Prime Cuts - Week 6 Preview With Eli Manning, Texas Upset By Oklahoma

0:01 The volume.

0:08 OK, I want to. This was the early game from London, but I think it's newsworthy. Jags 19, Eagles 17. Second week in a row, Nick Ceriani has a blunder. End of game management blunder. So we know he doesn't call plays. So to me, you have to be one of two things, John. Either a great leader situationally, second week in a row, Sirianni with a coaching blunder, or a play caller. He's neither.

0:37 So in the last three weeks, and I understand the injuries, the Eagles have three second half points combined and 13 three and outs just in the second half. So, and by the way, For Jacksonville, that was Liam Cohen's worst game as a head coach. It was an odd when they drove the ball down the field and then put Trevor out at wide receiver, hiked the ball to somebody, not Trevor Lawrence, got a penalty, then another, then another.

1:06 It was as bad. I mean, I think Liam Cohen's great. I thought it was his worst game as a coach. Certainly, and he had eyed watch. They overthought the room. They got too cute. He's bright. Smart people do get too cute. Sometimes McVay used to do that in his first two, three years. He'd get a little cute. He doesn't anymore.

1:20 But why the Eagles did not kick the ball out of the end zone, forcing Jacksonville to burn time. Remember, we just saw Brian Schottenheimer make a mistake recently where he should have kicked the ball out of the end zone and did not against Baltimore. So Nick Ceriani should have kicked it and had the ball returned. Therefore, um, You're saying.

1:52 He should have kicked the ball out of the end zone. So they get it at the 35. They don't have any timeouts. Who cares? Because if they catch a ball 20 yards, they can't stop the clock.

2:00 The game's over.

2:02 Play the sidelines. Let them catch it in the middle of the field. It doesn't matter.

2:05 So, yeah. So, again, situationally, what do you do with Sirianni? I mean, he's not a play caller. He's completely coordinator-dependent. And now he has butchered back-to-back weeks, situational football. To his credit, he acknowledged it. What do you do with him?

2:23 Well, I think he's in today felt like the lowest point, you know, because, again, last year factors into this year. So last year is, you know, I don't know if you saw some of these clips of these the tide in Southern California coming from El Nino. That's what it feels like right now. And today, when he kicked that field one, when he returned the kick. This is the first, I'm proud to say it, because most of them are awful games. I usually turn on that bad boy on a Sunday morning on the West Coast, you know, second quarter.

2:55 The game's usually terrible. I was sitting there with coffee at about 6.20 this morning. I was pretty excited for this Sunday morning game. Obviously, I knew we were going to talk about it, and sometimes we don't because the games are awful. But, like, the Sirianni, the Jags are one of the best teams in the NFL. The Jags took the first kickoff to the house. But it was called back for a penalty. So they had returned it before.

3:19 And then when you don't have any timeouts, who cares if he starts at a 35? You could argue you could kick it out of bounds. He could start at the 40. They don't have any timeouts. It doesn't matter. So once he returned it, now you could argue they got a little lucky, as they talked about in the broadcast.

3:35 If he just would have gone like five yards more, it would have ended. But still, I saw the clip during one of the halftimes of the afternoon games of– what's their kicker's name that he was saying like, Hey, I just do what I was told. I mean, and Sirianni blamed himself, but, and I guess he told the team like, this is my fault. I just think that this is my fault. Like, I mean, that's, pretty hollow.

4:01 I know people that don't love, this is my fault, and that's Lurie and Howie. This is tough, Colin.

4:07 We have a convergence of two things. Owners are richer and more impulsive, so they're making more changes. There are 96 jobs in the NFL of either OC, DC, or head coach. This is my take. I think the Cowboys' young defensive coordinator was not quite ready to be a coordinator, but I don't think Nick Ceriani is really a head coach.

4:32 And I think he could work in college maybe. He's a big kid, recruiter personality, but he is not a play designer. And maybe he deserved to be a head coach today or four years from today. But one of the things that is happening in the NFL, we are seeing– A lot of clock management mistakes. That's always been an issue.

4:58 Andy Reid used to get pegged for that when he was in Philadelphia. I know it's not easy. Herm Edwards did. But there are some of these that are really basic math, basic stuff. Schottenheimer, he wasn't interviewing for any other high-end coordinator job. Head coach, Cowboys. Okay. Sirianni was a shock to the league. My theory on Philadelphia was always that Howie– got kicked to the curb by Chip Kelly. And so he was never going to hire a coach with power.

