← The Herd with Colin Cowherd
The Herd with Colin Cowherd
3 & Out - Bo Nix, Denver Broncos topple Jameis Winston’s Cleveland Browns on Monday Night Football
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- [00:00]
John Middlekauff
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- [01:32]
Jon Stewart
Jon Stewart is back in the host chair at the Daily show. Which means he's also back in our ears. On the Daily Show Ears Edition Podcast Join late night legend Jon Stewart and the best news team for today's biggest headlines, exclusive extended interviews and more. Now this is the second term we can all get behind. Listen to the Daily Show Ears edition on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast or wherever you get your podcasts.
- [01:59]
Fiasco Podcast Host
It's hard to read the news these days without asking yourself, how did we get here? Fiasco is a history podcast from the co creators of Slow Burn. In our first season, Bush v. Gore, we examine an unmistakable turning point in American politics. The 2000 election, which resulted in a high stakes stalemate, ended with one of the most controversial rul in Supreme Court history. So if you're trying to make sense of the present moment. Check out Fiasco, Bush v. Gore. Listen on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to podcasts.
- [02:31]
John Middlekauff
The Volume what is going on everybody? How are we doing on this beautiful Tuesday morning lunchtime afternoon whenever you may be listening to the show. It is Monday night and I just watched pretty good Monday Night Football game. James Winston throws for 500 yards, six touchdowns. Two of them just happened to go to Denver. Two pick sixes, Bo Nicks and Sean Payton. We'll dive into this game. The Browns, their situation with Watson and Jameis. Obviously with Jameis they look like a different team, a competitive team. That was a really enjoyable Monday Night football game. Little Penthouse and Outhouse as well as some thoughts on Kevin Warren and Brian Poles. Had a press conference today about the coaching search. Trevor Lawrence and the knockout hit. A lot of different takes flying around so we will dive into that. We will also talk a little Ryan Day and Steve Sarkeesian as well as a mailbag at John Middlekoff. Is the Instagram fire in those dms. Get your questions answered here on the show. Very easy to do. Other than that we had I went out with Colin as I do every Sunday. You can hear that. Yesterday we did a reaction pod to the Bills Niner game and a little Sunday night podcast. Since then we've learned that McCaffrey torn PCL out for the year. So that's pretty rough. And the 49er season's pretty much over. Kind of like the Bears this weekend against the Niners. But we will talk about that as the week goes on. And yeah, so we will have more podcasts coming. But make sure you subscribe if you listen on Colin's feed and definitely subscribe to the YouTube channel as well. The YouTube channel just type in John 3 and out. Everything is there. You know, I got to tell you about my friends, my partners, the official ticketing app of this podcast. I was texting with a buddy who works in radio who was who's going to the warriors game tonight or tomorrow night and is in Denver for it. And he was at the game tonight and he said it was awesome. The atmosphere. I was like, you know, I've always wanted to go to Mile High. I think Troy Aikman mentioned tonight that they have not had a winning season in 11 years. I mean it's been a long time, I guess since Peyton Manning hung them up in 2016. Honestly, that. Does that even add up? Didn't they win the super bowl maybe in 2015? Bottom line, it's Been a while and they're going to have a winning season this year. They're now 8 and 5. Looks like they're headed at minimum 210 wins. So if you want to go to a game, if you want to go to a concert, if you want to go to a comedy show, if you want to get out of the house and go have some fun, Christmas is right around the corner. Last year for Christmas, got my brother concert tickets. He loved it in Sacramento, had a good time. I got him basically front row. He texted me the next day, I don't think I can ever go to a concert again. Sitting in normal people's seats. I said, yeah, well that's where my friends Game time come in. So take the guesswork out of buying tickets with Game Time. Download the Game Time app, create an account, use the code John for $20 off your first purchase terms apply. Again, create an account, redeem the code gohn for $20 off. Download the Gametime app today. Last minute tickets, lowest prices guaranteed. You know what's funny about the NFL is tonight's a good example. I don't know about you, but around 4:30, so you know, the Monday night game kicks off at 6:20. I'm in Mountain Time in Arizona and I wasn't feeling it at all. Usually on Monday, especially toward the afternoons, I'm just pretty exhausted. Sundays are a long day. Saturdays I don't sleep much over the weekend, I'm not even drinking. It's just quick turnarounds. And this game on paper I was like, listen, I'm kind of excited to watch Bo Nicks, but I don't know, I'm just not that into it. And then halfway through you're like, did it to me again. Because just when you least expect it, all of a sudden you get Jameis Winston and Jerry Judy looking like Joe Montana and Jerry Rice. That was really fun. And I had a blast in a game that, I'll be honest, we were on a text chain for this podcast where I said I wish they would just cancel this game. That was before kickoff. And now it's, it's almost 10 o'clock so we're usually an hour later as of recording this because the game went so long because they were throwing it all over the yard. That was extremely enjoyable. It really was. I mean a Bronco or excuse me, a Browns team that is three and nine that I got to be honest, might be the best 3 and 9 team I've ever seen. And I would say this before we dive into the Broncos If I was a Browns fan and they are a passionate group, they have supported this team. Obviously, that franchise left them once upon a time and since they come back, it has been tough sledding. I would be furious because you watch tonight and listen, James throws for almost 500 yards. He throws six touchdowns. Two of them just happen to be to the other team. But I go, there is not a chance. We are three and nine. If James starts like after week one and you shoved DeSean Watson down our throats because of the contract, when we all know he is the worst starting quarterback in the NFL, he is an unplayable player and it took him getting a major injury to insert Jameis and giving us a fighting chance on a weekly basis. Why, we have great players all over the field, awesome DBs, one of the best pass rushers, awesome skill guys. Najoku's an incredible tight end and Jameis will just sling it. And early on in the game, they put up the visual of the yardages, the points, the yards per play, compared Jameis to DeSean and it looked like an undrafted free agent versus a Pro bowl player. And you watch tonight, the only reason they have a chance in this game is because the dudes throwing for 500 yards and slinging it all over the yard. Now listen, he's a roller coaster player and he will throw it to the other team. Now, I do believe the first pick, six to Benito was more of an incredible play by the defender than it was a terrible pass. The second pick six, which essentially ended the game that's got James written all over him. But if I was a Browns fan, I'd be like, what are we doing? We can't. Listen, I'm not acting like Jameis is the answer to all your problems, but I would rather see that for the next couple years than ever go back to what we had to experience in that short, whatever, 12, 13 game stretch of last year and this year of Desean Watson. Because you got these guys, and we always say this about Monday night, you throw out the records because in December, for these shitty teams, this is their Super Bowl. You're playing a team that has playoff aspirations on the road. It's a really big deal. You obviously have a lot of highly paid players, a lot of pride. You got Miles Garrett, who's looked like he was battling about eight injuries, Denzel Ward playing his balls off. And that was just. That was fun. That was really an enjoyable experience. Jamie, I mean, how cool is it this? Jerry Judy's drafted, whatever, 15th overall. They ship him out of town. I mean, let's face it, he was a major underachiever. It felt like a bust in Denver. And then he goes out tonight. I mean, feels like, has one of the best Monday night games I've ever seen. He has nine catches for 235 yards. Now some of these plays, he's completely uncovered, which was hard to fathom after a while. It's like you might want to cover that guy that used to be on your team who is eviscerating you tonight. And then they finally put certain on him that made a couple plays. But him getting into it with the crowd like them just throwing bombs. I