic news. This is something like I said the other day on the podcast. This is we all universally. agree. Like, we're rooting for one individual here. And it makes you feel good when you read positive things that he's headed toward

in the right direction. Because for a while, there was a lot of unknown. Hell, even a couple days after, when you read about people being in critical condition, that is always a scary situation. So it feels like you know, he's trending

the way that you'd want him to trend. And his dad went on to Zoom. with the bills players. And I saw someone say that, you know, from the bills that we really needed that. And just to hear his positive vibes and his positive news about his son. So it looks like it's just, it's just trending and heading in the right direction. You never know in these situations. But, you know, that's, I think it makes us all feel good every time we read a good update for a guy that, you know, just had one of the most

traumatic events you'll ever see on live TV. And based on that game that ended up not happening, I'll just say this, and first and foremost right now, I'm pretty opinionated guy. I have no problem, you know, saying whatever I believe. And I guess sometimes people think it's like talking shit or definitely people in the league that have got mad at me think, you know, I'm talking shit. And it's like, you know, the difference of me and them is like, I put my name on it. So everything I say, it's clear where it's coming from.

There's no anonymous sources on this show. It's me. And I can be very critical. I mean, it's just, I had my college roommate's girlfriend once dubbed me judging John. So it comes natural to me. But one thing I will not be critical of is whatever decision the league makes about the seating with the AFC. There's no right or wrong answer. And in times of, you know, in unprecedented times, because that's, we're gets thrown around a lot.

Well, this is really true. And this is not something that, you know, there's a. a playbook for. You know, I learned a long time ago, someone told me there's no playbook, there's no handbook for life. And the older you get, you get put in new situations, you get put new relationships, and you just kind of learn on the job. And anytime you talk with senior management of any bigger company, like they're getting thrown curveballs all the time. And this level of curveball, given the power of the NFL, there's no right or wrong answer. I've said, I don't think I've said it on the show, because I've actually only had one show since

Monday night football was if they gave the bills of the number one overall seat, I wouldn't complain. Now, someone would. Chief people would. Now, I don't know what the statute of limitations is like, what are people going to go on TV and start complaining about whatever the NFL decides? Probably at that point now. Probably took a couple days, you know, Skip tried to jump the line and people, you know,

were not happy. Even though, like, I understood even separate. My girlfriend who doesn't know who Skip Bayless is didn't quite get. yet, like why, like, not necessarily his tweet, but why, just the whole situation. I'm like, well, everyone hates this guy to begin with. So, and he's always kind of in the middle of these things. It was kind of an easy one. Even though separate from the, you know, the outcome of that game obviously had a lot

of impacts on the seating. It's just hard to even begin to talk about that when there's a guy lying on the ground fighting for his life. And I'd argue, like even a couple days later. Now, by the time you get to the games this weekend, someone has to know something, right? It matters to some teams. I just don't think there's a right or wrong way to do it.

Because no matter what you decide, there's been rumors about adding an 18. There's been rumors about letting the chiefs and the bills, he's decide separately. You know, the chiefs get to decide, do you want home field or do you want the buy? Someone's going to be mad. Someone's going to complain.

Welcome to life. I thought the league handled it, you know, just the whole situation, the Bengals fans, everyone involved in that stadium, handled it incredibly well on Monday night and we'll find out what the outcome is on their decision. But whatever it is, people are going to be pissed off. And one of those will not be me.

One of those will not be me. But let's dive into someone who's kind of pissed off. And that's John Harbaugh. And John Harbaugh was asked about Lamar, who has been MIA for a long time now with his knee injury. And basically like, it was coming back? Like, is he playing this weekend? coming back for the playoffs?

And John Harbaugh dropped a, I'm going to leave all that stuff alone. I went, what? Like, you're starting quarterback. Is he coming back for the playoffs? And I think anyone can relate to this. Now, everyone listening, maybe there's one or two people,

probably doubtful, has never been involved in signing $170 million contract unless some NFL quarterbacks or NBA stars are listening to this podcast. So we can't relate to the level of money, Lamar turned down, right, for one contract, that's an enormous amount of money. But we can, I think the old, especially if you've been over 30 years old, you've had a couple

jobs, you have been in situations where you've viewed yourself underpaid, you've been in a contractual situation that was coming up and you didn't know if you were going to get renewed or how you're going to ask for more money. Every human can relate. When there's a lot of money on the line, whatever relative that is to you, and there is a discrepancy between your side and the other side, things eventually get weird. It is inevitable. There is no way for the elephant in the room in a situation to be money and it not lead to awkwardness, bitterness, anger, and ultimately, you know, a situation like they're dealing with now.

Because if I put myself in Lamar's shoes, though, as I said last year, I thought he should have sign the contract. They're offering you $160, $170 million. It's life-changing money. It's top of the market money. Just because one moronic institution does something doesn't mean that everyone else copies them, right? Just because one person in industry makes a decision doesn't mean every other company fall a suit when they view that as the wrong move, i.e. The Browns and Deshaunson, because that contract already looks terrible. Let's face it. The going rate for Lamar was $160, $170 million guaranteed.

