Bills Lose & Fire McDermott, Caleb Miracle Not Enough, & Pats Get Nix-Less Broncos w/ Albert Breer and Mark Schlereth

Summary

The Ryen Russillo Show: "Bills Lose & Fire McDermott, Caleb Miracle Not Enough, & Pats Get Nix-Less Broncos"

Podcast: The Ryen Russillo Show
Host: Ryen Russillo (now on Barstool Sports)
Date: January 19, 2026
Length Covered: Main episode (ads, intro, and outro skipped)
Guests: Albert Breer (SI/MMQB), Mark Schlereth (Stink of Truth/Fox)
Regulars: Kyle, Ceruti (Life Advice segment)

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Episode Overview

This episode reacts to a huge weekend in the NFL playoffs, headlined by the Buffalo Bills losing and firing coach Sean McDermott, the Rams eking out a win over the Bears, and the impact of the Bo Nix injury for the Broncos heading into the AFC title game against the New England Patriots. Russillo breaks down the games’ storylines, goes in-depth on team futures with Albert Breer, and Mark Schlereth helps assess Denver’s path minus Bo Nix. The show closes with a lively Life Advice segment featuring personal stories and listener emails.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Sean McDermott Fired After Bills Playoff Loss

(See Breer segment, [19:25])

• Initial Reaction: Russillo sets up the day: “Is Sean McDermott out as the Bills head coach? We’ll do that with Breer…”
• What Went Wrong:
  • “A great quarterback had a bad game and he at the same time got them back into this game. Despite his mistakes.” ([16:50], Ryen)
  • “McDermott’s out. We’re going to do more on that with Albert Breer here shortly. Nine years in, I have no issue with it...” ([18:45], Ryen)
• Breer's Insider View:
  • "McDermott was surprised by the decision this morning... people there felt a little under the gun this year in a way that was different than in past years." ([19:25], Albert Breer)
  • Owner Terry Pegula made the move, promoting GM Brandon Beane to President of Football Operations – big change, big opportunity.
  • The urgency: “You’ve got a quarterback who does things that no one's ever done before in the prime of his career. And you probably have one shot at this…” ([20:45], Breer)
• What's Next in Buffalo?
  • “It’s incumbent upon them to look under every rock... just call everybody. You may get laughed off the phone if you call the Niners about [Shanahan]... but why not?" ([20:56], Breer)
  • Keeping the offense stable around Josh Allen is paramount; don’t overhaul what’s working for him.

2. Josh Allen: Accountability and Playoff Narrative

([15:00–18:45], Ryen)

• Russillo pushes back against media overreaction:
  • “He’s a great quarterback who had a bad game, full stop. There’s nothing else to evaluate.”
  • Points out Allen’s playoff numbers generally improve compared to regular season: “Higher completion percentage…higher QB rating…more yards per game…interception percentage...cuts in half…This guy is a killer in the playoffs, but he has an 8-7 record, so I’m not allowed to say it.”
  • “Seven playoff losses where his defense allowed 31.5 ppg.” ([18:00], Ryen)

3. Rams Edge Bears – Stafford’s Struggles, Caleb’s Heroics, and Narrative

([01:50]–[12:00], Ryen)

• Rams’ Concerns:
  • Russillo, who’d picked the Rams for the Super Bowl, airs doubts after their close win: “Stafford had a success rate on dropbacks of 32%, the lowest of his season…maybe it’s the finger, right?...McVay beat himself up…didn’t feel like I was in the flow.” ([03:45], Ryen)
  • “Now it just feels like there’s a gap between these two teams [Rams vs. Seattle] again. That’s how I feel today.”
• Caleb Williams and the Bears (despite loss):
  • “If the Bears had pulled this game out in overtime, that throw is shown on playoff promos for…50 years, I’m taking the over.” ([08:35], Ryen)
  • On the interception criticism: “Not all interceptions are created equal…I am still messing with the idea of coming up with my own interception point system.” ([11:10], Ryen)
  • Russillo walks through every playoff INT – only one truly bad, contextualizing Caleb’s mistakes and defending the young QB.

4. Denver’s Title Odds Tank After Bo Nix Injury; Pats Await

(See Schlereth segment, [39:08])

• On Broncos’ Upset Win and Nix’s Impact:
  • “You try to convince yourself Jared Stidham… is going to be fine, but it’s not.” ([40:30], Schlereth)
  • “Bo Nix for me, outdueled Josh Allen… when your best is demanded, that’s when Bo Nix has been at his best.” ([42:06], Schlereth)
  • “That, you know, that scares me about this AFC Championship game against New England.”
• Broncos’ Defensive Trends:
  • “Trending since probably late November in the wrong direction. They just haven’t been very good.” ([45:39], Schlereth)
  • “Buffalo completely out schemed them in the run game…absolutely eviscerated the Broncos’ run defense, and I thought they completely out schemed them.” ([45:45], Schlereth)
• New England’s Chances:
  • “The Pats have a great chance…their run game scheme and their two backs…they have Ramondre Stevenson, a beast…this is going to be a really, really tough matchup.” ([47:20], Schlereth)

5. Other NFL Coaching and Quarterback Carousel

([23:00–38:50], Breer & Ryen)

• Bills HC Search: Open to bold, even trade-for-coach moves (Kyle Shanahan? Sean McVay? Unlikely but reflective of urgency).
• Baltimore vs. Buffalo Job Attractiveness:
  • "[Josh] Allen’s durability, probably more attractive,” versus organizational steadiness in Baltimore. Both seen as elite jobs, but very different (see [27:55], Breer).
• Miami, Arizona, Cleveland, Vegas, Tennessee Job Quality:
  • Miami and Arizona less desirable due to roster holes and QB contracts. Miami's “ground up” rebuild opportunity may attract some, but both Tua and Kyler have little market at their salaries.
• Quarterback Uncertainty: C.J. Stroud’s collapse raises questions about extending him; “Can’t pay that guy. Or at least wait.” ([50:25], Ryen & Schlereth)

6. Life Advice: Patriots Postseason Joy, Family Wrestling, and Email Etiquette Arguments

([52:00–77:50], Ryen, Kyle, Ceruti, Emails)

• Pats Fandom Dynamics:
  • Kyle celebrates, jokes about being the most passionate Pats fan left. Ryen admits rooting interest has faded: “Now I just want to watch the games… I care more.”
  • Hilarious aside: Kyle’s family chaos—shirtless wrestling in the snow with his brother post-Patriots win, injuring his ankle in the process (“He pulls my Drake May t-shirt jersey… Next thing I know, we’re shirtless… I heard like, a little click in my ankle… I won, but…” [57:38], Kyle).
• Atmosphere at NFL Games:
  • Dissection of whether being in-stadium is worth it, compared to TV at home (“You’d rather watch this shit on TV. It’s just true.” [63:32], Ryen).
• Email: Coffee Shop and “Seat Saving” Etiquette:
  • Listener drama about someone who tries to save seats by putting a jacket down while still in line. Panel agrees: “Don’t become a worse person…If you’re just throwing your jacket places, claiming things, that’s not cool.” ([74:31], Kyle & Ryen)
• Unexpected Minor Themes:
  • The perpetual animus between bike riders and drivers (“This is not ever going to be solved…” [71:04], Ryen)
  • Pregnant/wife gets the panel’s vote over “seat-savers.”
  • Funny riffs on “groups the rules don’t apply to,” with cyclists ranked as a one-seed.

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Notable Quotes & Moments (with Timestamps)

• On the gravity of firing Sean McDermott:

  “You are in a unique window of opportunity right now at that quarterback.”
  — Albert Breer ([20:45])

• Russillo on Josh Allen criticism:

  “He’s a great quarterback who had a bad game, full stop. There’s nothing else to evaluate... This guy is a killer in the playoffs, but he has an 8–7 record, so I’m not allowed to say it.”
  — Ryen Russillo ([17:00])

• On Caleb Williams’ playoff moment:

  “If the Bears had pulled this game out in overtime, that throw is shown on playoff promos for…50 years, I’m taking the over. That would be one of the all time plays in the history of this game.”
  — Ryen Russillo ([08:35])

• On the Broncos’ grim outlook after Bo Nix’s injury:

  “You try to convince yourself Jared Stidham…is going to be fine, but it’s not... Bo Nix has been exceptional. Not taking sacks, being able to scramble out of pressure. And then being clutch. That scares me about this AFC Championship game against New England."
  — Mark Schlereth ([42:06])

• On watching the Patriots playoff run as an aging fan:

  “You, you. You can’t care. This is what happens. Ceruti’s doing the same thing…Now I just want to watch the games, and that’s okay. I care more.”
  — Ryen Russillo & Kyle ([53:32])

• Life Advice, wrestling anecdote:

  “Next thing I know, we’re shirtless. My family’s upstairs, watching us in the…It’s still snowing…I got him on the ground. Made him eat some snow. I won. But…I heard, like, a little click in my ankle.”
  — Kyle ([57:38])

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Timestamps for Major Segments

• Intro & Rams/Bears immediate reactions — [00:00–14:00]
• Josh Allen/Bills season & playoff discourse — [14:00–18:45]
• Albert Breer on the Bills, coach searches, QB futures — [19:25–38:55]
• Mark Schlereth on Broncos, Pats, AFC/NFC breakdown — [39:00–51:54]
• Life Advice (Patriots joy, family, etiquette emails, bike/car rants) — [52:00–77:50]

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Tone & Style

Russillo’s tone is wry, analytical, and conversational, often veering into deadpan humor, particularly during Life Advice. Guest segments are efficient and insightful, focused on granular X’s and O’s as well as broader NFL organizational philosophy. The panel’s banter is casual, self-deprecating, and filled with light-hearted ribbing—delighting in both football nerdery and personal, sometimes absurd, life stories.