5:25 So he gave it to Doug Peterson, who, you know, there wasn't multiple offers. And he gave it to Nick Ceriani. That surprised the league. He wants to have some control because Chip Kelly, fair or not, he feels like, you know, Chip pushed him Out. And so it's like, well, I'm not doing that again. I'm not going to hire a coach with that kind of gravitas. I don't want that in the building again because I got burned by it.

5:46 I totally, absolutely understand that. Howie and Lurie feel like to me they run the franchise. But the downside of that is you end up with a coach who's really not a head coach at this level. Certainly in his division, think about this. What if he was in a division with Andy Reid twice a year? and Sean Payton twice.

6:03 He's in that division. He's in that division, so he's going up against Schottenheimer and Dan Quinn today. We can get to that in a second. It's not one of the great coached divisions. I do think you have to have conversations about– I don't think they have anybody in the building that can replace him, but we always talk about this. If he was on the market, anybody hire him as a head coach? Not a chance.

6:25 Well, Sirianni, if he was fired tomorrow– in 2027 would not be an OC for any of the team. Obviously not a head coach. Look at Raheem Morris. who's not a head coach, immediately hires a defensive coordinator, probably had three other options and is excellent. You could argue the Niners defense looks better with him under Salah. And he is an example of a lot of guys. Dayball fired, and it's not going well, but he would have been hired immediately. The Eagles wanted him. I think when you look, I've had this theory that I think McVay and some of these younger guys, you know, the Kyle crew, Kyle's older now, but when he was hired, he was like 38, that all these teams now hire younger coaches. If you

7:03 look at, you know, Davis Webb was elevated and then kind of demoted. Christian Parker and Sean Mannion. Sean Mannion started coaching like four years ago. Davis Webb, three years ago. Before 10, I'd even say a couple years into McVay, coordinator jobs on pressure-packed operations like the Cowboys or like watching the Cowboy game. You know what I thought? Brian Schottenheimer.

7:26 Next year, hire Todd Bowles when he gets fired.

7:29 That's who you need.

7:29 Yep.

7:30 Not Christian Parker, a 34-year-old, who isn't prepared to handle this. Today, before they kicked that field goal to take the lead, it was three yards minus six yards punt. Three yards, one yard punt. Three yards, zero yard punt. All these drives, like a minute long. Well, this guy, and I'm not saying Bill Walsh could be calling plays and the Eagles offense might be broken. But this guy doesn't have anything in his back pocket to go... kyle or mcdonald calling defense they have things behind all this experience i i remember four years ago this worked against this he he just started doing this and listen when i was younger i was like hey i'm all power for this then you get older you realize like experience does really matter

8:12 no matter what you do especially in these public jobs where the pressure is immense sean manion i The Eagles had trouble getting people to take this job as their offensive coordinator. I do think this time around, even Sirianni, I think people were turned off how he's proven to be one of the best GMs in league history. I do think it would be a different vibe this time because the other thing they would know is he's not anchored to the quarterback. Big picture, maybe he gets another year because of his contract, but if we got to pivot, we'll pivot. Now he has all these picks. I do wonder if they play it out like another year. Sirianni and Jalen, let this– because in 2028, now they've got those two first-round picks, the two second-round picks. But I

8:57 spent two years working five feet away from– it's not the way he's wired. I can't even imagine. I don't know how long that plane ride is from London to Philly. I mean, I don't remember a team.

9:08 You know, the.

9:08 Cowboy thing, once they kicked it out of bounds and they got it at 35, they still got Lamar Jackson. This one, they got no timeouts. You could have done anything except what they did. And then it happens, Jacksonville's kicker right there with like Brandon Aubrey, doesn't he have like one of the biggest legs in league history?

9:28 Yeah.

9:29 Now they got this backup snapper in. It was kind of a thrilling. Yeah, it was fantastic. Because you were like, can he get this? Can he get this snap down? But that loss, this is the same old story, right? The punting, punting, punting, punting, no offense. They drafted a guy who made a couple plays in Lemon. But Lemon's strength is running all these plays over the middle of the field, getting open in zone, sitting there. Well, that's not really Jalen's strength.

9:55 Why?

9:56 You know, I know it ended with AJ, but where did they have, where did they have a lot of success working the sidelines?

10:02 You know?

10:02 So they draft this guy who he showed today. It's like, he definitely, there's stuff there. You and I've watched him in college. Like he's a talented player, but his skillset with the quarterback skillset, it goes back to the Russell thing. And I think Russell was a better player than Jalen, but they don't really like, they're not eating alive the middle of the field. So it's just and now they're running games of disaster. I mean, Jacksonville didn't play well.

