The Herd with Colin Cowherd - 3 and Out - Niners' MNF Statement; Browns Embarrassed; Garrett Coaching Scared; Packers Legit; Gruden Credit; Mailbag

Episode Date: October 8, 2019

In this episode, Middlekauff looks at why the 49ers total domination of the Browns on Monday Night Football, Jason Garrett's vanilla coaching style, why the Packers are for real, why bad officiating is here to stay, the Raiders and Falcons headed in opposite directions. He also 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,

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Visit geico.com today. That's geico.com. What is going on, everybody? It is about 10.40 at night. I just got back from Levi's Stadium and attended the Monday night football game. You know, I live about 45 miles away, and it took me about two hours. Now, I may or may not have swung by a Wendy's and slammed a spicy chicken sandwich. But God, what a game.

What a game. Wow, that was, I'm still pretty blown away by what I just witnessed. We're obviously going to dive into that. Thank God it's so late, and luckily, you know, I'm a forward thinker. I may or may not have recorded all of the podcast before this. So I talked about Jason Garrett, the Packers, some of the officials and some of the issues that are going on in the NFL. You know, you could argue the most shocking game so far of the season was the Raiders kicking the crap, and they kicked the crap out of the Bears.

The score was much closer than the actual game. and then Dan Quinn, I mean, what's going on with Atlanta? And then like always, the Middlecoff Mailback at John Middlecoff is my Instagram handle. DEMs are wide open so you can slide up in them and I will answer your question on the show, on the mailbag. So just at John Middlecoff, Twitter handle, Instagram handle, easiest way to get a hold of me, slide up in those DMs. Let's start with tonight. And since I know Colin will surely, if you're listening to this, hell, I mean, we get a lot of lists before Colin even goes on air,

but I would imagine he's going to open a show up with Baker Mayfield. I'll dive into Baker here in a second. But I'm going to start with the 49ers. I think they earn this tonight. And I said before the season, I was someone that talked about Kyle, like one of the best coaches in the NFL. And through two years,

he didn't have tangible results because he lost a lot. And I say it over and over. The great part about the NFL is it's pretty black and white. when I talk about coaches or players. It's production-based business. You either win or you lose. For two years, Kyle lost. Now, you could siphon out.

He had five games with Jimmy, his first two years. And I guess it would have been, he got him his first year. And then the second year, Jimmy got hurt three games in. And in those eight starts through the first two years

when he had, you know, the ninth overall pick and then he had the second overall pick. In those eight games, he was six. and two. And then you give Jimmy to Kyle this year, and he is four and, you know, he's 10 and 2. So in 12 games, he's won 10 of them. So that's pretty damn good. When Jimmy Garopposed his quarterback, Kyle's pretty good. And the one thing I felt confident about watching Kyle's teams,

obviously you need to acquire talent, you know, whenever you take over a team like Kyle took over the mess that he inherited with Trent Balkan and Chip Kelly was a joke. It really was. they did a good job through two years. But this offseason, they took it to another level. But the one thing you noticed, and I watch every minute of every Niner game, probably the team that I keep the closest eye on them and the Raiders, but specifically the Niners. No, a lot of people in the organization.

I've followed them my entire life. But I've really watched this Kyle team very, very closely, and they always played so hard. And, you know, and I'm sure we got Atlanta Falcons fans and Redskins fans. You have the Houston Texans fans. You've followed Kyle Shanahan's career. his shit works. He is a dynamic offensive play caller.

But I always, when you would talk to Joe Staley or George Kittle or the defensive guys, they really liked them. And I say it all the time and I live by this. I don't ever judge guys off what they say. I judge by them off their actions. And even when the team was really terrible, they played their ass off. They played really, really hard.

So you went, God, if they could ever get some more talent, this thing's going to work. Well, they had a pretty unreal off season. Because if you've listened to me, you know, I wasn't that big of a Nick Bosa guy. Not because I knew he was a top five player. I just thought Quinn and Williams had much more upside. Well, leaving the game tonight, and really his first three games, he's been awesome.

Tonight he was a one-man wrecking crew. He was the baddest MFer on the field tonight. And that's a field with Odo Beckham. That's a field with D. Ford, with DeForest Buckner, with Richard Sherman, with Jimmy Garoppel, with Baker Mayfield. And it wasn't Miles Garrett. And it wasn't even close. he was an unstoppable force tonight.

And one guy, and I know Nagy always says this about Khalil Mack, and it's a little different with Khalil, who actually didn't have a very game against the Raiders, is that he calls Khalil a multiplier. And just watching this Niner team with Bosa, I do think there's some of that with him, a multiplier. When I say multiplier, I just mean he elevates everyone around him. He has brought, because he's so damn good,

a swag kind of to everything. all the other players. The Niners' defense is just really good. It is really, really talented. And if you give Kyle Shannahan a good defense, hell, he could win games with Brian Hoyer, let alone Jimmy Garoplo, George Kittal, Kyle Uscheck, who hopefully is okay.

I know he's a listener of this show. He's an absolute hammer. Kyle and the Shanahan family have generating, you know, generating and creating explosive plays from the run game with guys you've never heard of for 20 plus years. I know if you don't watch the Niners that closely, now I would imagine some of you guys play fantasy football, from Bray to Mozart to obviously Telvin Coleman we've known about,

but he's been injured. This was his first game back since week one, and he turned his ankle. They got dudes. And their receiving course not great, but that's just a well-coached team. And I feel confident now and kind of validated that I knew Kyle was a good coach, but eventually you've got to win. and now he's got talent and now he's winning. Now, are they a Super Bowl team? Are they even a 12-win team?

I'm not going to go that far, but it's pretty clear they're a playoff team. They're a high-level team in terms of they have talented players, they have a really, really good coach, and they have a high-end, like tonight. Now, they were coming off a by, but when you come off a by and you have talent

and you have a good coach, you should beat the shit out of someone. And that's what they did. And they beat a team, at least sitting from the stands. I got to re-watch the game. on my iPad. I might actually do this after I hit save and before I go to bed. Is let's transition to the other team. And I'm taking nothing away from the Niners because they

came out like Mike Tyson. They hit him square in the jaw and the team fell. And like Mike Tyson says, everyone has a game plan until you get hit in the mouth. Well, Cleveland, I don't know, if Freddy Kitchen has a game plan or not. And whatever game plan they had, they actually ran a couple of cool plays early on in the game. They just didn't work. But sometimes your game plan doesn't work. Like, can you change? Can you adapt? Can you throw another pitch? Can you coach through it? Can your players play

through it? And from the stands, now, you know, just blue collar, wasn't that close, it didn't 300, so I was, you know, relatively far away. But I had a good bird's eye view. It looked like they almost quit early on. It almost looked like the Cleveland Browns did not want to be there. Like, ugh, we don't want to play in this game. especially once, I mean, it was like 10-0. Like, ah, we're over it.

