The Ryen Russillo Podcast - Is the NFC East Back? Plus Rams-Bengals Super Bowl Hangovers With Mike Sando and Week 6 CFB Top 12 Rankings

Episode Date: October 10, 2022

Russillo shares his NFL Week 5 observations, including from Bengals-Ravens and Rams-Cowboys, NFC East teams having a strong start, and the Patriots shutting out the Lions (0:20), before giving out his ranking for the top 12 teams in college football (12:06). Then Ryen talks with Mike Sando of The Athletic about the struggles of the Bengals and Rams since playing in the Super Bowl, what is behind Geno Smith’s success in Seattle, Browns-Chargers, Eagles-Cardinals, Packers concerns, the Panthers firing head coach Matt Rhule, and more (17:51). Finally Ryen answers some listener-submitted Life Advice questions (42:36). Host: Ryen Russillo Guest: Mike Sando Producers: Kyle Crichton and Steve Ceruti Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

recapping week five mike sander will help us do that as well i've got my college football top 12 poll and life advice enjoy week five almost in the books so some observations and potential regrets okay let's start with your super bowl participants from last year they are two and three cincinnati Week five, almost in the books. So some observations and potential regrets. Okay, let's start with your Super Bowl participants from last year. They are two and three Cincinnati, who would be a 13 seed today in the AFC. That's not going to cut it. And the Rams, who are two and three, they would be an eighth seed. Let's look at some offensive stats.

The Cincinnati Bengals are second to last in yards per play on offense. Burrow's been sacked 18 times and an O-line that was completely revamped. I guess you could argue it's improved a little bit from the very beginning of the season, but it hasn't felt like that. Where on the other side, you have the Rams, who are right behind Cincinnati in yards per play. They're last in the NFL.

Stafford's been sacked the second most time, I believe, of any quarterback, 21 times, and he's tied for the most interceptions. So Stafford's fallen apart. the second most time, I believe, of any quarterback, 21 times, and he's tied for the most interceptions. So Stafford's fallen apart. They can't protect him. Burrow's not as bad as Stafford is, but the O-line is still an issue. And if you look at last night's game, that was important for both teams. That was a really important game for both teams.

So if you're Cincinnati, you're like, okay, we got one at Baltimore. They're good. Maybe they're not great because they're still not sure what to make of Baltimore, more so because of the defense and how bad it's looked at times this season. Although I thought they looked pretty good last night, but I'm also guilty of thinking that everybody on the Ravens is awesome on defense when they wear the all-black uniforms. So I'm like, man, look at all these dudes out there. And it could be because of the uniforms. But Cincinnati drives down, Burrow in for the touchdown, 17-16. You're thinking,

man, this is going to be quite a win because Baltimore's defense had done a really good job against Cincinnati most of the night, limiting chase, which seems to be the number one thing everybody's trying to do more so because maybe there's more chase awareness. You just start looking at how he's covered, and it's kind of like a zone to chase all in itself, even though when Cincinnati's healthy, you like the rest of their guys. But look, the Rams can't run the football. So we're kind of looking at both teams going, well, who's in a worse spot of the two teams

that played in Super Bowl? And you're like, well, I would say there's still more things I probably like about Cincinnati. I still can't believe the Rams are going to be this bad. We're going to have Sando on, like we mentioned. And if you look at McVay, who's just under 100 games as a head coach, going to be this bad. We're going to have Sando on, like we mentioned. And if you look at McVay, who's just under 100 games as a head coach,

like five of the worst eight or nine in the entire time that he's been with the Rams have been this season. So maybe the default, the tiebreaker in this one for who's in the worst spot

would be the Rams win it just because they're in the NFC and not the AFC. But that was a big loss last night for Cincinnati. And I think at the other side of it was a big win for Baltimore where Lamar has been so good this season, wasn't super clean last night, missed a couple throws. The pick was bad. The missed touchdown was bad.

I think they did something where they had to figure out how the stats work. But they said it was like a 65% completion percentage on their next-gen stats of the touchdown. They missed the right side. I don't know that seemed like way too low to me um but then he has the huge run sets up tuck for the field goal so i almost feel like in a weird way because lamar had been uncharacteristically bad based on who we've seen this season that him being bad and then finding a way to win with his legs at the end

of the field goal like that was something that they needed uh because baltimore hasn't been winning many close games either so it really kind of comes back to these lessons where the week one lesson for Buffalo against Los Angeles was Buffalo's going to get pressure with their front four. This is incredible. Allen's awesome. Okay, no problem. They smashed the Rams.

But you know what? The Rams just weren't that good. It's not that big of a deal. It's just one game, and all of us love Buffalo. Well, no, the lesson in that is that the Rams can't seem to figure out this whole line, and it's making Stafford worse. And if you look at it, at this point, the Rams are giving their quarterback the least amount of time to throw, although Cincinnati's in a weird spot

with that too. The positive for Cincinnati, you could say three losses by three points, three points, and two points, but the wins are versus Joe Flacco and then Tua being replaced by Teddy Bridgewater. So major concerns for both of those teams. All right, we keep it moving here. The NFC East,

I want to point this season, said if it was a product I would return it. You know what I would do? I'd probably order it again now. I'm taking them off the ban list. It was very short-lived. It's not super professional, I would also add, but I'm just so sick of all those Sunday night games where I'd be like, these games are awful. We had a

bad one this year early on with Dallas and the Giants, but Philly beats Arizona. Philly right now is eighth on offense in yards per play, number three on defense in yards per play allowed. Their defense is just really good and Hurts is at another level. So you have to be watching Philadelphia all the time.

That win against Arizona, another weird Arizona game where they can't score any points in the first half. I'm going to say something that I may regret about Kyler Murray, but we'll see. He slides short of the sticks, which I get it. He's a quarterback. He's trying to go down, so it's third and one, but at 22 seconds left, he gets up, and the clock was running,

and he spikes it instead of trying to figure out a way to maybe just run a play there. I don't like spiking it as much as people do spike it. I just don't like it. I think it's a waste of a play, and in that case, I thought it was terrible, so now it's fourth down, and you have to bring out your field goal kicker who was picked up off waivers. He misses the 43-yarder, and Philly stays undefeated, and Arizona continues to just look like one of the most frustrating squads in the entire league. All right, so if you're looking at the NFC East, that's the Philly story with a little Arizona sprinkled in there.

New York is 19th in yards per play offensively. You're like, well, that's not that great. Yeah, well, the problem is last year they were 31st. So Dables made this team just more... I'm trying to think of the right word. I don't know if the Giants are good. I don't know if Daniel Jones is good. But the fact we're even asking the question now,

this many years in for Jones, is an improvement off of where I'm like, this guy isn't any good. He has only three passing touchdowns in five games. That's usually not a great sign. He has run to win. But he's been just a little bit better with the football. The wins in the beginning, you're like,

all right, Tennessee, Carolina, who fired their coach today, Matt Rule, Chicago, who's awful. But then you beat Green Bay, and I guess you could put other qualifiers on it for London. It just feels like, you know what I should have said? The word is competent. They're just more competent than they've been in a long time.

And whether that's Dable and improved Jones, that's great. That's great because I don't know that Jones is the answer. And sometimes we can just look at wins and think the quarterback's doing all of it when it's really just not true at all. Again, I don't know that you would survive at this touchdown to game rate that we have with Jones at this point, but just a little bit more competent and a win against the Green Bay team that I think is still one of the top tier

teams in the NFC, which again, I could be wrong about that. That's the kind of winner I'm like, okay, this isn't just the schedule. Because we are at that point of the season with the NFL where there's plenty of teams where you're like, okay, but who do they beat? The Jets have only beaten backups? And then they have their guy back in Zach Wilson.

