Nightcap - Hour 2: Josh Allen for MVP, Kirk Cousins future, Dallas Cowboys lack of focus

Summary

Club Shay Shay - Nightcap, Hour 2

Episode Title: Josh Allen for MVP, Kirk Cousins Future, Dallas Cowboys Lack of Focus
Release Date: December 4, 2024
Hosts: Shannon Sharpe & Chad Johnson (Ocho)
Platform: iHeartPodcasts

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Introduction

In this episode of Club Shay Shay, NFL legends Shannon Sharpe and Chad Johnson delve deep into the current NFL landscape, focusing on quarterback performances, team strategies, and coaching decisions. The discussion revolves around Josh Allen's potential MVP candidacy, the uncertain future of Kirk Cousins, and criticisms of the Dallas Cowboys' recent lack of focus.

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Josh Allen for MVP

Performance Highlights & MVP Race

Shannon Sharpe opens the conversation by lauding Josh Allen's exceptional performance this season. He emphasizes Allen's impact on the Buffalo Bills, highlighting his status as the leading quarterback in total touchdowns, passing touchdowns, and wins since 2020.

• Sharpe: "Josh Allen's next touchdown will make Buffalo Bills history. With his next touchdown, rushing or passing, Allen will become the Bill's all-time leader in touchdown passing." [08:26]

Comparative Analysis

Sharpe contrasts Allen's performance with other quarterbacks, noting that Allen has been the best in December since Jim Kelly. Chad Johnson, however, expresses skepticism about Allen's MVP chances.

• Johnson: "That's a lie. That's a lie." [08:50]

Quotes Highlight:

• "The great Jim Kelly Allen has been the best quarterback since." – Shannon Sharpe [08:26]
• "They couldn't do jack..." – Shannon Sharpe discussing team performance [04:50]

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Kirk Cousins' Future

Speculation on Team Movement

The hosts transition to discussing Kirk Cousins, pondering his future in the NFL. Shannon Sharpe expresses disappointment that the Denver Broncos didn't draft Allen, suggesting they missed out on pairing a strong defense with a capable quarterback.

• Sharpe: "He, he has the arm because in order to play in the state Buffalo, you got to have an arm." [10:17]

Potential Trade and Team Fit

Chad Johnson speculates that the Falcons might explore trading Cousins if he doesn't perform in the upcoming games, especially with the emergence of rookie Michael Pennington Jr.

• Johnson: "I think they are ready to move on with Penning Jr. Anyway. Honestly, it's time to get that train rolling." [17:16]

Coaching and Development

They discuss the importance of coaching in developing quarterbacks, with Sharpe advocating for Kirk Cousins to remain with a team that can harness his accuracy and decision-making skills.

• Sharpe: "There's no need for him to sit behind Kirk Cousins for a second year." [10:06]

Quotes Highlight:

• "Look at how he's turned out in Buffalo." – Shannon Sharpe [10:06]
• "He might not have the strongest arm, but it's gonna get where he needs to be every time." – Chad Johnson [19:12]

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Dallas Cowboys' Lack of Focus

Game Strategy Criticisms

Shannon Sharpe criticizes the Cowboys' coaching decisions, particularly in clock management and play-calling during critical moments. He references a specific game scenario where poor decision-making led to a loss, emphasizing the need for better strategic planning.

• Sharpe: "How you run one plate with 33 seconds is absolutely a fireable offense." [24:10]

Player Performance Issues

The discussion shifts to player performances, highlighting issues with receivers dropping passes and lack of concentration on the field. Sharpe stresses the importance of fundamentals over spectacular plays.

• Sharpe: "He dropped three of them. He turned into a retriever." [39:10]

Coaching Accountability

Both hosts agree that coaching malpractice is a significant factor in the Cowboys' struggles, advocating for accountability and better preparation in high-pressure situations.

• Johnson: "That's coaching. That's coaching. That's all it comes down to being able to execute the plays." [25:20]

Quotes Highlight:

• "This is coaching malpractice. But Caleb Williams, this is a situation..." – Shannon Sharpe [22:04]
• "They wouldn't cook it. They gonna have that stadium cleaned out for that game Sunday." – Chad Johnson [16:25]

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Conclusion & Insights

Shannon Sharpe and Chad Johnson provide a critical yet insightful analysis of current NFL dynamics. They commend standout performances like Josh Allen's while calling for improved decision-making and accountability from coaches and players alike. The conversation underscores the intricate balance between player talent and strategic coaching in achieving team success.

Final Thoughts:

• Sharpe: "You can't continuously make the mistakes that he's making and remain in that position." [24:19]
• Johnson: "Coaching is one of the reasons why teams win. That's the difference." [25:20]

The episode concludes with a call for teams to focus on foundational elements such as effective coaching, player development, and strategic decision-making to foster consistent success in the highly competitive NFL landscape.

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Notable Quotes with Timestamps

• "Josh Allen's next touchdown will make Buffalo Bills history." – Shannon Sharpe [08:26]
• "That's coaching malpractice." – Shannon Sharpe [22:04]
• "How you run one plate with 33 seconds is absolutely a fireable offense." – Shannon Sharpe [24:10]
• "Coaching is one of the reasons why teams win." – Chad Johnson [25:20]
• "They are ready to move on with Penning Jr." – Chad Johnson [17:16]

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This comprehensive summary captures the essence of the episode, highlighting key discussions on Josh Allen's MVP prospects, Kirk Cousins' uncertain future, and the Dallas Cowboys' strategic shortcomings. Through engaging dialogue and critical analysis, Shannon Sharpe and Chad Johnson offer listeners a deep dive into the factors influencing NFL team performances and player trajectories.