That was on the table and he said no. Now, I get from his perspective going, well, fuck if Deshaun Watson's getting that much money, I'm worth that much money. Because unlike that guy who's not trustworthy when he leaves the building, I'm one of the highest character guys in the league. You trust me unequivocally. So I get it. And I get the, like, what are the Ravens supposed to do?

You put out this money. He's not signing it. It was a weird situation. But the outcome of the situation was eventually probably this. Because I've been in contract situations for obviously a lot less money than this. And it eventually gets weird. It's human nature. And because one side views themselves as getting screwed.

And the other side views themselves as you're not living up to your end of the bargain. So then there becomes resentment. And that's what it feels like right now. John Harbaugh, Lamar Jackson, Lamar Jackson, and the Ravens, They're not on the same page. Now, that doesn't, and I've already seen this on the internet, like the Jets need to trade for him, the Colts. If the Ravens want to keep him, he's not going anywhere.

This is not the NBA. You're not a free agent. There's this thing called the franchise tag. But if this is truly weird inside the building, and I think it's fair to say, you know, if Lamar are like, why am I going to lay it on the line in a playoff game when my knee doesn't feel totally right and I don't have a contract yet?

And the Ravens go, we offered you a contract, we're paying you a premium, you're a starting quarterback, like we need you on the field. Like, it was inevitable. And now we're here, and the undoing of the Raven situation had a lot of injuries, but like, and who knows? Maybe if Lamar was 100% healthy, they would have been a first round and out team.

They'd been that way before with Lamar Jackson. But like, you could argue their season ended before it even started when they couldn't figure out the contract situation. Another comment I saw the other day that I had a giant red flag on. Not necessarily the comment, but the person that the comment was directed at. Devante Adams, twofold. One, he came out and was asked like, do you want to leave the Raiders? Your friend's benched.

He's not going to be on this team anymore. Do you want to leave? Because I thought that was kind of the elephant in the room when Derek got shunned away or decided to leave. however that ended up playing out. I still don't have, you know, the story, like Derek, you got to better come out and tell your side of the story here, buddy. Like, if you just tapped out and left,

I'm sorry, I don't look at you quite the same. Like, that's not a good look. I just, I can't get behind that. If the Raiders sent you away, I've already said my piece on that. That's an embarrassment. But Devante, who I think a lot of people thought was, you know, basically going to be FU, I went out,

double down saying, not only do I not want out, I wanted to be a Raider, regardless of Derek. This is the team I grew up rooting for. I wanted to move here. No, he didn't say this, but I'll say it. No state income tax.

This enormous contract I signed. I kind of like it. Vegas, I like living here. We're all good. I don't want to go anywhere. I thought that was an interesting comment. And then the other thing he said, which I went, oh, here we go. Not on Devante's end, but on the Patriot guy's end is he said, well, one thing moving forward,

I would like to be basically kept in the loop of a. quarterback situation this offseason. And I went, oh, Josh McDaniels, can you imagine the Patriot family? Because they've all learned from Bill and no one spent more time around Bill beside his children. And you could argue not even his children because they were doing other stuff, the first half of Bill's run. So Josh would be that guy.

Bill notoriously doesn't listen to anybody. He doesn't even listen to his own scouts or coaches, let alone the players' ideas. So I went, I read flagged the situation because Josh McDaniels, he was tested this year and it backfired. He failed. He blew lead after lead after lead. He can blame Derek all he wants. Derek has a history of, you know, fourth quarter comebacks. He proved last year with a shitty team, he'd get 10 wins.

So this season on Josh. Derek didn't play well, but it's on Josh to make Derek play well because Rich and Gruden and Del Rio, like other coaches have gotten Carr to play at a more than functional. level at like a top 12 level. I have a guy that you felt pretty good paying 30, $35 million a year. But when Devante says, and I don't blame him, because DeVante said, listen, I'm here. Obviously, my career and the success of everything matters to me. You know, Devante Adams a Hall of Famer. We saw this year, to me, really proved it because the Raiders were a shit show.

And DeVante season's going to end with, let's see, even if he doesn't play this week, which I would imagine he does, 95 catches, almost 1500 yards, and double. did the touchdowns. Devante Adams had two touchdowns against the number one defense in the league last week. So I get Devante going. Listen, I'm an elite player. I'm a high character guy. I'm a good person. I'm not causing any riffs. Even though you benched my guy, I get it. Hell, I probably even saw it. But I need to be kept in the loop. And the history of Patriot guys is they don't keep anybody in the loop. Like, their whole kind of deal is cloak and dagger, right? Under the, like, Bill Belichick's notoriously all of his trades, he tells the other general manager if this leaked trade is off.

I remember when Steve Kime traded for Chandler Jones and no one knew it. It came out of left field and he's like, you know, couldn't tell anybody. Bill told us if you want him, better keep quiet. That's part of Bill's deal. And part of the reason we crush all the Patriot guys is because they just copy, basically cut and pace, try to act like Bill Belichick. Well, Bill Belichick would not listen to DeMonte Adams what he wanted a quarterback. he would just do whatever he wanted to do.

Now, what is ultimately Devante's leverage? He's under a big contract. They're not going to like trade him. You wouldn't think. He wouldn't eat the money that they already gave him bonus money. I guess the bonus money wasn't huge, but they're definitely not cutting them. Like he's on the team next year if they want him on the team.

