← The Herd with Colin Cowherd
The Herd with Colin Cowherd
3 & Out - NFL considering replacement referees for 2026 season? NCAA Tournament Best Bets, NFL Offseason Mailbag
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Levar Arrington
Guaranteed Human hey, this is Levar Arrington here from up on Game. This message is brought to you by Apple Card. Apple Card members can earn unlimited daily cash back on everyday purchases wherever they shop. This means you could be earning daily cash on just about anything, like a slice of pizza from your local pizza place or a latte from the corner coffee shop. Apply for Apple Card in the Wallet app to see your credit limit offer in minutes subject to credit approval. Apple Card issued by Goldman Sachs Bank USA, Salt Lake City branch terms and
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John Middlekoff
more@applecard.com the best moments aren't always about where you're going. They're about who's with you on the way. That's why Toyota believes people are the destination. The Toyota RAV4 is built for busy days and spontaneous plans from practice runs to last minute road trips and everything in between with space, comfort and flexibility. It helps turn everyday drives into quality time because when the right people are riding with you, every trip matters. Learn more@toyota.com and find the vehicle that fits your people. Today's podcast is brought to you by Ferguson Home. Whether you're a homeowner working on a remodel or a pro managing multiple projects, Ferguson Home is where great ideas come become stunning spaces. Ferguson Home is designed for the way you want to shop. Experience today's top products by top brands like KitchenAid firsthand by visiting a Ferguson Home showroom where you'll explore stunning displays featuring today's latest products and innovations. Or browse their extended selection of products online@FergusonHome.com Can I tell you about my friends at Reef? Ryf has taken the same comfort they are known for and built it into everyday men's shoes. You know what I walked around in, what I wore to fly in and what I took to San Francisco this week. My Reef Del Mars works for commuting travel casual. It looks fantastic. It was really comfortable. It's pearly white. I also got a pair of blue ones. I cannot endorse this product enough. They are going to be my go to shoe moving forward. So check out the Shoreline del mar on reef.com and redeem 15% off your first purchase the volume. What is going on my people? How are we doing? John Midoff 3 and now podcast. Hopefully you are having a fantastic day. I'm having a good day. Little warm in Arizona but we're going to talk a little football because replacement refs Are they back? The Miami Dolphins said we're done trading star players and I was watching the WBC game and thinking why are some guys clutch Bryce Harper and other guys not Aaron Judge in relation to quarterbacks? So let's talk about that. We'll hit on the NCAA tournament. I got, I got a couple, couple, couple bets. Your boy's hot right now. Cam Young nailed that one. Got a couple teams that I'm, I'm going to sprinkle a little juice on to make runs and we'll do a Mandelkopf mailbag. We'll do a quick one. We'll probably do a big one tomorrow. But I'll do some questions at the end at John Middlekop at John Middelkopf Is the Instagram fire in those DMS questions on the show. You guys know the drill. Make sure you subscribe. If you listen on Collins feed. We also were on Netflix. So if you guys want to watch the video and see my beautiful face, get on it because we're up there. If not, let's talk some ball. But I did want to start because there's a lingering story out there. Schefter reported on it, Florio was writing about it, that the NFL, who is always, it feels like in some sort of negotiations with the referees, I mean these dudes are principals, they're lawyers, they got side plumbing businesses. All they want is to be a full time employee. The NFL doesn't want to do it. They just don't, can't find the money, I guess. And we've been down this road before and it was called 2012. Now, like a lot of things, things have changed since then and the NFL specifically, if they are going to get and we got a long way to go till the season. So. So I'm not acting like I feel confident they're going to be like high school and random college referees, Monday Night Football and Ravens, Bills games. Like I'm not going to go there yet. But like the NFL can be very cutthroat in these situations and they are going to try to screw the referees every chance they get. And you could argue the referees aren't that good to begin with. One thing we learned and listen, being an official is very difficult. We've all been on the bad side, whether as a gambler, whether as a fan of a bad call. It comes with the territory. But it does feel like the officiating has been very hit or miss over the last couple years. Here's what I do know after experiencing that, cause I'm old enough to remember is now that you're balls deep with the gambling community, like in 2012. Obviously people gambled on football, but it's nowhere near what it is now, especially because the league is in business with everybody. So once you get into business with everybody, you have to do everything possible to keep things above board. Like, that is a huge element. The world we live in in 20, 20, 12, to compare to now is like a completely different universe. I, I can't even relate to The Times in 2012. You know that viral video. Dad, what were you like in the 90s? Do you know how long ago the 90s feel right now? I mean, hell, do you know how far away 2018 feels right now? So the 2012, the NFL, which is obviously exploded since then, it was very, it was popular then, it was rolling. It is nowhere near the powerhouse that it is now. And the eyeballs that are on it, the partners that are involved. This is one of those situations where you simply have to get it fixed because you cannot have people out there having the bright lights on them and not coming through, because we already have that happening now. And these guys are used to calling these games like they are used to being on the field with NFL players and NFL coaches. And if you start funneling up Mac guys or high school guys, it could be overwhelming and we could get a situation 10 times worse than we had last year. Because the amount of gambling and the aspect of that that comes into the conversation, whether you like it or not, it's here and it's not going away. So when I look at the NFL, I think this referee situation will be taken care of by the time we get there. And I, I think these are somewhat of threats to whatever the negotiation is trying to get what they want. But I do know this. In 2026, you cannot do what you did in 2012. It's not only not acceptable, it's something that you would have to avoid. And I think there would be direct pressure by everyone in business with them, including the gambling companies, and rightfully so. Like, we can't tolerate this. This is not one of those things that will be okay. So I would expect something to get done. And let's face it, we all bitch and moan about the officiating. I'm as guilty as anyone, but I live long enough to see what it looks like on the other side. It can be hard. And listen, I, my, I think my high school senior year, I, me and my buddy Juan, who great football, baseball player versus Davis High School, he, he, he got me into reffing on the side or umpiring little league games and this was like Triple A. You know, this was like fifth and sixth graders and you're behind the dish. You're making, I don't know, $30 a game, getting a free hot dog and a Slurpee. And I remember blowing some calls. It's not easy. It's like I. I do respect how difficult the speed of the game and how hard it is, right? And sometimes you just kind of freeze. It's. It's human nature. You kind of question yourself and then you make the wrong call. And I've always had an issue in basketball with technical fouls and people, you know, getting teed up for saying the F words. Like, guys, this isn't little league. This isn't. This isn't height. We're not teaching life lessons here. This is billion dollar business. This is all about winning and losing. Just stay out of the way. So