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For Those Who Missed the Episode

This episode is packed: immediate, unflinching playoff analysis, inside info on the Bills’ head coaching search, tough questions about star QBs, and skillful breakdowns of what’s happening on the field (and with NFL front offices). The show’s second half veers into personal, hilarious territory as the crew debates fan rituals, etiquette, and recounts family antics. It’s a quintessential Russillo episode—serious football talk, laughs, and just enough shade thrown at odd societal behaviors.

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Perfect listen for: Football fans seeking playoff insight, Bills/Pats/Broncos followers, anyone who enjoys the crossroads of sports, family, and brutally honest life commentary.

Transcript

[A]

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[A]

Before we get to the interviews today and the breaking news, is Sean McDermott out as the Bills head coach? We'll do that with Breer. More on the games of Schleroth and gearing up for conference Championship week. Favorite weekend in football. I know it sucks because you only get the two games instead of the four games. But look, here we are and with the Knicks injury and I know so many people just wondering what's taking me so long with the New England Patriots. I was thinking about this, but it also feels a little unfair to the afc. But with the Rams going into Seattle and How these teams played all season long, like this NFC Championship game. I don't know if Georgia, Ohio State. And then you're like, oh, the winner plays who? Tcu, Remember Michigan, tcu. And then Georgia played TCU and it was not close. Which is another piece of evidence too on some of the stuff where it's like, remember when the SEC used to do all that kind of stuff? So look, that feels maybe a little dismissive. And I'm not even sure that I'm there yet because I think there's also a Rams conversation of like, what's going on with this team? So the Rams pull out this all time game in Chicago. It was so much fun. The weather all weekend long. I loved seeing the weather in these games, by the way. It just, it's. I don't know, it just feels like football late in the season. It's what it's supposed to look like in some of these outdoor venues. So we know it's going to be cold. I don't know how much of a factor that had. Maybe it had a factor on both offenses because it wasn't a high scoring game. A lot of drop balls, balls on the hands of receivers and it's just a totally different challenge. But then you have the Stafford part of this, which leads into kind of how I feel about the Rams, who I picked to win the Super Bowl. And I would say probably for like the last two months of the season, I'm going, hey, this is the best team. This is the best team in the league. And I'm a little shook on that. So I picked the Rams to win this game. They were the favorites. So this isn't like some huge victory lap or anything like that. It's more criticism about who this team is that I thought could win the whole thing. Certainly they still can. They're going up a division opponent. But it's just, it feels a little bit more daunting based on where the Rams have played on offense. So the Rams 516 on third down. I've been hammering this the whole time. They gave a 417 yards of total offense to the Bears. Stafford had a success rate on dropbacks of 32%. Just to remind you what success means. Getting 40% of the yards you need on first down, 60% of the yards you need on second down, 100% of the yards you need on third or fourth down. 32% success rate for Stafford in this game, the lowest of his season, coming off the fifth lowest success rate of a game that he had had all Season long against the panthers. He had 11 off target throws in that game against Chicago, which ties the most he had had as a member of the Rams. And you know, if I look at his on target percentages for both games, it's by far the lowest of like any playoff season that Stafford's ever had. So maybe it's the finger, right? We have a, we have an excuse here with that finger hitting a helmet in that Panthers game. Kyron Williams, thank God for him. If you're a Rams fan, I know the overall numbers aren't massive. It's not like he controlled the entire game, but he felt like the most valuable player certainly on offense for the Rams throughout this entire thing. And McVeigh beat himself up pointing out plenty of things where he said after that first drive, that first series, it just didn't feel like I was in the flow of the game whatsoever. And of course the decision right before the two minute warning on, you know, just a bunch of things in there where it felt like McVay kind of reassessing the job that he did in this game. So there you go. The Rams are playing for the NSC championship game. But when you think about what Seattle looked like, not just against San Francisco, but these dogs that have just been unleashed on this defense, that they can run the football. Yeah, the Darnold turnover stuff just. We'll see. We'll see if it could be an issue. You would think like normally in this kind of game, if the Rams look better offensively, I'd go, hey, the Rams turn it around in that regular season game, they blew a historic game. That doesn't, still doesn't make any sense on that Thursday night or in Seattle. They'll be fine. And it's good that they lost that close one because it like refocuses them on how pissed off they should have been and probably were after they blew that game. But now it just feels like there's a gap between these two teams again. That's how I feel today. I don't know if I'll change my pick on Rams winning the whole thing, but I'm now more open to it on the other side of things with Caleb and the Bears. Look, clearly I'm a Caleb fan, a defender, and it sucks now because I want that fourth down throw to commit the touchdown to tie this thing up. I want that play to live forever. And if the Bears had pulled this game out in overtime, that throw is shown on playoff promos for if it's 50 years, I'm taking the over that would be one of the all time plays in the history of this game if the Bears were to pull this up. Look, they still may show it a lot. I can't believe, I can't believe that touchdown happened. And he is unlike. I was trying to think of a basketball comp of like who do you compare him to? You just like, hey, you're going to just kind of take all of it and not worry about it. It's probably not the safest way to live as a football team, but what this Bears team did, I would think atheists were starting to question their beliefs on some of the stuff that this Bears team was capable of doing late in games. Now, you know, sure, if you're a Bears fan, it's disappointing today, but maybe you can look at a little bit different and say, hey look, we were the underdogs. Granted we were at home. You know, it's not, it's not like this all time team that was upset early and it's like devastating because you were thinking you were going to the Super Bowl. But I don't blame any Bears fan for thinking all of it was on the table once commit pulled that throwdown. And I'm so happy that we saw the replay because the defensive back for the Rams being like comet pushed off, pushed off and another teammate comes over, it's like it's a push off. It's a push off. It's like, no, it wasn't like there was. There's a couple guys jostling but. And I wouldn't blame, I'm like if I, if I were that defender in that spot, I'm like, I have to figure out a way to blame something else other than that just happening over the top of my head. So the entire year is a success for year two of, of Caleb and year one of Ben Johnson. I know it's disappointing today. Maybe you can feel better about it Friday. Maybe you're going to have to get through the super bowl to feel better about what this Bears team did this season. And certainly from an entertainment standpoint, there's nothing that was more fun than the Bears this year. But I'm going to put this out there because it's going to happen in the summer in the lead up to the start of the 26 season. Well, there will be people that thought Caleb sucked and don't want to give in and they're going to say, well, the guy still had five turnovers, five interceptions in two playoff games, which is true, he did. But as you know, as a listener to the show not all interceptions are created equal. I am still messing with the idea of coming up my own interception point system. Probably a lot of work, maybe a little bit older. If I were 35, I'd probably do. If we go through all the interceptions, the first one against Green Bay, 4th and 6 at the Green Bay 40. They actually gained field position on that one. Again, nobody saying, hey, that was an awesome interception. Keep doing it, Caleb. But again, the second one, fourth and one at the Green Bay 6. Had to throw it in the end zone. It would have been great as if it was a touchdown, but he had to throw the ball. I mean it'd be worse if he took a sack than throwing an interception in that spot. The third one, first one of the LA game. It's fourth and two. Rome had dropped the touchdown pass at the goal line, by the way. I don't know if his dad's going to tweet about that. For the two at the LA21 again, you don't want the interception because he rifled that one in there and missed. But it's not that big of a deal. The fourth one, which was the second and 15, that's the worst of any of the five interceptions in the playoffs for Caleb. I don't think he saw the underneath coverage. It was ball was up near enough where that defensive back could get back onto the ball and it was a, that was a bad pick. The fifth one in overtime, second and eight. The shot to DJ Moore. Moore just stops running the route. So you've got to think if you're Caleb and you're letting this one go, your guys at least going to fight to the ball. And you always feel better about the receiver's ball skills. That's why the receivers and not defensive backs, we've heard that cliche far too many times. But Moore just stops and I, I couldn't believe it. And I think there's something that we saw earlier in the game when Moore has that ball, that's actually an incompletion, but we weren't sure. To the left sideline. It's a sick ball that Caleb rips to him. Okay, Moore goes up, he gets crunched, he doesn't control the ball. Ball comes out, whatever. Moore has a hard time getting up, comes out of the game. There's another play later on in the game. It's Moore to the left side. It's like a couple yards, but he gets, you could see it's just going to be a car crash. And he gets smashed again. And you can See that he is just not right. He's having a hard time kind of getting up. He hasn't bounced back up. And it just made me wonder. I'm like, was he so dinged up through this game that he wasn't seeing it? Was he not all the way there physically? So it sounds like I'm making excuses. I am. I'm making excuses on some of these interceptions because I think it's going to be important how easy it'll all be forgotten and somebody on TV will be there in August going, I don't really know, you know, when. When the stakes were the highest. This guy had five interceptions in two playoff games. So the Rams going from best team to into Seattle. Yeah, I'm not. I'm not sure. I'd like to know more about Stafford's finger. If it doesn't remind me of that college football final four. Maybe it does a bit with that Pats Colts incredible comeback by Indianapolis. Bears are staring at you the other side. That's who you're going to play in the Super Bowl. And whoever loses that AFC Championship game is feeling like we just lost ourselves a chance to la Marty, because that Bears team was not very good. That was the whole Rex Grossman stuff. There wasn't just wasn't a great team. They ended up in the Super Bowl. That feels a little dismissive of New England right now. And certainly, who knows, I mean, Stidham going to Denver, I don't know that anybody's going to pick them. The spread went from five and a half to four and a half this morning. But to go into Denver, sure, it's daunting, but it's also this Denver defense that hasn't quite been the same. And I think it's important because all the headlines are on Josh Allen and certainly McDermott out, which I'm going to spend some time on here. But we just have to at least acknowledge that Knicks throw to Mims to put them up 30, 27 in the fourth quarter. Allen came back and got the field goal and tied it up. But that throw to Mims on a day where, you know, Knicks can get really hot. They were rolling on some of that play calling and then it can slow down and then it feels like a lot of the routes are hitting somebody who's. Who's just kind of dropping down into a zone, but he's making those plays and throwing the leg stuff. But the running backs combined in this one. 40 points. The defense gives up 30. So Knicks had to carry this team in some spots where I don't always give him look. I just don't like him as much as some other quarterbacks. But I wanted to acknowledge that one on a day where he ends up going out with the broken foot, which we didn't even. Obviously none of us even realized till later on. I thought it was a joke when somebody sent me a text about the whole thing, but again, the headline of this game is Josh Allen. What we're supposed to do with him. I don't. I'll ask you Josh Allen haters. What am I supposed to do? What are you doing? A great quarterback had a bad game and he at the same time got them back into this game. Despite his mistakes. You know, the end of the first half's inexcusable, right. I'd like to see maybe a couple receivers that were like, oh, that guy's still on the team. So it sounds like I'm making excuses for Josh. I guess I don't. I don't understand the coverage of some of this. It's like, you better say he sucks. Like what? All right. Yeah. Because I still don't know that he sucked. He had a lot of turnovers. He also was probably the only reason they were still in this game. He was guilty of both costing them a win and putting themselves or putting this team in position to win. The overall resume for Josh, it's. It's a quarterback who has been on fire in the playoffs who finally had a bad one and Maybe his only second bad playoff game since Josh 2.0, because I'm not going to count the first game just because I didn't even think he was going to be that good back then at the beginning of the year, or at least the beginning of his career, I should say so once. Once the light went on for Josh Allen, he's. He's been almost flawless. Like the last. What was it, six games? He didn't even have a turnover. If you look at his playoff regular season splits, higher completion percentage in the playoffs, higher QB rating, more yards per game. His interception percentage on throws cuts in half from 2.3 to 1.1 in the playoffs. This guy is a killer in the playoffs, but he has an 8 and 7 record, so I'm not allowed to say it. And maybe I'd point out, once Again, this is seven playoff losses where his defense is allowed 31.5 points per game. So a great quarterback who has been awesome in the playoffs because sometimes these quarterback losses all get thrown into the same category. It's like, well, how come we kill this guy, right? Well, that guy generally isn't as good in the playoffs. Something's up and we have like a bunch of games to pick from. Josh Allen has been damn near flawless going up against Mahomes, losing against these teams that light his defense up. He's running out there going, which tight end do I want to throw to on this route again? And yeah, he. He's a great quarterback who had a bad game, full stop. There's nothing else to evaluate. There's no part of me that's going well. We really got to wonder about this Josh Allen, this playoff Josh Allen, because there's nothing there. There's nothing there. There's nothing that tells you that he's a different guy in the playoffs. Even with the 8 and 7 record. McDermott's out. We're going to do more on that with Albert Brer here shortly. Nine years in, I have no issue with it. It's just kind of what happens. And it usually, if you're going to win a Super bowl, you're going to win it in those first few years. So it's not like I go, hey, they've got to fire this guy. But this is one of those fines. I'm like, okay, fine, Yep, no problem. I would just imagine the top priority is that you just don't want to mess with anything that's happening with Josh Allen. So does that mean Joe Brady stays on? Does he want a head coaching job? I'm sure he does. He's scheduled to, I have, I think, have a third head coaching interview during this cycle. Been a hot name, obviously, after that LSU run in 2019. Not as hot of a name because he didn't come in and fix everything in Carolina. But, but replace Dorsey during the season. And you know, Allen's at an MVP level here, so I don't know why you'd want to disrupt any of that. Like, imagine being the new head coach going, all right, let's. We want to change everything on offense, all the terminology. Let's. Let's have this be like an Josh has to get ready for our system in year two. You know, like, why would you mess with any of that kind of stuff? Brandon Bean, though, moves on, moves up to team presence, so he stays on it. Just be nice. Can we get one receiver for the big guy? Final stat, little stat for you because we didn't spend a lot of time on this game, but we will. With Schler. Stroud finished with a higher QBR than Drake May in that disastrous game for Stroud. The Texans before we move on with the show, a quick word on the tool that keeps people's workflow tighter than my takes. Microsoft 365 copilot the world moves fast. Your workday even faster. Pitching products, drafting reports, analyzing data. Microsoft 365 Copilot is your AI assistant for work built into Word, Excel, PowerPoint and other Microsoft 365 apps that you use, helping you quickly write, analyze, create and summarize so you can cut through the clutter and a clear path to your best work. Learn [e-mail] M365Copilot Black Monday specials extended this season. Albert Breer joins us from SI.com, the MMQB podcast. So let's just run through this. We start with Buffalo McDermott out. What went into the decision? What's next?