So Josh McDaniels does not have to keep him in the loop. And based on his history, that ain't Josh's deal. Now, maybe he's a new guy. Because that's all we heard for a decade in New England. Change guy, looked in the mirror, introspection, keeps a journal new human. I love it when coaches utterly fail and become an embarrassment. And then like years later, they resurrect their career as an assistant. Like, listen, guys, completely different. I know it's 33 years old. I'm now 43.

All of my core values, my morals, the way I look at life is changed. Now listen, everyone in theory should get better and improve in life. I think that's easy to say. And I'm guilty of it. You're probably all guilty. there are things that we never shake. And I'd be very, very interested in if like Josh is just, hey, hey, DeVante, here's our top five list. We're negotiating with these two guys. If this doesn't work, we'll trade for that guy.

I doubt that happens. So that's something to keep an eye on because that's got getting weird written all over it. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal, but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds.

I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care which I'll say. Yep, that's me. Cliver Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to

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Hope, N.Y, or text, Hope, NY, 467, 369, New York, Tennessee, 800, 888, 9789, Tennessee, 1, 800, 522, 4,700, Wyoming, visit www.w.w.1800 gambler.net, West Virginia. This made me laugh. I saw people in the internet, smart people. Warren Sharp, smart guy, saw other people that covered the NFL. I never understand people that work in a business and don't understand the way the business works. Like, if you cover the NFL, if you talk about the NFL, like, I don't. understand fans just not understanding all the different variables. But if you are in this business and you do not understand the way the NFL businesses work, I don't get you. I always believe

that the media should be mandated. Whatever they learn in their Big J classes at their higher, you know, the schools they go to, Northwestern, Syracuse, Missouri, wherever they get their Big J degrees. They should be mandated to take a couple business classes. They're covering a business. they are covering a sport that is predicated on a salary cap, on building a group of people under that cap. Like, that's a huge element of the thing that they're covered. But most of them, I don't think they teach that. They teach you out of the right, you know, MLS format and spell words correctly. But that's neither here nor there.

But I saw a lot of people in the media saying that the Jags, who, you know, the winner get in come Saturday night, Jags Titans. And obviously the Titans played last Thursday night. So big advantage for them, they get those extra couple days. the Jags who play Sunday now come off a short week. So they're getting screwed. And the Green Bay Packers get the Sunday night game against the team, the Detroit Lions, that if Seattle were to beat the Rams,

the Lions don't even have anything to play for. And I thought, this is crazy. Both teams have something on the line. Depending on what happens on Sunday, the Lions might have nothing on the line. This is bullshit. This is not fair to the Jacks. Of course it's not fair to the Jacks.

You know what else hasn't been fair to the league? What the Jags have done for 20 years. The league is printed. money, had huge television ratings, and the Jags have been nowhere to be found. So the Green Bay Packers, this is ultimately a business that's predicated on television and the revenue that is created by that television. And there are five or six brands over the last handful of years, especially a couple decades, that have printed money for the league.

And right up near the top with the Cowboys would be the Green Bay Packers. They've had 30 plus years, started with Brett Farb when Fox signed that big deal, of printing money for the NFL. And unlike the Jags right now in the Titans, they happen to have one of the biggest stars, not just in the league, but in all of sports, who often and happens to be a polarizing individual. The best thing to be in the business of entertainment is to be loved or hated because it draws people in. If you're just indifferent, whatever. And that's ultimately what the Jags Titan game is.

It's an indifferent game unless you're a Jags or Titans fan. And based on simple numbers, those are two of the smaller fan bases in the league. And there's nothing wrong with that. I don't even blame the Jags for not having much fans. They've sucked forever. But there's a reason why they put the NFC East in primetime games a lot when all those teams are good, especially the Cowboys. Why?

Because they draw the highest ratings. Well, where do the league make the money from their television partners? Well, how do the television partners make it work to give the league all the money by ratings, where they sell advertisers? That's the business. So the reason the Green Bay Packers went to NBC, of course they did. NBC is the number one Sunday night football is the number one. one television show in America.

And if they had their choice, they would pick an enormous brand for Sunday night football. The Lions part of the game, even though they could win the game. And if Seattle were to lose, you know, and the Lions won, they would be in the playoffs. The NBC ultimately doesn't give a shit about them. There was one property that mattered out of the four teams, and it was the Green Bay Packers. Every single person that covers the NFL, if they were in that seat, would have immediately picked the Green Bay game to go on Sunday night and put the... the Jags and Titans, which we'll all watch on Saturday night.

But I can't, like, people do not understand. Like, why are they, why do they put the cowboys? Because the Cowboys, because they draw a lot of eyeballs. I mean, why does Ohio State? Because Ohio State is the biggest fan base in the country. But this reason the ESPN Forever Sunday Night Baseball is basically just the Yankees, as many times as they could. Because it works.

This is, it's pretty black and white. So, yeah, I just, the, the critic. It's actually not shocking because it's crazy how little the understanding of so many people that cover this sport understand the way the business of it works, which to me is mind boggling. Just go cover high school sports then. Sean McVeigh, I saw that he said that this season is, he called this year a professional professional failure. You've obviously had a terrible season, lost a ton of games, ton of injuries,

and for the first time in his life, he's lost. He's made the playoffs. Even the year, I guess he didn't make the playoffs when Jared Gop was his quarterback. They went 9 and 7. So he never had a losing record.