mean, how many times even with Bo Nicks, are they running go routes? Are they running post routes? Like tonight was all about just pushing the ball down the field, which was very, very entertaining to watch. And obviously Jameis is tailor made for that level of play. And you watch and we'll get into the Broncos here in one second. But you know, one major difference in these two franchises is clearly Kevin Stefanski is a good coach. He's not two time coach of the year for no reason. And Andrew Berry, their gm, is a really dynamic personnel man. I think we all blame the desean Watson situation on the owner. And we've been talking so much about dysfunctional organizations and good organizations. And the weird part about Cleveland, a team that now has made the playoffs several times over the last three or four years because of their head coach and the front office who are really good, but what stops them in their tracks? The owner, because he meddled, he said, yes, I'll guarantee the contract. Those guys didn't want to do that. And then once it starts going poorly, they start forcing. You know, you can't keep Flacco because we got to go back to desean. Or it's like, no, we can't bench desean for Jameis Winston because we're paying him all this money. Like that's on the ownership. And it's one thing if you're the Bears and you're like, our coach sucks, our front office, what the hell is going on? Or the jets or some of these situations. If you're a Browns fan, you go, I think our coach pretty good. Like, our defense is pretty good, our GM is pretty good. And yet we have this owner who has a long resume now of just being a disaster for the franchise. And they're 3 and 9. They clearly are a really talented squad. But I put this season squarely on the owner. And on the flip side, you look at the Broncos got a new owner. They have unlimited wealth because, you know, they're the Walton family from Walmart. And it's just they got, like, six kids who are in the top 10 of wealthiest humans alive. And they're like, we need a real coach. And they go out and get Sean Payton. And listen, last year was up and down. And then the Russell Wilson thing, they cut him. They take all the dead money, and then he goes out and gets Bo Nicks. And listen, he rubs a lot of people the wrong way. Pretty arrogant. A lot of people in the football world think his cockiness takes the cake over everyone in the league. I've never had any personal interaction with him. He always kind of entertains me. I love his intensity on the sideline. But they said, here are the keys. Here are the keys to our franchise. You save us. Unlike the Browns, whose owner, like, kind of gives them the keys but then takes them back whenever he wants them. They go, sean, you run it. And then he takes a quarterback who, let's face it, universally around football, most people thought it was a crazy pick, a complete overdraft. A guy that just was a dink and dunker in college. And you watch him tonight. 1 Sean Payton is doing a fantastic job of calling plays tonight. The ebb and flow of running. One thing Bo Nicks is really good at are those quick screens because he excelled at them throughout college. The quick game and also getting him on the move. He's a really good athlete, and you saw him multiple times rolling to his right where he can get his body into it. Like, he's got a lot of arm strength. And obviously, one thing. And listen, Bronco fans, over the last couple of weeks, I haven't watched every one of your snaps, but you watched tonight, they were taking shots down the field. Now, one of them was not an ideal throw. You know, I think he kind of forced it to Mims. And you could argue, you know, it's tough. Mims is backpedaling. He's not able to get any air on it. And the ball goes right over. And it's an easy interception for Denzel Ward that then led to a James touchdown, which the Browns took the lead. Now Bo Nicks drives them right down the field, and they take the lead on the field goal. But that could have been. That could have cost them the game. But they're 8 and 5 right now with tonight, the defense was atrocious, but for most of the year, the defense has been fantastic. And a young quarterback that, let's face it, athletic ability pretty Impressive arm strength, much more impressive than any of us thought. And all the haters, they were like, oh, he's got an average arm. I'm watching him tonight. The one throw he made to the tight end in the second half there was honestly a better catch than a throw because he threw like 100 mile an hour fastball. Tight end made a great catch. Like he's got a good arm. Like he's a pretty explosive player. And here's the thing, it's like everyone keeps saying about Michigan, Ohio State, why Ryan Day is so screwed, because if you can't get them now, you're never going to get them. This is probably going to be the worst Michigan team clearly of the last five years. But of the next five years, it'll never be this bad. And you watch the Broncos, like, this is going to be the worst version of the Bo Nicks, Sean Payton Broncos, they got all their picks next year they're going to slowly get off this cap situation of Russell Wilson's contract over the next couple years. That will free up, let them take a deep breath and give them more cap space to make some deals. So this is as bad as it gets. And they're eight and five, obviously they're over. Under was five and a half. But you see like, and this is the thing, and this is when we talk about the Bears with a coach, when you get a head coach who goes all in on his quarterback and then he's also the play caller, it's such a big advantage. It's not the end all be all. Jim Harbaugh with the Chargers is not calling the plays. Mike Tomlin hasn't had a losing season like 75 years. Doesn't call any offensive plays. John Harbaugh, obviously no offensive plays. But one huge advantage when you watch the Broncos, it's like that's his baby, the offense and now that quarterback. And he's a work in progress. Like you see the good, bad and the ugly. There are some times it's like, Bo, take a deep breath. There was a click, quick slant. That would have been an easy first down that he threw it behind him. I think that was when they ended up kicking the field goal to Lutz to take the two point lead instead of scoring a touchdown because they didn't get the first down then on third down. But I'm pretty impressed. I mean, I think if you're a Bronco fan, like, listen, is the guy Josh Allen or Patrick Mahomes, we got a long, long way to go before we talk about him. As like a top, you know, 8, 10 quarterback. But I would be pretty fucking optimistic. When you're watching this guy play, obviously he's not turning the ball. I guess he had the turnover tonight, first one in a while. But he's an explosive player. And as someone like part of the Oregon offense wasn't really to play like that. And maybe as time has gone on this season, Sean Payton has just get like the Bronco or excuse me, the Browns tonight have nothing to lose. Part of James's skill set is pushing the ball down the field, running go routes, running post routes, just letting it rip. I guess that's Ben James's game probably since he was 10 years old. Part of Bo Nicks is like the knock on him at least was, you know, he just kind of picks and chooses around the line of scrimmage. Well, he's not the guy calling the plays at Oregon. That's. That's kind of an Oregon scheme offense. Then you give him to Sean Payton, who, you know, for a long time with Drew Brees, I think that was the knock. You know, not a knock, obviously, they were a historic offense. But I think most people just talked about Drew Brees. They weren't throwing bombs. Even though early on in Drew Brees's career with the Saints, they definitely pushed the ball down the field. You saw tonight, like, and I don't know if these are called shots, if this Bo Nick's going a little rogue, but he is pushing the ball down the field. So is this a team that's going to win a playoff game? I don't know. I mean, they will surely be an underdog, as I thought they were locked to be the seven seed. And I said it coming into this week, if they win this game, and especially the way it played out, Miami lost, so they have five wins and the Colts, who won on going for two on the last whatever, 30 seconds against the Pats, have six wins. So the Broncos have two more wins and they're finally going on their buy than the Colts. So even though the Colts who play this week, they would still be a game behind them and the Broncos still played the Raiders. I think the Broncos are a lock to get to 10. Are the Colts getting to 10? I have a hard time seeing it. The other thing is the Ravens injuries. I would be shell shocked if they missed the playoffs, but I think you're just like something's missing there. Incredible accomplishment. I said it at the beginning of the season. It's like, I love the Chargers to make the playoffs and a lot of you guys