C (2:32)

So my answer to this question is quarterback dependent.

B (2:36)

Okay.

C (2:36)

Who is going to be the quarterback for the Steelers? Is the new guy going to come in here and wave a magic wand and just get a quarterback? Because in the last what, five or six years? Kenny Pickett, Mason Rudolph, Mitch Trubisky, since Ben, Justin Fields, since Ben Russell Wilson, Aaron Rodgers without particular success. If they made the playoffs, they went out immediately. So I mean, let me refer to my notes here. I mean I thought there was a chance after the game on Monday night that Aaron Rodgers was indicating he wanted to stay, that he was opening that window because he talked about how much he enjoyed himself that year. But when Tomlin left, I think that window closed for Rogers as well. I don't think a coach is going to come in and want a 42 year old Aaron Rodgers unless that coach is Mike McCarthy. And I think like you, you need a quarterback. So I would put Atlanta, but I'm thinking of Kirk Cousins in Atlanta. That makes it attractive. I'm thinking Cam Ward makes Tennessee attractive and I'm confident that Lamar Jackson makes Baltimore attractive. The other, the other teams, I don't know. Although at least with the Raiders you have the number one pick. So if you want a quarterback, you can go get one.

B (3:42)

The Raiders, we both have said in the last week, are broken and I got to see a whole lot more from.

C (3:46)

Here's the problem with the Steelers and their ownership is great and they have a long and storied history. They have no offense. They 175 yards of offense against Houston. That's a rebuild, Mike.

B (3:58)

Yeah, but rebuilds in the NFL have an old roster happen more quickly than they do say in NBA.

C (4:04)

That's right.

B (4:05)

And Major League Baseball. They, they do. You can, but they're sitting on a team that's offensively in a year.

C (4:11)

Yeah.

B (4:12)

So maybe Pittsburgh could do that too. Maybe. Now let's move to college football. Quarterback news. Donta Moore is returning to Oregon rather than entering the NFL draft. But Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson is sticking with his NFL draft plans despite transfer offers that approach eight figures if you believe his agent tone. What do you make of Moore's decision to stay at Oregon and Simpson's decision to leave Alabama for the NFL?

C (4:40)

Both decisions seem to me like they are economically based. I'm going to start with the, with the Alabama kid. I think he's betting on himself. I think he's betting that he can be a first round pick because even if he is the 32nd and last pick in the first round. He will get a contract worth $16 million over four seasons. Right. So he's got I think one year left in college. What can he get in college? 4 million, 6 million? 8 million. The report was 6.5 million. It's not $16 million. You're better off if you can make the first round. It's not a quarterback heavy draft. Mendoza is going to go on now what Moore just did more acknowledged that people watched the Indiana Oregon game where he had a bad game. So he's going to go back and prove himself so that he can get more money down the road. I mean, I think if the Alabama kid can show well in the combine and get to the first round, that's a big deal. Maybe Pittsburgh will take them. They need a quarterback.

B (5:35)

Tony. The great thing is these decisions are no longer perilous because there's some money.

C (5:43)

Yes.

B (5:44)

Right now.

C (5:44)

Yes.

B (5:46)

So who else who walks across the graduation stage at Alabama or Oregon of the classmates walk across in a cap.

C (5:54)

And gown not gonna make that money.

B (5:55)

Anybody gonna have 3,4 million waiting on them? No, they're not.

C (5:58)

No. No.

B (5:59)

So. So. So even if, even if there's injury, even if there's underperformance, even if there's something else befalling the kid that we can't even identify, there's money there and there's opportunity to, as Moore says, get better. He's going to go play in something familiar with a team around him that could win the national championship. People thought Oregon was a year away anyway when we got to this year.

C (6:21)

But. But there is more money in the pros if you are a starter. If you're a starter of Alabama. Let's go backwards. Jalen Hurts, Alabama, Tua Tugovailoa, Alabama, Even Mac Jones, Alabama, the amount of money they have made in the pros right now dwarfs whatever you could get in college right now.

B (6:36)

Yeah.

D (6:37)

So.

C (6:37)

So and if you're an Alabama kid, you go. If you're the quarterback of Alabama, you are assuming you're going to get a chance at the pros. That's why you go to Alabama.

B (6:46)

What's the smart path? And now you've got options. You do.