Maybe it was 14-0. They just looked over it. Like, is this really going on right now? Because I would imagine that Colin and all the people talking today, Baker-Mayfield's numbers, I just saw it on my phone, was like 8 of 22 through 100. It was terrible. From my vantage point,

and this is back to Bosa and D. Ford and all those guys, it didn't look like Baker even had a chance. Like if Tom Brady would have been playing, if Rogers would have been playing, he would have got his ass kick because they couldn't block for him. The thing that I noticed, again, like maybe it looked a little bit different on television, but for my vantage point, I can't put that much on Baker. Now, does he hold the ball a little too long? For sure.

But the play that he hits Calway, little behind him, he hits the guy in the hands. Now, he had to adjust. The ball hits off his foot, and the Niners guy picks it off and takes it, Kwan Alexander, who has not been playing very good this season and takes it back 50 yards. Like, am I going to crush Baker for that? Now, here's where I will, you know, put something on Baker. Nick Bosa, after the game, was saying, basically he was talking shit to Baker all game long. Because Nick Bosa came from Ohio State, where he planted the flag, and I had no problem

with Baker planting the flag back in the day. But when you are plant the flag guy, and then you're always talk guy, when you do eventually face a Nick Bosa, a Khalil Mack, a JJ Watt, and for whatever reason you've pissed them off, that's what's weird about the Browns, is it felt like the Niners were hunting the Browns. Like, the Niners were the undefeated team. This team was 2-2,

and it felt like the Niners were the team taking the swing at the Browns. The Browns, who have never done anything, I went with my buddy Brian today, and we're sitting there watching the game, having a couple beers, and I was like, you know what's crazy? In our 35 years of life, I don't, how much? many times the Browns been good, especially in our adult life. They've had what, one winning

season the last 20 plus years, yet somehow because of how much their quarterback talked and how much hype and rightfully so, because their team is really talented. Like the Niners would take Landry, they'd take Biles Garrett, they'd take Odell Beckham Jr. They would take a bunch of those dudes on defense. Like they got some players. But they were just anointed as, you know, it's like the Patriots, the Chiefs, and the Browns. What? Huh? And that's where I, And I've told Colin this. I disagree with Colin about the talent, I think, in Baker-Mayfield. But I never disagreed with his take of, you know, acting like that and carrying yourself like that

when you really dove into the season last year of who did he beat? And he didn't play well against good teams. And I think the most overstated thing right now in NFL, in the NFL with young quarterbacks, is like when a young quarterback breaks a rookie record, where breaks his team, like Derek Carr just became the all-time passer for the Oakland Raiders. You do understand that the inflated numbers in these last four or five years in the NFL are unlike anything we've ever seen. It'd be like if a guy came up to the majors right now and hit 75 home runs. Like what? I think that was a rookie. He did that?

It would just stand out. That's what the equivalent of what guys are doing right now in football relative to dudes in the 70s and the 80s. It just wasn't normal to do that. And I know Troa Hakeman got mad about Mahomes, but if you look at Troy Aikman's numbers, who had a great career, a good season for him was like 25 touchdowns. So it's impossible to parallel, like, oh, Baker threw more touchdowns

than any rookie quarterback ever. Relative to who? Like who was really thrown, or whatever his stats that he broke? I don't care. But back to Baker, I'm not putting the night on him because every time it felt like he was running for his life,

legitimately split seconds, those guys were in the backfield. I put it more of Freddie Kitchens. His team look lifeless. They look like a bunch of mercenaries just kind of hobbled together. Looking from, again, my view, vantage point, does O'Dell Beckham really want to be there? And this is something Collins talked about before. He doesn't want to be in Cleveland.

And I get his Monday night football, but they just like, like, what are we doing here? Is Freddie Kitchens like a lock to be a one-and-done coach? Here's a novel concept. Don't just hire a coach because your rookie quarterback is friends with him. He's clearly over his head. I mean, back to Kyle, I think Kyle is a good coach, but he's not Belichick. I mean, he shouldn't just make you look like a peewee coach.

He embarrassed him the night. People are talking about in my section, does Freddie Kitchens make it on the team charter home? You invite him back to the facility. How do you shake this night? That was one of the biggest. The score doesn't even do the game that I witnessed justice. If you had to say, the game that you just witnessed, what would the score be? I'd be like 58 to 0.

That's what it felt like, where every quarter they score 18 points or 17 points. That was as gutless of a performance. I feel, I think the Niners are good. think they're a playoff team. But I thought tonight was as much about as gutless of a performance you'll see from the Cleveland Browns. That was an embarrassment. Niners play hard.

They've been playing hard for the last three years. They just have more talent now. They play hard every game. Most decent NFL teams play hard. If your team doesn't play hard, you just have a clown operation going. Even you look at crappy teams for the most part, teams are going to play pretty hard on a on a week-in, week-out basis, especially on Monday night foot. 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 SlicLife 12 and the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Welcome to my new podcast. learn the hard way 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

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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 walks up to me. He goes, hey, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her.

What? Quarterback on office blue 42. A rep, my mama want you to wave at her. What? Hey, Ms. Park. Listen to the Cliverts show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, 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 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 bases on offense. And when IT's friends stop by, like Quentin Richardson, we dive into some playoff history too.

Steve Nass would get that thing. That man, hell get the flying. He running 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 podcast. It's one thing if, like, the Miami Dolphins are on Monday Night Football,

and I think actually they might be coming up later this season. Like, they're just so bad you can't even expect them to do anything. But if you have Odell Beckham, Jarvis Landry, Miles Garrett, some other dudes on defense, like you shouldn't just, you should not look gutless. You should not look like you're quitting. And that, in the NFL,

in the business that is the sport of football, that usually gets put on the head coach because they're in charge of game planning, they're in charge of motivating, they're in charge of kind of rallying the troops. And you saw one guy that clearly people play for them. You saw another guy where do they even believe in what's going on?

Do they even want to be there? the Cleveland Browns are an absolute disaster. If you would have told me that when I got back here tonight, I don't think I could have even believed what I just witnessed. If you would have tried to explain it to me as I was driving down to Leibis Stadium today in the middle of the day. I kept telling everyone I kept getting text, like, do you like the Browns to cover the five points?

I'm like, I think five points is a lot. The line should be closer to three. hell, 30 points wouldn't have been enough. What a joke. I feel for Cleveland Browns fans, and there were a lot of them there tonight at Levi's because that was as big of an ass weapon as you'll see on a Monday night football game.