[C]

Yeah, I mean, I think you can see the pressure that everybody was under with the reaction to the loss on Saturday. You know, Josh Allen's emotion, you know, Sean McDermott coming out as aggressively on the officials as he did and then doing it again, doing it a second time. You know, I like, there wasn't a lot of internal discussion about doing this. And I know McDermott was surprised by the decision this morning. But I can also say that there had been quite a bit of buzz that people there felt a little under the gun this year in a way that was different than in past years. So obviously that was all warranted. And, you know, this is a Terry Pegula move. And, you know, they actually wind up, you know, essentially promoting their general manager to president football operations. And it'll be interesting to see where this goes moving forward because I just think they have almost an unprecedented opportunity here where you've got, you know, a quarterback who does things that no one's ever done before in the prime of his career. And you probably have one shot of this because of, you know, what, what Josh is and the way he plays. The next time they're looking for a coach, he may not be the same again, you know, like, so I think it's incumbent on them to look under every rock, you know, and I, it's going to sound weird saying this, but just call everybody, you know what I mean? Like, I mean, you may get laughed off the phone if you call the Niners about Kyle Shanahan or the rams about Sean McV. Why not? You know what I mean? Like, if I'm the, if I'm the Bills, I, I exhaust every, every, every avenue. I have to get this, this higher, right? Because, you know, you are in a unique window of opportunity right now at that quarterback.

[A]

I was talking about this in the open. I just wonder how much of this next decision is, hey, we want someone new, but we also want all the Josh stuff to say the same. Yeah, because why would you want to mess with the level unless you're talking about, you know, maybe not having him be your work horse at the goal line every single time. But, I mean, the overall Josh production, who he's developed into, you know, arguably the best quarterback in the NFL. I just wonder how much you want to mess with that with the new guy.

[C]

Yeah, I would say. You know, I actually thought about a conversation I had with Todd Haley, and this was 14 years ago, and he had just gotten to Pittsburgh and, like, he found a way to convince Ben Roethlisberger, dude, you're not going to last playing this way. And at that point, Ben Roethlisberger won two Super Bowls. He'd been in the league eight years, but they had, like, this great young group of receivers and Antonio Brown and Emanuel Sanders and Mike Wallace. And, you know, the. The idea was like, we want you to go out there and play point guard, take the easy stuff. Like, we'll use you as an athlete when we need to, but, like, it's like, you cannot do this for another 10 years this way. And, you know, I think Ben would tell you that, that, that extended his career, you know, and I. I just think watching Buffalo and this is my. My own opinion, everything looks too hard. You know what I mean? Like, and if you. It just. There isn't enough. There aren't enough easy completions. There aren't enough, like, just chain movers. And, you know, part of that is. Is Josh and his style of play, you know, but I think, you know, it's on them now to. To try to.

[A]

To.

[C]

To create a scenario where things are easier on him. Maybe he doesn't need to, like you said, be the battering ram in every big situation. And I think that means finding a way to upgrade some of the talent around him. Although the idea that he has nothing around him, I think is a little overblown because they do have James Cook and a couple of really good tight ends striking out on Keon Coleman.

[A]

Hurt.

[C]

But I think you need to upgrade at receiver. And then, you know, I think getting obviously the head coach right with an offensive system that's right for Josh is paramount.

[A]

What do you think happens to Joe Brady then?

[C]

I mean, I think he'll get a look, and what that turns into, we'll see they like him there. And, you know, obviously, he's. He's drawn interest from different places, so, you know, I think that. I don't think they're married to the idea of just sticking with him, though, because I. I do think that there's a decent chance that whoever the next head coach is has an offensive background. And if you're going to hire a head coach with an offensive background and he doesn't mesh with the coordinator, then it makes no sense to force that, you know, So I do think he'll get a look, but I don't think it's any sure thing that he's back next year.

[A]

How appealing is this job, then? I mean, obviously, the Allen part of it. I'm with you. I think there's parts of this roster I really like, but it feels like this defense is probably going to have to be overhauled here pretty quickly. You know, a couple names, but there's also a couple names that I really like, but guys that are always hurt. You know, the offensive line is terrific. I like Kincaid more than Knox. Running back, you know, whatever. It's not some talentless thing. It's just yesterday, when you start looking at the target dispersal, or Saturday, when you start looking at the target stuff, you're going like, God, you know, like. And Brandon Cooks, like, saved him, you know, in the Jacksonville game. So what, do you sign in November?

[C]

Watch Brandon Cooks. Like, how many balls were there over the last month where Josh put it in a spot that the receiver should be able to get it, and Cooks just getting. Couldn't get to it? You know what I mean? Like, I think that was sort of. I don't know, like, I felt like watching Cooks, who, I think, you know, obviously had a really good career, like, watching him and seeing, like, that's who they're relying on. Yeah, he made the big catch against Jacksonville, but there were so many spots over the last few weeks. I felt like, man, like, if they had a better guy there, that guy gets that ball.

[A]

Yeah, Just that he was that available, and then all of a sudden, he's like a real target, where you're going, okay, it might be somebody who's like the fourth or fifth guy on a good team. Like, hey, we always kind of liked his talent. He's good in the locker room. Like, we can bring him in, add a little bit of depth. And now all of a sudden, it's like, hey, man, can you please get open right. While we're trying to see if we get to the AFC Championship game? So that part of it is very glaring. So, yeah, like on the job, back to the that part of it. Do you think there are names that weren't interested in doing something that are now interested with this news?

