The Pat McAfee Show - PMS 2.0 774 - Rece Davis, Feel The Beat With Zak Keefer, Kyle Cathcart, Ron Johnson, & David Lombardi, Everything DB With Darius Butler LIVE From The ThunderDome, & AJ Hawk

Episode Date: November 2, 2022

On today's show, Pat, Darius Butler, AJ Hawk, and the boys chat about the possibility that Dan Snyder is entertaining the idea of selling the Commanders, the College Football Playoff releasing their first rankings, all the fallout from the trade deadline in the PAFL, and everything else happening around the league as we prepare for week 9 of the season. Joining the progrum to chat about the College Football Playoff rankings and the future of the system as a whole is the host of College GameDay for both football and basketball, the voice of the College Football Playoff rankings, Rece Davis (21:38-53:13). Next, we Feel The Beat with Zak Keefer with the Colts (1:01:58-1:04:59), Kyle Cathcart with the Dolphins (1:09:56-1:13:37), Ron Johnson with the Vikings (1:16:47-1:29:53), and David Lombardi of the 49ers (1:35:40-1:44:44) as each of those teams was either a buyer or seller at the trade deadline. Later, 9 year NFL veteran at Defensive Back, co-host of the Man-To-Man podcast, Darius Butler highlights the best and worst DB play of the week in his Everything DB segment (1:49:38-2:28:15). Make sure you subscribe to youtube.com/thepatmcafeeshow to watch the show. We appreciate the hell out of all you. See you tomorrow, cheers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We're live. Hello, beautiful people. Had a little cat scratch my throat, but it's winter Wednesday, November 2nd, 2022. This sports show starts right now. Football is a glorious sport. Football has a lot of conversation around it right now. More specifically, trade deadline was yesterday. Twelve people were moved just yesterday. It was a massive day for the NFL, a very active day for the NFL. Got to learn about which teams are going to go and which teams said no. College football playoffs official rankings were dropped for the first time last night. We'll have Reese Davis join us in 17 minutes to break that down.

He is the man, the voice of the college football playoff rankings. He's the one on Tuesday nights at 7 p.m. on ESPN alongside Joey Galloway, David Pollock, Bear, Kirk Herbstreit. I believe mostly everybody from the College Game Day crew was there. That's how I learned of this show. Good show. Tells you everything you need about basically every team. The first college football playoff rankings were dropped last night. A lot to discuss.

We will certainly do that in 16 minutes. Dan Snyder is potentially looking into selling the commanders. He has hired the Bank of America securities firm to judge potential interest in the team and how much he would make if he was to sell the whole thing. A conversation that isn't happening, that should be happening, is remember Dan Snyder bought out all his minority owners like less than a year ago. So he owns that thing outright. He could just be looking to sell like 30% of his team, still keep 70% of the team,

and have more cash in his pocket than every other owner in the NFL right now that isn't thinking about selling their team. So Dan Snyder probably going to use this to end up winning in the end and dancing in everybody's face. But a lot of people out of the Washington Commanders fan base, formerly the Washington football team's fan base, formerly the Washington Beeps fan base, they're loud thinking that Snyder might be out of the NFL.

And if that's the case, I think a lot of people will be rejoicing, but the Commanders fans will be doing it louder than everybody else. I had a couple of Commanders fans tell me right to my face, they said, hey, if Jim Irsay is the reason why Dan Snyder has to sell the team that I am forced to be a fan of because I grew up in this area and I love this team, I will buy season tickets to the Indianapolis Colts just as a thank you to Jim Irsay for doing that. It sounds like celebrations are on the horizon for the Washington team.

We don't know exactly what this means, but it sounds like the NFL might, you know, maybe get some new money in it. The talk show table is here at Ty Schmidt. The Packers did nothing yesterday. A little bit of a heartbreak. I think Aaron said he thought that there was a chance something would happen while he was on the show from 2 to about 2.45ish, 3 o'clock every single

Tuesday. That did not happen. Maybe Chase Claypool, who they were in on, who ends up going to Chicago Bears, was what Antacusa and Aaron had been talking about. But nonetheless, Packers do nothing. They kind of send a message, I think, to their fan base. Colts send. Naeem Hines, the Buffalo, kind of send a message to the fan base.

There's a team sending a message to their fan base, though, both on Fortnite with Tyreek Hill and their ownership in their front office and the moves they're making. The Miami Dolphins seem to be going all in. The Buffalo Bills make a move late yesterday. The only team that didn't make a move in the AFCs, basically, is New England Patriots. Are you guys fucking dead? Just mailing it in, letting these other teams take over?

Is that what's going on up in New England, Connor? No, no, no. We started 1-3 or 3-1 in our last four. I mean, the whole entire reason we didn't make a move is because we got the guys. We got the guys in our building. We know how hard it is to grasp this system. Why bring a guy in halfway through the season when he's probably not going to be able to learn how complicated the defense is and how complicated Matt Patricia and the offense is.

There's just no point to do it. We have the guys that can make the Super Bowl run, and that's why we didn't make a move. Hey, don't lose their coach this weekend. Well, we won't because they are so bad. Don't do it. Don't do it. I never make predictions, but it feels like 38-3.

Pats over the Colts on Sunday, to be honest with you. Big time. Might be 41-3. I'll hop right back on it. You know what? 49-3. No. Yeah.

I don't know if Ellinger's going to have 50 total yards. Boston Bruins almost won 49-3 last night. That was unbelievable. That was remarkable. That was unbelievable. That was remarkable. That was sad. That was disgusting. I went to bed a couple times during that game because it was a little bit later. Sure.

I forgot how late those NHL games potentially go a little bit, especially right after the college football playoff rankings. I was dozing in now. We're up 5-2 at one point. I wake up. It's 5-3. No, it's not. Wipe that goal off the board because the Boston Bruins are cheating.

It's still 5-2. Oh, we're in a good spot. The hockey gods are on our side. I fall asleep. I wake back up. It's 5-4. The Bruins have pulled their goalie. Oh, no.

And they are in the Penguins' end. And then all of a sudden, it's 5-5. Oh, shit. And the Boston Bruins then go into overtime, kill a penalty, four on three. Yeah. And then they win 6-5 last night. Oh, no. Did they?

The Boston Bruins, the most deplorable franchise and program in the NHL. I don't know about that. Who are the hottest team in the NHL right now, have their best first 10-game start of any season in the history of the team, which is 98 years old. Something to think about. They go 9-1, and they did it in Pittsburgh last night when they were down 3, and then they go on a four-zip run to bury Sidney Crosby,

who scored 30 seconds in the game. So quick. They were cutting promos for him before the game even started. Tonight you are in for a treat, basically. That's how Steve Levy's selling this thing, which he should be. He's the greatest player to ever play. Pretty much what ESPN said. The face of the league.

I'm the one that says this all the time. I'm literally the one because Sidney Crosby has brought me a lot of happiness, a lot of celebration, a lot of beers, a lot of things with how fucking good he is. And he never talks, so nobody knows he exists. So the NHL has done a terrible job of branding him. They've done a terrible job in communications and marketing and kind of building the game, I believe, as a whole. And nobody even knew Sidney Crosby was.

They did something a couple years back. I forget when it was. It might have been a lot of years back. They had Sidney Crosby just walk around all the big cities. Nobody recognized him. That's right. Not a single person recognized him. And in Pittsburgh, you can't do that, obviously, because we know him,

because he brings us so much happiness. And he's fucking unbelievable. He scores 30 seconds into the goddamn game last night. I'm like, here we go. Sid doesn't want balls into this. Not tonight. Sid's still Sid. It's ESPN. It's primetime. And then we fucking just crumble. And you guys beat us. And our goalie's flopping around all over

the fucking place. Your goalie gets pulled because he stinks. Then your other goalie gets hurt. They put your goalie back in. The one who stinks, this guy stands on his fucking head. What are we doing? What is happening? Why are the hockey gods doing this? We don't know. Now it doesn't matter. The playoffs don't really matter. Yeah, that's true, but you need to start hot to get into the playoffs and I believe right now the Penguins are a bottom

10 team in the NHL, so you guys are going to have to turn around at some point. You don't have to start hot in the NHL. The Blues won two years ago. They were the worst team in the NFL. Ever heard of them? Adam Maroon ain't coming to Pittsburgh, but maybe he will. Maybe he will trade for this year because the Fenway Sports Group, they're not buying into Penguins.

They're buying into the Bruins. That's not true. They might trade Crosby to Boston after what happened last night. They want to respect him. They want to respect him. Congrats to the Bruins on a big win. Thank you. Hockey season all in this year.

You can hear more of that tonight at youtube.com forward slash that's hockey talk. That was good hockey. You guys ever talk about how LeBron ruined the Penguins? Wow. What? LeBron and his

little group of investors from Boston buy the Penguins. Penguins get run out of the fucking playoffs first series and then now we're

terrible. They ruined Liverpool too. They stink this year and they used to be good and now. Now they're walking alone.

Wow. They never did before. Red Sox suck this year too. Thanks LeBron. What the hell's going on? Hold on. Is this the worst ownership group in the history?

I don't want to get into a full, is LeBron the greatest of all time on a basketball court or not. No, MJ is. We don't need. See. Go. I'm wearing some Michael Jordan shoes right now. Show them off. Show them off.

I believe it is an incredible shoe brand that creates incredible shoes and i got respect for the way michael jordan went about doing his life apparently just a complete savage oh yeah everything he's ever done good act if he was in the modern era where everything you do is scrutinized and talked about there would not be jordan shoes i don't think from what i've been told and from what the stories have been out there just because he would have been deemed not a role model i think i think he would have been deemed not a role model oh yeah i as a fan of sport and as a fan of competitors would have loved him even more if we would have heard more stories in real time about it all because i like i'm a big fan of

that if you have that mentality go ahead and make it and you do it and you could do whatever michael jordan could do that so i'm not going to get into that whole debate of whether or not LeBron is better than Jordan or Jordan is better than LeBron because they're playing two different sports in two different eras, two different times, when you have to live two completely different lives. Still making bomb-ass shoes, though. Great shoes, yeah. These shoes are fucking awesome. And I actually met the bald-headed guy.

Steve Ballmer. Well, I never met Steve Ballmer, but he is a bald-headed guy. And if we're just going to run through all bald people, this could be a long... This could be a long... David Falk? David Falk. David Falk is the agent with Michael Jordan who created the shoes,

and he's part of the whole thing. I believe he's very successful, very rich. He was representing Roy Hibbert when he was playing for the Indiana Pacers, and I'm sitting down courtside, feet on the wood, no big deal, doing that whole thing. And Roy Hibbert has like a dunk, and then he comes stumbling off, Dap up, me and him, right, because we've known each other from a couple softball games and things like that.

And then he goes and Daps up Falk. So David Falk, this bald-headed guy, goes over my shoulder, and I'm with A.Q. Shipley, who's sitting on my left, and he goes, who the fuck are you? And I go, who the fuck are you? And then he looks at my shoes I had Jordans on. He goes, I helped create those. And I go,

really? You're Michael fucking Jordan. That's awesome. And then he said, no, I rapped to him, and then we had a full conversation for like a half. Great guy. Great businessman. He's like an innovative fucking guy. Good guy. Part of this whole thing, obviously worth billions and billions of dollars. I've tried to get him to rep me a few times and he's like, I'm not taking on any more clients. Thanks. But then I saw he was at a draft or something. Sure. He's fucking good businessman. Probably good idea. Probably would have got us out of the shit with the Paffle.

But nonetheless, speaking of the Paffle, we have a man whose brain is so goddamn big when talking about the Paffle. We have him every single week, two times a week, because he makes our show better, smarter, more insightful. Ladies and gentlemen, host of the Man to Man podcast and everything DB, Darius Buzzer. Darius Buzzer. Glad to be back. How are you, man?

I'm good, man. My team got better yesterday. Can't wait to get down to Kyle. Colts got better without Naeem Hines? Yeah, how's that? My Dolphins. My Dolphins. Forgot about that.

The Colts quit. Is that what you think the message was that happened yesterday? Do you think we can take some from the Broncos who ship away Chubb? Do you think they're mailing it in on the season? Colts and Naeem Hines. The only person that scored a touchdown for us last week. They ship him out. Is that a message? Do you think they're mailing it in on the season? Colts said Naeem Hines, the only person that scored a touchdown for us last week, they ship him out. Is that a message? Do you take that or no?

I don't take that as a message. I think Naeem Hines acts to be... That's what I heard. I don't want that either. That's what I heard. And he hasn't been used like... I remember when we were at camp, I'm like, hey, this guy's going to have 100 catches this year. Because I thought coming into the year he would be one of their best. And what we've seen.

Yeah, weapons on offense. And he's showing he's a weapon. So now him with that Buffalo offense, that'll be scary. But I don't think they're... I think in like the last five years... Yeah, I mean, if they're coaching GM, I would assume... Well, they can't.

Yeah, but... I mean. No. Can a player? No, players won't. Players won't. Players won't. I mean, benching Matt Ryan was kind of the start of mailing it in, right?

He paid this guy all this money. Not the way he was playing. Yeah, true. No players are going to mail it in. I was on that team for the, let's suck for the luck. Yep. let's suck for the luck. And nobody in the locker room is trying to put on tape any fucking terrible ball. But there was conversations about some defensive play calls

that were happening in situations. Why are we doing that in third and one or third and two, sending in a cover two type set? Why are we doing that? So there was some questions about the calls by players as i'm sure there was uh by fans but that coach that called that got fucking fired has no job yeah so so it's like you don't know if that's just a dumb call by the the coordinator or is it a mail or mail it in type call by the coordinator? Because all those coaches got fired too.

So anybody that's associated with the game I don't think can tank. Not coaches and players. Front office? Yeah. I feel like the front office, they can sit down with ownership and say, hey, you know, you got next year too. Let's start shipping some guys out, get some picks, blah, blah, blah. But as far as coordinators and position coaches and players,

like Greg Williams I remember calling a blitz at the end of the game. I think he was fired right after the game. Oh, Jets, yeah. Jets. Yeah. Players are going to go out there and try to put it on film, you know, every opportunity they get, and coaches as well. So I don't think they're meddling in the Colts.

I think, you know, Frank Wright, obviously you benched Matt Ryan, and now you fired the offensive coordinator, Marcus Brady. Who we knew existed. For sure. I knew he existed, and now you fired the offensive coordinator, Marcus Brady. Who we knew existed. For sure. I knew he existed, but, you know, Frank is calling the plays on Sunday, right? Is he? Is that right? That's what I thought.

Marcus Brady. Jesus is calling the plays on Sunday through Frank. What's that? Well, if that was the case, it wouldn't be, you know, 3-5. We don't know how Jesus is. Correct. 3-4-1. Well, no.

He may be good, but he's got a lot of other stuff to figure out. He can throw the ball a country mile. I do think, though, players aren't mailing it in or whatever because they can't on tape. You don't want to look bad. You want to have a career. You want to make money. I think there's some top guys that might mail it in a little bit. Who knows?

Make some business decisions in situations. Already paid. For sure. Those people can, but the bottom half of the roster. But I don't think you're getting the extra reps. Those people came, but the bottom half of the roster. But I don't think you're getting the extra reps. I think somebody who's questioning how much they're going to go do afterwards or at home or in the film, I think whenever you make decisions,

trade Naeem Hines even if he asks for it, which isn't good about the culture and what's going on anyways. Because even if you are not getting the ball as much as you probably should, if you're part of a good culture, you should want to be there, especially because you just got paid. He's going to do so well for the Bills. Yeah, he won the ball though, man. Well, he should have got the fucking ball.

He should have put him at slot receiver and had him get the ball. Like everything we were talking about. You could find ways to get a guy like Naeem Hines the ball. Wait until you see what the fucking Bills do with this. Sure. I understand the Bills have a lot of weapons. The Bills are very good. Ken Dorsey seems to be an incredible fucking offense coordinator who has passion emotion

and everything like that wait till you see the shit that they're about to do with naeem hines he's fast very fast he's explosive and he can catch the ball very well so well he's a punt returner as well if he needs to be and like i said yesterday i think he said in an interview that he tells himself before punts, like, if I die, I die. Like, that's how it's got to be. So he's that type of, he's literally like everything you would want. So if he's getting upset enough to say, I'd like to be traded, don't you think that should

maybe linger down to the play caller and be like, hey, can we get this guy the ball a little bit more? He is not this type of guy to ask for be traded at all. I think everybody loves Naeem Hines. I think everybody loves, I think he's very well liked by the community. He's very well liked by the community. He's very well liked by the community. I thought he was very well. I went to a concert.

No, I went to a college basketball semifinal was here, I think, right? I went with some of the trainers from the Colts, some of the equipment managers from the Colts. Only a couple of the players, the modern, I guess, active players. Naeem Hines was one of them because he was liked by the trainers,

the equipment room, everything like that. Like I think Naeem is liked by everybody. So if he is requesting a trade, that should have sent maybe a little bit of a. Oh, shit. Like, hey, can we, this guy is not this type of guy at all. Like this guy is very well liked and everything. Can we maybe get him to rock a little bit more, especially because our offense has been pretty inept and that didn't happen,

which leads me to think, thank God they fired that offense coordinator. Thank God they fired that offense coordinator yesterday. But to follow up, I think there's going to be some people that maybe take shortcuts, that wouldn't take shortcuts. So even if you're not mailing it in and the plan is still to go out there and win and there's jobs on the line, which there certainly is, I'd assume, not only in the NFL every single day but in Indianapolis, I think there's going to be some people, there's going to the line, which there certainly is, I'd assume, not only in the NFL every single day, but in Indianapolis, I think there's going to be some people there.

There's going to be ripple effects of this shit where people aren't buying all the way in, aren't doing everything they can because you're seeing what the coaches are doing. You're seeing what the front office is doing. You're seeing what the next year maybe looks like. You're hearing all the rumors, and it's not good. This is not a good program to be a fan of right now. It's not a good program to be a fan of.

All of a sudden, out of nowhere, you're a fan of Miami. This is Miami. This is a Miami thing. This is a a good program to be a fan of right now. It's not a good program to be a fan of. All of a sudden, out of nowhere, you're a fan of Miami. This was Miami. Yeah. This is a Miami thing. This is a Lions thing. This is not an Indianapolis Colts thing. This happened multiple times over the last couple seasons. It's like, what the fuck is going on here?