the NFL's not as bad about that, of screaming back and forth. It's just bad about, like, was that a penalty? Was that not a penalty? And we never quite know the answer, but at least we know these guys are comfortable doing NFL games. I could not have high school referees on the field. The other thing that's pretty interesting, there have been some proposals that have been thrown out for this owner's meetings in a couple weeks. And one rule change, of course. The Cleveland Browns, Paul D. Podesta, leftover. I tried to read this article on Paul D. Podesta today on ESPN.com by Buster, only I made it like a quarter of the way through. I'm like, I don't even care. I can't stand this guy. Like, I'm not. I'm not reading this article. And what he thinks he's going to do with the Colorado Rockies, like, what a scam artist. I mean, if I'm a Cleveland Brown fan, it's like, what the hell did we just experience for the last decade? And it's that guy who got to live in San Diego the whole time, work remotely, and dictate a lot of your terms. Like, that had to suck. And now he's running one of the worst baseball teams in the league in a division with the Dodgers, the Padres. The D backs actually are pretty good. And you know, the Giants have way more money than Colorado if they ever choose to spend it. But that's a conversation for a different day. The rule change is right now. If I want to trade for Joe Burrow. It's like, let's say, obviously, I actually think the Bengals are kind of a pretty live under the Raider dog to be a really good team this year if their defense kind of comes together, assuming Joe plays 17 games, like they'd probably be my pick right now to win that division. But, but we can get into that later in the off season. But when I look at. So if I wanted, let's just say the Bengals have a disaster and Joe Burrow's on the block. Like I can offer three years of picks, three first rounders, three second rounders, three whatever. I, I can't go past that, right? In basketball you can, you can offer like 20, 35 first round picks, right? You, you can go way far in advance. And that's been a thing with the NFL is they cap it. Which I think if I'm an owner, I like, like even if you could talk me into a trade, like I, you just never know this. Sports, too fickle, injuries, you could go one year being a playoff team next year. I mean the Super Bowls, the Chiefs went to five Super Bowls in six years and they're drafting in the top 10. So you, the year Seattle traded Russell Wilson to Denver, they ended up with like the fifth pick. You never know year to year, let alone four years out. So I would imagine a lot of owners vote against this. I get why Andrew Barry, this analytical nerd, is into this. He would love to make some sort of trades like that. And I do think the aggressive teams would be very interested. I would be all for this passing because I am for anything that creates more action, that creates more transaction, that creates more interesting conversations when trades are made, whether that be draft day trades, player trades, four picks, whatever. My guess is though that will get voted down. So I listen, I've been hard on the Browns, talk a lot of shit. I, I like them throwing this out there though. I, I, I don't think it will come through. The other big story today was Schefter put out and I, maybe I didn't quite realize this. I'm not a huge fantasy football player and well, I don't play at all. I used to play a little daily, but I, I'm not in leagues. And the Dolphins were such a joke last year. I wasn't super dialed into them definitely the second half of the season. But Devon HN, who I think that's also Travis ETN's last name, Travis HN, but we've all been calling him ETN. That's what he said at the press conference was like, whoa, didn't see that one coming. I didn't quite realize how good this guy is and how elite he is in the Passing game and right now football at the running back position is a lot less like Adrian Peterson right now he's an outlier, an all time great running back. Didn't pass, block, didn't catch. But he was so good between the tackles and just handing or pitching him the ball, it didn't matter. The league is really looking for Bijan Robinson, Christian McCaffrey, Alvin Kamaras, Jamar Gibbs. Versatile players. Jeremiah Love can really catch the ball. Basically adds as another wide receiver in the passing game. Well, Devon Achan in three years has 172 catches and 13 touchdowns in the passing game on the ground he's accounted for 22 touchdowns. So you're talking about a guy that has 35 touchdowns in three years. I mean he is an extremely productive player. And what else does he do? Well, he plays in the system that the majority of teams run. And I was texting around like I, you know his contract, he makes nothing this year. I think he's on the books for like $1.5 million salary cap and like $1.2 million in cash. Now maybe that goes up because there are some like production bonuses when guys aren't, you know, first or second round picks and you produce, you get a raise. But still he's not making Kenneth Walker's making $14 million a year. The Chief just guaranteed him $27 million. So you can get a guy who has produced 35 touchdowns in three years for a team is not that good with two at quarterback. And this year a lot like Quinn yours at quarterback, like damn explosive player, can run inside, you can the outside zone, obviously throw the ball. So I was like, I, I think they get a second round pick. I did a little digging. Couple people said I, I wouldn't shock me if the equivalent of the value would be like a first round pick. And I started thinking like if you're Seattle, you just lose Kenneth Walker. Would you trade the 32nd pick for Devon HN for a year of him really cheap and then you give the contract the Chiefs gave him after this year? I think you probably would. Would a lot of teams right after them, 33, 34, 35, 36, whatever that group is, be interested in his services 100%? Would? Yeah, I'd say the Kansas City Chiefs, but they signed Kenneth Walker. But I do think his value is much higher. Here's the problem and this is why I think Miami says we're not going to trade him. Because one, they do need some players on the offense and you bring in Bobby Slowik like McDaniel you're going to have a run heavy offense with Malik Willis and two, he's cheap and productive. Like part of the reason they got rid of Jalen Waddle is like, why do we need a guy making $30 million a year who is probably at most going to catch 80 balls this year when we're not going to be any good? His value can get us a first round pick, but let's just say you could get pick 28 or 32 or whatever. If you're Miami, you don't need three first round picks this year. There are five teams with multiple first round picks. Obviously the Dolphins are one, the jets, the. Who are the teams? The jets, the Chiefs, the Browns. Right. So you have these teams with multiple first round picks. It's not viewed as a great draft and I think you keep them in your back pocket. Best case scenario, you build up the team this year and you just extend the guy next year because running backs are incredible value. Part of the problem with Waddle is you go, we're not going to be that good. And even next year as we're turning the corner, he's going to need a contract extension. Well, he's already got, he already makes a lot of money. Usually guys who are good players don't take pay cuts. He's going to need a pay raise and an extension. So you go, we're out of that business. This is a guy that. You go, yeah, if we like this guy, he's high character guy, which I've never heard a bad thing about him, we have no problem extending him at the end of the year with Malik Willis and some of our young guys as we start trying to turn the corner in 2027 and 2028. But I think the calls came in fast and furious on Devon Achan, which I guess I'm not as dialed in on Miami Dolphin football, but texting around, I think the interest was really, really high. So I think when they put out like we're not trading, I think it's because they're getting a ton of calls and they don't, they don't want to deal with it. Like they're just not interested in getting rid of them because they don't need the extra first round