The Herd with Colin Cowherd - 3 and Out - Packers Pulse, Hurts Injury, Awful Officiating, Belichick/Brady Decline, Mailbag

Episode Date: December 20, 2022

John explains why he’s not writing off Aaron Rodgers and the Packers playoff chances after their comfortable MNF win over the Rams, if Jalen Hurts’ injury to his throwing shoulder could derail Philly’s title hopes, why it’s unacceptable for the NFL to still get game-deciding calls wrong, why the Tom Brady and Bill Belichick divorce is ending badly for both, and answers listener questions in the Middlekauff Mailbag. Subscribe NOW and follow Middlekauff and The Volume on Twitter, Instagram and YouTube for the latest content. It's always FanDuel for the best wagering action! #volume #herdSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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How are we doing? Well, the Green Bay Packers are doing okay because even at 6 and 8, they got a little life. The Los Angeles Rams and Baker Mayfield and Sean McVeigh not much life. And a team in an injury news

that kind of came out of nowhere makes the NFC this is going to be the weirdest, wildest playoffs potentially ever, because if Jalen Hertz is legitimately hurt, and that's a story that we're going to be monitoring closely, who freaking knows? I mean, could Tom Brady and the Bucks make a run? No chance. They're terrible. But we'll dive into all that. Some other takes on NFL owners meetings and officiating. God, they're terrible. Brady and Bill, we'll check it on those two. Zach Wilson versus Trevor Lawrence, Thursday night game. If I told you that the Jets

game at the beginning of the season would be meaningful and you'd want to watch. I don't know if any of us would have believed anybody, but I do. I can't wait. So we'll dive into all that. Middlecoff mailbag also at John Middlecoff is the Instagram fire in those DMs. You listen on Collins feed. Make sure you listen to or subscribe to a three and out podcast. Greatly separate feed.

Greatly appreciate everyone that has. During golf season, we got a little podcast called Go Low. Also do it there. That's a couple months away. And what else? I think the holiday schedule, this podcast, I'll have a podcast, I think, on Thursday, because I'm traveling back to my mom's house on Thursday. So no podcast after the game.

I haven't quite figured out my schedule after Christmas. Probably do two or three midweek podcast next week and then just get back on normal routine come the New Year's, I think. But I will update you here in a couple days on that. Otherwise, this is a podcast. So you'll see when they load. It's a great part about this business. When I do a podcast, you know immediately.

Let's dive in. Another crazy part about the NFL is if you can just stay around 500, a game above, a game below, you are right in the playoff mix now, especially with this added seven seed. You're just alive. And one thing's clear last year, and it's evidently clear again this year, if you can get to that nine win mark, obviously some years are going to be different. last year the Chargers went 9 and 8 missed the playoffs in the AFC and more than likely in the AFC a nine-win team might not make it

but it's very clear that a nine-win team in the NFC is going to have a very good chance and listen this Packer team clearly is not as good as the last couple years but they are very much alive and I don't think any team in the NFL and it would basically be Minnesota or San Francisco would want to see a Packer team that won four straight games to get in, especially this week, to me, if they beat the Dolphins, I think they got a very good chance to be playing that wildcard weekend. Because now they're 6 and 8.

They beat the Dolphins, which is going to be difficult. The Dolphins, this is kind of must-win territory for them too, depending on what happens to the Jets game, what happens this week with the Patriot game. right you know the the the raiders and steelers are not dead either though they got some room to to fight but when it comes to the nfc if you just assume the giants get to that let's say nine seven and one mark potentially 10 six in one the seven seed is wide open and when you look at the teams competing for that that are above green bay and green bay finishes they go at

Miami, which is, you know, going to be a nice weather game for Aaron Rogers to sling that thing around. We'll see what the injury is to AJ Dillon. Then they get Minnesota and Detroit at home. I also have early circled Green Bay, Detroit, Week 18, Winner Get In. I'll promise you, the potential games for Winner Get In, it's like Tennessee, Jacksonville, Jets at Miami, and Green Bay, Detroit. Let's just in a hypothetical world, say all three of them are winner get in to the playoffs. Aaron Rogers is getting Sunday night football with Mike Tariko and Chris Collinsworth. That's a fact. And I think that would be the best game, especially if that game the winner is to play Minnesota.

Another divisional game, I got that already marked as the Monday night football game. But Washington, who is currently above the Green Bay Packers right now, they play the 49ers this week. They're a 7 point dog. I like the Niners. Seattle, 7 and 7, also above Green Bay. They play the Can Sea Chiefs. Bye-bye, Seattle.

And when you look at the Packers, if they're able to win this Miami game, and let me, I said it yesterday on the podcast, Miami's game, even in a loss, was very, very impressive against Buffalo. Easily could have won that game, went toe-to-to-to-with them. That was easily their best game in a while.

And obviously, they're leaking oil. They look like a playoff lock. I still think they are a playoff team. But all of a sudden, you lose this game against the Packers, depending on what happens, some of the other team, we'll see. And then Minnesota, who, you got to give credit to. They just find a ways to win. Green Bay, at home, early season loss, that thing would be fascinating.

And then Detroit, I'm telling you, I got that thing circled. And this is a great life lesson to any NFL team. like obviously once you get to like four and eight there's a lot to overcome but if you can just keep it as the year goes on to seven and seven six and seven and six and just keep your head above water now with the seven seed you're going to be in the mix and no team like i'll tell you this as a 49er guy you know the team i want to see in the first round washington or new york taylor heineckee daniel jones hell i even jared gop the 49ers have played him he can't move around seattle all day long. You know the team, if the 49ers already get the two-seat, the last team they would want to face is the Green Bay Packers.

And I'm not saying they can't beat the Green Bay Packers. Obviously, they'd be the favorite in that game. They beat them on the road last year when they were the number one seed and they were a seven-point dock. But you got Aaron Rogers. And anytime you got to play Aaron Rogers, it's fucking hard.

And you saw it at a night, like, he was ready to score another touchdown at the end of the game. He's doing Tommy Lasorda, touching his elbow, touching his leg, for indicator and Christian Watson doesn't know what's going on. So there's still a learning process there. And without Devante Adams, they're clearly not as potent on offense.

But I said this last year, when the 49ers went on the road to beat them. I don't think they would have beat them if that game would have been at Levi's. Now, I still think the 49ers would beat the Packers, right? If the Packers had to come on the road to Levi's, but Aaron Roders ain't the type quarterback you want to see. Because the reality is the quarterbacks in the NFC and we'll get to Jalen Hertz here in a second. ain't great.

You know, this ain't Patrick Mahomes, Joe Burrow, Justin Herbert, and Josh Allen. That group is in the other side of the conference. Talk about a gotlet and talk about a conference, especially now with Jalen's injury, which we have to admit, is just wide open. You get in the dance, you got a chance. And I've said over and over the McVeigh TV talk,

I feel is a little exhausting. I also feel it's like a little bit, you know, unfair to the profession is probably the wrong way to put it, but it's like, bro, you make $15 million. You don't have kids. You know, I know he's kind of shot these rumors down, but clearly last year he flirted. Tonight at halftime, it's freezing cold. He's playing a game with a bunch of practice squad players. The overwhelming majority of NFL football fans couldn't name most of the guys he's rolling out beside like Baker Mayfield and Jalen Ramsey. His best players are in street clothes on the sideline.

And he gives this halftime interview in what looked like zero degrees. You can see his breath. He looks cold. And I got a text from my cousin who's like, he's got TV written all over him. Why does he want to keep going through this? And listen, I don't like this topic. It does exhaust me, but it's not going away. And you have to wonder like he couldn't retire last year.

