The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Middelkauff – 3 and Out - Brees over Manning all-time?; Time's up for Mike McCarthy; Don't write off Philly

Episode Date: October 9, 2018

Subscribe here to the 3 and Out with John Middlekauff Podcast https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/3-and-out-with-john-middlekauff/id1352730623?mt=2. 3 and Out with John Middlekauff is part of the Colin Cowherd Podcast Network. 3 and Out is an unfiltered podcast covering the biggest stories in the NFL and college football. John brings his unique perspective as a former NFL scout, NFL analyst and radio host. In this episode, John gives his takeaways from Drew Brees’ record setting MNF performance, if he's surpassed Peyton Manning on the all-time list, why Green Bay needs to move on from Mike McCarthy, and why the Eagles aren't dead yet. John also answers listener questions from the Middlekauff Mailbag. Follow John on twitter @JohnMiddlekauff and go to theherdnow.com to find the latest content. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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signals to the world that you not to be played with. And just because you have the capability that does not mean that you need to. Listen and learn the hard way on the AHA radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. What's up, everybody, John Middlecock, three and out podcast, back at it again. I usually wait until the Monday Night Football game is over. They've been pretty good the last couple weeks. I'm currently looking up 4319.

I'm actually about to change this channel to the Warriors game. this is a blowout. I'm going to get into Drew Brees. He obviously had a historic night. Some thoughts on Mike McCarthy. And, you know, I know we talk a lot about Jason Garrett and some different coaches that are on the hot seat. But let's dive into old Mike McCarthy there with the Green Bay Packers.

Cam Newton and just Carolina is just always a topic of conversation that I know people like talking about. So we'll talk about the Panthers. I don't think the Eagles are dead. and then a little bit about Jerry Jones and Jason Garrett. But first off, I got to thank my friends at Seekek, who are a big part of this podcast. Getting tickets online can be far too complicated with hundreds of sites

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Seekek, it's a life's an event. We have the tickets. Drew Breeze took out Peyton's records tonight for yards. It was pretty cool. Right before halftime. It was really cool. I mean, it was just a very, very cool sports moment.

Anyone, regardless of who you're a fan of, would I think agree with that. And one of the great sports arguments in just one of just the great arguments in American history. Now, football is not as, hasn't been going as long as America's been around since 1776, but you know where I'm getting at, is arguing over what quarterback is better. I would say over the last four or five years, Brady has basically cemented.

Like, there is no argument anymore with Brady and Montana. Listen, I'm a northern California. I grew up a Niners fan. It ain't an argument anymore. Brady won Montana too. Then I think the next, like, five or six guys, you know, let's just go. Listen, I can't go back of like, you know, the, the, the, the, the, the autographs, and hell, even the Roger Stalbucks of the world.

Like, I can't, I don't feel comfortable commenting on them. So, of the eight, starting in like the early 80s, you know, you'd have, obviously, you go Brady, Montana, and then I think there would be an argument to be made for Marino, Elway, Manning, Rogers, Farf. And a guy that probably doesn't get talked about, and I was a sucker for Steve Young, but those guys were better. that when you talk about these names of the last 40 years of football, those 7-8 names, Drew Breeze's name rarely comes up.

And I think if you went the last 25 years, you'd go, most people would take Brett Farve. No, I'd say Drew Breeze is a better player, a more consistent player. Now, Brett Farv's higher end, in his peak, in the peak of his powers when he won three MVPs, he was a better player in Drew Brise. But check out Drew Brees' consistency. And here's the other thing with Drew Brees. And listen, I am a Brett Farrv guy. But Drew Brees just isn't putting up these hollow numbers in the fake NFL.

He's been doing this for like 10 plus years, four bills in games. I went back to 2011. The second round of the NFC Divisional Championship against the Niners at Candlestick. They had the number two overall defense. Justin Smith, Alden was a rookie, Willis. Bowman. Team was stacked. They had just signed Carlos Rogers. They had Derek, or I mean, Amad Brooks.

They were, Ray McDonald, their defensive front seven was unreal. They had Dante Hittner. They still had Goldson. They would light you up. Drew Brees threw for over 460 yards against them and four touchdowns. And obviously they lost. I remember Vernon Davis had a walkoff touchdown. And really they had an, Harbaugh had an unreal quarterback power play call.

But Drew Breeze has been throwing up these video game-like numbers back when you could, back before we ever talked about CTE, back before where you just shook off concussion. So again, I would take him start to finish over a Brett Farr. Rogers, that one, I think Rogers a better player than Farrv. I probably, you know, just talking in a vacuum, I take Rogers, but football's not played in a vacuum. Like one thing, I tweeted this tonight during the game, like I would say behind, Beside Tom Brady, Drew Brees is the greatest teammate of this era. And people go, what about Peyton Manning?

Peyton Manning was notoriously a pain in the ass to play for. He drove offensive guys nuts. He ran practice. He ran practice like Nick Saban. It was not easy to play with Peyton Manning. Now, you won a lot. And I think here's another argument. I tweeted this out a poll just because I already know my answer,

and I saw most people picked who I would have picked. If you had to play a big game, I'm talking a big game, like playoff game. Because everyone would take Tom Brady over both of them. Because the Peyton Manning, Tom Brady argument ended it anymore. Why don't we talk more about Drew Brise versus Peyton Manning? Peyton Manning won two Super Bowls, but his second Super Bowl was gifted to him by a defense. The Super Bowl he lost. Guess who beat him?