C (6:50)

I think both smart options. I think both these kids made the right choice for them. Made the right choice for them. Okay, let's move to the NBA where the Boobirds were out last night in Milwaukee. The Bucs fell behind in the first half by a billion points to the Timberwolves, who without Anthony Edwards and Rudy Gobert, the Bucs crowd booed the team. They booed their best player, Giannis Antetokounmpo. Antetokounmpo booed back early in the second half, sitting on the court after scoring a bucket and getting fouled. Wilbon, what does all of this say to you?

B (7:21)

Okay, Giannis, for anybody who's covered the league and been around, if you're around Milwaukee, Giannis is a very, very, very, very, very likable guy. Anyway, this makes me love him that he booed back, that he gave them two thumbs down. Now, you know, look, you, Spencer, you cover the league. Milwaukee is still a small market.

C (7:45)

That's right.

B (7:46)

And there are sensitivities maybe in Milwaukee that don't exist in New York and Chicago and Boston and Philly and la. I don't know how this is going to play, but if I'm, if I'm Monte Kumpo, you know, I don't think he's going to be there that long anymore.

C (7:59)

I'm going to get to all of these things.

B (8:00)

And so I love that he booed them. I don't care what the reaction is. If I'm Yannis, cuz you know what? I'm gonna say yes to some deal at some point anyway.

C (8:11)

I am the one person in this show who is apparently getting tired of Giannis Antetokounmpo and all of the drama surrounding whether he's gonna stay or whether he's gonna go.

B (8:21)

He doesn't create.

C (8:22)

Yes, he does.

B (8:22)

He thinks so.

C (8:23)

He's part and parcel of it whether he's going to ask for a trade or not ask for a trade. But he has, whether he's being treated fairly or unfairly. You know, look, we got into the Mike Tomlin story because five or six or eight weeks ago, people started to chant, fire Tomlin. And I sat here and I said, that's wrong. Yeah, he was a Super bowl champion. I think it's wrong to boo Antetokounmpo. I do, too. He is an NBA champion. Yes, but the story, there's a sameness to the story that for me, it's just getting me down. I don't know that I would have said this. Antetokounmpo said this last night. I don't think anybody has the right to tell me how I should act on the basketball court or after I've been here 13 years, unquote. You're down 31 at the half.

B (9:03)

At home, he did acknowledge they didn't probably play as hard as he'd like to.

C (9:06)

You have said. You have said consistently he will be traded before the trade deadline. I think this might hasten it because I think, unlike you, I think this is a bad look. I think it's a bad look when your best player is sitting on the court booing the whole thing.

B (9:19)

I think it's a bad look, too.

C (9:20)

Ain't that something?

B (9:21)

But I'm glad he did it. I mean, people. You want to boo Giannis, tell me exactly how many championships, how many banners are hanging in Milwaukee? 2.

C (9:32)

2. 1 with Kareem and one with him.

B (9:35)

Really?

C (9:36)

The other part that I would say to this is they've been a very disappointing team in recent years.

B (9:39)

They have.

C (9:39)

They got rid of two coaches and he had a part in that. Right? And now maybe it's landing on him. Maybe, as we said about Tomlin, maybe he's there too long. My cautionary word on this is he can win a championship. Don't get rid of him and then get angry if he wins a championship somewhere else.

B (9:55)

That's capable play in the playoffs, which seems to be a problem almost every year since he did win.

C (9:59)

Let's take a break. When we come back, C.J. stroud had five fumbles in the Texans wild card win. We will ask Steve Young how he took care of the ball.

B (10:07)

We'll also ask him if quarterbacks can actually love playing in the wind and cold like Matt Stafford claims he does.

C (10:15)

You're still sure Antetokounmpo will be gone?

B (10:18)

How about 80%?

C (10:19)

80%?

B (10:21)

I think you gotta. You can't have that. No, you can't. It's Milwaukee. It's not New York City. You can't have that.

A (10:29)

Quick break. Got your fire safety game plan. When it comes to your home, every second matters. That's why we trust Kidda smoke alarms. They're built to respond fast and cut down on false alarms so you can act with confidence when it counts. And now you can upgrade to over 25% faster smoke detection with Kidda's latest technology. It's more time to react and more peace of mind. That's why Kidda is North America's number one home fire safety brand. So whether you're upgrading or installing for the first time, go with the alarms that deliver performance when it matters most. Kidda help protect what matters the most. Find it at the Home Depot. How doers get more done 29% faster Average smoke detection based on internal testing of smoldering wood fires for Kita 9th Edition versus leading competitor 8th Edition products based on total household installations as of December 2023.

