← The Herd with Colin Cowherd
The Herd with Colin Cowherd
3 & Out - Reaction to Jaxson Dart & Giants DOMINATING Jalen Hurts & Eagles on TNF
01:33:45
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John Middelkoff
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John Middelkoff
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Stuckey
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John Middelkoff
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John Middelkoff
What is going on everybody? John Middelkoff three and Out Podcast hopefully you're having a great Friday doing as well as Cam Scatter Boo and Jackson Dart who get a massive win dominate the Philadelphia Eagles who saw that coming Thursday night, just curb stomp them in the second half. So we'll dive into Scatter Boo, we'll dive into Jackson Dart and Brian Day Ball. And where did the Philadelphia Eagles go from here? A bunch of injuries. OC going to be under some heat. Jalen awful interception missed devonte Smith on a on a pass that could have changed the game. So we'll dive into that game. Couple other things in the NFL, the Browns, they're paying like eight quarterbacks. The schedules, the strength of schedules and I think there's a couple teams in the AFC that really need to take advantage of this moving forward. And something the Netflix CEO said as well as Stuckey who joins us every week. So you guys know the drill. If you listen on Collins feed, make sure you subscribe. If you want to watch. We go live after all these Thursday, Sunday and Monday night games. Subscribe to the YouTube page. Just type in my name, press subscribe button, leave a comment like it. Do what you guys do style. It's a football. Listen, the story of the night is earlier this year, probably like late spring, early summer, I played in this golf tournament with a buddy who was a college quarterback at the University of San Diego and his kids a college football player. I'm actually playing golf with him early tomorrow morning in a high school fundraiser and we were playing against in this, in this. He invited me to his, his club, a bunch of guys that were either ASU alumni that had played golf at ASU that are ASU season ticket holders. And Cam Scatterboo was like a cult hero for them, obviously because if you've lived in this area for a while, the program had sucked for so long. And last year this guy was like a gliding, you know, Driving light, a driving force. Just an incredible season of a human that felt like you were just dragging us to the most important football season that ASU had had in, honestly, probably 25 years, since Jake Plummer in the late 90s. And I kept getting asked like, well, how good is he going to be in the pros? You know, what's he going to be like in the NFL? And I kind of got to take the L because I wasn't necessarily trying to be negative. I root for the guy. I grew up, you know, he's younger than me, but we probably grew up 25 minutes away from each other. You know, he grew up in Sacramento. He played at Sac State. Transfer day issue. I said, listen, for every Mike Allstot and guys that play with that physical nature, most guys are unable to translate that style to the pros unless you're an all time physical freak, like an Adrian Peterson. Typically, things that translate are like making guys miss. Why did Frank Gore have such a long career? Because of his vision, because of his understanding on angles and not taking a punishment. And that's what a lot of good running backs do. Obviously you're going to take hits, but it's understanding how to avoid hits so you can have a long career. And I'm like, scatter Boo. That that's the way he plays. Like, there's no changing it at this time, but I don't think he will be able to run over guys in the NFL. And then as we've seen early, and what I got Wrong is that one, this NFL currently is not the NFL that I grew up on with linebackers that were 260, 270 pounds that were paid to hit Lorenzo Neal in the hole and take on a collision that was just going to bang heads all day long. It is a lot more, you know, beside the defensive line, which are obviously big guys, but linebackers now are much smaller and faster. And same thing with safeties. It's much more of a cover position than it is seeing guys like that. I grew up on Tim McDonald or Todd Bowles or John Lynch. These guys were six, two, six three safeties that weighed like 225, 230 pounds, that had no problem meeting Emmett Smith in the hole and lighting them up like a Christmas tree because they were built like today's linebackers. And honestly, they might have been thicker. Definitely bigger hitters. And what you see out of Scatter Boo so far this season is like his style kind of works because he's not taking on Greg Lloyd of the Pittsburgh Steelers. From 1995, he's not taking on Ken Norton Jr. In 1996. He's taking on smaller linebackers that are much more built for going lateral and covering the outside zone and literally covering running backs in coverage. And if he does get through the linebacker, he's going to rock a safety. And tonight was really cool. Like that was a moment and I thought, and we'll get into Dart here in a second who was obviously fantastic and had a breakout game for the the country to see. But I thought Herb street did a good job tonight of saying like, listen, you go as far as your quarterback goes and if Dart's playing well, you're going to win some games. But you could feel Scatter Boo being the heartbeat of this team, right? And one takeaway I had is if the Giants are the worst team in your division, you got a pretty good division because they got some premium defensive linemen. I mean Brian Burns maybe a little out of sight, out of mind. You know, I think he had eight and a half sacks last year. This year he's been fantastic. And you know, tonight they're putting him on the side with Abdul Carter. So they're lining both those two guys up on one side and just running different stunts and twists like good luck. Even with a fantastic offensive line trying to block that type speed and that type ability to get on guys edges to bend the length their closing speed. He's been a monster this year. Kayvon Thibodeau, again, a guy that I was like, you know, fifth year option, has played really well and has been a real, real physical player. We know how good Lawrence is. So their defensive line has been fantastic. And Scatter Boo tonight, just give that thing life to go with the quarterback. And you know, I wrote down just some thoughts overall from him as a player because I think as a gm, as a coach slash play caller, as a fan base, as an owner, I think when it comes to a young player who is starting his first couple of games and who's drafted high, everyone's looking for the same thing. Like most of the time that guy's on a shitty team. So you're not going to win the super bowl, right? You're not going to compete to win the division. Typically like, like Jaden Daniels last year, like team actually turned out to be pretty good. Obviously he was fantastic. Typically though the guy drafted really high and I know Jackson Dart was technically drafted in the, in the mid-20s, but is going to a team like the Giants that has no chance to make the playoffs and all you're looking for is some hope. And like really you're evaluating him on the physical traits, how he operates after he gets hit, how he operates on third longs, how he operates against different defensive looks. And listen, there is no disputing his athletic ability. He's not Lamar Kyler, but he is the modern day pocket quarterback. That's what these modern day pocket quarterbacks look like. There are no Jared Goffs coming into the NFL anymore. Kind of miss those that day and age, right, of the Mannings, the Brady's, the Carson Palmers, the Philip Rivers. But those days are done. Watch college football on Saturday. Guys don't look like that. They look like Jackson Dart. And Jackson Dart is kind of that. He's not those guys height wise, but he's kind of that sweet spot of like Aaron Rodgers, Derek Carr, Jimmy Garoppolo, 6:2, 6:2 and a half. Can see over the line, not small enough where you have to get him on the move. Always do. See, but his athleticism and scrambling ability is really evident and it was on full display tonight because he could do two things. He can scramble to throw, which he did countless times, and to scramble to throw. And this is my wife. When Russell came in after Jackson got hurt, she's like, how is. Russell was incredible and she's a huge Niner fan. So she watched him in the peak of his powers. She's like, what happened to that guy? I'm like, I don't know. I've never really seen any precipitous drop off quite like that. But I'd say the biggest thing is he used to be the greatest scrambling thrower I'd like ever seen. And then that just disappeared. And that's what Dart was doing tonight. He was making throws on the move. And that's what we talk about with the modern day quarterback. You see with Jalen you got to be able to move and throw, but he also can run. Now we got to be careful. And Jalen's gotten good at this. No hits. You can't take these vicious shots even though that John lynch and Steve Atwater and Ronnie Lott are not playing in the NFL anymore and those hits aren't really allowed. Once you pass the line of scrimmage and you put your head down, you start running, people will look to kill you because the only time 17 times a year that these defenders even get to think about touching the quarterback and they run faster than they ever have and these guys collide together. And Jackson got crunched on the one play where he was laying down there forever. Then I don't know, day ball maybe just gives no shits. Ran him again when he came back into the game on like a, on a quarterback power, but so obviously the athleticism, he can see his arm strength speaks for itself. But two things stood out to me. To be a good quarterback in the NFL, right? To be a great quarterback in the NFL. Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson, Patrick Mahomes, right? They do extraordinary stuff, right? They make plays that are highlight plays for forever in football lore, right? You just, you think about the great plays of Lamar Jackson, Josh Allen and Patrick Mahomes career. But what we don't talk about a lot with those guys is how well they do on the basic stuff. Like if you run a wheel route, Patrick is not going to miss you. When you have a check down and it's second and 10 and the checkdown can get me to third and three, he is not going to miss it. Shitty quarterbacks, typically it's. They don't fail in the NFL because they can't on the run, throw a ball 45 yards, right? Or make an incredible deep out throw from the opposite hash. You know, basically 35 yards in the air on a rope. Most guys in the NFL can do that. But it's the basic stuff, the inaccuracy on the easy stuff and tonight how many times he just was accurate on I would say, quote unquote football layups and I don't know, he didn't even have that many football layups. But stuff that if you're going to be a good player, you have to hit. And the thing that you can never quantify because someone DM me actually like what's the best way to figure out if a quarterback's good or not? They're like, win, loss, record. Feels a little unfair because so much is out of your career, your control, you know, just sacks or interceptions. Like what metrics do you look for? And I said, you know, the hard part. One, over time, like in an individual year, a great player can have a losing record. But I don't care who your coach is and who your coordinator is, if you're a good player over the long sample size of your career, you're going to win. You might not win Tom Brady level games or Peyton Manning games, but you're going to be a winning player. Joe Burrow last year team was in shambles, couldn't stop a nosebleed. Still found a way to go nine and eight, right? Good players find a way to win games. And a big reason for that is like you're going to get hit playing quarterback and there are going to be times where you have to wait that extra second for a deep breaking route to open up. Because this is not Ole Miss playing Mississippi State where you're going to have wide receivers open by a dramatic margin, right? I'm not saying it doesn't happen in the NFL, but consistently on just basic pass plays on second and 10, third and eight, you're running crossers, you're running outs. And the margin for being open and not being open is pretty small, especially relative to what you're used to in college. And sometimes if that route, you got to wait that extra second and that twist or that blitz is going to get through. And there was a play tonight on third, Nate and Dart hit the outbreaking route in stride. So all night long, like there was a play over the middle of the field where he threw an absolute dart. I'm like, well, his arm is more than good enough, his athleticism is more than good enough, but his toughness running around, you could be almost like sometimes he's reckless. But the true toughness is when you're standing in there. And this is kind of what ended Andrew Luck's career. Philip Rivers made a career doing this. Stand in there to the last possible second and deliver that