10:25 Jacksonville. Again, I think Jacksonville played as badly as you can play in this league and win. They were they were the coaching was bad. The mistakes. I mean, when you have back to back to back red zone penalties, it's like, guys, button it up. You got I mean, Trevor's been around here forever. Like he's a pro. Okay, Green Bay 31, Chicago 7. Okay, this game proved a couple of things. Mr. October, Jordan Love. We've talked about this for years. He's a bad September quarterback. He pops every October, 25 to 31. Last two weeks, he's completed 77% of his throws. Christian, I mean, basically they had two plays today. Go deep to Christian Watson or go deep to somebody else. Like that was the game plan. And

11:09 that has always been. That's why the Bears drafted a safety and Malik Muhammad from Texas in the secondary. Their secondary is a problem and they don't have a consistent pass rush. I kept saying about Chicago that their run game and time of possession dominance was masking a very, very average defense. Well, it was below average today. Green Bay just said, we're going to go downfield. Jordan's always thrown a beautiful deep ball. But it's fascinating with the Bears.

11:36 What happened to Colston Loveland? Where did he go? We're five games in, John. He was– he emerged last year as their go-to– he was their go-to player. That's why they moved off DJ Moore. It's like, oh, we found our one. He's a tight end. He has disappeared. Roma Dunze, I don't think they feel– Colin.

12:00 You muted me.

12:00 Oh, I just lost John.

12:01 Hold on.

12:03 I can't hear John.

12:04 Can you hear me now? He muted me.

12:09 Okay, I can't hear you.

12:11 Can you hear me?

12:12 I can hear you now. Josh, are we still going?

12:16 Talk now.

12:17 Three, two, one.

12:17 Three, two, one.

12:18 Three, two, one.

12:20 Yeah, it automatically muted me.

12:21 All right, three, two, one. Roma Dunze. I don't think everybody's satisfied with that. But to me, this game was more about. They looked at film, and they're like, because of the dominant run game by Chicago, it's masked a very average defense, and they exposed what we thought coming into the season was their problem, which is you could beat Chicago down the field.

12:45 To me, it was as simple as Jordan Love, like you said, was exceptional. The pass that he had, I think the second touchdown to Watson, where he one-hand caught in the back, that might have been the most beautiful play so far of 2026 in the NFL. I mean, just he let it rip, and Watson caught it, and that was gorgeous. I mean, Watson and Golden couldn't be stopped.

13:06 And on the flip side, that quarterback play, Tyson Bajan, who I know they liked, I don't think he could have been worse. I mean, I saw one quarterback worse than him, and his name was Dylan Raiola, and he also got benched this week. I mean, that was... You can't function with that level of quarterback play. So I have a hard time, like, what happened to all these guys?

13:25 The quarterback play was really, really atrocious. I gave him a little bit of a pass last week. It was kind of a weird game. This, though, was– he was unplayed. He could have been benched way earlier, too. You know, I think he tried to battle through it. And then when Case came in, I think, to start the fourth quarter, he probably could have had the hook at halftime. And it just got worse and worse. Like you said, the Bears' defense for the first time, it's like– I think I saw a stat Watson and Golden so far this season statistically are two of the top five wide receivers. I mean, they are Matthew Golden, the Texas kid for them. You know, Watson gets a lot. He looks fantastic. They got a one-two punch, but their defense had no shot of stopping them.

14:04 So this would have been. Caleb Williams, hey, this is going to be– we've got to try to win 34-31. But that quarterback play, I mean, they couldn't have scored 10. They couldn't move the ball. The turnovers, throwing picks. I think Case, the Case throw two, Tyson threw two, he threw one.

14:22 Listen, you had two almost perfect offensive performances, one with Case Keenum, one with Tyson Badgett. This is why they're backups. You're not going to go on a three game winning streak. I mean, it was, and also when Tyson, Tyson Beijing gets behind, okay. Backup quarterbacks generally don't play well from behind.

14:41 They play well when there's an element of surprise. There's not a lot of film. They have good protection in a run game. They can play with a lead. Case Keenum playing with a lead in the second half against Philadelphia. OK, that's different. Now, all of a sudden, you're on the road. You're down. You don't have much of a run game.

14:59 It's like, OK, that's a snowball. That's I think if you would have told them they go two and one with Caleb Williams out with two great performances from backups, you would sign up for that every day of the week.

