The Herd with Colin Cowherd - 3 & Out - Jameis Winston and Cleveland Browns STUN Russell Wilson and the Pittsburgh Steelers on TNF

Episode Date: November 22, 2024

John Middlekauff reacts to a snowy showdown in Cleveland between Jameis Winston and the Cleveland Browns and Russell Wilson and the Pittsburgh Steelers on Thursday Night Football. John breaks down some major moments in the game where coach Tomlin and the Steelers had a chance to put it away but ultimately the Browns were able to play spoiler to the Steelers who have hopes of winning the AFC North. Next John gives his thoughts on NY Giants QB Daniel Jones' goodbye speech he gave to the media on Thursday afternoon. John then focuses on the other New York team, the Jets, and explains that although Woody Johnson has his faults as an owner, and there are many, that not all of this season's woes are on him. Later, John give you another edition of Fugazi Friday. Lastly, Stuckey from the Action Network stops by the pod to give his best bets for the weekend. 3:28 - TNF: Steelers at Browns reaction 29:52 - Reaction to Daniel Jones statement to the media 36:43 - Breaking down the NY Jets dysfunction 48:03 - Fugazi Friday 59:13 - Stuckey joins the show Follow John on Twitter, Instagram and YouTube for the latest. Check out Gametime - the fastest growing ticketing app in the US, and the official ticketing app of 3 & Out and GoLow -  for tickets to all of your favorite NFL, NBA, NHL, NCAA teams. Concert and comedy show tickets, too. Go to Gametime now to create an account, download the app and use code JOHN for $20 off your first purchase. #Volume #Herd  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Hey, I'm Deanna Maria Riva, and on my new podcast, How Hard Can It Be? I call on my Gen X squad from Ohio to Hollywood as we navigate Midlife's most fantastic BS. Unfiltered conversations from night sweats to futas to scheduling sex. Wait, what sex? Is it just me, or does every woman my age want to look at Pinterest instead of having sex sometimes? They say we can't polish a turn, but we're sure going to try. So let's get blunt with. laughs, tears, or tears of laughter.

Listen to How Hard Can It Be with Gianna Maria Riva on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano. It's our favorite time of the year on our podcast point game, the playoffs. We're digging into the biggest surprises of the season. And I'm looking back on some of my greatest playoff moments. If we didn't talk ever again, I was hungry.

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The volume. What is going on, everybody? How are we doing? John Middilkoff 3 and Out podcast. The Cleveland Browns upset the Pittsburgh Steelers in a blizzard in a driving snow storm. Maybe I'm overhyping it. Maybe it's just snow.

But in my mind, that's a blizzard. So awesome. Doesn't get much better sitting on your couch, in your slippers, drinking some hot cocoa. I was actually drinking some red wine. And just enjoying AFC North football. That was bad at. Props to the Browns fans.

We'll dive into the game. Some of the Pittsburgh Steelers coaching decisions down the stretch, which I think cost them the game. I do want to hit on Daniel, Jones basically gave a speech today. Acknowledging his career with the Giants is over. And the Jets, some stories are coming out on the athletic about Woody Johnson and, you know, a lot of people think Joe Douglas is leaking it.

So we'll dive into those as well. And, you know, it's Fugazi Friday. So we got some Fugazis out there. I see Netflix has a class action lawsuit against it for Jake Paul, Mike Tyson. You got the Sixers who might win 10 games. games this season. And there was something else, which I'll get to a little later, as well as Stucky, who joins us every Thursday.

So Stucky will join us to talk about some of the games this weekend on Sunday, as well as the big college football game, Indiana, 13-point dog against the Ohio State Buckeyes. Can Kurt Zignetti upset Ohio State? Only time will tell. but we'll discuss that game from a gambling perspective. Other than that, make sure you subscribe to three and out if you listen on Collins' feed, the YouTube page. Go subscribe to that as well.

And other than that, let's talk some ball. But first, you can go to any game with our friends, our partners, and the official ticketing app of this podcast game time. Here's a thing. Any event you want to go to, college or pro, a concert, a comedy show, you just type in the venue, you type in the team, you type in the game, you type in whatever you want to figure out where you want to go and then you search by price points

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last minute tickets, lowest prices, guaranteed. Before we dive into the actual game, I just want to tip my hat and give a standing ovation to the Browns fans. Obviously that game, if you don't live in an area where there's frigid cold temperatures like the Midwest or the northeast, it is an extremely cool event to watch a snow game like that. For those of us that grew up on the West Coast when we wanted to go to the snow, we had to get into our car and drive several hours to a place called Lake Tahoe. I think in my 18 years of growing up in the Sacramento area, I think it snowed one time for like two hours. and it was a really, really big deal.

And then having lived in Philly and live in some of these cities where it snows, it's a different way of life. And I was thinking this watching the game tonight. Listen, I love football. If you're listening to this, you probably love football. I really think, you know, and you just look around this country, it's hard to fake when you really, really give a shit. Like, it's pretty obvious in the South how much they care about college football.

It's pretty obvious when you go to some of these big cities, how much they care about like their food scene. You can't fake being 2 and 8 and having a season from hell, having your team be a joke again after it, you know, Stefansky helped resurrect it these last three or four years. Be completely out of it.

Be a feel like a hopeless franchise because you have this quarterback with a torn Achilles who's going to take up a bunch of your cap space and to pack that house to be against, and I understand it's a division rival and it's a big deal for the game. But to treat that game, if you didn't know any better and you didn't follow the NFL and you just turned on that game

and you didn't know records, you would think that was like a winner get into the playoff level environment. So props to endless night, I have so much admiration for fans that like it's easy to be a Yankee fan. Like ultimately you just complain, oh, we got knocked out again in the, in the wild card round. Oh, we didn't make it to the World Series. We haven't won the World Series in 15 years. You're still good all the time. If you're of a certain age and you're a Browns fan, one, the team left you once upon a time. And two, for most of the internet era, your team hasn't just been bad. They've been an embarrassment.

And you watch that tonight and you just go, that is awesome. And so many of these places, especially in the Midwest, have just such a special, powerful fan base. And obviously the, you know, the vibe of the snow game. It is a unique viewing experience. I can't even imagine trying to play in that, especially at the NFL level, where in high school football,

whatever, you can have a little fun. But these games really matter if you're the Pittsburgh Steelers, and you can barely grip the ball, you can barely pivot and turn and change direction. But the fans, man, that place was rocking. And just props to every fan that was there for making that a pretty awesome viewing experience. Now dive into the game.

It's hard to truly like nitpick plays, right? Especially once the second half. The Steelers were awful on offense in the first half. They scored three points. You started wondering like, are they going to be able to score a touchdown again? And then obviously the weather was turning. You're like, they are screwed. They're down 18 to 6 going into the fourth quarter.

James goes viral before the game even starts. He has an incredible touchdown where he jumps into the end zone. He has several other plays that easily could have got caught. It was just hard because of the environment. I mean, the Steelers were getting outplayed, outclassed and kind of getting worked. And then Russell Wilson, I mean, has one of his finest, I would say, couple-drive performances so far as a Steeler. Especially when you factor in playing an unreal, a defense that's playing at a high level. You know, playing what I think it's fair to say, the most talented defensive player in the NFL, Miles Garrett.

and a couple times he hit Russell so hard and he just elevated. I mean, he crunched him. And I was thinking about this. And when I scouted for Philadelphia, like I'm born and raised in the West Coast. I don't, I mean, it gets kind of cold in Northern California. Like 50 degrees you got to put on a jacket. But I had never experienced like people in the Midwest or people in the Northeast that have that second coat. Like we've always just needed one coat, right?

like a jacket or a pullover. But when you live in those type environments, you put on your normal warm weather clothes, and then you put on that long-ass jacket. And then you realize when you're around the football team, how difficult it is to play in these conditions. The wind, how cold it is, it's just a different level of mental toughness.

And scouting defensive players in that environment, you know, regardless who you get, whether you play in a dome or whether you play outside, most defensive players translate, right? Like Miles Garrett can play in cold weather, warm weather, it doesn't matter. Same thing with Jared Verse or Nick Bosa, you could easily put them in Philadelphia, New England. They'd be fine. Aaron Donald, it doesn't matter.

But on offense, it does, especially with the quarterback. And when you scout in that environment, it's like, the Steelers really drafted Kenny Pickett to play in the AFC North. That is insanity. And then you watch what they got. like Russell Wilson played for a decade in Seattle, which doesn't get the snowstorms like that, but it's very cold, very windy,

and obviously very wet. So he's used to playing in inclement conditions. And then their backup quarterback, you know, once he transferred to Ohio State, then played early on in his NFL career in Chicago. So they are comfortable playing in that environment. And Russell flipped a switch in the fourth quarter, led two touchdown drives,

and you're like, the Steelers are going to win this game. game and it is going to be a fantastic victory. And one thing a couple times, and listen, like I'm not opposed to doing this, especially in that game, bringing in Justin Fields. They've done it now two or three weeks in a row in running some of the zone read, getting the ball in his hands and let him use his explosive athleticism. And tonight he busted out a big run.

But he was also stuffed on a fourth down. And I do think if you're going to keep doing that, you're going to have to implement. some passes, so at least the defense, if it's third and short or fourth in short, has to honor the pass. I do believe that. I wrote that down in my notes while the game was going. But I also think there's a time and a place. And there was under four minutes.

The Steelers had the ball. If they got a first down, they couldn't have run out the clock because the Brown still had timeouts, but they definitely could have dictated more of the terms of the game. And they put Justin Fields in, in a situation in which they'd put them in earlier, but they have them throw the ball. And it wasn't like a high percentage throw. It was a deep bomb down the left side to George Pickens that wasn't really remotely close to being completed.

And listen, you can question Russell Wilson just like how good is he relative to how good he used to be. You know, tonight he still makes some of those great lollipop throws. He actually hit some slant routes throughout the game. To me, the most impressive part about tonight was like his toughness in how unfazed he was by getting peppered by their defensive line and linebackers. He just kept getting up. It's like, goddamn.

This guy's really, you know, showing out for Pittsburgh Steeler and Pittsburgh Steeler football. Like, this is the type guy they like. He probably earned a lot of respect tonight. His best throw is that pass down the sideline. So if you are going to call that play in that spot under four minutes when you have a one-point lead in this crazy-ass game, have the better quarterback in terms of throwing the ball, throw that ball. It made no sense in that spot.