ball to when your guy's going to be open. And he did it countless times. And this is why I said from the beginning. And listen, I'm not going to pretend to know more football than Brian Dabel. Obviously, you know, being around Belichick and Saban, like the guy knows offensive football and he knows his team, but I do think he made a mistake. This isn't your typical, like one year wonder. In college, this guy was a three year starter in the SEC for a team that every single year plays. Alabama, lsu, Texas A and M. Like their schedule is legitimate. And he was winning games and was like a prepared guy to come in. Now, like any young player, you have to, you know, figure out the speed of the game and everything. But you saw tonight, after a couple game reps, understanding the speed, this was a short week. They, they didn't do anything more than a walkthrough. His star wide receiver has a torn ACL and he's slinging that thing around. So I was blown away by his touch and accuracy on balls that aren't fastballs because like Josh Allen can throw a fastball, Mahomes can throw a fastball, Justin Herbert can throw a fastball. But how about the pass? That needs to be layered to Hyatt in the corner of the end zone. Hit him in stride. That is. That's a thing. That's Joe Burrow. That's beautiful. That's a gorgeous pass. Now Ringo grabbed his arm. PI. And the next play, Scatter Boo scores. But, like, you can't ask for much more. And I mean, I thought one of the moments so far of the year is Brian Dabel is having. You know, since they made the playoffs a couple of years ago, it's been really ugly. And the start of this year has been a little clunky. And their owners got cancer. Their star players torn as acl. They're losing games. They're a huge underdog against the defending champs, who, like I said, in theory is a rivalry. But they've been so shitty, this game hasn't really mattered. It's like, even when they're close, like, whatever, you don't even matter, right? The Eagles and the Cowboys have become much more at the forefront because over the McCarthy era with Dak, like, the Cowboys are kind of good. So those games matter. This Giants team, they have, they haven't been good. And all of a sudden you get momentum. You're like, we're going to win this game. And then Jackson Dart lays there and all timer, you know, he goes to the tent. Day ball beelines it to the tent. And I had people like tweeting at me, like, does this ever happen? And I'm like, well, when that guy in the tent is your contract extension and that guy on the field is HR telling me to turn in my key card and give me the computer and we will escort you out of the building. You would scream at everyone in the vicinity, specifically what it looked like to be the doctor. Just an incredible moment by a guy that was emotional and you could feel it. He knew that if Dark could not come back from that tent unless I'm recording this right after the game. So I'm sure they'll talk about whatever the hell was going on. I'm assuming it was ahead, but who knows? Could have been something else that Russell Wilson. You see one player like this, we're going to lose this game. We can't. Even though there was a quarter and like five minutes left, we cannot win this game. We with that guy quarterback, because they're going to know I'm going to hand the ball off every single play because I'm not going to trust this guy throwing. And he started. He, like, had a mental breakdown. And then Dart came back in the game and kind of the rest is history. But incredible moment by Cam Scatter Boo who was going to be a cold hero. And it, you could feel it coming. And Jackson dart like, listen, how many games are going to win the rest of the year? Like they could lose to anybody obviously. I mean some of these wide receivers he's throwing to it kind of had like a Mac Jones 49 or against the Rams feel to it. But that's what you want to see. Like all the physical attributes you almost evaluate the player on a non playoff team that's a rookie at quarterback like you would a college prospect. How does his arm look? How does his touch look? How does his toughness, what's he like when you know we're losing, how he carries himself? How do the team do they gravitate toward him which clearly it looks like he's checking all the boxes. And Brian Dabel's no dummy because his future on this team there is a future because of this guy. Now I said all along, once you're the owner and you give him the go ahead to draft this player, it's one thing when you have the number one overall pick, right? Like we'll take Cam Ward. If Brian Callahan fails, we'll fire him and we'll hire someone else. When you let a guy trade up the GM trade up and they showed the video I remember the Giants put out in the GM was basically Joe Shane. Like I told you I'd get him. Like he was doing it for day ball and Jordan Renan. And people that cover this team have said if you go to these practices, especially in training camp, Jamis and Russell would be off doing their own thing and dart would be following day ball around or day ball be falling Dart around like your dog does you around the house. And Dable's no dummy. He knows where his bread is going to be buttered if this thing is going to work. And if you have more games like this, like Dable's not going anywhere. Pretty simple because they do have some pieces and if neighbors comes back, they have another good draft. Like there is some positivity here, right? They finally for the first time I get, you know, this guy showed more young than Daniel Jones ever did. I think Dart's got a little more, a little more shit to him than Daniel Jones. Not, not the Daniel Jones that we're seeing right now with the Colts that kind of looks like Jackson dart tonight, but the guy that looked like for the New York Giants and obviously Scatterboo is just pretty special player. Today's show is brought to you by our new presenting sponsor, Hard Rock Bet. Rivalries upset chaos. College football is the best and when you sign up with Hard Rock Bet today, you place your first $5 bet and if it wins, you get $150 in bonus bets on top of your winnings. 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If you or someone you know has a gambling problem and wants to help, call 1-809 with it gambling problem, call 1-800- gambler Arizona, Colorado, Illinois, New Jersey, Ohio, Tennessee, Virginia look, if you smoke or dip, I'm going to give you a few good reasons to try Zen Nicotine Pouches. First, Zyn is America's number one nicotine pouch brand and Zen offers an unbelievable rewards program. There's a lot of options for nicotine satisfaction, but there's only one Zen. Visit zen.com find to find Zen at a store near you. Again that zen.comSL find Zen spelled Z Y N this product contains nicotine. Nicotine is an addictive chemical. You know, I I had the honor and the privilege of working for multiple years inside the building at NovaCare before they sent me on the road. And I never had the opportunity to work for like Steve Cohen or anyone in Wall street though I've I watched the show Billions and I've list some book on tapes about that world and it fascinates me. I think there are a lot of parallels though. The lowest people on the totem pole at Wall street, like the equivalent of like the lowest level scout still makes like 200 grand. That's not the case in football but in terms of long hours, the pressure and just how everyone's on tilt 247365 that is the Philadelphia Eagles and Charles Woodson put out tonight. Someone in Philly is getting fired. And I think what, you know, it's a two way street with high standards, with intensity. I was watching some YouTube clips from Edelman's podcast earlier and he has former Patriots on and they just kind of tell war stories about the standard of when they first got drafted, how intense in the heyday the Patriots were, how everyone, like no one slept. Well, at any moment you thought you get cut. At any moment you thought your career could end. At any moment you thought you were headed to the ufl. It was a very, very intense environment. That's Philadelphia. And like tonight, I don't even think like they actually weren't that bad early on. There was a moment when it was 2017. Jalen has the Eagles is like 3rd and 8 or something. Has Devontae Smith blown coverage? Wide open. Devonte could have ran to Boston. No one would have touched him. But he overthrew him by like 15 yards. I mean it was, it was a egregious miss for how wide open he was. Worst case scenario, you like lob it up where he just stops even if he gets tackled and you get a 40 yard gain. But it was 2017. If he hits him, Eagles take the lead right there, 24, 20. I'll promise you one thing. If the Eagles had ever taken the lead in this game, especially in a moment like that where Devonte goes 70 yards, walks right in the end zone, they do not lose this game. Instead he misses, they punt, the Giants drive, they scores. 2717. Still, though, the game didn't quite feel over. It did when Jalen essentially threw the pick six to the young corner who I didn't even know that much about. I had to google him. He's from LSU a couple years ago Flot I think his name is, who had an awesome play. I mean that the top end speed didn't look like Deion Sanders, but the play on the ball, on the out route was sweet. And that was the nail in the coffin and big picture. Like if you're the Eagles, their two best defensive players, well, Jalen Carter, he didn't even dress. He's one of the best young defensive players in the NFL. Like if you did a draft from scratch and you said non quarterbacks, only defensive players, young players. Jalen Carter would be in the mix to be the number one pick off the board and Quinon Mitchell their corner. I don't know if he'd go like top two or three, but he wouldn't make it past the top 10. Well, here it's his hamstring he's gone early in the game. So you're missing your two best defensive players. Well, guess what? The Eagles defense this year is not as good as last year. Brandon Graham, gone. Sweat gone. Milton Williams, gone. Their pass rush isn't as good as. And if someone in the NFL texts me, like, listen, Fangio is awesome, but he's not exactly Flores. He's not weak. Martindale, he doesn't want to blitz that much. He dominates when he can just send four guys to get pressure. Well, they can't right now. So once Jalen Carter's out, like Jordan Davis isn't Aaron Donald, they're not getting any pressure. And once Mitchell's out, their DBs are Ringo and Adore Jackson. Getting spun like a dreidel out there. Got no shot and they started getting worked. And then offensively, again, like I thought early on, he wasn't bad. They had that kind of trick play that went for a touchdown that people told me on social media, I guess they had ran during the Bucks and it worked. And Goddard gets in. And they had some momentum in the passing game to AJ And Devonte and Dallas Goddard, like, they didn't. They had some explosive plays with Saquon Barkley. The offense by no means looked terrible, but in the second half it unraveled. And the way Philly works, from the owner to Howie, it's intense. And these type performances, even though you're the defending champs, you're four and two, you look at the landscape in the nfc, you're fine. They're going to say something's off. This is not okay. We're paying too much bleeping money. Too many guys. We've given too much cash, too. We're paying our coaches a ton of money. Like, this offensive coordinator is just. I don't know if he's going to get fired tomorrow. I don't know if he's going to get fired on Monday, but he's in major trouble. There's no way around it. If you tell me right now, do you think he's going to get the year? I would say no. I would say no. Now here's the problem. What do you do? What are your other options? Because you also got the elephant in the room. Like, you don't need to be, you know, a Stanford psychologist to see the way the two wide receivers were sitting on the bench going, yeah, doesn't look like they revere their quarterback. We already know AJ Doesn't. And when you miss a receiver as much as you do Devonte, like, what do you think he's going to be happy? So the way these guys are wired. So it's just, it's just a little clunky. You got this first time offensive coordinator. It's not going great. Even though it's not totally his fault. The defense got gashed tonight. But Fangios on scholarship as he should be, that everything's just out of kilter. And the intensity in that building, it's always just. It's not like put your feet up and chill. That's not how they are when they're undefeated run into the super bowl, let alone when you get clowned. Because that's what happened tonight. The Eagles in the second half got clowned. Scatter Boo. The Giants took their souls after the Phillies had one of the worst endings you'll ever see. The pitcher freak threw it to home over threw it over the catcher's head when he could have just thrown it. First rough night in Philadelphia did lose the Dodgers, which is, you know, nothing to hang your hat on. But Phillies are spending a lot of money. They lose and then the Eagles just get curb stomp like that against the Giants. Cam Scatter Boo and Jackson Dart are just doing whatever they want