talked me out of it. It's like, no. And I had people in the league, it's like, I don't think they have enough talent. They're not enough skill guys. I never thought the Broncos would be good enough. One, this defense, that Bonito guy who was a second rounder two years ago from Oklahoma. What a fantastic, just wreckable. The picky had like most DBs, I'd say it's a coin flip. 50, 50 if they have serviceable hands. Certain DBs have fantastic hands, for the most part. Corner safeties, I would say below average hands relative to NFL players. The pick that Bonito made, the pick six. He has better hands than I would say 50, 60% of the DBs in the NFL. And then as a pass rusher, he showed a 360 move. He showed a speed move. He showed some power. He's obviously long. He's got an instinctive. Jim Washburn, when I was with the Eagles, used to always say, you either kind of have an innate feel as a pass rusher, or you're just robotic. And it's just all just, you know, you don't really know what you're doing. You either have like the physical attributes and you get close sometimes, but it's not innate. You watch that guy, you're like, this guy was kind of born to rush the passer here. So we know how good their DBs are. I mean, McMillan, the last pick six. It's not even their best DB, which is certain, which is clearly one of the best DBs in the NFL. So depending on the matchup, like if you told me that it was Broncos, Steelers, as the three, six, I'd go, yeah, I mean, I could see that. Same thing with Chargers. If it's the Charger, Steelers, Chargers, Texans, that's what happens. Like both these two organizations who were a joke, I mean, they were so bad. Russell Wilson's first year with Nathaniel Hackett. The Chargers won five games last year. What did the two teams do? Sean Payton got $18 million a year. Jim Harbaugh, you know, rumors are 16, $17 million a year. What do they have combined right now? Chargers have. What do they have? Nine wins, obviously. The Broncos have eight. And you're just looking at two teams that, you know, if we go to the playoff picture right now, you got the Chargers, I guess Chargers are 8 and 4 and the Broncos are 8 and 5. So amazing what happens when you hire a good coach, because they can make guys that we don't even know that much about. And let's face it, they make controversial moves. Sean Payton's like, I don't want Judy, who's clearly a good player, but he's like, this is not going to work here. What does hardball do? Like, yeah, Keenan Allen, Mike Williams, you're not going to work here. And a lot of people. And I'm guilty of this, too. Like, I don't know, man. I don't know if I do that. That seems a little risky. It's like, yeah, these guys kind of know what they're doing. Like, they have a clear vision for what they want. Like, this isn't a guessing game. We all do in life. Sometimes you're like, yeah, I think this is going to work. And you try things. We try things all the time on this podcast. Sure. Most people listening, like, you know, as you're coming up in whatever industry you're in, you're like, you're trying shit. Jim Harbaugh, 60 years old. I don't know how. If I had to guess how old Sean Payton is, I'd probably say the same. 56, 57 years old. Like, there's no guessing. Like, this is what I want, this position. This is what I need out of this position. This guy fits. This guy does not fit this. This amount of money for this position, we don't want it. There's no feeling shit out. And you saw at the end of the game when they put out the division and The Raiders are 2 and 9. They are winless in the. It's like they don't have a shot. They got no shot. They're just spinning their wheels against Andy Reid, Sean Payton and Jim Harbaugh. And all three of them have a quarterback. I mean, Mahomes and Andy are one of the great combinations we've ever seen. I'll promise you this, in five years, the way we talk about Jim Harbaugh and Justin Herbert, if Justin stays healthy, will probably blow your mind how just the power behind what's going to happen. Because I'll promise you they're going to win and they're going to win big. And it's hard to not to say, you know. Yeah, I think Sean Payton and Bo Nick are going to work. You know, and that's the thing with the Browns. Well, run. They have good offensive pieces. But now their quarterback situation. I was thinking about this today. I wrote it down. Obviously, some of these Fortune 500 companies make billion dollar acquisitions, they buy something and for the most part, they have a pretty good idea that it will work. I remember when Jeff Bezos Bought Whole Foods. I don't know how many years ago that was five or six or four or whatever. He spent billions of dollars to acquire it. And that day the stock went up so much, they're like, actually, he made money on the transaction the day that it was announced. There obviously are decisions that anyone makes whether it's buying a home in 2007. All of a sudden, a year later, you're. And you have to foreclose on the thing and it's gone, right? It happens. Some stuff's out of your control. I would say that DeSean Watson will go down as one of the greatest liabilities in the history of business, especially if you're just factoring in like a non company, just a human being. And it's clearly one of the worst transactions in the history of sports. And it feels like they're stuck with them because the owner, unlike the Broncos, the Broncos ownership wasn't there when the trade was made. Sean Payton comes in, they gave. They let him do whatever. And it's like, yeah, they kind of had a liability too. And Russell Wilson is clearly light years better than the diversion of desean Watson. We've seen the last couple of years, but it just wasn't going to work. And why do you want to force something in football that's not going to work? If you hire a coach, if you hire a gm. If I owned a team, I would just let them do whatever they wanted to do. Now if it didn't work, they would be accountable for it. But part of being an owner, I wouldn't want to play GM or I would just name myself the gm. That's part of hiring them. I would be on a boat. I would be on a golf course. Tell me when Sundays are. I wouldn't go to practice. Practices were boring. When I worked in football. If I was an owner, it's like, just do you, man, and I'll pay you a lot of money. Whoever, the best of the best, I'll give you the resources, get it done. When you meddle, then it fucks with them. And it's like micromanaging in any business. But part of the reason you hire these guys and the thing with football is most people don't know what's going on. It's a foreign language. You can't speak their language. You don't know the playbook. You're not around the team. Most of these owners aren't in the office every day. So you come in like as a helicopter parent, and all of a sudden it's like, what are you even talking about? And you throw off the equilibrium of any chance it can work. And this is what you get. Right. Russell Wilson would have been a problem for Denver because of the mix with the coach. And it wasn't, I'm sure, popular when he broached the idea of, like, yeah, we should cut this player. Like, what? Like, we're going to cut him. It's like, well, we hired you. Okay. You don't think Stefanski and Andrew Berry have thought, like, yeah, we should probably bench this player. But clearly it's not in their control. So I feel for them under that element of their job. Okay. Before. I think the penthouse is pretty clear, right? We said forever. The Chiefs have a loft. They have a giant, giant penthouse. And they are living well, even though it's very hard on a weekly basis. 11 and 1 is 11 and 1. 