His name was Drew Breeze. If I had to play a playoff game and my teams were the same, I'd take Drew Breeze over Peyton Manning. And I think Peyton Manning's one of the great all-time quarterbacks I've ever seen. Like, Drew Breeze is now breaking his records. I think there's a chance, and I don't think, we never talk about this, because it just feels like it's assumed Peyton Manning's the better player, that everyone would rather have Peyton Manning.

Well, I'm watching a night thinking, Drew Breeze doesn't even look like he's close to slowing down. His team is really good. Last year, he was unreal in the playoff game against Cam. Then the next round, he was unreal against Minnesota. Obviously, the defense blew it, the whatever that, you know, the miracle at the Minnesota, whatever the hell they call it. He should have been in the NFC championship game. It was not his fault.

Like I just gave you those stats, he went 40 of 62 against the 49ers, 460 yards and 4 touchdowns. That's what he did. In 2011. So it wasn't his fault. They lost that game. All those years of his defense being an just abomination of a joke. I mean, terrible. and he's also played in division that's been pretty good.

That's one thing. Peyton Manning's division was never that good. It just really wasn't. The Texans got good toward the end. They were mostly shitty. The Titans had a couple good moments, but Jeff Fisher was their coach. McNair and Eddie George were good there in the mid-2000s.

The Jaguars mostly were not good. You look at Drew Brees' division. The Carolina Panthers, like six of the last seven years, have made the playoffs. The Atlanta Falcons have been to one Super Bowl and they went to another NFC championship. Tampa's been terrible. But those two teams have been pretty good. So I, and then Drew Breeze in the playoffs ran into the 49ers.

Last year ran into Minnesota. Like he's running into some pretty good teams. And I just think that the natural reaction from a casual fan would be, oh, Peyton Manning's better. Just are we sure? because Rogers is a tough argument because Rogers is more talented than Brady I even think in that new Brady Belichick book

or not Brady Belichick book but the Belichick book by Ian O'Connor that Brady even mentioned to someone like Rogers is way more talented than me but there's more to football than talent and that's to me like Drew Breeze encompasses and Peyton did too this isn't trying to take shots of Peyton Manning

I just kind of started thinking tonight watching this game like Am I sure? Because I would have always said, oh, Peyton Manning. Yet I would take Drew Breeze if I had to win a playoff game. I might need to reevaluate some things. Again, I grew up on Steve Young, love Steve Young. Drew Breeze is better.

Brett Farv's peak is better, just like Brett Farth's peak was better than Steve Young's. But Drew Breeze had a better career when it's all said and done. He just did it longer, more consistently. It just, it was, you know, he had no defense. Rogers, it's going to be difficult for Rogers to have the better career, though I think anyone that watch with our eyes will say that Rogers was the better player. I don't know if that's necessarily going to be right. This really is, you know, one of the great arguments of all sports,

whenever you're talking about these top quarterbacks. And I think the one thing that Monday night did, because really the numbers, I don't even know what that means, 71,000 yards or 500 times, it doesn't mean shit in football. This isn't baseball. We're like hitting 300 matters, hitting 50 home run matters, you know, getting to certain benches. Numbers don't mean anything.

We mainly just judge you off championships, playoff wins, and an eye test. Like, I got an eye test for you. Alex Smith's not that good. You know, he's just kind of a better version of a guy. Like, you're watching him away from Andy Reed. He's nothing. He's just, he is what he is. Like, Drew Breeze is just, I can't even.

explain what I watch. It's a guy that's barely six feet, can't run, doesn't have that grade of an arm that is just pinpoint accurate. And who's been pinpoint accurate now for like 12 plus years. It's just, it really is remarkable. And I think we need to give him as due and talk about him, you know, at the level of the Peyton Mannings of the Aaron Rogers, hell, of the Elways and Marinos, because he ain't going anywhere. who's to say they couldn't win a champion. What if Drew Breeze ends with two championships? One of them he beat Peyton Manning.

The other, let's say he beats, I don't know, Tom Brady this year. He's been in the playoffs countless number of times. All these wins, all these records. Like, get ready. We all know he's going to Canton one day, but I think we all need to reevaluate where he sits on the quarterback pantheon of all-time great players. Well, I woke up Sunday morning,

and like the first thing I'd do, my birthday Saturday, so I went pretty hard. So I woke up a little late. Now, I kind of cruised right in. The good part about living on the West Coast is if you sleep in a little bit on Sunday, you can just kind of cruise right into the games at 10 a.m. And because the way, you know, in the Bay Area, we got two teams. Usually they have them staggered.

But for some reason this year, the Raiders and Niners play a lot at the same time. So the Raiders and Niners games were both at 1 o'clock. That means I only get one game. you know, on Sunday morning, which is fine because I'll just throw red zone. So I threw red zone on my main TV and had the other game on the other TV. Well, it turns out the other game was terrible. It was a Green Bay Packers. And they looked atrocious.

And Aaron Rogers was terrible in the first half. But my big takeaway was, God, their offense is unimaginative. God, their offense is bland. God, they need a coaching change. They fired longtime general manager. I don't know if he was a quote-unquote officially fired, demoted, however you want to say it. He had earned, he had won those Super Bowl as a GM. He had a fantastic career, a lifetime football guy in Ted Thompson.