E (11:18)

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C (12:23)

We've got NFL playoff questions for our great friend and the man who I urged as a young quarterback to own the data hall of Famer, Steve Young. We'll start with this. C.J. stroud says he's got to work on ball security after putting the ball on the ground five times. Yes, I would think so. What did you do, Steve, to keep the ball secure?

D (12:42)

Well, the challenge, of course, is that like unlike accuracy, you can't teach accuracy. You can teach ball security. You can in the offseason, two hands on the ball. When you go to move in the pocket, you can get better at it. And CJ obviously needs to get better at that. But that can't happen this week. The other problem that we have with more dynamic quarterbacks is the second that the most intense moment in the pocket happens, as you realize I got to go. And then as you start to go, if you don't protect the football, it's now exposed. And so a lot of times the more dynamic the game is from a quarterback position, the more likely you're going to have the ball on the ground. And that's why again, going back to just drilling, drilling, drilling. That's the key to making sure that you're better in the pocket with the ball. And, and look, CJ's got another problem. He's big enough like Ben Roethlisberger where he can stiff arm the lineman. He's the sixth lineman, right? He's like, here, take that. Now with one arm, I'm going to rip it. And that exposes the ball as well. So CJ's got two problems. He's dynamic, he can get out, and he's big enough to step on the offensive lineman and put it at risk.

B (13:45)

I would think wind and cold might have something to do with ball security, but Matt Stafford tells Jim Gray he loves the wind and the cold, and he's going to be just fine in Chicago. Steve, you've played in that stuff. Does any quarterback love the wind and the cold?

D (14:05)

The cold? Nobody. If you're down under 10 degrees Fahrenheit, no one's going to be happy. That's just a. It's a pain and the ball gets slippery. It's like, no one's going to say, oh, I'm great at that. But the wind and the rain are both related to why you like this. I like, oh, I can't wait to play in the wind or the rain. But you can kind of be neutral about, like, it's fine. Because the way you throw the football is you throw with your fingers where other guys will throw with their hand. I don't know any other way to describe it. And when the hand throwers struggle because they lose the grip and the. And Tom Brady talked about this over the weekend about how to throw in the window. That was a good. A little repertoire about it. But you've got to have the nose down, and the only way to get the nose going down the way you want it to is to come out of your fingers. And so the, the most accurate passers generally are great in wind and in rain, and that's why they kind of go together.

B (14:57)

Do you remember that game in Chicago? I think Joe started. I'm not sure if you even played in it, but the NFC Championship game where it was like zero. Do you remember that game?

D (15:08)

Minus 28 windchill. That was a remarkable game. And 28 to 3, the chief. The Bears never got off their back. They never as good as they were. They never got off their back. It was a rough, rough ride for them.

B (15:21)

So much for the call. For the California boys, the Patriots face a very fierce Texans pass rush with a offensive line. If it's not shaky, it seems vulnerable. How would you approach that challenge?

D (15:37)

What you do is want to be a sitting duck. And so it's all the aspects of it, right? It's like, I remember we used to kind of attack the, you know, the defensive lineman, make them worry. Like, all of a sudden we bring ten bridge runs down in motion, and then he would, you know, block the tackle out of nowhere. I don't Know if the play even worked, but it made the tackle the whole day. Think, where are you guys coming from? Kind of slowed things that you want to get that you want to be third and short. Of course, you don't want to have long yardage. You want to. The quarterback's got to get on the move, get out of the pocket, kind of change the, the, the rally points. So in many ways, the toughest job in the world is play quarterback behind a line that's, you know, against the best defensive lines in the, in the, in the league. And this defensive line hasn't. Doesn't have one star. It's got four stars. In that way, they come relentlessly at you, and that makes it super difficult. So you bet to me, run the football right? Everyone says, what's the answer to football? Run it. Well, that's a way to handle this kind of a dilemma. And then third and 10, third and 12, third and 15, you know, you're going to be in a jam. You don't want to be in that 10. You know, if you want to be in third and third down 12 times, nine of them need to be shorter than five yards. That'd be amazing. That's what I mean.