Transcript

[Michael Lewis]

Hey there, it's Michael Lewis, author of Going Infinite Moneyball, the Blind side and Liars Poker. On the latest season of my podcast against the Rules, I'm exploring what it means to be a sports fan in America and what the rise of sports betting is doing to our teams, our states and ourselves. Join me and listen to against the rules on America's number one podcast network, iHeart. Open your free iHeart app and search against the Rules. Listen to against the rules on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

[Shannon Sharpe]

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[Shannon Sharpe]

Amir Gibbs in the doghouse. He posted a photo of a physician meeting room with schemes on the whiteboard in the background.

[Chad Johnson]

Okay? Hey, okay, I like it, I like it, I like it. But can I tell you something real quick, uncle, about this? Can I tell you something? Listen to me real quick. And for y'all in the chat too, listen to me real quick. Even with the schemes and the stuff that's on the backboard, no matter who they playing, when that whistle blow, you got to be able to stop it. I don't care what you know, can you stop it when it's time to. You watch film every week. What week? What week are we in the NFL we in week what, 13 or 14? 13. There's 13 weeks in films of that goddamn Detroit Lions offense. Ain't nobody been able to stop it yet. Okay? They have one loss. Ain't nobody better stop it yet. 52 points. 52 points, 24 points. I think they just scored 26, if I'm not mistaken. I'm just, I'm just, I'm just running off at the top of the head or the point that my point.

[Shannon Sharpe]

23. I did. They beat all. Thank you. 23. 20.

[Chad Johnson]

Yeah, I mean, I understand. I, I. He probably didn't mean to do what he did and post it, you know, the information back. Oh, joke.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Well, you know what? Let me, Let me. Let me say. Let me.

[Chad Johnson]

Because I didn't know, you know, that is. You know it is. You don't want nothing like that out there. It's like your playbook. Leaving your playbook in a hotel, you don't want to put your playbook.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Oh, Joe. Y'all. Y'all was allowed to take your phone.

[Chad Johnson]

No, no, I'll take no hair. No, I ain't taking no phone. Even if I could, I'm gonna take my phone. Not in the.

[Shannon Sharpe]

We couldn't have no phone.

[Chad Johnson]

You know, that time. There was a reason. There was a reason for him taking a picture. I'm not sure what happened. But listen, that stuff on the backboard, that ain't gonna help you beat it. They ain't gonna have to beat the Lions. That ain't gonna help you. I'm just telling you now, when that whistle blow, it's a different ball game. It's a different ball game.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Well, I'm gonna say. I'm gonna say. What happened to us? Well, in the divisional guy of the playoffs, we had Tennessee Titans, and they somehow got a hold of our playbook, and that damn show helped them because we couldn't do jack. We had two plays. We ran. We ran. We had. We hit them up. One time, they busted the coverage, and I went 57 yards down to the 1, and Jamal ran it in. We blocked the field goal and Ray ran a kickback. Other than that, we couldn't do nothing. So it definitely helped. I'm not saying it definitely helps. There's a. There's a. There's a reason why. There's a reason why the Spygate not all of a sudden. The defensive guy got. He got a signal in it. He got A microphone in his helmet, just like the quarterback. People don't do things that don't work, Ocho.

[Chad Johnson]

I hear you.

[Shannon Sharpe]

When the name. The last time somebody robbed a place that didn't have money or didn't have something of value, people ain't. People ain't robbing Goodwills and Salvation Armies in soup kitchens. Ocho, I know what you mean. Stuff of value, but just be smart, son. In a situation like that, Ocho, you know, everything. Everything inside that building is sacred. I mean, I don't even. Did y'all. I don't even remember, Ocho. I only lie, Ocho. I don't even remember taking a picture inside the locker room. Yeah. Let alone. Let alone taking a picture of the other locker room.

[Chad Johnson]

I've never taken a picture. I never taken a picture inside the meeting rooms in general, but I got a load of pictures in the locker room itself, and I got a lot of them. I got a whole. Got a whole lot of them, you know, my teammates. To be able to look back on some of the things like that.

[Shannon Sharpe]

But I don't know. I'm trying to think that we.

[Chad Johnson]

Y'all didn't even have time out. Time out. Time.

[Shannon Sharpe]

I don't even know we had.

[Chad Johnson]

Funny. When you was planning in the 70s. Come on now.

[Shannon Sharpe]

We did. Don't. Yo, I'm about to say. I'm thinking.

[Chad Johnson]

Yeah.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Man, I told you. I remember. I remember the first time. I didn't even know anything about text messages. So I was like, right? It was Cordell Stewart that in 2005, like, you could text, right? I'm like, bro, how you text somebody? I ain't know nobody no damn text.

[Chad Johnson]

How y'all used to communicate with your chicks back in the. Back in the day? Pay phone on the page, call them.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Uh, well, I mean, we had a. We had a community phone in. In the. In the hall. So you had, like, four phones that.

[Chad Johnson]

If you press 9, you could call the number.

[Shannon Sharpe]

You know what I'm saying? Without a number. Yes, yes. But it had to. It had to be. And the way. And the way they communicated with you, they would call, and it went to a central location, and so they'd like. I like to leave a message. My name is such and such. Here's the number. Having to give me a call, and then it would come downstairs and put it in your box. We had mailboxes, so everybody had an individual box that you put. And so you have a bunch of. You have notes in there, so forth and so on like that. It wasn't like it. I don't know how to do it now. Don't start me lying now, Ocho. I don't know how they do it now. Like I said, I've been going away from the game damn near two decades. It has been two decades. So I don't know what the. But I guess now you would need to call you the guy. Everybody has a phone. Everybody didn't have cell phones when I, when I, when I was in the league. Everybody had no cell phones. That came toward the end of it. But in the mid-90s, man, them call $5aminute me had no beep. No, I have no beeper. I didn't have a beeper.

[Chad Johnson]

Damn.

[Shannon Sharpe]

I wasn't that important. Oo I went that important. But like I said, I don't. Like I said, I. I know meetings, cell phones weren't allowed in the meetings. What? Not when I was there. Oo once I left, I retired in 04. So whatever they did after that, I don't know anything about it. So I, I don't want to speak for something that transpired 040506 moving forward, but I'm saying I was there moving back. There was no cell phones in the meeting room. So that was. Man, Mike would have lost his damn mind.