Let's talk about another program that's maybe about to change. Is Dan Snyder selling the Washington Commanders, Ty Schmidt? Is that what's happening right now? He hired Bank of America. He said, I've got to gauge some potential interest. He's Daniel Snyder, owner of the Washington Commanders football team, and beep! Is he selling the team, Ty? I don't think so. You mentioned it. You said this could just be a ploy where he's going to sell off maybe 30% of his ownership to get a little

more cash on hand. Everything we've heard from this guy, he's basically said, you're going to have to take this football team from my cold dead hands like fuck you i don't care what everyone hates me already everyone already thinks i'm a piece of shit like everyone's saying it publicly come take the team then i'm not selling this team so you guys can do whatever you want to and i didn't even think of that because the all of like the reaction on twitter was oh my god he's selling the team here we go like i can it's finally gonna be fun to be a washington fan again i don't think so this guy knows exactly what he's doing i think that makes a lot of sense it's like oh okay you guys you guys want me out of the league

well i'll make it appear like i'm selling the team i'm gonna sell 30 of it to someone who maybe i'm buddies with who's never gonna push you know or have any issues with anything i'm doing and i'm gonna get i'm gonna get a bunch of fucking money yeah exactly a bunch of fucking money in who's never going to push or have any issues with anything I'm doing. And I'm going to get two billion bucks? Yeah, exactly. A bunch of fucking money in return. And then guess what? Next year at the owner's meeting. This guy gets two billion bucks.

I'm going to be laughing at all you dipshits because I'm still going to be the owner. I'm showing up in a new jet. Yeah, exactly. I'm showing up. I'm parking my new yacht that I just bought from selling the shares on the street where we are doing the owner's meetings. I'm living in that. We're shutting down the town that we're in that I just bought from selling the shares on the street where we are doing the owners meetings. I'm living in that. We're shutting down the town that we're in that I just bought.

Oh, and I have an extra couple billion still to use. That would be a very Daniel Snyder play if he was to do that. But I guess everybody's thinking that he got bullied by the other owners and by the public into saying, all right, finally, I'll just kind of give it up. And maybe he does want some happiness at the end of the day. It would be a very Daniel Snyder thing to do what Ty said, because he's a stubborn piece of shit, it feels like. Allegedly.

Allegedly. Allegedly. A lot of people are alleging that. A lot of alleges. But, like, maybe someone did get in his ear and, like, hey, that three-month vacation we took in Napoleon's Island where we were hiding from all that stuff, and that was pretty fun, right? And those exposés and the owners talking shit on you, that's not fun.

But, yeah, I mean, being an NFL owner is cool and stuff, but, like, you could also, you know, just take $5 billion and $6 billion and just go have fun for the rest of your life. That's his life right now. Like, maybe someone got to him and said, hey, $6 billion and living just stress-free, maybe that'd be fun too. Hey, that would be kind of cool, wouldn't it? You just kind of disappear into your little island. There's a lot of bad billionaires out there who are just living

and no one's bothering them because they're not an NFL owner. Maybe that'd be cool. Maybe. Yeah. Maybe his family, his wife, who is being forced to answer all the questions, remember? Because once they wanted to separate from Dan Snyder, they're like, Hey, Mrs. Snyder, need you to come in and talk about it? And she's like, I fucking hate this guy.

I fucking hate this guy. I hate this guy. I didn't want to. I hate folk. I've been trying to sell this thing. We had poop pipes burst on people the last three years. Now I'm the face of it. Maybe she's telling them, let's go ahead and sell it.

$6 billion, though, is the projected. They're going to have to build a new stadium. And we've been grossly overestimating the price of every franchise. We thought the Broncos were going to go for $6 billion. Allegedly, the Washington Commanders team, much bigger than what the Broncos are. And they have to build a new stadium. They have to build a new culture. They have to build a new culture. Probably going to change the name again.

New uniforms and all that kind of stuff. New owner, don't you think? Commanders is not loved by their fan base. It's very new and you're a new... If they sell the team. This is still... If he gives up the majority stake of the team, they would change it.

They do have a fight song. Put your left hand up. Who are we? The Commanders. Who wrote that again? Wall-A. A genius? I do not believe it was Wall-A. Did he produce it? He may not have written it.

I'm not sure Wall-A. He had his hands on it. You don't think? You don't think? Are you certain? Are you just assuming Are you certain? Something that good. Are you just assuming? I'm just assuming. Oh, you're just assuming?

You know what happens. You got a good chance. I think he at least wrote that verse. Yeah. He didn't make that? Who are we? The Commanders. Definitely a banger, though.

It is? We want Dallas. I mean. Dallas. Whole fan. I mean. Dallas. Whole fan. Fellas. Yes. Yeah.

So you're saying Wale didn't make that song? I don't think he did either. I don't know. If it came out of the DMV, Fuloran had something to do with it. No. I don't. They keep saying Wale. His name's Wale.

I don't think he had anything to do with that song. Really? I think his fingerprints might be on it somewhere. I don't know exactly where. His fingerprints were on something, and they created a text message. He should at least make a parody of it. A parody? A parody of it, yeah. All right, speaking of a parody, we have made a parody of all football.

Let's bring somebody in that's an actual fucking professional. Hell yeah. Okay? I get the opportunity to watch this guy work every single Saturday and Friday during production meetings and Monday during production meetings as well. Incredible brain, incredible professionalism, has an ability to juggle that I think should be talked

about a little bit more whenever you're judging hosts and the capability of doing things. This past week in Jackson, there was about an hour of the show where we couldn't see the show, we couldn't see any of the graphics that were up on the screen, and we had no idea what was going on because we lost connection from Jackson, Mississippi to Bristol, Connecticut. So in our ears, and I assume in this man's ears a lot more than what ours, they're saying it's on the screen. Just trust it. Just trust it. Just trust it. This

dude had to host a show with a couple million people watching, not knowing anything that is being shown. He did it in a wonderful fashion in front of a live audience. I have nothing but the utmost respect for this man. Ladies and gentlemen, the voice of College Game Day, the voice of the college football playoff rankings, Reese Davis. Yeah! What's up, Reese? That's some kind of intro, my friend.

You deserve it. I was enjoying the Wale discussion, though, before I came on. So me and Wale know each other rather well and um he's a wrestling fan i've encountered him a couple times at those events i'm a big fan of his work i like the way his brain operates so when this commander song came out and we were we were promoting it loved it and on the show obviously you hear the way we go we're just a bunch of idiots i think it was said like four or five times oh wale wale i get a text from wale keep my name off that song that is kind of how it's gonna i think it's because you didn't want credit for

how good it was uh but reese you've been doing game day now football how long eight years enjoy enjoy it love it did you come from the basketball one did you pick up the basketball one at the same time or how did you end up in the College Game Day of Football? No, I actually did the first College Game Day of Basketball in 2005. I started it. The first year Fowler and I split the season. I did the first four, he did the second four, and then I've done all of them since.

But I was hosting college football in the studio before that, started doing that around 98 or 99 99 full time i think and uh i mean that's that's where that's that's what drives the boat that's what i what i love i love them both but uh this is this has been a a great passion of mine since i was a little kid and i'm lucky enough to get to do it on television and they send me a paycheck every thursday which is good too yeah the paycheck's always great i mean mean, we love doing things, but getting paid for it, if somebody else is making money, we would also like that to happen. You do a great job.

You're a Rolodex of information. And the way you handle and command conversations and in the production room, and you allow creativity to happen, you're very fucking good at what you do. I just wanted the world to know that. That's why I gave the introduction that I gave. You hate that. I know you hate that. So I'm going to continue to do it here while your face is on the screen. This dude's really good at what you do. I just wanted the world to know that. That's why I gave the introduction that I gave. You hate that. I know you hate that.

So I'm going to continue to do it here while your face is on the screen. This dude's really good at what he does. Hates hearing about it. Probably overcritical, just like the top players are at any sport. You miss a word, he probably fucking thinks about it for four or five days. So, Reese, I appreciate everything. You know me well.

I've been asking you a lot of questions, man. I'm intrigued by the way your brain operates because you know I have to sit on a microphone every single day for three hours and try to do it I'm trying to get better and I think you're somebody I can learn from let's learn from the past though here the college football playoff is always going to piss people off and yesterday the first one the first official one comes out Tennessee's at the top Ohio State's number two overall Georgia's number three so college game day this weekend is one versus three in Athens, Georgia. Four Clemson, five Michigan, six Alabama, seven TCU, Oregon, USC, LSU. So a lot of conversation about who Clemson? What is Clemson?

They have three top 25 wins though. So strength of record, is that something that's real? TCU, they seemingly have no shot, right? They have no chance to get to the top four, even if they run the table because they have no ranked opponents left. How should we be viewing this, and how gospel is this right now whenever we're thinking about the end of the season, Reese? Not very, Pat, to be honest, in terms of how gospel it is. It's important.

It's instructive in some ways, but I still think that TCU probably doesn't have the ability to lose a game and still make it, even if they win the Big 12, absent other meltdowns around them. But if they win all of their games, I think it's a virtual lock if they'll be in the playoffs. Okay, here we go. Yeah, If they run the table, they'll go. I'm not too worried about that. I think you can make a really good case that they should have been ranked higher, and you can probably make a case that Clemson should have been a spot or two

lower. To me, that's sort of the beauty of the committee, is that if we wanted just a formula, we used to have one, and everybody railed and pissed and moaned about it all the time about the BCS formula. So now we've got people that are using some metrics and using some science and some data. And they're also applying some of their I refer to it as football judgment. They are looking at it going, OK, I know that it says their 20th in efficiency. I think they're 20th in efficiency i think they're better and i think there's room for that as long as as long as all of it is blended together and it's not just i think this team's going to have more guys drafted so they'll probably win

so i'm ranking them higher all right reese we're going to call you back the connection on our end isn't great we'll get you back here on a clearer picture because everything you're saying there is fantastic i like it to be uninterrupted. How about that TCU announcement? They will go. Because I just assumed as a fan watching from the outside in, with the way they had that ranked with them sitting at seven, I didn't know how many teams are going to have to lose and how many games they're going to have to lose for TCU to be able to make it

because everybody says it's a power five. But the SEC and the Big Ten carry so much more weight. You a big college fan at all? You follow it all? I'm following it more this year. And then, obviously, my UConn Huskies. Hey, big win over Boston College. First win ever over Boston College.

Wow. Morris seems to be doing it up there. Yeah, with a haunted house and all. That shit was wild. Yeah, he needs to move. I watched The Watcher. Get your fucking ass out of that house. It's not going to get better.

It's going to get worse before it gets better. I've just seen it on Netflix, basically, the same exact situation. And friendly. No, they're not. I mean, there's going to be one asshole that's going to come worse before it gets better. I've just seen it on Netflix, basically the same exact situation. And friendly. They're not. I mean, there's going to be one asshole that's going to come in and ruin the whole game. But I do like the fact that I've gone ghost hunting in the past. They told me to download an app, and it was a ghost tracker. And it was a radar, like a Doppler.

And I wasn't like DiNardo. I wasn't seeing it as good as everybody else. I did get chills a couple times, though, and they said that was the spirit passing through me. I was like, or maybe just got the chills. A little windy. I believe i believe in spirits though i believe in ghosts so more needs to move uh joining us once again reese davis i believe we have a better service that's on our end that's on our end reese uh so what you were talking about there tcu would make it you think if they were to run the table as opposed to get left out so i said this on the demo field which

great name of that particular part of the uh the set over there i said on the demo field, which great name of that particular part of the set over there. I said on the demo field, as we're kind of laying into the college football playoffs, we're teasing the Tuesday night release on Saturday in Jackson. I said TCU's got no shot, right? They got no ranked opponents left. I think Texas A&M was probably supposed to be a much bigger game than it's going to be. Texas is supposed to be a much bigger game than it's going to be. They have a couple road trips that are going to be difficult.

But you're saying they went out guaranteed to go in there. Is that just a college football playoff rule? If a Power Five conference goes undefeated, they have to go in there or it's a lot more discussion about it all now? Yeah, no, there's no guarantee of it because they're charged and they have some criteria they use for evaluation, but the charge is to get the four best teams. Today, not like at the beginning, but right now. Right then. Yeah, on that selection day when they rank them for the final time,

that's the final time, that's the charge. Get the four best teams in the playoff. And oftentimes the type of verbiage that they'll use, is that if teams are similar, then they will use a thing like conference championships head-to-head common opponents that type of thing if they if the teams have been deemed to be similar meaning that you know if you have a eight and four team that pulled an upset against a 12 and they're probably not going to be deemed similar so it's not it's not a guarantee it's not a lock

it's not a rule it just given the a lock. It's not a rule. It's just, given the games that will be played, Tennessee, Georgia playing each other, Ohio State, Michigan playing each other, the Pac-12 team still have to play, Alabama and LSU playing Saturday. I just think it's really hard to envision a scenario in which TCU would go through the Big 12. While it might not be as top-heavy as some conferences, the games at the bottom are tougher than in most conferences, if not all of them. So I have a hard time believing they would go through that unscathed

and wouldn't make it. I think it's highly unlikely. It's not a guarantee, but it's highly unlikely. Hell, yeah. You're talking about West Virginia right there. I heard it. I heard what we just said about West Virginia right there, Reese. Tone Diggs has a question for you, Reese.

Reese, since only the top four matter in the college football playoff, why do they, I don't want to say waste of time, but why do they take the time every week to do the top 25? Because I know they throw it out and they start over each week. Is there a reason why they do the top 25 instead of maybe just the top four or top eight or top ten? Why do you think they go to 25? Well, one of the reasons is they also set the matchups in the New Year's Six Bowls, and there are some criteria established about who gets into those bowls.

I think the other thing it does, it gives them a good picture of the entire landscape as they see it for which wins would be quality in their eyes. And it probably would also give them a good picture for – because I was told something I didn't know until a few weeks ago. Because I was on this thing about when the playoff expands that there needs to be some type of threshold for conference champions to make it. And they actually ranked them, I think, down to 50, but they only released the top 25. So they try to do a comprehensive look at the entire sport, and that's why they do it. But probably the most practical reason is to set the New Year's six games and to determine who has more quality wins than someone else. Who selects the committee? It's a rotating group. They extend bids.

I think it's a three-year term. There are four new members on it this year. So the college football playoff group extends invitation, tries to put together guys and women from various backgrounds, playing experience, coaching experience, administrative. The last couple of committees have had a media member on it or a former media member on it. Really?

And so they try to sort of spread the gamut across people in college football. I read – I kind of – I try – everybody can disagree with the committee. That's fine. I mean, that's sort of part and parcel of what goes along with the committee. But I get annoyed when someone put out last night, they don't know what they're watching. And I'm like, okay, so you're telling me you don't think that Jim Grove, who used to coach at Wake Forest, knows what he's watching.

You don't think that Joe Taylor, who had a brilliant head coaching career for 30 years at HBCUs, he doesn't know what he's watching. You don't think Will Shields, John Urschel, or Ward Manuel, who's the AD at Michigan but played at Michigan, they don't know what they're watching. Give me a break. You know, you can disagree with them.

That's fine. I mean, that's part of the territory. But they know what they're seeing. You know, they are able to make football judgments on things. I saw Boo was the guy. I saw Boo Corrigan, I believe is his name. He's the athletic director for? NC State. NC State. He was talking last night. Is being able to articulate what the committee is finding a part of picking the leader of the committee, or is that just strictly a,

this person will get us to the decision better than everybody else? I think it's a little bit of both, Pat. It's an important part to represent what the committee thinks. And it's also, you want someone with good leadership qualities in the room. And Boo mentioned last night, this is his first year as the chair, and mentioned using a light touch, trying to pick his spots. Probably learned that from his father, who was a longtime administrator, who's the athletic director at notre dame and virginia the commissioner of the acc gene corrigan um boo's brother tim yeah boo boo's brother tim works for us used to work in college football and now is a coordinating

producer probably senior coordinating producer in the nba so this is a family that's been immersed boo grew up in this he He knows this stuff. But I think one of the things that is difficult for the chair every week is that they're in that room and they have a vote, they have a voice. And you might have thought one thing, you might have been advocating one position, but the committee as a whole came to a different conclusion, and you have to represent what the committee as a whole, the conclusion that they came to. Listen to Boo go, now, there was quite an argument to be said that Michigan deserved.

They put up 418 yards against Penn State, the only league opponent. Clemson has had three top 25 wins, but that's in our current ranking. what will be by the end of that whole there is certainly an argument to be said about that but what the committee said was like that's a funny thought of him having to balance his own because those are split right are those just vote majority wins or does it have to be like two thirds or what is it no they do do it it's a really interesting way they've done it and i've gone through the exercise a couple of times. They put teams on the screen, and you list six teams, and no particular order.

And the six teams that get the most votes from the 13 people in the room are then put into a group, and you rank them. Three are then ranked. The other three are held over. You do the entire process over and over again. So they don't just do it like you would do the AP poll or the coaches poll, where everybody votes one through 25, and then you add it up. It's more of a deliberative process. It's more of evaluating teams within groups and clusters. So there are situations that have come up in the past

where I've asked various committee chairs the question, maybe you have a couple of teams, and you say, was Team A ever actually evaluated in the same group as Team B? And sometimes they'll tell you and sometimes they won't. And, you know, so that's also an interesting thing. How do you feel being the guy that has to lay out the information every Tuesday night of what the committee's voting on, not even what Boo is telling you what so that's also an interesting thing how do you feel being the guy that has to lay out the information every tuesday night of what the committee's voting on not even what boo is telling you what the committee's better you have to do it because as soon as the top two as soon

as uh georgia was ranked three you go so we miss out on one verse two this week that was your first reaction i heard it i literally heard it because as soon as it popped up on the screen i had the same reaction as you it was like all right so it all right, so it's one verse three this weekend or whatever. It's funny listening to you kind of. Do you know before the show goes live or are you being revealed it while you're live on air? Revealed me live on air. When we started this, this is the ninth season of it. We went back and forth about that and ultimately decided, I think, the first week of revealing the rankings in 2014

that let's give this a try and see how this works with us not having a single clue as to what the rankings are going to look like and just react genuinely and authentically. And it's worked out and we make it a point not to see. In fact, last night, Drew Gallagher, who you know is the coordinating producer of Game Day, says before the show, he's out there with Pollock and Galloway and me, and Drew says, here's a question you might want to think. And I said, stop right there. And he said, what? I said, when you tell me what question you think I ought to ask, you're starting to figure out. I said, I'm going to know something because i know how you think and vice versa he knows how i think to assess it don't so don't tell me and he didn't and we we go out of

our way to make sure we don't see it at all beforehand it's the right move it's a good decision i'm happy espn decided to do that i'm happy you're a part of that drew gallagher philly john super happy right now eagles are good rice harper's hitting dingers and he's telling the guy coming up behind him in the batter's box everything we thought about this guy's glove placement 100 happy right now eagles are good price harper's hitting dingers and he's telling the guy coming up behind him in the batter's box everything we thought about this guy's glove placement 100 real another dong shot about to win the fucking world series hey good for drew by the way and all in all the philly johns there uh ty has a question for you reese yeah reese we've heard a lot about the potential you know moving to eight teams in 2024 or 2025.