Most years, he's hosting playoff games. He's had nothing but success. Called this year a professional failure. And then I wrote that down. I put out the show this morning. And then later in the day, I saw a headline from the front office sports.

they kind of cover the media industry, said that television executives are interested in Sean McVey again. And I think it's pretty clear. Like Kirk Herb Street, if they could replace Kirk Herb Street at Amazon with Sean McVey, they would do it in a heartbeat. Like to me, Kirk Herbstreet has one and done written all over them. I like Herbie. Fantastic on college. Terrible in the NFL. It does not work.

You don't need to be some media critic. Turn on Amazon. Al and him have zero chemistry. It's not an easy watch. It just isn't. He doesn't know what's going on. In fairness, how would he? He's dedicated his life to college football, and he's damn good at it.

Just like if you put Troy Aikman doing college games, it would be weird. And it wouldn't feel right. And I would imagine that Amazon, and who knows, maybe Sean McVeigh would be bad, more than likely I'd say it'd be pretty good, would take him in a heartbeat. Here's the thing. I've said over and over from my own experience because you read the quotes, like it's just like the inspirational quotes. But until it happens to yourself, you can't relate to it, right?

There is no better teacher than failing, right? You never fail. You just learn. And those all sound great until it happens to you. Right. Like, it's easy to be taught. I remember back, like, in college, learning about accounting and some of these finance classes, it never really resonated with me. I mean, I kind of got it and the importance. And then you get in the real world and you start a business, you got accounts payable, you're chasing money, you got to write this off, you got to amortize this. you know, you know, this tax break. It started all kind of clicking. You're like, well, if I had actually done this while it was in college,

I would have been a great student. This stuff bored me in college because I couldn't relate to it. Right. No different Sean McVeigh, you hear about like, you know, everyone eventually gets fired in the coaching profession. Everyone, you're just, you know, you're hired to be fired. Well, until you're actually fired or until you actually struggle, how do you relate?

Sean McVeigh got hired once upon a time by the football team, commanders, they were the Redskins at the time. And then when the Shanahan the entire family got blown out. He survived. Stay with Gruden. And then he got elevated. And then from there, he became the Rams head coach.

And he kills the Rams. And within five years, he's Super Bowl champion. And I'm giving him credit for doing that. But how could he relate to failure? All he's done in his professional life is succeed. This is the first time. And he's like, check out his girlfriend or now wife on Instagram. The guy's living high on the hog.

Life's pretty good for Sean. Now, he's earned it. He's created that. But like, this is the first time he's ever failed. in the history of coaching, every coach fails. Andy Reed had a losing season. Belichick had a losing season. Tomlin, maybe he never does.

I don't know. He just avoids it. But like, welcome to football. This is the reality. Sean Payton's lost. Pete Carroll's lost. Pete Carroll's been fired. It's human nature.

It's the reality of the business. But to me, as someone that's been fired and someone who's had to start at zero multiple times, it does make you reevaluate some of your priorities. Because when you're winning, like last year, clearly Amazon, and I think it was specifically Amazon, really tempted him. Hey, we'll give you $20 million. You will, you'll, I can't even speak. You will work with Al Michaels and you'll be a fucking star.

You'll be the next John, John Madden, you can do this rest of your life. You'd be super rich. Live in L.A. Do whatever you want. Live wherever you want. Al will help kind of elevate you and then you'll transition with the next play-by-play guy in years. And we will build our, you know, network around you. And that's kind of what Amazon's doing.

they're going to start adding a bunch of live sports. And he turned it down. And I don't blame him. You just won the Super Bowl. All the guys came back. To me, if he's going to leave, like, he would do some thinking about it now. And his love and drive for doing what he does would really be tested.

Because that's what happens whenever you lose. But here's what I know. Sean McVeigh is a damn good football coach. I actually am as impressed with him this season as I have been when he's been winning big and winning playoff games. Have you turned on the Rams this last month? I don't care how deep you are in the football knowledge. There are going to be guys that are playing for his team that you have never heard of.

He took Baker Mayfield, who was God-awful the last couple of years and has won football games. And there have been moments in the games where they've had success with Baker-Mayfield where he's easily looked the best he's looked since 2020 and the Cleveland Browns. The other night, or on Christmas Day, when he beat the Lippoor, been shit out of Denver and I get Denver is bad. I think that's one of the most impressive games he's coached in a long time. They showed up on Christmas in front of everybody and came to win. Like they are playing their ass off. And I think a lot of people,

and I'll talk to Stucky a little bit later, I think the smart money is going to be on the Rams this weekend because his shit works. He resonates with the players. Obviously he's good with the scheme. Sometimes you have a year where everyone gets injured and there's nothing you can do. He has a special skill. Now, he also, he's a big personality. He would be great Colin football games. I think he would be a star. But there are only so many guys in the history of this country who can coach football, college, pro, high school, who are at the top of the top. And I believe he's one of them. So I hope he doesn't

leave because there would be no replacing that. Like he's, he's young, he's a star. Like John Madden could have done it clearly for a long time and would have been. been one of the best coaches, you know, in the league. So I did not to. And listen, it all worked out for him, built a huge brand, built a huge, you know, legacy, you know, real estate in the Bay Area to the video games. Like, obviously his life shot up like a rocket ship.

