The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Colin Cowherd Podcast - Chargers Brand Is “Losing”, Rams Overachieving, Bills Not A Playoff Team, Broncos ARE A Playoff Team, College Football Playoff

Episode Date: November 27, 2023

Colin reacts to week 12 in the NFL!  He dives into both teams from Los Angeles, why the Chargers brand has become “losing” (3:38) and why the Rams are the complete opposite (9:35). John Middlekauff, host of “3 and Out” joins Colin to break down all the action. They break down the sloppy play from the Bills and why they’ve wasted their window with Josh Allen (18:20). They weigh in on Philly always finding a way to win (26:30) and why the Broncos could compete with almost anyone in the AFC (29:40) They both wonder if the Chiefs are missing the juice they’ve had in past years and what that could mean for them in the postseason (38:00), and predict the Seahawks will be making moves to draft a new quarterback (41:00). Colin also gives his rankings for the college football playoff (56:00) and why he thinks Oregon is the best team in the country. (Timestamps may vary based on advertisements.) Follow Colin and The Volume on Twitter for the latest content and updates! #Volume #HerdSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Yep, that's me, Clivert Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, my basketball and college football journey, or my career in sports media. Well, now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. So let's get to it. Listen to The Clifford show on the IHeard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok podcast network on TikTok. On the Look Back at it podcast. From 1979, that was a big moment for me. 84 is big to me. I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick a year, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. With our friends, fellow comedians, and favorite authors.

Like Mark Lamont Hill on the 80s. 84 was a wild. I mean, it was a wild year. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The volume. In the NBA, the games can change in an instant, but no matter how the action unfold. Do you know that Draft King's Sportsbook has you covered?

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licensee partner, Golden Nugget Lake Charles, 21 plus age varies by jurisdiction. Void in Ontario. Bonus bets expire 168 hours after issuance. See sportsbook.draftrackings.com slash basketball terms for eligibility and deposit restrictions, terms and responsible gaming resources. All right. Good hour tonight with John Middlkev, former NFL. scout for the Philadelphia Eagles. We'll be joining me in about 10 minutes. Talk obviously about the bill's discouraging loss to Philadelphia, or Philadelphia is basically game plan week after week to be outplayed for large stretches of games and then come back to win. We'll talk about that. Some Jim Harbaugh, Michigan football, some college football, the big playoff picture overall.

What Russell Wilson and Sean Payton now, they are a playoff team and the hottest team in the AFC, the Denver Broncos. What do the Seahawks do with Gino Smith? It's obviously now he is regressed to the mean, as they say. So a lot of things to talk about. I want to start with the Chargers losing to the Ravens. So I went back during the game because it just felt like it was going to be a close ending. It ended up being a Ravens win by double digits. But if you go back to last year, the L.A. Chargers have lost eight games by three or less. And they've lost their last seven, in fact, by three or less. So I've said, it's not man overboard with head coach Brandon Staley.

It's not as though they're not competitive. But just think about this. Right now, the Los Angeles Chargers have the same number of wins as the New York Giants in a quarterback league when they're now on Tommy DeVito, their third quarterback. Now, I know a lot of you, people just love to say, well, Justin Herbert, you know, he is overrated. let's say he is. At 6.5.2.40, Super Mobile.

You saw his run up to left sideline tonight. Big fast kid. Huge power arm. Would you not take him overall, but about seven guys in the league? Have you watched Desmond Ritter? Are you watching what's happening in these games? Are you watching Zach Wilson or Tim Boyle's backup? You know, are you watching Will Levis?

You'd take Justin Herbert over all but about six guys. But, you know, what's interesting right now, in the AFC playoff picture, only Tennessee, the Jets, New England, all really bad at quarterback, are below the chargers. If you want something to change in any business, you have to make changes. So again, I'm not a guy that calls for the firing of a head coach, but once again, end of a game, they really got a break because John Harbaugh and the Ravens should have gone for it on that fourth and short, instead of trying to go up by six, you're better off getting a first down, forcing the Chargers to you all their timeouts and ending the game that way. They got a break.

John Harbaugh made a rare clock management mistake. They really did make a mistake. And I think Baltimore is as well run as any organization in football. He may have been thinking nobody's going to score touchdowns against our defense. But that's generally they should have gone for it, fourth and short, picked it up, forced the Chargers to burn all their timeouts. be that as it may, they went on to win anyway. But I think the chargers are at a point now where, and maybe this was last year, but their brand is like mismanagement. Their brand is blowing winds. Their brand is underachieving. That is a lousy brand to have. And it's a really bad brand in Los Angeles,

which we've talked about before is a very distracted sports market. The beach, the weather, the mountains, proximity to Vegas, Scottsdale. Lots to do here. The Dodgers, the Lakers, the Clippers, you got soccer, you got hockey, you got major college basketball now, USC and UCLA. There's stuff to do. There's a lot of things to do here. And if you don't win, people move on. There's another NFL team sharing your building. And right now that team, the Rams, has a better record than you, and they're in a rebuild year. So I think in a very distracted market, the chargers are getting to a point now where they're, their brand is just futility. And I know inside the building, and this is the downside to having

an owner, the Spanos family, where their kids work in the building, is that everybody, you know, it's like any family business. Everybody kind of walks on eggshells. Nobody knows what to really say in crisis, but they have a major crisis on their hands. The brand, which has never been a powerful brand to begin with, they were playing in a soccer stadium a couple years ago. The town, they were in a few years ago, San Diego. Now, many of those fans resent the Chargers. So it's not a very good brand to begin with. But in Los Angeles, it's getting lost.

It's just, it's not must-see. In fact, you know, tonight, Lamar Jackson's as big a draw as the Chargers are. So at some point, if market share and, you know, local viability matter, it's just, it's just becoming a bad brand, a really talented quarterback, a handful of talented players. Now, it would help if they had a deep. threat. They drafted Quentin Johnston out of TCU. He's been very slow to develop. It just, it looks like a bit of a miss. He doesn't look kind of buttoned up when he's out there. There's very little he can do. He's not on the field regularly. So they drafted him to replace eventually Mike Williams, a deep threat who just can't stay healthy.

Williams got hurt again and Quentin Johnston's not ready to play. That has absolutely hurt this offense. it, you know, they go on a lot of these long drives because it's the only way they can score. Keenan Allen, Justin Herbert, Austin Echler, and, you know, you're hoping for six-yard gains from Gerald Everett, you know, and underneath stuff. So it's not nearly as viable as it could be if Mike Williams was healthy. And because Quentin Johnston has not been a hit as a first-round-wide receiver pick, there's some limitations to begin with. But I think you have to make a move at some point with the head coach. If you want results to change, you have to make changes. Feels very simple to me.

And now a segment we called Making It Look Easy. Matt Stafford made it look easy. Four touchdown passes against the Arizona Cardinals. Some of the best play calling of the year by Sean McVeigh, just like Matt Stafford made it look easy. So does Morgan and Morgan, America's largest injury law firm? 100 offices nationwide, 800 lawyers. And through the years, they have made 50,000.

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And so this was a team, Vegas had their over under at about five. And I had said in the offseason, I had to talk myself out of putting them in the playoffs because I said, if you have a really smart offensive coach and a really talented quarterback and at least one big time weapon, Sean McVeigh, Matt Stafford, Cooford Cup, you know, they had a couple offensive linemen I liked and could tie Dan Tyler Higby. you had a couple touchdowns today against Arizona. I'm like, that's a team battling for the playoffs. But because they had so many young players defensively,

you know, my takeaway was they probably won't stop people. Well, Rahim Morris has been a great defensive coordinator for them. But it's really the Rams kind of ironically have become the opposite of the chargers. Where the chargers are constantly underachieving, the Rams are the opposite. I mean, if you really look at what this year was, Outside of Aaron Donald, it is a bunch of kids. There is no money on the defensive side at all, and they're playing very well. Now, they were physically controlled by the Philadelphia Eagles,

a stacked, often veteran roster. Outside of that, they have been in every game this year, and have beaten teams swept Seattle, and it's just coaching. McVeigh owns Pete Carroll. Stafford's better than Gino Smith. But the Rams, I mean, even if you, go back to their Super Bowl year. It took Matt Stafford. They were struggling a couple of blowout losses. They had Cam Acres who they liked but didn't love. He had a bit of a fumble problem. They almost blew that game in Tampa because of Cam Acre fumbles. It was a team that had Jalen Ramsey and Aaron Donald, but Jalen Ramsey would bite and get burned over the top a lot. That was a team that was trying to kind of figure and find its way, and they eventually did for a Super Bowl.

But I would say for a majority of the year, we did not look at that Rams team as a Super Bowl team. They had some ugly, ugly losses. And they just kind of find ways to win with Sean McVeigh. Now, he struggles in the regular season against Kyle Shanhan of the 49ers. They just don't match up particularly well with them. But outside of that matchup, I'm watching the Rams this year. the play calling. Now, Arizona's not a great team. Nobody thinks they are. The play calling today, though, I mean, Cooper Cup is not 100% if you watch the game today. He is his first catch of the game. He's limping.

They got Williams back. Kyron Williams are very nice running back, very shifty, very clever. And that gives them kind of a one-two punch at running back and wide receiver. But this is a team that I would argue doesn't have a single great player in their prime, Aaron Donner. Donald's not, Cooper Cup is not, Matt Stafford's not. Rob Havenstein is a good, good right tackle, but he's not in his prime. They don't have a single, great player in their prime. Now, go to the Philadelphia Eagles in contrast. Jalen Hertz, great player in his prime. A.J. Brown, great receiver in his prime.

Devonte Smith, excellent player in his prime. Their left tackle, young player, PFF, top-graded left tackle in his prime. That's just on the offensive side. So Philadelphia is stacked and we'll probably win the Super Bowl. If you go to the 49ers, Fred Warner, I think is in his prime, late prime. But, you know, Bosa in his prime, Debo in his prime, Brandon Ayyuk, just moving into his prime. Rams don't have one. So this is a team, there are certain teams in this league, the charges being one, Buffalo another, that kind of find ways to lose.

you know, the Rams being a viable playoff team with this roster is, I mean, they've been moving offensive line pieces around, going to get running backs off the street, needed Puka Nukua the fifth round wide receiver early when Cooper Cup was out to produce offense on the perimeter. Tutu Atwell was a bust seemingly at wide receiver. He's now semi-viable big play receiver. They are just coaching and drivers. drafting and development. And, I mean, in the same building, you've got a team that finds ways to lose and a team that finds ways to win. There's no way the Rams should be a more viable playoff team this year than the Chargers. Again, Chargers, Justin Herbert in his prime, their left tackle, Slater, in his prime. Those are great players. Derwin James in his prime.

Bosa, in his prime. You know, several high-end players. Rams don't have one. They have good players, no great players. though in the middle, in the meat of their career. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged.

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I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard Radio app, podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what I'm saying. Yep, that's me, Clifford Taylor the 4th.

You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. One week I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment, and the next we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music.

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and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. Do you remember when Diana Ross double-tap Little Kim's boobs at the VMAs? Or when Kanye said that George Bush didn't like black people. I know what you're thinking.

What the hell does George Bush got to do a little Kim? Well, you can find out on the Look Back at it podcast. I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick it here, unpack what went down,

and try to make sense of how we survived it. Including a recent episode, with Mark Lamont Hill waxing all about crack in the 80s. To be clear, 84 is big to me, not just because of crack. I'm down to talk about crack all day, but just so you all know. I mean, at this point, Mark, this is the second episode where we've discussed crack, so I'm starting to see that there's a through line. We also have AIDS on the table right now, so.

Thank you for finishing that sentence. Yes. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Really? Yeah. For me, it's one of the most important years for black people in American history. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. All right, John Middlekoff, former NFL Scout on the Three and Out podcast for the volume.

Let's Start Philadelphia plays about as poorly as they can possibly play. This is the team you used to scout for. They have made sort of an art form out of sluggish wins. It's probably why I think I'd make them the favorite to win the Super Bowl this year. I thought they were so, in fact, it was my draft king's bet of the week. I thought Buffalo and four and a half was a great bet. Did you have your doubts in this one? Because it was so sloppy early.

Well, I mean, felt like a lock Buffalo win when it was 24 to 14 and they were in complete control. And then it went touchdown, Josh Allen interception, touchdown. And then they got the lead. And then he just went, well, this is the Philadelphia team. we've seen all year. Because I don't think there's any player in the NFL who has looked as poorly in their parts of games and then turn the switch. It looks like an MVP again.

And maybe it's, you know, Romo, they had talked about that, whatever it is, the deep thigh bruise or the injury that he's dealing with. It's not something that, you know, you just, you got a pain tolerance. Maybe as the game goes on, he gets a little looser. Yeah. Because early on in games, there is no elite player who plays as crappy in the first half as Jaylen. You look up at a bit of stats early on in the first half. He barely had over, he had under 40 yards passing.

And then all of a sudden you look at the end of the game, you're like, I thought the guy was awesome. He's been a crazy roller coaster ride. And it goes back, you know, Josh Allen can't play much better. I mean, John Elway meets Cam Newton today. But, you know, the bills just find ways to lose games this year. I mean, they had 10 first half penalties. I counted two drops. Yeah, I mean, I think.

You know, and I'll get into this later. When you watch, like I watch what Sean Payton's doing in Denver, and they just don't make many mistakes. I don't think they're gifted. I think they have some really good players. Buffalo, I mean, I've compared them to Mike Tyson. Like, they don't, you know, Tyson at the end didn't have a jab, you know, left himself wide open, but he had this vicious power. And so, you know, he swung from the heels. It was a little bit like Tiger coming out of his shoes as a golfer.

It just made up if the irons were off. And I look at Buffalo and I think, listen, you're not going to, there's not going to be a game this year that Philadelphia probably won't play that poorly for a half. I mean, they may, there can be sluggish. And to me, if Buffalo can't win this game, I mean, right now, John, Denver is the hottest team in the league. Buffalo's, if the Chargers win tonight, does Buffalo feel like a playoff team to you? They don't because they can't win the games that they have to win. And tonight was a great example of their quarterback can't play any better. Their quarterback really this year, besides some of the primetime games, has been good.

