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This is Sophie Cunningham from Show Me Something. Do you know the symptoms of moderate to severe obstructive sleep apnea, or osa, in adults with obesity? They may be happening to you without you knowing if anyone has ever said you snored loudly or if you spend your days fighting off excessive tiredness, irritability and concentration issues may be due to osa. OSA is a serious condition where your airway partially or completely collapses during sleep, which may cause breathing interruptions and oxygen deprivation. Learn more at. Don't sleep on osa.com this information is provided by Lilly, a medicine company.
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Learn more at paypal.com payin4paypal inc.nmls910457 the volume. What is going on everybody? How are we doing? John Middelkoff three and out podcast presented by my friends at Zone Pouches. Hopefully you're doing great, getting ready for Thanksgiving with the family. Can have a few beers, a few cocktails, some turkey, watch some football. Enjoy your life. Today our plan is we're going to hit the three Thanksgiving games and then we'll do a little mailbag at John Middlekopf. At John Middlekopf is the Instagram fire in those dms. We will not have a show on Turkey Day, so this will be the last show till Thursday night. And I'll go live on the YouTube channel after the the Bengals game, I guess the Ravens game. Ravens, Bengals. And this will be a podcast. Then we'll probably have another reaction after the Eagles and the Bear. So a lot of stuff going on, lot of content coming down the pike and we'll just keep swinging. So you guys know the drill. Subscribe to the podcast wherever you may. Listen YouTube so you never miss a live reaction. We had one after the 49ers and Bryce Young's career. That was rough. But that was a podcast yesterday, so make sure you never miss a thing. Subscribe to all of our channels and we got you covered. But first, you know I got to tell you about my friends, my partners, the official ticketing app of this podcast. Game Time. Do you want to go to a pro football game? Do you want to go to an NFL game? I didn't go to my first NFL game till 2010 and realize it's pretty fun. It's a good time. It's an event I would highly recommend. I know a lot of you guys watching or listening have attended and if you want to go to one of these games, Game Time has you covered. Tickets as low as $100. The ticket price you see on the app is the price you pay at checkout. They have flash deals. It's incredible. Cannot recommend Them enough. Take the guesswork out of buying tickets with Game Time. Download the Game Time app, create an account and use the code JOHN for $20 off first purchase terms apply. Again, create an account, redeem the code John for $20 off down the Game Time app today. Last minute tickets, lowest price guaranteed. Okay, let's before we do the mailbag, let's do a little rapid fire the Thursday games, which is an incredible slate. I, I didn't do a research project, but my guess would be this is one of, if not the better three game stretches in Thanksgiving history. Now I, I, I don't know when they started doing the night game. That's probably within the last decade. I mean I, I think we had a period where we just had the two games. A lot of Cowboys, a lot of Lions. But now with the three games, it doesn't get much better than this. So all these lines are presented by Hard Rock Bet I'm going to take the packers. Obviously. Week one's a long time ago. The packers kicked their ass some just a little off with the Lions. Like it's I talked to Tom, the guy who runs the gym. He I didn't even know. He's like I'm from Detroit, big Lions fan, like, shit Yar. He's like that was crazy. I'm like, yeah, Jameer Gibbs saved the day. It's just something's off defensively. They look like last year at the end of the season when they have a bunch of injuries. I mean for James to throw for 350 plus yards. He had 18 completions. Mario Manningham, Odell Beckham and Malik Neighbors weren't running around out there. It's like one day Robinson, who actually is pretty good but James touchdown catch, which was sick. Something's just off now Green Bay, it's not like I feel great about and obviously Detroit at home. That offense looks awesome in theory, not all the time this year. But Green Bay's defense is fantastic. I don't think you can get the packers right now plus two and a half. Kind of like that money line. Like to me, if you're going to bet the Packers, I would just take them to win outright. And to me, Green Bay wins this game. They still got a couple games against the Bears. It would feel like they could kind of hit I wouldn't say the afterburners, but they would be in the driver's seat to win the division. So I'm taking the packers in this game, which pains me. I'm a Dan Campbell, Jared Goff, Jameer Gibbs Guy love Laporta too, but I mean, that's, that's a pretty big blow. Obviously, the packers are missing their tight end as well, but I'm taking Green Bay in this spot. The offensive line for Detroit hasn't been as dominant. That's another problem. And obviously Green Bay's pass rush and just team speed on defense. I mean, Jeff Halfley has probably been one of the standout stars so far this season as a coordinator. This game's fantastic. I mean, it really is. You know, the Chiefs down 11 points, win that game, get some life for six and five going on the road to the Cowboys who were just getting shellacked, win that game. I mean, you go to the gym Monday morning and Stephen a saying like, was that a legacy defining game by Dak? I don't know how first take writes their headlines. Like, it would be fucking exhausting. Like, is that the biggest win of Dak's career? It's like, how do you guys do this every week? I couldn't be in that business. I just couldn't do those topics day after day, which in a weird way I respect because you'd have to fake it at a certain point. But that was a massive win by Dak Prescott. To me, you can't have the biggest win of your career if your team's more than likely not going to the playoffs, though you win this game against Kansas City, all of a sudden you're 6, 5 and 1. You know, I, you have to take them seriously because their offense is so good. George Pickens, you know, I, I'm going to take the Cowboys at home plus three. Listen, the Chiefs playing a ton of tight games would not shock me if like game winning but your field goal. They win by one points, but three points at home. My buddy Jeff Fong was just there taking buddies and clients to the game and I text him like, you didn't leave at halftime. He's a dard Cowboy fan. Said, no, I did not. I