11 and 1 is 11 and one. And I actually heard Sal with Bill Simmons. He. I thought he brought up a good point. Gambling culture, which I love, I do think has made us look at the Chiefs a little bit different. If this was when I was a kid, all you'd be saying is, like, 11, 1. It's like one of the great starts in NFL history. How does it get any better? The only thing is, the way we talk about the Chiefs in 2020, it's like they can't cover a spread bet against the Chiefs. If you get a large number, hammer the opponent. That's all we talk about. It's like, they're 11 and 1. Yeah, it has been difficult. I've said over and over, I probably don't think they're going to win the super bowl this year. I think this is probably the time when they lose a playoff game. It happens. Happened to Brady and Belichick a lot. But they're going to be in the playoffs. There's a decent chance. We talked about it yesterday, still could be the number one overall seed. I do think the best team in the AFC right now, which, not really debatable, is the Bills. They look pretty special, and I do think it's really, really important for them. Obviously, it's in. Sean McDermott talked about this. It's out of their control. Think how funny it was. And this is one that I feel pretty happy that I thought, this is one of the craziest things I've ever seen. About a week before kickoff when the New York jets were favored to win the AFC East. I think in all of the gambling discussion over the last several years, that has to be one of the Crazier visuals I've seen with futures over unders. Super Bowl Odds, MVP Odds 1 year Justin Fields MVP Odds were a little crazy, but the jets were favored over the Buffalo Bills to win the AFC East. The Buffalo Bills clinched the division on December 1st. There are five games. That's fucking insane. But props to them and they look awesome. I've been saying this and a lot of people have. It's crazy how great of a season the Lions have had. And it still feels like they're fighting not just for the number one seat for the division. And I think this week, like, they're in it, they've deserved it. It's been an incredible one from last year, a run from last year into this year. I do think there's like tangible pressure on them at home with all these injuries against the packers, if they are to lose this game, obviously Minnesota is very much in the mix. So is Green Bay. And I'm telling you, with all these injuries for the Lions, I would expect Green Bay to look pretty good. If Dan Campbell can win this game against the packers with these injuries, it might be his most impressive, like, non playoff victory achievement so far in his, you know, short career as a head coach. And obviously the Eagles, who Saquon Barkley has really changed their team because it's taken so much pressure off. Jalen hurts and really Nick Sirianni, someone said, like middle cop. You were called Sirianni an idiot two months ago. Well, yeah, it's not like I think Sirianni is Bill Belichick, but his team's 10 and 2. They just went on the road to Baltimore and beat the shit out of them. The final score does not reflect the game we witnessed. They worked the Ravens, like, there's no dispute. They look really good. So, yeah, I mean, I said it over and over. Like, if they fired him tomorrow, I don't think he's getting hired this cycle. I don't believe that he is just safe just because they make the playoffs or even get the one seed. If he were to lose like the second round as the number one overall seed, I don't think he would be a lock to return. We watched the Eagles and this is why I believed in them coming into the season. One, I like their coordinators. I mean, Fangio is one of the best defensive coordinators in the league and I think Kellen Moore is good and clearly he's emphasized the run more. Whether that's the offensive line who banged down Sirianni's door to tell him to do it, whether It's Kellen Moore evolving. Whether it's just we got Saquon Barkley, we might as well feed him the pill. Regardless, it's working and they're going to be a problem because they have competitive like their guys have been in these big moments. A.J. brown, Saquon Barkley, Devontae or not Saquon. Actually, Saquon's been the playoffs with the Giants, but most of the Eagles core guys have and a lot of their younger players. Guess where they played? University of Georgia. Guess what Georgia did. Played in a lot of big fucking games, won multiple national titles. So these guys are used to a ton of pressure, which is a huge, huge advantage. And I think the Eagles, man, if I was Howie, I'd be. I'd be feeling pretty confident. Just like Nick, stay out of the way. When it comes to the worst teams in the league, I think there is one team that is on an island. You watch the Jags. Every time I looked up against the Texans, it felt like they were kind of in the game. Even after Trevor Lawrence got knocked out. We talked about the Raiders on Thanksgiving. Like they were. They played a pretty good game. Like they're still trying really, really hard. The Titans did not look good against Washington, but I just find the Titans completely irrelevant right now. Like, I think if you outside of Nashville, no one even realizes they're in the NFL this season. I do think the Giants are in their own little bucket, partly because it's the franchise, it's a huge brand, the market, the off season. Hard knocks. I saw a clip today. I don't know if this was after the game or last week during lead up to the game, but Kayvon Thibodeau basically said, if you don't make plays, you're not allowed to speak in our locker room. And then like Lawrence Tines and some other former Giants kind of chimed in like, that's kind of a loser thing to say, right? Like, if you're on the team, like your voice should matter. Obviously you're not leading pregame speeches if you're, you know, the seventh guy on special teams kick coverage. But like that's a mindset. It feels like they are just completely off and it is getting uglier by the week. And that Thanksgiving night game when they insert Drew Lock, who is better than DeVito and honestly, they could have had Kerry Collins or Eli Manning back there. That offensive line right now is going to get someone killed. I think if I had to, if I was a betting man right now, I would say the Giants not only do not win a game the rest of the season, but end up with the number one pick. I don't think there is a team that is worse than the New York Giants right now. Dexter Lawrence, out for the season. He's the best player on the team by a mile. So right now, when you look at, look at the Panthers, we were making fun of them. They were the Porta Potty Panthers. All of a sudden, Andy Dalton gets in a car accident. Bryce Young comes back. You watch them like they look like a real football team. They look like a real football team. You watch the Giants, you're like, this can't be real right now. Listen, even the jets, like, the jets had a 217 lead. Now they blew it and Aaron Rodgers falls apart and he kind of points a finger at other people, but they still had a 217 lead. If you tell me from this point forward the Giants do not have another lead in a game, I'd believe you. So I think the Giants stand alone in that Porta Potty. And it's getting smellier by the week. Getting some holiday shopping done this weekend. Pick up some touchdowns. They're on sale at DraftKings Sportsbook, an official sportsbook partner of the NFL. What else would you expect from the number one place to bet touchdowns? DraftKings has a door buster profit boost and bet one get one promotions on all type of touchdown bets. Be sure to check the DraftKings sportsbook app all weekend for flash deals that will have you dancing in the end zone. Grab some TDs with DraftKings sportsbook. They're on sale from Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday. Download the DraftKings sportsbook app. Use the code John to opt in. That's Code JOHAN Only on DraftKings. The Crown is yours. Gambling problem. Call 1-800- gambler in New York. Call 8778 Hope NY or text hopeny 467-369 in Boyd, Connecticut. Help is available for problem gambling. Call 888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org Police play responsibly on behalf of Boothill Casino and Resort in Kansas, 21 and over. Age and eligibility varies by jurisdiction. Boyd in Ontario, one bonus bet per customer base on amount of initial touchdown bet and expires 168 hours after issuance. One single use boost per customer. That only applies to winnings. See sportsbook.draftkings.com promos for additional terms and responsible gaming resources.
- [35:58]
Jon Stewart
Jon Stewart is back in the host's chair at the Daily show, which means he's also back in our ears on the Daily Show Ears Edition Podcast the Daily Show Podcast has everything you need to stay on top of today's news and pop culture. You get hilarious satirical takes on entertainment, politics, sports, and more from John and the team of correspondents and contributors. The podcast also has content you can't get anywhere else, like extended interviews and a roundup of the weekly headlines. Listen to the Daily Show Ears edition on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcasts.
- [36:38]
Fiasco Podcast Host
In the aftermath of a transformative election like the one we just had, it's hard to read the news without asking yourself every five seconds, how did we get here? That's exactly what we're always trying to figure out on Fiasco, a history podcast from the co creators of Slow Burn in our first season, Bush v. Gore, we examine an unmistakable turning point in American politics, the 2000 election, which came down to a recount in Florida and ended with one of the most controversial rulings in Supreme Court history. In many ways, it's the beginning of the story we're living through right now. So if you're trying to make sense of the present moment, check out Fiasco, Bush v. Gore and find out how a statistical tie in the Florida vote count put the nation into an unprecedented holding pattern during which American voters waited with bated breath to find out whether Al Gore or George W. Bush would be the next President of the United States. Listen on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts.