[C]

I know the big question is going to be Mike Tomlin. And my understanding is Mike Tomlin's had every intention of taking a year off at least and spending time with family and all that. Does he go back on that because of this opportunity? And I would have said this with John Harbaugh, too. Does his relationship with Sean McDermott complicate, you know, the idea of going there? Because he was college teammates with Sean McDermott, you know, Sean McDermott, John Harbaugh work together. You know, I think everyone who might be on the verge of taking a job right now, like, you know, if you're Jeff Halfley and you're down the road with Miami, and maybe you even have Miami and Tennessee competing a little bit today for you, do you. And a slip comes into Buffalo, do you want to hit pause on it?

[D]

You know what I mean?

[C]

Like, I, I, I think that could happen. I just, it's hard. And this is why I say, like, just explore the idea of trading for somebody, you know, like, who is out there. That's, that, that's obvious that you look at and say, yeah, like, that's the guy who's going to have a second thought about what he's doing right now. I don't know who that is unless it's somebody with an existing team. You know, does it make sense to, to, to look at Kurt Signetti? You know, like, I just think they, they're going to have to look under every rock here, and I think they're going to have to be a little creative. And maybe again, that includes the idea of trading for a coach because there aren't obvious names out there. And it's, it's a weird dynamic because you have 10 openings and, you know, obviously two of them are filled now with the Giants hiring Harbaugh and the Falcons hiring Stefanski. But this was seen going in as, like, as shallow a coaching pool as we've had in a long, long time. And all these teams fighting for coaches and this great job, but is there a great coach to match with it?

[A]

Which job is considered better, Baltimore or Buffalo?

[C]

You know, it's. Because it's fresh. I think Buffalo is going to create, like, a little bit of a frenzy when people have time to sit back and look at it. You know, I think it's interesting because I would say organizationally you would have More trust that the Ravens are going to be able to sustain their level. My question would be, with a quarterback situation, who do you feel more confident in over the next five years? And if the Ravens resign Lamar and the injuries continue, could you wind up being in a tough spot there? You know, so, like, I think it's. You're sort of looking at the quarterbacks, and I think Josh, just because of his durability, is probably more attractive. And you could look at Lamar and say, I love Lamar as a player. You know what I think of him. Right. And a player, a person, all that. But with the injuries, do you look at Lamar now and say, God, if, If. If I go in there and we pay him, like, could we be in a tough spot in two years? I don't think you're looking that way at Josh. But then organizationally, you could look at the two organizations and say, well, the Ravens have done this with multiple quarterbacks. Their success. Their success is sustained over. Over 25 years with. With multiple general managers, with multiple coaches. So organizationally, I think you'd certainly look at the Ravens as a better spot.

[A]

Yeah, I think the Bashati piece of it is. Is a huge, huge plus on this. But it. I don't think it was. I don't think it was a mistake that if you look back to the kind of the timeline of some of the Lamar stuff and then the stuff that leaked out later in the season, that was anti Lamar, and then as soon as Harbaugh's gone, I think there was news that it was like Ravens looking to extend Lamar. It felt like this was a decision that was pro Lamar as opposed to the head coach. And who knows, maybe Shadi looks at it different. If it's year 10 for Harbaugh and he's only a few years removed from those first five years where he's had all this incredible success and maybe year 18, it feels a little bit different. But I don't know how any reasonable football person could look at the Lamar Allen part of it. I'd say Lamar, probably. For me personally, I thought he should have been the MVP over Allen when Allen won it. Okay, having said all those things, bigger picture. Forget, like, season by season and then into the playoff stuff. And what we saw from Lamar, which was a diminished version of him, where eventually, like the running quarterbacks, they don't continue that like it's. It is the most predictable thing ever, that you just start to fall off a cliff as far as that rushing production. And even with him, he's probably good for Another one or two years if he's fully healthy, of being back to the dynamic guy that we see out on the field. I'd also add in, too, like, all this praise of how he had lost weight and got quicker. I'm like, stop doing that. Like, be thicker.

[D]

Don't.

[A]

You don't need to be any skinnier than you already are, considering the way that you play the game. I can't imagine, like, a coach that had his choice of the two would think Lamar is the better quarterback. So everything you just said, I don't even think is debatable.

[C]

Yeah, and I think, like, again, like, with Allen, I just. I look at a player who is. He doesn't run the ball quite as much. He's not as reliant on the run as. As the. The Ravens have been with Lamar over the years. He runs more physically, so that's a factor. But he's also so much bigger, you know, and so if there's anybody that's equipped to. To survive the beating, it'd be Josh Allen. Lamar's kind of just got that, like, linear build that, like, just sort of is what it is, you know, and, yeah, I mean, I, I, like. I don't know if either is going to play till they're 40, to be clear on that, but I think, you know, based on the evidence we have, Josh Allen's got a better shot at it.

[A]

Does Buffalo's opening mess up Pittsburgh?

[C]

No, because I, I don't. Look, I think buff. I put Pittsburgh and Baltimore in the same category in that. Like, I, I don't think they're on anyone else's timeline. I don't think they're going to go over the top to try to land a certain guy. I think they know how attractive their openings are. Historic franchise is very stable. They're not going to, you know, freak out if something goes wrong in year one or year two, you know, so that gives them the leeway to kind of sit back and go through the process. I also think, like, both those teams are informed by their. By their prior experience. You know, Mike Tomlin was on nobody's radar to be the Steelers head coach in 07. It was going to be Russ Grimm or Ken Wisenhutt to try to continue the success that Bill Cower had. And then the Steelers ran a legitimate process, went through the whole thing and landed on Tomlin. And it was sort of the same thing with Baltimore and 08, you know, where, if you remember, Jason Garrett and Josh McDaniels were kind of the hot names, and both those guys pulled their names out of.

[A]

Out of that search.

[C]

And so the Ravens had to kind of, you know, get a little more creative, and they land on John Harbaugh. So I think because of that, those experiences, both those teams are content to be patient and let things play out and find a guy that they think really fits them. That's the other thing that's unique about those jobs, is those two jobs. To me, you have to fit them. It's not them bringing you in and building this organization around you. And that was the case for both Harbaugh and Bob and Tomlin. Now both guys happen to line up on a bunch of things with those organizations. But I think these jobs are unique in that, like that organization you come in, it's not going to be all about you. You have to fit them just as much.

[A]

Rank. Vegas, Cleveland, Tennessee.

[C]

As far as, like the, The. The.

[A]

The.

[C]

Like how good those jobs are. Yeah, Tennessee, Vegas, Cleveland. I would say, depending on what you think of Cam or. I've talked to enough people who think Cam Ward's really got a shot. I like the way they've built out that, that. That front office. So I, I really think that they're in a good position now with some young talent on the roster. And you hope you get the patience, you know, because patience has been an issue in all three places with the owners. Vegas, I look at as Tom Brady has to get this right. Tom Brady has. Like I said to you the last time I was on Tom Brady sort of got some things to learn as an owner in running a football operation, and it's going to take some time for him to do that. But I think they've got a very competent general manager, you know, and John Spytic, maybe the first pick in the draft with Fernando Mendoza. Cleveland's got some young talent they drafted well last year. What's your path to quarterback There.

[A]

You talked about, like, the head coaching market and who's available. There's going to be some teams, fan bases that are going to go like, what are we doing? A quarterback? And you'd be like, maybe the same thing. Because it doesn't. You know, I don't. I don't think Shador factors into the decisions at all here. I don't, you know, I don't think you have to interview for Cleveland, be like, I'm going to turn this guy into a top 17 guy. Right? You know, who knows? Maybe it's a little unfair to him, but if he's the first rounder, you're like, okay, well, we spent his resources on him. We. We have to tailor this around him, and he's not. And he was really bad. He was really bad at games.

[C]

That's my whole thing. It's like Sam Howell was a fifth rounder. Was anybody thinking, like, at the end of that season that he started there? Like, man, they got to bring in somebody to get Sam Howell going.

[A]

They owe it to Sam Howell. You know what I mean?

[C]

No, I mean, like, no one was saying that. You know what I mean? So how much of this is just his last name? I think it's a lot of it.

[A]

Yeah. I'd argue Sam played better than Shadora did, by the way, in the limited time. So you look, I don't. Maybe somebody says something about that, but I don't think that would factor in any of the coaching stuff.

[C]

What.

[A]

Is Miami still a worse job than Arizona? I see it ranked last? No, I think.

[C]

No, I think Arizona. I think Arizona is worse. I think just because you're not going in there in the ground floor with a new GM the way you would be in Miami. Miami, to me, like, I. I look at Miami and I'm like, all right, like, how many guys this is. I'm sure I've done this with you before. Like, how many guys in that roster are going to be there in three years? Like, do you feel really good about. Right. And I. I would say, like, Jalen Waddle, you know, maybe Chop Robinson, but, like, how many guys are there there where you're like, yeah, that's a building block, you know, and that's really kind of been the focus of their search is like, they want to basically reestablish the way they draft and develop their. They've had the fewest draft picks in the NFL over the last four years, and it's shown on their roster. I think they're. They're 22 and 23 draft classes are already completely wiped out. They're all gone. So, like, I think with Miami, the plus there, like, that's. That's not great. But that also means you're going to get some time and you're going to get a chance to build your own team. And for certain coaches, the idea of doing that is going to be attractive. That's why I think Halfley could wind up being their coach by the end of the day, because they look at Jeff Halfley and they see, okay, here's a guy who's been able to manage personalities and Micah Parsons and Xavier worthy or Xavier McKinney. Here's a guy who, you know, was a college head coach, so he had to develop talent when he was at that level. And he's with the general manager, the new general manager there, John Eric Sullivan in Green Bay. So, like, I think the attractiveness of the Miami job is that you get a chance to build it from the, the ground up, whereas in Arizona, you're sort of jumping on a moving train, you know, and, and you've got the quarterback that you're saddled with. Both places you have the quarterback you're saddle with. But in Arizona, you've got an extra year contractually that you have to deal with that Miami isn't dealing with. With Tua.

[A]

Is there any market for TUA or Kyler Murray?