[Chad Johnson]

Especially during those days. The coaches were different. They were, they were a little bit more like. I call it Tom. They were like Tom Carson. Ish. That's the only thing I could think of. Very selish, you know. Hey, no nonsense, Ocho.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Josh Allen's next touchdown will make Buffalo Bills history. With his next touchdown, rushing or passing, Allen will become the Bill's all time leader in touchdown passing. The great Jim Kelly Allen has been the best quarterback since. Has been the best quarterback in December, since 2020. In that span, he's first in total touchdowns, passive touchdowns and wins.

[Chad Johnson]

That's lie. That's lie.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Look, I hate it. I hate it because the Broncos could have had him. Yeah, the Broncos should have drafted him. And if I'm not mistaken, they drafted Bradley Chubb to pair with Vaughn Miller. Two outside linebackers. You can keep Vaughn and get a quarterback. You gotta have that guy. You gotta have him. I don't care how many grade your defense is, you better have a quarterback.

[Chad Johnson]

You think maybe they didn't like what they saw coming out of Wyoming, right? No. Am I wrong? Yeah. I think small sample size too if I'm not mistaken, huh? Yeah. You know, sometimes, sometimes, sometimes scouts miss.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Sometimes you overthink it, Ocho. I mean you took, you took Bra Softwaller. You take Paxton, lynch, you taking guys like that, guys that are not. Even if you just say, you know what? He's not the most accurate. His ability to run the football. That's what makes him. You talking about a man that's £250 that can run like he can run.

[Chad Johnson]

Matter of fact, whatever, whatever discrepancies you might have with his game, especially from a throwing standpoint. Throwing standpoint. Oh, we could work on that. You could work on that.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yeah.

[Chad Johnson]

Look at the foundation. Look at the foundation. You had to work with and build with. You, you could, you could take it from there.

[Shannon Sharpe]

That's take from there.

[Chad Johnson]

Look how he's turned out in Buffalo.

[Shannon Sharpe]

He, he has the arm because in order to play in the state Buffalo, you got to have an arm. Because guess what? The jets, they play outside New England, you play outside. So you put him in Denver, get you outside Kansas City is outside. You really need arm because a lot of the teams that you're going to potentially face, Kansas City outside Baltimore, outside, the Steelers outside Buffalo, outside. So your quarterback is going to have to be able to deal with the elements because in those stadium, not only does it get cold, the wind blows. So you might have Ocho, you might have snow, gust and bone, bone crunching, crunching cold. I'm talking about 10 below, 15 below with gust up to 20, 30 miles an hour. I sure wish we'd have drafted him, but we're not gonna get him now. Cause Buffalo ain't letting him go. We not get it.

[Chad Johnson]

But I like okay Bo plan real well. Very well for a rookie. I'm not sure if it's Bo Nicks, I don't know. Or if I'm not sure it's the quarterback whisperer and Sean Payton, but somebody doing something right over there.

[Shannon Sharpe]

I don't care what it is, just keep on winning. I'ma give me some more, buddy.

[Chad Johnson]

Whole boat, you know they gotta play the Bengals, right?

[Shannon Sharpe]

Don't you worry about that. You were. You got. Don't you got freestyle tomorrow. Who y'all play tomorrow?

[Chad Johnson]

Damn. Who do the Beatles? Oh, we play the Steeler. We finna win that game. We play the Steelers.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Oh, yeah, that's him.

[Chad Johnson]

We play the Steelers.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Can y'all see that chat?

[Chad Johnson]

We play. We play the Steelers. You won't. You won't bet nothing.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Ll.

[Chad Johnson]

You won't bet nothing.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Y'all about to be oo. You owe me so much money now, man. Damn.

[Chad Johnson]

Whatever I owe you, I'mma pay you when we get to the tour in February and at super bowl, at the live tour. I'mma pay you live on stage. Whatever. That's how we gonna open it, huh?

[Shannon Sharpe]

Why can't I get my money now?

[Chad Johnson]

I gotta collect.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Why can't I get my money now.

[Chad Johnson]

For all these goddamn jobs I got?

[Shannon Sharpe]

You know what I would tell inside the NFL? I would tell Apple. I would tell everybody. Y'all just wait till February. Wait till y'all. We get on the tour. Y'all paying. That's how he paying me. Y'all paint him like that. Bye. Ahead of tomorrow's showdown against San Francisco 49ers, the Bills are asking for fans to sign up to help shovel snow out of Highmark Stadium. The deal is pretty simple. The bill was paid $20 an hour. Provide food, hot beverage and shovels to those who sign up. Lake effects know Buffalo is expected to burn western New York beginning Saturday, with two feet predicted to fall in Orchard park, where the Bill Stadium located by kickoff. Joe, the one thing about them. Oh, yeah, them joke be signed, they don't play. They love their fans.

[Chad Johnson]

The fans love it. They.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yes. I think the only thing else they got up there, the Sabers, I think Buffalo Sabers, they play hockey. I think that's. That's still up there. But, boy, they look. Look here, football team. O.

[Chad Johnson]

If I. If I lived in Buffalo, if I was a Buffalo fan, have you seen the way they. Before the game even starts, have you seen what they do in.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yes, I played this. I played there. 90, 90, 91, 92, 93, 97. I played it like seven, eight times. I what? Now that I think about it, Ocho, I'm trying to figure out why we had to play so damn many games there. Because we played there. 90, 91, right? 94, 97. But we played Buffalo. We played Buffalo a lot, too. Damn, now that I think about it. And we played them in the preseason one year. But they love their Bills.

[Chad Johnson]

Good God. Listen. Their fan base that don't get the credit they deserve for how much they love their fan base.

[Michael Lewis]

They don't.

[Chad Johnson]

Hey, listen. They get active. They get active. That's the only word I can think of it. They get acting. Pregame.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yes.

[Chad Johnson]

During game and after game.