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worth interviewing faster. Did you know every week nearly 40 million job seekers visit LinkedIn? Post your job for free at LinkedIn.com slash reach. That's LinkedIn.com slash reach to post your job for free. Terms and conditions apply. Okay, let's dive into, you know, the marquee game of Sunday. It didn't quite turn out that way. And I'll start with the Cowboys, and then we'll dive into the Packers. And it hit me yesterday, and listen, maybe I've been on the Jason Garrett Island longer than others.

I always thought he got somewhat of a raw deal. His team, especially the last four or five years, have been really competitive. He's made the playoffs multiple times, he even won a playoff game last year. Everyone talks about him like the village idiot. And I'm just like, no, he's not the village idiot. The guy's an Ivy Leagueer. He's actually an intellectual elite. But it hit me yesterday.

I'm around, living in Northern California, a lot of these intellectual elites. I'm just a state school guy. Got a couple state school degrees up on my wall. But I'm around a lot of Cal, Stanford, UCLA. These super, super, really bright guys. My dad went to Davis, but UC Davis. all these guys are really smart. And to me, there are a lot of smart guys just in society that underachieve.

And people like me benefit. Because if all the smart guys maximize their abilities, they would run the world. I watched this documentary. I don't even know if it was documentary. It was just, I watched a couple episodes about Bill Gates on Netflix. And you just realize the guy's intellectual capacity is incredible. The dude is brilliant. He can read at rapid speeds and comprehend information.

Like, I always did poorly in reading comprehension. I got to reread stuff like 10 times. The guy just flies through things, retains it all, and then uses it to dominate business. And he's been dominating business down for like 30 years. Now, perfect timing. He was in software stuff, the time the internet was blowing up. But you can't dispute if you watch this documentary.

I think it's on Netflix, maybe HBO or Amazon Prime. Just Google it. It's just really powerful. The guy is the highest level business nerd, probably in the history of the world. Genius. Now, Jason Garrett, if you just had him take a standardized test, he'd do really well.

The way these Ivy League's work, they don't just let anyone into school. Like Stanford. If you get into Stanford to play football, like Richard Sherman, like Andrew Locke, like all these guys, Baldwin over the year, they're really smart. They're the high end of intellectual intelligence

when it comes to NFL players. Now, just because you're smart doesn't make you a good player, i.e. Jason Garrett, who's a lifetime backup, But I always thought, you know what? This guy is going to eventually figure it out. And I'm watching him against the Packers just look absolutely lifeless on the sideline. And he doesn't call offense. He doesn't call defense.

He really doesn't do anything except kind of be the CEO. But to me, he's the worst kind of CEO. Because he's this intellectual, super bright guy, and he's got no balls. And I'm a big believer just in life. What separates people is not necessarily your intelligence. because we've seen a lot of intelligent people fail time and time again or not reach their capacity. Some of the people in my life that I've been around that run successful businesses, they are not the highest educated people.

I'd argue they just have the biggest balls. They consistently are not afraid. And I watched Jason Garrett, who would just ever, he always looks terrified to take chances. Like Jason, do you ever just run trick plays? Do you ever go for it when people are like, you know, this is a ballsy call? We've never once. And again, I'm dying on the hill and I'm finally jumping off. I still believe in Kellynne Moore.

I'm not necessarily changing my tune there. I think he's run into two really good defensive coordinators back-to-back weeks. I think he's smart enough sometimes. You know, I've talked a lot about it on this show. Experience does matter. You know, there's a thing that Andy Reid, Sean Payton, Pete Carroll, Bill Belichick, they can always go back to the well. Hell, Mike Petton, he's been in this league for what, 15 plus years?

Kellynne Moore can't really go back to the well that often in the NFL. He needs to rely on Jason Garrett, you know, his head coach, who's an offensive guy. And what's he bringing to the table? Like, where can Jason Garrett bring in a curveball? Because the number one thing that I see he lacks, which is going to, you know, inhibit his ability to ever become a top-notch coach is he kind of coach is scared. He's kind of a wuss. and he never does anything where you go, whoa, didn't expect to see that.

An onside kick, just something crazy, any sort of curveball. Because you know what, at the end of the day, he doesn't have it in him. He's just a super smart vanilla guy. I bet he's the same breakfast, same lunch, just kind of like a military. And I'm not saying there's anything wrong with that. But sometimes in the NFL as a head coach, you have to color outside the lines a little bit. I'm pro-structure. pro, you know, trying to eat healthy or whatever.

I'm pro, like, every week we do the same things. Belichick, his weeks don't change. Now, his game plans do, and I don't think Jason Garrett is either capable of changing game plans or two. He's terrified too. Like, oh, I don't know how this will work. Who gives a shit? If we got to fail, let's fail.

But you guys consistently failed with the Cowboys doing the same thing over and over. Hammer and Zeke, Hammer and Zeke. Well, it's not working, Jason. It's not working. Can you get DAC some just layup passes? Now, early in the game, it was somewhat of a, you know, of a big moment. Amari dropped a pass, and then kind of the snowball effect there, right? The floodgates opened up, and the Packers never look back.

But I do see the Packers, they're willing to take some chances. You look at all the best teams around the league right now. The Colts, they're always taking chances. We crushed Pete Carroll the other night for not going on fourth and down, or fourth down. We crushed, you know, over the years, Belichick. He's always willing to take chances. It doesn't always have to work. Like, we're not about, I had no problem.

Everyone's like, I can't believe Coach Reed ran that play. You know, on fourth down. Well, one, he went for it on fourth down. Two, his quarterback was hobbled. They're somewhat limited. Your fourth down plays aren't always going to work. I give you credit for just going for it. Jason Garrett feels like the guy that would never go for it.

Feels like the guy that's terrified to going for it. He's just so vanilla. and I saw what everyone's been saying. It's not like I'm probably preaching to the choir here. You guys have been saying this and seeing this forever. But man, it's like Jason, get out of your comfort zone. Take some chances. You have too talented of a team to just stay in the slow lane.

Sometimes you've got to get in the fast lane to get where you're going. And right now he just refuses to get out of that thing. He's like, I'm not going to turn on my blinker. I'm not going to go over two lanes. Like Jason, well, then you're just not going to make it to your destination. because you're in the last year of your contract. I don't think it's Super Bowl or bust, but you better get to the NFC championship game.

You have the talent. You've got players in every position. Your defense is absolutely loaded. Now, you don't have anything to do with it. And I know they didn't play well yesterday, but they are really good. You need to mix it up, my man. If you want to color inside the lines,

you will be relieved of your duties after this season. You're the head coach of the Cowboys. You've got a pretty good thing going. Jerry and Stephen clearly love you. But you're just, The refusal to do anything outside of the lines is going to be your undoing. Okay, let's dive into the Packers, and they remind me of an experience I had in college. When I went to Cal Poly in like 0.3, 0.405, the MMA was taking off.