against them all night long. And Jalen's missing devonte Smith and throwing an awful pick in a spot that 27, 17. They score on that drive, which it felt like they did or would and we're going to all of a sudden is 27, 24. Find me a Giants fan. When they were driving right there before he threw that pick six kind of. They would have thought they were going to win the game. Not, not, not one would have because all the momentum would have been for Philly and it was a game changer. So I just think this is a spot for the Eagles where you just go, Mitchell, did he pull his hamstring? This Jalen Carter injury, they're not as deep. They're very dependent on their high end guys, you know, to dominate. I thought, I think Austin, Austin Whitworth. I don't think that's his name. Is that. Am I screwing up his name? I've had him on the podcast before. I like the guy. But Whitworth at halftime was saying, I thought he had a good point. He's like, Andrew, my bad Andrew, fellow ball brother LSU Tiger Andrew Whitworth. He said like the explosive runs will say Quanta to start the game are great and no one will ever complain about an 18 yard run and a 13 yard run. He had 31 yards in the first two plays. But like Part of being a great running back. And listen, Derek Henry, Adrian PETERSON, Whoever, Christian McCaffrey throughout the course of a game, especially a tight game, is like, we need more of those like five and six and seven yard runs. And that wasn't really happening tonight. So it was like they were getting explosive. A couple runs from Saquon, which hasn't really happened the season, but some of those just like we're going to lean on you for those five, six, seven yard runs. He was getting stuffed countless times in the backfield. So to me, their running game, which was, I mean, unstoppable. Last year we talked a lot about the, the long runs, the 60, 70 yard explosive runs. But it's a lot of like I would say five to nine yard runs that break a team, which is what Scatter Boo was doing tonight. And when you get leaned on like that, anyone that plays high school football, let alone in the pros, knows that it's just, it's, I'm removing your soul. I'm removing your soul. I'm taking it from you and breaking you. And that's what the Giants were able to do. And the Eagles are not able to do that right now. And their offensive coordinator has no ability to like, like put it in. Like, it's hard to even put into words. I actually just talked like he calls place. It's like, what'd you just say, John? Exactly. I mean you have to, you either have a feel for it or you don't. And watching him call plays right now you just go, something's off. And The Eagles are 4 and 2. But man, with the injuries, with trajectory of their season, it just, it feels weird. There's no way around it. Like if you're a betting man right now, you would not feel confident that they're going to go back to the Super Bowl. Long way to go. A lot of talent still on that team. But I do think the offensive coaching as the play caller leaves a little something to be desired. Couple more things before we get out of here. Again, awesome win by the Giants. I really, really, I really enjoyed that tonight. I want to bring up something that I saw today on the Internet and it has to do with the Cleveland Browns and the front office. Sports today put out a visual of the Browns and I don't know if this has ever happened before that the Browns are currently paying eight, I repeat, eight quarterbacks. Watson obviously is making a ton, 35.9. But you know James Winston, the guy you saw tonight on the Giants, he's on their payroll right now for $2.2 million. Dylan Gabriel, their starter, who they drafted. Joe Flacco, who's now on the Cincinnati Bengals, like they're still paying him some $999,000. Shador Sanders, who I think is the backup, maybe not quite sure. Bailey Zappi, who also might be the backup, I'm not quite sure. Dorian Thompson. Robinson, who I think's on the Eagles. And Kenny Pickett, who I'm pretty sure is on the Raiders. I get these texts from some of my friends in the NFL is, you know, the thing with the Browns, like, people think Stefanski knows his shit and think he's a good guy, but like him and the GM are two Ivy League guys, yet their franchise, it's not all their fault. Like, I don't blame them specifically for Deshaun Watson in that situation that that was owner led. But this year it's just from. It's just been clunky. It's just been very weird and it does feel, you know, sometimes. Let's use the 49ers because a couple years ago the Browns were a playoff team with Joe Flacco. They have a lot of good players on their team. Looks like they even drafted some really good guys. Like you should be able to function. And you just watch them, that franchise. And the Sanders thing was Stefanski, just name him the backup quarterback or not. What the fuck are you doing? You know who doesn't play games like that? Andy Reid. He would just say, yeah, he's the backup. Yeah, he's not the backup. Like, we're going to figure it out. Like doing stuff like that creates bigger stories. We got on Shador for the miming. Stefanski just, just come out and say who the backup is because, you know, like, I doubt you're going to figure it out at practice when they're not even taking reps. So some of this is on those two guys. It is just not a well run operation. Obviously the owner has his issues and has accounted for a lot of the problems, but let's not act like the two Ivy League guys, the head coach and the GM haven't kind of been a disaster. The other thing that I saw was a tweet with the strength of schedules and Alex Barth, who I don't know, but he put out this good visual of the hardest to easiest schedules. Jackson Dart. Scatter. Boo. The Giants have the hardest schedule remaining. Like this is starting before this game tonight. For the rest of the year, the two easiest schedules in the NFL are the New England Patriots and they Were a team like I did, I thought, like, they'll probably make the seven seed. I don't know how good they'll be, but their coach is good, coaching staff's good. They got more NFL guys than last year. Their schedule is a joke that I. 9 and 8, 10 and 7 probably gets you a wild card spot. I picked them to make a wild card simply because of the schedule. I said the same thing with the 49ers, who I liked more than the Patriots. But if you told me the Niners had the toughest schedule in the league before the season, I would not have picked them to make the playoffs. But the schedule is a joke. Like, they've got to go 10 and 7 with Adrian Martinez, let alone Mack or Brock Purdy. But this is a team that stands out. The second easiest schedule in the league moving forward is the Denver Broncos. And I was thinking about it today, like, the Chiefs are about to play the Lions. I guess it's like, we get. We need to get right game. We're getting the Lions. Like, that's. That's not an easy. Just like, we really need to win, you know, because we're two and three. The Raiders are in shambles.
- [35:27]
Stuckey
You.
- [35:28]
John Middelkoff
You got Pete Carroll taking some shots at Chip Kelly. It's like, hey, Chip, they're paying you $6 million. They want some offense, buddy, you can say whatever you want. Like, they're expecting some points on the board. And the Chargers, who just have an unlimited amount of injuries that you just. You can't overcome. Your tackles, your first round running back, your other running back all being out like this, you're in shambles. So the Chiefs have this, like, uphill climb to just to get to. Like, if in a couple of weeks they're four and four, they're going to be feeling good about themselves. Denver Broncos, you get the jets this week, then you get the Giants the next week. Like, you should look up and be like 5 and 2. And then the rest of your schedule is a lot of the Cowboys, the Raiders. Twice you get the Chiefs at home, which you played them well last year. The Chargers, again, who are in shambles. The Jags, who you should be better than. So to me, there is pressure on Denver once you factor in the schedule where they're at currently. The way Sean Payton talked about the team before the season, like, you should win this division. And then at number 28 is the bills. And I've been saying this since the off season. Anyone with a brain understands this. Getting the number one seed is so big in this modern NFL because only one team gets a buy now. But we've seen over the course of the last couple of years, like obviously the Ravens blew it a couple years ago, but they would have had no chance if they had to go to Kansas City. Part of the reason they were favored home game. I mean, it's a really big deal to host the AFC Championship game at home, right? Look, look at last year. Look how big of an advantage it was for the Bills to host that game against the Ravens in the second round. And they have an electric atmosphere. It's all wide open for them, especially given their schedule. I mean, here's who Buffalo, they still got the jets, they got the Titans, they got the Raiders, they got the Dolphins, they got a banged up Ravens team. They have, they've already played them. They got the Bengals, the Panthers. I mean the Bills have some fucking joke teams. So I think the pressure on Denver to win the division and Buffalo to take advantage and finally get the one seat and be like it comes, we're not going to Kansas City, we're not going to Baltimore, obviously not this year, but it's coming to us, right? We're not going to let Indy all of a sudden sneak up and win 14 games. We're winning this thing. And last but not least, I don't know if this is posturing, but I saw Florio wrote this up because the co CEO of Netflix was at like a Bloomberg. I don't know if they were doing something on television or like a convention and was asked about his opinion on getting involved in the next NFL bidding rights and he gave some quotes that says they're not going to and basically it doesn't really fit our strategy. We want to stay disciplined and it's not something we're looking to do right now. Now it also could be that they think the NFL is going to try to bend them over. Cause they know how much money they have a lot like Amazon. And we're going to try to get an unlimited amount and start bidding them against Fox, CBS and abc. But if we want to take them at their word, which they're so big and successful now that also anything the CEO says like has implications on the stock price. I do believe what comes out of his mouth. So when he says it doesn't really fit our strategy, you know who, that's a massive win for the legacy channels. If you're Fox, if you're cbs, if you're abc. And Netflix truly doesn't get involved beside maybe a couple Christmas games every year that is a massive win for you because one thought I've had all along is that like if Amazon or Netflix really wanted to flex their muscles, I would say the same thing for Apple. Be like, well who watches Apple? They sure would if Apple won. The Netflix will sell or the NFL would sell it to them if they come in at 5x what what fox and CBS are offering. But maybe, maybe Netflix isn't that interested. They just want to dabble here and there, enjoy it, making money without it. Plus like get involved for that much money, which would be billions of dollars ties them to that. Though I do think that it would work and be really successful. Maybe they go with the amount of people that we already have that subscribe. Let's say I think the number worldwide is well over 100 million. Well over 100 million people. It's like 150. But what is it incrementally going to go up that much just having these, you know, NFL games now? Part of it too would be like you would never cancel if tough economic times ever hit. Though I would argue that Netflix is pretty recession proof. If anything, it would get more usage in a recession and in tough economic times. But that's a big, big win for some of the legacy media partners. If when the dust settles and this opportunity to get involved in the bidding process and they say, yeah, we're not interested, I found that pretty fascinating. Look, if you smoke or dip, I'm going to give you a few good reasons to try Zen Nicotine pouches. First, Zen is America's number one nicotine pouch brand. And Zen offers an unbelievable rewards program. There's a lot of options for nicotine satisfaction, but there's only one Zen. Visit zen.com find to find Zen at a store near you. Again that zone zyn.com find zyn spelled z y n this product contains nicotine. Nicotine is an addictive chemical. Okay, back at it again with my main man, Stuckey from the Action Network Big Bets on Campus Action Network podcast. Make sure you go subscribe, follow it on YouTube. He's slinging takes, he's slinging thoughts and most importantly, he's gambling. Because that's what Stuck he does. And as he put out on the everything app earlier this morning, incredible Saturday slate. And you know, I think the last couple of weeks have been, I don't want to call them duds. I guess two weeks ago was good. Last week was a little rough, at least on paper. All lines are presented by our friends and our presenting sponsor at Hard Rock Bet. But Stucky this, this college slate is pretty, pretty good. Yeah.