But I mean, Miami was on its third string quarterback there. So you can find little records. We'll five weeks from now, we'll be at week 10 going, oh, what happened to that team? Oh, they got a lot better. Oh, no, they got a lot worse. You're like, yeah, but it could have been a completely misleading start just based on the opposition. And now let's talk and stay in the NFC East with Dallas uh it's a perfect Dallas season and storyline playing out because even when

it's good they can't help but have something that leads to a bigger topic and that is this Cooper Rush Dak Prescott thing uh Phil Sims fired off a scorcher when Cooper was stepping in for Dak saying he's just as good, if not better. So we see if we can find that one again, because I think it was, I think it was like he was saying it was close, but basically hinting and he thought Cooper was better. Uh, so Dallas is now four and one wins against Cincinnati, the giants, Washington, uh, by the way, speaking of Washington Wentz with the the what's this button for play, again, to close out one for the Commanders, and now the Rams.

They haven't allowed 20 points in a game this season. Their defense is fifth in opponents' yards per game, and they are the number three scoring defense behind, I think, San Francisco and Buffalo. This defense is awesome. That's what it is. Cooper Rush has been nice okay uh he's he's kept his side of the game clean he's only had to complete 25 passes the last two weeks combined all right that doesn't happen a lot you're averaging 12.5 completions a week you're probably not winning

many games unless you're going to run the ball and they actually run it better I think with Pollard and Zeke at this point uh Pollard's been terrific for them but it's an awesome defense it's good balance but it's going to be weird if dac when he comes back it's not if but when he comes back with this this thumb injury that's affecting his grip what if they lose a couple games is it going to turn into a classic cowboys thing where it's actually not even accurate right this is not cooper carrying this team every single week. Dak is the better quarterback, but even in a stretch of success for them over five weeks, you

can't help but have it be a little Dallas-y or there'll be some kind of drama. Couple last things. Things I think I might be wrong about, but I'm still not sure I'm wrong. Basically, just classic me. I'm thinking this. I don't really want to give in. You think when Tua threw six touchdowns,

you think this guy gave in? You think this guy went, come on. No. I was like, all right, we'll see. We'll see how this plays out. I can't believe Geno Smith has been this good. I mean, he is on fire for Seattle. They lost a close one yesterday.

He is the number one QB rating, which at times can be a little misleading. He's number four in QBR. His completion percentage is number one in the NFL. This dude is averaging, excuse me, he's completing 75% of his passes, but he's averaging 8.3 yards per attempt. So sometimes you'll see a spike in a completion number for a quarterback, and you're like, okay, but how far is he actually throwing it on these attempts? Right? And he is third behind Tua and Jalen Hurts in the yards per their attempt. So on top of that, what else?

What else? The 9-2 split touchdowns, interceptions. If you look at where he's been over his career, again, he hadn't played much lately at all. Not that he was going to surpass Russell Wilson, although Denver Russell Wilson, I hope it's a shoulder

problem. That would explain a lot because I still can't believe it's been this bad, which you touched on Friday, but you look back and there's no comparison. This is the best he's ever been. Seattle, a team that I thought was going to be one of the single worst teams in the league,

looks like that Atlanta thing where you're like, hey, you know who's in a lot of games? Atlanta, which doesn't make a ton of sense. I think Seattle fits that mold as well. The last one here, are the Pats good? I thought going into the last couple weeks, I'm like,

this team is so boring. The running backs are good. Interior linemen are good. I don't know about the tackles. I think I'm flirting with a Bailey Zappi's better than Mac Jones thing, but that might be just because I couldn't believe how many people were just convinced that Mac Jones was the guy, and since that didn't happen with Zappi,

then I'm just playing out some weird fucked up role of like, hey, are you saying Zappi's better because you think it or because you want it to be true because people were so high on Mac Jones when you were a little bit more reserved about it? I wouldn't say I was anti. I just was like, I don't know that everything's good here for the next 10 years because I still think there's some limitations with him. All of that's just talking out loud stuff, which may not mean anything,

but to beat Detroit, who to this point had been a really good offense, and hold them down the way they did, and the way they're running the football, this kind of like old-school football zag in comparison to everybody else, like it's been pretty impressive. I thought that was an impressive win,

although Goff historically in his three games against Belichick, not great, Bob. We're doing college football rankings on Monday. And then we will do college football stories if we have an open that's bigger. Maybe it'll be on Wednesday. But I just want to do it on Monday because it just makes more sense. So, here we go. The top

two, or excuse me, the top, yeah, it's different basically. Where the AP has Georgia 1, Ohio State 2, Bama is 3. The coaches poll has Bama 1. That's Georgia 2, Ohio State 3. And then there's some Michigan holdover too. The coaches

just refuse to give up. The coaches will go bending for the doubt with teams longer than anybody. There's parents that give up on their kids quicker than the coaches poll will give up on a name brand. So I have it different. Iowa House State won. They're crushing everyone. They are number one in offense and yards per play.

They've got two running backs who are studs. I feel like Henderson hasn't even gotten going yet, and Williams was terrific in the first week as well. They've got two number one receivers. CJ Stroud's 24 touchdowns, three picks. He could have bigger stats. I don't even know if he's attempted over 30 passes in a game because they don't have to.

But I have Ohio State one. And yes, I don't believe the level of competition is necessarily the same. But I think it's so dominant. And I really am nitpicking with certain teams when you're up a little bit higher. Like you go, okay, well, this is me and Georgia and everybody else. I just thought that Georgia in those back-to-back weeks, although they did take care of Auburn pretty

easily. This is I don't know. You know, I'm adding up all five weeks. All right. Bama. How is it that at the end of a game, so I've got Georgia two,

Bama three, Texas A&M, in what felt like another storyline, or again, Calzada and what he did at home against Bama. Like that was make-believe touch from, touch from an angel for a night. Not that Haynes King was doing the exact same thing,

but he is in because Max Johnson has been hurt. And every time I watch him run, I think he's going to get killed. But Bama's got four turnovers in this one, so minus three in the turnover game, two missed field goals. And next thing you know, A&M's trying to throw a game-winning touchdown

into the end zone at Tuscaloosa on a Saturday night. And it's like the last game that's on other than some of the Pac-12 stuff. And you're like, how is this about to happen? And how big is Jimbo Fisher's extension going to be? And how much is he going to talk shit all offseason, even though A&M is a disappointment this year? Well, the throw doesn't even have a chance, really,

to get there. And Bama hangs on. So Mill rose in. And by the way, Bryce Young was announced as a starter in the stadium. And then they were covering up him warming up in the tunnel, which seemed to be excessive on top of everything else. But, look, it worked out. Bama won it.

But with Milrow and the whole waiting on everything, it feels still like a coin flip between these teams. But I've just liked Ohio State from what I've seen more. Love that we were on the Clemson thing early with this one. The back-to-back wins against ranked teams, then, you know, whatever, 31-3 against BC. But this is where I've kind of had Clemson and having them ahead of Michigan.

Now I also have Tennessee ahead of Michigan. Tennessee is behind Michigan in both of the polls. That was a mess for LSU from the jump. They fumbled the kickoff. Uh, then they screw up again. They're down 10, nothing.