And it just so happened in the town that Cal Poly's in, San Luis Obispo. They had a guy that was born and raised there, and then went to the school, and he was a wrestler. His name was Chuck Lydell. He became the star of MMA. I'm not the biggest MMA guy, but I got into it with him. You'd meet him around town, he was always around, and he was like a superstar. He's like the rock star of the town. And what Chuck Liddell did, better than every other fighter, is he hit you like Mike Tyson.

He had a right that if he connected to your jaw, you would go night night. It was a rap. Despite being a college wrestler, which Cal Polye has a good wrestling program, he was not a very good wrestler at that level. So if you got him to the ground, if he couldn't connect, he was going to lose. But if he hit you with the right, either an uppercut or a hook, it was game, set match. And for the last several years, the Packers have had one thing to knock you out. It was Rogers throwing touchdowns. That's all they could do.

They couldn't play any defense. They couldn't run the ball. They just had one nasty right hook. And it was led by number 12, and it was him just making crazy-ass plays. throwing TDs. And he's one of the best at it we've ever seen. But football is not basketball. If he was the equivalent to LeBron

or Steph Curry or Kevin Durant, he couldn't carry the team by himself. Though, remember, a couple years ago now, I think it was the year the Falcons made the Super Bowl, Rogers got him in the playoffs and rattled off some playoff victories, basically just by himself and throwing touchdown. But for the most part, they have not been a balanced team. The one time they had some balance, they won

the Super Bowl back in 2010. But I saw him several years. when the defense kind of became a shell of himself, I went to some of these games against the 49ers, and Jim Harbaugh was kicking their ass. Because Harbaugh's team was more physical, and they could run it right down their throat. Well, now, for the first time,

it feels like it'd be the equivalent of Chuck Laudel could wrestle and move and knock you out. Because I'm watching the Packers going, well, they're run games top-notch. They have a running back that had four touchdowns yesterday, but he has eight on the season. So they're going to get, when it's all said and done, you know, 18 rushing,

touchdowns, to me that's balance. And then you watch their defense, they got DBs everywhere, they got multiple cover corners, they added those Smith guys that are really good. 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. athletes 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 Slices Life 12. and 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. iHeartRadio app search learn the hard way and listen now

what's up guys this is clivert taylor the fourth and on my podcast the clivert 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 you know these kids linebacker walks up to me he goes hey ref my mom wants you to wave at her what quarterback on office blue 42 a rep my mama want you to wave at her 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 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 Nasree. 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 running up the court, licking his fingers, why he got the ball like,

after you go through a training camp with that, I said, 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. I call them the Smith Brothers. Smith Brothers 2.0, like Alden and Justin,

they're a little different, but they're playmakers. All they do is make plays. And then with Blake Martinez and Kenny Clark, they're just a really good tackling team, they're a tough team, and they have balance. And I'm not a big Matt LaFleur guy, and not really much has changed. Because in the game where Aaron Rogers really broke out a couple weeks ago against the Packer or against the Eagles, I thought Rogers kind of went a little throwback.

Let's go three and four wide, and I'll carry this bad boy. And it ultimately didn't work. But when the LaFlears, the McVeys, and the Shanahan's, what makes the young guys kind of impressive, which I will give him crudos to this, they come from a philosophy of run the ball first. and when you can run the ball first and you have a good defense, you're going to be in all these games. And then when you just have Aaron Rogers,

because at any moments notice, he can just make an Aaron Rogers type play, you're going to be good. I thought they were not going to make the playoffs. I don't see any way at 4-1 and the balance in which they have, even if Matt LaFleure is not some great head coach, how they don't make the playoffs. They're just too talented of a team.

They really are. They're too physical. They're just too well-balanced. They have players basically at every position. I mean, they just won that game, and let's call it what it is. They kick the crap out of the Cowboys. The final score says 34 to 24. The game I witnessed felt more like 40 to 10.

It was an ass whoopin. Led by Rodgers, led by the defense, led by the running back, just a beat down. And for a long, long time, we said, God, the Packers are soft, the Packers are soft. I can't say that anymore. Like, when I see the Packers, I go, That's a physical football team.

And when you're a physical football team with a Hall of Fame quarterback, a running game, and a top-notch defense, you're a threat. And when you start looking at the NFC, Philly's got some issues, they can't cover. We already saw Green Bay matches up pretty well against them. They just kicked the crap out of Dallas.

You know, the 49ers, we got a long way to go. The Rams, Seattle, I would say the Packers would match up pretty well against Seattle. I think when it's all said and done, you're going to see the Packers are pulling up their schedule right now. I know they play the 49ers in a couple weeks.

Basically, they're scheduled, the Lions, the Raiders, the Chiefs, the Niners, the Bears, the Vikings. I mean, we're going to learn a lot about this team, but I'm looking at them like a 12 or 13 win squad right now. I think they are really good. I'm changing my tune on them. They're just, they're too well put together at every position. And if Devante's healthy, I would just, I'd make sure he was healthy.

because if he's healthy, they're a major threat to be dealt with because for a long, long time, they were a one-trick pony. And now they got about seven tricks. And we've seen the top team in the league for the last 20 years have been the Patriots. They could beat you a million ways, and they're still doing it. When you can beat teams more than one way and you don't get dependent on just one element that you do really well,

even if it's a passing game led by Aaron Rogers, you're going to be a threat to win every game. and clearly this team is going to be heard from come January. Where do you find the perfect project manager? Well, we found him in his perfectly organized home office in Adelaide. But you can find him and thousands like him right now on Upwork. When the world is your workforce, finding the perfect project manager, designer, developer,

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What up? It's Dramos. You may know me from The Recap on LATV. Now I've got my own podcast, Life as a Gringo, coming to you every Tuesday and Thursday. We'll be talking real and unapologetic about. all things like, Latin culture, and everything in between from someone who's never quite fit in. Listen to Life as a Gringo on the IHeart Radio app or wherever you get your podcasts. Brought to you by State Farm. Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there.

Okay, let's dive into the officials. And this is, you know, I don't love talking about the officials. But I do think these last several years, they're at an all-time low. feels like these guys have no clue what they're doing, and I've said over and over, and I say the same thing about baseball, and I say the same thing about basketball, they have to be better. We've never had more money on the line. They have to figure this out. And I've really kind of realized that I don't think anything's ever going to change. I really don't. I saw, I consider it one of the more embarrassing personal foul or, you know, unsportsmanlike conduct or whatever the proper term is for it yesterday on Jason Garrett.

