The Pat McAfee Show - PMS 2.0 128 - 40 Years Of NFL Experience Bullshittin' About Life

Episode Date: November 8, 2019

On today’s show, Pat and the boys record from Tampa Bay, Florida ahead of last night’s Temple vs. USF game. Pat goes through all his different potential NFL MVP candidates and gives a couple of reasons to stake his claim. Also, 3x Pro Bowler, 18 year NFL veteran, and good friend of the show, Matt Hasselbeck joins Pat and the boys in the box truck to chat about everything happening around the NFL including why Kirk Cousin’s can’t seem to win primetime games, what the issues with Mitch Trubisky are and whether or not they are fixable, if the Chiefs are going to pick up right where they left off with Patrick Mahomes, they fix the Pro Bowl together, and chat about everything else going on in the league ahead of week 10 (15:41-50:07). Also joining the show is 2x Pro Bowler, 14 year NFL veteran, and current linebacker for the Buffalo Bills, Lorenzo Alexander. Lorenzo and Pat chat about the Bills success this year, what type of coach Sean McDermott is, his thoughts on the Patriots and the Bills philosophy when playing them, and how he has witnessed the NFL change first hand on the defensive side of the ball over the course of his career (51:51-1:00:51). Today is a good one. Come and laugh with us, cheers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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8th. Yeah, it is. It's about 3 a.m. We just landed in Indianapolis. We didn't have any Wi-Fi, so we couldn't upload any of the ads, but we got a great fucking show for you today. And today's show, just like every other show, is brought to you by the fine folks from SeatGeek. SeatGeek is the greatest ticket-buying platform on planet Earth and... The moon! That's right.

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Use promo code MAC for you to get $20 off your first order. Whoa. Tight. We have commandeered an airport here. We're screaming in it. It is 3 a.m. It is 25 degrees outside. And all we want to tell you is that if you're going to go somewhere and go experience a live event, please use SeatGeek.

You're live, but are you living? Go live and experience something live with our friends at SeatGeek. We've got a good fucking show. Let's go. There's a lot of football left. A lot of football left. These players have just worked their way into the conversation nine weeks into this thing.

Being an NFL MVP is a massive honor. It is very difficult to get. That honor show is basically all revolving around the NFL MVP. You can get whatever host you want up there. do whatever little song and dance. It's all probably pretty boring. They'll give out all the other awards, but the award that matters the most is the NFL

MVP. And I think there are seven potential NFL MVPs at this point. There's over a thousand people in the NFL. These seven guys have worked their way into a conversation, I think. It's a quarterback-driven award. But could this be the year that somebody that isn't a quarterback wins it? I think there's a couple candidates. First, let's go with the pies on Nick Boza out there in San Francisco.

In the Bay. Yes, his grandpa was a mob boss. Yes, his brother is an animal for the Chargers. Yes, to all these things. Yes, he sat out his senior year at Ohio State because he got injured and somehow became a monster. Let me give you a little facts and stats to back this up. Last year, they were 28th in points allowed. This year, they're second. Okay. I'm sure there's been other characters that have been dropped into that San Francisco 49er defense that have helped us out, but I think the most notable is this rookie kid from Ohio State who has ties to the mob,

who's been a made manimal on the line. Sherman's back playing very well, but I would assume that's because he knows that there's a defensive line up there that's going to get to the quarterback. There's a defensive line up there that's going to disrupt things, and. There's a defensive line up there that's going to disrupt things, and that's not easy for a defensive lineman to be a leader of a team. Bosa, a rookie, has done that, and I think he should be in conversation, especially because the Niners are undefeated. Regardless of who they played, next to nobody,

regardless of who they've played, they have been dominant, and they've been a fun team to watch defensively. They get a big-time task on Monday night. We'll talk about somebody that they'll be facing here in a little bit in this list as it continues. This is no particular order, by the way. These are just candidates I think have played their way into this conversation. Christian McCaffrey, this dude.

Cam Newton's team down there in the Queen City, I believe they call it. They don't have downtown. They have uptown. Charlotte's a good time. Dale Earnhardt Jr. has some bars down there. I've got a chance to stay down there. They've got NASCAR down there. But that was Cam Newton's city.

Michael Jordan owns a team, but it was Cam Newton's city for a long time. Carolina Panthers were a hell of a team to watch. Cam Newton was skipping and dancing in a maestro to celebrate the entire stadium whenever they would score. The Superman song would play. Bang, Von Miller strips the ball from him in the Super Bowl. He doesn't go for it. All of a sudden, Cam Newton becomes an entirely new player.

Seems like he lost his love for the game. I'm not saying he has. I'm just saying what it looks like from the outside. I used to love watching Cam Newton play football outside I used to love watching Cam Newton play football I used to love watching Cam Newton warm up But those days are long gone now For the Carolina Panthers Insert Kyle Allen a quarterback

Which means insert Christian McCaffrey being the workhorse For the Carolina Panthers He's on pace for 440 total touches For those that don't know That is an assload of touches that is a workhorse type operation and if anybody was built for this created for this i would argue that it's christian mcafree dad obviously ed mcafree mom superstar soccer player at stanford grandpa olympic gold medalist or something like that his aunt and uncle d1 college basketball players i mean christian mcafree has

been built to be an athlete literally since before birth, but now his body's going to have to withhold it. He has 1,244 total yards from scrimmage, 13 touchdowns, and he's on pace to not just beat Chris Johnson's yards from scrimmage record that nobody thought could be touched, but by beating it by 200 yards, if he can keep this up. 2,509 yards is the all-time leading record by Chris Johnson for yards from scrimmage.

He is on pace to shatter that by 200 yards. Can his body hold up? Can the Carolina Panthers continue to run through Christian McCaffrey? Will Christian McCaffrey be able to continue to make plays, be elusive and explosive at the same time for the rest of the season? We will find out. If he does, and he does beat that Chris Johnson record, this NFL MVP trophy, which is a quarterback-driven trophy,

maybe has to take a backseat to a running back that has taken over games. Carolina Panthers were dead, by the way. Yeah. Dead in the water. And Kyle Allen comes in, this attractive kid from Stanford, starts getting the rock, and wham, we got a workhorse all of a sudden. Now let's get to the quarterbacks. Jacoby Brissett.

Yes, nobody else has him on their list. Yes, this was supposed to be a six-person list originally. We made it a seven-person list just so I can give love to Jacoby Brissett. 1,649 yards, 14 touchdowns, and a 99.7 rating that's not out of 100 but damn i wish it was because it would be almost perfect guess he got injured in his last game he's getting his knee back healthy i don't know if he'll be playing next week but this guy put cpr to the indianapolis colts 16 days before the season started a once in a generation quarterback retired v and an adam schefter tweet the city was lost.

But then the city was found by a man named Jacoby, a once member of the Wolfpack in New England, now coming to Indy to be a savior, having a hell of a year, one of the better young quarterbacks in the NFL. Nobody's talking about him. I will make sure his name will be mentioned because he deserves a lot more respect. The Colts got a good one in Jacoby. I think he's going to be good for a long time. And if he can come back and save the day after Hoy Daddy,

I think Jacoby should be in the conversation. And he's a quarterback, so that means it will definitely happen. In the AFC South, another quarterback has been nothing short of magical. Deshaun Watson thought he lost his damn eye. Thought he lost his eye in a game. Got a boot to the face. Donkey kick right to the eyeball. Then threw a touchdown on the same play. He thought he lost his eye in a game. Got a boot to the face. Donkey kick right to the eyeball. Then threw a touchdown on the same play.