Then they try to go forward and forth down. Uh, the receivers had to have a meeting with the quarterback where Daniels apparently was like, let me, I want to meet with you guys and talk about it. And it's like, okay,

whatever. Um, but Tennessee with, with hooker is, is legitimate. Like he's, he's really good. Now it looks like, okay, whatever. But Tennessee with Hooker is legitimate. He's really good. Now, it looks like on Tennessee's resume, which will be a tricky thing that will be brought up later, I mean, if we're actually talking about,

we'll see what happens against Bama. They still have to play Bama in Georgia. Now, if they beat them, whatever, none of this will matter. But right now, Tennessee is sitting there with three ranked wins. One is LSU, who probably shouldn't be ranked again. But who knows? They're going to have opportunities to play against good teams. Florida, who won't be ranked again.

And then the other one was Pitt, who is now sitting at 4-2 but third in the Coastal. All right. Number six, USC. You're wondering, hey, where's Michigan? I have no problem putting Michigan seven behind Clemson, Tennessee, USC. I think that's

the way it should go. They're still fourth in the coaches poll, like I said, but the last two weeks, Iowa, Indiana, I know they pulled away from the Hoosiers a little bit more this week. It's just not enough. This can sound like I'm contradicting myself a bit here, but I'm putting Penn State eighth, even though the Northwestern game was a little more challenging than you would

have wanted out of a team that could potentially be in the playoff. And as we try to figure out where the Big Ten is, where it's the higher end teams, they've got three of them, but the depth beyond that, what's more important? How many teams could you have make the playoff? How many teams do you feel like are a tough out on a Saturday? But I'm not like flirting

with putting Penn State up higher, so I'm penalizing Michigan behind these other teams, and this is kind of where I've had Penn State the whole time. Number nine, Oklahoma State. Lucky to still be there. Texas Tech was giving it to them. Burton, the quarterback, got hit so hard that he couldn't really run anymore,

and that change who Tech was on offense in the second half and it closed that game. Very easily could have lost that one for the Cowboys, but I'll keep him there. UCLA, number 10. I think they're 11th in the AP. That sounds right to me. And then the head-to-head against Oregon, if I had to pick it, I'd probably pick

UCLA, so that's where I have Oregon 11. And then 12, I have TCU, who is still undefeated. You're asking, where is Ole Miss? It was a battle with Vandy. I know they're 9th in both polls. I don't think that's a top 12 team.

We shall see. Mike Sando, the athletic, one of my favorite guys when it comes to the NFL. Maybe in general, too. Maybe I shouldn't keep the NFL qualifier there as well. Okay, so there's a bunch of stuff that you have in your pick six, some stuff that I went over in the open as well. But I started with who's in a worse spot between our Super Bowl participants there.

Two, two and three teams, the LA Rams and Cincinnati. Arguments to be made for both sides. Maybe the AFC is the qualifier there that makes it that much harder for Cincinnati. But we have two teams that are really struggling on offense, struggling to protect their quarterbacks. And, you know, there you go. Yeah, the Rams may be ultimately a little better off this season.

I think their team, and Randy Miller and I discussed this on our podcast, the Football GM, which he thinks it's about the matchups. And I agree. I think when the Rams get the right matchup, they can be pretty good. They've played some really tough defenses. And I think so much of the fluctuation week to week in performance is on who you play, especially if you're not just a great team. You know, Kansas City is probably going to play pretty good against everybody,

but the Rams have some real deficiencies. They're not the team they were. I remind people, Rams fans get annoyed with it, but these were two four-seeds in the Super Bowl last year. They weren't the greatest teams. So there are some issues. I think I might rather be the Bengals for the longer term. Burrow's younger.

There's a window there. I feel like the Rams are more leveraged. They've been to the mountaintop and won it. You know, so there's a little bit of a different challenge with them. I think Stafford can't weather it as well as Burrow. They both get hit a lot and get hit hard. Yeah, that's the other thing is you thought okay can you protect these guys and it seems to get worse and worse for la every single week when i'm looking at him okay uh i have to

ask you about geno smith i know i didn't expect to ask you about this soon but i am fairly shocked that this is not who he's ever been unless people thought that he was talented enough to eventually do this at some point and a team that you say that i would agree with that we thought would probably be in that handful of worst franchises in the NFL this season. They're kind of in this tricky Atlanta category where you're like, do I have to show up? Do I have to be ready to play Seattle every

single week? So give me everything you've got on Seattle and Geno. So here's the thing with Seattle. They're shockingly horrific on defense. And they went to a different scheme this year, which is unusual for a defensive head coach, but they went to the Fangio scheme. And these guys are thinking. They're not playing. And so they have some nice, interesting, young, talented pieces like at corner. They've got some guys making some pick sixes, getting the ball out. I think they have a good linebacker. They really

were building this thing this year around Jamal Adams. People will laugh because Jamal Adams had a couple of bad years, but he was going to be their Will Linebacker, and they built the defense around him. So he's out, and then everyone else is thinking with this new scheme, and it is terrible. They made Taysom Hill look like the greatest player in league history.

He's just running off the side for 50 yards. I mean, Pete Carroll after the game was like, what the hell? Now, that's a little bit of a surprise. The bigger surprise is offensively, they're better with Geno Smith. And I don't mean they're better than they were when Russell Wilson was at his best a few years ago, but here's the deal. They are running the offense now. I think one of the things we're learning about Russell Wilson's time in Seattle and what's happening with him in Denver is that he wasn't really running the coordinator's

offense. He was running his own offense and he was so great at it because he could turn his back to the play, flip around and find somebody 50 yards down the field. He was never that slice and dice short and intermediate passer in the flow of the offense off his back foot. It was never that guy, but he was spectacular. Well, now that he's not as spectacular and he's trying to be Tom Brady and stand in the pocket, that's not him. He's not a guy who's deciphering the defense expertly. Geno is better at those things. Geno is running the offense. Now, he's been way more accurate, poised, in command than I ever thought he was going to be.

We didn't see this even when he started last year. But I have to give him a lot of credit because he was obviously talented. He came out, was a high pick. And maybe he hung around long enough to mature and actually get to watch and get to learn and know the game. I mean, he looks like a quarterback. They asked me on the SEAC pregame show, like, is this any of the sustainable? I'm like, I think there's some good fundamentals here. If you watch him throw the ball,

he's accurate. Coming into the game, he was 47 of 53 on first down. You think that's good? Well, it's unbelievable. On third down, he was really high, too. They had a tough game on third down against the Saints. But shoot, their young tackles, they put up 32 points

and had multiple scores taken off the board with a penalty here, things that could have gone either way. They're putting up some numbers here. I think Geno's pretty good. It's been incredible so far in the Russ stuff too, in comparison. Like you just would have, I mean, who would have ever said, I actually think they'll be better with Geno Smith after Russell Wilson moves on. But I still can't believe Russell Wilson's been this bad.

So hopefully the shoulder thing, as I mentioned before, gives us a little bit more indication. Okay. So you spent a great deal on the Chargers and Browns in the Brandon Staley decision. They go for it in their own territory, up only two, which I think is the key part there. And it's fourth and one, but maybe not. So that led to a bunch of the different models essentially disagreeing with each other, I think, is probably the best way to explain a decision by Staley where it's like, man, if this doesn't work out and it didn't work out, but they still won the football game where you're basically saying you're

10 yards away from losing this thing. I don't know. That one was, that one was weird. Um, and I'm still not sure I'm convinced what the right call was because all the different math on it seems to contradict each other. And the NGS one was pretty interesting because they actually know the exact distance from the first down. So they're like, Hey, it's 1.7 yards.