[C]

I mean, I think, I think it would have to be a situation where you're buying a draft pick if you're, if you're one of the, if you're Miami or Arizona. Right. So you're trading him.

[A]

It's like a Brock Osweiler thing.

[C]

Yeah. You're paying down however much of the salary and then you're buying back a fourth round pick. Like, I just, I, the tape wasn't good on either of those guys when they were playing last year. And I, I think maybe they can be somebody's reclamation project. But the problem is, again, the number. You know what I mean? It's, you're trading the contracts. And so this isn't like Baker Mayfield going to Tampa for, for 1 year and 5 million. You know what I mean? Or Sam Darnold going to, to Minnesota for one year and 10 million. It's not the same, you know, like, those guys are free agents and those are true flyers. You know, if you're, you're taking on one of these massive contracts, you need a reason to do it. You know, nobody, nobody would have traded for Baker Mayfield or Sam Darnold with those contracts attached to him either, you know, So I think there's, they could be somebody's reclamation project, but the contract really weighs the Cardinals and the Dolphins down.

[A]

Thanks for jumping on. I know it's a super busy day. Albert Breer, SI.com, the MMQB podcast as well. Must read after a big football weekend and we'll see how it all shakes out. Thanks, man. Talk to you soon.

[C]

All right, thanks, Ryan.

[A]

He's one of the legends. He's one of the greats. Mark Schlager joins us now. Stink of Truth podcast, of course, on the Fox broadcast throughout the season. It's good to see you, man. How are you?

[D]

I'm doing, I'm doing great. I want to first apologize because, you know, my dyslexia. I was supposed to be on with you for like 30 minutes. I'm going to give you 15 of my best, but I wrote it down wrong. You know, you said 12:30 Eastern. I put 12:30 Mountain. Like, I have a really tough time understanding what part of the country I'm in. Time zones get me that spelling and math. Other than that, man, I am solid.

[A]

Solid protection adjustments. You're our guy.

[D]

You want to talk, you want to talk about 5O protection and how we're sliding to the will linebacker? I'm the guy you want to talk to.

[A]

That's, that's why you're here. So don't even worry. There's no spelling. There's not going to be any math. Let's just start in your backyard. It's such an incredible season. Also, if you think about like the gaps of where, you know, Buffalo and Denver were last year, we're like, hey, nice little story, Broncos, but this is going to be an ass stomping. And then you go into this year and you're like, man, you know, to, to win, to win at home, to have the AFC title game at home, but then to have the Knicks injury. What is your feeling on what the chances are here for Denver, which is just such an awful feeling when you should be nothing but excited right now?

[D]

Yeah, it's, it's incredible. I think it's done a couple of things. One like, you know, you sit here and try to convince yourself that Jared Stidham, you know, oh, he's Sean's guy and Sean paid him a lot of money and you know, Sean talks about him in that vein and we've seen him have great preseasons, but it's preseason football, you know, and Bo Nix has been incredible what he's been able to do. He was big part the reason the Broncos won. He out dueled. Now played Josh Allen and you know, you look at, you look at the way Josh Allen played. I mean, Josh Allen missed a touchdown to his tight end. I think it was Kincaid threw an interception. That was just an errant throw where PJ Lock picked it off. Didn't get a pass interference draw in the end zone against, against the Broncos because the ball was, you know, three yards out of bounds. The play, the interception that McMillan got, that was zero coverage. They locked it up, they blocked it up. It was your receivers two yards beyond the DB who's chasing him, can't run with him and you throw It. You under throw it. I mean, Josh Allen had a bad game. He didn't play well. And then, you know, McDermott, 16 seconds left in the. In the first half, and he calls it, like, just kneel on it. Go into the locker room, and they fumble and give up an extra three points, you know, on the field goal. So there's just a lot of things that you look at and you say, wow, Bo Nix, for me, out dueled Josh Allen. The whole national narrative was just nothing. But Josh Allen is the greatest thing ever. And, you know, it didn't work out. And. And ultimately, one of the things that covers up is how bad the Broncos defense played. They couldn't shut down the run. They gave up all those plays, and Josh Allen just didn't take advantage of them. And so now you sit in there and you go in with a backup quarterback and you try to convince yourself it's going to be fine, but it's not. I mean, like, like, hey, listen, I believe Jared Said was a good backup quarterback, and, you know, and I think he'll play pretty well, but Bo Nix has been exceptional. Not given. Not. Not taking sacks, being able to scramble out of pressure and. And then being clutch. When your best is demanded, that's when Bo Nix has been at his best. And like that. That, you know, that scares me about this AFC Championship game against New England.

[A]

Yeah, I thought Knicks was terrific.

[B]

A.

[A]

On the McMillan play, and it was debated and, you know, it depends on kind of where your allegiances are. I felt like it kind of was simple. It's, did the receiver survive the catch, which we always talk about, you're like, well, no. And then you're like, okay, did the ball hit the ground? Well, no. Well, where did the ball end up? Well, it ended up in McMillan's hands. So we can do the screen grab thing. No one who's being honest should be evaluating this from a screen grab. I didn't have that big of an issue with it. Obviously, McDermott lost his mind and then lost his job the day after, but I don't really ever feel like there was a secure catch in there. And then if the ball's never dead because it's still alive and it ends up in the defender's hands. I didn't have that big of an issue with that interception at all.

[D]

Yeah, I, you know, when I initially, I was. I was in. Myself, I was in Peyton Manning's suite with Peyton, DeMarcus Ware, Shannon Sharp, myself and Terrell Davis. And my initial thought was down by contact and. But because it was ruled interception. And I'm with you 100%. Like, there was no clear catch. Both guys were jostling with it. When they did hit the ground, McMillan came away with it. And that's the way it was called. There wasn't. Even if you don't agree with it, there wasn't enough to overturn it based on the clips that we all saw. So that's the way it was called. I'll be honest with you. You know, I was sitting there, Ryan, like, going, Hey, 12 year old stink playing Nerf football. That's a catch. Like, I would. I would have called that a catch. But I'll be honest, I do a game every week. I don't know what a catch is and what a catch isn't. Like, I. Like, at some point we got to sit down and discuss, hey, this is the way we're going to call these things. But every week they leave themselves enough wiggle room to. You could be critical of those, you know, of those calls. I will say this, and I was always coached this, from the time I was in college through my NFL career, we used to say it all the time. Don't ever let it get to the point where it's in the official's hands. And the Buffalo Bills did exactly that by turning the ball over, by making stupid decisions, by not executing on some downfield passes. Like, all those things came back to bite you in that moment in overtime. And so, you know, that's on. As my mother in law used to say, that's your bocce Latin. Don't let it come down to that.

[A]

And the Bills did this Broncos defense, personnel wise, you know, the overall rankings on some of this stuff. And I'm, I'm now looking ahead to Drake May and the Patriots here, which I want to spend some time on that game, too. But if we're looking at like the matchup and what your expectation or where this, this Broncos defense is, because it's, you know, something, you're far more locked in than most of us are. What's like a good way to summarize, like, where they're trending right now as a unit? Because this was supposed to be the strength of the team.

[D]

Yeah, well, they've been trending since probably late November in the wrong direction. They just haven't been very good. And I thought, I thought Buffalo completely out schemed them in the run game. I thought James Cook was. That dude was amazing. And their run scheme, the way they did, the way they operated in their run scheme, they Ran. They ran weak and they got into, like heavy formations. Tight ends little open, and they ran the ball weak. And the tight ends were arc releasing against the defensive ends, holding them out there. And they were cutting back in that C gap and just rat. I mean, they were just. It was seven yards before contact. It was like their scheme was incredible. And then they ran the pitch stuff, the crack pitch stuff, strong, and the Broncos never adjusted. I thought they absolutely eviscerated the Broncos run defense, and I thought they completely out schemed them. And so that's a concern. The Broncos can rush the passer. Yeah. And I think they were a little bit more conservative than I would have liked to seen the Broncos play that game because they were so concerned at Josh Allen's legs and creating big plays running with the football. And he did that several times, especially in the first half. But the bottom line is this defense is, in my estimation, kind of trending in the wrong direction. And so that concerns me a little bit about the Broncos defense right now.

[A]

All right, well, then how do you feel about the Pats chances after their win against Houston?

[D]

You know, I feel like the Pats have a great chance to come in here now. They're 04 in Denver lifetime in the playoff. And, you know, and the Pats have some of their own issues as far as protecting the football, as far as protecting their quarterback. They. They will give up some pressures. And so I think the pressure aspect of that is. Is good. But I will say this. You can say whatever you want about Josh McDaniels as head coach. That guy's a damn good coordinator, and he puts his quarterback in a great position to have success. And Drake May is, you know, athletically gifted. Like, it's a. It's on the surface a really good matchup. Obviously, without Bo Nicks, that makes it. That makes it difficult on the Broncos. Their defense is going to have to just play a hell of a lot better than it played against Buffalo. And I will say this about New England, man, their run game scheme and their two backs. They have. Ramandre Stevenson is a beast. He will run you over. They've got good scheme. They've got, you know, they're great. Josh McDaniel is a great play caller. This is going to be a really, really tough matchup.

[A]

He's mace fumbled at six times down the playoffs. Luckily, he hasn't lost all of them. You can certainly chalk it up to conditions in that game at home against Fox in Foxburg, obviously against the Texans watching Stroud, you know, so I I'm applying the same thing here with Mays. Like, well, that's not going to keep happening. He's not just going to keep fumbling the football all the time because he just wouldn't expect it to. But I had said the same thing about Stroud in a sense of like, okay, well, he got his bad game out of the way at Pittsburgh. He did everything he could to give that game back to the Steelers. Ultimately, the defense overwhelms them. They run away with it. The game went the way I thought that it would go. Stroud was even worse that first half against New England. And I would tell you stink too. There were throws after it felt like every ball was close to being intercepted, whether it was on him or tipped. And granted, you know, he's down Nico, he's down his tight end. He ends up losing both tight ends in this game. So he's throwing a Hutchinson, he's throwing a Higgins, he's throwing a Kirk. There was a moment where I felt like he was aiming at guys Shoelaces, not caring if that it was an incompletion, but just thinking to himself, I have to keep the ball low now. And that was then. Once I start to see that, I see a quarterback that just is so rattled. I was wondering if they were going to go to, to Mills just to be like, let's. We might have to take, take him out of this game. What did you think about everything that you were seeing with Stroud in that one?