said, lucky for you, that's a, that's an incredible moment. Something you never forget. Part of again, why we go to games. I haven't been to a game in a while, but every once in a while you just are part of a game that you can talk about 10, 20 years later. I was at that game when they were down 21 nothing. They came storming back and beat, beat Philly. So I like Dallas +3. It's listen, their offense fun to watch. George Pickens, I think field Yates put this out there has more yards than the entire Steelers wide receiver core. Kansas City's finding their groove a little bit though. Rashid Rice is getting going. I, I just like I'm taking Cowboys plus three. You know this game's fascinating. Obviously Joe Burrow is coming back. I don't think like this is not a must win situation for the Ravens because they still play the Steelers twice and the Steelers on Sunday play the Bills. Like I don't know about you, but coming off a long week, especially if Mason Rudolph's the quarterback, I'm taking the Bills in that spot. So the Steelers are in a complete free fall. I would bet the house that the Ravens win this division unless a couple catastrophic injuries happen. Including Lamar who clearly is banged up. But even at 50% I'm taking them over 41 year old Rogers who's banged up now and Mason Rudolph. The Steelers are done. Put a fucking fork in them. But listen, this game was crazy last year the Ravens won both. I think Burrow threw nine touchdowns. They were, they were theater. I mean they were, they were incredible. As of recording this, I would guess T. Higgins with a concussion is not going to play. You know obviously sometimes in sports like well, he's got fresh legs. There's also a rust element of timing. I know he's been practicing the last couple weeks, but I. 7 points a lot. I guess I will take the plus 7. Don't feel great about this. You know, Stuckey's big on those first half for the Ravens. I just, you know, listen, you're playing the jets kind of a sleepy spot. You know, you got big divisional games coming in. I don't necessarily hold that against them. The Seattle and the Titans were tied three, three after a quarter. Like sometimes you play an awful team. We're human beings. You don't take them seriously. So if I was going to lean away I would take the, the the Bengals +7. A lot of points. But I don't know, I. This kind of feels a stay away. I don't see how the Ravens lose. Let's dive in to the mailbag at John Middlekop. At John Middlekopf is the Instagram. Fire into those DMS and get your questions answered here on the show. Someone sent me this. The final trade results because I think obviously Bryce played last night. Bryce Young. You know in the trade that the Bears and the Panthers made a couple years ago. Honestly it's one of the great moments of Ryan Poles career. They got D.J. moore, they got Darnell Wright, they got Tyreek Stevenson. So I mean they're getting starters in DJ Moore And Caleb Williams, who, listen, he still can be a little bit of a roller coaster. He is dramatically better than Bryce Young, like in a different universe. Just from a skill set standpoint, let alone as a player. They got the punter, the Australian dude from Iowa and Luther Burton. I think it's fair to give Ryan Poles the win on that one. That, that is one of those, if you are the Panthers, you regret badly. And listen, it's weird. Like, you know, Bryce is just seems like a fantastic guy, just not very good player. Speaking of guys that aren't very good players, JJ McCarthy is essentially a rookie. He's in one of the toughest divisions in football and is playing the hardest position. Since when does a quote, rookie get less than one season to prove themselves? I don't understand the overreaction of wanting to move off JJ already. His job right now is to show flashes and try to turn those flashes into consistent play. Your thoughts? He doesn't show flashes. He probably in the game on Sunday threw the best pass of his career. It was like a deep out route, layered it over a defender to Jefferson, might have been to Addison, but it was like on the left side. It was by far the best pass he's made of his career. But to me, you watch him like I don't see flashes. If I was seeing flashes. And it was one of those situations like Caleb where you go, listen, he's air mailing some throws and then he makes badass plays. So I'm living with that. I see the physical attributes. I see a guy who is, I mean, statistically up there with Jamarcus Russell. It's like, well, he's a rookie. This 2025, you got to pick up his fifth year option at the end of next year. You have a team, you are paying a premium for elite guys. You have an elite coaching staff. Like, it's one thing to develop a player who is showing flashes and who is growing. You watch this guy, he is completely over his head. I mean, and they're trying to redo his mechanics. So yeah, if you want to make him the backup and go with someone else. But how do you look Justin Jefferson in the face? How do you look some of these players and go, okay, we're just, we're going to probably end up going five or six wins, but maybe this guy turns into a top 15 quarterback. Because the, the argument would be that's typically not how it goes. You know, and guys who have got to sit and redo their mechanics didn't have to play well. You're playing them because you don't have any other options. I mean, you were throwing out Carson Wentz there and he stunk too. So you could argue the quarterback position for the Minnesota Vikings is potentially a franchise altering mistake. Like, you can nitpick Sam Darnold all you want in the big games. The chances that JJ McCarthy is ever 50% of a decent Sam Darnold game, what he's shown these last couple of years is slim the nut. So listen, hindsight's 20 20. Yeah, but you had him and he threw 35 touchdowns and you went with JJ McCarthy. And I think the scary part about JJ beside the poor play, major injuries, I view an injury prone player you have last year he missed the entire season, multiple knee surgeries, longest ankle sprain in the history of ankle sprains this year. And now he's got a concussion. So he's not a durable player. I just think that it's pretty concerning and especially when you go, well, and this is the thing, like, guys, Trey Lance couldn't play for Kyle Shanahan. I was out. Every quarterback I see play for Kyle Shanahan looks good. If you don't look good for Kyle Shanahan, you aren't good. I've seen Kirk Cousins, I've seen Sam Darnold. Like even Carson Wentz this year kind of functioned a little. If you can't function for this guy, I'm out. Especially with those wide receivers you can't play. Now, maybe in three or four years, you