I didn't have money on the Cowboys or anything. Actually, I was kind of getting joy out of watching them get their butts kicked. But Jason Garrett slammed a red flag yesterday in front of official and they threw a flag. And I say this all the time about basketball. I talk a lot about the Warriors, you know, and Draymond Green gets a lot of technical fouls. If I cross the line as an athlete or a coach and I say something personal to you, if I bring up your family, if I make some sort of homophobic reference, I got no problem with you teeing me up or throwing a personal foul.

But if I yell the F word at you, this is not Little League. We are not teaching life lessons. This is a $15 billion business with a lot on the freaking line. And Jason Garrett is coaching for his, literally for his coaching life. And he may say F you to you as he slams the red, flag. I'm sorry, referees. This ain't about you. That individual referee should be either fined or suspended. That is, that should not be

tolerated. Again, this is not Peewee football. This ain't even college football. That would piss me off in college, but teaching some life lessons, I get it. We ain't doing life lessons on Sundays. We're doing business. It's the only thing that matters. And these referees get so caught up in their feelings, it's a joke. But I've also come to grips with this. You know who doesn't necessarily care how this plays out,

win or lose on a typical Sunday? Are most of the owners in the league office? Because at the end of the day, what the NFL is is the most powerful thing we have on television right now. It consistently draws 15 to 25 million people, sometimes more than that with big games, to their television sets. And the NFL makes so much freaking money on their media deal because of that.

and they really just want interest to be high. And this is drama that feels like a big deal. I'm talking about it. You're talking about it. We're getting sensed about it when the calls go the wrong way. It pisses us off when our team loses. Our players get screwed. Our coach gets screwed.

Vice versa. It's ridiculous because we see every game, these calls. And I think most people, if they took a deep breath, would say that job's pretty hard. I think we all can acknowledge it. It's hard. These guys are moving at war. the plays happen so fast, so it's difficult. But now with replay, they're still consistently getting them wrong.

But the business of the NFL, that just adds more intrigue. Think of it like a television show. The referees are now a character. The players are the main characters, the teams and the players. The coaches now are massive, massive characters. And now the referees. We start Al Riveron, Forever Hockey League. We know all these guys' names.

Look at the jobs that are being created. by ex-officials now they're playing a part in the television broadcast. They're all a big part of the production that this thing, that's this cash cow known as the National Football League. So does Roger Goodell and some of his minions in the league office really care that much if Scumman screwed up a holding call or a PI call that cost someone a game in mid-October? I don't really think they do. I think they somewhat cared about the pass interference in the New Orleans game just because

that was the NFC championship game. You know, when I say 20 million people watch a regular season, you get more like 40, 45 million. My numbers could be off a little bit, but you're talking. It's the most watch product in America. And really, there's no close second right now to live events. Now, some of these events on Netflix and HBO stream, for sure.

I'm talking live events. The NFL just wants to get you to the couch. What happens inside the lines during it, the controversy actually is good for their budget. business. Now it sucks for me and you when we're gambling on it. That's the human element of this. And I do believe they have to get better at, there shouldn't be anything wrong. Because I love it when people say, well, it's just, it's sports, there's got to be a human element to it. Yeah, that was cool to say in the 70s. We got a million cameras, we got slow-mo,

it's time to get it right. If we're going to allow people betting on it, the amount of money these fans are paying to sit in the stadiums. The amount, hell, that I'm paying and you're paying, I haven't cord cut yet because I'm so dependent on watching these games. I can't afford to have my internet go down and not being able to stream. So yeah, I don't love paying Comcast $220 a month, but it gives me a piece of mind that every time I turn on my television, I'm going to have access to whatever I need access to real time. So I pay a little bit more for that, just that guarantee.

But the league, I've learned this, and I've been on the other side for years. This is just not okay. They have to figure this out. I see it in baseball. Like, how are we letting humans call balls and strikes? I'm watching playoff games where the balls and strikes are not even close. It's egregious. And I'm pro-humans.

I'm not big on like let the robots take out humans' jobs. But I'm good on the robo-ump because the human, they got no shot. And one time, back in high school, I was an umpire in Little League. And these guys were throwing like 50 miles an hour. It's difficult when they're throwing 50. I can't imagine some of these guys throwing 100 miles an hour. So this is just something that the leagues, and definitely the NFL, kind of likes. It's just chaos.

It just gets us talking about it. But to think that they really have that much incentive to get it fixed, I think it's fair to say that they don't. And it's probably just going to be a lot of what we've witnessed the last several years, just consistent crappy calls. week in, week out, determining these games. And I feel bad for the players, the coaches, the GMs that are involved, and it sucks when your team's on the wrong end of it.

But don't expect anything to change anytime soon. I have probably in the media, definitely locally and maybe nationally, been as harsh of a critic on John Gruden as you'll find. He said he's been stealing money. What he did these last year and a half has been malpractice. it's been pretty sad. But these last two weeks, I got to eat a little crow. Because I would say last weekend, or I guess if you're listening to this on Sunday,

he had to be the most shocking game of the day. Not just because he won. You know, they had beat Indianapolis two weeks ago, which was really shocking. And then he goes to London for the entire week. The Bears roll in. Yeah, they got their backup quarterback. But it's the way they won. They manhandled the Chicago Bears.

I understand pushing around the Colts a little bit, smaller team. They're a little bit of an overachieving bunch. Even if, you know, you go, well, the Colts are better than the Raiders. And I'd say if they play 10 times, the Colts would probably win 7. But if you told me the Bears and the Raiders played 10 times, before the game, I'd say the Bears were winning 9. I don't necessarily, I might move that number down to like 6 or 7, but I got to tip my hat to Gruden and his team.

because they showed up and they manhandled the Chicago Bears, who I think have the best defensive personnel in the league. Now their defense isn't playing the best in the league. That's clearly the Patriots. But they got shoved around. And Khalil Mack was not very good. Roquan Smith was not very good. They lost to Keem Hicks early.

But they were just shoving those guys around. And when they had to hit big plays in the passing game, Derek did. Josh Jacobs looks like a combination of Chris Carson and Marshawn Lynch, making guys miss, running through tackles. his body and balance control on contact is fantastic. He plays so fast, he plays so violent. He was the best player on the field. And for all we had talked about is Khalil Mack had been traded

and we rehashed that a million times, I still would never trade Khalil Mack. But for a short-term win, that's a short-term win. Because we trade a Kalil Mack, we got two first-round picks. One of them was Josh Jacobs. We just kicked your ass with this guy and we'll get your first round pick again next year.

