The Herd with Colin Cowherd - 3 and Out - MNF Recap; AFC North Picture; Eagles/Chiefs Handle Adversity; Gruden Good and Bad; London Jags; Week 9 Thoughts

Episode Date: November 5, 2019

In this episode, Middlekauff looks at the Cowboys Monday Night Football over the Giants, where the Cowboys fit into the NFC picture, his take on the AFC North, the Browns dumpster fire, the Ravens on the fly reboot with Lamar Jackson, why he's impressed with the Chiefs an Eagles handling adversity. He also gives his Week 9 takeaways and answers listener questions in Middlekauff's Mailbag. Follow John on twitter @JohnMiddlekauff and go to theherdnow.com to find the latest content. Subscribe now! Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo, and every episode, we're cutting through the noise,

breaking down the biggest moments in sports and giving you the real story behind the headlines. And we're going straight to the source, the athletes themselves, their locker room stories, their reactions in the moment, and the stuff nobody gets to hear. Listen to Sports Slice on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Sliced Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok.

Another podcast from some SNL late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smigel 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. What's up, guys? This is Clivert Taylor the Fourth. And on my podcast, The Cliverts show, I'm bringing you conversations about all kinds of stuff. Like being an internet famous referee. We're in the middle of a game. This linebacker, this linebacker walks up to me. He goes, hey, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her.

What? Time out. Quarterback on office blue with 42. Hey, Rhett, my mama want you to weigh better. What? Hey, Miss Parker. Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

American soccer is about to explode. The World Cup is coming. Ramos sending on to Ernie Stewart the chip. Score! I'm Tab Ramos. I'm Tom Boak. On our podcast, Inside American Soccer, you'll get the real storylines, the biggest decisions, and the truth about the U.S. national team. It wouldn't be a huge surprise if our team ends up in the quarterfinals or potentially a great run into the semifinals.

Listen, Inside American Soccer with Tom Bogart and Tab Ramos on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, wherever you get your podcast. Teathing can be a real nightmare for your little ones. Highlands Natural's baby oral pain relief tablets can help ease the pain. Actual active ingredients like chamomile and arnica, soothe your baby's mouth and gums, made with ingredients derived from plant, minerals, and other sources, free of harsh chemicals. You can count on Highlands for serious pain relief for your teething baby. Highlands is a kinder way to care for teething. Visit highlands.com slash kind.

That's H-Y-L-A-N-D-S-com slash kind. Claims based on traditional homeopathic practice, not accepted medical evidence, not FDA evaluated. This clip is brought to you by State Farm. At State Farm, they know what it takes to ensure your home and ride with surprisingly great rates. That's why it's a good idea to consider State Farm, because with State Farm, you don't have to give up what you love for great insurance. For surprisingly great rates, like a good vicino, State Farm is there. I had a friend get me a magnet that says, it's not hoarding if it's cool stuff. And I hold that to be true. Yeah, Marie Kondo says differently.

Everything brings me joy, so sorry, but. Yeah, but that's what everyone says. Everyone says everything brings them joy. That's her whole thing. Okay, yeah, but when I stare at that limited edition box of cheese, it's in the corner of my room, that brings me joy. Or the, or the Pokemon Oreos that I keep, that brings me joy. That reminds me of my youth. It wasn't that long ago. Listen to the MyCultura Podcast Network, available on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts. This episode is brought to you by Royal Caribbean, an award-winning global cruise line.

A vacation is what you make it. So are you ready to make the most of it? A Royal Caribbean adventure is the perfect opportunity to not just take a vacation, but to take it for all its worth. We know you're eager to get back out there, and with Royal Caribbean, you can own that moment and rise to the vacation. This is not just a cruise. This is the biggest, boldest vacation on land or at sea. With over 270-plus destinations from the Caribbean, Alaska to Europe, and the biggest ships in the world to take you there, each one of our Our cruises is packed full of onboard features. You won't find anywhere else. A Royal Adventure is taking your vacation to the fullest. Come seek the Royal Caribbean. Visit Royal Caribbean.com to learn more. What is going on, everybody, John Middlecough, three-and-out podcast, back at it again.

Just finished watching the Monday night football game. Let's be honest, the game kind of sucked. not much. As my guy, Vic Tafer, who covers the Raiders, follow him on Twitter, he's a good follow. He just tweeted, and I think he's dead on. I think it's official we can proclaim Danny Dimes. That nickname's dead.

You know, at one point in time, how does the guy have so many fumbles? I think he has seven fumbles. He's been playing for like six games. How is that even possible? He's a turnover machine. Errogant Gettleman. He's coming back to Earth a little bit.

At least Sakewant's fun. and that's about all I got on the Giants. We'll dive into the Cowboys here in a second. The AFC North, I got some thoughts just on the Steelers. Obviously, the Ravens got a big win on Sunday night, and the debacle that the Browns are. The Eagles and the Chiefs find ways to win, even when a bunch of weird stuff's happening.

The Jets, on the other hand, are just basically full of chaos. Got to give John Gruden some credit. I'm there during the hard times and the bad times. I've got to come in when the good times come, and we'll kind of go with the good and the bad with Gruden. This team's 4 and 4. And they might have played the most entertaining game on Sunday against the Lions. Stafford's having a good season too.

The Raiders' defense isn't very good, but Derek Carr is having one of the best seasons of his career. And should the Jaguars just move to London? Because that's what I would do, and I'll tell you why. And then just some different things I wrote down during the day on Sunday. I guess when you watch football from 6.30 a.m. to about 8.30 p.m. you just have a notebook and a phone fill of notes, and I got some takes. I appreciate, I got a lot of positive feedback on the Carson Palmer interview.

If you haven't listened to that, it's kind of an evergreen interview. Did it on Friday. Seems like a lot of you liked it. Listen, I mean, it was cool. It was awesome for him just to come on. He couldn't be any cooler. He's the man. I mean, there's no way around it.

I don't know him that well, and he couldn't have been any more candid about his career, the position. It's a pretty cool in-depth interview for a guy that played 15 years in the league, multiple-time pro-baller, you know, number one overall pick. There was so much stuff I wanted to ask him, but we just, his answers were so good I didn't even have time. We really didn't even talk about being the number one overall pick and what's that feeling like.

I mean, we got guys like Burrow and Herbert and Tua that are clearly going to be pretty high picks, you know, the pressure of playing in college. Maybe I'll have to try to get them on, you know, again, later in, maybe during draft or playoffs or something. I'll have to figure out of time because he was pretty cool. But the Monday night game, and then obviously the Middilkoff mailbag at John Middlecoff ended every podcast by answering you guys' questions. Slide up into my DMs, my Instagram, same as my Twitter handle, but my Instagram DMs

are open. Slide up in them, and we interact that way and I answer your questions. I guess my big takeaway from the Cowboys, talent-wise, top to bottom, they are really talented. Like they have a top five or six roster in the league. There was a moment tonight where Sean Lee is just blasting folks because Van Dresh is injured. If Sean Lee is a backup linebacker for you, you're in a good spot. Amari Cooper, you know what's crazy about, speak of the Raiders?

Amari Cooper is having a much better season than Khalil Mack. Amari Cooper's on pace for like 85 catches, 1,200 yards, 10 touchdowns. He's dominating. Since he's been on the Cowboy 16 games, I think someone, I saw someone tweet out his numbers in his 16 games. It was like 16 catches, nine touchdowns, and 1,300 yards. He's been a dominant, dominant cowboy. Zeke is just the ultimate blue-collar workhorse. We're just going to pound your ass with running back.

And they're off, I mean, Jason Witton's terrible, but yet he still functions. Blake Jarwin's an undrash-free. That guy's good. Randall Cobb, obviously defensively, Demarchus Lawrence is a beast. They got dudes. But I just think big picture, like, this is kind of their window. because there was a stat they had on Monday night football and I was listening to podcast but then I was like I kind of feel bad

and you just feel you're more into the game so I'm like okay I'm just going to attempt to listen to these guys Bougar in fairness was pretty funny when the cat came on the field so was Tess I give them credit on that one they did a good job there that was a pretty funny moment when the black cat was running around

was like is that Adam Gase's cat but they have 30% of their salary cap right now invested in their offensive line and they have those guys, Tyrone Smith is a Hall of Famer, Collins, the right tackle, the kid from LSU that fell to them, is highly paid, he's a really good player, Martin's a really good player, I mean, they got really good offensive line. But when you give, and listen, I like Dak.

I've always been a fan of Dak Prescott. I like him actually more than Jared Goff, and you know what I feel about Jared Goff's contract. I'm just not giving that guy $110 million. I can stomach doing it to Carson Wentz, because I look at Carson Wentz more like an NBA player. He can just carry my franchise. Jared Goff cannot carry my franchise.

Dak can have subtle moments, but for the most part, he is dependent on a lot of help. And the moment I give him a lot of money, I do have to start cutting other players, whether that's an offensive lineman, whether that's a sweet defensive lineman, whether that's a DB. You can't feed everybody.

And they've already fed a lot of people. What are we going to do with Amari Cooper? Like I said, Amari Cooper hasn't been paid yet. Now, Amari Cooper's number won't sniff Dax because he'll probably get 50 to 60 guaranteed. But then between Amari and Zique, that's like $100 million. Majority of teams that have a highly priced quarterback don't have a running back and a wide receiver that account for that much money, let alone a sweet offensive line. That's just a lot of money invested. I maybe would try to franchise Dack.