It seems like that date kind of moves a lot. Pat mentioned before we were on air about how with the Power Five, it doesn't really make sense because there are still only four teams, and it doesn't really apply this year because Oregon and USC both have a loss. But do you see them moving to eight teams here in the near future so we avoid situations where you have all five power conferences that potentially have a champion that go undefeated and one of those teams is still the odd man out.

Well, they've agreed to a 12-team format that's going to – exactly when that's going to be implemented is still being discussed. That's more of a logistical question. What do you mean by that? What do you mean by that, Reese? What do you mean by that race what do you mean by that what what do i mean by what the logistical questions yeah when it's going to come in when it's not because you and i know the same information i'm excited to hear how you lay it out and then as you lay it out i will do this my guess is and it's nothing more than a guess i think we'll have this system obviously we're

going to have this year i think we'll definitely have this system next year. But my guess is that by 24, maybe 25 at the latest, but by 24, I think we can probably get to the place where there will be the 12-team playoff. And what the 12 teams would consist of would be the six highest-ranked conference champions. They would automatically get into the field. The top four ranked conference champions would get buys and then after that, you would use the rankings for the at-large bids to fill out the rest of the field. So what's the sixth one?

The American conference? It would be whoever's the highest ranked. In this particular year, if you just for the fun of the exercise, if you used last night's rankings and pretended that those were the final um the highest rank next highest ranked conference champion would be Tulane at number 19 so Tulane would get into the field they wouldn't get a buy but they would get into the field of 12 and that would be from the American but there have been years when it would be uh what Coastal Carolina a couple years ago probably would have been the team out of the Sun Belt

to get it under a 12-team format. Cincinnati, UCF, I mean, there's a lot. And even though they're moving to the Big 12. The Big 12, yeah. So the plan would still be, I guess, in a couple years to have six conferences that are worthy of sending somebody to a playoff then. So all that thought – whoa, what was that face? That is my

biggest bone of contention with the 12 team plan i think i think there needs to i think there needs to be a threshold that the champions need to meet in order to be included whether that's being ranked in the i would probably be so strict i'd say the top 12 or 15, but even if it's just the top 20, because you might run into a year where the fifth or sixth highest ranked conference champion is like 37th. Why are they in the national championship tournament? They shouldn't be there. That's the March Madness thought, though, right? That's the March Madness thought is what they're going for.

Right, exactly. And I don't think it fits for college football. I like the fact that it's hard to get in. So I would like to see a threshold for it. But your point is a perfect one, is that those teams that are moving out of the American-12 weakens that conference. So now you've got two that this year are legitimate that are going to be weaker by the time we get to 12 and, in theory, would weaken the playoff field. But, you know, we'll see how it works out. Reese, it sounds like you've had this conversation with somebody in the past. There's a question for you, Reese. Go ahead, D-Bud.

Reese, while I have the authority on college football on here, I've got to ask you about my Huskies. Number one, is there any chance my UConn Huskies get back into a conference so that they compete and recruit on a better level? And what's your thoughts on our Coach Mora? Obviously, he's doing some big things over at UConn. You guys did a piece on him on game day. What's your thoughts on him turning this program around?

Move out of the house. Needs to move out of the house. I agree with Pat on that one. We've got to get out of that Ghostbusters house, first and foremost. I've been really surprised and impressed. Jim's a really good coach, but I thought that the difficulties that UConn faced because they de-emphasized football by definition, because of the choices they've made to put basketball first, go back into the Big East, which all of the fans in Connecticut, virtually all of them wanted because that's more important to them. But I think with a strong coach like Mora, and if he uses the transfer portal wisely,

that this could be their path. They're not going to out-recruit anybody. There are good players in the Northeast. There just aren't as many of them. And most of them are leaving the area anyway. Whether it's Christian Wilkins leaving to go to Clemson, or there's a quarterback over at mine and Pat's favorite place, the Avon Old Farm School for Boys, who just committed to Georgia. The winged Beavers. The winged Beavers.

So I think he has to find a way to keep some of those guys home school for boys who just committed to Georgia. The winged beavers. The winged beavers. So, you know, I think he has to find a way to keep some of those guys home and then make UConn an attractive bounce back place for guys who decide they want to come home or things aren't working out or whatever. But he's a really good coach. He's done a tremendous job, I think. As far as being attractive to a conference, they would love to get in the ACC, but I think it's hard to find what they bring in terms of increasing the value in football in terms of eyeballs and things of that nature.

Speaking of that, YouTube doesn't make a sound when the ratings drop, but I think I heard a bzzz about that UConn. I think I heard it. Maybe the ACC changes that. I'm not sure. We'll see.

Hey, good for the Huskies. Way to go, UConn. Way to go, UConn. Thank you, Reese. College football authority is Pete Thamel, but this man knows everything about everything. Reese, a lot of coaches fired. You know, Harsin's the most recent down there at Auburn,

and there was, I guess, conversation and chatter about down there at auburn and there was i guess conversation chatter about that happening since his off season whenever there was like so many complaints about the operation he's running with either either alumni and current players and i think ncaa was investigating just never really worth a a shot this year it sounded like he was getting fired from day one uh he adds to the list of other five uh schools that already have power five conference schools that are going to have openings. You've got Matt Rule coming out of the NFL. Deion Sanders, obviously his name is getting brought up for everything he's done

for Jackson State and the SWAC as a whole. Game day went to Jackson State in the middle of the season. Not for a bowl, not for anything. The middle of the season went to Jackson. So he's obviously getting a lot of. Lane Kiffin, people are saying he's leaving Ole Miss to maybe go to one of these other schools. That doesn't make a lot of sense to me.. People are saying he's leaving Ole Miss to maybe go to one of these other schools. That doesn't make a lot of sense to me.

How do you see this shaping up? When will these decisions be made? And is any of it very interesting to think about right now? Or does this all kind of get handled later, Reese? No, man, I think it's fascinating right now. You talked about ratings. Our ratings show that when we talked about last year, when we talked about the USC coaching search, no matter how many times we did it, the ratings ticked up.

People are fascinated by it. It's drama. It's intrigue. There's always a fascination with the bright, shiny new toy who might lift the program back to relevance. So I think it's a really fascinating conversation. It's a difficult spot for guys like Lane lane who are in the middle of still competing for championships where he is but he's going to be a target of theirs i would imagine for auburn i for auburn i mean i can't believe that they wouldn't go after him let me let me show my

ignorance here of college football he leaves old miss to go to auburn for i've heard the grove in old miss and it's in the sec and what he's been able to accomplish and he's good he's a good spot auburn better school for coaching then that would be a climb up to scale and now how who does who decides that i well the individual does i think there are pluses and minuses to both pat but i think there is some history that would indicate that auburn is a higher level job and here well number one, Ole Miss has had a coach leave Ole Miss for Auburn before. Tommy Tuberville left Ole Miss to go to Auburn before, just days after saying the only way I'll leave Oxford is in a pine box. That's right.

So I advise Lane, whatever you do, don't say you're not going to leave Oxford except in a pine box. He's in government now. Oh, yeah. Yeah, he's a senator in the state of Alabama now. Never lies. Nope. Politician. I don't know if Lane's going to's a senator in the state of Alabama now. Never lies. It's not a politician. I don't know if Lane's going to be a senator.

No, I don't think that's in the cards. But for all of the dysfunction that Auburn has had, and it's been abundant dysfunction, they won a national championship in 2010. They were 13 seconds from winning another one in 2013. And they were a game away from making the playoff in 2010. They were 13 seconds from winning another one in 2013, and they were a game away from making the playoff in 2017. So throughout all of that, they've won big. Ole Miss hasn't done as much. I think there's a little bit more of a fertile recruiting area. There's a bigger stadium for whatever that's worth at Auburn. I think is probably a slightly better situation. But I've heard people say you can't

win a national championship at Ole Miss. I don't believe that. I just think it's probably a little bit harder than at Auburn. I think they'll make a run at it. I just don't know if they'll take it or not. I heard Ole Miss fans are... Everybody said Ole Miss, if we or not. I heard Ole Miss fans are – that's all everybody said. No, they're great. If we do a game day at Ole Miss, you'll love – you will – they said you will love Ole Miss. You, pointing at me.

You will love Ole Miss. I'm like, oh, sounds great. And then it's like Lane Kiffin might leave to go somewhere else within the same conference. I just didn't fully understand that. Let's talk about some of the other jobs. There's some other big jobs. Is Matt Rule, you think, a name that's going to come back into college circles

because of the success he had at Temple and at Baylor, even though it didn't work out with the Carolina Panthers? Deion Sanders, you think he gets a big-time look? And what do you think it will take? We saw the love that Jackson has for Deion, and Deion has for Jackson, obviously. And there's a lot more to it than just how much you appreciate. And he would still be able to be a blueprint for people that you can go coach in the SWAC and get a Power 5 job as opposed to having to go coach somewhere else to get a big time job

so I think it would still be a success story if he was to leave there do you think he gets called to a power five school and which one do you think it is potentially I don't know which one it would be Pat but I think that uh that power five schools would be foolish not to evaluate Deion closely. I know it's only a couple of years as a head coach, but he's done a remarkable job. And one of the things about being a college head coach is so much of it is about how well do you handle building the culture and the structure of your program and generating enthusiasm, whether it be for fundraising or tickets or recruiting. Deion's done all of that brilliantly.

And you know he knows ball. And you see by what he's done at Jackson State that he can put together a great staff. He would have more resources somewhere else to do those things. He would give you a huge boost in attention. So I think there are a lot of schools that would be interested in looking at him. And I wouldn't be surprised if Auburn didn't at least look at him. Georgia Tech might look at him. You know, I think those would be a couple off the top of my head. And if Florida State gets sideways, they definitely would look at him. And as you brought up Matt Rule, I've been like chief on the hire Matt Rule parade.

That was the guy I was telling USC to go try to hire Matt Rule when he was still with the Panthers. So I think Matt might take a year off just talking to people who talk to him. Hey, yeah, baby, by the way. I think he'd be great. I think he'd be great wherever, whoever hired him. We're going to try to get him on our show for that year he takes off. Now, I know he probably wants to disappear for a little bit and enjoy his life. It's probably been very stressful.

The amount of turnover in his program out there at Carolina and his first dabble as a head coach in the NFL with what he left at Baylor to go do that. A lot of money, like $70 million, so he can enjoy that a little bit with the family. But whenever he was at Baylor, they were a wagon. Oh, yeah. They were everything. All signs were pointing to happiness, a wagon. Oh, yeah. They were everything. All signs were pointing to, like, happiness, happy life. Everybody loved him.

He was king. Then he goes to Carolina. We want the boon. And I mentioned Matt Rule maybe getting hired somewhere in college on that show. They cheered. They're Panthers fans. They're like, get his ass the fuck out of here. Like, his happiness levels have to be, you know,

on quite a roller coaster over the last few years. Hopefully he enjoys the year off. I'd be excited to see what Matt Rule does. Good football coach. His style just didn't work in the NFL yet. Will it work in the future? Maybe. We do know it works in college.

Excited for that. And why not get Deion to West Virginia? You know that I'm going to Georgia Tech with Atlanta? Oh, boy. Georgia Tech is in the middle of Atlanta. And you get Deion Sanders in the middle of Atlanta. With the money backing in the NIL deal with the companies that are in Atlanta, that's why I thought Collins was going to do well there because he was basically laying it out.

Like, hey, when the NIL stuff comes, the amount of companies we have here in Atlanta that want Atlanta to be good, want our team to be good, would enjoy that are huge. Like, they are ready to kind of open checkbooks for us. If Deion was to get to Atlanta... Look out. What if Georgia Tech's a fucking powerhouse yeah sweet and that with the 12 team thing that would work out definitely well for them to get going i can't wait to see how it all unfolds i love the drama go ahead connor your question for recent and we'll let you go we know you're a very busy man yeah reese you mentioned some of the coaching jobs opening are you praying for notre dame to be open to get some more ratings boosted?

And also, who do you think they're going to join? Do you think they'll be in SEC school, ACC? Which conference do you see them going to? I don't know that they need to join a conference. The only thing that would persuade them to join a conference is if the money became so prohibitively different for their conference share as opposed to what they can make doing things on their own with their own network deal. And I think with the expanded playoff now, their path to get into the postseason will be even easier than it is now. So rather than having to be in the four and worried

about conference championship games and all of those types of things, they don't have to worry about that anymore. They just need to be in the top 10 or 11. And if they do that, they would be able to make it into the playoff. As far as their coaching situation, I'm not praying for it to be open. I'm a big fan of Marcus Freeman. They've had some bumps in the road his first year. There's no question about that. But I think he's going to do a tremendous job there. I think he's got the goods to be an outstanding head coach for the long term.

You're a bad guy. Yeah, I know. He loves calling for people's jobs. This guy has asked for five people he fired in the last two days. It's getting outrageous. Yeah, I'm not asking for him to be fired. I'm only asking for the Colts head coach to be fired. That's just one.

What is this guy's problem? What is your deal? I'm just defending myself. Marcus has got the best recruiting class Notre Dame's ever had. And they're only going to get better. It seems like they're like this right now. Whenever they figure it out, right, they have a chance to be very good. When they're bad, they're not there yet.

Whenever they're good, they have a chance to be great. Remember how they played against Ohio State week one? That's right. They flew around a little bit. They did. They got an opportunity, and then they lose some bad games. Then they have that bye. They come back.

They win. They're just on a roller coaster right now. They're trying to figure it out. They will be able to do so. No problem. Marcus Freeman's going to be a guy. Speaking of being a guy, this guy's been a guy since the beginning. Ladies and gentlemen, the college game day guy, Reese Davis.

Thank you. Yeah, Reese! He's now from Manatee, Ohio. He's a man who won a college football national championship with the current number two team in the country, Ohio State. He won a Super Bowl with the Green Bay Packers. He's the all-time leading tackler for the Packers. He's a concussion dealer, an NBA pundit, a video game shit talker.

Ladies and gentlemen, Ryder Cup champion, COVID survivor, A.J. Hall. What's up, dude? Good to be here. How are you guys doing? Good. You're dealing out concussions, bro. C.T., C.T., C.T. Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. Is that what you do? I wish. up dude good to be here how you guys doing good you're dealing out concussions bro ct ct ct is that what you do i wish i wish i was big enough and had a hard enough head to do that

oh shut up okay he did he's got out so many concussions aq actually told us that you were trying to give a concussion to the guy's thigh but you gave a concussion to his forearm instead and for a week he couldn't make a fist because of this head and because of this head we have this brain that joins us every single day we appreciate you for that what are your thoughts on the big news stories of the day more specifically dan steiner has hired bank of america to gauge potential interest on a potential sale what did you learn from that what do you think about that and how do you think dan steiner feels about this at his genuine soul well i saw it does matter if he sells like complete ownership or

minority stakes which it would have mattered like you would think somebody got to him and told him hey like it might be a good idea to explore your options to try to sell this team which it seems like he absolutely does not want to but who is forcing this do you think well maybe it's the other owners maybe it's uh people that are close to him you know his wife was having to speak for him for a lot of times and for the team. I wonder if she got sick of that quickly and said, this is never going to change. Like, you're never going to be able to come back. Maybe it's family.

Maybe it's the building. Maybe it's the other owners. Maybe it did just come to his senses. Like, man, I hate this. He went to the game in Indianapolis. Obviously, they steal one from Jim Irsay, who's been kind of pushing and leading this charge with less than a minute left. been kind of pushing and leading this charge with less than a minute left when Heineke delivers a ball to scary Terry McLaurin like a 50-yard reception to get it down to the goal line and Taylor scores to take the soul out of Indianapolis in a ring of honor game for Tariq Glenn who's a

fucking ball. Congrats Tariq. Congrats Tariq. Sorry Tariq. Sorry Tariq. Sorry Tariq. Sorry Tariq. Nonetheless maybe Snyder does hate his life being the most hated person in the NFL. Maybe Dan Snyder is sick of it. Tone Diggs painted a pretty, you know, Bob Ross painting-like scenario. You know, he went on like a three-month vacation whenever he was duct taping his hands in his pockets so they couldn't get him a subpoena so he could go testify to the oversight committee.

Oh, you haven't subpoenaed me. What are you talking about? We sent you an email. I'm on the phone. I haven't been on my computer. Well, we actually gave you. Where? Can't put it in my pocket to take.

Hands got duct taped on them. It's like Edward Forty Hands, but I got no forties. I just duct taped my hands. He can't put a subpoena on me. Oh, we're going to tape it onto your shirt. Oh, it's actually a stickless shirt that I bought that I actually created. So he was able to hide from a subpoena somehow. Even though the whole world knows that he was being subpoenaed.

He was able to make an excuse. Oh, I didn't know. I know I was on my yacht in Napoleon's home island or whatever. He did that for three months. There was video service of them having a fucking party on there, having a time of their life, going to the spa. Nobody really noticing who he is. Maybe getting six billion alongside being able to live that life was something that was laid out in front of him. And he said, you know what?

Fuck it. Yeah. I will go do that for the rest of my life. Or is Dan Snyder doing this to say fuck you to the owners and to the fans in the end by selling out, you know, like 30% of his shares, picking up a couple billion dollars, getting more money in his pocket, and being the winner in the end, and buying a new yacht that is actually named Fuck You by Dan Snyder. These are all things that he could do because he is a movie character, it feels like. Darius, which way are you leaning in the Dan Snyder sweepstakes? If he's saying fuck you to everybody, or is he actually selling the team? I'm on that first one with Ty.