But Brian Gutikins became the general manager this offseason. And a lot of people were tweeting at me, and there is no arguing it, that of all the teams in football that just need a breath of fresh air, like we'll get into the Cowboys a little bit later. you know, and again, we can talk about Jason Garrett all day. I don't think there's a team that is more in need of just a jolt of a new voice. They feel like they're at that point in a relationship. I've never been married, so I've been in a lot of relationships that did not lead to marriage.

You usually know. And for the most part, you know, you usually know right away. That doesn't mean you can't date someone for a long time and have a great time, just have a long-term relationship, even if you know you're not going to marry them and have it be a great relationship. I've had a lot of those, where I've had long relationships with people that were fun.

But usually when you know, you know, like there becomes a moment in every relationship, even if you know right away that you might not marry them, and you have like a two or three or five-year relationship with that person, that there comes a breaking point. And I think coaches, when the guys had success, just like a relationship when they've had good times, you probably hold on a little longer than you should.

Last year, when Rogers went down and they had groomed Brett Hunley, who, let's face it, Brett Hunley's not a very good player, but McCarthy had no shot, like none. And watching that game on Sunday morning, a little hungover from my couch, I'm just, I looked at the Packer game probably a little different than I have in a long time, just because I watch so much now Sean McVease what flips doing in Minnesota

just with their packages obviously Andy Reed what he's doing in Kansas City I watch Kyle Shanahan every week even though they're terrible just his just his imagination and ability to just do different things

with different looks and different personnel groups and I go Mike McCarthy it feels like he's living in like 97 now again they've been able to bandaid this stuff over the years because they have an all-time great quarterback. But I think we knew last year it was time.

And I think you know now it's time. And as people were tweeting at me on Sunday, like, is he low-key on the hot seat? I don't even think it's low-key. If they miss the playoffs he's done, I'd even argue you should approach the Packers a little bit like an NBA team. Like even if you make the playoffs, you know, if you don't win the whole thing, he should be gone. If you weren't to win the NFC, he should be gone.

Like the last year for Mark Jackson, he made the playoffs with the Golden State Warriors. They went to game seven of the first round. He was fired like the next day. And it was 100% the right move. And I'm not comparing Mike McCarthy to Mark Jackson at all. Mike McCarthy is a really good NFL coach. His resume speaks for itself. But the time has come.

For Mike McCarthy and for the Packers. I saw it firsthand with Coach Reed. He just needed a change. And it's the best thing that ever happened to him. He's gone to Kansas City. All they've done is kick ass. and now he is Patrick Mahomes. Looks like he's going to probably win a Super Bowl in the next five years.

But it's time. And if I'm Brian Gutikins, these next three or four years of Aaron Rogers Prime, and he's clearly not an easy guy to deal with. And I would imagine Mike McCarthy would tell you that. And just like Aaron probably tell you the same with Mike McCarthy, they butted heads. But it feels like it's starting to limit them

and inhibit and stop them like there's a ceiling on this team and there shouldn't be. This offseason, they're going to have multiple first round picks. They're going to have Aaron in year two of this just historic contract. They got Devante Adams in his prime. They do have a good stable of young running backs. They can always find offensive players.

They should use both draft picks on defensive players. And they're going to need a pass rusher. And eventually they got a bunch of young corners. Like this team in the next couple years should be able to win a Super Bowl again. But you need to find a Sean McVeigh at Kyle Shanahan, a young Andy Reed. you need that now because the McCarthy thing has run its course. And most Packer fans, I think, would tell you, even if they've been mad at McCarthy over the years,

like last year was the year they 100% knew it. And when you know it, you usually should do it. But most of the time, like Andy Reid got an extra year in Philadelphia. We had a letdown year in 2011. Well, he got 2012. And then it was a disaster. And he was hired the next day by the Kansas City Chiefs. Like I think Mike McCarthy would be hired immediately by an NFL franchise.

And it would be the best thing to happen to him professionally. Sometimes just moving on and getting a fresh start is healthy. It helps you think. I'm not saying that Markarthy is not a good coach. I think he is. I would hire Mike McCarthy if I was an NFL team. Because I think it would rejuvenate him. And he just needs a fresh start.

The Packers need a fresh start. It is just time. You could not have watched that game Sunday against the Detroit Lions and just thought, God. And again, like I'm watching the Detroit Lions who have an exceptional offense. Jim Bob Cooter just feels more in touch with what's going on offensively than Mike McCarthy. So maybe McCarthy just needs to take a year off, just reevaluate some things. Because this is, I think the Green Bay Packers are in grave danger of just missing the playoffs this year.

While I would not count them out because a quarterback's too damn good and he looks a lot healthier, They're already two, two, and one. They do play the Niners this week, so that's going to be an easy win. They're going to rattle off some wins and compete to get 10 wins. But I think regardless, and I wonder if Gutikins is already thinking this, that, like, win or lose, this guy's done. Let's talk about my guys at LinkedIn before I get into Jerry Jones that actually might need to use LinkedIn to hire his next head coach.