I really think they're in a tough predicament here because this notion that it's just going to be easy, Obviously, Dak thinks that if they make the playoffs again, he's made the playoffs three times in four years. His stats are going to look good. They're going to have a playoff home game if they win the NFC East. It's just like, how are we going to get this thing done? I actually think Jerry Talks is a big game, and he's a deal closer.

He's one of the great American businessman. This is kind of a bizarre situation, because you're going to be in a position where you don't have two franchise tags, so you can't franchise them both if you just feel like you have to franchise DAC, but you're just going to let Amari go? What do you think Amari would get on the open market? He'd be the best free agent to hit the market in years. Most times free agents, like all the big contracts that are signed,

like Khalil Mack, the Aeronalds, the Julio Jones, the Michael Tom, those guys never get close to free agency. Imagine if they actually did. Amari would get paid 140% of what he's worth. But you're telling me, Dax is going to take some decent deal by December. it doesn't feel like he's already in this far. You might as well ride it out. Are the cowboys going down the slippery slope of they're going to lose a guy?

Because right now, you know, you would say Jason Garrett's not going to out coach Shanahan. He's not going to out coach Sean Payton. He's probably not going to out coach Zimmer. Matt LaFleur, I don't really know what he's proven, but you're still playing Aaron Rogers. You would like your chances with Aaron Rogers. So what if they lose in the first round? and neither of those guys are signed. What do they do?

It kind of hit me tonight. Part of what makes the Cowboys the team that I actually picked to win the NFC before we actually saw games, and then we were three games in. I'm like, damn, they're 3-0, Kellen Moore. And even the night you realize, DeMarcus Lawrence, Van Derresh, Kellynne Moore, like they do have a pretty strong Boise contingent. Their play collar and their two best defensive players. Jaylon Smith's pretty damn good, too.

but they are probably more predicated than these other teams. Like you saw what happened with the Saints. Breeze went out. They did not skip a beat. They won every game with Teddy Bridgewater. They did not. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind.

Highlights are trending. Opinions are flying. And nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo. Every episode we're cutting through the noise. breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines. We go straight to the source, the athlete themselves, their locker room stories, their reactions,

the stuff nobody gets to hear. The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real. From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, we break it down, give you context, and ask the questions everybody wants answered. Sports slice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to SportsSlic on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Sliced Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kear Games.

And in recognition of mental health awareness month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking, Tripp Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so rapid. up in the chase, that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing. And we're still chasing it. And we don't know when we've done enough. Because people scoreboard watch. Life becomes about wins and losses. Steve Burns, Dustin Ross, because you find it important to be a good person while you hear on earth. Are you a good person because you're afraid? Because that's two different intentions, bro. Absolutely. And that's two different levels of trust.

I want you to just really be a good person. Join me, Kear Gaines, is we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, Learn the Hardway. Open your free iHeartRadio app. Search Learn the Hardway and listen now. What's up, guys? This is Clever Taylor the 4th. And on my podcast, The Cliverts Show, I'm bringing you conversations about all kinds of stuff. Like being an internet famous referee.

We're in the middle of a game. This linebacker, this linebacker walks up to me. He goes, hey, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her. What? Time out. Quarterback on office blue with 42. Hey, Wreck, my mama want you to weigh better. What?

Hey, Miss Parker. Listen to the Clippers show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano, and our podcast, Point Game is about defying the odds. Like LeBron heading into the playoffs without Luca and Austin Reed. And finding ways to win no matter what.

He's the smartest player to ever play the game. His IQ is at a level that we've never seen before. And he knows without Luca and Austin Reeves, I got to manipulate the game. We get a player's perspective on the challenges of the playoffs. I think Joker's going to be exhausted this series because when they don't have Rudy in the lineup, he has to really guard guys like Nas Reid.

He has to guard Julius Randall. And then he has to give us everything he gives us on the night-to-night basis on offense. And when IT's friends stop by like Quentin Richardson, we dive into some playoff history too Steve Nash will get that thing that man hell get the flying he running up the court licking his fingers

why he got the ball like you go through a training camp with that Isaiah you figure it out real quick get your ass up and down the court and you're gonna get the ball so listen to Point Game on the IHeart Radio app Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts skip a beat

so the way they've built their team is just pretty thoroughly and then they also have Drew Brees, but it's taken them years to kind of fine-tune that thing. The Cowboys have kind of work to fine-tune it, and they're finally here, but now they're in the situation because he was a fourth-round draft pick that his contract's about to come to an end. And because of the timing of when they traded for Amari, his contract's also time to come to an end.

Well, back to what I said, you do not get two franchise tags, so I really think this kind of this home stretch, this Dallas Cowboy team is definitely the last time we're going to feel it this deep. And we know that Jason Garrett, if he does, win a playoff game or whatever, and Jerry resigns him, is not the guy to take a team with less talent and make them better. You could argue he's capped right now. They're winning 10, 11 games these last couple years. But it's because their team so damn good, not because they're out-thinking people and

out-scheming people. Hell, weren't they three-and-five last year when they traded for Amari? And he just kind of resurrected DAC? It wasn't really scheming. They just throw the ball to 19. I hate that number 19. I mean, can you, Amarie, can you just wear a normal wide receiver number? So I guess if I'm taking inventory right now on the NFC,

I would have the Saints one, I would have the Niners 1A. I mean, they are just, I'm giving the Saints the benefit of the doubt, Super Bowl winning coach, Super Bowl winning quarterback, they've been there, the Niners and them are going to play. So if the Niners beat them, I'll gladly change the hierarchy. But those two to me are clear in the top tier. Then I got Dallas, Minnesota and the Cowboys kind of in a group.

Like if you get them on a good day, they look good. If you get them on a bad day, they can get their ass kicked. They're just a little more hit or miss. And then you got Seattle and L.A. kind of floating around. I think Seattle's pretty flawed, but they're going to win a ton of games and they're tough to beat at home. I think the Rams are a little top heavy, but their schedule gets a little easier now. They added Jalen Ramsey.

I know, I know Jerry thinks he's going to win the Super Bowl this year. and it's make or break for Jason Garrett, but the more you think about it and the more you talk it out, my NFC championship crowned I was going to put on the Dallas Cowboys and Jerry Jones seems a little crazy as I sit here in early November. Teathing can be a real nightmare for your little ones. So are you looking for the best relief to soothe teething pain? Well, Highlands, Natural's baby oral pain relief can help ease the pain.

It's gentle, natural active ingredients like chamomile and arnica. They'll soothe your baby's mouth and gums. No chemicals, no funny business. Highlands is a kinder way to care for teething. Get yours at highlands.com slash kind. That's H-Y-L-A-N-D-S dot com slash kind. Claims based on traditional homeopathic practice, not accepted medical evidence, not FDA evaluated.

I'm always upgrading my car. Not because I need to, because I want to. Today, it's custom rims from my ride. Tomorrow, it might be a new driver's side seat cushion. And eBayMoters.com always has what I need. They've got over 122 million car parts, all at the right price. That's perfect for me, because I'm a car guy. Are you still in the garage? It's two in the morning.

Almost done. Okay, I'm a car fanatic. eBay Motors, let's ride. Where do you find the perfect developer? Well, we found her at her home office in Prague. But you can find her, and thousands like her, right now, on Upward. When the world is your workforce, finding the perfect developer, designer, marketer, or whomever you may need, becomes a whole lot easier. Upwork, the world's work marketplace.

Okay, let's get into the AFC North. And I think this first half of the season, which is now, what are we headed into week nine or ten, it's hard to keep up with the buys. But all these teams have played eight games. one team six and two, one team's four and four, and one team is two and six. I'm not even counting the Bengals. As Carson Palmer, if you listened to that interview last week, kind of crushed them in their franchise,

and you know, Mike Brown is what he is. But the AFC North this year has been a muscle flex on culture, and the teams that have it, and the teams that have been the standard of that division, my entire adult life. And in fairness to the Bengals, once Carson left and Marvin Lewis came in, they hit on a bunch of picks, and they were a decent team.

But the one team that's always sucked is the Browns. And the culture of these two organizations at the top has really established why they are who they are this year. And I think starting with the Ravens, listen, I'm a Harbaugh family apologist. I love Jim, I love the dad Jack, and I love John. They are old school badasses. and as people that people don't, I think, forget now because he's been in Baltimore so long,

he was Andy Reed's special teams coach for a long time in Philadelphia. So I knew a lot of people when I got to the Eagles that had worked with John. And they always said, knew I was a Bay Area guy and Jim who was becoming this rock star. Jim was known as the nutty one. And John looks normal, you know, a little smaller, dresses normal. Everyone's like, God, he's got his shit together. Jim's the crazy one. And people are like, hey, you know, don't let John's looks fool you.

He's nuts. And I mean nuts in a good way. Good football coaches are crazy. And John's got it. And the Ravens, I'm going to tip my hat and eat a little crow on this. Lamar's a lot better than I thought. He is much less frenetic than typically a running quarterback is. A lot of times running quarterbacks have one read, then they freak,

and then they freak in the pocket, Lamar's very under control. Even Kaepernick, who was probably the best running quarterback of the last decade for his two-and-a-half-year little run in San Francisco, if his first read or second read really weren't there,

he would get really frenetic and it would lead to crazy sacks and it would kind of screw up the offense. And when I watch Lamar against the Patriots, again, it's so new and a lot of good teams have yet to play them just over the next four or five years.