B (16:46)

So this defense, too, Steve, this, this defense, is that good? There's, there's, there's no hype involved with what you see.

D (16:52)

Yeah, they're really, they, they're integrated. They're not just a bunch of good athletes. They're integrated in how they play defense, and they pass it off and they work together. It's like a symbiotic kind of feel that that's the most dangerous. You know, those great Raven defenses, they were all integrated. It's like they all work together. It's like they, they like avatars, like, they connected and they, you couldn't beat them because they all. They knew what was coming, kind of as a group, as a. They didn't play individual defense. And so, yeah, I think they're that good.

C (17:21)

We will get you out of here on this. You can't get through an interview about football without Wilbon talking about his Bears, which, of course, you watched him do just now.

D (17:28)

But we will talk about your Bears.

C (17:30)

Talk about your team, the 49ers. George Kittle is the latest Niner to go out. What does the loss of a player like that mean on a macro and a micro level to a quarterback like Brock Purdy?

D (17:41)

Well, the macro level is that, you know, he's the face of the 49ers, with Fred Warner, with experience coming out of the locker room, in the locker room leadership on the, you know, on the field. Like he's the guy that people, you know, he'll rally people, he'll make a speech, he'll. Those are all big aspects that, that you lose in the macro level. And, and then also, you know, you know, in a micro level, he's, he's the guy that is all pro tight end. And when you have an all pro tight end, there's nothing greater as a quarterback to have an all pro tight end that, because the proximity of all the plays are nearer to you, you know, Jerry Rice is out there, 30 yards. It's not, not as intimate, right? It's like I need, I'm third and four and I need somebody to get open. Like I want that all pro tight end to kind rub against the linebacker, turn around and throw him the ball and get another first down. So missing George is a problem. The issue for the 49ers though, it feels like injuries with Fred Warner, Nick Bosa, like this whole year has been so injury prone that it was the bug in the system. But suddenly after last week's game, it feels like it's the feature. Like, yeah, we lost George Kittle, but how do we respond? We rally people on the road in the playoffs. So I'm not meaning anything about George. It's amazing. It's a terrible loss. But the 49ers seem to be a team that's kind of figures out a way to rally and go get it done.

C (19:01)

As always, it's a great pleasure to have you, Steve.

B (19:04)

Thank you.

C (19:05)

Thank you.

D (19:05)

Okay, see you guys.

C (19:07)

Let's take one last break. Still to come, the Red Sox make news in free agency.

B (19:10)

And a victory celebration during an Aussie open qualifier proves premature.

C (19:16)

Steve is the first person person to use the word avatar in conversation without referring to a movie. I think he has to get a lot of credit for that.

F (19:25)

Rich Eisen here. The tax deadline will be here before you know it and you just want to know your taxes are actually being handled. But the old way, you hand everything off and then silence. Days pass, weeks pass. You start wondering, should I send another follow up email? It feels like you're chasing updates and getting nowhere. But now taxes are different because your taxes are done for you by a TurboTax full service expert. With Intuit TurboTax, you can match with your dedicated tax expert and hand off everything right in the app. And while your expert checks for every deduction, you'll see real time updates on your phone. So you always know exactly where things stand. Suddenly you're not refreshing your inbox, you're going for a run, grabbing a coffee, scrolling anything other than a just checking in message because your TurboTax expert is handling it and keeping you in the loop. So this tax season, get your best possible outcome and every dollar you deserve without the guesswork. Visit TurboTax.com today to learn more. Real time updates only in iOS mobile app only available with TurboTax full service.

G (20:31)

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C (21:06)

Happy time people. Happy 27th birthday DeAndre Swift. Yeah Wilbon, this one's for you. Swift is the Chicago Bears living running back. In the regular season, Swift rushed for 1087 yards and nine touchdowns, career highs. In the wild card game against the packers, Swift had 54 yards and a rushing touchdown in 13 attempts. He also had two catches for 38 yards. Swift is in his second season with the Bears. He was originally a second round pick by the Detroit Lions in the 2020 draft out of Georgia. He had a Pro bowl season in 2023 in Philadelphia, his home town, when he rushed for 1049 yards and five touchdowns. Swift went to the Bears as a free agent. Wilbon, the floor is yours.