That's a huge thing in football. Like fourth and an inch is obviously different than fourth and one and a half, right? They can both be listed as fourth and one. So I just didn't see the, I saw more of a downside. If you miss,

because they're in your, they're in plus territory. They're almost in field goal range. If you miss, if you don't get it. And I feel like a 4-1, almost 2. I mean, that's easily in a game could be a 50-50 thing where you get it, right?

I mean, it's not like a 75%. Maybe it's 60%. But I felt like if you punted, I mean, then Jacoby Bursette not only has to move them a bunch through the pass game without any timeouts, but then they have to make the field goal on top of it, which could be even longer than where they're going to be now. I thought there was tremendous downside in not getting it.

And to me, the upside, yes, the upside of getting it is 100% win. But I felt like it's a really high percent win if you punt, too, because Jacoby Brissett, with no timeouts, having to go that far and make the kick? I don't think so. So I thought this was one that really could have backfilled.

I mean, I'm sort of with Keenan Allen, who was tweeting, like, WTF we doing here, you know? And I was like, yeah, I agree. And I'm not one of those guys who thinks they should just punt all the time, but I just didn't see it on this one. Yeah, asking Brissette to go the length of the field,

I think is kind of where the Staley argument falls apart a little bit there. I'll ask you this. I don't know if it's that different between an inch and a yard and a half, just because I think the process of hiking the football and then the quarter, like, like I know what the math says on distance and I'm not supposed to refute this, but I wonder like where the ball is actually in relation to the first down

marker after your center hikes it to your quarterback. Anyway, like I would imagine that ends up kind of becoming close where the models are suggesting it's this massive difference. And that's why the projections were so off or not. Yeah only the ngs model does that because they have the chip right they they know where the ball is or they have the tracking nothing yeah they have the tracking on it yeah like i would say this like one of the i think it is a significant deal now like if you're think of the staley decision last year against the raiders remember when they went for it on their

own 20 something right didn't they they went for it from way backed up or on their own side of the field. That was a fourth and a very long one. No one talked about that. But to me, you're running it. You're running it. That's a big difference. If it's fourth and 1.7, you're not going to sneak it, right? Probably.

I mean, if it's fourth and an inch, you might just hold it out there and you got it. So I do think there's a difference. i think it's at least worth mentioning you could be right that if you're going to do a pass play you know maybe it's not as big of a difference and that's what they were going to do in that area but if it's fourth and an inch maybe they don't pass it maybe the run game is open for them what is fair about how good the nfc east is because it's so far it's great. And this is a division that I've had a hard time with for a long time. Obviously, Washington's not good.

I would say that Philly is a legitimately good team that you could see advancing in the playoffs. I think Dallas is a very good team on defense. And if over the course of the season, they grow their offense with Dak's return, but don't go too far. There's got to be a balance between what they're doing now, which is extreme heavy run and what they've kind of sometimes veered toward a little bit or wanted to do with Dak, which is, Hey,

we got this $40 million quarterback. Let's throw the ball. I think there's a, there's a medium between there. If they can get a little bit more horsepower on offense and keep this defense, which everyone said was going to fall off because they were too turnover reliant, but it hasn't fallen off, then I think they can advance too. I think that that's legitimate. Now, I think the Giants are just doing great for what we thought they were going to be. And I think they would even know they're not in the same category. They're not a team to me that's going to be, would have any chance to win a playoff game. I mean, they're trying to beat the bears, you know, and holding on for dear life. And what they are is a team

that's not losing the game and they're a competent operation and they haven't been that. So that's how, if you hang around and make the decisions, play smart, play tough, you're going to be in games. And they've been in games and won them. And that's a huge mark of progress. But the idea that the Giants are for real in the way that Philly or possibly Dallas are, to me, is not true at all. Who would you rather have, Philly's defense or Dallas? Probably Dallas. I think having Micah Parsons is a huge um component of that i don't

know if there's an equivalent player at that age at that type of position almost in the league so um you know i'm sure there's a defensive coordinator who would disagree with me or someone could explain why they would do another way I love that high-end talent like that. Okay, how about offense, Philly or Dallas? Philly. I would do Philly. I think, you know, the more that... I've always loved Jalen Hurts' approach. I think he's a serious professional who's accountable.

I love that about him, but, like, he's really growing as a player, too, and as a passer. Doesn't always happen. So I feel really good about him. I think offensively, um, I love their coaches. Uh, I feel like they have a real coherent plan defensively offensively that they can change. So take last year, the first six games of the year, I think they were one of the most pass heavy teams in the league. They realized that's not us.

They turned on a dime, became a totally different team, and got to the playoffs. I don't know that through the channels of Mike McCarthy and the quarterback and Kellen Moore, the coordinator, that it's quite as coherent or proven offensively for them. And we have to see what Dak's going to do when he gets back, too. Can he stay in the lineup? Is he suddenly going to have some injuries?

What's up? I want to talk about Kyler real quick, Mike, and his contract. And this is the thing that I was alluding to in the beginning of the open. I think the Deshaun Watson contract is a complete outlier. I don't know whatever do you think the kyler deal can end up looking like the worst deal i think that one and the wilson deal russell wilson dealer too for sure i mean i think with russell wilson we've probably seen the best of them i i don't think he'd be better than he's

been kyler i think it's still early enough um, you know, you have a chance more to grow and achieve your potential. Those things that came out about him and the preparation and all of that, that was trying to be sort of swept away, that is concerning. And I think to really go next level and earn that contract, you have to grow as a quarterback and know those situations. It's not just go out there and, you know, make some spectacular plays, which he certainly can do because he's talented. I think he's got to become more of the CEO and grow into that role. And he's young. I don't fault him that he got the money, you know? Sure. If he gave me that money at that age, he gave that money to me right now.

I don't know if I'd be as mature as Kyler is, so I'm not holding it against him. But I think you do take for granted sometimes with the top quarterbacks. They really can manage a game. And I think we've seen Russell Wilson isn't great at that, even for playing for 10 years. And Kyler Murray, after a few years, is bad at it. I think that's a bad situation that you would never see happen with somebody you're hopefully you're paying that much who's hopefully earned it with a little bit more time on task and and you know can you can put it in their hands a little bit more even for basic game management things matt rule speaking of making money and walking away what went wrong in carolina uh well i do think that quarterback is such a big part of the equation and they got it

wrong. So I would say they got the quarterback and the head coach wrong, but I think you can win as a head coach if you're better at that position. So I think their inability to get that right certainly is part of it. And the hires offensively weren't able to overcome that, and it got a little bit desperate in the end. Beyond that, I mean, I don't know if I want to paint too broadly, but I think you do have to evaluate some of these guys that are coming from different ranks too, college ranks, and see is that the best way to know exactly what you're doing in the league? Being in the league doesn't guarantee it is. I mean,

look at Nathaniel Hackett, he's been in the league, but I think there's probably a level of vetting there that goes a little bit beyond. You brought this up when you talked about Dable though, and that was just kind of having a plan, like knowing who you are and then having a plan. It almost felt like you were writing that that that's actually more rare than than people realize like is it like what's the kind of stuff that you hear about coaches where you go maybe

you don't have to name the coach but could you share a story about a situation where it would probably shock a lot of us that a team could be that org unorganized as an nfl staff oh yeah so i do think that there are things that happen in games that we don't even know about that are like the plane almost crashed during the game, you know, that we don't even know

how sheet of the pants that it could be. If we could be on those headsets and hear the disorganization and the yelling that I know goes on sometimes, you would be surprised. It's interesting. If you had told me, given me a homework assignment, and I had to think of that overnight,

I'm sure I could think of one exact situation like that where something was completely bungled. I'm just trying to think where that would have been. Oh, well, here's one that no one talked about this year watch the end of atlanta's game against the saints when they lost the game atlanta did there were literally like five or six things late in the game that are like cardinal rules being broken about how to close out a game from the quarterback holding the ball way out to different things. I think they did the clock down the stretch. No one even talked about, I don't even know that anyone even talked about it. It wasn't a big Nathaniel Hackett blow up thing,

but I know people in the league were like, wow, did you see what happened? We're showing our team this type of a thing. And that's not to pick on Atlanta because I'm sure there's five other ones. There's probably three this week that we're not mentioning, but I think some of those go by the boards where if you really broke them down, you could really question and wonder what the heck are they doing here? And that was just one that I remember hearing about this year that no one even really talked about. Yeah. With rule, you know, I don't know if it's just, all right, you know, you've got to figure if you're a franchise going to Darnold and going to Baker, you're not set up for success there. But, I mean, was it that rule?