He thought he lost an eye. I'll put Deshaun Watson in the MVP conversation for sure. 2,432 yards, 18 touchdowns, 5 picks, 70% completion rate. When he came out of college, Dabo Sweeney said, if you don't pick this guy, you're not picking Michael Jordan. I said, take it easy, Dabo. Okay? Michael Jordan.

What's that even mean? In this last couple weeks, I it easy, Dabo. Okay? Michael Jordan. What's that even mean? And this last couple weeks, I was like, damn. Dabo Sweeney was coaching Michael Jordan down there in clubs. He's been magic out there. He's the only quarterback since 1950. That's a long time, man. Long time. 69 years.

Nice. To have 18 tutors passing and five rushing through the first nine uh weeks they lose jj watt on the defensive side of the ball so they're gonna have to be good on the offensive side of the ball deshaun watson has gotten very good laramie tunzel comes back for them too let's hope they get a little bit more protection for the guy so he doesn't lose his eyeball and he plugged popeye spicy chicken sandwich which is next level thinking for me. That made me raise my level of respect for him almost tenfold. The ability to have the composure in a moment after a big-time game in London town where everything's different anyways,

to also remember to plug Popeyes. That's an MVP-like person that I want to be around. I like that Deshaun Watson is coming full circle for the Houston Texans. Hate it for the Colts. Happy I'm not on the team anymore to have to face against that. But, boy, the Texans should feel good about them and Deshaun Watson. Hopefully he can stay healthy, though.

Not only do you think he loses an eye, he had a knee. I mean, he gets his ass kicked down there, but that's kind of his style of play. Now you see me, now you don't. Every once in a while you do see him, and boom! You get blown up. Deshaun Watson, I like him a lot.ar jackson

this guy has changed football he's changing the nfl is lamar jackson the future of the nfl people are asking i said this on get up in the future if another lamar jackson comes through as a college quarterback best player in college heisman winner takes a team that wasn't that talented in louisville and takes them to places they couldn't expect to go. Then whenever on draft night you have a chance to draft a guy like Lamar Jackson, let's pull the trigger and draft Lamar Jackson. Will another Lamar Jackson happen ever again? No, I don't think so.

This guy is shattering Michael Vick's records at a rapid rate. The first to do this, the first to do this, the best since this. That is what Lamar Jackson is. He's lightning in a bottle. He's electric. Magnetic. Nuclear, some would say, when he has the football in his hands. And on draft night when he was drafted, 32 behind.

This is who he was drafted behind, by the way. These people got drafted ahead of Lamar Jackson. Just like we talk about this with Trubisky, who will never be on an MVP candidate list. Come on! Deshaun Watson, Patrick Mahomes drafted after Mitchell Trubisky. These people were drafted

ahead of Lamar Jackson. Baker Mayfield. We don't know about him yet. Let's take it easy. Sam Darnold, dude, sees ghosts. Said ghost that a lot of teams are seeing is Lamar Jackson, by the way. So there's a little bit of a difference in the ghost world. Josh Allen and Josh Rosen all drafted ahead of Lamar Jackson. And on draft night, Lamar Jackson, when Deion Sanders said,

you okay? He said, yeah, I'm okay. And you're like, what spots are we going to get out of you? He said, they're going to get it all for me and they're going to get a Super Bowl out of me. Lamar Jackson knew what was going to happen. Harbaugh, to his credit, went all in on Lamar Jackson, changed their offense, brought in more tight ends, got rid of the flacko. I love the way Lamar Jackson's playing football. He's fun to watch, but it all revolves around whether or not Lamar Jackson's going to be able to stay healthy. And I think he's sick of answering that question.

I think he's sick of having to say, listen, I know how not to take big hits. I've been doing this my whole life. If I'm going to take a hit, I'm going to deliver the hit instead of take it on the other side. I'm excited to see what Lamar Jackson can do the rest of the year. Aaron Rodgers, best friend of the show. He was on the other day. Seems like he's enjoying life again. Seems like he's happy to be a Green Bay Packer again.

They had a snowball fight just yesterday at practice where one of the most gifted arms in the history of arms was picking up a snowball and flailing it at his coach and at his friends on the team. He had to learn an entirely new offense. It revamped him, refreshed him, rebirthed him. Yeah. Wow. Oh, yeah.

Pretty good little run there strong 2485 yards 17 touchdowns a 104.4 rating granted the chargers game not great for the offense but he said this was a nice little piece of humble pie let us get back on the right track he and lafleur seem to be getting things in sync and that offense is not only one that he's starting to understand and comprehend but he's starting to dominate with. Let's assume that Aaron Rodgers is going to be in a conversation for MVP, as he should, if they can get back on track after this Chargers loss, which he thinks that they will be able to do.

He likes the way the team has responded. They're 7-2. I'm happy to see a reborn Aaron Rodgers. I got a chance to call their game Lions at Packers last year. They lost 31-zip. Now that's a completely different team. LaFleur has brought a lot of life in there. We'll talk about him being a potential coach of the year candidate later. And my

guy, who everybody's talking about being MVP, signed for $140 million in the offseason while laying in bed with Sierra. Had a weird video all right good night now every time he speaks into a microphone he says all the right things every time he gets on a football field it seems like he does all the right things russell wilson has 2 505 yards

accrued thus far 22 touchdowns and only one pick. Are you kidding me? Those are good ratios, guys. Sometimes you get ratioed on the Internet, and it's not good. Too many comments, not enough retweets or likes, you get ratioed. The ratio of 22 touchdowns, only one pick, nine weeks into this thing, and also 200 yards on the ground with three touchdowns. Russell Wilson has picked the Seahawks organization up, put it right on his back, and he has ran like a baseball player right through the NFL thus far for nine weeks.

Just running like this, slinging it, throwing it into a bucket, making things happen. There was a lot of questions. They get rid of the Legion of Boom. This team will now depend upon Russell Wilson. How will they do? How will Pete Carroll do? He has done nothing but show up and show out.

And now they add Josh Gordon to the mix. Let's assume the offense gets better, but they have a big test on Monday night. The San Francisco 49ers, who are undefeated, play their first real test in the Seattle Seahawks. And Russell Wilson gets a first real test against that Niners defense that has been dominant. Richard Sherman's all the way back. Bosa's a monster. But those are my sevenates who have earned their way Into the MVP conversation Haha, that's such good stuff

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Coming to you live from a pirate ship, Raymond James Stadium. Mr. Matt Hasselbeck, how are you, bud? Yeah, the pirate ship. Should be a good time. It's going to be great. I've been up there a few times for Monday Night Countdown. It's a good time. You're going to love the pirate ship.

It's got two levels to it. You're going to love it. It's got a cannon. They don't use the cannon for the USF games, just the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Which is a shame. I would like to launch that thing off. Fired up! I would like to do that a lot.

Now we're joined by a pro bowler, an all-pro. Former. Not going to the Pro Bowl this year. Former Pro Bowler. I think you could, though, for some teams, if you were to step up. You know, my first time I ever got invited to the Pro Bowl, I actually wasn't elected. I was the fourth guy, so I was the first alternate. But Brett Favre in the NFC would never, ever go.

Respect. I was the fourth guy, so I was the first alternate. But Brett Favre in the NFC would never, ever go. So at the end of the season, I have my exit physical after we lost, I think, probably a playoff game. We lose early. Yeah, we do. And the doctors are like, all right, you got to have surgery tomorrow. And I'm like, cool. But if I get a chance to go to this Pro Bowl, I'm not having shoulder surgery. Yeah.