A lot of people that listen to this run businesses at their, whatever company you work for, you're in charge of hiring people, and we all know I've done it before, helped hire people. It's probably the hardest thing to do in any company because hiring the right person is incredibly hard. But there's a tool that makes it so, so much more incredibly easier. And that's LinkedIn. It's the world's largest professional network. People go to LinkedIn every day to grow professionally and discover job opportunities. 70%. I repeat 70% of the U.S. workforce is already there. This way, your job gets seen by the right people.

Most LinkedIn members haven't recently visited top job boards, but nine out of ten of them are open to new opportunities, so you can only reach them on LinkedIn. Hurry, listen, you go to LinkedIn.com slash john, J-O-H-N, LinkedIn.com slash john, and get $50 off your first job post. That's LinkedIn.com slash John to get 50% off your first job post. LinkedIn.com slash John terms and conditions apply.

Now, speaking of job posts, one job that I think everyone in the country, I saw, I think we talked about it on the last podcast, that like four of the highest 15 games so far in the month of September were cowboy games, the game Sunday Night Football against the Texas, that the Cowboys lost in overtime. I think highest rated Sunday night game. I just saw Floreo tweeted it on Pro Football Talk since like 2015. Cowboys moved the needle.

Cowboys are really important to the league. And right now they have a problem. Because a little different in Mike McCarthy. McCarthy has accomplished way more than Garrett. I think it's pretty clear. Jason Garrett is just not a great head coach. He's just pretty blah. I like the guy.

He's a high level, really smart guy. Clearly, Jerry loves the guy, probably more than 99% of cowboy fans wishes he did so that he'd get rid of him. But I'll say this. I lost my dad this year, who was in his mid-70s. And the one thing I noticed, especially probably the last five years of his life, once you get over 70, like, first off, when you get old, hell, I'm 34. I don't do change that well. I know that it's the healthiest way to just, you know, have success.

in life, you have to be open to change. You have to be willing to adapt. But we're all humans. Like, changing is never easy. So sometimes I have to force myself to change. But I've seen it having parents that are older. Change is not going to happen very easily. Especially, and I can't even speak to anywhere near, like, Jerry Jones's level of success.

Like, Jerry thinks he's smarter than you. And he thinks he's smarter than every fan. Plus, let's call it what it is. And I know people are like, Jerry's got to freak out, because he's got to try to win a Super Bowl before he dies. I do think that Jerry thinks about that, but he also thinks like he's got a pretty good gig right now with Jason Garrett. He can tell everyone in the organization everything that he wants them to do,

from his sons to Jason. And it's pretty seamless. Like they know exactly what makes him tick. If Jerry were to fire Jason Garrett in this season or at the end of the year, like for a guy that's been said, now, Chris has a ton of energy. Jerry is still a business killer. but the head coach of his team probably does create some stress for him.

He has consistently shown when he likes you, he sticks by you. Because it's the one thing in his life, like the business of the Cowboys is going to make so much money. He doesn't have to worry about that now. And when he does change a coach, that is pretty stressful. Finding a new guy, he's going to work with that guy on a daily basis. Like, you think he wants to relearn, like, new vernacular from another coach? I'm not saying it's wrong. Like, they clearly need a new.

head coach. They clearly need new blood in that organization from a schematical standpoint. But I think that most people think and don't quite understand, like Jerry Jones doesn't want to go through that again. Jerry Jones probably gets on his knees. He has more money than 99.9% of the super rich could ever envision having. His franchise in the most important league in one of the most public businesses in the world is the most lucrative. It's worth the most. It does the most revenue. It does the highest television ratings. It's just the most relevant. And even though it shouldn't be, they're not very good. But he knows that. I mean, that's part of his ego.

And for him, like, the stresses he has to have of just thinking about replacing a Jason Garrett, even if he thought, like, what if I could find the next Sean McVeigh? Well, still that transition of learning a new Sean McVay, learning how they tick, that guy learning how he ticks, obviously his family runs a huge part of the Cowboys, is probably not something Jerry wants to do. And again, Jason Garrett deserves to lose his job. He stinks. He's terrible. But we all know people, whether it's your grandparents, whether it's you listening, probably not you listening, because most of my demo skews a little younger, but whether it's your parents,

when they get in their 70s, whether they're a multimillionaire, whether they just blue-collar normal guy, whoever they are, that is not the time of their life when they're just open to change. Even if things aren't going well, they'll just like screw it,

I'll go down on the ship. Now, you could argue like 75, 80 is the new 68. But Jerry's pretty weathered SOB. I mean, I think he drinks a lot. he gets after it. Now, somehow, I don't know what pills he's taking, but he sure is how has a lot of energy, and it ain't just coffee. But I think Jerry is dreading the day of firing Jason Garrett. I think it's one of the things in his life that brings him just great stress. It would have to be. Because I can't imagine at that age thinking of like, I don't want to start over. And what if we

got to take even a step back to take two steps forwards in three years? And he might be thinking, I might not even be around. That I don't think Jason Garrett's a lot to get fired this year. I think it's really the last thing Jerry wants to do. Jerry is open to doing business deals till the cows come home. But this is the one business deal. And again, it does kind of make sense when you just think about it at his age. Like if you're Stephen Jones,

Stephen Jones probably wouldn't hesitate if it was his call. Let's get a new coach in here. But it's not Steven's call yet. As long as Jerry's heart still ticking and he's still walking, walking around, he'd a boss of that place. And he's got the final say. Now, he may let Stephen overwrite him when it comes to taking Johnny Mansell and they'll take an offensive lineman or, you know, whatever.