- [37:40]
John Middlekauff
Okay, let's dive into a couple things around the NFL. I saw today that Kevin Warren said that the Bears job would be the most coveted this off season. So I realized, oh, Kevin Warren was talking, went and watched the Bears press conference, and the one thing that really jumped out to me is it looked like a boss and his employee, an owner and his employee were up on the dais. One guy was driving while the other rode shotgun. And it turns out that the general manager, the guy that Kevin Warren said was in charge of finding the next head coach, was riding shotgun. While Kevin Warren, the president who's in charge of nothing, football wise, want to get a new stadium. That's why they hired Kevin Warren, sell sponsorship and make the franchise money. Like in a lot of organizations, it's split into two, acted like he was essentially the owner. Because at this point in time, it's not really arguable that Kevin Warren is essentially in charge of the Bears. I've watched a lot of press conferences over the years when A coach is fired either in season or, you know, in early January or sometime during the playoffs, you know, Black Monday or whenever it happens. Typically, what happens if the general manager is kept? It is either an owner by himself, giving the press conference, explaining himself, kind of speaking to the fans, or the owner and the GM up there together. And there have been a lot of articles written. I've even referenced some of them. And listen, I kind of take them at face value. Why? Because I want to. But I've said before, you got to be very careful with this stuff. Sources. You never know what is actually true. Because I've heard enough stories about articles that are written, talked to people in those buildings. They're like, yeah, that's not really the case. But the Kevin Warren thing, every article has been pretty consistent. But I've always said, you know, words just in any walk of life, I judge you on actions. And when you click on today's Bears press conference, there is no one who could argue who is in charge. And it sure as hell is not Ryan Poles. Honestly, it was a pretty crazy thing to watch for, like, the first five or six minutes, Ryan Poles didn't say a word. It was honestly kind of awkward. And here's what's bullshit about this whole thing and why all these future head coaches would say, most coveted job while me and Ryan polls are in the trenches. When things go well, you're going to be standing right next to us. And when things go shitty, you are going to be nowhere to be found and pointing the finger at us. This is why business people, the ones you don't want to be around in this industry, you know, want to act like we're just in charge of the operation when it comes to the stadium, the sponsorship, all that stuff. But when things go well, I'm a part of football because it's so easy. When things don't go well, I don't have my hands in it at all. And I will say this, there are clearly a lot of crazy owners, right? We're seeing it with Woody Johnson, right? With the New York Jets. We've seen it over the years with a lot of different franchises. But at least you know, if you're the coach or the gm, like, listen, this is. This guy signs my checks. I work for this guy. It's like when you're a kid and your parents are mad at you and the older you get and you're getting in trouble, whatever, you know that like, well, they provide me a home, they provide me food, they provide me a life, right? So at the end of the day, you can be frustrated with your parents, you can be frustrated with your owners. You all know they're in charge. I think it gets difficult. And I've been in this situation. I would imagine many people have as well where you have like middle management. You're like, wait, you're not really in charge, but you kind of control the budget, but not really. I have to ask you. But you ultimately don't have the final decision making power. You have to go above yourself. It finds yourself in this no man's land. And I think when you look around the best teams in the NFL. Let's start with the Chiefs. They are run by Andy Reid and Brett Veach. When it comes to all things football, look at the Ravens, Eric Dacosta and John Harbaugh. Look at the Steelers. From the Rooney to the GM to Tomlin, they're all in it together. It's a football operation. Go to the NFC. Dan Campbell, Brad Holmes, Gutikins LaFleur. Right? The Niners suck this year, but for a long time, John Lynch, Kyle Shanahan, les need, Sean McVay, Howie Roseman and Nick Sirianni or Doug Peterson, the business guy, while he's a part of it and he's friends with everybody, should not be the guy running point on all this stuff. And I thought it was an insane visual of Kevin Warren being the complete alpha in that press conference. There is no one who could watch that and question or even ask, like, I wonder who's in charge. We all know. So all the articles that have been written which have all pointed the finger of like Kevin Warren, this kind of weird. It is what it is and I think this is a recipe for disaster. If Kevin Warren did not exist and it was Ryan Poles and the ownership and whoever I'm going to hire, we're all in it together. I do agree it would be a very coveted job. Young quarterback, ton of talent, a lot of talent on the roster, big city, great fan base, a lot of history, awesome division to play in. But you can't tell me it will be a highly coveted job. Especially with an organization that is notoriously cheap. When the guy in charge is a non football guy who does not own the team. I actually think that is one of the biggest red flags for any team in recent memory. You could argue it's a joke and an embarrassment. And if I was a Bears fan, I'd be fucking pissed. Like, what are we doing? The Trevor Lawrence hit. I've said forever, I will not apologize for enjoying violence in Football. And I think most of society agrees with me. We like violence. There's a reason. You know, depending on what Numbers you believe, 70, 80, 100 million people watched Mike Tyson versus Jake Paul. We wanted to watch Mike Tyson be violent. There's a reason the UFC over the course of the last 10, 20 years has turned into a billion dollar operation. Humans like watching other humans be violent to each other. There is no. It goes back to when you're a kid in junior high and high school. When a fight happens, everyone surrounds it and watches. Now, I mean, I grew up in a time without camera phones and everyone pulls out their phone. A little different, but still, I mean, we're drawn to it. And for most of my life, football was extremely violent. Anyone that played at any level, whether it's pee wees, whether it's jv, whether it's varsity, college or pros, there is a feeling you get inside the first day of pads when you put on, you're going through tackling drills. I'll never forget being in ninth grade playing JV football, thinking like, God, we're hitting today. It's. It's just. It's an indescribable feeling that as you get older and you know, most of the violent warfare you conduct is all mental, right? Whether it's some sort of negotiation in business, physical, like, you don't really. Most human beings aren't fighting as they get in their 30s, 40s, and 50s. The only way we kind of live vicariously through it, whether you like ufc, whether you like boxing or football. I understand once the NFL went through the situation with concussions and CTE and the lawsuits of hundreds of millions of dollars, they tried to cover their ass. So the rules got extreme when it came to protecting the quarterback specifically, partly because those guys are a huge part of the business model. When you turn on a game and it's Bill's Chiefs, having Josh Allen and Patrick Mahomes in that game is a really big deal. Having backup quarterbacks being forced into action is a problem for the NFL in how they make their money. Because ratings start going down, it's not as good. Even if the game is bad and you have star quarterbacks, people can live with it. I do think we've kind of got to this blurry area of. There was a play on Thanksgiving where, you know, earlier this season, Patrick Mahomes against the 49ers, had a run where he went to the sideline fake like he was going to go out of bounds. All the 49ers stopped and he cut it back and he got more yards. And it's happened countless times, not just him, but in football the last several years. There was a famous play several years ago of Kenny Pickett when he was in college, breaking a run, pretending to slide. The defender stops and he keeps going and he scores a touchdown. Well, Caleb Williams on Thursday was going out of bounds and the defender was leaping to hit him. Now, he probably would have got out of bounds, might not have touched him. And I don't know if Caleb knew that he was going to jump and thought maybe he might stop and look to cut it back, and ended up getting blasted. And it was 100% on Caleb Williams. And I think when you watch Trevor Lawrence, and this is a bad example because Al Shire, who destroys Trevor Lawrence, knocked him out and then created a huge brawl. And D'Amico got mad that saying that, like, you know, the Jags attacked him. Like it's part of what you do when your quarterback gets destroyed. I do think it's a very slippery slope with these guys in the open field. And if you watch the hit in slow motion, Al Shire basically takes off right as Trevor Lawrence is about to start his slide. These situations are very bang, bang. And he didn't hit him in the head. He didn't get flagged for targeting, why he didn't target him. He hit him in the shoulder. Now, the impact he had, and you obviously are not supposed to hit anybody when they're in their slide, forced his body back and it cracked his head on the, on the grass and concussed him, knocked him out. But I just think big picture, the defensive players in the NFL are at such a big disadvantage, and the offensive players are starting to take advantage of it. You know, Brady went on this rant a couple years ago about quarterback play and everyone freaked out like he's just a bitter old man. No, back in the day, if you made a bad pass, your wide receiver was going to the hospital. That's why they called it a hospital ball. Last year, Gardner Minshew got Michael Pittman killed. No one talked about Gardner Minshew, though. And the defender got suspended for the season. And I think that I get it, and if I was in the NFL shoes, I