figure it out. But I don't have time right now to do that. That's not the way the world works. It's not the way this industry works. I have to make financial decisions. I'm also paying guys a lot of money. This is. It's a complicated situation. Right? Any of you people that are younger than me that are in situations, especially you know, when you get into like your late 20s, early 30s, you start dating and you date your age, you know, get some pressure, like put a ring on it. Like you get to a point, it's like you either got to put a ring on or ending it, right? So that's sometimes the situation with these quarterback contracts. The Panthers are in one. You think they're picking up the fifth year option on Bryce Young? Well, if you're not going to pick up the fifth year option, you might as well just move on this offseason. But then the answer is like, what are your options? Well, clearly this guy's not an option after his contract ends. So you might as well Try to figure it out. Now, these situations are complicated, but they are what they are. Heard you talking about how the Vikings are trying to change McCarthy's mechanics. To me, it makes no sense why they would offer Daniel Jones more money than Indy, but tell him that he wouldn't even have a chance to win the starting job. If your 10th overall pick who couldn't even practice his whole rookie year can't beat out Daniel Jones, then what's so wrong with having him sit on the bench another year or two? Especially when you've watched the biggest rival, the Green Bay packers, do the exact same formula to perfection multiple times. My question to you, as someone who has worked in the NFL, what do you think went into the decision to not give Daniel Jones a chance and how do you think those conversations went? Well, I think Daniel Jones won. Like he's a Duke guy. Daniel Jones is very intelligent. He's not dumb. He sees when you draft a guy high, he was drafted high, what happens. They want to play that guy and it's easy to go. This is where the packers not having an owner really benefits them. There is not a billionaire breathing down their throat. Because you know what the billionaire does? He listens to people like me. He listens to the radio. He reads the Athletic. That's where he spends his time. He's a super rich fan who has the GM and the coach have to answer to him, but he's no different. These guys don't know anything about football. I mean, you're going to learn more if you're around it enough. But it's not like they just want to see the guy play. And I wouldn't even blame the owner. It's like, well, I'm seeing Caleb grow. I'm seeing Jaden Daniels last year have a great rookie season. I'm seeing Bo Nix figure it out. Like, I want to see my guy. So if I'm an owner and I go, well, we use this high pick on this guy and let Sam Darnold go. I want to see this guy play. So there's pressure. And then if you're, if you're Daniel Jones, you go, Chris Ballard gets on the horn because this happened to Sam Darnold in San Francisco. It's like there's a competition. No, there's not. Sam Darnold knew when he signed with the 49ers he was going to be Purdy's backup. Just like Daniel Jones knew when he signed with Indianapolis, if he didn't get hurt, he was going to be the starting quarterback. He had been in Minnesota and he knew. And listen, I'm not Daniel Jones is not solving all their problems. Obviously he's better than J.J. mcCarthy, but he's no dummy. He just knew that they were going to start that guy. Like they weren't going to have a true competition. And sometimes you don't have true competition. There wasn't a competition with Anthony Richardson. Daniel Jones. Anthony Richardson was done last year when he ran off the field. There wasn't a competition with Trey, Lance and Sam Darnold. That thing was over before it began. This is what I said the other day about Shador. Like these coaches in some, they're not always right. Like I just use a couple situations where they were right but get things in their mind. We're no different. Right? In whatever business you're in, you determine the outcome sometimes. And this isn't the healthy way to do things. Before you start something, you know what you want the end result to be. And when you're dealing with players that can get you in trouble. So Daniel Jones knew that like they were going to go with J.J. mcCarthy because they just drafted him high. It h it literally happened to him when he was drafted high. Today's show is brought to you by our new presenting sponsor, Hard Rock Bet. There are three things to be thankful for this week. Family, food, and you guessed it, football. 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Learn more at paypal.com payin4paypal inc.nmls910457. Funny Press conference on Saturday Kyle can be a dick, but I felt bad John Parag and Jed should be taking the tough questions about Ayuk. They waited until November to void his contract while Kyle has to blow out this fire. Kyle banged the table for IUK getting that contract, but Kyle is too much value on Sundays Contract, but Kyle's too much value. It's time for them to get a real GM with a vision because the drafts have been awful and something needs to change after this IUK debacle. Kyle deserves a lot of the blame for the IU situation. The GM in the front office was prepared to trade that guy around the draft because we're not paying $75 million for a guy that's never going to catch more than 75 balls. And this is when IUK was healthy and good. Very talented player, but I'm not paying a premium. Like ST Brown gets paid a premium but they utilize him. He's going to catch 100, 120 balls every single year. Iuk in this offense is going to play third fiddle to George and Christian McCaffrey and just running the ball. And that's Kyle's offense. So like Kyle deserves blame for this is where coaches take the emotion. All these guys in the front office would have traded him but, but but Kyle's like I gotta have him on Sunday. It's like Kyle, I can find Kendrick Bourne up the scrap heap and Mac Jones and I I watch you have 10 catches, 150 yards with a guy against the Rams who might win the Super Bowl. So like this is where Coaches, Kyle is beside Jed York. No one has more juice in that building than Kyle Shannon. Nothing happens like the voiding the contract. If you think that was all the business people and not Kyle. Like Kyle's. Listen, Kyle can be a dick. I also think he's not dumb. Like, you know, business. You gotta be very, very careful with the way you crush a guy with money. You want people to play for you. You want your own guys on the team that they're friends with. Iuk. So it's a delicate situation. But to me, a