But I think when it comes to the head coach, that ain't something that Jerry's going to do that whatever he wants to do. And for whatever reason, and I think I know whatever reason, it's not because I think he thinks Jason Garrett is Vince Lombardi or Bill Parcells. I think because it's easy for Jerry and it's just something that Jerry feels comfortable with which beside him, and the quarterback is the most important guy of his team.

Like you get a new coach in, what if that coach doesn't like Dak? What if that coach wants to trade that? You see it all these places all over the league. New coaches come in, they want to change things. It's just a natural coaching environment. They want their players from previous stops.

I don't know if Jerry wants to go through with that. And that's why I think Jason Garrett, even on a terrible season this year. Could win five or six games. Somehow survives in 2019. A couple of things really quick before we get in the Middilkopf mailbag. I've never been the biggest Cam Newton guy. I'm not the biggest fan of roller coaster rides when it comes to my quarterback.

I like a guy to be just, even if you're slow and steady, just get me to the end, you know, of the finish line. And Cam Newton is just one of the all-time great roller coaster rides. NFL history because I will not dispute when Cam is on. He is as talented as anyone in the NFL. A good Cam Newton game can beat Brady, can beat Breeze, can beat Rogers. I mean, last year he went toe to toe with Breeze. He's awesome when he's on. The problem is he's liable to throw two or three picks in a game.

For the most part this year, he's been pretty under control. He did throw a couple picks against the Giants, kind of kept him in the game. But I got to give Camas do. he's playing a lot better. He's also better. Like the one thing is, like when Peyton or Breeze or Rogers, like they don't need a good running game. They don't need a good defense.

Like Cam does. Cam, you know, to consistently be on a good team. And this year, right now, I looked it up because I was like, well, I know just watching and play, he's playing well, but how's their running game doing this year? Well, they're averaging five yards of carry right now. which is top five in the NFL. They're averaging 154 yards per game,

which is number one in the NFL right now. So as we've seen, and Cam's a part of that because Cam runs. But Christian McCaffrey has been a, you know, much closer to the guy they thought they were getting, you know, when they drafted them in the top 10, than the Christian McCaffrey that we saw last year. And it's a big difference. It's been what you'd want out of drafting a guy, you know, in the top 10.

they're also good on defense. They are, they're scoring, their scoring defense right now is right around 10th at, I think it's like 11th or 12th at 22 points a game. But overall points, they've given up 91 overall points, which is in the top 10. And they gave up 31 points on Sunday.

So the number skewed a little bit. They've been playing good defenses. Like I don't care anymore in 2018, how many yards your defense gives. up. Belichick always believe that. Who cares about how many yards? You could average the most yards per game. Well, if you're scoring defense in the top 10, who cares?

You can score, get yards on me all day long. Do I not allow points? That's the point of the game. And the Carolina Panthers, I'm telling you, are kind of built to last. They are not going to go away. You're going to look up and they're going to win 11 or 12 games. And Cam's just slow and steady. They can run the ball and they can play defense.

Now, are they going to win the NFC? I don't like them as much as L.A. I don't like them as much as New Orleans. I think Chicago, the Carolina would just have such an advantage against the Bears in a playoff game at quarterback. But the Chicago Bears defense would give Cam trouble. I probably like them more than any NFC East team. So I think the Carolina Panthers are a playoff team like they were last year. And they would be in the playoffs six, I think, of the last seven years.

Ron Rivera, I mean, he makes a playoffs all the time. It might be one of the more underrated coaches in the NFL. never talk about Ron Rivera. But keep on, North Turner, that has been a good hire for the Carolina Panthers. Like, I think the Panthers, it's kind of weird. They're flying under the radar right now, and they're playing pretty good. One team that's not flying under the radar, and they never do is the Eagles. Obviously, they're defending champs, but they're one of the more talked about teams in the league

pretty consistently, especially Carson wins. Right now, they're not playing well. They're two and three. They have a million injuries. Today it came out the JHAI Tours ACL. They also redid Fletcher Cox's contract

to gain like six or seven million dollars of cap space and then Schaefter said well it's not because they're going to go after Leveon Bell but trust me I've known Howie Roseman now a long time I have obviously like any fan follow

his career just the way he operates and he is a wheeler and a dealer and they just didn't do that randomly I don't have this is not inside info I don't know. If Schaeffer said they're not going after Levion Bell, they're not going after Levion Bell,

but they got something up their sleeve. I would also just not count them out. The NFC stinks. You saw the Washington Redskins and I actually think are okay, but their ceiling is limited with Alex Smith's the quarterback. The New York Giants are in shambles. They're one in four, and Eli Manning's their quarterback. And the Dallas Cowboys just suck.

Their defense is good, but their offense is just meh. And Jason Garrett is meh. So the Eagles are going to. to win that division. I am pretty confident on that. They're going to get guys back on offense. Carson Wentz is also just going to play better. I think the Eagles are going to be fine when it's all said and done. They still have the best quarterback in the division. People forget this because the day and age we live in that you just kind of like discount ACL injuries. Carson Wentz tore his ACL last year. And not like last year in the summer. Last year at like the end of November,

it might have even been early December. It really, it's kind of crazy that he just came back so seamlessly. And when I've watched him, it's like, yeah, he's had some hit and miss plays. But for the most part, given coming back off a major injury, I've been pretty impressed, especially on a team that, I mean, Alsa Jeffrey when he got back was not around. The running backs were all hurt. He still has Zach Ertz and Nelson Aguilar. But Lane Johnson has not been the same guy.

Carson wants to have been getting destroyed back there. And I give him somewhat of a pass in the Minnesota game, not just Carson, but the entire team. Like, Minnesota was one, two, and one, if they lost that game and went one, three, and one with Chicago at three and one coming off a buy, and they would be then kind of a game behind Green, they would have been in shambles. And especially because the NFC has a lot of good teams, record-wise, that it would have been hard for them to make the playoffs at one-three-in-one.

Now, they're two, two, and one, in pretty good shape. You look at their next two games, they'll probably end up being four-two-and-one, and they'll right the ship. But Minnesota had to win that game. Philly did not have to win. So I know it was at home. I know it feels like a big loss, but I think the Eagles will get it right back on track when they play the Giants this Thursday night. Again, I am pretty confident. I'm not right enough. The Eagles, they're not as good as they were last year. I don't think they're going to win the Super Bowl, but I think they'll make the playoffs when it's all said and done. Hey, let's get into my favorite time of the week, middle cop mailbag. The way I'm doing this now,

if you've been listening to the podcast for a long time, you should do it off iTunes to put it in the review section. Now, it's just way easier. Just go to my Instagram at John Middlecoff and slide up in my DMs and leave a question. And that's where I get to you. At John Middlecopf, same as my Twitter handle. And I will, there's my phone buzzing right now. And I will get to your questions.

Okay, let's start with Pierre. My question is this. Do you think that the running back rotation in Indy, Mack, Turbin, Wilkins, Heinz, can provide what luck needs down the line in terms of high-level running play. I'll be honest, I didn't know much about Heinz until watching him on that Thursday night game,

and I know they were saying, I think he ran the fastest combine, fastest 40 at the combine. Clearly his play speed, it looks like an interesting guy. Not the biggest Mac guy. Turbin does nothing for me. I know Wilkins had the bad fumble against the Patriots. Listen, man, you don't need four running back.

In 2018, you should be able to draft, especially the Colts, one in the second or third round, just be your dude. You know, you should be able to find a Shady McCoy, a Levi-on-Bell, a David Johnson in third round, a guy for Andrew Luck to just use. I mean, to me, like, should they go after Levion Bell this off-season? I don't know if it's a great culture fit, but they could surely use them. I mean, Andrew Luck is a phenomenal player, but he needs help. because right now they're wide receivers when T.Y. Hilton is out is just an embarrassment to football. And the running backs actually aren't terrible. They really aren't.

Those guys, four guys together. But when Andrew Luxor quarterback, I mean, get him someone. Get him. Draft a guy high. That would be my thing. Just draft a guy high. Okay. With all the noise around the Clemsonsons quarterbacks,

Do you think that Trevor Lawrence, the true freshman, is now being underrated, especially with the injury in his first start? Because to me, he's a lock to be the number one overall pick in 2020 with all the gifts he has. And speaking of the freshman quarterbacks, should Georgia potentially do what Clemson did and make it an open quarterback competition between Fromm and Fields? I understand that Fromm is talented, it is going to be in the NFL one day, but Fields is an elite 11 MVP and closest thing we've ever seen to Russ. Wilson. I'll be honest, I haven't seen that much of Fields. I've only really watched one Georgia game, and he kind of came in sparingly. I'm with you from. People last year were like, oh, he's going to be an NFL starter. Like, you know, the more I watched him, he's like a better version of Aaron Murray. You know, he doesn't have a great arm. It's not bad. I do think he's

probably a mid-round draft pick. Now, with all the talent they have, he did get them to the national championship game last year. So it's, you never know. I mean, it just depends how the season plays out. Do they beat Florida? Do they beat Alabama? Do they make a run in the playoffs? Because I'm with you. The little bit I've seen of Fields, he clearly, I mean, he has a hose, big time athlete. He's clearly pretty special.

I just struggle when a guy's a true freshman. In football, it's so much harder than, like, in basketball. You know right away. Like, you see Marvin Bagley or you see, you know, I'm just using the guys that come to my mind in basketball in recent memory. Carl Anthony Towns, Anthony Davis. You see them a month or DeAndre Aten in last year. You know right away. Like that guy's a lock top two or three pick.

In football, we've seen it several years ago with Christian Hakenberg that I thought there is no chance on Gads Green Earth. He wasn't going to be a locked pick. And he turns out to just be a royal bust. Now his coach did leave. But, you know, I said the same thing about Josh Rosen a couple years ago. I thought he was a lock to be the number one overall pick. Now, he still went 10th, you know. But I think with football, you get so many late risers.

No one. On God's Green Earth two years ago would have said Baker Mayfield would be the number one overall pick. Nobody. He was the number one overall pick. Obviously, you know that if you're listening. But my point is that just things get kind of crazy. Things get kind of weird. I'm with you, though.