would do everything to protect the paycheck. But one half of this sport is getting completely railroaded. And I don't know what they're supposed to do because their job is to literally tackle people. And when the quarterback runs outside the tackle box, he becomes like a wide receiver or a running back, yet he's treated completely different. And it'd be one thing if like, well, Tom Brady runs like a 5, 5 40. It's like, just pull up. Trevor Lawrence is a big time athlete in the open field. I think he runs like a four, six. Running in his legs are a big part of his game. He's also not some tiny dude, guys, 6 foot 6, 225 pounds. So I don't have an answer to this. I just think we go so hard one way. It's like, I don't know. I've always defended the defensive players on this. I'm not sure what they're supposed to do. It happens. Whenever you see a quarterback slammed into the ground, it's like he put his weight on him. It's like, well, the guy weighs 320 pounds. Once he starts tackling him, what's he supposed to do, float away? He's not Superman. I just think that it's only going to get worse. And here's another big picture problem. These guys, the quarterbacks get paid exponentially more money than 90% of the guys on the field. There's only a couple guys even remotely close. Trevor Lawrence makes $200 million a year. 200 or not a year, but $200 million plus contract. Who's the highest paid guy in the Texans? Like the Neil hunter with a $48 million contract. So it's like these guys are in a different stratosphere, yet they don't have much risk. I get paid all the money if I'm Trevor Lawrence. I didn't have to play well and I really don't risk anything because you're not allowed to touch me. And if you do screw up, you're making way less. I'm going to suspend you. I'm going to suspend you without pay. Hell, I might kick you out of league. I just think it's starting to get a little out of whack. And it's been like that for a while. And it's only going to get worse because the league will do everything in their power to protect the product, which in their mind starts with the quarterback. And listen, you can't disagree and say that's one of the most malicious hits you'll ever see. Obviously it doesn't look good, but I think before everyone just goes kick him out of the league, he's. We see this a lot, man. I think these are a little more bang bang than we realize while we're sitting on the couch eating pretzels and drinking a Coke Zero. And last but not least, Sark and Ryan Day, two guys that I've been, I've talked a lot about over the years. And obviously Ryan Day is front and center right now. He just lost what many would consider the worst game we've ever seen in our entire lives. I think he was, I think Depending, you know, DraftKings, I didn't see it where it closed like 22 and a half, 23 points. It wasn't just that he was a three plus touchdown favorite. It's that you couldn't find a soul who watches football. Biggest Michigan fan. You could have found people's parents from Michigan's team. That would have been, yeah, we're going to lose this game. Like it's whatever. I mean we'll just as long as we play them close for a half, it'd be commendable. They would have picked the Wolverines. No one gave them a shot, probably beside the players and the coach. To lose that game is something that you'll never shake. And I was thinking about this today because it goes back to Harbaugh's comment about being born on third base. Let's use Steve Sarkeesian, who over the years, you know, I thought was pretty overrated. He just never really won. And then last year took his team to the playoffs and honestly, you know, pretty valiant effort against Washington. And then this year, first year in the sec, was the regular season champion and obviously is in the SEC championship game with a chance, you know, probably to be the two seed in the, in the upcoming playoff. Had a fantastic year. Well, Sark, before he got the Texas job, was the offensive coordinator for one of the most famous teams of my life, the USC Trojans. Then goes to Washington. Well, he, you know, he, we could, we could argue how well it actually went. What was winning seven and eight games a lot, but took over a really shitty program and then went to USC and flamed out. But at least he was a head coach. Then he had to go resurrect his career with Nick Saban and the Atlanta Falcons. Before he became the head coach of the Texas Longhorns, Ryan Day had never called plays until he worked for Urban meyer in like 2017 and 2018. And then when Urban just taps out, essentially hands him the job. So you look at these Texas and Ohio State, which most people would consider two of the top three or four jobs in the country. One guy's resume looks completely different than the other guy's resume. But you go, listen, these are both offensive gurus. Only one of them calls plays. And when I was at The Red river game. And I've watched a lot of Texas games the last couple of years, like probably many of you, because they're playing in big ass games when it's Texas. On offense, Sark is dialed no different than if he was Matt LaFleur, Sean McVeigh, Kyle Shanahan, Ben Johnson, he's the offensive coordinator. He is the guy calling the offense. The offense, the quarterback, the skill guy. That's his baby and he controls it. And he has way more experience doing this because he's been doing it for 20 plus years than Ryan Day. Yet Ryan Day, at 45 years old, who's five years younger than Sark, somehow just became a CEO. It's like, I'm just gonna have other people do the jobs and I'm just gonna be the boss. In what world did he qualify to be the CEO? We could argue all day long, should he be the head coach or should he not? He definitely should be calling the. If you're going to hire Ryan Day to be your head coach, I don't want him just like, hey, I know your buddy hates being the head coach at UCLA and wants essentially a golden parachute where he doesn't have to do dick, he doesn't have to recruit, he just wants to call some plays. It's like, is that a good idea? Would Steve Sarkeesian have done that? Would Nick Saban have done that? Like when you just factor in how Chip Kelly ends up there and the reasoning behind it, little questionable. And I think we have to go back to the root. Is like, Ryan, why aren't you calling the place part of being a CEO? And we have a lot of them, whether it be in college football or the NFL. Kind of tough guys. Dan Campbell, Nick Saban, Kirby Smart, Jim Harbaugh, Mike Tomlin, like, these fucking guys are leaders. Follow me to freedom. As Charlie Steiner once said on the ESPN SportsCenter commercial, and you're like, show me where to start walking. You lead the way, big guy. Ryan Day does not exactly scream leader of men. Honestly, neither does Sark. But what Sark does really well is because they have a huge budget. We can hire top coaches. I'll call the offense, we'll buy sweet players, and I'll just try to give a consistent message. Yet Ryan Day somehow thinks he's Jim Harbaugh, where his teams consistently show extremely soft. And it's like, well, who actually called the plays? Was it Chip or Ryan Day? When you watch Texas and they look shitty on offense, you know exactly who's in control of Same thing with Ole Miss and Lane Kiffin. Same thing with Lincoln Riley in usc. Part of the reason I'm hiring you is because of your offensive mind. Not just to hand some $2 million a year job to your former head coach back at some tiny little school in the Northeast who's just over it all, who wants to keep cashing checks. And like I said, like, people think I'm some bitter asshole. I don't give a fuck. Best thing that ever happened to me was actually leaving the football business and doing this financially, personally, my whole. There's nothing that I would do over again. But I think we have to acknowledge Chip Kelly has not been good at his job in close to a decade now. And if in any other situation, some of these other people would be like, how is this happening? Why aren't you calling the place in. In what world on your resume does it say this guy, this guy can control it all? The program obviously has regressed, and I would say he is. He's in major trouble because you don't ever shake that game. You don't ever shake that visual of them planting the flag and you standing there like a deer in the headlights because you're in shock because you had previously said during the week, we can't ever lose these guys again, ever. It can never happen. And then you did. And they ran all over your field, tried to plant a flag into turf that doesn't actually work, and you guys embarrassed yourself. And it starts with you, the CEO, who somehow 45 years old. I don't know where you acquired these skills, but you clearly lack them.
- [58:35]
Jon Stewart
Jon Stewart is back in the host chair at the Daily show, which means he's also back in our ears on the Daily Show Ears Edition podcast. The Daily show podcast has everything you need to stay on top of today's news and pop culture. You get hilarious satirical takes on entertainment, politics, sports and more from John and the team of correspondents and contributors. The podcast also has content you can't get anywhere else, like extended interviews and a roundup of the weekly headlines. Listen to the Daily Show Ears edition on the iHeartRadio Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcasts.
- [59:15]
Fiasco Podcast Host
In the aftermath of a transformative election like the one we just had, it's hard to read the news without asking yourself every five seconds, how did we get here? That's exactly what we're always trying to figure out. On Fiasco, a history podcast from the co creators of Slow Burn. In our first season, Bush v. Gore, we examine an unmistakable turning point in American politics the 2000 election, which came down to a recount in Florida and ended with one of the most controversial rulings in Supreme Court history. In many ways, it's the beginning of the story we're living through right now. So if you're trying to make sense of the present moment, check out Fiasco Bush v. Gore and find out how a statistical tie in the Florida vote count put the nation into an unprecedented holding pattern during which American voters waited with bated breath to find out whether Al Gore or George W. Bush Bush would be the next president of the United States. Listen on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts.