But I still believe that, you know, the NFL is better off with Sean McVeak coaching in it than it would be with him working on television. You can say the same thing about Tomlin. Like Tomlin, go to TV tomorrow, go to Amazon. with Al or do one of the networks on Sunday and be a star. But the NFL is better with Mike Tomlin

as a coach. So I hope that he's not tempted. Money Talks, shit walks. If at all, his love and drive has been diminished, he'll know it now. Because you really think about that stuff when you're losing.

It's easy to kind of push it to the side when you're winning. Back at it. Final regular season, weekend of the year with my main man stuck. You can find them on the Action Network, Action Network podcast. Big bets on campus.

Dude is dialed, locked in. College basketball season. We'll transition for those of you that are big college football people. That obviously ends this Monday. And then college basketball, which is sometimes I look on the television and see a lot of college basketball games. I'm a little out of the loop. Though I did fly on a

from Phoenix back to Oakland with the St. Mary's basketball team after they a big win. Randy Bennett. Don't sleep on the, don't sleep on the gales. One of the best coaches in the country, by far. Absolute stud, also a fellow bald brother. What is going on, man? How are you doing? What's up, brother? Happy New Year. And, yeah, Randy Bennett, as a, I'm a college basketball nut, been the first sport I ever started betting like 20 years ago when I was in high school. Randy Bennett is in the top three of coaches in college basketball, if not the best right now.

as far as game planning, in-game adjustments. He is just an absolute monster. I love him. And yeah, but we have one more college football game and lots and lots of NFL left. So all the football's not done quite yet. My take when we got on the plane, and I mean, I've watched them play, so I got an idea what their players look like. But when you stand next to them, it's like, damn, these guys beat Gonzaga last year.

They do not have the best looking team getting off the bus. I'll tell you that. Yeah, I mean, he coaches them up and, you know, they have a certain style. And he'll always find like an Aussie, an Aussie or two. They love, they love Ozzy. Yeah, they have a pipeline, international pipeline out on the Pacific Coast where they definitely capitalize. But yeah, they're always a really dangerous team. And they have this kid, Ada Mahaney, who's going to be a study, he's a freshman.

and keep an eye out for him if you're into college basketball. A really good player to watch. Local guy, I think. Callie Kalli Ket Lafayette. Okay, let's obviously, by the time, if you're listening to this, maybe there is some clarity on the seating stuff with the AFC. I guess we're mainly sticking to the NFC here. I'll start with games that interest me the most, from least to most.

And that's the NFC South is just, I, I, struggle watching Tampa. I know he had some moments. I like Mike Evans, but overall, they have been a bore to watch. It's been miserable to watch Tom. You have a play. Like, I couldn't bet them. And I would imagine, you know, Dallas versus them, assuming, you know, the Eagles don't lose, the Cowboys win, and that flips. But even if it was the Eagles, I guess, unless Gardner Minchu was starting, I would imagine most people are going to bet against Tampa in that playoff game, despite them hosting the game. And I guess with Dallas, more than likely,

they're going to be the underdog in the game. But this week I saw Kyle Trask is going to be up. I would imagine he's going to get some PT, probably hence why you like to play that you do. Well, yeah, I like the Bucks first half. And if you look, the Falcons are minus four for this game because the Bucs have nothing to play for. They are locked into their seed,

and they, in all likely, it will play the Kemp. Cowboys. Cowboys are favored by like a field goal in that game. We'll see if the Bucks get some offensive lineback like Ryan Jensen could come back. You got the health of Worf's and Smith their tackles. It's obviously important for Brady, especially at this point in his career. But if this game, if both teams were playing that full strength in this game, the Bucks would be five, six point favorite. But obviously they're not. They have nothing to play for. Your guys who are dealing with nagging injuries are not going to play. And eventually, you're going to get to backups. However, I mean, first of all, this falcons team stinks. Desmond Ritter stinks.

They barely beat at home last week all of the Cardinals backups. You know, Hopkins did play. They played David Blow at quarterback. They were missing their top three corners. And the Falcons won in the last second field go by one. But so, you know, the, why I like the first half, though, you can get plus two and a half on the buck's first half now. And I expect Brady to play the entire first half. Bowls came out and said, we're going to play all our starters. Brady said he's playing. And if you look back historically, Brady always plays. Now, I don't know if this is uncertainty. A lot of week 18, it's weird. There's some guesswork, some intuition, and it's definitely some game theory and how other games impact others. But if you look back historically, Brady has

always played the entire first half when he was in New England when in the final week of the regular season when they had everything locked up. So when they had nothing to play for, even with the injury risk, He always played the entire first half. So I expect him to do the same here. He's come out and set it. And so you're getting Brady plus two and a half against the Falcons for the first half. Last week, that was the line for David Blow and the Cardinals backups. So I don't think that the markets, I don't want any part of the bucks for the game

because I assume you're going to get like Kyle Trask and all their backups in the second half. But I think they want to work on some things. And the Falcons are terrible. Ritter has looked really bad. So I'll gladly take plus two and a half here because my assumption is Brady's going to play for most of, if not the entire first half. And if that's the case, you know, with our other starters,

this is a really good bet. Yeah, I think Ritter stinks. But I didn't like him as a prospect coming into the draft. Okay, let's get to speaking about prospects. I was thinking, you know, you go back-to-back years or back-to-back, you know, quarterbacks, Sam Howell, mid-round pick. A lot of people, he's very intriguing to a lot of NFL people.

people that watch college football. He's talented. And obviously, Drake May is going to be a top two or three pick, you know, after the end of next year. That's a pretty good little run for North Carolina. He's getting the start. I think it was reported early that, like, they were going to split between him and Heineke and then they just named him the starter, which is cool.

If I'm a Washington fan, this be the bright spot after the last couple weeks of wents derailing your season. Cowboys, weird spot right, have something to play for, but very unlikely, assuming the Giants, which we'll get into that game here in a second. You know, I don't know. I mean, we've seen, and you've been saying this for a while, weird things happen. You know, I'm not necessarily talking about this game, but just overall in the league. Week 18, you just always have to be prepared.

We've seen crazy scenarios. Teams get into the playoffs. Teams lose divisions. Shit, I was at a game last year. Week 18, that 9 or Rams game, you know, it was just bat-shick crazy. Crazy comeback. Yeah, so you just, you never know. I have to be inclined that Dallas is going to try, given that just the potential.

Now, you never know at halftime. You see the scores. But Sam Howell getting his first star, I would probably take Dallas in this game, especially when you factor in that Washington, while the coach didn't know, now that it's well established, that they're not going to the playoffs. So they might be going a little one, two, three, cancun in that locker room. Yeah, I took Washington plus seven and a half. We could talk about the Giants game a little more, but it's based on that.

So a lot of times this is a correlated bet. They both could go, it could go really well or really wrong. But the Giants have nothing to play for it. They're locked in to their seed. They're more than likely going to go to the Vikings. I think they're going to sit their starters. They might play like a series or two, but they're already dealing with a ton of injuries. And they're playing a Philly team that is highly incentivized to win.

Hertz is going to come back. They already beat the Giants by 30 in New York when both teams are trying. Bad match up for that Giants run. defense. So I think Philly's going to end up like, Dable first came out and said, we're playing everyone. Then, day or two, he said, we'll see what's best for the team. I think he's sending that, I don't see why you would play anyone here. And I bet they spent the whole week preparing. He's a smart coach, preparing for the Vikings. And why

would you want to show anything to the Eagles? Because if you beat the Vikings, which they could do, you're going to play the Eagles, presumably. So I think the Eagles jump out here, the Giants, they don't have a lot of depth because of all their injuries. And then it's just a party in Philly blows it open. And because of that, Dallas then will have nothing to play for if Phillies up big. I think Dallas was also doing a lot of injuries. Their passing offense hasn't been great later. Their secondaries dealing with some injuries.

They're going to have a reshuffled offensive line. You know, a guy starting at center for the first time in his career this week. So I think that they're eventually going to pull everyone. And, you know, Washington's run-Dy is still really good. And that's, if you can stop that against Dallas right now, I mean, Dallas struggled against Josh Dobbs and a Titans defense that had one starter. play. They basically benched everyone and Derek Henry. And they still couldn't pull away. They're not playing great right now. Short week on the road. I'm not trying to stick up for Dallas.

And look, they know pretty much they're going to play the Bucks. So what do you think that they were doing this week? Not preparing for Sam Howe. We can move a little bit. And I don't think it's that big of a downgrade from Carson Wentz who just loves turning the ball over to Hal. And this line is gone from like three up to seven and a half. And, you know, so I think. I think. I think Washington will care here. They're playing their division rival. And I don't think Dallas spent any time preparing for this game. They're preparing for the bucks next week.

And yeah, so I think Washington keeps this within a touchdown. I think an Eagles result. I expect the Eagles of blood. I bet the Eagles as well. That will only help here because Dallas is going to say, hey, let's not get injured here. Let's pull everybody. Okay, yeah, let's just dive into that game.

My original thought last week was the Giants are playing with House money. They're not going to go far. You might as well try to derail the Eagle season, have some momentum going into that, playing the Vikings team. And I talk to a buddy in the league. He's like, you know, I hear what you're saying, but that's dumb because, one, they could beat the Vikings. And two, weird shit happens in the playoffs. What if your second round, you win that game and your second round opponent is, you know, pick a team and they lose their quarterback, right?

Or they have two major injury. Like, things change quickly. So, like, okay, I understand it. And like you said, dayball quickly pivoted once he's talked the second time this week. Now, one thing I think people underestimate, there's a difference between resting a guy, like he just completely doesn't dress, and then like what Tom Brady does. This isn't college football. You don't have 90 guys in pads, right?

So it's really just a couple. Like if the Niners rest guys, it's Trent Williams, Nick Bosa. It's not like 17 players. So the Eagles clearly got to win this game. I mean, they got injuries galore. They're fucking leaking oil. But I do wonder, like, if you just tell me none of these guys are dressed, which is very, very possible, you're right. The Eagles should kill them.