I just go, well, look what he's done at Temple. Look what he did at Baylor. I just wonder if it's not the specifics. It's the broader stuff. And then somebody comes in and you're like, oh, wait, the specifics are all off here. And we just went with the fact that his resume has shown that he's won everywhere he went at a completely different level of competition. And you have an owner who hasn't done this before, who's a great expert in markets.

He's a billionaire. He's brilliant, probably in the financial realm, but probably doesn't even know what he doesn't know about owning a team and how to do this type of stuff and how to hire. Then you bring in that rule. Remember, they hired the GM off schedule. Scott Fitterer came in like a year later, didn't he? Like a year later. So that is always problematic to me too. Like we're trying to have a vision. Maybe they gave too much to rule early. Then they try to pull some of that back and you try to do a meld with a new guy in Scott Fitterer who probably wants to do the best by his coach, but it's not exactly what he would do. And so you get a little bit in between of what is our plan and vision for

the organization. I always think that's a challenge when those guys are hired off schedule without the hierarchy kind of being agreed to ahead of time. Sometimes the head coach has the power and the GM kind of, you know, like I live in Seattle area, Pete Carroll was hired, then they brought in John Schneider. John Schneider. John Schneider does the draft. I mean, he's clearly does all the personnel stuff, but it's in Pete's vision. And that was established early on and they have a good rapport. I think when you come in and it's all Matt Rule.

And then we hire a GM. I feel like they were a little bit not doing what maybe either one of them would have fully done in the end and just ended up not having a good situation. From the piece this week, you know, off of the Giants winning that, and it's talking about the NFC East and Dable just being a little bit more prepped up, you get the Packers, where I felt like, okay, you know what, they're going to be fine. He's going to figure out Lazard and the other younger receiver. Like, I felt like, okay, these guys are starting to come along.

But you've pointed out here that they're spending in that area. Like, there's some Packers stuff here that we should be aware of moving forward. Because this number was pretty surprising when I saw it. Well, yeah, there's a few numbers here. One is, obviously, Rodgers did the full all-in, get-as-much-as-you-can contract. So, he didn't do a deal that helps them have flexibility. So, they're a little bit up against it. At the same time, Rodgers, I think, does have some say over the personnel there.

I think guys like Randall Cobb and Mercedes Lewis are on the team because they're buddies of rogers and he trusts them i'm not saying they're not good enough to be on a team but they're the types of players you would probably move on from if you were a gm right you'd be trying to get younger guys come in so they have this configuration with rogers making a ton of money they've tried to do some things on defense and they've gone really cheap at the receiver position. And if you look, I did this, I took every team in the league, I took their highest average per year salary figure for a wide receiver or tight end. And so at the top, you're going to have the Dolphins at 30 million. Obviously they did a deal with Tyreek Hill. You're going to have the Raiders at 28 million and they did the deal with

Devante Adams. And you're going to go down with a bunch of these teams having $20 and $19 and $18, and at the very bottom is Green Bay at $4 million. Mercedes-Lewis is their highest paid weapon. Isn't that amazing? Yeah, that is Mercedes-Lewis. And then again, people forgetting that he's even in the league anymore, but go ahead. So look at the teams at the

bottom. The three teams at the bottom in this realm are the Packers, the Bears, and the Colts. And the Packers have Rogers, who's a magician, and they're not going to just be horrific and score eight points every week, right? But for somebody like Justin Fields or Matt Ryan at the stage of his career, I think they need more and need more dynamic things for their play callers, all of that. I think it really holds them back. And I think for the Packers, it holds them back. Like I said, they're not going to be horrific because they do have a run game.

They have some other stuff and Rodgers is magic. But man, watching that game against the Giants, I just felt like they need some receivers who are winning too. And not have everything be this precision back shoulder ball because the guy can't get separation you know you think about a couple of times they had guys with separation the rookie dropped it in the first game for a 75 yard touchdown and then they dropped one in the end zone last week against the patriots too so i think they do need to get better at that and i'm not convinced they're going to grow out of it with who they've got they'll get sammy watkins back but

can they convince an obj or somebody to come in there to honestly winner when is people going to grow out of it with who they've got. They'll get Sammy Watkins back, but can they convince an OBJ or somebody to come in there to greet the winner? When is people going to figure out the secrets out on Sammy Watkins? What do you get when you get him back? I agree. But with what they have,

I think he would help them. That's fair. No, that's fair. But I just feel what they have. No, that's fair. But I just feel like Sammy Watkins, like every fan base that gets him, and then as soon as they get him, they're like, oh, wait. And then it reminds me sometimes of the NBA lottery picks.

It's kind of the same thing. I have this theory that if you're a lottery pick, you always get a really good second chance somewhere else, right? Maybe the team even gets an asset for you. Darko still got a first-round pick from Orlando,lando right and the same thing happens with kind of these top not every first round quarterback maybe the top first half where i went through it all and looked at like what baker was trying to do and i'm like what baker's trying to do as a guy that was the unquestioned starter

started this many games as a first round draft pick moving on to his next team and i went through 10 years of the draft so i'm repeating myself for the audience here a little bit but what tannahill has done is the complete outlier all the other guys that are first rounders that become a starter second place it almost never works out and you know again sammy walkins is a little different but kind of that nba lottery pick well if somebody else picked him but now he's done it like four times and i'm surprised i'm surprised it keeps happening but you're right to your point of the Packers, they actually need him. They need him. I like that conversation.

That is interesting because I think Tannehill got with a really good coach. I think Grable's a great coach for taking what we have and doing what works best. I think that's a key component. And it made me think of Geno Smith. That's an interesting angle, really, on who can really revive as a quarterback, who was bad in their first thing time and i don't think tanning hell was horrible in miami you know i think he was they paid him right they gave him a sort of an okay contract second contract there he wasn't he is

seriously like wentz to me the 2021 wentz will be one of the all-time like outlier stat lines because if you look back at 2021 wentz with the colts you'll think wait that guy was really good and not only did they not want him around um those numbers overrated him a little bit. I think the Tannehill numbers are funny because when I looked at the Miami numbers when I did the exercise, I thought, wait, that was pretty good. It's like, well, yeah, but that's not how any of us felt.