pick. They already got multiple and they just want them as a player who doesn't want cheap and productive. It's like, why do companies love interns? Because I don't have to pay health insurance. I pay you nothing. You do a bunch of work that I don't want to do. Right? Shit, I've sat in those seats before. It sucks. I mean, it's cool because you get your foot in the door and then there's a lot of value to it as your life goes on because those getting inside those doors is more valuable than whatever they're paying you. And that's a different conversation. If AI takes away all those jobs, that sucks. That's going to be hard in all these different businesses. But again, conversation for a different day. I just think Miami is doing the right thing by keeping him. And I underestimated. I mean, I knew he was a good, explosive player. I didn't realize quite how productive he'd been. Today's show is brought to you by our presenting sponsor, Hard Rock BET Florida Sportsbook. It is tourney time baby, and my favorite thing to do is fill out a bracket. So join me in the Volume bracket contest presented by Hard Rock bet. The grand prize winner scores a two night stay at the Guitar Hotel at Seal Hard Rock Hotel and casino in Hollywood, Florida. 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Whether you're heading to a game, meeting friends for a watch party, or chasing the next big moment, it gives you the space and comfort to enjoy the ride no matter what the day brings. When people are the destination, ordinary drives become shared memories. Learn more@toyota.com and find the vehicle that fits your people. Today's podcast is brought to you by Ferguson Home. Whether you're a homeowner creating your dream space or a pro managing multiple projects, Ferguson Home is where it all comes together. Ferguson Home is designed for the way you want to shop. Experience today's top products by brands like KitchenAid firsthand by visiting a Ferguson Home showroom, where you'll explore stunning displays featuring today's latest products and innovations, or browse their extended selection of products online. Ferguson Home understands that every project is made up of countless decisions, and that's why their expert consultants are committed to helping homeowners, builders, contractors and designers bring all the details together. You can count on support from them start to finish, from choosing the right products to coordinating deliveries with your project schedule. Book a one on one consultation at your local Ferguson Home showroom or shop online@fergusonhome.com. whether you're working on a new kitchen, a new bathroom, or a whole home remodel, you'll find the latest designs and technologies from the brands you trust at Ferguson home. The other thing I was thinking is watching the wbc, I was thinking if baseball could have their games. I mean, that game felt like an NFL playoff game. Venezuela versus America. And so did Italy versus Japan. So did, I guess it was Italy versus Venezuela, so did America versus the doctor. These games have felt great. They have felt like playoff level games. And some of the players said it felt bigger in the World Series. Derek Jeter was offended, which I get it. I mean his career is defined on winning all the World Series and coming through. And it's not like he was some big WBC guy. But I, I do understand when you're in it, you feel like, God, this is as big as anything we did. I think you'd get a lot of players saying, like the Ryder cup feels bigger than, like the majors. And the majors are obviously more important to your career than winning the Ryder Cup. But when you're there, and I was just at the one in New York, it feels like, I don't know, like an SEC football game. I mean, it's insane. But one thing that has always interested me, because when I got into radio and we talked about this when I was in scouting too, because one of the reasons Andy Reid and Marty Morningwig liked Nick Foles, I was with the Eagles when we drafted him, he played on a shitty Arizona team. Shitty Arizona team. But like when the games were close, he was really good in those games and like he played really well in second halves. He was really good down the stretch in a lot of those games and made a lot of big time throws and in the games that they were competitive in. And you value, right, like you could make a great throw in the first quarter, but what are you doing in the fourth quarter when you're down four points on the road? Like, how do you react? That, that's, that's how you really evaluate guys, right? And Bryce Harper, who I remember going to a Giants playoff game back when he was with the Nationals as a really young player, just hit one of the clutches longest home runs I'd ever seen in a game. He was. When I think Bryce Harper and I know he just had a bad playoffs for the Phillies, he has had a ton of big moments, clutch hits in regular season, in playoff games. Like he is a bright lights player and for the American guys, if you needed a big hit, it does feel like he would be near the top of the list, if not one. And we've seen a lot of guys over the course of the last 25 years in baseball, because a lot of the Paul D. Podesta say, there's no such thing as clutch. There's no such thing as pressure or feeling nerves in the batter's box. It's no different than your second AB in a June game as one in October. And that's completely bullshit. And I've seen it forever with all Billy Bean's good teams. They always kind of shit the bed in the playoffs. He's like, well, it just. My shit doesn't work in the playoffs. It's like, well, your guys just kind of got tight, didn't come through. And there are certain guys like Big, Poppy came up, it felt like he came through. Manny Ramirez came up, it felt like he came through. Derek Jeter came up, it felt like he came through. And in baseball, you're only going to succeed. You're a Hall of Famer. If you get three, you know, 10 abs, you get three hits. So, like watching Bryce Harper, you just, you kind of felt it when he came up. I didn't know he was going to hit a absolute bomb, but it's like some. He's going to hit one hard here. And he did, and it went out of the park. And Aaron Judge looked completely overwhelmed the whole game. And let's face it, one of the knocks on him is like, doesn't do that well in big spots because Arizona Dispute is one of the greatest regular season players we've ever seen. He's rattling off MVPs or putting up his stats last night. And I love Aaron Judge, Fresno State guy, fucking badass. I'm a huge fan, but like, some guys kind of struggle in the clutch for whatever reason. And you can be like, well, it's just baseball what happens in all sports. Some guys just crumble under the pressure. And one theory I've had for a long time, I do think a lot of it is built when you're young. When you have success in early on in your career, you become much more comfortable in that moment. When Bryce Harper got up in that spot, he's been in a million big spots, and a lot of them he's come through. So he's very confident when he steps up, right? And you can go through the list of Derek Jeter successful immediately when he came up to the Yankees, Tom Brady super bowl, year one starter, Tiger woods comes on the PGA Tour, starts kicking everyone's ass. Well, he had just won three straight US Amateurs. And the last one, which I think was a TP Sawgrass, he was down big and came storming back. It's one of his iconic fist pumps when he was a super skinny kid. So it's like you get to these moments, your confidence is built through experience. Sometimes people ask like middle C, how do you just talk into a mic? I've been doing it for a long time now. This isn't my first rodeo. If this was episode two, I, I, I'd probably have no clue what to do. I, I might make it 10 minutes. But the longer you do something, the more you're successful, the more that gets, you know, drilled into you that you can do it and do a good job. Whether that's an AB in a big spot, whether that's a podcast or whether that's making a sale, the more confident you are walking into the most important spots in whatever you do. And I think that goes Patrick Mahomes is going to go down like so far his career besides like Brady or Montana. It's kind of