So that's somewhat, I mean, That was an eye-opening experience for the Chicago Bears, who I think the bears are good. But Chase Daniels was terrible. He threw multiple picks. He got bailed out on one because of a late hit. His pick to end the game. 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. 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. Sportslice 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 Slices Life 12. and 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. iHeartRadio app search learn the hard way and listen now what's up guys this is clivert taylor the fourth and on my podcast the clivert 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 you know these kids linebacker walks up to me he goes hey ref my mom wants you to wave at her what quarterback on office blue 42 hey rep my mama want you to wave at her what

Hey, Miss Parker. Listen to the Cliverts show on the I Heart 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 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 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 I said, 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 podcast. Game was an embarrassment. They were down three points.

They're at the midfield. There's a minute left. You cannot turn over the ball because a field goal sends you into overtime. The one thing you cannot do is throw a pick. And he didn't just throw a pick. You know, it went through the wide receiver's hands. He wasn't on the same page as wide receiver and hit one of the Raiders' defensive backs in the breadbasket.

But for the Raiders to just shove around a team that I think we'd all call really physical, and I'm getting a lot of people asking me, are the Raiders good? Well, find me a team in the NFL that's had better back-to-back wins. Find me that team. Maybe it's the Saints who beat Seattle, then beat the Cowboys. But back-to-back road wins, Indie, Chicago.

I get technically as a home game, but as Dick Stockton said on the broadcast to Mark Slarath, you know, it's supposed to be a Raiders home game, but they're way more Bears fans here. Well, of course, because the Raiders, because their owner's so broke and has no pull, they make them play all these international games. And the Raider fans will always tell you we're the biggest brand in the league, but it turns out every time they go to these international games, the other teams have way more fans. So you had a pretty big disadvantage.

So I got to give the Raiders even more credit. They're basically playing a home game that's not just a road game, because the opposing fans are there, but it's on international waters. And to kick the crap out of the bears, I think the Raiders, now they're on a buy. If they win one of these next two games at Green Bay, at Houston, I will say they can make the playoffs. Because I think when you look at the AFC playoffs, you go, New England more than likely be the one seat.

I wouldn't say that just in concrete yet. Them and the Chiefs are going to battle all season long. You'll think New England will drop a game or two. eventually. So those are one and two seeds in some order. Then whoever wins the AFC South, I'd probably lean the Colts, but you could probably make an argument for all four teams. Then the AFC North is going to be between the Browns and the

Bravens. Whoever wins that will probably be the three or four seed, whatever ordered them in the South and the North. And then I think the bills, when it's all sudden done, are probably going to win like 11 games. Their defense is top-notes. They're well-coached. They're tough. Who's going to win the fifth seat or excuse me the six wild I guess it's the second wild card but the six seat

you go the charges are terrible uh the Jets Dolphins stink Steelers god awful you know whoever kind of falls off either the Ravens or the Browns nine wins might win that division

why couldn't the Raiders get to nine or ten wins and win that succeed I actually think again I never would have said this in a million years three weeks ago. But if they win one of these next two games, you'll hear me say they can get that spot. Now, if they get beat both these games, then all of a sudden you're three and four.

You know, you still got to play the Chiefs again. You've got to play the Chargers twice. You've got to play Denver in Denver, who's a good, bad team. It could be a little more difficult for sure. Even like the Lions are pretty solid. Their schedule is not easy. but these next two games we might have to start talking playoffs with John Gruden

and then the it's over game yesterday like it's just put a bow on it it's done send them home I know Jay Gruden got fired and Jay has to feel just so relieved today he doesn't have to listen to Bruce Allen or Dan Snyder ever again they get to pay him for a little bit

it's got to be a good feeling but Dan Quinn I read the stat over the summer I think I had read in Peter King's MMQB that he was the first coach to replace all three coordinators since 1989. One of the biggest red flags, I can remember going in sports. Replace all three coordinators for the first time in 30 plus years. It's done. It's over.

The Houston Texans just put up 55 points. Sean Watson threw five touchdowns. Kicking myself, I would have loved to play him in daily fantasy. On my team, not against him, which I did, and I got beat. that can't happen. Their team's soft, it's terrible. Matt Ryan has been, eh, they got sweet receivers, Ridley's a stud,

Julio's a stud, Suno's a stud, they've drafted, you know, in theory pretty well over the last couple years, and they're just a poorly coached team. He's done, he's dead man walking. And we should have known that when he replaced all three coordinators. The chances of that working

like five or six years into your tender to me seem slim to none. Like that's not good. going to work. That's going to be impossible. It's kind of validated now. And maybe I don't know much about them. I mean, I've met him once really briefly. Seems like a good guy. You know, I don't think it's quite like a Jay Gruden Redskins thing. He did get the team to the Super Bowl. I think they will treat him with respect. But you keep getting blown out. Like, at the end of the day, you're judged on wins and losses and

also how your team looks. So if you're just getting rolled and your ass kicked every week, I think you could justify maybe firing him in like December just to kind of get a head start on the coaching search. because it's pretty clear the Atlanta Falcons, you know, are about two months away from starting their coaching search. Hell, I mean, if it keeps going like this, he might not make it to like Thanksgiving. And I'm not here campaigning people should lose their job,

but I think this would be justified if it keeps going like it's going. Career Builder is made for people who have that thing. You know, those superpowers that make you good at your job, the skills you bring to work. And Career Builder knows those skills make you right for other jobs. too. Hire paying jobs with benefits. Jobs you never thought of trying. Are you a people person? Work from home as a customer service rep. Are you organized and like driving? Become a delivery driver. You have the skills it takes and careerbuilder.com has the jobs to get you hired fast. Visit careerbuilder.com. These days, it can be hard to find and hire the right candidates for your small business. That's why LinkedIn jobs made it easier to find the people you want to talk to faster and for free. Create a job. post in minutes on LinkedIn jobs to reach your network and beyond to the world's largest professional network of over 770 million people. Focus on candidates with the skills and experience

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favorite snack. Reveal what else you're never going to give up in 2022 for a chance to win $1,000. official rules at never going to give it up.com. No purchase necessary. Enter by February 27th, 2022, 17 plus 50 U.S., D.C. and PR. Okay, let's dive into the middle coffee mail bag. And before we get in, because some of these questions might be old, I want to touch on two things. I watched a decent amount of this game. Christian McCaffrey, it's clear he's one of the best players in the NFL right now, including quarterbacks.

I mean, he's literally carrying one of his teams, or carrying his team, who is playing an undrafted free agent at quarterback. He's unstoppable. There's nothing that he can't do. And there was a picture that Leonard Fournett tweeted out yesterday. When Leonard Fournett was drafted, what did we all say? Well, he's a really big physical running back. When he thought Christian McAfrey, you just thought a smaller guy. Well, just go to Leonard Fornett's Twitter page.