lot of the blame was like, obviously IUK not showing up or you know, doing things to ruin a contract is he bears that responsibility. But like Kyle signed up for this. You know, they knew what they were doing. So I, I, I, I don't feel much sympathy in the sense of like the other guy's not the coach talks. Like how he doesn't talk during the season. Les needs not talking. Like it's part of the business. Like Kyle talks and again, Kyle's the. Of all the guys you just listed beside the owner, Kyle's the highest paid guy. So there's in his contract. No move is made without him signing off on it. And we'll see. This draft doesn't look terrible, but like it was clear. Like, I don't know if this was a scout draft, this was a coach draft. And I'm pro Kyle, because like you said, his value on Sundays. Listen, you, when you are a valuable individual, people can live with your flaws. This was my issue with J.J. mcCarthy, like, not productive, not available. Well, in my world, you're useless, right? It's like Doc Rivers said, as long as your talent outweighs your problems, you're going to be on the court, right? The moment that that ratio goes problems over talent, you're done. And it's no different. Listen, coaches big egos, how would they not? They're making 15, 20 million dollars. I think a lot of myself too. If every day I looked in the, in my direct deposit, I'm getting a million dollars a month, right? You're going to have a big ego, especially when you're great at what you do. But like there's, he's not perfect, you know, I don't think he's the easiest guy to deal with every day. Obviously there's a lot of opinions on the roster in the off season, but he's pretty awesome. I mean, you watched him. Kyle Shanahan versus Dave Canales was varsity versus jv. Now listen, Kyle Shannon, like comparing me to Dave Canales. No shit, John. That's varsity versus Pee Wees. But that was. If that was flipped and you gave Robert Sala and Kyle Shanahan that team, the Niners lose that game 100% because Dowdle would have had 30 carries and 200 yards like that. That was. That was really, really embarrassing for Canalis. It really was. Was talking to some buddies about how terrible the Travis Hunter trade looks for the Jags. What if we stayed and grabbed Membu, Warren T. Mac, et cetera, and then still had a two and a one. But then we arrived at how impressive it is that the coach has the team 7 and 4 with wins over the Niners, the Chiefs, the Chargers, and the Texans. I know we can't trust the Jags in any serious manner, but Liam, our sweet Italian DC And Trevor are doing great. I would say. Trevor, didn't he just throw four picks against the. The. Almost at the Falcons, the Cardinals? I wouldn't say Trevor's doing great, but I would say this. And Bears fans can relate. It looked like you nailed the coaching hire. And when you get the coach right, young offensive guy, like, listen, Liam Cohen's like legit. I honestly think he was undervalued last off season. Like, if, if you could have a do over. I do. Like, if you're the jets, would you rather have Liam Cohen or Aaron Glenn? But in fairness, like, Aaron Glenn had played there. He'd been a bigger name for longer. I take Liam Cohen. Like you said that Italian dc like, they're pretty good. Like they, they are. Their coaching staff with the Jags is good. The Travis Hunter one. Listen, you make some mistakes. It happens. It's. I'm not going to crush them. Because you don't get paid to draft, you get paid to win. So like, the 49ers have had a lot of shitty picks over the years. I mean, a lot. And they started with Solomon Thomas, who actually is going to have a 12 year NFL career. They drafted him third overall. Now, granted, the Bears drafted Trubisky at 2, but still, the difference between them and the Bears, like Niners win a lot, so it's like they take less shit. You could miss on every draft pick if you're winning 11 games a year. No one's going to say anything. I mean, we really get into the weeds and nitpick you. But like, okay, I'm in the playoffs every year, so I think it all comes down to the Travis Hunter thing. Anyone with any sort of understanding about the NFL, you don't even need to be a Player, you don't need to be a coach, you don't need to be an executive or a GM would go. In what world is a guy going to be able to play both ways? Especially I would have given it some credence of like, he did this at Georgia or Alabama. So every single week he's covering and playing against the best guys in the country. If every single week you played Ohio State, it's like he won both ways and he. And he handled it, I'd be like, okay, he might be able to do it. There's no way it's humanly possible because every single week in the NFL. Okay, Jamar Chase this week. Well, who do you got next week? Terry McLaren. Who you got the following week? A.J. brown. A little lighter week this week? D.K. metcalf. Every team has good wide receivers, so it's impossible. And then playing wide receiver is hard enough. The physical toll you take of getting tackled, it was impossible. It was dumb. I think they overthought it. If you just would have stayed at. If Travis Hunter, you just would have drafted Travis Hunter and not made the trade and said, hey, we're just going to play him a wide receiver, I would be like, no problem. But I'm with you. I mean, every time I look at the Browns and Miles Garrett running around, the dude from Michigan, Mason Graham is fucking all over the place. That guy's a baller. Do you think If Love and McCarthy swap coaches, they both be more successful? Love would be able to showcase his elite arm talent in a pass first offense and Koc with Koc and maybe McCarthy could be a functional game manager. He would definitely be a better player in a run heavy offense. Right. Playing LaFleur, Kyle Shanahan, Ben Johnson. Right. A guy that's going to just lean. I want to run the ball 30 times a game. But even in that offense, look at Purdy last night throwing some of those picks. There are. The passing game is off, the run game and you got to be three steps, five steps, let it go. Hit the guy in stride. A big part of like the Niners offense or the packers offense, which is, you know, essentially the same thing. Get guys in stride, run after the catch, explosive plays. Well, he's really, really inaccurate. So I think Love 100% would look better with those two wide receivers and the tight end. Yes, he would look good. He would. They would be throwing bombs. Question for the Mailbag. I heard Richard Sherman talking about Brandon Iuk, basically advising him to play and not sit out. I was under the impression that he was still injured and that he would play when healthy. I guess that's clearly not the case. And I was wondering, what the hell is going to happen with Brandon and his contract. I'm as confused as you are. And I watched Mike Silver that reported on the story do an interview on Instagram with knbr, which is the big local radio station in Northern California. And even he said he didn't have all the details. It is a very confusing story. So I. Unless I have all the pieces, like, is he healthy enough to play right now? Because if he's not, then there's nothing he can do. But is he healthy enough to play? And he's refusing to come back because he doesn't want to risk any injury, doesn't want any part of the 49ers. I'm with Richard and anyone else with a brain like, bro, the real world, even if you are extremely successful, and I mean a baller, the chances that you are ever making $25 million a year if you don't own and sell a business are slim than none. I. The most. One of the most successful guys I know who just said he. I was with him within the last six months. He's probably early 40s. And he's, you know, he's a very success. I mean, this guy is a hustler. I knew him in college, and he's just a businessman. He's wheeling and dealing a lot of different industries, real estate, stocks. Said he by far had the best year he's ever had in his career. And a lot of it was he had huge risks. He put a lot on the table, made like $10 million. And even I was pretty actually intoxicated at the time. So maybe I wasn't, like, blown away, but I kind of thought about it, like, when I was the next day driving home and I sobered up, like, that is insane. What a year. That's badass. But that's. You're never getting $25 million back. You don't. There's not a human alive. Unless you're Bezos or, you know, one of these guys, Steve Ballmer, who just. 25 million. You wouldn't even notice. No one is giving that type of money up. That is malpractice by the agent, by the individual. It's just a. It's just a sad, embarrassing situation. There's probably a lot of different adjectives to describe it, but I'm with Sherman. I think what he's trying to say is, bro, this thing will end for you. And here's the other elephant in the room. What if he's never the same? We see it with athletes all the time. They have a major injury and they are never the same. So what if when you come back and you get cut and you're available, people work you out and they sign you like a one year, two million dollar deal just to see what you look like and you don't look right and then you can't make any money. Like there aren't industries like the NFL that pay people $25 million where you're a W2 employee. That's an incredible opportunity which you earned, you negotiated. Giving that up is it honestly just makes me at a loss for words. I can't even begin to relate. And the 49ers are extremely lucky if he's truly not going to fight it because they're getting bailed out in this situation. Like they fucking signed the contract. So it's not like I feel sympathy for them, that they should get out of it. Like they were the ones willing to, you know, do a deal. Congrats on all the success with the Chiefs. Offensive aggression since B. Enemy left. Why is it not considered to be brought back? What is the league's view of Eric B. Enemy and why is he not more sought out? OC or head coach? That's a great. I mean, my buddies with the Chiefs always liked him. You know, he became the offensive coordinator in Washington. Didn't go well. UCLA was really, really bad. He's a running back coach right now for Ben Johnson, so he's in a good spot. I think people would say it's like Andy Reid was calling the plays, not B. Enemy, but I don't know. I can't speak to that. You know, sometimes, yeah, I don't understand. But I also don't view their aggression as like, tied to him. I think it much more has to do with, like, you lose, Tyree Kill, Travis gets old. You're a little different. You've seen this year when they've been healthy, they've been much more explosive on offense. Patrick needs to play better. You know, it's like part of it too is like, Patrick hasn't been as good the last couple years. It's just that simple. Patrick was in during the regular season, was one of the greatest players we'd ever seen. Last couple years kind of hit or miss. Still good, still awesome in big moments and great in the playoffs. But like in the regular season, week to week, he's just not as dominant as he once was. We appreciate that. You Never conceal your disdain for terrible NFL coaching. And with the overdue firing of Chip, can you give us your list of your personal worst NFL coaches of all time? We got to know where Brandon Staley and Jim Tomsula stack up in the manure pile. That's a good question. I would say. I'd have to think about that because the thing with Chip is like Chip, once upon a time was good. And then he went to Philadelphia and he was never the same after that. And post those last year In Philly, the 49ers, the UCLA, I know he had a good little stretch there in the playoffs, but I mean, Ohio State, I didn't even think he was that good the majority of the year either. Obviously with the Raiders, ran it ran a big time scam. But like Chip was changed the sport. Brandon Staley had one good year and to me it was just his press conferences made me want to puke in my mouth. Tomsula, in fairness to Jim Tomsula, there are a lot of guys like him that are just defensive line coaches or linebacker coaches or o line coach that are good. Jim Tomsula was a good defensive line coach. There is not a human alive that has ever thought this guy should be our head coach. Except if your name is Jed York and Trembalki. So I don't even blame Jim Tomsula. It'd be like, hey, the Minnesota Vikings just called me. They said, hey, we're going to put JJ McCarthy on IR and we're going to have you, John, do you want to be our quarterback? And I said, yeah, how much are you going to pay me? They're like, we'll give you $500,000 a game. And I said, yes, well, if I get out there and I suck, because I would suck, it's not my fault, it's the Vikings fault. So a lot of these guys that get hired, it's like John Morrow, when he hired Joe Judge, like, how did you think that was going to go? Obviously the Brian Dabel thing did not go well, but like, that's an understandable hire, I would say, statistically, based on the outcome of wins and losses and how long the guy survived. I do think Josh McDaniels is the only guy who's been a head coach twice and didn't make it to the end of year two, either year. I remember when he got fired, it was like an NFL record. He's had two stops. Didn't got fired midway through the second year both times. That's. That's pretty hard to do.