unprecedented. Well, he immediately had success. He got to the league. He the first year as a starter he won the mvp and honestly they beat the Patriots so they don't have a awful defense. By the next year they have a comeback win against the 49ers, a bunch of comeback wins. You could also argue his first super bowl win against the ners when they're down late with like five or six minutes to go. They had just been down the previous two games, the Houston Texans and the Tennessee Titans. Remember, they were down big in both those games and came storming back. So his confidence in that moment, it had literally just happened to him over the course of the last month. I don't think you just get in these spots and start going like, I can do it. When you've never done it. When Scotty scheffler or Rory McElroy is coming down the back nine with a leader chasing the lead. They're much more comfortable because they've done it many times than a guy that's never won on the PGA Tour. It's no different in football. Then the longer it goes, like Josh Allen's been really good in the playoffs. Obviously he wasn't that great for his standards in the Denver game and missed an enormous pass at the end of the regulation that would have probably won them the game. Now turns out he was injured or whatever, but the longer it goes, and I would throw Lamar in there as well, who has not been good in the playoffs till the second half of the Bills games when he actually played really well. But a lot like Peyton Manning, the longer it goes. You can't Win the big one. You can't win the big one. Once you become a pro slash superstar, it kind of grows. Like at this point in time, Aaron Judge, he could hit 58 home runs, 150 RBIs, bat.400. It's like, okay, he's awesome in the regular season. What are you going to do in the postseason? I saw it when I was a kid with Barry Bonds, Alex Rodriguez, and it happens in football too. I love Peyton Manning as a kid. And you went in up until that game where he comes storming back against the Patriots in the AFC Championship game. The knock on him was couldn't win the big one. Why? Because he had never won the big one. Couldn't win it in Florida or couldn't beat Florida in college. And then he just kept getting beat in the playoffs when with these great regular season teams. And then once he got over the pump, he kind of never looked back. Won another super bowl, went back to two others, like had a lot of success. But like when you look at Patrick Mahomes, he doesn't really have to deal with that. Aaron Rodgers got to knock off the super bowl early in his career. So when he would lose playoff games and some of them were not his fault, you'd be like, well, it's not his fault. Well, I know this guy's won. I've seen him do it. So you could never say anything. And I'm looking at Justin Herbert. I think the Chargers are going to be really good this year. Why? They have Jim Harbaugh. They already have a good team. They're just, they're a well run operation. They're going to be in the playoffs. But for like, I'm talking about Josh and Lamar, it's going to be extremely loud on Justin Herbert because he's not going to be judged on making sweet plays in the regular season. I've seen him do it for years. He is easily one of the most talented players of the Internet era. I mean six, five, huge arm, can run high character. Teammates love him, like checks all the boxes, plays great in the regular season. It's proven he can play hurt, tough sob. It's like, well, can you win playoff games? Because that's, you're at this point like that's all you're gonna judge on now you know that that's it. You know, you've already got the big contracts. You're not trying to like just stat pad here. It's just, can you win a January game fair or not? You haven't even got close and, and You've been atrocious in most of them. So I, I, I think. And that's, it's really hard to, you know, kind of, that momentum starts growing and growing and growing. It's hard to slow it down. It, it, it really is. And once you get over the hump, I think it really frees you, right? We've seen it with coaches. When I was a kid, Roy Williams forever at Kansas, gets to North Carolina, gets one and then wins a bunch, right. Once you get over that hump, it was easy. Villanova, when I lived in Philly, it felt like they underachieved in the tournament. They would get ko, they'd always be a top seed, they'd be a top one or two seed, they'd be heavily favored. And they get bounced in the first weekend. It's like, I just don't think. And then all of a sudden he just, he won back to back. You know, it's like we look at Jay Wright, like, remember when he won multiple national championships? So like if Aaron Judge, like the Yankees are going to be in the playoffs, he's just going to be judged simply moving forward, like how he does in these big spots. And baseball's tough, right? You only get a couple abs, obviously in the playoffs or these big spots, you're facing the best pitchers. But if you don't come through like you, you do get judged a little more harshly. I, I'll never forget for like Steph Curry is a great example. A couple years in, once he fixed the ankles, you just thought he was always going to come through. It doesn't mean he always came through. But in these big spots, it's like down 10, Steph's going to pull some shit out of his ass. And countless times over and over and over, he came through. You know why? Because in his mind he'd been doing that since Davidson. He'd been doing that in tournament games against teams with way more firepower and figuring out a way to win. And this is the question when it comes to quarterbacks, right? Like if you play at a great university with a stack team, that's not the NFL. That was the thing with J.J. mcCarthy. His team couldn't have been any better. Carrot thought it was the best Michigan team of all time. From a talent standpoint, it definitely from a coaching standpoint, they have two NFL head coaches, one of them's a big time guy and Jesse Minter is very highly thought of. So I mean it's like you had two NFL coaches on the staff. One guy kind of Operating more the offense, one guy leading the defense. You had NFL players everywhere. Like, that's not normal. So it's like, yeah, you get confidence from winning, but like, what are you doing? Meanwhile, Steph Curry's carrying Davidson against Kansas was like, they have no business winning the game. They're probably a double digit favorite. It's like, we'll figure out a way because of me. And then that confidence grows to the pros because you have done it before. So once you do it, once you've felt that feeling, and I think we see that with athletes all the time. And the one thing with social media, the amount of podcasts, the television shows, it's only grown in the pressure. I, I think people. And I'm still a huge Peyton Manning guy who is, he's one of my favorite players of all time. If you're younger, you know, if you're in your early 20s and you didn't quite live through that, you can't even imagine the conversations. You know, Herbert kind of gets talked about a little bit. Peyton Manning was viewed as one of the poster childs of the league. He was viewed as the best regular season quarterback. That, that would be a conversation that would lead this show, that would lead television shows, that would lead everything surrounding the NFL over and it'd be treated like the way we talk about the Cowboys or if you talk about basketball, LeBron and the Lakers, it would be a nauseating conversation because he wasn't winning and he, it didn't feel like he played that well in some of those games. Right. So I'm fascinated by clutch. I do think it exists and I do think having confidence from previous experiences, when you've had success, even if it's not at the same level, right? Even if you've made a sale for 20 grand and now you're doing a deal, hopefully for $20 million, you have landed deals, you have gotten, yes, we will do that. There is something in you to go, I can do this. If you've never done it before, you go, I don't know. So when Bryce Harper hit that home run, it's like, I feel like I've seen him hit that home run 15 times, you know, of course he did. And the next guy came up, my first feeling was I don't know if he's