They're like similar size. McCaffrey's arms are massive. His ability to break tackles, his play speed is incredible, his receiving ability. If you tell me that the Carolina Panthers somehow win like 11 games after starting 0-2 and Cam's injured, he'd get my vote. I'm dead serious. And I thought Mahomes was like a lock. I'm starting to think maybe he's not a lock anymore.

It's not a three-person race. Russell, Mahomes, and McCaffrey. And I don't think it can be overstated. He's a baller, like an unstoppable ass kicker, who you know he's getting the ball and it doesn't matter. And then Gardner Minchew on the other side, if he keeps playing like, he's going to be the rookie of the year. Josh Jacobs is going to have an argument if the Raiders keep playing well.

But those two guys, Gardner Minchew is just a high-level NFL quarterback right now. Like makes legitimate NFL throws. He's not throwing for hollow yards. Like, it's making big-time passes and big-time spots. good teams. I can't be any more just like holy moly this guy's good. I say that every time I watch him and I'm just naturally kind of rooting for him because he's a fun story and his name and the mustache. But for all the fluff, like you just take a step back and just evaluate him in a vacuum as a football player, he's good.

If I was giving him like a grade in the scouting system, I was working in the league, he would get a very, very good grade for me. His pocket presence, his accuracy, is just playmaking ability. He's impossible not. to like. If you just like football, he's a fun player to watch. Like that game, what was so fun about that game is I got just two electrifying players. McCaffrey, who might be the most electrifying running back, him and Alvin Kamara, in the league, and then Gardner, who just, just a playmaker. What's your honest opinion on Daniel Jones, Danny Darts?

So far, small sample size, two regular season games. Well, the actual third game was played. This is a little bit old. I didn't watch that much of the Minnesota game. I actually played like Cousins and Thielen and Daily Fantasy. I thought they would kill him. You know, I think, listen, he was playing with what? His four-string running back. They just got golden tape back.

They cut a couple wide receivers. It's clear his athletic ability. He's accurate, but there are going to be some growing pains. And it's really impossible to judge him. His own line sucks. Sequan's out and their wide receivers aren't any good. I think we've already seen enough to be like, There's definitely some stuff to work with.

He's definitely a high-level, smart guy. They're going to have to do a better job moving forward of surrounding him with players. You know, wide receivers, they have a pass-catching tight end, but they need a couple legitimate wide receivers to go along with Sequin and invests in the offensive line. Yeah, I think that it's fair to say that you have a potential quarterback of the future, a potential quarterback of the future. I'd go as far as say that.

would I buy all the Daniel Jones stock? No, but I do like the guy. What do you think is wrong with the Falcons? They seem poised to make a run at the playoffs this year based on talent. P.S. I'm a Saints fan and loving their state of suck. Yeah, I just, like I talked about the coaches. I think they have a soft culture. I think Matt Ryan's a limited player if you don't have just an elite play caller. I mean, the one year that they went 15 and 1 and went to the Super Bowl,

Kyle Shannon was a play caller. and he got to dominate. And Julio was in the peak of his powers. DeMonte Freeman was in the peak of his powers. They had a lot of dudes making plays. The defense was solid. And now the defense just sucks week in, week out. They give up way too many points.

And Dan Quinn, you just... Sometimes coaches their tenure comes, like, after 15 years. Like, it happened to Andy Reed and Philly. Yeah, I think it's kind of happening right now to Mike Tomlin, who's been there, what, like 12 years? sometimes it happens to guys like six or seven years in. And then what was McCarthy? Like 10?

You know, it happens to coaches at different times where it's just like, this is not going to happen anymore. And I think we're at that point with Dan Quinn. Is he going to get a head coaching job next year? I doubt it. Now, are you going to hire him to become your defensive coordinator? You go, well, their defenses have sucked. So why would I hire him to be my defensive coordinator?

I think it's going to be a little more difficult for him to get a job than people realize. Two-part question here. Steelers and Florida State fan. Been listening since day one and love your material. I was wondering if you have ever considered spending some time during your podcast to talk about fantasy football. Since the Steelers season is over, I have focused more on fantasy football.

I would love to hear your take on certain players and team matchups. Yeah, I love playing daily fantasy. One tip I have, whenever you get a team, especially a talented team, against the New York Giants, play it. Also one thing I learned, if you get good, wide receivers against Tampa Bay, play them. Because they will, like Michael Thomas, who I stayed away from, and then boom. Also, you're going to take a quarterback, play them against the Falcons, because those guys play

well. So boom, a little fantasy right there. Second, how much longer do you give Willie Tagger to pass? I don't. I think he's terrible. It's not like he inherited a bad squad from Jimbo or bad recruitment classes. What do you think of Florida State needs to do to write the ship? I just don't think Willie Taggers very good.

I think period, point blank, end of story. I don't think he's a good enough coach to be coaching in Florida State, given that they want to compete for ACC championships. I think they have no chance to compete as long as Willie Taggart's their guy. I think Dabo's on a completely different level, and you look at Miami as Manny Diaz any good. One thing that Dabble really benefits from, and I'm not taking anything away from him, he's been fantastic.

I'm a dabble Sweeney guy. But look at the conference. Florida State and Miami are a laughing stock. Virginia Tech isn't even that good anymore. But you could argue that Mac Brown now at North Carolina is the second best program. Just big picture program. That conference is kind of a shit show right now. During the preseason, everyone was saying that this would be James Winston's last year in Tampa.

With their newfound success on offense, do you think the Bucks will sign in this offseason or let them walk? I think they sign them. I think worst case, they franchise them unless I guess there is a chance that Bruce Ariens does not like them. I don't know that. That definitely is possible. But if Bruce Ariens and they go 8 and 8, 9, and 7, and James has some of these moments, I think Bruce would be like,

let's just franchise this guy, I'll keep working with him, will be even better. Unless he has some guy targeted that he wants or he knows he can get a trade, I would expect James to be their quarterback. If Mahomes wins back-to-back MVPs and wins the Super Bowl, where would you place him on the all-time list?

Is he top 10 too far after only playing three years? Yeah, it'd be too far. But I think he would immediately have a two-year run if he won back-to-back MVPs and won the Super Bowl this year, a little like Kurt Warner. You know, like if his career ended after this season and the Chiefs won the Super Bowl, it would be one of the great two-year runs

we've ever seen in professional football. Like, if Brett Farve would have retired after 1997 when he won MVP in 95, 96, 96, 97, or maybe it was 96, 97, 98, whatever, my dates might be off. But he went to two Super Bowls, won a Super Bowl and won three straight MVPs, you could argue he was a Hall of Famer at that moment, at the end of that third MVP season.