- [60:17]
John Middlekauff
Okay, let's dive into a little thing we like to call the Middle Cough Mailbag at John Middle Cough is the Instagram. Fire in those DMS and get your questions answered here on the show. Just my name at John Middle Cough. Fire in those DMs. Questions here on the show. Now that McCaffrey has sustained another serious injury, what are your thoughts about transitioning him from running back to full time slot receiver? He's had an amazing career, has outperformed all expectations, but his draft day size and durability concerns are coming to a head. I think at best he has two to three solid seasons at running back, but I believe he could be a top end receiver slot receiver for another five plus years. It's a good question. I guess I would say this the reason he missed all of training camp and then missed the majority of the season were these Achilles injuries. And he made some comments getting mad at like Twitter doctors for guessing about his injuries or people on tv. I don't think it's really debatable that it's pretty serious that whether you're a doctor or not a doctor, you know that is not normal to have both Achilles cause problems, not be able to practice, miss all of training camp, miss half the season when you're a guy who's already been injured a lot. Like I think that's pretty concerning. And I think if the Niners knew what they know now I'm talking before this knee injury, they would not have given him a big extension, which I thought he had earned, right? Because this guy had become, had just resurrected his career, was fully healthy, was durable, then they give him like this extension, add a bunch of money because he's quote unquote underpaid and then his legs just go out on him. Now did him and his agent know that before they signed the contract? I don't know, but it's a major problem now for the 49ers. He's obviously on injured reserve. He's out for the season and that's not even his Achilles. If I would have told you a month ago that McCaffrey would come back and then he would get injured and he'd be out for the season, I think we'd all say that. I bet his Achilles ripped now it's a knee injury. It's just. It's pretty concerning. So before you can worry about slot receiver, running back, like, we got to figure out are his legs betraying him, which. It's not anyone's fault. It's just the wear and tear. I don't know. But if is the Achilles thing just gone. He showed some life last night of looking like himself again before he got injured. But was that a byproduct of the snow and everyone on defense basically moving at half speed? I don't know. And now we won't know the answer. And I think coming this off season, there are a ton of question marks when it comes to McCaffrey's health. So I think before you can think of a slot receiver move, it's like, well, what about his legs or his Achilles just healed now. Is this an issue that's not going to take place? I hope. But even if you move into a wide receiver, it would still be a problem if it's not completely gone. What do you think the Niners should do if they don't pay Purdy, who's accomplished more than many already who said that they have to pay him now? He still has another year of his contract. Yes, he's accomplished a lot. This year was pretty concerning and I would have no problem giving him like the Daniel Jones, Kirk Cousins contract. But I cannot give them Trevor Lawrence contract. I can't do it as we sit here today. That's just bad business. There's no way anyone could argue otherwise. That'd be. That'd be very, very. It'd be extremely risky. And it feels like the risk side would outweigh the potential success side based on the information we have right now. I've always, even last year coming into the season, like, wait, this guy's. You're going to pay him the same as Josh Allen, Patrick Mahomes and Lamar Jackson. He definitely deserves a race. No one argues that. But at what like. And at the end of the day, this business. So like, can I pay you $30 million a year? I've said forever. Why does everyone just automatically get the max? Because if you have Josh Allen or Lamar Jackson or Patrick Mahomes or Justin Herbert, yeah, you feel pretty good. But if you have the next tier of guys and I gotta pay him the same as that guy, it's not ideal. There's a reason different sized homes cost different amounts of money. Yet when it comes to quarterbacks, like every guy just gets 40, 50 million dollars. Fuck. Can we take a deep breath? That's my thing. Can we just take a deep breath? I'm not opposed to paying him money, but I cannot pay him the money that some of these other guys have gotten based on the information that I have right now. Because it's like, wait, he's going to get the same contract? Josh Allen? I just. I've seen these guys on the same field and it's like one guy's in a different universe. Well, of course he is. Josh Allen's way better. But I got to pay this guy the same. Just because he plays the same position, can I pay him $28 million a year? I don't see why that's not an option. After the draft, I claimed that if Howie Roseman had picks number one and two overall in the draft that he might have taken Mitchell and Cooper. De Jean, you counter that Howie would have probably taken Alt. I don't think you are necessarily wrong, but I do think it worked out quite well for the Birds. Those two rookies have outpaced my hopes so far. And while it would be nice to have Joe Alt in the trenches, we had desperation need in the secondary. If this team can figure out how to play offense in the first quarter, I don't see how they can lose the rest of the year. Love the show. I think if he had the number one, number two overall pick, I think you're right. He probably would have used one of the picks. If he knows what he knows now, he would have taken Mitchell with one of the two because he has a superstar corner for the next decade. Ideally, I think it would be between Alt and probably like a Jared Verse. He would take someone in the trenches over DeJean, who's awesome. But you're not going to take a slot corner when I could get Lane Johnson's replacement or Brandon Graham's replacement. But those two guys have helped transition the Eagles big time. I mean, they're off season is paying dividends right now. Zach Bond is, I don't know, one of the best offseason signings. Obviously Saquon might win the mvp. Fangio and Kellen Moore are crushing the draft picks. Look awesome. It's going Pretty well. It's going pretty well. There's going to be a lot of talk this week about Lawrence. To me, these quarterbacks have been spoiled playing touch football their whole lives. They've never faced repercussions for it. They manipulate the sidelines, and defenders are scared to touch them because the quarterback will flop and draw a penalty. We see this with Mahomes every week. I see a lot of people saying Jackson is a top 10 quarterback all the time. And to me, these guys need to be graded on the curve because they basically play football on easy mode. It's disrespectful moving these modern guys past all the order older quarterbacks that had the rule stacked against them. Many quarterbacks, like Montana Aikman had to retire early because they were so beat down. This same play on Lawrence yesterday would have been celebrated as the hit of the year in 1988. In my opinion, quarterbacks should be allowed to be hit on the sideline. It's too close with these calls, and it allows them to pick up extra yards and first downs. I say they should have to be all the way past outside part of the white line for it to be a penalty. That would fix a lot of these problems. You see, in this old play, the quarterback weaves in and out indecisive, and wants to get out of bounds or not. He pays the price. No flag. I hear you. I mean, we talked about it on the podcast. It's just there's a fine line, and the quarterbacks have all the advantages in the world, from the amount of money they're making to the rules on their side, to no one's allowed to touch them. And I think when you manipulate the sideline, that's fucking egregious. And if you manipulate the sideline, you should be penalized 15 yards. And when you run in the open field, like, I'm sorry, you shouldn't get treated special. When you run outside the tackle box, you should be treated like an offensive player, like a running back would, like a wide receiver would. If you choose to run, that's on you, which I'm all for. I want an athletic quarterback, but I would always preach, like, we slide and we slide extra early. We are sliding five yards before you even get close to the defender. And these guys, like, want their cake and eat it, too, and they get right up against it, and it's created, you know, it's just. It's just a big problem for the defensive players. I feel bad for him. I really do. Why would Minnesota care about Darnold's market, instead of doing the Kirk Cousins, enfranchise them once or twice. I mean, they easily could. Why I would extend them. Like, what if you just want to keep him? What if you think he's just good and you want him to be your starting quarterback? Like, that's what I would entertain. Like, can you just consistently win with this guy for the next three or four years? And I think that would have to be at play. So I would imagine franchising him is on the table. I would imagine. Like, how much can we extend this guy for? What is the number would have to be on the table as well. I'm curious, what's the appeal to be a head coach if you're an elite coordinator? Obviously, more money. But if you're a guy like Ben Johnson, why move from where you are now, which could be the next dynasty? As a Ravens fan, we miss Mike McDonald dearly and can only imagine what we'd look like with him still as the coordinator, maybe an actual super bowl team. Well, I think you get to a point where you would just like to sit at the head of the table. You just want to be in charge, right? Any single guy listening to this, if you've