We're going to learn a lot. But you can't help but see, this guy's pretty good. calm, cool, and collected. And I'm inclined not to like running quarterbacks. And my experience with Michael Vick, who was as physically as gifted as I've ever seen, up close and personal and just on TV or the All-22 or whatever,

his biggest issue was he couldn't stay healthy because he was so reckless with his body. And I see some of that in Lamar that he's going to have to clean up if he's going to want to maintain. But the one thing I'll say about Lamar Jackson, he clearly is a really high-level guy who works his ass off at his profession. and it was dramatically improved since he's been in the NFL.

So I root for, even if I don't like you out of college, I say it all the time, I'm rooting for you if you're a good guy, just like I root for Josh Allen. Now, they aren't my first pick in a draft of the guys I'd want, though Lamar's really growing on me. Because Greg Roman, who the Harbaugh brother swear by, can run an offense when you give him a running quarterback. And the Ravens are rolling. And that was an impressive win last night.

That place was rocking. It felt like a college. college game. So right now I look dumb on Lamar Jackson. He's a stud. He's clearly the best quarterback out of that draft two years ago. And it's not even close right now. He's in a different category than the rest of them. Now he benefited from going to a high level organization with a coach that has won a lot of games and successful people that just know what they're doing. The other organization in that division that just knows what they're doing, probably even more than the Ravens, is the Steelers. And remember when they traded a first round for Mick and Fitzpatrick?

I thought it was insane. Rothesberger had just got Tommy John surgery. I think they were 0 and 3 at the time, maybe 0 and 2 at the time. But then they lost the next game and they were 0 and 3. I thought it was reckless. And as time has gone by, I completely understand why they did that. Because they don't, the media loves when you tank. The media supports tanking.

They love Sashi Brown. I think a lot of media members that went to Northwesterns and the Missouri and the Syracuses, view themselves as the intellectual elites. They saw Sashi Brown, super smart guy, Ivy Leagueer or whatever, see a lot of themselves in them. He tanks and they go, wow, I could do that, admire it. But it didn't work. Like, what does Cleveland have to show for it? We'll get to that in a minute.

Tanking is the most overrated term, especially in football, that you can use. It does not work. Now, you could tank a couple games late, late in the season, but if you just have humans playing the game, they're going to try hard, you're not going to tank. And the Steelers, the thing I admire about them most as a business, their philosophy, they would never utter the words. I've only worked from one NFL team. If you brought up the word tank in the Eagles offices, whether it was around Hallie Roseman, Jeffrey Lurie,

whether it was around business people, you get kicked out of the office. That would be like, there's not a worse slur that could come out of your mouth than the word tank. In any high-level organization, those words, That word is embarrassing. It works for the really shitty organizations, and it does work in basketball. Or it can work. I don't know if the Warriors are going to attempt it this year. The lottery odds have dramatically changed.

We'll see. But historically, if there's a Jordan, Zion, LeBron, I get it. Football is not that way, especially in this draft where there clearly is no suck for luck, right? There is no some game changer. Because once upon a time, the Cleveland Browns, who attempted to tank, passed on guys like Deshawn Watson and ended up with their version of this short, chubby, angry guy that they got going right now.

But the difference yesterday in the Steelers game, and they beat the Colts at home, they're now four and four. In their lowest moment, it didn't get any shittier than the way this year it started. They got rid of Antonio Brown, Levion Bell, Rathusberger tears his elbow. You're like, God, this is going to be the year

that Tomlin finally doesn't break 500. They're going to win three or four years. games. Nope, four and four. They still got two games left against the Browns, a game against the Bengals, they play the Jets and the Bills. When all the dust settles, Steelers probably not going to make the playoffs, but I bet a grand right now, they go 8 and 8. I'm probably inclined to say they go 9 and 7. And if I was a Steeler fan, and I understand why the Steelers, probably beside the Cowboys and maybe the Packers, have the biggest fan base, quantity-wise, in the country when it comes to the NFL.

because they always win. That is the standard. That is the mindset. The Ravens have had the same mindset since Harbaugh got there. And really, before that, with Ozzie and Billick and Ray Lewis and Ed Reed. Like, those are the standards. We're just going to keep winning. And when we get a curveball thrown at us, like Rothesburg goes down, we ain't going to flinch.

And Fitzpatrick had a pick six yesterday in a game they ended up winning by two. If Hoyer, let's say, throws a touchdown on that pass, it's the difference in the game. Minka, I saw a stat. Since they've got him, he has 25 tackles, four picks, and a force fumble. He's been freaky unreal. There's no chance on God's Green Earth they're four and four without him. Like I said, his play won them the game yesterday, or was the difference in the game when you take a step back and look at a big picture.

So the culture of those two franchises are why they run circles around the Cleveland Browns, who this offseason when they needed a head coach relied on Freddie Kitchens. And yesterday after Shugate, for some reason, Odell Beckham and now his buddy Jarvis Landry, it's always something. Like you guys can't just wear normal cleats to a game. You have to wear the clown cleats. You guys are two and five. Maybe I understand if you're five and two or six and one making some statement and it's like, oh, they're just guys being guys, having some fun.

You guys are two and five. And if you listen last week, the reason I liked the Broncos, I didn't necessarily like them to win, but I like the points. In what world was Freddy Kitchens and Baker Mayfield just some lock to go into Mile High and beat Vic Fangio? Now, you can say what you want about Vic Fangio as a head coach, though I do think the Denver Broncos has been one of the better terrible teams I've ever seen. They're probably end up 5 and 11,

and they're going to be in every single game they play. And what happened? I look up to the television yesterday. It's 14 to 3. Of course it is. Vic Fangio is just a much higher level guy than Freddie Kitchens. And Baker Mayfield, who again, I was texting with people in the league, why does he look so fat right now?

Why does he look like me? Why does he look so terrible? Here's the other thing, Baker. You are not Lamar Jackson. Your comparison, and I use this comparison to you coming out of college, was Drew Brees. You know what Drew Breeze, who gave a, if you haven't seen it, Google his pregame speech to Purdue, he could make a living off giving football teams pregame speeches.

You know what Drew Breeze does not do? He does not run around. He does all of his work from a little three-yard radius within the pocket. He is accurate on the highest level. That's where he wins. Baker, you are a below-level NFL athlete. In a sport that over the last 10-plus years has never, had more defensive linemen that run as fast as they do. Most defensive ends now run high

four fives, four sixes. The top picks all run like four fours. You have some defensive tackles now, guys that weigh 300 plus pounds running 478, 482. These guys are faster than you. Stop. Last week on Thursday night football, Kyler Murray tried to run away from D. Ford. It took D. Ford two steps to catch. Kyler freaking Murray. You are not fast enough to run away. You are Your only way you're going to win, and this is also on the coach, is win from within the pocket. If you're going to be a great player and ever, ever justify this number one overall pick, it's going to be a badass in the pocket.

I know Dorsey. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending, opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo. Every episode, we're cutting through the noise,

breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines. We go straight to the source, the athlete themselves, their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear. The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real. From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, we break it down, give you context and ask the questions everybody wants answered. Sports Slice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to Sports Slice on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slic Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok.

Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kear Games. And in recognition of mental health awareness month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking, Tripp Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing. and we're still chasing it

and we don't know when we've done enough. Because people scoreboard watch. Life becomes about wins and losses. Steve Burns, Dustin Ross, because you find it important to be a good person while you hear on earth? Are you a good person because you're afraid? Because that's two different intentions, bro.

Absolutely. And that's two different levels of trust. I want you to just really be a good person. Join me, Kear Gaines, as we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast. Learn the hard way.

Open your free I Heart Radio app. Search Learn the Hardway and listen now. What's up, guys? This is Clivert Taylor the 4th. And on my podcast, The Cliverts show, I'm bringing you conversations about all kinds of stuff. Like being an internet famous referee.

We're in the middle of a game. This linebacker, this linebacker walks up to me. He goes, hey, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her. What? Time out. Quarterback on office blue 42. Hey, ref, my mom, I want you. to weigh better.

What? Hey, Miss Parker. Listen to the Clifford show on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. American Soccer is about to explode. The World Cup is coming. Ramos sending on the Army score at the chip. I'm Ty Bramos.

I'm Tom Boe. On our podcast, Inside American Soccer, you'll get the real storylines. I'm not worried about Polisic. I'm not worried about Balagan. I'm not worried about McKinney. My only concern is what happens in the back. The biggest decisions.

If you're going to look at stats and numbers, he has no shot at making this World Cup team. And the truth about the U.S. national team. It wouldn't be a huge surprise if our team ends up in the quarterfinals or potentially a great run into the semifinals. The World Cup is almost here. Experience it all with us.

Listen, Inside American Soccer with Tom Bogart and Tabramos on the IHeart Radio app, podcast wherever you get your podcast. Who was around Farves, like we loved his gusto and his bravado remind us a FAR. You know the major difference of Brett Farb and Baker Mayfield? One Brett, who I've met, is sneaky much taller than you think. One, when he was younger, Google or YouTube, Brett Farv, like mid-90s when he won back-to-back-to-back MVP's, who Marty Morningwig told me once in the Eagles offices, he'd been in the league

at that time for like 20 plus years. I think he has 30 years of NFL experience. The best player in the height of his powers he'd ever seen. Like, you ain't that, Baker. You're Drew Brees. The reason Drew Brees is going to be a first-bound Hall of Famer is not because of physical gifts. It's not because of athleticism.

It sure as hell is not because of size. It's because he's going to go down as the most accurate pocket quarterback in the history of the league. And Baker-Mayfield, every time I look at him, I haven't even watched the Bronco Browns game yet. I'm going to do that later today or tomorrow. But that's beside the point.