I think he's saying fuck you. Looking at his history, his rap sheet, he may sell 5% of his team just to stir up this story. It'll be hilarious in the end. It'll still be a massive deal. Oh, yeah. Like Bank of America Securities would certainly still be a part of this. Some big company would be a part of this. There's a lot of money transferring, coming fluid, by the way.

A lot of this money would be coming fluid, so he could potentially invest in the team a little bit more if he ever wanted to do that. Maybe fix the poop pipes, you know, that happen, do anything like that at the stadium, make his company better, or take it right to the fucking yacht shop, buy a fucking yacht dot, and do his whole thing. We don't know what Dan Snyder is because Dan Snyder is what people have described as an asshole,

a cockroach, and all these other things. Alleged. These are all alleged. We don't know him personally. But this was big news this morning that certainly got Commander's fans excited, and we're not 100% there yet because Dan Snyder is Dan Snyder until we see he is no longer Dan Snyder. Yeah, percentage definitely makes the most sense I think but is there any chance that the Gruden lawsuit

is kind of becoming more and going into more depth about the emails and that maybe something else even worse about Dan Snyder is about to come out and he might have gotten worse? I don't know, is there anything worse? Honestly. I don't know but I also i'm sure there's always something where you can imagine him doing the worst but snyder you know like how he it might be worse from a from our standpoint because we have morals and a conscience and stuff like that right i'm talking about for snyder is there he thinks

everybody hates him already and says he's the worst human of all time. If something else comes out, is Snyder going to be like, oh no, can't do that. Even if it is, it's probably going to be terrible if it is something else. That stuff's already come out. Short of him, he stole from the other owners, allegedly. He fucked over the government,

allegedly. All the stuff with the cheerleaders and the workplace. He's a sexist person, allegedly. He's gotten his company exposed toaders and the workplace. He's a sexist person, allegedly. He's gotten his company exposed to being a terrible business like four times the biggest newspaper in the fucking world. I mean, like, Dan Snyder has to feel like he is in the bottom of the bottom when it comes to social clout, I guess, at this point. So if anything else was to come out that wasn't, you know,

like actual forcible for him to fraud some sort of like not alleged stuff like things that would be like hey this isn't alleged anymore not personal stuff like and this is the big thing um you know it's coming in the conversation especially as we talk about politicians and shit like that like i think punishable by crime things are things that can force somebody to have to do something. When it's just punishable by community, I don't think that it, like, you know what I mean? Like, I think community, all of us judging Daniel Snyder, certainly a real thing, certainly can view however you want to view about him, and everybody alleges he's an asshole. But unless it's a punishable by crime thing, like if he typed something up in an email that was terrible, that's punishable by community stuff.

Unless in there he is laying out how he perfectly executed a tax scheme around the government. They're like, well, now we have a paper trail for everything that you were doing. That could potentially be it, and we'll probably hear that soon. But if it's punishable just by community, I don't know why Dan Snyderder would because he's already viewed as the worst human on earth the tax the tax stuff's already been alleged too they talked about how they had the two separate books and all that kind of stuff so like there's that like honestly i think short of like him like having someone killed like hiring a hitman and having someone killed like i don't know what else could tarnish his reputation and also going back to that like like him and joined vacation. I think when you get in a position like that,

where everyone is kind of saying the same thing about you and they, and they view you the same way. Like, I think he gets off on that. I think he likes being hated. It's like, Hey, I got more money than you. Um, I'll always have more money than you. Like you hate me. Who gives a fuck?

A lot of people hate me. What was that show you guys had me watch where the guy was getting wax dripped on billions billions great show that's what you're talking about not not necessarily in that same vein like i don't think it's sexual but i think he loves the idea that like oh people hate my guts they can't fucking stand me when you say get off well right but like that for a while like in in you know nfl circles like he's always kind of been that guy now it's become more and more public. But to your point with the community stuff, the other owners that have kind of been forced to sell or forced out,

Sarver in the NBA, Sterling, Richardson. I feel like that was majority community. It wasn't real crime. See, Richardson's the only one in the NFL, though, right? That was a Carolina Panthers guy. Yeah. And he was what, like 90? He sold.

He was forced to sell, too. That's different. The owners, they could vote somebody else. They don't want to have to get to that though they gotta push them but he was pushed to it though i think because of all the pressure and everything going on and the owner's like this is not a good look like someone had to tell me you better go sell this thing because we don't want to have to vote you out that doesn't look good for anybody well and who knows if snyder has stuff on everybody like that one commander's executive this could get dicey for the NFL and we will

continue, sorry, the Paffle, and we will continue to watch along and report every single piece of information. That's right. Have to do it. People are talking about it. It is now time for us to do a segment that we love. A segment that has made our show better where not only do we get a chance

to learn from the roots of the teams, but we get to hear perspectives that we don't normally get to hear because we're national idiots, international idiots. Ladies and gentlemen, it's time to feel the beat. Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang,

bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang to feel the beat. Joining us now, writer for The Athletic, formerly of the Indy Star. He's a professor at Indiana University Media School. A man that I know well. He's an incredibly talented guy. Ladies and gentlemen, covering the Colts, Zach Kiefer. What's up, boss?

What's up, man? How are you guys doing? Hey, we're great. Thank you so much for joining us. Are you at the building right now? What's going on? What are we waiting for? I am at the facility. Practice is starting in just a minute. Are they mailing it in?

Hey, you get rid of Naeem Hines. Naeem Hines allegedly asked for his trade from the Indianapolis Colts. That's not good for the culture anyways. But are they mailing it in? Do you sense any quit in this team? Or do you think we're still trying to go get it, Zach? I think they're toeing the line. I think a lot of

guys were really pissed last week that they benched matt ryan i think their voices and their words said that and i think naheem you know moving naheem benching the quarterback firing the oc things are not good over here pat like things are not good over here i don't think they're mailing it in they're not waving the white flag but this is going to be a rough couple months. Zach, what do you think of the timing of benching Matt Ryan? Was that a bit surprising to you? And where do you think that started? Does that start from the top?

Is Frank Reich, like who all is involved in that? Yeah, it started from the top. And the surprising part was that was weeks in the making. They had discussed that for a couple weeks. So you're talking about benching your starting quarterback after week five? They did it after week seven. A lot of the offensive linemen were not happy. Now, they're part of the problem, right?

This offensive line is really not performing well. But these guys love Matt Ryan. They love him, and that was a gut punch. They love Sam Ellinger as well because of the offensive line. But Jim Mercy had his say in this quarterback decision a lot like he did the last time. Okay, I think we heard that. You said that the team loved Matt Ryan, so whenever he gets benched and maybe causes a little bit of a problem in the locker room,

then you fire the offensive coordinator, Marcus Brady, who I live in Indianapolis. I'm a Colts fan. I didn't necessarily know that Marcus Brady was the offensive coordinator. I thought Frank Reich was the offensive coordinator. Has there been conversations and discussions about giving up the play calling from Frank Reich or doing something different, or is that not even a conversation piece? No, Frank Reich's not going to give up play calling duties.

There's going to be more on his plate moving forward. He's going to call the plays. Hello, Brian. All right, thanks, Zach. Zach, we're losing you technically. Zach Kiefer. Yeah, Kiefer! Zach, it's probably on our end, huh?

Connection here with Reese and with Zach, not great. Is that on our side or their side? What side is it, you think? It was probably connected to the building's Wi-Fi. And he was on the outside and the inside. I'd probably set off an EMP because I don't want any of that news getting out of there. It is on fire. I think Jonathan Taylor's not practicing, too.

I thought I saw that, too. Yeah, I don't think he's playing against anyone because he knows I'm going to get fucking eaten because my O-line sucks. All right. So, didn't sound good over there, AJ, did it? Didn't sound good from East 56th Street. They're holding the line. Hold the line, he said, right? No, he said towing the line.

East 56th? Very different. It was worse. Hold and load! Yeah. Big difference. Big difference. We are the dumbest.

You said East 56 is where their facility is? Yeah. So if you have any problems, make a sign. Go stand outside the facility. Maybe something that says. People know where the Colts facility is. Okay. I didn't.

I had no idea. Yeah. It's very. Two parades this decade. This decade. Do you know how many events they have up at that facility? There's like. For asking for money from the people or.

Well, I think you do have to pay most of those things to go through. But it's for charity. Charity. Charity. Do you think Frank Reich's just going down with the ship then? It's like, hey, I've shown that my offense stinks, but I actually want more on my plate. Give me more.

Give me more of it. Give me everything. Is he just prepared to go down with the ship now? Hey, Marcus, I appreciate you. You need to go start looking for another job now. We're all gone. Maybe this was a friendly fire. Yeah, go find another job.

Maybe this was, hey, did you hear what Bruce did? When Tom Brady came back, Bruce said, all right, I quit. So Todd Bowles had Tom Brady and the boys. Now, it wasn't the same Tom Brady. It was technically Tom Brady, but it wasn't the same Tom Brady. He was looking out for his guys. That's what I'm doing here, Marcus. We're getting fucking fired here.

I'm probably not getting hired again. No way. For a little bit. You should go start looking for another job right now. And with that being said, you're fired. And then Jim Mercy. How about Jim Mercy puts out a tweet? Did you see that?

No. Jim Mercy puts out a tweet like, We have come to agreement to release offensive coordinator marcus uh ready with a thumbs up at the end and then it's a full article underneath it's like damn all right so jim involved in this jim not involved with this it's uh how's that split up too like you got the oc obviously putting the game plan together but frank was calling plays on sunday so how do you so this is like biannimi and reed right is this similar yeah like i probably that would be weird if i want to play caller like a lot of them and was calling plays on Sunday. So how do you – So this is like Biennium and Reed, right? Is this similar? Yeah, like I – Probably.

That would be weird if I'm going to play caller like – A lot of them. And then you fire – so a lot of people – Sean McVay. So you just go through the – Kyle Shanahan, Sean McVay, LaFleur probably. All the head coaches that call plays I think have this type of setup. McDaniel. But it's always a weird thing whenever they fire that offense coordinator

because everybody's like – Like are the players not running? How is the offensive line coach? That would be probably the first because that's the strength of this team. It should have been the strength of this team coming into the year. That's where they spent the most money. You're not all fired? I don't like calling people's jobs. If we're sending a message.

That would be the first group I would look at. You've had a revolving door quarterback. You got Sam in there now, brought Matt Ryan over, but I don't know. How about the players not being happy about the Matt Ryan benching? That's interesting to me. I mean, I like hearing that, by the way, about Matt Ryan. I like hearing that about the team. But it also kind of makes me bummed about what the fuck Sam Ellinger's about to go do.

These boys have seen him practice for the last two years. You're benching Matt, right? What are we doing? What are we doing? Also, I guess it's maybe not on him, but Frank Reich is kind of a player's coach. Isn't it weird that he wouldn't go into a couple of those guys on the offensive? If they were just blindsided by that and didn't see it coming. I don't think he had any say. I don't think he had much say in it.

Well, it was reported that it was his decision. I think we kind of assumed that it came from the top down. But isn't that kind of weird that there was no discussion there? It's very weird. Everything's fucking weird. We're not going to make the playoffs again. What's that? You fire coaches in the season.

Anytime you're firing a coach is in the season. It's not a great thing for the program. There's going to be a players-only meeting here in the next couple weeks. We are staring down an opportunity for a players-only meeting happening in a couple weeks. They might get kicked out of the league. Relegate? No. If somebody films it, it might change the narrative

on player-only meetings. People will be like, oh, I get why they're stupid. Well, everybody should know that. Everybody should know that. And if you're having them, it's not good, and it's not going to be good afterwards. But if a video of Players Only Meeting gets out, that's even worse. Like, okay, so we're having a Players Only Meeting, and now one of the players in the Players Only Meeting is recording it

and leaking it. I mean, that's like literally as bad as it gets. That is the bottom of the bottom of bad culture. You know what I mean? So if there is a Players Only Meeting in Indianapolis, I hope I don't fucking see it. But it sure feels like there's a chance we might. Yeah.

Because the way Indianapolis is going. I want to say that just a couple weeks ago, we're going to win the Super Bowl, got a lot of shit to figure out. We have not figured it out. Speaking of figuring it out, let's continue to feel the beat. Let's go down to the Miami Dolphins.

Beat reporter for the Dolphins, Kyle Cathcart. Yeah, Kyle! Kyle, you've been on the Dolphins beat for your entire life. They're making moves. They get chubbed down there. We saw Tyreek Hill on Fortnite blimping in with a fat pig into wherever, wherever he's going to go, kill other fake cartoons. And he said, aha, I did an evil laugh. And then said, welcome to Miami, Chubb.

Is this the year? Is these the vibes? And welcome to the show, Kyle. There was talk when Steven Ross came off suspension, they hadn't won a game since he was back in the building. But now Tua's back. They're winning. I talked to Mike McDaniel this morning.

He was, everyone's talking about bradley chubb but he was grinning like the butcher's dog as you guys say on this show and he said i took john lynch my old friends out back for jeff wilson for a fifth rounder he couldn't stop laughing that is that what he said he said he took him out great he took him out back he said fifth rounder for jeff wilson him and mo start mike mcdaniel run game is going to be electric out here guys speaking of jeff wilson john lynch actually came out and said that mcdaniel who was allegedly laughing in his face to kyle here beat reporter for the miami dolphins was a great dude and said he only sent jeff to a good place jeff was happy about it. I bet you the Miami Dolphins team is happy about it.

He already knows the system. You can drop him right in there and add another weapon. Boston Connor has a question for you, Kyle. Yeah, Kyle, there's been a lot of talk about how the Bills are the clear runaway favorites in the AFC East, but from what you're saying and from what we've seen on the Internet, it feels as though the Dolphins are planning to make a run here. What are the vibes in miami and how are the fans feeling about expectations going forward with all these moves at the deadline expectations are very high as we know everyone has the bills at the top but the

talk around the city connor as you know longtime patriots fan i follow the show the dolphins beat the bills already yo so if you know you beat that team already this team knows they can do it that Patriots fan, I follow the show. The Dolphins beat the Bills already. Yeah. So if you know you beat that team already, this team knows they can do it. That's huge going forward for a team like the Dolphins. Boston Connor. Thank you, Kyle. Darius Butler, who's a nine-year NFL vet, also Dolphins fan, has a question for you on the beat down there in Miami.

Kyle? Absolutely, Kyle. I know you're locked in on the team, but you look like you know a little bit about betting too. What's those Super Bowl odds right now for those Finns? Good question, Darius. I know you're usually a Dolphins fan. Nice to meet you, sir. Usually.

The Miami Dolphins are plus 2,800 to win the Super Bowl. I myself have placed a rather large wager for them to do it, so let's hope it goes well out here in Miami, boys. Hell yeah, let's hope it goes well. I don't know how large it is, but maybe let's not talk too public about that because we're dealing with immigration with somebody that looks like you. Let's not bring

in the IRS as well. 10 Diggs, your question for Kyle. Which leads me to my question, Kyle. Covering the team for 20 years, does the U.S. government know that? Is there any other questions from the back? We appreciate you, Kyle. Thanks for joining us as we feel the beat. Any final statements about the Miami Dolphins that the world needs to hear, Kyle? It's our time. It's our time. It feels like that in Miami, Pat. Like I said, since Nick Saban quit on us in 2006, there hasn't been a buzz like this around the city, my friend. We appreciate you, ladies and gentlemen.

On the beat in Miami, Kyle Cathcart. Yeah! We'll continue to feel the beat, obviously. We've got Minnesota Vikings trip and the Niners to do in a couple minutes. Let's talk about this Miami team. Jeff Wilson was a deal that was made yesterday. It wasn't talked about much. McDaniel obviously knows what he can do from his Niner days.

Lynch did come out and say everything that we said. Don't know if McDaniel said anything that he said to Kyle Cathcart there. That's a big-time signing. They're going all in, offense, defense. Special teams are good. Are the Miami Dolphins a fucking legit team this year? Now, obviously, the cliche thing to say whenever we see a team building is like, hey, in the next couple years, this team could really do it.

Is Miami a team this year, you think, or no? This year. We just talked about beating the Big Dogs, Bills, early on with, you know, a half-punch drunk tool in the second half. He got that done. And then Byron Jones getting healthy. He's back? Yeah, he's back. Right. Cool. Byron Jones getting healthy. Bringing in Ch second half. He got that done. And then Byron Jones getting healthy. Yeah, his back, ankle.

Byron Jones getting healthy. Bringing in Chubb. So the defense kind of have been playing up to their potential yet. But you bring over Jeff Wilson. You already got Mostert, who's familiar with the offensive scheme. And Mike McDaniel. He's everything everybody cracked him up to be, coming in and getting that job.

So vibes are high, as Kyle said down there in miami i'm happy they're able to have success because he can remain the same person right aj mcdaniel if they weren't having success everybody would expect him to change oh shut up this what drugs is this guy come on he's going plants or drugs whenever he's talking but instead they're winning so he he doesn't have to hear any of that shit and i'm not saying that he ever would have changed i think mike mcdaniel has been mike daniel uh mcdaniel since the beginning but i'm happy they're winning so he doesn't have to hear any of that shit and i'm not saying that he ever would have changed i think mike mcdaniel has been mike daniel uh mcdaniel since the beginning but i'm happy they're having success with him being himself naturally and i'm happy it's coming

together it's much better that way whenever that's how an era starts aj well yeah it is but also like the front office everybody is on the same page it feels like right like they all they're all all in it's not just like hey mcdaniel's sitting there probably asking for a couple things here and there weapons whatever it seems like they're all are on the same page okay let's do this thing he's got two of playing well we have all these pieces bring in bradley chubb i mean that was when i saw that i was like okay here we go dolphins are for real yeah good for chubb too moving into a state with no state income tax and also 95 degrees all year round right when it's getting to be winter in Denver.

It's nice to live down there in South Florida? Yeah, amazing. Really? It's too hot, right? A little bit more high-powered offense there, too. Yeah, we got two Lambos out. It's tough lining up against Hill and Waddle. Like, you got to, as a safety, I was talking about this with A.B.

He was like, man, like, my typical alignment every week is probably 17, 18 if I'm in the post. If I'm lined up against these guys, I got to be like 22, 23. I was going to ask, their secondary has been the strength the last few years, but they've kind of stunk this year. Can they fix it? I think they can. And Chubb, you know, you get a pass rush, that's the best friend to a secondary. And if you watch him play, a lot of their pressure is six, seven guys lined up and they're blitzing zero, which puts a lot of pressure on those guys

in the back end. So if you can get home with four, five guys, that'll help that defense a lot. Super cool sweatsuit today. Very cool. Very cool. I was just going to say that. Miami did lose their leading tackler, Byron Jones, for the season with a knee injury. Oh, he's out for the year? Yeah.