- [42:11]
Stuckey
And there's nice distribution, which I always like. I have nice distribution with my bets, too. I hate when I end up having.
- [42:18]
John Middelkoff
Like seven things going at once at.
- [42:21]
Stuckey
Noon and I'm like, let me ease into the day. And so, yeah, I mean, you have Bama, Missouri, early Ohio State, Illinois, if you want to put that on another tv. Then Indiana, Oregon, Red River, Oklahoma, Texas on another tv. And. And then tonight you got Georgia, Auburn, usc, Michigan, Texas A and M. Florida got some. An Arizona State, Utah game. Huge game in the Big 12. Winner of that will be favored to get to the Big 12 championship game to take on the other favorite to get there in Texas Tech. And then, I mean, you can have a Utah State, Hawaii chase game if you need it at midnight. Don't chase, by the way. So, yeah, Grape. Great, great college football Saturday. That will make up for a very lackluster NFL late window. We're gonna need your Niners and Bucks to play a good game because the other two, there's only three late games. The other two are Titans, Raiders and Bengals. Packers.
- [43:22]
John Middelkoff
Wow. Yeah. So the good thing is that's all.
- [43:25]
Stuckey
The Bucks do the Bucks, we'll have the ball late.
- [43:27]
John Middelkoff
Well, same with the Niners. All the Niners games have been very. So it's like. Well, let's, let's start with. With Arch, because I was watching more ucla, Penn State, Tim Skipper. I've known him since I was at Fresno State. He's a stud. I was so fired up for him that that was a really, really cool moment for him. Not for James Franklin. But I. This is. I went to this game last year and I remember talking to you about it and I remember getting there. And my buddy, that works, he's like the gm. Well, now Nagy is. But he's. He's one of the personnel guys for Oklahoma. He was like, you know, listen, all of our offensive line are out. And you'd been saying that all year long. All their wide receivers were injured. Our defense is good, but this is. This is going to be tough. Oklahoma actually hung with them till a couple minutes left in that first half. And then it just the quarterback, who more than likely Hawkins is going to play in this game. It was tough. I mean, it was. It was a rough watch. This Oklahoma team clearly is better. And to me, if Mattier was playing and hadn't gotten injured, I wouldn't like Oklahoma in this game. I'd fucking love them. Now, this Hawkins guy, based on last year, it's rough. But I went back because I didn't watch live the Florida Texas game. Florida was destroying them. Like, they were getting worked. I mean, at one point in time, what was it, 26 to 6 or something? I mean, it was several scores. And once the punt block and the dam broke, you're like, God, Texas just. And I'm not. It's not even just Arch. They were just getting outplayed.
- [44:56]
Stuckey
Yeah.
- [44:57]
John Middelkoff
So I just think. And I. They bring in Tim Drev. No. One of Sark's guys from sc. They got major problems. Obviously, Arch hasn't played that well. Their offensive lines in shambles. I think Oklahoma has been circling this game. I mean, their defense is awesome. So I like Oklahoma. A little risky with the quarterback situation. Does Matier rush back? I mean, can he grip the ball? But how is. How is Texas going to score on these guys?
- [45:23]
Stuckey
Yeah, Stark's gonna have to get creative. Like, Garch has not played well. Just watching him, you can tell, like, I mean, I don't know what happened with his arm motion, but he's not been accurate. I mean, the fact that he couldn't throw against UTEP was very concerning. With a sub 50% completion percentage, only threw for like 135 yards. But all the problems aren't on him. The offensive line also has taken a huge step back. Like, Texas just hasn't recruited who they have now, who they recruited along the offensive line, they just haven't hit. They have a couple. They have like, two guys, Goosby and Campbell, but their other three are just huge vacancies. And that's what got Texas to the next level the past couple of years. Obviously, they have a ton of talent everywhere. But their offensive line, their trench play, that's what's enabled. That's what enabled them to compete with the big dogs in the sec, is that they went out and they addressed the trenches. The offensive line doesn't have it. Arch obviously is not who a lot of people thought he was. Throw those two things together and your offense is completely dysfunctional. On the Texas defense did get kind of worked last week. They still have an elite defense. I mean, DJ Lagway was just on one. Yeah, they weren't ready for Dallas. Wilson is one of the best receivers in the country. True freshman. His first start last week. I think I talked about him last week. You did that?
- [46:45]
John Middelkoff
Who? Lagway hit on one of those deep bombs.
- [46:47]
Stuckey
Yeah, he was all. He was the kid who had 200 and 200 yards in the spring game.
- [46:52]
John Middelkoff
Likewise, like, reminds me of jamarcus Russell. Probably could just sit on his knees and throw like 100 yards.
- [46:56]
Stuckey
Yeah, I mean, that one sidearm throw that he had was ridiculous with the, the velocity he got on.
- [47:02]
John Middelkoff
I mean, that. That was a rough look for Arch. Just looking at the talent, like two blue chip guys, you're like, well, I, I see it in the one guy. I don't really see it in the other guy.
- [47:11]
Stuckey
Yeah, the other thing, like, so Oklahoma, they're. They have the same issue as Texas and that their offensive line is still not up to the standards of an elite SEC team, so they can't run the ball at all. And their offensive line, I don't think it's going to be able to block Texas. I don't think the Texas offensive line is going to be able to block. Oklahoma is one of the best defensive fronts in the country. When that happens, I tend to look at the under. Now, this is a super low total with a ton of athletes on the field. And so I don't know if I'm going to bet the under. I'm hearing mixed things about Mater. Like, I know a lot of people that are close to the Oklahoma program.
- [47:51]
John Middelkoff
What was the injury? He broke a bonus thumb.
- [47:54]
Stuckey
Yeah. So, like, they have. What did I. They have a. So some people close to the program think he's gonna play, but I don't know if they're like, there's been a couple leaks behind the scenes that he's gonna play. I don't know if they're leaking that. And like, I'm sure they don't want Texas. No. Either way. But they. I don't think anyone knows for sure. They have a. They pay. Oh, you paid for like a cellular skin regeneration office from Dallas to set up in their facility to work.
- [48:26]
John Middelkoff
I love college football boosters.
- [48:28]
Stuckey
So, like, I don't. So I don't know. And then it's. They're going to work on his thumb like the entire time. I don't will it. Like, if. Will he play number one? If he does play, I think Oklahoma will go to like a two and a half point favorite. I don't think it would get the three. You would have Texas money with such a low total in a defensive battle. If he doesn't play, I don't know if I can bet Oklahoma with Hawkins.
- [48:51]
John Middelkoff
Would you. Would you like him, though, if all things were equal and he was just completely healthy and this had never happened? Oklahoma in this game?
- [48:57]
Stuckey
Yes, for sure. But the other thing is, like, if.
- [48:59]
John Middelkoff
He plays, what would this line be then? Minus 4 Oklahoma or something?
- [49:03]
Stuckey
Yeah, if we knew he was 100 healthy, I think that Oklahoma could be a field goal plus favorite. But if Matier does play, like, is he healthy? Is he rusty? Right? Like, like. So there's a lot of uncertainty. I think this is going to be a lower scoring game where both defensive lines dominate. The uncertainty with Mater means like I, it's. If I had, if I could find out or had an inkling and this was like around a touchdown, like where it would make a huge difference, you know, maybe I would have a bet here. But as of right now, I have nothing. But if you think Oklahoma's deep, you like Oklahoma because you think their defense is going to dominate. That's a very valid take because their defense is dominant and this Texas offense is broken right now, they're gonna have to get the rid of the ball quick. Sark's gonna have to be in his bag in the screen game and that's. I think that's the only way they're gonna be able to consistently move the ball, run, arch a ton. Because I don't know if Texas can block Oklahoma, but I'm also not sure if Oklahoma can block Texas and I don't trust Hawkins if he has to play. So just a ton of uncertainty. Hard game to handicap.
- [50:08]
John Middelkoff
Okay. Two big Big Ten games. Oregon hosting Indiana, which I want to hate on Indiana, but they've been pretty good this year. Props to Signetti. I thought they were. Had like six and six written all over them. So they're getting seven and a half on the road at, you know, arguably given its size and just how it's over.
- [50:26]
Stuckey
You.
- [50:26]
John Middelkoff
It's just a place you can't think it's going to be so loud and nuts there landing just going to have those boys rolling. And Michigan, usc, for two teams that were, you know, had awful records last year, this was one of the better games of 2024. Michigan vs USC in, in Michigan. I remember watching that thing like this is a thrilling game. Remember they drove down the field without throwing a pass and like had a walk off touchdown. Michigan could not pass in the game. Usc, the quarterback who's now gone was pretty good in that game. Who, you know who I'm talking about. What was he transferred somewhere? But he was pretty good. I actually thought like, God, this guy's going to be a pretty good player. And then they ended up kind of forcing them out at the end.
- [51:08]
Stuckey
Orgy. Was it Orgy who played that game?
- [51:10]
John Middelkoff
Well, it was Orgy for Michigan, but USC's quarterback. Yeah.
- [51:14]
Stuckey
Yeah.
- [51:15]
John Middelkoff
So I was Like, God, Miller lost pretty good. To me it's like that's a lot of points. Put a tough spot for Indiana. I think Oregon, if they cover. I got nothing but respect for Indiana. I wanted to take Michigan. I saw Sharon Moore said, yes, the Coliseum sold out because Michigan's going to be there. And Lincoln was like kind of pissed off at the comment. But there's a lot of Midwest people that live in the general west coast. I would imagine there's going to be a huge Michigan turnout for this game. I don't know if it's going to be because of the, you know, sold out because. But you told me 40%, 35%. There is a huge contingent. So I don't know. I mean, can USC stop this? The Michigan running game, you know, the quarterback, obviously he's talented, but is he good? That's. I get a lot of buddies in the NFL that text me a lot because they watch these games and they hear the slop fest of the announcers for players and like we get it. Like Bryce Underwood. No one's disputing his talent, but you're acting like he's, he's fucking cam Newton or RG3 in their prime in college. Like he's like, he struggles to complete balls. Not all his fault. The offense can be a little hit or miss. It was actually better when what's his name took over. But what's your take on the quarterback? Michigan in this spot and just usc who. This would be a big win for them.