I'm not even using that game as an example. I've seen so many times him attempt to make these plays outside of the pocket like, bro, that's like Shaquille O'Neal shooting threes. That is not who you are. That is guaranteed failure for you. And the organization, Jimmy Haslam, Flying Jay, just red flags all over the place. And the Steelers and the Ravens got to be like,

Yeah, they ain't never catching us. Because you had your chance to hire a coach. And I love this, well, why aren't you getting on Baker? He's the one that wanted Freddie. I wouldn't have listened to Baker's opinion on who that next head coach should be if I was Dorsey or Jimmy Haslam at all. It's one thing if it's Rogers and asking him, hey, what do you think of Matt LaFloor? It's another thing, Baker Mayfield, who had 13 starts under his belt,

and who's going to play for whoever you hire is the coach? Hire the best coach. Look at what the Steelers did. They hired Mike Freaking Tomlin, and through the best decade and a half, or however long he's been there, they stood by him. You know why? Because Mike Tomlin's a pretty damn good coach. Does he have some flaws? Sure.

John Harbaugh, who again, I've been critical over the years and had some, quote-unquote, low years, you know, over the last three or four years. On John Harbaugh's worst day, he is better than Freddie Kitch's best day, and he doesn't call the offense, and he doesn't even call the defense. So there's a culture and a muscle flex that we have seen It doesn't get any better than this It is a case study in high-level organizations and low-level organizations And everything that's going on Because if they had a high-level coach, you know what they'd say? Baker, stop leaving the pocket.

Odell put on the normal shoes. You know what the Steelers do? Trade a 1. And guys like me, you guys are idiots. Four games later, Mika's got four picks. They're four and four. You're like, damn, is this team? Can this team make a wild card?

The Ravens are going to win the division with ease. And I thought, well, I wouldn't take Lamar Jackson. You know what they did? They built the whole offense around Lamar Jackson. You get Baker Mayfield, who's a pocket quarterback, and they're trading away offensive linemen. It really is not shocking when you just kind of talk it out. And it's such a cliche, and you hear the word all the time.

We talk about culture, culture, culture, but it's true. And it's not just culture. It's a mindset. It's a philosophical belief. For years, the Brown's tank. And so many elites in the media were like, oh, Sashi's a genius. Well, you passed on to Sean Watson, but Baker Mayfield, and the way they built his team, like he's going to need offensive linemen, not Odell Beckham's.

He can make, in theory, good, just solid wide receivers look good, like Drew Brees. Why? Because he's accurate. Well, he can't be accurate if he's running for his life. And the Browns are just a bunch of hollow, you know, hype. That's what it turns out to be. where the Ravens and the Steelers are substance. This clip is brought to you by State Farm. At State Farm, they know it's important to ensure the things you love.

They also get that everyone has a budget. That's why they have options, like insuring your car and your home, getting you great rates on both. It's a good idea to consider State Farm. For surprisingly great rates, like a good neighbor, State Farm is there. Call or go to StateFarm.com for a quote today. you could talk to me a little bit about the process you went through. And I think it's good to not pat yourself on the back, but to put it out there so other people can kind of hear what it takes.

Like, I don't know. I always look at like this. Like, what do I want? I wanted to be a W.W. Superstar. All right, what does it take to be a W.W. Superstar? What are the tools I will need to give me every possible opportunity I can get? And so I took the tools of acting classes, improv classes, wrestling school, everything I possibly can to knock on the door of WW. The people of the, everyone on that real world show would wear my T-shirts, would always ask me to do the MIS.

Like, they were so supportive. Like, you don't get it that very often. You really don't. Listen to the My Cultura Podcast Network available on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts. I have to tell you about this delicious wine I just got. The company was so nice they sent over entire box

for me to sample. It's called Fitvine Wine, and it's going to change the way you sip. They've got all the standards, Pinot Noir, Sauvian Blanc, Rose, Red Zinfandel, you name it. But it's got less sugar than your standard wine, which is great, because I'm trying to be more conscious about how I'm fueling my body. But after a long day, I'd still like to wind down. It's not about diet. It's about balance. My wife and I love their Pinot Noir.

It's lightly sweet with a bit of a bite. Delicious. Fitvine wine is available at Realty. nationwide. But for your first order, take advantage of 15% off at fitvinewine.com. Enter promo code Real Friends15 at checkout. There's a recipe for getting your car running just right. And whatever you're cooking up in the garage, you'll find what you need at eBay motors.com. They have over 122 million car parts and accessories in stock, all at the right prices. And that can help you turn your ride

into something really tasty. The parts you need are just a click away. at eBay motors.com. Let's ride. Okay, let's get into a couple other teams. And a little like the Ravens actually haven't really had adversity this year, but the Steelers have. Two other teams that you've just seen

weird, weird things happen and they haven't flinched. They haven't let chaos impact them in the least. Yet there's another team in the JET Jets, Jets, Jets that have had chaos and have just disintegrated. I mean, they have become, and they are currently the worst team right now in the NFL.

Them are the Bengals. I don't even consider the Bengals. I would say the Jets, minus the Bengals, who are just in their own tier of shittiness right now, they just lost to the Dolphins. And I think it's just an indictment, and this works in football, but it works in anything in life.

It's why people are successful and why people aren't. When you get handed, it's easy to win a hand when you get two aces. It's easy to make some money if I give you $10 million. And you can invest it however you want. Well, let's say that person makes $50 million. Well, can you make $50 million from scratch? A business? Can you just start a business from scratch?

Like, yeah, what Tim Cook has done with Apple has been awesome. I've invested in it. It's impressive since he's taken over. He's made me some cash. But let's call it what it is. Apple was kind of running. I owned iPad and an iPod. before jobs, you know, died.

So what you do, like, jobs started that bad boy and got that thing rolling. Like, that's more impressive than what Tim Cook did. Now, what Tim Cook's doing is impressive. And I love Apple. I'm looking at an Apple computer and an iPad playing the Bronco Cleveland game and my cell phone sitting right next to me.

But the Eagles and the Chiefs, who, like Apple, you know, were highly hyped coming into the season. The Eagles had won a play. off game and the Chiefs had been really an off-sides from D-Ford away from winning the AFC championship. When you take a step back, you're like, well, if they beat the Patriots, how would they not have beat the Rams?

So they were, they've probably kicking themselves over last year. And both these two teams were not dealt two aces this year. Starting with the Chiefs, Patrick Mahomes, who messed up his ankle, who this new defensive coordinator, Steve Spagnola, has just kind of been hit or miss early on. And then Mahomes dislocates his knee. They took Matt Moore, who there were pictures of him last year scouting, or, I mean, this off-season scouting for the Dolphins. Like, his career was over.

The Eagles, who it was reported on last week, that they've clearly had anonymous people leaking stuff about potentially Carson Wentz, and then Howard Eskin said it was Alshan Jeffrey, and then Alshon Jeffrey denied it. And it was just, they've had Malik Jackson, their big free agent signing, gets injured. Deshawn Jackson, who's unreal, week one, terrors his abdomen and has basically missed the entire year.

They've just had injuries left and right and just weird things going on. And both those teams yesterday get two big wins. And right now the Eagles, despite having a bunch of weird shit happening or four and five. Somehow the Andy Reid and the Chiefs, which, listen, you'd have to go down and look at one of the craziest two-week stretches of his career. But to win a game, and really they could have beat the past. To play that well in back-to-back weeks with Matt freaking more against the Packers and the Vikings who had been two of the better teams in the NFL has been a clinic by Andy and his protege Doug of just keeping the ship straight

and just not letting all the... Now, it's probably crazier in Philly with the media and the intensity of these leaks. But Doug's done an incredible job. It's a little different in Kansas City, though I actually interned there, my senior year in college in 2007. Herm was there. The Chiefs are a big deal there. And to win that game yesterday and I watched it this morning with Matt Moore was really, really impressive. Their defense was awesome. But Matt Moore made some big time

throws. Tyree kills just an elite player. Sammy Watkins played well. But that's impressive. When things are not going your way, can you succeed? You know, it's easy to start on third base and be successful. You know, this season for both these two teams are just a weird thing's happening. Probably more weird stuff with the Eagles, but they're still alive. I mean, they've rattled off two pretty big wins back-to-back weeks. And the Chiefs, I thought they were a lock probably to lose these two games

of the Packers and the Vikings. And they didn't just, I mean, they split them, but they split them by really feeling like, you know, I know you can't win be one and a half and a half, but it feels like that Packer game wasn't just an L. I mean, they got a backup quarterback in Matt Moore, and they're feeling pretty good about themselves. Meanwhile, the Jets, who I've supported Adam Gase,

I always thought he was a good coach. Hell, he won a little with Matt Moore. Remember when Tanny Hill got hurt and he made the playoffs? It's clearly just a weirdo. Like Matt, or excuse me, not Matt, but Adam, how do you hate every single player? It's always someone else's fault. There's always an excuse.

And then you get Joe Douglas, who I've heard really, really good things about. And he gets in this position. And there's always a story of, well, Coletchi and you are going at it. you're trying to trade all these players that you told in their face you're not trying to trade. This stuff does not happen in New England. It does not happen in Kansas City.

Hell, it doesn't even happen in Philly. So I'm starting to think, like, it's not all in the players. The debacle over the last couple weeks, and I've defended the Jets in the sense like, yo, Jamal, like, come on, man, you're going to be talked about in talks. But it's pretty clear the information that has come out over the last five or six days is they were calling about Jamal Adams. So if you're going to look them in the face and tell them you're not going to trade him, and then you call the Cowboys and you say, yeah, you can have them for a first and two twos.