That's the first bad news we've heard from the Miami Dolphins in some time. Let's continue to feel the beat. We're talking to a second-generation NFL man, a man who covers the Vikings on Vikings Game Day Live and also the Minnesota Gophers pregame show. He's an analyst for Fox 9 Minnesota and KFAN 1003. Hell yeah. Dad played safety for the Pittsburgh Steelers back in the day.

He played a little bit. Ladies and gentlemen, Ron Johnson. Yeah, Ron! What's up, man? How's it going? Hey, thank you for joining us. D-Butt sent a text in. You made this happen.

The Vikings seem to be a team that we need to talk about because not only on the trade deadline day just yesterday, they make a massive play in their own division. Hey, Detroit, you've always been Detroit. Give us your best player. You'll see him two times a year. You get T.J. Hawkinson added to an offense that has been incredibly efficient thus far and kind of introducing itself to the NFL as a whole as a weapon.

They add another weapon. Vibe's got to be very high for the Vikings. Is expectation Super Bowl or bust this year over there, Ron? Yeah, I mean, that's the only reason you go in and trade. But let's go back to the draft. The Vikings traded within their division during the draft, and everybody said the moment was too big for the new GM and Kweisi Adolfo Mensah. So he turned back and said, hey, look, I hooked you guys up during the draft.

Hook me up. Let me get TJ Hawkinson. You guys suck. You're not going to do anything with this guy. So let Kirk Cousins handle him because we know we can. And I'm from Detroit, so I always have to go there. I grew up with Barry Sanders and Herman Moore and those guys. And so I was hoping Detroit.

I actually picked Detroit to finish second in the division. Dumbest pick I ever made in my life. Hey, Ron, say it with us. Hey, Ron, say it with us. Same old Lions. Yeah, yeah. It's the same old Lions. Like, the Lions were lying.

Like, Spice Adams, who hit me up before I old Lions. The Lions were lying. Spice Adams, who hit me up before I have to bring up what he says about your haircut, by the way. But Spice Adams and I, we always talk about the Lions. And they find a way to rip victory away. Every time, the jaws of defeat just find a way to get them. It's just going back to what they are. Ron, how big of a deal is having Kevin O'Connell there for Kirk Cousins, especially at this point in his career? People either seem to – I don't know if he's like a love or hate thing with Kirk,

but people don't trust him, I guess, as much. Does that trust, do you think, continue to build with Kevin O'Connell there? Well, I mean, I played in the Arena Football League for a little bit too, and I had Jay Gruden as my coach. Jay Gruden had Kirk Cousins with the Washington football team. I heard something, though, like we can't say NFL, right? You can. You can. You just can't say it.

You can say anything you want. Yeah, we can. Because I got a Vikings, like, unreal shirt on, so I didn't know if I needed to put a piece of tape over the logo for your show today. I wasn't sure what the rules were about logos. Because you work for the Vikings. That would be a Vikings thing. But it's on our.

Cover the logo. I don't know. I'm thankful that it's not on camera because we'd be putting a real fucking conundrum. Yeah, the logo is low. I kept it low, so I didn't want anybody bleeping me out or sending me a pink slip to my locker. Smart, man. That's a good idea.

But here's the thing about – Smart. Hey, you never know. Here's the thing about the Vikings when you think about where they are in Kevin O'Connell. You go back to Kirk Cousins, who he's had as a head coach. Nobody ever really trusted him. That's where the you like me came from that, or you like that came from. Pierre Garçon was on my show

yesterday, and he talked about that too. Kirk, when he did that moment, that was a FU moment, but that's Kirk's way of doing it. He's never going to curse anybody out. Then fast forward to Kirk Cousins going off about somebody missing a route. Normally, Mike Zimmer would have stood on the sideline, dealt with the defense. Kirk would have had to figure it out for himself.

Well, Kevin O'Connell comes over, sits down. Kirk grabs that tablet, says, hey, look, we're going to get this together. You know, fast forward to the Arizona game, 16 or 17 to 14. Kirk throws a 50 50 ball to Justin Jefferson and makes a catch. So that's just Kirk having a coach teaching him to trust the receivers, trust the process. Don't be afraid to make a mistake. And I think that's the key.

He has a coach that trusts him. I mean, Kirk Cousins years ago would have never put on diamond chains on a plane with his teammates. And now he's doing it for social media. He doesn't care what the people think. You know, he's got the T-shirt tucked into the sweatpants, full dad mode. But, hey, if a player, if one of his teammates wants him to have fun, he's going to have fun.

I think that's what we're seeing. How about Burke Cousins coming into his own? Little Kirko's doing his thing this year. Offensive-minded coach, somebody that seems to believe in him. Quasey now kind of took a shot at him first day of training camp. Happy they've got past that. Seems like the culture's being built well. Pierre Garçon is an absolute go.

I was lucky to be his teammate. What up, Zoe? Darius Butler has a question for you, Ron. Hey, Ron. We had a conversation before this season, I believe, about Kirk and kind of where he ranks amongst quarterbacks. And you've been around his team for a while now. And obviously you guys are off to a hot start.

But do you think Kirk can take this team to the promised land this year and Kevin's first year as a head coach? Well, I said it out the gate. Kirk can take this team to the promised land this year and Kevin's first year as a head coach. Well, I said it out the gate. Shannon Sharp came over the top with a Pat McAfee elbow across my head on Twitter. I like that. And tried to point out 10 quarterbacks he thought. Because I said, find 10 quarterbacks that you would take over Kirk Cousins right now.

And this was the start of the season, not 6-1 before. He put Kyler Murray in there. I wouldn't do that right now. He put Russell Wilson in there. I wouldn't do that. And so I put Russell Wilson in there. I wouldn't do that. And so I still believe what I said during training camp. Kirk Cousins, to me, the thing about a quarterback that can take a guy to the Super Bowl or to the NFC Championship game is when he gets down to him, when the bullets are flying, you need a coach to get your quarterback going. And that's where I think the Vikings against the Eagles, even though the Eagles beat the crap out of them, they struggled there. The quarterback, I mean, there's no way you drive down

and you score the first touchdown and you never touch the end zone again. It's got to be something on the offense. And so when you look at that now, you have a guy like Kevin O'Connell that can keep Kirk ready to go. But I think Kirk can make all the throws. You look at the pre-snap ability now. I was with the coach coaching back when. I think, Pat, you might have been a rookie on the punt team.

You might have been a rookie punter that year, like 2009, 2010. But I came in during the training camp a little bit early in the season. Tom Moore had fake retired, him and Howard Mudd. And I remember what Peyton would do in those mornings. And so Kirk's doing that now. Kirk's understanding the offense now. He's understanding what can I do within the scheme if the box count is favorable I can just pop up and throw the ball to Justin Jefferson if I want to I can run a quick slant like he didn't have that ability before we asked uh Gary Kubiak that I was like hey can Kirk do what Peyton did and he's like no I'm never

gonna let him call his own plays well now you have a guy calling his own plays and I think that's the big difference if Kirk is smart as hell like you can't tell me a guy that went to michigan state you know michigan state's not a smart school went to michigan state and and hell yeah it's a dumbass school isn't it so stupid time though right time there do in a tunnel like that's not smart hey ron that was gonna was going to happen, though. Hey, Ron, you play football. You've been around football forever. That guy runs up in the middle of their thing. Don't condone it. I don't condone it.

I don't condone it. Let's not fight. Let's not do that. What the fuck was going to happen, though? You know what I mean? Yeah, that was a stupid move. Let Michigan State get to the locker room and put Band-Aids on their wounds. He should have stayed out. The best football thing.

Hey, Ron, the best football thing that Michigan State has done this year, I will say, is that they proved that they are a team. And they said this guy cannot just swing his dick all over us after beating us in there. And I would argue that you should never fight anybody. Do not do that. What else was going to happen, though, with that tunnel? With how long it was just Michigan State?

At some point, there was going to be a, you know what I mean? At some point, there was going to be a batch. You know what I mean? Because he's running by, like, layers of them. It's like probably got, like, the bigger guys a little slower to the tunnel here. Then he got, like, groups. And it was a long, at some point, he was going to make it to a group that was not going to be about the shit yeah exactly i mean i just not good it's the messed around and he found out

back to your point though kirk seems to be dominant and also he's got legs some get the this past week this is the best kirk cousins have ever been and do you think vikings fans are saying hey we want kirk for the next 10 years now at this point and was it ever like that before i don't know if it was ever like that before i don't know if it's 10 year i mean the kid is 34 or yeah i think he's 34 so i mean honestly though if it's four years you get him to at least 38 he's a really you know he's not a guy that's going to be in the streets like i remember reggie wayne got got married and uh i can't remember where i think it might have been howard mudd that said man the streets of indianapolis are safe for now because reggie can't go out at night hey that coach is meat room man we used to have

some fun in there i'm not more tom moore is another man that was out about me and tom moore were the only white people at a couple different places that I have seen him at. When you look at Kirk Cousins, he's not out late. He's getting his sleep. He eats well at home. He's partnered up with Adam Thielen now, and he's doing the ETS workout stuff. He's a guy that's going to take care of his body. But he has to understand, TJ wants money.

Hawkinson came here for money. Maybe he'll get it here. Justin Jefferson wants $200 million. We know he deserves it that's all you got to figure out dalvin cook's contract you're gonna have to re-sign christian darisaw your left tackle because i think he's the future so kirk can't expect to make 35 million dollars up until he's age 40 like he's gotta talk to tom brady and say hey what did that 18 million dollar signing bonus look like and then 1 million for the year like how did that do for you i think it did pretty well and so that's where kirk's got to start doing some stuff like that to not hurt the salary cap in those you know maybe that this next couple

championship years kirk is a businessman we do know that last question here for you ron we appreciate your time go ahead tone ron a lot of talk around the vikings is the offense i love the helmet by the way man i love the helmet, by the way, man. I love the helmet. Thank you. Whoa, whoa, whoa. Whoa, whoa, whoa. Whoa, whoa, whoa. Whoa, whoa, whoa. Jesus. What helmet, Ron? Ron, you dry skin. No logos, Ron. No logos.

That's on me. That's my bad. A lot of talk's been around the offense. Is the defense? Half the logo. And a lot of the team with Zimmer was around defense. Like, are they Harrison Smith, obviously? Darius Smith?

Like, I think he's leading the league in sacks is the defense good enough to go get a super bowl yeah so this is the thing about the defense we said they had to be a top 15 defense at best um they can be 18 somewhere in there because this offense is going to do just enough and and that's what you're seeing these games before the carol the cardinals game last year uh where the cardinals football team because i don't know what am i supposed to say i don't know what to call them now you can do whatever you gotta do okay look at the arizona the arizona football team look what you're doing by the arizona football team last year they beat the vikings on a close game you

know you look at the bangles uh or the cincinnati football team love the drawing by the way saw those those are some awesome drawings thank you thank you we felt good about that yeah yeah my eight-year-old daughter says she could do better but but when you look at the uh when you look at those teams those games were lost in close games those same close games this year kurt cousins Cousins and Kevin O'Connell, they're finding ways to win. The last two minutes and 30 seconds in halves last year and at the end of the game, the defense for the Vikings was not doing well. I don't know what was going on.

Now they're fine. They're getting off the field and they're putting the offense back on the field. Kirk Cousins at one point I think had like a 156 pass rating in the last two minutes and 30 seconds of every game up to like week five or six. So they are doing just enough to win. So i think that defense with harrison smith you look at zadaria smith daniel hunter hasn't even figured out the three four defense yet like coming from his hand in the ground and standing up that's a big difference like it's not as easy

as people think and so when he figures it out how to get low like zadaria smith has been doing because he's a three four linebacker he's gonna have to teach daniel a little bit more this defense can get even scarier or they just make it a hybrid and say look you know what screw it i know you're the outside linebacker put your damn hand in the ground because that's what you're comfortable doing let's get after this quarterback and i think that's going to be the way we see brian asamoah uh kid out oklahoma really fast when it's time to start spying a guy like josh allen they're going to probably bring him in the game a little bit more cam Cam Bynum at safety. Played corner his entire life at Cal.

He's playing safety. So now you don't have to go nickel or dime just to cover a tight end. You have a guy in Cam Bynum who's begging. He told me, he said, I want to be to the wide side because I know I can then cover somebody in man. And he played corner at Cal his whole life. So, I mean, there's a lot of flexibility with his defense. And that's what people were wondering about Luis Senor. I saw him the last game.

He's walking around just fine after, you know, that gruesome leg injury. But people wonder why he wasn't on the field. He wasn't on the field because Cam Bynum earned that spot. And I think that's the big key. Okay. Ron, that was amazing. We appreciate you for joining us. Hopefully we'll get to chat with you again soon.

Keep crushing it. Oh, yeah, let's do it. You got my number now. So anytime, as long as it's not late, because I'm asleep. But anytime, I got you guys. Hell yeah. We appreciate you. Ladies and gentlemen, Ron Johnson.

It was awesome. Thank you for that, D-Bud. Yeah, he gets it. I feel like we just learned a lot. Cam Bynum's a guy. That's what it just sounded like. And when he was talking about Daniil Hunter having to go from handling dirt to being up, I watched Robert Mathis do that.

Robert Mathis had to do that towards the end of his career. And him and Freeney both. Freeney was getting paid, I think, $17 million a year in the last year he was here. And they wanted him to move from handling the dirt to in the middle or whatever. And then he got put on like a pitch count, only coming in third downs. The way he handled that, I think, now, granted, he's getting paid a lot of money. And that's what everybody will say. But he was like the consummate professional in the locker room incredible dude but he wasn't able it wasn't as easy for him just to pick up and become

robert mathis was able to figure it out and he fucking it took his game to like another level towards the end of his career so it's tough to do like he said it's i mean completely different position you four three dn like you're doing the same thing, damn near every play, every coverage. At 3-4, you've got Rob Mathis. He has responsibility. He's got a curl flat. It's a completely different ballgame for those guys. It's just coming off the edge, snap in and snap out.

But it does happen. It does happen. And guys have been successful in the past, so let's assume that he will be successful in the past, or he'll be successful in it. And if he is, the fucking Vikings. What a fun team to watch. And Ron Johnson, incredible guy to talk to.

Hopefully we continue to do that. Speaking of continuing to do that, let's continue to feel the beat. What happened? What happened? What happened? His phone number says it doesn't have a FaceTime connected to it. It just has, like, the phone logo, so. Called the family? Didn't we get him before?

Yeah, we've had him before. Unless he changed his number. Is he one of those? New phone, who dis? Yeah. We ran over, over like four minutes. I actually felt bad. That's why I was like, oh, we've got to get to him.

And then as the thing, feel the beat start, he goes, nope. It was awesome. All right. Marty. Ron Johnson was awesome. Yeah, the man. Should have him on again. Thank you, Ron.

I'm thankful that he looked awkward in his video, too, because he didn't want to show the logo. Good man. Thanks for that. Honorable. I've gotten a lot of messages from a lot of people from a lot of different networks, a lot of different teams, organizations. Oh, yeah.

Say, what the fuck's going on with the NFL? You tell me. Hey, why don't you tell me? Why don't you find the lawyer fuck over there that decided to do this? You know what I mean, AJ? How is this how you do it? Have you got any answers? Have you done anything?

You talked to anybody? No. I mean, I reached out. I have not gotten an answer. I figured you have like a sit down with Raj. I mean, I don't think that's going to happen. Open to it. Four and a half million.

I don't think that's going to happen. Go to New York. There's a lot of people that pay a lot of money to the NFL. We are a very small fry in this entire larger fry thing. Probably have to add a couple zeros to that if you want to get Raj to come down. I'm dealing with the lowest management right down here. Raj up here. Yeah.

Then there's somebody probably pretty important. Then there's another level probably pretty important. Then there's another level probably starting to fade out of important. Starting to fade out here. Then just titles. Trying to get up here. Just kind of passing time. Definitely certainly in charge of things.

Shouldn't be. Probably didn't earn it. But they're just waiting to get up here a little bit. We're dealing, I think, with this one down here. Send henchman number eight after me. Down here. Shouldn't be. Probably didn't earn it. But they're just waiting to get up here a little bit. We're dealing, I think, with this one down here. Send henchman number eight after me. Right below interns. Right there at the who gives a fuck title section. Probably don't even know the guy's name.

You know, there's a C-Suite. That happened with the chiefs of a company and the owners and founders and everything like that. We're at the who gives a fuck level. Yeah. Friends of a friend who has a job because their friends know somebody in favor. Yeah. But which friend are they doing a favor for whenever they're attacking us for about fucking logos on a graphic? That's interesting.

When you have footage rights, you know? That's the thing. Who? Why? How? But? Will we ever get those answers? Probably not.

It certainly revolves around money. I guess we'll have to give more. It's awesome. You think that's what it is? I have no idea. I honestly have no clue. I have been dumbfounded by this still since. From everything I was told about how the NFL feels about our particular program and operation,

to us doing the deal, partnering with the NFL for a piece and doing everything, getting the rights, doing everything like like that i own the show outright so it's not like i'm owned by any network any sport fandle does not own this show nobody i own the show outright i thought they had we had good relations to get like i thought we had pretty solid business relations and then all of a sudden that gets dropped out on a monday going into week nine it's like the fuck's your problem and then all of a sudden that gets dropped out on a Monday going into week nine it's like the fuck's your problem yeah and then like just thinking about it every single moment that it's since it's passed like why would that why would this makes no sense at all to do it I don't help them it absolutely cannot help the NFL that graphic we had to use from Monday evening football they think that's the right answer. What do you do?

How is that even a good thing for the league? How is that good for the Paffle? Let alone us. Shout out to Corndoggy, LOL. Corndoggy, LOL. Reddit legend. Twitter legend. Send us an email to Phil.

Send an email to Phil and say, hey, you can use any of our logos. Any of my logos. I made them as a joke, but anything you need. So we appreciate Corn Doggy, LOL. Thank you, Corn Doggy, LOL. Incredible talent here. Yeah, you got the Philadelphia Birds taking on the Houston Cows. Yep.