[Shannon Sharpe]

They out. They out. Oh, Ocho, they love. Oh, man. They love. They love their Bills, man, and don't let them make a play. And I'm just talking. Let's go, Buffalo. Let's go, Buffalo. A little bit softer now. A little bit softer now. A little bit soft. And they start. Boy, that state.

[Chad Johnson]

Hey, they be jumping yeah.

[Michael Lewis]

Hey there, it's Michael Lewis, author of Going Infinite Moneyball, the Blind side and Liars Poker. On every season of my podcast, against the Rules, I take a broad look at various characters in American life. The referee, the coach, the expert. My next season is all about fans and what the rise of sports betting is doing to them, to the teams, and even to my family. I'm heading to Las Vegas and New Jersey and beyond to understand America's newest form of legalized gambling. Listen to against the rules on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Boy, they have 85 up in there and them fans going crazy. And, you know, Ocho, we played them. That's. That's the year they go into back to back to back to back Super Bowls.

[Chad Johnson]

They got Larma, they got Jam, they.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Got Andre Reed, Brucey Biscuit. Yes. But, boy, I already know already.

[Chad Johnson]

Listen, they wouldn't cook it. They gonna have that stadium cleaned out for that game Sunday. I guarantee you that.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Oh, for sure. And you notice anytime something happens, hey, somebody who that. Who that knocked somebody out of the playoff and they donated money to that person's charity. Somebody get nicked, somebody get hurt, they donate to that person's final fans.

[Chad Johnson]

Are they class the classic.

[Shannon Sharpe]

I ain't got nothing to say. Nothing bad.

[Chad Johnson]

Of them all, classiest Kirk Cousins.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Excuse me. Future with the Falcons rise on the next six games per Jeremy Fowler. If he doesn't deliver over the next stretch. The Falcons would explore trading him this off season, given that they have Rookie Michael Penning Jr. They're like, somebody will be like, why we want this contract? Well, why we got that, huh?

[Chad Johnson]

I don't know about that. It's one. It's one. It's one thing about Kirk Cousins. He has always been afforded that grace for only having one player win. So they gonna take that contract on? Oh, they go. They definitely take it on. And depending on how. And he's right. Mr. Powell is right as far as these last five games. And I think even if he does play well these last five games, I think they're ready to move on with Penning Jr. Anyway. Honestly, it's time to get that train rolling. It's time to get that train rolling. Most definitely. I'm excited for him. I'm excited for him. I'm excited to see what he can do with Drake London and Kyle Pitts and B. John Robinson, and there's no need for him to sit behind Kirk Cousins for a second year.

[Shannon Sharpe]

There's no need. I think I think it'll be great. Because here's the thing, Ojo. Let's just say I would. If Kirk goes somewhere. Do you take Kirk Cousins and then take the rookie quarterback and then have him sit behind him a year and then move it on? I don't. I don't like Kirk outside in the cold. Do you like him in New York?

[Chad Johnson]

New York? I know you talk about the Giants with. Yeah, sort of Giants and have Shador sit.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yeah, but. But with his arm, with that Achilles, with that cold, with those conditions, you kind of need to arm the court. Cut through that or have a.

[Chad Johnson]

You just put a little nugget in my head. Now you understand what Kirk Cousins can do from the quarterback position, right? When he has a star receiver. Can you imagine Kirk Cousins throwing the goddamn Malik Navles? The accuracy, the pretty ball. Kirk Cousins throws a catchable Paul and will always put it right where it needs to be. He might not have the strongest arm. He might not have the strongest arm, but it's gonna get where he protect him every time. And he's accurate too, huh? Look at it. Yeah, that too.

[Shannon Sharpe]

You want to put him behind that.

[Chad Johnson]

Giant fast man getting to get that ball out of hand fast.

[Shannon Sharpe]

That's not what he does.

[Chad Johnson]

Hey, look at. Look at Kirk Cousins in the regular season. Look at the receivers he's had. Look at the receivers he's had and what he's. What those receivers have been able to do with Kirk with Kirk Cousins at the hell. I like it. From Malik neighbors until Shadur takes the reigns over. Because he's going to the Giants. He's going to Giants unless the goddamn Raiders some godforsaken reason are able to climb all the way from wherever they're picking at and come snatch him up. Now I'm not telling you. I'm not. I'm not telling you what I heard. I'm telling you what I know.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Hey, I don't know. Prime might not be prime might not be too keen on that.

[Chad Johnson]

It. Hey, yeah, I know, I know, I know. I'm just saying I know you. You.

[Shannon Sharpe]

I believe. I believe it in that. Cuz they already sh. Sharp saying. Oh yeah, because you already know where they headed with that. So dis. Disregard. Objection. I object to what Shannon said. Now let's get into it. Oo. The Lions beat the Bears 23 to 20. But that wasn't the story of the game. Caleb Williams had one of the great. The second half was as good as he could possibly throw it. The plays that he made outside of the pocket the way he threw the ball from the pocket. And he had a couple of drops in there too, ojo, but that he was undeterred. He ran. Now, it wasn't smart that you try to get slick and try to, you know, stop on the downs. Going out of bounds. Yeah, going out of bounds. Don't, don't. Hey, they're not gonna let you get away with that because they saw what Patrick Mahomes did, and they saw guys fooling before, right? So they're going to punish you if they get there. So just going out of bounds. But it was. Caleb Williams got sacked, Ocho, when he got sacked, it was 33 seconds on the clock.

[Chad Johnson]

One.

[Shannon Sharpe]

They have a timeout. It's about. They got one. It's about to be third down. Take your time out now. You got 33 seconds, Ocho. Even if you don't get it, even if you don't, you. You still got fourth down. How do you go from 33 seconds and you keep your time out? And you want run only one play with 33 seconds? Because if you complete the ball in bounds, Ocho, you should be able to run your field goal unit on the field, get your other players off the field. With 18 seconds, they had so even a play Only last what, 5, 6, 7. Let's just say for the sake of argument, Ocho, we're gonna say the play last 10 seconds. Caleb Williams scrambled around. It took him 10 seconds. You still have 23 seconds to get your field goal unit on the field, to get your other guys off the field. That's more than enough time to get the ball snapped, get it held, get it down and get a kick.