Like, this is the big leagues, Joe. This is the New York Jets. You're not working under the radar anymore. You're not just, you know, a glorified personnel director. You're the general manager. And I think he's a really high-level guy. And everyone that I know that work with him, Philly really likes him. But this is chaos right now.

It's a debacle. and I get you got a ton of money. I think he got like $20 plus million to sign there. I've never had anyone offer me $20 million. I would imagine the good majority of people listening have not either. I'm signing that contract. I get it. But you hitched your wagon to Adam Gase.

Adam freaking Gase, who looks lost right now, who has a defensive coordinator that he cannot stand. They do not talk. They do not talk. I've heard that from multiple, reliable sources. They do not speak. But to lose to the dolphins, who, if anyone's been paying attention, and they were just on Monday Night Football against the Steelers,

if you just watched them bits and pieces of them the last couple weeks, they are playing really hard. Now, they don't have much talent, but their effort level, just watching bits and pieces on the red zone, somehow that game got a lot of pub on the red zone, they just outplayed the Jets. They just tried harder. That's just an underrated aspect of professional sports is just effort.

Like, yeah, if you got LeBron Jets, James or you got Peyton Manning, you're going to win more games. But if most teams are relatively equal, if you just try harder than the other team, you're going to be in position potentially to win the game. They don't even try hard. They clearly don't really like this guy. And then Joe Douglas and his actions have kind of fractured the locker room. So you were already pretty shitty.

Now, no one trusts your coach or you're a general manager. And the guy that you traded up from six to three, remember, when you traded with the Colts and gave, I think, three second round picks, is in shambles. So the biggest red flag on the franchise Meanwhile, Doug Peterson has got Carson playing really high Despite missing a bunch of injured guys all season long And struggling to run the ball

And their defense not being very good And he's winning with Matt Moore And you're ruining Sam Darnold And I get Sam Darnold has some flaws He's he's You know, a little inclined to turn the ball over But that's what they hired you to do, fix them And you're not only fixing him

He's just, he's been, he's seeing ghosts I mean, he's in shambles right now And like the Browns, the Jets aren't ever going to change. The Browns aren't ever going to change. There's a reason the Eagles always win. There's a reason the Chiefs go to the playoffs every year. There's a reason the Ravens or the Steelers are a lock playoff team between the two of them every single year.

And the Jets and the Browns just suck. And this year, if you like football, if you like management, if you're just fascinated by all this stuff, you should just take notes on how to avoid disaster and just read everything possible about the Jets and the Browns because they've put on a clinic on how to stay shitty in the NFL. Okay, do I need to eat a little crow with John Gruden? Because I thought he was a bottom five head coach last year

in early on this season. I thought it was a little out of control with the way everything was handled last year. But I got to give them credit. They're four and four, and what John Gruden was brought in, to do, which was run the offense and save Derek Carr first and foremost, he's done. So I thought we'd do a little, the good and the bad with John Gruden, because I think he's one of the

more polarizing guys in the league. He's clearly one of the most famous guys in the league. And, you know, I originally started, I'm like, I think he's going to be a good head coach. And then that first year, he had so much power and the way everything handled with Reggie McKenzie. They gave him too much power. And it wasn't until he got Mike Mayock around. that there was, and I still don't think Max really pulling the trigger, but at least it's a guy that he respects and will listen to it can balance him out.

But you can't dispute that Derek Carr... Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending, opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo. Every episode, we're cutting through the noise.

Breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines. straight to the source, the athlete themselves, their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear. The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real. From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, we break it down, give you context, and ask the questions everybody wants answered. Sports Slice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to Sports Slice on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

And for more, follow Timbo Slic Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kier Games. And in recognition of mental health awareness month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking, Tripp Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing.

And we're still chasing it. And we don't know when we've done enough. Because people scoreboard watch. Life becomes about wins and losses. Steve Burns, Dustin Ross, because you find it important to be a good person while you hear on earth? Are you a good person because you're afraid? Because that's two different intentions, bro.

Absolutely. And that's two different levels of trust. I want you to just really be a good person. Join me, Kear Gaines, as we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast. Learn the hard way. Open your free iHeartRadio app.

Search Learn the hard way and listen now. What's up, guys? This is Clivert Taylor the 4th. And on my podcast, The Cliverts show, I'm bringing you conversations about all kinds of stuff. Like being an internet famous referee. We're in the middle of a game.

This linebacker, this linebacker walks up to me. He goes, hey, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her. What? Time out. Quarterback on office blue 42. Hey, ref. My mom won't want you. to weigh better. What?

Hey, Ms. Parker. Listen to the Clippers show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano, and our podcast Point Game is about defining the odds. Like LeBron heading into the playoffs

without Luca and Austin Reed. And finding ways to win no matter what. He's the smartest player to ever play the game. His IQ is at a level that we've never seen before. And he knows without Luca and Austin Reed. I got to manipulate the game. We get a player's perspective on the challenges of the playoffs. I think Joker's going to be exhausted this series

because when they don't have Rudy in the lineup, he has to really guard guys like Nas Reid. He has to guard Julius Randall. And then he has to give us everything he gives us on the night-to-night bases on offense. And when IT's friends stop by, like Quentin Richardson, we dive into some playoff history too. Steve Nash would get that thing.

That man, hell get the flying. He run up the court, licking his fingers, why he got the ball like, after you go through a training camp with that Isaiah, you figure it out real quick. Get your ass up and down the court, and you're going to get the ball. So listen to Point Game on the IHeart Radio app,

Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Is having arguably the best season of his career. And he lost Antonio Brown the week before the season. He's missed Terrell Williams, basically, which was supposed to be his number two wide receivers, now his number one wide receiver, who's missed some games and been banged up. He's played with Hunter Renfrode that looks like me or you.

Darren Waller was addicted to drugs a year ago, who's been incredible, and Josh Jacobs is a rookie. And the offense is awesome. So the good with John Gruden is he can coach offense. And he clearly can motivate the guys. They are playing very, very hard. And one thing that was a knock on Gruden when he was in Tampa is he was an asshole.

People didn't like him. the players did not like him. Now maybe it's just they have a young team, they have a lot of influential player. It seems like all these guys really like him. They really enjoy him. Now part of it probably more now than ever, if you're part of the Raiders,

you know he likes you. So if you're like, well, this guy's the boss, I might as well play hard for him. Because as I talked about with the Jets or even the Browns, just because you're in the NFL does in some lock that you're going to play hard. So John Gruden, working with Derek Carr, figuring out how to get the most of them,

drafting a running back in the first round, which I still am opposed to because I do think you could have got Josh Jacobs in the second round, but that's nitpicking. So I'm tipping my hat to him. He's 4 and 4, and I really think the Raiders have been one of the revelations of the league. I thought they were going to be a 3 or 4-win team,

mainly when Antonio Brown backed out. It was like, they are screwed, and then they start, you know, they play the Chiefs, they get boat race, and they play the Vikings, and this looks really ugly. And they've come back. The Colts, the Bears, even the Packers, that score is not indicative of the game because Derek fumbled it into the end zone. They've been really, really have offensively.

They've been dynamic. And that is Gruden's baby. He's the head coach slash play caller. So if the offense is good and the quarterback is good, who you have under contract long term, Gruden's been good. Now, the bad is that he still is in charge of all the personnel. even though Mayok's the GM. I think Mayok has influence, but Gruden has to sign off on it. That's just the reality of the contract.

No different like San Francisco. John Lynch is running the personnel department. If you want to acquire a player, Kyle Shanahan has to sign off on it. It's just the way the league works. You've got a power structure, and Gruden's at the top. This team is really kind of a Khalil Mack away from probably being above 500, and us talking about as being a playoff team. If they would have had a legit pass rusher against DeShon Watson, they win that game in Houston.

Now, you can say, well, they got rid of Cleo Mac and led him to Josh Jacobs. True. But they also had Amari Cooper that got him picked 27 that if they had not had pick 24 and they still had Khalil Mack, they could have draft Josh Jacobs at pick 27. But that's also nitpicking. Their defensive roster is atrocious. It is awful. I think I talk to people in the league.

They think they have the worst defensive line on paper. in the league. Their secondary is really bad. I mean, Matt Stafford, every quarterback they play, and they play Thursday night against Rivers, who's kind of humming, they do not match up well if you pass the ball. If you're playing a Chase Daniel,

if they're playing a, you know, Ms. Trubisky, if they're playing a, even a Jacoby, they got a shot. But when they play an Aaron Rogers or a Stafford, it's hold on to your ass. And luckily, yesterday they were able to score enough because the Lions' defense isn't very good, but their defense is bad.

And, you know, I just wonder with Gruden, they missed on Cleland Farrell really, really badly. And if they would have hit on that pick, a guy that we were all talking about in Josh Allen, that was clearly the second best pass rushing prospect in the draft behind Nick Bosa. Now, you could argue, 3-4 system in Kentucky, stand-up guy, that's kind of what they're doing in Jacksonville.

He's standing up. I do think you can teach guys to do both. put your hand in the ground, be a 4-3 defense event. Because Cleland Farrell, according to just about every metric and the eye test, is one of the worst players in the NFL. And the Raiders struggle to get pressure. If they would have Josh Allen, that would help them immensely, and they would legitimately be a playoff team.

Because I think you watch them, their offense is a playoff offense. John Gruden has playoff game plans now. And any time, I just think this probably works in any sport, once you taste a little success and start winning, You get addicted to winning. Like, guys start realizing we can do this. You don't need to be the Patriots to just be obsessed with winning. You can be a 500 team and be a team that's 8 and 8, 9, and 7 that probably has 5 win talent,

but because you taste it, because you believe in your coaching staff, because you're just all in. It works. And I think that, you know, right now the good outweighs the bad with Gruden. They're even overcoming him missing pretty, pretty bad on that fourth overall pick. Even the 27th pick. I like Jonathan Abram. I love everything about his style of football. But when you draft a box safety in the first round in 2019,

it's difficult to play. And the reason he's on injured reserve was because he destroyed a guy on Monday Night Football to open the season. And that's just the way he plays. And when you destroy a guy, sometimes your shoulder tears. And I think if you're a Raider fan

or just someone that was down, was unsure about Gruden, I think he's proven a lot this season, that his number one attribute is the thing you need the most, and that's Colin plays and coaching quarterbacks. The defense, I don't necessarily know how he fixed that, because the one time he's had a good defense, he inherited the Tampa Bay Buccaneers roster, and he had Monty Kiffin.

Now, I have a hard time judging Paul Gunther, their defensive coordinator. I'd always heard really good things. I can't judge you when the players are the players, he's playing with because they're not very good. But I think overall, John Gruden has had a very, very impressive first eight games of the 2019 season. Stimulant use disorder is a disease, not a choice,

but getting help for your meth or cocaine addiction is choose treatment and choose change California. Find proven treatment options at choose changeca.org. Millions of Americans are getting back to work. CareerBuilder calls it the great rehire and we want to help you get the best jobs before everyone else. CareerBuilder gives you the competitive edge to get the job you want at the salary you want with the benefits you want.

We even send job alerts so your perfect job lands right in your inbox. Go to careerbuilder.com today or get left with whatever jobs are left. Find your next job fast at careerbuilder.com. When was the last time you replaced the air filter in your HVAC? You should replace it every three months. Luckily, Filter Buy is here to help. They have over 600 sizes to choose from online, and most orders ship free to your home or office within 24 hours.

Plus, all the filters are made in the USA. So you can worry less about pollen and dirt and toxins in the air and breathe freely with Filter Buy. Order now at Filterby.com. Okay, let's dive into something that hit me. yesterday. Daylight savings time. So I, you know, I didn't go out or anything Saturday night. Eyes just naturally kind of open like 6.30 in the morning on Sunday morning. First thing I do, because I'm sad, you know, social media millennial life. Check my phone. And I, oh yeah, there's a 630 a.m.

game. And luckily it's broadcasting. I just watch the thing on my phone. No television in my room. I make up for it with multiple televisions in my living room. And I flip it on my phone and I'm watching the 6.30 a.m. game. I had breakfast. Keep watching the game. It was awesome. You just watch the games up until the 10 a.m. games start. And it kind of hit me.

Over the last 24 hours, I'm like, I like this. And I tweeted it out during Sunday. We should do this every week. And then I realized we kind of can't. The Jacksonville Jaguars are in a market that's not even in the top 40 in America. It's one of the smallest markets in the NFL. Right, actually, a couple of spots after Vegas. But I think we all admit,

Vegas is a much more lucrative proposition than Jacksonville. When it comes to corporate money and just the whole, you know, all the bells and whistles of the city. Why not just move the Jacksonville Jaguars to London and play eight 630 a.m. games, which are nighttime games for them a year. So out of your 17 weeks, eight of them will be 6.30 a.m. kickoffs. and then you can still supplement it with, you know, three or four extra games. So you basically, you could get 12 630 AM games a year.

Tell me that's not a genius business proposition. So you will have football games, not pre-game shows or post-game shows. I'm talking games that we bet on, that we play fantasy football on, that we just watch from 6.30 in the morning, Pacific Standard Time, all the way up till usually the Sunday night game ends for me at around 8.15. If you're on the East Coast, it's even easier to consume it. It starts at 9.30 in the morning up until the end of the NBC game, which is late. But I do think you could still send teams over there.

I've never been to London, so don't, I know I was reading, Albert Breer wrote in the Monday morning quarterback, the two games that they had at Tottenham's Stadium, both of them sold out in under 45 minutes. It actually looks pretty good because, the night game, when it's the first thing in the morning, it looks pretty cool. The Jacksonville Jaguars, they don't want to be in Jacksonville anymore. Now, the players don't mind it because of taxes.

And I don't know how the exchange rate and all that stuff, it's clearly a little complicated, but they're basically doing it now, however they tax them when they go play over there for the games anyway. Jacksonville, Chad Khan, he'd move over there in heartbeat. Just send the team there. And then you can still have games, like when they're on the road, when Jacksonville's playing the Colts or Houston or whatever. You know, it's not that far of a flight. It's obviously a lot farther than it would be staying in Jacksonville,

but I do think it's doable. And I also think it would be pretty cool. Just because of the inventory you'd get on Sunday mornings, you would have a game. Now, with Fox and CVS, all the, you know, networks with pregame shows love that? Probably not. So I get it's a little complicated.

I don't think it's black and white. But to me, it seems like a no-brainer. because the most powerful property of anything is the actual games. You put on NFL games on television and people consume it at historic rates. So why not just move to Jacksonville Jaguars to London? You get eight games a year. You can send four other random games. You know fours three or four teams to give up home games, play it there.

You basically the majority of your season get a Sunday start to finish all day of just games. Because right now we got three windows, right? the 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. 1 p.m. to 4.30 p.m. and then the night game 5.30. Then you got Monday night. Now we'd have Thursday. We'd have all day Sunday. And then we would have Monday night. Talk about just 12 plus weeks of just football frenzy. Tell me that's stupid.

Tweet at me, DM me, because I really think it's genius. I really do. And when I read Albert Breer say that they sold both these games out in 45 minutes, They're just events. Think of what people love doing now more than anything. It's just I need an event to go to. Whether it's a beer fest, whether it's a comedy show, whether it's a Monday night football game. Humans just like going to things.

And especially when they're new. It's like you bring the EPL, you bring Manchester United and they played, I don't pretend to be some soccer guy, but Manchester United versus Man City, and you put them at Stan Cronkey's New Palace or Levi Stadium or put them in Philly, that thing would sell out in an hour. It's no different than putting American football overseas. People like it.

You just give people events, and now the popularity and the fame of this league is so big. People know about it. People will go, even if they don't really know what the rules are. You told me, you know, it happens a lot with soccer, I think, in America, though it's a little different. Soccer is just big in America, too. Clearly, American football is not big in London. But I think it could work, because I think Jacksonville,

right now is a wasted market and the NFL isn't into wasting anything. And I think there's probably a ton of money over there and they could have a little quote unquote international flavor with really just having one team being international. It's no brainer to me. Okay, let's hit on a couple other things, just some notes I jotted down of just things, players, whatever that stood out to me. One, D.K. Metcalf is just a good player. Whenever I watch Seattle, 14 makes plays.

and we all made fun of him for the picture. He looked like Arnold Schwarzenegger, myself included, but he's really good, you know, and I think the knock on him was he could only run straight. I remember when he ran really fast at the combine. I texted a bunch of people in the league. I'm like, this guy can go on the first round. And when people are sitting at the combine,

they're like, well, I wouldn't discount it. And then I think you go back, you nitpick the tape. He had been injured. But he's in a great spot. I mean, he's a deep ball pass catcher. I mean, that's his go-to route, just running the go route, or just anything deep-breaking, goes, posts, and he makes place. I mean, he high points the ball.

At least, I mean, I haven't watched every one of his targets, but whenever I'm watching them, he makes catches when it's thrown in his vicinity. So they are much more potent on offense because they have him in the fold to go along with Lockett and their stud running back. They missed, we can't forget. they had a swing and a miss two years ago with Rashad Penny. And I like Penny a lot coming out of the draft, but he's not good. And I know John Clayton the other night was tweeting that they ended up not trading

them. They thought about trading him to keep a one-two punch. It's like John, they don't have a one-two punch. They have a one punch. And they're one punch. Chris Carson is like one of my favorite players in the league. If you like physical football, you're going to like Chris Carson. But Tyler Lockett is a little limited in the sense that he needs a little help.

you want him on your team as like a two slash three and they don't really have a true one it probably is more locket but you put locket with this guy and geron brown imagine you know if disley had got it hurt we got a big game Monday night which as of right now I'm scheduled to be in attendance Seattle Niners a week from today as I'm recording this the Chargers man they are just never dead I'm gonna chalk up the game for the Packers they just had a clunker you can go 12 and 4, which means you're probably going to win your division in the majority of years in divisions,

and you're going to lose a couple games where everyone thinks you suck. You get to lose some games in the NFL. This is not college football. Now, I get it look bad, and it was in Carson, where it's basically a home stadium, especially for a team like the Packers, but the Chargers kicked the crap out of them.

They dominated the ground game with Echler and Melvin Gordon. Rivers was really good. Mike Williams looks like a good player. And Bosa and Ingram can take over a game. The one thing about the Chargers, you've got to give them their due. When they're on,

they have the greatest, probably pendulum of their high end and their low end. You can watch them on a given week and you'd be like, that's a top five team in football. And you could also watch them the next week and go, that's a bottom five team in the NFL. They're just a bizarre operation. But that was an old-school

ass kicking. And we got Thursday night football, Raiders, Chargers. That's a pretty good game. Give me Rivers at the Coliseum for the last time. I'm in. Is Minchu Mania dead? It might be. He was, got up early for that game.

Watched a lot of it as I talked about. I think the Jaguar should move to London. He didn't look very good. He looked awful, actually. He was just bad. Now, he's had a couple clunkers really this season. He's had some moments. And even in the games where he's had some moments, they haven't necessarily been like 65, 70% completion percentage.

He's had a lot of 15 for 31s. I like him. I'm rooting for him. I enjoy watching him, but I think it's safe to say that Nick Foles, when healthy, will start. Trubisky just keeps getting shittier. I don't really know how it's possible. But every time I watch Mitch, I think the stat line after the first half, he had one passing yard. I mean, he's just airmailing guy after guy after guy.

He looks clueless out there. Now, because Chase Daniels are backup quarterback, it's not like you really have a pivot. Like, what are your other options? I guess you just kind of see what you got. I know Jay Glazer, I saw him saying maybe to Colin or on a pregame show, but I do agree with him. When you trade up for this guy, you just got to play him this entire season.

So you know at the end of the year when you cut him, and I had someone in the NFL that has worked with Ryan Pace before that told me he'd be shocked if he cuts him. And I don't see how you could not cut him. How are you going to have Mitch Trubisky as your battle? up. But I get that. You know, it's not abnormal for a guy that drafts a player to then not want to cut him even after he's kind of proven that he's not any good. And clearly, at the money he makes, because he was a second overall pick, he's not going to be a tradable player. Bill's defense is really

good. I think it's safe to call them, I'll still use the word borderline, but a borderline playoff lock. They're going to get one of the two wild card spots. I think we know pretty clearly that it's the Patriots, the Chiefs, the Ravens, I'm not putting this in any order yet, and the Colts or the Texans, one of those two teams. More than likely that other Colts or the Texans team, depending on how long Jacobi's out, obviously if Deshaun were to get hurt, but I think one of those two teams is either going to win the division and make the wild card, and the bills will probably be the other wild card. Now, depending on who wins this Thursday night game, that team would technically still be alive.

You probably have a little more faith in the Chargers, just given that they've been there, done that before, than the Raiders, given that their defense is just atrocious. But the Bill's defense is going to carry them to 10 wins. Now it helps. You play in the NFC East. The Dolphins, the Jets, are just atrocious. Now the Dolphins, credit, where credit is do, they do play hard.

The Broncos are just not that bad. They're just not. We talked about them earlier with the Broncos, or I mean, with the Cleveland Browns. Fangio has not been just some fish out of water. And as you see with the bears, they miss him and they miss him badly. Like the gap between Vic Fangio to Chuck Pagano. Chuck Pagano, nice guy.

I don't know if he's super dynamic. You know, there's a big gap when you go from James Hardin to your backup two guard. That's kind of what it feels like to Vic Fangio. He's the best in the business as a defensive coordinator. Chuck Pagano, again, solid guy. he got taken to the cleaners in must situations with Doug Peterson. Doug knew everything he was going to do. And every play call he was hitting when Chuck just, like,

that doesn't happen against Vic. Not when he's a defensive coordinator. And I think you watch the Broncos. They've had some weird stuff happen. They're already on some random quarterback. The guy they drafted in the second round has been injured the entire season. Hopefully he can come back and you get some reps out of him to end the season. But, you know, they're going to go 5 and 11,

but it's not going to be a super embarrassing 5 and 11. Minnesota, you know, I thought the Chiefs played really well, so I don't think that's necessarily a bad loss. Also, it's on the road. I think it's a more impressive victory for the Chiefs than it is a bad loss. You know, Cousins was a little hit or miss in that game. I think there are some question marks with the Viking secondary.

You can tell, I mean, I don't know if they rushed him back, but any time you come back off a hamstring, it's one thing in practice, because you're just kind of practice. It's just for two straight hours. You're moving. In a football game, you warm up, you go to the locker room. You come out, you kick off.

Even if you start on offense, then you're on the field or off the field for defense. And there's just a lot of time in between when you're on the field and when you're not. It's why I think a lot of guys, you know, Dr. Middilkoff here, why you re-aggravate the hamstring. And their offense is dramatically more dynamic when you have Thielen and digs and the tight ends and cooks. and cook. You could argue that that offense, when healthy, if Cousins is just solid, is as good as it gets in the league. Now, there are better quarterbacks in the NFL,

but personnel skill-wise, that's pretty freaking good. Deshaun Watson was brilliant again. His stats weren't as crazy this week, just 22 or 28, but just the eye test, how in control he is, how funny he is to watch. He's one of my favorite players in the league right now. McCaffrey, Another 145 on the ground.

Another two touchdowns running. Another big run. Another 30-40 in the air. Another touchdown catching the ball. Just an all-world offensive player. And the Panthers just refused to die. And he's really, to me, the reason, you know, a lot of teams, their quarterback carries them.

For the Panthers, it's Keekley and McCaffrey. And Keekley clearly is first ballot hall of Famer one day. I think McCaffrey, if he can stay healthy, for the next five or six years is going to just have like a Ladania-Thomason type run here of just statistics because teams know they're going to them, teams know they're going to hand on the ball,

teams know they're going to run screens for him, and it doesn't matter, he's unstoppable. Okay, let's get to the Middilcoff Mailback. At John Middilkopf, Instagram handle, slide up in those DMs. Mailback. Thoughts on Mac trade if the Bears pick ends up in the top eight. They have a tough finish

and could easily win five games max. will they play the Lions this week I would say this if the Raiders miss the playoffs again and we'll have a better feel after Thursday night's game they would be four and five you know and they would have a

probably end up like seven and nine they would miss the playoffs the first two years and while the Bears missed the playoffs this year they did make the playoffs and win the division last year with Khalil Mack so in two years the Bears have one division title and they have Khalil Mack, the Raiders have nothing. They're like, their fans on Twitter never stop leaving me alone

because they think 4 and 4 is basically like 8 and 0. It's actually 4 and 4 and you're like the 8th place team. Now, when you're everyone shitting on you all offseason, including myself, I get, you know, you're pumping yourself up. But I think it's fair to say when you watch the Raiders, which I do, they're basically a Khalil Mack away from being good. So how do you find the pass rusher? They're going to need to find a pass rusher.

They could have kept Khalil Mack and, you know, and still had the number four overall pick, potentially because they would have been really bad last year. They still would have had the second pick because they could have had a traded Amari too. They could have got Josh Jacobs. They still would have had cap space. But I would say right now the Bears,

just last year alone, they still have Kalil Mac, and they won the division. So now if the Raiders can make the playoffs, the next couple years with all these young players and Josh Jacobs, who right now they have for Khalil Mack and is the offensive rookie of the year. So if he can rattle off a three or four year stretch of playing like this

and the Raiders can make the playoffs a couple times, let's not forget. The Raiders have made the playoffs one time since 2002. Let me repeat, one time since 2002. Middokoff Mailbag. At this point, why don't the Bears just use Mitch as a running back? He's athletic and a good runner and clearly can't throw and they don't have anything to lose.

The argument against using quarterbacks to run as they get hurt, but who cares? They aren't going to move forward with Mitch anyway. Maybe him running a bit could open up some easy throws, I would agree. They just need to stop asking him to throw it all the time. He's just not capable. He's not accurate enough. He's just not good enough. He's just not a good player.

It's really just that simple. He's just not very good. Is there any chance that Bill acquired Sunoo to serve as a running quarterback for the defense? to practice in their preparation for Lamar Jackson. Bill could see the Ravens as a worthy adversary in the AFC, playoff matchup implications, and Sunu can sling it, and took a lot of snaps at quarterback at Rutgers, and would serve as Lamar against the first team defense.

Thought this could be additional reason Bill acquired him ahead other than needing help at wide receiver. That's not a crazy thought, but I'd say the ultimate reason you give up a second rounder, because I could find, you know, some guy on the street that's an elite athlete to do that. I just signed him my practice squad. I think they used a second round pick for Sunu, simply to catch touchdowns and catch first downs. Now, if he does that too at practice, then that's an added bonus, which, you know, if they play each other again in the playoffs, which is very possible, because it's pretty clear that the final four in the AFC is going to be Casey,

New England, Baltimore, and probably Houston or Indy. So they could easily see them again. I've been listening to you since the beginning. I love the podcast. Considering the Jets start to the season and the loss this week to Miami, would you consider firing Adam Gase?

It seems like only bad franchises fire their coach after a few seasons or one season, i.e. the Browns and the Raiders. Yeah, I mean, ideally you do not want to do that. Because if you fire Adam Gase, Now, the good thing is you'd have Joe Douglas and you get to just start from scratch. Now, luckily, these NFL teams are making so much money.

Firing these guys and paying them to go away is not the problem. I think optically it looks pretty terrible, but you could argue is optically going 2 and 14 and getting your ass kick? Because they didn't just lose. They got their butts kicked by the dolphins. And they've been horrendous. You know, the Monday night game,

now obviously Donald had mono. but the cowboy game for the Jets might go down as one of the most bizarre experiences that we'll ever see on the football field. How do they beat the Cowboys like that? I don't get it. So I guess long story short, I would not fire him unless I just thought he was a malcontent, bad person. Because you hired him because you thought he was a good coach.

And I've always thought he was a good coach, but I'm having second thoughts this year because they are a debacle. Halfway through the season wanted to check in on. your thoughts on the MVP race. I see it as a four-man race between Russ, Deshawn, Lamar, and McCaffrey. I would agree. If I had to rank them right now,

listen, maybe I'm biased because this guy's become my favorite player in the league. And I was talking to a buddy in the league who's like, you know what? I kind of missed on Deshawn Watson. I didn't think he could pass it well enough. And I say, well, if you watch him, he's not super crisp passer. He benefits

and he benefited from this in Clemson to having incredible jump ball and like huge catching radius wide receivers. Remember at Clemson, he had Mike Williams, and he could throw it to him and he'd just make crazy plays. Well, what does he have in the NFL? He has the guy with by far the best radius in the league and easily the best contest catched guy

because he's not a blazer in DeAndre Hopkins. So he benefits from that. But the thing DeShan has, and Russ has this too, his instincts are elite. His quarterback instincts. to scramble to keep a play alive, then to throw and hit a wide receiver. His ability to do stuff like that is second to none. And if you're an instinctual player, and he's pretty accurate,

and he's such an elite competitor, he might get my vote. But I do have a soft spot for, like, not a career record, but Russ Wilson, when his career's over, he deserves to have an MVP on his resume. And this is best season ever. I'm going to be at the game when they play the 49ers here next Monday night. If he were to win that game or win some of these games down the stretch and they go 11 and 5, 12, and 4, I'd have no problem. If you told me right now Russ or Deshawn Watson won it,

it wouldn't bother me at all. I'd probably, as of today, I'd vote for Deshawn Watson, but I could also easily check the box for Russ. And I go back and forth week to week. I don't know, Russ just had five touchdowns. I would have probably McCaffrey 3rd and Lamar 4th. And that's not, you know, Lamar's been fantastic. I think McCaffrey has carried the Panthers.

I mean, they're five and three playing with Kyle Freaking Allen. And McAfree's like, no big deal. I'll give you 150 on the ground, another 50 in the air and three touchdowns a game. It's a good group right now. It really is. So I'd probably go, as of today, the slightest of edge of the Sean Watson. With Russ right there. And I would say on a given week, they go back and forth.

and then McCaffrey and Lamar right under. But McCaffrey has like a legit, I mean a legit argument for this thing. You know, and it's rare for a running back. Remember the one year, and it makes way more sense now when he's like, yeah, I ran for 2,000 yards. I carried my team into the playoffs. Well, who's your quarterback? And Adrian Peterson looks back at you and goes, Christian Ponder.

You're like, oh, I get how you won the MVP, you know? And I think McCaffrey, if they were to make the playoffs over Seattle, let's say that. let's say the Panthers go 10 and 4, or I mean, not 10 and 4, that would be 14 games, 10 and 6. And Seattle goes 10 and 6, but they have the tiebreaker. However, and McCaffrey has 2,500 all-purpose yards and 25 touchdowns. I couldn't argue with you voting for him. It's a loaded. It's a loaded group.

Was that Sunday night game even real question? I must be dreaming that the Ravens ended the past perfect season. That being said, do you think a coach like Bill was? would ever lose to a team on purpose to get the attention on his team. I can think of a few reasons as to why this could be beneficial to the Pats because the pressure of a perfect season is off them. Everyone wants to blow Lamar now. Appreciate the input, God bless.

I don't think he blows the game on purpose, but once he's losing the game, like late in the fourth quarter and it's kind of over, or once he gets to a situation, he might stop calling certain plays. I could definitely see some big big. in that because he only he had no losses he's still going to rattle off a bunch of wins and more than likely he's going to get the number one seed no matter what but you know in the heat of the moment he's trying to win the game now i do think he's very careful they used they use a fake play

yesterday on offense didn't they run a double pass yeah and then brady hit the checkdown so i i i think they're coaching to win i think they're so so well coached in new england that he can always bring up new wrinkles. Really, the bottom line is Lamar just made some plays that even if you had the 85 Bears defense, you just might have lost to. Sometimes great players make plays and there's nothing you can do. I think sometimes we overthink it because it's like Lamar Jackson is just like this freak athlete.

What are you going to do? He's moving around back there like Barry Sanders. I mean, Mike Singletary, Ray Lewis, Ed Reed, and Patrick Willis could be chasing him and he might make them all miss. He's just that special. Question for the pod. Why do you think all of a sudden there is a shortage of reliable kickers? Is it really because they move the extra point back?

I do think that definitely brings into play a lot more misses. Because I think we see, it feels like, I know we missed an extra point tonight. On Monday night, you know, I don't have the stats in front of me, but it feels like almost a missed extra point a game. Maybe a little less than that, like 0.75 misses a game. so that's a lot of misses throughout the league if you're just sitting there watching football on Sunday

where you never missed the extra point and that's why Belichick remember fought to get it moved back because he said what's the point of this? Why don't you just give an automatic one because when you made them kick the field goal at the two-yard line wasn't it like I think it was like almost 99% they were going to hit the extra point so when you move it back

what is it now a 35-yard field goal there is just especially late in a game and a tie game or there is some tangible pressure on that. It's no longer a quote-unquote ship shot. As the weather changes in some of these places, in Lambo and Soldier Field and Philadelphia and Washington and New York, they get a little dice here. So, yeah, I think we've probably never had more talented kicker just in terms of guys

with leg strength and stuff. But it's probably the mental focus it takes. Just, you know, if any of you guys golf, you know, when I give you a tap in, if I'm playing you would match play and you have like a two footer and I go it's good well I'm going to say it's good but if all your tapins are seven and a half feet I'm not giving you any of those puts even if you're the best putter in the world there's still some nerves going into the putt right it's no different with a field goal kick I bet if you just took goodkowski or tucker or mcmannis or any of the top kickers just to the practice field and line them up to where the extra point is now 35 yards

or 37 yards or whatever the hell it is they would hit that just over and over with ease. But the game situation is a little more intense. You know, it's just an intense situation, especially when the point is factoring in like, hey, this is to tie the game, this is to take the lead, this is to get us within the eight points, whatever the game situation is. I mean, you feel it as a fan, just watching it on your couch. And, you know, I've seen some kickers miss some kicks in my life. And it's just a weird position. So yeah, I think, I think the extra point is, I guess that's a long-winded way of saying it. I think it's as simple as the extra point getting moved back

has screwed up a lot of kickers. Appreciate everyone listening. Again, the Carson Palmer interview last week. If you haven't listened, go check it out. It was really good. And I guess I'll see you after Thursday night football. We got a little Raiders coming down the home stretch of their time in Oakland at the Coliseum versus the Chargers.

You know, both teams are playing pretty well right now. Pretty fired up for that game. Share this podcast with your friends. I appreciate everyone listening. And let's just keep enjoying the football. ball season. Talk to you later. See you. Teathing can be a real nightmare for your little ones. Highlands Natural's baby oral pain relief tablets can help ease the pain. It's gentle, natural active ingredients like chamomile and

Arnica, soothe your baby's mouth and gums, made with ingredients derived from plant, minerals, and other sources free of harsh chemicals. You can count on Highlands for serious pain relief for your teething baby. Highlands is a kinder way to care for teething. Visit highlands.com slash kind. That's H-Y-L-L-L-A-N-D-S-com slash kind. Claims based on traditional homeopathic practice, not accepted medical evidence, not FTA evaluated. Using your Aspiration Zero credit card helps fight climate change. It's true. See, Aspiration Zero plants a tree each time you make a purchase. And tree planting is one of the most effective ways to combat global warming. Track your progress in the app and earn 1% cash back each month you reach Carbon Zero.

Aspiration Zero. One card, zero carbon footprint. Learn more at aspiration.com. The Aspiration Zero MasterCard is issued by Beneficial State Bank pursuant to license by MasterCard International Incorporated. Beneficial State Bank member FDIC 2021. Warning. This product contains nicotine. Nicotine is an addictive chemical. Keep the ritual with black buffalo tobacco alternative loan cut in pouches. It's everything you love about dipping and nothing you don't. Just green leaves, food grade ingredients, pharmaceutical grade nicotine and nicotine-free versions called zero.

Available in wintergreen, mint, straight peach, and blood orange. Use promo code dip at checkout for 25% off your first order on black buffalo. Flow.com. Underage sale prohibited may not be available in some states. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo, and every episode, we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the biggest moments in sports and giving you the real story behind the headline. And we're going straight to the source, the athletes themselves, their locker room stories, their reactions in the moment, and the stuff nobody gets to hear.

Listen to Sports Slice on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Sliced Life 12 and the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. 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 acapella 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. What's up, guys? This is Clivert Taylor the Fourth. And on my podcast, The Cliverts Show, I'm bringing you conversations about all kinds of stuff. Like being an internet famous referee. We're in the middle of a game.

This linebacker, this linebacker walks up to me. He goes, hey, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her. What? Time out. Quarterback on office blue with 42. Hey, Rhett, Mom, I want you to weigh better. What? Where's she at?

Hey, Miss Parker. Listen to the Clifford Show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. Will Ferrell's Big Money Players and IHart Podcasts presents soccer moms. So I'm Leanne. Yeah. This is my best friend, Janet. Hey. And we have been joined at the Hips since high school.

Absolutely. A redacted amount of years later, we're still. joined at the hip. Just a little bit bigger hips. This is a podcast. We're recording it as we tailgate. Our youth soccer games in the back of my Honda Odyssey. With all the snacks and drinks.

Why did you get hard seltzer instead of beer? Oh, they had a bogo. Well, then you got them. Listen to soccer moms on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHart podcast. Guaranteed Human.