The Herd with Colin Cowherd - 3 & Out - MNF Reaction, Is Mahomes okay, Michael Vick is coming back

Episode Date: December 17, 2024

John opens the podcast reacting to the two Monday Night Football games and mainly diving into the Vikings win over the Bears and discusses how good the Vikings really are after winning their 12th game. Later, John whips around the league talking about the biggest stories from the weekend starting with Patrick Mahomes and his injury. John talks about how serious he thinks it is and how many games he thinks Mahomes will miss. Next, he discusses the LA Rams and how they always seem to find a way to come together when they really need it, and then he reacts to the news that Michael Vick might become the next head coach at Sacramento State. Lastly, John answers your questions in this episode's mailbag segment. 6:00 - MNF Reaction 32:48 - News and Notes around the league 37:31 - The Lions keep taking hits 42:35 - The Rams are rolling 48:47 - Michael Vick could be a coach 58:31 - Mailbag 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 #HerdSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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What a night. That was football. The Vikings beat the Bears. And the Atlanta Falcons, which I thought was the worst game in the history of games. to be on prime time. Turned out to be a pretty riveting last couple of minutes. Hold on. Hold on for dear life in Las Vegas in what looked to be a half-empty crowd

with Mark Davis looking on with his gorgeous girlfriend. That's love. Mark Davis, beautiful young girlfriend watching his team. Now it's 2 and 12 and have a lot of issues. So we will try to figure out everything that's going on. A lot of else that's going on in the NFL as well. Patrick Mahomes, serious leg injury or ankle injury, as week to week. There's potential of him not just missing Saturday's game, but then Christmas's game.

Why, I think, one, I will dive into Wentz, but it could be actually a good thing for Netflix to see the power of the NFL, and I'll tell you why. You know, we talk a lot about guys like Mike Tomlin and Dan Campbell and some of the leaders. Is there a guy in the league that doesn't get as much credit that probably should? when it comes to leadership and adversity. So we'll talk about some other football stuff away from just this awesome, awesome Monday night football. Tonight was a night where I felt I'm honored to do this for a living. I get to watch Caleb Williams get destroyed.

I get to watch Desmond Ritter and Kirk Cousins Corpse. Luckily, all you did too because it's the NFL and millions of people consume this product even when it's really bad. But before we dive into some football, I got to tell you about my friends, my partners, and the official ticketing app. I went for a walk with a dog. Took my beautiful fiancee. We're walking. We're taking in some air before the game started and we're trying to figure out we need some presents.

We are late to the party here. We need to take care of some people. What are we going to do? I got the perfect present. I'm sure a lot of you guys are in that position. Do you want to get tickets to a game? Do you want to get tickets to a concert? Do you want to get tickets to a comedy show?

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Download the GameTime app. an account, use the code, J-O-H-N, that's John. For $20 off, your first purchase terms apply again, create an account, redeem the code J-O-H-N for $20 off, download the GameTime app today, last minute ticket, the lowest prices guaranteed. Where, oh, where do we start? I want to take a big picture view, 20,000 feet, like one of those drones right now flying over New Jersey on what we witnessed tonight.

Because one thing, as these games were going on, I'm like, what am I going to talk about? the Bears dysfunction, the Raiders quarterback issues, the Atlanta Falcons honestly being one of the bigger disappointments in the NFL. And then I realized, do you know what was really evident as tonight went on? Ownership. Well-run franchise. And there was one of them playing tonight. And that was the Minnesota Vikings.

And I was thinking, we're all praying and hope Randy Moss gets well. Obviously, the situation that has played out from like, within the last month when his eyes were discolored on TV and then he had to step away and now he's battling cancer. He said he mossed it. So we're all rooting for Randy,

who is one of the most electric athletes of my lifetime. And, you know, reminds me when I fell in love with football in the mid to late 90s, obviously when he hit the scene and played for the Minnesota Vikings with Chris Carter on really good teams.

And then the Vikings were good in the 2000s. Then they were good in the 2000s. then they were good in the 2010s, now they're good again. You know why? They're just always kind of good. Doesn't mean they're always winning through bowls.

Doesn't even mean they're always winning the division, but it just feels like they're a well-run franchise. Starts at the top. Starts with ownership. Starts with hiring the right people. Starts with drafting and developing good players. And then you see these other franchises and you go,

what the bleep is going on? Let's start with the Chicago Bears. They are a joke. Like they try. truly are. And I'm not trying to beat a dead horse on this, but I honestly thought probably within 10 minutes of actual play in that game, there wasn't any chance, like literally no chance. The Minnesota Vikings weren't winning that game. I didn't know, just like all of you, what the final score would be. Would it be 13 to nothing? Would it be 40 to nothing? Would it be 20 to 7?

but there was zero chance. The Bears were even going to sniff a competitive performance, let alone the ability to win that game. And as it played out, it actually got worse and worse. Same thing watching the Raiders and the Falcons. You're like, what is going on? This is awful. And I think when you start with the Bears,

and I think these other two teams will get to in a second, is like, they are a franchise that have been owned by the same family for 100 plus years right now. It's pretty clear. Virginia, who's 100 plus years old, her son, George, they have no clue what they're doing. Ryan polls the video shots on Monday night football of him as Troy and Joe. And listen, they're in a tough spot. They're not podcasters. They're essentially league partners. So they're not going to shit on the organization, act like it's not a good job.

but when they say it is a fantastic job and Ryan Poles deserves to keep his job like it's easy for them to say isn't necessarily true? I don't know because Ryan Poles drafted a quarterback and gave him an offensive line that is beyond atrocious. He plays in a cold weather city

where his big rival, the Packers, I know it's a one-sided rivalry, plays in a place called the Frozen Tundra and drafted a wide receiver at 9 when there were countless offensive linemen on the board, he is an offensive lineman. He literally protected and was Matt Ryan's roommate who pretty clearly made the Atlanta Falcons for 15 plus years

because you remove him, they're a joke. But you look at the bears, you go, the only sense of hope you could have as a fan because you know, like, we'll never going to be the Minnesota Vikings with the McCaskies. We're never going to be the Green Bay Packers with the McCaskies. hell, we're not even the Ford family now that they have competent leadership. We are screwed.

We just have to pray because your quarterback looks atrocious, looks completely overmaned. And I said this going on the last couple weeks. They're always down like 15 and nothing in halftime, 20 to nothing in half time, 16 to nothing and half time, 24 nothing. Like the game's over at halftime. Every single game they play. And then late in the game, he'll score a bunch of points.

It's like, oh, Caleb Williams coming on. Nothing mattered. It's like the defense is, no longer matter. You're no longer going up against a scheme defense when the game's on the line. They're basically calling off the dogs playing prevent defense. I think you've got to keep your fingers crossed and hope it's like a Jared Gough, L.A. Rams situation back before McVeigh got there and just go, our coaching and our people running

this football team right now in terms of around the players are so incompetent that if we just get the right person, which is probably not going to happen. But if we did, look at the Rams. they got McVay and everything changed. Because if you do not, you keep saying, well, let's go get Mike Vrabel. Even Troy, like go trade for Kyle Shanahan. Kyle Shanahan would quit football

before he worked for that operation. I promise you that. I promise you that. And I also got news for you. Listen, like he likes the Brock Purdy types a lot more than a guy that holds the ball and doesn't see anything. Because right now Caleb Williams

is seeing ghosts. He's not a very good player at all. Now, his coaching. staff is, I mean, an embarrassment. It could go down if you look at the aggregate on the season, starting with Iverflus, as the worst coaching staff in the league. You know, on the opposite end of the spectrum, you look, you got Kevin O'Connell, who's now just known as the quarterback whisper. You got Brian Flores, who's not very nice to Tua, but undeniable, one of the best defensive coaches in the league. At home, Minnesota, I think can go toe to toe with any team

in terms of home field advantage. It looked like Penn State white out. That place is going nuts. You're like, this is going to be a tough spot for Thomas Brown and Caleb Williams. And it was. They were overwhelmed. They couldn't move the ball. It was a joke.

But like, that's what the organization has been. And now you're going to this offseason. You know, when they hired Kevin O'Connell, like before that, they had Mike Zimmer. Before that, they've had guys like Brian Billick. They've had bread. Like, they've had real guys from real places. And then all of a sudden, you. put Iberfluse and Shane Waldron's like, what did you guys expect to put the quarterback in that

situation? And I think Minnesota, Green Bay, and now ironically Detroit, because they were always like that as well, but now they're kind of in that class, at least for the last couple years, we'll see if they can sustain it over a long period of time. You're very lucky that you're in that team's division because you're going to keep beating them. It's like Andy Reed has benefited from just having the Raiders around. Because most years, he's getting two victories. Now, Sean Payton, he's going to benefit. Most years, he's going to get two victories.

Jim Harbaugh, he's going to benefit. Most years, he's going to get two victories. Why? Because the organization has no clue what they're doing. And just because you get a sexy player that Mel Kuyper or someone puts high on the big board, none of that means a goddamn thing. Because it doesn't translate it in anything. But it's the opposite with good teams.