[Chad Johnson]

Honestly, and I mean no disrespect, I'm all for people having a job. I think it's very important to have a job. But that was coaching malpractice. Not only that was coaching malpractice. I think he must have been betting against the odds out there in goddamn Vegas, but not calling that goddamn timeout. You know, that is a fireable offense. And I'm not one to ever stand. Stand on my soapbox and say that someone should be fired. But for them to have lost the last five, I think, what, five or six games, and this is a game that you had an opportunity to win or at least tie and go into overtime and see what you can do in overtime. I can't believe, you know, coach did that, that he didn't call the time. And also on Caleb Williams, understand, you have to have better clock management in your head. If Your coach is not on point the way he should be and really being on top of the time and how much time you have left. Kayla Williams, as a player who's played at the big level out there at usc, you should understand how much time is on the clock and what you need to do in those situations to make sure it doesn't happen again. So this is, for one, the coach. You should already know. You should already know. This is coaching malpractice. But Kayla Williams, this is a situation, if it ever comes up again during your tenure in the NFL, understand clock management and how important it is to give your team a chance to either tie or win a game. That's a bunch of bull, man.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Keenan Allen said something very interesting.

[Chad Johnson]

That's a good shot.

[Shannon Sharpe]

And I don't know if he said, wait, which one? No, Keenan Allen said, as players we played.

[Chad Johnson]

Think about the underlying tone and what he's saying.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Okay, Yeah, I know the underlying tone. I just hope it. Look, if I'm. If I'm mad Airfluce, if I'm ever fluz Ocho, I would have just took the fine.

[Chad Johnson]

Right.

[Shannon Sharpe]

And I'm not talking to the media after that because then he gets up there and says that bull jive that we got what we wanted and I'm good with it. That's ridiculous. You sound foolish. It sounds like a man that know he made a mistake and want to die on that heel instead of that's on me. That's on me. I should have called a time right with 33 seconds.

[Chad Johnson]

What's wrong with getting right?

[Shannon Sharpe]

How you run one plate with 33 seconds is absolutely a fireable offense.

[Chad Johnson]

Right.

[Shannon Sharpe]

And I have never advocated for anyone to lose their job because I understand how precious jobs are. But you can't continuously make the mistakes that he's making and remain in that position and then come out there and give those bull jive excuses or those bull jive answers to why it's played out. It's too many times. There's a reoccurring thing.

[Chad Johnson]

Yeah.

[Shannon Sharpe]

That if you notice, Ocho, anytime they put a receiver in, it's always a new receiver in. It's always somehow the ball finding or they put a new DB in. Somehow the ball always goes his way. You watch it in baseball. It. The ball somehow always will find him. Basketball, a new guy comes in, somehow the ball in. Damn. We want the ball to end up in your hands with the last second, but damn, here we are. It keeps coming down, Ocho, to plays like this when you have to understand the situation that your team is in and you have to make split second decisions. He let his team down more times than not.

[Chad Johnson]

Decision making like that is the difference between not winning, not, not losing the past five games. Split the seconds like that. Listen, it's a game of interest. It's a game of inches. And the coaching is one of the reasons why teams win. That's the difference. What do you think the difference is in the Detroit Lions before Dan Campbell got there and the Detroit Lions while he is there? That's coaching. That's coaching. That's all it comes down to being able to execute the plays. I know some of it is on the players, but also the coaching. It has to, it has to come together and work as one. But you can't be coaching like that. You know that and having a situation like that and want to say the excuse you use and not take accountability. How you think your players feel like. Just listen to. Listen to what? Players don't normally react to a game like that and throw the coach under the bus.

[Shannon Sharpe]

No, there's the.

[Chad Johnson]

There's a disconnect because there's a complete disconnect in the locker room.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Ain't no disconnect. They don't. They've lost confidence in their head coach. Because the thing is with situational football you have to practice certain situations. You have to practice fourth down, you have to practice two minutes, you have to practice no huddle. You have to practice being in certain situations. So therefore, if you're in that situation.

[Chad Johnson]

Yeah.

[Shannon Sharpe]

You'll know how to respond. We practice running the field goal unit on the field, we getting off the field and it's with 18 seconds. So we practice certain situations, get out of bounds, make sure you try to get the ball to the official. Don't a all that. Don't throw the ball because, hey, look, they're not receivers, they're old. Hand them the ball.

[Chad Johnson]

Yeah.

[Shannon Sharpe]

I just don't get it. And like I said, I don't. I don't. Jimmy Johnson said and said in 70 years of being around coaching, he's never seen the level of dysfunction that the Bears have right now. And I can't say that I disagree with him because it's a reoccurring. If OO is week after week, I can see if it's a one time thing. Oo, that's an accident, you know.

[Chad Johnson]

You know what else? And on top of, and speaking on top of what Jimmy Johnson said, he said you never seen any kind of dysfunction. You know, it's just not this Year, it's just not this year. You're trying to change the culture in Chicago in general. The culture, the winning culture in Chicago has been going for a very long time. It's been going for a very long time and being able to contend and compete year in and year out on a consistent basis. All that starts at the top and in the middle. It starts with the coach and then it lingers into the players. So until you get, until you get that middle ground the right way, everything else is going to falter. And it starts with little. Like today it might be little, you know, because it's one game, but it affects the entirety of a season because bad decisions will continue to be made.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Oh, Joe, I don't know what they said, but normally when we went on, we would go on the field, especially it's the last drive. We got two timeouts, we got one timeout, we got no timeout. If you can get the ball out of bounds, all things being equal, we'll take a five yard gain and get out of bounds as opposed to a 10 yard game and not get out of bounds. So we've already, we've already gone through situations that we could potentially see in a game because there's only one way to handle the situation. It's just like everything else. You practice first down, you practice second down, you practice third down, you practice goal line and red zone. Okay, There are certain situation. Now you can't practice everything ojo, but hopefully you've played football long enough, you'll know with 33 seconds and you got a timeout. After a sack you automatically take a time out. I don't know what he was even thinking. That's the first thing you do. Because the fisherman standing right there by you, that's the side judge. He right. Hey, timeout.