And they were okay moving on from him. If you want to take that and do a bigger deep dive other than just my eye test for it. But I mean, the only one I did, it was 25 quarterbacks over 10 drafts that were all first rounders. Five were franchise changers. Five were total flame outs. And then another 15,

you know, the Mark Sanchez of the world, these other guys that had a lot of starts. The only one that I felt like you could make a real argument for him figuring out what his next stop was Tannehill. Maybe you'll come up with a different conclusion. I think Winston was maybe on that path. Had he not been hurt,

but now, yeah, i mean that was me being like trying to be as fair as i possibly could but you'll see you'll see what baker tried to do is actually what his results in carolina are are along with the norm like tannahill's a complete outlier think how many times that jeff george got a chance right he got got to come into camp because he had the golden arm. It is an interesting one. That's a good one. And I think Tannehill did it and put up really great numbers. But it was within a scheme.

But, you know, that's fine. I think you have to get the right coach. I think Geno Smith now, we're going to watch and see, hey, in week nine, is Geno Smith just grinding through and he's been solved, you know? Or is he a starting quarterback in the NFL? It would be an awesome story if he is. Thanks as always, Mike. Appreciate it. Mike Sando, The Athletic.

Thanks, Ryan. You want details? Fine. I drive a Ferrari 355 Cabriolet. What's up? I have a ridiculous house in the South Fork. I have every toy you can possibly imagine. And best of all, kids, I am

liquid. So, now you know what's possible. Let me tell you what's required. LifeAdvice, lifeadvicerr at gmail.com. We had a lot of people chiming in upset about the geographical footprint of Boston and me suggesting Dorchester was Lowell.

Look, I don't actually think Dorchester's Lowell. I just think that even though it's technically Boston, I don't know. I guess when I lived there, we didn't think of like, hey, I lived in the same exact part of the city you do. I know some people are upset about that. That's what

we expect. 617 keeps you sharp. Thank you. It's all involved expect. 617 keeps you sharp. Thank you. It's all involved. How are you guys doing? Chilling. Another week. I don't know. Geographically, Boston.

I feel like most people, though, in those city situations, when they're like, yeah, I live in the city. And then they live 30 miles outside the city. It just depends on what city you're living. I feel like people in New York City, you could live in Jersey City or Hoboken people like oh yeah i live in the city they don't tell you that they live in jersey and that's just like people just let that fly so i don't know if you live in yeah if you live in hoboken you don't live in the city that's correct but i would agree with you but i think people would just say oh yeah i live in the city and you're like well no but you can't even say new york though you can't even say new york i'm out here i've been

out here for fucking six years now and people like are like, oh, I'm from Montana. I'll be like, oh, I'm from New York. And they'll be like, oh, what borough? I'm like, no, I'm from New York State. And they're like, oh, you can't say you're from New York. And it's like, fuck, you just told me you're from Montana. You didn't tell me you're from Billings or wherever the fuck. I don't know.

It's a thing that bothers me. Wow. It bothers me because I don't want to be like, oh, I'm from Poughkeepsie, New York. And I'm not necessarily from upstate New York either. I'm below the fucking Catskills. It's a whole other mountain range to Adirondacks. I'm just, I'm tired of city people giving me shit. Iie, New York. And I'm not necessarily from upstate New York either. I'm below the fucking Catskills. It's a whole other mountain range to Adirondacks. I'm just, I'm tired of city people giving me shit. I'm from New York.

Anyway. State. Wow. Nerve struck? Sorry. He just did a whole thing where he's like, I'm just trying to say I'm from the state and people give me a hard time. So, whatever. Sorry about that. We can get back on track here.

Don't get it twisted with Kyle. Yeah. Not messing around this morning. Yeah. My definition of like saying you live in the city of Boston, like I have my own perception of it. And if you live in Dorchester, you would say I live in Dorchester.

Like if you're in the city, if you're talking to people like you, when you go to college and you say, Hey, where are you from? You say Boston. But again, like Cerruti's point, I had guys that were south shore guys saying they were from boston to other people but i always wonder if that becomes a thing that you kind of like privately lean towards where you want like you want the perception of you to be what right because like guys that

lived in greenwich like oh i'm a new york city're like, no, you're not, to like Kyle's point. Like, I know Cos Cobb is a little bit rougher than Riverside, but it would be like, oh, I'm a city guy. He's like, no, you go to Greenwich High School. Like, what are you talking about?

Do you feel like a fraud telling people that you live in LA when you live in Manhattan Beach? But I tell people like last, you know, I was at my 25th reunion for college and people were asking me where I was. I don't say Manhattan beach. I sell it. I say LA. And if

they ask me where, then I'll say Manhattan beach, by the way, I'm not trying to claim, claim LA. I'd rather, I'd rather be known. But the thing for me is like the last, other than the places I've lived, when have to introduce myself it's like two of the most pretentious possible places you could be although the vineyard gets way more shit than manhattan beach does i love that you have to go through that when guys are on the like the pre-zoom like so where you from you're like martha's vineyard they're like whoa and you're like yeah dude i know but not really like it's about your full full timer i would get less of a reaction if i said i was from dubai totally you guys see it all the time on the zoom

right um so and i'm also sensitive to you know anybody from georgesia that's still super fucking mad about this looking at my address manhattan beach uh i would say that you uh you know everyone kind of has their own definition of it but you could you could say like i get you know i get where it is i guess when you lived in the city but then again brookline people were technically not supposed to say that they live in the city even though it's fucking it's right there so whatever uh shout out to georgetown how about that okay here we go speaking of living on on calm, this email reminds me of that. I think my friend fucked me over and I need to know how mad I should be. Hey, everyone, big fan of the show. 511190. Look good in a t-shirt. Look bad shirtless. Names in the email

have been changed. I think my friend fucked me over and got my car towed. My friend Arnold invited me over to watch football. His roommate, John, who I'm also good friends with, was out of town visiting his girlfriend. So Arnold told me I could park in Jordan's designated parking spot. And Arnold provided me with a 24-hour parking pass. Arnold and I ended up going to a bar to meet up with friends. I leave my keys at Arnold's place. I tell him I'll just get Uber. I'll just Uber back to his place early in the morning because I don't want to mess with potentially driving home drunk.

Credit to me. All right. Good. Responsible. Shut up. He agrees and says, no problem. I have a 24-hour pass after all, right? So you're parking it the night before.

That means, okay, 24 hours. It means, you know, depending on how the night goes, you know, head on over. All right, so we go to the bar and meet up friends. While I'm at the bar, the roommate, John, texts Arnold and tells him he's coming home earlier than originally expected. Arnold tells me that I need to move my car and give John his spot back.

Yeah, come on. I essentially tell him that I'm in too deep that I recognize that plans have changed, but you can't spring. You need to move your car on me when we're multiple drinks deep. I tell him that I have to stick to the original plan. Hey, no, no, no. We need to stick to the original plan. Hey, no, no, no. We need to stick to the original plan. I like that. I'll wake up early and Uber over to pick up my car.