B (21:45)

A great many of us. And by us I mean me. I started the season thinking, you know, Swift is nice. He's not the guy who's going to lead a real rushing attack. And he did against the Cowboys in week three when we were already 02. And then after the bye week when Ben Johnson got him and a rookie, Kyle Manungai got those guys together and they have been beastly ever since. Either first or second in the NFL in rushing. Yay Mr. Swift.

C (22:13)

Oh for the halcyon days of your own 5 prediction Happy Anniversary Ben Watson on this day 20 years ago, the Patriots tight end chased down speedy Broncos cornerback Champ Bailey after Bailey had picked off Tom Brady in the end zone and was headed for a pick six. Watson knocked Bailey out of bounds on the one yard line and what turned out to be be a 100 yard interception return. Denver ultimately won the game, knocking the Patriots out of the playoffs, ending their hope of winning a third straight Super Bowl. Bill Belichick later said if there was ever a picture of a play that the Patriots would hang up for all to see that occurred during a loss, Watson's play would be that one.

B (22:48)

Such a great play. What was more impressive? That or the play in the Super Bowl Pittsburgh area. Arizona on the chase down Harrison.

C (22:57)

That's the most, you know, just, just. Happy trails to Sebastian Offner's victory celebration at Australian Open qualifying. The 29 year old Austrian thought he'd won a qualifier when he went up 7 to 1 in a third set tie break only to be informed by the chair ump that final set grand slam tie breaks are the first to 10 by two. No problem. Oftener still had a six point lead, but not for long. I hope I get this name right. American Nichesh Basava Reddy or Basava Reddy stormed back to win the tie break and the match and then celebrated by giving the chokesign. Look, it's great that he won, but you can't give the other guy the chokesign.

B (23:35)

Didn't that read somewhere that he's like a Pacers fan or Indy? He got it from Reggie. We're going to blame Reggie Miller.

C (23:41)

Reggie Miller was specifically the greatest.

F (23:44)

Okay.

C (23:45)

It was specifically aimed at Spike Lee.

B (23:47)

It was great.

C (23:48)

Who had been ragging on him for the whole year, if not his whole career.

B (23:52)

But this kid's a Pacer guy. I mean, come on now.

C (23:55)

You don't do this to somebody who is your opponent.

B (23:59)

Should have known the rule.

C (24:00)

Would you have known the rule? Yeah. That it goes to 10?

B (24:03)

Yes, to 10.

C (24:03)

I think I would have known the rule too.

B (24:04)

But the chokes sign.

C (24:06)

Is there any empathy? Is there any sympathy? No.

B (24:09)

The chokes on the World day.

C (24:11)

Let's go to the big finish.

B (24:12)

Let's do it.

C (24:12)

The Thunder beat the spurs last night.

F (24:14)

Aha.

C (24:15)

That's significant, isn't it?

B (24:16)

You've been waiting on that one game. You're right. They knew they had to beat San Antonio. They could not go through with another one of those and get swept. So it is significant.

C (24:26)

Yeah.

B (24:26)

Fbs. FBS coaches changed the redshirt rule from a maximum of four games to nine. You approve?

C (24:34)

So you're telling me that a player can play nine games in a 10:11 game schedule and still red shirt season didn't care. That's ridiculous. It is. That's completely ridiculous. Right? Preston DeChambeau, John Rahm and Cam Smith all committed to the live tour this year. Is that a big deal? You think it is?

B (24:50)

Yeah, I do think it is. Because I think. I think the PGA needs these guys. You don't seem to think so.

C (24:55)

Not as much as you do.

B (24:56)

Especially Rahm. I mean, you know, are you beating the best in the world if Rahm's not there?

C (25:02)

Well, yeah, but they play in the major, so you have. You get a sense.

B (25:06)

I want to see every week. I think it's a big deal. Red Sox agreed to 5 year, $130 million deal with Ranger Suarez. Okay by you?

C (25:13)

He was really good in Philadelphia. That's a good get for them. Last 1. Kansas gave second ranked Iowa State its first loss of the season last night. How'd you know they would do that?

B (25:21)

Just home court advantage. You know, we've both been there. If that's not the hardest place in America to play, it's in the top three, right?

C (25:27)

Yeah, I think that's absolutely. We are out of time. We will try to do better the next time. I'm Tony Kornheiser.

B (25:33)

I'm Mike Wilbon. Same time tomorrow.

A (25:35)

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