[Chad Johnson]

The funny thing about it is you could have ran. You could have ran. You could have ran that play, right? No, you could have called that timeout. Ran, ran another play. And I'm not sure what your signal was. Unk where the special team is already ready. And we used to yell, fire, fire, fire, fire. Hurry, hurries up. There's enough time on the clock. There would have been enough time on the clock. You come out and you kick the field goal and hopefully before the clock hits zero, you have them execute that field goal and tie the game and take it into overtime. And then boom. Now you got a fresh start and hoping you can get down there and score even ball game at that point. But you don't even get your team a Goddamn chance.

[Shannon Sharpe]

And they had to. And they had the momentum. They had played extremely well yesterday. They had the momentum in the ball game. I thought Detroit got away from running the football. There's another Ocho. At some point in time, you're gonna have to start making excuses for Jameson Williams. You gotta stop. You gotta stop making excuses for him. No, that's Gibbs. The hitting the guy in the face with the football that's standing on the sideline.

[Chad Johnson]

Yeah.

[Shannon Sharpe]

He almost cost his team. That's the kind of. See, that's the kind of. The immaturity I'm trying to figure out. What could the guy possibly. He on the sideline. Bro, why you talking. You not even in the game. Let that sink in for a second. You not even in the game. Right. And you talking. Get in the game first, and then I'll address you. I ain't addressing nobody on the sideline. What made it even more egregious is that it was after the play, so the down already counted, so now they back you up 15 yards. And then he gets to the sideline and he's arguing with Antoine Randall, trying to explain what he did. Bro, shut up. There's no offering with no explanation. In the words of the great Billie Holiday, function. I don't explain.

[Chad Johnson]

What you know about Billie Holiday.

[Shannon Sharpe]

I'm trying to figure. I'm trying to figure out Ocho, right? What's his explanation? Everybody saw what you did. He said something. You turned and flipped the ball in his face. You lucky he ain't run and put his foot in your hands.

[Chad Johnson]

Hey, I got a question for you. Now that we talk about the Bears, now I understand what James Williamson did. You know, I'm. I'm gonna talk to Young Bull. I got Young Bull. I got Young Bull on the line, too. So I'm gonna talk to him. Man, you know. You know, you can't do that. You can't. Cause your team, especially as well as y'all are doing right now. But what you think about chat. Y'all tell me what y'all think now. What you think about Bill Belichick to the Bears? I think wherever Bill Belichick goes, as long as they have a defense and a quarterback that you can work with. Caleb Williams is a quarterback that you can work with. He's someone that you can win with based on his skill set and what he can do at him. What do you think? Yeah, because what I'm doing, too, on Wednesday when we. When we do inside NFL, I'm going to bring it up on the show. Bill, what do you think about your opportunity and having a coaching job in Chicago? There's a defense, a very, a very adequate defense that you can work with one of the better corners in the league. And Jaylen Johnson, who's. That's my little nephew. You got a quarterback that you can develop and mold and understanding what it takes to win. I mean who says no to that? Then you have an organization that's going to give you the keys. They're going to give you the keys because you have an understanding on what it takes to win, what it takes to build a winning team. Here you got six, seven Super Bowls. You also, you want to go get that coaching record from Don Shuler. You want to break that right now, boom. You have organization going to get the keys and allow you to build the team you need to build to be able to contend and compete in that nfc. Why not take it?

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yeah. Because that, that, that division ain't coming back. That this is what, this is what even flu. When he addressed after the game he said, I hope was that we re rack that play at 18 seconds, throw it in bounds, get into field goal range and then call our final timeout. So you see Ocho, he doesn't understand. You don't need to call a timeout with 18 seconds. That's more than enough time to get your field goal unit on and off.

[Chad Johnson]

That's the best scenario.

[Shannon Sharpe]

That was where we was in our, in our decision making process on that. We were outside of field goal range. No jive Sherlock and need to get a few more yards in there as close as we can get going to call timeout. And that's why we held the last time. So in other words, now you go into next week, you got four timeouts in the first half. Oh no, you can't use that timeout. Disappointed for our players. They put a lot of work on, in on a short week and put themselves in position to win that game. They did. And you denied them that. You that part you got right. On a short week, our players, we didn't play the best first half, but we played an outstanding second half and we put ourselves in position to win the game. And my bone headed play, my bone headed situation.

[Chad Johnson]

Yeah.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Help cost our team a game. More games are lost than one in the NFL. Exhibit 8. I like to, I would like to present this, Your Honor. Exhibit 8 of how games are lost. I, I don't get it. I, I don't, I don't, I don't, I don't get how he continuously finds Himself, if you notice, Ocho, like I said.

[Chad Johnson]

Yeah.

[Shannon Sharpe]

When you make bonehead plays, somehow you always find yourself in that situation week after week until you correct it, until you rectify said situation, bro. Call the time out, Ocho. Call a timeout. You can run. Like I said, if the. If the play only cost you 8 seconds, I gave you 10 on the long end. Hopefully you. Caleb understands that you can't run around, but I just. I don't. I don't get it. And I said it in real time. I was like, what is he thinking?

[Michael Lewis]

Hey there, it's Michael Lewis, author of Going Infinite Moneyball, the Blind side and Liars Poker. On every season of my podcast, against the Rules, I take a broad look at various characters in American life. The referee, the coach, the expert. My next season is all about fans and what the rise of sports betting is doing to them, to the teams, and even to my family. I'm heading to Las Vegas and New Jersey and beyond to understand America's newest form of legalized gambling. Listen to against the rules on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

[Shannon Sharpe]

What the hell was he thinking? Why would you not call a timeout.