And so I think what I realized is that I wasn't alone in that. Like, if a guy's never made a Pro Bowl and he's supposed to have off-season surgery, he's like, nah, I'm good. Like, I'll work around it. I don't need the surgery. I'm going to my first Pro Bowl. I don't know if I'll ever go back. And on the complete flip side, for me, when I got voted into my second Pro Bowl, I had to have surgery on my knee.

They were like, well, do you want to play in the Pro Bowl or do you want to do the surgery? I was like, to hell with the Pro Bowl, I had to have surgery on my knee. They were like, well, do you want to play in the Pro Bowl or do you want to do the surgery? I was like, to hell with the Pro Bowl. I do the surgery on my knee. Because it's your second one. Exactly. But if it's your first one, it's hard. And even as a punter, it's harder because only one guy goes.

Only one, yeah. Quarterback's a lot. Quarterback's different. You get three guys in the AFC, three guys in the NFC, and then there's always like a Tom Brady or a Brett Favre that will never go. So it's interesting. By the way, very selfless Tom Brady or a Brett Favre that will never go. So it's interesting. By the way, very selfless of Tom Brady and Brett Favre.

Nobody ever talks about that. They're always like, oh, they're too good for the Pro Bowl. It's like, well, they're also offering up quarterbacks that are very average to get a Pro Bowl appearance. This is a hot button for Pat, I know. He's like, well, it's easy to make the Pro Bowl as a quarterback. It is. But not as a plunder. If you play quarterback in the NFL, you can get in the Pro Bowl.

It's a hot button. It's a hot button for him. If you can take a center quarterback exchange in the NFL, you can make it to the Pro Bowl. That's an exaggeration. I think if I would have got a couple more passes, like Johnny Hecker might make it as a quarterback. That's how I feel. The Pro Bowl needs to change, by the way. Have you ever thought about how to change it?

They have changed it. They do some new things. It's before the Super Bowl now. I think that one of the best things that they've done is they've got this epic dodgeball. Yes. Have you seen that? I think it should be all of that. And that's what I think actually the NFL Players Association, the NFL did a good thing.

They came to the NFLPA and they said, listen, help us save the Pro Bowl. Give us some ideas. Everything's on the table. And so the NFLPA at that time said, hey, what about things like dodgeball? What about kick-tack-toe? What about just involving the fans? Let them come to that. Make it just like the game.

It's been a good thing. You know who's unbelievable at epic dodgeball? Jarvis Landry. Like, incredible athlete. Unbelievable. Like, if it was an Olympic sport, Jarvis Landry would be the you know he'd be the he'd be the guy the guy the guy i i think it should go completely to that like i saw the quarterback skills challenge back in the day you might have been in it actually no i think brett was but it

was back in the day i know we used to do that that was a good thing i actually think they should do quarterback skills challenge with skill players so like muhammad sunu should get to go in you should hacker should be in it. Get quarterbacks versus non-quarterbacks. Let's make it a show. Make it a show. Let's make it fun. Because nobody likes the game anymore. Players don't like the game.

Fans don't like the game. The game is still good. What? The game is still good, but that other stuff could be even better. The game is not good. I think if you could get the guys with the helmets off. There's some great athletes. Who's the kicker?

Graham Gonneau. He's pretty good at dodgeball. Incredible at dodgeball. And he had a little soccer kick up to himself. He got a good gif of himself. Yeah. There's a lot of great athletes. Who's the kicker? Graham Gonneau. He's pretty good at dodgeball. Incredible at dodgeball. And he had a little soccer kick up to himself. He got a good gif of himself. There's a lot of good athletes. I think we should have the 40-yard dash race, by the way. So one year they had that, and Michael Vick was one of the fastest guys.

He was like the Lamar Jackson of the day, and he ran it in my jersey. We had traded jerseys and autographed them to each other, and he ran the 40-yard dash in a No. 8 Seahawks jersey, and I was so – that jersey has never gone that fast in his life. I was so proud of Michael Vick, so proud. All right, let's get to it. I think they should offer up money, though, for that. Cash prizes.

They do. They do. No, but I'm talking about for a 40-yard dash, we should do a longest throw. No, they – well, when they do it, they do. Like, you actually win money. You win cash. It's like 20 grand or something like that. Yeah, but there should be a series of those.

Yeah. You know what I mean? I think it would be cool. I love it. And I don't know if I like it before the Super Bowl or not because I want the guys that are in the Super Bowl to compete in it as well. Yeah. I hear that. I hear that.

You're on the opposite side, it sounds like. Well, they kick that back and forth. If a guy is going to have an off-season surgery, it just pushes them that much further away. Plus, if you're a team that was not in the playoffs, you can get out of shape. Oh, yeah. So all of a sudden, you ended your season the week before the wild card. Now you're not going to play another game until the week after the Super Bowl. All right.

So let's fix the Pro Bowl real quick so we can make the headline that Pat McAfee, Matt Haspik fixed the Pro Bowl. Yeah. You can take the credit. It's okay. No, no. You should be in there. All right. We do contests.

We do prizes. We make it an entire thing. It's almost like the World's Strongest Man where there's different events for players. And then all of a sudden, bang, you got cash prizes both to charity and to the winners. And we just make this an entire, like that quarterback skills thing where they're throwing it into smoke and stuff like that. Let's allow other people to do that. Patrick Peterson should be in there. Those kinds of guys should be in there.

But also open it up to the fans. A lot of these events are just made for TV, and there's no real atmosphere and no fans. I think that's something that fans would want to be up close and personal for, just like a game. I agree. All right, so we fixed the Pro Bowl. Let's get to a break.

Does it need to go back to Hawaii real quick? Yes. I don't think it needs to, no. Well, I mean, I'm not playing anymore, so I don't give a damn. But you love Hawaii. You love Hawaii. I am, hey, shock to, no. Well, I mean, I'm not playing anymore, so I don't give a damn. But you love Hawaii. You love Hawaii. I am.

Hey, shocker, bro. Shocker. I am a Hawaiian. I'm getting married in Hawaii. I got engaged in Hawaii. I've been high in Hawaii. I'm just going to stay away from it. Yeah, please do.

Thank you. Thank you. I've got a funny story about Hawaii sometime. Maybe I'll tell you after this. And then if it's worthy, we'll bring it back. Now seems like a good time to do it. No, no,. Maybe I'll tell you after this. And then if it's worthy, we'll bring it back. Now seems like a good time to do it. No, no, no. I'll tell you after this.

And then if it's worthy of the show. Oh, you're going to deliver it two times really good, you think? Yeah, well, I've got to see what you think about it. Yeah, but I don't want to hear it twice. I want to hear it the first time and enjoy it. No, no. Is it long or is it short? We'll see what you think.

I don't want to know. Pitch it to Ty. I'll pitch it to the boys. Ty, I'll pitch it to you. We'll circle back. Hey, we'll put a pin in it. Yep. Hey, on the other side, I'm going to ask you about Kirk Cousins.

Yeah. Trubisky. Oh, come on. Trubisky, pro bowler last year. Number three, total QBR. What happened? We'll ask you. Matt, I'm going to miss you after we're done calling these Thursday Night Football games.

Yeah, you're moving on up. Moving on up to XFL, I heard. Is that a real thing? I'm moving on down, actually, to the field. Oh, yeah? All access, Matty boy. You can go to the field right now on Thursday Night Football. You can go wherever you want.

You want to go to the pirate ship? You want to go to the locker room? You want to go to the sideline? You should go to the pirate ship. Molly McGrath would have you on the sideline. She'd show you the ropes. Maybe that's a good ship. You want to go to the locker room. You want to go to the sideline. Molly McGrath would have you on the sideline. She'd show you the ropes. Maybe that's a good idea. By the way, I didn't want to be a sideline reporter because of how hard I've

seen Molly have to work for what she does. I think everybody just assumes that's an easy job. She gets some good nuggets. Incredible. And then she'll get bodied out of some things sometimes. What was the thing last week at West Virginia? Darius Stills says report this. The Baylor offensive line

is soft. That's awesome. Best side line reporter in the game. Hopefully I'll be able to add to that with the XFL. Okay, let me talk to you about some stuff that is happening. Lamar Jackson is a complete game changer. Do you think there's any chance he remains healthy throughout the season? He has said on numerous occasions

I know how to do this. This is my style of play. I've been doing this high school, college. The NFL is a different animal, and I think in the past, a lot of people have seen quarterbacks that play the way he does, take a couple big shots, and it changes everything. I hope he doesn't. I hope he remains healthy because he's fun to watch.

But what are your thoughts? Yeah, so the very first college football game I ever called was Lamar Jackson's last year at Louisville, playing on Thursday night against NC State met with Bobby Petrino beforehand he said listen my main concern with him I wanted him to develop as a passer but my main concern with him running I don't think he can take the beating he's he's a skinny guy I want to say he's like 195 pounds that year he told us that he bulked up 10 pounds like that's one thing, but that's a short college season.

This is a long NFL season, and now if you're the Baltimore Ravens, you're trying to get to 17 weeks and beyond playoffs. I am concerned about him being able to stay healthy taking a beating like that. Now, going into that Patriots game that we all watched, Patriots said, hey, we're going to get physical with him. We're going to hit him a bunch. I think it was Diana Rossini said, hey, that's the plan they're gonna they're gonna hit him well you can't hit what you can't catch his speed is like next world like it's unbelievable so I just think that

as a quarterback coach if you're coaching him you're giving him some pictures on film saying okay here this is a chance this is a spot where you took an unnecessary hit. Let's minimize the risk by taking those unnecessary hits out of the equation. But if it's a fourth and two, fourth and four, and we know John Harbaugh loves to go forward and fourth down, sure, he's going to take the hits, and I think he'll probably be okay, but he's got to just eliminate the ones that he can. Well, and by the way, they need to ride Lamar Jackson to the can't no more. He gonna ride

till he can't no more. He is unbelievable to watch. And I don't think there's many people that can do what he does ever in the history of the game. I mean, Vic, I guess, is an easy comparison, but he's shattering

a lot of Vic's records here in a rapid rate. And they're all in on him. They're all in on him offensively. They got rid of Joe Flacco. They went with Lamar, and they changed their offense completely. They took their wide receivers coach last year, Bobby Ingram, and made him the tight ends coach.

It's kind of rare that someone will go from wide receivers coach to tight ends coach. So they know what they have in the run game, but they've got three tight ends. I don't know if people know this. Teddy Bruschi and I are going to do a breakdown on Sunday NFL countdown. That's tight. Hey, that's tight. That's tight. Hey, that's tight. That's tight.

Super tight. But Teddy's going to give it from the Patriots' perspective, why Lamar Jackson's such a headache, and I'm going to give it from sort of the Baltimore Ravens' offensive perspective of they have three tight ends that can catch the ball. And in Lamar Jackson's career, college and pro, he has been exceptional at throwing the ball to tight ends. Now, we know about Hollywood Brown and all that, but i think just like with his running ability they got this thing

rolling with the tight ends it all marries together the defense is pretty good they're going to be a threat in the afc this year okay obviously they uh beat the patriots this past weekend open some eyes our friend digs our guy digs anthony de gilio is back in pittsburgh right now couldn't join us today he thinks that Belichick potentially let them win 37-20 so that when they play again, he's seeing ghosts with a whole different style. Well, you know what? Teddy Bruschi did say something that I thought was excellent. He said it's actually good that they got to see Lamar up close and personal.

So it's like this loss in some ways is what needed to happen for the Patriots to be able to get the win in the playoffs. I feel like he would know. Okay, losses that need to happen. A little piece of humble pie is what Aaron Rodgers said. What does that mean? Does that mean a team gets too comfortable? He said something about the 48 hours before thing,

all the talking heads who just create firestorm anytime Aaron Rodgers speaks. Is there a chance that a team gets too comfortable? I think I've seen it where you need to get your ass kicked to kind of wake back up almost and focus on the little things. Especially after you win a primetime game like they did and they won it in such a great fashion. But I will say this, having played for three years with the Green Bay Packers, there is something psychological.

When you go from Green Bay, Wisconsin and there's snow and you're having a snowball fight and then you go down to Los Angeles. At that time it was San Diego or Arizona. You go to like one of those warm weather places. It just messes with your mind. Like to think that you are fully focused.

Like guys that never go out for pregame, they're out there for pregame. They got their sleeves rolled up trying to like eliminate some tan lines and just get some sun on those like pasty white arms. Maybe that was just me, but the distractions are real. So when you go down there, and then also I think sometimes you think like, hey, we're just going to steamroll over these guys. I think there were like 9-1 Packers versus Chargers fans in L.A. on Sunday. And so you think like, oh, this is just like a home game for us.

We got this. But there were some good X's and O's things that they did to attack that Packers defense. They kind of went with a tempo, a hurry up. They didn't blitz Aaron Rodgers. There were some good X's and O's things that led to that win. Players are super routine-driven individuals. Your entire life is scripted, basically. I mean, granted, after your rookie season in the NFL, you have your first free time

where you're not being told where to be and when to be there, literally for the first time in your entire life. But everything else is routine-driven. That's why the London games are so difficult. That's why potentially leaving a Green Bay, Wisconsin, and going to Los Angeles can be different, because this isn't a video game. It's humans that have the ability for free will.

Yeah, well, correct me if I'm wrong. The first time you guys went to London, when you were a player, you played Jacksonville. Didn't they spank you? Yeah, beat the hell out of us. Blake Bortles actually punted a ball into the stands. No penalty, Walt Anderson. And I heard people like Andrew Luck talking about it after.

We were on a sightseeing trip. We were on a vacation, and Jacksonville was there for a business trip. They'd been to London a bunch, and they were there on a business trip. And you guys got a hand in it. By the way, Gardner Minshew's first trip to London. So Doug Marone said, we know how to do this. This is our thing. Well, Gardner, that's his first time over there, right? And so said, we know how to do this. This is our thing. Well, Gardner, that's his first time over there, right?

And so I thought that could have been a little bit of an interesting thing. Houston Texans took advantage of that. Let's go back to the Chargers Packers. The Chargers team is getting healthy right now. They take on the Raiders this evening. I said it doesn't matter where they're playing. They're playing in Oakland, which the Coliseum is one of the coolest places to play. The place is lit.

There will be marijuana smoke in the sky. The DJ's playing only bass songs. The only bad thing, you don't want to get hurt in that stadium. I've gotten hurt in that stadium, and the x-ray machine is so bad in that stadium. You go up there for an x-ray, this is what I've been told many times, and I've since heard other people say, like, yeah, your wrist isn't broken. Probably. It's kind of hard to know with the old equipment that we have in there as the X-ray machine.

So I don't know if it got any better. Usually you don't invest in something that you're about to leave. Yeah, the locker rooms are terrible. But other than that and then playing on the baseball field, it's a, you know. Yeah, the environment is awesome. It's a great environment. Everything else is terrible. The fans are awesome.

Fans are awesome. That's the type of fans that you want. By the way, now granted, they're leaving them. They're going to Las Vegas. But you have to whenever you have that bad of a facility. You've got to be able to change it. But the Chargers have an away game every single week. I mean, home games are not.

Rex Ryan, who is not only my peer but your peer as well, his kid coach is out there. He says, hey, look out for them getting healthy. The Chargers could go on a run again. Do you believe that? Yeah, I sort of do believe that. But here's something I would just know this about the Packers game last week. The Chargers fired their

offensive coordinator, Ken Wisenhunt. Fired him. So going into that game, the Green Bay Packers, they were seeing ghosts. They were chasing ghosts. They didn't know who they were playing against. Got it. Alright, is this an Anthony Lynn, we're going to run the ball all the time team? Or is it now Phillip Rivers, do whatever you want as a passer team? Like, they

went into that game blind. They had nothing to prepare for. They had no cut-ups. The NFL, especially for a defense, it's all about stats. Second and one, they're going to do this. Third and five, they're going to do this. Tendencies. Tendencies. And they had nothing going into that. They're like, who's this guy? We had to look up on Wikipedia who this

new play caller is. That, I think, is a factor that what you see this Thursday, now there's tendencies. Short week, though. And a short week even better. You're not going to have time to change what you've done. So if you're a coordinator and you play on Sunday and then you play on Thursday night football, there's no time to invent new stuff and get it practiced.

Got it. So it's basically going to be the same game plan that you had going into the week, maybe the plays that you never got to in the game. So this should be a lot easier for the Raiders defense this week than it was for the Packers. Okay, so that's a little piece of insight that I did not think about, and that's why you have to take a break. I used to actually love playing on Thursday night football games because I knew that the defensive coordinator that I was going up against had no time to install new blitzes. So as long as I found the time to watch all had no time to install new blitzes.

So as long as I found the time to watch all their coverages and all their blitzes, I would know what was in their game plan. Nothing new is coming. The chances of them getting it on tape and, sorry, getting it from the install to the field to actually call it in the game are very, very low. All right. Big-time, prime-time games have been the Achilles heel of Kirk Cousins. That is nothing new. install to the field to actually call it in the game are very very low all right big time prime time games have been the achilles heel of kirk cousins that is nothing new that is nothing new it has literally followed him his entire career it's like hey in big moments kirk cousins can't

show up kirk cousins had a massive hot streak going into this past week and has a loss now they have prime time games i think like the next four weeks what is it about prime time games that could potentially get into the mind of Kirk Cousins and make him not play as great as he does in the BS games that nobody knows about? Yeah, so, you know, this is a thing with Kirk Cousins. It's kind of something that he's going to have to deal with until he fixes it. But I never in my career, I don't know about you, I never said, like, oh, we're getting ready to play this game.

I never really cared if it was a 1 o'clock game, a 4 o'clock game, an 8 o'clock game. Like, that never, ever factored into my mind, ever. Like, never. Now, the thing about Kirk is until he gets one of those big wins against a winning team or on a primetime game, he's going to have to hear that for a while. My contention, I think, right now, and I'm kind of digging in this because we're going to talk about this on Sunday,

I don't think he's been on very good teams. Like, I really don't. Like, he's been on the Washington Redskins. Bad. So, like, his record against winning teams is, like, 6-17. It's terrible. But, like, you're also playing for the Redskins. You know what I'm saying?

By the way, they have a surprisingly good culture. It's a Bruce Allen sense. So, like, I was just digging into some stuff, like individual numbers. Like, you know, because the win-loss thing for a quarterback is a little bit like you could have a good game and lose. You could have a bad game and win. So I went back to the Kirk Cousins against the Rams last year, Thursday night football, primetime. Three touchdowns, threw for 422 yards, lost 38-31. Good game.

So that's not on him necessarily, okay? How about primetime road games? 18 touchdowns, 7 interceptions. Completing a good percentage. Those are the numbers that are in his defense. There are some numbers that are damning to him. Like road games, 4, 17, and 1 against teams with a winning record. But again, I think that just goes back to not being on a great team.

And I don't know how you feel about it. I'm still digging into it but uh no that's really a good piece of information because quarterbacks get all the credit and all the blame that's just what happens but have you ever in your career said like oh this is a prime time game i gotta do this well so dwight franey told me when the lights come on the stars come out yeah okay that's a defensive end right like that's like someone who's getting hyped and that's energy and that's like it that's almost like a boxer. Yeah.

I don't think a quarterback kicker, like some of those positions, is the same way. Huh? You're focused on your swing. He was going out there to punish the ball. Yeah. He was definitely getting pissed off. Excuse me.

This ball is getting launched into orbit. Who's calling the game? Tariqo? This ball is gone. No, you are right. You're just trying to focus on your individual singular job and I think it does make you a little bit more mentally weak of a human if you worry about the big time games or not the big time games.

What it does feel, if you look at one particular set of stats that he doesn't show up in the big games where you're saying, no, maybe he does. He's just taking a lot of blame for things that aren't his fault. I'm digging into it right now, but I would say this. The pressure that he... Like, that dude bet on himself four years in a row with millions and millions and millions of dollars

on the line. That's pressure. That's more pressure than like, oh, I'm playing on a Monday night game against the Browns. It's whatever. People talk about pressure moments. I think my biggest pressure moment was my pro day. Because I wasn't invited to the combine. Pro day, people were like, well like well in this game you had to do this in the fourth quarter this

it's like yeah i want to let you know like every kick that i did in high school and college on a practice field i would say all right there's a million dollars on the line yeah on that pro day real life million dollars on the line no joke in those contract years real life millions of dollars and i'll take it one further in a fourth pre game, when you're either going to make the team or not make the team. I remember my second year in the NFL. It was Brett Favre and it was Rick Meyer and me. And it was like Rick Meyer and I were going up against it. Rick Meyer is like Notre Dame, number two pick overall.

I'm just some scrub off the practice squad. I remember that game in Madison, Wisconsin against the Denver Broncos. That was as big as any playoff game. It was like this is either play well and have a job or play poorly, and then you're going to Kinko's making resumes trying to find a real job. That's pressure. So, yeah. I think Kirk Cousins bet on himself, and it worked out.

The Vikings hope that he takes that mindset to primetime games the next couple weeks. And Dallas on the flip. Dak Prescott's numbers in primetime games are next couple weeks. And Dallas on the flip. Dak Prescott's numbers in primetime games are phenomenal. His win-loss record's incredible. But I think I would just argue that I think he's probably been on a better team. And he's a great quarterback as well. Well, and he's also on primetime every

single week. That's maybe the thing too. You're on primetime against everybody. Obligatory cowboy talk just happened. They're happy we did that. We have to get that in for the show or it gets canceled. I've heard about that. I'm doing a short yardage thing this week. I'm digging into Zeke Elliott. Short yardage. Very good short yardage back.

Feed him. Eat. Let him eat. This has been very intriguing. I'm going to talk about Trubisky here afterwards. Oh yeah. Because the Bears stink. Come on. Bad. They're bad at football. Come on Mr. Haspik. Get my back here. No, they stink.

I mean, I think he even knows that they stink. There ain't no stat he can dig up. I think you're rubbing off on me. I was breaking down the Jets and the Giants, and I was digging in, and I go, they just stink. Why did I say that? I think that's Pat rubbing off. I've been getting after it in the weight room again. I got a little bit fat, got a little bit out of shape.

So I decided to start working out a little bit, start doing a little bit more cardio, decide to do a little bit more leg press, start doing some Olympic lifts again as if I was an 18-year-old and forgot that I hadn't been doing shit for about three years. My body was sore.

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First playoff game as a starter. It was good. By the way, you've got gotta let that thing swing i liked what you did there you know al harris going into the packers hall of fame with my guy charles woodson congrats to both of them congrats to them couldn't have done it without me no okay so that type of attitude though that mindset is something that i think trubisky no longer has trubisky looks like a lost player out there he looks like he's lost his confidence last year number three total qbr this year a completely different animal looks scared looks like a lost player out there. He looks like he's lost his confidence. Last year, number three total QBR.

This year, a completely different animal. Looks scared. Looks like he's seeing ghosts every single play. How do you fix Trubisky? What has been the problem? So I said this last week on our show. The way you fix it is a disciplined eye progression. He doesn't have a discipline. The hell does that mean?

Well, I don't care what position you're playing. But if you're playing quarterback especially, you need a disciplined eye progression on every play. Your eyes have to be in the right spot. His eyes are not in the right spot. So there's something to the X's and O's that I know that I could help get fixed for him. I know that I could. But there's something bigger than that.

And I think that's what Matt Nagy and company are trying to figure out is his confidence is shook. And here's the thing about Trubisky. Him coming out, it was a surprise that he was the second pick overall. coming out, it was a surprise that he was the second pick overall, but he was probably the most ready guy based on the system that he came from at North Carolina to go start for the Bears quickly. Even though

the plan was for him to sit on the bench and have Mike Glennon be the starter year one, that plan got screwed up because Mike Glennon didn't start out so hot. So they threw Trubisky in there too early. But Mitchell Trubisky had us about 500 pass attempts in his college career. Didn't play a lot of – I think I'm right on that, Joey, right?

About 500? Yeah. That's the amazing end back there. Kind of like a Mark Sanchez or a Brock Osweiler. Guys that didn't put Cardell Jones and Dwayne Haskins. They don't have a big resume of snaps. Trevor Lawrence will someday go to the NFL, and he'll have been the starter for four years in high school, basically,

for four years in college, like a lot of snaps. That's not the case with Mitchell Trubisky. Came out early, one-year starter, does not have a wealth of, like a reservoir of experiences to draw back on. And so his confidence is shook right now. Now, isn't confidence, for me, I learned that my confidence came from my practice reps. Yes. Right?

So the harder I practiced, the better I practiced, the more confidence I went into the game. Like, I had to get those reps in. Isn't that something that you can build? And how do you lose that after having an incredible year? Listen, there's some crazy stuff in sports. People talk about Chuck Knobloch, the second baseman, couldn't throw to first base. What was that? That was something hard to explain.

Got it. To me, as a quarterback, and you just said it, the way to pull yourself out of a slump like that is with your technique and your fundamentals and the discipline of that. To me, when I studied Mitchell Trubisky last week going into this, like what is wrong with him? He was so good last year. Why is he shook right now? There's a lot of things okay but the first thing that i would point to is that

his eyes are all over the place he needs a disciplined eye progression on every play there are some base plays that they run all the time basically plays that high schools are running three guys running curl routes and two guys run into the flats you start inside when the guy that's running the curl in the middle and you basically just go one there and then whichever way the defense squeezes from, we're going two or three to the left or two or three to the right. He's all over the place. He's like

looking at everything. So is that film study? Not enough film study? Not enough practice? My guess is this. He had a successful year last year. Matt Nagy's very creative. Very creative. Prides himself on being creative. You can put too much on a young player's plate

and it's too much for them to handle. All of a sudden, it's paralysis by analysis and they play slow instead of playing fast. Do you think Trubisky can get out of this and play good football again? I don't know if he can do it this year. Of course it's not happening this year. Everybody who has a brain knows it's not happening this year. Do you put much into the, like, I think when he said that he wanted the TVs

in the building to be turned off, I think that was kind of tongue-in-cheek, but this reminds me a lot of Robert Griffin on his way out of Washington, like going to Shanahan and saying, like, no, I don't want this play on the film that we're watching, all that kind of stuff. Do you take much stock in that, or is that kind of whatever? They have mismanaged the public side of this in every which way. And Matt Nagy, I like watching his offense, but he has mismanaged the kicking situation.

Bad. Eight guys kicking from one spot. You don't understand the kicker. It's out of sight, out of mind. You're making this like a public spectacle. You brought this drama on yourself. Every now and soldier field, it's like you make an extra point it's like you created this drama this is like bears on bears crime you did this to yourself and the same way talking about mitchell trubisky at the at the press

conference talking about like yeah coach naggy asked me to watch my body language on the tv copy it's like a therapy session in front of the local media. Like, what are you doing? You don't see the best teams doing that. You don't see the Patriots doing that. You don't see, like, they have mismanaged that side of this. But if it was me and I was coaching him to get him out of the funk, I would simplify the playbook, realize that this is still a very young player that hasn't played a lot,

especially in college, and just, like, stick to the X's and O's of where your eyes are every play. Okay, let's pivot. Nagy comes from the Chiefs organization that is not a simplified playbook by any means. They've got weapons on top of weapons, and weapons fall out of trees, it seems like, for the Chiefs. New guy is tearing it up each week. Matt Moore gets a win for them. They're still in ESPN's top ten, even though they've lost almost half of their games.

Patrick Mahomes is going to get back on that field. Are the Chiefs going to be able to go for it? Does Patrick Mahomes look healthy? And that celebration, in my eyes, he was backpedaling, he was jumping, he was punching Butker after the big-time kick. Are the Chiefs going to be something dangerous in the NFC? Okay, so three things real quick, okay? The Kansas City Chiefs probably have one of the best sports medicine departments

in all of the NFL. Really? So I really have a lot of trust and faith in that. They invest in it well. The ownership invests in it well. They're top notch. Better than TB12. Well, that's a separate thing. That's separate of the Patriots. Close but separate. Second, Chris Jones coming back at D-line

for Kansas City Chiefs. You're going to see a better version of that Chiefs defense. Plus Spagnuolo, his defenses seem to go a lot better second half of the season. But I'll say this about Andy Reid. He was my coach in Green Bay. I got to sit there and watch him coach Brett Favre through injuries. Andy Reid's got that giant call sheet.

He knows how to call a game around injuries. I've seen him do it with Brett Favre. So he'll do that around Patrick Mahomes' injuries. So some clear and obvious things. You're obviously not going to see quarterback sneaks anymore. You're going to see Anthony Sherman the fullback more in short yardage situations. You're not going to see a lot of naked bootlegs and stuff like that. I would imagine Mahomes' first week back.

But they're going to be fine. That team's going to be fine. You saw what Andy Reid was able to do with Matt Moore as quarterback. They're still lighting it up offensively. Hey, they gave Matt Moore too much time. You can't give him a minute 30 and not expect Matt Moore to walk that team right down the field. And they're doing it creatively also.

Andy Reid's, I think, one of the more underrated coaches. You mentioned Andy Reid's name nationally, and people think of, oh, you know. The Kool-Aid man. Clock mismanagement. Exactly. They think of stuff like that. GIF. Yeah. It's the GIF of him oh, you know. The Kool-Aid man. Clock mismanagement. Exactly. They think of stuff like that. GIF. Yeah.

It's the GIF of him coming through the wall. Oh, yeah. See you Wednesday. But I think Andy Reid's one of the all-time great coaches of all time. I think so, too. And I know Brett Favre would tell you that. A lot of guys in Green Bay have a Super Bowl ring because of what Andy Reid meant to them as a quarterback coach when they won that Super Bowl against the Patriots. Okay.

Andy Reid, you have as a quarterback coach when they won that Super Bowl against the Patriots. Okay, Andy Reid you have a connection to. Also Doug Peterson who was in that same locker room with you in Green Bay because of Andy Reid. The Eagles seem to be getting on the right page here. Carson Wentz seems to be playing good football. To the Eagles fans, we have a friend who's a diehard Eagles fan who said, I'm buying hotel tickets or a trip to Miami already. Feel good about the Eagles being all the way back. That's aggressive.

That's aggressive. You know, it's been a two-team race in that division this whole time, Cowboys and Eagles, Cowboys and Eagles. Who's going to show up? And really, the Cowboys are in the driver's seat. The Eagles are likely a wild-card team at this point. However, if the Cowboys stumble, and they could stumble. They got Minnesota this week.

The Cowboys could stumble. I don't see that happening. I don't see the cowboys could stumble i don't see that happening i don't see the cowboys stumbling i think the eagles kind of uh shot themselves in the foot early on this season but they will be a wild card team and then once you're in the tournament anything can happen anything can happen it's oh no monday night football russell wilson takes on that 49ers defense he has 22 touchdowns only one pick clear cut favorite for the mvp right now but their defense can't stop anybody yeah they've only won all their games by a total of 18 points, point differential.

What do you think about that Monday Night Football game? Are we going to learn more about the Niners or the Seahawks? Man, the Niners are for real. The Niners are for real, 100%. But Russell Wilson is the MVP. There's no other MVP. Russell Wilson's the MVP. Jacoby Bursette, possibly.

No, Russell Wilson's the MVP. Some people are saying Bursette. A lot of guys will get an honorable mention, but Russell Wilson's the MVP. Jacoby Brissett, possibly. No, Russell Wilson's the MVP. Some people are saying. A lot of guys will get an honorable mention, but Russell Wilson's the MVP. This is what I've been told about the Seahawks defense. They haven't all been on the field at the same time. Not healthy. Yeah. So, like, putting it all together.

So, like, Ziggy Onse on the field at the same time is clowny. Like, stuff like that. They're young in the secondary. I know this about Pete Carroll. Pete Carroll, there's a stat to back this up too. Pete Carroll's record the second half of the season is the best since he's been there with

Russell Wilson, is better than any team in the NFC. Pete Carroll is not afraid of playing young players early. Not afraid of playing guys that weren't drafted. Not afraid of playing guys that don't drafted. Not afraid of playing guys that don't have the best contract. By the way, he did that with Russell Wilson.

Does that with every position, especially in the secondary. And he is not afraid to take his lumps early with the hope that they're playing their best football once the playoffs come. And that's what they believe in. They believe that the second half of the season, their defense is going to show up. And it has not shown up, just like you said.

But if they can get those front guys all on the field at the same time, they believe that that young secondary, they can improve on tackling, coverage. But they've been awful so far. They haven't lived up to the standard that they've set there. And the Niners run the ball well. And if Jimmy G can get hot, that could be a problem for the Seahawks. Support for the Pat McAfee Show 2.0 comes from our friends at Rocket Mortgage by Quicken Loans.

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Rocket Mortgage by Quicken Loans. Push button, get mortgage. Once again, that's rocketmortgage.com slash McAfee. R-O-C-K-E-T-M-O-R-T-G-A-G-E dot com slash M-C-A-F-E-E. Rocket Mortgage by Quicken Loans. Making the home buying process a smooth and successful one. What up, Zoe? We're joined by a man who's playing in his 65th year in the NFL. He was undrafted out of Cal.

He's a two-time Pro Bowler. He's an all-pro linebacker for the Buffalo Bills, Lorenzo Alexander. What's going on? What's going on? Boss man, thank you so much for joining us today. How's it going? I'm doing great. Just hanging out, getting a little treatment here in the training room

before practice and stuff tomorrow. Okay, I have a question for you. You're 36 years old? 36, yes, I am. Playing linebacker in the NFL. How the hell does your body hold up? You know, it's doing a pretty good job. Obviously, like I said, I'm in the training room.

We got some of the best staff members around the league. But really, for me, it's just a change in the way the game is played. It's more of a space game. You know, we don't have double days, none of that old school, you know, three-hour practice in the morning, two-hour practice in the afternoon, doing training camp. And so all those rule changes and just the way the game is trending has allowed me to still play in this league and bring a little uniqueness as far as the physicality and the

way i play okay so you're one of the only guys in the league that can truly talk about the change in the way the game has been set up through cbas and through science advancements a lot of people say the modern game is soft do you agree with that or do you just think it's different it's more it's more speed based yeah it's different, it's more speed-based? Yeah, it's definitely different. It's more space, obviously, speed, sprint things out. I think there's more of a consciousness about health and safety, which is huge. So, yes, it's softer in a sense as you can't do some of the things you used to do back in the day as far as tackling guys and hitting guys, but I think it's for the better

because we always think about the longevity of a guy past their career, playing with your kids, living into your 70s and 80s and the quality of life that you're going to have. So, yes, it's softer, but I think it's for a better quality of life for the entire man once they're done playing football. Okay, let's talk about quality of life now. It's a lot better when your team is winning in the NFL. Everything is better when your team is winning in the NFL. Everything is better when your team is winning.

This Buffalo Bills team is damn good not being talked about a lot. What has been the thing that has made you guys better this year? That defense has been dominant. Yeah, I mean, I think the biggest thing is continuity. I mean, this is the third year in the system. We have several guys that have been here all three years. You know, from a defense perspective, when you can have guys that you know where they're going to be at, know how they play,

we know everybody's responsibilities. You're able to just make plays fly around. Then when you have new guys to come in and add in, they get on board a lot quicker because you have guys that have already bought in and know the culture, know the system and know how to implement it. We have great leadership in every single room. It's really

been great to be around a team that is so close-knit. When things go bad on the sideline there's really no ever finger pointing we just try to figure out how we can get the solution and get it right camaraderie is the biggest x factor on any team it never gets talked about you can't judge it you can't rate it you can't stat it if the players like each other they'll play for each other not just with each other i think that's a big deal yeah and that's huge i mean we got guys going to dinner i mean i had one of my young rookies uh him and his wife went on a date night. Me and my wife watched his baby.

So you don't get that on every team. No. You don't see that around the league. And I think, like you said, it pays off dividends when you're on the sideline on Sunday and the trenches and things are going bad. You know where I'm coming from when I'm challenging you. You know it's coming from a loving place. And so guys are more apt to listen, receive it, and then we get this thing back on the page and get it rolling. Is Coach McDermott a hard ass?

I mean, they give it to Tyron Taylor. They give it to Sean McCoy. It's like he was trying to bring in his guys. To the Bills' credit, they were patient with him because that's not always going to happen in the NFL because as soon as any loss happens, you don't make change. Usually people are like, oh, they're getting complacent, but the Bills

are very patient with him, and it feels like he's got his guys in there is he a hard ass what type of coach is he no i wouldn't say he's a hard ass but i think that that that sentiment comes from our um our ownership of agulhas as far as being patient and allow sean and brandon to really uh change the culture and the environment within the building um obviously we've added a new you know invested 18 million dollars and created this huge facility and brought in a lot of different guys. And it's really a credit to them to allow Sean that time. Cause like you said,

a lot of times this microwave, I want you to win right now, but I think they understand that it takes time to develop a product. That's going to be, that's going to have some longevity to it. And Sean has a great, does a great job of presenting his vision, where he wants to go,

the culture and environment, and continues to preach and teach on it every single week and never allowing guys to get complacent, you know, whether we're winning or losing. He always has this growth mindset. And is he a hard ass? I think a little bit. I mean, I think a lot of that comes back

from his wrestling background. You know, you know, Emano, Emano, he get in there and you have to go into that dog mentality phase. And so you see a lot of that comes back from his wrestling background. You know, you know, Emano, Emano, he get in there and you have to go into that dog mentality phase. And so you see a lot of that come out in the way he coaches, the way he teaches. He's very intense. But at the end of the day, he loves people

and as a teacher, wants to see people do well on the field and really in life as well. The Patriots, man. I mean, everybody, that's where everything's going to run for. It's the Patriots. I mean, now granted, they had that loss against the Ravens. The Ravens have something in Lamar Jackson that I don't think the NFL has seen a lot of. He's Michael Vick-like.