[D]

The same thing. I thought that he could easily throw an eight picks. It was, it was bad. I mean, he had that, you know, to be cliche, he had that deer in the headlight look and he was that bad. I mean, it was awful. That first half was as bad as anything I've ever watched witnessed. And yet the Houston Texans defense is so good. They were still in that game, still had a chance to win that game. And yeah, it was. It was unfortunate for him. And you know, I mean, not to speculate or whatever, but now you look at it and you're like, you can't. You can't pay that guy.

[A]

Yeah. Or at least wait. You can wait. You can do the team option thing. You can. I mean, hell, you could even franchise this stuff. If we've learned any lesson, it's that this, hey, let's do the right thing so the quarterback knows that we're on his side. These TUA deals, these Kyler Murray deals, right? And I never thought I'd be comparing Stroud to these guys because I've been a fan and I but this was. This was an awful two games that I think it's totally fair to reassess what kind of commitment you want to make to him because it looked like somebody who just was totally shot confidence wise. Before I let you go on this, give me. I've been Rams now for a long time. I thought the rematch in the regular season was a fluky loss to Seattle where they would then be motivated by all of that because they should have been really pissed off. It's tough to watch that Seahawks defense right now. I want to pick anybody against that group of dudes again if Darnold's going to stay away from it. So how. How have your thoughts changed on now what. What ends up being the NFC matchup that I think a lot of us thought we'd have?

[D]

Yeah, I think the Seattle is playing. I think defensively, Ryan, they're playing so well. They're just playing such good football right now. Their defense reminds me of the Legion of Boom. They are playing that good and they're running the ball well and they're basically managing their quarterback. They're the best team right now. I think you could make an argument they're the best team left.

[A]

Thanks, Stank. Appreciate it, man. Talk to you soon. All right.

[D]

Thanks, buddy.

[A]

You want details? Fine. I drive a Ferrari 355 Cabriolet.

[C]

What's up?

[B]

I have a ridiculous house in the South Fork.

[A]

I have every toy you can possibly imagine. And best of all, kids, I am liquid. So now you know what's possible. Let me tell you what's wrong. Required life advice lifeadvice rrmail.com dudes are already laughing apparently. Look, I feel like I have bummed Kyle out. I haven't liked the Patriots enough. He doesn't understand my history, that I don't really care anymore. It became more about players that were on the team. I was too late for his liking to Drake. May I brought up the schedule. And then look, I fell in love with that Houston front. I still love him, by the way. And you have this game where New England is now onto the AFC Championship game and it just feels like you haven't enjoyed it. Whatever your enjoyment level is, Kyle, it's like 99 and I've prevented it from being 100.

[B]

No, no, no, no. I mean, it is funny. I mean, this is a little Mic is not off.

[A]

Tough Monday.

[B]

I'm recording.

[A]

That actually got recorded. I was good.

[B]

No, no, no. I'm like this is a little peek behind the curtain. We haven't done the slearth part yet. And we've had maybe one word about this game, and I think it was actually, C.J. stroud was better than Drake Mays.

[A]

So it's funny that, like, that's where we are saying. By the way, by the time we.

[B]

Get to this part in the show, you will have already heard whatever they said about this game. But I haven't really. I've been, like, ready to burst. But no, it's fine.

[A]

You, you, you.

[B]

You can't care. This is what happens. Serutti's doing the same thing. He's just like, I used to be a fan and care about all this stuff. Now I just want to watch the games, and that's okay. I'm just. I care more.

[A]

That's all right.

[B]

I'm happy for you. And I recognize I care more than anyone else on this show. And that's why I'm not, like, you know, talking about it so much. Ramandre bet hit, though.

[A]

You know, you're two.

[E]

And, oh, in the alliance, I did lose.

[A]

Ryan lost.

[E]

So. Mr. Football.

[B]

Yeah. Really screwed up the alliance with that Texans pick, huh?

[A]

I did. Look, man, you know, I fell in love with that team. I picked him to win the afc. And, you know, that Rams game, I'm like, am I not going to have either super bowl pick make it even to the conference championship game? But the afc, look, they were great. The Pats. May wasn't necessarily. But that's not even an indictment. On May, it didn't matter. I mean, he's been fumbling the ball like crazy. But when you think about the conditions, everything else. When they needed to run the football down Houston's throats, they did. You know what? I think the biggest play of that game was, was the May fumble that they didn't recover and New England covered because if that had been recovered, it like, inside the red zone. But who knows? With Stroud, like, you want to talk? Yeah. Again.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

It's a lot of like, we'll cover this with Schley Earth again. It's the order of how we're taping this today, so let's not do it.

[E]

But I'm.

[A]

I'm apologizing to you here. Right. This is. This is a level of sincerity. No. That I know there's times that you're kind of like, how come he doesn't love the Pats anymore? How come he doesn't care? Like, this would be so much more fun.

[B]

It would be more fun even if we were on the docket you know, it's just. We're not even on the rundown.

[A]

I feel like sometimes.

[B]

But that's okay.

[A]

I mean, what do you expect?

[E]

I. Kyle, I love you, but I gotta be honest. I'm not a Pats fan. Living in New England, like, it's not fun. It's not fun for me. Like, it's just not fun. I don't even. I don't even know.

[B]

I've been hearing it from you guys the whole time. I get it.

[E]

Yeah.

[B]

You're not breaking any news here.

[E]

It's all right. It's just tough. It's just tough to have to accept.

[A]

Cerutty has a little bit of that, like, buddy of yours that roots for another country in the Olympics thing to him. I don't think he does. He isn't. He's not a communist. I've known him a long time. He's not a communist. I'm definitely not a communist. You're like, if someone made that assumption about you to be like, is he the fucking guy that roots for Italy, South Africa or something in the World Cups?

[B]

Really love South African volleyball.

[A]

I really do.

[E]

A lot.

[A]

Yeah, you're generation being one of those.

[E]

Jersey Italians who thinks they're from. From Italy and like, you know, obviously just like wears the Francesco Tati jersey during the World cup instead of Christian Pulisic jersey. I root for Italy. Italy sucked now in soccer too. But I'm not sitting here going like, hey, man, like, men's 4 by 400 meters, like, let's go. I don't know who is it, who it is, but you know, the green, the green, red and white.

[B]

Let's go.

[E]

That's not me. Come on. No.

[A]

We have a friend who 100% is a communist who in college would be the guy that would root for England or something. And you just feel like, what are you doing?

[E]

He'd root for Russia.

[A]

He just loved him. He just loved. I don't know. I think he loves sca.

[E]

That's just a. That's a weird move. I agree. I don't. I don't like that necessarily at all. But. No, no, I. I can be. I can be. I can be a contrarian in some ways or like, oh, man, I'm not going to root for this team because everybody else is rooting for them or something, but being a. Being a non Pats fan in New England after the Brady Run and now Drake Mace here, it's like, all right, sick.

[A]

Awesome.

[E]

I'm happy for you, Kyle. I'm honest, honestly, I don't even care about the game. I'm happy for you. Happy they won't. There was some, like, extracurricular stuff going on after the game that I'm more interested about because I got a text. I read this to my wife last night. I go, kyle, hold on.

[A]

So this is really. We could have led the show with this.

[E]

Yeah, this is way more important than anything. I was like, you won't believe the text that Kyle just sent me. And she goes, what? And I go, kyle just texted me. Wrestled my brother shirtless in the yard. I think I fucked up my ankle. Life advice, Matteo tomorrow.

[A]

I said, are you all right?

[E]

He goes, not sure.

[D]

Okay.

[E]

That's how we ended it.

[A]

So I don't know. Kyle in. What happened? Did you break your ankle last night?

[B]

I don't think it's broken. It really hurts. I mean, I was driving. Today was a little bit tough, but I don't know. We were just drinking, like, local IPAs. The tall boys went to the. Yeah.

[A]

Nothing dangerous. 8.5.

[B]

9 percenter. Yeah, some. Some crazy thing like that. Like the. Like the cans are a little bit bigger than the regular size ones. And I think it might have been halftime.

[A]

I'm just drinking local IPAs before anybody judges us.

[B]

I think it might have been halftime of the second game. I don't remember what happened. I just remember he said something about, I don't know, maybe we were both out of shape, but I'm more out of shape or something. I was like, I'll fucking wrestle you right now. And he goes, yeah. So we go outside, he pulls my Drake May T shirt jersey, and I'm like, oh, yeah, you're gonna fucking pull my shirt like that.

[A]

So we both.

[B]

Next thing I know, we're shirtless. My family's upstairs, like, watching us in the. It's still snowing. I don't know what the hell happened, But I got him on the ground. I made him eat some snow. I won. But as we were going to the ground, I heard, like, a little click in my ankle. And I'm like, oh, that's not good. And, yeah, I kind of didn't feel it as much yesterday, but I woke up this morning. Whenever I do my. This ankle injury thing, I'm always like, that morning you wake up and you're like, how bad is this? It actually feels worse than it is. So I'm, you know, I'm halfway through. You know, it's like noon right now. I think maybe it's not as bad as I thought it was, but it's certainly not good. So, yeah, I'm not sure where we're at there. Got me worried for flag football just.

[E]

Right after the game.

[B]

I don't really remember when it was in the timeline. My. My brother came in from Take Notes Niagara games.

[A]

That way you'll know.

[B]

Quick wrestle. Yeah. My brother came in last night from Niagara because he has a long weekend. And those are. They're like servers and bartenders. So, like, we were very excited for them to come. We were drinking with them, too. So it was like the night got, like, a bunch of shit happened. The Patriots won a game, so I don't. I'm not really sure what point of the night this totally happened. I left and drove back over to here to do this show before anyone woke up. So I haven't really been able to, like, totally recap the night with those guys. So that'll come later. Also, two rabbits died last week, and I swear to God I had nothing.

[A]

To do with it.

[B]

So I've had a huge week.

[A]

How many rabbits we down to now?

[B]

We're down to two.

[E]

Oh, I thought we had. I thought we had five.

[B]

We started with five.

[E]

Three died.

[B]

One died in the last, like, eight months. One. One died in la, and then one died on, I think, Monday or Tuesday. And then the next day, another one had to be put down. And it was like, I mean, brutal to be in this house during that time. But, you know, we came out the other side and two rabbits a little bit easier come springtime. We're talking about maybe building something. Could probably build a smaller thing now. So, yeah, you know, just crazy whirlwind of a week.

[A]

And some people criticize you for this move. Now you're down to two rabbits. I mean, who's winning more than this guy? So what's up with the ankle? We got insurance, so, you know, I mean.

[B]

I mean, this is one of those things. I've done it so many times. Like, I probably end up just going to an urgent care, and they'd be like, yeah, that sucks for you. Take it easy. I mean, I've just. I've got terrible ankles.

[A]

I just.

[B]

I always do this.

[A]

And I think the key here is that you're going from not a ton of strenuous activity to full torque. And as you get a little bit older, you put yourselves in those, like.

[B]

Oh, yeah, my younger brother called me out. It was on the fucking line, dude. So I was probably more torque than even needed.

[A]

So you were literally just like, we're.

[E]

Gonna take this outside. Did do that.

[B]

I don't remember. I just remember we are going outside and I think he even challenged me. And I was like, fuck, yeah, I'll go outside with you right now. And then he's like, yeah. I remember seeing, like, surprise on his face. And then we're outside in the snow and we got a lot of snow recently, I mean, ton. And we're in the backyard, so there's been no shoveling or, you know, snow blowing or anything. And then I remember he. He, like, you know, yanked the neck of my shirt and then boom, the shirts are off. And then I look back and everyone's standing in the. In like the window of the kitchen, living room, looking down at us. And I'm just like, wow, we're too far along here. And I just remember thinking, I cannot lose. The whole family's watching. My younger brother just called me out. I cannot lose.

[E]

Is he taller than you? You're tall, so.

[B]

No, he's not tall. He's like, yeah, but he's 10 years younger than me, so, you know.

[E]

Yeah, but you got the. You got the height. Weight advantage. He's got the age advantage.

[A]

Yeah.

[E]

Oh.

[B]

So I'm not like to the point where it's like, I should. I was expected to lose to a 20 year old guy, you know, that's probably a few years down the road. He's 23.

[A]

Yeah, I was going to say area 20. Right.

[B]

Turned 23 in Pearl Harbor Day, huh? December 7th.

[A]

Okay. Nice little nugget.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

So I think it covers it.

[A]

We'll see.

[B]

I'm really. I'm a little bit worried about this flag football thing, but I think it's far enough away that maybe if I take real good care of it, I should be fine.

[E]

Oh, right. That's true. Yeah.

[A]

Yeah.

[E]

Ice compression now. We can't. What do you get you wrapped up? We'll get you taped off for the game.

[A]

Were you.

[E]

Were you at any point? Like, because there was a point last night where I was like, would this loss be worse for Houston or the Pats? Like, how nervous were you? One score late. Shroud's got four turnovers.

[B]

Five turnovers.

[E]

Four turnovers.

[B]

It was really. It was like. It was. They were both, like, inexplicably putting the ball on the fucking ground. I mean, Stroud was throwing it to us and Drake was just dropping it.

[A]

And I just.

[B]

I don't know. I don't know. It was. There were some real dark moments, but I just was like, we're along for the ride. And my dad, of course, Was watching upstairs, five seconds ahead of us. So we were just. And there was so much things happening that you just hear, oh. And I'm like, yeah, something's going to happen. I don't know if it's a fumble or an interception or a touchdown. I have no idea. And we were begging him to, like, dude, just pause the game for five seconds and then we could be synced up.

[A]

He wouldn't do it.

[B]

He wouldn't do it.

[E]

I kind of respect it.

[B]

And, yeah, it was just 3, 4 seconds before anything happened.

[A]

I just.

[B]

I hear fucking screaming up there. I'm like, so you have something either? And the game was such a game. I was like, this could be anything. Normally, you'd be like, oh, my God, is that a touchdown? It's like, no, the ball's on the ground, I guess.

[A]

I don't know.

[B]

So it was a very stressful.

[E]

If the. The Pats are in the game, we gotta.

[A]

Are we.

[E]

Are we figuring out a way for Kyle to be in the building?

[B]

I don't. Honestly, I've heard that, like, you guys say any. Honestly, anybody who's, like, in this space, they're like, you'd rather watch this shit on the tv.

[A]

It's just true. I'm not gonna help if that was correct. Yeah, well, I don't even know.

[B]

I just saved us an awkward thing. Yeah, just an awkward little thing.

[E]

All right.

[A]

I wouldn't even know where to start. I was offered super bowl tickets by a guy from the NFL, but he'd had a few drinks in him the night before. He worked for the NFL. Ran into a Manhattan beach bar. He's like, you've never gone to the game. I was like, most of the time I could never go because I always had to be back in Connecticut on Monday, and there's just no way to get back. And maybe when I was younger, I would have thought I would have been, like, cool. The nostalgia of, like, hey, I went to the Super Bowl. And then he's like, I got you. And I was like, look, I'm being straight up with you. If the tickets are terrible and I'm just in the building, I don't think. Don't even use them on me. I'm like, they have to be two good tickets. He's like, I got you. I got you. But I. I didn't follow up with the guy in particular because I was like, I think I'm going to give this guy a pass. Because I think he was. He had a couple and was feeling good and was ready A lot of.

[B]

Guys, like happy to give those ones away. Yeah.

[A]

1:30Am dudes are closing deals left and right that are never going to get.

[B]

Closed, start businesses, all that stuff.

[A]

I wasn't remotely even offended that there was no. Like, I could have asked, but I was like, ah, it's fine. Even though it was only down the street and I was still been able to work. But I think the Vegas one, some people invited me to that one and I remember texting. I was like, how long is this game taking? And they're like in the building. It is unbelievable how long. You're just kind of like sitting around and waiting and waiting. I'd add, like, I couldn't tell if it was just the way it was miked or when the Bears had the football obviously in overtime, how quiet it was in Chicago. But there are some of these games where I feel like they just sound more quiet. And I don't know if that's the cold. I don't know if it's the longer delays where I feel like when you were a kid, these stadiums were just on fire the entire time. But that also could be just being an impressionable kid. All right. We haven't even read an email yet, but we had to do that on.

[E]

On. Yep.

[B]

There's a lot to catch up on.

[A]

So. Yeah, so thanks.

[B]

Which part?

[E]

Not the ankle part, just the pants part.

[A]

Yeah, yeah. We love Rabel. We love Drake May. Yeah, we love that defensive line, the interior there with Milton and Barmore. Absolutely. Gonzalez.

[E]

I did hear a funny thing. I did hear a funny thing. Somebody was like, oh, you know, the, the atmosphere at Gillette is back. Right? You know, yada, yada. It's like one. I hope the atmosphere would be back here. You have a chance to go to the AFC title game. Like, it was not loud. Like, what are we doing here? Like, you guys that spoiled.

[A]

You really do hate the Patriots and fans.

[E]

Yeah, I'm not a fan, but I just think like we're going to brag about that. We're going to brag about the place being loud. Okay, cool.

[A]

I wouldn't put Foxborough up there as one of the most amazing NFL experiences.

[B]

You zeroed in on an email over there.

[A]

What's going on? Yeah, I'm trying to. I mean, we went 15 minutes and we have to be done in 10. I don't know, just more. Another follow up in there.

[B]

There's more Patriots talk. Not the good kind.

[A]

I see. I could see you loving Foxborough though, more than.

[B]

Oh, I'm now that I moved back here.

[A]

There will certainly be a trip or two.

[B]

I've never even been to Boston. Looking forward to doing that.

[E]

Wow.

[A]

Beantown. We'll hook you up with Jerry the Legend, Midnight Jerry. All right, 57175, comp. Steve Blake. Steve Blake. There's a lot of Steve Blake's out there, too. I need some feedback on an interaction with a driver while riding a bike in Manhattan beach this past Wednesday.

[B]

I almost feel like this guy's wrong.

[A]

It said Manhattan beach bike riding etiquette. And I thought maybe there was going to be some question about the Strand or then the bike path in front of the Strand, because you're not supposed to ride your bike on the Strand. People do. It's not the end of the world. But these E bikes, we're talking out of control, how fast some of these dudes are going. And I feel like, are the bikes going fast or am I getting older? Both of those things are probably true, but there's so many people walking around when it's nice out and there's a busy day. So I thought that this was what this is. It isn't, so we'll make it quick. I was on a narrow street and trying to leave plenty of room for cars to pass when I started to feel a vehicle unnecessarily tailgating me. I pulled off and an intersection for them to pass, and the driver mean mugged me as he went by. Here's the relevance to your show. I'm pretty sure the driver was Ryan. Ryan was just you. Were you trying to make the point that I shouldn't be on the road by very slowly riding my ass? Did I read the situation wrong? State your case. Who's at fault? No, it was not me. I did not do that. Not every guy with a shaved head or maybe thinning hair and a beard is the same, but, yeah, we used to.

[E]

Van Pal used to do the thing where, like, you know, people would send them pictures. Like, it's kind of, like, weirdly morphed into you. I feel like there's always. I'm getting, like, random tweets. Be like, hey, I saw Rosillo at, you know, in Kansas City. And it's just like some guy that's, you know, bald and has a beard. You're like, we were really doing this? Like, man.

[A]

Yeah. I mean, Kyle Long being on the pregame show.

