The Herd with Colin Cowherd - 3 & Out - MNF Reaction, Penthouse or Outhouse, What's going on with Belichick

Episode Date: December 10, 2024

John breaks down another epic Monday Night Football matchup, this time between the Cincinnati Bengals and Dallas Cowboys. Led by QB Joe Burrow and superstar WR Ja’Marr Chase, the Cincinnati Beng...als moved to 5-8 on the season, disappointing many fans and critics due to poor defensive performances throughout the year. Next, another edition of Penthouse/Outhouse where John discusses Bryce Young and the Carolina Panthers, the New York Giants, Patrick Mahomes’ Kansas City Chiefs, the Buffalo Bills and more. Lastly, John answers your questions in this episode's mailbag segment. 6:35 - MNF Reaction 22:00 - Penthouse or Outhouse 34:07 - Latest with Belichick 41:30 - The Eagles have issues 48:10 - Streaming the NFL 54:07 - Juan Soto 59:56 - 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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Starting point is 00:02:41 The volume. What is going on, everybody? How are we doing on this beautiful Tuesday? I just got done watching the Dallas Cowboys screw up a block punt, which led to a game-winning touchdown. by Jamar Chase, who looking at the box score right now, had a decent game. He had 14 catches for 177 yards and two touchdowns.
Starting point is 00:03:19 Jamar's having a good season, so is Burrow. But the Bengals win. Go to 5 and 8. The Cowboys fall to 5 and 8 as well. So pretty entertaining second half for two 5 and 8 teams. We'll dive into that. Some coaching situations just with the two guys, Zach Taylor and Mike McCarthy.
Starting point is 00:03:37 The arguments about Joe Burrow because his team's not winning. I just don't have patience for. Belichick to North Carolina. He was on with McAfee. Not only did he not deny it, he basically just acknowledged like this, the conversations have been real. Siriani.
Starting point is 00:03:56 We talk about this all the time. Like being a head coach is hard. Not just when crazy stuff happens, but even when you're winning. It's like you're cruising, you've won ninth straight games, and then everyone finds out your wide receivers might not love your quarterback,
Starting point is 00:04:09 and you've got to put out put out fires. You need to grab that. Fire extinguisher. Grab the water hose. So, yeah, it's just, NFL's tough, man. A couple other thoughts on Amazon Prime as well as Juan Soto. I want to chime in on that one. He got $15 million a year. He got $750-plus million.
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Starting point is 00:06:21 kind of laying out your angles of what you want to discuss on the game and the reaction for the podcast. And I felt pretty confident. I was like, I think the Cowboys might win this game. And my angle is going to be pretty simply like, listen, they've won
Starting point is 00:06:37 three straight games. Jerry mentioned a week or two ago that it's very realistic that McCarthy comes back, it'd be hard to argue that firing McCarthy, like, what are your other options, especially if you're not going to like hire Belichick, Jerry's 80 plus years old, it's easy to just keep them. Tonight was if they would have won missing their Star Guard, their center gets caoed early in the game, one of their stud defensive young players,
Starting point is 00:07:07 looks like he rips up his knee, You got a backup quarterback because Dax hamstring ripped off the bone five weeks ago. I mean, your team's just in complete shambles. Yet win, win, Monday night football, block a punt. It feels like you're going to win. Then all of a sudden, some dude that you just elevated a week or two ago, touches a ball past the line of scrimmage. And I will say in a situation like that,
Starting point is 00:07:34 once you play college football, for years in the meeting that is discussed. It is hammered home in every program in college that when the ball is blocked on a field goal or a kick and it crosses the line of scrimmage, you don't touch it. And because it was fourth and whatever, 28, if a Bengals player picks it up because it's a live ball,
Starting point is 00:08:00 obviously you tackle them, but you do not try to be a hero. Behind the line of scrimmage, all for it. Try to be a hero, scoop and score. You have a touchdown. Cowboys obviously got a little unlucky in the sense that the ball went past the line of scrimmage. But that player, like, that's, it honestly leaves me speechless. Like, that is football 101 at the highest level.
Starting point is 00:08:27 And to me, that's something that you've learned. Like, once you get to college, you know basic math. So if you're going to go into architecture or engineering, like you have a basic understanding of numbers. Now, I'm sure, listen, I'm not an architect or an engineer. I'm sure you learn things and I went to school at an engineering school, which all those kids spent a lot of time in the library and in the classroom. It's very, very difficult.
Starting point is 00:08:52 But they could not have had a chance to pass any classes in college if they would not have passed math classes in high school and had a fundamental understanding of numbers. It's no different in football. like you don't get to the NFL with out knowing like several basic rules. And I would say when a punt is blocked and it goes past the line of scrimmage, that is something consistent that you could go around the NFL to any, you know, some of these star wide receivers
Starting point is 00:09:23 that maybe have never played special teams and don't really sit in on special teams meetings. And if they do check out, maybe some of them might not know the rule. But any defensive back or any backup wide receiver lines, linebacker, one million percent has heard that hundreds of times. Like that is football 101. And I am very, very quick to be critical of coaches, you know,
Starting point is 00:09:49 coordinators, head coaches, that's on the player. Like, that's inexcusable. Like, that just, it's like football 101. And it sucks. And to me it sucks for the Cowboys players. You know, you got McCarthy. thought coaching his ass off. You got Duadle running his ass off.
Starting point is 00:10:11 Cooper Rush, who I think a couple of years ago, I said, what the hell is the difference between him and Dak? Well, it's pretty big. Cooper Rush isn't that great. I give him McCarthy a ton of credit for just having this team consistently play this hard and be in a position tonight to win a game with so many of these random players. I mean, his offensive line is a mass unit put together.
Starting point is 00:10:33 His quarterback, by every series, you're like, I don't know if I trust this guy throwing the ball. That losing, you know, one of their star players on defense has to be pretty, I would say, deflating. And then that moment, once that punt situation happens, you just, they could have had 10 timeouts. They could have had an unlimited amount of timeouts. It felt like Cowboys were not going to tie that game up. Now, some people I saw said that Chase should have hit the ground at like the five yards. line. Yeah, it's easy to say. You're running. What a season that guy's having. But that is one
Starting point is 00:11:12 of those for the Cowboys. Listen, even if they win the night and they go to six and seven, it's not like they're making the playoffs. But they could have one of those years where you end up going eight and nine and you go, that's a hell of a year from McCarthy. And yeah, the Cowboys bring them back. They give them a two-year contract extension. And honestly, this might not change that because you look around. I get asked questions all the time. Like, should the Bears be interested in McCarthy? If McCarthy's available, should the Giants give him a call? Because he's good with quarterbacks. He's good with the offense.
Starting point is 00:11:43 And his team's still playing really, really hard. And I think it's pretty well established. Like, this kind of falls on Jerry's feet as the general manager more than it does Mike. And listen, we can argue till we're blue in the face, how good DAC is, how good he's not, where he ranks. But there's clearly, I mean, think about the gap between him and Cooper Rush. Think about the gap then between Cooper Rush and Trey Lance. I mean, I'm watching Cooper Rush and going, yeah, he has some moments, like some series,
Starting point is 00:12:13 then you watch other series. You're like, what was that? But that's a backup quarterback who makes a couple million dollars. And still had him in a position to win. Now, the Bengals defense, here's the other thing. There are some arguments that are just fun sports arguments, and there are real sports arguments, right? Like, Dak Prescott has been one of the more polarizing players,
Starting point is 00:12:35 his entire career. And I think both sides of the argument have always been, felt pretty good about their position. Right? How good is he? He's better than you think. He's actually overrated.
Starting point is 00:12:46 Cousins fell into this forever when I was in the bay with Derek Carr, with the Raiders. He has fallen into that category. You know, you get guys like, I think Kyler Murray's in that now. Purdy's been in and out of it. Like these are real arguments
Starting point is 00:13:00 that people aren't, you don't need to just make up a side, right, to have an argument. If you argue anything other than Joe Burrough's not one of the best players in the NFL, and I'm a big believer of wins and losses, usually if your quarterback is good, over the course of several years, you're going to win a lot more games they're going to lose if you have a good quarterback. It's inevitable. It's basically impossible to not be a competitive team if you have a high-end quarterback.
Starting point is 00:13:26 And over the course of Burroughs career, the Bengals have been awesome. They made it to a Super Bowl. They went to an AFC championship game. they've been really, really good, right? No one would dispute that. But this year, when it looked like they were four and eight and the Cowboys blocked the punt, and for a split second, you're like,
Starting point is 00:13:44 they're going to lose and go to four and nine, it just simply would not have been on him. It doesn't mean he hasn't made bad plays in certain games. He threw a bad pass early in the game over Chase's head on an out route. He had a pretty, I would say, a below average throw that led to an interception that airmailed Chase.
Starting point is 00:14:03 but I looked during the game and some of their defensive stats I mean they are putrid I mean on the most basic level they give up 28.3 points per game which is 31st in the NFL and then I looked at Burrow
Starting point is 00:14:17 some of his stats when he's thrown three or more touchdowns obviously the two Ravens games he threw nine touchdowns four in one game and five in another and they lost both games he has had three other games where he's thrown three touchdowns
Starting point is 00:14:32 and they've lost. He now, you know, I guess with that third touchdown, he's got 33 touchdowns in 13 games. Like he's on pace for a 40 plus touchdown season. And Aikman mentioned it when he said, are you playing the best football of your life? And Burrow looked at him and said, yeah, by far. Peyton Manning called him,
Starting point is 00:14:54 said he's having an MVP season. His team is just letting him down. And this is the weird thing that we get into Zach Taylor, because you watch Joe Burrow, you go, he really can do it all. He is an elite pocket quarterback, right? An elite pocket quarterback. Like that, when you think of Joe Burrell,
Starting point is 00:15:10 that's where he thrives, in the pocket. But then his athletic ability, while it's not, you know, Jalen Hertz or Kyler Murray or Lamar Jackson, he is a pretty damn good athlete. And his throwing on the move is exceptional. It's one thing to throw on to your throwing side, right, outside the pocket if you're right-handed quarterback,
Starting point is 00:15:30 throw right. it's another thing to be able to run back left and throw across his body, which he had to throw tonight and even Akeman's like, damn, that was a dime. And then they talked about how he wears the knee brace, and Troy's like, when I tried to wear the knee brace, it really slowed me down. You watch Joe Burrell, you can't even tell the difference. Obviously, his cohesion with Jamar Chase is just, it's elite, and it's been like that since LSU.
Starting point is 00:15:54 But this gets to Zach Taylor, who, you know, I think is a pretty polarizing coach. and being a head coach is about more than just coaching the offense, even when you're the offensive coordinator. It's where McVeigh and Kyle have gotten a lot of credit. They're the offensive coordinator, but their defenses on most of their teams have been good. This defense is atrocious. Now, I would also say with the Bengals,
Starting point is 00:16:18 you know, Mike Brown, the owner, like Jerry Jones, is essentially the GM and him and Duke Tobin are picking all the players. It's not like Zach Taylor has any pull that way. So it's not his fault, the defense, which is let guys watch. in recent years. It's not part of that as Burroughs contract, but it's not,
Starting point is 00:16:33 it's just bad. I mean, they have mainly been atrocious. Hell, I mean, they were in position where they were going to lose to the Cowboys tonight
Starting point is 00:16:40 and potentially give up easily, I mean, if they would have scored on that block punt, maybe 27 points to Cooper Rush. That's not good. And, you know, Lou Amarumo,
Starting point is 00:16:52 I think, had mentioned tonight on the broadcast, you know, in the production meetings, like, listen, we're just trying to get like one more stop. We're not trying to be one of the best defenses.
Starting point is 00:17:02 We're just trying to get off the field one more time than we've been getting off. I mean, it's basically admitting, like, we're not that good, even though they have, I mean, easily one of the best pass rushers in the NFL. Hilton's actually kind of like him, makes him plays, but also gives up some big plays. But you just, the argument with Joe Burrow, like, there is no argument to be had. If you know, like, if you watch football and you watch and play and your takeaway isn't, yeah, that's one of the best players, I don't know, currently in the NFL. that guy's a stud. I'd want that guy on my team immediately. We probably don't have much in common when we're watching football.
Starting point is 00:17:36 And this Bengals team clearly is going nowhere, and I think there's going to be question marks with the coach. I think here's the problem, though, is their coach is really good with the quarterback. I mean, they mentioned this tonight, and sometimes you forget. Like, Zach Taylor was even there the year before Joe Burrow came. So Joe Burrough's entire career has been under his watch with him calling the place. And he's pretty good at it.
Starting point is 00:17:58 right now I know he drives people crazy specifically some game time situations and obviously this team has underachieve this year but offensively they've been pretty elite and if you've watched hard knocks Tomlin was talking about like Chase Brown's a really kind of dynamic player he's definitely really good in the passing game so you got Chase you got Higgins I think they're just pretty good offensively Gaseki made a couple of plays, but what separates them is Burroughs' ability to just basically dominate in every aspect of the passing game. Short game, timing, elite. Intermediate game, I mean, how many times did he have slants or plays over the middle of the night that are just like, Jesus. And obviously his touch on deeper breaking routes is just top-notch.
Starting point is 00:18:48 I mean, that's what just a high-end elite all-pro player looks like in some years because it is the ultimate team game. This is not basketball. If Joe Burrow was a basketball player, his team would be in the playoffs. He would will his team to 45 wins, no matter how shitty everyone else was around him. In baseball, he would put up
Starting point is 00:19:06 all-star elite numbers, and no one even win or losing has nothing to do with one individual. But in football, like, you do need help. And no matter if you have the best season of your career as a quarterback and you throw 45 touchdowns, if your defense is giving up 30 points a game, I don't give a shit, what you're doing.
Starting point is 00:19:23 You're going to lose a lot of games. Like I said, they lost two Ravens games where he threw a total nine touchdowns. He threw nine touchdowns, Chase had five of them. He lost them both. That's pretty embarrassing.
Starting point is 00:19:34 And in one of them, they had double-digit leads multiple times in the fourth quarter. So it's just not on Joe Burrell. And it's really not on their offense, for the most part, because it feels like they have come to play. And sometimes just one of those years.
Starting point is 00:19:48 Like the Cowboys, kind of understandable. Roster wasn't that great, and then a million injuries, then it's just kind of falling out. And obviously the play tonight probably cost them in the game. The Bengals,
Starting point is 00:19:56 I mean, say start to finish, their defense has been atrocious. And like legitimately, statistically, one of the worst defense in the league. I looked at some of their yards. They're giving up per passing, per game passing was like 27th, 28th. Every defensive category, it's like near the bottom, near the bottom, second to last. You can't function like that. You don't need to be the Ravens of last year, like one across the board. But you can't be right next to like the Panthers and have a chance to win football game.
Starting point is 00:20:25 So very entertaining second half. And, yeah, that's a killer loss for the Cowboys. Not that it would have, like, the overall outcome to the season wouldn't have changed much, but that's got to hurt. I was thinking about it today, like, one thing that's cool about once we start doing the penthouse and the outhouse is the Port of Potty Panthers have become, not just like a real team, like they're pretty good. They're very watchable.
Starting point is 00:20:53 I said this on yesterday's podcast. If you watch the Titans versus the Jags, you're a sicko. And you're the type of sicko that I like, because you either had money on it or you just enjoy the suck because that game was atrocious. Those two teams suck. If you are a Raider fan and you consistently watch your team every week, hat tip to you. Because that is a god-awful football team.
Starting point is 00:21:19 If you're a Giants fan and you spend your Sundays for, three plus hours watching Brian Dayball and Drew Locke. Drew Locke, I heard Michael Lombardi say today that he had 49 pass attempts. You just more power to you. I just don't have much energy. Honestly, when these two teams
Starting point is 00:21:38 play each other now, like I don't even watch these games. Nothing that happened in that Jags Titans game matters at all to anybody besides maybe a Titans or Jags fan or if you work for the team. But I got to give the Panthers credit because
Starting point is 00:21:53 we named them the Port of Potty Panthers. They were the worst team we'd ever seen. And then Bryce Young came back. And they have just been really good. I mean, if you watch them against the Eagles and you watch them against the Chiefs, it was impressive. I mean, obviously it's been well documented.
Starting point is 00:22:09 They were a drop pass away from winning the game. But I think if you watch Bryce Young, and I know a lot of Panther fans have been hitting me up, like, what do you think? What do you think? I would say this game and the Chief's game, but specifically this game, the Eagles clearly have a lot of. lot of elite talent near the line of scrimmage and in their front seven guys that can run guys
Starting point is 00:22:28 can move and his constant ability to make guys miss kind of break a little arm tackle in the backfield keep a play alive and be a playmaker and get rid of the ball and complete passes was really really impressive because when he was early on playing it was like you couldn't even function with the kid it was sad as someone that you know i was a sabin-bama guy watched a lot of them over the last decade. And I loved Bryce Young as a player. And that guy that we had witnessed last year and then even early on this year was not,
Starting point is 00:23:00 there wasn't any parallels to the guy we witnessed at Bama. Obviously the body language, the confident, it was all gone. And this guy, these last three or four weeks, it looks like the Alabama guy. It looks like, I don't want to say like a future high end player,
Starting point is 00:23:16 but it's just, it's a completely different human. So I don't feel bad about writing them off because one, he still is small, but he's just a solid football player now. He wasn't just not a good football player. He looked like a minor league guy. He looked like he should go to the USFL. So they're no longer the Port-a-Pottie Panthers.
Starting point is 00:23:35 There's just a real NFL team. I think when we look at the high end of the league, like I said it from the beginning, the chiefs were just going nowhere. They were on scholarship. And they still are there because we can nitpick and argue till we're blue in the face. They've won nine straight AFC titles. And they've won a million games on the last possession. And I think I read or saw a headline that they're the first team in NFL history
Starting point is 00:24:00 to have like three walk-off kicks with three different kickers in the same season. Listen, if you got home field, I don't give a shit how average their offense is. I don't care how depleted their defense is with injuries. Good luck beating them at Arrowhead. Now, it might happen. Probably will happen. But you would probably have to be somewhat of a lunatic to bet against them. until it happens.
Starting point is 00:24:24 I think when you look around the AFC, like, listen, the Bills have one of the most special quarterbacks we've ever seen. I would imagine if you're in a fantasy league and you have him, that's a pretty good day. Three passing touchdowns, three rushing touchdowns, and 82 yards rushing. It doesn't get much better than that. If you are a Bill's fan,
Starting point is 00:24:43 it can't be much more entertaining than watch this player. But that was to come out so, so, listen, I totally understand having like a little bit of a let's, down, but then for them to flip the switch and them not being able to figure it out, that, that hurts. And, you know, every time I want to be like, Bill, Super Bowl, something like that happens, you know, I don't know. And ultimately, they're going to probably have to go on the road, you know, to win us to get to the Super Bowl. And it's got to go through Arrowhead and almost
Starting point is 00:25:12 slay the beast. And listen, when I was a kid, Steve Young did it against the Dallas Cowboys. It is doable, but it is very, very difficult. I'm tempted to throw Pitts. I was telling a buddy today in the league, I actually pretty impressed with Russell Wilson. We know we can throw the go route in the little lollipop. He made a couple passes in that game where you're like, damn.
Starting point is 00:25:34 You know, kind of sidearm, touchdown to Fryermuth. I think a touchdown wasn't to Austin. I didn't have the sound on. He made two kind of similar touchdown passes in the red area that we're just like, oh, Russell's kind of vibing right now. And listen, it's a big game this one.
Starting point is 00:25:52 weekend. We got the Eagles, you know, kind of got some weird shit going on. The Steelers, that hard knocks is going to be fantastic with Tomlin, just getting the boys fired up in the defensive meeting. Whoever wins that game, like if the Eagles win that game with everything going on with AJ Brown and Jalen, that's an impressive win. If the Steelers go in there and win, it's like, damn, this, maybe they are just a real contender. Obviously, they're going to the playoffs. I mean, they're like a win away from being a borderline. I mean, the Ravens can't really afford to drop a game. They could easily win the division, get a home game.
Starting point is 00:26:27 Hell, potentially two home games. I'm tempted to buy in. You go to Philly, you win that game. You might have wrote me in. This might be a three-horse race. Especially, I guess, I don't want to totally count out the Ravens yet, but something's just been off with them all season long. And then to me, that Lions win,
Starting point is 00:26:51 And I had some people come at me like, oh, the Packers had injuries too. They literally were missing their entire defensive line. They signed Jamal Adams off the couch and immediately played him. Jamal Adams. Like, come on, there's a different level. Now, their offense was healthy. For the most part, I mean, they actually were missing their left tackle in that game. But they got a huge game this week.
Starting point is 00:27:17 We got Bill's Lions, Steelers, Eagles. that's the best part about down the stretch is a lot of these teams are playing each other so I think it's going to really crystallize once we you know for the most part
Starting point is 00:27:29 at least in the AFC I think the Chiefs I don't want to say cemented as the one but we feel pretty confident that's where they're going to be the NFC I mean all of a sudden the Eagles win what if the Lions were to lose
Starting point is 00:27:40 and Minnesota loses a game all of a sudden it's like damn the Eagles are the one seed what if the Eagles lose and the Lions lose and Minnesota wins they're the one seed so we got a very very
Starting point is 00:27:50 fluid situation in the NFC. One thing we know is the Kirk Cousins and the Falcons are in shambles. And Tampa, you know, is technically winning that division, but they play the Chargers, they lose that game. Atlanta wins a game. It could flip-flop because they beat them twice, so they're going to have the tiebreaker there. But it's getting fun.
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Starting point is 00:29:56 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 podcast. 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?
Starting point is 00:30:15 I honestly don't remember. I think it was on a call about what we should call it. And, 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.
Starting point is 00:30:43 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, 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 Smygel and Friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Starting point is 00:31:23 Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending, opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo. Every episode, we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines. We go straight to the source, the athletes themselves, their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear. The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real. From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, we break it down, give you context, and ask the questions everybody wants answered.
Starting point is 00:32:00 Sports Slice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to Sports Slice on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slic Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all,
Starting point is 00:32:28 embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Jacob Kingston grew up in an isolated polygamous sect. We were God's chosen kingdom on earth. He felt destined for greatness.
Starting point is 00:32:53 So when a swaggering Armenian businessman catapults Jacob into an extraordinary world, he doesn't look back. Ferraris and Lamborghinis, private jets, meeting the president of Turkey. I'm Michelle McPhee, and this is one of the most shocking criminal conspiracies I've ever come across. When Jacob met Levin this plant to a billion dollar fraud. But with two kings from entirely different worlds, just how long can their empire survive? The largest tax investigation in American history. You need to tell me what you know. Is somebody coming after me?
Starting point is 00:33:31 Jacob told Levan, you're ruining my life. Listen to Kingdom of Fraud on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Okay, let's dive into some stories around the football world. Let's start with Bill Belichick, who went on with McAfee and addressed the elephant in the room, his potential coaching at the University of North Carolina. And I think a couple things are clearly happening, right? One, I think Belichick is acknowledging that there is no guarantee that he's going to be a coach in the NFL. He's seen over the last couple of years
Starting point is 00:34:17 A lot of these teams Basically lean into A committee Their coach, their GM, their president It's like a board of directors They all work together That is not the NFL Bill Belichick came up in
Starting point is 00:34:30 And then the one that he thrived in It was a dictatorship When he works for Parcells And then when he became a head coach It was one guy who made the decisions Now ultimately one person has to make the decisions it's why all these organizations that have become like a board of directors feel like they're struggling because they got too many cooks in the kitchen.
Starting point is 00:34:51 And Bill Belichick has to go, well, one, the Jets job is off limits. He would never take it. They would never hire him. The Bears job, Kevin Warren, would never even acknowledge Bill Belichick's existence. The Jags job, if you're Bill, you're like, do I want to coach this $200 million quarterback who might be a scrub? And then you go depending on the other openings, like, what if they don't even call me?
Starting point is 00:35:16 What if they don't even interview me? I mean, last year with all the openings, I only had one interview. So it might not happen. And God put me on this earth through coach football. It's been fun watching him on McAfee and watch him do some podcasts and TV hits and talk some shit.
Starting point is 00:35:30 That has been cool. It has been very refreshing. But he should coach football. Why? Because that is his great talent. And at 72, 73 years old, like he can't afford to sit out multiple years and have this thing passing by. So this story about North Carolina, which he not only acknowledged, I would say he did not run away from it at all.
Starting point is 00:35:56 And obviously the changing landscape of NIL, the transfer portal, I would say feeds in to a guy like him who has a professional background of dealing with contract negotiations, of cutting players, of telling a guy you're not welcome anymore, a free agency, like he's comfortable in that environment, an environment that a lot of these college coaches who are used to basically,
Starting point is 00:36:22 I'm the grand poo ball, and once I sign you on my team, you're kind of stuck here, and you can never leave, they're uncomfortable with that. It's why they complain about it non-stop. Now, you could argue there are no rules or regulations. It's kind of a fucked up system right now,
Starting point is 00:36:37 and there's some truth to that. But like, the NFL, is very comfortable with like, yeah, this guy can be a free agent. We got to make a decision on this guy's contract. Like, that's what Bill Belichick's been doing for 50 years. And I think the North Carolina job, what are the questions you think he's asking? What are my financial resources? How much NIL money are we going to have?
Starting point is 00:37:00 And the other thing he mentioned with McAfee is like, if I were to do this, IF, if, he said that a couple times, we would be a, you know, a breeding green ground for the NFL. And if you play for me, I'm getting you ready for that because I know that better than anyone in the collegiate world. I know how to get you ready to be a professional football player. If I was a guy, a high school recruit or a transfer portal guy, and I had aspirations to play in the NFL, and Bill Belichick was a head coach in the NFL, there is not a coach that I would rather play for. Now, it would not be easy, but playing for Kirby Smart is not easy. Playing for Nick Saban was not easy. Playing for good coaches is never going to be easy. But no one would have a
Starting point is 00:37:47 better understanding of what it takes to be a good football player at the next level than this guy. So I completely understand why North Carolina is all in on him. And I think the other elephant in the room is, now he didn't talk about this. There have been reports on the interweb about this. Colin mentioned this when I went on the podcast. with him yesterday. People in the league believe this. Part of this interest is to get North Carolina to essentially name his son, Steve Belichick,
Starting point is 00:38:19 who's currently the defensive coordinator at Washington, as the coach in waiting. And I think the natural reaction, if you just go on like the internet, everyone's like, oh, this is so unfair, this bullshit nepotism. It's like, here's my thing. And listen, I'm not in a position like,
Starting point is 00:38:36 Bill Belichick or LeBron James where I have unlimited leverage and I can do whatever I want. But I would also acknowledge part of working your whole life to be the best at what you do is to gain leverage to then not have to answer to anyone. And then also not have to do what everyone thinks you should do. You get to do whatever the hell you want to do. And my perception or my perspective on the LeBron James situation, I think it's probably different than most. Because my dad's dead.
Starting point is 00:39:08 And do you know what I would do to like spend some time with him? I actually think like, listen, whether the guy should be there or not, of course. He's not an NBA player. We all understand that. But do I blame LeBron James for wanting to spend time with his son and forcing the Lakers where he has been yielding power for almost two decades? No, I completely understand it. What's the point of being the best outworking everybody and laughing people for decades and then not using that power. That's the whole point of business. You don't get leverage that often. And when you do,
Starting point is 00:39:42 you use it. And guess what happens to everyone that doesn't have it? They get jealous and they get pissed off. Why? Because the majority of people, the overwhelming majority of people, not only don't have it, they never will get it. So Bill Belichick, if he is going to be very interested in this situation and part of it is Steve Belichick, well, that's his leverage. Now, you couldn't also acknowledge or argue that if you're Steve Belichick or Brony James, them doing this stuff makes life harder for you. And there's definitely some truth to that, right? Like having LeBron James tell the Lakers, well, he's not going to travel on road games,
Starting point is 00:40:22 which, listen, has Brony James ever been on a commercial air flight? My guess would be probably not. And if he has, I'd put that number over under like five. and a half times, ever walking into a normal airport, not a private jet hangar. So you think he's going to fly with the pores in the G-League? Come on. You know, you think Belichick's just going to take the North Carolina job without some insane stipulations? This is a guy with $100 million in the bank and six Super Bowl rings. Of course he's going to have some crazy ass. That's the whole point of being in a position like Bill Belichick. And if that, one of those
Starting point is 00:40:57 ass is, one, my son is coaching with me, which they would have no problem with. I mean, any team hiring Bill Belichick, I'm sure he's going to hire Steve. But saying that my coach, or Steve is going to be the coach in waiting, that's one of them. Like, I understand it. Like, who knows? I might do the same thing if I was a 72 year old guy and had a 32 year old son who I wanted to put in the best position possible. Isn't that why I work so hard the last 50, 60 years if I'm Bill Belichick is basically to do whatever I want? That's business.
Starting point is 00:41:29 That's, that's, you work your. your whole life to get into a position where you answer to nobody. And if you do have to answer to someone, you have so much leverage that that person, while they might be signing your checks or technically your boss, you're in control of what you're telling them to do. And that's the leverage Bill Belichick would have in this situation. So if that is ultimately how this plays out and he gets the North Carolina job and that stipulation is in there, everyone will freak out.
Starting point is 00:41:58 And my reaction would be, well, yeah, it's probably a huge. reason why he took the job. You know, part of, we talk about this all the time. Being a coordinator, being a position coach, how there's just not as much on your plate, right? And being a position coach is really hard. If you're an offensive line coach or a defensive line coach, you have a unit of seven, eight, ten guys, a bunch of different personalities.
Starting point is 00:42:25 You don't control who's in that room when guys get injured and the GM and the head coach. trade a guy, sign a guy. Like, you just have to coach them. That's your job. You just coach who's ever in that room. And then once you become a coordinator, you're interested with calling the plays, with running the room, running the unit. So a lot more is on your plate.
Starting point is 00:42:46 But still, like, when anything happens, someone gets in trouble. There's contract, disputes or negotiations. That's not your problem. Your job is just to design plays and coach a practice and get the game plan ready on a weekly basis. and then you become a head coach and everything good and bad is on your table 24-7-365.
Starting point is 00:43:09 Think about this. The Eagles just tied a franchise record for nine straight wins. You win nine games in the NFL. You are having a fantastic season. It's borderline. I would say there's never been a nine game winning streak in NFL history
Starting point is 00:43:26 where a team didn't finish. I'd be shocked if they finished any lower than like the two seed. And the Eagles have, after starting two and two and looking weird, have had a fantastic season. I mean, Sequin Barclay looks like he's headed to Shatter Records, right? There's a potential. I think I saw today, if he runs for 483 yards, he will break the record for all-time yards in the season, which is really impressive, which is not good for Joe Shane and the Giants.
Starting point is 00:43:54 But part of being a head coach is, it's easy to go, well, hey, shit's going to hit the fan. I got to learn to handle it. Star player gets a DUI. Star player shatters his leg. There's a fight in your locker room after a two-game losing streak. Your coaches, maybe two assistant coaches, hate each other. Maybe one of your assistant coaches and the assistant GM get into a screaming match in the hallway. I mean, who knows?
Starting point is 00:44:22 We're talking big egos, big money, shit happening left and right. It's football. It's a contentious environment. But what about when you're having a lot of success? success and you're winning games and your star players are complaining. And that's what happened to Siriani. You got A.J. Brown giving, I would say, somewhat of a bizarre press conference. You got DeVante Smith also saying essentially like, yeah, we're just off.
Starting point is 00:44:47 Something is off. The rhythm is not there. These are two guys who are not in a contract year, who their stats ultimately don't impact their money at all, both of them. AJ Brown's now on his second contract extension. with the Eagles. Devante Smith just got extended this offseason. Both of them make a boatload of money. And their team is literally thriving.
Starting point is 00:45:10 The game against the Panthers was a little weird, but it was a trap game. They just kicked the shit out of Baltimore. But they're passing game, and here's the thing. Jalen Hertz isn't Peyton Manning, or Josh Allen, or Mahomes, or Lamar. Like, as a pastor, he's flawed. He can make great plays,
Starting point is 00:45:27 but I would not call him a consistent rhythm passer. And you watch them play, and I mean, he struggled to throw for 125 yards. I mean, he barely eclipsed 100 yards. And receivers, whether you're winning or whether you're losing, it doesn't really matter. They all kind of are the same. And they want the ball. And they want their targets.
Starting point is 00:45:48 And now, Siriani, let's face it, his team is going into a massive game with the Steelers. They should be riding high. Now the elephant in the room is like, I got to get these guys all on the same page, specifically my wide receivers. And listen, I don't know if it's just we're reading too much into it. And basically, like, our passing games off, it needs to be better for us to win the whole thing. Or if it's simple, like, I need more targets than what I just got. Or Jaylin's got to pick up a shit.
Starting point is 00:46:15 Or maybe there's some jealousy of Sequin who has become this mega star. He's in the MVP conversation. This guy just shows up. And we've been the stars here before this. Like, we were the guys carrying the offense. Regardless what it is, this is why being a head coach. so hard because obviously when your team sucks when you're the new york giants or you're the jacksonville jags and just it's a miserable experience and trying to keep people in your coaches your
Starting point is 00:46:41 players is a difficult job requirement just because you're winning doesn't mean it's easy and in a place like philly you could argue it's harder because there are so many people watching everyone's nitpicking every single play it's like god you're just you know drop pass away from losing that game to the Carolina. Even though Carolina's been playing really well, almost beat the Chiefs. So it's not like, you know, they're just almost lost this three and 19. Well, they're not your typical three and 19. They're playing pretty well. But if they would have lost that game at home, even though it was a trap game right before Baltimore and Pittsburgh, everyone would have freaked. And now your wide receivers are kind of acting weird. And it's hard. I mean, this is, this is why
Starting point is 00:47:20 these head coaches make so much money because you're dealing with huge personalities, huge egos, guys making more money than you. guys that you need to win all the big games coming up not just this weekend but then in January and ideally in the Super Bowl. So good luck to Siriani fixing this problem because right now it feels like the receivers aren't too happy with their quarterback. I saw that this is good news for the NFL, that the Amazon Prime game, which is not shocking between the Lions and the Packers, broke a record.
Starting point is 00:47:54 highest rated streaming game so far of this, I don't even want to call it an experiment of this current package. Since Amazon has been in business with the NFL, they almost got 18 million people watching this. And you just saw the NBA, whatever, six months ago, maybe less than that, signed this massive television deal. And their ratings are plummeting by the year. Less and less people are watching professional basketball.
Starting point is 00:48:22 And the NFL is in, increasing. And everyone talks shit, like the sport's never been softer. It's never been a worst product. Yet more and more people are watching. So the streaming situation, if you put, you know, and listen, streaming has dabbled in these other sports, right? Apple dabbled on Friday night baseball.
Starting point is 00:48:44 You could take an incredible matchup, Dodgers and Yankees, and put them on Amazon Prime. Or take the best two basketball teams, right? the Bucks versus the Celtics, right? The Warriors versus LeBron and the Lakers. I know they're not the best teams, but you know what I mean, big brands.
Starting point is 00:49:04 A regular season game, I think you would struggle to get a couple million people that would stream it. And when you're talking about these type numbers, the potential for the NFL's next television deal, you just saw the NBA who was struggling to keep people engaged with their product, triple, maybe not triple, but more than double,
Starting point is 00:49:29 their previous deal. Imagine what the NFL is about to do. Because it's one thing on broadcast network, right, CBS, Fox, NBC doing well. You start doing 17 to 20 million people watching these games. Wait till Christmas happens. What do you think those numbers are going to be on Christmas Day? They are going to be huge.
Starting point is 00:49:52 So you have the power that you know on television, which they've always had, and now you have the streaming power? This thing is only the beginning. And I'm telling you, you could see this coming from a mile away. The shift is about to happen. My guess is this next television package has a huge Netflix presence. And maybe that is the Netflix Sunday morning international game. maybe instead of CBS, Fox, like get all the games on Sunday, the morning, and the afternoon window, maybe Netflix gets two games, you know, a 10 a.m. West Coast kickoff and a 1 p.m. West Coast kickoff.
Starting point is 00:50:36 Maybe they get two games each, and they pay, I don't know, $5 billion a year for that, for those two games, whatever. I'm just throwing out the number, but my point is, these are type numbers, and this is the type ability to move the needle. is going to be extremely lucrative for the business. And their business includes a revenue split between the players and the teams. So you talk about salaries going up for the players, you talk about salaries only going up for coaches,
Starting point is 00:51:07 you talk about valuations going up for teams, a rising tide lift all boats. And when you see these numbers, 17 million people streamed a sporting event, football is the only thing that could sniff, I would say, five plus million. And the NFL is the only thing. I'm not talking like a pay-per-viewed event. I'm talking sports.
Starting point is 00:51:31 Hockey, basketball, baseball, golf, you name it, is this thing. And the NFL is unlike anything right now in this country when it comes to, when it comes to interest. And listen, it was a great matchup. The Packers versus the Lions. But there's a reason that the Thursday night package, has gotten better games because they want Amazon
Starting point is 00:51:53 obviously Netflix now with Christmas they want them more involved why because they got the most money Netflix and Amazon have more money than these other TV conglomerates so when you see this new television deal everyone's bitching and moaning about streaming buckle up
Starting point is 00:52:10 because it's only the beginning and if you told me that within six seven years streaming is the only option to watch the NFL. I don't think that's inconceivable. I've talked about this before the radio situation. I think there are major radio stations where I come from in the Bay Area in Northern California with K&BR, which is one of the biggest sports stations in the history of radio. If you told me in five years, it doesn't exist. I think it's on the table. So we're seeing the cable bundle
Starting point is 00:52:44 just get destroyed exponentially week by week year by year. So if you don't think by 2030 or 29 when this new television deal is on the table that it's streaming only, you would be nuts. You would not be living in the same reality than I'm living in. And part of it is my business is very streaming oriented and having been more on terrestrial and traditional mediums and made the transition. I see the way everything's flowing and the growth that I don't there's just no stopping it. And when you talk about this situation and the people they're in business with, the Amazon's, the Netflix,
Starting point is 00:53:25 like you might want to Google their market caps. You might want to look at who they're competing against and buckle up because if you're complaining about paying for streaming services now to watch the NFL, it's not going to slow down. And last but not least, we didn't talk about this. on Sunday night was Juan Soto, who got a 15-year contract for over $750 million. And my first reaction, I would imagine, like, most human beings was, oh my God, that is insane. Because that number is insane. Think who you would do a 15-year contract with in life.
Starting point is 00:54:09 There aren't many business people, business partnerships. you would do 15-year deals with. They're just, they're just aren't. I would say your children, you don't really get to sign up for a partnership with them. You just have, they're just your children for life. Obviously, marriages in theory are lifelong, but 50% of them don't work.
Starting point is 00:54:29 So a 15-year business deal is borderline unprecedented. And on the surface, I, listen, it's insane. It's not good business. I think we all acknowledge that. signing a baseball player at 26 years old to a 15-year contract is crazy. Now, there are stipulations after five years. He can opt out, but they can also opt in if they give him a raise at like $4 million per year going from $51 million a year to $55 million a year.
Starting point is 00:55:01 It's not about the nitty-gritty of the contract because I would say more than likely at 30 years old, he opts into a $400,500 million contract. or the Mets just, you know, give him the boost. But regardless, most people think this is crazy. And I would say this. Steve Cohen, who bought the Mets, who Axelrod, if you watch Billions, basically portrayed in that show,
Starting point is 00:55:32 I Googled it today. And so I could be off a billion or two, is worth well over $20 billion. He's also 68. years old. So if you're him, and this is a little bit of the Belichick thing, and you've worked your whole life, and in the show Billions, there was a famous line that I will never forget, where Ack says, what's the point of having FU money if you never say F you? And I think that sums up this situation. You've made all this money. You've been a killer on Wall Street for decades.
Starting point is 00:56:08 You finally get the Mets. Your team's actually pretty good. And you're going, head to head with the Yankees over this guy. And if you are going to argue, because they were willing to kind of get pretty close to the number, why do I care what 35 to 40 looks like? Hell, I might not even be alive in 10 years. If you've seen Steve Cohen, I wouldn't say he's actually the pillar of health
Starting point is 00:56:30 when you see his body tight. But, like, I think sometimes these deals, I see it with Maria, who's now, like, involved in luxury real estate, and she's showing these homes, you know, a mile away from where we live in Arizona for 20 to 30 million dollars. And you know one thing she says that never comes up is interest rates. She hasn't heard the word interest rate yet that she's worked with this new brokerage for over a couple months. You know why?
Starting point is 00:57:02 Because those people, if you're buying a $28 million home in 2024, it's crazy to the sound, you're paying cash. and when you see Steve Cohen pay $750 million, and it's not up front, this isn't an NFL contract, right? You pay as you go, you go, yeah, I'll give the guy $75 million signing bonus and we'll figure it out as we go, because I know how to make money.
Starting point is 00:57:25 Is this contract great business? Of course not. Long term. But in the short term, which is all I care about, given that I'm 68, 69 years old, I've worked my entire life to accumulate all this money. I don't give a shit.
Starting point is 00:57:38 and I want to steal him away from the New York Yankees, which I did. So is this deal going to age well? You would say probably not because I'm not exactly Jason Stark or Peter Gammon's here, but this isn't the athlete of Shohei Otani. Again, I don't have his defensive metrics, but watching the playoffs, I don't think he's a great defensive player. He's an all-time great hitter. He's like Ted Williams, right?
Starting point is 00:58:06 he's just he's Tony Gwyn with pop with pop he's an elite hitter but seems pretty nuts but if I was worth $21 billion and I really wanted something you know what I would do I would probably do some pretty nutty things because I remember reading something one time that summed up what it was like to be a billionaire and they said imagine everything in life is free so if you're Steve Cohen, you're like $750 million to sign this player, it doesn't change your life, it doesn't change your business, it doesn't change your outlook of your own franchise, one iota. And if some of these other sports, like basketball did not have a true cap, if football did not as well, you would see more of this type stuff happening. Now, I think big picture for the
Starting point is 00:59:04 sport is this healthy? Probably not. Right. I, I, I don't think it is. I don't have a solution. Like, you shouldn't cap wages and stuff. But how many teams realistically could even think about doing this? Three or four? And thank God the Dodgers didn't get them. Because if you went to the Dodgers,
Starting point is 00:59:23 we might as well just shut down the sport. But I think it's cool. And I'm glad Steve Cohen doesn't give a shit about the difference of $700 million and $750 million. It makes it very entertaining. Hey, it's us, the Jonas Brothers. And guess what? We have some big news.
Starting point is 00:59:44 What's the news, name? Huge news. We created our own podcast called, Hey Jonas. We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to it. We're the first people to do podcasts. Pretty, yeah, pretty wide range of podcasts throughout there.
Starting point is 00:59:57 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. And we were thinking I'm originally calling it. one of the early names of our band before Jonas Brothers was...
Starting point is 01:00:16 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,
Starting point is 01:00:27 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.
Starting point is 01:00:44 Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and Friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer, Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter.
Starting point is 01:01:04 Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and Friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending, opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo. Every episode, we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the plays, the controversies,
Starting point is 01:01:26 and the stories behind the headlines. We go straight to the source, the athletes themselves. Their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear. The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real. From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, we break it down, give you context and ask the questions everybody wants answered. SportsSlice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to SportsSlice on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slicelife-12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok.
Starting point is 01:02:03 Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. it grotesque, others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days,
Starting point is 01:02:21 I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Jacob Kingston grew up in an isolated polygamous sect. We were God's chosen kingdom on earth.
Starting point is 01:02:38 He felt destined for greatness. So when a swaggering Armenian businessman catapults Jacob into an extraordinary world, he doesn't look back. Ferraris and Lamborghinis, private jets, meeting the president of Turkey. I'm Michelle McPhee, and this is one of the most shocking criminal conspiracies I've ever come across. When Jacob met Levin this plant to a billion dollar fraud. But with two kings from entirely different worlds, Just how long can their empire survive? The largest tax investigation in American history.
Starting point is 01:03:14 You need to tell me what you know. Is somebody coming after me? Jacob told Levan, you're ruining my life. Listen to Kingdom of Fraud on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Okay, let's do a little Middlecough mailback. At John Middlecough is the Instagram. Fire in those DMs. Get your questions answered here on the show.
Starting point is 01:03:42 at John Middilcoff, Instagram, firing those DMs. If the Seahawks align plays like it has been, which has been better since we got our right tackleback, and Gino takes what the offense gives them. The defense under Mike has been great. Do you think the Seahawks could make it to the Super Bowl, which would mean beating a Detroit or Philly most likely? I think we're going to learn a lot about the Seattle Seahawks these next two weeks.
Starting point is 01:04:12 they get Green Bay and they get Minnesota at home. If they win one of those two games, I think you would have to take them very seriously as a team that's going to win a playoff game because they're going to host one and they're going to play one of those teams. So if they were to beat Minnesota, I guess Green Bay has four losses, Minnesota only has two.
Starting point is 01:04:32 So, I mean, if they were to beat Green Bay, you'd say, well, they get Green Bay again. That would be the 6-3 matchup, more than likely, if you assume Minnesota or potentially Detroit is the five. and we know Atlanta or Tampa is going to be the four. So that Minnesota team would probably play, you know, Tampa. Though Tampa plays the Chargers this week. And Atlanta played the Giants.
Starting point is 01:04:56 I have to relook at the schedule. But I think Seattle could definitely win a playoff game, which is a massive, massive achievement for a franchise that just hasn't been that good. Right. I mean, they made the playoffs a couple years ago, and then they got trounced in the first round by the Niners. Last year they missed the playoffs. So winning a playoff game to me would be a very, very impressive first year from Mike McDonald.
Starting point is 01:05:21 But big picture, like, could they win the Super Bowl? No. I do not believe they can win the Super Bowl. I'd be a little stunned if they could win multiple playoff games, to be honest with you. Do you think the quality of the game is getting worse with all these rookie quarterbacks being asked to start right away? It seems like we have to now sit through. and watch two to three years of development, whereas in the past,
Starting point is 01:05:46 rookies would sit one year and then would be somewhat seasoned in their first full-time season. The fact that some quarterbacks are coming out of college without four year of starts seems to make it even worse. I'm going to push back on that a little bit.
Starting point is 01:06:02 Look at Caleb Williams. He started in college for two and a half years. Who went number two? Jaden Daniels. He started for three. or four years, a couple at ASU, multiple at LSU, Drake May, multiple year starter. Bo Nix, more college starts than any player in college history.
Starting point is 01:06:22 Michael Pennix, I mean, he would have been a five or six year starter with all the injuries. And yeah, so I think a lot of these guys, who else am I missing? J.J. McCarthy, multiple year starter. These guys are playing a lot. I mean, look at this upcoming year. Cam Ward's been starting for three plus years. Shador's been a starter for three plus years. I think these guys are playing.
Starting point is 01:06:47 It's just, it's really hard. I think we've seen a long, long time in football that just regardless how much you play, regardless your situation, most guys, it's tough. It's just really, really hard. I mean, Caleb's on a joke franchise right now. So, like, and he has a lot to work on. so he needs to be coached up. So I think there are a lot of different variables.
Starting point is 01:07:16 I would say worse than ever. No, I mean, it's just, I think the game's different. I mean, there are elements of it that I miss. But I find myself pretty entertained when I'm watching it, to be honest with you. Question. List the top five quarterbacks in the NFC. Okay, let's pull up the NFC. I would say this season for sure,
Starting point is 01:07:41 would be Goff in no order would be Darnold I think I throw Jordan Love in there Stafford Hertz Purdy would be on the fringe Baker'd be on the fringe
Starting point is 01:08:03 So I think your locks are Stafford, Goff You know if you ask AJ Brown He'd say do not put Jalen Hertz on that on that list Jalen's weird I mean, Jalen's a really good player. Obviously, his running ability, his playmaking ability,
Starting point is 01:08:23 but he can't, like Stafford and golf, he's not picking you apart from the pocket. He's much more of a playmaker, but his playmaking translates to winning. Dax hurt, car stinks, Caleb kind of stinks. Bryce is actually coming on. Cousin stinks.
Starting point is 01:08:42 Jaden's been terrible now for a month. Gino's. Gino's been solid. What are Gino's stats this year? Gino right now is 14 touchdowns 12 picks. So yeah, I don't know if I'd put Gino in there.
Starting point is 01:08:58 So I think you'd go If I was trying to do a list, I would go Stafford 1 This is like their best version Throughout the Cs, I'd go Stafford Gough, Stafford Gough. Stafford Gough. Do I go Jalen?
Starting point is 01:09:18 You know, people are pushed back on Jordan Love, I like Jordan Love. I'd probably go Stafford Gough. I mean, Jordan Love, 21 touchdowns, 11 picks. He's been banged up. Jordan Love hurts, Purdy, maybe. It's not exactly Mahomes,
Starting point is 01:09:35 Allen, Lamar, Herbert, but... Not bad. Not bad. Sadly, still a Giants fan, reaching out to let you know that I hate football. The season really did it for me. The Giants organization is outdated and a joke. It seems like they're stuck in the
Starting point is 01:09:51 2000s, and they have not updated their operations to conform to the modern day post-concussion settlement NFL. I really don't care what happens with the team. If they draft a quarterback, he will likely be a bust because the team and the culture is awful. Going to take a full year off of football and we'll check back in during 2026 to see if things have improved. I think you have a valid point of, you know, think about businesses that don't a
Starting point is 01:10:22 adapt properly. And we saw a lot of them, like anyone who was kind of of my age, they grew up in the 90s and then through the 2000s, what changed dramatically, you know, in the early 2000s, right? The internet. And as that pivot happened, that decade, a lot of companies got laughed and destroyed, right? You know, I mean, one of the most famous ones is Blockbuster, had the opportunity to buy Netflix, right? I mean, and when you can't pivot as things are changing, I use this example a lot, but radio is just in so much trouble because of the way the consumer now operates. The phone is how we listen to stuff, connecting to our car when we get into it. And that has wiped out country, or not country, but just, you know, music radio, whatever music.
Starting point is 01:11:16 You know, country radio, rock radio, hip-hop radio. Even talk radio has dramatically changed because we see. stream talk radio. I mean, the biggest show in America is not a radio show anymore. It's Joe Rogan, which is a podcast. So I just think that, you know, the Giants have the success. They're an old school organization. They're almost like a country club for those of golfers out there.
Starting point is 01:11:43 You know, there are some country clubs that when you walk into that are very, very old school. You take your hat off. Your shirt has to be tucked in at all times. And that's just a very old school way of doing business in the golfing world. And whether it's Olympic club, whether it's nice country clubs all over the country. And then there's this new age of clubs. And they are the most expensive. You know, one right down the street from me where a bunch of, you know, famous rich people are members.
Starting point is 01:12:12 It's called Silverleaf. There are no dress coats. You can do whatever you want. You can wear whatever you want. You can listen to your music as loud as you want. and it costs half a million dollars to get in. All these discovery properties. There's one in Palm Springs.
Starting point is 01:12:28 There's one in Nashville. There's one in Montana. There's one, it's the famous one in the Bahamas that if you follow golf that like Justin Thomas and Ricky Fowler and all those guys went to. No rules. You know why? Because the modern day consumer, I got no problem if I have the money paying for it, but I don't want any rules and regulation of what I want to wear.
Starting point is 01:12:49 I'm coming here to have a good time. I'm not this isn't a business meeting I'm coming to kick it hang out have some have some cocktails and play golf and I think football there are always going to be elements of discipline and seriousness but obviously the world has changed and I think it's been very very difficult on the giants to figure that out I don't have all the answers but I I hear you and I feel your pain question for the pod what do you think about McCarthy being the next head coach of the Bears. Assuming Mike gets fired from the Cowboys, I think he would be a good fit. He's won everywhere he's gone and as the team, and as long as the team has good players,
Starting point is 01:13:34 Dak and Aaron, they have had some of their best seasons with him as their coach. And he's used to a meddling front office and most coaches wouldn't want to deal with that. Let me know what you think. If Mike McCarthy is available, I am 100% with you. The bear should be all over. How could the bears do better than Mike McCarthy? It's why I think Mike Vrable makes a lot of sense.
Starting point is 01:13:57 A guy that's been a head coach, a guy that's had success, and a guy that knows how to win. And McCarthy, even different than Vrable, same thing. Guy that's been a head coach, a guy that's now won multiple places, and unlike Vrable, a guy that can coach the quarterback, and quarterbacks play well under his watch. I think it's starting to feel more and more like Jerry's going to keep Mike. so I would have said a couple weeks ago
Starting point is 01:14:27 guarantee he's fired after Jerry's comments about just listening to people talk maybe Mike comes back as a Vikings fan would love to see Donald's day but more than likely he won't how does it tag and trade to the Seahawks sound Seattle gets a better quarterback and for a long time future
Starting point is 01:14:45 and the Vikings get draft capital and build for the future I definitely think that would be on the table I would say this. If you tag and trade them and choose not to keep him, the amount of pressure that JJ, anytime you're starting quarterback in the NFL, there's a lot of pressure.
Starting point is 01:15:06 It's part of the business. It's a difficult spot to be in. And it's just hard. And most guys are fail, right? And relative, right? Don't become high-end players. J.J. McCarthy, if they, if they do, this tag and trade, he'll just be compared to Sam Darnold.
Starting point is 01:15:27 And I think that's an extremely risky move from Minnesota. The whole point of football is to find a good quarterback. Whether you draft a guy and find them, like the Packers did with Aaron Rogers or the, you know, the Patriots did with Tom Brady, the Chiefs did with Patrick Mahomes, whether it's signing a guy in free agency. like the Broncos did with Peyton Manning, like the Raiders did once upon a time with Rich Gannon, like the Saints did with Drew Breeze. However you acquire them, it doesn't matter. Whether the guy falls in your lap
Starting point is 01:16:03 with the last pick in the draft like Brock Purdy. But once you get a guy who's pretty good and you can win games with, you've got to figure out a way to keep them. Now, I understand it's a business and you don't just give every good one the most money possible, but are you telling me that if I could sign Sam Donald's right now to let's just say the Kirk Cousins contract what was
Starting point is 01:16:25 Kirk Cousins contract like four years 160 million and I think he got a hundred million dollars guaranteed like if you he got four years 180 million dollars here's the deal four years 180 average salary of 45 million dollars signing bonus 50 million dollars guaranteed at signing 90 total guarantees a hundred I mean if you're a Vikings, man, would you do that right now? So you basically got him for three more years? It's like, what about J.J. McCarthy? Well, if Sam gets hurt, we just have an insurance plan.
Starting point is 01:17:01 And our backup quarterback makes a couple, two or three million dollars. And we go, we got one of the best backup quarterbacks in the league. We didn't plan on this happening. Right? Unlike the difference here is, the Falcons went all in on cousins. And then they drafted Pennix. And then they find themselves in this situation of like, uh, what do we do? can we bench him. Like, listen, our plan was to go with JJ McCarthy.
Starting point is 01:17:25 It's why we drafted him. And we got a bridge quarterback. And then that bridge quarterback, who once upon a time was drafted number three overall, threw 38 touchdowns and led us to the NFC championship game. So we extended them. We still got the rookie quarterback, who's a second year guy coming off a knee injury, and we'll just figure it out as we go. That's a good problem to have.
Starting point is 01:17:44 Like, their problem is a good problem to have. The Falcons created a problem. What's up, John? Have a mailbag question for the future of college football. I don't know if this is possible, but with college football landscape being a bit messy, and since the SEC and notable Big Ten teams are the most talented and have better television ratings, you'd think they would disband and make their own league. The league would basically be a mini-NFL with conferences, divisions, and their own playoff.
Starting point is 01:18:17 They could grab Ohio State, the Clemsonsons, Miami's, inform their own league and organized playoff system. these are the games and the matchups that people want to watch anyway. Do you think this realistic thing that could happen in the next five or ten years? I think we're already headed there. And I think Greg Sanky alluded to like, this is not going to fly. Like we don't carry the sport for three months and then only get three teams into the playoff. This is not acceptable.
Starting point is 01:18:47 And if I was Greg Sanky, I'd be pissed. Even if technically I understood. why Alabama didn't get in. But like, why are we such a huge reason that this sports popularity is so big? Our conference puts the most guys in the NFL every single year by a wide margin. It is way harder to play our schedule than it is to play the ACC schedule. So yeah, some of our best teams have three losses. Well, if we had played in the ACC or vice versa, the ACC had come here,
Starting point is 01:19:22 would how many games would SMU win in the in the SEC at most I would say eight and that'd be good eight and four in the SEC SMU that'd be impressive season so I think part of this now is to get all these people together and play a unified schedule you're still going to have some random teams and hell you might have SMU and you might have you know the Wisconsin's in Iowa's and the Mississippi States. That's fine. But they all got to play each other. Like the NFL, they have the chiefs. They got the bills. I mean, they got the lions and the Eagles, but they also got the Raiders and the Jags. Like, not everyone's good all the time. That's fine. But everyone's playing everybody. And that's not happening in college football. So when I see these records at
Starting point is 01:20:13 the end of the year, they're not even close to be comparable. What Kenny Dillingham did in this season was awesome. Everyone picked them to be last in the Big 12. But going 10 and 2 in the Big 12 is not the same as going 10 and 2 in the SEC. Yet they're somewhat treated the same. Like, oh, two playoff teams.
Starting point is 01:20:35 Georgia 10 and 2. ASU 10 and 2, both won their conference championship. Two and three seed. What? Boise State got a buy. They won the Mountain West. I mean, they're playing New Mexico and Nevada every other week. It's crazy. What is your opinion on the quarterback protection rules?
Starting point is 01:20:57 I'm a fan of the Texans and Aziz Al Shire. The hit on Trevor I thought would have been, shouldn't have been such a big deal. We had a quarterback running for a first down and Aziz was protecting the sticks. All the shouting shows were acting like he just killed someone's grandmother. I really found Shannon Sharp and Jeff Saturday extremely biased on the issue. even the commentators for the game were crucifying Aziz. I'm not sure how a defensive player is supposed to approach the quarterback in the open field.
Starting point is 01:21:32 I guess the league in the NFL media wants defensive players to just give up first downs now. Really sad. I think anytime you see the crazy part is if Trevor Lawrence would have got right up and been fine, anytime a guy's knocked out, the result of the hit then becomes,
Starting point is 01:21:53 way worse. Like, you see salacious hits in college in the NFL, and if the guy's fine, like, it's not that big a deal. But when a guy gets carted off, the reaction, you know, amplifies 10x, which is kind of stupid, but it is what it is. I've said over and over that the violence taking it out of defenders, like, they all know the rules now. Nobody is trying to hurt anybody.
Starting point is 01:22:22 That used to not be the case. That is clearly the case now. Everyone is attempting to play within the rules. But these quarterbacks get paid all the money. They get all the fame. And they take no risks. So in any business, it's like, wait, these guys get all the rewards,
Starting point is 01:22:41 yet they take no risks. And if I cross the line, I get suspended, I get docked without pay. That never happened. Trevor Lawrence isn't even good. And they gave him $200 million. You start getting this, you know, off-kilter of this situation where these quarterbacks, like Trevor Lawrence's role in the NFL is, I would say,
Starting point is 01:23:05 borderline irrelevant. Like, if he never played another snap, it would not matter. And I do believe, like, I completely understand protecting quarterbacks because Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson, Herbert, you know, you name, top 15 quarterbacks. the league needs them for television ratings, and that's where everyone makes their money. So I get trying to protect them. I do think the quarterbacks have taken advantage of the situation.
Starting point is 01:23:32 Dan Campbell went viral a couple weeks ago because St. Brown said on his podcast that he told the team that Caleb Williams fakes goes out of bounds and cuts back in. And essentially, when he does that, hit his ass as hard as humanly possible. And I saw all these people on the internet, like, oh, he's so dirty. dirty. He's literally telling him if he fakes going out of bounds
Starting point is 01:23:53 and cuts back in, hit him like you would any other player. And it's like, of course they should. Trevor Lawrence running in the open field, he's six foot six, 230 pounds, and he runs like a four-six. This notion of like, oh, it's a late hit. It's so easy for every fat ass on their couch
Starting point is 01:24:14 to say that. I don't think he was trying to hurt the guy. I think it was much more of a bang, bang play than anyone said. I do think it has become outrageous the protections on the quarterback in terms of them taking advantage of that. So, yeah, do I think he should have been suspended for three games? I don't. Give him a one-game suspension and be fine with me. My question is, what would it take for you to go back to the NFL?
Starting point is 01:24:46 There is no way. I wouldn't go back to the NFL. one, I'm not going to get the opportunity and two. Life's too good, make too much money, and I'm too good at this. I'm not even trying to be arrogant or whatever. I'm just, I'm not leaving this. Got too good of a thing going. So there's just zero, 100% zero chance.
Starting point is 01:25:10 I have no aspirations. I like doing this more than the NFL. Side question. What would your quick unofficial head coaching top five ranking? Mine is Andy Reid 1, McVeigh, A2, Shanahan 3, Lafour 5, Jim Harbaugh. LaFleur 4, Jim Harbaugh 5. I would take Jim Harbaugh over LaFleur.
Starting point is 01:25:38 You could make the argument that you could take Jim Harbaugh number two. Now, he hasn't been in the NFL recently, and I know he doesn't have a Super Bowl like Sean McVeigh, but what he's... I think Jim Harbaugh is as good as it gets. I think he's going to go down when it's all said and done as one of the greatest coaches of all time. I don't think anyone.
Starting point is 01:26:01 I would probably rank them McVeigh-Shann-Lafloor or Shanahan-McVe-Lefloor. I would definitely have LaFleur the third out of those two. To be a cup of tea. You know, Kyle's, I feel like Sean's a little happier.
Starting point is 01:26:15 Kyle's a little angrier. Should the Cowboys call the Vikings about J.J. McCarthy? Cowboys just gave Dak Prescott $200 million. So, no. Plus the Vikings wouldn't trade. them, even if they would, it would cost a lot to get them. Am I the only one going crazy off all these flags?
Starting point is 01:26:40 Watching the Rams and Bills is a flag on every big play. If the receiver has a small push off the cornerback and the cornerback grabs his arm and doesn't let go, that's just football, not a flag. What do you think? As long as the defense doesn't have a legal contact first, then it should just fly. I'm in total agreement. Like, these are physical. 6 foot 1 to 6 foot 3
Starting point is 01:27:05 guys that run 4 440s. So when they're running right next to each other, there's going to be contact. And honestly, there's going to be a little pushing and shoving. You cannot call pass interference or defensive holding on every big fucking play. In my issue, and it feels like this for the last half decade, the amount
Starting point is 01:27:25 of defensive penalties that are called on the secondary, obviously some are egregious, and some have to be called. But it feels like Like more than not, the majority of these calls, I would lean tiki-tack. Like, I get it. Back to the El Shire thing. When there is a big hit, people freak. That's kind of just the world we live in.
Starting point is 01:27:48 Everything is like overreaction. The Al Shire thing, obviously when you see the hit, you go, damn. And then after a while, you're like, listen, it's football. He slid late. He hit him one in his shoulder. The guy got knocked out because he hit the ground. But I get it. It becomes a controversy.
Starting point is 01:28:03 issue. Why these defensive penalties are not more controversial for the NFL is insane. The amount of defensive holding in the red zone on like third in goal from the seven yard line, it's like automatic first down at the one and a half yard line. It's like, what are we doing? It's crazy. So I hear you. Big fan of the pod. I was watching Penn State Oregon and the Big Ten championship and thought Drew Aller possesses a lot of traits I'd like to see in an NFL quarterback. Big arm, great arm talent, good size, good enough athlete, just needs to refine some of his game. I'm wondering what your thoughts are on him. When Colin and I were talking about this, I know this. I would take Drew Aller every day of the week and a hundred times on Sunday before I
Starting point is 01:28:57 would think about wasting any draft pick on Quinn Ewers or Carson Beck. So coming into the season, those two guys were talked about like number one overall picks. Obviously, neither of them are now. But Drew Allers pretty polarizing because he can be, I would say, a little hit or miss with accuracy. But in terms of his size, he made some explosive plays. Obviously, the last pass, the interception that lost in the game, was pretty bad.
Starting point is 01:29:25 There was a pass to Warren on the trick play where they had Warren line up a tackle and the tackle line up a slot receiver. And Warren's wide open. just his accuracy is a little hit or miss. But listen, Josh Allen's accuracy was pretty shitty in college. You know who else is pretty inaccurate? Lamar Jackson. So if you can coach a guy up, you can improve that area of the game.
Starting point is 01:29:49 From a toughness standpoint, from a playmaking standpoint, I was really impressed with Drew Aller in that game. Accuracy is something that is like, to me, his biggest question mark, assuming that he checks all the boxes, good guy, team leader, character is all good. I would find him as a very intriguing prospect. He's a risky one, though. You know, for every Josh Allen that works,
Starting point is 01:30:13 or Lamar Jackson, who becomes very accurate in the pros and becomes a better player than they were in college, Lamar was the excellent player in college too. Josh is probably the better example there. But Josh was playing at Wyoming, like who's good at Wyoming? You know, this guy is at Penn State, but Penn State doesn't have good wide receivers. His tight end is one good weapon.
Starting point is 01:30:33 in terms of the past game and those two dominate. So I hear you. I like Drew Aller a lot. WVU fan. I think that means West Virginia. I was on campus for the Holgersen era, even stayed in a tent for a week to get into college game day in 2014.
Starting point is 01:30:55 While many of us were happy to see Dana leave, the Neil Brown era has been a massive step in the wrong direction. Now that he has been fired, what do you think West Virginia should go after? I know a Natty is probably out of the reach with our recruiting limitations,
Starting point is 01:31:12 but I feel what the right coach a Big 12 championship is a reasonable goal. I think part of being a fan of a program like this is you've got to be realistic about your options. And like you're not swimming in the deep end of the pier. Right? whoever the Kirby Smart is, whoever, you know, like when Georgia hired Kirby Smart from Alabama, whoever the top coordinator is.
Starting point is 01:31:41 And you could argue, is there even really one right now? You know, Kenny Dillingham is a super hot name. The problem is he's from here, and I don't think he's leaving right now. So you go, like Fresno State, who did they just hire? This guy, Enz, who was at USC but had coached at North Dakota State for a long time and won championships. So can you look at a program like App State is down and they fired their coach? But, you know, a program like that and go, can we steal an up-and-comer? Like essentially what Nebraska did when they hired Scott Frost.
Starting point is 01:32:15 Now, again, it backfired. But is there a situation like that, you know, Boise, Washington State was really good to the last three weeks when they kind of imploded? Or do you go after a coordinator? And, you know, you look around, you go, well, who, who are Kirby's coordinators. You know, Bobo's his offensive coordinator. You're going to hire Mike Bobo.
Starting point is 01:32:35 You go is, you know, Alabama. Ryan Grubb is DeBoar's guy, but he's at the Seahawks. Ryan Day, Michigan, like those programs don't really have a top guy. Could you hire a guy who's in a little trouble, right? Like Luke Fickle, but it's like, is Luke Fickle a fit at West Virginia? I don't know. I don't have a great answer for you. I know those jobs,
Starting point is 01:33:06 they're very specific. You know, you've got to find a guy who just works. And I don't know West Virginia that well in terms of like the type of coaches, like who you guys are talking about on the message board, but let's just use the West Coast. Washington State and Oregon State, I think are good examples. If you get the right coach at those programs, like they can win 19.
Starting point is 01:33:30 10 games. What Oregon State do? They hired Jonathan Smith. Now, granted, Jonathan Smith was an alumni. When did Washington State really hit the ground run and get back on the map when they hired Mike Leach? Like, I'd kind of go renegade. You know, when they hired Mike Leach, he had got fired for putting what's his name in the
Starting point is 01:33:49 electrical tent, right? Craig James' kid. So I would try to just, to me, West Virginia feels a little like a renegade. program. You know, Rich Rod, Holgerson. Like, I need a guy a little close to the edge. So I don't know who that, like, when I close my eyes, who fits that mold, there's not a guy that jumps out to me. I would say Lane Kiffin Wood, but like he's not leaving Ole Miss for West Virginia, but like that version. Give me a guy who kind of doesn't give a shit, you know, kind of like
Starting point is 01:34:25 Bob Huggins, Holgerson, Rich Rod. I need a guy. like you got a little bit of an uphill battle at a program like that. It's not a bad program, but you know, you're at a disadvantage financially against the big boys. My question is, how are NFL scouts that are employed by NFL teams truly judged? It seems as though whenever a high-profile college football player comes out to the NFL draft, half the scouts through the media approved of his draft grading and half the scouts disapprove of his draft grading. at the end of the day or at the end of the year
Starting point is 01:35:02 Howard Scouts truly judged by their work performance also what are your views on tattoos I mean I think some people obviously pull them off well I don't have any but I wouldn't look good at them I'm jealous of guys they can pull it off so I would say I don't really have a view on tattoos
Starting point is 01:35:24 like I don't really care not something that crosses my mind but some people look bad with them. So I think your body type really matters. Speaking as a guy, and I guess as a girl too. Like tattoos can look awesome and they can look terrible. I would say this.
Starting point is 01:35:44 Let's use a salesman as an example. If you work as a sales guy for a company, it's very easy to judge your performance. Or Maria, she's in real estate. Like, how much money do you generate this year? what was your last three quarters? If we have a quota, did you hit it? Did you fly by it?
Starting point is 01:36:04 How much money are you bringing in? Which then equates to how much money are you making? You're incentivized to sell more, right? Was a scout, I think you're really judged on how close you are with the front office. So do the GM and the coach like you? Because if they do, in your scat and like your evaluations are kind of hit miss, then it doesn't really matter. And you will keep the job. And you won't get fired. You could be, and I've known a lot of these guys, excellent evaluators. Like really good.
Starting point is 01:36:41 Like 90 plus percent hit rate on your evaluations on pro and college players. And if a GM or a number two, you know, the assistant GM turn on you and don't like you for whatever reason, which is natural in any corporate setting, you just butt heads. We don't. We don't. don't see eye to eye, whatever. We don't get along. You're screwed. So it's sad because knowing how much time these guys put in, how much time you spend driving around school to school, how much energy and effort most guys put into this,
Starting point is 01:37:16 it doesn't really matter how good you are. It really doesn't. You know, I think unlike coaching where it's very black and white, like this guy's a good position coach. Look at his unit. This guy's a really good coordinator. Look at his unit. In scouting, it's much more subjective. And to me, it mostly comes down to personality. Like, do you get along with the people you work with or not? Because if you do, you keep a job. Which is kind of sad, but that's kind of how the NFL works. I've noticed throughout the season that a lot of teams tend to keep games low scoring for the first two quarters, then offenses explode in the second half. Why is this?
Starting point is 01:37:55 I noticed, for example, during the Browns Broncos game, last Monday night that Nick Chubb was essentially benched for the second quarter as they couldn't get him going. Then they utilized them more in the second half. Do teams adjust their game plan for certain personnel at halftime, essentially scheming new plays for them to get more involved with the game plan? I forget who said this. It was a defensive coordinator in college.
Starting point is 01:38:22 But he said, what makes a good coordinator is when you think about the week, you spend all week game planning to get ready for that team's place. And then once the game starts, usually that team is running stuff you haven't seen. So it's kind of a feeling out process. But the reason you spent all that preparation as a coach
Starting point is 01:38:47 and your staff coached the players up is because in the second half, that team then goes back. to what they do what they do. Because the first 15 plays or the first quarter are usually plays that were created or schemes that were implemented that week to try to take advantage of that team.
Starting point is 01:39:09 And sometimes it doesn't work. It's why, like, usually if you watch a team's first drive in the NFL or college is really good. You go right down the field. I think Kirk Cousins, they scored in their first drive, Atlanta. Well, why is that? Because I've developed these.
Starting point is 01:39:24 plays, we've worked on a Monday, Thursday, Friday, walked through them again Saturday. Sunday morning I got up and I visualized them. So I've like mastered them. And then the game starts flowing and we just run normal plays. And I either execute them, I'm a good player or not. So I clearly people adjust. And when you say adjust, you're constantly adjusting through the game, but you realize, hey, they are actually doing this. Let's morph to this. Right? And hey, they're actually not running the coverage that we thought we would see. They're blitzing this guy off the edge every other play. Let's hit them with these three things.
Starting point is 01:40:02 And you have more explosive. Hey, here's another thing. Their starting corner pulled his hamstring in the first quarter. Their backup corner is a seventh round pick who's not that fast. And we got C.D. Lamb or Justin Jefferson. Attack that fucking guy. That happens a lot. So I think there are a lot of variables.
Starting point is 01:40:22 I think every game is a little different. But I think you're on to something. Where would you rank Justin Fields today? Is he a starting quarterback or a backup quarterback in today's NFL? Also, if you were an NFL GM, would you take Fields or mince you if you had to take one to be on your team? Thanks and hope you are enjoying the good weather in Arizona from PA. I would say, I would say Justin Fields is a backup. I would say Gardner Minchie as a backup as well.
Starting point is 01:41:01 I think it depends who my team is. Like, I think Justin Fields makes a ton of sense next year as the backup to like Lamar Jackson. I think he makes a ton of sense as the backup to like Kyler Murray. Does Justin Fields make a lot of sense as the backup to Justin Herbert or Brock Purdy or, you know, Matt Stafford? Probably not. I mean, as you see, how do they use them? They run zone reads for him. Minchu has proven that he can come in and just run a normal offense for several games.
Starting point is 01:41:36 If you name him your starting quarterback, you are screwed. One thing Fields can do is just run around. I mean, he is an elite athlete. I think they're very different players, but I think they're somewhat similar. Like, if you start them consistently, you're not going to be a playoff team. Gardner can get hot for a game or two, slinging it around, but he also can look terrible. Fields can get hot for a game or two being a dual threat guy, but he also just can't consistently throw the ball. So I think they're in the same world of being backup quarterbacks.
Starting point is 01:42:13 There's nothing wrong with that. And Fields, because of his running ability, can play. Right? Like you can implement some running plays for him, which they do. And it's effective. Hell, just at a last game they played, he had the game clinching play. against the Bengals when they ran the zone read and he ran for a first out. I'm a big Georgia fan and wanted to hear your take on Carson Beck.
Starting point is 01:42:37 Going into the season, I felt he had a real shot to be in the Heisman race, win an Addy, and be a top 10 pick. The reality is he has had some nice moments, but hasn't been the guy Georgia fans were hoping or expected. Granted, our receiver play has been subpar, and we haven't had a good run game for Georgia standards. was curious if you can think of a player who went into a season with this much hype and fizzled out like this. Thanks and keep crushing.
Starting point is 01:43:08 I look today, I haven't seen an update on his injury. And in college is a little different than the pros. He doesn't, I don't think they have to come out and just acknowledge that he, you know, he's out for the season or whatever. When I was scouting Matt Barkley was a guy who I think was viewed as a guy who was going to be the number one overall pick. and then went back to school, had a down year and ended up, I think, being a fourth round pick.
Starting point is 01:43:34 Ironically, Liner, who was still taken, I think, in the top 15, but he was widely viewed as the number one overall pick, went back to school. Now, Liner, you know, they went to the national championship.
Starting point is 01:43:44 He just lost Vince Young in the Texas, so he had a good year. I think Carson Beck, one, I've been very critical of them, but if you won, I mean, losing Ladd McConkey and Brock Bowers, I mean, those two guys,
Starting point is 01:44:01 are the best passing options on their two teams in the NFL. I mean, those are high-end players. I mean, both guys, I mean, Bauer should be like a five-time all-pro, and McCawkes should be like Wes Welker in the NFL for a long time. So it's hard to replace that. And clearly their offensive line isn't that good. He had some moments.
Starting point is 01:44:20 I'm trying to think of the game. It was a couple weeks after the Texas game where he just made some nice throws. And you're like, okay, you see some of the talent. but to me like to me he looks like a backup quarterback in the NFL he's kind of a weird looking cat I mean he's he's got
Starting point is 01:44:37 he's got a weird look you know I like my quarterbacks to just kind of I don't know be normal looking he's got a he's got you know the one arm sleeve he just kind of got a weird look going and obviously the play has been pretty shitty but yeah I mean I think he's lost a lot of money this year
Starting point is 01:44:56 there's no disputing that And now if he's seriously injured, I mean, you might be looking at, you wouldn't, I don't know. I mean, I would say if he needs Tommy John and he has to, could he be an undrafted free agent? Could he go back to school? Would George even want him back? We'll see how Gunner Stockton does in the playoffs, assuming that Carson's out and he's starter. But yeah, he just has looked really just rattled a lot of the time. He's not a great athlete.
Starting point is 01:45:27 doesn't have a huge arm. So it's a lot of like, he's closer to a Jared Gough type player than he is some dynamic playmaker. And the one thing with Jared Gough, you're like very comfortable in the pocket. You watch Carson Beck is very hit or miss that way. It's not all his fault.
Starting point is 01:45:44 Like you said, receivers play bad. Offensive lines not great. Running games, not great. But it's like, yes, college football. Make some plays. He's not really a playmaker. Other than that, appreciate everyone listening. We'll talk to you tomorrow.
Starting point is 01:45:56 See you. The volume. Hey guys, it's us. The Jonas Brothers. I'm Joe. I'm Kevin. And I'm Nick. And guess what?
Starting point is 01:46:08 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. We get to ask other people questions because we're sick and tired of being asked questions. Well, sick and tired is a strong way to put it. But, you know, tired and sick.
Starting point is 01:46:26 Tired and sick. 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, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel
Starting point is 01:46:48 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 podcast. What's up, fam, it's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano.
Starting point is 01:47:06 It's our favorite time of the year on our podcast, Point Game, the playoffs. We're digging into the biggest surprises of the season. And I'm looking back on some of my greatest playoff moments. If we didn't talk ever again, I was finally. You just understood. That's how personal it got. Wow. Then after that game seven, Marquis come until he's like, you know I love you, dog.
Starting point is 01:47:24 You know, it's all love. This was just playoffs. This was just basketball. So listen to Point Game on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Hey, I'm Deanna Maria Riva, and on my new podcast, How Hard Can It Be? I call on my Gen X squad from Ohio to Hollywood as we navigate Midlife's most fantastic BS. Unfiltered conversations from night sweats to fupas to scheduling sex. Wait, what sex?
Starting point is 01:47:49 Is it just me or does every woman my age want to look at Pinterest instead of having sex sometimes? They say we can't polish a turd, but we're sure going to try. So let's get blunt with laughs, tears, or tears of laughter. Listen to How Hard Can It Be with Deanna Maria Riva on the IHart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Will Ferrell's Big Money Players and IHart Podcasts presents Soccer Boms. So I'm Leanne. Yeah.
Starting point is 01:48:14 This is my best friend, Janet. Hey. And we have been joined at the hips since high school. Absolutely. A redacted amount of years later, we're still joined at the hip. Just a little bit bigger hips. This is a podcast. We're recording it as we tailgate our youth soccer games in the back of my Honda Odyssey.
Starting point is 01:48:28 With all the snacks and drinks. Why did you get hard seltzer instead of beer? Oh, they hit a bogo. Well, then you got them. Listen to soccer moms on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.

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