The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Middlekauff - 3 and Out - Brady/Luck TNF takeaways; NFL Week 5 game breakdowns

Episode Date: October 5, 2018

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 the Pats convincing TNF win over the Colts, and breaks down the upcoming Week 5 games around the league. 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.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. 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 Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo, and every episode, we're cutting through the noise,

breaking down the biggest moments in sports and giving you the real story behind the headline. And we're going straight to the source, the athletes themselves, their locker room stories, their reactions in the moment, and the stuff nobody gets to hear. Listen to Sports Slice on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Sliced Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok.

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

Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Life is full of hurdles. So how do you keep going? On Hurtle with Emily Abadi, we're talking with the most inspiring women in sports and wellness from professional athletes, coaches, and Olympic champions, about the challenges that shape them and the mindset that keeps them moving forward. At our level, at this scale, being able to fail in front of the entire world. can do anything. I can do anything. Listen to Hurtle with Emily Abadi on the IHart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHart Women's Sports. Hey, what's good, y'all? You're listening to learn the hard way with your favorite therapist and host, Kear Games. This space is about black men's experiences, having honest conversations that's really not safe to have anywhere, but you're having them with a licensed professional who knows what he's doing. How many men carry a suit or armor? It's a

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 IHard radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. Yo, yo, yo, what's up everybody? John Middle Cop, three and out podcasts. Back at it again. Just finished watching the Thursday night game.

Actually, you know, sneaky entertaining game for, you know, a sneaky blowout. I'm going to touch on Brady going to touch on luck mainly going to do a mail bag I have so many questions in my Instagram inbox at John Middlecoff you can slide up in my DMs

ask me a question and I will answer them through the DMs that's the way we're doing it now so if you have a question for me again just go to my Instagram at John Middlecoff same as my Twitter account slide in and send me a question.

I have tons, and I'm going to try to bang out a bunch tonight. It's not a great NFL slate this week, and a couple good games, and we'll touch on those too. But first, I got to introduce my friends at Seekek. Getting tickets online can be far too complicated with hundreds of sites and varying levels of reliability.

It's hard to know who to trust. That's why Seekek is the way to go. Seek pulls millions of tickets into a place so you can easily find the seats that fit perfectly for your budget. I've used it before for multiple events. Most recently when the NCAA tournament came by my house, it was last year actually in Sacramento, was very easy. Loaded right to my phone, boom, walked up, me and my brother, we were in. Plus, every purchase is fully guaranteed so you can shop for tickets on Seekek with confidence. Make Seekek your go-to ticket source

for everything from sports and concerts to comedy and theater. Just download the Seekek app and enter the promo code John. That's J-O-H-N today. That's promo code John for $20 off your first SeekekKeekeek. Life's an event and we have the tickets. But I got to start with something. And I was thinking about starting with Brady and starting with the Patriots, but I'll get into them in a second. I don't think people fully appreciate it. And again, I always struggle with this because social media is a small percentage of people. You see it with politics, the extremes on both sides. I always say the average guy or girl is just worried about feeding their family, paying the mortgage, making sure their kids go to a good school and are healthy. They're not caught up with all the

vitriol that I spend way too much time on social media and it just sometimes it's so jaded. You know, people aren't, then you go out to the real world that's not really like that. So I also feel like that with certain takes, with certain players. You know, forever people thought like LeBron was hated. No, most people thought LeBron was sweet. People thought LeBron was really good since he was in high school. You know, so Andrew Luck, who gets, I think, I don't want to say much maligned, but I do think there are a percentage of people that think he is somewhat overrated

and think he's actually not that good. You know, I think those people are the dumbest people on social media. And if you do believe that and you're listening, you're just, you're dumb. I'm not trying to be mean, but that's just a fact. Like Andrew Luck is not only a star player, what he has had to overcome, and what he is still overcoming is beyond just eye-opening. First off, he arguably had when he came into the league the worst general manager in NFL history. I don't even think that's hyperbole. I honestly think that's factual.

then he also had a coach who the best coach he ever had Chuck Pagano seems like a good guy but is when Chuck Pagano got sick and Bruce Arients took over so for Andrew Luck to overcome a clueless general manager a head coach that was terrible a defensive head coach that couldn't coach defense his owner let's call it what it is is a dysfunctional mess I mean an absolute he's an addict he's been in trouble multiple times for drugs

the organization, Peyton Manning basically bandated the entire organization and then they were gifted Andrew Luck, who again bandated the entire organization. They did such a poor job of protecting him, his shoulder basically fell off. Then he is the blame for this, fell snowboarding and hurt his shoulder again.

But I'm watching the game tonight thinking they took a left guard number six overall that, again, Quentin Nelson's fine, even though Clownie was tossing around like a rag doll last week. You took a guard in the first round when you have Andrew Luck. And now, listen, I get you want to protect them. I think Will Hernandez is graded out as one of the better guards so far in the NFL. The Giants took him early in the second round.

So you could have traded up maybe in the first round and got a guard. I mean, there's so many other players to get. I mean, I can find solid guards in the mid-round. This isn't that complicated. But I'm not going to nitpick Chris Ballard on that. The receivers, and I know T.Y. Hilton was out. but I mean this Chester Rogers character can't catch a cold Ryan Grant's probably their best receiver playing

they have guys I've never even heard of Eric Ebron actually had a good game I mean flamed out of Detroit actually looks okay but that is who Andrew Luxe playing with and he still managed with the shoulder to me his arms probably 80% nowhere near what it once was for him even to function at this high of a level is beyond me

And here's another thing. The guy who's coaching the team, Frank Wright, seems like a high-level guy, actually a good offensive coach. They had zero, and I repeat, zero intention of hiring the guy. If Josh McDaniels had not stood the franchise up at the altar, he wouldn't be the head coach.

Now, I think might have been John Calipari or some, I mean, multiple coaches have said this kind of being tongue and cheek, you know, when they were hired by a certain school or certain program or certain team that, you know, they weren't their wife's first choice either. So it happened. Pete Carroll wasn't USC's first choice, you know, back in the day. So it's not the end-all, be-all if you're not the team's, you know, first head choice.

But they didn't even interview the guy. They did not even interview him. So again, Andrew Luck has started behind the eight ball from day one. He continues to fight an uphill battle. As again, his shoulder almost fell off because they couldn't protect him. So what he's able to do in this franchise that was, Without him would be, I mean, hell, they might be a five or six win team this year with him. Without him, I don't think they would win a game.

They are the least talented team in all of the NFL. I mean, they dressed. They dressed 44 players a night. And some of those players were actually healthy inactives because they couldn't play. Or excuse me, injured in at, injured actives. Like, they were dressed, but they could not play because they were hurt. Like watching the two franchises, it's crazy to think that that was ever a rivalry. it really wasn't a rivalry.

It was Peyton Manning. Now, granted, at the time, they had Tony Dungey and Bill Paulian. I mean, two Hall of Famers. I never thought Tony Dungey was a Hall of Famer, but you get my point. Bill Paulian is one of the better GMs ever. Tony Dungey's a really good head coach. Again, I'd put him hollow really good, but, you know, good head coach. And Peyton Manning, you know, top five quarterback ever.

So there is no, I mean, since Peyton left the Indianapolis Colts, the rivalry, remember when Chris Ballard hit the table last year and set us back on. No. There ain't no rivalry. There's an ass kicking by the one side. Now let's get into the other side. People wanted to bury them because they looked off and they did.

Their offense had issues. But people forgot. Now, he did get nailed for PEDs. And I saw Dan Chonnessy tweet like, it's so crazy that in football, when you come back from PED suspension, people are just like, he's back. Where in baseball, they get banned for 50 games. Yeah, Dan, because no one cares in football. I don't mind.

If Julian Edelman didn't do PEDs, I think he was crazy. You know, he's a 5-9 overachiever that went to some small school that has become one of the better slot players in the league. I mean, what do I think he's taking? Jamba juices every day? I don't care. No one's bothered by it. This is football.

Anyone that's played any level of football and ever put on a pads in Peewee's, junior high, high school college or the pros, understands the violence of the game, you know? All it takes is watching one NFL game to go, God, I wouldn't blame him if he was sucking down PEDs like the Flintstones. We don't care. We do in baseball. You know, we don't really in basketball either. It wouldn't bother me if guys are doing HGH left and right.

And there are rumors that a lot of people do it in basketball. We don't care. We care about baseball. No one even judges Julian Edelman funny. If anything, you see how important he is to this offense. He changes the entire dynamic because he can get open constantly underneath. And guess where Brady likes to go? with the football underneath right over the middle.

In these rules in today's day and age, you can't cover that. Julian Edelman doesn't have to be worried about getting hit. There's no Ronnie Lotz covering the middle of the field. It's Brady's go-to spot. It's why the slot receiver has been the most, arguably the most important weapon on their team over the last 15 years, maybe a little less than that, since whatever they got Welker, so 10 years ago,

because that's where Brady likes to go. And then it opens up Gronk to do whatever he, he wants to do, either run down the seam, they run gronk of, you know, a litany of different routes. And then you saw it tonight. If somehow they can figure out how to use him, Josh Gordon will be a weapon for them.

Because Brady hasn't had a guy like that in forever. But really all he needs are his running backs, James White, Sony, Michelle, catching the ball out of the backfield, because most teams do not have linebackers to cover those guys. Julian Edelman running over the middle of the field and then gronk being gronk, and they'll kick your ass.

Because more than likely they're going to be playing home games. because that's usually where they play. They always end up with a one or two seed. And their defense has been, but don't prank. They figure it out. And Tom Brady is just going to beat you. Tonight was just such a major mismatch. It really wasn't fair.