When the Vikings get Justin Jefferson, he immediately maximizes his skills. When they get Derrissau, he immediately maximizes his skill. They draft Jordan Addison, he immediately maximizes his skills. Harrison Smith, Kendrick's Forever, DeNeil Hunter, like all the guys they've had over the last seven, eight, nine years, including the crop of guys they have now, maximize their skills. Look at Sam Donald.

Comes there, maximizes his skills. And he's a very skilled guy. Now, big picture for them, I think I'd be pretty concerned, is very difficult to go far because, listen, Darnel can be a little hit or miss, and tonight he's a little all over the place. He's missing his star left tackle, and then his right tackle goes out.

How are you going anywhere with missing your two tackles? Especially when one's an all-pro, pro-bowl level guy, and the other guy's a solid starter. Like, when you play the better teams, you're going to be running around for your life. Now, luckily, Sam is a good athlete, and can move, got an explosive arm,

can throw on the run. But that is something to watch, because they clearly are, very well-coached defense. And offensively, from an, you know, Arsenal standpoint, the weapons they have, I mean, they got the one of him and Chase are the two best receivers.

Addison's an incredible number two. Tight ends back and healthy now. Aaron Jones is a stud. Donald's a really good player. It's like offensively, if they were healthy, they would be a problem. I think they could make serious noise in the playoffs. We'll have to find out what O'Neill's injury,

the right tackle's injury is. but if he's out for a foreseeable future, like I'm sorry, I'm just out on their ceiling in the playoffs. But, like, their culture spoke this year because they lost their left tackle a while ago and they haven't skipped a beat. So that's a well-run organization. The Bears are the opposite.

Just like when you look, like the Falcons are in shambles. Why? Because their quarterback is shot. Well, they just gave the guy $100 million. Well, where did he come from? The Vikings, who said, no moss, we're done, we're good, see you later. What I talk about, there are four teams tonight, one team well run,

the others are a joke. I think the Falcons are an embarrassment. I know they're seven and seven. I think they stink. I really think they are bad. And part of it falls on their shoulders of the quarterback, who is a sitting duck. He's never been able to move, but clearly now after the injury is,

I mean, is just stagnant. And tonight, and as O'Rlofsky and Lewis were talking about on the broadcast, his confidence is shot. I mean, he's lost out there. He is swimming. And they got bailed out on that call when the linebacker blocks the ball, which was a great defensive call by Patrick Graham, the defensive coordinator, never had a shot with him coming right up the middle. And they called a roughing the passer, which is just not the right call. You just cannot call that pass. but you watch Cousins play

he's just a bad player right now. Like he's a really bad player. You watch Caleb Williams. He's a really bad player right now. I can't even judge. I'd be honest, I haven't watched that much of the Raiders this year, mainly because they've been an unwatchable product.

But you can't even. I mean, they're rolling out Desmond Ritter, who actually had some moments tonight. But they probably, I mean, we're critical of the quarterback situations in Chicago and Minnesota.

the Raiders have literally the worst quarterback situation in the league. Because, like, Will Levis is obviously pretty bad. Brian Callahan inherited him and they just rolled it out to probably tank this year. I mean, the three-quarterback situation from Garder Munchu, who is a backup, Aiden O'Connell, who's probably a third stringer. And now Ritter, who's, you know, I mean, probably a third stringer as well. Even if your team was loaded, obviously, Max Crosby has, you know, ankle surgery. he's their best player by a mile,

but you got no shot. And that organization, a little like Mark Davis, when it comes to the Bears, a family-owned business, who's owned the business for what, 60, 70 years? Now, Mark, unlike the Bears, landed a new stadium,

and it brought a lot of hoopla, and it brought a lot of hype, and they've been really bad because they're always changing over. They never have any consistency. And Rapsheet reported that And listen, I've said before, like, Tom Brady should be involved. But rap sheet reports like he's going to be heavily involved in picking the quarterback.

Well, it's like, what's Tolesco's job? What if Tolesco disagrees with his evaluation? You know, in fairness, Tom Brady's never evaluated a player in the draft. And is Tolesco stay? Does he get fired? Does Antonio Pierce get fired? Does Tom Brady want him gone? In fairness, Tolesco, he did draft Justin Herbert and was there for a long period of time with

Phillip Rivers. So it's like, is that going to work? Why don't they just name Tom Brady the president of operations? Like John Elway. The problem is he can't do that job and call games. So it's like Antonio Pierce, who last week, Mark Davis basically refused to support. Don't blame him. I wouldn't either.

But why'd you hire him in the first place? Because Devante Adams was begging for him. Well, I'm watching today 90% through the game. It's like the Raiders wide receivers don't have a catch in the game. They're like, well, they did trade a first round pick a couple years ago for Devante Adams, who's now gone, who just had 200 yards with Aaron Rogers. It's like, that's just dysfunction after dysfunction after dysfunction. And you watch the Falcons who unlike the McCaskies and Mark Davis and Al Davis, right,

who the families have owned it forever. This guy is super rich. He just, when you see Arthur Blank, he just looks like money. Like, that's what money looks like when you see Arthur Blank. Yet it's pretty clear you remove Maddie Ice from that. organization. They're no different than the Bears or the Raiders. I mean, they got desperate.

They signed a guy coming off of torn Achilles. Who's been a very polar... It's not like they just signed Peyton Manning off the neck injury. It's like, well, even if this doesn't work, we're still signing Peyton freaking Manning. Or Jason Likes. Like, yeah, Belichick thinks Brady's shot, but he's still Tom freaking Brady.

It's like, yeah, he's Kirk Cousins. And you watch Kirk Cousins' night, you go, I'd want no part of that guy. But your team's not that good, because you used a first round pick, pick number eight, on a quarterback that maybe you're going to need to replace Cousins with, but then Cousins has a no trade clause, and he makes so much goddamn money, like who's going to trade for him? It just, the organization just looks lost. And who's going to end up winning the South? Oh, Tampa Bay.

Well, why is that? Well, they just have a well-run organization. Like Jason Light just kind of knows what he's doing. And you just watch Tampa play, and you watch Atlanta play, and they couldn't be any more opposite. Now, the one thing good, if you're Atlanta, and I'm a Michael Pennix guy, you just hope he's a good player. And I think he's going to be a good player. I'd be excited to watch him play. I would make the move right now.

Even O'Roski had a good point when it's like, should we throw for it on third down? That was the play where they called Ruffing the Passer. They're like, listen, if you're going to catch Tampa, you need to have confidence in Kirk Cousins. So if you won't throw it now, you might as well just punt on the playoffs. agree. If you can't trust this guy that you're paying, you just gave $90, $100 million guaranteed. You might as well just one, two, three, can't coon now. But you got no shot if that's the quarterback player you're going to get. And I'm not acting like I know Michael Pennix is ready today. Maybe he needed the year, but you got no shot with that. None. Not with the way Baker

and that offense is playing right now. I mean, they just went on the road, played the Chargers, who have a good defense, and eviscerated them. And Baker might as well be John Elway meets Joe Montana compared to Kirk Cousins. But this gets back to the organization. It just feels like they got no clue what they're doing. Raiders got no clue what they're doing. They got no quarterback. Their coaches, you know, in flux as it always is.

And we had one team that's just well run. They didn't even play that well the night. And they kicked the shit out of the bears. And they're just going to head it for 13 or 14 wins. 13 or 14 wins. Something the bears, the Falcons, and the Raiders could not dream. Honestly, there's a chance. I guess the Falcons still play the Panthers, and I think they play maybe the Saints.

They have a pretty easy schedule coming in, and Washington is one of their games. So let's say they get, let's give them nine wins. The Raiders win two games. That would be 11. The Bears win four. That would be 15. I was going to say, do all three of those teams win total add up to the Vikings? And it probably will at the end of the day.

But it'll be close. You know, I think what's sad on a season. serious note is how awesome. If you're 12 and 2, you are having a freaking incredible season. Like you could go 10 years, you could win some Super Bowls and just might not have 12 and 2 starts. So what the Vikings and what the Lions have accomplished is awesome. But there are some injuries you just don't overcome. The Lions have kind of hit that point with the amount they have. I do think with the Vikings, like if you are out, you're two.

starting tackles, that is just a position where they're just, your backups in the NFL, there is a wide gap. Like, there are just players that you have. Like, there is no replacing that. And then there's a domino effect when you lose another position. It's like, listen, you have a stud guard, like a Zach Martin or something. You lose him, that hurts. But then once you lose the other guard, then you're mixing and matching with your backups.

So you're like plugging this hole to plug this hole and you're getting leaks. it's impossible to function. And it sucks because Kevin O'Connell has done just, I mean, a badass job coaching this team. And it's been really, really fun to watch. And it's been really cool to watch the resurrection of Sam Darnold just seems like a good, high character guy with big time skills. I mean, you watch him sling that pill around the night.

And the difference of him and Caleb Williams is one guy is playing confident. It's not like Caleb Williams. is thrown to me and you. Like, Keenan Allen's pretty freaking good. That catch he had on the sideline where he went, Chris Carter, was badass. Rome was a top 10 pick. DJ Moore's one of the highest paid players in the history of the Bears organization. And you watch Donald with a couple good wide receivers just looks like a pro bowler.

He is going to the Pro Bowl this year. That's why the conversation just continues to get, you know, pretty difficult to have when it comes to his offseason. Now, I do think the Daniel Jones thing, maybe it's a contingency plan. Like, I'm sure they haven't made up their mind, but I'd have a hard time letting that go. I really would. Now, I think they love J.J. McCarthy,

and if his health is looking good, and I would say right around free agency, that they probably will just let Sam Darnold go. And I think Sam Darnold should be very smart, because as we talked about tonight, you go to the Raiders, you go to the Falcons, you go to teams like the Bears,

you lose and your career becomes ruined really, really fast at quarterback. Like that's what happens. And I know Chador and the Sanders family is begging to go to the Raiders. And listen, it's sad because, you know, the Raiders and the Bears, I mean, these are historic brands in the NFL. And they are borderline unwatchable. It's weird. I've watched so much Chicago Bears this year. I might as well, I feel like a Bears fan.

amount of snaps I've watched them play. And all their games look the same. They're just so terrible to begin the game. Their offense has no rhythm. Their quarterback's completely overwhelmed. Tonight, they try to run some easy plays, get some quick screens to DJ anymore, but they can't run the ball because their offensive lines awful. So it takes like Swift making plays like a Sequin, Barclay,

busting runs, making a guy miss getting outside. But there's nothing easy. Nothing is it. You watch the Vikings? Like, they're just some easy completions. easy yards. You watch Atlanta in the Raiders. It's like pulling teeth to get five yards.

Kevin O'Connell can scheme up a 15-yard play with his eyes closed and taking a nap on the sideline. All through the other three teams are like begging, begging to be in like second and five. It's crazy. The NFL, man, I remember saying it when I went to the combine. It's really 10ish teams competing against everyone else. These other teams just have no. No shot. I mean, none. No one knows what they're doing. Everyone's worried they're going to get

fired. There's no stability. Even when people do get jobs, they don't know what coaches to hire. Maybe they don't even have the Jews to hire the coaches because the owner doesn't listen to them. It's just, it's all fucked up. And most of us, right, I'd say all of us listening, you know, aren't, I guess we have some people in the NFL listening to this, but the ones that I know of are all on good teams that, you know, we don't get to go into these organizations. But it's pretty clear. watch their teams play. And you just go, yeah, something's really off. This is not normal.

This is not normal. And that's what we got on Monday Night Football. It's the most wonderful time of year for getting in on all the hoops, football, and hockey action at the Draft King Sportsbook. It's the season of giving. And we're being gifted college football and basketball, pro football and basketball,

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We have some big news. What's the news, Nick? Huge news. We created our own podcast called, Hey, Jonas. We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to a... 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, 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 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 Nass would get that thing. That man, hell get the flying. Man, he running up the court, licking his fingers, why he got the ball. Like, you go through a training camp with that, Isaiah, you figure it out real quick. Oh, yeah. 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 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 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. Here's something that should not be as complicated as it is.

Getting a racist statue removed. And here's something that should be a whole lot easier than a podcast. is. Getting a new one put up in its place. As long as there's a politics of race in America, there's going to be a politics of remembering the Civil War. To get to school, I had to go down Robert Lee Boulevard. Get to the grocery store, I had to go down Jefferson Davis Parkway. If you're an historian and you leave out half of what the history is, you're not doing your

job. I'm Akila Hughes, in Rebel Spirit, Season 2 goes deep on both of those things. The fights, the politics, the people who won, and my personal campaign to add something to the Kentucky State House that's actually worth the wall space. We are more than our bodies. We contain essence. We contain spirit. How do you represent that?

They are just fueling a fire that is really catching. You'll see what I mean. Listen to Rebel Spirit Season 2 on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Okay, let's dive into a little news and notes around the National Football League. Let's start with the two-time defending. almost said national champs. They say world champs, but this sports played in America,

so American champs, but Super Bowl champs, the Chiefs. Patrick Mahomes has a high ankle sprain and is weak to week. Now, in the grand scheme of things, when you're 12 and 1 and you have a multiple game lead on the Buffalo Bills, who have a very, very easy ending to their schedule, Patriots, Jets, Patriots. So I think you have to assume they're going to run the table. If you're the Chiefs, you just have to win.

in two of your next three games. The main problem is the Chiefs play two games the next nine days. Obviously, they play on Christmas, which is a Wednesday, and they play this Saturday. So I think as we sit here today, it's fair to assume Mahomes out this weekend. Carson wants to play. I think there's two angles of this. There's a football angle, and there's a business angle. And I think from the football angle, if you were sitting down over a plate of barbecue with Coach Reed and Veach right now,

they could give you an educated guess, but they wouldn't truly know, just like none of us truly know, what the hell Carson Wentz is going to look like playing for them. He is nowhere near the athlete that he once was after some of the injuries. He still has a big arm.

He started one game in the last two years. Obviously, he's been a backup last year for the Rams and this year for the Chiefs. His start last year came the last game of the season when they were playing the Niners, and the Niners rested everybody. So it was basically, like a preseason game. Now he did throw two touchdowns. He actually made some nice

throws and then he part laid that into the backup job for Mahomes. But for me to go like he's going to look excellent relative to a backup quarterback. He's going to look awful like the dude we saw last night, Sam Howell for the Seattle Seahawks. I don't know. I have no freaking clue. I would say that this game with Carson Wentz against the Texans at home is much more winnable than a short week on the road at Pittsburgh who looks like they've avoided a injury with T.J. Watt, and he's technically available this Saturday. And I think it's fair to assume that he's going to play on Wednesday. And they got multiple other pass rushers. And right now the Chiefs' offensive line, especially on the edges, is struggling. Well, where do the Pittsburgh Steelers light

you up? Edge pressure. So not a great matchup to put out Mahomes injured with an ankle. I think I think if you're taking an educated guess right now, you do not see Mahomes in the next two games. Because neither of them are must win. Right. But I think from a business standpoint, it was a big deal for the NFL to get into business with Netflix. They're a fucking powerhouse company with a ton of money. And when this new deal comes up, they're going to be players. And clearly they wanted the chiefs and the NFL gave them the chiefs for a reason.

It's been widely reported when it comes to television ratings. They have surpassed the Cowboys. Now, part of it is they've been the best team. They got the most famous player. They're playing in all the big games. And the NFL is such a bohemath cash cow right now. They're doing enormous ratings. But their games this year are outrating Cowboy games,

which is obviously a big deal. It means you're the king of the castle right now. I'd argue whether Mahomes plays or not, it's not that big a deal when it comes to the viewership. And honestly, I think it's probably a good thing if he does. And I'm talking from the business standpoint of the NFL league office and the partners and the ownership in terms of what they want to sell it for. And the more they sell it for, the more the players benefit too,

because they're in a revenue sharing agreement. Because if Carson Wendz plays, if me or you played, millions of people are going to watch. We cannot say that about the other sports. If you put a big baseball game on Netflix or you put a big basketball game on on Netflix regular season. Guess what? The streaming numbers

would be jarring to the company because not that many people would stream it. Yet when it comes to football, specifically on a holiday, I think it's almost in terms of like rating-wise, recession proof.

I don't think it matters. And I think it will be really impressive for the people on the Netflix side to be like, wait, 16 million people watch this even though Patrick Mahomes was on the sideline and sweats, because that's what I, and maybe I'm lowballing, maybe it's 25 million, it's fucking Christmas,

literally everyone's at home. And every human being that I know has Netflix. So I would expect for the NFL, it's not ideal to have your biggest star injured. The best part about football, we never worry about load management. This isn't baseball where you've got to give a guy a week off. If you miss games, he's clearly hurt. Otherwise, guys play injured all the time, right? His ankle, he got rolled up on. No, well, maybe they're pushing.

No, if he was healthy, he would play. That's the way football works. You only get 17 shots to play games on Sundays, Mondays, Thursdays, maybe some Saturdays and now Wednesdays. I think, and the Chiefs, the Chiefs played on every day of the week this year. Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday. The only day they skipped is Tuesday. And I'm pretty sure the NFL did not have a game on Tuesday.

But I do believe that whether Mahomes plays or not, so many people are going to watch this freaking game. And I think it would be an enlightening experience for Netflix to go, wow, you're telling me the most famous player in the biggest sport was injured and this many people still watched, I think it would ultimately be a good thing for the business of football. The Lions, and we talked about this on Sunday night, it was reported today that David Montgomery is having knee surgery

and he's out for the season. And I really feel bad, because this season, clearly when they were healthy early in the year, I mean, they were a big time squad. I mean, they kind of had it all. Were they a perfect team? No. But, I mean, they're really only knock on offense.