Yeah. And that's happening on Thursday. I can't wait for that. Let's continue one last time, though, to feel the beat uh that was incredible i'm happy we did that i was getting confirmation in my ear yes he has joined us the eagle not philadelphia ones the eagle in this case a metaphor for the person we're about to talk to, has landed. Hell yeah. Ladies and gentlemen, joining us, a man who covers the Niners in an epic fashion with The Athletic. He used to work for ESPN.

He is a Stanford grad. Here we go. Big brain. You can find him on Twitter at Lombardi himself. Ladies and gentlemen, David Lombardi. Yay! Lombardi! What's going on? The portrait mode just sliced off the left side of your face, I think.

I see myself there. Sliced your ear off. Yeah, it's a little blurry, though, the whole left side of your face. You kind of look like the guy from Batman. Two-Face. Yeah, Harvey Dent. Yeah. It's the first time I've done FaceTime on my laptop, and it portrait mode-ed me.

No, you look good. It's an first time I've done FaceTime on my laptop in portrait mode of me. No, you look good. It's an Apple thing. There at the beginning, though, just one, like a third of your face was blurry. And I'm like, okay, I hope everything's okay. Turns out it was technology. Yep. Lombardi's okay. Yeah.

Lombardi's okay. That's good news. The San Francisco 49ers seem to be all in in this particular season. Could you have sensed that? Did you expect that? And what a road this season has been from. Trey Lance is our starter. Jimmy G's working out on another field. We're keeping Jimmy G. We're trading in for Christian McCaffrey. We're going all in. What a road it's been and is it continuing upwards, you think, behind the scenes? John Lynch and Kyle Shanahan really, really believe in this roster. And they made that Jimmy Garoppolo move when Trey Lance was still healthy

to insulate the roster just in case something did happen to Trey Lance. It did. But I think what we've seen so far from the 49ers is a team that was led by their defense there the first few weeks. Then the defense got really banged up, and now the offense has grabbed the torch. And obviously, adding Christian McCaffrey helps the offense and anybody you talk to. So for me, after the game on Sunday, it was Trent Williams,

who obviously has been around Kyle Shanahan. He's been around the league a lot. And the first thing he said was, I asked him about the offensive performance. He made sure that he hammered home complementary football. He thinks that, and the 49ers think that they are strong on all three phases of the game especially defensively but now with offense with Christian McCaffrey coming in they think they have that formula to go a long way so putting it all in for Christian McCaffrey makes a lot of sense based on the belief they have in their roster Pat AJ I guess what are the

the possibilities of that offense it feels like with Kyle Shanahan's brain and what he does, you get Debo in there, Christian McCaffrey, obviously Kittle, all their other weapons. I would imagine people's expectations of the Niners has always been high over the last couple years, but now I would imagine people thinking, hey, we need to win the Super Bowl this year. You know, if there was one question I had

about this 49ers offense going into the season, regardless of who was going to be the quarterback, it was the pass protection because they were breaking in three new interior offensive linemen. And with Christian McCaffrey, I think he is pass protection and not because he passed blocks, but because he's such a good outlet man for Jimmy Garoppolo. You already saw that against the Rams. He had those eight catches, but that touchdown that they ran to the back pylon, he was the fifth read on the play. He was just, you know, he was out in the flat and he improvised. That was an ad-lib play from Christian McCaffrey. He knew where Jimmy Garoppolo might want to go with the football. He read the field

like a quarterback and he got there. And just before Leonard Floyd could get Jimmy Garoppolo, he was able to release that for a touchdown that I don't think the 49ers score in weeks before this. So I think that McCaffrey raises the ceiling of this offense considerably because he shields it from its biggest weakness, which is which is sacks, which is quarterback pressure. Right. Because he's always going to be that outlet and he could turn an outlet pass into a big play. They needed those hot reads against Kansas City. They weren't built into those plays. They're going to be built into every play now with Christian McCaffrey being an option. We're talking to David Lombardi at Lombardi himself

who covers the San Francisco 49ers for the Athletic. A.J. Hawk is the concussion dealer. Christian McCaffrey is pass protection. My thoughts, is Christian McCaffrey and Debo Samuel interchangeable or how do you see the ball being spread to Debo, Christian, Kittle, Ayuk? I mean they have a lot of weapons now. Is everybody going to is it going to be like the Chiefs where like one person goes each week that they think like what is your feel on what the team's going to look like going forward? I do think it's going to be kind of

a rotating cast of who has a big game because you go to what the defense dictates. So obviously Christian McCaffrey had those eight catches against the Rams, but let's not forget that Brandon Ayuk was the leading receiver. And this is the first stretch of Ayuk's career where he's had at least 80 yards in three straight weeks. So consistency has been one thing that the 49ers have been looking for from him. It's his third year now. He's quietly delivering that consistency,

and they didn't have Debo Samuel against the Rams. And I think, you know, you have these complementary skill sets on offense too. Debo's just going to straight run people over. Christian McCaffrey is a little bit more elusive, right? He's got some physicality to him too, but he's nowhere near as big as Debo. And, you know, Brandon Ayuk is kind of a combination of he's got, I mean, he's wider now than he ever was, but still a little bit more of the elusiveness for him

while George Kittle's another bulldozer. So you have different, varying ways of breaking tackles and generating yards after the catch to where Kyle Shanahan can mix and match all these together. And it's Jimmy Garoppolo's job to play point guard, to make sure that everybody does get the football and to make sure that the right matchups are capitalized on.

Hey, make sure you don't piss anybody off, Jimmy G. Don't do that. Everybody needs the ball. Darius, your question. It's his birthday today, by the way. Oh, happy birthday, Jimmy G. Happy birthday. He got a good birthday present there with Christian McCaffrey.

Oh, a little early. It's funny. Jimmy Garoppolo always talks about Christian McCaffrey sees the field like a quarterback, and Christian McCaffrey is already saying, I love the way that Jimmy sees the field. You could tell that they have that instant rapport. Kind of like Jimmy Garoppolo had with Sanders a couple years ago. Daniel Sanders, when he first came in, that really helped the 49ers in 2019.

Yeah, you're talking about that flat turn up. It seems to be incredible chemistry. Just two guys playing football on field together. That's all they are. Very quickly. They have a bye week, so it's another. They've got a lot of time to kind of Christian McCaffrey, get baptized into that offensive playbook.

Excited to see what they do. Darius, your question for David Lombardi. I'll go to the other side of the ball over D'Amico Ryan's defense. Lost Emmanuel Mosley a few weeks ago with the ACL injury. He was having a great year. Any update on Jason Verrett, his return to that defensive lineup? So they

activated Jason Verrett from PUP. He's on the active roster and I think they're going to try to get him out there on November 13th. The next game is Sunday Night Football against Justin Herbert and the Chargers. You're absolutely right about Emmanuel Mosley. He was, I can't say quietly, playing great football. I thought it was pretty loud.

He had that pick-six against Baker Mayfield. That was such an important part of their defense. Charverius Ward's been great on the other side, but if they compare Ward with Verrett, who last time we saw him was playing really, really high-level football, this defense can get back to being one of the top units in the league. They fell off there against the Chiefs in the first half against the Rams, but Verrett might be back on November 13th.

Connor, your question. Last one for Lombardi himself, David Lombardi. Lombardi, do you think that the Niners are done adding pieces, or do you think there is a chance that Odell is actually on their radar and they might make a move to get him? Did we start that shit? Did we start that? Because there was a conversation in the article

where the person asked Shanahan about it. They referenced the conversation with Rob. Schefter. Schefter, yeah. Yeah, when we were talking to Schefter. Because it just makes sense if Odell is just scouting, which we all said he was doing earlier in the year, right? He's just scouting, scouting, scouting.

The Niners right now seem to be an arrow up to, I think, this way on the screen. They're doing that right now. That would be a team for him to go to. Is that something you think is possible? Great question, Connor. So he's a free agent, so if they have injury issues, there's no deadline is what I'm saying. If they have some more injury issues, then maybe.

I don't see it in their current state, though. Right now we talk about how loaded they are, and they have plenty of pieces to be a high-octane offense right now. So, you know, injuries can happen. This was their first game since I started covering the team and they didn't report any injuries afterwards. But you know how it is. So I would never say never, but as it stands right now,

I think that they're set with what they have on offense. That's awesome. I had a teammate who didn't know he had a concussion on a Sunday until Friday. So let's keep our eyes peeled for that over there in San Francisco. His locker room is right next to mine. You probably know who it is. Can't thank you enough for joining us. You do great work with the athletic and on the internet,

and especially when you join us. Ladies and gentlemen, David Lombardi. Yeah! especially when you join us, ladies and gentlemen, David Lombardi. Yeah! Yeah! Welcome back to the Pat McAfee Show on Winners Wednesday. Hell yeah. My earbuds aren't fitting in my ears, but earlier today we talked a little college football.

Did we? Yeah, we did. You know, first college football playoff, you know, rankings were released. I know AJ's livid that Ohio State wasn't number one, but that Top Ten Talk was presented by Twisted Tea. And with Twisted Tea, everyone knows we have Tone's Twisted Top 10 Tea. Why?

And, till Friday usually is when we do the giveaways for that. So we're going to start today. You have that thing upside down. I don't know how to put it in when I can't focus on it. It's back to me. Just a factor. It's back to me. Just a little. Twisted tea is a super refreshing hard iced tea.

It tastes like real iced tea because guess what? It's made with real brewed iced tea. Wow. Hold on, guys. It's got a kick. That's right. 5% ABV. Why?

Perfect when you want to get a little twisty. Hell yeah. Tune in Friday for Tones Twisted Top 10, but enter right now with hashtag PMSTwistedTCFB to guess what two teams are going to be a little twisted on Tones Twisted T Top 10 on Friday. Zeta said in the comments they should be saying that you look like Ian Rappaport from the Super Bowl.

That's funny. Going like this. Doing a full lean. So this is what I think we're going to do with Twisted T, and we appreciate Twisted T. Right now, if you use the hashtag PMSTwistedTCFB, you put the two teams that are definitely different from the college football playoff rankings in the top 10 to tone's top 10

on friday which two teams which two rankings does tone not agree with put those two teams with the hashtag pms twisted tea cfb and you could potentially be one of five winners of five hundred dollars from your friends at twisted tea Not only the most delicious kicked tea drink. Oh, hell yeah. But good people who love college football and also enjoy that we do giveaways and want to get involved. Shout out to Twisted Tea. We appreciate them. Once again, one Tennessee, two Ohio State, three Georgia, four Clemson, five Michigan, six Alabama, seven TCU, Oregon, USC, LSU.

Round out the top 10. Which two rankings does Tone Diggs not agree with that he will put in the show on Friday and find out the right answer? Which two does he not agree with? Use the hashtag PMS Twisted T CFB. Do you want to give an answer right now, AJ, what your thoughts are on what Tone's thinking?

No, I do not want to give an answer right now. Okay, don't give it away. Don't let anybody else win. You want to win the $500, not everybody else. Tone, there's two teams. It's not a swap thing though, right? No. So is it more than two? We did talk about this beforehand.

Tone did tell me directly. It is two teams that you don't agree with. Are they swapped ranking? They're not swapped ranking. Do you want me to give that away? It's a pretty big giveaway. Okay, it is two teams that you don't agree with. Correct. Are they swapped ranking? They're not swapped ranking. Do you want me to give that away? It's a pretty big giveaway. Okay, it is two teams, though. There's two teams that I think are in the wrong place.

Okay. Okay, so we will find out the answer on Friday. Once again, enter which two teams does Tone not agree with. You could be one of five winners of $500 from our friends at Twisted Tea. Would you use actual tea? Yeah. But with a little kick. Hell yeah. 5% ABV. You drinking Twisted Tea, which use actual tea. Yeah. But with a little kick. Hell yeah.

5% ABV. You drinking Twisted Teas? Oh, yeah. Are you kidding me? I tweet game every time before I go out. Oh, really? You're a good tweet mate. I love tweets.

Nothing like a good tweet at the end of the day. Shout out to Twisted Tea, and also shout out to you for watching this show. That is terrible, but I hope you do enter to potentially be one of five winners of $500 on the Twitter, which I hope is around forever. Yeah, absolutely. We all do. Ain't that right, AJ? No matter what.

Yeah, he's not shutting it down. Well, make a lot of changes. Will people leave? A lot of people say, if this person becomes president, I'm leaving town. They never do. A lot of people say, if this person does this, we're going to leave. I don't think Twitter is capable of ending because of how important it is to basically the social media ecosystem. Right.

It is a very important, Twitter is a very important spot. I don't think it's going anywhere. But you got a lot of people complaining, why is he going to, $8 for verification? Come on, dude. So is everybody going to leave Twitter? We hope not. Yeah. Yeah, I'm sure they will.

Everyone's leaving. That's what everybody says, dude. Is everybody lying and should we never take those people serious ever again? Is that something we should think about too? Perhaps. Does that happen? I don't know if we should dive into that whole world. I wonder what Neil Young's thinking. Well, he's back on Spotify.

His music is back. Please put my music back on Spotify. I ain't paying fucking eight dollars. I ain't paying. I understand. I appreciate everybody that's saving the world. I fucking love it. But I feel like it's going to be a long, miserable life if you're going to try to do that with every human you don't agree with. Just my thoughts. I'm a stooge, sports stooge, and we just try to move forward.

Hopefully, you will enter to win $500 on Twitter. Now, it is time to get smarter, get better, and learn more about NFL football than we could have ever imagined learning before. Ladies and gentlemen, it's time for Everything DB with Darius Butler. get better, and learn more about NFL football than we could have ever imagined learning before. Ladies and gentlemen, it's time for Everything DB with Darius Butler. Hey, D-Boy! Let's go. Mike good? Yeah, I am.

I'm great. You can't get too close to the board. To the screen. All right. Design flaw. Sure. You can say that. Worth it.

Yeah. Worth it. Worth it. Here we go. Let's get started, man. Let's started big plays from uh from week eight everybody remembers this place is a wild game while ending panthers falcons pj walker with probably the throw of the year uh should have won this game but we're gonna watch the falcons on defense some things they did wrong here middle linebacker here he's kind of the middle run through he only got a three man rush so you got eight guys dropping back in coverage but focus on this safety right here

because you're gonna have dj moore get down the field and just play it real quick and just watch him that's the big mistake in this play is pause it as the uh deep half defender you should be deep as the deepest at least he got he got influenced by this outbreaking route which is this uh underneath flat defenders responsibility and he lets dj moore run right past him with 23 seconds left in the game when he's called with less than 23 seconds actually i think the clock was running when this ball was snapped you see everybody kind of slows down and nobody expects pj walker to break and make this type of throw he's throwing his his ball from the minus 35, and watch where this thing lands, man. Obviously, great job by D.J. Moore not giving up on the play. A dot.

In the middle of the end zone. They are sick at this point. Obviously, they think they're about to lose the game. D.J. takes off the helm, and it's a questionable penalty to some. But, you know, everybody knows the rule. Got to make the kick. Everybody knows it. Got to make the kick. What was it? 43?

48 yards? 48 yards. Gotta make it to win it, though. To win it, you gotta make that kick. You gotta make it. That's what you get paid to do. You're saying he threw this from the 35? 35. This is a 69-yard ball? So kind of similar to that ball that Kyler threw a few years ago to DeHop, but I mean, to make this throw, like

this is a throw you see. I think Patrick Mahomes came out and said, hey, easily to throw it a year already. So, a shout-out to P.J. Walker, man. I believe I saw a stat that said it was the longest air yardage touchdown in, I can't remember the year. So, how many yards? So, this is 65 to the end zone, right?

So, 35 to the end zone, 65-yard line. The reason why I know that is because any time you take a punt snap, I'm looking at the little side thing. Where is our exact ball being snapped from? If I kick it to the end zone, how fucking far is this thing going to go? That's the only number you're taking in, so that's easy math. 65 to the end zone. Then it's what?

That's another four yards into the end zone? Jeez, yeah. Probably five. I would say five. Okay, so this comes from NextGenStats. PJ Walker's Hail Mary touchdown pass. DJ Moore traveled 67.6 yards in the air. I think that's bullshit.

Longest completion by air distance in the Next Gen Stats era, which has been since 2016. I mean, if you let that ball hit, I mean, that's what? At least four yards, right? He's catching that over the shoulder. That's coming down this way. Yeah, probably hitting the A. I mean, I wish we would have calibrated

this. I didn't know we were going to even get in this discussion discussion so it's nobody's fault but my own but you start looking into the thing where is halfway back in the end zone the atlanta yeah that's five yards right i mean lands on yeah you don't get them 70 man yeah get yeah fucking 70 yards this dude just on the dot too yeah and this is for you rolling out, too. Rolling out to his left. Rolling out to his left, too, which is so hard to do. So flipped his hips, was able to step into it a little bit, but it's not like he was running forward. This is an unbelievable throw.

Great catch as well, but run it back one more time just to play it through. As this deep half safety, deep is the deepest. Anything underneath is fine. Let him catch it tackle him in bounds keep the clock running you can't get influenced by this outbreaking route and let dj more of all receivers on this team uh run by you who do you think people were blaming on the internet for this particular fuck up and who this is this is definitely not that person or you think blame was properly probably i i didn't watch i didn't listen to uh this is i had

the sunday ticket on so i don't think I had the audio on, but it's 1,000% on him. And this is a middle-of-the-field linebacker right here playing the deep middle. So maybe it's been situations where I've been on teams where, and I think this clock was running here, but if they had a timeout, this is where you put a Randy Moss, a Kobe Fleaner, a Rob Gronkowski, one of those type players, if you know this type of player is coming. But this wasn't necessarily a victory situation, I don't think.

Still time on the clock. But you can't let that happen. Didn't we against Atlanta? Yep. Kobe Fleaner, I think. Yeah, Fleaner. In that building. We had Kobe Fleaner go out on the field.

We had a DB coach on the numbers. Wild balls being snapped. DB coach being out on the field. We had a DB coach on the numbers. Wild balls being snapped. DB coach being pulled off the field. Almost got a penalty. He was in there because, Kobe, you practice it on Saturday, the deep ball, where you get the tight end back there. You get a big wide receiver who's going to help bat the ball down or whatever on a Hail Mary situation.

And this is the first time we'd ever used it, I think. So this DB coach, I don't want to say his name because it's the first time I'd ever used it, I think. So this DB, I don't want to say his name because it's the first time I'd mentioned his name on the show, and it shouldn't be just a big, dumb dipshit move. But it kind of was. I mean, he was on the numbers telling Kobe where to go or whatever. Ball's being snapped.