They just won the Super Bowl. Like, I don't care how much he floored with him, how much money Bezos and his people offered him. If Stafford and Aaron Donald and all those guys were going to come back, he had to run it back. He could not walk off like he's John Elway or Peyton Manning. And he did. But if he starts going, well, what if Matt Stafford retires or is not the same?

What if Aaron Donald's actually like, you know what? I'm over this. What if he goes, well, Jalen Ramsey ain't quite as good anymore? And all we got is Cooper Cup? as you saw tonight, Baker Mayfield was a fun story. It was against the Raiders. And the Raiders, turns out, if it's not for Jacoby Myers, thrown at 75 yards for some God-nose, forsaken reason,

to Mack Jones and hits Chandler Jones in the hands, the Raiders lose a lot of games. And the Raiders lost to Jeff Saturday, and they lost to Baker Mayfield. But Baker Mayfield ain't going on the road in Lambo. He struggled to throw for 100 yards. Look like a fish out of water. Like I said, playing with practice squad.

guys, whatever. But like if Matt Stafford were to retire, it's not like Sean McVey would be like, yeah, just roll it back with Baker Mayfield. And what? When six games, that's not, that's probably not enjoyable when you know Amazon would gladly, I like Herbstreet.

I really do. Love him on college. College game day, the night game with Musburger and Fowler over the years. He's just a stalwart when I think about college football. He's a little bit of a fish out of water in the NFL. him and Al have pretty terrible chemistry. It's, let's face it, a rough watch. I think Al and Sean would be very entertaining.

And you do have to wonder, because I promise you, like I said, exhausting topic, it ain't going to go away. And if these guys are either tapping out, retiring, or he thinks are over the hill and now injury prone, you have to wonder if he'll contemplate going. You know, see you. Because Amazon will gladly tell Herbie, hey, you just focus on college.

Sean, come all her way. get with Al, he'll groom you, and you'll be a star. And we'll pay you, what are you making? Coaching $15 million for the Rams? How many hours do you work? A hundred a week? What time to get up? 4.30?

How about you wake up at 8? And we pay you $20 million a year. And we sign you to a six-year deal. And we pay you huge cash and you become an absolute rock star, and you don't have to move. And listen, as someone who's changed professions, I do understand where you can get burned out. And money talk shit walks.

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Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. We had, I wouldn't say a fishy story. I would imagine Eagles fans saw yesterday.

I was in and out of the Eagles Bears game, but he played the whole game, and then he threw a late, I guess it wasn't a touchdown, but a beautiful bomb to A.J. Brown. He finished the game, and he was throwing late in the game that you didn't think much of Jalen Hertz laying on the ground,

for a second and his left tackle having to lift him up. Now, before we dive into the how he got hurt and running quarterbacks get, it's football. Guys get injured playing football. Pocket quarterbacks get hurt, punters and kickers get hurt, running quarterbacks get hurt. I never have a problem because I think it is very easy to nitpick. I've seen it with Debo Samuel. I've seen it with the 49ers quarterbacks going down. That why are you running him? Jalen Hertz, who has proven out to be an excellent passer, especially, you know, Jason Kelsey has called him the best deep ball thrower in the league. And with Russell Wilson becoming a terrible football player, you can make that argument. He throws a beautiful deep ball. He has improved greatly as a rhythm passer in the short and

intermediate game. No player probably has improved more in the last 12 months than Jalen Hertz. But his best attribute as a football player, and it is a borderline elite attribute, is his running skills as a quarterback, right? Unlike a running back, he's not necessarily accounted for always because he can drop back and scramble. It's a, it's just, he's as instinctive of a runner as honestly we've ever seen. He is, he's elite. He's not the fastest runner, but in terms of instincts as a runner, it doesn't get any better. So I never have a problem with calling runs for great running quarterbacks.

Now, I think the pushback is late in the season, he is clearly one of the key cogs, to your eventual pursuit of a Super Bowl. You're playing the Bears. Now, at the time, you don't know if the cow... It's not like you're playing in the afternoon and the Cowboys played in the morning and you knew they lost. So you're playing to win.

It's a tight game. And running him in third quarter, like, it's just part of what you do. That would happen against the Cowboys. That would happen against the 49ers. You would probably do that against the Texans. We can nitpick that, but I do believe it's a little unfair. Because that's how he plays.

And that's really how he excels. by being a threat in the run game, throwing bombs in the passing game, and utilizing his playmakers in the short, an intermediate game and letting them make plays with the ball in their hands. But if he's really hurt, and let's face it, this is not a good sign.

I have no inside information, just read what you've read on the internet, and John Clark, who covers the team, who just knows shit going, there's no chance he'll miss a playoff game. He'll be at minimum ready for the playoffs. I think it's pretty clear Gardner-Mitchie is going to play this week against the Cowan.

Now, ultimately this cowboy game, after they, you know, blew that game to the Jax, because that's what it was. You're up 27 to 10. You know, you have a chance to put them away at the end of a regulation. Hell, you get them to punt and you have the ball in overtime. You can't lose that game. That's a terrible loss by the Cowboys. But it also has huge implications now that their quarterback, I mean, hypothetically, could

miss the rest of the regular season. Who knows? Now, maybe it's just precautionary. He just misses one game. But it is his throwing shoulder. and if I had to take an educated guess, the adrenaline of the game, there was a great video of like A.J. Brown and another wide receiver, you know, completely screwing around, having a good time on the sideline,

like on the bench. And Jalen is as serious as like a Marine. I mean, that guy is so locked in. So he wasn't coming out of the game, but I do wonder if he was in serious pain today. And it's a throwing shoulder. It's just something that makes us talk about. like the NFC, and people ask me, like, do the 49ers really have a chance with Brock Purdy?

Well, in theory, they should not, but they're not playing Joe Burrow, you know, Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, that's not who they have to go through. It's Kirk Cousins, who has one career playoff victory. Dak Prescott, I saw him play in the playoffs last year. It was ugly. Daniel Jones, Heineke, like, it's why I say Aaron Rogers would be so scary if he got in. Because one thing that's always hurt the Packers, they're always playing it home. home. It's freezing cold. It's hard to pass. Put them in sunny conditions. They're actually

more built historically for a dome because they have this all-time great quarterback. Tom Brady, well, his team sucks and so does he kind of right now. So if Jalen Hertz, who clearly was on the best team and was one of the best players in the league this year, is no longer close to 100% as a passer right shoulder injury, like it's something, if you're an Eagle fan, I'm sorry, you've got to be a little concerned. That's pretty rattling news. Now ultimately, if he's okay in three or four weeks, no big deal. But we know sometimes that's not how injuries work. And I don't think this information just kind of slowly leaked late in the day. You know, this is something that's just hard to keep wraps on. And when it came out,

I went, man, that's, that made the NFC a little more wide open. Because the AFC is technically wide open with three teams. The Bills, the Chiefs, the Bengals. I would not pull my money on any other team. The only other team I could see like winning a playoff game is the Chargers because of the quarterback. And I don't feel that great because of the coach and the defense. But their quarterback is awesome and he can beat anyone when he's on. But one of the other three teams is winning the AFC. Who's winning the NFC? If you tell me Jalen Hertz is banged up and is compromised as a thrower, shit wide open. You say the Niners, they have Mr. Irrelevant playing quarterback. You say the Vikings are going to be 13 wins. They're point differential.

is like two. You know, the Cowboys leak an oil big time. No one's going to pick Tampa. You know, no chance to Giants. Right? So it's like, who knows?