Hall of Famer, right? So if Mahomes goes to the Super Bowl this year, and he won an MVP in his first year starting, lost to the Patriots. Was that, they lost it? Yeah, they lost in overtime. Then he beats the Patriots this year, and then he goes on to, let's say,

beat like, the Eagles or the Saints. Yeah, I mean, to me, he's the Hall of Famer. And, you know, I don't know exactly where you place them, but I think you clearly start going, This guy's going to go down as one of the all-time greats. That much would be, you know, pretty obvious. Do you know something we don't about Sam Donald? It seems reckless to assume he was making out with chicks

or to imply he could have prevented mono when you can get it from a sneeze or sharing a drink with someone. Yes, it's called kissing disease because it's transferred via saliva, but there are lots of ways that can happen. Seems like it would benefit you to do a little research or quick Google search before having hot takes about something you clearly know nothing about. Just my two cents.

Well, let me hit you up with this. In the history of the NFL, how many NFL quarterbacks have gotten mono? In my 35 years and 20 plus of watching the NFL, I'd put it at zero. I don't remember the last time a quarterback got mono. So I got a single quarterback who's in New York. I think it's fair to assume he got it from making out. Could he have got it from sharing Kleenexes with Leveon Bell? Sure, but Leveon Bell didn't get it.

Could he have got it with somehow sharing a drink with Adam Gase? Sure, Adam Gase doesn't have mono. Seems like he's the only guy with mono So is he just sharing random drinks with dudes he got mono? I think it's fair to assume the way he got mono. Could I be wrong? Of course. Could he have prevented it?

I'm not saying that I'm not blaming. Of course he would have wanted to avoid it. But think that it's, this is not hot takes. These are just, I got opinions. So in my opinion, he got it from making out of the chick. Do I know that for a fact? Of course not. I wasn't there.

Does anyone know that but him and the team? No. But it's pretty clear that he hasn't come out against it and said, well, you know the reason I got this was because my mom brought my little cousin and I shared a Kleenex with her and that's how I got it because that would have been pretty easy. Well, they've been pretty mum on it. Why? Because I think it's pretty embarrassing the way he got it.

I'm pro making out with chicks. But it's, again, back to what I originally said. In the history of following the NFL, I am yet to remember a quarterback, let alone a player, getting mono mid-season. So to act like, oh, be careful, don't cross the line and be too mean to Sam. I'm not being mean about Sam. But he got mono and he cost his team big time because they suck. And they got no chance without Sam Darnel.

Now, could he have prevented it? If he would have known he would have got mono, making out with the chick or like you say, sharing saliva from a drink, yeah, he would have. But he didn't. And he got mono and now his team is destined for a top five pick. like that happened. I think too much in society.

Wait till we know all the facts. No, I think some of the best in any business can take about 50 to 60% of the information and kind of come to a conclusion. That doesn't mean they're always right. I think Colin Powell used to say to make a decision in the military, you need to have like 60% of the facts

because you're never going to have 100%. So I think I can take an educated guess on this one because it's kind of clear because he would have come out immediately against it. but he hasn't. And they've actually kind of laughed at it. I'm laughing at it. I think it's kind of funny.

But you're the second person now that's DM me like, Middleth, I think it's kind of reckless to assume he made out with chicks. Is it really? Are you serious? Because I don't think it is at all. I think it's funny, but I also think it had major consequences. The Jets are in a world of suck right now because he hasn't been able to play. And the next time Brady gets it or Rogers gets it or something,

then maybe we go, you know what? Quarterbacks get mono. But again, pretty sure he's the first one in my lifetime. Hell, I'd argue, basketball or baseball. When's the last time a major athlete in pro sports got mono? I'll hang up and listen. I just finished and listen to the pod. You mentioned the Atlanta coaching staff situation could be shaken up if they lose this week.

I'm going to make a bold prediction and say Casey's Eric B.N. and me will be a strong candidate for the position next year. I like it. I've heard from my people in Kansas City good things about Eric Biann and. enemy, as we saw on Sunday night football, he was getting in Travis Kelsey's ass, and then Kelsey shoved him, and Bianemy didn't back down. I like that guy. I think you can almost put it in stone that Eric Bienami will be a head coach for some team in

2019. Do you think Trubisky will hold the Bears from making a Super Bowl run in the next year or two? I don't think it's just Trubisky. I think their quarterback situation right now is a debacle. the Bears have no chance to win a Super Bowl right now with their quarterback situation. Zilch. None. Nagy's my guy.

I love Khalil Max, my favorite player in the NFL. Love their defense. But with Trubisky combined with Chase Daniels, that adds up to what? Like, Kirk Cousins? Like, it's just, you got no shot. None. The other day you talked about how miserable the Monday Night Football product has become. I'm so impressed with how Fox has tried to reissue.

establish their sports coverage, but specifically with taking over the broadcasting Thursday night games, do you think Fox, or maybe even NBC, could potentially take Monday Night Football from ESPN? ESPN across the board is bad and now is showing on Monday Night Football. Looks like a dying product to me. I would agree, I think ESPN, like probably anything in life, you know, you get to the top, you dominate for a while, it's hard to stay. You know, it's actually, I think most people, I've never got to the quote unquote, top of anything. The hardest thing is just to get to the top, like any successful business or hell, any Super Bowl winning athlete, it's hard to then sustain it and stay there because

everyone's gunning for it, whether it's business, whether it's athletics, whatever it is. And I think ESPN had, they had a couple things going for them. They were just so ahead of their time. And two, they didn't have competition for a long time. Well, now Fox has kind of doubled down on it. And I think ESPN became so political. And that's, this is sports. This in politics. You're seeing that with the NBA. They're kind of in some hot water right now. I don't know if it's necessarily Fox or NBC. I could see it like Amazon, like Netflix, like Facebook, something like that. Now, the NFL's a little old school and they're very close with their partners, but I don't think they like ESPN and it shows with the games

they give those guys. So the broadcast crew they're rolling out is a joke. And yeah, I would expect Monday night football whenever these new round of media deals come up to be on a different channel for sure. 1,000%. Appreciate everyone listening. Keep firing up in my DMs. I'll answer your questions. Appreciate it.

And we'll holler at you guys later this week. Keep telling all your buddies about three and out podcast. Godspeed. Peace. 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.

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Life as a Gringo, coming to you every Tuesday and Thursday. We'll be talking real and unapologetic about all things like, Latin culture, and everything in between from someone who's never quite fit in. Listen to Life as a Gringo on the I Heart Radio app

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This week, my guest, S&L'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 IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What's up, guys? This is Clever Taylor the Fourth.

And on my podcast, The Clifford 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, rec, my mama want you to wave at her. What? Hey, Miss Parker. Listen to the Cliverts show on the IHeart Radio ad. Apple Podcast or wherever you get your podcast. The story I've told myself can then shape my behavior and that can lead me to sabotage the possibility of connection. This Mental Health Awareness Month,

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