been in a relationship where it's just like, yeah, we're kind of sleeping together, nothing serious, no titles, there comes to a point where it's like, are we going to make this happen or not? Like, are we going to be dating? Are we going to be exclusive? And I think it's like that with a. With a coach, it's like, I want to try it. I want to see if I have what it takes. Like, Ben Johnson's proven he's an elite defensive or an offensive coordinator. Mike McDonald proved that. With defense, it's like, can I be the head guy? Can I be the guy making all the decisions? Can I be the guy put together a staff and leading the troops? Because it's. It's. It's the easy way out in a weird way. You know, Obviously, some guys like Vic Fangio has proven like he's more of a defensive coordinator, but I always understand guys wanting to take their shot. Like, can I do this? And then there's the financial aspect of, well, if I'm making $2 million to be an offensive coordinator, well, they'll pay me 10 to be the head coach. Or if I'm Ben Johnson, I'm making three or four. They'll pay me 14 to be the head coach. I mean, that's. Money's all relative, right? If you're making 100 grand. And I go, hey, a little more responsibility here, but how about making 900 grand and you get to be the boss? It's like we're all human beings. And you know, in competitive industries like football, like finance, like a lot of these people, these are alphas, aggressive people, big egos. And they, you know, they're risk takers. They're risk takers. So I think that plays a part in it. And I think they get to a point where they go, let's put all of our chips in the middle of the table. Lifelong die hard cheesehead who lives in Northern Michigan. As the crow flies, I actually live closer to Lambeau than I do Detroit. Getting pretty tired of Lions fans who act like they've already won the Super Bowl. To me, the season just started. Lions fans are starting to turn into Bengals fans. I've said since the beginning of the year, I think these two teams will play three times. When it's all said and done, I don't put too much stock into the upcoming game this week. Also, I've never been worried about Jordan Love. He reminds me of a version of Josh Allen, for lack of a better term. People forget Josh Allen was not polished straight out of college and took the Bills a year or two of starting him and refining him. Up until a couple years ago, we were having the same conversations about the INTs that we're having with Jordan. Love needs to clean them up, obviously, but it's just the timing within the game and when he's throwing them. I still feel confident in LaFleur and this time ready to compete with anyone in January. Go Pack, go. Well, trust me, I mean, you guys are alive. I think you guys were like 7 to 1 to win the division. And if you win this week, it's. It's right there for you. It really is. And you guys are built like a dome team so that speed you have on offense translates. And their defense, their front seven is just obliterated. So I hear you that the Lions have not won anything yet. Now, if they were fully healthy, they would be my clear pick to win the Super Bowl. Definitely the nfc. But the injuries have taken a toll and yeah, man, I don't know what to tell you, but good luck because I think it's right there on the table and I bet Lions fans are a little nervous right now given that they have no separation. It's not like they got three game lead heading into December. They got a one game lead over Minnesota. They got a two game lead over you and they got half their teams on the shelf. My name is Alex. Like you, I'm a part of the bald community. I'm from SoCal and have enjoyed your takes. I'm 29. I've been thinking about getting into podcasting. I've been saying for months that if Ryan Day shit the bed this year against Michigan and or during the playoffs, Vrabel would be the next head coach. I'm not sure how you how locked in you are on college football circuit, but do you think there is a strong chance of that happening? I don't have a dog in the fight, but I've been watching Michigan for the past five years hoping the Chargers would sign them. So they've been my second favorite college team. I don't think any coach who has NFL options would take a college job Now. Ohio State is like a pseudo NFL job. It pays a shitload of money. It has unlimited resources. It's a great gig. You get to control everything. But it's still not as good as an NFL head coaching job. So to me, I have a hard time seeing Mike Vrabel who I would imagine is going to get a ton of interviews and have a very, very good chance of being offered NFL jobs taking the Ohio State job. Now he's an Ohio State guy. He's an Ohio State legend. He obviously coached the program under Urban Meyer. I would be stunned. I really would. Now what if he gets $100 million offer? Obviously they got a lot of money to throw at him and he probably wouldn't get a hundred million dollar offer in the NFL. Right? Sean Payton got five years, $90 million. He's Super bowl champ. I don't see Vrabel getting that. But would varable take 50, $60 million over $100 million from Ohio State? I think he would because deal with nil. The transfer portal like in the NFL. Like people are either under contract or they're not. Right. You, it's just so much and Brable now has been an NFL guy coach for the Texans, been the head coach of the Titans forever. Like is very comfortable in that environment. It's an easier environment. The football is more intense because it's, it's harder. Right at Ohio State he would be favored in every game of the year. Probably maybe every year, maybe one game. He's an underdog. But even this year I think Ohio State was favored in every game because they were favored at Oregon. Obviously they were favored in Michigan. So even the two games they lost, they were favored. I have a hard time Seeing him going to college, I'd be stunned to be honest with you. Long forlorn Steeler fan who has slowed down the fire Mike Tomlin rhetoric this season. A year ago, Stuckey came on your show ahead of the Eagles Bills game. The Eagles were 10 and one and the bills were six and six. He said that statistically the Eagles were the luckiest team in the league and the Bills were the most unlucky. The Bills beat the Eagles that week and never looked back the rest of the year and the Eagles floundered, reminiscent of the 11 0, 2020 Pittsburgh Steelers. Do you put the 24 Chiefs in the same boat as the 23 Eagles? Who would be this year's 23 Bills? Unlucky but improving. Bengals maybe? No, because like, I don't think the Chiefs are going to win the super bowl this year. I don't even think they're going to represent the afc. But they have a championship culture, a championship quarterback and a championship coach. So part of winning these crazy games, like they don't have the talent the Eagles had last year. They have no offensive pieces. Pacheco came back. Kelsey's old. But like, the Chiefs just aren't going to win this year because they're probably not good enough. They've had a bunch of injuries, run out of steam. The Eagles, I'm not quite sure how you would describe what happened last year. I mean, they fired half their staff. Andy Reid's not going to do that. And they've won a lot of these games because of just culture and just some people would say the refs. I would just say mental fortitude. But yeah, I mean, I kind of expect them. You know, if they get the number one seed, I definitely think they could lose that second round. If they are not the one seed and have to play in the first and second round, like, probably going to lose one of those games and there's nothing to be ashamed of. It's still one of the greatest runs and they would only retool and restock this off season. But I view the franchises different. Like under Sirianni, the coach who had to get rid of a bunch of coaches. Andy Reid won't do that. I would say a team that could get hot. I do think the packers are coming and if the packers win Thursday, I think watch out. Yeah, I don't know if there was a. There's not a team that's like 500 that has Josh Allen and the Ravens have a lot of issues going on. So I don't think there is a team. That Bill's situation was kind of unique. I mean, Josh Allen's probably going to win the MVP this year. So when you have an MVP level guy and you're six and six, they also benefited because the division they played in, the Dolphins fall apart in the cold. But clearly you watch the Bengals against the Sealers. I mean, they're not that team. To me, the rams, who are 6 and 6 as well, a lot of issues, some just off with their offense. Cardinals not good enough. Seattle. End of the day, Geno's our quarterback. So yeah, I guess it's a long winded way of saying I don't know if we have a six and six Bills currently in the NFL. Appreciate everyone listening. Adios. Talk to you soon. The Volume.
- [80:50]
Jon Stewart
Jon Stewart is back in the host chair at the Daily show, which means he's also back in our ears on the Daily Show Ears Edition podcast. Join late night legend Jon Stewart and the best news team for today's biggest headlines, exclusive extended interviews and more. Now this is the second term we can all get behind. Listen to the Daily Show Ears Edition on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcast or wherever you get your podcasts.
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Fiasco Podcast Host
It's hard to read the news these days without asking yourself, how did we get here? Fiasco is a history podcast for the co creators of Slow Burn. In our first season, Bush v. Gore, we examine an unmistakable turning point in American politics. The 2000 election, which resulted in a high stakes stalemate, ended with one of the most controversial rulings in Supreme Court history. So if you're trying to make sense of the present moment, check out Fiasco, Bush v. Gore. Listen on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts.