← The Herd with Colin Cowherd
The Herd with Colin Cowherd
3 & Out - Dak Prescott & Cowboys suffer HUGE LOSS vs. Jared Goff & Lions on TNF
01:46:10
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- [00:00]
Sophie Cunningham
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- [01:17]
John Midkiff
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John Midkiff
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Stuckey
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John Midkiff
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- [03:05]
What is going on, everybody? How are we doing? John Midkopf three and Out Podcast brought to you by my friends. Its own pouches hopefully everyone is doing well. Probably not as well as the Lions who get a massive win saved their season are now 8 and 5. The Cowboys were terrible early, kind of came storming back and then ended up losing by 14 points but Lucy Lambda concussion George Pickens did not have this finest day at the office and we'll dive into that game. Big Ben sits Tomlinson go to Penn State Fugazi Friday. So does Lane Kiffin. Do you actually fake own a dog? And we'll dive into that but we'll also have Stucky on the show we recorded earlier before obviously the game and went over some of the college games and obviously the big NFL slate we got we got a lot on the line on on Sunday and Monday night so good time of year, fun times and we'll talk some football. But you guys know the drill. Make sure you subscribe to the 3Now podcast. If you listen on Collins feed. We have our own podcast feed on Spotify, Apple Easy just press subscribe. Same thing with YouTube. Never miss one of our lives on Thursday night, Sunday night, Monday night. We got you covered. Subscribe as well. And yeah, but before we do dive into some football. You know I got to tell you about my friends, my partners and the official ticketing app of this show, Game Time. Best ticketing app in America. I've been using them for years. You should too. You can search for any event, obviously college football, NFL football. Easiest way to get tickets. They have tickets as low as a hundred dollars to go to an NFL football game. And the price that you see when you're scrolling around when you're looking at a stadium is the price that you will pay when you check out. There are no hidden fees. So any event you want to go to, also including concerts and comedy shows, they got you covered. So take the guesswork out of buying pro football tickets with Game time. Download the GameTime app, create an account and use the code John that's Johan for $20 off at first purchase. Terms apply. Again, create an account, redeem the code John for $20 off. Swipe, tap Ticket. Go download the Gametime app today.
- [05:23]
I was thinking about this tonight, you know when the game was I think 27 to nine at one point it obviously got within three points in the fourth quarter. But then Detroit pulled again with Dan Campbell putting his cojones on the table when he called a nice play action shot to Amin Ross St. Brown who essentially ice the game.
- [05:45]
When your backs against the wall and the lion's back was against the wall. I don't know about you, but we've all been through trying times. I have been fired from a couple jobs. My back's been against the wall. I do think you got to stand on two things. One thing that is 100% required for anyone, regardless of the industry you're in, you got to be mentally tough, right? You cannot mentally break because it'll just get worse. And to me, too, you got to lean into whatever you're good at and almost double down. That's the only way to get out when you're in a shitty situation professionally. And the Detroit Lions were in that position tonight. They're back and their season was against the line. And obviously in football, it's mentally and physically that you got to lean into when it comes to toughness. And I thought the game was set, or at least the tone was set for the Lions in pregame warmups when Dan Campbell last week was like, amon Ross is going to miss some time. And to me, your culture for a football team obviously is set by the head coach. They determine the type practices you have, how intense your days are. I mean, the majority of football is not the three hours you see on game day. It's the hours upon hours, Monday through Saturday, you spend in the facility, you training. It's a grind. And the head coach really sets that, but he sets that through the type guys that they acquire. And in college, through recruiting or the transfer portal, and in the NFL through draft and free agency, you develop the culture through the type guys that you have run your team. And your best players usually dictate how far you're going to go. And I remember Dan Campbell earlier this season said, I'm never really get that worried about our squad because our best players are our hardest workers and most focused guys. And tonight, St. Brown, when you have an ankle injury and you're a wide receiver, like, you can gut it out a little bit like guard or even quarterback, because you're kind of playing within a phone booth. Not as much now a quarterback because there's so much, you know, quarterback run and scrambling around the. The old days when you kind of just stayed in the pocket. But St. Brown's toughness to me set the tone for the game. Like, hey, guys, yeah, we're not going to be the number one seed like last year, but we sure as hell are not going down tonight. And I didn't accept all this money. I'm not one of the leaders and one of the best players in the league. Three straight years in the Pro Bowl. I'm a highly paid Guy and the coach relies on me to set the tone from a toughness standpoint on offense, I'm the guy going over the middle, I'm the guy blocking. I'm the guy who for years now have been one of the leaders of one of the better teams in the league. And to me it was like, okay. And the first play of the game right to 14 on a quick out route. I love that guy. I mean that guy could play. There is not a good coach in the history of this sport or a good team in the history of the NFL that would, wouldn't want that guy in the trenches with him. And then to me, the game as it went was like we are going like our defense has problems, our secondary is not good. Now Brian Branch is getting carted off, you know, toward the end of the game, right? Our, our pass rush is okay, but our defense isn't good. So we are going to have to win games even if our defense is, is playing as hard as they possibly can. And they did early in that game. They were flying around. They're trying. They just have physical limitations. Right. CD Lamb, before he got the concussion, felt like he was on pace for like 350 yards. It was like they cannot stop this guy. And if Ferris like who the hell is going to cover them? You got to rely on your best players. So St. Brown says like we are a tough team. Dan me. That's how we roll. But then it's like Jameer Gibbs has to dominate in this game. Jameson Williams has to dominate in this game. And that's what happened because the one thing that's a bugaboo for the Cowboys and they've played a lot better right defensively over the course of the last month. The defensive tackles up the middle, the young kid from Boston College, the second round pick, he's really good. Overshones back. Their defense has been much better. But you could tell the team speed, the Lions was on a different level than the Cowboys. And tonight when you Look, Jameson Williams seven catches for 96 yards. Amin Ross St. Brown, six catches for 92 yards. Jameer Gibbs seven catches for 77 yards. He also obviously had three rushing touchdowns. David Montgomery had the big 35 yard touchdown. So their best offensive players completely dominated tonight. And that was the difference in the game. It was like you cannot stop the speed of Jameer Gibbs and Jameson Williams. And they made big play after big play after big play. And it felt like all their guys starting with St. Brown setting the tone, you know, that first play of the game. But really in warm ups. And I'm sure the last couple days, like guys I'm playing, maybe gets shot up, gets double tapped or double double taped. Not sure what he did, but it's pretty rare that you see a guy. It's not like they were just lying. When he leaves the game last week, it's like he's going to be a while and then he's able to play. Like, that's really, really impressive, especially at that position, but kind of speaks the type guy he is and those type guys you want. And that's the reason the Lions, when they're se. Their season's on the line, they lose tonight, they're not making the playoffs. No chance. I mean, it's, it's, it's over and they're still not guaranteed, but they definitely are alive now. And I, I thought the performance by Gibbs and Jameson Williams was freaking awesome. And obviously Jared Goff played well. There was just a level of that offense and they had these moments last year where it's like, guys, especially at home, we're going to rely on you. More than likely, the Cowboys are going to score at the beginning of the game, you would have said somewhere between 27 and 32 points. So I think if you're the Lions, to start the game like, we need 35 and we don't have much margin for error. And Dan Campbell's a guy that it's. I don't want to say taken because I, I know Colin's hard on him about the offensive coordinator situation. You know, you got to have a more exhaustive search when you're replacing a guy like Ben Johnson, you know, hiring Johnny Morton, who clearly was a failure. Dan Campbell's already taking the play, calling back, I like Dave Shaw a lot. Every time I've ever dealt with him or been around him, he was always awesome. To me, his success at Stanford spoke for itself. But when I think David Shaw, he's not really an innovator on offense. He really was kind of a carbon copy of Jim Harbaugh, which I respected. Old school. Between the tackles, they kind of tried to spread it out. At the end of a Stanford tenure, I think they brought a guy from like Wake Forest in to run the offense. At the time, Wake Forest was like running and gunning and scoring a bunch of points. It did not work. Like David Shaw's background. Old school, two tight ends, two running backs, like going back to like the 90s, he was John Gruden guy. And, you know, Dan Campbell just had to take it into his own Hands and called a really, really good game tonight. And I think Lions fans have DM me this. Like, one thing that changed once he took it away from Johnny Morton was the explosion of Jameson Williams. And to me, like, you can't teach speed. I mean, him and Jameer Gibbs, I mean, the speed in which they play is just at a different level, right? I mean, compare that to George Pickens. Like, George, George, you running Georgia? Are you going full speed? Mike? Tom was like, I told you, I told you guys. This is the, this is the George Pickens. George is like, I'm just chilling. I'm just chilling. Meanwhile, CDs over there, his elbows pointing this way. He's got a concussion. He's got 150 yards. He's like, george, come on, man. Even the play where Dak threw the slant, I, I think Dan Campbell manifested the interception to start the second half because they come out and I, I've actually kind of enjoy that. I give the NFL credit on this one. They created that rule this year that both coaches want us to talk at the end of the half and want us to talk at the beginning of the second half. You kind of just get a little star power. The two coaches and Dan Campbell's like, we've got to get a turnover right here. Got the ball back and start running. First play, Dak slant, George kind of, I don't know, doesn't stick his arm out. And you know, you could say the DB made a play, but then you see Dak like, George, you have to attack the ball type stuff you learn in like high level high school football. And it just kind of felt that, you know, George going through the motions. I, I feel like Dax playing his ass off. The six round, Pickles playing his ass off. Javante's playing their ass off. They're really trying to. Meanwhile, everyone in the Lions is just playing their balls off. And listen, defensively, like I said, this team has no chance to go far in the playoffs. None. Just like last year. They just do not have a defense. And if you don't have a defense, you got no shot. I think Pat Riley's old thing, like, you can't rebound. No rebounds, no rings. It's like no defensive stops. You can't cover anybody. It's not going to work out. But offensively, when they get on, they can hang with you just because they can score points. Clearly they're built for a dome where their team speed can really show. And listen, you got, you got to give Dan Campbell credit. He had the glasses on. He's calling the plays and he was dialing up pretty well. And he was exposing their lack of team speed in the middle of the field with the linebacker play, running those little like, option or choice routes with Jameer Gibbs, who was just flying and hitting Jameer Jameson Williams over the middle of the field and just letting them scoot. And I thought the Lions today, that, that was, that was a gut check win. They might have limitations on their ceiling this year. They obviously some stuff's out of their control. I think where they're sitting today.
- [15:52]
Stuckey
They.
- [15:52]
John Midkiff
Got a root for. For a couple things here. I think if you're them, you would either want, you either need the Bears or the packers to win both these next two games over the next 13 days. And I think in a perfect world, the way it shapes up, I think you're rooting for Green Bay to sweep the Bears and then the Niners to beat the Bears, and then you play the Bears at the end of the season. Now, I don't know how realistic that is. You know, it's hard to bet against the Bears the way the season is going. Feels like they're like a team of destiny right now. But I think that's what you would be rooting for if you're the Lions. But still, like, you got some catching up to do. 49ers next game off the buy is the titans. They'll have 10 wins. So, you know, you still got a scratch and claw. When your defense is this limited because of the injuries, it's kind of started to hit me. We don't really talk about Detroit's field, but like MetLife gets crushed because.