But for the Patriots, all eyes in your facility, all roads lead through them. What do you see in the Patriots, Tom Brady, if you've even got a chance to see them yet? Yeah, well, we played them early this year. Obviously, they beat us. I mean, for me, the Patriots are who they are. They've been that for the last, you know, 15, 20 years since they had this dominant run and they really haven't changed too much obviously the pieces have come in and out um and for us it's all about playing smart sound football they're probably the epitome of not beating yourself you rarely see them make a

mistake or a crucial you know turnover or somebody busting the coverage in the in critical time of the game and so if you want to have a chance at beating them, you have to be able to put those type of games together and then make some big plays against them, like you saw Lamar Jackson do last week when they were able to beat the Patriots. And so we're right there. We've played them tough. We just haven't gotten over that hump yet.

But we see them a lot there in our division. So, you know, a lot of that mystique that they carry with them, we don't really believe in because we see them all the time. But uh we got to figure out a way to beat them if we want to win this division and ultimately go where we want to go whether it's winning the division or seeing him in the playoffs if we ever want to win a super bowl championship it's probably at some point have to go through uh new england that's just the way it is last couple decades speaking of getting over the hump or getting over the bump josh allen seems to be a much better quarterback this year than he was last year. What have you seen in his growth, not only on the field,

but off the field as well for the Buffalo Bills? I think the biggest thing is that he's gotten all the reps. He came into this league this year being the guy. And with that confidence and support of the team, it just allows you to relax and play free and not feel like you have to prove yourself. Because, you know, he's an ultra competitor and wants to show everybody that he belongs in his league. And sometimes it leads to mistakes.

And I think he's been able to harness that a little bit better and, and understanding sometimes the big play for us is sliding and getting down versus trying to fit a ball in a tight hole and, or taking a big hit because he wants to get that first down. And so those little things I think for me is, is what has allowed him to play a little bit better. Obviously, his accuracy and his understanding of the offense is going to continue to prove the longer he's in the league. You know, understanding third down defense is how people are going to try to hide coverages and blitzing him.

So getting the ball out of his hands, all those things are going to come with time. But his biggest attribute is just being a great leader. Again, people gravitate towards him. He's very personal, gets in there, mixes it up with the O-line receivers. He's not kind of standoff, like I'm the first rounder, I'm the quarterback. None of that comes across when you actually hang out with him and spend some time with him.

He's going to be good in this league, I think, for a long time, and hopefully it's all here with the Buffalo Bills. Man, that's incredible. Hey, you're really good, brother. Oh, no, I appreciate that. You should do more interviews. This has been incredible. I feel like I'm learning a lot. One last thing before we let you get to your treatment there, and I can't thank you enough for your time.

Can you talk about Bills Mafia? Your guy's been around the league. What's it like to have a bunch of drunk whites in St. ready to go to war for the Buffalo Bills? Man, we love it, brother. I mean, this year they've been everywhere with us, too. I mean, every game, whether we've been at home or away, it's felt like a home game. I mean, they traveled to've been everywhere with us, too. I mean, every game, whether we've been at home or away, it's felt like a home game.

I mean, they traveled to New York, went to Tennessee. Obviously, they show up when we're here in Orchard Park balling out. So it's been great. You know, I got back. I got here four years ago, and they've embraced me since I've been here. It's a blue-collar town, family-oriented. And, you know, the Buffalo Bills organization is almost cult-like as far as how it's just ingrained into families and kids from birth until you die. So it's awesome to be around a fan base that's excited, that's passionate.

Because remember, we didn't go to the playoffs for like 17 years, and they still was out there, snow, cold, shirts off, jumping off of buses, breaking tables. Because they love the organization and what the Bills mean. And so it's been awesome to be around a fan base that's so passionate and loves us on and off the field. The Bills Mafia is my favorite fan base of any fans of anything that have fans. I mean, I absolutely love them. They're loyal. And this year they have something to really be proud of in that Buffalo Bills team.

Ladies and gentlemen, leader of the defense, a man who's been playing football for 75 years, Lorenzo Alexander. So I appreciate you. Alright, brother. Appreciate you, man. Take care. Go Bills, man. Thank you for foxing with us all week. Thank you to all of our incredible guests.

Big thank you to the beautiful people of Tampa Bay for being so hospitable. We may or may not be traveling to Los Angeles for a big fight tomorrow trying to figure out our travel plans I hope you have the best weekend of your entire life and if you could tweet us and just tell us what's up

we like to hear from you a lot makes me feel good when I'm scrolling through my tweets and I hear from people that listen to our podcast makes me feel not so lonely makes me feel as if Ty and I only sleeping about 6-7 hours a week is all paying off. Make Ty Schmidt laugh, win some free merch. Have the best weekend of your life. We can't thank you enough.

Cheers. Ty Schmidt, play some independent music because I can't sleep at night so I just keep writing I don't need no help, I don't need opinions So don't waste my time then I just been living online My city don't show me no loving, that's fine Fuck local radio stations I got more plays than all of these rappers combined I'm going, I'm going again

I been going in I'm fed up with so many things I gotta just let it all out I'm talking about the shit they been talking about Telling me I should do this Telling me I should do that Telling me, telling me things about rap Talking the truth and that stab in my back

That will knock me off track, no, no Too many things I've been building Been hard to deal with, I just been drinking Remember my moves in the past I'm wondering what was I thinking Lately I'm living in fear Wondering what if the end is so near All of this shit going on

The shootings are strong One shot to the head and I'm gone I'm losing control but I can't let it go Cause I'm trying to get more And I've been in the moment I've been in the zone and I'm moving alone I don't pick up the phone when my family call I've been doing it wrong and I don't know what's happening

Trying to get what I've just been imagining Getting close and I've just been examining All of the fake shit, the game has been packaging I've been keeping real, I've been doing what I feel I've been out here trying to kill every beat I know I will Everything I'm working on, every night another song They've been quiet all along, they gon' notice when I'm gone I come from a town where most of the people are so close-minded They going to school and they working their job but they don't even like it

I won't be put in a box, nobody telling me what I should rock Nobody telling me what I should drop cause I do what I want and just know I don't stop Recording till four in the morning, they snoring, I'm pouring my soul into every story I'm writing, producing, I mix it, I master, I'm building my craft And I'm not looking back, I've been going doing things I wanna do when I want to Everybody wanna get away, but they not do Everybody wanna copy you, but they not you Everybody wanna be cool, but they not new

Whoa, look how I go, gon' be a dentist, I still got the flow Never gon' lose, cause I'm still doing both Never gon' lose, cause I've been on the road Come to your state and I'm killing the show Know that I'm young and I still gotta grow Know that I'm working the most, know I'm never gon' choke And I'm looking back down on the people below I've been keeping real

I've been knowing what I feel I've been out here trying to kill Every beat I know I will Everything I'm working on Every night another song They be quiet all along They gon' notice when I'm gone We don't know.