Maybe it's just, some weird happens, and that's what feels, that's, the NFC feels weird right now. Feels very, very weird. And that also sometimes makes for fun TV.

I can't wait to watch the playoffs. Okay, I wanted to dive into a couple big picture things with the NFL. And I wanted to start with the officiating over the last couple of days. It's been a complete embarrassment. And I've always had to take that two professions kind of parallel each other, where incompetence not only is tolerated, it thrives. And it feels like you get rewarded, the more incompetent you are. And it's government officials and referees.

And I've never argued that like both jobs are not easy or I mean are easy. Like being a government official, you're not going to please everyone. But there's a long history of certain things that work and certain things that don't. Just like NFL referees, I understand subjective calls are difficult. The NFL has never been faster. Wide receivers, linebackers, defensive linemen, these people are moving at warp speed. So pass interferences, holdings, like these are tough calls. It has subjective calls.

But there are certain things that are pretty black and white. And we saw on Saturday when the fumble happened in the Vikings game, his knee did not hit. He returned it for a touchdown. Not only did they not call it a touchdown, but they said this knee was down and the ball was down. And then they flagged him for being mad at the call because it was wrong. I've always had this thing in the NBA. You should never give a guy a T for saying the F word. This is not Little League.

This is the big leagues with millions of dollars, careers, and people's livelihoods on the line. And when a guy gets mad at a call, especially one you screwed up and you flag him, you should be removed of your duties. And then on Sunday night, a lot was going on when I reacted to the game. And I didn't quite realize everything that happened with the Terry McLaren play. At the end of the game, he looks at the line judge who tells you whether you're on the line of scrimmage or not. You obviously need a certain of people on the line of scrimmage. And clearly he has to be on the line or it's a legal formation. The referee gives him the thumbs up and ultimately says that he's not on the line of scrimmage.

That can't happen. this is not acceptable. There was a play in the Raider game where they called a touchdown where it was pretty clear, but we didn't have a good enough camera angle that his foot was on the white. How are we in a position

with a business that generates this much money where every single team, just from television rights at the end of the year gets $300 plus million. Teams are making $5,000, $700,000 in revenue every single year that we don't have proper camera angle on the end zone, that a referee can give a guy a thumbs up and say, actually, no, I didn't.

Where a guy's knee does not touch, yet he's called down, and he gets pissed off, rightfully so, and then has penalized 15 yards. How is this incompetence tolerated? Players, they lose their job when teams lose. Coaches get fired. Front offices, and we'll dive into all the money being spent. there's a lot of people who the way they feed their family and where they live is determined by wins and losses. And for it ultimately to come down to some 60 year old in a zebra shirt that kind of just gives a subjective outcome to something that is very objective.

It's black and white. You either said he was on the line or you didn't. His knee either touched or it didn't. His foot was either on the white or it wasn't. I do not understand over and over and over and over and over how this keeps happening. The other thing is, unlike these other sports, people are just not gambling on basketball. It's just the overwhelming people that gamble, and I would fall under that category, do not gamble on the NBA, maybe a little bit in the playoffs.

And in basketball, if anything, I'm going to gamble, it will be in the NCAA tournament. We're not gambling on baseball. The only people gambling on professional baseball, it's such a small percentage, of people that actually gamble. We gamble on football. That is why all these companies are spending all this money. We benefit obviously here from the volume, but definitely the NFL benefits from all these gambling companies.

And rightfully so, you have to be a credible league. And when you do shit like that over and over and over, it diminishes your credibility on things that are very in your control. How do you not have fucking cameras in the end zone? How when you see a knee either touches or doesn't touch? touch, can you say the opposite thing? It's why I always say it drives me nuts hearing these referees in the booth giving their opinions. Like I saw you back when you were younger on the field, you sucked. I don't want to hear you talk. You ruin this viewing experience. And then what

happens? When they give their opinion on things that are pretty black and white, they're often wrong. So it's just this hamster wheel of incompetence that never ends. And like I said, I understand certain subjective calls we're all going to argue, a pass interference, a roughing the passer. And I get it. And I heard Coward say this a couple weeks ago on his show. And I agree. If we have to live with the over-regulation of, you know, keeping quarterback safe, so be it. That's how, that's the reason the league is thriving. Because you and I, we love talking about Trent Williams at left tackle or Sauce Gardner and Micah Parsons. Tom Brady, Aaron Rogers, Patrick Mahomes, carry the leak. They're what my mom, my girlfriend, casual people talk and think about.

When you say the Kansas City Chiefs, you don't go, oh, God, how about Chris Jones inside pass rush? No, you talk about Patrick Mahomes. So I'm okay with over-regulating it. Listen, I've been known to speed a time or two. I'm cool with over-regulating the freeway and keeping people just somewhat under control, right? That is not an area where everyone should just be loosey-goosey. Taking care of our quarterbacks, I get it. But on some of these calls, was like, his foot was either on the white or it wasn't. How are we having this conversation where we can't figure it out? His knee was either down or it wasn't. And it clearly wasn't. And then to penalize a guy for getting mad, it just shouldn't take place. There's too much money

on the line. It is simply unacceptable. And I saw this story come out yesterday. Adam Schaeftor put it out on Sunday morning. The NFL, last week there were owners meetings. You know that picture of Ursa with a cigarette. And I think there was also some of the where Troy Vincent and Jerry Jones and Arthur Blank were getting in arguments over the combine. It's like, hey, Troy, listen, we can agree or disagree the, every single individual thing of the combine. But the reason that this sport prints money for so many people, yourself included, is because when the season ends, the NFL combine, free agency, the NFL draft. Whenever I hear someone like, get rid of the NFL draft, that's un-American, bullshit. shit. Like, that is a huge reason that the NFL thrives and everyone involved in it, players

included, are printing cash. There is no sport in the history of the world and there's probably no business in the history of the world that has made more millionaires than the national football league. And it's all because it's not obviously the season plays a huge role in it, but it's the offseason now is cha-ching, cha-ching, cha-ching. And the NFL put this out. And my only belief, I guess my educated guess and why they'd want this out there for the public, and even to tell the teams, is to almost pressure them into keeping bad, incompetent coaches. Because usually when a lot of coaches get fired, the Rooney Rule becomes a huge talking point. It just becomes this whole negative thing.

And obviously there have been instances over the years that were bad. And there have been ones like, I've never had a problem. Like, if you're going to hire John Gruden, you're going to hire John Gruden. that I have to give some fake interview. But that's just my educated guess, the reason that they don't want these teams to fire coaches. Because the story was that $800 million has been spent over the last, I didn't see the year, but maybe it was five years, 10 years, whatever, on fired coaches and fired executives in the NFL. And I just went like, that seems like, who cares?

You know, how is that relevant? And honestly, most of the fired coaches over the last. I don't know, let's just pick five years. I don't believe many coaches that got fired where I went, that guy got screwed. Brian Flores, but even Brian Flores, like, he didn't tank right. He should have tanked.

Losing three of the last five, or winning three of the last five games, cost him Joe fucking Burrell. Like, that happened. And then obviously they picked the wrong quarterback into over Herbert, but he tanked all season long, and then at the end,

he won absolute meaningless games. So, like, if I own the team, and I wanted you to tank, which clearly the owner did, I would have fired you too. Brian Flores was a solid coach. Then he won 19 games in the next two years. But that cost me Joe Burrell, which changed the Bengals franchise. The Bengals are going to go to the playoffs every single year for the next decade and probably win a Super Bowl. The Miami Dolphins are not.