[E]

Yeah.

[A]

People were just going back. Yeah. Like, you. How are you friends with Chris? There's a way bigger, successful, more athletic version of you that's like, it's because he's younger than me. It can't be my big brother, but he's massive. Sort of wrist wrestled with him one night, Kyle, and I did not want to go full torque there because that was one of the more helpless feelings I've ever had. Having both of my wrists held onto by a human bear.

[B]

Yeah, that could be a little scary.

[E]

All right, so confirm. Not you, Ben. At least not confirm. Yeah. You're saying it's not you.

[A]

Yeah.

[E]

I wish you would have told us.

[A]

What car it was.

[E]

That would have been a little more.

[B]

Yeah, I didn't want to out you, but I was waiting for that.

[A]

Yeah. Yeah. I'm driving a smoking the Bandit edition. No, I did. I traded in. I wanted to go classic car. Yeah. American muscle. Are you serious?

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Wow. I'm gonna start smoking.

[E]

Never too late.

[A]

Never too late. I figured out if I've never smoked, I can now smoke. Yeah, fine. Because.

[B]

Yeah, before you. You're not even close to the edge yet.

[A]

Yeah. You've got ways. That's what I mean. It's a fresh palate. So I've always wanted to smoke, and so now I can because it's like, well, if you do this for 30, well, who gives a shit then? So that's really the way to do it. If you want to smoke, just wait until.

[B]

Hold out until you really want to.

[E]

Pull the rip cord.

[B]

On the email. I think some of these bike riders aren't driving in the straight line that they think they are. Think they're like. Think they're weaving a little more than they'd like to admit. You know, I think maybe when there's some back roads that you could take, you know, instead of being on the main strip or whatever, like, you could probably take a less traveled street that's a little more residential. And they don't. And so I. That's. I'm not against all bike riders, but I think a lot of people aren't doing as good a job as they think they're doing riding a bike. And really kind of. I don't know if impeding traffic is the word, but making shit harder just for everyone else. I'll leave it there.

[A]

Nothing to add. I mean, we could do the bike stuff. We should have had Breer on. Brer caused a national incident when he took pictures. He was, like, trying to leave someplace in Jacksonville, probably the hotel, after he had covered a game to get to the airport. And then these bikes just would not let any cars pass like they were. Because it's also anybody that's ever run a bike on real streets again. There are the bike streets too. It can get a little hairy. I mean, I've done it. There was like a Covid biking phase that I went through. And you're like, hey, this kind of sucks. But at the same time, I'm also not like taking up the entire lane with like 10 other bikes that are all there to protect each other. And this is if you know, if you bike, you're like, fuck cars. And if you're a car that doesn't bike, you're like the bikers. This is not ever going to be solved. It's. It's not worth it. But Brer actually posted this thing was like, I'm going to miss my flight. And then it turned into, yeah, bikers are the worst. And then the bikers that were commenting, the whole thing were like, leave for the airport earlier. Classic. Like you don't want anyone on your side.

[B]

Classic biker.

[A]

Yeah, classic.

[B]

I don't know. Why do you like us think they don't have stop signs? Like, stop signs don't exist. I mean, this is crazy.

[A]

This shit is.

[E]

No, we should do a like a power ranking of like groups of people who. The rules don't apply to us. And bikers, biking people would be high up.

[B]

They're a one seat.

[E]

I mean, they gotta be a one seat. Yeah, it's crazy.

[B]

What would even be a good another one seed for that? I have no idea. Bikers. So clear cyclists. I guess you couldn't even want to call them bikers. Those are cooler guys. Cyclists are clear one seed for me.

[E]

Yeah. Trying to think of what else is.

[A]

Being on that list but daycare centers. All right, we got six, two, 200.

[B]

Pounds service dog owners.

[A]

Wink, wink.

[E]

Yeah, that's actually a good one.

[B]

Yeah, just order one off Amazon. It's just like, what the.

[A]

It's okay if my dog is on the plane. That's right. Look, and some people, legitimately, I get it. All right. Basketball comp. Kellerman, voice Igadala. Nice. I'm normally an even keeled guy, but something that sets me off is people not operating by the normal rules of society. This weekend, my W, who's seven months pregnant, and I went to a local coffee shop that also serves breakfast. This is a crowded place with limited seating, especially during the weekend. After ordering our coffee and breakfast sandwiches, we went to go find a spot to sit. The whole place was packed, but we found two stools at a counter in the back, one of which had a jacket laying on it. I asked the couple sitting next to the stools if anyone was sitting there. They said no. The jacket must have been left by the man who recently left. I draped the jacket over the counter. We sat down. Shortly after, a woman still in line on the other side of the restaurant made eye contact with me and started waving at me. At first I thought it was just someone I knew saying hello. And then she came over and said she and her two friends were sitting there. All three of them were still in line and had yet to order. We thought, this is annoying, but I wasn't about to get in an argument with a stranger on a Sunday morning. My wife and I got up to wait for another spot to open up, which it luckily did. Right as our food came out. I tried to enjoy my breakfast. Yeah, you did. But you couldn't let it go, could you? I get it. But I kept thinking about how rude this woman was. I'm of the belief that if you're at a restaurant where you order at the counter, you wait until you order to find a seat. When everyone abides by this rule, a spot tends to open up by the time you get your food. It only takes one entitled white lady. Oh, white women are taking it on the chin lately. Yes.

[B]

It's just been a tough decade.

[A]

Yeah, yeah. Have they surpassed straight white men as the target for everything? I don't know. I don't know.

[E]

I didn't want to say it, but yeah.

[A]

Power rankings of who they are.

[B]

Taking the heat off us a little bit. It's true.

[A]

They are.

[E]

Who's not? Back of the week. Yeah.

[A]

Yeah. Thank you. Out there doing the rude ones. Thank you. Thank you for taking a little attention away from us. It only takes one entitled white lady to screw up the whole system. Am I wrong, or should I start making my. Start marking my territory as soon as I enter restaurants like this in the future? Extra details. Oh, wow.

[B]

Don't become a worse person.

[A]

He gave us extra details that will not be shared.

[B]

Oh, so he was really upset at this lady or these ladies?

[A]

These ladies. If we're on your side. Guy on your side, like, right. I mean, if that's the natural order of everything. Is that how it's supposed to work or is it clever? Clever may now be the right. Is it tactful to get ahead of it? Couldn't you have one person from the group that's ordering with you go sit down and save this? Like, I think everybody's kind of okay with that, aren't they?

[B]

Exactly. Honestly, I think we should all Be pooling our orders. Nothing. Like, it's usually teenagers, but sometimes it's young people. Like, I'm waiting to order something. Everyone's clearly sitting together and ordering something. And they all do like a separate purchase. It's like, we all have Venmo. We can make this easy. Why are we all like, this thing is taking 12 minutes when it should take one or two? I don't know how I got into that tangent, but I think sounds like.

[A]

Somebody just went to Wendy's, actually.

[B]

Yeah, that's true. Love Wendy's. But I guess what I'm saying, like, the reason that this is muddy is if that was the case and if that jacket was a person, what's really different, right? It's like one person orders later or somebody orders for them. And if that jacket was sitting there, somebody was. It's a placeholder. Usually you want it to be a person so that people can have like.

[A]

Some sort of rules.

[B]

And, you know, if you get, you know, early bird gets a worm type deal. I think if you're just throwing your jacket places, claiming things, that's not cool. But really, what is the huge difference between a jacket and a person?

[E]

I think it's a huge difference. I think there is.

[B]

I think it's true, but I think.

[E]

It'S like the entire crux of the argument. If one of them would have had the. Had the stones of that. We're talking about women here, so I don't guess whatever the term is to actually just like sit there and hold the space. Then I'd be like, okay, like, that's yours. But just like walking.

[B]

It does feel like you're earning it.

[E]

A little throwing stuff on there. Yeah.

[A]

Like, I agree.

[E]

I think that's wrong and bad. And I don't really like, even the whole, like, hey, before you order, let's think she's also pregnant. So they should have seen that pregnant.

[A]

Pregnant card.

[C]

Yeah.

[E]

Like, there's nothing going in these. In these ladies favor, unfortunately for me.

[A]

Yeah, right. Like, I didn't buy a red vest for my dog on Amazon. I am pregnant. I'm showing now. I would say that there's certain places that like, hey, standard operating procedure is what it is. Hey, at our place, you do this and you order and then whatever the whole deal. I think if someone had decided to sit of her group while the other people ordered, you know, what are you going to do? Hey, is anybody. Yeah, they're ordering right now. Like, you're not going to start that confrontation. This person was totally fine. You know, Totally fine putting the jacket down over the seats and going up and getting their thing done and. I don't know.

[B]

Selfish.

[E]

I mean, like, nothing's as bad as the person who stands in a. In a parking space. This is pretty clear. I think this is pretty close to that. Like, hey, just throw a jacket down and, like, we'll be back.

[A]

We're back. Cool.

[B]

Oh, dude, I almost lost it in Brooklyn when we were down for Christmas Day. I.

[C]

We were.

[B]

I must have been driving around for 40 minutes, and then there's a guy standing in a parking space, and I'm just like, this is. This isn't my part of town. I'm not gonna. But, boy, I really wanted to. I wanted to escalate this, but.

[A]

Because what are you gonna do? Like, the person you're gonna pull in.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And he's have them, like, and start bumping them with your fender.

[B]

Definitely thought about it.

[A]

Honestly thought about it.

[E]

I think you're well within your right to do that. Yeah.

[A]

All right, well, good luck out there, everybody. Stay safe.

[E]

Yeah.

[A]

Yeah. Thanks to Tom. Kevin Ceruti. We'll get an update on that ankle. What? Well, we're taping tomorrow after the national championship game, so. Yeah, 24 hours. We'll see how it goes. Throw a little something on there, A little solve something.

[B]

Yeah, I will.

[A]

All right, Sounds good. All right, that'll do it for the show. Please subscribe. Ryan Russell, the show Bar still support.