- [52:34]
Stuckey
Yeah, I will start with usc, Michigan. I mean Underwood's gonna be good, he has all the tools but it's gonna take some time. There's gonna be some ups and downs and then also he's on an offense. I don't like the offense coordinator. The offensive line has holes. The receivers aren't great like Donovan McCauley and Indiana transfers. They're number one. Kid Marsh is emerging a bit as number two. But they drop a ton of balls. And like if you look at, you know, just NFL quarterback rating for all of the college quarterbacks this year. Maa, the quarterback for USC is fourth and I mean leads. He's completing 70% of his passes. And leads the country with a 12 yards per attempt average. Underwood's 88th and that's not all on him. Part of it's on the offense calls the receivers the offensive line. I'm not sure Michigan keep up now they're gonna have success running the ball. But this here, here, like everyone before the Illinois game, everyone was talking about USC as a potential playoff sleeper, including me. Now everyone is off them and thinks that they have no chance and they're done. I have the complete opposite take. I think that. So what happened in that game? Number one, they're coming off a buy here. Michigan's traveling across the country, across time zones without a buy. Big Ten teams who have had to do that, who have had a, you know, basically cross two time zones are like 33 against the spread. They've been horrible. So advantage like situationally for usc. But what happened in that Illinois game is USC played the latest game possible on a Saturday night against Michigan State, like 11pm Eastern kick. Then they had the early. They had to do the traveling to Illinois for the earliest kick. Obviously not ideal. But in addition to that, more importantly, their stud left tackle Elijah Page was out. He's the quarterback of the offensive line. They have one. I think they have the best wide receiver duo in the country in Lane and Lemon. Lane wasn't fully healthy. He played only 30 snaps. Page should be back. They had to shift the right tackle to left tackle, their guard to right tackle. And Lemon and Lane should be at full strength. And if you haven't seen their running back, that's where it all starts. With a Lincoln Riley offense. He's outstanding, averaging over seven yards per carry. This offense at full strength, which I think it will be this week for my money, is the best in the country. But on the defensive side of the ball, their captain and green dot, Kamari Ramsey, is going to play in the NFL. He plays safety and slot for them. He's been playing slot. He's their green dot. He was ruled out the morning of because of. They had a food poisoning bout the night before, which impacted about like seven to eight starters. Most of them played, but they were not effective and they were a bit lethargic, especially on the defensive line. But Ramsey was so bad, he couldn't play. He was out. Their other starting corner got hurt.
- [55:21]
John Middelkoff
If you, if you play, if you play a Division 1 football game or an NFL game with food poisoning, you should get like a medal of honor. I've gotten food poisoning once in my life and I swear to God, probably 12 hours in. I'm not the most religious person, but I said, God, if you're going to take me, take me. It was the worst experience. Now, it might have been a bad case.
- [55:38]
Stuckey
Yeah.
- [55:39]
John Middelkoff
But even if it was a mild case, if you're able to do. I couldn't get out of bed, bro. I had to like crawl to the toilet.
- [55:45]
Stuckey
What did you get you know I.
- [55:47]
John Middelkoff
My friends and I'm still a loyal customer but I think a bad batch of Chipotle. It was rough.
- [55:54]
Stuckey
Yeah I've never had a bad knock on wood but their their starting corner got hurt. They already had injuries at corner so basically for that entire game they were playing two freshman corners and then in the slot they had to put a true freshman who'd never played before a true freshman safety who had to play slot and they were without their green dot who they didn't know about until the day of the game and the defensive line was dealing with food poisoning and yet in a terrible spot with food poisoning and a bunch of key injuries in on the road against the ranked team they lost to the last second field goal so I'm I'm not off of usc. I think there's a ton of extenuating circumstances. Ramsey should be back. They should be healthier I maybe they eat something bad in LA but Illinois.
- [56:37]
John Middelkoff
Illinois ran Philly special I was watching that game on the plane on the way back from the Ryder cup they came out that was what they just lose the week before BY they lost.
- [56:45]
Stuckey
50 by 50 to Indiana. You were going to get their best effort. It was a nightmare spot. So I'm not off of USC at all. I like them and under a fuel goal Michigan's going to have success running the ball but I think if they can just stack the box here because I don't even with their young corn there's also a a real a stud nickel who they might get back for the first who might make his season debut I should say this week which would allow Ramsay to go back to safety which I don't know I'm getting in the weeds here but they can stack the boxer I don't think they have to worry too much about the Michigan receivers and I just don't think Michigan keep up regardless so yeah I like USC at home in regards Haynes.
- [57:18]
John Middelkoff
Is one of the best running backs in the country know I talked to he's a top 50 pick in this.
- [57:22]
Stuckey
Get his the Michigan's got success they can back C score score in regards to Indiana Oregon I have so much with Indiana like my if I just go based on their game grades like empower rate them like right now they're a top three team in the country like that's they destroy teams they destroy a ranked illinois team by 50 this is what happened last year too but.
- [57:51]
John Middelkoff
That Illinois win this year is better than anything they had last year before the Ohio State game.
- [57:56]
Stuckey
Yeah and I I think they're better. Like I think Mendoza is a potential first round draft pick, a quarterback. I think he's better than Rourke. Their trenches are better. Like when they played the, when they played the best teams last year at the end of the season and in the cultural playoff they were missing Drew Evans who's, who's probably their best offensive lineman, the guard. He's back. This year they got bigger in the trenches. But there is still something too I think like I almost treat them that as having two ratings until I see more. Like I rate them against everyone else where they're just so good and they execute so well that they're going to blow out these teams. But then when they step up in class against you know, the top five ish teams with all four stars and five stars because Indiana just doesn't have the same type of dudes, the same type of blue chip players, that doesn't translate as well. So like I don't know, maybe this year is different. Could be. But that's my hesitation there. My other hesitation is with Oregon. So Oregon didn't play anybody.
- [58:51]
John Middelkoff
It's almost like if, boy, it's almost like if Boise State would have had to play in the PAC12. It's one thing to play one off situations where it's like if Indiana was in the Mountain west but they and they were going like 11 and 1 and they only had to play one game against an Oregon, one game against whoever you'd be like damn, I kind of like them in this spot. But going through the gauntlet of the season is a little different. Like Boise did get a lot of New Mexico's in San Diego states on the schedule. So when they got their one offs against tcu, Georgia, Oregon, they could just fucking throw the kitchen sink, right?
- [59:25]
Stuckey
Yep. No, you're exactly right. And but I mean Indiana is like breaking models on how they beat some of these teams. Like only like a top five team would do what they've done. But what we've seen is when they step up in class. It doesn't translate so far. Small sample size, but that's just my theory. Like you almost have to have two ratings for them. Where I struggle with Oregon is they went in, they were so impressive at Penn State. That was the only real opponent they played this year was did. How much of that had to do with Penn State though? So that's after Penn State losing the ucla.
- [60:01]
John Middelkoff
Do you have to see I'm going to push like you know it's Clemson clearly is not good. Right? I do Think Penn State was good. And then they had approached that game like their super bowl for nine months. I mean, that's all they thought about. You had been talking. They're not showing anything. That was their Super Bowl. That was a game that even if they lose Ohio State later in the season, they would have been on cruise control to the championship game, to a top four seed. They would control their own destiny. If they won the championship game and then you lose it, it's just. I don't think anyone could walk straight the next day. Like they're just dead. And then I can't even imagine the week of practice, the week of focus. Everyone just kind of tapped out almost.
- [60:42]
Stuckey
No, I agree with that. There was a huge emotional hangover. You had to travel across the country, play a winless UCLA team. But Franco's teams never lose those games, which is weird. Like they never get upset.
- [60:53]
John Middelkoff
I don't think they'd have a. I don't think they'd had a buildup. Yeah, that build up quite like that. Oregon, I mean, we've been talking about it since like April.
- [61:00]
Stuckey
Yeah. But it does make me. Just gives me a little pause. So. Yeah, I mean, I'm just having. If I had to. I think my numbers say to take the points, but I know my numbers are probably too high on Indiana. So if I dial that back, you know, I'm like, if I use the ratings of what Indiana's done, then I think this line should be like 6. If I adjust it to like, okay, I think there might be like a three point drop off. When they play like the super elite teams, then I think it should be like nine. So I don't know. I have nothing in the game as of now. We'll learn a ton about if this Indiana team is different, but I have no interest as of this moment of, of, of betting either right now.
- [61:45]
John Middelkoff
Okay. Before we get into the NFL, you know, we got two big SEC games. Bama @ Mizzou and Georgia at Auburn. A lot of people are on Bama, obviously, which is a crazy shift given where we were a month ago. But they've, they've been good. And then to me, that the line with Georgia, I would have expected, you know, this Auburn team, the quarterback has struggled. Their defense is obviously pretty good, but thinking that Georgia would be favored by like8. And when I looked this morning, what is it? Three and a half.
- [62:17]
Stuckey
Three and a half?
- [62:18]
John Middelkoff
Yeah, that was a little. That was eye opening. And you told me a little bit about it before we hit record. But I mean If Georgia, if you fuck around and lose this game, I mean for the first time, like Georgia is just not going to be a factor when the playoffs come around because they would be in major trouble, wouldn't they?
- [62:34]
Stuckey
Yeah, I played both dogs here. First of all, the Auburn, they're coming off a by. Georgia is not. And but looking at this, Georgia's defense is just not the same. Their secondary has been bad this year. I mean you look at that Tennessee game, Alabama, their, their secondary is not playing well. They're also not getting pressure. Like their defensive line doesn't have the same caliber of dudes up front. They're 108th in sacks per game in the country. And Auburn, like I would argue Auburn has a better offensive line, a better defensive line, better receivers. So both secondaries are struggling. Stockton is better than Jackson Arnold, but it's not like Stockton is a first round draft pick. Elite talent, the key for me with Auburn, I mean Jordan Hare at night off a buy. The home field here is as big as you can get. But Jack Snarnle needs to basically be movie directed and Hugh Freeze is unable to do that on the road. He has to basically just hey, before the play, tell him in his ear, okay, you're going to do this and you're going to look here. And Auburn has elite, elite, some of the best receivers in the country. And Georgia's not getting pressure. They're not. So I think Hugh Freeze, who has two weeks to prepare for this game, one of the best play callers and schemers in the game, one of the best, the most successful coaches against the spread as an underdog as well. I think he's going to be able to like hand hold Arnold against this vulnerable Georgia defense. And I think that on Auburn's defense has been elite against the run, they haven't. They have elite edge rushers. Kendrick Falk might be a first rounder that I think are going to cause Stockton enough issues and I think this game goes right down on the wire. So I took the three and a half and with Missouri, people might be surprised. That line is only three. Missouri's undefeated, hasn't really played anyone. You know, they handled Kansas, they beat South Carolina, but both of those teams are not, you know, College Football playoff contenders. Alabama's at a tougher schedule. But this spot, I mean first of all, the spot is a dream for Missouri. Missouri. Whoever made Missouri's schedule must have been.