So then you got a punt. The punter shanks the punt. And they get into this weird situation on third and two where they call it great blitz. Patrick Queen crushes James. James desperation gets rid of it. And they get a penalty. Luckily, they avoid intentional grounding

and they get the illegal linemen touching the ball. And there's a lot of like, no one knew what was going on. And essentially, if I was Mike Tomlin, I would not have accepted the penalty. Because if you make them, instead of going fourth and two, you'd give them third and seven,

well, they get two plays then. If you go fourth and two, one, they got to choose, are they going to try to kick a 43, 44 yard field goal? Clearly they probably weren't. It was into the wind, into the snow. They would go for it.

Well, the unit you rely on the most, if you are going anywhere this season, obviously you're going to need Russell to play at a high level. It's going to be because of your defense. It's not going to be some offense scoring 25 plus points. That's not the way you play, whether it's a blizzard or not a blizzard.

So I didn't like that decision. And then he fucking calls a timeout after they're all discombobulated and he only had two of them at the time and he blows one in that situation. And obviously a couple of plays later they score. And then they get the ball back with 55 seconds and they only got one time out. It made no sense.

If I was a Steeler fan, like, it's hard for me to judge, like, play calling. Like, you know, why didn't we run more quick game? Why didn't we? It's a difficult spot to be in a blizzard. So I'm not nitpicking you're like, why did we run so many off tackle runs? Like, it's hard. But there were two specific moments where there is no avoiding. And listen, Mike Tomlin has had an incredible season.

I mean, at one point in time, when they take the lead, you're like, listen, it's coach of the year. There's four or five guys that you could make a legit argument for. But this has got to be one of Tomlin's great achievements. Nine and two? With this Justin Fields, Russell Wilson situation? Jeez, how do you do that? How many people, even Steelers,

would have believed at the beginning of the season, when it looked like they were going to win this game, they would be nine and two, going into Thanksgiving week. There is a Steeler fan alive. that wouldn't have signed up for that. And most of us humans would have been like, listen, I was wrong on the Steelers, even at 8 and 3. But I never thought they would be 8 and 3.

I thought, you know, probably like a middling 500 team. Maybe a little under is going to get weird. So he's done an incredible job. But those two moments, and I understand he's not the offensive play caller, but I'm sorry, in that spot, I got to be on the headset if I'm Tomlin telling Arthur Smith, we got to win or lose this game with Russell Wilson. I think of the time he was 18 of 22.

I think he ended up finishing like 20 to 27 or something. I just can't believe they had Justin Fields throw it in that spot. It made no sense. And the blowing the time out, I guess maybe you were discombobulated on defense or whatever, but there's nothing worse than blowing a time out and then giving up an immediate first down. It was just like that couldn't have been any worse.

And then ultimately at the end of the game, It was a huge swing moment for not having, you know, an extra timeout. They only had one, and it really limited what they could do on that final drive. Because they had to hurry up to the line after I think they're one of their first plays, the Friermouth, to try to get off another play because they wanted to kind of like have their cake and eat it too because they wanted to use a time out a little bit later. Well, if they had two, they could have called it right there and preserved a bunch of time. So listen, I'm not like acting like he sucks or it's just some,

devastating big picture move, but, like, listen, they had a two-game cushion. They had the lead and the coaching staff, which has been really good tonight. I thought kind of fuck the Steelers in this spot with the Justin Fields throw and then that timeout. And I also think they got lucky that, like, if I was Stefansky, I would not have had Nick Chub or my running backs, like, we're getting down at the one or two. Now you can say in the blizzard, kicking is a little worrisome, but even Kirk Herb Street said, like, listen, as someone that's born and raised in Ohio and been watching

the Browns my whole life, seeing that 50 plus seconds on the clock was pretty nerve-wracking. But, you know, props to James, a very, very fun game, props to Miles Garrett for still playing his ass off. That's the thing about the NFL. We talk about it all the time. In these prime time games, especially divisional matchups, you've got to throw the record out the window. Because one, the Browns have a lot of dudes that live in big ass houses and drive range rovers as well. And two, like you have pride. You know everyone in the league, everyone in the country that watches football is watching you play. It's why we see, and listen, Thursday nights are weird, you know, short week, you get a huge advantage being the home team later in the season, right? Your

bodies are really kind of beaten down. But we see these upsets on Thursday night and Monday night. And in November and December every single year relative to the records. And you just got to throw it out. Now, listen, once you saw the weather, obviously the game kind of like all the advantages gets neutralized a little bit given the field conditions and turning and passing is difficult. But the Browns out executed them, outcoached them down the stretch. Period point blank, end of story. And we'll have to see how this plays out.

They still got the one-game lead over Baltimore. But if the Steelers end up not winning the division, if I was a Steeler fan, it'd be difficult for me to forget the last three or four minutes of this game. Because they really had an opportunity to be nine and two and be on the fast track down the end of this season to, like, who knows, maybe you have a seat, you know, a two or three seed wrapped up by that final week and you can rest everybody going into the, you know, wildcard weekend. And now, you know, this loss could come down to haunt him.

And we said this about the Browns. Isn't it crazy that when Deshaun, like, is there any doubt that the Browns lose the Ravens game and lose the Steeler game if Deshawn Watson doesn't hurt his Achilles and James doesn't play? I mean, how many guys, and listen, it's not like they've won a lot of games, but if you just watch and play how much more competitive they are, on a weekly basis with James Winston. I mean, he looks like John Elway relative to Deshaun Watson.

So props to the Browns. Props to Svansky. Appreciate his defansky as well. You know, younger guy, but, you know, this isn't college. You're not recruiting. You don't need to dye your beard. Just let it be natural. He's got the grays going.

Obviously, a lot of stress with Jimmy Haslam, you know, hanging over, peeking into his office, probably 24 hours a day. It can't be easy. But that was a nice win. So even if you're having the season from head, you get at home, beat the Ravens, beat the Steelers, it's got to feel pretty good. Okay, the NFL season is rolling along and contenders are separating from the pack. But one thing hasn't changed, baby.

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We have some big news. What's the news, name? Huge news. We created our own podcast called, Hey Jonas. We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to it.

We're the first people to do podcasts. Pretty, yeah, pretty wide range of podcasts throughout there. But this one's extra special. So how do we actually come up with a name, Hey Jonas, guys. I honestly don't remember. I think it was on a call about what we should call it. Well, we were thinking I'm originally calling it

one of the early names of our band. Before Jonas Brothers was... This is how you guys remember it going down? Yes. I have a very different memory of this. We were talking about a thing, a bit for the podcast where people could call in and say, hey, Jonas. And then I wrote down on my little notepad,

Hey Jonas, and offered it up as a potential title for the podcast. But thanks for remembering that, guys. Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. Another podcast from some SNL, late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smigel and friends.

Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and Friends on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano, and our podcast Point Game is about defying the odds. Like LeBron heading into the playoffs without Luca and Austin Reed. And finding ways to win no matter what. He's the smartest player to ever play the game. His IQ is at a level that we've never seen before. And he knows.

Without Luca and Austin Reeves, I can. got to manipulate the game. We get a player's perspective on the challenges of the playoffs. I think Joker's going to be exhausted this series because when they don't have Rudy in the lineup, he has to really guard guys like Nas Reid. He has to guard Julius Randall. And then he has to give us everything he gives us on the night-to-night basis on offense. And when IT's friends stop by, like Quentin Richardson, we dive into some playoff history too.

Steve Nash would get that thing. That man, hell get the flying. He running up the court, licking his fingers, why he got the ball like. After you go through a training camp with that, Isaiah, you figure it out real quick. Get your ass up and down the court, and you're going to get the ball. So listen to Point Game on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Agency, the ability to know that we're the experts in our own body. On the podcast, cultivating her space, Dr. Dom and Terry Lomax create a space where black women can show up fully and be heard.

I wholeheartedly think, you know, you hit 30. You shouldn't have to share one with anybody. Mm-hmm. From navigating friendships and healing to setting boundaries and prioritizing your mental health. These are real, honest conversations. We don't always get to have out loud. Totally unreasonable with different parts of life, right? Like, oh, have all three meals and make sure you're mindful during all of them?

Absolutely not. During one meal, I'm standing. I'm standing and handing my children food. Because healing, empowerment, and resilience aren't just ideas. their practices. And this Mental Health Awareness Month, there's no better time to pour back into yourself. Listen to cultivating her space on the IHeart Radio app,

Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. This week on Crimless, we're joined by our first ever guest. Sorry, our first ever human guest. I don't think I could be in the same room with Shamrock the Parrot. I'd be too nervous. That's right. The very funny Will Farrell joined. Ryan's Rory Scovel and me, Josh Dean, for an episode dedicated to the many crimes committed by people also named Will Farrell.

They called to his fellow officer for the nippers. What are the nippers? Very good question. No, I was thinking, would that be a good name for like a salad dressing? Simple assault. And it's a play on word, salt? Maybe not. I say we invest and we see.

There's only one way to know. This did not amuse the cops. By the way, normally the cops are amused, but this did not abuse the cops. Will even comes clean about some of his own crimes. I didn't get caught. You know why? If you don't want to be suspected of anything, you whistle as you walk. Listen to crime lists on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Okay, I wanted to go to New York football. And there's a lot going on right now with the Giants and the Jets. None of it good. Both teams, I guess simply put stink. And they're terrible at football, which is a problem given that they're, They are football teams. So it's not good. The Giants, you could argue, are even worse than the Jets.

It's really, really ugly with both franchises. But I wanted to start with the Giants because Daniel Jones today addressed the press, the media, the people that cover the team, and essentially said his goodbyes. Which some would say, why is he doing this now? Well, obviously everyone knows by now if you fall football, Daniel Jones has been benched, but he hasn't just been benched. He's been made the third string quarterback, basically acknowledging he's never going to play

another snap for the Giants ever again. This move was made for financial reasons. They don't want him to get injured and owe him $23 million. So they don't make him the backup because you're just one snap away. You make him the third string. The game plan would be for him never to play again for the New York Giants. And I think it's, unless there's a complete. disaster, multiple people got hurt, and he's got to go in as an emergency quarterback.

He's never ever going to take a snap again for the New York Giants. But I think when you listen to Daniel Jones speak about his situation, it reminds me of something I learned a long time ago when it came to scouting and why it's so much different than most of our businesses. Well, let's just, let's take a listen to Daniel Jones, kind of go on a, you know, over a minute rant about his goodbyes. and him acknowledging that he's to blame or played a big part in the failures that was this season and how his career is basically coming to doing it as a New York Giant.