- [16:48]
You know, the turf. And I, I do wonder, is there something with the Lions turf? Do they have a cheap turf? The amount of. And it feels like it's more Lions than the other team. Obviously Branch at the end of the game, but there were three or four other guys. Even when guys get up, you're just like, what's going on? How did these. How do the Lions lose two? It feels like the Niners early in the season. It's like they lose three or four guys a game. Somehow CD Comes down. Honestly, I thought he had dislocated his elbow and I. Maybe it was just the way his body dexterity works, but it looked to me like he popped in his elbow. I'm like, oh, my God. And it actually wasn't. He was completely fine. It turned out he had a concussion, but that was the play. If that. If, if CD would have been a Lion, his shoulder and his elbow would have been dislocated and he would have, he would have been out for the season. So props alliance props for Dan Campbell. Kelvin Shepard is playing and this is where Aaron Glenn got a lot of credit. And you know, defense, a lot about effort. Think about like basic basketball, like defense. Obviously, to be a great player like Miles Garrett or Ray Lewis or whoever, you, there's a level of talent and that you have to possess. But there are a lot of guys in the NFL who do not possess Pro bowl upside that just play their balls off, that are smart, that are willing tacklers, that just play with their hair on fire. And that's. I thought the Lions couldn't have played any harder. You say, John, it's the NFL. There are a lot of teams that kind of go through the motions and this is a team that showed a lot of pride tonight. I respect, I've been saying this for a while, the hell out of Dan Campbell and what he's done to resurrect this franchise that, let's face it, was a complete joke.
- [18:40]
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- [20:08]
Sophie Cunningham
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- [21:16]
John Midkiff
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- [21:45]
Stuckey
For 25 years I've explored what it.
- [21:48]
John Midkiff
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- [21:54]
Stuckey
This is Sacred Lessons, a space for.
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John Midkiff
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- [22:09]
Stuckey
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John Midkiff
Wow.
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Stuckey
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John Midkiff
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Stuckey
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- [22:22]
John Midkiff
You go through the wound.
- [22:23]
Stuckey
That's the hard thing. You think, oh, I'm going to get my gifts.
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John Midkiff
I don't want to go through all that. You got to go through the wounds.
- [22:28]
Stuckey
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- [22:45]
John Midkiff
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- [23:22]
On the flip side, like, it felt like the game was a little off from the beginning for the Cowboys. It was like something was just off. And, you know, CD was dominating the game and they were still. It was like 20 to 9. You're like, Ah, this is just. This is not the type game Dallas wants to be in. Usually set a field goals, they're scoring touchdowns. The weapon, they have a Brandon, Audrey or Aubrey, he's hitting 57 yards, hitting 63 yards. I mean, you talk about a weapon, but then when CD goes out and it really puts the magnifying glass on George Pickens. Because everything when, Listen, I don't care what you're in a relationship, a company, a football team, when things are going well, right? When you're in the honeymoon phase, when the company's printing cash, when the football team is winning, everyone's got smiles on their face. You know, historically, like, there's been like two miserable sobs when you win. Bill Belichick, Nick Saban, they've always said, anyone that's ever worked for Nick Saban, they're like, you know, when he's at his best is when we lose. He's the happiest when. When we win. Everyone's on pins and needles. Yeah, the Cowboys like their. Their owner, and we're all guilty of this. We're like, damn, Dallas. Dallas is humming. I listen. They were. They're fun to watch. Beat the Chiefs, come back against the Eagles, destroy the Raiders and Chip Kelly's career. It's like this team is just kind of badass right now. They're scoring on left and right. Brian Schottenheimer's being asked about his number one offense. He's got all these new pieces on defense. They're a fun team. And then tonight you're like, this kind of feels like a little earlier in the season, Dallas. And then when the magnifying glass went on. George. I don't pretend to be a wide receiver coach. Been around a few good ones in my day. One of the positions that I. Most of us that grow up on, Madden, you kind of focus on, you know, you live long enough, you get, you know, what the good ones look like. And there's no disputing George's physical gifts and his talent. But there was a little laissez faire effort tonight. And some of those routes, you could tell Dak was like, problem is he couldn't totally lay into him because he needed them. And it just felt like his head. That was the guy the Steelers traded. Now listen, you play 17 games, you're going to have some bad games. He has been remarkable this season. So I'm not trying to act like he's some scrub or whatever, but tonight, when they really needed him, didn't feel like he was there mentally. I mean, he had five catches for 37 yards. I feel like I don't even remember two of them. He had the one nice one at the goal line, which he fumbled. Don't totally blame him. He was trying to make a play. But there were just some of these routes where it looked like he's not even trying. Now, maybe in his mind he's the third or fourth option, I don't know. But it was. That was a night that you feel better if you're a Pittsburgh Steeler fan or Pittsburgh Steeler front office member Mike Tomlin or anyone in that crew, because that was the guy that they traded and felt good about trading. That was not the guy who before this game had more yards and was more productive than the entire Steelers wide receiver room. And this also brings into question down the stretch of this season now, the Dallas. I mean, if the Eagles, we'll dive into them in a second, but it's. It's going to be a lot harder for the Cowboys to win the division now. They would need the Eagles just seriously and pull out. You're judging this guy on, okay, it's been good, but now it's like the final stretch. Are you still playing your balls off or have we arrived? Right, because the going rate for wide receivers is not cheap. I. I mean, the 49ers made a catastrophic mistake in Brandon Iuk. Now, they got very lucky that somehow they got $25 million back. Still not quite sure how that happened, but wide receiver mistakes are not tight ends or linebackers. They are extremely expensive. Average guys want $25 million a year. So, you know, in Jerry, his negotiation tactics, you know, when he likes you, he ends up paying you, some would say overpaying you. And I think this is just a situation to monitor. It was always going to be interesting. Like if George had some incredible, like his pace never stopped. Like, were they really about to give him like 80, $90 million guaranteed? Who. Who knows? I mean, nothing is out of the Realm possibility when it comes to Jerry and it comes to the Cowboys. But I think you have nights like tonight where you go, we got to keep, keep letting this play out. Obviously you're not just probably going to let him walk, but it's, it's, it's a more complicated situation than when he's playing the Raiders, going for 150 yards and he can make these plays and he did it the other night against, on Thanksgiving. 57 million people watched. He's catching slants. He got four slants for like 80 yards. Slant is like a seven yard route. So there's no one disputes his ability, his upside, his playmaking capabilities. But then tonight it's like this is a business and I, I do like investing in St. Brown's that yeah, not the physically most gifted guy in the league, not the tallest, not the fastest. But you know what that will do. Go to WAR for me. Not, not when times are great. We're headed to the number one seed. How about when we're seven and five and our season's on the line and his ankle looks like a grapefruit. You think he's going to go above and beyond to ice it, to rehab it, to stem cell it, to do whatever it takes to put himself in position to maybe be 80% to go to, to play a game. And the answer is hell yeah. I'm watching. George is like, hey George, Archtie's kind of on the line too. I don't know if you saw the ticker today, but Jalen Carter is had surgery and I had to read this on both shoulders injections. Again, not a doctor did enough Twitter research to know that yeah, he could miss a couple weeks. He's definitely out Monday. It's like all of a sudden the Eagles, I mean I don't know where on the hierarchy of players but he sure as hell near the top. And in terms of like most unblockable and unstoppable when he's on he's probably number one for the Philadelphia Eagles. Pretty big blow now that wasn't news for them today. I think it happened a couple days ago. It broke to to us civilians, the public but it's like I had a lot of respect for the way most of the guys on Dallas, like I thought Dallas's effort was, was high. Like their left tackle who's a backup was having a rough night. He's a backup. They got some good pass rushers. Aiden Hutchinson, like a super high end pass rusher. He's not gonna be able to block him. I Mean, Dak was getting punished tonight. How many times was he sacked tonight? 5 for 50. I, if I had to guess, I didn't see the final numbers hit 17, 18 times. I mean, he was getting peppered. And that's the thing. That's the thing in football. It's like you get in these big games and tonight was a massive game because this wasn't your typical Thursday night game. They were both on normal rest because they played last Thursday. Both these two teams now, you know, the Cowboys have this playoff life and the Lions have this holding on to a thread of what has been a consistent playoff team. And all of a sudden they meet tonight. And I thought, like 99% of the guys are just playing their hair with their hair on fire and their balls off. Some guys are better than others, so it looks better. But the defining moment of St. Brown and then the kind of lackadaisical nature of George Pickens was on full display. And this, this is a business and it's a. If there was no salary cap, Jerry could pay whoever, and it wouldn't matter. But there is, and you got to invest in the right people. And when you invest in the right people, you know, when the tough times hit, those are the type guys that come through. That's why the Chiefs have had so much success, because they're guys mentally and physically. Obviously they're talented, but they're mentally and physically so tough. Right? All those Patriot teams, hell, they didn't even have like the best players. How many hall of Famers did they have in the second iteration of the dynasty from 2012-19, Tom and Gronk, that was kind of it. But they had a ton of guys who were tough, as smart as. And when it came to the game, you're going to have to, you know, take their helmet and their shoulder pads away. If they were 50%, they were on the field. And the Lions got a lot of guys like that and they, they deserve a lot of credit. And listen, I. The Cowboys do too. I mean, Javante Williams guys resurrected his career. He was. Guy runs, that guy runs hard. I have a lot of respect for, I think a lot of people, you know, definitely in the NFL circles, fans, fantasy people, kind of wrote his career off and he's, he's had a good season. But, you know, I think some of their defensive warts showed up tonight. Now, in fairness, how many teams have guys that can run with, with Gibbs and, and Jameson Williams? And the answer is not many, right? I mean, I don't know. Deion Sanders Ned Reed aren't walking through that door. Like, what are you going to do when those guys are humming and you're not get. I mean, the one way to slow down the Lions. And this is what. The Cowboys had been doing pretty good. Now Clowney was inactive the night was hit. Jared Goff hit your. Couple times early in that game they did and, and it kind of derailed them a little bit. I know there was the one controversial moment about the sack safety. They said the ball was out. It was, it was iffy. I mean it was. There were some shitty calls. I, I've got to the point where it's like I, I have such little respect. Not for them as humans. I mean, I'm sure there are a lot of good, a lot of good men, but God, most of these guys feel really bad at their jobs and we got the technology. How are we. I mean, the PI on Ferguson at the end there was the double, the pass interference on Pickens. They would have put him at the one yard line, but they called it like a double penalty. There was also like a, a defensive holding or, or an offensive holding. It was like what. It was hands, the face on Ferguson or something. It's like, what, what's going on here? And this is the, that's the one thing with the NFL. They, they don't care. I mean, they're laughing all the way to the bank. They do not care. I, I see these clips. I saw my, my hometown Sacramento. It's not. I grew up at Davis, but right across the causeway. There was a fan thrown out the other day for screaming at Zach Levine for saying he paid money to sit in the front row. And he was disgusted watching him play, how, how little he cared, how little effort he put on defense. And the fan got thrown out. And I was thinking, I don't think you guys realize how little the NBA cares about you sitting wherever they will throw anyone out. They care about the television deals. That's, that's where they make their money. They don't give a shit about you. The NFL. You could complain all the way, all night, all day. Roger Goodell ain't losing an ounce of sleep. Probably, you know, getting ready to go teed off at Augusta. They're probably close for the winter, but he does not care. So the, the officials, I'm not going to get too caught up because in most of these big games are just atrocious and I don't really know what we can do. Like I said, I think one of the big winners tonight as well as The Lions had to be Philly, because if Dallas wins this game with Jalen being out, the pressure on them come Monday night would have been immense. Now, even if they lose, they still got a little breathing room.
