The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Middlekauff - Jimmy G, Baker Mayfield, Kahlil Mack, Patriot demise, Middlekauff Mailbag and more…

Episode Date: September 26, 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 week's episode John talks about Jimmy G's hurt knee, Baker Mayfield in Cleveland, paying for Khalil Mack and the Belichick/Brady demise. Each week 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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What's going on? John Middell Coff here, three and out podcast. The people have demanded it here on the Colin Coward Podcast Network. So I'm going to give it. We're going to start doing two podcasts, one on Tuesday. one on Friday, and we'll just feel it out. Obviously, Tuesday will be not recapping as much, but just kind of talking about some of the stuff that just happened.

I mean, I just watched this Monday Night Football Game. Pretty unreal game by Fitzmagic and Ben and very, very entertaining Monday Night Football game. Levy on Bell, you're really proving your point as James Connor basically ran out for the win for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Like, bro, 14 and a half million. Can we stop talking about Levi-on-Bel like he's not being paid at premium? How many players in this league make $14.5 million? I'm so tired of Levi-on-Bel, the Levian-Bel truthers, that act like he's getting screwed, that act like it's slave labor and he's making $500 grand.

They are offering him $14.5 million. They just paid him basically $12 million. There's almost $27 million over two years. I'm just got to get that off my chest. I'm not really going to spend much time talking about it. but I'm levy on bailed out. Like, bro, they're offering you a boatload of money. I'm not feeling sorry for you.

But today, we got a lot going on. Obviously, Jimmy G. Tours ACL, Baker Mayfield has been named the star with Cleveland. Last time I talked to you, that game hadn't even happened. The Baker, we call him Ryan Fitzmagic. I mean, we might call him Baker Magic. That was pretty cool. Khalil Mack, you know, is he headed to become the MVP? and then obviously the Patriots dynasty is crumbling.

Not so fast. But I got to start with Jimmy G. Obviously, I live in the Bay Area. I have another podcast that I talk about the 49ers and Raiders a lot, so I talk about Jimmy G a lot. He's important to what I write for the athletic in the Bay Area, talk a lot about Jimmy G. It's a big blow.

The 49ers are by far the most important brand for the NFL on the West Coast. And since Harbaugh last, I mean, obviously with Tom Sulla and Chip Kelly, they were a joke. Even Kyle's first 10 games with Brian Hoyer unwatchable. Jimmy G. gave them hope. And unlike, you know, most players in the NFL usually draft a quarterback. That's how you acquire the guy. Acquiring an older veteran like Drew Brees all those years ago with the Saints coming off an injury,

you know, it was pretty rare. Rich Gannon turned his career round after he was 30 with John Gruden. Again, those are anomalies. Most great quarterbacks are drafted by the team. They end up having a lot of success for. You know, the Hall of Fame high-end quarterbacks, which I believe, I still believe it. I definitely believe.

I don't question it, but I do start to think, like, Jimmy G. now, has made 10 career starts, and he's had major injuries in two of them. This is a very, very major injury. And listen, I'm not a doctor. I don't know if ACL injuries, are random if it was bound to happen.

I was texting someone with the Niners a day. He said it was pretty random. It wasn't like bound to pop, at least to their knowledge. I don't know. I don't even pretend to know. But I know this. From having a team

and the more entertaining teams the league has, the better the product is. The more entertaining quarterbacks the league has, the better the product is. And we thought a year ago, we're like, damn, we got all these quarterbacks. Jimmy G. Car and Gruden.

Sean Watson's coming back. Marriota. Well, it turns out Marietta's not that good. He can't even grip the ball. Deshawn Watson's a train wreck in Houston. Carr has become pretty average, even though he's actually played a little better the last couple weeks, but a little skittish, not comfortable in the offense.

And then Jimmy, who looked like kind of a slow start against Minnesota, but it was Minnesota. Then the week two kind of got his. bearings, finally off to a bad start at Kansas City, then the second half, he starts kind of rolling back to the Jimmy G that we knew from last year, and then his ACL tears. And now, granted, he should have just slid or got out of bounds, but the ultimate point is that the NFL, as a business, is so dependent on just having one or two teams on the West Coast being really relevant.

And if they could choose right now, they would pick the Niners, and they would pick the Rams. Luckily, the Rams were rolling. In the very near future, the Rams are going to own L.A. They're building a $4 billion palace. Their team is badass. They have a sexy head coach. I don't mean like his face and his body. Sean McVeigh, the hype on the sexiness.

Though he's a good-looking millennial. But my point is that they need big markets to dominate. Seattle had a cute little five-year run, but that's over. They need San Francisco, who the 49ers had 20 years of dominance under Eddie de Bartolo, and then the Harbaugh years, they have proven that if they're winning and you put them on national televised games, they will not only rate, they will draw interest, people will be drawn to it. And I think the Rams are going to kind of be like a Golden State Warrior sensation is going to happen overnight. It is happening overnight because they're pretty unreal.