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This is Sophie Cunningham from Show Me Something. Do you know the symptoms of moderate to severe obstructive sleep apnea or OSA in adults with obesity? They may be happening to you without you knowing. If anyone has ever said you snored loudly or if you spend your days fighting off excessive tiredness, irritability and concentration issues, it may be due to osa. OSA is a serious condition where your airway partially or completely collapses during sleep, which may cause breathing interruptions and oxygen deprivation. Learn more at don'tsleep on OSA.com this information is provided by Lilly, a medicine company.
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Learn more at paypal.com payin4paypal inc.nmls910457. Okay, why are Broncos fans on Twitter so delusional and sometimes obnoxious about Bo saying he's the MVP or that he's a better quarterback than guys like Herbert and May? Why? I I think before I even read the rest of this, if, if you're ever getting mad about people on the Internet and their opinions like it's it's a waste of your energy. Now if you can handle going to comment sections and laughing and putting a smile on your face. But if you're going to get worked up and listen, I'm guilty. I do it every once in a while and then I realize, why am I doing this? Why do I give a shit what all these people are arguing about? I still find it crazy in 2025 how people whether it's Twitter, whether it's Reddit, whether it's like the comment section and the athletic articles, how do people just go back and forth and argue? And I used to do it a lot when I was younger but like, no one ever goes, yeah, good point. I changed my opinion. So I you can't get worked up for people on the Internet. It's extremes. So I don't know what to tell you. Who would win a fight, Salah or d'? Amico? Once you've answered that the underdog gets a tin of zone and the favorite has to run a mile before the fight. Who wins? Now d' Amico was the rookie defensive player of the year as a rookie. You know, rookie defensive player of the year played at Alabama and it's just a certified badass like middle linebacker in the NFL. I, you know, Robert Sala, I was Gonna say Western Michigan, but he looks fantastic now. And I. You listen. HGH is a hell of a drug. He went to Northern Michigan 97 to 2000. Obviously was not a pro. He was a tight end. I would say if you take Robert Sala from Northern Michigan and d' Amico from Alabama and put d' Ameco over Robert Sala and say, stone him at the line of scrimmage, I'm taking d' Ameco now in a fist fight. You never know. I don't know if either guy's trained, but I would like d' Amico's chances. Though I do believe that Salah has gotten dramatically bigger over the last six or seven years. For a guy whose job is pretty labor intensive in terms of his time, he's got like 15 kids like Philip Rivers. How does he have time to get such elite pumps in? My buddy, Guy Haberman, who just had a baby, congrats. He, he calls Niner games this year and he's taking a little break because they just had the baby. But he was on the road and he's just saying, you know, he had lunch with Sala and Gus Bradley and he said Sala's pretty healthy eater. So clearly you don't get that shape at, you know, in your late 40s, great in the gym. It ain't Jamba Juices and it ain't protein. So you have the good stuff. And I'm not saying steroids, but you just, you get older, you know, you get a little testosterone or whatever. And to me, the diet, nothing has been truer in my life. As you get older is the impact of diet. I work out, I would say on average like six days a week. But I feel like I've gotten fatter than I ever have over the course of the last couple years. It's like your metabolism changes and your diet has to change. And eating healthy and Robert Sala, I think is an elite healthy eater. Well, you see like Kyle Shanahan who's like 45, looks skinny. I bet there are days where Kyle Shanahan does not eat. It's not like Kyle's lifting. I bet Kyle just eats like Red Bulls, Adderall and Gatorades. As a Vikings fan, we really don't have much hope. JJ or 9, you can't have a nickname and you can't wear the war paint when you are statistically the worst quarterback since Jamarcus Russell. We have to change the self made nicknames. Listen, Kobe gave himself nicknames, but he backed it up. You can't give yourself nicknames LeBron. Same thing. Like if you're going to be a self proclaimed whatever the name is, you have to be good. And Quesi is one of the worst drafting GMs the Vikings have ever had. I agree that you know, say what you want about the previous regime. What's his name? It escapes me. Zimmer and God. I had him on the podcast a couple years ago. What the hell is the former GM's name? Great guy. Retired. His brother is a former Lions linebacker who works with the Lions now. I don't know why I can't think of the name but he was good. Like he, I mean just look at the guys he drafted from Daniel Hunter to Eric Kendricks to Harrison Smith to Justin Jefferson came on his podcast. I apologize. Brains not firing on all cylinders. Is there any hope? I like o' Connell but Flores is gone this off season. Yeah, I don't know. I mean it's just the sport is so quarterback dependent that like if your quarterback is one of the worst in the NFL, there's, there's not much you can do and your options are pretty limited. So you look around like what are they going to do? Could they trade for Mac Jones? Could they sign a guy like Gardner Minshew? I mean their options are pretty limited. You're not going to draft another guy? More than likely it's yeah, I'd say you're kind of screwed. Should the Cardinals go back to Murray when healthy, I think they should move off him and stick with percent and draft the new quarterback. Part of the reason they're never going to go back to him is because if he gets injured then his contract guarantees the following year. So I Kyler Murray's never going to take another snap for the Cardinals would be my guess. But it's, it's, it's not because he might not give them some juice. And you know, if Jacoby has a couple bad games like he couldn't be better than him. I think it just has more to do with money. First that loser Patriot fan from a few years ago we have forgotten you wanted to