- [64:42]
John Middelkoff
A lot like the opposite of Florida or Oklahoma.
- [64:44]
Stuckey
Yeah, I mean Missouri number one, they haven't played a road game yet they played five home games and how's that even possible?
- [64:52]
John Middelkoff
It's middle.
- [64:53]
Stuckey
They have a buy before this for another home game. And Alabama's coming off wars against Georgia and Vandy a Vandy game they wanted. And Missouri's was more before the bye week had UMass. So they basically had three weeks to prepare for this game. The and look, they have a kid who might be the best back in the country in Ahmad hardy who has 570 yards after contact this year.
- [65:20]
John Middelkoff
Jesus.
- [65:21]
Stuckey
Which is more than I'll be.
- [65:22]
John Middelkoff
I'll be honest.
- [65:23]
Stuckey
I haven't watched Monster can break away speed, can break tackles. He's going to be a factor in the NFL that's he has more yards at their contact than 18 teams do total in the country. And they have another back who's averaging I think 8 yards per carry. Prior is their quarterback, the Penn State transfer. He can move. Those operations do. Cause Bama fits and they have.
- [65:48]
John Middelkoff
I feel. I feel for the little guy here. Stuckey. I'm looking. He was Sunbelt freshman of the year last year. I'm like, oh, this is an older guy. No, he's 19 years old. He went to Louisiana. Monroe.
- [65:58]
Stuckey
Monroe.
- [65:58]
John Middelkoff
Boom. SEC just buys him and now he's sweet. He was. Which I don't blame the kid for doing it but sucks for Louisiana. He.
- [66:04]
Stuckey
Yeah, he went to LA Monroe last year and was their entire team like that they had. He would just. He would just get hit in the backfield and then run for 20 yards like a dreadful team. But he was their entire team and I don't know how he ended up there and. But yeah, Missouri's rushing attack has been elite and they're going to give Bama. I mean Bama's defense. You want to talk about it? Bama's defense is sort of like Georgia's. I mean from what it's worth, they're tied with Georgia 108th in sacks per game. This defense is not super elite up front. It's not the same kind of guys. I mean if you want to look at it over the past two weeks. So on the. On the spot they give well rested Missouri team. They're going to get a couple guys back wait on their. Their left tackle is the big one. We'll see if he plays. He's really good. His backup is not and if the backup has to go then they're going to use the tight end more to help and then they can't get one of their best receivers in the slide spot as much. But I think they're gonna be able to run the ball regardless. I mean if you look Georgia and Vandy ran for 8 1/2 yards per carry over the past two weeks. Florida State ran it 40 times for 260 and controlled that game in Tallahassee. The Bama defense has not been great now Ty Simpson's been playing a lot better. The Missouri secondary is not great. What they do have really good run d Bama struggled to run the ball and elite pass rushers. They have two of the best in the country. Two that rank in the top five among pressure rate of all edge players in the country. One's a Georgia transfer. So they're going to be able to get to Simpson now. Simpson's going to be able to hit some throws because Missouri can't really. They're not going to cover Alabama's receivers. Don't hate the over in this. My, my only concern there would be Missouri just controlling the clock. I mean they're averaging 40 minutes per game of time of possession which leads the country. I think they're going to stay ahead of the sticks. This is a dangerous game for Alabama. The spot is awful. I think Missouri's gonna be able to run the ball. I think this goes right down on the wire. I took the Tigers.
- [68:00]
John Middelkoff
Saban would have been licking his lips to play running back like this. But now I was flipping back because the noon window last week was pretty good, right? Florida, Texas, Penn State that upset and then Bama Vandy and I flipped back to Bama Vandy and Vandy ran this like quarterback power and Pavia took it like 50 yards. I mean if he would have, if Pavia would have been a faster quarterback, he would take it to the house and the fucking thing just opened like the red sea. I'm like God, the Dante hightowers and the big time defensive lineman sure didn't look like it on those plays.
- [68:31]
Stuckey
Yeah, I mean Georgia Vandy 48 carries for 3778 yards per clip. Those two teams and Missouri has the best rushing offense in the country. So yeah, that dandy game. I mean look Bama, there's a drop path.
- [68:45]
John Middelkoff
Vandy's good, Vandy's good top 20 team.
- [68:49]
Stuckey
But so is Missouri. The but they. Bama could have easily lost that Vandy game. I mean you're talking about two, two turnovers in the red zone that were just massive swings. And then the final score was a. Was looks a little more lopsided because Bama ran it in with like 10 seconds ago with her meaningless touchdown or IP to anybody who had Bandy, but they could have lost to Georgia, they could have lost the Bandy and we would be having a much different discussion. So Ty Simpson has redeemed himself while he's playing well. But this, this, there's the SEC this year. There's not much separating these top teams and the mid tier teams and there's going to be more chaos coming, I'm just telling you. And I think one of Alabama or Georgia goes down. Wouldn't be shocked if it's both. I did take both underdogs plus three and a half.
- [69:40]
John Middelkoff
I might tell you on that. If you smoke or dip, I'm going to give you a few good reasons.
- [69:52]
Stuckey
To try Zinn Zyn Nicotine Pouches first.
- [69:55]
John Middelkoff
It'S America's number one nicotine pouch brand and Zyn offers a robust rewards program. There's a lot of options for nicotine.
- [70:02]
Stuckey
Satisfaction, but there's only one Zyn.
- [70:04]
John Middelkoff
So if you go to zyn.com find that's z y n.com find to find.
- [70:10]
Stuckey
Zen at a store near you.
- [70:13]
John Middelkoff
This product does contain nicotine.
- [70:14]
Stuckey
Nicotine is an addictive chemical.
- [70:22]
John Middelkoff
Okay, let's go to the NFL, which I actually think has a lot of similarities to what you just described in college football. It's wide freaking open. I mean, now a huge element of this are injuries. But like the difference between the Bills and the Colts to me is not much right now. Right. The difference to me, the Niners in Tampa and the Rams and Seattle and Philly. I know Philly's playing on Thursday night, but regardless what happens, like, it's all pretty similar. So we're going to do a new little segment called My Hammers. And I think one thing I've learned from you is you got to be careful about narratives and blowouts and stuff, specifically in the NFL and how teams battle back and you know, these guys are pros. But also I think sometimes you just get undervalued. Like the way, the way people just assume and talk about the Saints, oh, they're going to be the worst team in the league. They're going to get the number one overall pick. They'll probably draft a quarterback. It's like one, there aren't the great quarterbacks right now in college football. And two, like, I've watched a lot of bad teams in my life. They're not that bad. Their defense isn't great. But offensively, like, I'm pretty impressed. And, and New England, who wins this incredible game at night against the Bills. Diggs looks like Justin Jefferson mixed With Jerry Rice. I mean where's that guy been? Obviously Drake Mays coming out party but younger team, you know, new coaching staff like now this is a good, you know, variable. If you said this is your 4 variable I'd be like they'll be ready for this. But year one, these guys getting to know him, like I could see them coming a little flat in New Orleans. I'm going to hammer the Saints right now plus three and a half.
- [72:02]
Stuckey
All lines brought to you by Hard Rock. Right.
- [72:05]
John Middelkoff
The Hard Rock Bet baby.
- [72:07]
Stuckey
So I agree. I played the Saints. It's just a tough spot. We'll see if the do you agree.
- [72:12]
John Middelkoff
For a team that is going to be drafting really high we some of those teams last year were horrendous. That is not this team. They are watchable on a weekly basis.
- [72:20]
Stuckey
Yeah, I mean I bet the Saints the last two weeks and bet him again this week. I mean you're their, their offense is not terrible. I mean they have weapons. The offensive line isn't bad and Rattler is playing okay. Like they're if you look at all quarterbacks, I'll pull this up right now. Rattler is playing it like a league average level. I mean if you look at let's see EPA play plus completion percentage over expectation or adjusted EPA per play. I mean these are all he's around like 18th to 20th drop back success rate. Yeah. Like he's playing at like a league average level which is all he needed to last year. He's playing as the one or two worst quarterbacks in the league.
- [73:08]
John Middelkoff
Yeah.
- [73:08]
Stuckey
So yeah, the spot screams New Orleans. This team is playing competent football. They had one really bad performance in, in Seattle that just got away because of a bunch of special teams errors. But the offense has weapons. You have taste some hill back and Rattler is, is playing well and I'll make the, the Patriots prove to me that they can go on the road win by margin. After that huge win it's going to be a process with the Patriots. Like that was an impressive performance. The Bills came out so sloppy though. This is still a team that lost to the Steelers at home. They lost to the Raiders at home in week one pretty handily. So yeah, I like the Saints as well. And to your point with all these teams, I mean if you look at market power ratings right now like you can just derive like where all these teams are ranked which takes into account injuries and current states of teams. Like where I mean the Ravens would be a bottom, I don't know bottom five team right now in the market. The packers are probably number, number one in the market, but within a point of them, it's the Eagles, Chiefs, Bills, Lions, Rams and then you know, maybe like one and a half points down from the Rams to two. You're talking Colts, Broncos, Chargers, Commanders, Seahawks, Texans, Bucks, Jags, Niners, like then that second tier is only like a couple points behind. So yeah, the, the top six teams are within like a point of each other right now. If I had to take one team like tomorrow, the current states of the team that win the Super Bowl, I probably would take the packers. But you could make a case for 7, 8. So yeah, the parody as of, right as of this moment right now, it's never been stronger in the NFL.
- [75:01]
John Middelkoff
You know, you've been saying this and, and it's, it's evident. I mean I, I've watched every snap of their games now twice against the Niners and then the Monday night. Jacksonville is well coached. There's, there's no arguing that their defensive coordinator, I had to google them during the Monday night game. Kind of crazy background. Played a Rutgers for Shiano way back in the day. Hasn't been in the NFL that long. That's, that's just a good hire by Liam because that team, I mean they hit really obviously they're creating turnover stuff, but they hit. They are fucking crushing people. They're a well coached team. Liam is clearly a good coach, but like I think Seattle's coaching staff is really good too. I think Mike's a stud. I think Kubiak's good. So if I go, okay, let's cancel those guys out. Coaching staff's pretty equal. Sam Darnold. That game on Sunday afternoon was fantastic. I mean watching those two guys duel it out and like it wasn't your typical like Patrick Mahomes awful throw. There was the pick six to Lloyd, right? It's like you can't throw that. You throw it right to him. Sam's pick, like he was hit. It was like a great blitz call by Todd Bowles. So at first you see like what is Sam doing? And then you see the slow motion replay. It's like, well, he got crushed and the ball came out the wrong angle. He was playing a flawless game and both guys were. It had to be at one point in time one of the great dual quarterback performances we'd ever seen. They, they had like four incompletions and like going into the fourth quarter, it was incredible. I'm doing the math. Like this is, this is stupid.
- [76:25]
Stuckey
He's like six straight guys With a touchdown, back and forth.
- [76:28]
John Middelkoff
So I would take Sam Darnold over Trevor Lawrence. Like I don't think Trevor Lawrence is that good. I know he had some big plays, I mean on third and seven in that Monday night game. But I actually think there's a sizable gap and I think if you pulled all the GMs, I think it would be like universal, like so if we got the coaching staffs equal, I lean Sam Darnold, I don't lean. I mean I'm taking Sam Darnold and then you factor in. Well, Seattle was at home. Their game ends whatever. 4:30 in the afternoon. The Jags don't play again till 24 plus hours later in a very physical taxing game. I know it's a long flight, obviously Seattle, like you play at Seattle, you're just used to long ass flights because you go to Jackson, you go to Miami or you go to the Northeast. It's long. But I'm hammering Seattle in this spot plus one and a half. I think Seattle's good. Like I, I still think they could win the division. I still view them as a playoff team. Obviously you got to win some of these fringe games. You can't find yourself and that could be the difference of 9 and 8, you know, 11, 5 or whatever. But I'm not getting off Seattle just because they lost that crazy game to Tampa.
- [77:29]
Stuckey
Yeah, I like Seattle. I bet Seattle as well. So agree with you here. Again, my only concern is this. The injuries on defense like Demarcus Lawrence, he didn't practice yesterday. Ernest Jones, their linebacker didn't practice. And their secondary last year. Last week they were without three starters like Reek. Woolen got hurt. They were without Julian Love, they were without Devon Witherspoon and Nick Immunore didn't practice yesterday either. So they're running out of bodies. I don't know who's going to play. I think they're going to get a couple of those guys back. That's all I need. But I already played Seattle. But that, that's something to just note. Jacksonville, yeah, it's a, it's not a great spot off that huge emotional game. Now, short week. Here's the thing. I mean you want to just go by, let's just go by. I mean Sam Darnold by every single metric so far this year just statistically has been the best quarterback in the NFL. I mean you want to look at adjusted EPA per play. EPA per play success rate EPA plus completion percentage over expectations. Number one. Number one. Number one number, number one. Lawrence, he's kind of got like a.
- [78:20]
John Middelkoff
Josh Allen vibe to him, like scrambling around, throwing the ball down the field. Like, it's just like Jesus.
- [78:25]
Stuckey
Yeah. I mean, the offense is. Is absolutely humming. Lawrence is like, if you take adjusted EPA plays like 18th and that's rattler. So he's been just like, he's been like an average quarterback and Darnold has been elite. The other thing worth noting is, I mean, Jacksonville just traded Tyson Campbell to the Browns too, and they swapped corners. So, like there's, there's some in. In a short week, there's some flux there. But Jacksonville's playing a ton of zone. Guess who's been the number one quarterback by far again? Zone. It's Sam Darnold in this offense. And I don't think Trayvon Walker is going to play. He's so important for that defense. Like, if you saw it last week, Mahomes was had all day to throw. And because you just have Josh Hines Allen, you have one guy to focus on. If you have Heinz Allen and Trayvon Walker, that's when they're able to generate pressure. So, yeah, I don't think he's going to play again. They also had some guys in the offensive line get beat up, so I think it's a good matchup and a good spot for Seattle. My only concern is the defensive injuries. But. But McDonald's, he's been nails on the road. He's been great on the road his entire tenure. And this isn't like Baker Mayfield in those receivers as far as you know, with the way that Lawrence is playing and the receivers that he has. So I'm not as worried about the defensive injuries in the secondary, but I did play Seattle with you. I think they get it done. There's also some turnover regression coming for Jacksonville. I love the hire the defense coordinator higher was great. Part of that is last year was a disaster. They were running man coverage at the highest rate in the league. They didn't have the guys in the secondary to run man coverage, so they're playing more zone. Now they're playing. Devin Lloyd is playing at an all pro level. Last year they only had nine takeaways the entire season. They have 14 this year already. They lead the league there. There's going to be some aggression on that front. So, yeah, I like Seattle. I like your hammer with you.
- [80:18]
John Middelkoff
I don't blame Jacksonville because it's always hard when you come in and you inherit a guy who hasn't quite lived up to the hype. You know, it's like, of course the Giants gave Kayvon Thibodeau a fifth year option. They drafted him even though I think it's a stupid move. But it's like that happens sometimes. They didn't pick up Devin Lloyd's fifth year option. He's been. I was like, he's having like a, like a Zach Bond type season. I mean, he's been incredible.
- [80:41]
Stuckey
He was like the best player of the year, arguably so far.
- [80:44]
John Middelkoff
Yeah. So, I mean, it's going to cut. Luckily, he plays linebacker.
- [80:48]
Stuckey
Yeah.
- [80:48]
John Middelkoff
So even if it does cost you some money, it's not like doing that to a wide receiver, a corner offensive tackle. But it is costly. I mean, it definitely is costly. Okay, we will. Everyone thought, right, if you just pulled people that follow the NFL, you'd be like Daniel Jones, comeback player of the year lock. Well, then this guy named Michael McCorkle Jones raised his hand and said, well, my guy's got turf toe and I plan on playing who knows how many games. It might be like 12 this season.
- [81:19]
Stuckey
And.
- [81:19]
John Middelkoff
And I'm not going to lose fucking any of them. And anyone our age remembers Byron Leftwich being carried in that Marshall game that I think was like on a Thursday or Friday night. McCorkle just had one of those games the other night against Ramps just getting crushed, his knees about to fall off. He's dry heaving and he's just slinging that pill around with guys you've never heard of beside Kendrick Bourne, who was literally just cutting. Anyone could have signed him. And it was, it was an incredible performance. Stucky, when you just factor in that's Mac Jones, who's clearly banged up and who he was playing with against, I mean, an incredible defensive line, the Niners offensive lineman, even McKivitz, who's not great, is injured in the game and he's just getting beat like a drum. And the Niners got a lot of momentum. That was also Thursday night. So they've had some time. They still have a bunch of injuries. I mean, I would be stunned if Purdy plays. Who knows? I mean, I. To me, Purdy going IR at any moment with this turf toe situation. Pierce hall is still injured, Johan Janik's still injured, but those guys didn't play last week. Now the Rams corner situation, like they have a good team. Their corners are not good.
- [82:19]
Stuckey
Right.
- [82:19]
John Middelkoff
That's, that's a flaw for that squad. Tampa's been just having this magical year. I mean, The Baker Mayfield MVP buzz, gone from like 25 to one month and a half ago. I looked yesterday, it was like eight, nine to one. That thing's plummeting. This is long, long travel here for the 49ers, but, man, I just. You just got to ride the wave right now. Mac Jones. Because I expect Mac Jones to play as we're recording this on Thursday. Plus three. Let's roll.
- [82:47]
Stuckey
I'm with you. I played plus three. I mean, yeah, the. They have long travel, but so does. So does Tampa. They were just in Seattle. And San Fran has a couple extra days. They played on Thursday. Extra prep for Shanahan, who's doing a really good job with this offense, hopefully. I mean, do you think the Pierce all or Jennings into one of them are going to play?
- [83:05]
John Middelkoff
Yeah, it's hard to tell. I mean, those guys. To me, I'm much more confident. Like, if Purdy ain't. Purdy's not playing. Not. Not if Mac Jones healthy. Like, to me, those guys could not practice during the week and play in the game. So it's a little harder to tell with. If you told me one of the two of them play, I could definitely believe you. I do think they feel a lot better now. One, they know Bourne, and two, Mac knows Bourne. So it's not. It's kind of a unique, weird pickup. Right? It's not like a totally random guy. Kittle, though, I mean, he announced this. I was. I was in San Or. I was in the Bay Area on Friday, and I listened to his press conference on radio. You know, Kittle's not playing in this game, so. Which he technically could have, right, Based on the four games. They just, you know, Alfred Collins, who makes the play of the game, sprained his knee in that game. And Nothing like the 49ers. A game ends a guy with the play of the game, and then they tell you the next day, like, yeah, he also sprained his knee. Like, no one does that like the 49ers.
- [83:59]
Stuckey
Yeah. I mean, the Niners are beat up on defense, too, but I think there's not much separating the teams because number one, in my numbers, there's not much separating them at all. Actually. You have the Niners better when fully healthy, but the Bucks have a ton of injuries, too, like Bucky Irving, Mike Evans, Chris Godwin even popped up. He didn't practice yesterday. Their whole right side of the offensive line is out. Their. Their secondary is injuries. They lost one of their key defensive linemen for the year. This. This defense. I mean, The Seahawks averaged 8 yards per play last week. This defense, the Bucks aren't capable of pulling away from anyone. I mean, The Bucks are 4 and 1. You know what's happened in all four wins. They won in the last minute. They had to come back to win. They have yet to win a game by more than three. So, like, yeah, you're going to give me three With Shanahan and Mac Jones, I'm taking it on the road. Extra rest. Both teams are traveling from the west coast, and this Bucks team, look, Baker's been amazing, but they've definitely been fortunate in the turnover department in close games. And if Baker comes back and wins again by one, two or three, so be it. I took the points. Counting on you, Mac Jones. Funny story with Mac Jones is Mac Jones slid into my wife's. Was. It was my girlfriend at the time, my wife's dms once when he was in high school and she was 25. He was. He was what? He said he was visiting University of Kentucky. He was committed to Kentucky before Alabama actually, and he was visiting University of Kentucky. And I. He was like scrolling on Instagram or Twitter or something and was like, hey, what's up? What are you doing tonight? And she showed me. And I didn't know. I knew that he was like a high recruiter. I didn't know who he was. We still laugh about it to this day. So, yeah, Mack, you owe me a cover here for that. And yeah, that's my funny story on Mac Jones. But yeah, I agree with all three.
- [86:00]
John Middelkoff
Of your Hammers, I think. You know, obviously once Saban offers him a, you know, a scholarship, he's not going to turn that down. But if he had gone to Kentucky, it's safe to say he's probably not a first round pick. With his talent and those rosters and who knows where he's playing today. Hell, he might not even be in the NFL, you know. So I'd say it worked out pretty well.
- [86:19]
Stuckey
Maybe Shanahan would have got him originally.
- [86:21]
John Middelkoff
Later, yeah, like a six round, maybe.
- [86:24]
Stuckey
He still saw something and got him later in the draft. That's the thing. This Dak Jones was the guy that Shannon originally wanted and now he has him.
- [86:30]
John Middelkoff
Well, I'll say this about him. And I said after that game, I'm never going to besmirch his name. But part of it was, it all gets back to is like, you can't take Mac Jones number three overall. Historically, guys like Mac Jones were in this inflationary times in society. It's no different with quarterbacks. Mac Jones would go in like the third round, right? No. No issue with that. You want to take a guy like that in the third round, fourth round, whatever, you start taking him. Even Belichick at 15, it's hard. Now he's clearly a solid player. Like he's a starter in the NFL. He's not bad. But that his physical attributes. 15th overall, let alone third overall. Now it turns out anyone you would have taken a third overall Fields, Trey, Mack, it would have been. It would have been a problem. Now maybe Mac would have been the less of the problems, but it's still like, how could he have lived up to third overall? He might have just been able to function, I would imagine too. The Patriot thing was the first time he'd really face any adversity. Right. He came into Bama, they won the championship in 20. He was made the playoffs as a rookie. Like life was pretty good for Mac Jones, right. As a quarterback. And then he kind of.
- [87:33]
Stuckey
Yeah, he's probably heard a lot big time over the years in which you can tell he.
- [87:37]
John Middelkoff
He was I people like, he's checked down Charlie in that game. He made some throws and clearly physically to last. When the players like Fred Warner and. And Trent after the game was like, that was badass.
- [87:47]
Stuckey
He was on the sidelines. It looked like it was. It was crazy. He was.
- [87:51]
John Middelkoff
How about. He woke up that morning where they were staying in the hotel and saw a dead body floating in the water. Do you see that story?
- [87:56]
Stuckey
No.
- [87:58]
John Middelkoff
He woke up in Marina del Rey. It's like where they stay, I guess, you know, some, you know, fancy hotel. It overlooks the ocean and wherever his room was on the balcony, he looked out and there was a body floating.
- [88:09]
Stuckey
No way.
- [88:10]
John Middelkoff
That's how his day started.
- [88:12]
Stuckey
That's insane.
- [88:14]
John Middelkoff
And then he went on to beat the Rams and I would say one of the. One of the cooler Niner victories of the Shanahan era.
- [88:21]
Stuckey
Yeah, it was amazing.
- [88:22]
John Middelkoff
It was. It was sweet. They got lucky. I mean, McVeigh, the only way they were going to stop him there is if he ran it up the middle. And he ran up the middle.
- [88:28]
Stuckey
Yeah. Terrible, terrible, terrible play call from McVeigh. But a gutsy deserved win for Sanford.
- [88:33]
John Middelkoff
You like the rant any other games? Like there's some big lines like obviously your Ravens are in shambles injury wise. I don't.
- [88:39]
Stuckey
I mean, I got to see the Ravens injury report. I. I can't bet them. I'm not going to bet them, but like to quantify it, just how bad the Bradens defense is right now with all the losses and we don't even know exactly who's going to be out but it's not going to be the full complement but they they're basically the last couple weeks the the worst defense in the league and then the drop off from Cooper Rush to Lamar like I thought it was like 78 point it might be more like because your deep, your off the whole offense changes like you couldn't have more drastic difference in quarterbacks between Lamar and so I don't know. I. I don't know in that one. Let me see what else.
- [89:19]
John Middelkoff
Look if you smoke or dip I'm going to give you a few good reasons to try Zen nicotine pouches. First, Zen is America's number one nicotine pouch brand and Zen offers an unbelievable rewards program. There's a lot of options for nicotine satisfaction, but there's only one Zen. Visit zen.com find to find Zen at a store near you. Again that's zen.com/find zen spelled z y N this product contains nicotine. Nicotine is an addictive chemical. Colts host in Arizona who have obviously that devastating I mean an all time just disaster I've ever seen. I mean probably historically in the NFL when you factor in him dropping the ball but then you factor in the Gannon drama which I think finding him, I don't know where you stand is insane. $100,000 he apologize. They're all cool, move on. But I just think there's a lot there. Kyler's banged up now like that. This feels like that thing could just fracture. I think Jonathan Gannon has been solid. I think their coaching staff is solid. I just think it's hard like their quarterbacks, Kyler Murray. It's just hard to win with that guy. I saw a stat a couple of weeks ago that his, his career record is the worst career record in division. It's like 7 and 25 whatever the winning percentage is for any quarterback that's ever got a second contract.
- [90:47]
Stuckey
Yeah it's. It's not pretty. How does Arizona respond? Your guess is good as mine. Do they do they rally? Do they let that derail their season? I don't know. They also have a ton of other injuries. Is Mary going to play? I don't know. Way too much uncertainty. I mean that lines out to seven and a half the other game I like I did play the Chiefs as a short home favorite against the Lions. I I think the Chiefs offense is back from what I've seen the past two weeks with worthy Thornton Mahomes is throwing down the field. It looks like the old Chiefs offenses and this Lions defense is in Shambles. I mean they're without. They're going to be without the top four corners or safeties are hurt. It's an absolute shell unit. And that I don't. That means they're going to play more zone. You don't want to do that against Mahomes. But their corners aren't gonna be able to stick with Kansas City speed. They might have to try to blitz more. You don't want to do that against Mahomes. I don't know how they get stops and look, the lines have looked great. But there is some. There is some context to that. They. They get. They lose handily to the Packers. Then they beat the Bears who were missing their entire secondary. They beat the Ravens with their hurt defense. Then they beat the Browns with Flacco who was benched. And then they beat the Bengals with Browning who was so bad they had a trade for the guy who was benched in Cleveland. So yeah, their last four opponents, the Bears and Ravens, two of the most injured defenses in the league. Then the Browns and Bengals who swapped backup quarterbacks the week after playing the Lions. Throw in all of the injuries in the secondary for Detroit against this up trending Kansas City offense desperate spot. I'm trusting Mahomes and Reed to get it done at home. I played Kansas City Sunday night.
- [92:38]
John Middelkoff
How about a little overaction? Carolina, Dallas.
- [92:41]
Stuckey
I play Carolina plus three and a half. Do I love it? No. I mean Dax been great. Their run game somehow been great but there's so many injuries done. Dallas, I know they just beat the jets, but Carolina's not that awful like this. This is. I mean the Cowboys just closed as a dog at the Jets. Now you're laying three and a half. I think it's a little bit of an overreaction. I took the home dog catching over a field goal with all the Dallas injuries and the. Dallas was a really bad defense. I think Carolina can keep that close.
- [93:12]
John Middelkoff
It's early, but Javante Williams looks like one of the better signings of the off season. He looks good.
- [93:17]
Stuckey
They have a.
- [93:18]
John Middelkoff
They.
- [93:18]
Stuckey
They signed one of the most underrated signings it appears. I mean Dallas is number one in success rate in rushing success rate in the league. But one of the most underrated signings looks like Clayton Adams who is the offensive coordinator for the Cowboys. He was the offensive line coach for the Cardinals the past two years. Their run game was elite. Now they've had injuries this year, but he's doing a tremendous job. I mean the fact that they're number one in rush Success rate with, you know, they don't have the best back in the country. They've had all kinds of offensive line injuries. So he's a name on the rides. Clayton Adams for, for Dallas. But I think they've a bit of an overreaction for last week. Carolina is not that bad. I took the three and a half at home with the home dog.
- [94:13]
John Middelkoff
Okay, Stucky, have a good weekend. And I know you won't be sleeping much on Saturday. Hell, Sunday we got, we got an early turnaround, don't we got one of those international.
- [94:22]
Stuckey
We got the July game at midnight which will end at like three in the morning and then.
- [94:28]
John Middelkoff
Will you honestly watch every snap of that game?
- [94:30]
Stuckey
Yeah, I'd never go to sleep till it's all over. Then I, then I'll grade games. I'll sleep maybe an hour or two, get up, record my podcast, put on the London game. Going to the bar Sunday, we're having like a baby shower party. But it's just our baby shower this year is just we invited like 50, 60 people to my wife's bar, get a bunch of food and then open bar for people and just watch NFL. That's the baby shower.
- [94:55]
John Middelkoff
Hell yeah.
- [94:56]
Stuckey
So I'll be there all day and night.
- [94:58]
John Middelkoff
You ever, you ever drink on Saturdays or Sundays or just too much work to go?
- [95:01]
Stuckey
Yeah, I mean I'll generally. Sundays one of. One of the two days I'll get after it. Like it depends. I don't like to go out the entire weekend like I used to. There's just too much work and I'd get too far behind the eight ball. But like this week will be Sunday. I'll be drinking all day and night. Sometimes it's Saturdays, but it depends on the weekend. I, I prefer my, my week goes so much better when I don't. I just will have a couple drinks at home on a Saturday or something. If I, if I stay at home all weekend, couple drinks on Saturday, I won't drink on Sunday. My entire week is so much better, I'll tell you that. But yeah, usually one day a week.
- [95:43]
John Middelkoff
It's crazy, bro. You get old. I went to a 40th birthday party for my buddy and just had just a throwback all day drinking sesh. And I even tapped out. Like they went to like three in the morning. I started to like, you know, noon. I could go to about midnight and I didn't feel right. That was Saturday or that was Friday. I didn't feel right for like four more days.
- [96:03]
Stuckey
My problem is I don't have it so I'll be the last one. It'll be six in the morning. It's bad.
- [96:09]
John Middelkoff
So yeah, I've got. I've gotten better about the tap out. I I used to be.
- [96:13]
Stuckey
I need to. Oh I I need some tips from you in the future.
- [96:18]
John Middelkoff
Okay. Later bro. Talk to you soon. The Volume look, if you smoke or dip, I'm going to give you a few good reasons to try Zen Nicotine Pouches First, Zen is America's number one nicotine pouch brand, and Zen offers an unbelievable rewards program. There's a lot of options for nicotine satisfaction, but there's only one Zen. Visit zen.com find to find Zen at a store near you again that zyn.com find zyn spelled z y N this product contains nicotine. Nicotine is an addictive chemical Toyota is All in all season and with Toyota Game Day Giveaways the official automotive partner of the NFL is giving football fans the chance to win big by making free predictions on which big plays will happen during the second half of every Sunday night football game. Prizes include Brock Purdy's favorite Toyota Sequoia, NFL shop gear, and more. Visit toyota.com NFL to learn more. Toyota let's Go places no purchase necessary void where prohibited ends 2826 open to legal residents of the 50 US states and DC 18 and over. For complete details, how to enter, prizes and official rules, visit toyotasgamedaygiveaways.com this is an iHeart podcast.