But the 49ers being now shot because their season, once your quarterback goes out, there is probably not an industry in any walk of life, in any business that is more dependent on one human, like the sport of football on the quarterback, that if your starting quarterback goes down, you're done. It's over, especially in September. Like cash money, see you, send it, start talking about the draft in next year. The season is over. I'm not putting lipstick on a pig here. It's done so.

But here's the problem for the NFL. Because of Jimmy G, the hype, this sweet young coach in Kyle Shanahan, this historic franchise that they know when they're good, they draw huge numbers, they gave them five preseason games. Multiple Monday night games, multiple Sunday night games, and then obviously the Thursday night game that every team in the league gets. But the two Sunday night games and the two Monday night games, you're locked into the Monday night games. You can't get out of those. Sunday night game, I think the one game after. week 9 or 10 or whatever is flexible so that they'll be flexed. So it's still going to end up.

The two Monday night games are kind of a killer. Like this is a big blow not just for the NFL, not just for me personally and professionally, because the better than Niners are, better businesses for me. And listen, I just want to watch. I'm no different than you guys. Whatever you're, I don't really have a favorite team anymore once I started working in the league, my fandom. I just root for people.

Like Matt Nagy, I'm rooting for Matt Nagy. Coach Reed, I love Andy. I'm rooting for Andy. You know, I'm rooting for, I still got, Howie Roseman, I root for his success with the Philadelphia Eagles. I know Doug. I like rooting for, I still have friends that work in their organization. Rout for the Eagles.

You know, I like Kyle and John Lynch. I root for them. I thought I'd like Gruden until he traded Cleo Mac, and then I got a little wishy-washy on him. Sean McVeigh has made me into a believer. I like rooting for Sean McVeigh. I love the hoodie. I like rooting for the hoodie.

You know, I just, I root for people, not necessarily teams, but I do root for the health of the league, and I'm also a West Coast guy. And we needed this team to be relevant because the league depended on them. And there's a randomness to it. There's nothing you really could have done to avoid it. Maybe Jimmy could have got out of bounds. I mean, he should have got out of bounds. But that's not really Jimmy Garoppel.

Part of Jimmy Garaplo is he's a little bit of a gunslinger. He's a little bit of a risk taker. And now he's kind of injury prone. So, you know, as this 49er season ended, The league now has a, you know, prime time game problem on their hand. And I don't really know where you go from this. It's just the nature of this sport now that has become more and more over the last 10 years quarterback dependent. The days of Bill Parcells, just being able to play defense and have a game manager.

I guess we saw it five, six years ago with Alex Smith, the Harbaugh version. But it is so hard to build a team like that that is so defensive heavy. to find a quarterback that can be a game manager and not make that much money. They're just outlier situations. They do not happen very often. This Jimmy Garoppolo ACL, just a devastating, devastating injury for the entire league. Let's talk about Baker Mayfield, who I guess Monday morning, we all knew it Thursday night, was officially named the starting quarterback for the Cleveland Browns.

And I've been thinking, listen, I've been thinking, Listen, I spent the majority of my life in Northern California, a couple years in Central California in college. But I did get, and these were a very, very powerful two years in Philadelphia. It was a complete culture change. It was an eye-opening experience. I saw a city that I really enjoyed. It was a big city, but it had a small city feel to it, has a lot of character to it, and loved it sports. And obviously, I love sports.

I worked for the Eagles. It was cool. I mean, it was an awesome experience. And I did learn there, though, there was a level of pessimism and negativity that surrounded the franchise. Now, they just won a Super Bowl last year. They had not won a Super Bowl in the history of the franchise.

So I don't necessarily think that anyone's wrong for being negative. There was just a reality of the fan base. But I would say Cleveland is 50 times worse. Because not only have they never won, They have been so bad for so long that you can only get kicked when you're down in life so many times before you eventually just say effute everyone. And you just get into a negative mindset. And that's kind of what the Cleveland Brown fan base had become. And I don't blame them.

They expected to lose. They expected to draft bad players. They expected to screw up if you were a fan of the Cleveland Browns. So if you were going to be an individual that fix that team, meaning a quarterback that saved that team, you were going to have to be a little nutty. And Baker Mayfield, when you look at his life resume, it actually might be, he might be crazy enough to pull this off. Because listen, coming out of high school, he played at West Lake High School that had produced several Division I college players to Power Five conferences, scholarship guys, to university. of Texas, University of Kansas. I think they had a guy to go to Wake Forest, Virginia Tech.

Guys go all over the place. It's a power in the state of Texas. Baker Mayfield started there multiple years. No one would offer him a scholarship. I think Mike Leach was the only coach to offer him a scholarship and he didn't want to go there. So Cliff Kingsbury lets him walk on. He wins the job as a true freshman.

Wins the job. Imagine that. At 19 years old, you have to walk on somewhere and you win the job. And then a year later, he's basically like, you ain't going to play. So then he goes on, walks on. And the way he walked out in Oklahoma, Bob Stoops didn't even know who he was. Didn't know he was coming to Oklahoma. He just showed up.

They let him walk on. The first year he just, because the transfer rules, he had to obviously just play scout team. You know, it's a throwaway year. Did not get to play. The next year, as a non-scholarship player, he beat out the incumbent and went on to start for the next three years. Do you know the type balls and self-belief you have to have to do that? After getting beat out at Texas Tech to then go to Oklahoma

where you have to sit for a year to then end up winning the job as a walk-on? That's unheard of. That is not normal. Maybe that happens at Cal Poly where I went to school, not at the University of Oklahoma. And he just go on and win the job. He dominated for three years. Like, you got to be a little nutty.

when you take over like in those situations were much you know easier just in terms of stability of the organization but going into it as a 20 year old kid you're wired a little different

and I do think we've all been around him there are people at a younger age that are just wired a little different for whatever reason it usually has to do maybe it's just always been baker he's just been short

you know and just no one everyone he knows looks at him like he's not quite good enough at a position that does value height and he's you know as we'd say in the league, he's a midget. But you cannot dispute that wherever he goes, he wins and finds a way to start.

They did not want to start him in Cleveland. He came in, double middle fingers, bet your ass will be starting fast. And, I mean, it did take a tie rod concussion, but it was clear. Tyrod was terrible. Babe came in, boom, one in the game, short week, no reps. Like, the way you have to be wired to go to a place like Cleveland, Think about whatever job you've ever been in, the most dysfunctional part of the job or that given company that you worked for that hopefully you left. You know, when there is serious dysfunction in an organization, it is hard to overcome that.

It really is. It's why I've always given Derek Carr a little bit longer of a lease than I would other quarterbacks. It's impossible to have success in Oakland. No one does. For the last 15 years, no one succeeds there. He's the one guy that had success. He overcame it for a short period of time. Khalil was also another outlier that overcame it.

They didn't want him, though. It is hard to overcome the dysfunction with the Oakland Raiders. It really is. Right up the road, Sacramento Kings, same thing. There are countless probably businesses that you know in your communities that are the same way. That maybe they do kind of well because they got name recognition, but they're not well-run. And it's just crazy they're even able to succeed. And for Baker, I do think he's wired and he's just crazy enough

And he definitely is talented enough And here's the other thing Just from an actual physical standpoint His arm strength I watched a lot of Oklahoma I have a very good friend that works there A guy that actually got me started at football Fresnel State Drew Hill

He runs their recruiting And so I watched Oklahoma forever Since he's been there since the Bob Stoops era And for the last like he'd been there like five years But when Baker first started starting, I'm like, God, I kind of like this guy. Short, it was kind of a gunslinger, was good. They had a crazy comeback against Tennessee, I think, his first year starting. I was like, damn, I kind of like this kid.

But his arm wasn't great. So I was like, I didn't think he was a great pro prospect. Then last year, his arm improved, like his arm strength. That game on Thursday night against the Jets, I mean, he's throwing BBs. Like Derek Carr, Jared Gough, Russell Wilson. Like, his arm strength looks high-level NFL arm strength. and we know he's really accurate and we know he's crazy enough

to think he's good enough that he belongs here. Some guys are kind of unsure. You'd be floored how many guys are kind of insecure a little bit about being in the NFL as young players. It could be intimidating.

Even when you're a highly drafted pick from a big program, you might act like you belong, but I've seen it. I've been around these guys. Some of them just, deep down don't really have the self-belief. Some of the great ones do immediately.

But not everyone does. Even the great player. Some guys, it takes a couple years. Baker's just nuts. He thinks he not only belongs. How yeah, I should have been the first pick. You guys were crazy. Why would you not take me first?

That's what he's telling everyone. And then he comes in and just wins that game with no reps. I like Baker-Mayfield. I know Colin crushes him. You just can't bet against really accurate quarterbacks that anticipate, that have a good feel for an offense and have a good arm. Like his physical skills translate,

and their team is just good. They're coming to Oakland this week. I'm actually pretty excited to watch that game. Hell, I think he might light him up because their defense isn't very good, but just an incredible story. And it was going to take an incredible story to finally get the Cleveland Browns over the hill.

I mean, it took LeBron James to get the calves over the hill. LeBron freaking James. That's what it took to get the calves over the hill. It's hard to overcome dysfunction, but LeBron was so good he did. Maybe Baker just is that guy. I mean, I know we're only a half in, but I've liked him since the moment I saw him in Oklahoma, and he's gotten so much better since then. I wouldn't bet against this kid.

That's all I'm saying. I would not bet against this kid. I think he's just wired. I think he's nuts in a good way, in a way that's good enough to resurrect this franchise that has a rabid fan base that is just dying to be relevant. And let me tell you, their team's not bad. If he plays well, keep an eye on them for the playoffs. Have I told you about Audible?

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Or text three and out, again, the number three, A&D, OUT to 500, 500, and get started today. I'm not going to spend much time on this next guy because it feels like I've already talked about him a lot. I'm not trying to beat a dead horse here, but it really is, I mean, one of the biggest stories in the NFL. Calil Mac I remember Jerry Jones said this a while back I forget exactly it was on a potential trade

actually I think it was like when he didn't trade up for Connor Cook and he ended up getting Dak and he was mad at himself kind of worked out but now it turns out Dak's not that good but the point was Jerry said like he was mad

that he's never whenever he's wanted something that he really wanted that he viewed as a premium he had to pay a premium and he basically said you only get premiums when you pay a premium. That's just part of the deal.

And there's a small faction of, I think, people not in the league, but, you know, fans, especially Raider fans, maybe just fans of other NFL teams that think the bears paid too much and then gave them too much money. And I'm a believer, like Jerry Jones, that you can never really pay, overpay for a premium. Now, you can overpay for things that aren't good enough. You can make terrible investments on things that are not premiums. But if you buy something that's a premium, whether that's Bay Area real estate, whether that's, I don't know, a company, you name it,

that that value to you is worth more than it would be to other people or it's just worth overpaying if it's for you. Remember, like, it might have been a year ago, maybe it was two years ago. Amazon bought Whole Foods. Whole Foods. I'm not the biggest Whole Foods guy because whenever you go

into Whole Foods you know it's kind of enticing they actually make pretty good burritos but I go in there I put a bunch of things in that little box

and then it ends up being like $28 so it doesn't even feel like that much food but I've never argued with the fact that you go in there and that place is packed

wherever you go whether you're in the Bay Area whether you're in L.A., whether you're in Arizona any city you go to a Whole Foods is jammed. Vegas, you name it.

Texas, wherever you go, that Whole Foods is just popping. Well, to Jeff Bezos, that already has a distribution network and that will probably be delivering meals, not just individual items, but meals.

Like, oh, you just want a piece of pizza and a burrito from Whole Foods or you want a, I don't know, chicken bowl, you'll just be able to get that from Whole Foods. Like, that will eventually come. He spent 13.7 billion. People thought he was crazy.

I remember that day, like the stock price went up. He made so much money. He ended up getting it for basically free. But to Jeff Bezos, it was worth every penny. He'd probably tell you it was worth $18 billion he would have paid. Again, the billions is just nothing to them. It's pretty crazy when you just throw out these numbers. But giving two first round picks and then signing a guy to a $90 million contract,

even if he is LT2.0, which I actually have LT's football like DVR on my television right now, hopefully we'll watch it the next couple days, that if that's what he is, it's still a lot to pay. He better be that or else it's not worth it. Well, I got news for you. Khalil Mack is that guy. Khalil Mack is worth it. He's the first guy since Kalil Mack in 2016

to have three straight games with three straight sacks and three straight force fumbles. Do you know what a force fumble is? When you recover it or your team recovers it, a turnover. Like, that's a big play. You know who could die for a turnover right now? The Raiders freaking defense. Do you know who would not be 0 and 3 right now if they still had Khalil Mack

and they'd probably be 2 in 1 like the Chicago Bears are? The Raiders, if they still had to Khalil back. So every piece of, you know, draft capital and then actual capital they've given Khalil Mack, he's been worth it and more. There is no chance on God's Green Earth that the Bears would trade him back to the Raiders right now for all that money back and the two first rounders. They might tell you, God, we would have paid him $100 million. You know, we might have thrown an extra second round pick.

this guy, and given their team, because their quarterback's not that great, Mitchell Trubisky struggled a tad bit, and they're a defensive first teams. They're like the poor man's version of the Jaguars. But it's pretty clear that their defense is dominant, and he's the lead dog. He's the lead dog in the NFL. He is on pace.

I told Colin on Monday. I don't think it's out of the realm of possibility. I would not expect it. I think, obviously, Patrick Mahomes would be the leader in the clubhouse. They win the division. I mean, it's going to be hard for him not to win the end. MVP, and the season's young. A lot of guys can still win the MVP.

But Khalil Mack is going to have his name. His name's in the hat right now. He's thrown his name in the hat. Like, that can't be argued. The defensive player of the year, he's on the straight shot. If he stays healthy, he's going to win defensive player of the year. If the bear somehow won 11 games, could Khalil Mack be the MVP of the league? It's not crazy.

Unlikely, yes. Remember, JJ Watt a couple years ago had a historic season. I think they went 9 and 7. He didn't win the MVP. And he was catching touchdowns that year. Again, I have not saying, I just think it's on the table. And if you watch the Bears, which I'm a Matt Nagy guy, I'm a sneaky Bears fan now that he's the head coach,

and especially because I got Khalil, you know, arguably my favorite player just to watch in the NFL. Why? I don't know. I just like 6'3-260-pound badasses, you know, that cause fumbles and get sack the quarterback. I just like those guys. I liked L.T., like Reggie White.

You know, I like Vaughn Miller. I like Cleo Mac. Those are just type players I like. I don't know. because Gruden doesn't, but every single penny that they spent on this was worth it. They might look at it immediately, like they got a discount.

Sometimes, and listen, I've never done crazy big business deals, but I've overextended myself sometimes. And if it was the right deal, I always felt confident that like five days later, I feel pretty good about it. You don't feel good about it. You're like, God, I would have spent more looking back.

And that's what Khalil Mack is. He's that investment that you're like, I would have paid more of a premium to get this premium on my side, to have this guy on my team, to have this guy in my building, to build my franchise around this guy. And on defense, there aren't that many of them, right? There's Devon Miller's Aaron Donald, Kalee Mack. Like, there is a Luke Keeckley was several years ago,

Earl Thomas was several years ago. Like there's a small percentage of players that actually are. And he's one of them. and it's just one of the all-time great buys. It was expensive, but it was worth every freaking penny from the McCaskey family, from Ryan Pace, you know, for the bears to be aggressive. Kudos to them. Hat tip deserves to go to them daily.

Because that's what pro sports is about. That's what business is about. Be aggressive. Put your balls on the table. Put all the chips in the middle of the table every once in a while. If you want to get anywhere in life, you can sit in the slow lane, you can hop in the fast lane, put the ball. pedal to the metal and see what happens.

And you know what, Ryan Pace and the Chicago Bears have done that two years in a row. Now, I didn't love it when they did it with Mitch Trabisky. I would never have taken a number two. But I get the thought process of it. Again, I would not have taken him to. But say one thing for Ryan Pace. The dude has some stones. They do some balls.

He's not afraid to wheel and deal. You know, he's not afraid to throw it all on the table. And a lot of guys, just in general or not, they want to stay in the slow lane. They'll never like, hey, man, you want to invest in some? No. No, we got to get my 3% returns. You know, no different. Ryan Pace could have just, you know, we got a pretty good defense.

We got Mitchell. You know, we're going to have some cap space. No, here's my two first rounders. Here's 90 million. Give me the best defensive player in the league. Let's go kick ass and take names. They're two and one right now. And part of the reason John Gruden gave Khalil Mack to them

because he thought they were the worst team of all the teams coming at them. They thought that their draft picks would be the worst. Well, even with Mitchell being terrible, and he was God-awful. the Cardinals. He looks like he's, you know, swimming a little bit in this new offense. I mean, what are they at worst? Seven and nine?

Eight and eight? Nine and seven? Who knows? I mean, if Mitchell can kind of get his stuff together, why couldn't they win ten games? They're good. They're really good on defense. They got legit running backs. They have weapons on offense.

The quarterback's question mark. But with Khalil Mack getting sacks and forced fumbles and interceptions every game, they are not going away. So kudos of the bear. for paying a premium for the most premium player in the league. I'm not going to spend much time on this because I don't even think it deserves much time to be spent on.

I know a lot of people viewed the Patriot roster this year is down and not great. And I got news for everyone. Their roster hasn't really been good the last like seven years. You know, I mean, it's Brady, you know, a younger gronk before he got nailed for killing people. Hernandez was really good. Malcolm Butler was solid.

He was never a great player. Hightower was kind of a positionless guy. But they have never had one of the top five rosters in the league besides really Brady and Kronk. That's not what they're built on. They're built on Brady and they're built on Belichick. They outthink you. They find a way.

They adapt. They change. And all these people, and listen, I know Colin and just, most national hosts. The roster was sucks, this was the year. And listen, if you just judge the Patriots by their roster, you'd write them off basically every year. I know who I don't write off, the New England Patriots,

Bill Belichick and Tom Brady. I don't care how bad and how poorly they play in September. I do not care. Because here's what I know this year. Their defense actually, I know they played bad against the Lions. But I got news for you, the Lions' offense is not bad. and the Lions had to win that game. They were 0-2, you know, fighting for their livelihood.

So the Patriots are one and two. They get Julian Edelman, who is their best wide receiver back in two weeks. They will find some role for Josh Gordon or they will cut them. But you just think that like the Patriots are just going to have a down year. No. Belichick's a better coach than every coach that he's going to coach against this season. Tom Brady is a better quarterback than every quarterback they're going to play against the season. Sony Michelle, who has a better coach. hasn't looked good, they will figure out a way to use them.

Or they'll just go claim a guy in a practice squad and they'll make him inactive. Like, Belichick ain't just going to keep ramming him down his throat, you know, in terms of like, ain't just going to keep playing him if he's not getting it done. He was the first round pick. He does not care. I just know the Patriots to me, like when I think just like American business, to me they've easily been the most consistent for the last 20 years. With like Apple, I'm recording this right now into an Apple computer.

I have, I'm looking at an iPad and I got an iPhone in my lap. Like, Apple's just not going away anytime soon. McDonald's, people, like, I remember people want it right off McDonald's. You know, the health craze, what do they do? They adapted. They can get healthy stuff there.

If I'm in a pinch, I'll go get like a chicken, grilled chicken wrap. If I need coffee, I'll go get a coffee in the morning and oatmeal. Like, you can eat healthy there. You can eat dirty. You can get coffee. I mean, it's really more efficient than Starbucks. I don't know if you've been to Starbucks lately, but all their mobile orders,

that if you go out the wrong time, you end up waiting 20 minutes because they're one of the most inefficient businesses going. I would short Starbucks long term. I would not short the Patriots. I'm just not betting against Bill Belichick. Now, if he retires, then I'll talk. Even if Tom Brady leaves,

I think they could find a way to land a serviceable quarterback and compete. Again, he's a better exes-nose coach that every coach he's playing against. He just is. He just is better at his. job than every single person he's going up against. It's just like Apple. They got better shit.

Their computer just for doing what I'm doing is just better. And I've never been an Apple guy until I bought this Mac book pro or whatever it is. It's sweet. You never go back. I remember seeing the iPads back when they were really expensive. I'm like, God, those look pretty cool. They came down and probably remember getting one. They're badass.

Everyone has an iPhone for a reason. Everyone should bet on the Patriots. Why? Because at the end of the year they'll have 11, 12, 13 wins. They'll be a 1 or a 2 seed, and they'll be in the AFC championship. Now, they don't win the Super Bowl every year. Hell, they don't even get to the Super Bowl every year.

They do make the playoffs every year. Go to the football reference and check out the New England Patriots for the last 15 years. To hell, 20 years. All they do is win. They find a way. Their rosters were actually better in the 2000s than they've been past 2010.

10, 11, they had some pretty good teams because they had Hernandez and a young gronk and Wes Welker. They were really dynamic. But these teams the last four or five years have not been great. They have not been great. Bill out thinks you. Tom out thinks you. They will find a way. So this doom and gloom, I ain't doing it.

I've even gone too long. I didn't plan on talking for a couple minutes on this because it's just stupid. Again, he misses on draft picks all the time. It does not matter. he misses on trades all the time he just cuts got it doesn't matter he doesn't operate like a normal NFL team he's the GM coach

they're just in a different little world because he can be he's just better at his job I mean he's been doing it for 40 years if you watch the Sunday night game he still gets a a Christmas card from the Ford family

he's like it's the I don't know if he might have been lying but I remember she gave him a Thunderbird when like 1976 1976. His first year coaching was 1975, 85, 95, 2005, 2005, 2015. That's 40 years in itself. He's been coaching in the NFL for like 43 years.

I mean, Bill Belichick's seen it all. He's seen every player. Seen like Kenny Stabler on tape. And he's seen Kaleo Mack on tape. And every player in between. His knowledge of what he's doing is just stupid. I mean, it really is. he's just better at it than everyone else.

Just like, I mean, again, I'm not a huge fast food guy. I try to be healthy, but I can be healthy if I want to go to McDonald's. Want to get breakfast? McDonald's got good breakfast. Got good coffee. More fish than Starbucks.

I wouldn't bet it gets McDonald's. They've had some down years. Apple had some down years, and they fire Steve Jobs back in the late 90s. Hell, then Steve Job passed away. Have it skipped a beat with Tim Cook. I don't know if it would be that seamless like Belichick, Josh McHanors.

I would not. say it would be as seamless as Apple was. But as long as Bill is there, I would say Bill even more than Tom. And I'm a Tom guy. I think he's the greatest quarterback of all time. But Belichick's around? They'll be just fine. Okay, let's get into the Middle Coff mailbag.

I think the way I'm going to do this moving forward is just through Instagram. Just slide into my Instagram DMs at John Middilcoff, and I'll answer your questions there. I'm a little behind. I think I've answered them all on iTunes. it's just probably going to be easier this way. And I check it more often. Just let's do this. So Adam would love to hear your thoughts on Belichick and his defense.

This is kind of a good timing here. Between the Super Bowl and yesterday's lackluster performance against Blake and company, this is actually a week old, with Fournette out, I think he deserves some major criticism. Is that fair to say, and do you believe he's getting too many passes for bad performances? I feel like he has talked about as a god, and maybe he is deserving. He is deserving.

I mean, check his resume. But lately it's been ugly despite Tom's continued success on offense. I think his, he hasn't drafted that well. They don't have difference makers on defense. When you watched them, and I'm recording this the day after the Sunday night game, you saw Flores the new defensive coordinator

who's calling the defense right by Bill and Bill's just kind of letting him do it. Like, Bill's not calling the defense, though he's kind of telling him what to do during the week. I do think their personnel stinks. They do not have a great pass rusher. But the one thing I've heard, and I remember reading Belichick saying this a long time ago,

and he's right, and this is the reason that they get it done in the playoffs. Like the NFL, it's overrated how many yards you give up. If you don't give up points, that's the point of the game. So you could give up 600 yards a game. But if you're, you know, averaging in the top 15 of points allowed per game, you're going to be in good shape. Like if you're only allowing 20 points,

let's say you're in the middle of the pack, but you're lasting yards at the end of the year, that's fine. I think yards, we can overvalue yards, yards per play, all that BS. It's about scoring. When you get to the red zone, do I stop you and force you to kick field goals?

Do I not let you score touchdowns? And at the end of the day in big games, Belichick has figured out more often than not to do that. So yeah, the regular season is defense can look terrible. I mean, God awful. And it's not like they had a bunch of Khalil Mack and, you know, Patrick Peterson, Luke Keeckley run around out there. They typically have McCordy Solid. That's about it.

I mean, I don't love many players on their defense. Never been a big Gilmore guy. But, yeah, I think he gets a pass. Why? Because he got five rings. He's been to the last, how many Super Bowls? Yeah, I know the defense lets him down. But, I mean, I think he's proven when he has good defensive players, he kicks

ass on defense. From back in the 80s with L.T. To, I mean, in Cleveland they had good defenses, to then when he first got to the Patriots and they had good defenses, then I think the league's just changed. And he changes with it. He adapts. He's a chameleon. So does he deserve some crap? Yeah. I mean, he's not, the GM of him lets himself down more. But I think at the end of the day, him winning and him getting it done in big games and consistently winning playoff games is the reason he gets a pass. And that's, at the end of the day, like winning, losing some game to the Jaguars in mid-September is meaningless if he beats them in January. I mean, last year, with all the chips on the line, he beat them.

He beat them when it mattered. They just beat him when it did not matter. So, I don't know what to take of it. I mean, the Jaguars should be better in theory, but they're just not. I wouldn't bet against the Patriots playing the Jaguars. Okay, let's get to Let's get to this one. I do have a question

that I was wondering if you have an opinion on. I got opinions. There seems to be rumors that Sashi Brown wasn't a good GM the former GM of the Browns as people make it out to be.

Apparently a good number of people think that he bought the A.J. McCarran trade on purpose last year because a second round pick for him wasn't good value. Do you know if any of this is true? I always imagine it was true.

I don't know anyone with the Brown so I've never been told one way or the other, like, I don't have an inside source. I do think Sashi brought a Sam Hinky-like feel to it, and there are some Sashi truthers on social media. My only hesitation would be is they needed a guy like John Dorsey with all these picks. Because, like, would you have trusted Sashi with the first and fourth pick to make those picks? Like, it looks like Baker Mayfield.

That took some balls. That took, you know, a big-time GM to make that decision. It wasn't easy to make it. I wouldn't have made it. I would take Sam Donald. But John Dorsey didn't. And John Dorsey's pretty damn good at his job. Who does Sashi Brown take?

Maybe he takes Baker Mayfield. I doubt it. What if he takes Josh Allen? What if at four he takes, I don't know? I don't even know. So I do think Sashi, there were elements of his job, understanding value. If he did botch the A.J. McCarran pick for a second, kudos to him. Because A.J. McCarran should never be traded for a second.

Hell, I wouldn't trade anything for A. A.J. McCarrant. Gruden trading, you know, fifth rounder for him was crazy. But my big issue with Sashi is that eventually there was going to come a time when you have all these picks, can you make the right pick? And that was the problem with Sam Hinky. Like, yeah, he got Ben Simmons. My mom could have picked Ben Simmons. When he had to make some tough picks, he took Noel one year.

The next year he took the Okafer from Duke, who was a dinosaur in this league. So it's like I didn't even trust Sam Hinky to make the pick. could he tank? Yeah. Like Darryorne. I trust Darryl Morey to make a draft pick. Bob Myers. I trust Bob Myers to make a draft pick.

Will they tank? I don't know if they'll be great at tanking. I think anyone could tank if that's what you tell the number one operative in the building. You know, our number one goal is to lose. Any GM could figure that out. But can any GM pick the right players? You know, I don't know. And that's where I will never, ever agree.

Sachi Brown would have been able to figure out that eventually with all these picks, could he have picked the right players? And I doubt the Browns would have been in the position they were in with him. Okay, Kev, Kev-O, following your podcast, thought I'd ask you a question. Good work, by the way. Appreciate it. Most likely to happen of these two scenarios. Patriots versus the Vikings.

I mean, the Vikings just lost of the Buffalo Bills and Josh Allen. or the Rams versus the Chiefs. Predicting good health, obviously. Gotcha. It's a good one. I just said I'm not betting against the Patriots. The Vikings, I still think, are one of the best teams in the league. They just had a weird game.

Here's a prediction, and I guess most of you guys are going to list this before the Thursday night game. I do think the Vikings beat the Rams. It's just one of those. I'm going out there on a limb a little bit because they got to play in L.A. short week. But Mike Zimmer's team usually bounce back. It's a much bigger game for the Vikings than it is the Rams. I would say I would probably lean Patriots and Vikings, just because when you look at the Vikings,

what they do really well, again, in theory, they just did it terribly against the bills. Defense travels. And I'm not betting against Belichick and Brady. My one problem would be with the Chiefs is that, like, in January, especially like if they were the one or two seat, it gets really cold. Mahomes throwing deep to tire.

Kill gets a little more difficult, but they do have a good running back, but their defense isn't very good. So if it gets to a position where they just can't play a shootout game, where the game's going to be in the low 20s, can their defense make enough plays? They're just not good enough. All their talent is on offense. They just don't have talent on defense. And it wouldn't shock me at all if the Rams were in the Super Bowl. Jared Goff has been phenomenal this year. Their team just looks really good.

They're well-coached. I enjoy watching the Rams. I think the Chiefs are going to be a little bit more of a regular season team. I think sometimes you see that in the NBA. Houston, really, before this year, they actually gave the Warriors a pretty good run. But like the last several years, they were much more built for the regular season. Because you do have to play defense. And historically, Andy Reed's teams in Philly, they're really good teams.

They played really good defense. All those Jim Johnson teams. It's a little different now, which is fine for the regular season. But it's just, I mean, Andy would tell you this. You got to get stops. You got to make plays on defense in the playoffs Because the game, you're not in 35 to 37 shootouts It's just not the way the game's played

Maybe one of your three playoff games But more than likely you're just kind of a knockdown, dragout slug fest And that's where I wouldn't trust the Chiefs this year I guarantee this offseason They go big game hunting for some difference makers on defense And he has a history of landing And just going after good free agents and I think they'll be aggressive in the free agent market to get defensive players.

Because that's what they need. They're loaded on offense. I mean, if Tyree Kill went down, who cares? I got Samuel Arkins and Travis Kelsey. Travis Kelsey goes down, who cares? I got Tyree Kill and Sammy Watkins and Karim Hunt. They're fullback. Sherman's good.

They're just really good. And the quarterback looks like a superstar. So I would probably lean Patriots Vikings, even though the Patriots are 1 and 2. The Vikings are 1-1-1. The Chiefs were 3-0 and the Rams are 3-0. So, you know, based off, you know, two weeks or three weeks, you might say I'm crazy. But, again, we'll do this Middlkoff mailbag moving forward on Instagram. So slide up into my DMs at John Middlecoff, and I will answer him that way.

I'm going to start doing these podcasts Tuesdays and Fridays. I think the game plan. You never know we may change, but as of right now, definitely this week, Tuesday, Friday, and we'll just keep it swinging. I know more people want more three and out. Got a lot of football going on. I got a lot of football takes. I mean, hell, I could do some college football takes maybe later in the week.

Talk about Justin Herbert who looked. I'll give him a little middle-cough mailback question to myself. The Oregon quarterback looks fantastic. You can basically, you know, put it in stone right now. That guy is going. You never know. I'd say he's a lock to go in the top three if he comes out. It's hard to say lock quarterback won because you've seen the hell Baker Mayfield went last year.

Now, there's not a Baker Mayfield in this quarterback class, but someone loves Drew Locke, who knows. But this kid is going really high. He is really, really talented. You can tell he has all the physical attributes. I was sick, and I fell asleep in the fourth quarter when Oregon fell apart. But the part of the game that I witnessed, he was excellent. He looks like a big-time NFL player.

I'm excited to watch him play more. It's a guy that I hadn't really made a big effort to watch. Now, when Saturday's come around, I'm finding what channel Oregon is on. because I'm watching that kid. That kid's good. The kid's a baller. I mean, that kid's got a chance to be a special, special NFL prospect.

I'm excited. If you hadn't got a chance you didn't get to watch the game last Saturday, Stanford, Oregon. Keep an eye on Oregon if you see him on TV. Watch that quarterback, Justin Herbert. He looks like he's got a chance to be pretty special. Thanks again, everyone listening to Three and Out podcast.

John Middlecock, talk to you soon. 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, breaking down the biggest moments in sports and giving you the real story behind the headline.

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Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. What's up, guys, this is Clever Taylor the 4th. And on my podcast, The Cliverts Show, I'm bringing you conversations about all kinds of stuff. Like being an internet famous referee. We're in the middle of a game. This linebacker walks up to me, he goes, hey, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her. What? Quarterback on office blue 42.

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