going to strike out again, but I didn't feel like he was going to get hit and what happened? Didn't get it. So it's like, I mean, I think we kind of know it now. I've said this before. I think Dak Prescott could win a Super bowl if the Cowboys were good, right? I thought they had a Super bowl winning team. I've seen Dak Prescott play well at a really high level in the regular season. And then he gets to the playoffs and he kind of crumbles. And back to what we were saying, it's one of those things that like he gets in a big spot in January, he hasn't gotten over the hump. Like he hasn't won one of those tight games like beating Tampa when you throw five touchdowns and they're terrible, doesn't count. Are you able to like get over the hump in a 1715 game? And I've seen him in those spots not play well, but I do believe he could. But it's what's so fascinating about sports and the best highest paid players is some guys do it and some guys just never do. Before we dive into the mailbag, I, I'm gambling on the NCAA tournament. And listen, I know last year had four number one seeds. I, I don't think that's going to happen every single year. And clearly with nil the top, I don't know, 15, 20 teams are pretty stacked. I mean Kansas is a four seed and they have a guy that up until like two months ago was viewed as a lock number one pick. BYU is a six seed and they got a guy that's probably going to go number one. Right. Obviously Duke has, you know, loaded NBA guy boozer, who's a stud, who's the 1 seed. But weird stuff happens in this tournament. We have seen so many times pre nil teams get bounced. Now I saw a stat, I think Big Cat said this, that and this shows the nil that all four top four seeds. So the 16 teams that are 1 through 4 are all double digit favorites. Now obviously the 1 and 2 seeds are always big favorites but sometimes like the 413 is a little closer, maybe 9, 8 points. They're all big favorites. So I think mainly Thursday and Friday could be a little underwhelming, which is fine. Once we get to Saturday and Sunday in the sweet 16 it could be on like Donkey Kong. And listen, I'm not the biggest Big east guy anymore. Times have changed. But I'm no dummy. Big events, I'm paying attention. I watch St. John's in Yukon and Patino, we talked about him the other day. He's one of the greatest coaches in the history of the sport and his team's clearly pretty good. They just beat the shit out of Yukon. Now it was A home game. But still, I do think that Kansas, St. John's second round matchup, whoever wins that game, we talk about confidence and momentum. The next game is going to be against Duke. But the momentum that they get and the confidence they get of beating whoever wins that opponent. Right, whoever. If Bill Self and Kansas take down St. John's they're going to be feeling pretty good going in that Duke and same thing vice versa with St. John's you can get Kansas 10 to 1 just to win the region. So they'd have to beat Duke and then take care of, you know, Michigan State or UConn or whatever chaos is on the other side or the Johnny's nine to one. I also think you could make an argument that whoever won that game could have enough momentum. You got Bill Self, Rick Patino. These guys have won national titles. Obviously Kansas has a bunch of NBA guys. I don't know if St. John's quite does, but they're clearly really well coached. They've won a ton of games. I threw $50 each on them both 60 to 1 to just win the national title because I, I won just a little action and feel pretty good about hedging my bet. Like I didn't want to pick one or the other. Whoever wins that game, I, I'm going to give him a pretty good chance against Duke. And the other one is Arkansas who you can get I think like 50 to 1 on Hard Rock bet you can get them 10 to 1 to win their region. Now like St. John's and Arc and Kansas if they take care of the first two rounds they're going to. They'd probably play Wisconsin potentially in the second round though Wisconsin go cold from, from outside they would get Arizona who was really, really good. There is no disputing anyone that watches college basketball. They are a juggernaut. Here's the thing about Arizona. They kind of got like a Buffalo Bills thing going. It's like they just don't really get it done when it really matters the most. Like Arizona over the course of the last 15 plus years has had a lot of good teams. Google the last time they made a Final Four. Pretty sure it's been like two and a half decades. It's been a while and I think there is just that we talk about pressure. It is a blue blood basketball school. Arizona cares about basketball. The University of Arizona deeply. It really matters. They have been doing everything possible. They were doing nil well before nil with Lou Dawson. As Jerry Tarkanian said, I offered him a car. Lud offered him a van. So it's like they will do whatever it takes to get good players and they, they have excellent players. But I do believe there's a pressure when a program just hasn't figured it out for whatever reason, despite all the success they've had, they just won the hardest league in the country. Arkansas has the Acuff kid who is just phenomenal and I think there's an element and this is what makes a tournament cool. Every once in a while you get like a Steph Curry moment. You just get a guy who is red hot. They just won the SEC conference championship. You can get them 10 to 1 to because if they won that game, I, I think they would be the heavy favorite to win the following game and make it to the Final Four. And they would be a team that, I mean how many straight games have they had won? Obviously they won the SEC tournament, then they would have beat Arizona. I think Arkansas is a very, very live just under the radar like non one or two seed that if their star gets hot. Now what makes you a little nervous? Coach Cal lost a lot of games in the tournament that he should have won, but that will be a game where he kind of gets to play the underdog. Like most people are not going to pick Arkansas against Arizona. So I do like dabbling on Kansas and St. John's whoever wins that game, momentum going into the Duke game and I'm just taking Arkansas Coach Cal and they're just, they're just red hot. Life moves fast. Work, family, friends, weekend plans. And somewhere in between, you find the moments that really matter. That's why Toyota believes people are the destination. It's not just about where you're headed. It's about who's beside you. 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- [43:17]
Levar Arrington
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- [44:00]
John Middlekoff
Okay, let's do a couple mailbag questions at John Middlecoff at John Middlekoff is the Instagram fire in those DMS questions answered right here on the show. We will start with David. Question for the back I just got my head shaved with some of my fraternity bros for charity. Good for you guys. A bunch of us shaved our heads to help raise money for veterans. These young college kids giving back to America. Appreciate you guys. I'm leaving for the beach, love a little charity, then a little party on Friday and going to be there for spring break. Any suggestions to help prevent my head getting sunburned Before I started shaving my head, which I've been doing probably since 201314 range, maybe with a, with like a Mach 3 or Mach 5. The first several years I just took like the equivalent of no free ads but like the manscape thing and just went as low as it would go. The first time I was bald, at least the first, probably six months, I went to the lake in Tahoe with one of my good buddies Ryan and his girlfriend at the time who's now his wife and a bunch of her friends and we just got smashed and we were on the boat all day. And if you've had hair your whole life, you don't even think like about putting sunscreen on the top of your head. So you just live Life like you had hair and then probably four or five days later, my entire head peeled off and I never made that mistake again. So I think there's two keys because one, if you have hair, your, the top of your scalp is not used to seeing sun, right? Especially if you don't wear a hat, right? It never gets any, it just, I mean, if you do wear a hat, it never gets