[Chad Johnson]

With 30 minutes left?

[Shannon Sharpe]

I don't know.

[Chad Johnson]

Again, it's coaching malpractice. It made me think he had money on the game to do something like that, to not even give your chain, your team a chance to win. Especially with what you've been through week in and week out with the losing, the close games, the games you played. Well, I mean, like, come on, man, give yourself a chance. There. There are multiple scenarios when you're down in that situation that should already be going and be playing ahead. Not just the one you explained at the goddamn podium. There are multiple scenarios that you play on. Okay, what do I need to do? Split decision, fast decision making. You know, if. If. If you don't have it, then your quarterback gotta have it. But your quarterback is supposed to be learning from you. So if you ain't got it, and you the head man, nigga, how he's supposed to know it. But that's neither here nor there. Caleb would know and have a better understanding of. Of time, you know, and how much time you have to use, you know, as he gets older and a little bit more mature in the NFL and understanding clock management and explain that to him.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Let him know, hey, we got one time out, Caleb. So, hey, if you get sacked, don't be afraid. Let's not be afraid to use that timeout. The Cowboys Defeated the Giants 27 20. Cowboys reignited the game. Ground game. Excuse me. Securing their fourth 100 yard rush game of the season. Rico Dowdle led the way with a career high 112 yards on 22 carries. It's his first hundred yard game as a professional. It's also the Cowboys first by a player, a Cowboy player, since Tony Pollard in week three of 2023. Dowdle also responsible for Cowboys first rushing attempt of at least 20 yards this year. The star of the Cowboys was the Marvion Overshawn. He secured both of Dallas turnovers, recovering a fumble reinforced by Eric Kendrick and on Tyrone and Tyrone Tracy and catching his own batted pass. And yeah, he ran that back for a pick six. That was on. That was on Drew Lock, because you see the guy right there, you go open over the top, you don't throw it.

[Chad Johnson]

Hey, listen, the Cowboys, defensively they played very well. They played very, very well on the run pass game, man, they play. They played really well, especially at the point of attack. They were very physical up front, not allowing the Giants to have their way and impose their will. So I like what I saw from the Cowboys today, but can you do it against the better teams? Can you do it consistently against the teams that have winning records? That's where the issue comes into. Play for them. I didn't. I'm. I'm hoping. I'm hoping everything is okay with CD Lamb. I see he left the game maybe late second, maybe early third quarter. Something wrong with his shoulder.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Third quarter. Yeah, you know, he had that bruised rotator AC joint. But they ain't got nothing. Oh, Joe. They ain't got nothing to do with them dropping them down. I ain't gonna let you do that. I'm talking about. He dropped three of them. He turned into a retriever. All he did was pick the ball up and hand it to the official. His job as a receiver, his job is to catch the ball, not to retrieve the ball. He dropped three. He had six targets. He had two catches. Malik, neighbor, same thing for you, bro. Yeah, y'all yapping about the ball, but you're dropping it. He throw it to you, you throw it back at him. So, yeah, I saw CD get dragged down on his shoulder, but that wasn't why he's dropping those passes. That's lack of concentration.

[Chad Johnson]

Yeah. To drop balls. But since you. I know. Since you bought them, boys know you got. You got to catch that pill, baby. That's the. That's the money. That's your money maker. That's your moneymaker. That. That brown. That brown ball they call the Duke. You got to love that. You got to love that. You got to love that more than you love your family. Because in order to feed your family, you got to catch that dude. They. They're gonna be all right, though. We're gonna. We're gonna get that together. That ain't number. Little jug machine at the practice even in week 12. Little jug machine at the practice won't hurt.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yeah. No, no, no, no, no, no. I'm not talking about Malik Neighbors is a rookie. What that got to do with you catching the ball? You caught the ball. You caught the ball. That's something you've been doing all your life. Ocho, we're not asking him to make spectacular catches. Like when they throw you the ball in the frame of your body, catch it. That's all we ask you. No, no, we don't need no Odell Beckham. We don't need nothing spectacular. When they throw you the ball, Ocho, you catch it. At some point in time, you got to realize everything is not meant to be a spectacular. Everything is not to be meant to be a catch and run Ocho, for 40 yards. You have to understand situation. You know what the most important thing here is to get this first down, literally this and get on the ground. A lot of. If you look at cd What CD Try to do. He tried to get up, bro. I, I, I know. I never seen. I ain't never seen a cat to hit the ground first. If you drop it, it ain't a catch. I don't care. Oh, you jumping up and down. And you would have, but you're not. You're going. You're going back to the huddle. Come on, guys. I get. Look, everybody, it wasn't no sun today. Ain't nobody complaining about no son. Ocho.

[Chad Johnson]

Yeah, it wasn't out. It wasn't out. Just. Hey. A small lack of concentration, split second taking your eyes off the ball.

[Shannon Sharpe]

But, Ocho, normally when you have one of those drops early, what do you do? You concentrate. You focus even more. It seems like C.D. he, he laughed. Concentration. He laughs even more because after that point oo he didn't catch another pass. Cooper rush was 21 to 36, 195. One touchdown. Like you said, they ran the ball oo basically about four yards of carry. That.

[Chad Johnson]

That ain't bad. That ain't bad. 32 carries, not the greatest, but it ain't bad.

[Shannon Sharpe]

N. You can live with that. Look, you can only beat who's on your schedule. We Know the Giants aren't very good, but we've seen the Cowboys lose games like this before also, so give them credit for keeping focus on a short week. Not still celebrating the victory in Washington, coming out there handling their business today. When you get two. String two together, now you get to. Now you get about five or six days off before you get ready for the next Sunday. You still look everything you. You're gonna probably need to run the table, Ocho, in order to get one.

[Chad Johnson]

Yeah.

[Shannon Sharpe]

One of these playoff spots, you getting three teams out of the nfc. North, Minnesota, Green Bay, and Detroit.