You know, statistically, he's top five in every metric. Some would argue he's been a top two or three quarterback. But today's a great example. Their defense let him down. To me, the final drive that led to the 60-yard field goal and then the final drive that led to the touchdown in overtime, I don't understand why you completely just let them get easy completions. When all game long, you have been playing normal defense. If they beat it, they beat it.

It's a rainstorm. That field is slippery. Okay, if they make, hit some miraculous play, you tip your hat. But to just play, you know, whatever, eight, 10, 12 yards off and give them completion after completion after completion with this offense, they're too potent once they get close. You saw on the final touchdown with Jalen Hertz at any moment he can run it. And obviously, they just got in field goal range.

And honestly, if it wasn't for a Hall of Fame center and making a couple shitty weird plays, you know, the pre-snap that cost them a couple yards, they would have had a 50-yard field goal drove the field pretty easily. So, yeah, I do not think Buffalo is a playoff team. I'm with you, Denver is playing much better on defense. And there's a belief.

I don't see how you lose this game if you're Buffalo and have any belief. You know, that's, I think this, you start looking around, you go, what else can we do? Yeah, there's also, and I've beat on this now for two years, but there's two quarterbacks in this league that we feel are being let down by their coaching staff. Buffalo and the Chargers, defensive head coaches, defensive cultures. And in both, they have one great receiver, capable backs, good enough O lines, nice pass rushers, but we just feel like they're uneven and the quarterback does all he can do.

And I'll go back to saying, and I'll get into this in a bit, I mean, what Sean McVeigh is doing with this rickety, rebuilt old or too young roster with the Rams. He's manufacturing points. I never feel like the Chargers, despite Kellen Moore, the Chargers or the Bill's manufacture stuff. It's just Herbert go make throws. Keenan Allen go make catches. Josh Allen be great. And listen, it's, there's no, you know, again, it's if you're going to lose to anybody at Philadelphia late is about as good losses the NFL has. But I also think that there is something to be said about, you know, Buffalo's not Green Bay. You have an owner and free agents would go there. But John, let's be honest about this. I think you have about four more years of Josh Allen in his prime because he takes

too many shots. And then all of a sudden it's like it's not the same and his contract's going to get bigger. I just kind of feel like they've blown it. I feel like I don't feel like Herbert's blown it yet because they could get the right coach. I don't think Buffalo's ever going to move off Sean McDermott. Well, to me, if they were to do it and were to get a better coach and upgrade, which is going to be difficult, they would have a chance because the way that guy, when he is on like he was today, you're watching and you go, Mahomes has a better career resume and has more accomplishments, but like that version of Josh Allen, there's nothing quite like that. I mean, that's like Pete John Elway meets Cam Newton. Like you said, how long can you play like

that. You can't really hit the quarterback as much anymore, but he did have the one play when Reddick got him early in the game. He got slammed like it was 1985. Yeah. I just wonder, football is a team game, ultimately. Even if you have, there's a reason Peyton Manning didn't win as much as Tom Brady. His teams were never as good. Yeah. And I remember hearing stories when I was in the NFL that Tom Condon would get on the phone with Bill Polion. And Bill's like, we're not going to be able to buy any players. And Tom would say more, more. And Peyton was always paid a premium. And their team's always had major flaws. And listen, Tom Brady looks like he's doing pretty well financially right now,

took a little bit less, and his teams were much more stacked. And that was a huge difference. And honestly, it wasn't until the end when Peyton got to Denver that he probably played on the most complete teams, but he was older. Can you imagine him in his peak in younger days? It would have. And Elway made him take a bit of a pay cut. Remember, he and Elway had a little bit of a clash because John wanted Peyton to take less? I just don't think you can play in the NFL like a basketball team where you're like, Yonah, Steph, just carry us. That's not the way it really works over the course of the season, especially when you run into good teams. And let's face it, when you shoot yourself in the foot like the bills did early in the season, there's too much

to make up for. Now, the AFC, because of the injuries, is still not great, but it's hard to have much. I do think there's an emotional toll that losing in football takes on you, right? It's, it's one thing if you lose, like, if the Eagles were to lost this game, they could easily just shake it off. I think the bills are at the point. where that might just be the crushing blow for their season. Yeah, and I don't want to be too punitive on Buffalo because if Gabe Davis turns the other way, they win the game. I mean, this whole world, you can go to Ohio State, Michigan, you can go to Washington, Washington State. These games are decided on inches, not feet, one play here and there.

So I thought Buffalo, but it did feel like it's an accumulation of games blown and opportunities not seized. And I think that's going to be the season for Buffalo. Well, I think, and Romo mentioned this for the first time this year, they've had a little bit more consistent running game. Cook is the best running back they've had. Well, if they would have had that a couple. Look at the Eagles. At any moment, they can just hand it to a guy that their GM traded like 2075 fifth round pick for,

and they can control the ball on the ground, right? Because their quarterback also runs, yet the bills finally can run the ball, and it's two years too late. Because if you would have put a running game on that team a couple years ago, maybe they're not playing at Kansas City in the second round. And that game's in Buffalo, and they're the number one seed. But like you said, there's a window because of the way finances work in the NFL, these contracts are not just equal year to year, right?

Look at Deshawn Watson. This year, it's $20 million on the cap. Next year, it's 63. Like, these swings dramatically impact your team. So it's, it sucks if you're a Bills fan because they've been a franchise that was so terrible for so long, and they get this franchise quarterback. And now it feels like their finest moment was the blown 13 second game to the Kansas Chiefs.

And Philadelphia can certainly win anywhere. They could win at Dallas. They could win at Detroit. They could win at San Francisco. But these wins matter if you want to be the number one seed. Also, it's a team that has some age up front. Philadelphia could certainly use a week off. Jalen Hertz is, you know, like Travis Kelsey, Jalen Hertz, Jason Kelsey.

These guys, I don't think they're ever at even 90% at this point. So I think Philadelphia is a team that could use a week off. So this win is not just another W. you. It goes a long way in the NFC home field advantage race. Well, if they would have lost this game with the 49ers coming in with a lot of momentum, the extra couple days because they played on Thanksgiving, I would look at the NFC a lot different. Honestly, the Eagles, this game on Sunday does it. Like, they won the Chiefs game, they won the Bills game, they can lose the Niner game, whatever. I think the Niners play

the Bill, or excuse me, the Ravens. It's not like the Niners are just going to cruise undefeated, even if they beat the Eagles. So this game, honestly, with Detroit, leaking oil, probably borderline solidifies their spot as the number one seed, which is huge. We saw it last year. The Niners had to go to Philadelphia. It's a, that's, this is not Levi Stadium. I mean, it was rainy. It was cold. Not a soul in that stadium left it. The area embraces the ugliness. And it's just, they're now built the play like that, too. Yeah, Philadelphia could rest starters in the final week. And if they got to the Super Bowl, gets two weeks for the Super Bowl. So in, it really feels like a magical year for Philadelphia.

If you just keep winning games like this, there's a reason they do it. They're so situationally excellent. But it also, one of the things you worry about with Philadelphia is, oh, Hertz, is Jalen Healthy? They could rest starters absolutely in week 17. Yeah. As Detroit, as you said, leaks oil. San Francisco's also got some really tough games down the stretch and also Super Bowl. So like even in a, even in like a cosmic way, what they, if you could if you could literally take a

won and go, okay, give Philadelphia a couple of weeks to get rest and healthy. Because I think San Francisco has the best roster. But listen, if you told me San Francisco Philadelphia today, and it's in Philadelphia, I think it's one of the great games we've seen in recent years, but I'd have to lean Philly. I really would. You know, I saw your take last week about Jalen's composure and the way he acts in front of a press conference and how impressive he is. Doesn't that carry over to the way he plays? Yeah. Good, bad, or indifferent. I mean, he scores a game. when he touchdown, he acts no different than when he's got 20 yards in the first half. Meanwhile, his coach jumping up and down acting like an idiot, Jalen's the opposite.

I mean, let's face it, Sireani's a little over the top for my liking. But Jalen is actually much more coach-like in his mannerisms and the way he conducts himself as a player. You never, they score touchdowns, unfazed, not celebrating. If you're an Eagle fan, to have that Carson Went situation and to pivot to this guy, It's just, it's an all-time football heaven throwing you a bone move because that's a pretty special player. We could talk about a variety of things. I do want to talk about Sean Payton and what he's done for Russell Wilson. They are now the hottest team in the NFL.

And, I mean, we all know coaching matters. Nobody disputes that. But I'm watching them today. They have really figured out Russell Wilson. He can throw for 135 yards. He had eight rush. As you could tell very early in the game, Sean's like, Russ, there's going to be real limitations on throwing the ball down the field. I need you to run.

The game plan was clearly run the football, screen it, mitigate their pass rush with Cleveland. A lot of screens. Russ, anytime you can run. They were trying to keep the Cleveland defense as passive as they could on screens and Russell running, slowed him down a little bit. But as I watched that game, I think this is. Listen, we always knew that Sean Payton had a winning record with Bridgewater, Taysam Hill, Drew Brees. I don't know if he did with James Winston, but it was close. So he's won with different, stylistically different guys.

But Russell Wilson is absolutely, and I know this to be true, he's a difficult quarterback for Sean Payton. His style isn't Sean's, this isn't what Sean would hand pick, right? And so it's just different. I'm watching that game today, and I'm like, it is amazing when a quarterback plays to his strengths, how good suddenly Denver's roster looks. Simmons the safety, Sertan, DJ Jones in the middle. By the way, Mims can be wildly explosive. Cortland Sutton's always been talented. They'll get Dulcich back at Tide End, but their tight end made a great chance today. Williams and P. Rhine are really strong, very similar style backs. Both can catch. Old Line, I thought today did a pretty good job of protecting Russ, suddenly the quarterback play, you look around and you're like, oh, you know what, Denver's pretty good. How good are they do you think? Well, I mean, I think Russ these last couple weeks is carrying himself a little old school moving around. I mean, he had some runs today. You're like,

wow, where has that been, you know, when everyone was being critical last year and early in this season? To me, he's dramatically better. But I think what Sean's really proven is being a head coach is more than just being a play caller, right? We saw it with Nathaniel Hackett, who's proven not to be very good play caller either. Overwhelmed by everything else. Early on in the season, everybody had their mother saying, you advance Joe, 70 points,

you got to fire him. He was able to just kind of right out the storm. Locker room lawyer, some older guys with big money, probably doing who knows what to his younger players. Frank Clark, Randy Gregory, get out of my locker room. When you watch him the day,

Cleveland easily has been not just the best defense in the NFL, but the most physical defense in the NFL. Yes. I thought Denver was every bit as, physical flying around and crushing people. So he has maintained a level of improving Russell and getting Russell to just go more like he was in his younger days in Seattle. And the defense, which, again, Colin, they scored 20 points in the game and still lost by 50.

Like that could be a fireball offense on its own, but he stuck with him. You watch Vance Joseph right now these last couple weeks, their defense is playing really good. So that, you know, the Raiders are just, they're just okay. The Chargers, you can never trust. obviously the chiefs are going to be fine but you look at the AFC I mean I do not trust Pittsburgh at all I mean at one point in time in the game I thought

is this Mike Tomlin's last year like is this is this all she wrote for him you know he just fires a coordinator they're down early to Jake Browning Jake Browning's beating them now they ended up coming back and their offense looked a little bit better but no one cares how many yards you get when you score 16 points

right the point of the you got to score some points which you cannot trust them to do so yeah I mean I would say beside a couple teams in the AFC, which would obviously be the Chiefs and the Ravens, I don't think you can, I mean, look at the Browns today, right? They are supposed to be,

and they have been, even with the random quarterback play, easily one of the best teams in the AFC. Denver kicked their ass today. That was not a tight game. That was not Eagles bills going back and forward. That was, we are better than you shoving you around.

Yeah, and they're also, they're pretty lucky, again, they get the tight end back, so they're pretty lucky right now with their health. You know, and you start looking at the AFC is, you know, Kansas City will be ready to play. Baltimore hasn't had playoff success. We think they're excellent.

It thins out pretty quick. Neither one of us trust the Jags in a big spot or Houston. So you start looking at the AFC, we look at this power conference, and I'm like, Denver's style of play, John, defense is young and fast. They're running the ball. It's a screen run game. So that's kind of bulletproof against bad weather. And I look at them and I think, oh, I could see them going to Baltimore.

I could absolutely see them going. I take Kansas City out of it. But I mean, Miami. If Miami and Denver play today, I could see that being a completely ugly, you know, first of all, the pass rush Denver. The best pass rush are just tore as Achilles, Dale Phillips. So to me, I look at Denver and it's not crazy if you look at the moment. met him if they remain healthy outside of going to Kansas City or maybe Baltimore, they can play with anybody.

I will say this about Kansas City. And listen, you know, it's like Kerr and Curry. Like, you never feel bad about betting on those guys in a big game. It doesn't mean they're always going to win it, though. And I would say this about Travis Kelsey. I was talking to someone about this a couple days ago. He's kind of looked old this year. Oh, yeah.

You know, and part of it, he had knee injury right before the season started. He's had ankle injuries. He just kind of looks old. And this is the NFL where you don't always see it coming. I mean, he's one of the greatest players of all time. He's one of my favorite players to watch. But he's looked his age a little bit. And he's no long.

And their receivers are young. There was a report today. They've had to do some extra film work about some adjustments. That's a work in progress. Maybe he's just like Belichick and Brady didn't win the Super Bowl every year. Remember the Jets got him one year? They got taken down every once in a while. And maybe just this, even watching today against the Raiders, who I don't think are very good,

was a pretty tight game for a while. Now, the chiefs are ultimately better. They got a better coach and obviously a better quarterback. But you watch them, you go, I don't know. Because if Travis is no longer an A plus player and let's say he's a B, B minus player, well, the rest around there, they're so dependent on their defense, which is good. Yes. But, you know, you go against Lamar, you go against that.

Like, the game could get weird. And all of a sudden you just lose a 19 to 17 playoff game. And that's where I think they've opened themselves up to for the first time. To me, Travis, flying to Taylor and being in love, and it has nothing to do with that. He's a 34-year-old guy with a lot of miles on his body who's starting to get banged up and his game's very predicated on athleticism, right? The movement, speed, explosiveness. And it just feels like a step slow this year.

Yeah, and continuing on with the Chiefs and the Raiders, you're talking about an interim coach, an immobile backup quarterback. Yeah. And that game was 14, 14. And I, until about seven minutes left, until that big Rishi Rice touchdown, I was like, or that big play by him. I forgot if it was a touchdown, but it was like, yeah, it was a touchdown. He cut it back. Okay. And my takeaway was, it was a real game. And here's the thing about those players. So Watson's not a great athlete.

Rishie Rice is a great athlete, but he's inexperienced. Tony's more of a gadget player, who I don't trust, he's got very regrettable hands. So, and Sky Moore is just a guy. So you start looking around, they don't have a really, they don't have a number one. I think Rice to me feels like he'd be a really, really explosive two with like one talent, more of a two. And a lot of this stuff is that these guys come out of college, John. They're not always like Josh Allen. They're not always particularly well coached.

They don't have the route tree down. They just need time. I mean, tight ends historically struggle in year one. Some receivers, you know, the great ones like Jamar, Justin Jefferson can make an impact. In most cases, though, it's because the quarterback's really good, right? It helps to have borough or even a veteran like Kirk Cousins. But I just look at Kansas City, and I said this last week, they've moved into the second phase of the dynasty. The first phase is Mahomes is cheap.

They can play down 21, up 21. They look faster, smarter, and they have a ton of weapons. Phase two, they've entered. Travis Kelsey, their best player is wobbling. They've had to move off players because of Mahomes now is expensive. their defense is the best it's been. So they're now carried kind of by their defense. And so it's like phase two for the Patriots was no Super Bowls.

Now they got to them. They were close. But phase one was Tom was a game manager becoming a big time player defense. Phase two was the Randy Moss Welker, which was explosive, almost offensive led. And then phase three was Tom, Edelman, Gronk. he got his favorite weapons ever, excellent old line play, and it was a combination of they could be explosive, but they weren't as explosive as Moss, right? And I think with Kansas City, they're just not as explosive. They can't play down 21-0 to teams. So that's why, by the way, that's why,

if you've noticed, John, they don't experiment as much. They're pretty good on script early now, because I think they know. You know, I think initially with Patrick, you could roll the dice. I think they come in scripted. They need a lead. Well, I thought last year was going to be their transitional year. It turns out they won the Super Bowl. Yeah. But it turns out this year is, and I think this offseason, like, I think it's going to be very difficult for them to win the Super Bowl.

Doesn't mean they can't because their head coach is an all-timer and their quarterback's an all-timer. And if your defense is good, you can stay in games. And Andy's willing to run it. Why? He doesn't have a choice. I mean, Pacheco is easily a second-best offensive player. You could argue if Kelsey's not elite anymore. He's every bit as good as him.

at least impactful to the offense. So I think big picture in the offense, they're going to dress tight end in the offseason. Andy historically is always big game hunted. You know, he traded for Terrell Owens once upon a time. He always draft skill guys high. I think tight ends and wide receivers are you're going to be a huge point of emphasis for them this offseason because this quarterback's not going anywhere.

And the difference with Tom, right, they did get him Randy in his prime. But for the most part, he dealt with underneath wide receivers, loved it that way. Mahomes is a deep ball thrower. Like if you're going to make, if Diggs isn't on the team next year with Josh Allen, you're going to want a player that can get down the field because that is a massive strength and he's willing to do it. So I would expect them to be pretty aggressive this off season for getting more speed. But it's it's going to be difficult the way, you know, just their white.

You can only do so much. I don't care how great a coach Andy is to have these guys make plays. Like when Rice made that player, I got, I haven't seen a chief do this in a while. All right. I want to talk Jim Harbaugh in a second, John, but I do want to go back to. because of my, you know, from the Northwest, and you're a Niners guy. So we know San Francisco is really good, and you touched on it with Seattle, but Seattle's in a very interesting spot. So Chicago's going to get the number one pick via Carolina, and they're going to take Caleb Williams.

And so everybody is going to, Arizona is not going to keep that number. I mean, they may and take Harrison. I could see them keeping Marvin Harrison because he's so good, but I could also see them getting a boatload of picks and going and getting other receivers. I'm not sure which way they'll go. Harrison's so gifted, so Randy Moss, they probably do. And so the third team, there could be a bidding war for that. It's New England, whatever it is. New England's going to draft a quarterback.

But Seattle is one of those teams. They don't have a lot of holes on this roster. I could see, if I ran the Seahawks, I thought watching Gino Smith, who's, you know, regressed of the mean, he is what he is. He was, he bombed. People forget how badly he bombed in me. York. He was awful. Like, like, maybe not Zach Wilson bad, but he was awful. And so eventually, you know, people get a year of film on him. You know, you can see some of his teammates barking. People are getting frustrated. Seattle has enough depth at running back at wide receiver. I even think at corner. I wonder if Seattle just says, we're going all in, all in on getting up there and getting that quarterback, maybe Bow Nix. Or if New England, if New England, and took a bone nicks over Drake May. Because Seattle's one of those teams.

That's very hard to do, bring a rookie quarterback in and give up massive draft capital in players. But if Seattle said, we'll give you a, you know, we'll give you a DK. Metcalf. We got these two young receivers. We'll go draft another. It's a good receiver draft. We'll give you DK. Metcalf. We'll give you three number ones. I think it makes Seattle's got, they've drafted so well, John, for two straight years.

They've hit about eight home runs. I wonder if Seattle's. just says, we can give up some draft picks here. I've been getting text for years, and it's been reported back with the Josh Allen stuff, but over the last couple of years, John Schneider has been scouting these guys heavily. I mean, all the top quarterbacks, he sees live, which is not normal for general managers. And I think last year, they went into the season thinking, we're going to take one of these guys. And what happens?

Gino Career Year, throws 30 touchdowns. It was awesome. And they had a spot at what they drafted last year because of the trade. they were at number five. They easily could have got to three and taken Anthony Richardson, who would have kind of been their version of Josh Allen from years before. Remember that pissed Russell Wilson off when they were thinking about sniffing around, trying to get up and get him.

And they didn't do it. And I think they're not going to make that mistake again. And I'm with you. You remember, Tobitrov once upon a time, got from the 20s to get Julio Jones at six. Andy, once upon a time, came from the mid-20s, get up, I think 10 or 12, whatever Mahomes was. I think they're going to have to do. that because they are, the Niners are much better than them.

Yes. One major difference is Brock Purdy's better than Gino Smith. Yes. Right? So it's like you can't forever with Russell Wilson for whatever reason. Back to Harbaugh through Kyle, they kind of own the Niners. They beat the Niners all the time. Well, the Niners are now, including the playoffs, four in O in the last year and a half.

And most of those games have not felt that close. They've had moments in the game, but over the totality of the 60 minutes, the Niners have separated themselves. and they're kicking Gino's miss ass. And I think that was a big reason why the Rams kind of soured on golf is when you're not a super mobile guy and don't have a super high ceiling, the Niners pass rush can just engulf you. And Stafford helped, you know, obviously the Rams in that NFC championship game. Gino has not been able to overcome that.

And honestly, hasn't looked very good against them at all besides a moment, a drive here and a drive there. But the game, and ultimately, if you're them, you know, you're a couple of players away, probably for being a Super Bowl contender, but you have no chance to beat the 49ers to win the division who are probably going to run the table again and win the division by several games because of that player. So historically, they've been one of the most, what do you say them, Andy Reid, Howie Rosemant, more aggressive organizations. They haven't all moot worked, Jimmy Graham, Percy Harvin. Why the hell wouldn't they do that for a quarterback? So I'm with you. They have, you know, a D.K. Medcalf, maybe one of their corners, not the rookie, but they got a guy

that they could throw in there to also intrigue with maybe two ones. So just throw Hail Mary. Because without that position, you could have two DK.K. Medcafs and Gino Smith, you're probably getting bouncing the first round, no matter of one. Yeah, if you bring a rookie quarterback in, you don't want to do what Carolina did and have no receivers for Bryce Young. So what if you could, if you could draft somebody and get a DK. Metcalf comes in as your one.

If you've got other sort of pedestrian-wide receivers, that's ideal to me. Tom Telesco told me this. He goes, you don't want too many draft picks. You don't want to be too young. See, he goes, ideally, when you give up a lot, you'd like to get a veteran player, a productive player. Draft picks, even in the first round, 30% miss. So I think Seattle could give a team, you know, one of those teams in the top five or six and just say, here, we'll give you a star receiver. We'll give you our number two corner.

We draft very well. We develop well. Pete always has. And we'll give you two ones. That, to me, would be much more enticing than a million draft picks. I'm a huge believer and part of it is just the people that are coming out now in the draft are no longer look like Peyton Manning, Carson Palmer, and Tom Brady. Mobility is such a huge element in today's game.

You saw it on full display with Josh Allen and Jalen Hurts today. When you watch Brock Purdy, I don't think we give them enough credit for just mobility to keep plays alive. Yes. And, you know, when you look at the other teams, Seattle, Detroit that aren't, Dak Prescott can move. Jalen Hertz can move. Brock Purdy can move. I'm not talking, you know, Jalen runs more than Dak and Brock.

those guys extend the play outside the tackle, and usually you can't cover forever. You know, the receivers, these guys practice so many of these kind of, you know, scramble drills. You hit them. It feels like more than half the time on a big play. And if you don't hit them, you get a lot of past interferences. So to me, the mobility, and look at this draft class, right, Bo Nix, Drake May, all these guys who moved, even JJ McCarthy were to come out.

Caleb Williams, athlete. Pennix would be the one guy who's more of a throwback. And he throws such a beautiful ball, but it's just hard to draft a guy who's not a great movement guy in today's day and age, isn't it? All right. So I want to go back to a game on Thanksgiving,

which there's two stories on the Packers game and the Lions game. First of all, it's the second game in a row where Jordan Love had real life. And I think he's a player. Baker Mayfield's like this. Baker relies a great deal on confidence. And when Baker loses it,

he's not the same quarterback. Jordan Love clearly in the last two weeks. Now, I could argue it's the coaching and the secondary of the Chargers and the bad secondary for the Lions. It's a big part of that. But be that as it may, Green Bay has drafted very good young receiver tight-end talent. Excellent. From Musgrave, Watson, Dobbs. There's some really nice players here. So let's start with the Packers, and then we'll pivot to the Lions. I said this with Kenny Pickett. I feel like I see what he is. And I don't think you can. went big. Do you have a different opinion of Jordan love today, John, as a former scout? Yeah, listen. I mean, when you're a young player, you can only react to what you see. And early on, he was terrible. But looking back, you go, he hadn't really played football. The difference, though, is he was not a rookie, right? He had been in the league a little longer. So I think your expectations are a little higher, especially what you're used to seeing at that, those colors on a quarterback on that franchise. And he looked anemic. But these last two weeks, obviously, let's even throw the

charge your game away. Short week on the road, Thanksgiving. That's, you're a long way into the season. Your body's probably a little tired. Those first couple drives, Colin, Kenny Pickett, and let's you throw Mack Jones, who's worse than Kenny Pickett, they don't have the physical characteristics of this guy. Like, this guy does have a big power. Yeah, moves really well. Yeah, I mean, I tend to like, because I come from the Andy Reed School of the more physically gifted guys and try to figure it out. But those guys miss just as much as the low, you know, ceiling, high floor guys. But at least when a guy kind of hits like Jordan Love has been lately, you go, God, they might have some. God, they might be alive. What if they're actually kind of good? Because offensively,

they have a lot of speed outside, right? A lot of speed. An offensive head coach who's literally calling the play so he can impact the guy. Like ultimately, Mike Tomlin or Belichick, like they, they could yell at the quarterback. They could motor. motivate the quarterback, but they can't impact the play calling on a play to play basis. The head coach is in full control there. Him and Jordan, it's why you see, if you watch a Packer game, when it was going bad, now that's watching going good, those guys spend a lot of time together. So, yeah, I'm much more bullish on it because how could you not be?

If you just watched the last two weeks, whether you thought he was bad, which I did, you go, that guy looks like a really good quarterback. Now, can he maintain it into December? Time will tell. He gets a long break. He should be more rested this upcoming week, but there's no. disputing he has been he kicked their ass now they are not playing very well at all that secondary is a major problem it's hard i have to drop them above the other three teams obviously the niders

dallas and philly because they that's secondary like they they will get beat by any of those three teams pretty easily if that's the way they're going to play but this the nflb man Thursday night or Thursday morning in detroit it's a huge once the last time a home game we went in for detroit thinking ah they're easy they were a huge favor in that game and they got worked. The final score was not as close as what we witnessed. Well, and the other thing about Jordan Love is, you know, initially, I still think he's sort of an erratic thrower. He tends to be like a streaky shooter in the NBA. He's a little streaky. Like, he'll have, and sometimes I think the more athletic guys, Mahomes, this is certainly true. Lamar, it's true. Josh Allen,

it's true. They can go off into the weeds. They, like mechanically, when you're so gifted, like Brady had to be efficient with his mechanic. Like guys know who can be and who isn't. And so sometimes when I watch Jordan, he's a little loose. And I think because he got away with it in high school, college, probably gets away with it at practice. And you can see in games sometimes. He just gets away with it. But I will say this, when you watch a lot of these quarterbacks that don't work,

one of the things that just jumps out to you is they're just not gifted. There's not a lot of secret sauce there. Max. Right. Yeah, Jordan Love moves really well. I don't think he has a huge arm, but it's good on. but he moves easy. It's just very easy for him to drift outside and head up field.

And it's like, you know, that also, John, buys you for about two years, buys you time at the line of scrimmage, is running for first downs. Well, even if they don't make the playoffs this year, and I probably, I wouldn't put $1,000 on them right now to make the playoffs. But if he has two more of those over the next six or even two and a half, three games like that splits it, he's going to be their quarterback next year. And obviously they would win games. They would take themselves out of drafting the guys high. So I think he's already kind of borderline done that where he just could help them take a deep breath, keep loading up the team. On the flip side, one thing I wrote down on Thursday night, like, Gino was really impressive.

And the more we've got to know him as a starting quarterback, he's an easy guy to root for, how he conducts himself, just the way he's just handled the ups and downs of his career. He's just not good enough. And to me, ultimately, you know, at least with Jordan, I don't know if he is either, but he's young. There's a lot to work with. He's not making them. Now Gino makes a lot of money. So Seattle, it's been impressive how they pivot away from Russ and they've kept maintain.

Well, now they play the Cowboys on Thursday night. I don't know about you. I don't like them in that game. So all of a sudden, they're kind of leaking oil. And you go, it's not, they got talent everywhere now. They've done a good job of drafting. They already had some players when he showed up. But he's kind of their problem.

And they're going to win enough games where it's eight or not. maybe they're the seven seed. How are they going to get a quarterback? Hope to draft a guy in like the second round and keep their fingers crossed? So let's go back to Green Bay, Detroit, because with Detroit, I always felt like you become your coach. And so Dan Campbell is big and he's relentless and he's emotional. And I think that's great. But emotion doesn't equal wins.

And I think the first couple years with Dan, we were all blown away by his ability. The team played hard. I mean, they were flawed, but they played really hard. And I still think they played really hard. But we've seen a couple of moments that Baltimore game was embarrassing. This game was embarrassing where there is, I mean, you start looking around at the coaches that have rings, the Belichicks, the Andy Reads, the Sean McVease. There is an intellectual level, Sean Patens, that you start getting upstairs to the highest levels of these games, and they're all situational. And I just wonder, is Dan more emotion-driven?

There's nothing wrong with it. Pete Carroll can do some of that, but Pete's legendary for his meetings and situational football. This franchise to me right now, Detroit feels like have they emotionally peaked? Do they have a second gear? Well, I think there's two parts to the NFL. College is a lot about motivation once you have really good players. It's why once Urban got to Jacksonville, it was like none of that stuff matters. It's about the scheme because the NFL is a scheme game basically Monday through Friday, a game plan. You know, motivation when you're really a bad team, like what he took over matters. So when he got to Detroit, they needed some confidence. They needed a guy out in front willing to take it.

Well, these last couple weeks, you have enormous holes in your secondary. And the secondary, the schematics in the secondary are probably the most complex, most, you know, most people aren't very good at it, even in the NFL. Well, he can't impact it at all. There's nothing he can do. So as a head coach, he can motivate, he can stay on these guys. Mike Tomlin, same thing with his quarterback. He can't do anything. So it's like the motivation, you have to change your coverages, whatever that may be.

It's always been a point of differentiation when Bill and Tom work together is like Bill could impact schematically every position, every unit. Well, Dan, now they're going through a little adversity. They're good enough that they're going to end up winning some, you know, more than enough games to win the division and host a playoff game. But like, do you feel as good now about them in the first round of the playoffs? Definitely not in the second round. if they got to go on the road to, let's say, San Francisco. And to me it gets back to, I'm a Dan Campbell guy because I do think the people that believe in you matters to me. And Bill Parcells and Sean Payton were his two biggest proponents.

But he does have a flaw. Most offense, like Andy Reid doesn't know that much about defense in terms of relative to, I think, what the average person is going to think, why he needs a strong defensive coordinator. When you give him Spags, when you give him Jim Johnson, he's kicking a lot of ass, taking a lot of names. Well, now, because of personnel, some injuries, I don't really know. know what Dan can do, right? Because it's specialty, like, okay, motivate the D-line. But the secondary is more about

pure scheme. You know, it's all my mind versus your mind putting our guys in position and that's going to be a fatal flaw for them just moving forward because he doesn't have a pitch there. All right, so I want to talk some hardball.

I want to go in on Harbaugh. So let's do some Michigan, Ohio State. So the three best teams in my opinion in the country, and I And I don't think there's a great deal separating them, Georgia, Oregon, Michigan. I could argue, I think I would take Ohio State over Alabama and Texas, but it inches not feet. I just, I think Ohio State's a really good team. I thought they played really, really well.

They just couldn't make stops. And so, but here's my takeaway is that everybody wants to play that four team. Michigan, Georgia, and Oregon, they don't want to play each other first, like, right? You want to play that four team. And so my guess is Texas if they went out. Texas is your four because they beat Alabama and Alabama and should be. I would take Ohio State to beat him, but Ohio State lost late, Texas. Florida State?

See, I disqualify him for not having a quarterback and I think it's a weakest conference. And I know people get upset. But it's almost like, remember years ago in the NCAA tournament when Cincinnati, Kenyon Martin broke his leg before the tournament? And it's like, well, you're not a number one seat anymore because he was like one of the players of the year. you're not the same team. So a backup quarterback's not, I don't think, going to compete against Georgia,

Oregon, Michigan. And you can say whatever you want about that, but that's just the reality of it. I mean, the odds will change now. So if Florida State gets in, you and I, no, that's who all those teams

want to play first. They want to play Florida State first. But I was thinking about this. If you're thinking about Oregon, or let's just say it's Georgia and Michigan and they both went out, could I not make the argument that Michigan's ability, it's the duality of life, your weakness becomes your

strength, Michigan's ability to win two huge road games without their coach on the sideline actually would make me say, I think Michigan's number one, that in a weird way, it would get them the number one seat over Georgia. Is that crazy? No, that was a really impressive win yesterday. Because Ohio State, to me, one knock on Ryan Day, he's always kind I had this Chip Kelly, a little soft, right? A lot of offense. Defensively, they're dramatically better. But that was a very, very impressive loss.

I mean, his last two losses, Georgia and Michigan, obviously the Michigan game was a more physical game in terms of lower scoring. We're just, I have a little more respect for Ryan Day than some of these people say running out of town. He's, he's, they run a high level program clearly. But for Michigan to play like at multiple times in that game when it was tied, a lot of teams without their coach and their leader. Oh, that's right. have crumbled, especially their quarterback, had come into the game not playing well. There was a togetherness of the group. Now, they obviously have a lot of guys that easily could have gone to the NFL.

It's a very unique team. But that was as, now, they were at home. But to win that game, I have a hard time. George is clearly not as good. They're just not. You can't lose the caliber of NFL players for back-to-back years and be as good this year. It doesn't mean they haven't recruited at the highest level and they're not going to win more national championships. Nick Saban did.

win national championship every year. That's right. He skips some years. And to me, Oregon is pretty crazy that Washington can't remember the last time they lost a game, Colin. Definitely in the regular season, it's been a while. By the time that game kicks off, what are they going to be a 10-point underdog? Oregon is a nine and a half point favorite. So I made this argument.

I think Oregon's the best team I've seen. So of the three quarterbacks, Carson Beck, J.J. McCarthy and Bow Nicks. Bow Nix right now is the best of the three because of the system. Their offensive line is fantastic. They're big everywhere. They've got weapons. I think they're as well-coached the team. They don't fumble.

They don't have penalties. Today, I don't know what Vegas would say. I think Oregon's the best football team. I've seen them live twice. I've watched them on TV another two or three times. I think Oregon's the best team I've seen better than Michigan. I'll say this. J.J. played a lot better against Ohio State than he had the previous couple weeks.

just in terms of some enormous third and fourth down plays, made some plays with his legs, made some great passes into tight windows. Like that version, he probably, he's going to have to be better than that to win a national championship, but was closer to the guy that I think through the early half of the season when they were playing,

you know, the school of the blind and who knows who, people were talking about him as a first round pick. He showed flashes again and clearly outplayed the Ohio State quarterback. To me, Oregon has just been consistently the best team start to finish, that they have had no hiccups. Because even their loss, you went,

God, they were incredible. It was just a fourth down play. They easily could have. I think, are we underestimating Washington a little bit, though? Because defensively, they've been a lot better the last couple weeks. Offensively, they're so predicated on the past that scares you a little bit. The balance isn't always there. But I do wonder, because I think everyone in their mother is going to pick Oregon

and hammer them 10, 11 point as a favorite. Could the game be a little close? There are going to be a lot of Washington fans there. This game, I think it was sold out like three weeks. weeks ago. So it's going to be bananas. I'm going to the game. No, I think what Washington does is they have an ability to have a bad half trail anybody, Michigan, Texas, Oregon, Georgia, by 21, and never be out of it. Because a dunzee is a great receiver. He'll be a first round guy. They have two other NFL receivers, probably second, third round guys. So they have an effective

tight end. They get good pass protection. Now, panics, I thought, was really off. But again, Northwest, cold. It was, it's not, you know, he played at Corvallis in a rainstorm. And then, you know, on a short time, he comes back in a huge, by the way, all these underdogs, Auburn against Alabama, you know, Ohio State was an underdog to Michigan. Listen, the underdog always has an advantage emotionally. You're just banging the drum all week. Nobody believes in us. So Washington State, Cam Ward played a great, a couple of great throws. Washington has the ability to be out. played and win. I thought they were outplayed by Oregon. And they just won because, I mean, they, listen, in the NFL outside of the Jets, nobody has two elite corners. Well, in college, forget about it. And so if you have three NFL receivers, John, they're just, they just have matchup. Even Oregon was, was blanketing them. And the guys made catches. So I think Washington has the ability, and this is not all college good teams have this. They can play poorly. and win because of their passing offense.

I do think back to Florida State, and listen, I follow the program closely. I know their GM well, they've put together, they have an NFL roster. Their backup quarterback also got knocked out. So the third stringer came in by the end of the game. I do think because next year is going to the 12 team, if the 14th playoff was just going to be, let's just say, at minimum another decade going, it would be hard for them to do, because then it would set the precedent of leaving, you know, undefeated Power 5 team out. I do wonder if the 12 team next year, it's easier for them just to go, listen, your third-string quarterback's in, you're no longer the same team.

Because I think that would be pretty controversial, right? Because a lot of people were saying, well, what if Alabama, who easily could have lost? I mean, took great throw by Milro, but they did not deserve to win that game. Obviously, it's going to be difficult for them to beat Georgia. But what if they do, then everyone's going to be, does Alabama and Georgia, then all the SEC haters get involved? Well, Texas beat Alabama. Now, you could say that's week three. but still what's the point of the games?

They played the game and they beat them. Yeah, if Georgia loses to Bama, and I think it's Georgia wins, because I think Carson Beck's the best quarterback they've had in this run, then I would not have an SEC team in. And by the way, Georgia loses late, Alabama lost at home. I've always looked at how do you lose? Like Oregon losing on a last second field goal on the road in which they outplayed a team, arguably, that's a great loss early in the season.

Alabama losing at home is not a good loss. No, it's close. Yeah, they got pushed around. So it does matter when you lose, how you lose. Like, I think if Ohio State had lost to Michigan four weeks ago, I could make an argument. I think they're better than Texas and Bama. I would have no problem putting Ohio State in as long as they didn't have to play Michigan again. If they met Michigan in the national.

Because years ago, LSU and Bama met again in the national championship. And so I think it's a disadvantage for Michigan. Michigan would fight against it. it's not good for them. But I just, things change. The reality is Florida States now on a backup to a backup in a week conference, I don't buy it. One story I always find funny is when a guy, you know, kind of gets in some hot water in college with the NCAA or, you know, weird stuff going on. And people go, would the NFL still be interested in him?

Like when Pete Carroll left, it's like the NFL does not care one iota about some Marine with a phone at Iowa Nebraska. They haven't thought more than 10 seconds about it. Just like when Pete Carroll had who knows what doing what. They didn't cross their mind for once. Chip Kelly was in trouble left. No one cares. Harbaugh's value to me is higher than ever, I would say. It was down a couple years ago.

He's definitely got it back because they're running an NFL program. Honestly, Ryan Day really impressed me. That was an impressive outing by Ohio State because they had got the knock. and I know he freaked out at Lou Holtz earlier in the season. They were soft. I don't think it was, you know, uncalled for by people questioning their toughness. And they're a much tougher program. I mean, they were right there with Michigan.

Now, can you lose to a rival when you have the highest payroll for a coaching staff when their head coach is at home in his shorts, eating a hot dog? That's a tough. It's one thing to lose the hard boss straight up, right? I think it's hard to lose to the O-line coach who's 37 years old. These Ohio, these people pay so much. much money. It was kind of another take I have is, listen, I understand for Casey Wasterman is a very

successful individual and for whatever reason loves Chip Kelly. But they had the opportunity. They're going to the Big Ten now to get rid of him and hire Jonathan Smith, who I think every Power 5 AD and every Power 5 head coach would say Jonathan Smith in 2020 is a much better coach than Chip Kelly. Well, Michigan State, who they're going to start playing and is in the, gets that guy, which I don't blame Jonathan Smith. Oregon State and Washington State.

did everything right over the last decade, and they got screwed, the economics of the sport, whatever. But he had to leave even though, but they upgraded the coach. I mean, to me, that's a solid addition by Michigan State. And to me, UCLA,

he got, I watched a decent amount of that game before I went to sleep. Cow kicked his ass. And let's face it, Cal plays a lot like a Big Ten team. You know, physicality, what he handles Lincoln?

Well, what's Lincoln? More of a spread Big 12th team. I don't know. I think that Chip Kelly's lost three or four, some bad loss. is Colin. All right, John Middlkoff, three and out at The Volume. Great seeing you as always, John. Appreciate it. Yeah, happy Thanksgiving, Colin. See you soon. The Volume. November is here. We are in the heart of the football season. Hockey and basketball just starting up. Best way to get tickets to any of these

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