That night, I went back to my apartment. He went back to his. Like I mentioned, my car keys are at his apartment. Arnold took my keys, went into my car, removed the 24-hour parking pass that he had given me, and I ended up getting towed. Am I completely wrong for being upset? No, you're not. You should be upset about this. I recognize in the court of law, he's in

the right. It's his parking pass. I was parked on his property. I don't have much of a case, but in a court of friendship, well said. Well said, my friend. In a court of friendship, I feel like he absolutely fucked me over. I feel like we definitely could have come up with an alternative solution. I'm not stressing over the tow bill. Yeah, it sucks, but it's whatever. I'm angry because I never would have done that to him if our roles reversed. I would have figured something out so my friend wasn't getting screwed over. I'm viewing our friendship much differently than I previously did because of this. I need to know if I'm overreacting or being dramatic. Thank you guys for reading. Writing out this email was a bit therapeutic. All because i'm very irked yeah you should be uh this one

sucks basically okay here's the deal you you know what happened here like the other roommates like well fuck it it's my spot it's my past like he needs to move but there are promises that were made that should have changed the rule from just my spot my rules beat it like they needed to figure out a way to make this all work because you weren't going to come over and move your car around and search for a parking spot after you'd been out for a while, which is what nobody would want to do. So the problem is that they're looking at it as like, well, we did you the favor, but the favors can't just change magically out of nowhere. There had to have been some other solution where it's like, hey, all right, I'll leave your spot in there. I'm not going to go into your car, out the pass and now that you don't have the pass you're going to get towed immediately

like he knew that so this guy's is cool enough with that like that guy's a dick for doing that to you like he couldn't he couldn't find his own spot a little bit further away and you know what be annoyed be annoyed but you know this is one of those deals where i i had a friend like this like he everything was on his fucking terms. Everything was on his terms all the time. Where you ate, where you went, who was invited, who wasn't invited. And it just gets fucking annoying because then you're like, wait, you just, everybody just has to do what you want to do all the time.

So this one friend to actually go into your car, take out the pass. And I guess, like you said, in the court of law, he could argue, Hey argue hey it's my pass you're not supposed to be in there we asked you to move it whatever you that guy was totally okay with knowing what he was doing was going to lead to your car getting towed when there had to have been other options even though you know parking in the city is a disaster uh there had to have been somebody he could have parked in the garage and asked you to pay for the parking you know i mean I mean? There's something that you would have signed off on that made a lot more sense than you probably bought being out $150 for a towed car. So I think you have every right to be pissed.

And I would say something to him about it, but also ask yourself this. Are you of the three guys? There's always a hierarchy in all of this. Is it cooler that they get to hang out with you, or is it cooler that you get to hang out with them? Because maybe they're treating you like the number three guy in this three-man rotation. Are you the number one guy? I don't know because I don't think the number one guy would get treated this way. No question. Yeah, that's something else you're going to have to ask yourself. In this group, what's your power ranking? Are you always asked for the parking spot

guy? Which it doesn't sound like that, but if you're constantly nagging them and then this guy's like, hey, the plans did change, but this guy's always in my spot, then I would be a little bit more sympathetic to the other side, but if it's just a one-off thing, that guy's not your friend, dude. That's what I would say. No, you're right. It's a good point

because we don't always get every side of the story here. Are you constantly asking for this? Was this the last straw you know like i remember i went to the city to go stay with some friends and i lost a key you know i ended up staying somewhere else i mean this is a long long time ago and i lost the key and i was like all right what do i need to do i'm really sorry and uh i thought i left left it near the thing I needed to leave it at. And they were like, no, he's like, one of the guys is so pissed at you. But that guy already hated me. The guy already hated me. And something that was a really simple fix,

take the other spare that you have, get it copied. I'll give you 20 bucks. It was a huge, huge headache. And it turned into all this stuff. And I was just like, all right, whatever. And again, I wasn't really friends with the guy before, but I was friends with the other roommate. I haven't talked to the other guy in fucking forever anyway. So, you know, shit like that happens, but it's a good point to bring up. Are you asking for a ton

of stuff and their patience was thin and that's why they did this to you or are they just dicks? Because that's a dick move. Because it's like... You know... Go ahead. No, I was going to say, I'm not accusing him of anything, but it's like the guy at the gym last week who those two guys just like were pissed off at him and immediately snapped and we were like why did this happen when he took the phone call for 90 seconds my mind always goes to like usually people don't just snap like that or make these terrible rash decisions with in this case your friend like basically willingly gets your car towed like

they're in my head there's there always has to be something more here. I'm not being accusatory, but, like, I don't know. It just feels like there has to be something else. Otherwise, that guy's just a dick and he's not your friend. Yeah. I think with, like, if you do somebody the favor, it's now your job as the favor giver to make it work for whoever else is inconveniencing.

So, like, what that guy should have did is moved his car instead of taking out the fucking, taking out the keys that were, you know, left in good faith on the counter in this guy's apartment. He should have moved his own car and then let the other guy like park in the spot instead of being like, well, we both need to be parked here. And I know you're like out and about, but the plans changed. And I know it's totally unrealistic for you to, you know, to come back and get this. He should have inconvenienced himself because that's the shit you take on when you say somebody, yeah, it's okay. I got you for this.

And then if, and if you're unable to handle that, you just don't give out that many favors and you know, a big court courtroom block sort of TV guy, this thing would have held up in judge Mathis, judge Judy. This would have been judge Marilyn Millian. I mean, Judge Maybelline. All these people would have been like, no, you had a verbal contract basically saying when and where you were going to pick up this car and how long was okay for. And then halfway through it, the one person basically changed the contract and now you're out money. I think in a court of law, yes, no, I don't know. But in the courtroom block, which is basically what only really matters, they would have all ruled in favor of this guy who got his car towed because you had an agreement

and then halfway through, you can't. That's why you have agreements. It technically is a verbal contract, especially because you specified the time and place and all that stuff. So this guy is probably owed something. But I just mean that like you're not absolutely not wrong at all. And I think a lot of a lot of America's heroes would have agreed with you speaking of America's heroes you still got that mustache going huh no I still got the bottom now no it's not just the mustache anymore okay all right you're getting into pirates the Caribbean

phase right now don't think we needed to go there but I just I've got a it's a little patchy down here it's just taking a little while to come in and I'm trying to look at it maybe there's an angle I could get it all in. I think it looks good. It makes me scared. Maybe I'll try some lighting things.

Don't you usually have the goatee? Isn't that the usual Kyle goatee? It's all connected. It doesn't all connect the way I'd like, but it's all connected. All right, here we go. Another one. Pretty simple. I hate working.

30 years old, 6 feet, 180, 225 squat, 145 bench. One time someone said, really? When I put the fives on and I responded, you'll get there someday. That's good. That's good gym humor. And I like my job fine. Everyone at the office is fairly nice. The conditions are fine. My bosses are chill and I make decent money. I like being at my job. Here's the thing though. I kind of hate working.

I hate going to work. And I mostly hate how exhausted I am when I'm coming home. And it seems to take the whole day. A lot of work. Generally. A lot of work is most of the day. You know, getting up, going, going there, doing it, and then leaving, going home. A lot of the jobs out there, unfortunately, fall in that category.

This is going to take up most of my day. Although the weird thing is, if you can do some of the insurance stuff that I've been privy to. Again, the one time I had like sort of a corporate job. It wasn't really a corporate job when I was an insurance consultant for a few months, but I actually should not have had the job. The whole reason I wanted to do it was I was like, wait, I could see what these other guys did. I was like, once you build out your book of business, I was like, this is fucking easy. Now I knew long-term it wasn't what I was going to do, but in the meantime, it's probably better it didn't work out because I could just see their lifestyle. And I was like, oh, so you guys just kind of build out your book

and then it just renews on its own and you're just going to make sure the renewals stay? It's like you don't actually do anything. Because we weren't even selling. Yeah, we weren't even selling policies. We were going to become the consultant where all we would do is make 4% of whatever their payment was. So it was a joke.

Like all it was was get as many people to sign this piece of paper, name their consultant. And then once you became their consultant, nobody ever fucking called you anyway. Yeah. It was the weirdest thing. Anyway, I think those guys sold that company for millions and I was there at the

ground floor, but I was, I was let go because they don't want you to be an insurance consultant when you've never worked in insurance before, which is a fucking weird rule. It's like being a bartender. Yeah. It's tough, man.