[Chad Johnson]

Right.

[Shannon Sharpe]

So there's only one spot left. Cowboys, San Francisco, Seattle.

[Chad Johnson]

There's one, Arizona. And that goes for all Cowboys fans in the chat I have. This is no disrespect to y'all. Yeah, the Cowboys do need to run the table to have a. A chance at a spot. You knew. You do know they play. You do know they play the Bengals Monday night, right? In Jerry's world, right? Okay, I'm just making sure. I'm just making sure you understand what they got. What they got coming up.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Y'all defense. Y'all defense terrible. Y'all might do something. Y'all better be able to block. Can y'all block Nicky front?

[Chad Johnson]

Oh, yeah, we can, y'all. You know, Joe. Joe don't listen. Joe get the ball out his hands quick anyway. And matter of fact, we gonna. We gonna run. We're gonna establish the run first. Get them, boy. Get the front tied up there. Michael Parsons gonna be frustrated. You know, he gonna. He gonna get mad because the ball's gonna be coming out once.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Boom.

[Chad Johnson]

It's.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Okay, hold on, hold on, hold on, Cowboy fans. What are y'all talking about? Y'all gonna win the division, y'all. Two and one. Do y'all understand? The Eagles.

[Chad Johnson]

No, don't. Don't. Don't fall for that.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Don't force that. This the Ocho. This the delusion. This is why Jerry's how he is, because he know his fans are gullible. They're dilute. They're dilute. They're gonna believe anything that he sells them. And it serves them right.

[Chad Johnson]

They just.

[Shannon Sharpe]

I'll be glad. I'll be glad when it's, like, in, like, three weeks, when they get put out of their misery. And then what they gonna say, wait the next year and I'll be right here. Guess what? Nightcap will be right here next year in 25, 26, 27, and y'all still ain't going nowhere. But look like I Said Ocho, you can only beat who's on your schedule. Not a. Like I said, we've seen the Cowboys lose games like this before. They won today. Give them credit for that. I thought they ran the ball extremely well. The defense got after Drew Lock, made it very, very tough. I mean, think about Ocho. They, I mean they ran the ball 21 times for 116 yards. That's, hey, yeah, that's, that's enough to be Giants, huh?

[Chad Johnson]

Let's, let's, let's keep, let's.

[Shannon Sharpe]

No, I'm saying, I'm saying the Giants rush.

[Chad Johnson]

No, I'm 20. Is it doubt him that says the last name.

[Shannon Sharpe]

No, no, no, I'm saying. No. The Cowboys rush 32 for 122. The Giants rush 21 for 160.

[Chad Johnson]

What about putting it in?

[Shannon Sharpe]

But, but here's the thing though. Oo, yeah. You gave up a scooping score. I mean you gave up a pick six and you gave up in another fumble. That result, that's the game. There you go right there. You basically played him to a standstill on offense, but when you turn the.

[Chad Johnson]

Ball over, you pay double for that.

[Shannon Sharpe]

You expect to happen. Deebo Samuel responds to the idea that Kyle Shanahan should be on the hot seat. Super Bowl, NFC Championship year. After that NFC championship again, last year's Super Bowl. Why are you saying he's on the hot seat?

[Chad Johnson]

You don't understand how the business works. But just hearing, hearing the fact that Shanahan is even on the hot seat, we talk about one that's going to be sought after from every other team. I wish you would let someone like Shanahan go and allow his staff and that offense to go somewhere else. Especially go somewhere else that has a, has a quarterback, have a decent quarterback at that. Then he going to build the same exact thing with that same exact offense, give him a quarterback.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Didn't he just have an extension?

[Chad Johnson]

That'll be nice in this business.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Last year.

[Chad Johnson]

Oh, you know, when something like this comes out, you know what's coming from inside the house, right? You hear me? The call is coming from inside the house. When stuff like this comes out.

[Shannon Sharpe]

How many years was it because he had like a year left on the contract? So he signed a five year extension because he had like a six year, a six or seven year deal to begin with, man.

[Chad Johnson]

You know, you know, you know how this NFL is.

[Shannon Sharpe]

So this, so yeah, what's he making? Eight, nine a year because he had, he had a contract that was, that's.

[Chad Johnson]

Like six years, right? Rightfully so, though, huh? Rightfully so.

[Shannon Sharpe]

So, Ocho.

[Chad Johnson]

Yeah, rightfully so.

[Shannon Sharpe]

You think they're gonna get. Now you do realize, you do realize, Ocho, like when you get rid of the head coach, his whole staff, he ain't gotta stay. He ain't got guys on one year deals right side through 20, 27, 25, 26, 27. So that's three years. That's 42 million. I don't think he's on the hot seat considering he just. The man just came off the.

[Chad Johnson]

I know, but you know how you, you know how, how fickle the NFL is. You know how fickle owners are.

[Shannon Sharpe]

That's not, that's not, that's not New York.

[Chad Johnson]

But then it would, it wouldn't be out that something like this wouldn't even leak. You heard me. Where there's, where there's smoke. Where there's smoke, there's fire. Yeah, stuff like this comes from inside the house. Always.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Well, it ain't coming from John lynch, because John lynch got the job because of Kyle Shanahan. So who is it? Jed York. Hey, well, good luck with that one.

[Chad Johnson]

Again. If, if.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Listen, he'd be unemployed. He'd be unemployed all over 30 minutes.

[Chad Johnson]

30 minutes. Is that.

[Shannon Sharpe]

The volume?

[Michael Lewis]

Hey there, it's Michael Lewis, author of Going Infinite Moneyball, the Blind side and Liars Poker. On the latest season of my podcast, against the Rules, I'm exploring what it means to be a sports fan in America and what the rise of sports betting is doing to our teams, our states and ourselves. Join me and listen to against the Rules on America's number one podcast network, iHeart. Open your free iHeart app and search against the Rules. Listen to against the rules on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts.