The Pat McAfee Show - PMS 2.0 1246 - College Football Playoff Rankings Reaction, JJ Watt, Stanford Steve, AQ Shipley, Darius Butler, & AJ Hawk

Episode Date: November 20, 2024

On today’s show, Pat, AQ Shipley, Darius Butler, AJ Hawk, and the boys chat about last night’s new College Football Playoff rankings and the ensuing chaos that will follow including who should be upset that they aren’t in, if Indiana is in no matter what what happens against Ohio State on Saturday, the seeding process, how many teams the SEC and B1G are going to get, and much much more. Joining the progrum to give his biggest takeaway’s from week 11 of the NFL season, preview tomorrow night’s Thursday Night Football game between the Steelers and Browns, and answer questions from around the internet from the hashtag #AskJAGE, future 1st ballot Hall of Famer, 3x DPOY, countless Pro Bowl’s and All Pro’s, and NFL on CBS analyst, JJ Watt. Later, panelist on College GameDay, cohost of SVPod, and contributor to a countless number of show’s on ESPN’s family of networks, the legend, Stanford Steve Coughlin joins the show to chat about the scenario of whether or not Ohio State is out if they get beat by Indiana, and some of his biggest questions from the College Football Playoff rankings. Make sure to subscribe to youtube.com/thepatmcafeeshow or watch on ESPN (12-2 EDT), ESPN’s Youtube (12-3 EDT), or ESPN+. We appreciate the hell out of all of you. We’ll see you on overreaction Monday, cheers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome to our Humble Abode, the Thunderdome, on this warm Wednesday, November 20th, 2024. This program begins now! Football! It's amazing, and last night, college football had a massive night. The new college football playoff rankings were released, and Projected Bracket was released, with a lot of questions, obviously, still being left to be answered, but also all eyes looking at Columbus, Ohio this weekend as Indiana, the Hoosiers, who are currently ranked higher than they've ever been in the history of Indiana football,

take on the Ohio State Buckeyes, who already have one loss against the Oregon Ducks. Will that make two top five losses for the Ohio State team? What does that mean for their future if they were to lose to Indiana? And on the flip side, if Indiana was to lose to Ohio State, what does the game look like? What do the rankings look like? I think I saw last night on the show, if they were to win that game, a 96% chance at A&M making it. If they were to lose that game, 95% chance to make it in there. Which led to Joey Galloway infamously saying last night,

if I'm Kurt Cignetti, I'm thinking about arresting Curtis Rourke for this particular game because we all saw what happened at Florida State whenever they lose Travis. Do you need to get your quarterback hurt at this point if you're going to get into college football playoffs anyways? Joey Galloway was shredded on X because of this particular take, but I think what he was saying is, if this game doesn't matter, the only thing that would matter

is if you lose your key player, why would you want to do that? This is the world we're in right now. A lot of objection, a lot of opinion, a lot of ideas, and inevitably, it's a group of 13 people voting on who should get the 12 college football playoff spots. Five of them already taken

from the four highest-rated champions from around the country will get the first round by. And then the fifth highest rated conference champion will have a spot. In this particular case, the way they rolled out this, a power five group champion, Boise State, is ranked higher than the Big 12 champion would be if BYU would go on to be the Big 12 champion, which they're not necessarily going to happen at all. Colorado has an opportunity. Arizona State has an opportunity. BYU obviously has an opportunity. That's why these are all just projections.

But for the first time since these college football rankings have come out, the Power 4 champion has been ranked lower than the Power 5 group of five champion. So the group of five champion, Boise State, gets a first-round bye. The Power 4 champion has to play in a first round bye. The power four champion has to play in the first round. It is madness. It is chaos. But I think the reason why it is the case

is because we all can't wait for this to happen. We all can't wait for that first game to kick off. We all can't wait for the world to see the home field advantage for these college football playoff games that we've been dreaming of. The world can't wait to find out who the real champion is.

Hell yeah. Now there's a couple people that out who the real champion is. Hell yeah. Now, there's a couple people that are just kind of locked in. We all know that Oregon is basically good until whenever. However, forever. Until their new documentary came out about their game in Wisconsin. So sweet. Going into the fourth quarter, they're down seven. They have a fourth and nine.

And then Jump Around comes on at Camp Randall. You know? Jump. The whole thing. And then they obviously take a look back and earlier in the week with the way Dan Lanning has handled his entire team and the way he set the precedent of the week. Dan Lanning to his boys is, you're going to hear jump around when you go there. All week when you hear jump around, I want the temperature to be adjusted.

I want things to be tightened up a little bit. So during practice, they weren't just playing it over and over and over to desensitize it. In the big moments in practice, in the big situations, they turn that song on and everybody gets a heightened atmosphere. So down seven at Wisconsin, a perfect season on the line, a number one ranking on the line, a national championship for Oregon, potentially still being talked about on the line. They turn on, and if you look at oregon's sideline versus looking at wisconsin's sideline you want to know who was leading by seven who was trailing by seven who was the home team who was the away team and i think it's that mental toughness the way that team is uh kind of put

together that makes everybody think this oregon team this might be the year this might be the year for Oregon but that's not the conversation today no no the conversation is who's going to sneak in who's left out who's going to be the team over these last couple weeks that's going to make a run for it in the football judgment test for people that get themselves and earn themselves an opportunity to be in the dance and once they get in the dance are they going to be able to go outside looking in couple teams obviously not thrilled couple teams obviously not thrilled inside looking out there's some teams that are certainly uh thank god hey can't be dancing can't be dancing much or your ass is going to get kicked out then there's obviously the

conversation of what do these people care about more in the college football playoff committee is it your record okay do they care about the record sure do they care about football judgment do they care about strength of schedule then you look at texas penn state and iu ranked three four and five and then you look at their key wins for these teams yeah and you can see how a team like georgia who's ranked pretty low just had another massive win over tennessee they go texas's key wins oh texas lost to georgia by the way texas's key wins uh Texas lost to Georgia, by the way. Texas' key wins. Vanderbilt, that was good at one point. Arkansas was good at one

point. That was very close this past weekend. That was a very close game until the fourth. That's a big rivalry game. That is a good win. Any win is a good win, especially in college ball in this modern world that we're in. Any win in the SEC is a good win is what we've been told. Penn State, who are their big-time wins? They're ranked fourth currently. Illinois

and Wisconsin. Good football team. Those are good football. Get up. They're doing the whole thing. Indiana obviously has wins over Michigan, the reigning national champion. And then Washington, the reigning national finalist

last year. They're getting no respect. 106th strength of schedule. So you got a lot of people in the SEC going, okay, so what matters? What doesn't matter? What we know? College football matters. And that's why people care so much. We'll be talking about that

all damn day, I would assume. We also have a lot of NFL chatter because we're joined by some phenomenal human beings. It's not the Talks at Table, Ed Boss, Connor, and Ty Schmidt. You guys are great. Phenomenal toxic table at Boston Corner and at Ty Schmidt. You guys are great. Thank you. You too, Pat. Phenomenal, though different.

Yeah, definitely. Then great. Different echelon. Yeah, I wouldn't put any of us on a regular basis there, but those who are joining us, obviously phenomenal. J.J. Wall will be here in the next hour. Holy shit. Yeah.

12-year NFL vet, Super Bowl champion, player, coach. Jackie Moon of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Also played for the Cardinals, the Colts, the Ravens, the Eagles, and the Steelers. Ladies and gentlemen, Penn State legend. How are they ranked so high? It's ridiculous. They got a home playoff game?

You kidding me? Joke. Thank you, Shipley. Thank you. I see you in your sun. Day. Red. How'd you feel last night on Tuesday seeing the Penn State boys being ranked so damn well? I feel real good about where they're at. They don't have a lot going down the final couple weeks. They're going to stay out of the Big Ten Championship.

They got a nice little ride into the playoffs. They do, don't they? They feel like a preseason into the college football playoffs. That's right. If you were to view it that way, which is why so many people are pissed. And then nine-year NFL vet, host of Everything DB, Good D, Bad D, Darius J. Butler is here. Obviously,

Altcast season is right around the corner for us where we'll be on the sideline. It's amazing. I'm excited for people that have never experienced college football to get to experience

college football through this 12-team playoff. But I think we talked about this yesterday. Because it's all like judgment and opinion and you can counter every single argument,

it feels like they're never going to be able to get it 100% right, but we do know that the 12 teams that get in are all going to be good right that's how we feel that's all we want is good games and i think uh it's going to be some outs there obviously when you put in that eye test right because now who you know is your iq is aq is it me is it pat is it ty what do we see what you know what judgment do we have there but we know there will be big games and the watch-alongs. That's my favorite part of the football season, period.

I saw you post about it. I completely forgot about them. Best shit ever. I don't know how we get to do it. Every time. The fact that we get to do it is awesome. The fact that the games we've done have all been pretty good. If we're on the sidelines.

We have one. That was the national championship. Yeah, there's no other opportunity. There's, but still. That was the national championship. Yeah, there's no other opportunity. There's no other opportunity. It was the national championship. They earned it. But if we're on the sideline, what we have learned is this is about to be a game. Yeah.

This is about to be a game. But we're going to be on the sideline of a home field advantage college football, you know, playoff game. That matters. Win and move on. Lose, go to the offseason. You look at the bracket how it's currently projected and we have to talk about this this is just a projection of a bracket now the college football playoff committee just does rankings okay they just do rankings so the

people at ESPN college football the people that run the Tuesday night show the people that are very much associated with college game day as well i've talked to them about this they are being forced to be kind of so what are we supposed to do here well will you give us a conference champion cfp committee we don't do that it's like this is a new deal you have to you you if you fucking did it would be a lot easier for all parts that's up for you guys to do it's like no it isn't this is yours college football playoff committee uh this is your ranking this is your thing this is not an for all parts. That's up for you guys to do. It's like, no, it isn't. This is yours. College Football Playoff Committee. This is your ranking. This is your thing. This is not an ESPN thing. Remember last year, whenever Herbstreit gives his

take, all of a sudden everybody thinks Herbstreit's the one picking who the final four teams is. I thought we were going to try to stay away from that. We thought it was going to be College Football Playoff Committee. They say, we're just doing the rankings. It's like, ah, that's quite a cop-out. I would like to let the College Football Playoff Committee know that I feel that way. That is not a voice from anybody else. That is a voice from

me. I think that is a... You should have to project who you think are going to be the conference champions because that's a very big piece of this entire 12-team playoff. So now what the ESPN folks are forced to do on Tuesday nights is they are just taking the highest-ranked person or

team from each conference and putting them as the conference champion. Now, I don't know if that's how the college football playoff committee is looking at it. We don't know if that's how they're expecting it to work. But the way this kind of lays out, these are the highest projected ranked conference champions that get the first round by. Then I was watching Get Up this morning. And Get Up this morning said, Ohio State has a 64% chance of earning a first round bye in the CFP if they beat Indiana. Okay.

So if they beat Indiana, they have a 64% chance to beat Oregon in the Big Ten Championship because the only way you get a first round bye is if you win your conference championship. So if they can beat Indiana, we think about 6%, 4% chance of beating Oregon. But the way they laid it out is as if they beat Indiana, their record is what it is, then you earn a first-round buy. The only way you earn a first-round buy is if you win a championship. And then the four highest-ranked champions, then,

are the ones that get the first-round buy. The fifth-highest-ranked champion, Power 5 champion, is going to be, or Power 4 champion in this particular case, ranked champions then are the ones that get the first round by the fifth highest ranked champion power five champion is going to be or power four champion in this particular case is in the first round so i think there is a little bit of confusion by people because it's first time but also i think college football playoff committee is uh copping out of a very very big piece of the new college football playoff bracket. And this is not somebody telling me to say this. Obviously, nobody wants to just say,

hey, you guys who are getting paid billions of dollars for this entire thing aren't doing your job. Like, nobody's telling me to say that. I'm just saying you're making everybody's life that's in college football at ESPN much worse because all anybody says on the internet whenever they see some of these things, oh, look who ESPN wants to be in there.'s a project it's like no this is strictly off of

what the college football playoff committee has ranked these particular teams and the only thing we could possibly do is just take the highest ranked person from each conference and assume that they think they're going to be the champion and give them a first round buy which is why this bracket could be completely different Oregon could lose in the Big Ten Championship here in Indianapolis. Not saying they will, but they could lose. Then they're getting bumped back. They have a home game. Now who's getting bumped out of the home?

So this is literally just projection. This could be significantly different, let alone the Big 12. Everybody's saying BYU's going to win. That could be many other teams. And if Colorado gets on a run and they get hot, are they going to get ranked higher because of the good players that they have, the strength of schedule that they have, the hotness that they are in? Then are they going to first round by? Boise State's bouncing back?

What if it's not Boise State? What if Army somehow goes on a run here and gets – it's like this bracket right here, I don't want to say is – it's fun. It's very, very fun. This is very, very, very fun. But the accuracy of it could be complete crop. Yeah, definitely.

Which, and then you see people go, look at what ESPN's, it's not, this is the college football playoff committee. Two very different people, two very different entities, a lot of proud people in that college football playoff committee. And then there's obviously the question that was asked, well, what if you make it to the conference championship? They say they value championships. That's why you get a first round buy well what if you have two losses in the sec or the big 10 you make it to the championship somehow which is

possible in both parties then you get three losses and you're in championship there's no way you're going to get put in over somebody that has one loss from another conference or whatever here's what ward manual athletic director from michigan who is the lead of the college football playoff committee. He had to say about that last night to Reese Davis. Well, we have a lot of value. We're not going to speculate on what will happen, but we have a lot of value with the teams that make a championship game. That says a lot. Playing 12 games in the season, making your championship game is a really invaluable data point, number one. Number two, we're going to evaluate the games and how teams play and the performance on the field.

That's what the commissioners have asked us to do. They didn't ask us to stop right before the championship game. They asked us to rank the teams through the championship game. And I think you could see over the years how the committee has valued those championship games and who stays in and where they're ranked. But this year, we're not going to speculate. We're going to let the season play out. But I think teams who make that championship game, the committee looks at them and puts them in high esteem. Okay, so the committee has a very difficult job. We all understand that.

Yeah. But they signed up for that job. They're one of the 13 people in there. They're the ones that get to make that decision. I think it's how a lot of people say. They're not going to get 100% right, but these projections of the bracket, I think, are just so potentially wrong.

But it gets everybody jacked up, and it gets people going, D-Much. Yeah, it creates some conversation of course that's what they want but like you said how they look now these not only can be this will be completely different once you and you look at all of them shit three out of the four all of them could lose honestly outside i think boise i think they're pretty safe uh but oregon so you're gonna play a tough miami obviously we don't know who's going to acc big 12. Big 12 is wide open. Like, it's just going to be completely different. That's what's going to make it great.

Yeah, Texas is going to be able to make it to the SEC championship. Are they going to be able to win the SEC championship? They've only had one big SEC game thus far, and it was Georgia. And they lose at home. So it's like the amount of things that could change, I think, are endless. But I do believe that the excitement just continues to build. Oh, no doubt. Continues to build. Can't wait for all this. You're talking about

teams losing. Miami has been a first round by the entire projection. If they were to lose to Clemson, who's at 16, who I assume a lot of people think that Clemson's just going to be out, and then Clemson all of a sudden becomes a team either in the playoff or with a first round by, and then is Miami out? Because they're at eight and they lose the ACC championship?

Yeah, because there's two ACC people going to get in? Probably not. Probably not, especially with two losses over one of the SEC teams with two losses. It is crazy to talk about, but it definitely is going to change completely by the last one. Yeah, like you mentioned, I think, I mean, by and large, like them doing this is bullshit because it doesn't mean anything, but it is fun for us to talk about. But I think the one thing that it does kind of lean to is we know that some

of like the Big 12 and the ACC, like chances are they're getting one team in. So like everyone else is going to be jockeying for those eight spots between the SEC and the Big 10, but we've talked about it a bunch. Like there is a chance that, you know, going into the final week of the season or the SEC and the Big Ten, but we've talked about it a bunch. There is a chance that going into the final week of the season or the SEC championship that there are seven teams in the SEC that are jockeying for a position in this. That is why it's still fun to talk about this, but for it being this late in the season, we still really have –

there's what, maybe two teams that you can definitively say, hey, they're probably in and everyone else is kind of up in the air. I appreciate the fact that the conference championships matter. That they wanted to put an emphasis on being a conference champion. That's why he gets first round by, yada, yada, yada. But like, until

that game happens, we have no idea. And with how the college football season has been, literally anything can happen now on that note let's go to hammer dad time ap tone obviously wrote a book on college ball before the season started he's been following closely he's helped me out every single week with game day prep tone what is the big takeaway from last night and what are your thoughts on what we've discussed thus far i i think they they football judgmented the shit out of this because, as Darius said earlier,

that kind of gives them an out, and it's hard to argue with football judgment. When you look at it, they have Notre Dame over Miami, Boise, SMU, BYU. All those teams are one-loss teams. But you could definitely say, and I think it would be hard for people to argue, that Notre Dame's loss to NIU is not the worst of those teams that have one loss. But their argument is Notre Dame, eye test, football judgment. So I think they football judgment and the shit out of that because it gives them an out.

And then my whole thing is like SMU 13, BYU 14, just put BYU at 13 and then SMU at 14 because they played each other and BYU won the game and then people wouldn't be able to bitch about that. So in that situation, I was like, why? Why put SMU at 13 and BYU at 14? And then, but on the other side, Ole Miss is one above Georgia because Ole Miss beat Georgia. So are they going head-to-head in that situation but not SMU, BYU?

So they cut. There's no winning with this committee as we've talked about. But in, like, those two situations two situations, they went both ways. So that in a couple weeks, if it's a head-to-head versus an eye test or a football judgment or whatever, they can say, hey, in the past we've ranked them this way. There's just no – I don't want to say there's no rhyme or reason to it, but there's a lot of –

Tony! They give themselves a lot of outs, which I think is smart. I love the fact – we talked to Coach Dan Mullen yesterday. He was awesome on the show. We need to get him on the show more. Absolutely. He gave different answers for basically the same question a couple different times. So I appreciate it.

That's good TV. That's good TV. Stanford Steve, to your point, though, Tone, sent me this text message because we're going to try to have him on the show, but he's got like 14 jobs. Sure. So we couldn't have him on. Classic Steve. Try to have Herbie on show, but he's got like 14 jobs. Sure. So we couldn't have him on. Classic Steve. Try to have Herbie on.

He's in the middle of NFL calls. Try to have Greg McIlroy on. He's traveling back. It's busy Greg, man. Everybody's working, but we're getting texts now. Yeah, okay. Here we go. Herbie sent me a text.

Herbie goes, I wish I was here right now for this conversation. Great convo. And I go, want a quick FaceTime? He goes, Brown's call is starting right now. All right, so he's out. Well, they don't matter. Stanford, big Thursday night matchup. I don't feel good about it.

Huge, huge Steelers-Browns on Thursday night. We will talk about that here in a matter of moments. But Stanford Steve sent me a text. He goes, they have to be using strength of schedule to rank the two loss SEC teams because Bama has the best, then Georgia, then Ole Miss, then Tennessee. Bad year to play Kentucky and Mississippi State in the SEC because you play them close, not great.

The question that should be asked is what happens if Indiana wins? Is Ohio State out? Made a big deal of Jordan Travis injury last year. Will they take into account the fact that the Buckeyes lost their left tackle and now they've lost their starting center because he tore his Achilles in the middle of practice. Now quarterback position is vastly different but this Ohio State team could

look different without this guy as their center. Let's go to a 12-year NFL veteran, former Remington Award winner, center for Penn State. This is a massive loss for Ohio State and if they do lose again, so they lose to Oregon, and then they lose to Indiana, they're not in the

Big Ten Championship game because Indiana will go against Oregon. Two losses. How does that get with the injuries at the offensive line? Could you imagine Ohio State's left out of the 12-team playoff? There's a chance that that happens.

Now, granted, they've been hosting a playoff game, I think, for this entire time. There's a chance of that. AQ Shipley, how big of a loss is Seth McLaughlin to this Ohio State Buckeye team, formerly in Alabama, now at Ohio State? And what are your thoughts on how the Big Ten kind of shapes up? And Indiana has a real shot at beating this Ohio State team this weekend. I don't think a lot of people in Ohio think that yeah this is a big loss speaking of the Remington Trophy he's probably still going to win it even after this injury which is crazy okay which is what the best center in the best center in the country he's the favorite to win it uh this might affect it but it really

shouldn't but the good news is we know he transferred from Alabama right the guy who started every game at center last year for the Buckeyes is now back in. So a lot of experience. So it's not going to be as big a loss as we think. Indiana can win this game. They're a very good football team, and I think that's what a lot of people are forgetting. They just think it's same old Indiana going to go in. I think in Ohio people are thinking that. Yeah, sure.

Because it's like the Ohio State people are like, we lose to some West Coast Oregon team, and then we lose to basketball school Indiana. Right. No. That'll be loud. Especially with the conversation about the amount of money that was spent on the team and everything like that. Now, granted, there's other teams we have learned now throughout the season that are

like, yeah, Ohio State. Yeah. 20 million. That's a lot. Best team ever. We got 30 million In our team There is A lot of that chatter

Potentially happening Around the place But it's like This game Has a lot of eyes on it And also Setting precedent now For the future

Of this 12 team playoff And then for the 14 team playoff Whenever it plays out And who would have thought Indiana Would be one of those teams It's truly a magical time For this Hoosiers team

They can do it They can do it. We're assuming Curtis Wirt goes out there and plays, right? I don't know. Is that confirmed? So what's Ohio State's – their best win is obviously Penn State. Obviously close loss to Oregon. So what's their strength of schedule if they were to lose this game? How realistic is them falling out of it?

Because Mullen kind of brought it up yesterday too. They just beat a good Northwestern. Beat a tough Iowa team earlier in the year. Barely beat Nebraska. At that time though. That was Nebraska's first time showing championship mentality. The thought though is How far do they fall?

That's Stanford Steve's question. Indiana beats Ohio State. If we look at the way they're talking in this room, now Ohio State has that tradition and pedigree, and Chip Kelly's there, Ryan Day, the amount of people that are there that have great history of being good at college football, I think that goes into the conversation as well.

Caleb Dines, obviously one of the best players in football, is there. Jeremiah Smith, who they tried to give an ankle walk to last week, is on the team. It's like whenever they start going through who deserves a spot, who doesn't deserve a spot, will they just say, strength schedule my ass, look at the roster. There's a chance that that happens whenever they have to make the entire bracket as well.

It just never stops. It literally has a chance of never stopping in this entire thing. If they do get beat by Indiana, too, that will legitimize Indiana to all the people in the nation and outside of the Big Ten who think they just stink because it'll kind of be like a Georgia situation. You'll look at Ohio State, and it's like, okay, well, their two losses are against number one Oregon, and potentially, depending on what would happen in the polls, either a number two Indiana team or, at the time, five. So it's tough to imagine that they would get left out with their two losses being the two top five teams. Yeah, Indiana wins.

They'll probably get up to three or two. Yeah, you would think. So it's tough. Now, if they get absolutely embarrassed, if Indiana goes out there and wins by three touchdowns, then maybe that's something. Nobody has mentioned that. No, but shit, anything can happen. We've seen this.

You never know. IU might go to one if they win. Now, because Oregon beat Ohio State at home by what? One point, two points, whatever it is? Yeah. Indiana goes on the road, beats Ohio State at Ohio State. You'd argue that that is a better win than what Oregon had over Ohio State. And then there's a chance IU could be the number one team in the country.

Which? Signetti on that recliner. Are you kidding me? Oh, my God. I think then he would maybe – no, he'd probably still. Their job's not done. They put a one next to our thing. We had no number next to our thing at the beginning of the season.

Who cares? I'll tell you who cares, Sig. The entire state of Indiana. The entire state of Indiana had no hope that Indiana would ever be... It's not even hope because it's like, why would you? Why would you even think or waste any energy in thinking that the Hoosiers are going to be a good football team?

And now all of a sudden, with 12-team playoffs, multiple bids from the Big Ten, it's like, this is now the expectation going forward and he's going to have to re to be a good football team. And now all of a sudden with 12-team playoffs, multiple bids from the Big Ten, it's like this is now the expectation going forward and he's going to have to re-recruit an entire team because he's got a lot of vets, a lot of winners on this team. And once again, I would like to send a little bit of a

possibility into the universe here. Noon game this weekend. indiana pretty close drive yeah to columbus there might be a lot of hoosier people at that college game day better be so if well that's how connor feels obviously there's a chance there will be there is a shit ton of hoosier people at that college game day and however you feel, you know, studio shows or whatever you judge or call college game day, it's like the national college football world watches that. So if Indiana takes over college game day in Columbus and then they beat Ohio State at the horseshoe,

it's like all of a sudden the Indiana thought is like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Yeah, we were wrong. Wait a minute. This is all of a sudden because fan base real, obviously, because they just traveled and showed up, and then team still real. Now, there is very much a chance that they get outclassed, outmatched by Ohio State at Ohio State. For sure.

I mean, that is very much a possibility that everybody's talked about. But Curtis Rourke, Cignetti, Elijah, the boys, they're heading in there very much believing that they are capable of beating Ohio State. And I think they have a belief, like, why not us? Go win this entire damn thing. And that's a powerful thing whenever you're at this time of year, especially with the opportunity in front of them.

Yeah, and with the Big Ten Championship being in Indianapolis, you are adding a home game. And it just happens to be for a bye in the college football playoff like i assume the reason the projections on get up this morning that ohio state wins the big 10 is 64 is because even for ohio they didn't say win the big 10 they said get a first round get a first round buy okay yeah which was my biggest issue which is like you don't get a you don't get a buy you have to win yeah you have to win the championship because i think that is the part where. Yeah, my assumption is that that's what they're projecting is like, okay,

well, Ohio State is favored in the Big Ten championship. Then by 64%, whatever the line, that would be transferred over to percentages. But, like, the Indiana thing is awesome. It's the greatest story in college football. What about, like, Notre Dame kind of setting this precedent for teams and, like in the ACC? So if Miami is going to be a top 12 team the entire year, and then at the end of the year they lose their championship game,

does Miami not think, hey, if we weren't in a conference, we would have a home playoff game and we'd be in the college football playoff no matter what? Yeah, and for Notre Dame, I wonder when they're going to be kind of, I don't want to say forced into one, but they have been adamant that they'll remain independent. Yeah. Right?

They've been very adamant. It might work out for them, too, depending upon how this goes. But if they lose the Army, they're out. Yeah. Yeah, exactly. There's no chance to even get to a championship game. No. Even though they have lost.

So it might end up being detrimental to their opportunity to make it into the playoffs. So there's just so much. College football is awesome. It is. We'll continue to chat about this. I believe, obviously, A.J. Hawk will be joining us. He's the Ohio State face.

And I'll be excited to hear his take on it because, to Stanford Steve's point, Ohio State loses to Indiana. Where does their schedule have any means to really stand on a table and say we deserve to be in there? I'm not saying they're not one of the top teams in the country. I got nothing but respect for Ohio State and everything they built. I'm just talking about a committee of 13 people that have to make a decision on who deserves these spots and who doesn't. Georgia fans aren't happy.

No. Georgia fans are pissed. Georgia fans move up. They're back in the college football playoff after a win over Tennessee. Big win over Tennessee. And Georgia fans are like, this is a joke. What are we even talking about? Have you seen our strike schedule? They're number one. They have the hardest

schedule in all football. And that's because the SEC, who does the scheduling, won at Georgia in a lot of primetime games, right? They're the wagon. Georgia's the wagon. Saban's gone. We don't know what Alabama's going to be. Alabama's still always going to be good, but Georgia is the team. Preseason number one, they're going, here it is, and they're out of the playoff last week.

They sneak in this week, and Georgia fans are like, what's the problem? What is the problem in this entire thing? And you look at the projected road right now for Ohio State, BYU, and then Boise State, and then they're in the semifinals of the national championship and if you're an ohio state fan you're like all right how do we just stay take that how do we stay in indiana right where we are right yeah beat indiana but then lose in the big 10 that's the interesting part is like they talk about no disrespect to byu or boise state we're just telling you how Ohioans are thinking.

For sure. But if they lose Indiana, they go from having this road to potentially not even having a road in the entire. It's wild. Because it's like Georgia fans are pissed, but I think other fans are probably pissed too. Think of Miami. It's like we lose one game potentially at this point.

We win the ACC championship. And how are we rewarded? Well, you get a home game, uh you're gonna end up you're gonna play georgia so you know it's like it's one of those or penn state yeah or penn state or penn state or penn state or penn state but either way i'm trying to figure out how we can get to number five i don't think there's a path five is the spot five is the spot five is where you want to be without a doubt like obviously the first round by if you're banged up which i assume everybody is is good winning the championship but five is where you you get a home playoff game so the amount of money that you make off of that gigantist get to put on a show for the world look at what our team

has and then you're gonna have the 12 seed which everybody is assuming is the lowest ranked conference champion right which at this point is byu could be the big 12 12 representative. But once again, final couple weeks here, anything can. Colorado. It could be Colorado. It could be Arizona State. But they could end up being ranked higher than Boise. If Colorado goes on this run there with Shador, with Travis Hunter, with how their offensive line has turned around,

with how their defense has turned around, whenever they eye test that team, it's like, wait a minute, this team has actually become pretty good. They have two Heisman finalists on this particular team. They might move up in the rankings and then the Power 5 or Group of 5 champion is out of 12 again. So whatever the case, 5 seems to be the money.

The money spot. However it shakes out, I know this year, and obviously this is the first year with the 12 team, any of these teams can be beat by anybody. I feel like in years past, you had the LSU team with Burrow. You had those back-to-back dominant georgia team you had some abama sabre like those teams like this year any week like one of these teams can go down so like that's just gonna make

this playoff this year i think gonna be the probably one of the best runs we see ever yeah could you imagine if you know somehow this turns out and it's just four sec teams in the semi-final well that's how the SEC fans were thinking. The SEC fans were thinking, okay, so how about the first two teams from our conference that are left out? Greg Sankey will probably do this. Greg Sankey will probably go to a podium, and let's say

it's Tennessee and Ole Miss somehow. Ole Miss is in right now, but let's say something happens. Ole Miss ends, or LSU, whatever. Greg Sink, you would go, I would like to propose a game after this college football playoff. Tennessee versus seven of the teams that made it in there. I would like to propose a game.

Ole Miss versus four other conference people that made it into this best of college football 12-team playoff. That's how the SEC feels. I think that's how they're going to feel forever. And I assume there's some Big Ten people that hate everything about that. They hate everything about that down there in the SEC. We had that argument before the show. It's like there's so many SEC people that it's all SEC and all the Big Ten people are like,

just come up north in December. Let's see how that goes. We're going to north in December. Let's see how that goes. We're going to punch you in the mouth and see how that goes. Kirby Smart, Coach Mullen, Saban, everybody from the SEC has gone like, all right, why don't you come on down and just – why don't you just come on down and play our – Come get some. Just regular week six, you know, kind of blinders on.

You're deep in the season, but the end of the season – and you've got to play Kentucky at night at Kentucky. Just Kentucky. Just not a team that's made it to our conference championship in a long, long time. You've just got to play them. Oh, you squeak by it. Okay, cool. Next week, you've got Tennessee in Rocky Top.

Okay? And Tennessee, by the way, isn't even. Yeah. Not even. Not even a mid-tier. And then the next week, yes. Oh, good news. Stay in the state of Tennessee.

You've got Vanderbilt coming. Yeah. They stink. Absolutely stink. There's like nowhere to breathe, I think, in the SEC is how people say it. But then people look at Texas' schedule and they're like, well, how? Really? How did Texas sneak through an SEC schedule and not really do it?

It's a never-ending cycle, which is why college football is full chaos and fantastic. Joining us now is the face of Ohio State, college football national champion, Super Bowl champion, all-time leading tackler for the Green Bay Packers, A.J. Hawke. A.J., Stanford Steve texted me. I don't know if you heard it or not. This is what he asked. He said, if Indiana beats Ohio State this weekend, is Ohio State toast? And then we started having this conversation. They'd have two losses to Oregon and to Indiana.

And if Indiana beats Ohio State, they might be ranked, that might be the number one and number two teams in the country when it's all said and done. But they have two losses now, not in the conference championship. And now they get put in the pool of potential. I think that's what it is. The pop. Yeah, that's good.

The pool of potential to get into the CFP there. Who are some of the wins this year that we've forgotten about that Ohio State has had that somebody will stand on the table for for Ohio State? And what are your thoughts on Indiana potentially this being a must win for Ohio State Buckeyes maybe? Oh, I think

everybody in Columbus and in Ohio knows that this is an absolute must win for Ohio State. I don't think Ohio State is sitting there saying, OK, we could drop this game to Indiana and still feel good about their chances getting in the playoff. That's not even – I don't think that's what anybody is thinking about in Ohio right now. So, yeah, it's definitely a game you have to win if you want to find a way to get into the playoffs. But I didn't – I don't – that's interesting. I don't know.

Where would Indiana jump up to? What number do they go to? Probably two or three. They'll probably be two or three. And Tone even said maybe one. Tone said maybe they're one because whenever you say common opponent, it would be Ohio State would be the common opponent with Oregon. They go into Ohio State, depending on what the game is, obviously.

But they go into Ohio State, beat Ohio State. Ohio State loses to Oregon in Oregon. So whenever you talk about common opponent, what matters more, what's harder, Indiana would have. Now, here's some Hembo stats about Indiana and Ohio State. Very, very good ones.

Okay? It is true, Hembo says, that Indiana has played the 106th strength of schedule in America. Ohio State has the 28th. Okay? Also true, if you were to think about it, Indiana and Ohio State have played three common opponents, Northwestern, Nebraska, Michigan State.

And Indiana has performed better in those games than Ohio State has. What does that mean? What does that mean, Hembo? Hold on. Hold on. It's funny you asked that question. Thank you. Performed better.

We all know what stats do. Continue. Okay, well, thank you. You're actually helping mid-text here from Hembo. Ohio State versus the common opponents against Indiana. Plus 59 scoring margin. 90-31. That's pretty good.

Indiana, plus 103 scoring margin. Holy hell. 144-41. Plus 418 yardage margin between those common opponents and Ohio State. Plus 576 yardage margin for Indiana versus those common opponents. That's 150-some difference there. Drastic. Because that's a thing. That's how wesome difference there. Drastic. Let's talk turnover margin.

That's a thing. That's how we determine which team is better. Someone's getting round up. Someone's getting round up. Let's talk about turnover margin between Ohio State and Indiana versus common opponents. Ohio State versus Northwestern Nebraska and Michigan State, which are common opponents with Indiana. They're plus three. That's pretty good.

That's winning football. That's pretty good. Yeah, that's winning football. That's pretty good. That's really good football. Indiana, plus six. Double. Holy double. Double it. Yeah, double them.

And then, you know, one of the key factors in this modern football is explosive plays. Need explosive plays. Need to be able to take the top off this entire thing. Chip Kelly, come on. There's no way. There's no way. There's no way. All that money?

20 million bucks on anything? Kidding me. Common opponents. Northwestern, Nebraska, Michigan State. Ohio State has a plus seven explosive play margin. That's a lot. That's pretty good. That's great.

That's really good. Plus 18 explosive play margin. Damn right. For Indiana against a common opponent. So whenever you start talking about strength of schedule and football judgment and all that, all that shit gets thrown into it. And it's like Indiana's got that 106 next to them.

But whenever you talk about football judgment and how they performed in games, especially with a common opponent, it's like, wait a minute. It's 13 and a half, way too many points for this weekend in the horse show? You might have just moved the line. Yeah, what do they know? What do they know?

What do the people that always seem to kind of have their finger on the pulse, which is the people making the lines, what do they know that maybe Hembo does? Because I think when anyone needs to know anything, they go to what do the gamblers do? What are the people that are making lines? Because they are usually the most accurate. I must be in the twilight zone, man.

What's happening? I don't get it. Hey, listen. You don't need to get offended by these stats. These are just numbers, brother. These are past performances. Shoot the messenger. These are past performances, brother. A beautiful thing is they get to play each other, so we don't have to care about any of those. Yeah, got it. So we're on a talk show. Going to have to talk about it before it happens.

You can't just say we'll figure it out in between the lines. But we will. But we will ultimately. Right? He's on it. I love it. Yes, we will. I didn't hear anything. All those Hembo stats, I'm not joking. You lost me halfway through. Like, come on now.

What's the EPA, DYA, whatever. All this stuff people talk about. These are just common opponents, brother. This is just judging the teams versus the teams that they both play. They get to strap it up inside the lines. They get to do it. It's going to be fun. Okay.

It's funny you mentioned that, the gamblers thing, because Coach Dan Mullen telling us yesterday, like, hey, these coaches, they know what the fucking line is. You'll be favored by two touchdowns. You're like, is there a matchup that i'm not seeing that these sportsbooks are seeing and then you're kind of going through film like oh yeah they can't cover our guy okay cool this is where we're going to exploit this particular team and then there's sometimes where you're a multiple score underdog and you're like damn okay we uh i

thought this was more of a coin flip here so i think people do have respect for the sportsbooks and inevitably whenever this 12 team playoff gets out, the teams that are left out versus the teams that are in, sportsbooks are going to put projected lines on what those games would be. And it would get used as a weapon for whoever gets left out. But common opponents, Indiana, Ohio State, up here. Did Ward Manuel say they do that? Do they go through all the common opponent, every single little stat there is? Do they do that for real? Football judgment matters, I think is what they said. And then he kind of

gave a wishy-washy answer about valuing getting to the championship. He kind of gave an answer about we value it. If you looked in the past, it's like, well, we're not in the past. We're in a very different time right now. Brand new. And this bracket could look so different, AJ.

We talked about it already ad nauseum. That first round bye only goes to conference champions, which has to be played for. So that's a game that has literally not even been set up yet. So that could all particularly change. So this is literally just a projection of what the college football playoff rankings have been given. It is not gospel.

This is not anything. All of it can change, AJ. But if you're Ohio State, with the way it sits right now, I think... You like that spot, huh? You like this spot. I think five is the right spot to be there. What do they have to do to stay at five? What do they have to do?

So you would have to get to the Big Ten Championship and then lose. Oh, we don't want to do that. But then you have two losses. Are you still five? Because then you might drop down to somewhere else, like a nine or an eight. Yeah, because if Notre Dame keeps winning, you would assume they would probably slide in there because they

don't have a conference championship either. So they won't have another loss. But you guys win the Big Ten, all of a sudden you get a bye, and now you've got potential Bama coming down the pipe at a neutral site. And no home game either. No home game either, yeah. Yeah, no extra cash.

So, I mean, I don't know if this is what it was supposed to be like, or if we knew this was going to be the case. Five is the spot. Yeah. That is where you want to be in this entire college football. The other question is, how much do they value just getting to your conference championship, right? Because if they get to the, if Ohio State State goes there and their only loss is to Oregon.

And then they lose to Oregon. And then they lose to Oregon again. Like, they shouldn't move very much, but they could now move behind Penn State. And now Penn State goes into the five spot. That's the path. I just found out. Which would punish a team for making the conference championship in the same conference as a team that they beat and didn't make the conference championship,

which would piss off not just Big Ten people. That would piss off everybody in the country because it's like, I thought we were putting a premium on championships. That's why they get it. Anyways, college football, we appreciate you. 40 minutes on that. Yeah, and we could go another three hours. For sure.

I mean, it is. It's just a never ending circle it's awesome we these production meetings on friday for college game day we get in there and we just start going through you know here's what we're hitting here's what we're hitting and then we get to the college football playoff segment and it's just like everybody puts their down it's like here we go you. You got everybody represented in there. You got old. You got young. You got the SEC. You got the Big Ten.

I'm in there fighting, obviously, for the Big 12 on a regular basis. That's why the West Virginia thing on air happens because I'm always like, hold the phone now. Hold it. One Big 12 team? If West Virginia, who still mathematically can't get to the thing, wins,

and then you've got one lost BYU team that loses in a conference championship to that West Virginia team, you're going to, even though they've been in the entire time, West Virginia's got to buy, obviously. Right. Obviously. And then you're going to kick them out, and then all of a sudden you hear the, yeah, yeah, we are. If they lose to West Virginia, yeah yeah they don't deserve what a penn state and then that starts and then the big 10 starts and then that whole thing and you heard fine bomb this morning oh i guess i guess penn state's got a got a big win over west virginia i guess

okay fucking west virginia it's it never ends bro but that segment on friday like and obviously on air you can't just have a 55-minute segment. Sure. Especially with having to cover all the college ball. But that could be the entire three-hour show. Yeah. It is awesome. And they're listening to, like, people that –

I mean, you're talking about people that have been around college ball 50 years. Oh, yeah. 30 years. People brand new to it. Then you've got Pete Thamel, who's obviously talking to people that are in there. He's – like, that is an electric part of my life that Friday morning when everybody's just going. And my biggest takeaway, which is what I've been doing a couple times here,

is anybody can counter anybody with anything. Oh, yeah. And it is a dog chasing tail. It is a dog chasing tail, which is why it's so perfect. But kind of on that note, like the last, you know, 30 years, 20 years, however long, obviously we're talking about the conference championship games for good reason.

What other big like rivalry games are still out there for the last week? I know Ohio state, Michigan, Michigan stinks this year, but I feel like there probably had to be years past where either one of these teams were in the top five and they went and played this game. They've been one, two before. Yeah. Oregon, Washington. It's like been playing the spoiler. Texas, Washington. Well, it's like playing the spoiler. Texas, Texas A&M.

That's the only one that matters. Texas, Texas A&M, Oregon, Washington, Indiana, Purdue, which is a massive rivalry game. Purdue sucks this year in football, but that is a huge rivalry game, so they can play spoiler, dude. Indiana loses to Purdue. Oh, my God. That'd be a spoiler.

Say they beat Ohio State. Say they beat Ohio State. Say they beat Ohio State. Okay? Lose to Purdue. Still make it into the Big Ten Championship. Lose to Oregon in Big Ten Championship. They're, right? I mean, they might be.

Beat Ohio State. You can't be losing to Purdue. Don't even need that to be put out there. Tony, you said which one matters the most, Texas, Texas A&M or Oregon, Washington? Texas, Texas A&M because the winner goes to the SEC Championship. Unless I'm wrong about that, I'm pretty sure that's correct because, I mean, Oregon's going to blow Washington out, so that doesn't matter. Well, Texas A&M got Auburn at Auburn this weekend.

Coach Elko already talked about that. All right, let's get off college ball. Let's go to the NFL. Ladies and gentlemen, we're incredibly lucky every single week to have a guy join us that's Super Bowl champion and played for 12 years in the NFL. He was a coach. He's a player. He's seen it all, done, done it all.

Let's go to some takeaways from A.Q. Shipley of Week 11 of the NFL season. A.Q. A.Q., what are some things we need to be talking about after Week 11? Taysom Hill, Taysom Hill. And let me say something first, right? So he played 35 snaps in the game. There were 61 total plays on offense, 58 of them if you take away the three kneel downs at the end. Nine snaps at wide receiver.

What? Nine snaps at quarterback. What? Eight snaps at tight end. What? Three at running back and five at fullback. Do you think Coach Rizzi said, hey, what happened? We used to use this guy everywhere.

It's obviously an uptick in Taysom Hill, Taysom Hilling. They gave this guy a mega deal a couple years ago, and he's literally playing, what, five, six plays a game? It's like, what are we doing? Let's let this guy do what he does. And he absolutely does. We've got some film to watch here. We do.

We've got some plays. So the first play, we've got the end-of-round pass, right? This is in the first quarter. They go to him, and he throws a 35-yard pass. He had another pass later. It wasn't the best, but still, we get it. Then we go to the second play, and he's that quarterback, right? We're just going to run off

the right side. They motion Derek Carr out to get somebody out of there, run through five people, go all the way to the end. That's just a power without a fullback, right? That's all it is. It's just a downhill run, power without the pull, and we are going. Got it. Okay, which is tough to block because man on man. Yeah, that's exactly right. It's man on man. The

key was motioning Derek Carr out, got the edge defender out of there. When they did that, there was a guy on the edge that went out. He's the guy that comes in and misses the tackle because Taysom Hill's a tank. So, once again, Taysom Hill resets the math. Yes, absolutely. You can't account for him. He's the one guy you can't account for. What do you notice here?

He's that running back. We're just going to hand the ball off on the inside zone week. Hand it off. Hand it off. Runs up. Gets 10 yards. No big deal, right? That's a standard run right there. That's at running back. We're just going to hand the ball off on the inside zone week. Hand it off. Hand it off. Runs up. Gets 10 yards. No big deal, right? That's a standard run right there.

That's a standard run. Treat him like a running back. Treat him like a running back. But he's in there, right? So you've got to count. It's like, why is he there? Is he going to throw? What all can he do out of that, right?

The last one. Check this out. We're going to send him in motion. See him come in motion? Play action. Oh, nope. He's not going to block. We're going to run a middle screen.

Middle screen up the middle. They used him in so many different ways I mean literally He's blocking at fullback For Kamara in this game He's playing backside tight end And you know Just cutting off the backside On a run play

It feels like That's old school Take some hill Dennis Allen didn't like it Apparently not Is that what the case was And Riz comes in there While he's taking his pregame dump

And he's like You know what I haven't seen in a while? Take some hill. And then they're just utilizing him, getting some big wins. Might be too little too late, obviously, down there in New Orleans. But it is good for football to see take some hill back. What's the second talking point you think we should be chatting about? We got Pittsburgh's men of steel.

The Steelers' defense, right? I got some stats. Okay. I got some stats from Hembo. Let's take a look at it, right? So, Early downs. The Steelers blitz the Ravens more than anybody else in the NFL. Every time they play the Ravens, early downs, they blitz them.

They're trying to get after them, cause Lamar to be uncomfortable in the pocket. You get Herbig here, great rush, make him uncomfortable. Always making him uncomfortable. Later downs, third down, they go all zone coverage. Now they make him beat him, throw in the football. Check this out. They try and block TJ Watt with now they make them beat them, throw in the football. But check this out. It's it. They try and block TJ Watt with the card.

One-on-one, yeah. One-on-one with the card. Can't do it. You get that? Look at that. You've got no chance. You've got no chance. What are we doing here?

That's one of those things where you don't just run your plays. We've got a game plan for a guy. You've got one of the best on the other side. Then, on this one, check this out. We're going to blunt Mike Sam Blitz off this side. Affect him. Get in his way. Make him uncomfortable.

That is what the Steelers did the entire game, and that is how you affect Lamar Jackson. Check this one out. We're going to run another little blitz. Oh, pressure. Cam Hayward is having a year, too. He had two batted passes, pressed the pocket, pushing Linderbaum all game long.

I mean, he had a heck of a game. He just got a new deal, too, right, Cam? Didn't he get a new deal before the season? I think it was a big conversation. Congrats to Cam having a great one. What did Hembo say is why the Pittsburgh Steelers have had so much success against Lamar Jackson? They blitz early, get them pressure. Blitz early.

And then on third down, they're zoning. And they're constantly pressuring. They're playing zone coverage on third. Make him beat you, throw in the ball. They affect it early. They blitz. And here's the key. They got two guys on the inside, Benton and Hay him beat you throwing the ball. They affect it early. They blitz. And here's the key. They got two guys on the inside, Benton and Hayward,

that press the pocket. That's one thing that a lot of teams do. They got edge rushers, but if they don't have anybody in the middle pressing the pocket, you can't do it. Well, then you run them into Herbig and Preston and the whole boys there. They're talking about Baltimore maybe having a little bit of a

yip situation with this Pittsburgh Steelers team. They play very good against Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens. Well, is this a situation like Jalen Hurst that Bosa had last year where it's like, hey, this is the book on Lamar. You can do this? Or is this a different type of book? It's been for years now. I wonder how come nobody else is doing what's –

They can execute the book. That's why they can. Everybody can't execute that. That's a good thing, too. If you can get into third and medium, third and and you play zone guess what you have you have your eyes on the quarterback you're breaking on the ball you can see like it's he's going to be less likely to be able to pull it down and pick up 15 on third and 14 here's the other thing too when you blitz them on first and second down and make them uncomfortable and give them a little happy

feet make them always try and escape the pocket guess what that does on third down make some think make some think there's going to be pressure. And now he's like a little happy feet. Now his eyes aren't where they're supposed to be. And you saw him. He missed five or six throws. Start watching that rush. Bingo.

And when you have a guy like T.J. Watt, you don't have to blitz a lot because that is a one-man blitz. So, yeah, that helps the book a lot. And Pittsburgh Steelers going to win the Super Bowl? I hate their offense. What? Why? That's not what you said.

You said absolutely not. I think you could have interpreted what I just said there. What do you mean you hate their offense? I think Russell Wilson's a 50% passer. I think he I think their offensive line is just average. I just do. I don't know what you want me to say. Alright, wait.

Steelers can prove him wrong. They can. Go do that, Steelers. They're winning because of their defense. Go do that, which is Pittsburgh Steelers football. But their offense looks not as incapable as it has in the past, which is why I think a lot of Yenzers are zeked up about this year. Speaking of zeked up, what's your final talking point, A.Q. Shipley? Josh Allen has big MVP energy. Okay.

What a game he had. They won the game because of him, obviously. But let's just take a look. I got a couple throws and then obviously the run that won it. Let's take a look at this throw. This ball can't be thrown any better. We're going down the sideline. Fade ball.

One-handed pass. Or one-handed catch. Unbelievable, right? Now we go to the next one. This is unbelievable. They get cover zero. They blitz seven. He sees it.

Checks to it. They get the little stutter and go on the outside. Can't throw it any better than that. Drops it into a bucket. Just met that guy three weeks ago. That's Mark Cooper right there. Just met that guy. Game changer, actually. Now we get a little orbit motion with the running back behind on the

game-winning play. We get a mesh concept trying to screw everybody up. This ball was only going to do one thing. He was going to run this. This was never going to get thrown. He said, I am running this football and winning the game. Before the snap, you're saying? Yeah. I think as long as that pass wasn't there right away, I'm

running it. It's either boom, somebody's open, which nobody is right away, boom, I'm running it. He's so big so fast. That's right. And he talks so much shit. It's awesome. It is. Never won an MVP, right? No. Never. This could be the year, huh? He's playing the best he's ever had.

He really is. I mean, his touchdown to interception ratio, way better than it's ever been. I mean, he's normally gunslinging it like Jordan Love in 11-on-11. You know, and it's like, he's playing unbelievable. I mean, he has the best odds right now. Plus 150. Lamar Jackson right behind him. Is Lamar Jackson going to bounce back

after the Pittsburgh Steelers game, which we assume he'll be able to do. Plus 650 there, Jared Goff. That's because he threw five picks in one game with what's happening there. Some people said take him out of the discussion completely. All together. Get him out of there. He was plus 4,000 a week ago after that game.

That's awesome. So whenever we talk about sports books, maybe ride and wave a little bit. I think that could certainly be a part of the convo. Patrick Mahomes, if the Chiefs remain the Chiefs, we all assume that he has an opportunity to win the MVP. Jalen Hurts, Jaden Daniels, Justin Herbert. Hey, hold on now. Hold on now.

Big game this week. Yeah, and they got a lot of big games coming up. If they win them all and Justin Herbert continues to do the shit he's been doing with Harbaugh as his coach, that's not a bad little sprinkle there. Plus 25 hunch. You can get some good numbers there. Kyler Murray, Joe Burrow,

CJ Stroud round up the list of the odds. MVP is obviously beautiful. We have a guy who's voting on that. Let's go to Hammer. AP Tone, how many people are in your pool right now for MVP and do the sportsbooks obviously beautiful. We have a guy who's voting on that. Let's go to Hammer. Todd. Todd. AP Tone.

How many people are in your pool right now for MVP, and do the sportsbooks have it exactly how you have it? They do. I have three in there, and they have the exact same three that I have in there. Josh Allen's been unbelievable. And then, like, for Lamar, I mean, his stats are unbelievable. And, you know, one bad game for him, and then Jared Goff two weeks ago, one bad game. I'm not

going to drop the guys out because they've had one bad game here or there. That's going to happen, but as of right now, I see this as a three-headed race for the MVP. Well, good luck to you for all your votes that very much matter for legacy and bonuses. All of it. That guy. Yeah.

The cowboy. Hell yeah. Thank you, Tone. Thank you for your service, Tone. Thank you, Tone. Just thank yourself. That works. I love that. I love what you're doing there, Tone. I appreciate you, man.

AJ, I don't know if you saw, there was an article about the New York Jets and the Athletic. Oh yeah, I did peruse that. All of a sudden, there's some new sources potentially available after a firing takes place. And it kind of laid out this one particular meeting that happened after the Jets ended up being 2-2. It was an all-hands-on-deck meeting.

And iced out Woody, Ambassador Johnson walks in. And I guess one thing led to another. You've got a special teams coordinator in there, offense coordinator in there, head coach in there, GM in there, president of the team in there, other advisors in there, consultant in there. It's all the heavy hitters of the New York Jets organization, allegedly via source, Joe Douglas, to the athlete,

allegedly, maybe, potentially, possibly. And in there, Woody Johnson actually said, we need to bench Aaron Rodgers. It's four games in a season. He's holding us back. One of the people in the meeting actually laughed and oh okay you're being serious really the dysfunction over there might lead to the curse that we think about but the more we learn the more i'm confused about how this is an nfl operation obviously aaron rogers is the one being blamed for all this thing but now we're learning after week four he's potentially getting

benched, AJ. What are your thoughts on that? Yeah, it was hilarious reading that and then some coach saying, hey, was he actually – was that for real? Was he trolling us? Was he messing with us? But like every great organization, it comes from the top, like the top down, good or bad.

I think that's where you go. And look at the way Bill Belichick has been speaking about the Jets and Woody. That's all you really – I know that's how he feels about Woody, I guess. Not just Bill. And obviously Aaron, I don't think I've never talked to Aaron about Ambassador Johnson. I think I will now. Yeah. We don't have to.

I will try to bring that up. But other people who have been at the Jets organization talking about Ambassador Johnson, I guess this guy's real handsy. Real. Real handsy. Too much. And he doesn't know. It's like, well, we'll see.

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Terms and conditions for our different programs and policies apply. Details at Fizz. you always get more for your money. Terms and conditions for our different programs and policies apply. Details at Fizz.ca. Football! He's amazing. That's A.J. Hawk. The Talks at Table is here. At Boss at Conner and at Ty Schmidt. Nine-year NFL vet Darius J. Butler is here.

He looks super cool today. You too, bro. That hat's a good hat. Hey, those shoes? Damn green, bro. These are the Oregon Ducks. Still nice specials? Yeah, well, I think they're the... The Gordon Bombays. Yeah. These are the Oregon Ducks. Still nice specials? Well, I think they're the...

The Gordon Bombays. Those are sweet. Yeah, these are the ones they gave me whenever I was out there. And the color of the green, it's not hunter green. It's not any other green, forest green, nothing. That's damn green is what that is. Because whenever Dan Lanning was allegedly going to Alabama, and he was asked about,

did you think about whether or not the grass was greener in other places? He said, the grass is damn green in Oregon, and that's the only thing I care about, which is why whenever his name starts getting floated for NFL teams, I'm like, guy feels pretty committed to this Oregon team. And with the way they're set up and with the way the squad is, not saying he won't. I haven't asked him straight up.

But everything about him is college football coach. Did you see this documentary they put out yesterday about Wisconsin? I did not see all of it, no. You become a believer quick whenever – because you're seeing the access they're giving people is more than everybody else. We're in an access world right now. We're in a content-driven world. We're in all of these things where we're seeing the access they're giving people is more than everybody else we're in an access world right now we're in a content driven world we're in all these things where we're seeing more we're learning more to the conversation we just had about everybody but like what Oregon's

doing with these like weekly 14 minute documentaries is brilliant and it showcases Dan in the team meeting the motto that he's setting for the week, them executing it, and then watching his team buy in to it all. And then they obviously, he explained Pavlov's dogs to the team. And basically the Pavlov's dogs that he wanted his team to feel was when you hear jump around, everything gets heightened. Everything gets amplified this week. And then they ran it all week. So that Camp Randall jump around thing, whenever they showed the clips that they had from the sideline the wisconsin players were just standing there been there done that we've experienced this the entire oregon team other than dylan gabriel dylan gabriel was standing there looking like an absolute serial killer because it was fourth and

nine on the other side so he's standing but everybody else on the team coaches included are jumping and like excited they're like here it is they actually the team, coaches included, are jumping and excited. They're like, here it is. The team actually says, here it come, here it come, here it come. And then it literally hits. And they're down seven. You're not being bummed, not being scared. Like, look at this. The whole team starts going.

Yes, exactly. And it's like the thumbs down gladiator mentality that they had against Michigan, against Ohio State whenever they had to get a massive win. It's like every week, Lanning has these boys buying in. And you can tell a tight team, whenever you get a chance to watch them and how they operate behind the scenes and the things they say about each other, this team, the way they talk about each other, look at that entire – and then look at the Wisconsin kids. Just kind of hanging out.

Oh, shit. Yeah, it, like, worked a complete opposite. It feels like it legitimately worked. Smart move. Smart move, but, hey, it's just, worked a complete opposite. It feels like it legitimately worked. Smart move. Smart move. But, hey, it's just, like, the coaches, the good coaches say, hey, it's just energy. It's up to us, like, how we use it. It's true.

Like, they decided to take this. It's pretty cool. This actually kind of happened organically the first time I ever played there when I was at Ohio State. We didn't know anything about jump around. I didn't. At least I didn't. All of a sudden, they did this between the third and fourth quarter. And I remember our whole sidelines went crazy and our coaching staff. At least I didn't. All of a sudden they did this between the third and fourth quarter and I remember our whole sidelines went crazy and our coaching staff were like, this is

awesome. So he actually, like they actually worked about it and thought about this. This is pretty cool. Obviously the duck bringing a pogo stick to jump around. The brain on this damn duck is awesome, but I love watching that type of

stuff because you get to see how the sausage is made. You know, this is how a team gets to bond. And they have everything out there in Oregon that you can need to win. You know, they're building a brand new facility. Gumby, were we allowed to say that? That's already been announced, right, Gumby? They're always building facilities, right? Yeah.

We have pictures of what it looks like. Unbelievable. I don't think what it looks like. Unbelievable. I don't think we're allowed to showcase that. Well, I mean, you might as well. You're talking about UFO. It looks like. I bet. And it is.

I mean, that place they have now is already beautiful. Yeah, the current facility is gorgeous. I mean, it is absolutely gorgeous. But, yeah, they're building a new one. Indoor facility with, like, everything on it. And the amount of money that they're investing, not only into facilities but also players and uniforms

and everything you could possibly need. It's like Oregon sitting isolated in a nice little island of relevance in the college football world. Four. I think you just say that. So if Dan Lanning was to leave that, I think it would have to be a very, very, very good spot.

And I don't know how many of those there are whenever they're looking for a new head coach. No, because now, like, it used to be USC, and, like, obviously they recruit nationally, but, like, now all the best players on the West Coast, California especially, like, those guys want to go play at Oregon. You know, it's like USC's 5-5 this year. I do wonder if he's pitching it as like, hey, it's West Coast versus this is how this goes.

It kind of is. They think we're soft over here on the West Coast. And we got the facilities, we got the money, we got the opportunity. And we get a chance to go take on everybody who thinks they're tougher than us every single week in this new Big Ten. It's a cool thing. It is a very cool thing. Speaking of cool things, there have been semifinalists announced for

the Pro Football Hall of Fame. I didn't make it. Third straight year, I didn't make it to the semifinal. It's alright. A lot of Colts on there, though. Congrats to these guys. Congrats to these guys. Adam Vinatieri, potentially the first ever first ballot kicker going in to

the Hall of Fame. Reggie Wayne, obviously a semifinalist. He's been up a couple different times. Robert Mathis now gets his opportunity to knock at the door in Canton to see if he can get in there. Marshall Yonda, I think every human that has ever watched football or offensive line football would say that's a first ballot. AQ, am I talking out of pocket? No, 100%.

As soon as I saw this list, he was the one guy I was like, got to get in. Same here. Same here. Me too. Yeah, I think everybody respects the shit out of pocket no 100 as soon as i saw this list he was the one guy i was like gotta get in same here same here me too yeah i think everybody respects the shit out of marci he'll show up uh with a 34 inch waist to to go into that hall of fame but you look at the names on here some years for the hall of fame it's not a lot of people that we know it's like old days no we appreciate them everything they did for the sport, but not as relevant names. This one's packed with people that we know, and obviously that's only going to continue. You look at James Harrison up there. You look at Vince Woolfork up there. You look at Torrey Holt

and Quan Bowden. You're talking about household names all through. Fred Taylor. Hey, let's go, Fred. Let's go, Fred. I'm pumped up about that. I just saw that for the first time, Fred. I apologize for not knowing that until we got live, but Hines Ward, everything he did for the first time. I apologize for not knowing that until we got live. But Hines Ward, everything he did for the city of Pittsburgh. I mean, he was quarterback at Georgia.

Turns into a wide receiver. What he does. Is that accurate, what I just said? Yes, it is. Him and old buddy who was quarterback. Antoine Randall. Antoine Randall. They had two quarterbacks in college play wide receiver for the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Have massive success right there. I was like, no way. It is, both of them. But there's a lot of great players on this list, and obviously incredibly honored to make it to Seminole. I mean, this is why it's the best of the best. Like, all these names, you know, obviously have had careers that are worthy to be Hall of Famers. I think I got maybe seven former teammates on here.

But, like, the backup at wide receiver is crazy. I think Torrey Holt should have been in. Obviously, Reggie Wayne and what he's done in the postseason throughout his career. Manning, I think he'll be a first ballot, which will be a conversation, which will be a debate amongst, you know, anybody who's talking about it.

But I think he'll go in. Keekly's probably been in that conversation as well with Patrick Willis going in, first ballot. But all these games, obviously, Robert Mathis, you know, he leads the league in forced fumbles all the time. Fred Taylor, you talk about all these names, man, just great, great ballplayers. AJ, tell me about Luke Keekly a little bit because I don't know

if the fanfare is big enough because of how, you know, White and Carolina, they make it to a Super Bowl, obviously. He makes a bunch of Pro Bowls, a bunch of All-Pros. But Luke Keekly off the field is not like, hey. Yeah, quiet. It's me, Lou Keekly. He's pretty unassuming. Yeah.

Yeah, he's an unassuming, super smart guy if you ever speak to him or ever hear him talk. But he was a rare combination of physical tools, even though some people might look at it and not think, like, oh, he's the nastiest linebacker out there. But he was. Like, that dude could absolutely fly in. He was just off the charts smart and football smart,

and his instincts were ridiculous. Like, he's calling stuff out before the offense is even running it. Like, he just – he was a step ahead, I think, at all times. He was smarter than you guys, huh? He was. I mean, honestly, we would call protections. I remember they would run a lot of, like, double-A gap linebackers. And, like, I remember, like, pointing him as the mic, and he would know what the protection was. I mean, honestly, we would call protections. I remember they would run a lot of, like, double A-gap linebackers. And, like, I remember, like, pointing him as the mic,

and he would know what the protection was. And you'd see him. He'd start doing all these signals, flipping blitzes. And you knew. Yeah, you knew. But, like, some of it was, like, he was definitely flipping it, and some of it was just to get us to flip the other way and then run something.

Like, it was like he was constantly doing stuff like that. It was like, what is he doing? Trying to pick up on his signals. You can never figure it out. He came in the league like that to, like, how with he doing? Trying to pick up on his signals. You can never figure it out. He came in the league like that. I wasn't with luck in training camp. I was actually in Carolina before coming over and Luke and coming in

we didn't know what we were getting. Coming out of Boston College, had a thousand tackles. They had John Beeson. They had Thomas Davis. Day one, you're like, okay. He's everything. AJ mentioned it. Athleticism and then obviously the brains.J. mentioned it, the athleticism, and then obviously the brains.

Like this dude used to have the middle read and then come off and pick off a dig. Like he was two steps ahead of the game all the time. Carolina Panthers, Steve Sosina also on there. Good for them. Oh, yeah. Carolina Panthers, obviously, with a couple people making the semifinals of the Hall of Fame.

That should be exciting news, huh? Yeah. And Bryce Young starting to complete some passes. That's good news. I told the story about Luke Kekly introducing himself to us at the hotel at the Pro Bowl in the gift shop with a hoodie on and glasses. I had no idea who he was. Had no clue who he was.

And then you tell me, that's Luke Keekly. Oh my God. How are you, Luke Keekly? That is almost just so honest. It is. It is Clark Kemp. Just like casual, walking around, quiet. How you doing?

Good to see you. Bah, bah, bah. Goes on the field, flips a switch, kills everybody. Just annihilates every human. Game over. Let's celebrate. Flip switch off. Glasses back on.

Hey, how you doing? Hey, very good to see you. It was fun. Football game of the day. Goes on a football field, fucking murder scene, then goes off. It's like, wow, what a special talent Lou Kuechly was. I don't remember if we actually ever put the clip out, but when we were in Atlanta for the Super Bowl,

remember you sat down with him and we're just doing like, okay, 2014 week 11 versus the Saints, and he was going through all 11 guys on the offense. They're starters. Yeah, exactly. And you went to like multiple different teams, and we was going through all 11 guys on the offense. They're starters. Yeah, exactly. And you went to multiple different teams, and we obviously double-checked it all. It's like, holy shit. That type of recall, I mean, we see it with Rodgers a bunch,

but that was insane, especially for a guy who basically retired because of concussions. He's still incredibly sharp. Yeah, and I think those super smart guys, the concussion thing, they take a lot more serious. For sure. Yeah, you're right. There's something about that.

It's like, listen, I love ball. I love ball. But this thing is really good. One of one. Really, really good. Can't get a replacement either. There's no brain replacement like there are knee replacements. I told you, I've seen that one doctor in Italy.

What'd he do? He just took a body off, put a new body on somebody's head. Head transplant. Yeah, it was a head transplant. Or body transplant, depending upon how you look at it and who's what. Now, I don't know how they're able to just fuse everything back together. It works fine.

You guys doing okay yeah i didn't read the follow-up i knew they were gonna do it i i didn't know i didn't get a chance to see the follow-up there but that'd be sweet just 55 60 years old drop me in a 21 year old body all of a sudden i'm jacked up now rest in peace to whoever lost the body damn shit i am very bummed out about it doesn't matter if the head matches the body at all? No. We're talking survival. I'm 6'4", brother. Wait until you see what I can do.

I might be back playing professional sports. You're going to leave. All the wisdom. Imagine Peyton Manning at the age of 50 or something like that. Just body. Let's get a body transplant. Gets 19-year-old. Track athlete? No, no.

Throw. Nico? Gotta be able to throw. Rest in peace to whatever happened. Has to obviously not be a body issue. Some brain thing attacked the body. Peyton Manning now is back in the NFL with a younger body than he's ever had

because he knows all the decisions to make. If I can just figure out these new arms, I could maybe play. That's what, hey, science. Figure it out. Is that coming down? That's coming down the road? What's that coming down the track? There's a chance.

It's a new body, and boy, I'm back. I mean, that is awesome. Get right into your will. That's Neuralink. Neuralink's trying to do that. Okay. Give me a pay. Nerdlink's trying to do that. Make them go to Tennessee again. Did you see the Neuralink stuff?

I guess blind people being able to see again, uh, trying to get people to walk again. That's like a goal. If you're paralyzed, try to do whatever to turn on that so you could walk. That's nuts. Now, obviously all the other things,

you know, there's like what there's a very positive and I love them. And it's going to fix people's blindness and deafness and being able to walk again and live a full life. That's amazing. Now they've got a chip inside your body that they control. They're tracking everything you think and can make you think things. That's the...

Should I make this guy shit his pants right now? Watch this. I think today or tomorrow. Yeah, one year anniversary, I guess. Crazy how time flies, huh? Congratulations to your butt. Thank you. Yeah.

Thank you. One year since he sharted live on air. Mm-hmm. Which, sharted is a nice way to describe pooping your pants. Mm-hmm. I mean, essentially, you know, I thought it was just a fart. You know, we were having a great conversation with Chris Carter, and I was like, I don't want to, you know, I can't get up and go take a shit.

This fart should be just fine. You know, I'll squeeze this out. Oh, nope. I'm going to have to go address this. Happy anniversary to that decision being made. Thank you. Yesterday's poop conversation in the third hour certainly made some ripples. I got some text messages from people saying,

you're flushing in between poop and wiping, Pop? You're polite. You're a polite human being. That's what you are. Well, yeah, you guys have so much faith in these pipes. I don't know how you're putting poop and toilet paper in there and just being like, yep, this one's going to go. No problem at all.

Do your job. That's what you're saying. Yeah, get it done. Very trusting. Very trusting. Get down there. Joining us now, ladies and gentlemen, is a man who said that if he ever clogs the toilet,

he will roll up his sleeves and grab that poop himself. Dig his little thingies in there and pull it out. Mush it out. Yes, he will. And that's the type of guy he is. He even said that if he's not able to reach it, he'll actually rip the toilet off the ground, go into the pipe underneath, grab the poop, eat it.

Exactly. Put it back down. And then throw it out the window. Oh, boy. He's a good guy. Yeah. It's a Waltz Payton Man of the Year. This is a Ring of Honor member for the Houston, Texas Bull Ring of Honor.

Ladies and gentlemen, future first ballot Hall of Famer, J.J. Watt. Yay, J.J.! Why has this turned into a weekly segment about the PCs? How did we get here? Well, yesterday there was a full discussion about operation protocol how you go about doing your thing and i found out that i'm a weirdo i poop flush then wipe flush okay that is my move in in somebody else's house absolutely in your own house oh don't trust their pipes Yeah so you're saying

Look around Judge the person That's a precautionary measure To make sure That you have nothing If you're in my own house Like clog your own toilet You just take care

You got a plunger You take care of everything But somebody else's house You take every single measure possible To make sure You don't have a situation Which goes back To Josh McDaniels

Was supposed to be Exactly The Indianapolis Colts head coach That's right Should have had some good pipes possible to make sure you don't have a situation. Which goes back to Josh McDaniels was supposed to be the Indianapolis Colts head coach. Should have had some good pipes. If their pipes could have handled Jim Irsay going in there and wrecking shop after a great meal from Mrs. McDaniels.

There's potentially a chance that Josh McDaniels is the head coach of the Indianapolis Colts. Everything goes differently. Anyways, JJ, thank you for joining us, buddy. Good to see you. Good to see you. Glad to be here, guys. How was Buffalo?

That was awesome. Felt electrified through the screen. That was a fun watch. It was awesome, man. It was a really fun experience. Obviously, we're normally in the studio every week. CBS sent us out to Buffalo for the big game, and it was incredible. I see why you love game day so much, that atmosphere.

Gave a little shout-out to you, tried to get the Buffalo crowd going, and they delivered. I mean, we were chugging beers. We had people showing up at 6 a.m. It was electric, electric. And Buffalo fans, very, very similar to Wisconsin folks, and I felt right at home. Go back to the beginning of that.

You were talking about having a little crowd dancing. You texted me and said you were going to do that, and I felt right at home. Go back to the beginning of that. You were talking about having a little crowd dancing. You texted me and said you were going to do that and I told you, you do not have to give me a shout out. This is just classic crowd work and watching you do it, I want to let you know, got me zeked up. Here's J.J. Watt with the Bills Mafia. J.B., this place is going crazy. They've already got it going on their own. I don't need to do anything. I've wanted to do this for a while. My guy, Pat McAfee, does it on game day every week. Let's go, Buffalo!

Let's go, Buffalo! These guys are ready to run. Great execution by you. Great confidence by you. I think you could have done another let's go, Buffalo, if you wanted to. I think you could have. I forgot I had to keep it going. I thought my initial

I thought they took it from there and as they were responding, I reminded myself, oh shit, I got a part in this. This is a back and forth. I didn't know how many let's go, Buffaloes. I didn't know if there were other parts. I just got lucky.

You nailed it. You didn't get lucky. You nailed it. Also, shout out to Bill's Mafia for showing up. There's not a lot of NFL places. You talk about College Game Day. I call them the greatest fan in all of sport. I assume you would like to argue for European football, soccer. You guys got 30,000 people, 45,000

people in a stance. Cute. It is fun. It is fun got 30,000 people, 45,000 people in a stance. Cute. It is fun. It is fun. 110, 109, 97, 92,000 people in stadiums here at college football. Okay? So it is a little different conversation. Do respect the shit out of the hooligans over there.

But you talk about like Buffalo, I think, is a place you could go. Pittsburgh is a place I think you could go. I think you could go to New England if New England is doing well. Kansas City, I think you could go to. Green Bay. Detroit. I think you could go. Pittsburgh's a place I think you could go. I think you could go to New England if New England's doing well. Kansas City, I think you could go to. Green Bay, I think you could go to. Detroit now, I think you could go to. Philly, Baltimore. Who's that? The 12th, Seattle.

Okay, not this year. You know that. You brought that up just to say that. That was rude. Seattle did not deserve that. But if Seattle was all the way back, which they still are very much in the middle of the entire race, I think there's like a third of the league that you could go to and would really show up. In college ball, it's like

all these places are ready to go. And I'm the asshole if I don't know their stuff. As opposed to wanting to do it, it's like we're the bad people for not embracing their culture. Buffalo feels like that. I'm happy you guys got to experience it. I saw you go through a table okay so there's nothing like the live fans there's nothing like the live atmosphere like it's there's just it's electric and it gives you that energy that adrenaline that

passion and uh it's it's just the best i was talking to guys on set and i was like i wish the players could somehow during their career experience a tailgate while they're still playing, because it just gives you a whole nother level of that appreciation for how much these fans care, how into it they are. We all know, we see it,

we know it. We feel like just being in it's the best, man. There's nothing better. We think we do. I think, I think we, we think we understand the passion.

Oh, they're loud. Yeah. They're down. Take it loud. It's like, no, no, no no their entire lives revolver on this like i think that is the the thing that i've learned through college game day but also since retirement getting a chance to see how some of these people act and operate until like i thought i understood passion and i thought i understood the yinzers were big steelers fans but then you see these people are taking pictures

from our house and hanging them on the side of highways. It's like this is life for a lot of people. I thought you guys did a great job. I thought you guys did a great job. Thank you. There was some genitalia paraphernalia up there. That's become a standard up there. There was some interesting stuff on the sides of the road up there.

But we had our guy, who brought a portable speaker and a 12-pack and was sitting there since 7 a.m., which was great. Spent the whole day there. Tried to get him in the game. Didn't have any luck. It was a good day. What? You couldn't get the guy into the game?

I tried. Because we were going on the field for halftime, obviously, to do the halftime hit. I was like, hey, I need this guy to come with me. Like, he's been here all day. He deserves it. He didn't have a ticket to the game. He just came out solely to – he said he walked five miles there in his overalls. And I wanted to walk.

Posted up. And I said, can I bring him into the game with me? I want him on the field at halftime. And they were like, well, I mean, we had to get your credentials last week. You think we can get this guy into the game right now? And I mean, I don't know. I thought, I was like, yeah, if he's walking with us, why not? I mean, I got Bill Cowher, I got Matt Ryan, I got myself, Nate Burleson.

Apparently it doesn't work that way. Apparently there are restrictions on who's allowed close to Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen. They don't want just anybody walking out there, I guess. That makes sense. Hey, yeah, we got hundreds of just anybody walking out there, I guess. That makes sense. Hey, yeah, we got hundreds of millions of dollars out there and billions of dollars in the future. You think just, oh, he walked five miles, Chuck Fierstman. Yeah, that's the guy we want.

That's the guy we want as close to Josh Allen as possible. Shout out to Justin. Can't do it without him. But Buffalo Beals need to make that right with him on the next home game. Hopefully, thank you for bringing him to attention. Chiefs-Bills, awesome game this weekend. There was rivalries riddled throughout the Sunday slate in the NFL, which is obviously awesome. Let's talk about one that your brother was a massive piece of. Pittsburgh Steelers, Baltimore Ravens. Steelers get another win. They were three-and-a-half point

underdogs at home against the Ravens in this rivalry game. How did you expect it to go? How did it go, and what are your thoughts on where they both stand? I mean, when you just look at it, like before the game, you look at the way the Ravens have been playing, the way they've been moving the ball, the way that they've been stopping the run. Like it's hard on paper to say that they wouldn't have a good day out there. But then you just take a look at the rivalry as a whole in these last 10 appearances. And I think this win made it eight and one for

the Steelers it's it's truly one of those where they say throw out the record books throw out whatever's happening it's just an old school rivalry that's what this game is for some reason the Steelers just have the number of the Ravens whether that's seeing them every single week two times a year and knowing the scheme and knowing how to have a plan for it and react to it whether that's one of those things where you get the yips against certain teams and you just can't perform the same way, stadium, uniforms, you just see them and you get into a different mindset. I don't know.

But the Steelers clearly have the Ravens' number at this current moment, and they played an extremely good ballgame. And nothing more AFC North than winning a game without scoring a touchdown. Yep. Yeah, but Chris Boswell, 6-6. What a dog, especially as we look around the league and everything kind of becoming, I don't want to say question marks with kickers, but literally at the beginning of the season,

we thought everything was going to go in. Now we understand that there's a chance every kick could be missed. I don't know if it's because guys are tired. I don't know if it's because weather's doing its thing. I don't know what it is, but Boswell is as true as the day is long, brother. It's incredible. Obviously, I watch the Steelers games every week because of TJ. And this guy is, you never even question it.

When he steps out there, you're like, yep, three points on the board. Does he deserve Offensive Player of the Week and Special Teams Player of the Week? What do we mean? I mean, that's a lot of points. That Special Teams Player of the Week. I mean, that's a lot of points. That's a lot of points for one guy. And it's a win in a massive game for a team whenever they needed it. And he had 350 plus yard kicks, I believe. It's not

just like he had chip shots. We're talking 350 plusers in November in Pittsburgh. Not the easiest place to kick. And then on the other side, obviously, Justin Tucker is going through what he's going through with his swing right now. I'm excited for him to figure it out. They're saying maybe it's a long snapper, maybe it's hold, maybe it's new body.

Every miss is to the left. You would think he'd be able to – I think he'll be able to figure it out. Come on, Tucker. You got this, Tucker. Best of all time, right? Come on. I mean – I got Vinny.

I know Vinny. I know Vinny. Is this – I don't know kickers well well enough I know those are the two in the discussion how does it shake out it is those two they're both Super Bowl champions too now granted Vinatieri has like more moments

if you were to think more massive moments in his resume but he also kicked for 20 some years you know so there's a lot of time that he was able to stay at a very high high level which I think we're watching right now with some of these kickers and we're like how is Vinny able to do this for 24 years or whatever the hell it was at that high level his percentage is nowhere near what Tucker has been through the start of his career so I think people will hold that against him and also the way Tucker has made kicks is just like down the middle. And I am a massive Justin Tucker fan, but it's

like, Vinatieri, he walked out on the field and he needed a kick. It's like, dude's going to make it. And I don't know what other things you need to judge off of. He's potentially first ever first ballot kicker into the Hall of Fame. That's going to be a highly debated thing. Highly debated, J.J.

Why? I guess there's some people within the ranks of old football that are like, look at that list. We're taking the spot for a kicker to be a first ballot

Hall of Famer. And then I think everybody else in the room with a brain is like, did you see what this guy has done? And do we need him to walk out here

with his six Super bowl rings and say uh what are we even talking about here so it's going to be a debate though it's going to be a big time debate if he was any other position had the moments that he has had the success that he had obviously let's say you can't play 20 plus years another position let's say it's a long career though long ass career he'd be first ballot no questions asked no questions asked but at the kicker position i guess there's still some positionism potentially but i mean you have to judge him against all the kickers of all time too like there there needs to be kickers in the hall of fame there's no doubt

and if you're gonna give a guy first ballot which kicker would it be him like i that that's what i don't understand is why we have those types of things like you can't judge him against like a quarterback or an ed reed or somebody like that it's completely different but when you talk about that they always love that quote where it's like can you tell the story of the nfl without talking about x i mean it's pretty darn tough to tell it without talking about mv and everything that he's done and the success he's had obviously a bunch of guys on that list are the same

but at his position I mean what are we just not going to put kickers in like yeah if he's

he's deserving should be a first ballot hell yeah Vinny hell yeah Vinny you've earned

it pal you've earned it now he doesn't know that because he's probably somewhere with no cell

service for the next four weeks or something like that but Adam Vinatieri I think I can't wait to see his porting. Can't. He's a good dude.

Everybody likes him, too. Didn't see Shane Leckler on that list. Bummed out another year. Bummed out. Bummed out. Shane Leckler deserves to be in. Agreed. Punters getting screwed.

Well, Ray Guy got in, and that was a big deal. There was people pissed off about that. That was the first punter ever in, and there were some people that were openly mad about it. Shane Leckler, obviously, should be the second punter that gets in. Hopefully it will happen another year. We shall see. Are we just ignoring that that's part of the game?

Yes. There is. You can't play the game without it. I'm not saying that there should be 20 of them in, but let's not. There's only one ever that's belonged. No. Maybe like four or five.

Let's be honest. As a guy who's been nominated three times for the Hall of Fame, let's maybe open that window a little bit. We're still talking with specialists here. All right, James. Let's get back to the Pittsburgh Steelers conversation with Boswell, with how fantastic he is. Another AFC North matchup, another tough place to kick Thursday night football

against the Cleveland Browns. There's a little bit of sauce on this one because Myles Garrett, now we did not get to hear the clip. We read the quote late before the show, so we did not get to hear the delivery. You know, I think he said he didn't appreciate the way Teej acted, but no one in defense player of the year maybe he should apologize to me is the quote written we did not hear it we are fans of miles garrett we appreciate miles garrett but it's a big one against cleveland browns and miles garrett

and tj watt are a massive piece of the story let's go to some stats we got from hembo shall we uh disrupted dropbacks. Jade, when you hear that, what is your first thought? My first thought is stupid stat. What does that mean? Okay, so it is not a stupid stat, I will have you know. Just like AJ in the first hour of the show said, I don't want to hear a common opponent's stupid stats either.

Okay, this is a good one. Disrupted dropback is a stat that takes into account sacks, interceptions, batted passes, passes defended, and tipped passes. So disrupted dropbacks. They disrupt the play immediately. So it's real stats.

Not made up stats. Those are real stats that you can actually count. They're not like percentages or like pressures or... Feels like it. From Hembo, feels like that's what it is. Miles Garrett and TJ Watt have been head and shoulders above everybody for the last eight years. And then the last couple years,

Trey Hendrickson, also in the AFC North, has snuck his way into the statistics. But TJ obviously has a massive lead on this. He's a huge disruptor. How do you see this particular game going? And is it Miles Garrett and TJ Watt deciding who wins this game? I mean, I think the first thing I would say about it is

there's zero problem whatsoever with Miles Garrett. He's an unbelievable player. TJ has zero problem with him whatsoever. He thinks he's an unbelievable player. This has never been about Miles Garrett or if he's worthy or if he's a great player or any like that is undisputable he's a phenomenal player uh it's more just about the overall system and the voting and things like that that's what that was last year nothing

zero rivalry there with the guy um but i think this game a lot of people are saying that this is a typical trap-type game, coming off a massive win against the Ravens for that first-place spot in the division, going on the road on a Thursday into the Browns, who aren't having the best year, but obviously it's still the AFC North. And I think, I'm not 100% sure, but I don't think Tomlin's record on Thursday nights are great. Now, in the division, against a division team on the road on Thursday night, not good, not good.

Yeah, so that's one of those things, that all these things, you can't ignore all this stuff, and you have to add it together. But there is something different about this Steelers team a little bit that it feels, even in that 11-0 team a couple years ago, this team does seem to just feel like they kind of am putting all the pieces together at the right time we'll see though I mean we'll see it's gonna be a good game I'm I can't wait to watch it yeah it's another good one on Thursday night which we're pumped about go ahead age Jade so aq hates his Steelers

offense can you can you try to ask tell us like why he should not hate this offense he loves the defense but he says his offense is just not his thing. Well, what are his reasons? Take the glasses off, Grandpa. Take the readers off. I think you look handsome in those readers, AQ. I appreciate that, AJ. He has not seen you in the readers. I get told I'm some other people on X, everyone.

Who bubbles? Who? No, it's just every bald guy with a goatee. Cyrus the Virus? Yeah, exactly. Who was that race car driver a couple years back? Oh, my God. Stay away from that.

Spank image. It was A.Q. Shipley's face on this guy. He might have got a body. A.Q. might have got a body transplant. Race car driver on the bottom, A.Q. Shipley's head on top. And that guy said some stuff. He did. He said some things.

Yes, you did. Yes, he did. Yes, he did. But yes, any bald students you do get compared to, just like any fuckboy white I get compared to, it's kind of a part of the game and the whole thing. And I think you do look good with the glasses, but you did say earlier, to AJ's point,

I hate the offense. Are the Steelers going to win the Super Bowl? I asked you. You go, I hate that offense. They're seemingly playing better than ever, Jage, which is what you're kind of saying. With Russell Wilson coming into his own, George Pickens is now who we thought he was. They're running the ball. Fryermuth is getting utilized in a fashion in which he hasn't been utilized

offensively. What do you know? It's just the offensive line you're running? Yeah, that's exactly it. I mean, I think Broderick Jones has a long way to go. And, I mean, they keep asking him questions at Tallman. Tallman's sticking by him. Hey, we're going to ride with him. We're going to ride with him. But it's just consistently.

And I think, you know, they've got young guys across the board. They've had a ton of injuries. That's not saying anything. But it is what it is. Everybody has injuries. And the guys that have come in, I just don't think they have the makings to go. And I think Russell Wilson, at the end of the day, is a 50% passer. He throws a bunch of moon balls.

And, yeah, he makes some plays. But I think in order to win a Super Bowl, I don't think they have the offense to do so. Yeah, I think he's strictly offensive line, you know, because if you look at the team. Do you think that the Ravens can win the Super Bowl? Yeah, I think they have more makings. I do.

I do. I think they have more makings. I think they have one piece on their offensive line that that makari that probably you know they could have a better piece in there at that guard spot but i think the other four are really good i think their skill position is incredible i think you know the one thing that concerns me is the opposite is the defensive secondary for the ravens right but i think aq jh here his big take and always has been this you got to have a superbowl quality offensive line like obviously you have to have a Super Bowl-quality offensive line.

Like, obviously you have to have a championship-caliber defense, which is a massive piece of the conversation as the season rolls on in the NFL because the offense steals the convo, offense steals the convo, but inevitably when the games matter, got to have a defense, got to be able to have a championship defense. Nobody talks about it until late. Hey, Hugh says nobody talks about the fact you need a you need offensive line if you don't have an offensive line you're going to get exposed at some point i think that's

your big takeaway for the stealer 100 and i think the biggest jay's you can talk about this too like the one thing that your casual fan doesn't understand is the difference between december and january football right and i think it always comes down you can look at the kansas city chiefs every single year and they they have all these shiny trick plays and they do all these things but whenever they go in the playoffs what do they do they line up and they run, and they have all these shiny trick plays and they do all these things. But whenever they go in the playoffs, what do they do? They line up and they run power and they smash you in the mouth and they're trying to bury you and punish you on every single play. I don't disagree with you.

I mean, I think the trenches are hands down underrated, especially when it comes to the national discourse about football and once you get later in the year especially. But I do think their defense, the game that I always keep going back to that the Steelers, if someone's going to give me pause, it's this one, was that Cowboys game where they had a chance to win the game and all they had to do was make a stop basically 75 yards, and they didn't. And that's the one that I go back to where I say, man,

that one's the one they didn't close out. But as they've gone on here, they have been closing these games off now. They've won, I believe, every game since that game. So I think their defense is that good. I think their defense is that good where they literally just won a game against a team that you yourself just said is a legitimate Super Bowl contender without scoring a touchdown. So now if they do start stringing it together, and you've got to remember,

Russ has only played a few games with this team. he's going to continue to get more comfortable and get better everybody's going to continue to get in sync so you would imagine that that offense is going to get better as they go um and the defense is obviously what it is so you start to put those things together and you have a kicker like files who even if your offense isn't producing, he will, it does have a recipe for some very strong results. There's a road and a recipe for it, but when push comes to shove, if your offensive line can't win a game, you're not going to win the game. You can win a lot of games, but the game, it's probably going to come back and bite you in the ass.

You think about Tampa Buccaneers can't see Chiefs, Super Bowl. Everybody was talking about that offensive line all year. This is not his best offensive line, not his best offensive line. And then when Super Bowl comes around, Todd Bowles goes bananas. And he's like, hey, here it is. And you remember Patrick Mahomes scrambling for his life. They almost won. But in the end, it was offensive line question.

And I think that's why we were – So you're going Lions, AQ. I assume you're going Lions, Super Bowl champs then. I love the Lions. I love Philly out of the NFC. And, I mean, the AFC is interesting. I mean, it really is. I mean, I think Baltimore is still there.

I mean, Pittsburgh, because of their defense, they're going to have a chance. There's no question about that. I just think, again, when we get down to the playoffs and the game, I don't see it. Okay, let's talk about one of the teams that has had fantastic production from their offensive line for a long time, which is why we love them. Dee Butch has a question for you, Jay. Yeah, up and down this whole roster on both sides of the ball, out there in San Fran with the 49ers.

Obviously, it hasn't gone as we all probably thought it would this season. Any faith in the 49ers being able to turn around and get in the dance and make some noise in December and January? I talk about the Cowboys and the 49ers as two teams that before the season, everybody had kind of been discussions about the possible NFC championship. Obviously, you know that Detroit is going to be in those talks as well among other teams, but,

and then you see what happened during the season so far. That's the beauty of the NFL to me. That's the parody. That's what people love. That's why you tune in because you have to play the games to make it work. I mean, they still have the talent they still have the coaching that you should be scared of them at any time and if you do look at their stats over the second half of seasons for these past few years they have been dominant in the second half of the season which makes what we're watching now even more interesting because normally coming off a bye they're great normally

in the second half of the season they're great they're starting to get healthy to get Christian McCaffrey back still not great so it is a little concerning there but if I'm a team facing them I still believe that they can do anything I still believe that they can be dangerous um I truly don't even know exactly what's happening uh over there but yes if I'm a team lining up against them I still see them as a very dangerous threat me too and what's happening uh over there but yes if i'm a team lining up against them i still see them as a very dangerous threat me too and what is happening over there you know i think we all just expect them to figure it out uh niners will figure it out niners figured out you know they figured it out gino gino figured and that nfc west six and four five and five five and five

five and five anybody can make it out of there. And seemingly anybody can get left out of that NFC West as well whenever you're talking long term. Give some credit to the cards, baby. Give the cards some love. Leaders of the NFC West are the Arizona Cardinals. Gotta love it. And that's why we love them. I do.

I enjoy what Gannon has brought over there. Very much a culture shift for the Arizona Cardinals and how are their facilities? Facilities getting better? Because I remember those report cards you guys gave out. All of you players. They're working on it. Yeah, but you players anonymously

all said, this place fucking stinks. We need to get this thing fixed. With the team they have, with the hope that they have, with the opportunity that they have, with the opportunity that they have, with Kyler Murray still very young in this whole thing. Maybe they do try to become a professional organization. They should, maybe. Maybe they try to invest in it.

That'd be great. I'm probably going to be living in Phoenix at some point in my life. Let's go, boys. Same ownership group. Flip a switch, though. You can flip a switch. Yeah, that happens. Just like out there with the Pittsburgh Pirates. That's usually how it goes.

Yeah. The Brown family changing in Cincinnati. They did it. Yeah, now the team's getting worse. I mean, you go throw the Chargers in there. They've flipped a switch. Speaking of the Chargers, Ty has a question for you. Talk about changing a culture.

Yeah, Jade, you just talked to him a couple weeks ago, and we talked about it before the season, even without seeing who they got and the pieces that they lost. It was like, hey, Jim Harbaugh, Chargers are going to win 10 games or 11 games next year. It just feels like that's what he always does. They have continued to do that despite not having maybe the weapons on offense or missing a few guys on defense.

But do you look at this Chargers team and think, hey, this is a team that no one's going to want to see in the playoffs, considering what they've been so far? Yes, absolutely. I think the way their defense is playing, Justin Herbert, dangerous and seemingly even more unlocked now with Harbaugh and everything that they're doing, you do not want to see them. I don't know why this could just be

completely me or maybe it's reflective of how everybody feels about but when you think about the Chargers you don't necessarily think of like a crazy tough hard nose like beat you up football team but that's exactly what they are now that's exactly what Harbaugh what Ben Herbert what this squad has done is they've brought this tenacity. They've brought this energy. They've brought this physicality that don't let the baby blue jerseys fool you. Sweet jerseys, though. They are going to shut you down, and then they can also just throw it over the top of you with Justin Herbert and score a bunch of points on you.

They have sweet uniforms. Yeah. Best in the league. Great social media. Mm-hmm. Great digital staff. They have sweet uniforms. Yeah. Best in the league. Great social media. Mm-hmm. Great digital staff. Mm-hmm. Great facility.

Right, you were there last week. You would know more than us. Phenomenal. Phenomenal facility. They're in Los Angeles, so obviously a lot of eyes are going to be on them. And they got a young quarterback that's great and a coach that he's never going to die. No. Yeah.

Jim Harbaugh might be the first one to get the head. Yeah, transplant. Transplant. Yeah. He might coach them for the next 50 years over there. I'm buying stock in the Chargers. You were a believer long before anybody seemingly, D. Butch. I was a believer in Herbert, you know, his talent.

You rarely see a young quarterback come in and be able to do what he's been able to do from day one. And it was always a question of who was leading the ship. You know, we always had questions about the head coach since day one. He dealt with, I think, three or four different offensive coordinators throughout his young career now. But to JJ's point, now they are that tough team that can finish. Even that game against the Bengals primetime, we all saw it's the Chargers

coming to Chargers. But being able to finish that game, having a squad on both sides, bringing in young guys too, great coordinators, Greg Roman, Jesse Minter on both sides. They got all the makings of a team that can compete not only now, but deep in the future. How about J.K. Dobbins? He didn't have a lot of options.

It wasn't like everybody was calling on him, and Jim Harbaugh was like, how about J.K. Dobbins? What a story. Resiliency, toughness, fast. Jesse Minter has to be up there for number one head coaching candidate next year, no? I mean, he's got to be in that. Okay, we had this conversation yesterday. Vrabel, Belichick, Johnson, Aaron Glenn, Slowik, we don't know.

We have no idea how the rest of the year ends up, if he's going to be in the chatter. Minter, I guess you can add in there. Cliff. Cliff Kingsbury, who's already been a head coach, but I think that new ownership group is probably going to drop some money into his pocket if there's any offers. Maybe he

sticks around with Jaden for a while. We have not talked to him. We are just projecting in there, but we were talking about Jets. Both Lions guys definitely got to be up there. Danny Smith. Danny Smith, special teams coordinator for the Steelers. Might get his opportunity finally. Might get his opportunity. Would love that.

Riz, we don't know. Coach Riz, special teams coordinator for the Saints. But you already got the Jets. You already got the Saints. The Jags was allegedly happening before that game, and then they played their worst game that they played. In franchise history. And get beat worse than they've ever gotten beat in their entire existence.

Nothing's happened. They're on a bye week. Coach Doug Peterson, who we love, absolutely love. The man. Feels like his press conferences are from a guy who. Get me the fuck out of here. Seems like there's a little bit of that. But then you start rattling off the potential places that you're going to have

coach a change. It's like there's a lot. So there's going to be a bunch of coaches we haven't heard of that are going to get gigs and people are going to be pissed about it regardless. Yeah. I mean, I think every fan base thinks that there's just this pool of phenomenal, unbelievable coaches out there. Like people are getting pissed.

Like obviously Kyle Shanahan's taking heat this year. You got guys taking heat for decisions. And I'm just like, how many phenomenal head coaches do you think are out there? Like, what do you think? You think guys are making perfect decisions at all times, but maybe this job is actually hard. Maybe they're making these crazy, crucial decisions with the pressure on at that exact moment while there's a billion other things going on.

Maybe that's tough. All right. And maybe there's not a hundred guys out there that could do it at the top level. Maybe there's a reason Andy Reid is so damn good at what he does because he does it over and over and over, and he's the top of the top. Like, it's just crazy that we think that every head coach is going to make the perfect decision at every single time. It's just not realistic.

Well, the grass is greener, though, and the owners think that way. There was an article this morning from Diana Rossini and Zach Blatt, I do believe, from The Athletic, saying that Ambassador Johnson had an all-hands-on-deck meeting with the power players of the Jets after week four or whatever, and says, we need to bench Aaron Rodgers right now. Here you go.

Sign Devontae and give him more than they've ever had before. I want to get rid of this guy. Get rid of Lazard. I want Judy in here. Do this every single day. Maybe owner's not great either. You know? Maybe. Not saying... Wait, that was week four? So that was before they got Devante?

Yeah. So he wanted to bench him, and they said no. And then he was like, okay, let's go get his best friend. Yeah, but then they said, like, we don't know if this is a good trade because of what we're gonna have to give up an ambassador goes are you an ambassador or me do you need to drink the pepper water cayenne pepper water i do not know if that is part of ambassador johnson's

entire daily routine but he needs to think about it uh and the more research we've done on that i don't know if i'm gonna change my life to start drinking drinking it. But if you have it, I think it's okay. It's going to help. I think it does help. I'll light a fire under them again if we have to. Like, if that's what gets them on the winning, I'll do a favor to the city of New York. Like, I'll light a fire. Like, stir that up, man.

Replace the Gatorade coolers. Pepper water, pepper water, pepper water. Replace the Gatorade coolers. You're so dramatic. They're not going to do that. Yeah, they're not obviously going to take out all the electrolytes and just substitute cayenne pepper.

Gatorade, cereal. What a development. Did we know what we were drinking? And this is not an ad. They have not paid us. They should. They have not. Did we know that the original Gatorade was what it was? We were just chugging Kool-Aid, I guess. With some electrolytes in it. And then they were like, oh yeah, but now we got that the original Gatorade was what it was. We were just chugging Kool-Aid, I guess. Yeah, sugar water.

With some electrolytes in it. And then they were like, oh, yeah, but now we got what we said this was the entire time. It's like, thank you for figuring that out. I'm still drinking OG. Yeah. Sometimes you need to cut it with some water. Some of those ones are a little bit too thick. You got to drink it when you're active.

You burn it off. You need to drink it. I know that Powerade in Georgia they handed you. Oh, buddy. I know that Powerade in Georgia they handed you. Oh, buddy. What was that? It was delicious. That was not of... It was diesel Powerade.

It was gasoline. It was a pinkish Powerade. Yeah, chew it. It was ice cold, which I was very appreciative. They brought it out to me. The equipment staff down there in Georgia was awesome. They were a great crew, a great group of people.

Very thankful for the hospitality down there. And shout out to DeCesar, too, old facilities manager down there, Pison. He's a good dude. Absolute dog. He took care of us. Got me a hat, said, hey, you need some sunscreen. Looks like you're going through it. And then they said, hey, we got some cold drinks for you.

And they hand me over a pink Powerade. And just looked at me and i looked at that and i'm like i'm dying of thirst right now ain't nobody drinking the phil mickelson a drink so no ain't nobody you know this is adidas right now i'm drinking come on when was the last time i had powerade so you know you ever wear sunscreen out there, by the way, ever? Yes. I just naturally. Dude, you are a lobster by the time Saturday rolls around. Thanks, Jage.

I know. And it's not just the outside. I'm getting cooked. My body cooks from the inside as well. Like, if I get hot, it starts radiating. I'm, like, baking. So I get broiled and I'm baking at the same time. It's not the perfect setup to be on camera for.

I loved the outfit this week though. The jeans, the boots. It was a great fit. I think that was number one of the year so far. That makes me feel pretty good. I agree. David Allen should feel very fantastic about that suit coat. Because the number two outfit I think of the year where I've gotten compliments, same sport coat.

Just different fit on the other side shout out to Shaq too for that big and tall shirt that I wore underneath that thing that's a Shaquille O'Neal brand that you can get at JCPenney now we talk about coaches being great you know everybody thinking there's a plethora of these leaders out there that can turn teams around there is certainly one of them in the great city of Detroit go ahead con man yeah JJ feels like the Lions them in the great city of Detroit. Go ahead, Con Man. Yeah, JJ, it feels like the Lions are now the top class of the NFL. Do you think they're going to go on a run and kind of be what everyone wants them to be in the Super Bowl champions? I mean, we know they're going up against Mac Jones this weekend, who people forget is a pro bowler. He's a good

guy, good quarterback. But do you think the Lions are going to be the team that go on this run and bring a trophy to Detroit? I mean, it's a perfect example. Last year at playoffs, everybody's on Dan Campbell because the decision-making and things like that, you've got to change it in the playoffs and all this. Well, I mean, the guy got there, and he also has a team doing what he's doing right now.

The thing that makes me like the Lions is their diversity and how they can beat teams. They can do it through the air. They can do it on the ground. The play-action game obviously opens up, and they're scoring a billion points. Defense is strong. They added Z'Darrius Smith. But that Texans game, unfortunately for me, obviously,

really shows you what they're capable of in the face of adversity. And I think that is what really matters down the stretch, and especially in the playoffs, is being able to overcome some tough stuff because the better the teams get, the better the competition gets, the more you're going to have those situations. And he clearly has those guys primed and ready. They're going to be an unbelievably tough out. And they're expecting to win now, too.

Like this week, they were the biggest favorites they had ever been in the history of the Detroit Lions, 14. And I think everybody in Detroit was expecting to cover and they did yep by 4x it's like when they're expected to win they do they don't play down to the opponent's uh level which is like very different for most teams that are kind of in the middle meddling in this entire thing they play dominant football regardless it's like this Detroit Lions is so different than what it used to be and I couldn't even fathom being a Lions fan the roller coaster has been nice no it's awesome we were the team that used to get killed by 50 points and now we win by 50 points and MCDC saying that's not even our best football we got things to clean

up we got some stuff that if it was Patrick Mahomes or Josh Allen it might be a problem and I love that because the expectation is so high and like this it has to be the year just got to stay healthy but yeah it's awesome has to be the i love the foot on the pedals mentality too oh yeah i love that he just keeps it down i like a you're just you're letting your team know like guys we're this is what we do this is who we are we're gonna roll you b he's spreading the ball around the guys i mean getting touchdowns like guys it's just candy he's just handing out touchdowns the guys so everybody in the locker room's happy who needs one man who needs a touchdown for incentive fucking jack okay come on

in yeah put him in running back what figure it out ben aren't you super genius fucking get the guy a touchdown he's got a million bucks on the line that is real it's like he's looking out for his guys too oh no doubt and think about so I'm interested in this because I haven't thought this through. So if this comes out stupid, no problem. I'll freeze and cold takes. If you're the Lions and if you're the Lions coordinators, because they're both in line for head coaching jobs and we assume that they're top of everybody's list,

but you guys are having a blast. You've got a great team. You've got a great head coach. You guys are doing something incredible in a city that hasn't done it ever. And let's say the owner comes out and says, we're going to pay you guys head coach's salaries. We're just going to have three guys with those bad-level salaries on the staff. Is there a part of you that's like, yes, I will stay for that?

I will do that. So I think Ben Johnson already did that, right? I think Ben Johnson, offense coordinator, was potentially already offered a head coaching job and decided to stay at Detroit. I believe he's gotten a raise the last two seasons. Yeah, so this is just like the Cliff Kingsbury conversation with Washington, where he's already been a head coach, has already had to deal with all this shit.

If the ownership who has no salary cap on these coaching salaries is able to give a boost, a good boost, you know, and still to build something special and be a part of it. And if you like Dan, right? I think that's a big question, AJ. Do you like the head guy? Do you want to continue to work with him? Which it feels like they probably do, H. Yeah, but think about also what happens if you're all making,

I don't know how many millions, and then, say, the defense is struggling. Are they going to fire this defensive coordinator and make him a ton of money offensively? I don't know. I just wonder if it could create a weird dynamic between those three, but like to what Pat said, you better have a strong leader at the top that is the head coach. And every once in a while, an alpha knows when to bow down to another, concede to another alpha. I believe that's what good alphas do, is what Dan Campbell has actually

said. But if you think about the Kansas City Chiefs, they got Andrew Reid on the offense, Hall of Famer. Spaggs on the defense, Hall of Famer. And Tobe on special teams, that's a Hall of Famer. I don't know what they're all getting paid, but you're talking about three Hall of Fame coaches running the three different phases of football. That's a recipe for success. And if Detroit can continue to do that with MCDC and that

culture, whoo! Good for Sheila Fordham, man. And it all started with Sheila Fordham, exactly. Which is what people forget. Good luck to the Lions. Good luck to everybody. We'll be back manana as week 12 of the NFL season kicks off with an AFC North matchup on tomorrow's Thursday with Chuck Pagano.

Be a friend. Tell a friend something nice. It might change their life. Oh, that was really cool. Chef's kiss. That was nice. You crushed that. That was to you.

You crushed it. Oh, that was to me? I thought it was to the people was that was to you you crushed it oh that was to me i thought it was to the people sweet as you were doing it with the people it was it was a it was everybody who's mighty mick that's an irish guy that god made fun of so much he said uh who's the mick now and started a boxing gym rocky balboa rest in peace mighty mick. Mickey's the guy that was in this corner? Yeah, Rock's trainer. Mickey. Yeah. White guy, bald guy. Yeah, old son of a bitch.

He turns red, too. Yeah, big time. His gym is Mighty Mick's? Precisely. Rest in peace. That's correct. Genius. Genius name.

Mighty Mick. Yeah. There's been a lot of Mighty. That's him, yeah. He and I are red. He goes out with you every Friday on the road. Take it easy.

Pretty racist of you, brother. Okay? I get it. Me and Mighty Mick's race is all red. Okay? I understand that that is the case, but we don't need you judging us out here. I did. I had SPF 70 all over me. And you did it a couple times, too. SPF 70. Because if I stopped the outside, you didn't know.

You spray it or you lotion it? Spray or lotion? Spray. Problem. That's the problem. That's the problem. Come on. That's the problem.

Spray makes it worse. Spray is worse. Lotion it. Spray is worse? What do you think I am? Spray is worse. I think you get burned more with the spray. You think I'm putting, like like butter on me and I'm like

I don't know but that's just personal one of one testing don't use this as any I'm not telling you what to do I'm just saying

for my life spray sucks well and also with the way my life has gone I've always been a spray guy and I just charge it to the gate

yeah spray works just fine charge this weigh my skin where are you going this week are we sunny Columbus Ohio it's not sunny it's actually the complete opposite I think Friday to the gate? Yeah. Spray words. It's just fine. Target this. It's the way of my skin. Where are you going this week? Are we sunny?

Columbus, Ohio. It's not sunny. Oh, no. It's actually the complete opposite. I think Friday, normally on those Friday shows, I'll do them from like the stadium, you know,

or from the field, which is incredibly cool. Very lucky to do it. I think with the way the weather is supposed to be on Friday, it's like, are we sure we want to do that? I don't know if we want to do that. So we're trying to figure that all out

right now. How's Saturday going to be over there, H? Is that game at noon? Yeah. 40s. What? You guys are Big Ten guys. That's what noon games are.

It's frustrating. It's frustrating. It's frustrating. You've got a good night game. What are you talking about? It's a big noon kickoff. Who's the night game? I know.

Notre Dame Army. I understand. I understand. It's a good game. That is a good game. At Yan the night game? I know. Notre Dame Army. I understand. I understand it all. That is a good game. Yankee Stadium. The Big Ten, I understand why. I understand the ratings. I understand the cash. I understand how it all works.

It does feel like we are hurting ourselves with not having the best games at night. Yeah, I think a lot of fans feel that way. Especially Ohio State. They're going to have seven straight noon games, pretty much, to kind of shut out way, especially Ohio State. They're going to have seven straight noon games, pretty much, to kind of shut out the game because Ohio State's so damn good. A.J. obviously has the take of, like, what time they play a game, who cares?

And I appreciate that. No, I agree with what Jade said. I agree with that. Like, I didn't think of it like that. You're doing the conference a disservice not having these primetime games. That's true. Showcase it to everybody, the greatness, but also the numbers that are coming out for the noon kicks are, like because of you know having the biggest game at that point so you know i uh

i respect how much money fox is given to broadcast these games at noon but me personally you work to get under the lights like that's what you work to get under the lights like that's the purpose of the whole thing so you know they're in a they're in quite a predicament and the fact that ohio state is the team you know that has worked to get under the lights the most they spent the most money we got primetime players like we paid for our primetime players and it's like yeah well actually seven straight of them fucking noon that is when you're playing and you got all those Ohioans. So we got to do 4 a.m. wake-ups all the time?

Or because we got a good football team, we're not allowed to have a day throughout this entire thing? Go ahead, Tom. That Notre Dame-Army game is also NBC-Peacock. The Fox late game was Iowa State-Utah. Oh, jeez. Banger. That's a Big 12 game. You need to fucking rely on it. Yeah, yeah. I understand. It's a Big 12 game. You need to fucking relax. Listen, Stan, it's a Big 12 game.

I am so disgusted. That's terrible. And think about Ohio State's one night game, or at least maybe they had a different one, but like Oregon-Ohio State. Awesome. Of course, it was on the road, too. Yeah, and it was NBC. Football! There's only one person that did not say the word football.

Two people, I guess. Me and the man that's sitting in between the two photos you see on the screen here. This is Bullring of Honor member for the Houston Texans, J.J. Watt. Yeah, J.J. Next to him is A.J. Hawk. The talk's at the tables here at Boston Corner and at Ty Schmidt. Boston Hockey, huh? Just fired our coach already. Bruins have already fired their

coach. Damn. This early. That sucks. This team sucks. You guys are that bad? You're firing coach already? No, we are not that bad. You guys are the New York Jets? The New Orleans Saints? No, no, no. Of the NHL? Not even a little bit. We're trying to turn things around here. I don't know why Monty got fired this

early. I think a lot of people are questioning who's running the show up there in the GM suite when it comes to the Boston Bruins, but guy coming in, Joe Sacco, one of the greatest coaches in the history of hockey. You wait and see what this guy does with these Bruins. I have

a lot of faith in Marshy and the guys in that locker room to turn this thing around. And I think Joe Sacco is the right man for the game. What do you know about Coach Joe Sacco? Look, Joe Sacco, first of all, he's a Medford man. He's in Middlesex County, town next to where I grew up from. That's where he's from. He actually lived in Winchester same time around when I did. He raised his family, his boys, his family very well. Joe Sacco was, you know, my Little League hockey coach when I was coming up. He coached you?

Now he's coaching the Bruins? Yeah, he coached me when I was coming up in the Winchester Hockey Youth Program system. And now he's coaching the Boston Bruins. And I got a lot of faith in this guy because he knows what he's talking about. That's a good story. That's a good Boston story. Yeah, it truly is. Him, my pa, my buddy's pa, and Joe Sacco.

And guess what we did? What's that? We went on to win the league. The Mighty and Joe Sacco. And guess what we did? What's that? We went on to win the league. The Mighty B's, baby. That's what we do. Wait until you see what he does with the Big B's, okay? He's going to run the show. I think we're going to go and get Lombardi this year.

And when I say Lombardi, I mean Lord Stanley. Football season, obviously. All eyes are on Drake May being the future. Of course, of course. Sorry, I'm getting my sports mix up here. Yeah, Celtics, huge win. Celtics start bond, too. Yeah, I mean, what are you going to do?

This is bossy. There's a lot of stuff going on right now. Oh, congrats to Joe Sacco. Joe Sacco. Unbelievable. From the baby boots. I don't think I took the right vitamins for this hour. What are you talking about?

The hell? That's a real story. I don't know. I don't know what he's talking about. That's for sure, brother. What are you talking about? The health. That's a real story. I don't know. I don't know what he's talking about. That's for sure, brother. Everything we just talked about is real. That is a matter of fact. We just broke news to you.

Boston Bruins fired their coach. That happened. I know that. Joe Sacco, nuke. Look at that look. That's the look he gave whenever he got fired in this entire thing.

Joe Sacco, new head coach of the Boston Bruins. Look at that look. That's the look he gave whenever he got fired in this entire thing. Joe Sacco, new head coach of the Boston Bruins, actually Boston Connors' childhood coach. He was on the Stairmaster yesterday whenever this happened. He was walking over here, miserable. Hoodie on, head down, sweating all over the place, just chugging away. Incredibly proud of you for how you have committed to doing that every single day. We go over, I go over to him because the Bruins news just broke,

and I go, we're the Jets now of the NHL? Not the Winnipeg Jets, the good Jets. We're talking New York Jets of the NHL. You already fired your coach and this entire thing. He goes, I don't care, okay? I'm not happy about it at all. And then I go, Joe Sacco, that's a good name. He goes, coached me when I was a kid. And he just casually just said it as he was doing this.

I'm like, hold the fucking phone. What do you mean? He goes, mighty beast. He was my coach. I know him. Good guy, actually. Don't love we fired coach. Love Coach Sacco, though.

He's a good coach in his entire life. That's all real. So everything we just did was break news, J.H. That's literally what we just did. Welcome to theacco, though. He's a good coach in his entire life. That's all real. So everything we just did was break news, Jage. That's literally what we just did. Welcome to the program, Al. I'm so deep. I cannot tell. Now I can't tell if I'm getting double played.

Dude. Oh, my gosh. I'm so lost, man. I'm so lost. He grew up in Medford, which is the town next to where I grew up from. But then he moved back after he played 13 years in the NHL. Moved back. Started his family. Rais played 13 years in the NHL, moved back, started his family, raised his family in the same time

I did. Kid Joe Sacco Jr., who was his boy, me and him played on the same hockey team. So? If so, facto. The Medford part is where I'm like, alright, I'm on board. And then after Medford is where I'd fall off the map, where I'm like, I can't tell.

I can't tell if it's real or tell. Why would I lie about this? I don't know. You start talking faster, and then you start throwing stats out and a lot of names and things to make it like they can't not believe me if I have all this information. But it does feel like you're throwing so much information that we shouldn't believe you. Joe Sacco Jr., Connor Campbell, Son of Steven, and the Mighty B's were a wagon.

Were a fucking wagon back in the day. Undefeated, you guys were. Oh, my God. I mean, you should have seen what the other towns would do when we would come to town. You want to talk about cementing the boots? The other teams, they didn't even want to skate with us when we took the ice. See, now that might not be real. See, now you've got to have a sense.

Now you've got to have a sense of what's real, what's not real. Welcome to the program. Nine-year NFL vet Darius J. Butler is here. Good luck with your program. D-Bush, I didn't know Connor was a champion hockey player. I didn't know that either. What position? I mean, I was kind of a jack-of-all-trades, so I was the worst guy on the team, but I mean,

I'll tell you what, when we took the ice at Flynn Rink, there was no fucking around. I mean, I'd go between the pipes if I had to. I'd play center if I had to. Blue guy for sure. Whatever coach needed me to do. Coach Sacco. Coach Sacco.

And my dad. Whatever my dad told me to do. I just said, all right, fine, fuck it. I won't play today because we need to win. I get it. I get it. It's fine. It's for the team.

Your dad got up to you. Joe Sacco's kid's on this team. Okay? He's going to play. Don't got time for you today. What? I'm so sorry. We're still getting Burger King after the game?

Yeah, but we're going to let Junior go win this one for us. That's fine. Just need your energy and vibes on the side. I tried to talk to Joe Sacco's senior. He laid out a lot of good points. Congrats to your mighty bees. I'm looking forward to the rest of the year, actually. I think the Bees are going to go on the run.

That's quite a Boston story. That's a great Boston sports story from the Mighty Bees to the Boston Bruins. Joining us is a 12-year NFL vet Super Bowl champion, A.Q. Shipley. Penguins are dead, pal. Dead. They're dead. I keep watching every week, and I'm like, all right, here it is. 2-0.

We're up. 2-0 lead yesterday. Yeah. They give up two, and then quick score in overtime, and I'm like, all right, here it is. 2-0. We're up. 2-0 lead yesterday. Yeah. They give up two and then quick score in overtime, and it's over. Hockey is awesome. It's over. It is absolutely awesome. Not as easy to talk about when your team sucks.

Yep. Sure. My team had been great for a very long time. Decades and decades and generations of yinzers have had the opportunity to say, my team is better than your team because we actually had a chance to be that and now seems like the penguins just absolutely suck and that's not fun that's not great change you grew up playing hockey right who's your team yes I did grow up playing hockey I I've said this before and I make no shame in it because I didn't know I grew up in

Wisconsin we didn't have a team so I started watching the Blackhawks. Big Chris Chelios guy, big Jeremy Roenick guy, Eddie Belfour. And then I believe it was Chelios went to the Red Wings, and so I went to the Red Wings, which that's a no-no. You should not follow two teams in the same area. Don't be a Red Wings fan if you have a choice. No. Definitely don't be that. So I was following both those guys, so I became a Steve Eiserman, a Chris Osgood, Mike Vernon,

Sergey Fedorov. I mean, love, love some good old school hockey. Oh, Steve is back. I still have, Connor, speaking of the Rinks, you know the bubble hockey machine? Like the bubble hockey? Oh, yeah. And the Rinks?

Got one at my house up in Wisconsin. One of my most prized possessions because they are impossible to find. Yeah, and good times. So far. Very good up in Wisconsin. One of my most prized possessions because they are impossible to find. Yeah, and good times. So far. Very good times in there. Very classic rink shit is those bubble hockeys. Here's Jage on the skates here

as an adult. Just Clapbomb City. Goalie is trying really hard. Yeah, I love... Hey, Jage! Hey! That was clean. Good shot.

That is a... I mean, obviously the goalie's going to save that with his chest if he just decides not to leave. But that's still going to be a I mean obviously the goalie Is going to save that with his chest If he just decides not to leave But that's still going to be a thud And hurt goalie On the other side That's some real power

In that clap bomb, Jage Yeah, you get out of the way When you see Fulton Reed winding up Yeah, that is exactly who you are Quack Quack Quack Quack

Quack Alright, that's good hockey talk That's good hockey talk Who's going to win at Vegas? Yeah The boys are fucking buzzing right now. Gums boys. The Dallas Stars are a fucking problem. We lost at home to the Ducks the other night,

but we'll beat the shit out of the hungry, hungry Sharks tonight. You guys, the hungry, hungry Sharks, are they in the tank out there? Are you guys out there? No, we're in Texas for Texas hockey. What you guys, you guys went into Pittsburgh and put five on us in the first inning? Six, one, put seven on you in the first inning there, and then put seven on the Bs as well. I'll tell you what, you guys scored a touchdown on the Pens

in the first inning of that particular one. And then the Red Wings beat the Penguins. You going to send Sid on his way, or are you going to let him go somewhere and win? Here's the deal. In that game, we're getting blown out in the first period. In this game last night, we're up. It's like I don't have a read on whether or not I should pay attention to the team or not pay attention.

I'll check in on their game. Right? Because ESPN Plus, I think you have the ability to kind of find the game. That's awesome. It is fantastic. It was never like that here in Indianapolis to be able to watch the Pens. So anytime I go into Hulu or whatever, they'll have that up there as an option. Like, hey, the Pens are playing right now. You able to watch the Pens. So anytime I go into Hulu or whatever, they'll have that up there as an option.

Like, hey, the Pens are playing right now. You want to watch every time without failure. If there's not an NFL game on, every time without failure, I'm like, yeah, I do want to see. And then I turn it on, and I'm like, no, I don't. I don't. And then I got to go to the other channels. I got to leave ESPN Plus to go to the other places. Pens suck, Nick.

That is what we're, why do we suck? Because how much time you got? How long do you want this show to go to the other channels. I got to leave ESPN Plus to go to the other places. Pens suck, Nick. That is what we're – why do we suck? Because how much time you got? How long do you want this show to go? Technically, I don't know how much time Jage has, but on our particular watch, we have no out time. So you can run this thing until tomorrow if you'd like to. But if it takes that long, I'm a little bit concerned about the future of everything if we have that many discussions to have.

Yeah, you should be. They might be able to win a few more games in the short term if they were to make a coaching change and change the style of the way they play, but they don't really want to do that. The guy like Sid, Gino, Malkin, they all wanted to stay together, so they signed those extensions. And they want to continue to play a certain way. They want to try and play high-tempo offensive hockey,

except they're all in their late 30s. It's very hard to do. The previous GM kind of ran things amok with the cap and the supporting cast. The current GM is trying to clean it up. He's trying to rebuild on the fly. He's trying to collect picks but also win games. It's an impossible task.

There's really no good way to do it. So they're kind of in this no-man's-land limbo where they're not bad enough to get a top pick and they're not good enough to get a playoff spot. They're in purgatory between the future and yesterday. And you also have a cone playing in that. You have no starting goal. Yeah, look at that goal difference.

The goalie is absolutely reeked. Negative 26 is certainly not good. As you see, it is obviously the worst in the entire— I'm not saying something because they're scoring goals. Damn. We're in a panther. Who would break first if we said we're staying all night? Who would leave the studio first?

If what? If we said we were just running the show. We're going to go until we go. Who's leaving first? You know, baby girl Mackenzie has changed a lot of things, I think. There's a lot of babies and toddlers and kids around the Thunderdome now. But let's say that's all handled and taken care of. Okay?

I don't know if anybody leaves. Legit. How about that for team culture? I don't think, I'm looking around right now, I don't think anybody leaves. Because the people that you would just say, oh, they would leave. They got nothing else to do. I have not, this is the only thing I ever have. I have nothing in my life

I'm in the same boat as well Connor This is it brother I think nobody You said kids are handled right Kids are handled If you take kids are handled out of it Then there's literally no reason for anybody

I'm talking real life scenarios Somebody's got to go I think in some shitty places there would be people That'd be like i don't care i don't have kids five o'clock yeah i'm out of here for sure i think there would be people so pretty proud of our culture jage you know yeah even though you think we lie when we do journalism yeah i don't know why that would be the one like why would i make up this elaborate story and think about there's a lot of things you do that I wonder about. That's fair. That's fair. But now, to be

clear, we just introduced a lot of people to who Joe Sacco is. And he actually is an unbelievable coach. And Nick much more well-versed in hockey than me, but he is very well-respected around the entire league. Former player. I am actually... NHL league?

No, NHL. Joe Sacco. Play play 13 seasons in the nhl so i mean i actually do feel great obviously he used to coach the colorado avalanches first season there he was up for the jack adams which is the best coach in the league award he did not win it and then the following three seasons he had losing seasons and got fired so okay which is also why people are bummed out about that that whole thing is because the two coaches we just fired won, the Jack Adams. So, honestly, at this point, I don't know if we want Joe Sacco winning the best coach award. We're done with the Jack Adams.

I might get his ass canned. Jack asses win the Jack Adams, Paulson says. Anyways, that's sports journalism. Let's do some more of that. You know, there's people that have burning questions for one of the greatest football players of all time. A Wisconsin lad who has a log cabin in Wisconsin. A man who would actually get into frozen lakes

before this whole cold tub thing was cool to take care of his body. He drank his own urine, obviously. We've talked about that. To really exercise his body to be the best that it could possibly be. And that'll lead to him being a first ballot Hall of Famer. But we get a chance to chat with him. A lot of people don't. So we put out a tweet.

Said, hey, you have a question for J.J. Watt, the absolute legend? All you gotta do is use the hashtag AskJage. And you could potentially have your question asked to the man himself. Now now it became a number two trending topic on x and we appreciate everybody for participating but also jage congratulations a lot of people have a lot of questions for you yeah let's go a lot of people

have a lot of questions con man scanned through them and uh we found six let's get to them here's this one's from ty schmidt in studio in thunderdome. Hashtag AskJage, what was the most difficult part of hosting Saturday Night Live? That's a great question. To be clear, I forgot you did that. And when I saw this question, I thought to myself, yeah, because when Jade gives his answer,

we'll probably get a little intel into what everybody else's life is like as the host of Saturday Night Live. What was it like? What was the hardest? The hardest part about hosting SNL is being able to take it all in appreciate it and how wonderful and incredible it is while still having to work extremely hard to make sure that you're getting ready for saturday night they they do an incredible job

setting you up for success literally everybody's goal is to set you up but at the same time there's just this wonder and excitement about being on the show and so i think the hardest thing for me was like just trying to take it all in and not let it pass by without truly appreciating long hours right long hours in that long hours long hours late nights yeah it's a crazy week it is i would do it again in an absolute heartbeat i always say it's one of my favorite things I've ever done. Relax. We don't need you publicly petitioning, okay? You're J.J. Watt. It will certainly have you back, J.J.

You're on CBS now, so I think that's probably a no-go. Oh, you don't think Lauren is going to say no way are we doing that? Sorry. I thought you did a great job. I just got reminded of some of your skits. You forgot all about it, but I appreciate it. Thank you. There's a lot of things happening.

There's been a lot of SNLs. A lot of things have happened in here. A lot of SNLs have happened. But once I saw them, I was reminded of how good you were. But I think that time thing's real. What day did you get there for that Saturday Night Live? You get there on Monday. You get there on Monday, and it's a whole week, man.

Those guys are crazy because, obviously, they do the whole week, man. Those guys are crazy because obviously they do the whole week and they do everything from Saturday and they are truly, it is the coolest thing. They set you up for success. All they want is for the host to be successful. It's really cool. Then you do Saturday, you have the after party and everything and then you go home and you tell all

your friends how awesome it was and crazy, but they're right back to it for the next week. It's a grind for those guys. AJ, ever been to saturday night live taping what is it like 250 500 how many people is it in there under 500 probably like 300 people yeah jage how was it when they're i assume they were pitching things to you early in the week how did you handle it when they pitched you stuff that you knew was absolute garbage and not going to be fun that's good that's good thankfully uh lauren handles most of it no thankfully lauren handles most of it um he just like you sit in the room with all of them and they pitch it all to you uh in rapid fire succession every single person on the cast pitches an idea so there's like 50 ideas then they all write them

up then you do the table read where you do all 50 skits or whatever it is 45 skits and then after that they cut it down and you decide and then at rehearsal uh you run through them all and then you cut three after rehearsal so it's a crazy process it's it's wild and all these people have been trying for weeks and weeks to get their skits on so they're really jacked up when their skit gets on or they're really disappointed when it doesn't i think i'm disappointed that they know the line so well, you know, because I think like somebody being surprised by something is potential a lot better live because everybody there,

there's less breaks like from actors on Saturday live. I think because how many times they've heard it in the table read, are you, are you selling out on every one of those or is there some you look through and you're like, okay, we can act confused, don't know how to act or read these ones in there. That's how you would make your selections, I guess, right? I think I sold out too much in the table read. I think I came in a little too hot in the table read.

I looked back on it afterwards and I was like, oh, man, you might have looked like an idiot in there. Because everybody else is doing it, like, pretty good. Like, just standard energy, like, with some inflection. And I just acted like it was the show. And probably was, like, I didn't know it. I'd never done it before. But it was, it was great, man.

It's such a cool process. It was a blast. Hell of an honor in the history of Americana, I do believe, would be that conversation. 285 seats in there. 285 seats. the thing that you said about breaking is so true because obviously when i watch the clips as a fan i think they're funniest when somebody breaks like when somebody's laughing cracking up but i somebody said to me i don't remember who or what but they're like try not to break but i always like and so in your head you're trying not to break because but you all you want to do is break and you also, I think that's funnier.

So I didn't break on purpose because I was scared to. I thought I might get in trouble. But there's tons of moments where you want to. What are you going to do, kick you out? You're fired. Yeah, you've got an hour and a half left. It's been a good week, that whole thing. I think you did a great job, Jage.

You're representing football, baby. Oh, yeah, J.J. Representing football. Let's go to another question. This one's from Tone Diggs. Hashtag AskJage. What tips did you give Teej for in-season hard knocks? Let's take a stop over to Hammer. Tone, what did you mean whenever you asked this

question? Well, J.J. is a veteran of the hard knocks game, multiple seasons, both preseason and in-season, if I was correct. So, you know, Teej has got the AFC North first time ever in-season. They're doing a whole division coming up starting in December. Did you give

him any tips for how to act around the cameras or anything like that? Don't rap to Fort Minor. Smart. It's a memorable moment, though. That's one of the biggest moments in the history of Hard Knocks, I'd say. This is 20%. Look.

15%. Scale. 10%. Concentrate. Tire wheel. How many percentages are left? We don't really know. But 100% reach.

To remember the name. That was cool. And then you're working out. Yep. Flipping tires. Sleeping there. Remember he had a bed? Oh, yeah. The nap corner. Had then you're working out. Yep. Flipping tires. Sleeping there? Remember he had a bed? Oh yeah, the nap corner. Had a bed back there? Yeah. We learned a lot about you on there. That was smart.

I mean, I don't care what anybody says. That was brilliant. The bed? Yes. Genius, yeah. I watched it. We all thought it was genius. Anybody that's been in a facility or if they're in a facility for a long time or a training camp, it's like, have a little hideout bed. Not a bad spot there. So you would say don't rap Fort Minor. Got it.

Okay, I'm sure Teej might. He might. I'm not worried about Teej. He doesn't do much. He's probably going to hide from the camera. Oh, when he shaved his head, it's going to be a part of it. I hope. A big decision that was made was Teej's haircut.

We followed him to the barber, and he's talking to the barber. Yeah, just flip the switch into a different mode. Oh my god. I don't think they start filming until next week. They've been filming all season, Cage. Saw a trailer.

Muth told us they're already in the building a couple weeks ago. Who? Muth. Yeah, I call him Muth because I'm not a Steel weeks ago. Who? Muth. Yeah, I call him Muth, though, because I'm not a Steelers fan. That's the first time I've heard you say that. Once again, here we go. No table read for you calling him Muth. So I'm experiencing

this for the first time, which goes back to Saturday Night Live. Let's go to the next question, shall we? This is from Milo Diaz. Hashtag AskJage. Now that Colts are a Super Bowl contender, is he scared the Texans will be out of the playoff picture? Get a win over the Cowboys. Everybody's going to do that.

Are you a little bit worried about how this is all going to look going forward? Colts still have a door. Colts still have a road. Great question. No stupid questions out there. Sometimes there are stupid questions. That's why. Debutch just said that wasn't a good question.

We're 2-0 against them. Anthony Richards had his best ball. Boom! Boom! Did you see that, too? Guys, stop trying to get back on the Colts fans' good side because of everything you did all year. Excuse me.

Whoa, whoa, whoa. It's too close to the sun here. Whoa, whoa, whoa. Still got a road to the sun here. Okay, whoa, whoa, whoa. Still got a road. Still got a road. Always set it. Check the table. Let's go to the next question, shall we?

This is from Leah Knott. Leah Harberville. Hashtag AskJH. Ham versus turkey at Thanksgiving. Here we go. All right. They're both on the table. I'm definitely eating them both, but if you can only have one, you have to have turkey

on Thanksgiving. We knew you were eating turkey. Yeah. You're getting the whitest of the meat too, right? From the turkey? No. I love dark meat. Really?

I know that's probably going somewhere for sure. Really? Big dark meat. I don't know how you want me to answer the question. It? Big dark meat. I don't know how you want me to answer the question. It was a literal question. We're talking Thanksgiving. We're talking Thanksgiving.

We're talking turkey. I love if I'm forced to eat turkey, I'm going with the drumstick. Nowhere near the rib cage am I eating. If I am, because I'm forced to because there's nothing else left, let's say you get to a place that's having it,

and somebody took both the legs, so now you're forced to eat the bad meat. Yeah, but it's a vet. You should have a plate. The amount of salt I'm dumping on top of that is astronomical, and then I'm also probably heading to a person's fridge to see what other condiments we have. Maybe even ketchup on Thanksgiving. Cranberry. Try some cranberry.

Why don't you just put gravy on it? You make a sandwich out of that meat. With the Hawaiian roll, you certainly do. He puts stuffing on there because that is the greatest side ever Thanksgiving, no questions asked. That is the answer. Sandwich is a second round though. You eat your food, you go up to the answer. Sandwich is a second round, though.

You eat your food. You go up to get a plate. Maybe you get a second plate. You watch football. You take a nap. Sandwich is after the nap. That's when you go back with the leftovers and make the sandwich. I'll tell you, I'll sandwich just about anything.

I actually had a restaurant concept called Everything's a Sandwich that I wanted to open. Because if you think about it, you can put everything into a sandwich, literally. I want spaghetti. Sweet. We can make that French bread or Texas toast. Make that thing garlic bread. Go ahead and put a meatball on there. Go ahead and put spaghetti in there.

Now what do we have? Oh, you have a spaghetti sandwich. Everything. Chicken par... Any meal you can think of, you can make into an awesome sandwich and that white meat that everybody kirk herb street we knew this we we didn't have to get reaffirmed this that turkey showed up on the desk this past weekend yeah he was like how do i eat this what do you mean you grab the fucking drumstick There's six of them So this is obviously A very natural turkey There's six of these things

You grab that thing And you eat it He goes I don't eat that I don't eat that He was like I need some Got any silverware?

No we don't have silverware Come on man So he sticks his hand Into the top He goes back to the thing Pulls out this piece He goes The best

And I go He loves mashed potatoes too. He is a full on mashed potatoes guy. All the way in on mashed potatoes. I'm out on mashed potatoes. So that was a whole... Yeah. It's ridiculous.

What? I don't think it's ridiculous. How? It's a waste of space. We're wasting space. So good. So good. If we got other options stuffings available yeah but the final answer you got some uh sweet potato stuff also available final answer like what are we even thinking about with just the slop but why why are you having to decide like put it all yeah all those things sound okay back it up give me some green bean casserole on there just all of it cranberries that canned cranberry shit kick that to the

take it easy jay gum stands on business for crown but he has been the only one for years ears that shit god damn it he tried to swing it in earlier too oh yeah yeah and jay heard that i think that's why he he brought it back you're a mashed potatoes guy though but you only like mashed potatoes obviously because the flavor of stuff that gets put on to the mashed potatoes not the actual mashed potatoes yep yeah yeah and they're like they're also a great place for a bowl stuffing isn't just bread. Stuffing is bread and then everything that comes with it, just like mashed potatoes.

Okay, so you're saying mashed potatoes with gravy, with flavor, with everything else. Valid point. I don't put gravy on it. I just like mashed potatoes plain. But, like, mashed potatoes and stuffing are kind of one and the same because you put a bunch of – One tastes good.

No, they both taste great. They both taste fantastic. And I'm not, you know, I'll put mashed potatoes on the plate this year. You're damn right. For you and for Jay, Jeff Curry, even though our stomachs are only a certain size.

I'm fucking starving right now. That sounds so good. It sounds so good right now. Holiday season's filled with good food. Oh, yeah. This is the time where you gain 30, 40 pounds, boys. Let's remember that. In the New Year's, start over.

Yeah, but Deepa, you can't gain weight. So that's why he's like... Yeah, Deepa, you look like you're like an Under Armour model. He does. Bullshit. He does. Bullshit. He does. It is wild. This guy will have French toast, a couple pancakes, four donuts before the show, come over, absolutely jacked, 3% body fat, keeps it moving.

Don't be telling people, NDD. Let's make sure we don't gain 30 pounds this holiday season, boys. Enjoy. You got to enjoy it. Absolutely. Did you guys already go over the best pies? Obviously, I assume at some point. Apple. Sweet potato pie.

Pumpkin. Pumpkin. Pumpkin. I mean, Thanksgiving, you got to have a pumpkin. I mean, not saying it's the best tasting pie in the world, but Thanksgiving, you got to have a pumpkin. Pumpkin's the best. For the good of the holiday, I think you're right. Yeah.

I was in Texas long enough that a pecan pie is necessary. Also phenomenal. Okay. Did you just eat a pecan pie is necessary also. Phenomenal. Okay. Did you just pecan pie? Pecan, pecan? It doesn't look like you turned many down. Come on again?

I don't know why. That one wasn't even necessary. That one wasn't. Pat gave you hype earlier for hitting on the elliptical. I was going to ask. Stairmaster. Are you really doing it or just when he walks in? Stairmaster. He really does it every day. I sit at the bottom and then I just, oh shit, here come people. How long do you do it?

10, 5 minutes. 200 floors yesterday. That shit is real. A Stairmaster is a workout that you absolutely respect. And mentally, you can quit anytime. It's very easy. Let's just say we can just hit the stop button and these

stairs will stop. And I can get down. I got a good sweat in. How many did I do? I did 70 floors. Wow. Holy shit. That's bigger than any building here in Indianapolis. If I need to get to the top, I can do that. And you walk off. So to continue to go to 200 floors with how miserable you were,

we're proud of you, buddy. You're not a fatso. That's incredible. I do know that this all started at the soccer tournament, though, right? TSD, when Jade was walking by? Mm-hmm. He called you a fatass, right? Yeah, yeah.

Get back in the donut line. Well, you were in the donut line. It was coffee in a donut truck. How about that going as big as it was, and then a wave of people finding out he was talking to Boston Connor? Oh my God, yes. And then it just went again.

It went like twice out of there. That was a good time down in North Carolina. Long, long time. Yeah, good wrong time. All right, let's go to another. Don't forget it. Ash J. just from JD and Indy. Would you rather fight 100 duck-sized horses

or one horse-sized duck, George? 100 duck-sized horses or one horse-sized duck, George? 100 duck-sized horses. A lot of kicks. Okay, so you're just... You're... You're... That's what you're doing? Yeah, just hucking them right out of the way.

They're going to go further than that free kick you had at TSD. I doubt it. Buddy, you were there. That thing left the building. You saw it. And so did my head. I watched it back. That thing leaves the camera.

Oh, yeah. It was out of the screen. And it was climbing. It left the stadium. It was gone. Not a bad way to go out. I've actually thought about that a few times. How's the soccer career end?

You know, because you just kind of kicked it back up for a weekend. Turn your hip flexor, ripping a fucking soccer ball out of a stadium is pretty good way to kind of go out there the entire thing. James, what you do? You got into a fist fight with a guy who's really good at soccer. You remember that?

He was a security guy. He was a security guy. Oh, yeah. He's 100 years old. Has your soccer career. James, you cared so much. I cared too much. I cared too much. I was so impressed with how much you cared, dude.

The amount of time he played. Yeah. Yeah. He only had eight guys. Dragging ass on that field. I'm watching from the south like this dude is like, in really given effort, almost scored.

J.J., that was a hell of a performance out of you, J.J. It was too much. I put too much care into it and it took my emotions to a place they probably shouldn't have gone. Well, you're an owner. We like that type of ownership. That's what we need.

All right, let's go to another one. Last one. This is from Gino Soros Rex, which could also be Gino Soros Rex. Gino Mozzalupo. Holy shit, Faisal. Gino Mozzalupo. I hope it is.

Oh, my God. Hashtag AskJay. JJ, follow up. I'm curious toJage. JJ, follow-up. I'm curious to hear what you have to say about this. You were the commissioner of the NFL for a day. What is the one thing you are changing immediately? Have a great day, boy. Salute.

Cheers. Cheers to you, too, Paisan. All right, Jade, last question here. You are the commissioner of the NFL. What are you doing on day one of your leadership? I like this question. This is a good one. I've actually heard a discussion

about this before and I have my answer next, but one that I heard that I actually like. If you haven't won a playoff game in 20 years, you're forced to sell the team. Oh, wow.

That's an interesting one because you're going to get a profit. It's not like it's a major punishment. You're going to get billions of dollars. I like that one. But if you haven't fielded any competitive, win a playoff game in 20 years. That's like an American version of relegation.

Mm-hmm. You know, because, like, overseas in your world, soccer world, if you're an owner and your team sucks, like, you're going to go down, and the money's going to go down, and the team's going to have, and it's going to be very obvious. Now, if you suck, it doesn't matter because you're just the owner, and you can continue to suck and still make money, if you suck, it doesn't matter because you're just the owner. And you can continue to suck and still make money.

And your fan base has to sit there and live long. That's brilliant. I've never heard that. Let's make that 15 years. Not 20. Make that thing 15. Yeah, yikes. Who would be in it right now?

Steven Ross. Woody Johnson. Yep. The Colts would be looking at a near future of relegation I like that one though man because that's that'd be fascinating mine personally would be

I would compensate the referees more and make them full time employees but I would also have the punishments be higher I would have you know statistics on them I would have a whole pool of well compensated officials. I would have statistics on them. I would have a whole pool of well-compensated officials, and I would have a promotion-relegation system for officials where if you miss a certain number of calls

or we go back and we watch the film and you miss too many calls, you're out, and the next guy gets his shot, and you can earn your way back in. But I think there needs to be more accountability. I think there needs to be. It's a hard job. I also don't want these guys to think it's a very hard job, just like our job. I don't get a sack every play, but I do get graded every play.

The public is on me every play. You can tell if I'm playing good or if I'm playing bad. I think there needs to be more accountability for them, and I think that that should be. And then if I got a little extra time, fourth and 15 for onside kicks because I'm sick of the onside kick situation. We only need one thing. You don't need to get rid of the onside kick, okay?

Well, get better at it then because we got done. Agreed. AJ, which one of those three, I guess, do you like the most, Age? The ref thing is intriguing. I like being able to hold these guys accountable. That's a good thing. Yeah, and you got to say guys, obviously. We're talking about people.

When I say guys, I mean humans. Age, too. Yeah, age, too. Same thing. It's just we're talking about people. When I say guys, I mean humans. J-H2, yeah, J-H2, same thing. It's just we're talking about the whole group because there's a lot of female officials, a lot of women officials we're seeing, and I think we're all pretty excited to see anybody be good at the job. Doesn't matter. Bingo. You're good.

And they should be compensated for it. They should be compensated for it because they take so much shit. Like, they take so much shit. And they have a hard job that millions and millions of people and billions of dollars are controlling so let's compensate them appropriately but let's also if we're going to criticize them anyway why not criticize them with repercussions and i like the and we've had a lot of discussions about this because you know you only can talk about so many things in the sports world on a regular basis i like the thought of like yeah you got benched then this person got brought up and i'll tell you yeah, you got benched and this person got brought up. And I'll tell you what,

once you get benched, you're going to have to prove some shit around campus, around the official campus. You're going to have to be better in practice. You're going to have to take some tests. You're going to have to take some better reps. And then you can have them in the offseason, like train together, work together, go to Trust Falls together, like build the ref team as a team.

Especially if it's a full-time thing, you should be able to do that. Now, Roger Goodell, we've asked about this numerous times, and he goes, aren't the NBA refs full-time? How are they doing? Is that good? Oh, it's not figured out? All right, sweet. So that's kind of what their reaction is,

and they, I think, want to publicly put support behind the current refs, so they never want to come out and say, we need to fix the ref thing, but it's certainly on their radar. Especially if Jay Jwot is calling for it. There's teams now, if we're to talk about the relegation, having to sell the team, here's the longest NFL

playoff game. Winn Dratz out there. Dolphins. Stephen Ross has an F1 race in Miami but no longer has the team. Mark Davis, he might still live in Vegas in that sweet house, but he no longer has the team. Mark Davis, he might still live in Vegas in that sweet house, but he no longer has the team. If it was to be 15 years, they did sell it.

They got new ownership in Washington. Chicago. Oh, no, that'd be a pretty historic change. New York Jets, that'd be a pretty big change here in a couple years if they were to make it to 15 years between the two of them. I like that, J.J. I'd never heard that before. I like that one a lot.

Love it. Me too. A little accountability. Why not? Yeah, a little incentive to be good. You don't just get to ride the cash cow forever. No, no. Because you just so happen to find yourself on top.

Imagine the drama that would come up with, like, if a team is on 14 years and they're on the playoff bubble. All in. All in. We want to trade all of our picks from next year. All of them. I guess there would have to be restrictions on the end of that run. That's bad.

Trade a hit goal. They would have to say, like, you can only trade two of your next five first rounders in the final two years of your playoff. There would have to be a full discussion. Oh, yeah, for the new group. Yeah, because you can't just leave the next group with no picks. Good luck, boys. Have fun. We don't know how it didn't work. We gave

away everything. And good luck with your salary cap. We're $80 million over. You've got to figure that out. Jage, we appreciate you spending extra time with us and have a great week. Are you on TV this weekend or no? No, I'm not. Where are you on Saturday?

Columbus, Ohio. Oh, yeah. Gosh, I'm an idiot, man. Holy shit. CTE. I didn't take the right vitamins. We had a full conversation about it. I didn't take the right vitamins.

Remember when we were doing sports journalism in your face? You had no idea what was going on earlier. Remember that? Maybe I should. Maybe I should. Have you ever? Yeah. You're a role model what the hell i take vitamins every morning i take vitamins every morning right got d super epas fish oils yeah that's an epa vitamin Pretty good H, C Nope

Nope G, H No Never that Would love to know What was possible with it Talking with roofies We should

No You would have been A fucking menace That's what Gump's Talking about No I know He's talking about

The vitamins H, G, H Oh I said G, H, B He was talking Like he was Got roofies You would know Wouldn't you, weirdo?

What's going on in Ohio, brother? I made you familiar with that, man. I know a couple people that have roofied themselves, so yeah. What? On purpose. Well, we know Bob Carpenter gets a little wacky on Fridays. No, not Bob. Is this what the show is like this late in the day?

I've never asked this. This is great. Yeah, we just learned science right there. If you're looking up for the actual, what would that be called? The actual code? The symbol? What? G-H, what is that?

Rufflin. Ruffies. Yeah, your house is way too close to the listener to be safe. Come on, Doug. You gave me Ruffies, Doug. Great. Jades, we appreciate the hell out of you man and if you ever decide to smoke marijuana

not any of the other vitamins we're talking about here but in a legal state obviously which Arizona is one of the best ones they got no rules over there you go in out of town does anywhere have rules anymore yes so like out of staters

trying to potentially enjoy in the local laws different states have different regulations on how much you know and you're doing the math on this ipad and you're adding like all right i'll take a couple of these edibles take a couple of these pre-rolls let me get some of this drink and then all of a sudden it just turns red like you're gonna you're gonna have to start doing math now you're only allowed a certain amount because you're from out of town. And all those levels change with each state.

Arizona, I think it's just like, whatever the hell you want to do. Have fun. Let it rip. They are. Yeah. That is exactly what they're like. Let it rip. I thought it was just basically free-for-all everywhere now.

I thought that. Now, Illinois, real tight. Massachusetts. Real tight. Yeah. And by tight, you mean like... Indiana? Indiana's never going to have it. True, John.

Never? I don't think so, brother. I don't think so. Damn. That's why whenever I go to a state where it's legal, I'm like, okay, I'll enjoy it here because I know when I go back to Indiana, the air will always be marijuana free. Right now. Yeah, of course.

Okay. Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, future Hall of Fame... Thank you. J.J. W course. Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, future Hall of Fame. Thank you. JJ Wong. Yay! That was quite a performance out of JJ. Incredible.

Wasn't it? A couple hours. You're out there in Arizona, you know. Love it. It is the wild, wild west. I've called you plenty of times. Everything is the wild,

wild west out there. Arizona is the weather, the view. What do you mean? They don't fuck around with DUIs, though. No, you go right to the tent city or whatever. Tent city, yeah, yeah. They get rid of that sheriff, though. Oh, so now it's just a bunch of tents in the middle of town.

The movies are smart. They shouldn't. I think they still do it, actually. Don't be DUI-ing in 2024. No. No. But definitely don't do it in a state where you're going to three days in jail out in the middle of the desert. Sounds terrible. No, you shouldn't do it anywhere. state where you're going to Three days in jail Out in the middle of the desert No you shouldn't do it anywhere

Let's make sure that's fact As somebody who has had friends that have passed away from the entire thing Very serious But in Arizona it was Hey we're not doing this anymore Arizona must have just been driving drunk everywhere Sheriff comes in and is like We gotta fucking

We're gonna stop this now We're gonna slow these people down somehow Fast cars been driving drunk everywhere. Sheriff comes in and is like, we gotta fucking somehow. We're gonna stop this now. We're gonna slow these people down somehow. Every Wednesday we have the opportunity to get smarter when it comes to football boys. And obviously it's an insane honor. Actually, before we do that, let's see if Stanford Steve answers. Because remember we were gonna have Stanford Steve on.

And he wasn't available. Did you know that, H? I did not. I enjoy Stanford Steve. His energy is remarkable. He's awesome. Always jolly. He is jolly. He's a jolly individual.

That is how I view Stanford Steve coming into this holiday season. So I was real excited, you know, because I knew he had some. Did he pick Stanford this week? No, he picked against. He picked 20. Hey, we're live. We're live. Great. Great. All right. We're live. We're live. We're live. We're live.

We're still talking Thanksgiving? Okay, what is your take on that? You like mashed potatoes or no? I ate the whole sandwich last week. Oh, yeah, the one that they delivered to us. That thing that busted out a stitch in my mouth. It was certainly a nice Thanksgiving sandwich. Hey Steve, I read your text message to me earlier whenever we were doing the college football playoff thing, and you said what happens

if Indiana beats Ohio State, especially with how it seems as if strength of schedule matters with this particular committee. Do you think Ohio State would get left out of the entire thing if Indiana beats Ohio State, Stanford Steve? Well, here's the deal. Last year, Florida State made a decision about, or the decision was made about Florida State because they didn't have their quarterback, right? Yeah. Now, Ohio State's not going to have their left tackle and their center.

How much does that matter to the committee? I think it's a big deal. Do you think the, like, let's say Indiana wins. Do you think Ohio State just goes into the pool of, like, maybes? Or do you think he? Yeah. Yes. Yes, I do.

Yes, I do. Oh, no. AJ, do you have anything to say? I will relay your message to Stanford Steve. AJ Hawk was hearing this earlier, and he goes, we get to find out if Indiana and Ohio State is better. We get to see them play between the lines. But, A.J., that then gets into the judgment and the opinion work

of the entire college football world age. Yeah, I don't think anyone at Ohio State expects to get in if they lose to Indiana. He said nobody at Ohio State expects to get in if they lose to Indiana anyways. I like that. It sounds like they are. I like that, too. Yeah. Raise the expectation.

Okay. Anything else we should think about from that CFP being launched last night? I just, did you bring up the SEC? How they were ranked? It's pretty obvious they had to use strength of schedule. Knowing that Bama's teams,

you know, it's funny. They didn't play Kentucky and Mississippi State. And Tennessee did. and Tennessee beat Alabama, but that looks like it's going to hurt their conference opponent's win percentage. Hey, where are you right now? AJ wants to know where you are. He didn't listen to a word you just said.

He just said, where are you right now? I'm in my basement attempting to bring up the tree. I'm about to leave for like 12 days, so trying to get some shit done. Hey, safe travels travels we appreciate you We'll see you this weekend Alright are you coming Friday or no? Yeah yeah yeah the weather though we gotta figure out I'll be there for you

I'll hold one of those heaters Alright alright it's not the heat it's the rain It's the rain I'll see you Steve I'll see you I'm not kidding nobody's holding an umbrella for me 12 days where's it going? Where is it going? I'm telling you if you's holding an umbrella for me. Okay. Where is he going? Where is he going? I'm telling you. Just if you happen to turn on ESPN,

this motherfucker is doing a show for a different place every time you see him. And I happen to see him a couple different times in different places. But he'll be in his hotel room. Then he's live on a set. Then he's in a different city on a sideline. And then he's after Monday Night Football. So that's going until like 1 or 2 a.m. So the flights that you have to take out of that aren't until 6 a.m.

Can't go the night before Monday Night Football because we've got after Monday Night Football there. So he is grinding right now. Steve is grinding right now. And he's winning, too. He won his past weekend. He's like 21-12, I think, on the year, 22-12. If Indiana beats Ohio State, wouldn't Indiana and Oregon be 1-2, right?

So you're going to boot Ohio State for losing to the number one and number two teams in the country? Yeah, and then they're saying strength of schedule does matter, and it's like, well, yeah. Ohio State's going to be in the playoffs. They're definitely in. I think so, too, just because, like, everything about the Ohio State team, the amount of money spent on the roster, the coaches that were brought, Chip Kelly being

brought in there, Ohio State being Ohio State, Ohio fans the way they are, the way the season's gone, how many wins they've already had. Not saying any of them are massive. I'm just saying the number of wins that they've actually won would give somebody in that college football playoff committee debate enough

to say, like, they beat ba-ba-ba-ba-ba and they have this. They haven't even played their best ball yet. That's what is potentially being sold to the potential probably in there, which I don't think is right. I'm not saying any of this is right, but it's just like when you got humans making decisions, you can assume that there's going to be biases naturally involved, which leads us to Indiana.

Like we'd like to see Indiana win. Yeah. Me personally, somebody that lives in Indiana would like to see Indiana win. Yeah. Me personally. Somebody that lives in Indiana would like to see Indiana win. Granted, if Ohio State wins, love that Ohio State gets a massive win because the Buckeyes are going all in this year. So, like, that is a very good thing for college ball and for the state of Ohio.

But let's say Indiana does lose, like how these Ohio State fans think is going to happen. Whenever you start humans talking about one of the most pivotal spots in the history of college football, which is a chance in this 12-team playoff, I think natural biases are going to cook

too about Indiana. And there's going to be a lot of people that are pissed about it because it sets a precedent. And then there's going to be a lot of people that are like, right decision was made. decision was made and then once again dog chase tale it just never ends you know aj like that's just the reality the reality of the situation whenever humans are doing it yeah if indiana won like they can't help the the strength of schedule argument against them but the only way they can help themselves is to beat Ohio State. So that would even things out, I feel like.

Yeah, and Joey Galloway was bringing up. Joey was great. I love what Joey's doing. Joey Galloway, Ohio State legend, by the way. Indiana's playing Ohio State. He's trending number two. Listen to this fucking

asshole. That's what they were saying. They were getting after him. But if they lose by 50, they're still in Indiana? No. They're not going to lose by 50, but I'm just saying. If they get their asses beat, I don't think they're in. Indiana?

Yeah. I agree. What's the number? Three touchdowns. You think it's three touchdowns? I think it's based off how the game goes. If it's 14-10 at halftime, then they lose by over 20. I think they're all right.

If it's from start to finish, I don't know. Texas lost to Georgia by what, 17? And they're the number three team in the country? And Georgia's 10th? So if Indiana loses to the second-ranked team in the country by 17 or 21, they're still in the playoffs. I think it has to be bigger than that. I think it has to be like 28. Yeah, four touchdowns. 49-7. I think it has to be bigger than that. I think it has to be like 25, 28.

Yeah, four touchdowns. 49-7. I think it has to be one. Like what the Lions just did to the Jags. Yes. I'm not saying this is going to happen. We're just saying if it does happen, I think that's when the conversation gets real loud.

One loss, who cares? A lot of people. At this point, I'd actually like to know what the most fair situation would be for every single team. Because it doesn't seem like there is one. Yeah, that's what I'm saying. It depends on fair is in the eye of the beholder.

Life's not fair. There's also, I can't express this enough, when it gets down to this and they're putting the teams in, there's a lot of money to be made betting on who gets in. Because Alabama was plus 300 last year to make the playoff, right before it happened. And we should just, when we're gumbling on that, we should be like humans are making this decision.

Yeah. And it doesn't matter if the humans are athletic directors from the Big Ten or people from the Big Ten. It's like there's debate happening in there. Who can make the best argument? Who can you stand on a table for? And who's going to end up losing because of that. We're not saying it's right.

Yeah. What are Colorado's odds right now? IU is minus 355 to make the playoff. Colorado is even money plus 100 to make the playoff. That'd be better. Yeah, because arguments. Yeah, bingo. Heisman's on there too.

Two of them. They got two Heisman. The number one pick. And they're okay. Okay. Yeah. All right. Yeah, bingo. Heisman's on there too. Two of them. They got two Heisman. The number one pick. And they're, okay. Okay, yeah, all right, yeah, let's not. Ladies and gentlemen, let's get smarter on this particular Wednesday in the NFL. We're so lucky that we get to do this. It's the best.

There's a 12-year NFL vet who played offensive line, fullback, kickoff return team. What? But mostly offensive line i believe played some guard played some center never ever tackle no never that'd be dumb unless it was tackle over and uh they just needed a body to stand in place of a tackle that's right never attack can't can't stress this one enough never even a thought of putting him a, which is kind of a bummer. Because I think you would have figured it out. I would have figured it out. Let's go. In the trenches

with A.Q. Shipley on the top five performing offensive lines from week 11. Here we go, boys. Here we go. Number five, the Denver Broncos. Wow. I love where this team is going, and they got one of my favorite offensive linemen in the belly,

Quinn Miners. Let's take a look at this. We're going to run a little zone. Hey, just real quick, though. Yeah. Before we dive into this, this is Sean Payton's Denver Broncos. They are hamstrung by a massive deficit to their salary cap that they decided to do whenever they said,

we'll pay Russell Wilson $83 million over the next two years to not be here. Okay? Sean Payton made that decision. When Sean Payton got to the Broncos, we had a conversation with him on Radio Row. You had a conversation with him more directly. Oh, yeah. And said, I think you said, hey, you got to figure out that offensive line. And he said, absolutely.

It's going to be one of the first things we do. They've got to the point now where they have figured it out? They have figured it out. Let's go! Yeah, they got some guys. I love this group, actually. Quinn Miners is great, and they went and got McGlinchey from San Fran. He's doing a nice job.

Garrett Bowles is one of the biggest pricks in the NFL right now. But you get a little zone. Miners sets this thing free, right? He gets a little block on the linebacker coming across. Check this out. I think the running back gets hit at the 10-yard line. Now, let's just watch the buy-in. Let's watch the effort.

There it is. Miners gets a little push, right? Now he's going to get hit, what, about the 10? Is that what we see? Yep. Now let's just watch the buy-in. Let's watch the effort. There it is. Miners gets a little push, right? Now, he's going to get hit, what, about the 10? Is that what we see? Yep. Now, let's watch this. Watch all the linemen go down and finish this thing off. Tight ends are in there.

Receivers are in there. All the linemen running. Everybody's getting down there. Let's carry this guy into the end zone. You've got to love to see this. Wow. Yeah, they're all in there. That's awesome.

It's a picture in a line room. Yeah, and literally, I think one of the guys, I think Diggs maybe or Nick maybe or maybe it was Brucie, said that there's a picture, literally, the running back's feet are off the ground. They're carrying him into the end zone. I mean, that's O-line football right there. That is. That's top five O-line football right there. That's right.

Who's number four? The L.A. Chargers. Wow. You've got to love this. LA Chargers. You've got to love this. They literally had a wing T formation, and they're doing everything that Jim Harbaugh loves to do,

and this is the epitome of it right here. Let's go short yardage goal line. Let's get as many tight ends and fullbacks and linemen in the game as you can. You need a play. It's the fourth quarter. Guess what we're going to run? Power. We're going to run power to the left.

Let's pull the guard. We get everybody blocking down. Boom, boom. Get Pipkins around. Kick out. There's the big gaping hole. And we get Dobbins going to the end zone. Wow.

That's like one of the first plays you ever put into football, right? Literally. It's the first play installed in run game on every single team you will ever play for. And look at it. This is goal line formation. I mean, they got two tight ends and a fullback in the game, basically. This is – there's only one play. 22, brother. That is it.

Scott Matlock must be a nightmare to take on, too. Trey Henderson didn't look too pumped. No. I mean, how cool is it that literally this Harbaugh took his brother's formula and literally brought two running backs from Baltimore, took a D-line and made him a fullback. It's literally the exact running backs from Baltimore, took a D lineman, made him a fullback. It's literally the exact same formula.

Oh, by the way, Greg Roman, the offensive coordinator came from there as well, man. And I mean, that's a move. JK Dobbins being all the way back is sick.

Yeah. That's awesome. He talked about finishing when he came on the show, like early in the season, like, Hey, you got to finish guy getting his own. So to close out the game,

finish that move at the end of that shit. That's. Yeah. He said, I'm running hundreds. Like early in the season, like, hey, got to finish, got to get in the zone. So to close out the game, finish that move at the end of that shit, that's a tough sliver. He said, I'm running hundreds. Remember when he said I'm running hundreds? Then the next week he went, I said I was going to get in shape. They're all bought in. Offensive line great for the Chargers. Look out.

Joe Alt might be the best rookie offensive lineman. I mean, obviously he went as high as he did. He went number five overall, but he's having a fantastic year. Okay, who's the number three performing offensive lineman from week 11 of the NFL season? The Detroit Lions are always in the mix. Wow. Always in the mix. I mean, they get 70 from one back, 60 from another. I mean, the only reason that they go to number three

is because they decided to throw the ball a little bit more this week. But I love this scheme. It's one of my favorite schemes. They're going to block Penny Sewell to our left. Ow. They're going to block him out, right? Everybody else washes. So you get a fucking hole that's 20 yards wide. And then, look what they're going to do. Tight split by St. Brown

is going to insert. Look at the hole between Sewell and Zeitler whenever they insert St. Brown. That's a 20-yard wide hole. Could you run through that? Hell yeah. You? I think we could all run through this.

But he doesn't. Cuts it back anyways. How good is that, though? Guys, unbelievable. It's the same play. I don't know if you guys remember. They did it with Laporta earlier in the year. They do it all the time.

They block one out, wash everything else, get a tight split with either Laporta or receiver, and they insert it. It's like a zone insert. It's really cool. But you get these huge holes like that. That's incredible. How good is that? Make a couple guys. How good is that? Fox,

how good does that feel, brother? As long as they can do that, they can beat anyone. That's why everyone trusts them in the playoffs. This took a long time. Decker was a first-rounder. Sewell was a top 10 pick. Ragnow, first-rounder. Then they picked up Zeitler, also a first rounder. Is this Jacksonville Jaguars team the best team ever?

On paper. Who the fuck? I didn't fucking say that. God, no. Did you say that? God, no. Was that you? No.

Me? Is there someone behind me? No. Who said it? Who said it? I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. That was great.

That was great. He's awesome. Yeah. Must watch. Probably chief football strategist if we had to guess. There is a chance that he walked in there with the neck brace on. I'm looking at the fucking on the depth chart right now. This might be the best team I've ever seen.

Best team ever, dad. Best team ever. Congrats to me i did it there's a chance yeah a huge chance that happened verbatim there is a chance in my head i saw it actually happen yeah I saw it actually happening Chief football strategist you would think would direct Directly report to Owner, operator, president That is where it came from Yeah

Shawd walked in there so confident I heard My son loves football he said we have the best team ever So you tell me Super Bowl this year or next year? I don't like that that's been thrown in their face so much. Because, fuck, if I was an owner, I would want to say that too. Jerry Jones does say it every single year, actually. That's good business.

That's good promotion. But when it goes like this, man, that's the wrong year to say it. Start that promotion next year, not this year. Best team ever promotion. Can't be saying that and getting beat by 30 every week. Best team ever? I don't know. And then some weeks, you're not getting beat by 30, you're getting beat by 50.

Let's go to the number two performing offensive line from week 11 in the trenches. It is the New Orleans Saints. Wow! They got back to doing what they do best. Listen, they run the football.

They got Taysom Hill, had 150 yards on seven carries. Could have shown the 75-yarder except the right tackle jumped false start, but the refs didn't call, so I don't want to show that one. But we got Kamara running. AJ, you used to love taking this play on, right? Little fullback ISO. Little fullback Bob coming right at you.

Back on backer. Give it to Kamara. Look at the center. Does a great job getting up to the middle backer. Washing him by him. Get the cut back by Kamara. Watch this cut. Watch this cut here. Let's go all the way back. There it is. How good is he? Nasty. They paid him.

He's the only one that's going to be there next year pretty much. AJ, what do you do here at the backer that's going to be there next year pretty much? Pretty much. AJ, what do you do here at the back? Are you trying to feed back to your buddies? Yeah, 58, he's trying to box it. He called it boxing, trying to knock it back into that middle backer. But the problem is 66 gets up so fast, he picks off the middle backer.

Boom, here we go. They got to play. But the old buddy here is trying to do... He's trying to stay on the outside on the six of the fullback, so he knocks Kamara back. So he technically sent it back to his help, but there he had people on your help. And you got a guy that's just going to say, no, I'm actually going to go that way with it.

This is what I talk about all the time, though. Go back to the very beginning here. If you go back to the very beginning, and there's no fullback in this game right now everybody has to push front side so now see number nine out there they'd be pushing to nine the center would have to push to 58 everybody's out leveraged right but whenever you add a fullback now everybody's block becomes easier if you have a fullback on your roster and you can run fullback plays now every look at 64.

He's already got the angle. 66 has an easier block on the back. Everybody has easier blocks, so you're always working back, right? All these teams that have gone away from the fullback because they want to get more skilled guys, their running game suffers because you're always outleveraged. Okay, so say that one more time. I don't know. Maybe he should have.

With the safety coming down here, though, do you think this backer was supposed to spill it to him even though they got the tight end blocking the guy in the box? Yeah, maybe. I mean, you might be right. I mean, he could have spilled it there. But at the end of the day, I'm just speaking specifically on the offensive lineman's blocks.

They would normally – their shoulders would mirror the back, so they would all be pushing front side. So, see how 66 is working to the middle backer? No fullback in the game. You run the same zone to this right. Now he's pushing to 58, who the fullback is going to. Now he's fighting his ass off to get a gap over. Does that make sense?

Everything works back. It goes back one person, exactly. That's what makes Sam Fran. Instead of having to go all the way over here, you just got to go here. Then this backside 64, see now he just goes up and he's got the backside back. He's already got the angle. Got it. So we're slid over a guy. Exactly.

When you've got the center backside guard up that quick on your second level, you're screwed. It's going to be an explosive game. So have they been doing this all year? Is Darren Rizzi coming in there saying, I'll come. We don't have Taysom Hill. We don't have fucking fullback. I won't fucking play football.

Got to love it. Got to love it. Yeah, they came in and changed the game. Who's the head coach? know, what are we? Gotta love it. Okay. Gotta love it. Yeah, they came in and changed the game. Who's the head coach? Me, right? Me?

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Fucking Taysom Hill. Boys, boys, we got a guy. Nobody else got. How hard is it to play?

Yeah. Ask the guys. Hit me out with Kamara at the basketball game too. It's like, I feel like they love that guy down there. Yeah.

They've won. Two in a row. They've played great. They're on in the trenches all of a sudden. Defeated. Is it too little too late? Yep. Maybe not.

I don't know. Falcons keep losing. All right, let's go to the number one offensive line from week 11 of the NFL season in the trenches. A.Q. Shipley, who is it? The Philadelphia Eagles. Wow. Again.

Again. They continue to play at a high level. Let's take a look at this. I don't know if you guys saw this. Cam Juergens, the center. This is the big touchdown to Saquon. We get the toss, and they're going to get the cutback. Let's just watch the center.

Boom. This is awesome. Oh, 35. Yeah, watch out. Boom. I'm heen. This is not fair. This is an NFL football game, ladies and gentlemen.

Boom. No, wait. He thinks the play's over. Not again. Yeah, we're going to get him again. Oh, boy. Push him in the back. Just throw him back down.

We'll get a clip right there. Jerkins. You guys love that, huh? Oh, yeah. Fat boys love it. I mean, they boo us. And when he throws him on the ground the first time, he thinks the play's over. He's chilling. He's looking at him, talking shit, head bobbing. Like, oh, yeah. Oh, shit. I mean, they boo us. And when he throws them on the ground the first time, he thinks the play's over.

He's chilling. He's looking at them, talking shit, head bobbing, like, oh, yeah. Oh, shit, I got to get them again. Play's still going. Two knockdowns, one play. That guy doesn't deserve it. That's a corner. Come on. That's a DB.

Nice guy. Motion him in the box. That's what happens. Don't come down and play with the big boys. Cam Juergens, great block. Congrats to the Philadelphia Eagles. What an absolutely phenomenal bunch. They're doing awesome things.

I mean, they ran the shit out of the ball in the fourth quarter. Their scheme was awesome. They were doing some different stuff. It was really good. Really good to see. I did not have that on here, so I'm happy you put that up. The offensive lines that are great week in and week out, inevitably in the end will show up. That's why we do this segment.

And also, it's nice to put a little spotlight on the tough guys every day. Great work, A.Q. Great work to those five offensive lines. Top performing out of week 11. Now, from the offensive line to the secondary, ladies and gentlemen, it's time for Everything DB. Good D, Bad D.

Sir, let's go. Let's stick with the Philadelphia Eagles in the fourth quarter. One half. Good team. Of the Exciting Whites. I like that we have an official name now. That's their name? They're the Exciting Whites.

They got merch. I love it. Allegedly, they saw it on somebody. Okay. And they said that was awesome. And then somebody bought them and sent it to them. And then they were like, this is hilarious. And they wore them.

So the Exciting Whites of Philly are certainly just that. I love it. And they are hoping. Ed Reed, Blankenship, once again, this is hilarious. And they wore them. So the exciting whites of Philly are certainly just that. I love it. And they are hoping. Ed Reed, Blankenship, once again, being the closer. This is quarters coverage against this. If you pause it right here. And when you have quarters coverage, as is safety in this corner at the bottom, the toughest route against – one of the toughest routes is scissors route.

So that's the outside receiver running a post, a scary Terry down here. And then the inside receiver, number two two receiver running an outbreaking route and the reason this is tough is because it's a quarter uh defender that corner your outside leverage against the post and the safety your inside leverage against an outbreaking route so watch the patience the discipline of reed to be patient read this route basically beat noah brown to the spot oh so he started inside end up jumping outside cooper dejean has a good drop underneath as well as a quarter flat defender he almost gets in a window as well but to close this uh space to anticipate that to get down and obviously catch that ball huge huge turnover give you give your offensive ball in midfield basically

with five minutes left in the game huge play for reed blankenship old buddy's trying to sell hard he's going this hard yeah he's trying to sell the over route or post, basically run a post corner. What do we call this? I forgot the name. He's called it almost like a banana route. They take it to that hash mark, and that's usually an indicator if they're going to break out or keep running across. But even if he runs across, that's going to run, if you pause it, that's going to run into CJ, gj's quarter of the field so

he's not worried about that he actually jumps back to the outside once again starting inside leverage ends up outside leverage and intercepted his ball big big play by blankie corners hanging on to him no matter how long terry goes this way yeah so corners hanging on to him and pre-snap you usually have to have a conversation especially if you run it back all the way to the beginning they're tight split like that, they're stacked. Sometimes they may banjo that, wouldn't they, D-Bud? Yep, exactly. So that's the pre-snap.

So that's right there. That's happening right now. Good for that. Good for that. We got communication. That's beautiful. And that's a rookie down there. Blanket should be young as well, but that's Quinn Yon Mitchell, who's having a phenomenal

year. Quintana and Old Bay have been locking guys up all year. So they have the conversation pre-snap. Hey, we're either passing this off, banjo, whatever it's called, or we're locking it. So that means my guys run post, I stick with them. Your guy run corner, you stick with them. And once again, for offense, this is the coverage you want for this route

concept, and for the defense, you talk pre-snap, figure this out. He said lock it, lock it, didn't he? Don't you think? It had to be lock, yeah. Lock, lock. Look how tough it is, though. It's even better, though. They get down to the bunch.

They go, okay, here, we got a bunch. Okay, we're in a bunch here. Communicate. Oh, no, we're going to motion into a two-man stack. So these guys are on it. Yeah, so after the motion, still another yes, still, still. Yeah, lock, lock, lock, lock. So the first communication, if I was in it, so if I'm Cooper DeGene,

with the three-man bunch, we end up going four on three. So Zach Bond's over there. He's talking to Reed Blankenship as well, 53. He's talking to the safety. The nickel is talking to the corner. But everybody's on the same page. Usually it's a box adjustment, so it's going to be four on three. Once you go away from the bunch and you go to a two-man stack, now it's another conversation about how we're going to handle this two-man snap. And even if they lock this or if they pass it, regardless,

it's going to play out the same because of the releases of the receivers. With Noah Brown taking that hard inside release, the safety has to. And once you pass like a six-yard, that's kind of like the line of, you know, once you pass that, now we're locking the entire guy. You know what I love? Just look at this. This is Vic Fangio over, obviously. As soon as old buddyio over obviously as soon as

old buddy starts the motion soon as it boom watch watch uh watch his head just like a quick peek real quick yep verbal non-verbal communication quick peek hey we're all on the same page yep we're on the same page yep we're on the same page yep yep yep and then executing yep it's like that's everybody's that means practice It's like that's everybody's – that means practice, everybody's paying attention, meetings, everybody's paying attention, and then obviously in the big moment to be able to execute it. It's like that is quite a statement about a defense and being bought in, which once again, Coach Tariani.

Yeah. Big dumb dipshit. I don't get any respect. I don't know. I don't know. Everybody loves playing for him. That was awesome. Yeah, and their quarters, you know, that's one of Fangio's

base coverages. Gus Bradley, he's going to be a single high cover three. Did a lot of the same things in Seattle. Different coordinators have their different base coverages, so you're going to know all the adjustments out of those. Here's Kirby Joseph, the league leader in

interceptions. Really? Seems like he's on here every week. I think McKinney may have six right now. And Kirby got his seventh against Mack Jones here. Second and one. Kind of similar, the throw and the interception, to what Carlton Davis did last week against C.J. Stroud. And he kind of, I think, after the game, said he baited Mack Jones into this one.

This is what he does, man. He just sees ball, get ball whenever he's in the deep part of that field. That was a good ball. Come on. Remember he caught a touchdown jumping at his pro day to showcase that he can do things like this. Oh, yeah. Navy read option. Guy can fucking sling it.

So, sprinting out, post-safety, get to the sideline, getting off that hash, as we call it, making the catch, just covering ground, getting his seventh interception, once again, leading the league. This dude, I mean, every week he's getting the ball. This whole defense, obviously they brought Z Smith in to get some pass rush. He got banged up, but they make explosive plays on the back end, whether it's Brian Branch, whether it's him getting the hands of the ball, creating turnovers to get this explosive offense more and more opportunities. All right, who's next?

Great, great bunch. Devon Witherspoon, great, great rookie last year. Got him lined up against Christian McCaffrey up top. What do we have? Split out at wide receiver. Physical, just physical. Never let him create any separation. The replay, the TV replay made it even better.

And then tips and overthrows, we always talk about it. Close the gap, bat the ball up in the air, and then the big man go up high-pointed. We always talk about high-pointed as DBs. You don't wait for the ball to come down. You go up and get that thing at its highest point. So great job, obviously, by Witherspoon

first and foremost. His patience. Yeah. Whip route, that's a tough route to guard. That patience off the line, and then to get his head back at the quarterback he's playing this he's smart though it's like i think the first the first down marker is right to 30 in it so he knows yeah and if you're running back real quick even for the wide copy you'll see once again just some quick communication if we're locking it if we're bumping it because you got uh debo samuel coming over so whatever adjustment they're going to make you can see that that down DB right there, their point, I think that's maybe Love, Julian Love. And you see 8 come down and cover Debo.

So once again, a lot of times you can't turn around and talk to guys, so that's the nonverbal part of the communication. It's verbal, nonverbal communication. You always got to be on the same page as defense. I thought you were saying I'm number one. I'm number one. Yeah, OTC. I think he's here. Could be, Rob. It could be. I'm number one. Yeah, OTC.

I think he's here. Could be. I mean, there's a chance. How about Hankins being an absolute athlete there? Run to the ball. Hankins is 400 pounds, too. This is insane. It is insane that 400 pounders are able to do that. Yeah, it is.

They go on his knees the whole time. He's jumping up there doing that. Is this Seattle Seahawks team still in it? Yes. Get it, big boy. Do they have 400 pounders that are making jumping catches? Get down. Cover the ball up. Have some football IQ. Not like these big

ass offensive linemen. What are you talking about? Picking the ball up. Trying to crib it. Stiff arm of God. They were a prime time Dallas Cowboys. Cooper Cush. Here we go right here. Look at this crib it. Stiff arm of God. Then we're on prime time. Dallas Cowboys. Cooper Cush. I mean, here we go right here. Look at this.

Okay, this is a bad play. Don't make a bad play worse. Petrie. You're not going to the crib, brother. Get your fat ass on the ground and let's snap the ball again. Bad game worse than a 10-point game. Immediately, it's a 7-point game. Game over.

I mean, when you picks this ball up. He could have got the first down. Look at the flashback. Give me that. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. I mean, when you picked this ball up, he could have got the first down. Look at the flashback. Oh yeah, oh yeah. Like, what are you doing? That play led to a tweet from D-Butch that said, hey,

O-Lineman, just a PSA almost. When your big ass gets the ball covered up with two hands and get the fuck on the ground, you are not going to the crib. Second time this week the big fellas made a play, or a bad play worse. That is awesome. And are not going to the crib. Second time this week the big fellas made a play or a bad play worse. That is awesome. And then AQ obviously saw that.

Yeah, AQ. AQ, you get the ball in your hand. Make a play, right? Is that the – There was one time we played the Rams in London. We lost 33 to nothing, but I picked up a fumble. And you – you know, like – I literally did this.

I picked the ball up and I hesitated for a second. I, like, looked around, and then I felt like I was the guy from Varsity Blues. I was stiff-arming people, and then I almost got my knee blown out. I held on to the ball, though. How many yards? Ball secured. It felt like 30. I think I only got, like, two.

Yeah. I ran a fake one time, Christmas Eve against the Raiders. Yeah. I thought for sure I had to run for the first down. It was, like, fourth and four or got like two. Yeah. I ran a fake one time. Christmas Eve against the Raiders. Yeah. I thought for sure I had to run for the first down. It was like fourth and four or something like that. I didn't get a single yard. I got back to the line of scrimmage. Had a fumble.

Fucking got tackled by 14 people. People laying on my leg. Oh, yeah. I had Hockey League talking shit to me. What are you doing? The whole thing. I mean, it's a nightmare having that ball in your hand. It's terrifying when they're coming at you.

But I do appreciate the fact that some people get the ball in their hand and they're like, now's the time. I'm watching this. Look, his elbow's on top of the ball. Dolphins guard a couple years ago. I was at Carolina now. I think he inspired a whole generation of old lads. Oh, my goodness.

There was a dude in New England. What's the return kickoff? Kickoff return. Yeah, Dan Conley. Oh, I was there. I was in that game. That was against Packers, yeah. I was there. Yeah, I was in the meeting afterwards, too. Yeah, that Conley. Well, I was there. I was in that game. That was against Packers, yeah. Yeah, it was. Oh, I was there.

Yeah, I was in the meeting afterwards, too. Yeah, that was great. Is that a Matt Flynn game? Yeah, I think so. Winner. Oh, that's awesome. But, yeah, I mean, he does have a high and tight. I mean, he looks like he knows what he's doing.

Yeah, but he's got all his fingers taped together. He's only got three points of pressure. He's got three points of pressure in his hands just by himself. They pulled him after this, too. They put another lineman. Oh, no. He does not deserve that. No.

Just make a touchdown. Yeah. All right, let's go to great play from the linebackers. Oh, yeah. Great, great play. You saw one big fella get it. Now, linebacker, we had Trevon Diggs against the Falcons. We talked about, well, pre-snap.

Let's go pre-snap. We're running back to the beginning. Pre-snap, gathering information. If you're the quarterback, Lamar Jackson, you see a linebacker on Justice Hill who is a weapon out of the backfield. So he knows right now, I got man-to-man coverage. Let's get to another formation, and let's run a pick-wheel route. Now, a pick is legal if it's made within one yard of the line of scrimmage so this uh receiver

bateman down here with his cut split is trying to come down and pick peyton willis now he goes to the back door which i always say don't do you go over the top to limit you know that game if you go under if he hits him in stride this could be a touchdown you go over the top maybe a first down but he goes underneath hauls ass plays the hands because he was out of phase and then ripped this out and came up with the interception obviously anytime these two teams go at it defensive plays turnovers keeping points off the board is key just a phenomenal play you coach it up if you're out of phase which he is play the hands play what's out of phase out of phase is basically if the guy has a step or more on you.

Like you're out of phase, just keep running. If he catches it, tackle him. Maybe play the eyes. In phase is kind of I'm shoulder to shoulder. I'm in position. That's when you want to get your head back, lean, and locate. But just a phenomenal job from Wilson getting through that traffic, avoiding that pick, locked out him, and just playing the hands all the way.

We always talk about play it all the way through the ground. In the NFL We always talk about playing all the way through the ground. In the NFL, you obviously got to finish the catch through the ground and he did a great, great job ripping his ball out and creating his turnover. That's Coach Locke.

What's that? Who's that? The DB coach? Yeah. On the sideline right there? Yeah. I'm not sure. I didn't know either.

I thought you knew. I didn't know who it was. It's too blurry. I thought it was Coach Locke maybe you said. I didn't remember. Oh, no. You're talking about everybody thinks this is a reception for the Ravens.

This is an explosive play. What a big-time play. And instead, I mean, what a miraculous pick for a linebacker to make. Unreal. I mean, you drill it. And keeping it off the fucking ground. And A.J. has probably been in this situation. But, like, you know these type of running backs,

like these kind of quicker backs, these kind of scat backs pass game back once they get into that wide offset with sometimes tight end with a cut spit or receiver in the cut that's the one route you're thinking like shit if they run this pick will that's the like that's the worst position you can be in so for him to finish that play stay calm you got to stay calm not panic not just run into him and get a pi it's a great great job by uh wil I like the fact that, unlike that offensive lineman, he was looking to get that ball out of his hands as fast as possible. Oh, yeah, that was the best part of it, getting it to an athlete. Jeez.

Whoa, whoa, whoa. He's an athlete. Look at that play. He's a linebacker. Get it to a DB. Listen, he's 6'4", 230. He ran a 4-4-3 at the combine. So he's an athlete with no ACLs to it.

As soon as he gets up there, look at him, get this out of here. Make us an athlete. Take it, take it, take it. All right, who we got next? And we got one bad young. Come on, man. How many fucking times? Sorry, I'm sorry, man.

This is just bad. This is cover zero. So you got cover zero. That's an all-out blitz. All the DBs are one- one on one coverage on an island. Now, what I hate about coverage zero. So it's two things as a DB. Love coverage zero because, you know, the ball has to come out quick more times than not. We can always send one more than they can pick up. But what I hate about coverage zero is if the linebacker or safety.

So you run it back to the beginning. Whoever is blitzing, just get up in your gap and go. I hate to disguise when you're coming from four, five, five, six yards deep because that's not helping me out, especially against a quarterback that knows that has seen cover zero a million times. Matt Stafford knows what the coverage is. He knows as soon as those guys come, he knows exactly where he's going with Cooper Cup. Cooper Cup, Jonathan Jones, now he's played a ton of snaps, so he knows as a cover zero defender, you have to protect your inside.

If he breaks out, you get him on the ground, you line up and play another snap. You have to, have to, have to protect your inside. Cooper Cupp is patient, takes a straight stem, breaks it in at the last second. The ball, of course, is right on target, and then he takes it in for a big, big-time touchdown. Yeah, walking into the end zone. Obviously, it was the big moment in the game, but you can't have it. Now, I don't necessarily understand the call either.

Second and nine, you know, beginning of the third quarter, like this is maybe a third and nine, third and long. Maybe, you know, they're behind a stick, something like that. Second and nine, coming from off the ball that far off, I hate it. But as a DB, whatever the call is, we got to make a play and get them on the ground so we line up again. Got to, got to protect your inside. I'm sure Jones will bounce back, but that's a tough, tough rep.

Stafford and Kup have done that to a lot of people. Yeah, Jonathan Jones is great. I'm just glad Christian Gonzalez is on their number three wide receiver when we're running cover zero. I think that's the right move with Pook and Nakua and Cooper Kup on the field. 70% of the receptions? Yep. And that's one of the challenges with playing the Rams

because they move around so much. Like you don't know where Cooper or Pook is going to be. They motion. They backfield. They're in the C area as a tight end. They move around so much. But if you're going to call coverage zero or man-to-man coverage, hey, zero, I want you on, let's say, 17.

Go. You're right, D, but linebackers go. Hey, we don't care about disguising on their sets. And if you saw that little tight end, whoever was on that little motion in the backfield, you could time your blitz off of that. When you see him start to throttle down at the end of the line of scrimmage, watch this, 87, throttle, get going. Yeah, just move.

Before that. As you see him, you can kind of time. But it's true. Everyone's been caught hitting it from Rhode Island here, as coaches will say in the film next day. You're saying as soon as he throttles down right there. You see it, okay, he's throttling. I'm full sprint probably already.

That's A.J. Hawk football. No, no. I'm not saying I've done that. I'm saying as a coach, that's what a coach will tell you. No, you're saying you have done it. Done it time and time again. It's easy from the air-conditioned office. Hell yeah.

Yeah, now and also especially with the sky cam to be able to tell that somebody's throttling down. But I feel like that's a feel right that you have. As soon as you see that guy go and then he turns, that guy ain't doing shit. We're rolling out here. Like, that is a feel thing. Especially if, yeah, and if you know you've repped that a million times, and I guarantee you those DBs are like, hey, you better get going on this.

We're playing cover zero. We need you. That ball's got to be out no matter what. Anytime pressure's being brought, there is something else you're sacrificing. Yeah. Anytime you're putting pressure on the quarterback, you are sacrificing something else. So if that pressure doesn't get home, that sacrifice is going to get exposed.

Absolutely. That's why I like having a four-man rush. It's so important. If you can, like the heydays of the Colts, when they can run cover two, keep two safeties high, and you got Mathis and Freeney coming off the edge, like, that's priceless. That's the key is having the two edge guys.

I mean, San Fran's just rushing four every week, and they can't sniff the quarterback. Well, Bosa's hurt, I think, right? Hopefully he gets healthy for a playoff run. If they're able to do that, then MC West is tough. We have an athlete amongst us. We know that. A guy who described his moment in the sun a little bit ago.

We actually pulled up the tape A.Q. Shipley Center for the Arizona Cardinals Here Snapping it to Drew Stanton It looks like Yeah

Drew Stanton All day Oh boy Go get it Come on So fast Hey Get it out

Get it out Okay Not bad Yeah Could have been much worse brother A.Q. I like you put your Fucking head down Yeah I like you put your fucking head down.

Yeah. I like that you scooped it and didn't fall on it. That's not bad, right? Good leg drive. Hey, both hands on the ball. Both hands on the ball immediately. Clean scoop because it's an oblong ball, not easy to scoop. Oh, boy.

Third down, too. Don't get your knee blown out. Don't do it. Yeah, they're gone. That's good work. That's pretty good. That's good work. You should be proud of yourself.

I thought it was going to look way worse. You'd have to earn the ability to not have to just fall or get the ball out of your hands as quick as a fastball. Look at the score. 33-7, fourth quarter. Could have got worse, I guess. AQ, now that we've seen how athletic you can be, let's see how

unathletic you can be. Time for a giveaway going into the holiday season. AQ, if you throw a football into that basketball hoop over there, we'll give 30 people 500 bucks heading into this Thanksgiving week, which starts tomorrow. Boston Connor, a man who his sports teams are either in the middle of change or a dominating run, has a word of advice for you. I mean, look, AQ, you just saw that.

You proved to everybody in here and everybody watching, you can scoop the ball, you can run with the ball. I'll prove to them that you can throw that ball. All right, here we go. AQ Shipley, for 30 people to win $500 in his son, Day Red, on this glorious Wednesday. Let her fly, AQ. Oh, man. Red. On this glorious Wednesday, let her fly, AQ. Oh!

I like the way you attacked it, though. Yeah, she's not thinking. Because you've been guiding there for a while. Yep. This one you actually let fly. Speaking of letting fly, Foxy's back to shooting threes the way you would expect him to shoot threes. Not good news. There is Foxy's champion

yet again of 33 in a scrappy battle. And you. Such a gritty battle. What a dogfight. How'd you shoot it? I'm not all the way back yet. I make them. Who'd you guys beat?

D. Butch and Carter. That was one of the best games we've had. 46-44, I believe, is how it ended. So you know what that means. It was awesome. You know what that means. That was three-rounder. Yeah.

And it went all the way to the final. Fucking dew corner. That dew corner will get you. It really will. Because you don't think about it until you get there. And then you're like, it is a little different here. It's a little different over here. So there's some new champs in town since the last time you've been here.

But those are the same champs that there have been numerous times before. So you should feel comfortable in the spot that you're in. Speaking of comfortable, AJ is obviously in the air-conditioned attic over there in Ohio. AJ, what would you say to AQ so he can put a ball in a hoop for the first time in about a year? AQ, I've been getting many messages from people around the country. They want you to put your readers on. They think you look amazing in those things. Wow.

There you go. AJ. Can't miss him. AJ, you're right. He does look good in those readers. There was a few women on X who liked the glasses as well, AQ. Oh, yeah. Obviously, one of them was his wife.

She's a big fan of yours. He said no. No? Okay. I think the readers look amazing, but maybe with those readers on, you're able to see where you're throwing. One's definitely going in there. Maybe you're able to see where you're throwing.

Football in the hoop. 30 people, $500 on this glorious holiday. Oh, no. Take the readers off. Let's never do that again. Yeah, my bad. That's on me. Bubba Gumpino in the back wearing a hat that says him on it. Has a word

of advice for you to become him. The man who wins 30 people $500. Yeah, AQ. Now that you got your readers back off, you got your son, Day, Red on. You got some cool shoes like every time you come in here. Oh, those are nice here for you. I like these ones the most.

Out of everything that you've worn. The last week was pretty cool. I think they matched the... Where are these from? Where are they from? Your wedding. Oh, really? Yeah, they are. Okay, good. Yeah. That's why we like wedding. Oh, really? Yeah, they are. Got your initials. Okay, good, yeah.

That's why we like them. All right, sweet. Yeah, we like them so much, we actually bought them for you. Okay, I like that. You look amazing in it. You look tall, too. You know, Air Force Ones give you a nice little boost of height as well. With how tall you're standing, with how proud your chest is,

with your Sunday red on, one of the only people that has ever worn those in public. Without a doubt. What a flop. Oh, I'd say. A a doubt. What a flop. I'd say. AQ said he bought four items. It was $1,800. Oh, he said he bought one

of every item. It was $14,000. That was 10% off for Black Friday. Oh, yeah. I forgot. I forgot about that. It does look cool now that we're seeing it in the wild. It is cool looking, right? I think more of us should own stuff. Is it? It looks like Schlesinger, the golf brand.

Tiger cannot be associated with that. Those are good golf balls, Foxy. You know that. Best shorts I've ever worn. Really? It's got the Lulu texture, but the Nike flair at the bottom. Just five times as much as both. That's why there's $350 a pop. They're not looking to be the cheapest. They're looking to at the bottom. Just five times as much as Bob. Yeah, that's why there's $350 a pop.

You'll be able to wear those. They're not looking to be the cheapest. They're looking to be the best. And that's sun, day, red. Why don't you get 30 people the opportunity to buy one half of a hoodie from them and win $500 going into the holiday season. A.Q. Shipley?

Oh, yeah. Oh, baby. Oh, no. Heartbreak baby. Oh, no. Heartbreak again. Oh, I thought that was it. You know, our Ram truck cornhole boards out there look fantastic, but they have had neighbors of balls from misses that you have sent out there far too often. To that, I say no more.

This ball is the ball D-Butch actually Has something to say about how good of an athlete you are That hopefully reminds yourself You can make this particular show Not only the athlete that you are But the athlete that created that The Sunday bread

It's not about how he started, it's how he finished So let's finish, let's put it in the hole He's talking about Sundays He's not talking about now. Oh, finish. He's talking about back. The golf tournament. Way before this.

Not life. Okay. Because right now, he can still do it if he had to. He still finishes. I love Tiger, but I'm officially out on that. He can't still do it if he had to. All right. Let's take a vote.

If you're with Ty and you don't think Tiger will ever win another golf tournament again, say aye. Aye. I'd love to see him win a Masters, but you know what? I'm probably going to have to just see him do is shoot 76

on Thursday. Make the cut. Okay. Well, hold on. Don't get ahead of yourself. Another 76 on Thursday. Another 76 on Friday, and then we're really battling, but we might make the cut. But then, I mean, we're seven over. Then go bogey bogey to start Saturday, and then, ah, my fucking back. I can't get my back.

My glutes aren't activated right now, and then, boom, we're withdrawing. And then we're just doing the same song and dance over and over And that's not the Tiger I want to remember No no no He did it already he won that Masters That was it it's over There's going to be some golf tournament that's going to pop up The Tiger's going to win

Yeah the Azozo challenge or some shit like that Maybe No thanks For him to win that, say aye. Aye. Yeah, I can't wait for it. AJ's in as well. So with that being said, be a champion like Tiger will still be someday.

Put that ball into that hoop over there for 50 people, 30 people, 50 people. What happened to 50 people? All over it. Come on. Look at that. You are surrounded. That's what your balls are saying to that hoop right there Karma's real Nick

Karma's real It's coming back Karma from what? Haven't won in a long time What happened? I think just life in general Oh Yeah

So he's making this I think so I agree Put good things out Into the universe Like in the trenches today Was maybe the best one Maybe

No flubs A lot of new teams In there too Yeah Saints are in there. Chargers are in there. Holy shit. What a time to be alive. This one's going in. Hey, Q,

you put that football and that hoop right over there, 30 people will win $500. Right before the holiday season, why not? Why not? Oh, man. You're all over it. This guy hates Chris. I thought I was in for sure. Good shot. Damn. How many more balls? Nope, this is it're all over it. This guy hates Chris Jones. I thought I was in for sure. Good shot. Damn.

How many more balls? Nope. This is it. This is it. No, no. You can shoot these two. Okay. I mean.

You won't need them. Yeah. Just. Yeah, you're right. Just need one. One more ball. Oh. There it is.

12-year NFL veteran. He can bounce it. A man who is a center. I don't know if he can bounce it. Oh, he could have. Could have what? Yep. Could have what?

Because you hesitated, we know there's no chance. So far. That this ball is zero. You feel good about it? Switch balls. Switch balls. Oh. I like the ball control here.

I like that because if that thing bounces that way, guess what floor is? Lava. Yeah, it's over. So you've been rolling the dice here with this particular ball, but that's the moxie that you're kind of feeling right now. How about this? For the good of Mauna, for the good of the holidays, 50 people, $500.

All you got to do is put that ball in that hoop right over there. Last up. Okay, here we go. Last up. 50 people, $500. So much Mauna. Come on, brother. Can AQs do it for the people?

That's a no. Show's over, folks. All right. Be a friend. Tell a friend something nice. It might change their life. Darius, great work this week. You too.

D-Bots wasn't able to win yesterday either. It's been a cold Thunderdome. It's going to happen. It's been a cold Thunderdome. A gonna happen It's been a cold Thunderdome AQ really good work today pal Thank you Everybody in the back great work AJ thank you so much

Tone from Hammer Down Down Really good work this week Come join us brother Why don't you do that And knock on Mitt's door too Tell him to come join us

Yeah just wake him up Missed lock dude It's a show Look he's already He's already coming His sister Quincy So good at soccer

Big 10 player of the tournament That's awesome Hey, good work It's great to be a part of this Be a friend, tell a friend something nice It might change their life We're in this thing together, never forget it Team on me, team on three

1, 2, 3, team, goodbye never forget it team on me team on three one two three