Like, that's a fact, Jack. But $800 million, let's just use the New York Giants as an example. Because I believe that wealthy and successful people will always take short-term losses for long-term gains. they'll always eat the short-term losses. A lot of average, I would say business people struggle with little expenses. Oh, I can't pay for that. Is it going to end up making you more money in the long run? Always take the L, take the expense, pay the money.

And a lot of people struggle with that because their natural reaction is to be frugal. It's just a human reaction, whether you have an unlimited amount of money or whether you have $100. And the Giants who I did some digging, let's just pick a number. They made $600 million in revenue last year. And let's just say that over a four-year span, because they fired Pat Schumer and his entire staff, they fired Gettlement and they fired Joe Judge. And not just those coaches, but all the coaches on the staff and then to hire new coaches cost them $60 million.

And again, I'm just picking even numbers so we can just do some math. 10% of their revenue they paid to fire these people that, let's face it, were incompetent. Not a soul would want Joe Judge to be his head coach, and not a soul would want Pat Schumer to be their head coach either. Now, because of offset language, Joe Judge is a coach right now for the Patriots. Pat Schumer last year was a coach for the Denver Broncos. So money gets offset because a lot of these coaches get other jobs, and then those other jobs pay a percentage of what you own. But even if it didn't. So you pay $60 million of your $600 million revenue, 10% of your revenue goes to pay these people to go away.

Look at the Giants now. They ended up with Joe Shane and Brian Dayball. And they look like their future isn't just bright. They're going to make the playoffs. So what is just a playoff birth to the Giants and restoring credibility in the organization worth? I think if John Marr was sitting here and listen, I've never met the guy. But, you know, I wouldn't call him like Dean Spanos for, but I also wouldn't say he's Jerry Jones, probably somewhere in the middle.

He'd say that's the best money we ever spent. Because a lot of these coaches that are going to get fired, they usually deserve to get fired. I mean, how many guys get let go and you went, that guy, he could have been Mike Tomlin. He could have been the next Pete Carroll. Now, obviously, Pete Carroll has been fired. Bill Belichick was once fired. Sometimes guys get fired, and it turns out they were good coaches.

For the most part, in recent memory, we've seen a lot of crappy coaches get fired. And just because of the business that they're in, these enormous contracts, it's expensive to fire it. But when you're making $6, $500 million in revenue, paying some a group of people, a total of $30 million to go away, isn't that crazy? Do you know what would be crazy spending $50 million to pay someone to go away? If you made $38 million, you'd be like, well, we're in the whole $12 million, that's a problem. When you're paying a percentage of people to go away for the long-term health of your organization, it's always the right move. And you're never going to get this right because just like drafting a quarterback in the first round, it's, you never know. If teams knew they would never miss on hiring a

coach, but that's not the way it works. They miss all the time. The 49ers years ago went back to back years. They fired Harbaot. Now he got a job, so it didn't matter. But then they hired Tom Sula, fired him and all his coaches, hired Chip Kelly, and then fired him and all his coaches. So they went two for two. Do you think they regret that? decision because now six and a half years later, they're going to the playoffs for the third time in their fourth year. They've won four playoff games and Kyle Shanahan has the 49ers rule. Do you think for one second, Jed York has regretted paying all that money to fire people that you could argue never should have been hired in the first place, but that's sports, that's life.

Think how many people, if you're listening to this right now and you run a small business, you run a deli, you run a big corporation, you're going to miss on hiring all the time. no matter how much information you have, you're dealing with human beings. Certain people might actually be qualified, but they just don't fit the personality. Certain people might have the personality, but they might not have the qualifications.

And in football, in just a position of leadership, whether you're middle management in corporate America or whether you're a head coach in the NFL, you never really know how they're going to react in that situation until they actually do it. Like I was thinking about the Lions. They have this offensive coordinator, Ben Johnson, who clearly is pretty impressive.

He's in his mid-30s, and I would guess he's going to get some head coaching interviews this offseason. There's a chance he has no business being a head coach. I don't know the guy. Honestly, you don't know anything about him beside over this last month and a half. His offense has been really good. So I started doing a little research on just his bio. And just because anytime you have success as a coordinator, you kind of get an interview. Now, how is he going to be as a leader of a whole team?

Because if the lions keep winning and the next year they win, he'll probably become a head coach. I got no clue. I can give a better answer on Domeco Ryan's, the 49ers defense coordinator. Why? He was a team captain in the NFL. Every single place he went was very highly viewed, started as a low-level coach, worked his way up as a position coach, then became a coordinator. And the defense kept getting better.

Every guy on the team highly respects him. It feels like it's going to work. But it might not, you know, what if he gets hired and doesn't have a quarterback? So there's a chance that you give him $30, $40 million in his staff. In three years, you have to fire him. So the NFL, to me, the only logic I can glean from why they would want this out there and why they would tell teams because they don't want a bunch of people getting fired because it just brings up negative conversation out there kind of in the ether with the media. And let's face it, the majority of guys that end up getting hired are like Shanahan and McVeigh guys. So it's a bunch of skinny white guys.

But like if Cliff Kingsbury gets fired, like I'm sorry. Just why shouldn't you get fired? Like if Brandon Staley is one and done with Justin Herbert in the playoffs, like, should he keep his job? Does Steve Wilkes just get to keep his job because he won some kind of meaningless games? If Lovie Smith is one and done and wins one game, he didn't get enough time. Maybe he just sucks.

Lovie Smith had seven head coaching opportunities and has sucked at everyone the last three times. Like maybe some guys just aren't good enough. And the reality is most guys are not. Right, there's a small percentage of head coaches that are good at their job. Football season is underway. So now is the perfect time to download FanDuel, America's number one sportsbook, because right now new customers get a no-sweat first bet

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

And speaking of head coaches that feel like they're slipping a little bit, most times, and I've said this over and over about Tom Brady, and I think Belichick now falls under this. Most guys at the end of their career in sports, it ends ugly. most guys do not end up holding the Lombardi trophy, holding the NBA finals MVP. Most guys go out, you know, missing the playoffs, having some ugly years. I use this analogy all the time or this like this player in team. And I obviously was well before I was alive, but I always heard it, Willie Mays for the Mets. Like, from what I heard, pretty ugly. Not an ideal situation for arguably the second or third greatest player in the history of baseball.

Right. Usually great players at the end of their career go out looking like a scrub. And, you know, Tom Brady, whether he retires or not, like this year has been beyond ugly. Bill Belichick just lost in a game where I believe that the players went rogue. I do not believe that inside the huddle, Mack Jones told the running back, Jacoby Myers, and everyone else to start lateraling it like a rugby play. But regardless, Bill Belichick is. also the guy that hired Matt, Patricia, and Joe Judge to run his offense. That would not have been tolerated at any of the other 31 NFL teams

or any Power 5 program worth their salt. You couldn't have done that. You would have been not only laughed out of the building, that there would have been a mutiny of the fans and the leadership. It wouldn't have been allowed. Yet Belichick, because of the equity that he has and he has a lot, was able to do really whatever he wants and craft, and rightfully so. but this has been a disaster.

And Tom, based on the equity that he has, from watching him for however many years now, he's been the starting quarterback since 2001, 2021, 22 plus years, we just got this is, it's going to get better. He's going to figure it out. He just doesn't throw in picks. He has five picks the last three games. The fumble yesterday.