any exposure. So if you're not gonna wear a hat, which is probably the easiest thing to do, a bucket hat, a cowboy hat, a backward hat, whatever is, you gotta put sunscreen like you would on your back, like you would on your neck or your arms. You just put it all over your head because if you do not, your head will peel off. And I never forget. It was like A week before 4th of July, there was a big 4th of July party and my head was just peeled off. So I had to wear like a hat because I, I look like a, like a lizard or something. I mean it was, it was a crazy experience. But this is what we're going to teach my young son. When you make a mistake, not always bad, you learn from it and you never make that mistake again unless you're just an idiot and you make the same mistakes over and over. Why is Ty Simpson talked about going in the first round? Is it just hype and excitement for him? He'll get drafted too high by a bad organization like the jets because that's just what they do. Haven't we seen this type player get drafted way too high because of one good season? Simpson was a good quarterback, but it's his only season in college and watching about half of the Alabama games. He never looked like a guy to take in the first round, especially with the talent pool that lines up this year, but also the projected quarterback depth next year. To me, Simpson would be a good third or fourth round pick, potentially a backup. The hype machine's real. And this time of year, if you're a gm, if you're a scouting director, if you're the front office, you got to be very careful about when you listen to these people talk over and over about these prospects. It's one thing, you know, Daniel Jeremiah has scouted in the league, he talks to people in the league. So it's all kind of connected. Dan Orlovsky, who again, I have nothing against Dan, I kind of like Dan, you know, just he entertains me. But he's never scouted in the league and he's going on these rants about how great Ty Simpson is. That's how you get in trouble. But that type momentum and then you get a couple more guys that agree with him. I am not in the business of taking lower ceiling guys in the first round at quarterback. You know, we have examples recently of Kenny Pickett who was like a five year starter. Mac Jones, who was like a one and a half year starter like Ty Simpson, could be Mac Jones. Well, what is Mac Jones? He's a good backup who can win you some games. Mac Jones, not a starting quarterback. He's, you know, he's, he'll never be a top 25 quarterback in the NFL, but in short periods, if he's got the right team, he can win you some games. I, I'm not into drafting those guys. I'm with you. Whenever I watched Alabama and I get, he was a little dinged up and they couldn't run the ball, I, I, I, I could not take him in the first round. So I, I think a lot of teams will not have him in the first round. I'd be a little surprised if he goes in the first round. I mean last year people thought Shador, maybe I was guilty too, was going to go in like top five to the Browns. He won the fifth round. So I think sometimes the buzzer is a lot different than the way the league internally views guys. Why is Daniel Jones being so heavily criticized? I know that everyone wants to take a dump on him because of the Giants, but he won a playoff game and was playing really well until the injury. You can say he's injury prone, which is true, but he suffered fewer injuries than guys like Trevor Lawrence, Joe Burrow, Herbert, Lamar Love, Dakota. His contract also helps the Colts out since it only counts around 20 million against the cap, which is 19th among NFL quarterbacks and 93rd overall. It's kind of a smart move and everyone seems just to be bashing the guys. You compared him to Joe Burrow, Justin Herbert, Jordan Love and Lamar Jackson. I mean, I, even Trevor Lawrence now. I mean, Trevor Lawrence has had a couple good seasons. He's won a playoff game before. I, I, and I would take Trevor Lawrence over Daniel Jones for sure. I just think the criticism comes from Daniel Jones. No one's ever done less consistently made more money and got to keep starting. We've seen a lot of backups. You know, Chase, Daniel is just, I would say he's kind of the poster child of the guy that made a ton of money, never had to play, which is a great gig if you can get it. But Daniel Jones, he's been franchise tagged Multiple times. Like, think how crazy that is. You'd be like, well, one's a transition tag. Okay, who was paying Daniel Jones $37 million? That's what I. Part of it is just basic business. Who was paying Daniel Jones $37 million? He has a fucking torn Achilles. I just. I don't see who was paying on that. I really don't. Maybe I'm. Maybe I'm being too negative. I don't know. Mac Jones makes two year $7 million Daniel Jones makes signed up $88 million contract. What are we talking about? Question for the mailbag. Anybody been talking about Juwan Jennings from the Niners? Even the local Bay Area radio doesn't seem to talk much about the contract negotiations with them. Is the market just low form or are they having a falling out? I think sometimes, guys, they. And this happened to Trey Hendrickson, though. He pivoted really fast because the Ravens put enough on the table. Trey Hendrickson at one point in time was telling GMs he wanted like $40 million a year. So you go to the market, your agent figures out what teams are willing to pay you, and you already have a number in mind as a player. Like, Juwan butted heads last year with the Niners because he wanted a big race. A couple years ago, they gave him a two year, $15 million contract and they gave him some incentives. And last year he made like $13 million. But he's thinking like, I was one of the best wide receivers or the best wide receiver, really, last year on a team that just was in the second round of the playoffs. I've been highly productive for the 49ers. I just made $13 million. Rumors are he wants like $20 million a year. And as someone told me at the combine, unless he's your guy, other teams aren't enamored with people that don't get open for a lot of money. He's a good blocker. He's a physical player. He's made a bunch of clutch catches. I think a lot of teams would offer him like two for $15 million. Again, you know, he had. He's become a high level, aggressive teammate. But, you know, some of these teams had character red flags on him coming out of college. Now, I think he's definitely shrugged those off, but I think the way he views himself, if he was willing to pay for like $6 million, he'd be signed right now. If he was willing to play for $10 million, maybe he would. I think a lot of teams don't value what he thinks is important, which is important, like driving guys into the Gatorade, buckets, blocking, coming through with some big third down catches. But he's not fast. You know, he's pretty scheme dependent guy and he has a false sense. Like I listen, I. He's young and he's been around. He saw Brandon IU get $30 million and quit on the team. So it's like, you can't pay me 18, 20 million dollars. I think the people in life that are most successful have the most common sense and EQ about what they're worth at a given time. So sometimes and I, I've been doing this now for a decade where I've been negotiating my own deals and going back and forth and sometimes you got to go, listen, the other side's got to win too. Or like I'm asking for a little bit much here or this is like they're bringing a lot of stuff to the table too. And I think sometimes when you get a false sense of like, I'm worth this, especially in football, the, the numbers that the teams view you as worth are not even close. So when you see some of these bigger names, guys like Juan James Jennings almost made $14 million. I bet he's got a lot of offers that aren't even paying him that a year. Joey Bosa even last year made $12 million. So when his best offers were like three or four million dollars, you're like, that's the best I can do. So I think that's a big reason a lot of like older players that are bigger names don't sign and some of those guys are like trending down. I think Juwan is just, he has some flaws that are non negotiables for some teams, especially when you're talking a substantial amount