I mean, you just watch him just his physical size. I mean, he looks just eyeball on him. 6-4, 6-5, he has a cannon and he's playing for a football factory. So I don't think it's crazy that he's the number one overall pick. If I had to bet a, you know, you said, let's make this interesting, $1,000. Would I bet on him being the number one overall pick or would I bet on him being two through, you know, whatever, 30? I would probably go two through 30 just because the numbers would be on my side.

It's rare that you see a guy like, how often does it? a guy come as a true freshman and just maintain it for three years. These guys get picked apart. Injuries happened. I mean, he already played. His first already got hurt. So, again, I'm with you. I mean, he has the number one overall ability attributes.

But so did Josh Rosen. And shit just changed. He got hurt. Personality stuff came out. Again, I don't know anything about Trevor Lawrence off the field. But I don't feel confident anymore just making bold statements like that with college quarterbacks at 18 years old because I've made them before and I've been way off. I'd also would have said if you would have brought up Baker Mayfield a couple years ago,

I would have said he's probably like a mid-round pick. Even by the start of the year last year when it was clear like against Ohio State, you're like, God, Baker Mayfield has gotten a lot better. I would have been like, yeah, I'll probably go like pick 15 to 30. And then it just shit changes quickly, you know, with these during the draft process. Then all of a sudden it was like, God, Baker Mayfield is going to go in the top 10. God, Baker Mayfield went number one overall. Here's the other thing.

You get quarterbacks like a Josh Allen that you don't know that much about that are at random small schools that have these physical traits now that go really, really high. So there might be a Josh Allen at, you know, some North Dakota or just some random school that we don't even know about yet that goes super high. It's just it's hard. So I would lean no just on statistical. of chances of just things changing. Hey John, big hello from Brisbane, Australia.

God, we got an international fan base here. As a Patriot fan, can you tell me why our pass rush is so bad and what we can start doing to get pressure on the quarterback? Well, watching the 49er game this week, they played Chandler Jones, and it wasn't even close. Chandler Jones was the best player at Levi Stadium on Sunday. Now, the bar is low, not many good players in the Niners, and really not many good players on the Cardinals.

But he's really, really good. He's an absolute freak. And he was on the Patriots a couple years ago, and they traded him. Now, I've always supported Belichick for trading him. He went in naked high to a jail. Like, Bill Belichick's going to trade you when that happens. But I would say this. They just don't have blue-chip talent up front.

They never draft high enough to draft a sweet defensive lineman, you know, in the top 10, and that's usually where guys go. they don't spend that much in free agency, so they're not ever going to pay like Olivier Vernon, Nadeemakins Sue. The only way they're ever going to get a guy like that is like they did with Revis.

They get you when you cut from another team and they can pay a small amount. So the only way to get a blue chip pass rusher is to either draft them super high, Vaughn Miller, Cleo Mac, Aaron Donald, you know, a guy like that, or pay huge money in free agency for a guy that's probably not totally worth it.

And Bill's definitely never doing that. So I think it's way more personnel than it is scheme. Like, Belichick knows what he's doing. He's one of the great defensive minds in the, like, what he's good at, at his profession, is better than 99% of people, 99.9% of people in their professions. Like, he is the equivalent to, like, the Steve Jobs of his profession. Like, that's what he is.

You know, like he's Jeff Bezos of the internet, Zuckerberg of social media. Like that's where Belichick is. So he gets it. But you can't just generate pass rush. It's somewhat to me much more about the Jimmy's and the Joe's and the X's and the O's. Like there's, like Lawrence Taylor, I mean, I could coach him. He's getting 10 sacks. Like I could coach Cleo Mac.

He's getting 10 sacks. They just don't have those guys on the team. And a lot of it just has to do with their own. And the one guy they did have, Belichick traded him away. And I get it. And I'll never crush them for trading them because I do think it was the right move. Do you think a soft cap would work in the NFL like it does in the NBA? You can pay above the cap for some players that you drafted that have made Pro Bowls or all

pro teams. I kind of like that. I do think that everything is going to be on the table in the new CBA, which I think is in a couple years away. You know, like the Warriors, for example, they exceed the cap because they can extend Steph to a max deal, they can extend clay to a max deal, Andre Aguadala, who was their guy, they can extend, same with Sean Livingston. This is just an example that I know at top of my head. So I see what you're saying. I do wonder this. The NFL owners, I think, like a hard cap for a couple reasons. One, is they're kind of big on the equality of money? Because if they keep the

equality of money, they never get to the point where, like, Jerry might be okay doing that. Robert Kraft probably wouldn't because Bill wouldn't want to do it. I don't think many owners would want to do that because it would put a lot of pressure on you to resigning your own guys. Like, no one. I'll give you an example. The Raiders. It's not an easy sell because I would say most people listening to this have common sense

and they know trading Khalil Max is one of the dumbest things they've ever seen in the NFL. but you can sell it, be like, you know, his cap number and Derek's cap number just takes up too much money. Well, if it was a soft cap, you'd go, well, you can go over the cap because you can resign Khalil Mack. They wouldn't be able to say that. And I think a lot of NFL owners like that ability to be able to say, you know, we didn't want to pay him. So I just think while it does make functional sense and they probably should do it, I don't think a lot of owners would vote to do it. because here's a thing. Like the revenue check that they get,

like Mark Davis gets $255 million. Well, Mark Davis's salary cap is $175 million. And even because he's overspending for Gruden $10 million and probably another $10 million for his entire staff, that's only $20 million. So you're not even at $200 million. And then even paying Del Rio and some of his staff going away, that's another $6, $7 million a year.