Really tough. Alright, so this guy hates it. It's taken up a lot of the day. I mostly hate how exhausted I am. I'm in danger of slipping back down to 135 because I've been lifting less due to just being wiped out from work. That's a good reason to quit a job.

Whenever I express these things to my bosses, they say, that's growing up. We're so proud of it. Wait, you tell them you hate this? And they said, that's growing up. Yeah. We're so proud of you, quote. I think that's what they missed. They think they missed the whole point of what I'm saying. Although to be fair to them, what are they going to do? Pay me, but let me work less. I'm in a happy marriage. We're going to have kids soon. So I do need to be making money. But every day I drive home, I feel a little less alive inside. Any advice?

Well, I don't know. I can't tell if you're motivated or lazy. It sounds like you're lazy. But is it the job? Is it not you? I don't know the answers to these things. I can tell you that when I finally absolutely needed to change,

it's when I felt at my worst. And I would say, most of us have our Ray Dalio world economic charts where you're like, hey, I'm on the rise. And it's like, okay, no, Rosillo's 2002 is here. 2000 isn't great also. And so when I would go into bartending, I would have a pit in my stomach, a pit. It hurt. My stomach hurt on the inside. And it went on for, I don't know, a year seems long, but longer than six months. I would take the turn down the street.

I would go down the stairwell. I would open the door and I would walk in and I would feel awful, awful, like my stomach hurt. And I kind of knew at that point was like, all right, well, this can't continue. And honestly, what that was was the best thing that ever happened is that whatever I was doing just wasn't enough. And then I think that when you're at that point, if you're feeling that way, that can actually be a great thing because it's kind of your point of like something needs to change. But the problem we all have is that we all want those

things to change as soon as we possibly can. So I'd ask you this. Okay. So you hate it. You hate this job. Do you hate all jobs? Do you hate work in general? Because that's a problem. But is it just this job where you feel like you're putting in, I don't know how you're exhausted after being an insurance broker all day, but I guess maybe it's just exhausting mentally or whatever. That's fine. But I would use this feeling that you have and hopefully use it to motivate you to plant seeds for the next things that you want. Ask yourself real questions. This applies to almost everybody that's in these spots because we all have our ups and downs. But you have to ask yourself, okay, how much longer can I do this? Because we all have our ups and downs. But you have to ask yourself, okay, how much longer can I do this? There's also times too where you could be like, hey, you know what? I actually don't have it that bad. And that's usually when you start talking about a wife, a mortgage, and some kids.

You go, you know what? This isn't all that bad. And in five years, maybe I'll be here or whatever. And you start doing some different math in your head. But if this is truly making you physically and emotionally exhausted to the point where you can't stand it anymore, emotionally exhausted to the point where you can't stand it anymore, use that to go, okay, that means in one year, two years, three years, I need to be here. I need to start thinking about these other things. But because those things take so much longer, like I ran into somebody not that long ago that was asking me about getting into media. And I said, well, what have you tried to

do? And it bums me out that I don't have an answer that's going to solve everybody's problems. Because I know what it's like when I was going to ask people and then you're kind of disappointed, but that's the reality of it. It's like, I can give you some advice. I can't get you a fucking job, man. Um, especially when you're a place like ESPN or Spotify, it's like, you know, this is not the entry level angle here. So I'd ask somebody and be like, well, did you do this? And be like, yeah. I'm like, okay. But when they said no, what did you do? And the person would just be like, well, that was it. I'm like, okay, that was your first mistake. Have them say no to you five, six, seven times. You may not even work there, so why don't you give a shit?

So for anybody that is truly unhappy about where they're working, I would say that's a good sign that you're actually getting emotional enough about how you feel to eventually want it to change. Or you find a way to kind of process it and accept it. And then once you can truly be honest yourself, go like, hey, you know what? Actually, maybe I don't have it that bad. And all these different things that you should do that you get probably a little bit better as you get older, just because you've been around a little while. But if this is the way you feel, then start asking yourself real questions about like, okay, where would you actually want to be? What would you actually want to be doing? You're only 30 years old. You don't have the kids on the way yet.

You know, I don't know what your timeline and plan is for all the family stuff and all that kind of stuff, but you know, working at a job for your entire life that you hate, unfortunately common to me was like a non-starter. It just couldn't happen. And I think, I think whatever, whatever place you're at mentally with it, ask yourself questions about what it would be that would make you feel better, what other avenues and start planning, start planning that shit out while you lucky, while you're lucky enough to have a job, even though you hate it. Just in case it is this simple, I don't like working either, dude. In case it is that simple, because he said, I like my job fine. I just don't like how working makes me feel. And I feel the

same way. Every time I take a vacation, the last couple of years, I've taken it to Poughkeepsie, New York, because it's the greatest place in the world. And every time I'm like, I wish I didn't have to go back. I could do this for another two weeks. I usually take two weeks, took three weeks this year. Every time I'm like, I could do this for another three weeks. I wish I had time to just do literally whatever I want. That's just, I mean, this is life. That's all. Like, it sounds like his job is fine. Most jobs are basically either require a lot of brain power. And when you check, when you clock out, quote unquote, you're actually not off or you can, or, you know, it's a lot of demanding physical labor. And when you do check out your, your body's exhausted. I just think

that's, if you got to work a regular job and you're don't have a huge inheritance and don't, you know, I think this is just how it is for most things. So, uh, it sounded like in his email, there was a caveat that he was like, I like my job. Fine. I just think you, I think it's normal to just be like, man,

I wish I just was one of those people that didn't have to do anything they didn't want to do. So, um, yeah, just maximize your free time, your fun time and, and enjoy that,

uh, all the more, I think. But I feel like it's an incomplete email because he, we don't know, like he didn't say that he wants to do anything else. He just doesn't like working. Right. Like, yeah, at some point you have to fill up you have to yeah but you call you have to fill your day up with something like if you oh i got it when i was a kid no no when i

like when i was in you know college or whatever like early in my time at espn you know i'd be like oh yeah if i didn't have like if i won the lottery tomorrow like i would just sit at home and play fifa all day and i i wouldn't need i wouldn't need anything to do and i think the older that i've gotten i'm like i would be so fucking bored out of my mind and that doesn't mean that I have to that you have to like hey take some shitty job and just work it because that's what you do obviously find what you want to do and what you like but you have to you kind of I think I think for mental like sanity you have to fill your day up with stuff that like stimulates you and you know doesn't always isn't always just like entertaining to you but at least like gets you

in the going in the right direction or at least is like stimulating your brain cells to some degree. So I don't know. He just he didn't say that he wanted to do anything else. I want to know, like, does he want to change careers? Does he you know, maybe he needs a couple hobbies or something. I don't I don't he needs something else, I think, in life to get his life just kind of feels dull and boring right now. And I don't know what else he's filling you with is that shitty job he doesn't like. Because if that's all you have, if all you have is this job, you go to work nine to five and you go home and you come home and you watch Netflix

and you hang out with your significant other, you need other shit in your life. Otherwise, the only thing that you're doing every day is waking up to something you don't like to do. So find something you like to do that also kind of goes with the shitty part that is your job. It's probably hard to change your career

drastically at this point, especially right before you have a kid. It's not impossible, but I think small steps. Find stuff that you want to do on a consistent basis. Do it consistently, and I think your life will be happier in that way. Nothing else to add. That's life advice. Thank you to Saruti. Thanks to Kyle, as always.

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