It's like, yeah, their quarterback's not mobile, but it's like on any given game, you can throw four or five touchdowns. Their running game was elite. Their offensive line was elite. They had a deep wide receiver. They had a slot wide receiver. They had guys that could run over the middle. They had an awesome tight end.

They were literally a complete offense. and defensively, they were vastly improved from last year. They doubled down on the secondary. They bought Davis. They drafted Arnold from Bama. It's like they did everything you could ask. Hutchinson was taking a huge step, and now all these guys are injured.

And I just think, you know, early in the season, I didn't think it was hyperbolic to go. I think this is one of the better one-two combinations in recent memory. And probably one of the better one-two combinations at running back I've seen in my life. And part of that is compared, you know, you have to put it into context of the offensive line they're working with, which was easily one of the better ones in the NFL, especially from a run-blocking standpoint.

It was like, you could not stop this running game. And I think the thing they had is Montgomery was such a physical back. He was so good in the red area. Then you had this hybrid guy who actually is still a very physical runner, but he was so good in space, such a great cratcher of the football. And to lose Montgomery to go along with losing. their stud defensive line, McNeil, who's a good player, they've lost multiple. It just, it doesn't feel over like they're obviously still going to make the playoffs,

but are they going to be able to even win the division? And I think this is a good lesson. And it showed last year why I was so critical of them kicking the field goal. You didn't have the Niners on the ropes. You were about to give him a Mike Tyson uppercut to the jaw in 1989. You kick the field goal. You basically knock them out. They would have been in major trouble,

but they went forward on fourth down, it flipped, the Niners drive and score, and it flips the game. And I say the same thing about the Niners. They've had two fourth quarter leads in the Super Bowl against Andy Reed and Mahomes, and they weren't able to close the deal on either. There is no guarantee that Shanahan Purdy and this crew

will ever get to another Super Bowl, let alone if they did have a fucking lead in in the second half. And you only get so many opportunities whatever you do in life. But when you get massive big opportunities in whatever profession you're in, even quote unquote when you're not ready, because most people asked your thought,

well, lions aren't quite ready. You've got to take advantage of them because you never know when they're going to come back. You know what it turns out when the Chiefs had that crazy comeback in 2019 to win the Super Bowl against the Niners? It felt like, oh, finally Andy got over the hook. His career's made, right?

And now you look back, it's like, yeah, they're just kind of the beginning, right? But now you look back at the Niners, you're like, they've got a big off-season incoming. And now you look back at the Lions and you go, it's hard to have a better two-year stretch than they just had. They were just in the NFC championship game. And a couple months ago,

a couple weeks ago, before these injuries really got out of control, it felt like they were locked to be the number one seat. And now all of a sudden we're looking like, could they end up the five-seat? Now, luckily you would get the, I was going to say the Atlanta Falcons, I'm recording this before the Monday night part of the games, But probably Tampa, like that's no shoe-in win.

Tampa beat Detroit. I saw Tampa's two wins are against two teams that have four total losses. Philly, or two of their wins, right, are Philly in Detroit. So when you get these opportunities and you are excelling in them, you got to finish the deal. And sometimes you look back, like there was nothing Dan Campbell or the Lions could have done to prevent this. These guys are getting injured in games. and it just feels like a weekly occurrence now, and they just cannot slow up the bleeding.

So in a weird way, I feel bad for the lions in terms of this is the way their season is kind of going toward the end because it almost feels unfair. But I think you could look back last year and go, last year was as good of a shot as any. I mean, you get into the Super Bowl with the way your team was playing, and you're a pretty bad matchup for Kansas City. Hell, you'd already beat him that year.

And I saw Dan Campbell say he regretted kicking the onside kick, I think he's in a tough position right now with his defense. Obviously, he wouldn't have kicked the onside kick if his defense was healthy. Now, I would imagine, too, like the course of the game, he probably hasn't given up 38 points going into the fourth quarter if his defense is healthy. So they're just in a tough spot and there's not much you can do about it. One other thing is that Mike Tomlin, you know, gets a lot of credit and rightfully so for being this exceptional leader.

And anytime you hear Tomlin talk, anytime you see Tomlin in some of these NFL film clips, anytime you see Tomlin in Hard Knocks, the AFC North Hard Knocks, you just see the way some of his troubled players when they leave Pittsburgh, how their careers unravel. Levion Bell's career unraveled when he left Pittsburgh.

Antonio Brown, I mean, it couldn't have gone any worse. They trade Deontay Johnson. and two years later, the Ravens are like, I know they didn't technically trade him to the Ravens, but indirectly they kind of did. And they're like, get out of our building. Go home. We don't want to look at you.

It's remarkable. Mike Tomlin was made for like the 70s. When there were no rules, and it was like, these guys just got to, you kind of got to corral them. You got to let them be, but then once they get in the building, you got to drive a hard ship.

It's like he could have thrived in any air. I think we don't talk enough about Sean McVeigh under these circumstances because anyone can have success in sports in life when things are going well, right? Anyone can make money in the stock market when it's like historic highs. Like, yeah, welcome to the club. What about when it's 20% down in a year?

When you're making money? What about when your team's one and four? Like the Rams were early this season, you have injuries everywhere. Does the season just get away from you? Does your franchise just unravel? And all of a sudden you're looking up and you're a five-win team at the end of the year and you're drafted ninth? Or like, are you looking up and going, yeah, we got a pretty good chance to win 10, 11 games and win the division?

That's what the Rams did. Last year they were 3 and 6. Somehow when the dust settled, they were 10 and 7. And going toe to toe as the 7 seed with the Detroit Lions and probably, you know, had a very, very good chance to win that game. Sean McVeigh is an unbelievable leader, and we know what he looks like when times are good, right, when his team is stacked, loaded top to bottom,

like he can compete to win a Super Bowl. He can win a Super Bowl. But what about when his team is going through a rebuild, and he's dependent on young guys everywhere, and Cooper Cup is nowhere near the same player, and he's got offensive linemen in and out of the lineup? How does he do when shit hits the fan? This is why I'm glad that he turned down millions upon millions of dollars for Amazon.

Because he has an incredible life skill, and it's to coach football. And I think about this a lot with Kyle Shanahan. Like I've seen Kyle when his team's healthy and it's good. He can kick the shit out of most people, beside Andy Reed. He can win games when he really has to win the playoffs, on the road to red home. But what about when the wheels fall off? Like right now they're six and eight, and they got three games left. the Dolphins at Miami

than Detroit and Arizona. Can you win one of those games? Can you win all three of them? Does he end up going 7 and 10? Or like do you look up and you go, that's the worst Kyle Shanahan coach team ever and they're still 9 and 8? Because I'm seeing it with McVeigh right now.

These last two years easily, if I give them the majority of coaches, none of the top guys, you know, like the bottom 15 coaches, and I put them in that situation where they're one in four or three and six, there is zero chance any of them make the playoffs. Because it's twofold.

It's, you know, I got to keep the team the spirits high. I got to keep everyone's head up, but I also got to keep everyone focused, out-scheeing the opponent, and have good weeks of practice from a schematic standpoint on a weekly basis. So it's twofold. It's leadership.

it's lifting guys up and coaching guys up to get these wins. And we have no margin for error. Like, we don't need a win or two. We got to go seven and one down the stretch, as they did last year after starting three and six. This year after one and four. Like, you're five games in and you have one win, and all of a sudden you're looking and you go,

God, we got 12 games left. Can we go, I don't know, 10 and 10. and two down the stretch. That's essentially what he would be doing if he's able to win out and win 11 games. So Sean McVeigh is kind of putting on a clinic these last two years. Are they going to win the Super Bowl? Probably not.

Are they going to win a playoff game? Who knows? But I am so impressed. I think all eyes, I know for me and a lot of people in my life, it's like, okay, Kyle. Because right now it's not like if they lose out, they're putting themselves in great position for a draft pick. you're the 49ers. I looked yesterday, they were drafting

15th. They're having the worst season that I can remember in a long time. Everyone thinks the franchise is and shambles and they're drafting 15th. So even if they lose out, there's so many shitty teams in the league, it's like, okay, you're drafting 10th. As all my buddies that are college scouts say, this is one of the

worst drafts in recent memory at the top. There are a couple high-end players, but this is not littered with Jamar Chases and Micah Parsons and those type players. Pena Sewells. This is not viewed as a super high. The buzz I get, there's not going to be that much difference.

Drafting 16th is drafting 6th. In some years, that is a dramatic, drastic change. Not this year. So, like, to me, Kyle, anything less than winning two of these last three games would be pretty embarrassing for the guy. Football, baby. It goes by way too fast. Well, one story I saw today, which would be crazy.

And I kind of have a theory that, Now, we'll see if this ends up coming to fruition by the time you're listening to this. Maybe it has. And maybe he's just using this to try to get another team to offer him more money. Is that Michael Vick is in serious discussions with Sacramento State to be their next head coach. Which would be beyond shocking. He has no connections there. Pretty sure he's never really played on the West Coast.

Move to Sacramento, which I do think he would like. I mean, it's a booming city in California. A lot of money behind the program. They've recently got $50-plus million, you know, committed over several years for NIL. They want to, you know, upgrade to like the Mountain West. So to play Division I football. I do wonder if a guy like Michael Vick, and you see some of these players that you would be stunned, like Heinz Ward right now, is a position coach for Arizona State.

If you watched Heinz Ward play, you'd be like, yeah, I can see him being a coach one day, right? And sometimes you never know, guys that you thought would be coaches, don't become coaches, and guys that you thought would never become coaches. So it's hard when they're playing to truly know. But I think, I wonder if Michael Vic goes, looks at Dionne Sanders and says, man, you can make millions of dollars, still be a star, use your stardom to help build up the program, hire good assistant coaches. he played for some pretty good coaches.

I mean, spent some time around Andy Reid, played for Mike Tomlin. From a motivational standpoint, guys loved Michael Vick. He was a good leader. And obviously, you're not going to make millions of millions of dollars at Sacramento State, but if that is your entry point to ultimately get the Colorado job, or the Virginia Tech job, or the Auburn job, or whatever in the future, where they do pay a premium. And, you know, at the end of Michael Vick's career,

he was a backup quarterback. So it's not like when he retired, he was making $20, $30 million. You go, wait, I could make millions of dollars, give back to the game that made me a star, made me all this money, and gave me an opportunity. I mean, for him in life,

when I was around him, it was a second chance on life. Andy Reed, Jeffrey Lurie, like, it was pretty controversial. It was the year before I got there, but when they first signed him, it was pretty controversial at the time. When I got there,

it wasn't a big deal. Like, he was just kind of on the team. by training camp, you're like, are we sure this guy not better than Kevin Cobb? And obviously, Kevin Cobb got injured. Michael Vic came in. The rest is history. But I think that would be pretty cool.

And I always think it's cool when these former players get involved. Like, you watch Peyton Manning. I had a buddy, you know, executive on a team that texts me. He's like, how cool is it watching Belichick and Peyton Man? He's like, Peyton Manning. This guy's a fucking genius. Sometimes, and I get it. He's so rich and he's involved in a lot of different businesses.

But you can't tell me, like if you're Jim, say, you wouldn't just look around. It's like, should we just fire everybody and give Peyton Manning $25 million a year? And who knows? Maybe Peyton has so much money now. It's not even worth it for him to do it. But like the knowledge he has and his passion level of football, like, you know, Tom Brady obviously is involved with the Raiders for financial means. Like, it's a good investment. But he should be involved in football.

You know, I give Tom credit. He feels, you know, I don't notice him as much watching these games. I know, it's unfair to compare him to Romo or these guys. I don't think he's good as like Tony Romo, but he is definitely a much easier listen as the season has gone on. But he deserves to be, and he should be, for us,

the consumer, involved in football. And if you're a player, like, you would love to be part of a team where Peyton Manning or Tom Brady are there. So you can piggyback and ask them questions and try to gain knowledge from them.

I mean, I think Peyton Manning and, you know, you're seeing Philip Rivers. How cool would it be to be a high school kid at Philip Rivers? school. Can you imagine the knowledge if you were a wide receiver, a tight end, an offensive line, a freaking quarterback, and he's giving you pointers? He's like, this is what we used to do against Bill Belichick. He's like, when we would play the Steelers, this is how we'd block it.

He's like, when we were going up against Dorel Revis, this is how we would break this route off. I was like, what? How cool is that? So I hope more and more of these players get involved because when you play in the league for a decade plus and play for multiple teams, the knowledge you gain from different coaches, the things you see, the knowledge you gain from watching different players, from film study to being around them,

to training with them, to training camps, deserves to give back to the younger generation. And I think the more and more of these guys kind of jumping on this, the better. Hey, it's us, the 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. 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. 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 Smygel and Friends, me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, S&L's Mikey Day and head writer, Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. 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? This Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toler. O'Dano and our podcast Point Game is about defining the odds.

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

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

That man, hell get the flyin. He run up the court, licking his fingers while he got the ball. 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,

iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. 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 pair. I'd be too nervous. That's right. The very funny Will Farrell 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 nipper. 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 List on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

Here's something that should not be as complicated as it is. Getting a racist statue removed. And here's something that should be a whole lot easier than it is. Getting a new one put up in its place. As long as there's a politics of race in America, there's going to be a politics of remembering the Civil War. To get to school, I had to go down Robert Lee Boulevard. Get to the grocery store. I had to go down Jefferson Davis Parkway. If you're an historian and you leave out half of what the history is, you're not doing your job.

I'm Akila Hughes. In Rebel Spirit, Season 2 goes deep on both of those things. The fights, the politics, the people who won, and my personal campaign to add something to the Kentucky State House that's actually worth the wall space. We are more than our bodies. We contain essence. We contain spirit. How do you represent that? They are just fueling a fire that is really catching.

You'll see what I mean. Listen to Rebel Spirit season two on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. It's time for a little Middlecough mailbag. Very easy to get involved. You just fire into my DMs. I don't know why I just did that voice. At John Middlecough is the Instagram. DM's wide open.

Get your questions answered here on this little show slash podcast. Let's start with Zaya. Hey, John. Day one listener. Just heard your take on Purdy and the upcoming negotiation and could not disagree more. You asked who the 49ers would be bidding against and mentioned you don't think he'd have a strong market if he was available. Purdy doesn't have a great arm, but if that's his only red flag, I can't understand why you

think he's not worthy of the same deals Goff and Dak are signing. In terms of market, half the league runs the Shanahan offense. Purdy has elite instincts, is a good decision maker, and has executed that style on offense so effectively that he's led a team to two straight conference championship games. I would disagree he's led a team to two straight conference championship games. Two years ago, the defense slash offensive weaponry did his rookie year. And two years ago, I would say it was a pretty complete effort. defensively, Christian McCaffrey was having a borderline historic season.

He was a key player and plays quarterback, but leading a team, that's what I would say about Josh Allen. That was not Brock Purdy last year when they made the Super Bowl. He got throttled in Cleveland. He got throttled against the Ravens. He shipped the bet against Minnesota. And again, it sounds like I'm being so critical of the guy, and he's a good player. but when you say he's

what was your comment he's a good decision maker we just saw on Thursday night football he made an awful decision I think decision making is somewhat of a question mark let me finish your question Sam Darnold his style and skill set make it

extremely valuable to any team that runs the offense the league is watching Darnold lighted up in a similar offense of course teams would be lined up to sign Purdy just because he doesn't have an elite arm doesn't mean teams won't be lined up for his services In my opinion, his other skills are elite and he's a winner. Donald is dramatically more talented. If all things were equal, if you told Kyle, you could have Darnold and Purdy,

you're going to have them both the same. Who would you rather have? I think he takes Sam Darnold. Sam Darnal's dramatically more talented. Pretty can't throw the ball down the field. He cannot throw a D ball. And it's like pretty evident, which again, they've got by when their team was fully healthy. But that's not the way the NFL is.

your team isn't typically fully healthy. Like Jalen Hertz is not nearly as good at Purdy at reading the defense inside of the pocket. That's not his game. But he is much better throwing the ball down the field. And like, so it's like a push and pull. Like Jalen has flaws too. I don't know why I brought him up to argue, but I think Jalen would have had a bigger market if he was just like, let's just go over Purdy's market.

Purdy's available. Someone trading a first round pick. Would the Raiders trade a first round pick for him? Tom Telesco, the last decade, has been around Phillip Rivers and Justin Herbert. Two guys that are both six foot five. Massive. Doubtful. The New York Giants, pretty struggles in bad weather, are going to sign them?

The New York Giants, who play Washington, Philly, and themselves outside in cold weather. Don't see that one. I just don't see him having a big market. I really don't. Honestly, Sam Donald's market's more like $80, $90 million probably total. So this notion that I got to give Purdy $200 million

is fucking insane. That's just bad business. And the number one way I think anyone can have a normal conversation when it comes to quarterbacks is simply go, most of us, maybe some of you are in the government or whatever, I'd say most people listening here have a private sector job.

So deal with transactions in some form or fashion. Would you just go, is this? And obviously, depending on your industry, the numbers are way different. Most human beings, unless you're on like Wall Street, right, are not dealing with $200 million for an individual. Very rare, clearly. I'm not saying it's very relatable. But you can make the statement, is this good or bad business? Is giving Brock Purdy $200 million guaranteed good business? How could anyone say that's good business? How could anyone say that? It's simply not.

Because we knew it when DAC signed for $200 million. You're like, ah, that seems crazy. We knew it when Trevor Lawrence signed for $1. I was like, that is insane. Tua got less than that, like $160, $170. And we all thought that was the most insane contract we've ever seen. Jared Goff's just a better thrower of the football than Purdy. Jared Goff was also the number one overall pick for a reason.

Pertie gets a lot of balls batted down. Why he's small? I'm just being critical because we're talking huge numbers. Why I'm starting on my team for a million dollars. Why I'm starting on my team for $20 million. Once we start getting $40, $50 million, I'm sorry, I got to fucking pause. Like, we got to have a conversation. I just think that we got to be careful about the way this is discussed because

here's another person. I was listening to you and Colin yesterday and you mentioned that Purdy wouldn't have a market. But you don't think that this. This is bad quarterback free agent market and the draft is going to work in his favor. Raiders, Colts, Seattle, Saints, Giants, Jets, Titans, all need quarterbacks desperately. The Cardinals Jags or a few other teams have quarterbacks. They would probably trade for him if they could. Even if you think he's the 15th best quarterback in the league at his worst,

that means there is still a few teams that would sell their few first borns for stability at the position. Free agents are Darnold, who unless you have Justin Jefferson hasn't looked good, Justin Fields, Mac Jones, etc. I think Brock Purdy is the leverage not only because of his accomplishments versus other quarterbacks who got paid, but because finding better isn't easy as people think. Plus, the roster is old.

I'm not acting like getting rid of Purdy, it's easy to find his replacement. I'm just saying, okay, you're at a fork in the road. Kind of not really. He's got another year remaining on his contract. So it's like, okay, we got to entertain everything, right? It's like, here's what we're offering you. four years

140 will guarantee 90 and if his agent laughs at you you go okay like Brandon IU entertain a trade see what you can get out there the Niners like some of the trades here's an Mari Cooper in a second

the Patriots were offering like a second and a third and offering him a bunch of money you are telling me the teams would be lined up to give you like a first and second round pick and pay Brock Purdy $150, $180 million guaranteed, I think that is

fucking insane. And I understand, desperate, you think teams would be willing to trade multiple high picks and break him off? You put Micah Parsons on the open market. You're getting two ones and a two and someone's giving him $120 million guaranteed.

So fast your fucking head would spin. You put Brock Purdy on the open market tomorrow. I'm not saying nobody would want him and people wouldn't inquire. I think you would be stunned what the value for him is. Because again, it's two, twofold. You got to trade them and pay them.

So it's like, hey, we want at minimum, let's say two ones. You think any team in the league, the tight, all those teams you list off, the Raiders, the Titans, all these teams are drafting in the top 10 are going to give you one of their top 10 picks for Brock Purdy? Honestly, do you think that? Because we're not watching the same league. That does not happen. It just doesn't. It's like, yeah, he had success.

with a very successful team. We've seen them have a team that had a bunch of injuries and it just has not looked remotely close. And again, it feels like I'm going Nick Wright or Colin hating on the guy. I'm not. I'm just having a real conversation because we're talking big boy money now. You know who the Vikings feel good about?

Like, what do you need, Justin? Here's your money. What do you need CD? What do you need Bosa? What do you need T.J. Watt? And those conversations get ugly. You think that if I'm the, the 49ers, Brock Purdy's agent just gets to bend me over a barrel and say

fucking shove my head in the pillow. And you just tell me when to I'll just give you a thumbs up to keep on going. There is no way. They battled it out with all these other players who are elite all pros. That if they said Nick Bosa, Trent Williams, Debo Samuel, they offered the 10th pick

overall three years ago for him. The Jets did. I just don't see any of these things remotely close happening. I feel like I'm pivoting now, because it's so crazy. Like, teams, I just, I don't see it.

I do not see it. I follow this league closely. I'm not saying teams wouldn't be interested. And I'm not saying teams wouldn't give them like, hey, we'll give you our first round pick and give them $100 million. $49, I want to give him $100 million guaranteed. I'd do that.

But if you think, and listen, I'd get where he's coming from. It's like, hey, man, down to pay me. Trevor Lawrence has got $200 million. Time for me to give you $200 million. Yeah, we're not doing it. Like, I don't care.

It doesn't matter to me. The market's the market. Great. We don't view that as your market. And here's another thing. Brock Purdy currently is making millions of dollars off the field. And a lot of people will say, well, that has nothing to do with the team. Bullshit, it doesn't.

Because when you're the quarterback like Dak Prescott or Brock Purdy, you're with one of the biggest brands in the league. So you make dramatically more money when that team is good and you are the quarterback because of the brand of the Cowboys or the 49ers. Now, DAC has never sniffed taking a discount. And look what that is currently done to the team. They are in shambles. They might have to trade Micah Parsons. Brock Purdy is on commercials with John Deer Ariot. Do you think he's getting those commercials if he's the starting quarterback for the Jags or the Miami Dolphins?

or some of these franchise, the Titans, there's not a chance in hell. But he's the 49ers quarterback, and he inherited a team that was absolutely loaded, and he did a really good job. And he was a winning player. But I also watched him against some of the best defense over the last couple of years get throttled.

Throttled. And on Thursday night, with the season on the line, to make that decision in that spot, even if the Niners were lost. to not like you were in field goal range, dump it off, live to fight another down, to just hand the ball back to the Rams, who then never handed it back to you?

I just don't know how you'd forget that moment. And listen, as you know, I'm a sucker for elite talent, and I've made an exception for Brock Purdy. But like, I'm watching Jordan Love last night, and I know the Packers lost to the 49ers last year, there is under no scenario in any world that I, unless Brock Purdy would just make a million dollars in perpetuity,

that I would take Brock Purdy on a second contract over Jordan Love on a second contract. They are in different universes when it comes to talent. Because arm strength matters. Because making explosive plays down the field matters. Why do you think Josh Allen is lapping the league right now? Because at any moment he can let that thing rip and hit a guy in stride 30, 40 yards. And then on some of the shorter throws, he can get it between tight windows. everything has to be timed perfectly.

And sometimes he runs around, which is a good quality, but sometimes he doesn't when he doesn't even need that to do it. And some of it is like Kyle refuses to draft offensive linemen high, so their offensive line sucks. A lot of variables. I'm not, I feel like I'm being a huge purdy hater. I'm pro-purty at like $25 million a year. If you're talking $50 million a year, I'm simply out.

I am out. I mean, I don't know what to tell you. And if he's not going to take a discount and listen, This is what business is for. That's fair to have his stance. He thinks he's valuable. We'll find out. I don't see how if you own the 49ers,

you're not having a serious conversation with Kyle. Like, this, we can't do. I'm not here to medal, Kyle. We have let you guys do everything. But I don't think this is smart. If anything, let's make him play it out. What's he going to do? Sit out the season?

Again, I truly believe his market value is nowhere near what the last couple DMs have said. because one, obviously the 49ers aren't just giving them away. Let's just say, hey, two ones. Like I said with Iuke, someone give us a first round pick, and we'll trade him. No one would. No one would give Brandon Ayuk a first round pick. The best offer they had was a second in Amari Cooper, which was good. And you know what the Niners said?

Okay, we'll drive you to the airport. And Branden's like, no, I'm not going to the Browns, right? You're just telling me that the 40, let's just say, they said a one and two-toes. a one and two-twos. Let's just hypothetically say that they would trade Purdy, which why would you give away your quarterback for draft picks when you don't have another quarterback? Let's just say, do you think someone would just give them that for Brock Purdy?

But that's not it. Then you got to pay them. I think teams would gladly do it for Micah Parsons. Hey, brother, a little late to this one. But like most people said and thought, it's obvious there needed to be a reseeding in the first round, this college. and having strict limits of who can have a first round by. Boise Strait had a great season,

but it's not like they were killing teams in the Mountain West and bring an Oregon loss as a benefit for them doesn't mean anything because Oregon looked like shit the first couple weeks of the season. I agree. And having years of the portal open now, why the hell is it opening before the postseason is over? Like this is why if you want bowl games to still matter

and the schedule needs to be fixed, if not, then expand the playoff to 2014. to construct it with the NFL and FCS, playoff mix, it'd be as well. Love to hear more of your thoughts on this. I think it's tough because obviously the portal opens and you have some of these guys leaving teams that are in the playoffs. There was a story. I'm recording this Monday, this part, before the Monday night football games,

but I saw yesterday that the Penn State backup quarterback who played this year. Remember, I think it was Wisconsin. Aller got hurt. Bo, I don't want to screw up his last name, came into the game, helped him win the game, ran around, made some plays, is the backup quarterback for Penn State

on Sunday during the NFL games. It was announced he's going into the transfer portal. And everyone's like, this is insane. This is what's wrong with college football. My first response was, and one, and his statement was essentially

like, after meeting with my coaches and family, I've come to this decision. When they say that, Do you know what he's told? You're not going to be the starter here next year. And then it comes out today that Drew Aller's coming back. Clearly they corralled NIL money and Drew Aller's going to come back to school. Well, if you want to get with Belichick or you name a team, getting in the transfer portal right now is really important.

So I don't know an easy fix. But it is weird to see guys quitting on their team. But that's all this is. this is all one big transaction. And once it just becomes a transaction, it's easier to remove the emotion. I'm very unemotional about this. It's why I can be very pro-Brock Purdy

and go, the finances here, this is a business, this is not fucking fantasy high school sports here. Don't add up. They do not make sense. Just like when I see a guy hit the transfer portal on a playoff team and you go, well, he's the backup.

Like, well, yeah. The coaches told him like, hey kid, you're probably not going to play here next year either. I love it like, well, they had the chance to play. He's a backup. Who cares? People get, I think one thing doing this for as long as I have, I'm just less emotional about some of the things that I feel like the fans are very emotional about. And transfer portal is definitely one of those. You know, I, from a business standpoint, I would agree that in not many industries, can you just come and go as you please?

like in the business there in football or sports, once you get to professional sports, you are usually under contract. If you have a one-year contract or a two-year contract or a three-year contract, it dictates your status, right? I had a couple-year contract I signed with the volume. I can't just pick up and leave

unless I want to just do my own thing. I can't just go to another network because they offer me quadruple what I'm making or something. That's how most of us work. you're under some confines of the contractual structure. Now, you could argue contract are meant to be broken. That's where lawyers come in, and sure. But at any moment, I can just quit and leave.

I'm in agreement that there has to be some sort of fix. But I also don't freak out when guys just leave. And maybe I'm numb to it because coaches have left forever. So it's like, I think the faster you just become love the game and love your team, but you got to be kind of unemotional to the player. like most of these guys unless they're an all-time great player or like some All-American

you're going to have a max like two years but you're not going to have many players for like five years those days are done obviously in the NFL for the majority of players they kind of come and go as someone who

was in the industry what do you think makes the team and RK look worse firing mail for being incompetent after year one or keeping him another year and wasting a second season of Drake's rookie deal because these crafts hand-picked succession plan. I've never seen a head coach so incompetent on the field and at the podium.

I don't think you can worry about looking stupid. It's why I'll defend John Mara if he fires everybody again. He clearly does not want to fire everybody. But if every single week your team just gets curbstombed, And you are, honestly, it feels like right now the Giants have been the worst team in the league for the last 45 days. I mean, they have been really, really bad. I know the Panthers just look shitty, but they have been playing very, very hard. Hell, the Jags are in a lot of these games.

The Titans, I mean, their quarterback is so terrible, and their coaching staff had nothing to do with Will Levis. The GM threw that on them. But I think when you look at the Patriots, like you tried to do. the right thing. You had this guy who was a team captain and then Belichick hired and everyone liked them and you're like, we think this guy can be the next head coach. And you fall in love with the guy that you knew as a player. Then as assistant coach, it kind of gets weird once he's named that. And it's just been a disaster this year. And if you get absolutely mollywap the rest of the season, how could anyone, like he made a mistake. Welcome to life.

make about five a day. Part of the world we live in. Now, obviously, there are some mistakes that are worse than others, and hiring the wrong head coach is a pretty big problem and can be a pretty big setback. But I think where it becomes more detrimental to the long-term growth of a franchise is like when you hold on another year. Like, let's just see this thing play out. Let's just see how it goes. You're like, ah, not sure that's a good idea. Will the chargers have been better off, firing Brandon Staley after he lost the Jags on that Saturday night, that playoff game, instead of running it back the following year and having them win five games? Because if you remember, Jim Harbaugh was ready to play ball because he was interviewing with Minnesota. He ended up not taking the job.

O'Connell did, but he was ready two years ago. I am curious how you can really evaluate running backs. In my opinion, it is so incredibly dependent on the offensive line and scheme. Any running back could thrive in certain situations and fail in others. keel and Peel comedy show used to do some football skips. And I always wanted them to do one where in a game, one team had Adrian Peterson in peak physical shape as they're running back, and the other had a seven-year-old girl.

When they do a handoff to the young girl, the sees part and everyone makes a great block, the gaps are 10 feet wide, and she runs an in for a touchdown. The announcer says, wow, she really sees the feel well. You can tell she really has been working hard. in the offseason. Then the other team gets the ball, hands it off to Peterson, and ten guys immediately in his face and just destroy it. The announcers, he has just been really disappointing this season. Clearly something going on with him. Well, you can evaluate

physical skills, speed, strength, ability to break tackles, contact balance when you're hit, do you lose your feet, do you hang up, how you catch the ball out of the backfield, how you pass protect. There are skills. There are skills. whether you're on a great team or a bad team, you can evaluate immediately. And then regardless of the team, whether you have a good offensive line or a bad offensive line, I can't judge your vision. And, like, Sequan's had great vision since he was in college. So even when you were watching with the Giants, his vision was elite.

You know, the Frank Gore's of the world, Jonathan Taylor. You know, Sequin has elite speed, but like Jonathan Taylor, Frank Gore is a good example because he wasn't super fast. I'm trying to think guys, you know, I think when, you watch, I think Montgomery has really good vision. Christian McCaffrey. You can watch Alvin Kamara. You can just watch a guy's skillet.

And everyone's skill sets a little different. You know, Derek Henry doesn't have much ability to, he's not super fluid in terms of his hit movement. So he's not like Shady McCoy. If you're just one-on-one with him in the hole, he's not going to juke you out. But he has excellent feet. and he's a very patient runner, and then he can get really fast immediately.

So if he kind of slows you down, he can use his feet to get lateral and get around you. And, you know, guys like Shady McCoy, I'm trying to think if there's a super elusive back in the league right now. You know, Chris McCaffrey's got pretty good jukes. You know, Jacobs is kind of like, he's got good juke's, but he's also a powerback. I think it's pretty easy to evaluate running backs. obviously their production a lot of the time is based on the skill around them, the play caller, the offensive line. But like, you can tell immediately when there are backs,

they're like, this guy's made for his own running scheme. And they would not be a good in some other schemes. Because zone running schemes, a guy can be kind of stiff and not be able to juke you, but he can be one cut downhill and work. You know, the dude for the 49ers, Garendo, like he doesn't have not going to have a repertoire

moves but he runs a 4-3 and he just he can one cut and he gets downhill and he goes you know Christian McCaffrey could play in any scheme Alvin Kamara could play in any scheme I think Josh Jacobs's Sequin Barclay like those guys can play in any scheme

I think Josh Jacobs is a really good player Washington State football fan I'm curious what your thoughts are on so-and-so is I don't know who this player is I'll be honest, I don't think I watch a snap of you guys this year. That's the one thing that sucks for Washington State and Oregon State. I feel like I used to watch you guys a lot.

You know, playing USC, playing UCLA, playing Utah, playing Arizona State. I didn't watch you guys at all this year. It pains me to say that. Is there any more indefensible or embarrassing move than dropping football right before you score? I cannot imagine face. my team or coach after giving away a sure touchdown,

but this seems to happen once a month between college and pro. How does this keep happening? Listen, no one that talks about football, unless you're a running back or like a skill guy, it feels like it's mainly happened to running backs and occasionally to wide receivers. I just, I don't have, what am I even supposed to say? clearly after it happened once or twice over the last couple years you would think once a month minimum

there is like a period in the team meeting or definitely the offensive meeting with the offensive coordinator where we just spend five minutes on highlights my thing would be you hold the ball I mean through the end of the end zone I might have a thing like you run through the end zone I want to see you if you can.

I mean, obviously some plays. It only happens on breakaway plays. It's not typically happening on plays where you're like, hauling ass to the pylon trying to beat the guy there. So it happens on plays like Jonathan Taylor where it's just him in the end zone. I would have a rule in that situation where it's you versus the end zone.

We run through the end zone. If you want to do a dance or do anything at the end, fine. but we run to the other white. So we run an extra 10 yards. Get a little cardio in. That would be my rule. But I can't even begin to explain why guys are dropping the ball.

Would like to remain anonymous. No problem here, buddy. My question is, why does the media always give dayball a pass and say he's a good coach when he's never beaten the Cowboys? No matter how bad the roster has been. He should have at least beaten them once by now.

I can't even remember the last time a giant first cowboy game was competitive. It took a hardball a while, but he eventually kept kicking Ohio State's ass. I'm a Chargers fan, and even Staley beat the Chiefs once. I'm telling you, I think it's getting really bad for Dayball. I think yesterday was a game

where it just, I felt 10 minutes in, because like the way the four boxes work, you had the cowboy game, the morning slate was pretty bad. So you had, they were like three or four big teams playing, but they were all playing shitty teams. And one of them obviously was Ravens.

The Dolphins, Texans was one game. The Jets Jags, I think. God, the morning slate was rough. But I was like, okay, I'm watch. Maybe New York puts up a decent fight for a half. And it was like, no, this JV versus varsity. This is a joke. I mean, Lamar's pants were falling down when he was running around.

It was yesterday. And listen, obviously the Ravens are better than the Giants. no one disagrees there. But to just get clown like that, every time I'd look over, it felt like Dayball, which I guess I respect, he's a coach, he's really into the game,

he's screaming, but it's like, bro, none of this matters. So one thing I do respect about coaches, why I could never do it, is how can you pretend to be super mad when you're down 28 to 7 and you're playing a team

that is so much better than you that they could try, try with 50% effort and they'd still beat you by double digit points. They could literally try half. Like they could cut their effort in half and you would still get your ass kicked. And you're screaming at officials, you're screaming at players. How can you mentally do that? I get if you're a coach and your team's competitive or you're trying to build, like this year

three, your team's going backwards, you've got to be a bad frame of mind. Huge fan of the show. Question for the mailbag. I know you don't usually answer questions like this on the mailbag, but I'm just curious. I'm currently a college student majoring in sports, media, and journalism. I'm just wondering if you have any advice for people wanting to get into the industry.

The mailbag is wide open to any question. Advice, life observations, football questions. The mailbag is a free-for-all. We do not put any sort of requirement on the mailbag. My advice would be how would I put this? I don't know exactly what you are trying to focus in

under that theme of being a media member slash journalist. I would say making money writing moving forward is going to be very, very difficult. The money behind the written word diminishes by the day. So to learn how to either talk or you know, YouTube, be on camera, whatever. Your version of the written word is where there's financially support behind it. And the great part is I was just driving Maria's mom.

She has the same birthday as Maria and came out for the weekend. And we were talking, you know, her grandma, well, her mom and Maria's grandma is 93 years old. I was like, gosh, she's born in 1930. Think how long she's, you know, the thing she's seen, right? World War II, Vietnam, presidential assassinations, recessions, booms, she had it all. I mean, her whole life, like, and they were, we were just talking, like, she said to her the other day, you know, there's driverless cars. And Mary, her mother couldn't believe it.

She's like, you know, 93, I got to have her be in a driverless car before she passes away. Like, that would be pretty cool. Like, think about that, that lifespan. And I was like, yeah, that is kind of cool. And I started thinking that, I don't know why I went what I was, where it was going with this one. But, you know, things changed so dramatically over time. And I think the hard part moving forward is we don't know where it's going to go.

Oh, this is why. Because she basically started talking about how awesome it was, like her childhood and how everyone knew their neighbors and anytime you needed anything, people are there for you. and just society's a lot different now. Right? You know, hell, I probably named two of my neighbor's names on my entire street. It's just, it's a little different.

Even the way that I grew up, we knew everybody. And everyone's kind of more into themselves, feels really busy all the time. It's just life has changed. And I said, you know, there are pros and cons to every era, but like there are a lot of pros to this era. One, I can record a podcast

that can dwarf radio from my home office. And if I choose to, I can go rent an area, build a studio, do whatever I want. But I got options. And I don't need to work for someone to do this.

And if I wasn't sitting here and wanted to get into this, I could create my own stuff. I create a YouTube channel. I create a podcast. I create a substack. I create, do whatever I want to do. And that's,

there is money in writing, but if you start a substack, it's very hard to get a following, and get people to read what you are writing. So I guess my overall take here is, I think it's very easy to see a lot of older journalists be very negative. And this is what I told Jennifer, her mom. It's like, you know, I think it's always easy to take the negative

or pessimistic stance of like, yeah, today, there's so many things going against us in 2025. I choose to go, there's a lot of shit going for us. and I would say that optimistic is not a word the people with the optimistic viewpoint of look at all the opportunity here because you can choose two paths

and I think if you look at a lot of big Js they'll be very negative about everything it's like well yeah you got no fucking chance if that's going to be your mindset good luck you're going to get lapped by everyone who is I don't want to say bright-eyed and bushy-tailed but just is positive and attacks it

and it's this stuff didn't exist when I was in college. There was no such thing as YouTube. Hell, I don't even remember. I never listened to a podcast in college. So you just have so many more options, even if certain things are kind of falling at the weight, like the newspaper industry dies. Okay, well then the video industry and the podcast industry

and who knows what's going to happen in the next three or four years. Whenever I hear people like, what are your goals the next five years? Like, I don't know. Who knows what is going to be available? What's going to happen? What the consumer wants? I'll go wherever the consumer is.

My goal is just to service them. So if they're somewhere else, then we'll go find them. If they want me over here, then we'll do this. So my goal is just to follow them. And ideally have them follow me. But like, I can't, I'm not some technological wizard to foresee what's going to happen. But I would say, based on you're in college, like, you've got a pretty good idea. and you should have a pretty big advantage.

Like, you understand social media. You understand the landscape of how to use all this technology or have some basic idea. Use that to your advantage. That's a huge advantage for you is the understanding of technology and just use it into what you do, whether it's reporting, whether you want to be a writer. You know, there are ways to attack. Get on Twitter. Get on Substack.

Get on LinkedIn. Get on YouTube. and start trying shit. You're so young, you have the world ahead of you. Half the things won't work and be complete waste of time. But every time that you do it,

you'll figure out something along the way. You will, you'll learn from whatever fails, and maybe the one thing that kind of gains traction, maybe you'll go, I kind of like this. And then you'll quadruple down on it. And maybe it'll lead you to meet some guy that'll lead you to something. You never know.

I have a random thought. What if instead of having to do, having three timeouts. Each team, it's six per game. I can't think of any drawbacks, but I'm not putting a lot of thought. I think six, I think there would be a huge emphasis on rolling over minimum four to the second half. Like, we're never blowing all three in the first half, because I would always have that extra timeout in the second half. And ideally, we have five, right? But like delay of games and stuff in the first quarter. let it roll. I think that's extreme. I think part of the strategy of the game is to navigate

and part of the coaching of the game is like not screw these things up. Like you know when you get a big, how often when you get a big explosive play, whether it's a big run or big pass play, do you see them in a delay game situation? And then the coach or the quarterback is forced to take a time out or there's a delay game. Even though clearly in practice they're emphasizing, Hey, explosive play, get down the field, get to the line of scrimmage, we'll get the play in the huddle. Happens all the time. So I think that would bandaid and protect poor strategy and low-level coaching.

I think you deserve to be exposed when you only have one timeout with under five minutes of the game. Like, that's on you. What did you screw up in the third quarter? And why are you blowing these timeouts until you need them at the end of the game? It's why I have less of an issue blowing timeouts, you know, the way. where timeouts disappear at halftime and you get new three timeouts in the second half. If you're going to delay a game into the first quarter,

I got no problem doing that. But in the second half, I think way too many teams blow timeouts in the third quarter. Okay, last question. Why don't people give the Texans any chance to do well in the playoffs? They lost in the last second field goal to the Packers, lions, and they beat the bills.

They did lose the Titans, but a loss to a divisional rival happens to good teams all the time. The offense definitely hasn't lived up to the hype, but the defense is second in the league and takeaways and has incredible talent all over the field. It just seems like people have a lot more faith in the Raven, Steelers, and Chargers, but the Texans should be in the same boat.

Listen, they got a corner right now that you don't want to throw to because at any moment he can pick off the bell in Derek Stingley. So they're 9 and 5. I mean, they're going to end up winning 11 games, I would guess. The final remaining schedule is at the Chiefs, First the Ravens at the Titans. So, I think this is a big reason, and it's not all his fault. The offensive line has been atrocious.

But CJ Strouds, you know, he's got 17 touchdowns this year. If I would have told you in the middle of December going into like basically the Christmas stretch, they'd have 17 touchdowns and nine picks, I think, I know I did. I thought he would throw, if you said over under Stroud touchdowns this year, I would have put it like 30. And what did you throw last year? Like 28? Obviously the big issue was Stroud.

I think it's very difficult for, you know, people that legitimately follow football and have like educated an opinion. When your offensive line is a major red flag, it becomes very difficult in big games. They've given up 45 sacks. 45 sacks. I mean, they're on pace for, let's say they end up with 10 more over the last three games. So 55, divide by 17. I mean, that's over three sacks a game. That's hard, man.

It really is. Mixing's been good for them. You're right. Defensively, they're really physical. They're well-coached. They have Star Corner. They have a feisty defensive line. I mean, they got two guys.

They're going to be Daniel Hunter's going to end up with, Daniel Hunter, 15-ish sacks. Will Anderson's going to end up with 12, 13 sacks. So they got two guys that can rush the passer. I feel like, what's his name, Petrie, the, I think he's a safety. I love that guy. I just feel like he fucking crushes people.

Stingley has 17 Pbues and he's got five picks Bullock has five picks Lasseter has three picks Jimmy Ward's got a couple picks I mean they got their defensive backfield's good and if you got a good defense of back

like their defense is legit if you just gave that defense to the Ravens like that level of past defense to the Ravens like out or the bills you'd be like lock Super Bowl it's just their offense is struggled. And the offense is mainly struggled because it feels like their guards and center gets smoked. And CJ just gets crumbled.

Three plus sacks on average a game. It's pretty rough. Even watching the game against who they just played, the Dolphins, I feel like he was getting hit a lot in that game too. I just don't know how often you can play these teams like, how many times he gets sacked? He got sacked four times in that game. And this is just the basic stats.

So if he got sacked four times, how many times was he pressured? I feel like he's under duress constantly. I'm not trying to make excuses for the guy, but holy moly he gets sacked a lot. I mean, CJ's a decent athlete. Two is a worse athlete, plays an awful offensive line. It was only sacked three times in the game. But, yeah, man.

Houston's going to be tough out. I will agree with that. Appreciate everyone listening. Talk to you guys soon. Volume. Hey guys, it's us and the Jonas Brothers. I'm Joe.

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