So again, he's profiting $40 million. after paying for his most expensive expenses that he has on the books. So why would he ever want to take that away to like, eh, we can go a soft cap? That's his free money. Mike Brown, Dean Spanos, I can't see them raising their hand for that. So I would like to see it because it would put more pressure on teams

to not screw up and not take care of your guys. And also, it would help out the smart teams. You draft really well. Like the Chiefs shouldn't have to worry about one day keeping Tyree Kill, Travis Kelsey, and Patrick Mahomes all on the same team, right? They should be able to keep them all. But they're probably going to have to, like,

not going to be able to extend everyone for like five years. Are they all going to be on the team? And Kareem Hunt. So they're probably going to have to pick one of those guys to boot. It's just the nature of the sport. It almost, you draft really well, and you nail a quarterback, it almost screws you. I mean, think about the Raiders.

They got rid of Khalil Mack and they had like three good players. It was just because they signed their quarterback. Again, that's what they claimed. They easily could have. I like the question, though. Middlecoff mailback. Always hear of the Giants, Jags, Miami, taking a quarterback in this draft. What do you think of the chargers sliding up

and grabbing a mid-brown quarterback like Will Greer to take Rivers Place for a year or two? Here's the problem. And I've watched the Chargers game Actually pretty closely the last two weeks Because they've played the Niders and Raiders The Chargers are 3 and 2 They play the Browns this week

I think they'll win that game They'll be 4 and 2 I'm pretty confident The Chargers will win in 10 plus games this year Chargers are winning a wild card And I don't think they would You know if the Patriots And let's say the Patriots and the Chiefs

Or the Chiefs Patriots are the 1 and 2 seat Who would be the 3 and 4 seat? Well it would be the AFC now North and the AFC South So it would probably be the Bengals, Steelers or Ravens, one of those teams, probably the Jaguars. I think the Chargers could beat either one of those teams. So it's not crazy to think the Chargers are drafting like 23, 24, 25. I don't know if there's going to be a quarterback around.

I think the problem is last year was probably the year to do it. But they did draft Durwin. All the quarterbacks were off the board and Durwin James, like, one of the best players on their team. So it all worked out. and Rivers is, I mean, I got news for you. Rivers is having like a sneaky MVP season. He looks fantastic. Kind of like Drew Breeze.

Why can't Rivers play at this level for another five, six years? Now, they're going to need a replacement one day. Maybe take them in the second round. I don't know if they're, Will Greer is not going to be there when they draft if their season, as long as River stays healthy. Because they're going to win too many games. I actually think they might make some noise in the playoffs. I got a hot take.

Is it crazy to think that the chance? Chargers could win the AFC this year. You know, if they did play the Chiefs, they'd be an underdog. But Rivers has seen them a lot, just on a lot, average as he could beat him. He's played the Patriots a lot over the years. So I don't think it's too crazy. If Bosa comes back, they're right now my sleeper to win the AFC. The San Diego, I still call them the San Diego Chargers.

Okay, one last one. One last one here. Hey John, love the podcast here in Fresno. I know it's not a question, but what was it like working for Pat Hill? He's my favorite Fresno State coach of all time. Pat Hill was awesome. Just a dying breed of football coaches. Coach for Bill Belichick, you know, it's one thing that I still use a lot on Twitter

because it's the way that he used to hammer this home and he put it up on the wall and it was Bill Belichick's mantra. And Pat worked for Bill at Cleveland. You know, on the staff that had Nick Sabin and all those guys on the staff, that you're either coaching it or allowing it to happen. And it's why when I look at football, it's when people go, that's on the players. The way football works, man, you're either coaching or allowing it to happen. It's that simple. It's why, like, Martavius Bryant has drop balls, has against the Chargers had a ball fumbled, like hit out of his hands from behind.

Like, to me, the coach, you keep putting him in. and you can't be shocked when he continues to do these things. Yank him out of the game. Bill Belichick, you're the coaching and allowing it to happen. You lead the guy in the game, you know, things are never going to change. I love Pat Hill. He's the reason that I got into football. When I wanted to interview and get work in the league, I said,

hey, the Eagles have an internship opportunity. We make a call within 10 minutes he had Andy Reid on the phone. Like two days later, I was interviewing there. And I was hired the day of because Pat Hill called the head coach, you know? I mean, I owe him a ton professionally, and it was one of the cooler. I mean, I made nothing. I was a GA on the staff. I was paid a scholarship check.

Coolest two years of my life back when, you know, you had no responsibility in terms of like mortgages or bills in my early 20s, just aspirations of working in the NFL and learning from Coach Hill and playing in big games, you know, playing Big Five, Power Five opponents, and just working for a coach that was, as respected as any in football. Like everyone loved them, NFL people loved them. It was an incredible experience and something that I

value a lot personally for sure. I'm a huge Pat Hill guy too. Thanks again for listening. Keep going in my DMs. I've got a ton of more questions. I'll keep answering them Friday. We're going now Tuesday and Friday. Tuesday and Friday.

Three and Out podcast, John Middlecop. See you guys a little later this week. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. And nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where SportsSlice comes in. I'm Timbo. And every episode, we're cutting through the noise,

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