It's final score 38 to 24, but God, it feels, honestly, it did not feel that close. It really didn't. The Patriots are one of the true great dynasties of my lifetime. It'll never be seen again in the NFL, ever. not in the salary cap league. I mean, first off, the likelihood of a quarterback playing like this until he's 41 or basically slim the nun,

a coach staying in one place for this many years, slim the none. It's just, you're not going to see it again. And I try to enjoy it when I watch it because when it goes away, it sucks. I mean, I remember I grew up in Northern California watching the Niners forever with Eddie de Bartolo and Steve Young and George Sefer.

And hell, I wasn't even old enough to really remember Bill Walsh. I mean, I was alive, but I came into my own as a sports fan, like the early 90s. He was already gone. But they kicked ass for another 10 years. They had like a 20-year run. And then when it ended, it ended. So, yeah, I understand Robert Kraft's a high-level guy. Hell, Jonathan Kraft seems to be well-respect in the league.

But whenever Brady and Bill say, adios, you know, it's going to be a different day there, man. I don't care what type, you know, how high level the organization is, how, you know, you know, profitable and how highly valued the franchise is. Bill and Tom make this thing go. And definitely without Bill, and it's sure his hell looks like Josh McDaniels will be the next head coach whenever Bill decides to leave. And I'm not saying he's going to leave anytime soon. But you just enjoy it while you see, even if you hate them, even if you hate the Patriots, you're a Jets fan, Ravens fan, whoever in the AFC and you despise them. You have to respect them. they're that good. Like, their standard of excellence is basically unmatched.

Any sport in the history of the salary cap era. I mean, it's crazy. You know, it's just, it's, I don't think it'll ever be duplicated moving forward unless they change the NFL to like a non-salary cap league, which they never would. It really, you just have to tip your hat to them. So whether you love them, hate them, whatever, just respect to the ass kicking. Before we get into a couple games that I'm interested, let me tell you about my friends at LinkedIn. I know a lot of you guys run companies, own companies are in charge of hiring at the company you work for.

I'm sure you try job posting boards, but can you really be sure that the right person sees your job? Instead, find the right person who will help grow your business with LinkedIn. It's the largest professional network. People go to LinkedIn every day to grow professionally and discover job opportunities. 70% of the U.S. workforce is already on LinkedIn. LinkedIn jobs matches people to your role based on more of who they really are, their skills, interests, and even how they open up for new opportunities. This way, your job gets seen by more of the right people.

Most LinkedIn members haven't recently visited job boards. so you can only really reach them on LinkedIn. Again, hurry up to LinkedIn.com slash john. That's LinkedIn.com slash J-O-H-N 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.

Let's take a peek at some of the interesting games this weekend on the NFL schedule. I'll just fly through and hit some of them. Tennessee at Buffalo. Tennessee is one of the sneakier teams of the league. They're three and one. The bill stink. Josh Allen is not very good.

He's being asked to play when he, by all means, of any quarterback in recent memory that was drafted high that needed a redshirt year, it was him. He's already been thrown into the fire for a terrible team. I think Tennessee wins this game pretty easily. Miami at Cincinnati. Pretty interesting game.

Obviously, Miami started fast at 3 and 0. got their ass kicked by the Patriots last week. Cincinnati is just good, their offense is really explosive. I like Cincinnati in that game. Baltimore at Cleveland, like, hey, Baker-Mayfield, you had four turnovers last year,

or I mean last week against the Raiders defense. Get ready for the Baltimore defense. Who get back Jimmy Smith, I think depending on the statistical measure you look at, I mean, is consistently top five. They are top five defense. You know, they're not Jacksonville or Chicago, but Baltimore is damn good.

I think Baker just, you know, last year or last week against the Raiders, beside the turnovers, which the fumble was bad. The pick six wasn't totally his fault. I mean, it went off the guy's hands. I thought he played okay. But again, it was the Raiders,

who's defensively are terrible. I think Baltimore just hunks Baker Mayfield. He's in for a long day. Green Bay at Detroit, you know, I don't know, Detroit doesn't do much for me. Green Bay should win that game. The most interesting game of the day. It's too bad it's at 10 a.m. West Coast time.

Mahomes against the Jacksonville Jaguar defense. You got Jalen Ramsey, you know, already talking some shit about Tyree Kill. I guess Tyree Kill kind of started it. But Jalen Ramsey basically just said he's a return specialist. You know, Jalen, I got news for you. Tyree Kill is actually an elite wide receiver. He's an elite player. I'm kind of rooting for Ty.

I'm a little tired of Jalen. Listen, I'm all for Jalen saying the Andy Dalton's, the Josh Allen. and saying those type guys stink, even though Andy Dalton's playing pretty well this year, but you get my point. When you start saying, he said, he said Grankowski suck, Tyree Kill suck. I can't even take you seriously. I think you're starting just a talk to talk, and I hope Tyree Kill gives them the business. Denver at New York, I don't know why you'd watch that game.

Atlanta, just kidding, I actually like watching Sam Donald, but that's a pretty terrible game. Atlanta at Pittsburgh, talk about must win for these two teams. Atlanta's one and three. Their defense is basically all injured, but their offense has been exceptional. I mean, they score a ton of points. Pittsburgh has just been the biggest red flag team of the year. They tied Cleveland to start the year. Levion Bell is nowhere to be found.

He claims it's coming back at the by week. It's just a weird year. Again, my theory is Mike Tomlin is coaching at USC next year after he gets fired or quote-unquote leaves this year. Again, theory, I don't know if it's true. But to keep an eye on that. New York at Carolina. I think Carolina handles them. New York stinks.

Eli stinks. And the Giants just stink. There's no way around it. The New York Giants passed on a quarterback at number two overall. Now, Sequin's a special player. And if they ultimately get Justin Herbert this season because they had the number one draft pick, it was probably worth it. But that was not their intention.

They thought they were going to be good this year and they are terrible. Oakland versus the Chargers, to me the biggest headline of this game. is that the Chargers are playing a home game, a home game in Los Angeles. First off, since the Chargers moved from San Diego to Los Angeles, the second biggest market in America, their franchise value has gone up like $120 million. It hasn't gone up at all. They had to pipe crowd noise into their practice. Again, the Chargers are the home team.

This entire crowd is going to be, you know, silver and black, Raider jerseys everywhere. the Chargers are an embarrassment of a franchise. I feel bad for Philip Rivers. I feel bad for all the talent they have on that team. But you got to pipe crowd noise when you have a home game. Like, it's probably time to start reevaluating some things, right? That should.

Do you think the Eagles or the Packers or the Patriots pipe crowd noise at home games? That's insane. Honestly, that is crazy. I don't even think it can be over. overstated how nuts that is. Like the Chargers are just one big walking red flag. The Chargers are playing the Raiders that do not have a home next year, whose coach traded Khalil Mack,

and the Raiders don't even feel like the weirdest, crazier team in this whole game. It's just Dean Spanos, man. What a joke. Big game here. Minnesota at Philly. I think Minnesota's already sneaky in must-win mode. They're one-two-and-one. They're just,

they have played really well offensively, but their defense can't stop anyone. Everson Griffin went crazy, and he's not around anymore. Can they go into Philadelphia and get a win? Philly, you know, a little bit of a Super Bowl hangover. It's hard to say Super Bowl hangover because her quarterback wasn't healthy the first couple games.

Now, granted, they did not win the Super Bowl because of Carson Wentz. But this is a much bigger game for Minnesota. Like if the Eagles start two and three, to me, look at the NFC. East. It's not very good. I think Philly's still going to get to 10 wins, win or lose this game. But it's borderline must win. Because if you start one, three and one, if you're Minnesota, and the Bears who have a byweek already start three and one, and the Packers

probably win, they would be three, one and one. You would be way behind the eight ball. And a team that most people, I mean, I didn't know one human that did not have them as a playoff team. And Minnesota would have a uphill battle to make the playoffs. Arizona at San Francisco, listen, I live in the Bay Area. I cover this team, my other podcast, and on the athletic. But this is a tough watch.

The only reason, now I have to watch, I watch the Niners no matter what. But if Josh Rosen wasn't in this game, you might be able to find John Middlecock taking a nap at about 125 on Sunday afternoon. but I'm interested to watch Josh Rosen. I thought he played pretty well last week. I talked about it in the podcast on Tuesday.

So that's really the only interesting part of that game. Los Angeles at Seattle. Do you know what's crazy about Seattle? Is that even with crazy dysfunction, Earl Thomas flipping them off, a team that feels like they were just headed for a top five draft pick, if somehow they could beat the Rams at home, they'd be three and two.

and you'd be like, damn, Seattle is not terrible. And to me, really, that speaks to Russell Wilson. Like last year, they felt like a four-win team, three-win team. Yet they went nine and seven, you know, and their defense was a train wreck this year. They feel God-awful, yet they're two-and-two. I just think when you got Russell Wilson as your starting quarterback, I don't care how bad your other players are. You're always alive. Now, I know last year at the end of the season, the Rams went into Seattle.

and I don't know the final score off top of my head, but it was like 70 to nothing. I mean, I think legitimately it was like 45 to 7. It was one of the bigger ass kickings of the year. I just think it'll be interesting to see of the 12s. Are they still humming now that, again, Seattle though, is not bad. It's not like they're 0 and 4. They're 2 and 2.

You somehow win this game. Shit, they're thinking wild card. So I don't think they're going to win. The Rams are heavy favorite on the road. but I think we look at Seattle a little differently than they actually are. We look at them like them and the CJ Bethard led, San Francisco 49ers are the same. They're really not. I mean, Seattle is going to finish second in this division as long as Russell Wilson stays healthy.

Not that that's saying much, but then the Cowboys at Texans. You know, I said it last week. The Cowboys are just to me a bleh. Now, the ratings disagree with me because they crush the television ratings. but this game, I mean, Deshawn Watson has not played that well. To me, Dak, I think it's just kind of a guy. Cowboys have no weapons on offense besides Zeke. The Houston Texans, it is fun to watch JJ Watt play.

He's playing well. Clowny's a monster. Will Fuller's actually a pretty fun player. I like picking him on my Draft Kings lineups. Obviously, Hopkins, one of the best receivers in the league. So I guess we could have a worse Sunday night game, but, you know, I would probably choose something else. Okay, let's get into the Middokoff, bag, slide up in my DMs on Instagram at John Middlkoff and I will answer your questions.

John, question for the pod. How do you feel about the trend of organizations going all in on winning and spending big bucks while their quarterbacks are still on rookie deals? I just think it's the most logical business move now. But you have to draft a quarterback and start them. You know, it's not, if you don't draft a quarterback in the first round, you know, it's not necessarily going to play out that way. Some teams, you know, luck, not luck, but they kind of did it with luck. Well, not really. But the Wentz, Goff, the Cowboys didn't do it with Dak.

Seattle did it with Russell for a couple years. There is an element of luck to it. Like sometimes you don't get good until you have to pay your quarterback and then you have to make some tough decisions. So if you take a quarterback in the first round, though, and he becomes your starter, Marietta, Goff, Wentz, all the guys this year, all those teams should throw all their chips in the middle of the table. You have to do it.

But if you don't take a first round quarterback, like, what if you're, you know, you have Andrew Luck. You know, what if you have Russell Wilson? What if you have Aaron Rogers or, hell, even Matt Stafford? You know, it's just a two or three year window at max. You know, it's easy to say, and everyone talks about. it because three or four teams have gone all in. The Eagles did it. The Rams have done it.

I'm trying to think. The Browns kind of did it this year with Baker. I would imagine they'll be really aggressive this offseason. Like the Niners. Look at the Niners, for example. They were handed Jimmy Garoppolo in a trade. They had all this money. I think that was their plan to draft a Sam Donald or Josh Rose and something like that and do that.

But then all of a sudden they get Jimmy Garaplo. And then he's a free agent. Well, they're either going to franchise them or pay them. They kind of had to pay them. Then they pay them. They still have a lot of other guys they can pay, and they still have a lot of salary cap room, but they never really got to enjoy that process.

Look at the Minnesota Vikings. They had Teddy Bridgewater, but then his leg snapped, and they had to use the money that they probably would use on other players to sign Kurt Cousins. So there is somewhat of an element of luck. It's not like a black and white. You just draft a quarterback in the first round, and then build our team,

and other guys. Sometimes, you know, that's not the way the cookie crumbles. Is there any chance to Raiders go eight and eight this season, or will they be lucky to win five? I think they're better than a five-win team. The problem with eight wins, as you saw in the Browns game, and you really saw the last two weeks against Denver and Miami, they're just too inconsistent. I was talking to a buddy, he made a great point. They're probably the hardest team in the league just to pull up their schedule and go win, win, win, law, win, loss, loss, win. Because any game, on any given game, could be a winner or a loss.

Now, you'd be like, oh, course, milk up the NFL. But you open up the Patriot schedule or just good team schedule. You can kind of do that. And you can do the opposite with bad teams. The Raiders are hard. I mean, they could easily be 3 and 1 right now, or they could easily be 0. And they're 1 in 3. And they could go into the buy week in 2 weeks at 500 at 3 and 3, or they could be 1 in 5.

I won't be shocked with any of the outcomes. They're playing the Chargers this weekend, who play at home, yet it's going to be a road game because it'll be all Raider fans. And then they play Seattle in London. I mean, if you told me right now the Raiders win the next two games, I can be like, yep, I see it. If you tell me they lose the next two games,

they lose in San Diego slash L.A. and then go to London and lose. That's not inconceivable. So I'd probably say the more I talk about it, Like the teams, when you describe them like that, usually five or six wins more likely than eight. Though I will give him credit, the GM is not good in John Gruden, but the coach is not bad. He is a good offensive coach. Question for the Middilcoff mailbag.

Not that the Bears would, but if the Raiders offered back the bears the same package that they received in exchange for Khalil Mack, so two first rounders and a second rounder? rounder? Do you think, now I'm confusing if thinking about it. Okay, the Bears got Cleo-Mack and a second rounder,

the Raiders got two first-rounders and a third-rounder. Do you think the Bears would take their picks back and whatever else they gave up, all the money, knowing what they know now four weeks into it? Zero chance.

There is no chance on God's green earth the bears would redo that trait. The big reason that the bears might make the playoffs this year and just talk, Trubisky is another guy that I forgot to mention about going all in on a rookie quarterback.

That's what the Bears did. Because basically, if Trubisky is just solid, Khalil Mack's next couple years or while he's making, he still makes decent money because he was number two overall pick, but he's by no means making $20 plus million. No, I don't. I think Khalil Mack, the next two or three years, I mean, is in the prime. And I repeat the prime of his Hall of Fame candidacy.

So good question. But I think inside the Bears building, knowing people there, they think they got an absolute steal, as they should. We got two first rounders, and we got Khalil Mack and a second rounder? Like, are you crazy?

And here's the other thing. It's a little bit of house money because they didn't have to give up their pick this year. So they got Roquan Smith. So they're looking at it like, we got Roquan Smith and Khalil Mack. So we don't have a first rounder in the next two years, but we got these two guys.

And we have a quarterback on his rookie salary. So, no, it's a good question, and people have brought it up before, but no chance the bear's doing that. Just started to listen to the podcast. Enjoy it, thanks. This is Rolls 89. Would Joe Flacko be a good fit for the Cowboys? Also, would they have to give up much to get them in a trade? I think if the Ravens, who look pretty good this year, their defense is excellent, Flacco's played really well the last couple of years, let's say go 11 and 5 and win the AFC North.

Flacco is going to be the starting quarterback there next year, you know, because Harbaugh wouldn't get fired. Why would you get rid of Flacco? Especially if they were to win a playoff game or two. I just don't think they're going to get rid of them. To me, the Cowboys, you're kind of just in bed now with Dak for the next two years. Now, I don't think you necessarily, if you go like five or six wins this year, you don't have to pay him this offseason. And you wouldn't pay him this offseason, but he's your quarterback. And that's when you went all in for him, when you got rid of Tony Romo slash Tony

Romo retired, which was the right move. I don't argue that they did the wrong thing. But to me, the wrong thing would be paying DAC after this year. But you don't trade, like, you're not trading for Joe Flacco, mainly because Joe Flacco not going to be available. Would he be a good fit for the Dallas Cowboys? Yeah, he's just a better player than Dak. But it's just, I mean, this isn't fantasy football.

It's just, that's not going to happen. Hey, John, from San Diego. I wanted to ask you a question for the mailback. Why do you think the Chargers continually underperform, considering the personnel that they have? Also, if the bolts don't make the playoffs, would you trade Rivers to a contender and rebuild? I feel bad for Phillips since he's continually played great, but always underperform. I've always said about the Chargers, their biggest problem is Dean Spanos, and he has cheap tendencies. And when you have cheap tendencies in the NFL, that typically means paying a coach not much money.

and they the last two coaches they've had when they've had all this talent on the roster the last like six, seven years. They hired Mike McCoy and then Anthony Lynn. Both those guys, you know, make two, three, four million dollars.

Top coaches in this league, the Harbaas, I was going to say Tomlin, he's having a rough year, but obviously the Belichick. I'm not even talking Belichick. You put him in his own little world. Kyle Shanahan makes seven.

I bet Kyle Shanahan makes double what Anthony Lynn makes. He's just a better coach. You know, imagine if the Chargers, last year when they hired Anthony Lynn, would have gone after Kyle Shanahan or Sean McVeigh. But they never would because those guys cost some money. And it starts with Spanos that they refuse to ever pay a coach top dollar. You have Philip Rivers. You have all this talent on defense.

You got Keenan Allen. Gordon Solid as a running back. It's sad. I feel for Philip Rivers too, one of the highest level guys in the NFL whose career is going to end. hell, you might never make the playoffs again if they don't trade them. And I don't think they would trade them because they do kind of need them. You know, they're going into this new building. They're pretty irrelevant in Los Angeles, but they are pretty solid.

You know, I think they're in no man's land. Like, imagine if Philip Rivers was on the New York Giants with Pat Schumer. Now, I'm not sure Pat Schumer's a great coach either. But with all that talent, with Sequin Barclay, with Odo Beckham Jr., with Sterling Shepard, with Ingram the Tide End. Think how good they would be. And Philip Rivers, I will defend him until the day I die in the sense that he fought an uphill battle in his organization. Just the cheap tendencies, the mindset there.

I mean, without him, can you imagine how many games they would have won the last six, seven years if they just would have had like an average quarterback? Imagine if him, Joe Flacco and Eli Manning switch spots. Think how lucky Rathusberger is to have played his entire career in Pittsburgh. Imagine if Rivers had played his entire career in Pittsburgh. Now, Rothsburger is an elite player too. So, like, he would have Rothesberger's resume, probably. Even the Giants, like Eli got to play for a lot of his career for Tom freaking Coughlin. Tom and the New York Giants organization.

Like Flacco got John Harbaugh and Ozzie Newsom. Rivers has got Dean Spanos, moving an hour up the road in a town that doesn't want him. I feel for him. I'm with you. I don't think they trade them. I think Phillips just kind of stuck. And hell, maybe he's the next coach of USC. I would fire Clay Hilton in a heartbeat to make Philip Rivers my head coach.

Obviously, he's got a lot of good football left. but Philip Rivers, if he wants, would make a elite college football coach. I could see him in the south like at Auburn, you know, at one of the SEC schools just crushing it one day. He's going to be so rich, and he's got so many kids, I'm not sure if he would, but he's already talked about coaching high school. I mean, just a football junkie. I hope he one day coaches college because I do think he would be really good at it.

Okay, NMG. 1581. Hey John, do you think the Niners should have sat Jimmy G the last five games of the last season to prevent them from having to pay him the big contract? They wouldn't have known how good he actually was if they had done it, but in return they would have saved a ton of cap space. I understand where you're coming from, but they had no choice. They were one and ten. What did they finish yet? Six and ten? Yeah, so they were one in ten. The franchise, was in shambles, and they just had to throw him in there. They didn't know that he was going to win the last five and kind of put him in a tough spot. I think they did the right thing. They felt good about paying them. You know, Taryn and ACL is kind of a freak deal, even though on that play, I mean,

he should have just slid or gotten out of bounds, so it was his fault. But you had to pay a quarterback like Jim McGroplo. I mean, Belichick gifted him the quarterback. They didn't really have a spot. it's easy to say Monday morning quarterback and in hindsight what they should have done but at the time as someone that was watching them I couldn't take anymore C.J. Bethard

so they were in a tough spot they did the right thing by playing them because here's the other thing and just talking about Dean Spanel's like the Niners don't worry about money. Not saying that they're just going to give it away but like that doesn't hinder their decisions they're okay if by doing something

is going to ultimately cost them more money if they think they can win You know, Dean Spanels doesn't think like that. Dean goes, well, who's the most functional coach I can get for the cheapest price? Like Jed, when he blew it up, and he made some mistakes with Trent and Chip and Tom Sula. I mean, Tom Sula's a big mistake. He said, I need to fix this thing. He gave like $65 million combined at Lynch and Shanahan because he just had to get the train back on the tracks.

And it's different with the player salary because the player salary is paid for by the media revenue. but ultimately you had to throw Jimmy in there. And it cost them big money. But again, they did the right thing also by paying Jimmy. You know, I think Dean Spanos might have franchised him. Some organizations might have franchised Jimmy. The Niners paid him because it actually becomes cheaper. Like, if you had franchised, let's just give a hypothetical.

Let's say the Niners played them. Let's say they play them the last five games, but they don't want to pay them. So they franchise them this year. then Jimmy tears his ACL. Well, what do they do? You know, are you going to franchise them again? Well, you can't let them walk because think of all the teams like the New York Giants would pay them.

Think of all the teams that would pay a guy coming off in ACL big money. He would get the same contrast. Some team would pay Jimmy Garoppolo huge cash coming off in ACL. The Cowboys. I mean, just go around the league. Teams that need quarterbacks would pay for this guy. So I do think that the Niners now have them under contract. They don't have to franchise them again.

They did the right thing. Hey, John, big fan of yours. Being a big Alabama fan, I was wondering when you see Alabama's dynasty coming to an end, as all dynasties do. Well, I think Levi in Alabama is pretty simple. I mean, just whenever Nick hangs it up, then I don't know if the dynasty will come to an end. Depends on who they hire.

To me, there are two clear guys they would go after. Number one would be Davosweeney. Clemson clearly has, I wouldn't say, Bama's budget, but it feels like pretty damn close. There is no certainty. Ten years ago, it would be a lock. He'd come to Alabama. And if you told me Davosweeney was the next head coach at Alabama, I'd say, Yeah, they might not still be Alabama with Nick Sabin,

but they're going to be in the playoffs every year. They might not win five championships in 10 years or whatever, but they're going to win a couple. But if Davos said no, I think they would go heavy after Kirby. But Kirby played at Georgia. Georgia is kind of a sleeping giant, and now he has it rolling. I don't think he'd leave, so I don't really know what they do. You know, it's a big problem.

Luckily, Nick, like Belichick, football is his life. he's not a big hobby guy so he's not I don't think he's going anywhere anytime soon at least you've got a couple you know more games or I mean more seasons to enjoy him because if you're him why would you you're not going to leave two as a sophomore well then next year you got him as a junior now maybe he would leave after his junior year

if he rattled off a couple more championships so Bama just won this so they would have won three in a row I mean if he went three championships in a row I mean what else is he doing it for I don't know but yeah I think you're good there for a minute hi John even though I can say another saving question saving coach another five years

who are a few coaches that could replace them okay this kind of I just answered this I know Dabo is definitely a candidate but if we can't get him who would we go with so let's actually talk that out a little more like I said Kirby if they wouldn't do it really who would Alabama go after

I think they would go after NFL people but I don't think an NFL head coach would necessarily leave his job like Nick did back in the day to come for Alabama. Then you look around like they can't hire Jim McAway now that what happened at Florida. Would Lane Kiffin, you know, if he were to have a couple big years at FAU be entertained? Doubt it, but you never know. Lane Kiffin, as crazy as it sounds, S.C. got themselves into this position several years ago. Now, granted, they got popped, you know, when Pete left, so it was a lot harder for them to get anyone. But they got into a desperate situation, and they hired Lane.

Like, what would happen at Alabama? If Sabin retired, Davo said no. Kirby said no. They start looking around, like, canvassing the country, and you go, God, I can't get an NFL coach to come. What am I going to do? And then you got Lane sitting there that has Alabama ties, they won a championship, that would bring some juice, that would keep your team really relevant, that knows how to recruit.

I'm telling you, as crazy as that sounds, now that I just talked through it, I don't know if it's that far-fetched. I really don't. Okay, last question. These have been a good little mailback. Quick question for the pod. If you could put a draft together of the last three years' drafts of quarterbacks,

what would be your order? Well, clearly a couple guys have really shied. I do think because this guy's coming off an ACL, we're almost discounting him a little bit. His team's also really injured. Now, if Andy reads my head coach, I'm taking Mahomes because of the combination. But let's just say I have an average head coach. I would take Carson Wentz. He's just too physically gifted, can do too much.

Obviously Mahomes is too. I would go, Wentz, Mahomes. Goff has established himself. as pretty special. You know, I like Watson, never loved them like the hype that really kind of gathered the last couple of years. I like Trubisky coming out.

Now, I've been pretty put off withstanding the six touchdown game last week by what I've seen. But my guy Matt Nagy's coaching him up. If Trubisky can get a turnaround, I'm not giving up on Trubisky by any means. Not the biggest Dak guy. I like Marriota as a person.

I'm just, I don't know how good he is. We'll see if he can keep this up. I'm out on James. Again, so I think Mahomes and Wentz are just in a category by themselves. I think Goff has established himself as just a damn good player. I think, you know, the jury's out on Deshaun Watson and Trubisky. But, you know, a lot of, and then obviously I forgot about the crop of guys this year. I would have Rosen, Darnold, you know, somewhere in there with the Deshaun Watson, the Trubisky.

Same with Baker. I'd be out on, like James, I'd be out on Josh Allen for different reasons. Obviously, Josh, a good kid. He's just a bad player. James is a okay player. He's just a slap off the field. So, you know, it's just tart. I mean, there was a good crop of quarterbacks this year.

Actually, four guys go in the top 10 and Lamar, and I'm not a big Lamar guy. So I'd go Carson and Mahomes in a category by themselves. Then I'd go golf. Then I'd go the group of three that I really like this year, Darnold, Rosen, Baker, with a Deshawn, Watson, and Tribisky mixed in there below them. And I'm probably leaving it. Lamar's out, Josh Allen, out, James Marriota, out.

I'd throw Mariotta below the crop of this year's rookies. I'm not giving up on them, but I'm not super high on them. Okay, again, slide in my DMs, slide up in there, and I will answer you guys questions. Middle Cough Mailback, do it every week. Thanks for listening. You guys appreciate you. We're doing two podcasts a week now, Tuesday, Friday.

I'll talk to you guys soon. Three and out, subscribe, leave a little review section. Just give me some five stars. And I'll holler at you later on the Colin Coward Podcast Network. 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 Sports Slice comes in. Timbo, in every episode, we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the biggest moments in sports and giving you the real story behind the headline. And we're going straight to the source, the athletes themselves, their locker room stories, their reactions in the moment, and the stuff

nobody gets to hear. Listen to Sports Slice on the Iheart Radio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slice Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Another podcast from some SNL, late-night comedy guy, not quite, unhumored me with

Robert Smygel and Friends, me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, S&L's Mikey Day and head writer, Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their Between Songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and Friends on the I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Life is full of hurdles. So how do you keep going. On Hurtle with Emily Abadi, we're talking with the most inspiring women in sports and wellness from professional athletes, coaches, and Olympic champions about the challenges that shape them and the mindset that keeps them moving forward. At our level, at this scale, being able to fail

in front of the entire world, like, I can do anything. I can do anything. Listen to Hurtle with Emily Abadi on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHeart Women's Sports. I'm Michelle fee, and I've been unraveling the strangest criminal alliance I've ever reported on, a Mormon polygamist and an Armenian businessman. Multi-million dollar house, Ferraris and Lamborghinis, private jets, a billion dollar fraud. But how long can this alliance last? Tell me what you know. Is somebody coming after me? Listen to Kingdom of Fraud on the I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an I-Heart podcast.

Guaranteed human.