But I do wonder if they go half in, half out, or maybe they give them the first half reps, like, you know, a little Tom Brady style, where day ball learn from, Belichick. Maybe they try to do something like that. I saw Sekewan Barkley say, I'm ready to play. now he would be probably the guy even more than Daniel Jones that you can't risk him getting someone falling on him. But I just do wonder, you know, now if they rest, you know, how many players are the Giants really also have that like, you got to put it on ice besides Sequin.

You could argue him, K-Bahn, maybe an offensive alignment. But I wouldn't shock me if his game was a little weird early on. Yeah, I think that, I mean, I think the Giants, here's the thing, though, like you said, The Giants, if they beat the Vikings, which is, they should have. Are we 100% sure Jalen Hertz is playing? I know they haven't technically announced it. It all feels like that.

The line reflects it. I'm 99% sure he's going to play, but you can ever be 100% sure. But, you know, the Giants would be just because then you're going to play Philly and too. Why would you show anything? Don't show anything defensively. Don't show anything offensively beyond just risking injury. So I think they're just going to come out completely vanilla. they don't care about, you know, this game at all.

And, like, they're probably going to have to rest, you know, like Dexter Lawrence, Leonard Williams have been dealing with injuries. They're, you know, their best interior offensive linemen. They're secondary, uh, Adori Jackson, you know, Ojo Luray, who's been dealing with a nagging injury. So, like, their most important defensive players, especially against the run, which they couldn't stop. Miles Sanders ran for 200 yards up and they were running up and down the field,

which I think the Eagles would be able to do again, especially if the Giants are a bit, short-handed on that defensive line. And I just think they're not going to show anything. And I think Barclay eventually gets pulled. I think they'll get some reps early. But even if they played for a while, I think the Eagles could just from the home crowd and juiced up for this game, I think the Eagles could extend.

And then at that point, why are you trying to come back and risking injury? So even if they tried 100 percent, I think the Eagles still could extend. And at that point, the Giants will pull people. So, yeah, maybe it's interesting early. on, but I just think the Giants organization is too smart to risk injury and to show anything or care about this game because it just does nothing, it just does nothing for you because your chances of winning this game are already very low and you're already locked into an opponent. And I know, or I don't know, but you have to assume Dave was preparing for the Vikings this week.

Hey, we have two weeks to prepare for our opponent at the playoffs. Why are we going to waste our time with the Eagles this week? I hear you. Well, this NFC West game, which in theory should be interesting, I just think will be. Because Sean McVeigh, there's just a little rivalry over the years with the Rams in Seattle. You know, Sean McVey, I saw today, maybe said this on Wednesday that he called this season, that professional failure. He has a lot of pride.

His teams, unlike some of these gutless squads that have, just quit on their coach. You watch the Rams, they try. You know, and they are playing with fucking nobody. I mean, you could be a diehard football fan. You can watch their game and you've never heard of some of the players. And that performance on, on Christmas, the effort, obviously Baker is very incentivized. You know, all, you know, since he's showed up to the Rams, but all these reps, all these plays matter to him in his future career. I kind of like the Rams in an upset. I mean, I am fully prepared for the Rams to win this game outright. Yeah, I completely agree.

This is your classic Seattle needs to win. The Rams are dead. And for what it's worth, in week 18, teams that are eliminated, playing a team that needs to win are 62%. Sample size of 150 games since 1990. You have three of them this week. The Browns at the Steelers, Browns are eliminated playing the Steelers. The Jets at the Dolphins, although that one's a little weird because I don't know

who's playing quarterback for either team. So that one's a little different. And then the Rams at the Seahawks. It's the classic one where Seahawks need to win. at home against the Rams and the Rams will find a way to win. I certainly like them with the points. A funny thing that would happen, which is not going to, though, is if Stafford came off the IR and played to help his old Lions team

because the Lions are eliminated with the Seahawks win. But anyway, it'll be Baker Mayfield, as far as I know. That would be sweet. Yeah, and his most famous loss in Detroit was in the playoffs to Seattle. But I think Baker Mayfold is going to start here. And what is he, you know, and he's looked pretty good in McVeigh, system and what is he doing well? He's throwing to backs and he's thrown to tight ends. And by the way, Cam Acres has looked really good over the past couple weeks and you can run on this Seattle defense,

which is now missing Jordan Brooks. Seattle is dead last in the NFL and defending tight ends, dead last NFL defending backs. Their short yard passing defense is horrendous. The Rams can take advantage of that here. All the pressure. So one of the reasons why these teams that are eliminated have so much success because it doesn't make logical sense to, you know, recreational better. One, the line tends to be inflated because you have that just narrative. Oh, this team needs to win playing a team that's playing for nothing. So the line is usually inflated a little bit. But this is a chance for like this.

Now this becomes the Rams Super Bowl, team that won the Super Bowl last year, hey, let's knock off our division rival. They also can come in and play loose. Whereas the team that needs to win, a lot of times they're playing tight early. We're expected to win this game all the pressures on us. So the Rams can have a lot of fun with this And the Seattle defense has been trending downward for a while We don't even know if Lockett's going to play for Seattle

Yeah, this is this is all Rams One of my favorite pets the weekend I know you were saying before we hopped on A bet that you love in the national championship game And it made a lot of sense and shit I might have to dabble in your proposition Yeah Brock Bowers one of the best tight ends And so the Georgia runs a lot of two tight ends, I think the third most frequent.

Yeah, I think they're the third highest two tight end usage in the country. They have two of the best tight ends in Darno, Washington and Brock Bowers. TCU cannot defend tight ends. If you go and they're in the big 12, a lot of teams, Oklahoma State, West Virginia, they don't even use tight ends. They're built, their defense is built to stop the spread. And they have a really good defensive coordinator. They can also sell it against the run.

their safeties and linebackers are not good in coverage. If you go and look at every tight end they play, all except for one by two yards, exceeded their single game average against all other opponents. And most of the times it was by a wide margin. And they weren't facing elite tight ends like Georgia has. They just can't cover. They just don't have anyone with the size. And Ohio State actually did. It's one of the reasons I liked Ohio State last week. Ohio State has two safeties that they could put on both tight ends that are really good in coverage. TCU just doesn't have that. TCU strength on the outside of cornerback, which doesn't really help you as much against Georgia.

But I think Bauer's going to go nuts here. Also, Darnow, Washington, their other great tight end is he's hurt. I think he's going to play, but I don't think he'll get, it'll be more of a decoy blocking. I don't think he's going to get as many targets. So, yeah, the over, under receiving yards prop, I'll bet him like first touchdown,

some other things, maybe MVP, things like that. But over, you know, 60 and a half yards, which is basically what he averages. Anytime they played a good tight end, I mean, here's a thing. TCU last week played Michigan, who's tied in one catch for 32 yards, only played 10 snaps, got hurt, was out for the game.

Their backup then came in at 4 for 40. So it is a weak area, and you're playing arguably the best tight end room, maybe in the history of college football, but definitely the best of this year. Brock Bowers has been the best tight end. So, yeah, I think he easily eclipses his 60 yards.

Obviously, you know, he could get hurt. They could double him the entire game. But even so, I think he's going to get his, he can drag these defenders around. And I think Bauer's going to have a big day based on this particular matchup. And on a fast track, that's my favorite bet in the game. The third tight end is also like an NFL prospect. I had a buddy who was like in a, you know,

they were at the program scouting. And they were talking with the offensive coordinator, or a couple scouts, and one guy asked him, like, why don't you just go to three tight ends basically every plate? No one could hang with you. He's like, well, we would, but we don't want all of our wide receivers to transfer. That's true. You know, so there's like, there's a balancing game.

Obviously, it's no, it's no secret who our best players are, but you also need to keep wide receivers in the program, you know? Yeah. Yeah, Gilbert would start anywhere else. And they actually did get two huge transfers. Dominic love it, I believe, from Missouri. It was an awesome receiver. And then Rarott Thomas from Mississippi State transferred to or announced that they're

going to transfer to Georgia next year, which is an area of weakness for them this year. Their wide receiver room. Yeah. That's only going to help them next year. Do you give TCU any shot here? Yeah. I mean, they're going to have to, the Georgia defense is not as strong on the back end. And they don't get pressure.

Like they are, especially after losing Nolan Smith, who is their best edge rusher. I thought Jalen Carter was, he looked like out of shape or like he'd been screwing around for a month. He was not good for a guy

that's going to go, you know, a lot of people think best pure player in this draft skill-wise. Yeah, the, I mean, look, Georgia's tight ends are going to have a day.

They're going to be able to run it on TCU. And like, I think that TCU's strength of their corners. They have really good corner. They have like four really good corners in coverage. And, but that,

Georgia doesn't rely on their outside receivers. So that kind of strength is neutral as a little bit. But the Georgia secondary is vulnerable. We've seen that a couple times this year. And TCU has pros. I mean, Quentin Johnson is maybe the best receiver in the country. So they're going to have opportunity. He's a beast.

Duggan's legs. I mean, he's going to be running. He'll be running with reckless abandon. They're going to have to hit explosive plays. They'll have a chance to do that. They're going to have to win in a shootout, I think. So, yeah, I don't, I give them a chance, but I think the line is about right. Well, exciting weekend of football, and then obviously it gets, it gets really interesting for the next month, best time of the year.

So Stucky, enjoy the weekend, enjoy bedding, and I'm actually excited to watch Bowers. That's a good little MVP pick. I like that. Yep, yep. I'll have some money. I'll be in Vegas this weekend. and I will be putting some spreading some money down on Bowers. So yeah, big rock fan on Monday.

Where are you staying? Where are you staying? I always stay at Venetian. I actually might be staying at ARIA this weekend. And I'll be at, let's see, if anyone is listening and is around, I'll be at, I'll probably be at ARIA Saturday. I'll definitely be at Circa on Sunday. And then Westgate, I have a booth at Westgate for the national title.

So if anyone's listening in around, just shoot me a DM on on Twitter, I've strangers come through and just drink on me all the time. Stucky's living well. Thank you. I'm, I'm jealous. Have a good time. Yeah,

thanks, brother. Good luck. Happy New Year and enjoy the games. The volume. Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest,

SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal, but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's, Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth.

Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an I-Hart podcast. Guaranteed Human.