He looks atrocious. And it feels like both these guys are going out. And I understood why they split. I understand why Bill went, you're old, you're never going to be able to win. eventually going to fall off a cliff. And I understand where Tom Brady said, F you, I'm going to prove it to you. And he ultimately did. But like, I get why those guys wanted to break apart, right? Most human beings in the highest level of any profession are not able to work together for, I would say,

if you go a decade hand in hand in sports with someone, moving forward, that's going to be an unprecedented number. Right. The chances that Sean McDermott and Josh Allen spend 15 years together, I would say probably not. Right. But Holmes is. and Andy probably, but even Andy 64. So if they've already been together, what? This is year five, which is your six. Let's just, let's just pick your five. It might be your six. But if Andy coaches another 10 years to get to 15, he'd be coaching into his mid-70s, which, you know, does he have another six years? Maybe retires at 70? That would be less than a decade of those two guys together. And they're obviously having a ton of success. It's very, very difficult. I never have a problem with

people needing to go their separate ways after a long period of time, unless you're like a, you know, you're happily married. But most people, and you see it in marriages, 50% of marriages get a divorce. Well, if 50% of marriages get a divorce, how many of the other 50% probably could? Another 15, 20%? Like how many partners in business that go for decades haven't liked each other for a long period of time? Or maybe don't see eye to eye. Or maybe aren't as close as you realize. It probably happens all over the place, right? Most people in business, because, listen, as you get older, your priorities change, money creates division. It's natural.

But this is getting pretty ugly for both guys. And I understand Tom Brady, he's not going to want to retire on a Bucks team, which is atrocious. I mean, that second half was an absolute bloodbath against the Bengals, but it should have been. The Bengals are dramatically better. I mean, the Bengals could win the Super Bowl. The Bucks are like a seven-win team. And they beat the living shit out of them as the game went on. because if they played 10 times, the Bengals are winning that game in 2022, what, nine times?

I mean, the Bengals would beat them on neutral fields on the road at home, I would say 90% of the time. And honestly, this year, the way they're both playing right now could be 10 out of 10. And Belichick, the Raiders are not the most buttoned up operation. I have a diehard Raider fan that I'm on a text chain with. Cy Williams, he's the head men's golf coach at UC Davis. and I think he went to the game yesterday and I'm on this text chain and he was mad and this guy's a diehard Raider fan

he said the problem with the game ending like that is it takes Josh McDaniel off the hook how terrible he was not just yesterday but this season because it feels like you know you get a little life after the tuck ruled the NFL football gods are throwing you a bone they had no business winning that game honestly they got lucky because the ref screwed up the call

when Derek threw the touchdown because his foot was on the white but Bill Belichick's team did that to end the game? But then you look as Jacoby's about to throw it, who do you see in the background? Matt, Patricia, and Joe Judge. And it wouldn't be that weird if Joe Judge

was their special teams coach. Their special teams yesterday allowed a block punt. One thing, when I watched the Patriots, just like you did, over a 20-year period, special teams was always an area that they separated from. That was like a separator. You know, any successful operation has certain things that they separate from the competition.

The Patriots were not some like, throw bombs offense. They played good defense. Tom was clutch and was always, you didn't turn the ball over, and their special teams, and I'm overgeneralizing here, was always just buttoned up operation.

They're getting punts blocked. And then that visual of that throwback going to Chandler Jones, with those two guys in the background, like, it's just getting ugly for both these guys. And in ugly, relative to their standards,

Tom Brady's still going to make the playoffs because his division sucks. And Bill Belichick honestly might too. or still go 9 and 8. But God, I mean, they just, I thought these two guys were better than the rest, but it shows you they're no different. Like the majority of players and of great coaches, it ends pretty ugly. And last but not least, I'm pretty interested.

Actually, I got one college thing too, but Zach Wilson, Trevor Lawrence on Thursday night, I'm fascinated. You know where I stand on Zach Wilson. He has some physical attributes that were really impressive. He made some impressive, just deep ball. throws. And honestly, some of his wide receivers made good plays. But his just basic understanding of the position is pretty terrible. His ability to just do the easy stuff, you know, is not, he's not capable. He cannot make consistent basic throws. And until he figures that out, he's never going to be a good

quarterback. And Trevor Lawrence, who, you know, a lot of people heralded as this next great player, is starting to kind of come into that. He had, you could argue, the best game he's ever had in his NFL career, and that's short, yesterday against the Dallas Cowboys. It was awesome to watch. And if you just watch him, the eye test, he doesn't quite have like the arm strength. I would say of like Josh Allen or even Patrick Mahomes, but his athleticism, when his accuracy, when he's in rhythm, he's a really fun player to watch. And the Jets, who I saw a report this morning on Monday morning that Mike White probably

will not be able to get cleared because of the rib situation, that Zach Wilson now, you know, a weird way cost this team that if you watch them go, God, they just got a lot of talent. They are really physical on defense. Their offensive skill guys are really good. Yet their quarterback play is so shitty. And this guy, if he loses this game to the Jags, who are, I would say kind of sneaky red hot and are going to come in thinking they can win that game. And if Soss Gardner and DJ Reed are just not able to keep playing out of their ass, you lose this game. And Zach Wilson has another one of those, turns the ball over, misses these just basic throws. I just, I said it the other day. I do believe in the NFL, unlike any of the

other sports, you can go to the outhouse to the outhouse, back to the outhouse, back to the penthouse, back to the penthouse quick. It's a lot of people's careers have been in the dumps and come back, made pro bowls. You can flip things quickly. But this Jets thing, look at the body language of the wide receivers playing with them. I think it was Charles Davis calling the game. And it was Garrett Wilson, he overthrew on a slant route. And Garrett Wilson gave this terrible body language. And Charles is like, you know, receivers never want their quarterback to throw them, you know, kind of show them up. You can't, you have to do the same thing as a receiver.

You can't show up your quarterback. And I'm like, well, not when you don't respect the guy. When you respect someone, you have to kind of, you know, curtail, control your emotions. When I don't respect you and I don't think you're any good, I don't blame the wide receivers. Now, you could argue it's a team game. You just got to figure it out and play under control and not snap at the guy. but this guy is going to cost you the playoffs if he doesn't start making some basic plays. Again, he can hit some deep routes scrambling around, jump over a defensive lineman,

but if you can't hit an out route, if you can't hit a slant, if you can't hit the basic wheel route or dump off to your running back, you're just not going to be any good. And this is last but not least. I saw Mack Brown, the head coach of the North Carolina Tar Heels. He has a quarterback, Drake May, that next year will probably, if things continue like they did this year, and you never know, college, you say this a lot,

and then the guy ends up not going as high as you think. But if Caleb Williams is going to be the number one pick, this guy very well could be the number two overall pick in the draft. And he said today, I think he was giving a press conference because they play Oregon and a bowl, like his, like bowl press conference, that a lot of teams were reaching out to Drake May, even though he's not in the transfer portal. He came out and said, I'm going to stay at North Carolina

and started offering him big money. And then when asked what specific teams, he's like, you guys can figure, out the ones paying everybody. Obviously, Texas would probably not be in the mix because they got Archie Manning and yours. Texas A&M has no quarterback. I think it's fair to say them. George is going to lose a quarterback. Alabama is going to lose their quarterback. It's pretty clear who probably offered him. And his whole deal was like how shady this is. And then I started thinking, is it really? I love capitalism. And coaches love capitalism. Why? Because you can be at North

Carolina and Alabama or Texas can call you up and hire you. Didn't it happen to Mac Brown when he left North Carolina once upon a time to go to Texas? Coaches leave all the time. Didn't Lincoln Riley when he was under contract at Oklahoma get called up by USC and said, here's $120 million. We'll buy your house in Oklahoma and we'll give you a house here in the water for you and your wife? Doesn't that happen constantly? And I understand that in that situation, you're under contract, there are buyouts.