- [34:56]
It felt like when that came across, and I learned today when I was recording with Stuckey, he's like, jalen Carter's out. I'm like, jalen Carter? Jalen who? He's like, yeah, shoulders. Like what. I mean, that's. That's a pretty big blow. It's also just something to monitor. You know, anytime a guy first gets injured, sometimes it's St. Brown, he's back the next week, and sometimes we just don't see him for like a month. So you just never know. That's. That's really concerning, and that's. That's a problem. But it is what it is. And now Philly, I mean, if they win on Monday night against the Chargers, when you look at their schedule, you'd be like, okay, if they can win that game on the road 3,000 miles away, they would feel. I don't want to say a lock lock, because you just never know. Their. Things get weird fast. But they would be in the complete driver's seat with nine wins and the Cowboys only having six.
- [35:50]
Okay, couple quick fugazis. We. We got a lot going on. Okay.
- [35:56]
I. Really quick on Big Ben. I. I saw he's got a podcast. I think he does in his basement, which looks enormous. Looks pretty badass. Probably got a big pad in. In Pittsburgh. You know, there's some comments. James Harrison said that Tomlin's good. Not great big beds, basically, like, you. He should go coach Penn State. It's like, guys, I mean, I. I don't know what your personal relationships are with the guy, but both. You had a lot of success with him. It felt like kind of backhanded jabs at the guy. But specifically the Penn State thing. I used to think, like four years ago, when they ended up hiring Lincoln Riley, Mike Tomlin, if he had any interest, USC would be a. Would be like an incredible spot for. Right. Bright lights, big city. They paid Lincoln $120 million. They would blow you away with cash. You could live on the water. If he wanted to do that, I think, like, he would. They were going to the Big Ten. He could dominate recruiting, and it would just be like a glamorous job. And. And he was pissed off. I remember his. I watched his press conference when he was asked about it. Felt like he wanted to take the microphone and throw it at the report. Like, he was offended. And I don't, I don't blame him. He's like, hey, I go to the playoffs every year in the National Football League. You think I want to go to usc at the time was a complete embarrassment and coach college football. Are you guys crazy? But I always said, like, hey, it's usc, unlimited money. Tomlins, kind of Hollywood, it would work right now. I get it. If I was him, I wouldn't want to go to the college either. But Ben, going to Penn State, like, hey, Ben, you think Mike Tomlin's going to move to State College? Mike Tomlin, I mean, there are multiple jobs open right now. The Tennessee Titans and the New York Giants. If Mike Tomlin was, quote, unquote, available or was just on the street, he would have been hired like three weeks ago by both. He is going to be, if he's available, the number one candidate by a mile in this cycle, which, I got news for you, ain't a great cycle. Google some of the names, right? So it's a lot of Robert Salas, who I like a lot as my defensive coordinator. I think just immediately make him a head coach feels a little risky to me. And I, I, I just think this notion, Big Ben saying he should go coach Penn State's like, hey, Ben, the Tennessee freaking Titans are a complete embarrassment. They don't have a coach. You think Mike Tomlin, if he's no longer wanting a Pittsburgh Steelers, the Tennessee Titans wouldn't take him, let alone the New York Giants. What are we talking about now? I do think Penn State, it also reflects one thing I think you've got to be careful in life is I see people getting very offended. Like, Jimmy Sexton runs college football. He's got too much power. No, he just has all the power because it shows you how inept a lot of these different schools are at understanding the business of football. He has the leverage because he knows what he's doing. Clearly, a lot of these athletic directors, most of them are kind of embarrassments. I mean, they really, they're not like, I think this notion, I'm not saying all of them. There are clearly some high level guys. There are also a lot of complete jokes. No different. There are a lot of people in sports, and maybe it's like this in other industries where it's like, oh, just because this guy has a position. I mean, I've heard stories about conference commissioners, athletic directors, hell, even successful college head coaches. He'd be like, yeah, if you actually knew how little he actually did. And the people behind but he gets all the credit. Wake world kind of works, but when you fire a guy, and there have been a lot of rumors that Penn State really pissed off Jimmy Sexton because the way they fired James Franklin, and I don't know if you've checked lately, but they don't have a football coach and they try to get the BYU guy. Turns out the crumble cookie, I mean crumble cookie is basically, you know, diabetes in a, in a 3 inch by 3 inch cookie. Google what's in those things. Don't get me wrong, Fat guide, heart, eating my fair share of crumble cookies. After I saw this Instagram, like, I don't think I'm ever eating a crumble cookie again. Not great for you. That being said, they're like $75 a cookie. And the CEO of Crumble Cookie Printing Money, big BYU guy. And so he made sure that they didn't steal his coach. And I thought like, well, if Kalani Sataki, who pretty sure is lds, Mormon guy, like, I don't know why he would go to Penn State, State, byu, when they have an unlimited amount of money, you know, potentially the number one pick in the NBA draft. Do you know that he didn't go to Kansas, Kentucky or Duke. He went to BYU. Why? Because they paid him $7 million. Like money ain't a big deal in the church. They got a lot of coin and you know, Penn State, you piss off the wrong person, right? One thing I learned early, anyone knows this, if they're in sales, who you know, who's the gatekeeper to? The guy you want to talk to or the lady you want to talk to? If it's the assistant, you got to go through her. You better figure out a way to create a relationship with that assistant because that's the only way you're getting past that gate to get to the person that's going to have the decision making power on what you want to sell them. And I just think Jimmy Sexton is the gatekeeper. And if you ain't playing the game, I remember when I worked for the Eagles, one thing. Howie and I saw this back then and it's clearly been true for the last decade. Plus he's great with agents, especially the ones that matter. Why they hold a lot of the cards you need to deal with them. Historically, GMs, big agents. Well, it's like, do you want the player or not? Because if you think like the players making the decision, that's not the way it works. How Micah Parsons just told you that guy just got $188 million. Talk to Dave. I'm not dealing. That's the way it works. So if you don't realize who's in power, that's on you. And I don't fault them if they wanted to fire James Franklin, but clearly it happened in an emotional.
- [41:54]
State and it looks to have backfired on them because I don't know if you noticed but Jimmy Sexton placing guy over here, guy over there, guy over here, guy over there, he in full control. And that's just the way it is. That's the rules of engagement right now. So if you're going to play and everyone tries and I know nothing about this guy beside what people write about him in the Athletic or talked about him when he fired James Franklin or that he worked with Matt Rule in this ad packraft. But you can't be that good at your job if you find yourself in a position like this at some quote unquote glamorous program. Mike Tomlin would quit before he went and coached Penn State. I do believe that another all time potential Fugassi again allegedly There have been rumors floating out there and listen there are a lot of rumors and this is how you know if you're deep in the SEC Twitter accounts, message boards, lot going on between ole Ms. And LSU. Lot of stories floating around out there which makes me love it that there is nothing like SEC football. I mean really nothing. It just, it warms my heart. And there is a rumor that Juice Kiffin, who was allegedly Lane's dog is not actually his dog, doesn't actually live with Lane. Kiffin lives with a handler and a lot of people think that he's not going to take it to lsu. And I do think if you are going to promote like listen Kirk Herbstreet I think pisses some people off at least based on the comments you'll see on Twitter or social media taking his dog everywhere. Now personally my wife loves it. She always says what time is college game day on I want to see Peter. But the one thing you know, whether you like that the dog's able to travel with them to the Amazon prime games and college game day and the game he's calling that night or you don't that is his freaking dog. And listen, as any dog owner knows one I like dogs more 99% of society, right. And once you get a dog, whether you purchase or adopt or however you get the dog from a young age or even like me who's become comes into a dog's life after she had had it forever. There is a love and a bond there. That's pretty special. Even going back to the COVID draft when we met Nike. Belichick's dog. You know what? No one's ever argued that that's Belichick's fake dog that he just used to. Fucker. No, that's his dog. He lets out in the morning before he goes to work. He comes home, he lets out at night, he feeds it. Like, take some responsibility. Haven't had a child yet, but part of having a dog is responsibility that comes along with it. There are a lot of football coaches that have dogs. Part of it, too, of like, you're going to be the family man. Well, sometimes, guess what? With a dog, your family chips in. Well, hey, I can't walk today. Can you give it a walk? Can you feed it? It's like, what do we got going on? Because I haven't had a big issue with Lane going to lsu. The way he handled it, it was never going to be clean. It was actually, from my standpoint, pretty entertaining. But if you have a fake dog, all for social media and a Twitter account and just pr, I'm gonna judge you as kind of a D back. I. I really am. If it truly comes out and this story still, you know, percolating, we'll see how it all ends up. If the dog's in his office at LSU and starts staying at his house, I'll give him a little bit of a pass. But as of right now, the dog living with the handler and he can't be like, well, I'm a football coach and have much time. Your family lives with you now. Your son's in high school, right? Your ex wife, she living with you? What's going on there? I. I just think that's got to be an all time fugazi. You faked owning a dog for the PR and the publicity. That's the first time that I will support the Ole Miss crowd of. Come on, bro, that's. That's pretty low. And yeah, other than that, like, like I said, I. Right before I hit play today.
- [45:45]
I. I just heard this crazy noise coming from pipes under my house. And I told you about that water spill that I had the other day out of my front yard. And for those of you that don't, you know, own a house and are renting somewhere, and sometimes you think, like, I want to own something. The power of being able to call someone to help you. And I had to call my. My landscaper, Francisco, who's a badass Since I moved in this house, I've had about four different landscapers. My buddy Jeff Fong, who I play golf with, big Arkansas guy, can't be happy with the new coach, but he's. He's into Cal party, so he's probably doing okay. Actually a cowboy fan, too. Love, love me some Jeff Fong hooked me up with this guy Francisco, and he's been a badass. I call him. I say, francisco, we got this. We got this big leak. I told you guys about that. And he comes out, and I was like, okay, man, just knock on my door or whatever if you find out what's going on. I don't even know what to say. And then all of a sudden, I hear my backyard. He's like, amigo, amigo. And he's had. He's smiling. He's with, I think, one of his guys, and they're both laughing. And I come out there, and part of the reason I bought this house because we kind of remodeled it, but he had already done a big ass remodel. So he had, like, wiped out walls, opened it up, put these big doors in the back that can open up to the backyard. He had kind of done part of the backyard. So he had done a lot of legwork that made, like, if you could just kind of do some cosmetic upgrades or. He had taken care of a lot of stuff. But the way he remodeled the backyard is the. Is like the slope of it kind of comes into the house, which is not what you're supposed to do. But it doesn't rain that much in Arizona, so it's not that big a deal. And there's like sets of drains every, like, I don't know, five feet. And so when it rains, if the water comes the house, it all drains in there and comes out the front of the house. Well, I had this guy, you know, I built this office in the backyard, and I think they needed some water. And they were using the hose for. For drywall or something. And this crazy rainstorm came. So I think they were doing something with the hose, and they, like, took off, you know, to find cover. It was like a. It was like a tornado. And I guess they just forgot about it. So for two days, it was just my hose. And so Francisco shows me the hose is just onto the drain, and it's just coming out the front yard. I even had, like, this HOA security guard come by and put, like a. Put a flag. He's like, you got to take care of this. I'm like, I don't know what's going on. In fairness, I didn't do it, so it's like, why would I even look at the hose? But when he showed me that it was just the hose on in the drain going out to the front yard and looking like yeah, it was pretty embarrassing. So, you know, sometimes just do a perimeter check and you'll figure out this not actually a major problem.
