The Herd with Colin Cowherd - 3 and Out - Rodgers Out, Belichick/Pats Divorce, Texans Mess, Trade Fields (?)

Episode Date: January 9, 2023

John discusses  Week 18 NFL action, including Aaron Rodgers and the Packers getting bounced from the playoffs by the Lions, if this is it for him in Green Bay, if it’s time for Belichick and the Pa...triots to part ways, why the Texans mess isn’t showing any signs of turning around, and if the Bears should consider trading Justin Fields to accelerate their reboot and draft a QB with the #1 overall pick.  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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Starting point is 00:00:00 This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. Another podcast from some SNL, late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer, Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter.
Starting point is 00:00:23 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. The Volume. The Three Now Podcast with me, John Middilcoff, is presented by Fandul's Sportsbook. There's no better place to make every moment more than with Fandual.
Starting point is 00:00:48 America's number one sportsbook, very easy to use, safe and secure, you get your winnings fast. I cannot recommend it enough. Love gambling with Fandual. If you are new, just download the Fandual Sportsbook app to get started. now sign up with promo code Colin so they know we sent you. What is going on, everybody, John Middlecock, three and out podcast. Bye, bye, Aaron Rogers, hello. Well, I guess it's not hello lies because they're going home too.
Starting point is 00:01:24 But what a Sunday night game. That was bananas. The two night games Saturday and Sunday night lived up to the hype. The rest of the weekend, not so much, but playoff stuff, a lot going on. Rogers, how do you shake that? I mean, that's a terrible loss. We will dive into that. Dive into some other playoff scenarios in terms of, you know,
Starting point is 00:01:45 the Steelers are out, the Pats are out, the dolphins are in, Seattle's in, some thoughts on the Texans firing Lovie. The Bears get the number one overall pick. Sala and the Jets got some issues. We will dive deeper into the playoff stuff probably on Tuesday's pod, reaction to the national championship game on Monday night. I put out a pod on Sunday. On the three and out feed, you can find some thoughts on Sean McVey, Sean Payton, the Jags Texans game.
Starting point is 00:02:16 So I got back-to-back podcast. If you missed it on Sunday, a lot going on. I have a pod from yesterday as well. It's a shorter one. So go check that out. You listen on Collins feed. Make sure you subscribe to the three-and-out feed. Middlecoff mailbag questions.
Starting point is 00:02:29 I'm going to need some. I put some questions on the Sunday pod as well, some of you guys that hit me up. At John Middlecoff is the Instagram. You want to get on the middle-coff mail. bag. I will put one out at the end of the podcast on a Tuesday show. It's just my, my Instagram name. At John Middilcoff, firing those DMs, ask me any question. Playoffs are here. A lot going on football-wise. Let's buckle up, baby. Before we dive into football, I want to tell you about my friends at game time. Here's what I need you to do. Go to your app store,
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Starting point is 00:03:58 the next couple weeks, highly recommend that as well. Concerts, you want to go see your favorite musician? Just download the game time app and do it right now. Download the game time app. If you're listening to this and you like the show, make sure you use the promo code, John, that's J-O-H-N, $20 off your first purchase. Cannot recommend it enough.
Starting point is 00:04:19 Or game time.com. Use a website. Check it out right now. Application store, Game Time. Download the app, promo code John. Let's rock and roll $20 off your first purchase. Okay, that game was wild. I mean, that was riveting Sunday night television.
Starting point is 00:04:37 Before we dive into Aaron Rogers, that was fantastic. The Lions, the Packers, that that was as entertaining and as fun of a game, given the stakes. It could have been a little bit better, I guess, if it was truly winner-get-in. But we know Dan Campbell, the Lions, they played like their playoff hopes were also on the line. Turns out it was just their Super Bowl. But they had a winning season, incredible accomplishment, especially when they started as crappy as they did.
Starting point is 00:05:03 What were they? One in five? I mean, they had a terrible start. They knocked the Packers out. Honestly, one of the highlights of my lifetime in the Lions franchise, knocking the Green Bay Packers out of the playoffs. That was cool. Now let's get to the Green Bay Packers. Aaron Rogers, I've always defended them.
Starting point is 00:05:23 You know, against people like Coward that, you know, just can be negative when it comes to Aaron Rogers. I guess I would be one of those people. I wouldn't say make excuses for the guy, but just say, listen, in my lifetime of watching sports, he's one of the better players I've ever seen. He can do it all. His accomplishments speak for himself. The MVP's the Super Bowl. But these last several years, in the peak of his powers,
Starting point is 00:05:47 he has had home game after home game after home game in big moments. The last two years, he's been knocked out of the playoffs at home. Tonight, at home, against the lowly lions. Now, they're not the lowly lions anymore, but they're still the lions, and he loses. For a great player, and I mean an all-time great, player. A couple years ago, it felt like he keep rolling, rattling off some MVPs, win another Super Bowl. We can talk about him as a top five quarterback of all time. He has some of the worst losses I've ever seen in my entire life. Several years ago, his first MVP, lose at home
Starting point is 00:06:23 due Tampa Bay. If I remember correctly, Brady was not exactly great in that game. Okay, whatever. Comes back, wins another MVP. They have the number one overall seed. They play the 49ers. With Jimmy Garopla, who's nursing a shoulder injury and a thumb injury, they could not score an offensive touchdown. They lose the game. Then tonight, playing the Lions. And Jared Goff, I've been watching Jared Goff since his freshman year at Cal when they went 1 in 11. Jared Goff does not thrive in the elements.
Starting point is 00:06:56 And Aaron Rogers loses to the Lions. Now, you could argue some of his losses early on in his career against some of the Harbaugh teams, against that Russell Wilson team, it's not always been his fault. And diehard Packer fans and diehard Aaron Rogers fans have always said, winning and losing is not a quarterback stat. And I say, you know, sometimes that's true.
Starting point is 00:07:16 They scored enough points and their defense got shredded by Colin Kaepernick. Mike McCarthy made bad decisions about going forward on fourth down, kicking field goals. Okay, but these last couple years are an indictment on Aaron Rogers. Like that pick in the fourth quarter
Starting point is 00:07:30 against the Lions, and let's face it, he did it earlier in the game, two and it got called back because of a hands to the face penalty on the Lions defender on the defensive lineman. So, listen, Aaron Rogers is a great player. He's an all-time great talent. But when the dust settles and it sure felt like Mike Tariko at the end of the game feels the guy's going to retire. He's going to retire losing to the Lions? Like, he's really going to go out like that. He's still really good. Like his team is, it's not like they're bad. I mean, he's going to
Starting point is 00:07:59 go out like that. His career is going to just be thought of like, yeah, the last several years. years, he just lost in the worst fashion possible. To the 49ers and a team that couldn't score an offensive touchdown at home, to Tom Brady when he threw picks, and then to the Lions and Jared Gough. Like, it's hard to defend. Now, the Packers aren't the perfect team. They're not some overall powerhouse this year, but they're favored at home and they do not win.
Starting point is 00:08:27 And for whatever reason, Aaron Rogers, in the frigid cold temperatures late in his career at Lambo, it just feels a little bit off. And it just feels like my recommendation, I know people are talking about, is he going to ask to get traded? Would they trade them? Are they over it? Do they just pivot to Jordan Love? I do think if I'm Aaron Rogers, I would not walk away. Clearly, he still has a lot of football left. I would want to go to a warmer weather climate. Because for whatever it happens, like, listen, I hate the cold. I despise the cold. I move to a place that's 115 degrees, like five months a year, and I love it. I do not. I do not. I do not. I do anything under like 50 degrees. So I sympathize with the California guy in frigid temperatures.
Starting point is 00:09:08 The older you get, you know, thinner your blood gets, I think. That's what I've been told. I understand. But you saw it tonight, he looks really cold. Of course he is. I feel like this, and I don't know this for a fact. It's cold Kansas City. It's cold. It gets cold in Boston. Like there are certain places in the NFL, in Baltimore, in Pittsburgh, in Cleveland. Obviously, there are NFL towns where it gets pretty cold. Buffalo, it feels like by far, and why I say by far, 5, 7, 8 degrees,
Starting point is 00:09:39 and definitely just the feel of it, Green Bay is the coldest place. And that impacts their team because their best players are quarterback, his best attribute is his ability to push the ball down the field, and it gets neutralized in these big games. And for whatever reason, they consistently lose them.
Starting point is 00:09:54 So just a terrible loss by Green Bay, not because they lost to some rat team, the Lions are really good. I texted someone tonight late in the game after Rogers through the pick and listen obviously Rogers versus Goff
Starting point is 00:10:09 not even close Rogers is the far superior player but when you look at the even though Jared Goff's had a pretty damn good year when you look at the rest of the roster is there a difference could you make the argument
Starting point is 00:10:20 that the lions have better players you could at worst they're equals and tonight like part of okay our teams are equals the team with the better quarterback should come out victorious but who's the guy that turned it over in the big spot?
Starting point is 00:10:34 It was Aaron Rogers. And as a defender of Aaron Rogers, I don't really have anything to say. Back-to-back seasons, and you could argue the Tampa Bay game, but I would put the last two years in its own category, horrendous losses for an all-time great player. Just honestly pretty embarrassing. And I, you know, listen, if I was Aaron Rogers' camp,
Starting point is 00:10:52 if I was his agent, let's try to get to a warmer weather place and play a couple years when we still got our A-game, or at least our A-minus game, and try to put ourselves in a position because time after time after time glambo neutralizes us and you look terrible in the cold and that's a tough L for the Green Bay Packers
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Starting point is 00:12:36 Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeard radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. 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-swet first bet
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Starting point is 00:14:14 or text, HOPE 7-N-8-8-8-8-8-8-9-7-8-8-4-700. Wyoming, visit www. 1-800 gambler.net, West Virginia. And one thing I was thinking, because obviously this game, you know, the Packers would have played the 49ers. They lose this game. Seattle gets in. And now you got Niners Seattle.
Starting point is 00:14:41 The 7 seed in the AFC is the Miami Dolphins. And I completely understand why we added the 7th seed. Just like I completely understood why you put Aaron Rogers on Sunday night football and the Jacksonville Jags and the Tennessee Titans, even though that was a true winner get in, matter what on Saturday night football. I understand it. Business is the most important thing. Revenue, your big brands, I get it.
Starting point is 00:15:06 Most of the media, I never understand how they do not grasp these concepts. And I like the extra game. And I even think the Monday night football thing is really cool. It does huge ratings. It's lucrative for the players, the owners. Everyone benefits us people that talk about football. It creates us more content. I'm all for it.
Starting point is 00:15:25 But forever, at least since I've been, been watching football, the six teams to make it in both conferences, it was very difficult to do. Now, some years, maybe a 9 and 7 team makes it, right? And obviously, division winning teams every once in a while like Tampa this year, Tampa sucks. But because their division is so terrible, they're in, right? Most years, you know, it should take double digit wins to win your division. But the seven seed, like that line of delineation to make it like last year, the 60th, think about the 49ers who won the last. game, 10 wins, they get to the NFC championship game.
Starting point is 00:16:01 This year, the New York Giants who have had a really, really good season, 60. That's a real team. The Baltimore Ravens, 16th. You look at the seven seeds these last two years, they're not very good teams. The Eagles last year got destroyed in the first round by Tampa. Pittsburgh Steelers last year that made it when Ben could barely throw at five yards, awful, got their ass kicked by Kansas City. I actually think two of the teams that did not make the playoffs are dramatic.
Starting point is 00:16:28 better than the ones that did. Seattle is not very good. Great story. Impressive year. We all thought they were going to suck. They didn't. Hat tipped to Pete Carroll and John Snyder. That's impressive. That's not a playoff team. The Lions are better. And I know Seattle beat the Lions. Who's playing better right now? Who on a neutral field would you take? The Lions are Seattle. The Miami Dolphins made the playoffs. Now, New England sucks too. They shouldn't have made it. Miami Dolphins, you see what they're playing with the quarterback? Did you watch? that game, I don't blame you if you didn't. I did because I was thinking that
Starting point is 00:17:02 Sala or McDaniel, one of those two were going to get fired. Hell, Sala still might. We'll get into that here in a second. But that was a tough watch. Miami stinks and part of it isn't all their fault. Tua who, when he's on the field, they are a capable playoff level team. But when he's not, and Teddy Bridgewater's
Starting point is 00:17:18 fingers broken or dislocated and you're playing with Skyler Thompson, that's a middle of the road team. So to me, the Lions and the Steelers, two teams that did not make it today, are better than that two actually teams that did. So the seven seed, while it adds fun and it adds revenue and it adds content and it adds something for us to watch,
Starting point is 00:17:39 it actually is adding a pretty bad team. And now we have two years of evidence, Eagle Steelers, Seattle, Miami, shitty teams are making it. That's just a fact. And when you look at the point spreads, I haven't seen the point spread on the Niners Seattle. I'm guessing it's pretty huge. I did see the Bills Miami.
Starting point is 00:17:57 That's over 10 points. So, like, this is the playoffs. This isn't week seven, right? I like most of my point spreads to be a touchdown down once you get to the final, you know, ideally 12 teams. But we added the 14, we added the Monday night football game, but we're not getting an increase in the product. We're just not. We're just doing this for money, which I'm pro capitalism, I'm pro revenue, but so far two years, the evidence is not pretty. And speaking about the two teams in the AFC, the dot, this is,
Starting point is 00:18:28 didn't make it. I think they're the polar opposites. The Pittsburgh Steelers, who started this season, two and six. And when they were two and six, I know this. And you guys know where I stand if you listen to me for a while. Not the biggest Kenny Pickett guy, but pretty impressive last couple games. Watch it and play, run around make plays, making some nice passes. There's something to build on. But you could have said the same thing last year about Mack Jones when he had like 22 touchdowns and 10 picks or whatever. Had a lot to build on there too. But, you know, Kenny pickets probably uses athleticism a little bit better. And the one thing difference between the Steelers and the Pats,
Starting point is 00:19:04 Steelers have a lot of good players all over the place. And every single year you know with Pittsburgh, they draft well. But I think Mike Tomlin, a lot like Dan Campbell, what a freaking year. What an awesome performance. Two and six, easy to kind of mail it in. We talked about this, I think, last week. There's a competitive character. There's a standard.
Starting point is 00:19:24 There's just a refusal to ever suck. to whoever just go, you know what, this is not our year. Let's go 6 and 11. Let's get ready for the draft. You dare us to get a top 10 pick and see who we draft, because we'll draft a sweet player. But no, we're not going to do that. We are just going to fight, scratch, and claw our way
Starting point is 00:19:45 till it's going to take an overtime win for the Miami Dolphins to knock us out of the playoffs. So absolutely huge amount of respect for the Pittsburgh Steelers organization. they've had reasons these last several years to just bottom out, but their standard, their culture is just too high. Now, if I'm a Steeler fan, we've got to take that next step, and I feel pretty good. We have a good nucleus.
Starting point is 00:20:09 We have impact players. We're good on defense. We have some good offensive weapons. Can we have a good offseason? Can we have a good draft? And next year, can we win 11 games? Can we be right there with the Bengals and be better than the Ravens? Like to me, obviously, that's going to be the offseason goal.
Starting point is 00:20:23 But I would actually be pretty bullish next year on the season. Steelers. And a team that I'm just not bullish on. And for the second time in three years, they're under 500. Though, like, let's throw away the COVID year for Belichick and just focus on the last two years. Last year was impressive. I gave them a lot of credit. They won double-digit games.
Starting point is 00:20:43 They won a wild card. They made the wild card. They obviously lost in the game. They got destroyed by the bills. But Mac Jones had a solid rookie year. Their defense was good. You're like, okay, let's take a step. Let's see where this goes.
Starting point is 00:20:56 and then Josh McDaniels leaves and he replaces him with Matt Patricia and Joe Judge. And the rest is history. Mack Jones had a terrible season. 14 touchdowns, 11 picks. The eye test was really ugly. Though today he actually did some nice things. But overall, the offense was a joke.
Starting point is 00:21:17 It felt like it regressed. And listen, anyone who's been around successful people in their latter stages of life, no. They're usually not the most open-minded people. They're usually not the most nimble people with ideas and just like, you know, I'll adapt, I'll figure it out, like let's have some meetings. They're usually the most stubborn.
Starting point is 00:21:41 They're usually the most hard-headed. And when you look at Robert Kraft, who's, I don't know, how old is he now, 80 years old, just got married, super rich, used to success for 20 years. Now his teams go ahead in the wrong direction. like you think he's just oh we'll just figure it out you think bellichick who is 70 71 years old with a hundred million in the bank who's got six rings is just going to now start listening to robert craft to me this
Starting point is 00:22:07 feels destined for a divorce now i'm not acting like belichick should get fired or that getting rid of bill it's going to be easy to upgrade of course they won't and even robert craft if whenever it inevitably happens couldn't look you in the eye and go we think we can do better. But there comes a point in a time when it comes to a coach or owner organization relationship where it's just over, where it's just kind of time for a change. And the simple reality is with Bill, he is too good to ever just suck. So he's never going to give you like, ah, now we can get rid of him. He just won four games. He just went five and 12. Let's finally, we can just rid ourselves of Belichick's
Starting point is 00:22:55 honorary negative mentality. That's not going to happen. So his worst is always going to be 8 and 9. 7 and 10. 9 and 8. He's going to live around that. And that's what it feels like the Pats are destined to be now for the next several years.
Starting point is 00:23:11 Just to be 7 to 10 wins. And honestly 10 feels really high. I'd go 7 to 9. And I do wonder if you're Robert Kraft and I would imagine his son Jonathan is like, can we do it now? Can we just do a mutual departant? Can we just force Bill's hand go like,
Starting point is 00:23:29 we want you to fire these seven coaches, knowing that he'll say, F you, I'm not doing that shit. I'll do what I want to do because I've done what I want to do for 22 years and look at the success and look at what I've brought you. And I do wonder if this week in the next couple days, rumors, you know, things start flying,
Starting point is 00:23:50 then it start getting a little weird because this was a design. disastrous season for them. Not from their drafting number one overall. They never will. Bill could coach with his eyes closed and he'd win five games. He could never be Lovie Smith or Eber Fluss. He's just too good.
Starting point is 00:24:10 But now his talent and his limitations as a drafter without Tom is going to hold him back. So his ceiling is now much, much lower. And I'm telling you, older stubborn people, especially super rich ones and obviously Robert has unlimited wealth Bill relative to most rich people is really, really rich. I just don't see this thing ending well
Starting point is 00:24:33 and this feels destined for just a bad, bad divorce whether it's this year, whether it's next year but let's face it, the writing's now on the wall. One story that broke, I think it actually broke is like Rogers was throwing the interception to the rookie.
Starting point is 00:24:51 Lovie Smith was fired. which got no issue with. Lovie Smith stinks. David Cully, nice guy. Worked with him with the Eagles. Really liked him, enjoyed him. As a wide receiver coach, most people that were around David Cully
Starting point is 00:25:07 laughed out loud when he was named the head coach. The Houston Texans now have gone back-to-back seasons with one and done coaches. And they're a good example. And Sean Payton's talked a lot. He talked about this morning on Fox with Shrager. He talks about this when he's on with coward. I've heard him on with podcasts, talk about it.
Starting point is 00:25:28 He's adamant. The most important thing in an organization, when it comes to the NFL, everyone thinks like, oh, I need a quarterback. Oh, I need a quarterback. He's like, I didn't go to the Saints. We didn't have a quarterback. We signed Drew Breeze that offseason, but no one knew Drew Breeze was Drew Breeze. So I went to that organization because I believed in the vision from the ownership and the general manager.
Starting point is 00:25:48 That's the most important aspect of an organization. the cohesiveness from owner GM coach, everyone rowing in the same boat. Now, I've heard this from several people that Cal McNair, the son of, you know, I think RIP, his dad, long gone, is a moron, an idiot, has no business running a team.
Starting point is 00:26:11 Now, you can probably say that for a lot of teams. Mark Davis, Bidwell, you notice a lot of these teams that are complete embarrassment are kids of former successful owners. like that's just a reality. You can't fire owners, as Jed York once said. Problem for the NFL.
Starting point is 00:26:26 Well, I guess not really because the good teams like those teams sucking. Like you think Clark Hunt minds that the Raiders are a disaster or the Broncos don't have their shit together? You think Kyle Shanahan, minds that Michael Bidwell doesn't know what the hell he's doing? Of course not. But it's just a reality. And the Texans right now just don't feel like there's any cohesiveness. And Casario, I don't know much about him, never met the guy
Starting point is 00:26:48 besides just Patriot guys consistently fail when they get their opportunities succeed. Though I remember when he made the Deshaun Watson trade, which was a heist. That was highway robbery. Have you watched Sean Watson? I get, he hasn't played in a long time, but I saw someone put this on Twitter today. It's like, listen, I'll give Deshaun the benefit out the first couple weeks. But after like five games, if you look worse than Jared Stittem, right, or Brock Purdy or some of these guys, David Blow, Like we got issue you look terrible.
Starting point is 00:27:20 They gave you 230 guaranteed and they traded countless first round picks for you. So this, he might not be any good. So to trade a guy for that much who was never going to play for your franchise again is a good trade. It's an excellent trade. There's a chance of the Cleveland Browns and the Denver Broncos have two players who are making a combined guaranteed money at like $500 million who just stink. Now, you would say Deshawn would be less likely to stink given that he's way younger, but who knows? Maybe his massage, escapades, mindset, ability to compartmentalize.
Starting point is 00:27:57 He can't do it anymore, and he's just going to unravel. It's pretty ugly so far. Browns fans, you have to admit that. But Nick Casario keeps hiring these coaches. I get last year, nobody would touch the job. He hired David Cully. He was a one and done from the moment he hired him. And even this last season with Lovey Smith,
Starting point is 00:28:15 clearly a lot of people thought that place was toxic. Maybe now because they have these picks, they're going to have cap space, a little less toxic. You have to hire a coach that you think can be a good head coach. What is the point in hiring these guys? If you think Nick Casario thought Lovey Smith was good last year when he hired him, you're just crazy. He knew he sucked.
Starting point is 00:28:37 His resume spoke for itself. He sucked for years. It made absolutely no sense besides the fact that could they get no. one else to take the job. Now, all rumors and all signs point that they're going to hire Gannon, the offensive coordinator for the Philadelphia, or I guess the defensive coordinator for the Philadelphia Eagles, or hire one of the Philadelphia, I've got a lot of coaches in my mind right now, but one of the Philadelphia Eagles assistant coaches, which, again, you would think that guy would have a little more high upside, younger guy. Here's my question. Is Casario, if he is
Starting point is 00:29:12 able to survive and Jay Glazer reported that he might get fired to. Who knows? I mean, that place is a disaster. And ultimately, you can blame the, or you can blame the general manager, you can blame the coaches. Do you notice consistently these bad organizations are run by terrible owners? Like, why do the Raiders always suck? Mark Davis is their owner. Like this year, the Cardinals were terrible. Well, yeah, most years when Michael Bidwell owns the team, it's not very good. Most years with the Houston Texans, they're not going to be good as long as this guy owns the team. Why do the Washington football team commanders always not make the playoffs? Because Dan Snyder's a shitty owner. Ownership really, really matters. Are they coaching wide receivers on how to run
Starting point is 00:30:01 outroutes or coaching defensive backs? What coverage is to play? Of course not. But we have a long history now. I would say in all of pro sports, the importance and the influence. And the influence that bad ownership has. It's consistent. And the bad ownership in this league is pretty, pretty evident on a yearly basis. And speaking of the Texans, they blew.
Starting point is 00:30:24 And here's the thing about not having a cohesive... Today, this morning, and really for the last week, everyone knew Lovey Smith was going to get fired. So Lovey Smith was going to get fired. You obviously sucked all season long, and now you want to lose these last couple games. But Lovey Smith, what does he have to lose? He's trying to win some games.
Starting point is 00:30:41 He's never going to be head coaching. again. They win this game today. They lose the number one overall pick. Little lucky that it's not exactly like Andrew Luck in this draft. But still, what is the point in being terrible all season long and then losing week 18? There is none. It's terrible business. And that's ultimately what this is. It's a business. Now the bears, who I don't know if you've noticed, have the number one overall pick. They've lost 10 straight games. 10. Fields didn't play to date. but still, they lost a lot of games when Justin Fields was playing.
Starting point is 00:31:17 It did hit me today that their general manager and their head coach did not draft Justin Fields. Didn't do it. Now, I like Justin Fields. I loved him coming out in the draft. I thought he should have gone number two overall to the Jets. I wanted the 49ers to take him at number three.
Starting point is 00:31:34 Clearly, a lot of people in the league didn't think I was right because the league did not view Justin Fields like I viewed Justin Fields. I don't pretend to be Bill Walker. Bill Barselles here, but I'd say that one's age pretty well. I do wonder if people really, really like Bryce Young. Now, I think coming out of college,
Starting point is 00:31:53 Bryce Young's a better quarterback, a more natural passer, a more natural feel for the passing game. Fields is a much bigger, superior athlete. He is going into his third season, and he does have a lot of value. You don't think a team like the football team, commanders, some of these teams would trade for him. if the Bears front office
Starting point is 00:32:13 was not a huge believer in Fields when they were with their other teams when he was with the Chiefs and then he comes there, it's not like Fields won him a bunch of games. Now, there's a lot to be excited about. He has a high ceiling, but a lot of guys with high ceilings never get there.
Starting point is 00:32:29 You could justify, or it wouldn't totally shock me if we see some rumors, the Bears would entertain taking some calls on Justin Fields, getting a bunch of draft capital, and then just drafting Bryce Young and starting from scratch
Starting point is 00:32:44 with his rookie contract. I do wonder if that's on the table right now. I'm not saying I would do that, but this is a team, never forget, they traded Chase Claypool to the, excuse me, they traded for Chase Claypool. They use their second round pick.
Starting point is 00:33:00 Well, when you have the number one overall pick, where's your second round pick? Well, it's pick 33. It's actually picked 32 because the Miami Dolphins got their first rounder taken away this year. So if you're the Bears, you've got a long way to go. I know you were competitive this year, but you actually stink.
Starting point is 00:33:16 So I think everything's on the table with them, especially when you have a head coach and a general manager that had nothing to do with the quarterback. And last but not least, the New York Jets. I've been saying this for a while, if you've listened to this show, that someone in the league told me a while ago, the Jets had eight premium picks. And they hit basically on seven of them.
Starting point is 00:33:39 and they missed on one. And if you reversed it and they missed on seven, but they hit on the one and that one was the quarterback, the head coach and the GM would get extensions. That's the way the NFL works. You draft Mahomes, you draft Josh Allen, you draft Lamar, you get job security. You can draft left tackles, you can draft linebackers,
Starting point is 00:34:00 you can draft cornerbacks, you can draft running backs, all pros and pro bowlers. But if you whiff on the quarterback, you're going to be in trouble. because ultimately it's a quarterback league. You need your quarterback to function at a relatively high level. The 49ers are having success right now. Obviously they have a very talented team,
Starting point is 00:34:21 but Brock Purdy is throwing multiple touchdowns every single game. Their passing game is explosive. And the Jets who took Zach Wilson number two overall, which is a young man from Utah, Provo, Utah, to the New York City, like it couldn't be any more extremes. I've been to both places. They're the polar opposite of each other. And Joe Douglas did a good job.
Starting point is 00:34:51 He's drafted a lot of really good players. Robert Salaf feels like a solid head coach. But there are rumors this morning that everything is on the table with Woody Johnson. And I wouldn't fire these guys. I would stand, Pat. But I do understand, if you put yourself in the owner's shoes, you go, it's one thing to miss on the quarterback or have the quarterback have a slow transitional period in his younger career.
Starting point is 00:35:15 It's another thing to take Zach Wilson. Who last week, the offensive coordinator said, yeah, in hindsight, we screwed up. We should have eased him into his career. Robert Salas says he just needs to get away and read a book. And then it hit me today when I'm watching the Dolphins game. They're not playing for anything. Today was not a win or get-in game. they're just playing for pride.
Starting point is 00:35:39 Today would be the type of day is like, let's Zach get out there and get some reps. And it never crossed their mind to start Zach Wilson. If anything, they didn't want Zach Wilson close to the field at all. They think Zach Wilson is either a terrible human, a terrible football player, or a combination of them both. And if I'm the owner,
Starting point is 00:36:01 our franchise was going to hinge on that number two pick. If this guy was just a decent player, just top 50, 20 player. Turns out with our team, we'd have had a chance. He's the worst quarterback in the NFL. Obviously, there are probably some backups
Starting point is 00:36:15 worse than him, but there's clearly some backups better. The worst starting quarterback in the NFL this year, Zach Wilson. And let's face it, starting quarterback. I mean, he's not going to be a starting quarterback for the foreseeable future, if ever again. So the Jets made their bed,
Starting point is 00:36:29 or, you know, created this mess. And now they kind of got to lie in the situation. So these rumors about Robert Sol and Joe Doug Douglas's job security, I don't think it's as crazy as like Mike McDaniel. Well, the fuck was Mike McDaniel supposed to do. The team was, you know, offensively, they were really good. And the quarterback got concussion after concussion after concussion. He inherited this quarterback. It's not like he went to the owner, he went to the GMs like, I got this guy, his name's Tuatanga by Loa. He's from Hawaii. He's coming with me and we're going to win games. I just showed up.
Starting point is 00:37:01 I told you guys I could resurrect him. I'm not the biggest Tua fan, but he definitely resurrected him. The only time two really stinks is when his head's getting bounced off the surface. So to me, the rumors about Mike McGainer losing his job, like, what? But I understand the Jets, like, if I'm Woody Johnson, you tell me with this roster, let me get a guy that knows quarterbacks, Jim Harbaugh, Sean Payton. So I would guess in the next couple days we start hearing rumors about the Jets, even if they don't fire these guys about Woody Johnson doing some due diligence, even though I don't even think there's due diligence to be done. But I think Sean Payton and Jim Harbaugh would make some sense with the New York Jets.
Starting point is 00:37:40 The volume. Another podcast from some SNL late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes.
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Starting point is 00:39:00 Listen to Superhuman on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.

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