There are no necessarily contracts here. But I think coaches are being somewhat hypocritical. because if I'm Texas A&M and I got no quarterback and I got all this money, you'd be crazy not to reach out to this kid. How much would it cost you? Now, does it sound a little shady that guys are just getting bought? And Mac Brown did have a good point. He thinks a lot of people are being offered money and over these next couple years

are not going to receive it. For every Caleb Williams or Will Anderson, even though I heard Will Anderson didn't even take much NIL money, but like the great players that live up to the hype, if I was a booster and I was like, hey, listen, I got no problem, here's a million dollars, even though I think that would be a little weird, but let's just say. And then the guys I'm paying suck, I'd be like, is anything legally obligating me to pay them? Because if not, like, I ain't paying them.

I'm not saying I would never probably be a booster, but I would imagine a lot of people around the country, that's going to happen. And he's even saying it's happening now. But I have no problem with the program going, Drake May immediately makes us a national championship contender. Let's, how much would it catch? Reach out to him. because that happens in coaching. I just think it's very, it's easy to say it.

And at first reaction, you'd be like, God, it's kind of shady. And then you realize, the guy that's coming out of his mouth is a guy that's left programs before for brighter opportunities. Now, ultimately, he can be the number one pick in the draft

from the University of North Carolina. He doesn't have to go to Georgia or Alabama or Texas A&M to win a national championship. Right, or I mean to be the number one pick in the draft. But he's not going to win a national championship, of North Carolina. That is not going to happen. So if you wanted to win a national championship, if you went to Georgia, like they would be the heavy favorites next year. So do I blame them, assuming it was them, which I think it's fair to

assume some powerhouse programs, called them up and offered them big cash. I think that's the right move. If I was on those staffs, I'd be doing the same thing. Let's dive into the Middilkoff mailbag at John Middilkoff is the Instagram. Fire in those DMs, get your question answered here on the show. Before we do, I wanted to get into someone hit me up today. And they were not happy that I contradicted myself, as they said, because last week, I gave a take that the Rams with how well Jared Gough was playing should think about rolling it back next year with him if they don't like any of these quarterbacks and not having to force

one of these quarterbacks. And ultimately just using the Rams draft pick on Will Anderson or one of the sweet players and then using their pick and just keep loading up their rights. roster. And then I watched him against the Jets, one of the better defenses in the league, and I thought, God, he's got limitations. He really does. And I came back and I said yesterday that, you know, I don't know. You might just have to pull the trigger. Now, listen, I'm not into pulling the trigger on a guy that can't move, like a pocket quarterback. To me, if you get a guy with a high upside that can move that you really like, I would think about it. But my opinion in doing this is fluid.

And I'm not always going to be right. And I see something and I'll change my opinion. Now, just because the Chargers win a game, I'm not going to come say that the Chargers shouldn't blow out Brandon Staley and go hire Sean Payton. I believe they should. But once I watched Jared Goff in a high leverage game against a really good defense,

I went, yeah, I could see being the GM how I would aspire to have more. Now, the best part about having Goff is he's under contract for the next couple years, like $25 million a year and you can get out of the contract with the East. but you know you this year right because of the rants pick you are drafting high so i understand like these are conversations you have to have and this guy in the in the conversation again we had a healthy back and forth called me skip bailis which the irony about calling me skip balas skip skip stays with a take right and he doesn't pivot i have no problem changing my opinion i'm in

the information business and my information is based on people I talk to and obviously the games. And as I witness things, I go, God, I might need to change my take. Like, I love this company called Skills. I've invested $75,000 in them over the years. It's currently down 85%. You know what I don't love? Skills.

I liked them a lot more in 2021 than I currently do December 19th, Monday, 2022. Because again, I'm down 85%. So as new information, information comes my way, I'll change my opinion. And I honestly think that's why a lot of people enjoy listen to me. Like, I'm not stuck to anything. And I'm also like, I don't think I know everything. I just saw firsthand.

And my take on that was Zach Wilson, Trey Lance, these teams forced quarterbacks. And they both immediately regretted it. Like, if both those two teams could have a redo, they would do a redo. And that's my point. Obviously, you can win games with Jared Gough. but you know there's something about a quarterback and it's not that I didn't know this

but when you really see it in a high leverage moment you go God that was kind of regret that now I don't know if the quarterback is there is worth taking because to me after Bryce if he's going to go number one who's the second best quarterback? To me the second best quarterback prospect is Will Levis

I mean that's just that's a fact right people like CJ Stroud is not of good of a prospect he's had a better college career, but I'm telling you, he is going to, once C.J. Stroud gets in the draft process, he's not a very good athlete.

And this is what happens with Jared Gough. When you can't move at all, you just limit yourself in this modern day NFL. Well, John, all the pocket quarterbacks. Yeah, there have never been this many defensive linemen that can move at the speed in which they move. So your quarterback, I'm not asking for Lamar Jackson,

but he has to be athletic. He has to be able to keep plays alive with his feet. And that's why I'm telling you. telling you a lot of people are going to like Will Levis. People think I'm crazy. Maybe I am. I mean, I am a little bit, but. And I'm not even the biggest, like, I don't know if Will Levis going to work or not,

though I did hear Sean Peyton tell, I've heard him say this a couple of times. Like, he likes him. Remember the last, you know, big time project he liked? Patrick Mahomes, never heard of him? At the end of Hard Knocks training camp, I thought I was going to go into the season with fairly high expectations of the Lions. This Taylor. After the win against the fraudulent,

Vikings, I thought they were a good team. Then they played a tough Jets team on the road and still pulled out a win, despite the offense not being quite as good and getting hit with some costly penalties. I think the Lions are for real and there is a road to playoff appearance. If they make it to the postseason, do they make a run? Loyal Lions fan. Well, I would say if the Lions make the playoffs, so basically win out, if their draw would be very dependent on their success.

If they play the Vikings in the first round, they would view that game as a very, very good chance to win. And I think a lot of people would bet on the Lions and I might put money as well on the Lions. If they had won, whatever. Four more games. So they had won 10 of their last 11 games after starting 1-7. That would be, or 1-6. Would they end up 11 and 6?

What's their record now? 7-7. so I guess they would end up 10 and 7. So they would win 9 of 10 games going into the playoffs, playing Minnesota. I think a lot of people would gamble on them. If the 9ers were to end up at the 2 seed, I think they would be in some trouble. And I would not pick the Lions to win that game.

But I would say this. If you're able to make the playoffs for the Lions, it's one of the greatest accomplishments I've ever seen. Started 1 in 6 just to be in the conversation, find a way to win that game. I would be very, very happy. for the mailbag. Fresno State has a talented group of seniors going to the draft.

Can I hear your thoughts on the potential of the following guys' NFL potential? Jake Hainer, Jalen Cropper, and maybe Jordan Mims. Well, I can only speak on Cropper, who I think will probably be like a second, third round pick. He's a really good player. Jordan Mims, I've liked for years. Now, he's an older running back, probably be a draft pick in like the fourth round. To me, Hainer, I reached out to people last year when he was thinking about coming out, trying to help him out, and he was viewed as like a late round pick.

It's why he went back to school. Well, this year, he's had very similar to last year a fantastic season. He also got banged up in the USC game. You know, I would say a lot like Brock Purdy, I would call Jake Hainer a seventh round pick. And a lot of that is based off just size. You know, teams are very hesitant to draft smaller quarter. quarterbacks from smaller schools really high. I know Bryce is going to go number one,

but starring at Alabama for a couple years, a little different animal. So I would say Cropper, second day pick. I would say the running back, probably a fourth round pick, and I would say Hainer, probably a seventh round pick. It would be my guess. The other guys, I don't really have an opinion on.

I know I know, Godell doesn't care, but that no-call at the end of the Giants game is ridiculous. Is this a sign of how the play? playoffs will be, you figure with gambling being as popular as they would address this. Love the show. Talked about the beginning, man. It's just, at this point, you would say it's like unfathomable and unbelievable that they can keep having these moments with the officiating, but it happens over and over and over again. And they just do not care. And one thing these leagues have shown, like the NBA is taking all this money from gambling companies now. Even though we don't

gamble on that sport nearly like we do about football. And I got to give Brian Winhorse a lot of credit. He's adamant how bullshit it is that the NBA teams the way they treat the injury report. At least in the NFL, there is a Monday, Wednesday, and Friday injury report. So if you're questionable, if you're probable, you're on the list all week long. When the NBA does not work like that. And no one cares. These leagues look at gambling.

It just doesn't. I mean, guys go in, I'm a golf. I gamble on the PGA tour. guys are injured all the time and withdraw after Thursday and we have no clue how is that fair if I gamble on someone turns out he's got a messed up wrist and we don't know

so these leagues want to take all this money and they want us the consumer to spend all these monies with these companies so they then invest in the leagues and give us no information like you can't have it both ways the officiating has to be above board the injuries have to be

above board you don't need to tell us like he's got a hairline fracture but you have to say He's got a leg injury, and he might not play. So if you're going to gamble on this team, you know, Jalen Hurts, he's injured now. So we might look at the Eagles a little bit differently. Can I ask you a question about my Ravens?

How much blame rests on the coaching staff? Justin Tucker is the only threat we have in the red zone this season. And the play calling seems off. They ran for 200 yards against the Browns, but they kept attempting to throw it. I've heard that even some staff called for, some on the staff called for Roman's job. What's your opinion?

I think Greg Roman has a little bit of a shelf life. I vividly remember when he got fired with the 49ers to Harbaugh's last year. Greg Roman is fantastic at developing, coaching, scheming, and executing the run game. With Harbaugh, with both Harbaugh brothers. He's thrived. But I remember when he tried to transition to more of a passing offense with the Niners, it did not work. And they had Crabtree, they had Vernon Davis,

like they had some weapons. Clearly with the Ravens. Now, in fairness, the receivers, when they traded Hollywood away, isn't Bateman injured? So they battled injuries. They're also playing with Tyler Huntley, who, if anyone watched him at Utah,

and I told you, this guy's not just going to start games. When he starts games, you're going to think his team might win. You would have been like, no way, not in the NFL. So to throw with this guy consistently seems a little crazy to me. I just don't, I think some coaches are better at some things than others, right? No one is better at calling screens than Andy Reid. No one is better at scheming the past game historically than like, than Andy.

Sean Payton's pretty damn good at it. You go, Kyle Shanahan, damn good at scheming the run. And I would say passing game, I wouldn't put him on the level of Sean Payton and of Andy Reed. Though, when his run games working, his past game works flawlessly. Greg Roman to me is like run game only. And then when Lamar was on or Kaepernick was on, they can pull some insane plays. But it's not like a consistent rhythm of the offense.

And so my take would be Roman just has a ceiling and he hit it years ago. Now the question would be, okay, at the end of the year. Because clearly you guys are leaking oil, right? Watch the Ravens over, they just feel pretty lifeless. You guys make the playoffs as a wild card. losing the first round. Fire Greg Roman. Well, what kind of offensive coordinator are you hiring? Like, are you going to hire, you're going to transition to like a Shanahan type offense? Are you going to keep running the offense that you guys have been running for Lamar? Are you going to go,

screw it? Let's spread it out a little bit more. Like what Mike McCarthy and Aaron Rogers did for years in Green Bay. Or kind of run like more of a Josh McDaniels, New England Brady offense where you utilize the tight ends, you throw to the running backs a lot, you're not as dependent on the wide receivers, but your quarterback can also run as well as the running game. I don't know.

I don't think there's necessarily an easy answer. You also got to pay the quarterback a lot of money. So my guess would be Roman, just the way the sport works, will get fired at the end of the year, especially if you guys are won and done, but I don't know, man. I don't think it's an easy fix.

Love the podcast gets many of us through the day. appreciate that. As a Bears fan, I can finally tip my hat to Justin Fields. As many did, I saw the talent. He showed the flashes, but I can finally say with confidence that we have the quarterback of the future. I feel good that you're, this is very cathartic. This feels good as if, you know, I know where you're coming from. With that being said, we currently have the third pick in the draft. If you were the Bears GM, would you draft where we are, move down for picks, thanks again. I was thinking about this the other day. Maybe it was this morning, because I heard his name come up. I think one regret they have, and I don't, I never blame GMs or people in general for being

aggressive. I think if you lean aggressive, it's always the right thing to do. Now, sometimes that bites you in the ass, right? Being aggressive right now in the stock market, you know, probably not the smartest thing to do. I made a stock purchase probably a week ago that I probably should have waited a week. Who knows? Maybe six months, because it's dropping like a rock. but the logic was sound behind it. Like, I understood the logic of trading a second round pick for Chase Claypool, but when it turned out to be your second round pick, I kind of shook my head because that pick's going to turn out to be really good,

and now the Steelers have it. So part of sucking, which in a weird way, like I watch you guys, your record sucks, but you've been very competitive this year. But you're going to draft, like you said, I mean, in the top five. You'll potentially number two overall. in every round. And not having that pick is kind of a kick in the ass.

Now, you do have the Ravens pick because of the Roquan Smith trade, but wouldn't it been nice to have both picks? And clearly, Chase Claypool is not really hitting the ground running with you. I think you would have like

to have a chance to pick a player with that pick. So ultimately where I'm getting at, Justin Fields is going to be a quarterback next year. I would trade down. I would try to do like a Miami Dolphins type move where they went from

6 to 12 and they accumulated some first round picks from the Niners. If you're able to move four or five spots, accumulate a one and maybe an extra two, that would be the move. Anytime that you have the quarterback, to me, you always want to accumulate more picks

because you just need more assets. And obviously you guys, I wouldn't say are devoid of talent, but got a ways to go. Got a ways to go. I mean, any team that, I mean, your receiver, depending on Dante Pettis,

Nikiel Harry, which I like Nikol Harry coming out of Arizona State. Might have to take the L on that one. Question, do you think the requirements for being a Hall of Fame running back will change? Seeing how injury and short shelf lives are and are going to heavily impact the position. I would say beside Derek Henry, what running back do we have in the league that is headed toward being a Hall of Famer? But you could also say the way sports change, like Justin Verlander, right, just signs $85 million for the Mets. And he's 40 years old.

Max Scher's the same thing, like 39 last year. are signed for a bunch of money. Both those guys are going to go to Hall of Fame. And they've had Hall of Fame careers, right? World Series champions. Guys are studs. They're just blue chippers. But like, if you got Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer right now at 23 years old, they wouldn't be throwing complete games.

Right? Most people are not bringing Madison Bumgarner out of the bullpen in the playoffs. Like, the game is kind of changed because of the way the front office operates in baseball. It's very numbers driven and pitch count. driven. Well, most pitchers that are in the Hall of Fame were kind of gut feel like, give him another inning, let them go face

for the fourth time around the order. Like you just kind of rode your horses. Well, historically in football, I mean, running backs, when I was a kid, were the most famous players. Jim Brown, Walter Payton, Emmett Smith, Barry Sanders, right? Those guys were the Thurman Thomas. The best players on the best teams

were running backs. and that's not the case anymore. What I think is going to happen, how many wide receivers are going to make the Hall of Fame? Think about in like 15, 20 years, some of the wide receivers numbers. And for every Justin Jefferson like Devante Adams and Tyree Kill, there are going to be some guys like,

just have a lot of stats. And you go, you know, it's got a Hall of Fame player. Like Jalen Waddle, if he just stays healthy, his stats at the end of like a decade are going to be astronomical. but like, is he one of the best receivers of all time, or is he just playing in an era? You know, in the NBA, there are going to be a lot of guys to score 25 points,

but how many of them are like all-time great players? Question for the mailback. You can't really think the 49ers have a chance in the playoffs, right? The media is consumed with Brock Purdy and the defense, but they only have beaten one team that would be considered average, and that's the Dolphins. They have had one of the easiest schedules in the league and got absolutely dummied by the Chiefs.

If you take a step back, what do you see from the Niners? Well, they destroyed the Dolphins and they, who's the team? They kicked it. Seattle's ass. And this week they play Washington. The Niners won playoff games last year with Jimmy Garaplo. They did not score an offensive touchdown and beat Aaron Rogers in an MVP season. The way this team, this team is not, they're not going to match up well against the Chiefs

the Bills. But they don't have to play the Chiefs in the Bills. They have to play Kirk Cousins. They have to play Daniel Jones. As of the day, like we'll see on this Jalen Hertz injury, that's going to be something to monitor. But the NFC quarterbacks, like, have you seen Dak Prescott lately? Hell, they don't even have to play like Trevor Lawrence, Joe Burrell. They're not playing any of these guys. The NFC quarterbacks are not very good. And if Jalen Hertz has now compromised, who might have been the MVP of the league, like, it's wide freaking open. Here's what I know about the 49ers. Inside the Eagles, they have a better roster than every other team in the NFC playoffs.

So yeah, I mean, I think they can win some games, just like they did last year. They won a game at Green Bay in the freezing cold against the MVP of the league when their offense did not score. This team is not built and doesn't play like most teams in the league. Like for Minnesota to win, they got score points. They got Justin Jefferson, Thielen, Cooks. They're built to do that. For the Niners to win, it's like, score a couple touchdowns, score defensive touchdown. you score seven total points.

And the final score might be 20 to 7. That's how they want to play. And that's how they've succeeded for playing. Now could Brock Purdy come back to Earth at any moment? Of course. But they're not asking him to do that much. But the one thing Brock has done, he's kind of made some plays.

Like he's kind of a sneaky playmaker for the seventh round pick. I've been blown away by how my expectations were really low. I thought that they would be a one and done team the moment Jimmy got hurt. And then I watched him, hot take. He's kind of been better than Jimmy. And Jimmy's average. So they've been winning games over the last two years with average quarterback play.

They are not the bills. They're not dependent on the quarterback. They're dependent on their defense. And their skill guys to dominate with the ball in their hands. And guess what? Those guys dominate with the ball in their hands. What's up, John? After watching numerous debates this weekend in the NFL,

what was the worst loss? The Colts, the Pats, or the kids? Cowboys. I think Cowboys was a really bad loss, but I think that's easily third. So I think we're debating the worst final play in the history of the league or the biggest comeback in the history of the league. And I've come to the conclusion that when something happens just out of nowhere, right, like a walk-off home run, a walk-off shot, like it's just a one play knocks you out.

Think about life. Like, when something bad is happening, but it happens for a while, if your business is losing money for several years, it's one thing that if just the warehouse burns down, right? It's one thing that play with the Patriots happened so fast and was so devastating. You don't even have time. It's just, it's an all-time, holy shit sports moment. Your jaw hits the floor. In the Colts game, Minnesota was coming back.

and it was like, you know, Jeff Saturday, Matt Ryan's blown leaves before, you kind of started going, this might happen. I think by, not by four, because 33 points, 33 points. And I was thinking about it today, you come out of half, they need five touchdowns to beat you. It should be basically statistically impossible if every single time you're on offense, you take the play down to like two to one seconds, so you're snapping at the last second with a play clock.

you tell your offensive coordinator, we just need on every drive to try to get one first down to just basically take two and a half, three minutes off. Time is not going to be on their side. And then defensively where you go, we're going to play like we would at the end of the game when we're up 10. And we just can't give you two touchdowns.

So we're just going to play off, let you dink and dunk down the field and tackle you in space, and you'll have to have four or five drives that are going to take seven, eight plays, minimum every drive, probably 10 plays, to score touchdowns. You're not going to throw deep. It's just statistically numerically impossible. So from a dumb moronic standpoint, it really is an all-time low for Saturday in the Colts.

But the Patriot play is the dumbest play in the history of the league, I think. When you factor in, they were definitely not supposed to rugby play it. On top of it being a run play, on top of it, on top of it, of it that Jacoby is throwing it to Mack Jones. When you think about it, he's in the middle of the field. He's one of the worst athletes on the field. Even if he gets the ball, where's he throwing the ball too? Right. Because five of the players on the field are offensive linemen. So your skill guys are somewhat limited, and Mac is one of them, right? In theory, just because he's one of the only non-lineman on the field for the Patriots, what was going to happen?

And I just get back to, I think it's one of the worst brain farts in the history of the sport that led to the craziest ending we've ever seen. And the visual of Chandler Jones running over Mac Jones is something you can't forget. I do not understand why Mac Jones is always screaming to people. He kind of acts like he's Tom Brady. He's always yelling at other guys. Like he's always pissed off. Like he's Aaron Rogers or Drew Brees or Raffa's Burger.

It's like Mac, bro. You went to a Pro Bowl because seven guys tapped out. and we get it you did the gritty and you think you're sweet. Like, yeah, I guess I feel bad that Joe Judge and Matt Patricia are coaching you, but shit, Bill Walsh could be coaching you. I don't think you're throwing for too many more touchdowns, my man. But let's calm down a little bit. I'm not blaming him for not making the tackle.

Though, when you have a guy much bigger than you, and the goal is just to get the guy to the ground, like I would go under the knee. I would go shin to shoe and just kind of gruel. and just kind of grab at the ankles and hold on for deer life. And even if the guy's big and strong and fast like Chandler Jones is,

if you just hold on and Mac Jones, what's he weigh? 210 pounds? Should be able to hold on to at least make it so another Patriot can get there to help kind of jump on the guy's back.

But he went at like the waist where Chandler Jones was able to use all of his strength and momentum to shove Mac into the turf. It's actually grass. Mark Davis loves grass. And just have one of the all-time

still shots that I don't think you ever recover from. So I think a slow bleed is never as bad as an out-of-the-blue situation. In serious situations in life and in just football, sports situations. So I would say the Patriots is worse than the Colts. As crazy as that sounds. Appreciate everyone listening. Godspeed. Talk to you soon. The volume.

Another podcast from some SNL late-night comedy guy, Not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and Friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, 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.

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