- [48:37]
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- [51:53]
John Midkiff
Okay, back at it again after a crazy, crazy holiday week where we missed him. We were, we were busy. We had a lot of stuff going on. But he's back and he's gonna help me because I, I'm not quite as. I'm definitely not even close to as sick as him. Like, I, I just. We're going to dive into some college football because this weekend might, we might be coming down the home stretch of these conference championship games, but we do have them this week and there's some big implications. And there are a couple games that have teams that are going to make it that I know nothing about besides that their coaches are clearly pretty good because they just got big jobs. But back here with Stuckey, all of our lines here are presented by our friends at Hard Rock, bet. And you know, Stucky, I'm looking at a game and I know you know a lot about these teams. And I only know a lot about Tulane because I've been hearing about their coach forever. I only know about North Texas. Now, these two teams have been good, especially Tulane. Now, this is their second coast that they have just put didn't. Willie Fritz was their coach. He went to Houston. And now Summer all who by all accounts is pretty legit. I know, you know, Florida is a little hesitant, their fan base, because they're saying It's Billy Napier 2.0. This to me, feels a little different. I mean, this guy, I don't know, I'm buying stock in this guy again, just based on a couple press conferences and texting around. And it did also feel like he could have taken three different SEC jobs if you wanted. Arkansas, definitely Auburn in Florida. Now both these guys, North Texas coach went to Oklahoma State, right? And the winner of this game is in. So these guys have been, you know, I don't want to say just dipping their toes in, not as focused, but like they've had press conference. They've been flying around, though. Oklahoma State hired him, what, a couple weeks ago so it's a little different than this Summer all was was he introduced on Monday?
- [53:39]
Stuckey
Yeah he had to do a presser like Morris hasn't done any of that. I I would have liked Summer Summer I was went to Kentucky used to go to Kentucky it was a ga was an I'm backer coach.
- [53:52]
Co DC I don't know six seven years ago I would have liked Kentucky to get him so I'm I'm a believer in Summerall as well think it was a good hire that was like who I wanted the Kentucky Kentucky to get after the inevitable that's what I've been saying for like the past couple years after the inevitable Stoops departure But yeah so I'll the funny thing is I'll try to give you a 50 of you know high level view of how this is how this all all these games play into the cultural playoff because it is pretty interesting. I think inevitably it's going to end end up leading to a expanded college ball playoff with 16 teams. But that's a discussion for another day. One interesting nugget is the quarterbacks for Tulane and North Texas last year are the starting quarterbacks in the ACC championship game. Mensa came from Tulane and Morris came from North Texas. North Texas their quarterback now is this kid Drew Mastermaker who didn't start a single varsity game in high school walked on at North Texas and leads the nation in passing yards. The North Texas offense is electric. I mean this team can put up 50 on anybody and was like Kate.
- [55:08]
John Midkiff
Club Nick the guy starting over. I mean how does he not start a game? Was he at a powerhouse program? How's that even possible?
- [55:15]
Stuckey
I'm trying to think who sorry to.
- [55:16]
John Midkiff
Put you on the spot here. I just think that's insane to not what you would have to be if you're a college level quarterback to be on a team with a blue chip quarterback or like the coach's son Matt Castle of high school football.
- [55:30]
Stuckey
No it was this guy I think it was Deuce Adams did not it wasn't anyone who's who's like turned out to anything but he didn't start he had a walk on in North Texas so But he leads the nation in passing yards and North Texas also has an electric I mean their offense you watch their offense it is the Morris is considered like a quarterback whisperer offensive guru but Caleb Hawkins, their freshman running back is also a stud so they're really well balanced. Their defense you can run on them a bit but they hired a defensive coordinator from Sam Houston State last year brought him in with a lot of the Sam Houston players. And Sam Houston's defense last year was really good defense, like predicated on its position lists. They kind of want to force turnovers.
- [56:15]
And they're pretty good against the pass, but their defense is much improved because in recent seasons, the North Texas offense has been electric, but their defense been really bad. Now their defense is much more respectable. Tulane's quarterback is Jake Retzlaff. Got kicked out of BYU and then came over to Tulane. North Texas is the better team, but this is on the road. Tulane gets to host this game. The winner of that game will be in the College Football Playoff. The top, the five highest rated conference championship. Conference champions get automatic bids. So you know, you have your SEC, you have your Big 12, you have your Big 10, and then you're gonna have your. You're gonna have the winner of the American between North Texas and Tulane. And then if Virginia beats Duke and Duke, I mean, Duke has five losses on the season, but if Virginia beats Duke, they're in. They're the ACC champ. Duke's defense has been horrendous. I mean, the drop off from last year to this year has been stunning. Their defense can't stop anybody. I mean, they won last week. They won a crazy tiebreaker. It really should be Miami here. But if Virginia wins, they're in. If Duke wins, I don't know if they're necessarily in. They have five losses. They lost two. Two Lane, they lost to Yukon. So it has not been a great season for.
- [57:37]
John Midkiff
Dude, well, they should not be in, win or lose.
- [57:39]
Stuckey
Agreed. Now, but I could. I see the committee saying, all right, well, now they got to win over a ranked Virginia team. Their schedule was harder than JMU because JMU is the other team. If Duke wins, many presume that jmu, assuming JMU beats Troy, that JMU would then go in. And JMU's a what, 23 point favorite. I actually bet JMU against Troy. It's a really good matchup. Troy cannot run the ball. Their past protection. They lost both their tackles early in the season. They have two freshman tackles. Jamie, you can really get after the quarterback. Troy's not a very good team and this is at home. JMU knows they need to run it up, and they have run it up a number of times this year. They've. I think they have five league wins by more than 25 points on the season. They're going to keep their foot on the gas. So I did bet jmu, but it's a fascinating discussion Between JMU and if Duke wins. Now the other fascinating part of this entire weekend is let's say.
- [58:43]
Byu.
- [58:46]
You know, if, if, if BYU loses, they're out and then all of a sudden you have Notre Dame and Miami right next to each other on in the rankings line. So do they can, would they then say, oh well the head to head now matters and put Miami in. Another interesting angle is they might also like because there's politics involved in this, they might also do that because say Duke wins and they might say to the ACC, okay, you don't have a team in, so we'll put Miami in discussions on the back end and then Notre Dame gets bumped out. I think Notre Dame is one of the best five teams in the country. But if they lost to Miami, they don't have great wins on the resume. They're not going to play this weekend.
- [59:42]
John Midkiff
If they had two spots, they would just put those two teams in. But more than likely it's just going to be the 1 spot. So they're kind of scared.
- [59:47]
Stuckey
Yes. Or, but if BYU wins they might bump them both out.
- [59:52]
That might be what the committee is, is rooting for. I think that would be bad for like I think Miami is a top 10 team overall. I think Notre Dame's a top five team. I think the actual bracket in the playoff will be better off if both those teams are in it instead of, you know, two group of five teams. But it is what it is. If you're a Notre Dame fan, you're rooting for, I think you're rooting for you, you want to also want to root for Boise State because it's a small, it's a small point. But Notre Dame did beat Boise earlier this year. Boise State now is hosting the Mountain west championship game against unlv. That was a four way tiebreaker. That came down to computers. But Boise State's getting its quarterback Maddox Madsen back this week. So that's another. It could be like a feather in the cap of Notre Dame saying how hey, one of our wins also is against the Mountain west champion. Now the Mountain west is way down this year. They have no chance of getting in the College Football Playoff. But fascinating storylines across the board and then you have some rematches in some really good Games. Texas Tech. BYU mentioned that Texas Tech's 12 and a half 13 point favorite. I don't know if BYU can move the ball on Texas Technical. Granted the first meeting was in wind outdoors in Lubbock. This will be indoors in Jerry World. But you just can't Run on Texas Tech and nobody can run on Texas Tech. Their defensive line is like top of the SEC caliber with the what they did out in the portal. Portal. Their linebackers are really good and I'm not sure BYU can block them. So we'll see. I mean they could not, they could barely move the ball in the first meeting. George Alabama rematch should be fascinating. Georgia arguably should have won that first game. Alabama has some key injuries. Georgia lost itself center last week and for some reason they couldn't score on Georgia Tech. I maybe drew Bobo, their center is that important but their run game cratered without him. But they should have won that first game and they averaged almost 7 yards per play and they dropped a bomb that would have won the game. They had the ball fourth and one. Alabama didn't score in the second half of that game. This game is pretty. If everything goes according to and look Kirby's been owned by Alabama. I mean he's 1 and 7 against Alabama.
- [62:09]
If everything goes according to how these matchups have gone and how every Georgia and most Alabama games go, this game is pretty easy to predict. Alabama gets out, jumps out to a lead. They're really good in the first quarters under DeBoer. They usually have a really good script. We've seen them jump out against Georgia a number of times. Georgia also falls behind whenever they play a competent opponent and then they come back because Kirby Smart is the best in game adjuster in college football. So what makes the most sense here is Alabama gets out the lead and then I'll be looking to bet Georgia live. And then you have Ohio State, Indiana two undefeateds playing in Indianapolis. I think it's gonna be very pro heavy Indian Indiana crowd. Obviously the location. Ohio State fans probably don't want to travel to this. I mean that they're out for national champions, national championships. They probably want to book tickets to a college football playoff game. This game means a lot more to Indiana so I could see taking, taking the points with Indiana. I'm. I'm not sure like Ohio State needs to or wants to show everything here. Indiana probably does.
- [63:15]
John Midkiff
Like hey how, how would Ryan Day at this point and once you got the Michigan thing off his back, this game really doesn't mean much.
- [63:21]
Stuckey
Yeah, maybe a little bit of emotional letdown too after that mission game. They're, they've been load managing all year. They, they have the slowest, they're the slowest pace team in college football. They're. They basically played two fewer games than most teams. If you look at the snaps that they've played, they've been load managing for the College Football Playoff all season. It's, it's really smart and I think it's a eventually going to pay off. So I could see taking the points there that Indiana just on the intangibles, I think the line is about right. But the, I think the loser that game will still get a buy. The winner will get the the one seed and I don't think it's that big of a difference. Depending on how everything breaks, the one seed could end up being worse than the two. The three seed as of right now would be the one that you want because you would play the winner of Ole Miss without a coach and one of the group of five champions. So most likely Ole Miss without a coach. That's a lot better than potentially Notre Dame or Alabama. So I, it's not a big difference between the 1, 2 or 3. If Ohio State loses and doesn't get the 1, I mean they're going to try and want to win but it's not the end of the world if they don't get the one seed. But yeah, some really, really, really good games. The other game, the Mac championship, I kind of like the under a bit there. And then you got the Conference USA on Friday night. Kennesaw, Jacksonville State, another rematch from earlier in the season. So it should be a fun weekend. I think there's just a lot of committee storylines and how everything's going to break. Notre Dame fans are going to be tuned in, Miami fans. And I think what this is all going to eventually lead to is an expanded playoff and then probably I, I don't know if conference championship weekend will look like it does in the future.
- [65:11]
And what it currently looks like in the future, like there's going to be something on this weekend because there's too much money. But there might be like playing games. Right. And that, that would make more sense if you have an expanded 16 team field. So you would have like this weekend, you would have, you know, maybe Vandy is playing someone. Miami is playing someone.
- [65:31]
Alabama, Notre Dame. Right. All Texas are playing Texas and then that helps decide who the final spots go to in the expanded field. So yeah, college football, it's going to continue to change on an almost annual basis. I do think they got it right with that. The, the automatic.
- [65:57]
Conference champions don't automatically get a buy, which was obviously the wrong way to go about it last year. Imagine this year, I mean you'd have, you could even, you would have like Duke or North Texas or James Madison With a buy that'd be a disaster. Would be something. Then all of a sudden you'd want to be in that 5. The 5C would be the, the best place to be. But so I did do think they got it right. But yeah, it's just, it's, it's a changing game. It's going to continue to change every week, but should be an exciting weekend.
- [66:28]
John Midkiff
Well, because look, Penn State lost to Oregon last year and they ended up getting Boise SMU back to back games.
- [66:33]
Stuckey
Right? I said it all week. Oregon should lose that game on purpose and they would have been better off. They would have had an easier path. Who knows how it would have played out but they would have had an easier route to the national championship. Instead of getting blown out by Ohio State. It was the best team, but at least that's no longer a thing. Whereas you don't know like now there's no incentive to lose because you just don't know. Like you can't say if you're Ohio State. All right, well if we lose, we'll be the two or three and we're going to play this team. It's a lot easier to project that if you know you're going to be the five and you got to play a team that has a buy that's you're going to be double digit favored over. So they did get that right. But yeah, it's great. Crazy world of college football continues.
- [67:19]
John Midkiff
Honestly, the most interesting part about the Indiana Ohio State game given that like at the end of the day there's just not that much on the line given that they're both going to get to buys. The gm, John Spitek of the Raiders, Andrew Barry, assuming he's going to keep his job in Cleveland and the jets new gm, like they got to be in attendance at that game. Like if I'm those guys, I got to be in attendance. I mean I listen, you got to give Ryan Day a lot of credit. The Matt Patricia hire, the guy had been a lifetime NFL guy. You just never quite know though, you know, Wink, you've seen guys, they transition relatively well. He, it couldn't have gone much better for Matt Patricia. So you get Matt Patricia against Fernando. Even if they end up losing, you know, 30 to 20, if he leads several touchdown drives and looks confident, you'd feel pretty good about his stock and kind of solidifying. Maybe Will Stein leaving to Kentucky is kind of signaling that Dante Moore might come out as well. I don't know to put that much stock in that. I mean he got what? 30, 35 million dol. He got a lot of money and I didn't know his dad had played at Kentucky too. So he clearly has roots. You know, he played at Louisville, so it's not really that crazy of a jump. Even though to me I'm like, if you're Will Stein, why would you take that job? But I do think Fernando can do a lot for his draft stock. Obviously it's already good, but I just mean to like these, these data points and these check marks. Like this is as good as it gets. I mean, he answered the bell after he threw that pick six in Oregon and came right back down. He's had some incredible moments. He's clearly very physically gifted. But this is the type moment. I mean, even if he were to. I mean, if they were to upset him and he looks awesome against this defense and awesome could be a 21 to 17 win. I mean, it's not like he's going to throw four or five touchdowns. More than likely, hell, he throws two touchdowns. That'd be pretty impressive. I mean, how many don't they average, like under 10 points a game against Big Ten opponents? I mean, no one scores on these guys.
- [69:08]
Stuckey
No one scored more than 16 all year. Now, I mean, I do. They're the best defense in the country, but I will say, like, they haven't really been tested. This will be their best, their biggest test for both Mendoza and Ohio State defense. And it's on a fast track. But you could say the same thing about the Ohio State offense, which has really just been kind of managing time like they're on a fast track now with Cornell Tate and Jeremiah Smith, the best wide receiver duo in the country. So yeah, we'll learn a lot about both teams because Ohio State, I mean the best offenses they played this year were like Washington, who had offensive line injuries. And we, we've seen Washington struggle against better competition this year. And then Texas, who early in the year their offense was a mess against everyone. So. And then Michigan's offense just here just isn't it especially away from home. So this will be the biggest test. Now Mendoza, I mean, he was only 8 of 15 for 100 yards against Purdue. He should have had a couple of interceptions. You know, he struggled a bit against Penn State, he struggled a bit against Iowa. Now he's had some big moments. And I do think he's very good. I don't think he's like, should be like a number one overall pick in the NFL. I think this quarterback class is pretty weak, but he's gonna go in the top five or top 10. It's a very good test for him. I will say, one of the things you have to question about Ohio State is I think that Ryan Day would love if this game goes down on the wire because the one thing Ohio State hasn't done has been in like a close game with a freshman quarterback. Right. Like, everything's been easy. And Indiana has been. They were in a dogfight at Iowa. Close game against Oregon. They had to have a drive to win it against Penn State. The one thing I am confident in is that Indiana this year is much more capable than the team last year at competing with the teams full of five stars. They're much better in the trenches and they proved that at Oregon. And that win on the road in Eugene, not an easy place to put play, has aged very well because Oregon has won every game and looked good and Oregon was healthy then as well. So I. Indiana can compete in the trenches here. The one remaining question for Ohio State is that, like, how will saying play if it's a close game? They just haven't been tested yet. So I think Dave would like that. And yeah, Patricia's been phenomenal. Obviously, they have great players. There's NFL players on both teams. So, yeah, your point on the scouts, spot on. But I was wrong on Patricia and he's been great schematically, and he seems to get along with Day better. They like real. Yeah, it seems like they really like each other. And Ryan Day has been a covering machine. This is the number one team in the country since they lost to Michigan last year. It's almost hard to believe they're 141 and 1 against the spread. They haven't. They've only not covered one game over their past 16 and they're number one in the country. It's a team everyone wants to bet. Market just hasn't been able to catch up to them. So.
- [72:05]
Yeah, this is. It's a game I'm looking forward to watching. But as far as the big implications, doesn't really mean much. It might based on how these teams fall and how the rest of the bracket falls. But I do think it means a lot more to Indiana because they can really say. No one can say, like, you don't belong anymore. You have wins over Oregon and Ohio State. So, yeah, should be a fun one.
- [72:26]
John Midkiff
This is crazy to say because, you know, he feels like an NFL guy. He'd want to go back, but for some reason, my YouTube algorithm, I get some like Matt Patricia interviews. He's always now again they're winning, they're dominating. He's had a loaded program. He feels much more like kind of light hearted. He's smiling a lot. Obviously he's lost a bunch of weight. Maybe he's found his colleague. Like he's really enjoyed. Like you said, they're always hugging and smiling. Like he doesn't feel like the Belichickian grumpy kind of a hole that went to Detroit. There's like a looseness to him. I mean, as we record this, Penn State doesn't have a coach. I don't know. I mean, this guy's been an NFL head coach before. Schematically. He's clearly really bright guy and you know, recruiting wise, I mean, he's got a, he's got a year apprenticeship at Ohio State. Like he's seen the blueprint of what you do. Like, I, I mean, I just keep an eye. Maybe if you're him, you just stay in college. There's a ton of money in it. Maybe he's just found a sweet spot because no one's hiring him to be an NFL head coach and like Ohio State will pay as much as the NFL team. So I, I think he's going to be there for a little bit. If. Unless he wants to become a head coach in college like that, that might be the route.
- [73:36]
Stuckey
I agree. I think that's the route he might end up taking. But as of right now, yeah, it seems like he's in a good spot.
- [73:53]
John Midkiff
Let's transition and let's start with a game that when they were 1 and 5 and they were still favored to win the division, it did feel a little crazy. And, you know, if I would have told you that they would have been 6 and 6 at that moment, you'd be like, okay, they battled back, but they would have probably been a game or two back. Turns out the Steelers are a mess and like legitimately circling the drain. And I understand, you know, that your squad, they looked awful on Thursday night. The turnovers, it was just a disastrous performance. But I, I'm going to take the same mindset it comes if J.J. mcCarthy's playing, I'm going to short the Vikings. I don't really care who they're playing unless they're playing the Titans. I'm going to take the same logic when it comes to the Steelers. This game's in Baltimore and I understand the Steelers have played Lamar well over the years, but this Lamar actually is a little different player than the guy. Like, he's kind of banged up, he's not moving around quite as well. I this is more like this does feel like a lot of points but it's just a bet against the Steelers and I'm going to hammer the Ravens minus six honestly is like one of my favorite bets on the board.
- [75:00]
Stuckey
Yeah. As a Ravens fan I'm programmed to expect that this game will end 20 to 17 and it's just that's how the all these games end. I mean if you look historic they've these Harbaugh and Tomlin have met.
- [75:17]
What the since 16 years where they're both there 32 times in the regular season, 26 of them have been decided by one possession when either is an underdog of three or more points. The underdog has gone 193 and 3 against the spread 86 and a half percent but and Tomlin as a dog has always been good. But this isn't the same Steelers team. They don't their defense is really bad. I mean it was eye opening last week to watch them against the Bills who were without both tackles, without Kincaid and they just ran. They ran the Same rushing play 27 times and it worked almost every single time. They didn't adjust. They couldn't do anything. They have defensive injuries now. Is this a game where the Ravens can just do the same and just hand it off to Henry, use their backs? It might be. Now the Ravens offense in fairness and Rogers is a mess. I mean he has a minus 13.6 completion percentage over expectations since week 10. That's dead last among every quarterback. I mean Gabriel McCarthy, Brosmer, you name them. He hasn't. They haven't completed a pass longer than 20 yards in a month.
- [76:27]
And he has a hand injury now. So they're always in pistol and it's predictable and their receivers can't get separation. It's a mess. Now the Ravens can't get pressure on defense so maybe that's a reprieve. But, but and the one thing I will say is the Ravens offense is also a mess because Lamar isn't healthy. And I mean if you look at some of his numbers since he came back, I mean he's second worst in the league in catchable ball rate, third worst in on target rate when he's not being pressured. Those are troubling signs and that's because you know it's the hamstring knee, a toe, an ankle.
- [77:06]
But are the Ravens might be able to just line it up here and run the ball?
- [77:09]
John Midkiff
Yeah, that's what I'm saying.
- [77:10]
Stuckey
Their offense is a mess and you're right like the Steelers have done a really good job containing Lamar in his legs, but that's not really his game at the moment. And the Ravens do have upside in their offense in that there is going to be a point where Lamar does get healthier and he keeps saying he's getting closer and then once that happens, I think this offense is going to take off. I don't see what the upside is with the Steelers offense. Like, it's, it's what, 42 year old Rogers now with the weather getting colder and colder and a hurt hand and they just signed, they just went out and got Adam Thielen. Like that's when you know it's bad.
- [77:50]
Yeah.
- [77:50]
John Midkiff
So he can't, he can't race on sacks because the arm. You're holding the ball in the one hand, you naturally kind of. It's just a human reaction whether you and me are playing pickup football out on the grass or whether you're playing NFL football. Even that play with Joey Bosa, he's kind of limp and, you know, you're just kind of. I mean, you're kind of.
- [78:10]
Stuckey
I wouldn't be shocked. There's a couple turnovers here. Yeah.
- [78:14]
John Midkiff
So which, which I respect. At 42 years old with I'm sure hundreds of millions of dollars in the bank, he does not need to be doing this. But he signed up and I, I think there's some pride in him, you know, to even come back into that game. It's like, what is he doing? But he, he doesn't want to let down. Like, he signed up for Tomlin and now he feel, you know, he's compromised. It's just, it does just feel like this thing's unraveling and for the first time there's like substance behind. Like, this could really kind of be the end of this, of this coaching era for this guy.
- [78:48]
Stuckey
Yeah, I mean, they're. Look, they're six and six is a huge game in the division. Now they play each other again. They put in the last game of the year and the Steelers do have games against the Dolphins and the Browns left.
- [79:03]
So maybe they find a way to get the 9 and 8 again.
- [79:07]
Which would be very fitting. It just needs. Look, Tomlin's a great coach.
- [79:13]
He's. I mean, he's never had a losing record. Great motivator. But there's comes a time when I think it would be best for him and the organization to part ways. The voice. Sometimes you need a new voice and the Steelers need to just stop going 9 and 8 because they need a franchise quarterback.
- [79:31]
John Midkiff
They.
- [79:32]
Stuckey
Otherwise they're just going to be stuck in purgatory forever at 8, 9, 9 and 8 with no chance of winning a playoff game, a Super Bowl. And that's where they're at now. They're like a couple weeks ago, they're talking about Rogers coming back next year. It's like, if I was a Steelers fan, it's fun that you're in it and like in the playoff race, in the division race all the time, but you don't feel like you have a chance to win at all. And that's ultimately the goal in this whole gig. And so, yeah, the Steelers eventually need to blow it up, which is why I said at the time, like, I don't know why. I know they had to do it, but I wouldn't have given Watt all that money because you just need a reset. You need to find your quarterback. But yeah, so my, my fan of me says this is going to be close because that's all Raven Steelers games ever are. But it's hard for me to see the Steelers offense and then their defense, their run D is so bad. There's so many issues. So I don't hate your look there.
- [80:28]
John Midkiff
The Rogers thing, they didn't really have a choice. There weren't any other options. But the Watt thing is going to be. The DK Metcalf move is devastating. To give him that much money in.
- [80:38]
Stuckey
A second, then you're watching Pickens become like the best receiver.
- [80:40]
John Midkiff
Well, so, yeah, so the swap out there, they gave like, when you are paying a bunch of people a lot of money, you don't have that much wiggle room. So when you give a guy a one year, $10 million deal like they did to slay, that's pretty important for that guy, even if he's not a Pro Bowler, to be like a legit solid start. He. He didn't make it to December. He was in a healthy scratch by Thanksgiving. He's like, that's a disastrous personnel move, you know, and it's just their personnel moves. And I put something on Twitter and people are like, well, Kevin Colbert was bad the last couple years. For most of his run, that organization was viewed like the Ravens, like the packers, just one of the most consistent. They know what they're doing. They don't feel like that right now. They feel really out of whack. So I, I love the Ravens. Another team.
- [81:23]
Stuckey
Well, they're trying because they're stuck in, like, the middle.
- [81:26]
John Midkiff
They're trying to maintain it. Yeah.
- [81:28]
Stuckey
And they're trying to just like do these band aids and, and it's just not gonna work.
- [81:34]
John Midkiff
Turns out Collinsworth was right the way that he was pronouncing Mariota and Mariota got his back saying that's the actual way to pronounce it though I just say Mariota. He actually looked pretty good on, on Sunday Night Football. My simple logic is this. If JJ McCarthy is starting a game against a team with just some capable players, I'm going to take the other team and taking Washington plus two and a half. Listen, you know, I just think this JJ thing, you get to a situation where you're going to, they'll start in Minnesota is less likely to boo than like let's say a Philly or some of these other places. That place is going to be on tilt if he goes three and out a couple times of like this is a disastrous situation. Most people, you know, like, listen, he's not the first guy to show say hey, I got a headache or whatever on the plane ride home or the next day. So I'm not going to say that he made that up. But they're just been two kind of all of a sudden this guy's injured after just disastrous performances and coming back. He obviously hasn't played much football. When he has, he's been awful. I, I, I could just see like all of a sudden he's just going to look good. I mean I have a hard time seeing that. So I, I'm hammering Washington in this game.
- [82:52]
Stuckey
I played the Vikings but at a much different number. I can't blame you for repeating McCarthy. I mean this, this line opened as with the commander is a favorite.
- [83:02]
And this is my case for the Vikings. And the rebuttal can just be McCarthy's not going to hit.
- [83:08]
John Midkiff
That's my logic. I'm just, I'm just against J.J. mcCarthy.
- [83:11]
Stuckey
Like, but I'm saying like you could just say McCarthy's not going to hit a wide open pass because the Commandos can't get pressure. Their defense has been a little better since Quinn took over. They're playing more zone. He simplified some things but it's still a really bad defense. Like they're SEC their dead last and drop back epa. They cannot get any pressure anymore because they don't have any players left on the defensive line. They have no edge rushers. So there's going to be opportunities for McCarthy to hit wide open receivers. Can he hit them?
- [83:36]
Sophie Cunningham
I don't know.
- [83:36]
Stuckey
So far he's shown that he can't do it consistently. But like the Vikings, their defense is still very Formidable. It's still a really good home field advantage. This is the first road game for the commanders in 41 days. They're coming off a devastating overtime loss.
- [83:51]
Their defense is on the field there. They were on. There's so many plays in that game. There's a chance Daniels is going to play at quarterback. I actually think that would be a bad thing. He struggled against the blitz. He's been off for so long. Mariota's numbers have actually been better than Daniels. They've had the same amount of snaps this year. I'm not the same. Mario is better.
- [84:09]
John Midkiff
But.
- [84:11]
Stuckey
This year Daniels has just had like a little bit of a sophomore slump. He never got in rhythm with his receivers. There's been so many injuries and now coming back from a long absence facing that Vikings defense, that could be problematic. But I do think now that this number is jumped. It's not the same but originally I was like this is the bottom of the market on the Vikings. They've and for what it's worth, teams off of a shot getting shut out historically have hit it about 60% against the spread the next week. I mean who wants to usually who wants to play the team that just got shut out? You might get a, you know, a point or two of value.
- [84:44]
And.
- [84:46]
The in fairness to the Vikings, they were three and two before the bye week and then after their buy they played the Eagles arguably should have won at the Chargers at the Lions. They won that game with McCarthy Ravens, Bears at Packers at Seahawks. That's been their last seven games. Vicious. So now this is definitely more of a break.
- [85:13]
So yeah, I did play some, some early Vikings but you can just say McCarthy why McCarthy favored over whatever it's Mariota or Daniels. No way. He hasn't shown that he can complete even wide open passes consistently. NFL and historically team quarterbacks coming off of a concussion there is a dip in production. So I could see the case for the Commanders. But I, I do have some Vikings. Am I scared about it? Yes. I also bet the Raiders am I scared about that? Yes.
- [85:50]
But yeah, I don't even know who are the Raiders even playing the Broncos. They're catching eight.
- [85:56]
Home divisional dog above a touchdown historically 5657 usually a good bat total when the total is below 4270 historically. I just don't trust this Broncos offense. Now do I trust the Raiders offensive lines A disaster. Geno Smith's a disaster. It's all a disaster. But this Broncos offense will go in like Bo Nix will just be completely he can't complete a Pass for quarters. It's very difficult for them to build margin. There are games away from home this year. They lost to the Chargers and the Colts. They beat The Eagles by 4. Crazy comeback. The jets by 2. It was 12 to 10. The jets had negative 10 passing yards. They won by 2, the Texans by 3. Crazy comeback when Stroud got hurt against Davis Mills and then Washington by one in overtime. So they're four and two with a plus six point differential on the road. They haven't won a game by more than four away from home. So. And their defense is coming off a game where they're on the field for 100 plays in overtime in primetime. Now another road game. You should get the Raiders best effort. And these two teams played in Denver with the Raiders coming off of an overtime game where their defense on the field 90 plays on a short week. Teams were 6 and 26 against the spread in this spot. Short week going to altitude and The Raiders lost 10 to 7. That was the score in the first meeting. So it's, it's horrible. I, but I did bet the Raiders plus eight.
- [87:23]
John Midkiff
Well, my last hammer is the. Is the Saints. That fit that criteria because the over under is 41 and a half. You know, you look at the Tampa, obviously they had that struggle, that three game losing streak where they were in shambles. I mean it's not like they blew out the Cardinals last week. Now in fairness, the Cardinals are going to be like one of the truly great 4 and 13 teams of all time because they've been in like the overwhelming majority. Yeah. So I'm just taking the Saints here plus eight and a half. And it's more of a bet against Tampa that you know the injuries. Obviously Baker hasn't been right all year. You know, once he kind of got banged up, looked like an MVP there through like a month. Which at the time you get him like 25 to 1 coming in. I think it was actually 50 to 1 coming into the season that went down to like 25, 20 to 1. Now he's got really no chance. Even though the MVP discussion is really wide open. I just listen, I'm not going to be some big believer in the Saints. They've got two wins but feels like a number that's very, very coverable.
- [88:22]
Stuckey
Bucks offense has quietly been a disaster. I mean since week nine they're 24th in EPA per play.
- [88:28]
John Midkiff
Why do you think that is a lot?
- [88:29]
Stuckey
There's a just. I don't think Baker's fully healthy. I mean last week against. You mentioned the card, the Cardinals out, gaining 386 to 279, 6.3 yards per play, Bucks 4.9.
- [88:39]
John Midkiff
Cardinals aren't bad.
- [88:40]
Stuckey
No, they're not. But I'm saying the buck should have lost that game. Statistically.
- [88:45]
Their offense wasn't great. And I mean there's just been so many injuries with the Bucks. Right. So you've had all the injuries in the backfield, the offensive line, wide receiver, Baker's been banged up. So it's all, it's all just added up and the operation is just broken right now. Now, is there at some point an inflection point where like as they get healthier, you're going to start to see that offense trend up? Maybe this is at the, you know, the bottom as far as the market on, on their offense. Maybe. But until I see further evidence. Yeah. I have no interest in wanting to lay eight and a half with Tampa. Now the Saints won't be able to run the ball at all. Like they'll have zero rushing yards in this game. So it's just going to be shock against the blitz having to throw it, which might is a bit concerning. But the Saints defense is feisty enough to keep them in this game. I don't have any kind of Tampa.
- [89:41]
John Midkiff
Kind of needs to win. I mean you lose, you're 7 and 6, Carolina 7 and 6. You still play them twice. Carolina would have nothing to lose. Right. They got house money. You know, there's all the pressure would be on Tampa in those games. This could get weird. I mean this is this obviously, you know, it must win when you're playing bad teams but like when you're just not playing well, I would shock you if it's like 10, 10 in the third quarter or something.
- [90:05]
Stuckey
Yeah, I mean last year in Week 18.
- [90:12]
In Tampa, the Bucks.
- [90:16]
Needed to win.
- [90:19]
And they were playing Spencer Rattler.
- [90:22]
John Midkiff
And crazy comeback when he took off on the run. Right.
- [90:25]
Stuckey
They were down 1913 in the fourth quarter and won 27 19. Like they were on the brink of losing that game.
- [90:33]
So yeah, that's the Panthers win over the Rams was enormous for many reasons. I mean the one seed in the NFC where how seating breaks but also that division race like they were ten point dogs. You assume that they were going to lose that game. Them picking, picking, picking that win up with two meetings with the Bucks left makes that division race very, very interesting. Especially since you know the Panthers go, they have a buy than the Saints and you know they have a game, they host the Seahawks and then they have two games against the Bucks So.
- [91:14]
Yeah, that, that division race is going to be super interesting. I'm excited. There's been a lot of boring games in the NFL this year because there's just a lot more. There's more parity at the top overall. I mean, think about the afc. The afc. There's a world where Lamar, Mahomes, Burrow and Allen all missed the playoffs, but there's a lot more parity at the top. But there's a lot more. Just the bottom is bad. So you get just some really bad football games. But now this stretch run over the last five weeks is going to be really exciting. I mean, just this weekend. This weekend is going to set. I mean this weekend could decide so many things. You have Raven Steelers, which could decide the division and a playoff spot with the loser potentially being out. We're recording this on a Thursday so you'll know the result already. But Cowboys, Lions could be an elimination game in the NFC playoffs. You have.
- [92:13]
John Midkiff
It definitely is for the. I mean Lions lose, the Niners, Bears would feel like they're both in, right?
- [92:19]
Stuckey
Yep. Yeah. And the Cowboys, I mean they're 6, 5 and 1. They gotta pretty much. They gotta win the division out and win the division. Eagles, I mean, they have a tough schedule. They just. Jalen Carter looks like he's gonna be out for a couple weeks, which is.
- [92:32]
John Midkiff
What happened to him. I must have missed that.
- [92:35]
Stuckey
Yeah, that came out like half hour ago. He's gonna have surgery.
- [92:39]
Wow. So that definitely hurts their defense. Not a position that they have a.
- [92:44]
John Midkiff
Ton of depth at, but he's just such a difference making player because.
- [92:50]
Stuckey
Wow, man. So much attention. But I mean that game, Monday night, Eagles, Chargers, Eagles lose. Cowboys win. That division gets a lot shakier. I mean, Eagles play the Commanders twice more. Daniels will be back. They go to the Bills. All of a sudden, it gets shaky for them. Chargers in the AFC. They lose this game, you know, they're 8 and 4 now. They lose this game, they go to 8 and 5. You have the Herbert Hand question. You still have an offensive line. Their remaining schedule is at the Chiefs at the Cowboys, home against the Texans, at the Broncos. All of a sudden that gets really dicey. You have the Texans, Chiefs is that Sunday night. That's potentially an elimination game. If Chiefs could lose, they go to 6 and 7 on the year and they don't have a tiebreaker or anyone ahead of them. They've lost almost every other team that they would be batting for, for Bears, packers for first place. I mean, just awesome. High leverage playoff leverage games this weekend. So the NFL is going to get really good from now all the way through the Super Bowl.
- [93:46]
John Midkiff
Well, let's talk about a couple of the big games. India at Jacksonville Indies leaking some serious oil sauce is now out. Their quarterback obviously shelved himself even before he got injured once he started getting hit. And now it's not going to be the same. You know, it's not like I love Jacksonville, but this is one of those games. Indy could be in trouble assuming I like Houston at Kansas City. You know just that their ability to rush the passage. Simmons now is on IR right with a broken wrist so and that would have been a tough matchup for a rookie against those pass rushers. General. So there's going to be a drop off there if Houston wins. Like to me, Houston if they take care of business against Kansas City. They just need these two teams when they play to somehow split is the way I've looked at it. I don't know if you look at it differently. I have some futures on Houston to win this division. It's still alive. They got to win. But they just need whoever wins this game and then that other team to win the other game when they play each other. And then I just think they are that defense is just ferocious. That is the best unit of these three teams. Would you agree?
- [94:50]
Stuckey
Yes. Yeah. And they host the Cardinals and Raiders next.
- [94:55]
John Midkiff
So this is their season. They just got to go to Kansas City and win.
- [94:59]
Stuckey
Yep. Find a way to win a team they haven't been able to beat. But yeah, I mean the Chiefs have other offensive line injuries as well. I haven't seen their injury report but Trey Smith, their stud right guard Taylor got banged up last week. So you could have three hurt offensive lineman against that defensive line.
- [95:20]
Could be trouble. And the Texans offense is improving like Woody Marks gives him some juice. And out of the backfield their offensive line has been getting better. And then when Nico Collins was out these other receivers were able to kind of step up, build confidence and like a guy like Higgins. So their, their entire offense operation is improving. So the Texans are a really dangerous team. I don't. If you're in the ic you don't want to see the Texans in the playoffs. You don't want to see that defense that they will be in every game because of it.
- [95:51]
John Midkiff
So yeah, they're.
- [95:51]
Stuckey
They're super loud to win the division but this game they're not out of it if they lose it. But it's going to be very tough. And then the Chiefs are I. So they lose their 6 and 7, they could get the 10 and 7.
- [96:04]
But that doesn't guarantee anything. And yeah, this might be lights out for the chief especially. They have no time. They lose every tiebreaker with everyone. I mean they lost to the Jags, they lost to the Bills, they would have lost to the Texans, like basically just the Colts. So yeah, I taking the three and a half, find a three and a half there I think makes sense. These are also the two best under teams in the NFL over the past three years. Texans unders are just a cash cow. I mean they're 31 and 15 of the under over the past three years. 67 and a half percent. The next best under team is the Chiefs. 30 and 16, 65%. The Chiefs unders at home over the past three years, 17 and six. They just go on these. And this is what they're gonna have to do this on Sunday night. They're gonna have to go on these long. And they can do this at home. They go on these long methodical drives where it's like dink and dunk and dink and dunk and then run it. That's they're gonna have to do because mom's not gonna have any time here and no protection. So I don't mind the under. I don't mind taking the Texans there. Yeah, Texans are a very dangerous team.
- [97:07]
John Midkiff
The Chiefs actually, if they lose this game, this is crazy to say, are better off just finishing 7 and 10 because that would give them a position. All of a sudden it's like, oh, the Chiefs have the 14th pick. They could kind of reset the run, you know, because they've been drafting every single year, 30, 31, 32. All of a sudden you're drafting 14. That's every round. Maybe the first round, Veach goes from 14 to like eight to get some incredible pass rusher or something. You could just kind of reset your franchise with some players who are cheap that they just haven't. I mean they're, they've taken swings on Worthy. Who were they out of play in that Sunday night game or maybe it was a couple weeks ago. It's like he's good, but he's not quite. I mean it's clear he's not desean Jackson or Tyree Kill or whatever. It's just. But that's what happens when you draft at the end of the round. So you just, you just don't have the act. They, they, they would be the first to say it's pretty crazy that Josh Simmons is sitting there. I mean we all Agreed. I mean there were some question marks with his injury and some other stuff, but he was like one of the more talented players in the draft. Right. Typically they're going to be picking from Xavier Worthy or Keon Coleman. Right? Well that, that's not the case if you're drafting 14th and I, I, I just think that they are picking from a litter of players that way and who knows, maybe last couple weeks you just kind of, it's not worth getting Mahomes a major injury and like you know, when you're out of it. They've never been in this position obviously. Honestly, for, since Andy's been there because they've just been good. But this is the first time where it's like okay, you ran out of gas. I, I don't know, I, I don't look at them any differently. I mean they lost some crazy games this year. It's not like some indictment on the run. I think it just was a year that didn't go their way.
- [98:40]
Stuckey
I mean last year they were 11, 0 in one position games. This year they've lost by 6, 3, 3, 7, 3 and 3.
- [98:50]
So they're one in six and one position games this year.
- [98:52]
John Midkiff
To me, their defense clearly just doesn't quite, quite have the same oomph. They're missing a couple players.
- [98:56]
Stuckey
Carlos don't get the same pressure.
- [98:59]
John Midkiff
Not quite the same player. I think they had hoped that he was going to continue to become.
- [99:03]
Stuckey
Yeah, now I agree with you. But if they win this game and it just the, the narrative, rightfully so will change drastically for both these teams depending on the outcome here. If they win this game, they're 7 and 6 and the remaining schedule is you got revenge against the Chargers at home with the banged up Herbert. No offensive line at the Titans, revenge against the Broncos at home at the Raiders to win this game. All of a sudden it's looking they're alive. Decent chance you're going 11 and six and the chiefs are back in the playoffs and they're always going to be dangerous in the playoffs, so. But if you lose, the best you can get is 10 and 7. I'm not sure that gets you in the playoffs in the AFC so. Especially because you're going to lose every tiebreaker. So yeah, huge game for both teams. And then what was the other game you mentioned first Indie Jacksonville. Yeah, I, I'm waiting for the Jags. Look, the, the cheat. The Colts defense is not the same without Sauce Gardner. He's locked down corner was gonna make, you know, with Ward and Kenny Moore they were going to have one of the best corner groups in the NFL without him. They just don't have the same flexibility. They're also not the same group without DeForest Buckner in the middle. With DeForest Buckner and Grover Stewart in the lineup versus when one of them's not on the field, they give up 1 yard more per rush. So if both were on the field, they're allowing 1 yard fewer per rush. And that's important against the Jags. Basically, with the Jags you want and any Liam Kongtun you want to say first, can they run the ball? If they're able to run the ball, everything else stems from that. And they have one of the best, most dynamic, well schemed running games in the NFL. And then you have Daniel Jones, who's playing with a broken leg, doesn't have that same lateral movement, taking more sacks now, and it's, it's just not going well. I mean, they're lucky that they won. They beat the Falcons in overtime, otherwise they would have lost four straight. And their schedule is brutal coming down the stretch. I mean, Colts lose this game can make a case that they don't win another game. I mean, they have, they're at Seattle, they got San Fran, Jacksonville again, then at Houston. So they could go from looking like the one seed a month ago to missing the playoffs very quickly if they don't win this game. And it's a place where they haven't won very often over the past 10 years. The Jags, I don't. I think they're a decent team. They're not a great team. They do have some good wins this year. I mean, look, they beat the Texans, they beat the Chiefs at home. They won at San Fran when they were healthier. They dominated the Chargers. They've been much better at home. And Jacoby Myers has been an amazing addition. He's not dropping the ball. He's providing juice to the offense. They got Brenton Strange back. I do want to see the injury report for the Jags. Armstead, Trevon Walker, Olakon, Devin Lloyd, they all are banged up. You want that full complement of your defensive front to not only stop Jonathan Taylor, but to get after Jones with his hurt leg. So I think the injury report for the Jags, very critical. Huge game. I think it's more of a toss up. I wouldn't, I don't mind anyone taking the points. If you wanted to tease the Jags, I don't have a strong feel on it. There's a lot of injuries that I'm watching for the Jags as of right now.
- [102:20]
John Midkiff
Do you think it's a good indictment on Anthony Richardson? They rather roll with Daniel Jones on a broken leg than him?
- [102:26]
Stuckey
Yeah, not ideal, not great.
- [102:42]
And then you have Packers, Packers, Bears.
- [102:44]
John Midkiff
Yeah, let's, let's hit on that. I mean, a couple weeks ago, hell, a month ago, I would have been like, I'm gonna hammer the Green Bay. It does feel like the Bears, I mean, we get these type teams every once in a while. Minnesota was like this, what that Kirk Cousins year when they, I think, won 12 games.
- [103:00]
Stuckey
Just a big ban at the end of his career when they were like, they started like 11 and oh, just.
- [103:03]
John Midkiff
A scary team to bet against. I, it's going to be hard, obviously, for the Bears, but I mean, Ben Johnson, I mean, that performance he had on Thursday was, was unreal. I mean, that made Eagles fans go, what is happening to us? I think Canales saw that and was like, you know, I should just copy that and run the ball a little bit more. It's like, yeah, Dave, you should. And Ben Johnson, he's the Midwest. Kyle Shanahan, you don't see many of these young coaches in college or the pros that are play callers, that are the head coach that consistently, like, I would rather run it 40 times a game than pass at 50. And he would rather. Even if Caleb Williams was the best quarterback in the league, I don't think his philosophical belief on how to play football would change, which I respect, because those days, we just don't really have them anymore. I mean, even Sean Payton, it's like, Sean, call some more runs for your guy. But these guys like to pass. I mean, listen, I love Coach Reed, Coach Reed, if you had to give him a choice, he would throw it every time if he could, you know, and it's just a lot of these coaches like passing the ball more. And Ben Johnson not only likes calling runs, he's a great run schemer. I mean, the, some of the breakdowns of using those tight ends and motions like, it was incredible that performance he had on against Philly, but he's done that all year long running the ball. So I just think that this is going to be a really fun matchup. I, I, I guess I would have to take the Bears. This is a. Stay away from me. I just can't wait to watch this game. But Ben Johnson has been a fucking stud this year.
- [104:33]
Stuckey
I, I mean, look at the Lions. Part of the reason, I know their, their interior offensive line isn't as good. But their run game all year has not been anywhere close to what it was. Their offense hasn't been operating anywhere close to what it was and a lot of that. And look at the Bears. Their run game, I mean especially over the past month has been dominant and that will always make them a scary dog. Now their defense has benefited from extreme Turnover luck like plus 17 turnover margin. They even did it last week. They got the tush push strip.
- [105:03]
John Midkiff
Have the Eagles ever even fumbled on that play like in their heyday? It doesn't feel like they really had.
- [105:07]
Stuckey
No, they did it once. I forget the game but they, the refs like blew it dead. But it really was a 5 usually against the Giants I think.
- [105:14]
John Midkiff
Oh yeah, it was Shane, my producer.
- [105:17]
Stuckey
So yeah, I mean their run game is incredible now their defense been is very bad. They have injuries at linebacker. They can't get pressure but they've survived without. I mean they got getting Jalen Johnson, getting Kyler Gordon back. They were able to develop some depth in the secondary and they held up. You have to give them credit for the wins and now they've become a scary team. But the, the, the packers are also a scary team and they've started to figure out their offense a bit post craft and I think you know you might get Jaden Reed back. Christian Watson, I think him coming back has really given juice to the offense.
- [105:54]
John Midkiff
He's looked good.
- [105:55]
Stuckey
Yeah. They should be able to move the ball on the Bears.
- [106:00]
Am I rushing to lay six and a half against a team that should, they should have success running the ball against Beckers. I mean they're going to have success running against everyone. And I mean the packers now lost Wyatt, another defensive lineman to a season ending injury. So I think it should be a really good game. I think the packers eventually win. But would it shock me if the Bears do? No. Huge game in the division though. Winner of this in the driver's seat.
- [106:23]
John Midkiff
And when you say the Bears I mean would be in pretty good shape given that tie is kind of a swing. They'd have two more wins than the packers if they win this game.
- [106:31]
Stuckey
Yeah and they'd play again. But it would be they host the, the Packers. Now the Bears do have a tough schedule but they win this the 49er.
- [106:40]
John Midkiff
Game is like how are the 49ers gonna stop their run game?
- [106:44]
Stuckey
They're 49's got the score. I, I don't, I don't know how that game doesn't go over the total by the way. Both teams should just move it at will should be like an offensive clinic on both sides.
- [106:56]
So, yeah, the Bears after this, they do get the Browns at home and they're the 1 seed in the NFC as of the time we're talking right now. But you know, then they get the host of packers at San Fran. Then you get the post Jared Goff outdoors at the end. So you win this game, it looks a lot better. If you lose it, then you're looking at that schedule a little differently, so. And the packers will be in the driver's seat for the, for the division. So. Yeah, really excited to watch that game. Just a lot of great games in NFL this week.
- [107:22]
John Midkiff
Okay, let's end with the Monday night game. You mentioned, you know, Herbert had the surgery. I mean, do you expect him to have like a cast similar to Rogers type deal?
- [107:30]
Stuckey
Yeah, I assume. I think that they'll just. They'll have to go shotgun. I mean, they usually go shotgun. I don't know. 80% of the time.
- [107:36]
John Midkiff
You expect him to play though?
- [107:38]
Stuckey
I do, but I don't know for sure.
- [107:40]
John Midkiff
Harbaugh's weird with that. You know, it's hard to get much information out of them.
- [107:44]
Stuckey
Yeah, it is a huge game for the Chargers. I just listed their schedule like they're scheduled now. They've had a really easy schedule so far. Now it's one of the hardest.
- [107:54]
So they, I think they've come out. They said they're gonna use like Trey Lance and in like goal line packages.
- [108:02]
So he's gonna get snaps regardless. I assume they're just going to be in shock a lot of times. So does that make their offense more predictable? Like we saw how that worked with Aaron Rodgers and you don't have an offensive line now. Jalen Carter being out, that's. That's very helpful to that offensive line. That's a massive, massive loss for Philadelphia. The one guy on their defense that they really couldn't afford to lose. He just commands so much attention. They don't have great depth there and he's just the game wrecker. And this Eagles offense, it's still broken. I, I think. I don't see how they can fix it. Every week they go almost a half without scoring. It doesn't matter. I mean, the Bears defense has not been good all year. Couldn't run it against the Bears. Their offensive line, there's no Lane Johnson offensive line hasn't been as good in the interior. I think they missed Becton. They've all. There's been. They've just been beat up too on the offensive Line, they can't figure out zones. Well, they're going to get a ton of that against the Chargers defense. So yeah, it, the, the Herbert injury throws a wrench into this. But like every week you got to look at an Eagles under I, I don't know how you could ever bet an Eagles over because their defense is still good and their offense will just die for a half plus. And it's hard to see this Chargers offense doing, you know, with a hurt Herbert, that offensive line doing a ton. So I would lean on, I would, I would lean to taking the points too. But the Herbert uncertainty makes it tough. But big game for both teams.
- [109:31]
John Midkiff
Well, if you're Philly, you lose, you know, you just obviously at the Bills, if I'm giving them a loss there, you would have given them wins against the Raiders in the two Commanders games.
- [109:41]
Stuckey
But I can see them dropping one to.
- [109:43]
John Midkiff
Yeah, that's what I'm saying. Then it starts getting weird. Then you just can't trust them playing whoever they're playing beside like the Titans. You're like, I don't know. This thing, it's got some similar similarities and parallels of a couple years ago when it all kind of unraveled. And I've been saying this for a while. When you have this bubbling weirdness with your just two star marquee guys.
- [110:05]
You just, I just think it's hard to hide that. And then the Petula thing, the way the fans like listen, it's. It looked like young kids egg in his house. It wasn't some indictment on like the city, you know, I mean I, I'd be lying if I hadn't egged a few homes in my heyday houses. Yeah. Yeah. So it's like welcome to 17 Year Old Kids. But I just think we know the pressure in that organization if they lose this thing. And there's just so much pressure, you know. And listen, Sirianni is, has proven to like be able to handle and be a leader, but he ultimately doesn't call the plays or anything. So it's like, it's like what? Okay. He can, it's kind of like the Tomlin thing. Like he's a great rally the troops guy, but if the fucking offense ain't gaining yards, the offense ain't gaining yards. It's like nothing. He can't do anything about it.
- [110:49]
Stuckey
Yeah, I mean, it's just this is. The Eagles are. Every other year this used to be like the San Francisco Giants, odd years or even years they would go, yeah.
- [110:56]
John Midkiff
It was 11 and 13. They won the World Series three out of five years and missed the playoffs in the other two.
- [111:01]
Stuckey
So like they have an offensive coordinator every other year. This is like Brian Johnson 2.0.
- [111:06]
John Midkiff
And yeah, you gave me the stats. He's worse than Brian Johnson.
- [111:10]
Stuckey
I remember like a month ago, worse against zone. There's no creativity off. So they don't use. There's no motion, no play action. It's just, it's bad. So, yeah, so they lose this game. You give them a win over the Raiders, you will say they lose at the Bills and I mean especially if Carter's out for weeks. So then they're at 8 and 6.
- [111:36]
And if, excuse me, 9 and 6. So if you split with Washington, you finish 10 and 7. And the question is that's not getting you a wild one in the NFC.
- [111:55]
John Midkiff
So can the Cowboys get a 10.
- [111:56]
Stuckey
And the Cowboys catch him? So if the Cowboys, they're 6, 5 and 1, the. The best that the Cowboys can finish is 11, 5 and 1. I doubt they're going to win out. But if they beat the Lions, all of a sudden they're 75 and 1.
- [112:14]
And I mean, they're playing very well. Their defense is trending up.
- [112:20]
John Midkiff
I win the Division if I'm 10, 10, 6 and 1 and you're 10 and 7, right?
- [112:25]
Stuckey
Yes. So they'd have to just get the. To 10. Yeah, you're right. They just have to get the 10 wins. So if they win tonight, they're at seven. Can they host the Vikings next win? They host the Chargers.
- [112:40]
Then they're at the Commanders and at the Giants.
- [112:42]
John Midkiff
It's doable, winnable games. Yeah.
- [112:44]
Stuckey
Yeah.
- [112:46]
John Midkiff
Well, it's gonna get interesting. You're right. This has. Because I get some dms. Like, has this season been shittier? I'm like, there definitely have been stretches where there's been bad mornings and afternoons. Like there have been some rough games. I'd be love football as much as anyone, but there have been some rough Sundays. There is no dispute there's been some rough primetime games. There's just been bad games, but at least they matter now. So I'd even argue in college football there's been some stretches where it's. It's been a, it's been a weird football season. Even though historic ratings, more people watch it, more people talk about it, which is awesome for our business. You know, the games. I would like a little more action. But part of that is some of these teams are just, are just shitty. They're just awful. And then like you said, some of the good Teams, the parody at top makes them kind of hit or miss.
- [113:30]
Stuckey
Right. So it's.
- [113:31]
John Midkiff
That's. I mean, the packers went through a stretch where they were rough. The Eagles are going through a stretch when they're rough. The. Steve, The Ravens. I mean, most years, even a random Ravens team would be 9 and 3 right now. Right. The Bills are a team that's 8 and 4.
- [113:44]
Stuckey
Yeah, it's been an ugly year, but it's about to get good. We've. We're gonna. It's. We're gonna get paid off for our. For suffering through some of the bad football we've watched.
- [113:53]
John Midkiff
Well, thanks for firing us up, Sucky, and let's enjoy the weekend and let's. Let's buckle in here to the home stretch. And you got a baby here. What next couple weeks.
- [114:02]
Stuckey
22Nd is induction date, so it's going to be interesting.
- [114:08]
John Midkiff
I get asked all the time, like, are you ready? I'm like, I mean, I guess. I mean, ask her. She's the one. The baby's getting hiccups and kicking her. It's much different.
- [114:17]
Stuckey
I didn't know. I found that out yesterday that there. There's hiccups. When is. When is your date?
- [114:23]
John Midkiff
Like, middle of January. So hopefully like. Like a Wednesday. Ideally, if he could come, like Tuesday or Wednesday of one of those playoff weeks.
- [114:31]
Stuckey
Yeah. We're inducing on a Monday, so you already know. Yeah.
- [114:38]
The 22nd. So it's will be a busy week, but I'll still.
- [114:43]
John Midkiff
People ask like, do you. Are you going on maternity? I'm like, well, it's not like this isn't a normal job, so it's like.
- [114:49]
Stuckey
I can't pause sports.
- [114:51]
John Midkiff
Yeah. It's like, yeah, I might have to miss depending on the. The date. Maybe like a Saturday or Sunday. But you. I don't just disappear for a month. That's not the way this thing works.
- [115:00]
Stuckey
The day of my. I will not be able to do anything. But other than that, business as usual.
- [115:06]
John Midkiff
I hear you. Okay, Stucky. Thanks, bro.
- [115:08]
Stuckey
Absolutely. Have a good one.
- [115:13]
The volume.
- [115:16]
Sophie Cunningham
This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.