He's fucking getting dragged. Like, they're actually, like, dragging this man who's, like, probably 55, 60 years old backwards off the field. Panicking. Full barrel. Oh, shit. Ball is laying seven yards short, I think. Doesn backwards off the field. Panicking. Full barrel. Oh, shit. Ball laying seven yards short, I think, doesn't make it to the end zone. Matt Ryan, 15-yarder, though.

Obviously. That's a big – it was, Matt Ryan. It was. It was a stressful situation for coaches. I think you told the story, actually, about that pass, too. That was actually when I thought to myself. And the thing about these Hail Mary plays, we go through them on Saturdays in the mock game,

but we never really do this live in practice. I've probably seen it one time live in practice, and that was probably this last preseason camp. So big-time play right here. Why don't they have another DB back there instead of putting a linebacker back there? I don't think this is a situation, if I'm correct, they could substitute because usually you have a victory um like personnel grouping like hey it's a victory we're going to seal the victory these are the guys we're trotting out but this if you're a middle linebacker and in cover two that is your responsibility to run and take the deep middle

route he just lined up back there um but yeah you you ultimately want a guy with ball skills back there to knock this down or pick it off AJ, why is the Mike linebacker fucking it all up? Yeah I mean, it's tough This ball is wide, too For your middle reader to be there He's there, but you got to stay deeper the whole time

Like, D-Buck, do you think this route For DJ, like, it looked like he slowed down That's what kind of He, like, hesitated a little bit at the top Like, was this originally what he was supposed to do, you think? I think so, because you got him It's kind of likeitated a little bit at the top. Was this originally what he was supposed to do, you think? I think so because you got him. It's kind of like the outside flow. You got the low out.

You got the first level out. You got the second level out. And then he's just kind of usually a runoff guy, right? But they're trying to hit one of those other ones, get a closer shot to the end zone. Nobody's expecting a 70-yard pass from P.J. Walker in this situation. Okay, so you're saying. But you've got to stay deep as the deepest, though, as the deep half. That's clear out as that person's coming here and this person's coming here.

And they're trying to get the ball to the fucking sideline and stop the clock. Yep, exactly. I don't think they had any timeouts. So he's obviously playing this high to low, so we'll give up that one. Even if he gets out of bounds. Now they're on the 50. Got a couple more snaps. Don't want to give this one up. But you damn sure we'll give up that one. Even if he gets out of bounds, now they're on the 50, got a couple more snaps. Don't want to give this one up, but you damn sure can't give this one up.

DJ Moore, I don't think he thinks he's getting the ball at this point until he sees the ball right now. Like, oh, shit. Let me go track it. And makes an unbelievable play. Obviously, he's juiced. He's amped. Takes his helmet off, and then the kicker misses.

That field goal and another field goal. Yeah, you can't take the helmet off, obviously. Let's not make a habit out of it, but if you just so happen to be on a receiving end of a 70-yard fucking bomb against a division opponent when everybody's saying your team's quitting, and you get a little bit excited, kicker's got to make the kick. But I wonder

if DJ, as he's running, going, holy fuck, it's still going. What a throw. As you're trying to judge, it can't be that much further. Holy shit. Yeah, boy. I would like to hear his thoughts on it. Incredible throw, PJ.

Congrats. What, PJ? PJ's had success everywhere he's played. Yep. He'll be in the league for a long time. Second play. Did we get the second one in? We did.

Okay, so Miami Dolphins against Foxy's Detroit Lions. And I could have made the whole reel about the Lions in tones. Hell yeah. Still is too. But we'll see. We'll see two right here. Lions actually fired a DB coach after this game. Just really, really bad communication.

It's the 36. Lions are up 14 at this point. You got Tyreek Hill motion over. Okuda's motion over with them. So at this final formation, you're going to motioning over. Okuda's motioning over with them. So at this final formation, you're going to have a three-by-one set, right? Tight ends backside, Gusecki. And then you got Waddle, Hill, and then Sherfield up here. So you got three receivers up here.

And what the Lions do here is they actually double-team both Waddle and Tyreek Hill. So it's third and sixth. We're going double-double, all right? So I believe this defender and that defender are going to double waddle. And these two defenders will double heel. What is so funny? So now you have four DBs on two receivers. So you would expect for at least these two guys to be taken out of the formation.

But watch, as this play develops, it's going to be a switch release fade, and it's still going to be a wide. Pause this right here. If you have two double teams, there's no way a guy can be that open, especially a speed guy here. It's the Lions' D-butt, though. I understand that, but this is really, really bad ball. Third down, money down.

Obviously, Tua makes an accurate run. You run it from the beginning. But what are we doing here so i think aj i'll let you ask because i think you're asking the same thing as me and i'll just be ready to highlight it is he trying to disguise the double what's he doing db i think here he's he's like all right i'm going to take away this crosser right because that's that's a really tough route and they do a lot of that but so he's going to be outside leverage i'm going to be inside leverage on this guy and then you got tyreek here you got these two guys here so i believe that's what he's doing but i mean and i

think he doesn't so this guy can't let him outside at all you got that's what i was just about to say you have to have very very strong leverage on your outside hand from this guy. And then you got to be ready to help. Pause. So like this guy, Tyreek Hill, he doesn't even have to really set a pick. It's kind of a natural pick almost, but he's running back from the beginning. You'll see Waddle's patient off the line, knowing like soon as Tyreek clears out, I know I'm going to be in a good situation right now.

That DB's got to slide. He's got to slide outside leverage at the snap, doesn't he? He's got to be outside leverage. Just show pre-snap. Yeah, out of the snap. Especially with other bodies out here that could potentially pick you because you've got to – You've got to do it pre-snap.

You want to at least be able to try to use your help. So, I mean, this is bad execution. Got a triple team. Horrible work. He took a step inside, D-Bud. Run it back, Pat. Run it back. He was almost outside.

Like, you got to be lined up. Your left shoulder got to be the inside of that one. Like, you should be fully out here because you know you have a guy on the snap coming to help you inside out. So, once he does this outside release. But it's bad ball. Like Foxy said, it's the Lions. The amount of third and longs they converted was unbelievable.

It had to be a record. Do you think firing the DB coach, does the same thing apply with an interim guy coming in? Or does their secondary just fucking stink? That seems like a terrible scheme there, right? That's a bad plan? It's a good idea for execution. In theory.

Because, all right, you're calling this in the huddle. This play comes in. All right, we're going double-double. We're doubling 17, doubling 10. We know that. But now the player's got to figure it out from the play call to the alignment. Where are these guys aligned? You saw Tariq Hill.

He lined up over here. Then he motioned across. So how are we going to double it? Is it going to be I'll be low, you be high? Are we going to be in and out? So now those four DBs got to be on the same page on how we're going to cover these two wide receivers. So, like I said, as AJ pointed out, you got to get outside. Obviously, he knows his help is in there.

And then here, I would try to get up in the press and be up underneath. But they actually do a somewhat decent job of running back. Even with Tyreek Hill, he even beats the leverage of the guy that's inside. So you're inside of Tyree Hill, right, Paul? Okuda's doing a decent job of staying outside leverage, but if Tua lets this play develop and throws it to Hill, which he doesn't have to

because Waddle's wide fucking open, Hill is going to cross his face too. It's poor execution. Let it play, yeah. If Tyree Hill's still running, he's going to outrun that. 33 also trips over the 20-yard line, too. Bad execution.

Horrible. I mean, yeah, he wasn't fucking getting there. So is this on? That's why the DB coach got fired because it's like, hey, the technique is just so poor. It's bad. It's horrible. The communication.

He makes that call into the players, and then they got to figure it out, you know, from the huddle. You think the Lions are turning around this year? Yeah, the Lions are getting back. Hell yeah. Go. They're going Yeah, the Lions will get it back. Hell yeah. Go. They're going to beat the Packers.

Absolutely not. Whoa. How about them trading TJ Hawkinson? That's bad, man. Best – well, second best receiving threat. But young player, you would think you want to build around him. It's tough, man. In the division. Yeah, I was about to say, in the division.

I'm excited to see what the Vikings can do with another weapon like that, though, on offense. Great running game, great receivers, and now you've got one of the better young tight ends in the game right here. Lions the worst team you've ever seen in your life? That's a good question. How old are you? 36. They've been pretty shitty. Yeah, they're not as bad.

They're not as bad as the 0-16 team led by Dan Orszlowski. Damn, Dan. Damn. You don't deserve it. Well, yeah, but Dan's getting into baseball now. What? We did baseball in the last hour. Did you see Dan giving his flyers to Schmaltzy last night?

No. What happened? What's going on? What are you talking about? He just showed me one of the coolest things I've ever seen on a baseball field in the history of my life. Dan Orszlowski did? Yeah, he did. What was that? Freaking unbelievable.

So fudging cool, man. So what? I just love it. Go to fudge up. I will. Like Zach Wilson. What did he do? He's just fucking lying.

Fudging. Sorry. He's fudging lying. And we didn't know that until he started mocking how these people speak. It's unbelievable. I thought I missed something with Dan. I love everything Dan does. He's not lying.

I'm being serious. Yeah, Dan did have a video on Twitter about, you know, John Smoltz just being so fudging good at his job. Listen to this. Just listen to this. Wait on the breaking ball. This is a guy who's preparing. This is so fudging cool.

No. No. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Watch this. AJ, why are you saying no? He's giving John Smoltz props. I support Dane propping up another broadcast. So do we.

Exactly. Not everybody on this stage feels that way, though. Isn't that right? I feel that way. I brought it up because I wanted to give Dan his fires for giving his fires to Smolton. You forced it in because you wanted to have this whole discussion. Foxy brought up Orlovsky first thing that pops in my head. Sorry, Dan. Making me remember how much I love baseball.

I don't love baseball as much as I love everything DB. And I like this Eagles team a lot too. Hell yeah. Yeah, so. What was that all about? Dan Orlovsky. He's got to play college football with him. Yeah. Well, I mean, D-Butt knows.

Orlov, he's the fucking. Free. Paul James. Holy shoot. I am so sorry. I did not mean to say that. The authority on. I like Dan.

Dan, you know, we'll get to play it from a game he called this past weekend across the pond. But Jalen Hurts, man. We love Dan. Yeah. He's doing everything good this year we love you uh obviously huge huge day him connecting to aj brown and stay i think this was the second of the three touchdowns they connected on pre-snap uh damn i think rewind it to the earliest point

all right he might have cut this out so before this he read the pressure look right and then brought the tight end back to a protection set. Red obviously single high, so he knows he's going to have one-on-ones on the outside. We had a clip of him doing this a few weeks back. I think it was against the Commanders. Jalen. Jalen Hurts. And from the pocket, obviously you're making a read. You check

the protection against what is pressure. And then you know you got your guy one-on-one. Now, rewind this. Witherspoon does a terrible job, I believe, at the beginning. If you're going to line up in the press against a receiver, you can't make it routes on air. You have to disrupt that timing at some point because when they start off practice with Pat and Go pregame,

this is what they're doing. Let it play. They drop him back. A.J. Brown's going to be in the spot, and Hurts is going to put it. That didn't even get touched. No, look, it doesn't touch him for the entire time. Running back again, we're going to look at Minka in the middle of field safety, who you got one-on-ones on the outside, right?

You got Devontae Smith, you got Skinny Batman, you got Swole Batman up here. He's obviously leaning to 11. At this point, you probably want to lean a little bit more, and maybe you get there, but this is a tough job on him because you allow this receiver to run that red line that's on every practice field, hold that line, and then Jalen Hurts drops an absolute dot in the bucket, A.J. Brown. So, I mean, that's – and if you play this from the back copy, if you remember, it's the last time we saw Jalen Hurts do this, man.

So, he's been doing this all year. He's been consistent. Eagles have obviously done a great job protecting him up front, picking up this pressure look. And this is, I mean, this is, you can't run down there and hand it to him. Boop. So outside, outside hands, this is exactly where the receiver wants the ball. Like, you can't throw a better ball than that.

You got to lean over a little bit more. Minka was there, I believe, on the first one. He kind of called it over Fitzpatrick in the end zone. The last two were very similar to this one. So A.J. Brown had a day, and Jalen Hurts is doing his thing this year. What's going on in Pittsburgh? I thought the defense was always the defense. They don't even get a hands-on guy.

Steel Curtain. Well, I assume. They're not even getting a hand on the guy. I assume he thought Jalen Hurts wouldn't be able to make that throw. Shouldn't. Not at this point. Not a good one. Watch the film.

Watch the film. Watch the film. Let's get to that. Let's fly through these. Let's fly through them. All right. C-Mac obviously had a huge day. Throwing touchdown, catching touchdown, rushing touchdown.

Now defensively, run it back. Defensively, on defense, you have primary run defenders, and then you got secondary run defenders. And as secondary run defenders, unless your receiver is blocking you if you're in a deep half you never have run responsibility you're in the deep third same thing unless your guys you know attached or close to the court he crack blocks or something like that and you have to crack in place but when you're in these positions we can highlight him you don't have a run responsibility and even though this is a pass

This is a lateral pass that it's still behind the line of scrimmage. You can't react to that from back here You'll see let it play so he reacts to this the corner reacts as well Which the corner I don't think should be reacting either. I believe this is quarters a receiver This is almost like a D lineman when you run past the screen a receiver is never gonna run by you A receiver, this is almost like a D lineman when you run past the screen. A receiver is never going to run by you like this on the play with a guy in the backfield. So your antenna should go up. Your antennas obviously should go up.

And it shouldn't even be a read for you because you know no one, once again, deep half defender, deep as the deepest. So great execution by the 49ers. Great throw by C-Mac. But defensively, you cannot have this. Can you guys tell from back if that's a lateral or not a lateral? That's a tough thing because we have that suite now at those games. It's really hard to see who's moving forward, who's moving back, how far they're moving it. Is that something you can tell or you just got to be disciplined?

Not really, but that's why you got to read your keys. Once again, the receiver's never going to run by you when you're blocking. So something should go off. Something is abnormal that Iuke is not going to as a corner. You see me reacting, oh, shit, I got a great reaction on this play. I'm going to go make a tackle, and this guy that's supposed to stop block me just lets me run right by. I mean, look at it.

I mean, he's full sprint. Yeah. And then you can, for me, you know, body language. You know, we always look, you talked about it earlier with baseball. We're always looking at body language. Let me rewind this. It's Christian McCaffrey. When Christian McCaffrey catches the ball, he ain't like, this ain't how he runs with the ball.

You know what I mean? So, once again, I feel like Ramsey was kind of, he was in a great position, setting the edge on Kittle. He was going to make a play, but his corner should not be here. And obviously, his safety should not be here. So, great execution by the 49ers. Great throw. Great play by IU, but defensively you absolutely cannot have that. Bad, bad eyes.

And continuing with bad eyes, Jalen Hurts will have a play right here, fake screen. Pause it. Don't play it yet. Right now this is man-to-man coverage, right? But for some reason we have a safety on a receiver, and we got a corner on a tight end. So I don't know if these guys just got misaligned.

Maybe it's a deep, deep. What's that? It's because Goddard's the better receiver. This is Zach Paschal, former Colt. Yeah, he was really good for the Colts. Yeah, he was. And then we got Goddard out here. All he did was catch touchdowns.

That's it. Remember Chris Ballard said that. Yeah. Guy fucking got another one. Once again, we got a single high out here. We're going to fake this screen right here to Goddard, which is that's his play. It's my guy. He runs the screen.

I go up and tackle it. You should have nothing. Oh, no. Oh, no. Oh, no. Oh, no. Now that throw, I expect you that hurts to make. He didn't have to pump fake. He didn't have to pump fake.

He didn't have to do anything here. Cavoli could have scored this. I don't know if Cavoli's getting it. This is Paschal's touchdown. This is all Paschal does. Score TDs, baby. That's literally what Chris Ballard said. Nobody talks about Paschal.

All the fucking guy does is catch touchdowns. He said it on the show. He really did. He did. Ballard, do you want to keep him around then? Or what are your thoughts? We got pressure here. You got to have eye discipline, obviously, there.

And that's bad, bad ball. So see a little, see a lot is what one of my coaches used to say. Just read your keys. That's your guy. That's the guy you line up in front of. If he's going to block you, beat the block and make a tackle. But you shouldn't be looking and seeing one and breaking on one running this route so we got no hands on a guy okay go route for aj brown the guy that you're spying so you guys have recognized is probably the bigger

threat on the entire team post safety is leaning to the side so you've acknowledged that he is the guy that we're going to kind of look at as opposed to devante or anybody else no hands on him at all this one isn't this like an easy switch that happens like a lot of plays if a tight end goes outside? No, not on this one. No, why not? Because he's a one? You wouldn't switch it.

You're not. You're locked. It's a man-to-man call. Oh, you mean pretty snap, Pat. Yeah. I'm talking about him move this way, him move this way. Oh, you're saying a line-to-wise. Yeah.

Definitely. That happens all the fucking time. If it's man-to-man man if they call man to man in the huddle you find your guy you find the receivers out of the huddle you line up across from them same thing for safeties linebackers whoever your guard you know based on the call hey if i'm a line i got a running back on this call i have a tight end on this call if you go empty maybe it's something that switches up but this should be a good alignment unless it's a call with man principles but zone alignments which there are some of those.

Usually you see them more in the red zone. But I think this is a man-to-man call. You got a corner on the tight end. He's playing pretty tight, so he's not afraid of, obviously, him running by him. But this is your guy. I don't care what the call is. Fire zone, man, deep third. This is your guy.

This is number two vertical. So if he blocks you, you beat the block, you make a tackle, you don't give this up. I think I saw Stephon Gilmore and Shaq Leonard do this. 15 yards in front of me standing on Sunday. And that defense was out of sorts. Our defense? The Colts defense? Yeah.

There were some things that happened. I mean, it was a wide open. It could have been on here, I assume. It mean, there was a wide open. Did you get that? It could have been on here, I assume. There was a hole. It was like Shaq's first play. He ends up covering somebody.

They come in the whole thing. But Shaq runs out. He literally switched. They switched. The safety in the corner just switched, like, immediately before the ball's up. I'm going to take the wide receiver. You're going to take the tight end. Is this like, what the fuck's going on?

This is not a normal thing for Pittsburgh. Steelers do not care. They will cover a slot receiver with a D lineman. They've done it for years. They never switch. It never happens for some reason. And they've been good, so I guess it shouldn't matter. But I'm just saying, no hands, no switch. They leave T.J. Watt out there all the time on slot receivers,

and it's been a problem for years. Cam Sutton covers Titans quite a bit, but, I mean, who knows? What the hell is going on? I'm saying it seems like it's not good. Like, this seems like bad football. I think they were just, you know, they were just very aggressive. They wanted to get the ball and, you know. Bad play, though.

Simple, obviously. When did they want to get the ball? After a kickoff? No, right there. After a touchdown? Right there. Come on, guys. When did they want the ball?

They thought Goddard was getting the ball. Well, isn't the Steelers' defense, that's the thing. The Steelers' defense is the thing. You used to fall back on it. What's going on, AJ? Are they fucking dead over there, dude? I don't know. I mean, as Tone said, they thought Goddard was getting the ball.

That's kind of how football goes. They're trying to show you one thing and give you another. They're trying to get the ball. So this is the next play. This is how you're supposed to play this. So same thing down here. Oh, jeez. Both sides.

So they run the same play. And now a lot of people say Pickens, this should have been a catch. So same thing down here. Jeez. So they run, they run the same play. And now a lot of people say pickings. This should have been a catch. It's a good, accurate ball. Great catch from him. But this is just, it's simple responsibility.

This is my guy. He's going here. He's faking the screen. It's just matching your guy. Once again, simple defense, simple football, good ball placement,

good catch. Did he get his feet in? Yes. They ruled him out. So no, it didn't. But this is how you're supposed to play this from a, Good ball placement. Good catch. Did he get his feet in? Yes. They ruled him out. So, no, it didn't. But this is how you're supposed to play this from a structural standpoint as a defense. So, if you run it back to the beginning.

So, this guy, he almost, you know, he comes down aggressively, but he ends up on three. He stays on two, obviously, and then Slade takes care of his business out here. Are they going to miss Claypool at all, would you say? Fair enough. I think so. I mean, I think they miss him. I think, you know, Bears, they surprised me giving up a second for him. Basically, the first two is their own second. Yeah, that surprised me.

But maybe he goes out there and flourishes with Justin Fields. Hell yeah. He didn't enjoy being traded. He said it was one of the worst days of his life. Said it to everybody. See Cam Hayward runs the card table? That's what I saw out of those photos. Cam Hayward's sitting there at the card table. He gave a piece.

He did something at the cafeteria, probably who he sits with for food, and then he did the meeting room, and he said it was his last day there at Fairwater, all the boys were there. It's tough getting traded. Middle of the season. Yeah, it's tough getting traded, getting cut, you know. We'll see, though. They're not getting hands on anybody on go routes.

No, they're not. That's tough. We'll see how it goes these eagles man and then this next play was actually sent in from nick hell play and i mean if you just watch slay down here we can fly through this play but just watch slay like literally run this route for johnson and like he identified like something i said a few weeks ago sl Slade makes the cornerback position look easy. I think it's the most difficult position on the field, especially defensively. But I think Ruanas, he sees the play action. So he obviously sees, understands that the

boot is coming. And the number one route off a boot is a comeback route. So you see how long his eyes are in the backfield, right? Let it play like a couple more frames his eyes are still in the backfield still in the backfield still in the backfield now after the fake is drawn out now his eyes come back on the receiver and now he knows okay it's a certain it's certain break like as a corner receivers it's a break area about that five to seven yards and then as you get down the field, depending on the offense, some offenses run 14 yards, come back, some run 18, some run 20. So he knows the break area and boom, foot in the ground.

He's not even out of his break. He literally beats him to the spot, drops the pick. 18 almost catches it, but unbelievable play. Thank you for sending this one in, Nick. Sure thing, D-Buck. Just another guy the Lions traded away. Yep. Yeah, thank God. Is Slay one of the smartest corners,

you say? Is that why he makes it look easy? Yeah, because obviously he's still, you know, he's older, and usually as you get older at that position, the game slows down for you mentally, but physically you slow down as well. So, Slay has been able to take care of his body and still be, you know, he can still run with everybody, he can still be physical at the line of scrimmage, but

when you're athletic and talented like that physically and you can play the game like this from a mind, like how, you know, Brady can still run with everybody. He can still be physical at the line of scrimmage. But when you're athletic and talented like that physically and you can play the game like this from a mind, like how, you know, Brady's still playing his 40s as a quarterback. Like, that's like a coach out there under center. Like, he's seeing everything. He's calling coverages out, you know, carrying out a play action. And that's kind of what you're seeing with how Slay is playing ball this year. Watching his head go.

Yeah. Okay. Yep. Like, uh, uh, all right. And then you know it's a young quarterback, too. So it's not like, you know, you're facing young quarterbacks, you expect a more simple, basic. Run that back one more time.

Just watch the entire secondary. You saw Detroit. You saw just watch out everybody. Pause it. So this is Boo, and just everybody's exactly where they're supposed to be. I'm here. I'm matched here. I'm moving in the post. And this is a simple thing. This is a routine thing, but this is a play

where you're going to look on the defense. Nobody's got an M.E. Nobody's got an M.A. And those are plays when he's coming out, he's doing his response, like everybody's where they're supposed to be. And it's, you know, it shows up when it shows up. Such a basic play. It's almost like anyone could cover it.

Thank you, Matt. I did draw this up in the virtual reality football game. Everybody just moved. That dude's going to be open against a lot of corners. Slade, his patience is unbelievable too. He has so much confidence in himself. It's impressive. Kenny Pickett doesn't

throw a catchable ball. That's what we just learned. Interesting. A little tough. Steelers are going to win seven straight after the bye week. Don't worry about it. Sweet. Nice. I like the optimism. You were on the draft yesterday. I'm kind of pumped to hear that. Yeah, you're back. What'd you do? You laid that head down on the pillow last night and said

you can't give up on Steelers just yet. They're going to win seven straight after the bye week. Hell yeah. Hell yeah. Let's go, Tone. Let's go, Tone. If they do that, Tone, you know me, Ty, Connor,

we'll give you $1,000. Sure. I'm good. I don't need it. A couple thousand. I don't want it. If they don't, we think you donate to the Thunderdome. Just buy something nice for the Thunderdome. It doesn't need it.

Oh, yeah, it does. No, we're talking about the walls are empty, Tone. Come on. donate to the Thunderdome. Just buy something nice for the Thunderdome. Doesn't need it. Oh, it does. We talking about the walls are empty. Come on. Paul Mall jersey. How much do you believe? Signed. Autograph. Paul Mall jersey. I don't want it. You get it for the office.

Hey, what we just learned? That was a fugace. You know what I mean? Here we got a 37. This is, I. You know what I mean? That all shit. Oh, four gaze tone. Full of shit. Here we got a 37. Uh, this is,

I think a one point game right here at this point, third quarter. Um, and once again, just simple excuses, man to man coverage. Now you got a combo, right?

You got a stack. So these two guys, obviously you're in and out of who finger he pops on film weekend, week out, but simple coverage matches handle the stack. Everybody's where they're supposed to be in upfield. You'll see it from the tight copy. Fred Warner gets home.

Great stunt up front. And this was kind of the story the rest of this game. And this has kind of been the story when these two teams face each other. But we're running back. You'll see from the D-line in 94-95. Watch how they both cross-face, beat to the leverage. I'm sure you guys are experts in the trenches now with AQ.

They're going to cross-face, and Fred Warner's going to come around tight and obviously Stafford has nowhere to go with this ball. Back can't step up. Everybody's in the same – this is when the pass rush and the coverage is the same thing. Yeah. I think Peyton was talking about it on Monday Night Manning. It was a coverage shaker. It was a coverage shaker. Or maybe it i think peyton was talking about it on monday night manning it was a coverage sack right there that was covered checker or maybe it was i forget who was talking about it but it's like jared allen told us you're just racing against a clock

basically two and a half seconds is that all you guys are basically trying to hold on for what is there a timing in the corner's head like is there a discussion between the defensive players like so you're running back running back from the wire actually yes so third and seven you understand obviously the opponents you're facing all right are there sticks team this is cooper cup right here so third and seven jimmy ward sitting right at the sticks and he knows a pressure is coming so you know it's not a four-man rush it's not a three-man rush you know if you got that it's an it's a chance that the quarterback's gonna have some time with this pressure you got these guys lined up out here and they know the rush is coming you know you can kind of sit and play these sticks a little more aggressively especially if they're a sticks

team like the rams are so you watch jimmy war here so it's really nowhere for stafford to go with this ball uh quickly if he so pause it so once he runs his route both of these guys are matched up alan robinson's gonna push away late but it's way too late at this point and the dbs know that there's a – They know. We have a stunt in the game happening where this ball has to come out quick. It's got to come out, yeah. And if not, they're going to be sacked.

And if they're not sacked, they fucking didn't do their job. Yep, and Peyton was talking about it on Monday night. It was back-to-back plays. The Bengals ran cover zero. I think it was second and 12, third and 12. And they didn't have a plan for it pre-snap. The corner was just sitting off at like six, seven yards because he's no – there's certain blitzes where if we're sending one more

than they got, the ball's got to come out quick. There's only two routes you can run basically, a slant or a fade. And if that's not the route you're coming, so sticky matches at the top of the drop. So that's front end. That's why Vaughn Miller gets $160 million or whatever. Yeah. Because the defense who gets

Tredavious White, who's back practicing, they said he's still day-to-day. He might not be playing this weekend. We shall see or whatever for the Buffalo Bills. But you get Vaughn Miller in there with the back end that they have, they can just kind of work off each other and everybody's pretty much fucked.

If that front end and back end is tied together, and if you, so Buffalo what they do is they get after the pass with four. So even when you're just rushing four, you know it's a good chance 40 or 50 is getting home, which is crazy. And then on the second level, Matt Milano. You have seven dudes. Yeah, and then Matt Milano has been playing really, really well at that linebacker position.

Edmonds. AJ, that's why having good roster is a big deal yeah yeah and it does help to have really good players yeah it is a benefit it is a benefit at key positions huh aj absolutely fun to watch fun to watch fred warner great little uh blitz there too that's like what deon jones got home uh with the cleveland game, Monday. A lot of good... So this one's my favorite coverage. Cover one robber. Is this our first London film? It might be.

I think so. No, we had Honey Badger got a pick over there. Oh, yeah, right, yeah, right. We're an international show. Yeah. Hey, London, we're in your town here. Ain't that right? Hello.

Hello. Hello. Hello. Ew, look at my teeth. Ew. The new king has fat fingers, doesn't he? Doesn't he? Their record won't show, but this has been...

It's a great game, isn't it? Isn't it? Wasn't it? One of the best defenses in the league this year. Oi! It is, isn't it? That's rubbish. Great goalies.

It is. One of them doesn't sweat, I know. One of the Royals. Let's see the mechanics here. This is 143. You got a problem, don't you? Yeah. What's that?

Walk your mouth. Hey, Joy. Darius, you got no shot here. Sorry. You had no shot, dude. I mean, once we have to unload all of our English stuff. Yeah. That's up there with what we know about Dan Jones.

Yeah. Well, and Dan Snyder. Yep, true. Anyways. And Brett Favre. Let's get back to London. Brett Favre. Brett Favre really did it to them poor.

It was like our ancestors. Yeah. It was really like what we did. Brett Favre does what the royal family's been doing for years. Years. Pissing on the poor, you know. Generations. Exactly.

He took all his shillings. He's Brett the Knight. Sorry. He really does. We have English fans. Yeah. We appreciate you guys following along. Love you guys.

Love you, England. Love you. Thanks for the country. Whoa. Jeez. Sorry sorry they fucking lost it we fucking took it well and then if you want to go deeper what you guys did

to get land back questionable India really hates you not just India a lot of countries what you remember what they were saying

about the queen when she passed? On Twitter? Yeah. Loud. Isn't it? It's complicated. Wasn't good, was it? Like, brilliant.

Once again, we love England. We are just doing all the things we have heard and know about your great country. That's right. Now, there was an American football game. The Paffle put together in London. Sunday morning, Mr. Unlimited played against Trevor Lawrence and the Jacksonville

Jaguars. DB, what did we miss in that that we should have been looking for? Got a big win. And this defense has been bothering all year. Once again, you see the Lions, you see Pittsburgh, you see simple things just fucked up. This is a two-minute situation. 1.43 left in the clock. Jacksonville needed a touchdown.

They come out and play one robber. Kaywon Williams had an unbelievable day this day. But you got the robber here, Kareem Jackson. Cover one robber. So everyone's man-to-man outside leverage. He's outside leverage. Everybody's out. Patrick, he can do whatever he wants to do out there.

Outside leverage, use's outside leverage. Everybody's out. Patrick, he can do whatever he wants to do out there. Outside leverage. Use the robber help. And actually, you'll see before we get to the throw kind of how they pass this off. Let it play. Yep. So, Poon, pause it. So, once again, he's outside leverage on this tight end. He knows he has a robber.

He sees the crosser coming. They're actually able to sort this all out. He should be outside leverage as well. Trevor Lawrence makes a horrible throw as far as ball placement. He makes a great pick with the cast on his hands to seal this game. Kaywon Williams to seal this game. He was a great slot corner San Fran before he came over. This is a big time play. Justin Simmons had another big time interception on the goal line earlier in this game, but great execution on the back end.

Obviously, a great play to end this game and get that big win for the Broncos. And is Mr. Unlimited down here in the sideline? Oh, I don't know. It's definitely fine. He yelled ball. Pass. Yep. I heard him.

Can he hit? Ball. Ball. Pass, pass, pass, pass. Pass, pass, pass. Ball. He better be. What if he isn't?

Where is he? Oh, there he is. Bottom right. Thank you, Jesus. A little closer. Yeah, right there. Right here? Yeah.

Wow. Oh, he just yelled it. Did you guys yell anything when you picked it off? Ah, ski. Nice. There we go. Nice. But yeah, great place to start Sunday off.

This is the game that Orslowski was on. And he did great. He did great. Just like you, DB. Thank you so much, Darius.

Thank you, D-Bud. All right, D-Bud, it's already set up and this is how we're going to end today's show. Not only do we get smarter

and congrats to all of the corners that were either spotlighted or low-lighted on everything DB because you're either getting better or getting showcased for how damn good you did hell yeah aj hawk hell of a show out of you today i do miss that creep mask every once in a while yeah true oxytable did a fantastic job ton digs i can't wait to watch hammer down with you and be uh miami dolphins beat reporter kyle cathcart gumpy boys in the back great work today on this beautiful winter wednesday big shout out to reese davis joining Boys in the back, great work today on this beautiful winter Wednesday.

Big shout out to Reese Davis joining us in the first hour, breaking down the college football playoff top 25 with us. He's incredible at what he does.

Big thanks to Zach Kiefer, Ron Johnson, David Lombardi joining us alongside Kyle Cathcart. And big thanks to Darius Butler for

everything DB. Today's been a hell of a fucking Wednesday out of nowhere. Here we go. This is a Wednesday out of nowhere. Did not expect this show to be the way it was today.

We're very thankful for everybody that watches. We will obviously be back. Mignogna has the patho, has a Thursday evening matchup that we will definitely be breaking down from all different angles. What's the angle? What's the angle? What's the angle in London town? The angle here is if Darius can go three of five from the top of the key here with an NBA three, we will give ten people who randomly retweet this $500. Now, you not only have to retweet this, but you also have to reply saying something nice to somebody.

Okay, let's put a little bit more positive juices into the air, into Twitter, and also put your cash tag in there so we can pay you on Cash App efficiently. D-Butt missed five straight putts earlier in the show to give away some money. Sorry, guys. How will he fare shooting NBA 3s on this winter Wednesday with CFO Phil looming? I can feel him right there. Feel him. There is one person that does not want you to win, and that's CFO Phil.

CFO Phil celebrated the brick from the corner of the office. Bang. Oh! We'll have to get hot. Uh-oh. Oh, no! Two out of five, right? Yeah, drain these two.

You drain these last two on this winter Wednesday, we will certainly... Look at this guy. Phil. Phil is not... Yeah, Phil is living the best life of all time. That's amazing. Unbelievable. Oh, my God.

He got robbed. Jesus Christ. The same. Oh. Oh. Oh. Loosen that. Loosen that rim up.

Someone go hang on it. Oh. Oh. Oh. Did Phil bribe D-Buck? I don't know. I would never. You never you're saying i never do people like that that's a quite a slanderous film like a fuck on the rims though that would be smart that is a mean no i just think today guys what dude don't you ever say oh come on you can dunk still think ever

dude that jumpsuit sick though yeah you did great everything db was awesome five people for a dunk That jumpsuit's sick, though. Yeah, you did great. Everything DB was awesome. Five people for a dunk. I'm cold. I'm cold. I don't know. That's the high room, too, right?

Yes. Well, actually. Or they fixed it. We appreciate the people that fixed it. Thank you all so much. Thank you. Thank you, guys. Tomorrow, Darius.

All right. Sorry, people. I don't want you missing a dunk on this day. You missed five putts. No, I missed a fucking dunk. Can't have you missing a dunk. This is a guy looking out for a guy right now. Friends being friends.

What if Mike can drill if he makes four in a row? Yeah. Oh, yeah. That'd be good. Just a bunch of layups. Devo, what do you think happened today? What do you think happened? Finger roll. What do you think it was? I think it's Phil.

He is putting a little bit of a... Look at him. Kind of a freak. I mean, he is. Like the Grim Reaper over there. There he is. There it is. There he is.

Oh, good on him. Okay. Hope it's all fun and games. Good to see you, Phil. Good to see you. We can see through the curtain, pal. You're still walking. We can see you, Phil.

We got eyes on you. We see you. Over there pal. You're still walking. We can see you, pal. We got eyes on you. We see you. Over there in the... We see you. Take your cup of joe. We see you. All right, we'll be back tomorrow. Pathful Thursday.

D-Butt will win. Oh, you can still win today. Hashtag PMS, Twisted T, CFP. Boom, boom. One of the two rankings that were wrong on the college football playoff rankings that officially came out last night in tone digs his eyes we'll get the right answer on friday yeah okay so you can enter that five people in five hundred dollars thanks to our friends at twisted t which is actual t with five percent abv in case you want to get a

little twisted wow a. A kick. Yeah. Shout out to Twisted T. Shout out to you. We'll see you tomorrow. Goodbye, Hammer. Dad is in 15 minutes. Say something nice to somebody.

It's a good thing to do. Goodbye.