jump ship and after two down years you ought to be ashamed of yourself fake fan. My actual thoughts in the NBA we've seen a rise in significant injuries because the players are moving running substantially more. I'm wondering if there are a similar correlation between that and football. As the passing game has gotten more frequent I imagine there's been a significant increase in running. Curious your thoughts. You mentioned having allergies. Start consuming locally farmed raw Honey, daily, I would say on the NBA and the injuries, my theory again, not a doctor, couple worthless state school degrees. Simply has to be. I think training has changed dramatically. And I was watching this thing with Shaq the other day that was like I would show up fat and I would use training camp and early in the season to get in shape. And he wasn't alone. Most guys in the 70s, the 80s, the 90s, did not train 365. I can imagine Christian McCaffrey, George Kittle, those type guys of 365 days a year, there's got to be under two weeks where they aren't doing something physical that relates to training for football. And part of that's, you know, saunas, cold tubs, stretching. But they are constantly, and I'm just using them as examples. The training year round, there has to be a strenuous kind of toll on your body because like you said, the games now, it's never been faster. It's more spread out, NBA running, gunning, NFL spread out, running around. But I just think there's an element of, I don't even want to say over training, but the ratio of training to actually playing in football. Because in training camp you used to play a lot of football, right? Double days, work at it and now they don't. So I. That's always been my theory. Could be way off. Would love to know. Being an NFL scout works, is it salary 9 to 5 workweek? Do you compensate those that watch 30 plus hours of film? What are the incentives of being a go getter scout versus the average scout? I had a buddy tell me this. His problem with the scouting industry is there is no incentives. You know, I just, I'm redoing some turf in my backyard and the guy was kind of a go getter salesman. Came out and we started talking about the business and he clearly gets incentivized. The more jobs he bids and sells and more turf he sells, the more money he makes. So he's incentivized to kind of hustle, right? He there's a big difference between he could make hundreds of thousands of dollars more by working way harder. There is no incentive as a scout, you could be the worst scout alive. And if the GM and the head coach likes you, you're on scholarship, you could be an awesome scout. And if the head coach or GM doesn't like you or you piss off the owner or something, you get fired. So, you know, the salaries vary depending on how long you've been in the league. You know, could start anywhere from 60, 70, 80k to guys making hundreds of thousands of dollars as an area scout. But on the road, constantly working long days, there's no clocking in or clocking out. You're kind of always on call. It's. I always thought now once you become like the gm, obviously it's, it's pretty glamorous, but it's not a glamorous job. Now once you become the three or the two and you're making 500 grand, 800 grand, obviously you make a lot of money, but I know a lot of people that work in tech or whatever that make a lot of money that have weekends off year round that can go on vacations whenever they want. You know, that's not the way football works. It's obviously really busy during the fall and then your season starts once the season ends. The all star games, the combine, the pro days, the draft. So I mean your only downtime is really like June in a little bit of July. But even then you're watching players to get ready for the fall. So it's, it's a grind for sure. The Steelers are stuck in no man's land after nearly 20 years. I think they need to move on from Mike. Beyond that, this team has a lot of problems and an inconsistent offensive line. No long term quarterback solution, no credible wide receiver outside of Metcalf and expensive defensive led guys. Yeah, I think the gm, I would think about getting rid of him too. I mean if the Ravens win on Thursday night and they're 7 and 5 and the Steelers lose the Bills, it would feel like they started 1 in 5. Can you imagine being a Steeler fan and if this year ends and you lose the division by multiple games and miss the playoffs. We were four and one. They were one in five. How did this happen? It's like, well, you started playing better teams. You're not very good. Your roster isn't that good. Unless TJ plays like Miles Garrett every game, you're just not going to have a chance. You traded a second round pick for DK Metcalf. DK Metcalf is a two. I mean that's what he is. You paid him $150 million. It's one of the worst personnel moves I remember in recent memory because even with George Pickens Cowboys and pay him. It was a risky move and it's obviously paid dividends. But they gave what second or third round pick for a guy on a rookie contract? Now they can choose to pay him now. But like if the Steelers had traded a third round pick for DK Metcalf and not extended him and he was just playing on his previous contract. Would they extend him right now? And the answer would be no. Being a Bears fan, with all the hype in the media has been portraying on them since the Bengals game, I truly believe we can go four and two in our final four games. Ben and the coaching staff have proven week in, week out that they can pull off close wins. Haters will hate and think this is some same old Bears even after beating the Steelers yesterday, who have a winning record. But the Bears can't control that. Johnson has shown improvement in game management along with Caleb showing massive improvements in his overall performance. Our defense isn't 100% healthy and our linebackers, JJ and Kyler, we still so basically just wanted to get your insight. Yeah, I mean, I. I don't think the Bears are going away now. I do. I think it's going to be easy against the packers and the Lions. I don't. But. And the Eagles. I think if you beat the Eagles and I get. The Eagles are a little weird this year, no one can say shit. I mean, the Eagles are coming off a devastating loss. The game's in Philadelphia. If you win that game, you're headed to the playoffs whether you beat the 49ers or not, because you'll probably split with the Packers. So I'd feel pretty good if I were you. Hey, John, question for the bag. Jalen is taking a lot of heat right now for the way the Eagles offense is performing, but schematically he truly is receiving no help. The film breakdown shows the receivers are running the same two or three routes every play, thus gaining no separation as the defense knows exactly what's coming. I've heard it described by those who understand schematics as absolutely elementary. It's not unfair to place that at the feet of Jalen. When we've seen how garbage Patullo schemes are. I think it's a combination of both. Like clearly this offensive coordinator is a downgrade over what they had. And all signs point to Jalen not pulling the trigger when sometimes you can push the envelope, he will just always take the safer out. And I think there's clearly a human element of AJ and him. I don't care who you are and how professional you are and how much money you make. If you get into a business situation where a guy that relies on you and a guy you rely on don't like each other, don't respect each other. Because listen, we don't like a lot of people that we do business with welcome to life. But if I don't respect you and he doesn't respect me, which I think it's fair to say that at this point, I don't care what they say, it's got to throw you off. That would throw you off in a normal business setting, definitely on the field. So I think the situation with A.J. brown has just, has just kind of bled in. The problem was he's so talented, you still kind of need him if you want to try to win the Super Bowl. And they kind of just got stuck in a situation where they couldn't pivot off of them. So, yeah, I mean, I think a lot of people bear blame. At the end of the day, this is, you know, I get your Philly and you guys are get angry. But you're, you did win super bowl. You're the defending super bowl champs. I do think you probably thought early in the season like we're going back to back. Still possible. You beat the Bears, it's still right ahead of you. The Cowboys game doesn't just end your season. You know, you can go 13 and 4. You're going to lose a couple games. Losing at Dallas is not the craziest game to lose. So let's just watch a couple more weeks of the Eagles before we completely write them off as screwed. Adios. Have a great day. The Volume Honestly, Honestly, Honestly, no one wants to think about hiv, but there are things that everyone can do to help prevent it. 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This is Sophie Cunningham from Show Me Something. Do you know the symptoms of moderate to severe obstructive sleep apnea, or OSA in adults with obesity. They may be happening to you without you knowing. If anyone has ever said you snored loudly, or if you spend your days fighting off excessive tiredness, irritability and concentration issues, it may be due to osa. OSA is a serious condition where your airway partially or completely collapses during sleep, which may cause breathing interruptions and oxygen deprivation. Learn more at. Don't sleep on OSA.com this information is provided by Lilly, a medicine company Toyota.
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Guaranteed human.
Date: November 26, 2025
Host: John Middlekauff (from 3 & Out, presented by Zone Pouches)
Production: iHeartPodcasts & The Volume
This episode is a dense Thanksgiving-week rundown for NFL fans, hosted by John Middlekauff. He previews the Thanksgiving Day NFL slate, fields a lively listener mailbag, and offers pointed commentary on quarterback situations, coach performances, and current league storylines — particularly with the Vikings, Packers, 49ers, and more. The tone is candid, irreverent, and loaded with seasoned football insight, making it a must-listen for fans heading into a pivotal week of NFL action.
(Begins at 03:40)
(Begins at 13:20, resumes throughout)
“He doesn't show flashes. You watch this guy, he is completely over his head… You have an elite coaching staff and you’re paying a premium—you gotta make decisions. You can’t keep waiting.” (16:00)
“It’s one of those, if you are the Panthers, you regret badly. ... Bryce just seems like a fantastic guy, just not a very good player.” (15:05)
“Daniel Jones knew they were going to go with J.J. McCarthy because they just drafted him high. It literally happened to him.” (20:32)
“Kyle deserves a lot of the blame for the Aiyuk situation… No move is made without [Shanahan] signing off on it.” (25:09) “As long as your talent outweighs your problems, you’re going to be on the court. The moment the ratio goes problems over talent, you’re done.” (28:40)
On sports talk shows’ repetitive nature:
“I don’t know how First Take writes their headlines... Is that the biggest win of Dak’s career? It would be fucking exhausting. I couldn’t do those topics every week.” (07:00)
On player durability and contracts:
“The chances you are ever making $25 million a year if you don’t own and sell a business are slim to none. ... Giving that up—it honestly just makes me at a loss for words.” (37:35)
On football culture & draft mistakes:
“You could miss on every draft pick if you’re winning 11 games a year. No one’s going to say anything.” (33:23)
On internet fandom & arguments:
“No one ever goes, yeah, good point, I changed my opinion. You can’t get worked up for people on the Internet. It’s extremes.” (44:32)
On overtraining and injuries:
“Training has changed dramatically. ... There has to be a strenuous toll on your body because, like you said, the games now, it’s never been faster.” (47:22)
John Middlekauff’s style is sharp, candid, and unfiltered — he’s not afraid of profanity (“That was a massive win by Dak Prescott... I couldn’t be in that business… I just couldn’t do those topics day after day, which in a weird way I respect because you’d have to fake it at a certain point.”), and he regularly veers off-script for asides and stories that keep the tone lively and authentic.
If you’re a football fan who wants sharp analysis, honest QB takes, and some inside-baseball NFL culture, this episode is loaded with actionable insights and entertaining takes on some of the biggest teams and personalities in the league right now.