of money. So I think the reason he is still on the street is his view of his worth and the market's view of his worth are in different stratospheres. I bet there are teams that would pay him like $6 million a year, $9 million a year maybe. I mean some teams just don't even value them. That's the other thing when you are a specific type player, right? Like if a high end guy comes to the market, we can debate Jalen Phillips, but Jalen Phillips could play for anybody now how much he's worth or whatever. But every team would be interested in Jalen Phillips, right? For the right price. Every team in the league would be interested in Trey Hendrickson, obviously the top guys, everyone's interested in those Guys, they're not scheme dependent. Well, there are certain players that not every team in the league is going to be even interested. Like you don't even fit what I do. My offensive coordinator, head coach that calls plays doesn't like your skill set. So we wouldn't even, we wouldn't might not even take you for free because you wouldn't even play on our roster. And guys like Juwan Jennings fit that mold like they are. They're going to be some coaches and some general managers that philosophically like what he brings to the table. They value little to nothing, which I, I think there's a value like he's a winning player but like he's not just getting open on everybody. And if, and a lot of people say, and this definitely hurts him is like, well he's got Kyle Shanahan, he's the guy scheming them open. And it's kind of true, you know. Or it's like George Kittle would get open for fucking the Jets. Listen to your show now. I'm doubling down on Max. Can't give them three days to have second thoughts. Gotta get on that plane immediately. And to add to that, Max isn't a Rhodes scholar as he is mad as hell he can't play while needing surgery and and is still battling for the number one pick. Kind of crazy, but probably what makes him an incredible player. I don't have that. Once the trade goes through, like I haven't seen the video is Jalen Waddle in Denver yet? But once Sean Payton and the Broncos trade for Jalen Waddle, who do you think will greet him either at the door, he'll go see immediately Sean Payton. What is going to happen with Jalen Waddle and Sean Payton and the Denver Broncos? He's just going to be on the Denver Broncos. When Trent McDuffie was trade, he just like that trade, he's just on the Rams. Whether he shows up there the next day or in three days, once a trade goes through, you just assume I'm on that team. So he had a prior engagement. I could make it. You know, he could have made it Sunday. But I bet the front office and the coaches want the day off and then they got to fly him out Monday. I actually don't think it's that crazy. I, you just assume it's going down now. I, I'm in agreement it led to them falling into Trey for cheaper and then pivoting. But the, the more and more I think about. I'll guarantee you this, when Jalen Waddle and that video goes of him showing up. Sean Payton will be a guy that greets him pretty close to immediately. If not the first guy waiting for him at the door would be my guess. So I just think that you don't even think about the trade being the givebacks, the we're out the back out that. When does that happen? Right? This is not. I don't even think it was crossing anyone's mind. I think we can all agree once we saw the trade had gone through the next day. You just think Max Crosby's a Raven and the trade can't even technically go through till Wednesday anyway. So whether he shows up on Tuesday or Sunday or Monday, it can't become official till that day no matter what. Where I am in agreement is his delay changed the calculation. If he shows up on Saturday, maybe he's. Maybe he's still Raven. He. Maybe. My guess is he probably still is. I honestly think the Niners had a really strong off season. They trade for osa. OSA A digazua, who's. That was a good move. Third round pick, big time pass rusher, fits the scheme. That's an excellent trade. Adding Nate Hobbs, Christian Kirk, I. I gotta pump the brakes a little bit on those interesting guys, but if I had to flip a coin, one of those guys will have an impact. I agree on Mike Evans. They also did a solid job building some depth on the O line. Overall it looks well rounded and productive. Still some things to tie up with Trent, but otherwise I'm really impressed with guys coming back on ir. I'm in agreement. I like Mike Evans, I like bringing back Dre Greenlaw, who there's way less pressure on him to be good. Now. I do think the key for the 49ers next year are going to be obviously you need Fred healthy, you need George healthy, you need Christian healthy, you need Trent healthy. Like clearly, like if they're going to be good, those guys got to play. They drafted three guys last year, really high or really two of the last three years. They need Ricky Piersol to play because when Ricky Pearsall plays, he's good. When Ricky Piersall is dressed and healthy, he is an impactful NFL player. I don't know what his ceiling is, but every time I've watched somebody's health, I'm like, God, this fucking guy's player. And the other two guys are the 2D tackles last year. You know, they drafted Collins in the second round. A lot of people thought it was pretty high. Robert Saul loved him, made a couple plays last year if he can be just a solid player. And they're going to need Mikel Williams to become some version of like what Eric Armstead was. And he tore his ACL last year. But that's a guy that like, you draft 11th overall, they need Ricky Pierce all. They need Mikel Williams. They obviously got some other guys in the draft that were good last year. You know, C.J. west, the Indiana kid was good. They had a couple. I'm blanking right now. Kind of out of sight, out of mind. Haven't watched them play in a while. But I, I do think it's really, really important, like, if they're going to take the next step and sustain. This is like Mikel Williams and Ricky Pearsall have to be impact NFL players. Pearsall is, he's got to be on the field. And Mikel, coming off that ACL injury, I think the jury's out. Like, what is exactly his skill set? He's not the twitchiest guy off the edge. He's more of like an inside kind of hybrid defensive tackle, more than like an edge rusher. But he's, you know, in theory good against the run. So it's you draft guys in the first round, the 11th pick, like, you need that guy to be good. I mean, when's the last time the 49ers drafted that i1? They didn't have first round picks forever. And even this year they're drafting in the late 20s. You're the 11th pick. So I think a ton of pressure on him to be good. I do think Collins and C.J. west, like, they'll have enough defensive tackles now with OSA, but you get Mikel Williams back now you got a deep defensive line like Bosa. Same thing with Trent and Fred. Those guys have to be healthy. Like, if you're going to beat the Rams, if you're going to beat Seattle, like, their best players are healthy. So your best players need to be healthy. For as great as the Eagles win was, and it was an incredible victory, kind of that, that's not going to happen that often where you're going to play teams in big games that have way more talent and you're playing with like four stringers, you're going to be able to beat them. It was really cool, I'm not going to lie. But that I think they'd be the first to say, like, that's an outlier situation. We need our guys, we need to go to war with our best players. And in theory, that includes Ricky Pearsall and Mikel. Williams. Okay, a couple more questions. I'd love to get your perspective on coaching hierarchies. Fans hear titles like assistant head coach, passing game coordinator, associate head coach, but it's not always clear the real chain of command. For example, Terrell Williams was recently named the assistant head coach while on staffs. It feels like the offensive coordinator like Mike McDaniel was under Jim Harbaugh with the Chargers functions as the true number two. From your experience inside buildings, how does the hierarchy actually work behind the scenes? Who's really the head coach, who's in their ear and decision making priority each game day, week to week? I think it's very team to team. I think the Terrell Williams thing is like he was Rabel's guy. He was a defensive coordinator. Then he gets sick and they elevate. I forget his name, but the younger kid and then their defense was really good so he keeps the job. But Vrabel loves Williams so he wants to keep him on the staff. So he makes him the assistant head coach. He's probably more of now of a Roamer guy. I think it's fair to say Terrell Williams has variables here and now Josh has proven in their year working together, he's going to have variables here. Right. And I think in some situations, like is Sirianni telling Vic Fangio what to do and that's not a shot at you think like Andy's like riding spags. Like there's a lot of Kyle was with Salah. Like there are a lot of situations Shula now with, with, with Sean McVeigh has like once you get a little equity built up like on the other side of the ball, they kind of leave you alone. Obviously they talk to you all the time, but they're in your ear about like if this guy's screwing up or this guy's not focused for sure but you're not micromanaging them. And I, I, I think that's where assistant head coach sometimes it's a take care of a guy that you can't name the coordinator. So it's more of a money thing. But I think Mike McDaniels he the true number two. Like I, I would say that's with Harbaugh, that's more of the defensive coordinator because Jim's pretty active with the quarterbacks. So I, I, I think it's just so team to team. You know, Kyle is kind of notorious. He's I, I think he has every meeting room is miked up and videoed. So if he's in his office and you're running the linebacker room, he can watch and listen. And part of that goes back to his dad and Walsh. So, like when Raheem Morris comes in, like, you can use his teach tapes and stuff, but he has access all the time to everybody. You know, Belichick would have been the same. So I, I, I just think it's so team to team how much your GM has juice telling you what to do as well. Like, I also think when you have turnover with the staff, like, if Kubiak had come back with Seattle, I bet he, I don't know what, how involved Mike was. I'm sure he was a little involved, but he would be like, I'm not even this Clint's baby. But he leaves, you get a new offensive coordinator who's never called plays. I bet Mike is going to be a little more hands on. So it's like, in theory, you're the offensive coordinator for a defensive head coach who's calling the plays. That should be your baby. But who knows, maybe Mike gets a little more active. I, I think titles in general, in life are really, really overrated, unless you're the CEO, you're the head coach or whatever. There have been a lot of, I remember living with a guy who very, he's very successful now, but at the time he made a big move, he worked in the finance world, got with a big bank and he was like, I was so adamant about a title I wanted to be, I wanted this vice president title. And he was at the time probably 30 years old, Ivy League guy. And he said looking back, and he like had a bunch of issues with bonuses and stuff once he started working there, he's like, all that should have mattered was I fought for my compensation package. They could have called me an intern who cares. So I think titles sometimes can be a little overrated. And it's one of those things internally, players know and definitely the coaches know, but it's really hard unless someone tells you the exact story. You don't really know, like a lot of offensive coordinators whose head Coach, if it's LaFleur, Sean Payton, who's not calling plays anymore, Kyle McVeigh or whatever. Some of those guys probably have a bigger role than others. Some guys, hell, some of their coaches let them call plays during the game sometimes, and others it's like, yeah, I'm just kind of there to cut up some tape and give some ideas. But he runs the show. So I, I think it's very dependent on the individual and the, every staff's different Right. Trust's a big thing too. So it's like if you have a brand new staff like some of these guys like Kubiak or Mentor McCarthy like you, if you haven't worked with a guy or you haven't worked with a guy in a long time, like there's still a feeling out process. Even the good teams, you lose players all the or coaches all the time. So you're constantly like onboarding a new guy, it's a classic tech term. And getting them up to speed and having them speak your language and then them proving that they're good enough that you can trust them, not micromanage. It's complicated. I guess that's a long winded way to say question for the back. What about Kyler? The Vikings makes you think they would be worse than last year? They were likely a playoff team with a healthy Carson Wentz. Even with all the injuries and inconsistent quarterback play. They were nine and eight and a half game from the playoffs. Is Kyler not a half game upgrade over Carson Wentz? Collins seems in on the move. Well, here's my thing. If you go to the Minnesota Vikings schedule from last year, they them like the Lions, it was a fantastic division, right. They had three teams win nine and then obviously the Bears won 11. So back to back years of just being a loaded division. If you go to their 20, 25 season, they won their last four games. Actually they won their last five games. Here were their opponents. So at one point in time they were 1, 2, 3, 4 wins. So they had four wins going in to December 7th. Again, November ended, Thanksgiving ended. They had four, four wins. They played Washington who was horrendous and let's see the box score there. Who was the quarterback for the Commanders? It was Jaden Daniels who went 9 of 20 in an interception and through 78 yards. But they had been, they were terrible. Dallas who defense was atrocious and they won that game 34 to 26. Okay, now they're 6 and 8. Then they play the Giants whose quarterback at the time was. That was Jackson Dart had to be one of his last games 713 for an interception and 33 passing yards. So Flores punk them. JJ threw 100 yards. They won that thing 16 to 13. They played the Lions, they won that thing 23 to 10. That, that was, that's a good win. Then they played the packers who didn't try. So they played Washington who's drafting in the top 10. They played Dallas, who his defense was horrendous and they scored 34 points they played the Giants whose coaching staff was all fired. And they played the packers who tanked or not tanked, but I mean tank the game, right? They, they didn't. It was over and won 16 to three. So at one point in time they were four and eight. I think we got to be a little careful talking about them as they were a competitive 9 and 8 team. Because if you go to the Lions, like the Lions were seven, the Lions were eight and five and kind of fell apart. They lost three of their last four games. They lost the Rams, they lost the Steelers. They lost that Minnesota game which was a devastating loss. Golf was terrible. Brian Flores again, their defense is good. But again Minnesota team was 4 and 8. And I'm not acting like Kyler, some scrub, but I also think he gets talked about like he's going to be really impactful. This was not a team like the lions who were 8 and 5 and then fell apart. They were 4 and 8. That would be my counter to that one. So one of their wins team not trying to win another win. Giants who were an abomination. Commanders who had a terrible season. Some of those wins were not great because I think when you look at their records here, if I go to the standings and I go to the NFC east, the Commanders won five games and the Giants won four. So combined they won nine and the Cowboys won seven. But how many games did they lose down the stretch? They lost 1, 2, 3. They lost 4 of their last 5. So they actually were competitive until that Lions game and then they kind of crumbled. That would be my pushback on that one. The volume. The best moments aren't always about where you're going. They're about who's with you on the way. That's why Toyota believes people are the destination. The Toyota RAV4 is built for busy days and spontaneous plans from practice runs to last minute road trips and everything in between with space, comfort and flexibility. 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