All right, I wrote something down just to make sure I say the right way. Let's see, the opportunity to play for the New York Giants was truly a dream come true, and I'm extremely grateful to the Marin Tish families for the chance to play here. The Giants are truly a first-class organization, and I have nothing but genuine respect and appreciation for the people who have built it, and who helped carry on that tradition. I've met so many special people and creative relationships that will truly last a lifetime. Thank you to all my teammates, coaches, and staff that have done so much for me these past six years.

There have been some great times, but of course, we all wish there have been more of those. I take full responsibility for my part and not bringing more wins. No one wanted to win more games worse than me, and I gave everything I had on the field and in my preparation. Of course this season has been disappointing for all, and of course I wish I could have done more. I'm 100% accountable for my part. I did not play well enough consistently enough to help the team get the results. The reality of the NFL is it's hard to win games and requires consistent performance from everyone involved. We didn't do that well enough, so the idea to change something happens, and I understand.

I love the game. I love being part of a team. I'm excited for the next opportunity and know that there's a lot of good football in front of me and I'm excited about that. To all the fans, I have deep respect and appreciation for your passion and love for the Giants. The fans are a huge part of what makes playing for the Giants so special.

One thing I was taught early on when I was scouting college players is to always evaluate the player before you got the character information. because if you got the character information first, and it was a guy that just was really impressive, stood for everything that you would want in a player that you'd want to pound the table for

because of his work ethic, because of his love of football, because maybe what he's overcome in his personal life, in his family life, his background and where he started and where he's at now, maybe it's just the leadership that he possesses in that program, whatever it may be, can cloud your judgment once you get that information, and then once you turn on the tape.

And it can also work in the reverse. If you get the character information before you watch the player, and it's really bad. And I mean just stuff that might be non-negotiables for you or your organization, and then you watch the player and he's pretty good, it can also cloud your judgment the wrong way. So, ideally, you watch the player without any information about the guy and you just evaluate the player.

Then you get all the off-the-field information and you separate that in your report, which you would anyway. But your evaluation on the field, which obviously is the most important thing in the business of football, is separate. And it's just strictly, can the guy play? Can he not? does he fit your team or does he not, nothing involved with how he is as a guy.

And I think Daniel Jones is a perfect example of when you let the character cloud your judgment on the player. Because when we listen to Daniel Jones talk, I mean, this has got to be one of the most embarrassing moments of his professional life. He's a third stringer while he's making $40 million a year. The best player on the team, Dexter Lawrence,

has been outspoken how he doesn't agree with the decision. That's how Brian Dayball had to come out today and say, like, I respect Dexter Lawrence. Obviously, we love him here, but sometimes we're going to disagree. And clearly this decision was made for financial reasons, but also acknowledging Daniel Jones stinks. He can't bear starting quarterback anymore, and we can't risk him getting hurt while we are losing,

so we've got to pay him $23 million next year. But when you listen to Daniel Jones talk, you've got a pretty impressive individual. You know why? Because he is. He's really outside of the game of football, everything you would want. From a work ethic standpoint, clearly from an in-the-l locker room leadership, get along with the teammates, and be a good guy standpoint. You never, when you lay your head down at night as a GM, as a coach, as an owner,

he is probably the last guy on your 53-man roster that you are worried about getting a call in the middle of the night. He got in trouble. And that matters. It really does, especially at the quarterback position. He looks the part. He's clearly an intelligent guy coming from Duke. Honestly, if you drew up a quarterback, not on the field, but just in terms of height,

athleticism, you know, intangibles, intelligence, like he would check a lot of boxes. The problem is he's not very good at football. And in most of our industries, I'm a good example of this. When people took chances on me, whether it be in college football, whether it was in the NFL, early on in my career talking for a living, it was because they just kind of bet on the guy. It was hard for me to prove, quote unquote, was I talented enough? Could I get the job done?

But like a lot of people listening, someone just went, this kid's hungry, this guy wants it, I'm taking a chance. right? That's why most of us, whether you run a company, whether you run a business, whether you're in charge of hiring, why a lot of people take chances on people. You're just kind of betting on the person. Obviously, there are some industries where you have to have, you know, a level of a resume in that field, whether it's a doctor, medical degree, a lawyer, you know, a lot of agree. But for a lot of us, in the private sector, it's like, I just believe in this guy. And we will help teach him. and figure out how to produce and said industry. That is not the case in football, especially at the quarterback position. Obviously, betting on the person matters. Most of the top quarterbacks, really all the top quarterbacks,

are clearly really good guys in the NFL right now and check all the boxes off the field. Mahomes, Alan, Lamar, Herbert, Burrow, right, the old guy who can still play, Stafford, even some of the guys that have turned their careers around. Clearly, Kyla Murray has matured a lot. Like, that's not really debatable at this time. A couple years ago, a lot of question marks has really grown up.

Well, let's use him as an example. Even early on his career, when, I mean, if the worst thing you have is you're playing too much video games, like, there could be worse problems to have. But why did they ultimately, like, listen, we need you to play less video games, but here's your contract? because he was a freak talent. He's faster than every guy when he steps on the field. He has a massive arm.

Despite being 5'9, he can play at an elite level in the NFL. No one has ever disputed his physical characteristics or his ability to play football at a high level going back to college when he transferred to Oklahoma and dominated. So in the NFL, character matters. And when you have the talent, all that intangible stuff,

it can help separate you. I've seen it like with the 49ers, for example. George Kittle, fifth round pick, but he's 6'4, 6'4, 6'3 he's one of the faster tight ends in the NFL, he's one of the stronger tight ends in the NFL. He loves football, his work ethics great. It's not shocking looking back why he became a great player.

but his physical characteristics on top of the intangibles helped him separate. Daniel Jones checks every box off the field. But on the field, he lacks a lot of them. He can't throw the ball down the field. His decision making is more than questionable. Honestly, for being a really smart guy, I think he plays kind of dumb. And in scouting, you have to be very careful about. betting on the guy when they're not a good enough player.

Just like you have to be very careful, betting against the guy when they're an elite player. Why? Because young people mature. Because people turn around their life. Because sometimes at 22, 23, 24, you do dumb shit and you're not a bad guy. Some people are bad guys. Like, we don't live in some utopian society.

No matter how much some people in the media believe that that's what ultimately this world can be. That's not going to be the case. It never will be. Some people are just awful people. For whatever reason. I don't know why. We all have different stories.

But we've all, the longer you live, the more you realize, like yeah, some people are just not good people. But some people do something dumb when they're young. And then immediately, like, you look back 10 years later in their NFL career and they're off half the draft boards.

And they're like, God, that's a really impressive guy. It's like, well, yeah, turns his life around. I think the best example is like Tyrone Matthew was kicked out of college at LSU. He clearly, you know, had some issues with authority. And I'm not even like ultimately smoking

synthetic weed who gives a shit. Now at the time it was a much bigger deal. But you don't just get kicked off the team. Like there was some stuff going on. And then he became the team captain for literally every team he's ever played for. And it's going to go down as like one of the great leaders for every guy

that he ever played with. I'm just using him as an example because if you got his character going into LSU and you gave it to your GM and your head coach, I bet a lot of people did not have him on the draft board. Where yet in the draft meeting, when you're talking about guys like Daniel Jones, it's so easy to be like, this is the type guy we want, this is the type person you want to have in your building. Yet in the second half on a Sunday night football game,

when you're playing a top five defense and he's getting his ass kick because he's completely overwhelmed, that stuff doesn't matter. and that to me is the difference at the highest level of a business like football than a lot of ours where you can take a young guy and mold him over time doesn't work that way in football because if you're just simply not good enough you can't overcome that especially at the quarterback position and we go back to when the giants drafted him at number six it was insane because a guy with his talent level should never be drafted in the first round.

I've been saying this forever about the Mac Jones version of player. Those guys aren't first round talents. They should go in the third and the fourth round. Daniel Jones in the perfect world is like good backup. And you know what? There's nothing wrong with that. I did a golf shoot yesterday with my guy Luis, who's a good example.

I didn't know that much about him. Someone told me about him. He's young. He's like 23, 23, 20. 24 years old. He's in the video business. Took a shot on him. He's good. I'm betting on the guy.

Obviously, he has to have skills and the editing skills and he's got a lot of them. But you're just kind of betting on the person. And going back to these quarterbacks that get overdrafted, it's like they don't have the physical skills. No matter how good of people they are. They're just not good enough. And I think sometimes we get over-drafted. overwhelmed, you know, owners and GMs by people, and it gets them in these situations why they constantly lose.

And I'm not acting like you just need to get a team full of idiots and slapies that are great players. Obviously, character matters. Chiefs won three Super Bowls in five years. Their team is full of high-level guys. As a buddy told me within the last couple months, that works for the Chiefs, he's like, Karlofskis and McDuffie are like,

it just doesn't get any better football character. So obviously they have drafted really well and Chris Jones, Mahomes and Kelsey's career speak for themselves. The Patriots for 20 years, for the most part, had I would call overachievers. I mean, obviously they had a lot of talent, but a lot of their starters, I think, would fall under the bucket of overachievers. Julian Edelman's a good example, but he was still damn good at football. and the Giants found themselves in this situation because they doubled down on a player who simply wasn't good enough because he was a great human being. Now, speaking of questionable human beings, everyone is shitting on Woody Johnson. He is getting destroyed.

An article came out in The Athletic about this meeting that he had. You know, obviously Joe Douglas gets fired and then all these, you know, stories get leaked. and a lot of people think that it's probably Joe Douglas telling. I also think that there's a chance that Diana Rusini or whoever had this information for a while. Once everyone gets fired, you might as well just let it rip. I'm not going to defend Woody Johnson for being a good owner. He's not. His resume of hiring people of dysfunction kind of speaks for itself.

But I also think you can go to the other side of the coin and go, well, if I was in his shoes after we lost 10 to 9. at home to the Denver Broncos, I probably wouldn't be happy either. And I don't think calling a meeting with your coordinators and coaches is that crazy. Now, I also understand that should you have a meeting

every single Monday, if you're an owner with your head coach, probably could be a little tedious. And let's face it, guys like Andy Reed, John Harbaugh, Jim Harbaugh, Kyle Shanahan, John McVey, ain't meeting with their owner every Monday. But I also think if I'm Woody Johnson

and I didn't hire Robert Sala and Joe Douglas, like coming into the season, I don't think it's crazy to think, are these guys good at their job? I get, listen, I know a lot of people with the Eagles that worked for Joe Douglas. Most people really like him. Think he's pretty impressive.

He also drafted Zach Wilson number two overall and said it's one of the best workouts he's ever seen. Zach Wilson is currently a third-string quarterback in year four of his career. He then doubled down on trading for Aaron Rogers, who the majority of the NFL wasn't interested in. And the Green Bay Packers kind of fleeced him. Like that happened. Now, did he draft some good players?

Of course he did. But he made some devastating mood. when it came to the quarterback. He also is the guy that hired Robert Sala, who, like Joe Douglas, I've never heard anyone say a bad word about Robert Sala the guy. People really, really like Robert Sala. His players, the coaches,

people in the 49ers front office, Robert Sala is really well liked. Was he a good coach? Did he have any clue what he was doing? Yes, he's a good defensive coordinator. We know that. He was with the 49ers. The defenses were good with the Jets.

He wasn't the Jets defensive coordinator. He was the head coach. And the team sucked. So him firing these two guys, listen, is firing your head coach and then six weeks later firing your GM while they're still seven games to go in the season,

bizarre, weird, dysfunctional? Of course it is. it's a head scratcher. I'm not acting like the Jets owner is someone I would bet on if they were a stock. But I do think we have this narrative going on right now that Woody's the reason everything failed. I think this team failed because the head coach and the GM sucked.

Now, there are also reports of he wanted Aaron Rogers benched or Woody Johnson said that in the meeting. And then under their breath, the coach is laughed. or whatever. I would imagine, and Belichick hit on this a couple weeks ago, owners say crazy shit. Of course they do. Fans say crazy shit. I say crazy shit all the time. Ultimately, he wasn't benched. And two, they traded a couple weeks later for the guy's best friend. Where it's also been reported that Joe Douglas and the Jets didn't really want to do that. Woody did it. So I just think this whole thing is, why can't

we just acknowledge this? Woody, not a great owner. Joe Douglas, average it best general manager. Doesn't have a great idea when it comes to quarterbacks. Which, okay, he can find Sauce Gardner. Think about his two best picks.

Sauce Gardner and Garrett Wilson. It's like, geez, he found that guy in the third round. Oh, damn, he found Garrett Wilson the fifth. No, actually, uh, sauce was the fourth overall pick, and Garrett Wilson was picked 10. So your two best picks

were in the top 10? Oh, Breece Hall is really good too. Where'd he go? The sixth? No, we got him at the top of the second. Like, if your three best picks are all really high picks, like great. I hope you hit on some guys high in the draft.

Like, isn't that your job? What about everybody else? And part of hiring good coaches, like we talk about this as a GM a lot too. your job is the draft how about the draft how about the draft your job is so much more than the fucking draft the two most important things you will ever do and you could argue they go hand in hand

who you hire as your coach and who you sign draft acquire as your quarterback Joe Douglas hired Robert Sala who you never say never he's young is not going to be a head coach in the NFL for the foreseeable future. He drives to Zach Wilson, who

probably out of the league in a couple of years, and Aaron Rogers, who it's probably 50-50 if he ever plays a game after 2024. So I think just objectively speaking, we'd have to go, he's not very good. Right? He's not very good.

And Robert Sala, like, everyone, it's so easy to just crush the crazy owner, which I understand. If I was a fan, I'd be like, we can fire everybody in the building. We're stuck with that guy.

It sucks. But I also see a lot of people in the media like giving these other two guys a pass. You know? Like acting like they were given the autonomy for a long period of time to kind of do whatever they wanted to do. And they didn't get it right.

Now, big picture, all these stories, does it help their ability to go hire people? of course not. Do I think top candidates are going to be interested? Yes, it's going to be difficult. It's why I think Rex Ryan, who desperately wants to come back and who's already buddies with the, you know, Woody Johnson is the most,

I would say he has the best possibility of being a candidate that, like, make sense for everyone involved. One, he has a resume of like, kind of knows what he's doing. He has success as a head coach with the Jets. Obviously, you're going to need someone to, you know, it's going to be very, very difficult for them to hire some no-name coordinator and feel good about it.

And this is probably a job where you want someone that knows what they're doing, that has some experience. I think he makes a lot of sense. But man, I just, some of these conversations that are being had, like it's Woody coaching the team. Or Woody Johnson was the one pounded in the table for Zach Wilson. I don't know, man. Like, I say the same thing about the Raiders all the time. Do the Raiders have good ownership? Of course not.

They have been a disaster under Mark Davis. A disaster. But he's not coaching the team. He's not the guy calling the defensive coverages for the last 10 years. He's not the guy running this offense. Does he hire the wrong people? Of course. But those people that he hires are clearly completely over their head.

Should Antonio Pierce be the coach? Probably not. he's not any good. Is he going to get fired? A lot of people in the league think he's going to. Is it Mark Davis's fault? Did he like listen to some of his star players? I don't know. I mean, I think being an owner for these teams like did how much credit? Obviously Robert Kraft really liked Bill Belichick when he was an assistant coach for him. Not in a million years when that thing happened with the Jets and he became the head coach of the Patriots. that Robert Kraft ever thought he would have six Super Bowls.

There's always an element of luck when you hire these people. Now, he identified him, he liked them, but like, I just think sometimes, you know, as an owner, hiring people, like, it's kind of a gut feel. And a lot of times in this profession, probably more than a lot,

they speak a language, they speak Chinese and you speak Spanish. You can't speak football. You don't know the plays. You don't really understand scheme. No one does. Interviewing Brian Dayball and interviewing Ben Johnson,

interviewing whoever, and having them talk intricate football thoughts are just going to go over your head. No matter how smart of a guy you are. Look at David Teper. He's one of the greatest businessmen in his field.

in the history of finance. He has no clue what he's doing. Why? Because he can't hire the right people. Because unlike hiring some trader or a CFO or a chief marketing guy, hiring a football coach or GM has no parallels to anything he's going to know. So I guess it's a long-winded way of saying of like, you just got to hire someone and hope you get it right. you know and you could say some people get it right more often than not

clearly the Roonies have a good gut instinct but like and they get credit for hiring Mike Tomlin but they would over cocktails have to be the first to acknowledge that like listen we really liked him he blew us away in the interview we never thought he was going to be this good I mean clearly the Rams really like Sean McVay he's smart guy young hungry full energy looks the part

you know, 10% body fat would run through a wall, comes from a football family. Everyone saying his praises. So we just kind of bet on the guy. It's clearly gone way better than even they would have acknowledged at the time.

They would never have said, like, this guy's going to lead us to a Super Bowl and go to another. You would never say that at the moment. You hired him. Because every time that you think that, turns out the guy's going to be Joe Judge. There's just a randomness to this hole.

That's what makes it so fun. you know it's Fugazi Friday and there's a lot going on right now with Fugazi Friday I just want to do a rapid fire because there's a couple things I want to hit on first there's a class action lawsuit right now

against Netflix for the Jake Paul fight and you know the streaming issues the whole thing and it just shows you that you can literally file

lawsuit for anything because we talked about this earlier in the week. If you are, one, it's just a classic money grab. You're going after this multi-billion dollar company hoping to get a settlement. I hope you lose because no one forced you to watch that. And one, it was essentially free given that the overwhelming majority of people, I guess not majority of people, but a large percentage of people in this country have Netflix. It's not a pay-per-view event.

and you did not have to watch it. But if you were to get part of a class action lawsuit against Netflix, I guess this is the best way to give my opinion on this. I think you're a loser. I think deep down you are a massive, massive loser. Two, I saw today that Pat McAfee had on this young quarterback in high school, who I guess a five-star kid from Georgia, who had offers from everybody

and he was making his commitment on McAfee's show and he chose and it was Colorado did a pretty cool video of Shador handing him the keys that he's going to Colorado and I was thinking about what a giant

Fugazi these commitments in college football are now if you're a fan of that team because before if you got a commitment and the guy signed with your team and come, either he's an early enrollee or he's going to come in the summer.

There was like a 95% chance. That guy was going to be in your program as long as he played. Right? If he was a great player, it might only be three years. For the overwhelming majority of players, it would be four or five years.

That guy would be a Colorado Buffalo, a Nebraska Cornhusker, a USC Trojan. He's not even guaranteed to be on your team in 2025. I'll give you a couple scenarios. If Dion were to leave to Colorado, he could transfer to anywhere he wanted. If Dion were to leave to

program X to coach it next year, he would go with him. Just like the star left tackle that was one of the highest rated guys that currently is their starting left tackle number 77, would also be gone. So your team that you have right now

of returners and guys that are going to commit, if Dion leaves, they're gone. They are all gone. So I think forever, like, picking up a hat

and making a commitment was cool because like, damn, this guy's going to Oregon. These kids going to Bama. I'll never forget when Landon Collins, remember the safety? Pretty sure.

he's from Louisiana. The Under Armour All-American game, if I remember correctly. And he had the LSU hat and the Alabama hat. And he picked up the Alabama hat where obviously he played for Nick Saban. And his mother was not very happy. She wanted him to go to LSU. Well, and obviously he just played his entire career at Bama. Like wherever you committed, that's where you played.

But now with the transfer portal, none of that matters at all. someone told me a story recently about a kid that was an early enroly at you know coming out of high school so he's an early enroly basically instead of having your spring semester in high school you graduate early and you're in that program for spring practice and he was in the transfer portal after spring practice wasn't even technically a college freshman yet so to act like any of this means anything again the social media video was cool. Shadour handed him the keys. Travis Hunter said today, like, I'm going to the NFL. Travis, we knew that. But like, and I'm not a huge recruiting guy, never really have been, since leaving college football. But anyone trying to act like these recruiting signings mean much in 20204 slash 25, I just got to push back because it just doesn't. I was also, I'm going to end with this. The Sixers being two and 12 is really, really funny. And, you know, I think sometimes, you know, Joel Embed, who is the article and the story just came out,

that he was literally late to practice and late to basketball related things. And this is a man that cried several years ago after losing and claimed recently as recently of probably within the last month. maybe even less than that, that people talking shit, it's BS because of everything he's done for the city of Philadelphia. I am glad that the process, which I think started a movement in the NBA that has definitely played a part

in the interest in the sport, which has been diminished in terms of people watching the games dramatically. They've lost a lot of the audience. I do think the Sixers, were the most up front about it. They fully tanked. They are not alone. Other teams has done it as well.

They were the most, I would say, aggressive multiple years, refusing to sign veteran players and just sucked. And it's led to where they're at now, currently 2 and 12. And I think I heard someone say they're like, they're like 2 to 1 right now currently to make the playoffs. I mean, this was a team that people thought could win the NBA finals.

And I think any time where you're not, number one goal, especially when it comes to sports, is not everything we have to do to win. What do we have to do to win? And obviously, unlike football and basketball and baseball, sometimes you're cool with losing a game. You have 82 games, 162 games. Like, not every game matters. That speaks true to when I was a kid and Michael Jordan was playing 81 games or 82 games, right? If he lost one, it wasn't the end of the world. This is not football. But for a long period of time, winning just was not important. And I think it's impossible to flip the switch.

Right? When it, things that matter always kind of matter to those who are very serious about things. And I think it's fair to say that the environment, that this organization, I would say, raised their best player in, had a lot of things that didn't matter. And now has manifested itself into some of his comments. before the season started. And that's the one thing I think when you look at football and it's,

I mean, it's always been popular, but it's separation and popularity. That even when teams really, really suck, I think the thing is why everyone makes fun of the Jets and Giants as you're like, they're really trying.

The Cowboys, Monday Night Football against the Eagles, like, they tried as hard as humanly possible. They were not trying to lose that game. They did not want to get blown out by the Eagles. They were desperately trying to keep that thing close against the Texans. It just wasn't humanly possible for them to do it. You don't think in basketball, you go, yeah, this team didn't try for a long period of time.

And then they've acknowledged some games they'll just take off. And I think that has a carryover effect. And I think the Sixers have become one of the great examples of one of the biggest Fugazis in the history of sports. A lot of hype, a lot of talk, and not much to show for. themselves. And I think Joel Embed is really the poster child of kind of the movement. And it's kind of sad and embarrassing.

Hey, it's us to Jonas Brothers. And guess what? We have some big news. What's the news? Huge news. We created our own podcast called, Hey Jonas. We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to it. We're the first people to do podcasts. A pretty, yeah, pretty wide range of podcasts throughout there. But

this one's extra special. So how do we actually come up with a name? Hey Jonas, guys. I honestly don't remember. I think it was on a call about what we should call it. Oh, we were thinking I'm originally calling it one of the early names of our band. Before Jonas Brothers was... This is how you guys remember it going down?

Yes. I have a very different memory of this. We were talking about a thing, a bit for the podcast, where people could call in and say, hey, Jonas. And then I wrote down on my little notepad, Hey Jonas, Jonas, and offered it up as a potential title for the podcast. But thanks for remembering that, guys. Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it.

Another podcast from some SNL, late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smigel and Friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter.

Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and Friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano, and our podcast Point Game is about defying the odds. Like LeBron heading into the playoffs without Luca and Austin Reed. And finding ways to win no matter what. He's the smartest player to ever play the game. His IQ is at a level that we've never seen before.

And he knows without Luca and Austin Reeves, I can. got to manipulate the game. We get a player's perspective on the challenges of the playoffs. I think Joker's going to be exhausted this series because when they don't have Rudy in the lineup, he has to really guard guys like Nas Reid. He has to guard Julius Randall. And then he has to give us everything he gives us on the night-to-night basis on offense. And when IT's friends stop by, like Quentin Richardson, we dive into some playoff history too.

Steve Nash would get that thing. That man, hell get the flying. He running up the court, licking his fingers, why he got the bar like. After you go through a training camp with that, Isaiah, you figure it out real quick. Get your ass up and down the court, and you're going to get the ball. So listen to Point Game on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This week on Criminless, we're joined by our first ever guest. Sorry, our first ever human guest.

I don't think I could be in the same room with Shamrock the parrot. I'd be too nervous. That's right. The very funny Will Ferrell joins Rory Scovel and me, Josh Dean, for an episode dedicated to the many crimes committed by people also named Will Ferrell. They called to his fellow officer for the nippers. What are the nippers? Very good question. No, I was thinking, would that be a good name for like a salad dressing?

Simple assault. And it's a play on word, salt? Maybe not. I say we invest and we see. There's only one way to know. This did not amuse the cops. By the way, normally the cops are amused, but this did not abuse the cops. Will even comes clean about some of his own crimes.

I didn't get caught. You know why? If you don't want to be suspected of anything, you whistle as you walk. Listen to crime lists on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. Agency, the ability to know that we're the experts in our own body. On the podcast cultivating her space, Dr. Dom and Terry Lomax create a space where black women can show up fully and be heard. I wholeheartedly think, you know, you hit 30, you shouldn't have to share one with anybody. From navigating friendships and healing to setting boundaries and prioritizing your mental health. These are real honest conversations.

We don't always get to have out loud. Totally unreasonable with different parts of life, right? Like, oh, have all three meals and make sure you're mindful during all of them? Absolutely not. During one meal, I'm standing. I'm standing and handing my children food. Because healing, empowerment, and resilience aren't just ideas. They're practices.

And this Mental Health Awareness Month, there's no better time to pour back into yourself. Listen to cultivating her space on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Okay, back at it again with my main man Stucky from the Action Network. You can find him on a subscribe to his podcast, Big Bet's on campus, you can find him on the Action Network podcast, you can find him on the YouTube streets, bullshitting about betting because that's what he does. And he's a man deep in it and knows his shit.

And he told me a pretty interesting stat about a team that somehow he's still loyal to. I was very loyal to them about halfway through the season, but I had to jump. jump off. Your Titan's stat was pretty interesting because you watch them, you go, they're not terrible. I mean, they're going to end up with the top two or three or four pick, but they have been more competitive than some of these other teams. Like, they're better right now than this version of the Dallas Cowboys, or they're better than the Tua-Lis dolphins who are obviously two separate teams. But we have seen some awful teams. I don't quite put the Titans there. Their quarterback

plays bad, but they don't win. And they all. also don't do something else. Yeah, the Titans are one and nine against the spread. They don't cover. That is a rarity in the NFL. And they haven't been a favorite in any game, right? They were favored against the Patriots. They should have covered that game.

I think they closed minus three and a half. And the Patriots scored on the last play of the game, the force overtime. And they won by three. I had them in that game, minus three and a half. So, yeah, they're one and nine against the spread. That rarely happens. NFL pretty efficient market. We're talking about against the closing line, too.

And the only other team to do that over the past 30 years to be that bad against the number through 11 weeks is the 2007 Ravens. I remember them well as the Kyle Bowler Ravens. Last year of Brian Billick, they went five and 11. It was a bad team. That was the year before Arvall and Flacco ended up coming to town. So yeah, they rarely cover. I've been burned by them a bunch. They get so unlucky in how they don't cover, too.

I mean, this is going all the way back. I had them week one against the bears catching four and a half, and they were up 17 nothing. And the bears covered without scoring an offensive touchdown. They had a punt blocked. They had Will Levis with a asinine throw. I mean, like, they found ways last week. I had them in that game as well.

as the Jags money line against the Dolphins. That was a rough start to the 2012 season. That was one of the worst NFL beats I've ever had in my life. To not only lose that game outright, to not cover four and a half was insane. You know, they've just found ways to not cover. They've been pretty on, like their special teams have cost them a bunch of games. In fairness to the Titans, that week one game would be like you going on date one with the girl and she's like, I'm also a stripper.

Like they told you who they were. And they have pretty consistently kind of rode that out. like that was an anomaly game in this one and nine experience. I mean, that was, I think that game kind of sums up their season, doesn't it? Yeah, just, but they've also had things like out of their control that have cost them. And so I bet them this week, plus eight and a half against the Texans. You're sick. I think it'll be a really low scoring game.

These are two slow-paced teams. The Titans defense is still good. they're playing really well. I mean, if you look at the past two weeks, they, you know, from a net, from a yards per play perspective, they outplayed the Vikings and the Chargers. They outgained both, held them to under five yards per play. Not many people probably saw the game last week against, and I didn't have any money on the Titans against the Vikings, probably the worst officiated game I've ever seen in my life.

I mean, I've never seen one team get royally screwed over as much as the Titans did. I'm talking touchdowns called back on illegal formations, a fourth down stop where there was the worst, unnecessary roughness call I've ever seen on just like a shoulder to the chest. That's nine. That was the worst officiated game I've seen. Callahan was going ballistic on the sidelines. I saw, I had the red zone on and they flipped on that game. He went nuts. Yeah.

I didn't know. I didn't know. I had it muted, so I didn't quite know what he was getting mad at. I think that one that they showed was the fourth down stop when they called it unnecessary rough. It was one of the worst calls I've ever seen in my life. You know, so they were, they should have covered that game. Will Levis is playing better since he returned to the lineup. He was also asked, like, have you seen any improvement since returning from injury? He said, yeah, I haven't thrown the ball underhand or chest past it, so that's an improvement.

So I kind of like that comment, a little self-deprecating humor. But he's around like 20th an adjusted EPA per play over the past two weeks. And he's played the Vikings and Chargers, two really good defenses. And 20th, it's not great, but when he's playing two really good defenses,

and in the beginning of the area, he's one of the worst, right, at the bottom. And over the past two weeks, Stroud is basically same adjusted EPA per late. per play is Levis and he got to play the Cowboys. This Texan's offense, it's just broken right now. And, you know, I know they had the blowout win over Dallas. I think that had more to do with Dallas than Houston.

They can't block in the interior at all. I mean, their left guard position in particular is just the turn style. Kind of the head of the snake of their offense right now is Joe Mixon. And, you know, they got Nico Collins back, which will help. We'll probably provide a couple explosive plays. But Titans do a really good job eliminating explosive plays. And the Titans run D is really good. and the strength of that defense is in the interior of the defensive line.

Yeah. So, you know, you have sweat and Simmons. They're going to cause chaos against this Texans offense. Stroud has not been great as a favorite, this Texan's team. They get too conservative. The play calling isn't great. So I think this will be really low scoring. Like, Levis is going to take sacks too.

I mean, Levis is basically playing without a right tackle. The right tackle situation in Tennessee is, is as bad as I've ever seen any team. The Petit Ferrer is a bust. They try to put him in and they end up taking them out. They had this guy Ernest, I forget, I forget not Ernest Jones, but I forget his name. He was hurt. He's terrible.

I was about to be that's a crazy-ass position switch. Yeah, last week they elevated the guy from the practice squad and put him in there. He was so bad. So, I mean, Levis is taking 12 sacks over the best two games. He takes a lot of sacks. There's going to be a lot of negative plays in this game, not a lot of explosive. I think it's going to be lower scoring, which gives more value to the dog. And, you know, Titans' defense, I think will keep them in this game.

They're due to just get some breaks, like not have everything on special teams, not have everything go wrong with the refs. These are both two heavily penalized teams, so maybe that washes out. And, yeah, I just think this is too many points for a divisional game. I took the Titans. It's scary, though. But, yeah, so you rarely see this. NFL's so efficient.

You rarely see him one in nine against the game. spread. I was texting with all all lies here provided by draftings. One of my, one of my good buddies out in Arizona actually works for them. And he's like, you know, he takes care of some of their whales and VIP clients. And he was like, yeah, we've had, you know, it's been a crazy year, right? Because there have been some of these moments.

It's why, like, as a better, the first thing I do when I'm getting ready to talk to you, or just kind of, you know, look at the board even earlier in the week is who the Jets playing. and obviously they're not playing this week, so that's disappointing. But I think piggybacking off that, we talked about last week, you know, going all in on the Colts, and it's one of the biggest bets I've made this season. And I've got to be honest with you, when it was 2416, and Anthony Richardson had this bad fumble on a delayed blitz. I was getting nervous.

Now, the cream rises, and we were proven right over time. But one thing I've learned from you over the years is those teams that score like an enormous, point total the next week against the spread. And the Lions have now done this twice, right? I mean, how many teams in NFL history, or at least modern day NFL history, have scored 52 points twice in a season, let alone basically twice in a month? I mean, it's pretty unheard of. I don't give a shit who you're playing. And obviously they did it to two of the worst teams in the league. That is, that's insane. But I do think getting an enormous dog at home, some momentum, him. Listen, I was as critical and is out on Anthony Richardson as anyone, but reading some of the

quotes, and I have a buddy who's, you know, works for a team now, but he's, he's been a part of a team that won, I think he's got like, three or four rings. And he was like, you know, when the Anthony Richardson stuff happened, he's like, I'll defend him a little bit. He's like, if this was, you know, Joel and B. showing up late. It's like, bro, you're 30 years old. It's like, this guy's 22. He's barely played. He's like, it's not as crazy as I think people are making it out to be. He's not doing this of like, because he's a slap or it's malicious. Like, I don't even think he knows what he doesn't know.

And then everything that's happened these two weeks, what's come out of like, maybe it was an enormous wake-up call for him. And he led two of the best drives. Stucky, I think in his football playing career, not just like this year. I'm talking ever because he hasn't played that much. So they got a little momentum. They got a little life. Also, you know, you just historically just short.

Short teams like the Lions. I don't know if they're going to lose this game, but getting over a touchdown coming off that win, they got another big injury. I do defend Dan Campbell. Like this is not the NBA or even baseball where you can just, you only have so many guys dressed on game day.

I can't just take all five of my offensive linemen. You only have six wide receivers and a couple, you know, two or three running backs. It's not as easy as like why your starter still in there. This isn't college. We don't have 85 guys and pads on the sideline. There's really only so much you can do. right. So it's kind of a tough spot. And he's, like, I'm not critical of him at all on that,

but he has lost some players in these games where it's, in a preseason game, they'd all be on the sideline. But you just, you don't have the numbers. So that's a long-winded way of saying, I'm taking the Colts plus seven and half. You got to ride the hot hand. Yeah, I'm with you. This is, I'm hoping that Bernard Raymond, their left tackle plays, otherwise you have three rookie off offensive linemen in there again, which is an ideal. But at least it's a second game playing together, which is important for continuity. But, yeah, this line's defense that has injuries. They also haven't really been tested.

Like, if you look at who they played, like it's Mack Jones. It's Jordan Love, who was banged up with his groin injury. You know, when they played the Seahawks, they were so hurt. The Cowboys, when they were so hurt. So I think this defense is a bit more vulnerable than their numbers would indicate. You go back to like that Minnesota game, Minnesota was able to. move the ball at will against them. And then you have these injuries. So I, and I was really impressed with Richardson last week. It was his best game by a country mile throwing the ball. So I think they can

have some success here on the ground against the Lions front seven that has been hit hard by injuries. And I think they can have some success through the air. And Lions play a ton of cover one. I think that's a defense that Richardson is going to have success against with his legs and his arm hitting some explosive plays downfield. And the Colts defense is healthy. They're like, they've been playing like a slightly above average unit when they're fully healthy. And what did they do? They play less man coverage than any team in the NFL. We know what you're going to get with the Colts.

Jared Goff this year against man coverage has been an absolute menace. He's like a 145 quarterback rating, like I think 11 touchdowns, no interceptions. Against Zoni has more interceptions than touchdowns like an 89 rating. You want to zone. this lion's offense. Their offense is going to be tremendous regardless, but the Colts play the ideal scheme. Do you think that's because like it's just really hard to cover,

you know, St. Brown's an excellent receiver. Laporta gets open. Jamison so fast. They just create separation. I mean, is that you're taking that much way? And it's just such a well-schemed offense. You're not going to be able to stick with their receivers and all of their rubs.

And it's, you're just going to get lost. So you have to play zone. It's the only, only shot you have. and so that helps a bit. And yeah, they're coming off a win. They're coming off a 52 to 10 win.

Generally speaking, and you mentioned how rare is that? It's pretty rare for teams to score 50 twice. They scored 52 twice in back-to-back home games. That's only been done three other times in NFL history. I think like the pack, I think the Packers in the 50s, the Cowboys in the 60s in 2014 Packers,

the only teams to do that. But teams that win by 35, or more points the next week, they're usually overinflated. Like, I don't think this line should be over a touchdown. And I think that's part of the reason why we're getting it. And the lines have obviously been a wagon against the spread. But teams following a win by 35 or more points, historically around like 39, 40% against the spread, when favored by four or more, around 36%.

So it's been a good bet to go against those teams. So, yeah, I think this is too many points. It's also not the best spot just on paper. So if there was ever a spot where the lines might come out a bit flat, it would be this one. They just put a 52. They're rolling. Now you're going on the road for a non-conference game. And you have a divisional opponent on deck for Thanksgiving on a short week.

Probably put some time into preparing for that this week. And the Colts, meanwhile, in full desperation mode. Is that the Bears on Thanksgiving? Is that who they play? Yeah. Thanksgiving Slate. The afternoon slate is. Appreciate it.

Awful. Especially the Bears lose to the Vikings this week. And then, but yeah, Cooper Rush versus Danny DeVito. Danny DeVito. Well, because remember, we liked them after they scored 52 against the Jags. But looking back, like that Packer game outside and hearing Dan after, that was a big proving ground for them because his whole thing was like, we wanted to prove to everyone that

fucking bring on. the rain, the snow, the sleet, the wind, like, we're not a dome team. That was a and divisional opponent. I mean, let's face it, the team, you know, they're chasing that division. I know Minnesota has a better record, but you hold yourself up against the Packers if you're the Lions, not the Vikings. So that was, I mean, that was like, I would say their biggest game of the year. Yeah, but also, look was not healthy. I would have been above. He wasn't up. He threw a pick six at the end of the first half. The Lions were out gained by like 200 yards. I mean, they deserved to win that game, but it wasn't like some juggernaut for.

performance. You know, this is still a team that scored what. And I think they're, and they've always been under Aaron Gun. They're vulnerable to running quarterbacks. So I think that's important here with the way they rush the passer. And I think Richard's could have some success with his legs. So yeah, I think that this is, it's just too many points. I know the lines are tough to fade, but I think this is a good spot, good number and good matchup on both sides of the ball for various reasons. So as long as Richardson doesn't make too many mistakes, I think the Colts will stay within summer. And by the way, all the Colts do, all Shane Stuyken does,

is play close games. Every one of their games. Good team, bad team doesn't matter. It's just a one possession game, which obviously is important if you're catching seven and a half. I would say if we just circled 15, 20 of the top games of the season, this game, hell, it might have cracked the top six or seven, Niners at Green Bay changed a little bit.

I mean, I would say the Packers have been a roller coaster, partly because of Love's Health. And the Niners, for all the teams that we thought were going to be awesome, I would say, have had one of the more disappointing seasons. You know, they're 5 and 5, but it feels like they're 2 and 8. And I saw Bosa say yesterday, you know, we're just really just a couple of plays away from being 8 and 2. And he's not wrong, but it's like, yeah, I mean, part of the,

you deserve to be 5 and 5. the games you're blowing. And part of it's just health. You know, Kittle all of a sudden, you know, the 49ers, because they're an older team, they have guys on the injury report. I don't pay that much attention to it. It's like, oh, this guy's going to play, this guy's going to play, this guy's going to play, unless it's something serious like McCaffrey throughout the season.

But like all of a sudden, Kittle just on Saturday Night, she tweets he's not playing. That's a pretty big deal. That was, my guy David Lombardi, who covers the team, said that their average separation per route last game was like well under three yards. It was by far the smallest in the league. I mean, Joanne Jennings is their best receiver right now.

He doesn't, it's not like he's fast, doesn't get open. Debo cannot get away from anyone. If Kittles gone, it really limits their passing game. But like I looked yesterday, the line was two and a half. Today, the line this morning on draft Kings was the Niners plus one and a half. This is kind of, I mean, they play at Green Bay at Buffalo. obviously you lose both your season. They're just done.

They're not going to win the division. They're not going to make the playoffs. If you go one in one in these two games, you're six and six. Maybe you go on a run, get to 10 and seven. But like, you got to win one of these two games. And to me, this is their best chance. They have a better chance to win this game than they do at Buffalo.

They've played Green Bay very, very well for a long period of time. And it's not like Jordan Love is exactly, you know, Brett Farver, Aaron Rogers is prime right now. But I have a hard time, man. I got burned a couple of, weeks ago, Tampa. Last week, Seattle, I just wasn't going to touch. I'm like, yeah, the Niners should win this game by 10 plus. They own Gino, but fuck this. And then they could lose the game. You know, I don't know, man. I want to take the 49ers, but they've really

they've really given me trust issues, Stucky. So what's your take on this? Yeah, I mean, they are close. I agree with that sentiment that they are close. Bosa might be out, which would be a problem. Yeah, Bosa would be a big blow. That's Seattle's most successful. offensive drives or when he had to go to the sideline and their pressure rates went way down. This game, it's tough for me to crack me with all the injury uncertainty with San Francisco and Bosa is a big piece of that, but Kittle also, you know, even Trent Williams dealing with an injury. Sounds like Kittle's going to play the way Kyle talked about Bosa and Trent a little more worry.

I would guess Trent plays. I think Bosa's definitely in question. I mean, he was in a lot of pain. Yeah, what about Purdy? I mean, he also has like a little shoulder. I mean, he's going to play, but they're just beat up. I think it's a good spot for them. I mean, look, they are so close to being 18, too.

Like, you lose a kicker against Arizona. You blow a 10-point lead. You blow the 10-point lead. And part of it's their own fault with special teams. Like the Rams, part of that was special teams. The Cardinals with special teams. Now, that's out of your control. You lose your kicker.

But, you know, you blow this game against Seattle. I mean, I could go on and on. about how close this team has been. On top of that, you've had the injuries. Like, go to the Chiefs game. You lose all of your weapons at once. And then also the Red Zone. This is a team historically that's been dominant.

Last year, they're number one in the NFL in the Red Zone. This year, they're one of the worst. I would think that that's a high variance stat over short sample size. I would think that that stabilizes. So I wouldn't be surprised if they go on a run here in the Red Zone, especially with McCaffrey back. And it's a team that can run and pass. like they should be good in the red zone.

So yeah, they've just had a lot of things go against them, and some of it is just their own fall. So I saw a picture of Lambo today and it was snowing. So I don't know if that benefits. Historically it would benefit the Niners because they just want to ground pound and play defense, but I don't know now. Yeah, I think, I don't think it would be a huge advantage for either team here.

Yeah, so I lean 49ers on the spot. They do a good job of taking away explosive plays, what you need to do against Green Bay. An interesting nugget here, but I probably can't get, I'm probably not going to get involved. An interesting nugget with, and by the way, the Packers have been the opposite of the 49ers. I mean, they've been pretty fortunate.

And, I mean, you look at their, you know, they just beat the Bears on a blocked fuel goal. They did not play well last week. Would you agree with that last week? They did not, like last week was not a good performance for them. They should have lost. No. Love has been off.

I know he's been dealing with some stuff, but, you know, they beat the Jags by three, the Texans by two. So their last three wins have come by a combined six points. And, you know, so they've been a bit fortunate. So these, like, records could easily be flipped, but the injury uncertainty for the 49ers makes it a pass for me as of now. An interesting nugget that might go on. unnoticed by some is the the mat LaFleur I think is a really good coach he hired robert

sala a couple weeks ago as an offensive assistant uh or an advisor so i'm sure part of that had to do with this game uh on his mind so yeah salas is part of the packer staff obviously a lot familiarity there. Decent chance, though, Sala hasn't watched much film this week. He's, him and Douglas are on a bender somewhere at a bar for the last three days. That's probably true. So, yeah, this, if I had a bet it, I'd probably bet the 49ers. But as of now, it's a pass.

I need more clarity on the injury situation. And why bet on good teams when I've already said I bet on the Titans, the Colts? And I also bet on, I called him Danny DeVito. I bet on Tommy. Tommy DeVito, who's awful, but so was Daniel, Jones. Bucks aren't healthy laying six in New York. I can't get there. And Tristan Worf's, I think, is going to miss one of the best tackles in football. Baker Mayfield under pressure, not as good. The Giants defensive line can dominate this game. That's their

biggest strength. And without Worf's, it's a very vulnerable offensive line. So reluctantly, I also played the Giants, but that's a hold your nose special. I'd say one game, and we mentioned this last week taking Vegas at Miami the seven points just was screaming at you to take Vegas but it was like under no circumstances kind of like the Titans I just can't bet on Vegas seems crazy Denver on the road I'll probably be like a Bronco home game and the Broncos up until this year somehow Vegas has kind of owned them for like the last five or six years but if you're just shorting Vegas who actually looked a little bit better offensively with Norv and his pops but I could just, I think the same thing about Vegas as the Cowboys and the Jets,

like I just cannot be shocked when I look up and they're down 15, 20 points, or definitely double, you know, 10 plus in the fourth quarter because it happens every time. Like, Cowboys playing Washington. Obviously Washington's, you know, not playing as well. They've lost some games. Jaden's been, you know, I would say come back to Earth. But it's like I just kind of expect the Cowboys to lose by 20. I kind of expect the same thing with Vegas.

I expect them to lose by multiple touchdowns. Now, both, I think those two games fall into the same category of, like, divisional games could get weird. You just never know. But I think at minimum one of these two teams, you know, not only doesn't cover, but just kind of gets rolled. Where it's like Chicago, Minnesota, like the plus three and a half with the bears jumps out to me. Like, kind of like the bears in that spot, even though I don't really like the bears. but in these other two situations, like I truly believe the Cowboys in Vegas

are right there with the Titans and I guess whoever else really sucks. I guess we'll find out next week when the Giants play the Cowboys of like these teams are competing for the number one overall pick. We have teams competing for the playoffs and then we have teams like truly competing

for the number one pick. And if you're a sicko gambler, this is why you watch them play. Yeah, I got to find a way to have some money on that Cowboys Giants game in order to make that watchable. If you're a bed and man right now, who do you think

ends up with the number one overall pick? Because they're all kind of bunched up at two and three wins. But the Cowboys have like, I mean, they have no life in sight. Like, are you, do you plan on taking the Giants next week against Cowboys?

I mean, the Cowboys, yeah, the Cowboys are going to be favored. It's like a small favorite. Is that game in Dallas? Yeah. I guess it's always in Dallas, huh? Cowboys are at the Panthers a couple weeks. That might end up determining it.

But I feel like the Panthers have got another win or two in them, you know? Yeah, that, I would agree. It could be the Cowboys. I mean, the Cowboys most winnable games are at the Panthers, the Giants at home. It's pretty much it. But is Vegas winning? Is Vegas winning another game? That's a good question. I mean, they still got Kansas City. Yeah, they got Kansas City this Black Friday. They need to probably beat the Broncos here. Play the charges again.

It actually might be the Jags if I had a bet. The Jags are Texans at Titans, Jets at Raiders, Titans, Colts at Colts. Yeah, maybe the Raiders. Raiders, Jags game might determine it. Yeah, in regards to Bears, don't mind the three and a half. Third straight road game from Minnesota, bears a bit healthier on D and on the offensive line. Caleb Williams against the blitz and Flores does scare me a bit, but the offense looked better last week after the coordinator change,

just getting the ball out quick, which is going to be useful this week. Yeah, I would think, you know, Daniels after this, look, Washington is a bad spot for Dallas. They have a game on Thanksgiving. They're coming off a short week gone on the road. Washington played on Thursday night. They have extended rest. Give Daniels some time to get healthier. I think he was still dealing with that injury.

And Dallas has, and they also, Dallas might have to be down multiple. of their, it might be without a couple of their best offensive linemen. They just have nothing. It's Cooper Rush. Now if you can't block, like how many times you throw to CD-Land who looks like he's over this season already? Their defense is terrible. They can't stop the run.

They can't, their corners are all hurt. They just have nothing. And I'm sure Dan Quinn wants to put up a number here. So yeah, I don't have any interest in. It's kind of, listen, no one's going to cry for the Cowboys. if you got to play on Thanksgiving, it's pretty fucked up to get a Monday night game leading into basically

10 days away. That seems a little unfair. This is a pretty crazy stretch for the Cowboys Monday night on the road than Thanksgiving. Like, what are we doing? This isn't September. This is late November. The Seahawks had to do that. Monday night, went to, you know, came back home to Sunday. Then had a short week against the 49ers.

and we're all beat up and they obviously got rolled in that spot. And then the other one you mentioned, yeah, with Denver, I mean, the first, I bet Denver last week against the Raiders because, excuse me, against the Falcons, because the Falcons couldn't get pressure and their secondary was all beat off. The Raiders can at least get pressure, but the problem is, and this line is getting a bit inflated. I mean, like, as you look, the Broncos have been good, Bo Nix has been improved, improving. John Payton's a great coach. Their defense is really good, but they've done most of their damage against the NFC South, kind of like the Falcons have. They're four and O against the NFC South,

all those bad defenses that can't get pressure and have been hurt. So I think the Broncos are getting to like over and play to territory. The problem is the last week against the Dolphins, by the end of the game, the Raiders were down all three of their starting corners. Nate Hobbs didn't play. DeCore and Bennett got hurt. Jack Jones got hurt. They were down all three starting corners. None of them practice yesterday. So again, they might be able to get a little bit more pressure than the Falcons, but if they don't have the three starting corners,

it's not a great secondary. Raiders try to just really limit your explosive plays. That's problematic, and I probably can't back the Raiders in this spot. If they were fully healthy, I would look to potentially back them. You know, all five straight losses, home divisional dogs. Historically, it's a good spot. but they're both their running backs are hurt too. They have some offensive line injuries.

They're just beat up. So, yeah, I can't lay it with Denver at this price. But, and I also just can't look at the Raiders because of the injury situation. What about the Rams as a home dog? I'm kind of close to market there. That game is, it's really interesting to me because I think the Rams offense is starting to ascend, right? they got healthy on the offensive line, getting some continuity there. And then obviously they got their receivers back.

And over the past two years, we have enough data to show us that this RAND's offense, when they have all their pieces healthy, is one of the best in the NFL. So they're kind of on this upward trajectory. And then I think that the Eagles defense is also on an upper trajectory. Fingio usually takes time for when he's added with a new team. You know, people refer to it as the Fangio bump. it's a very complex defense. Like when do you kind of, when does that switch go off?

And it looks like it has for the Eagles. Now, I know they haven't played the best of competition, and maybe Daniels was a bit banged up. But I go back to that game in Sinci. That's the one where I really saw it when they shut down that Bengals high-powered offense. A lot of it comes down to, you know, the defense is getting used to the scheme,

but both of their rookie corners are playing extremely well. Quinion, Mitchell, Cooper DeGine. Mitchell in particular, has been playing at, an all pro level against some of the best receivers in the NFL. So those rookie corners against the Rams receivers, I can't wait to watch that. I'm pretty close to where this is priced. So nothing for me there, but it's probably a really important game for the Rams.

You probably get against a good impotent. And the Rams can get some pressure with their defense. That's what you need to do against Hertz. You probably get like a very good McVeigh game plan, play calling game. So, yeah, if I could get three, it would be Rams or nothing. I know this. The Eagles think they got, he doesn't, you know, Sherman had great hands. And obviously Sherman was a different type player.

Revis had pretty good hands too. This guy doesn't have good hands. But he's got a chance to be like an elite, like, you know, the best corner. in the league for a long time. I think we're going to look back and go, wait, were they draft this guy like fourth overall? No, no, they got them in the 20s. And honestly, that's kind of like the Rams thing. It's like, wait, they draft Kaleel Mack 2.0 number six.

No, they got them at the end of the teens. Because all these fucking quarterbacks and the receivers pushed everyone down, it's like the Rams and the Eagles got, I'd feel pretty confident saying in three or four years, those two guys are going to be two of the better players from the first round. All pros. Yeah. So it's like, I mean, Jared Verst looks like Khalil Mack did when he was young. Power. I think just leads a league in pressure rate. Yeah, honestly, he's better. He's better than Khalil Mack because Khalil Mack had to kind of learn how to like some pass rush moves. It was just all power. But like, like like, like he's lifting guys up and driving them back. And that's like, holy,

Holy shit. Pretty stunning that a guy like that was at University of Albany three years ago before Florida State got him in the portal. Well, let's transition to, you know, if you would have told anyone three months ago that this would have been by far one of the more intriguing games of the year. And I bet when the numbers come out, it'll be one of the, especially if it's close, would be one of the highest rated college football games of the year, which, aka non-NFL games, means it'll be one of the more higher rated non-NFL sporting events of the year.

You know, I would expect, if this game's good, 10 plus million people to watch, we're either going to look back and go, that's insane that Indiana was getting almost two touchdowns. I looked this morning, it was 13 points. Or it's like, God, Indiana's pretty overrated. You speak of the Albany thing. This guy has countless players from JMU that start. for his team. And I didn't realize, but maybe we've talked about this before is a lot of those players, when they were originally accruited from JMU, they were not even a D1 team. They were D1AA.

So this guy has turned these guys into. Now, when I was at Cal Poly, we were sending guys the NFL in the third or fourth round. It's not like D1AA players don't go to the NFL, but to make the transition like they've made, it's been pretty insane. I don't really have a feel for this. I guess just watching football long enough to know usually in these spots. It wouldn't shock me of Ohio State wins like 40 to 15. But maybe Indiana is just really good. Maybe the Signetti guy. You know, I thought he was a little, like the money.

Clearly he must be cool with staying there because like, what if Michigan fires their coach? I would imagine they would have came after him. Now, maybe NIL makes these jobs. If Indiana has NIL money, then maybe it's just a good job. Like maybe it's better than Wisconsin. Nebraska. I don't know. I mean, we're in a changing landscape, but my gut tells me, like, I just, I'd be a little stunned if Ohio State doesn't control this game, but maybe just Indiana is on one of

those magical seasons. Yeah, normally in this spot, I would be on Ohio State. And historically, when you look at ranked teams, high profile matchups, when there's a team that's a bigger favorite, it's usually for a reason, bigger favorites have done well, double-digit favorites in this spot. But I actually played Indiana. They're hard to gauge because they played nobody. I mean, you look at the offenses they faced. What's their best win? Michigan, Washington.

Now, the thing is that with their schedule, you can adjust for our opponent. They've done about as well as you could with their schedule, like even the best teams in the country, what they would have done, like their margin, how dominant they've been. So I think they're- Nebraska.

like you just go, that's not a great win, but I watched that game. They beat the living piss out of them. They treated them like, yeah, it's not going to be a great win, but we're going to win this thing, 55 to 7. Yeah, a UCLA team that's been competitive in almost every game. Granted, it was early in the year, but, I mean, Indiana went there and just absolutely bludgeon them. They won that game 42 to 13.

So I think we have enough of a data set to say that they're pretty good. I mean, they put 41 up on Northwestern. has a top 25 defense. You know, 31, Washington has a really good defense. 56 on Nebraska, 47 on Michigan State. So, yeah, I think that they're legit. They're well coached. They're coming off a buy.

I think they'll have, I like their coordinators. I think they'll have a really good scheme here. Well, if they win this game, they're essentially playing Oregon in the championship game, correct? I mean, I know they'd have to be Purdue. They would clinch? They would clinch. They'd be in. Yeah.

So there's a lot of, I mean, this is obviously an enormous game for several reasons. for them. Yeah. And yeah, so I, yeah, I play them. I'm going to, I'm going to trust Cignetti. I'm going to trust Rourke. I think I might join you. And they're going to play, like, Cignetti for two weeks, going to play this disrespect card with the line and no one giving them a chance and all the media is trashing their schedule. And their defensive line is really good. And they can cause a lot of issues with like their stunts and they can get into the backfield. They can get a ton of pressure. Ohio, why, think one of the keys is game. In Ohio State's offense, they have great receivers, but it's just

been overwhelming to me. I go back to like the Nebraska game, they should have lost the Nebraska at home when we talk about like comparing opponents. And their offensive line, they already lost their left tackle, was their best offensive linemen for the year. They had to make some adjustments, they adjusted. Well, this week at practice, their stud center towards Achilles, Alabama transfer, he's out for the year. That's an enormous loss. Now you're probably going to move your guard to your center and then bringing this other kid who I don't think is very good at guard. You're talking about reshuffling again. You're all offensive line.

Ohio State is one of the best rosters, if not the best in college football. One of the places they don't have depth coming into the year was their offensive line. And losing their left tackle and their center, probably two of the guys they... He tore's ACL at practice? Achilles, yeah, towards Achilles of practice on Tuesday. We're recording this on Thursday. Yeah, Tuesday. I can't imagine.

I didn't even see that. How do you practice after that moment? Because clearly when an injury, the guy goes down and he has to get carted or carried off, that had to rattle the program, right? Yeah, and your offensive line's all about continuity. You're going up against a really good defensive line. Now you've got to reshuffle your whole offensive line again.

Ohio State also is a snail. It's very weird because Chip Kelly calls out because they're so slow. So like the possessions might be limited in this game. There might be some weather. So yeah, I'm going to trust Signetti playing the disrespect card. I'm going to trust what I've seen with my eyes and also just the numbers when I'm adjusting for our opponent that Indiana actually is legit. And we're just going to see this in the new. There's also just no elite teams. I've said this over and over again. There's no elite teams

that like just deserve that you are going to roll the ball out there and blow teams out on a weekend basis. And I think Indiana is a top 10-ish team. And it's not like Ohio State is head and shoulders above everybody else like we've seen with a team or two each year. I don't think we have that this year. And now they're dealing with injuries along the offensive line. My one concern is with the Indiana offensive line. Their office has been really, really good against Michigan in the second half. Michigan is one of the best defensive lines in college of all. Michigan's defensive line really owned them. And Indiana lost its left guard for the year. And their office line have been playing really well, a lot of continuity. Now, they get a multi-year starter in there,

from JMU, but their left guard it went out, I think allowed only three pressures all year, and this happened, at least this happened like two weeks ago. And in their last game against Michigan, he allowed four pressures just in the game alone. Is that the weak link of the offensive line,

and does the offensive line just crumble on the road? Maybe, but I think Indiana, Rourke, they have good weapons. Their offensive line has played really well all year. They're well coached. And I think their defense, line is going to cause some problems for this. And I don't think Ohio's going to be able to run it with their offensive line issues.

That's what hurt them against Nebraska. They had their tackle got hurt. They had a shuffle. They were trying to figure out their offensive line rotation. And they couldn't run it against Nebraska. I think that's going to happen here again. And then Indiana is going to be able to get pressure on Will Howard. And Will Howard is not great under pressure.

So, yeah, like I think the sharp side, the quote unquote sharp side would be Ohio State. I'm going to disagree with it here. I'm rolling with the Hoosiers. I do think too, and I get it, the Big Ten just in generals down, but if you remove the Michigan game, I mean, really, they're only close game of the season, and you just look at their road games against Big Ten opponents,

UCLA 42, 13, Northwestern, 41, 24, Michigan State, 47 to 10. I mean, they're going on the road, and they are destroying these teams. Yeah. So, even, and obviously even their home games, like 56 to 7, 31, 17, 42, 28. I mean, they're blowing out all these big 10 teams.

Just, I mean, just destroying. So it's like we have had years. Yeah, I mean, they might not be a true national championship contender. But I think if. But staying within two touchdowns, that's a different ass. Yeah. Or I mean, is it crazy to think? Obviously, Ohio State, no one would choose Indiana's roster of Ohio State.

But like, you know, I think when we look back, we talked about that Notre Dame Notre Dame Navy game. And it was clear. It was just like outmatched. Like what I'm interested, do you just, I think you'll kind of know it within the first quarter. Do their athletes look way slower compared how they've usually looked against these other teams?

Or it's like, oh, it's not that big of a difference. Because I think the frustrating thing for Nebraska is obviously Rialis played like shit. But like you watched them in that game against Ohio State. And it was like they don't look that much different. Like Nebraska's had some moments this year where you're like, damn, they, you know, they got a lot of good athletes, their physical, like the Colorado game, the Ohio State game. Like, I would understand being a fan and being frustrated. And I'm just fascinated.

Like, has Indiana, like, what are they going to look like on the field against, like, their DBs who have made plays whenever I've watched them against, you know, Jeremiah Smith? Or is the guy going to look like me out there? Is he going to be like, oh, they're just running stride for stride with? I don't know. That's, like, I'm tempted to even sprinkle a little bit on the money line, if you know what I'm saying, because maybe. Yeah, there's, there's, I don't agree with it.

this is great because there's a lot of variance in like how good how just how good really is indiana i think it's safe to say they're really good but how good are they there's still some uncertainty there because of the schedule this game kind of reminds me a bit about you know like you have these teams that just they just they just it's just their year and like i go back to two years ago i think on the same weekend michigan well no michigan would have been the weekend after but michigan was catching like 10 against Ohio State and no one believed in that Michigan team and the Michigan won by like 22 at Ohio State. And then TCU, when they ended up going to the national title, they beat Michigan en route. No one believed in them at Texas. They were like a eight point dog at Texas and

Texas was like six and three and they were undefeated. And DCU went to Texas and won out right. So, and Texas and Ohio State were both like the quote unquote sharp sides of that game. I think there's something to this Indiana season. I'm going to trust Signetti. But yeah, you should know, you'll know right away also like in the trenches. That's my biggest concern. Like the Indiana offensive line, that's what I'm going to be watching early. Okay, Stegg, I'm going to join you then on the Indiana train.

I need a little juice for the old big noon kickoff that Ohio State fans show up. That's another thing that doesn't help them. they keep getting this noon slate because of Fox. So I think that they would rather play this game at night. Hell yeah, they would much rather be a 630 kickoff or whatever. Yeah, so I think that that helps Indiana a bit. Okay, Stucky, have fun watching Indiana cover, and I'll be right there with you.

And let's buckle up and enjoy your Titans, see if they can change the narrative of their old one and nine season. I will talk to you next week. Thanks, brother. I won't enjoy it, but hopefully they get to the window. The volume. Hey, guys, it's us. The Jonas Brothers. I'm Joe. I'm Kevin. And I'm Nick. And guess what?

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