15:10 100 i will give i think we need to give green bay a lot of credit because i assume the bears were going to kill him now once but none guy i think he got you know that thing popped up on like friday that's not ideal but and i listen you and i are both on ben johnson couldn't think any more highly of them they have talked a lot of you know what though about the packers and they have circled this franchise and It was the first time in 20 years there was actual momentum. It was like, Bears are favored on the road in Lambeau, 20 years.

15:43 And so I'm starting to think, oh, that was the Urlacher, that team, against an old Favre. That's pre-Rogers. So they went in there. They got their ass kicked today. I mean, that was– and the one thing you see with Green Bay, if Love– but they haven't been able to protect them. Well, Love was only sacked a couple times.

15:59 Yeah.

16:00 They didn't have to run the ball. It shows you Menungai, pretty important player for that. I mean, that's pretty, you know, for a seventh rounder who's kind of established himself as like, I know you guys paid Swift, but I might be the best runner on this team, especially between the tackles, just hammer him. But Tyson, this gets back to Tyson.

16:17 He was, he played like a backup play today and they've paid him. He didn't play great last week either. It's a little concerning. Like I was high on him just because they were high on him and he looks like I mean, the Packers' defense has been atrocious, too.

16:32 I think I will say this, is that the mystery teams in the league have been, how is Green Bay this bad, and how are the Chargers this bad? The Chargers put up a fight today, but again, they can't move the ball. The offense is broken. But this was going to happen for Green Bay. They weren't going to play 14 straight horrible weeks, right? Like, this was eventually going to happen. So it happened.

16:54 I kind of thought they would. I started thinking after the last couple games, they might be like a four-win team. But, you know, they're probably, if Jordan Love's going to play better, they're going to be seven to nine wins.

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17:58 Use Colin when you sign up, C-O-L-I-N, to get $ 25 free after you deposit just $ 10. Drake May was sensational today. 374 passing yards, four TD passes, another touchdown on the ground, five total TDs and a 45-17 blowout of the Rangers. What impressed me most wasn't just the talent. It was the great decision-making, the discipline, the consistency. The best quarterbacks figure out the success is about consistency every single day and the effort. It's why I love Factor. Factor makes it easy. to build better habits with chef-prepared meals that are packed, protein everywhere, ready in minutes. No grocery shopping, no meal prep, just delicious, nutritious food fits your schedule.

18:42 Drake May has shown us that becoming a franchise quarterback isn't just the spectacular play. It's about doing the little things right over and over. That's today's Pro Move, presented by Factor. I want to talk about Whenever we find a new great coach in college football, Kurt Cignetti or Marcus Freeman, whenever we find a great new coach and this guy at UCLA, you told me before the season, did you not? You told me, keep your eye on UCLA.

19:23 So they get, he comes from James Madison, Bob Chesney, who replaced Kurt Cignetti, So, Cignetti, Marcus Freeman, and this guy, they all use the same formula. Really physical, going to build a run game in an offensive line, excellent at the line of scrimmage, not a lot of frills, not a lot of nonsense. So, he brings the running back, Wayne Knight. from his program, had 22 carries against Oregon. Oregon, by the way, lost Will Stein, a great offensive coordinator.

19:56 He went to Kentucky, which beat LSU and Lane Kiffin this week. So, you know, listen, sometimes, John, as you know, we've seen this with the Detroit Lions. You lose a Ben Johnson. Well, there's not a Ben Johnson on the market. You downgrade coordinators. whoever replaced Will Stein, Will Stein's a brilliant young football coach. It's going to be hard to replace him. So they're just not as good offensively, but watching what this guy's done. They, they doubled Oregon in rushing yards, dominated time of possession. Bob Chesney is Signetti is Marcus Freeman. Whenever somebody catches our eye, it's almost, I mean, this is why we love Mike Ditka. This is why we love Nick Saban. Intense, Line of scrimmage,

20:41 not a lot of frills, run the football, win time of possession, be smart late. I mean, they had penalties, but I look at them right now. And also because of the transfer portal, John, you can do this quicker. You know, like Nick Saban in the transfer portal era would not have lost to Louisiana Monroe his first year at Alabama. Like you can do it now in a year.

21:03 You can bring your star players. That's what Signetti did to Indiana from James Madison. But I looked at UCLA and my take watching that game was you better start renegotiating his contract right now. Pay him more. Have punitive outs. If he leaves, he's got to because most of those young coaches have never made great money. And it's like L.A.

21:25 's expensive. But I think UCLA has their best football coach in a long time.

21:32 I mean, Colin, this gets back to what we talk about some of these spread offense coaches. Like, why do their defenses always struggle? Sark has so much money, he can just buy the best players. But if he couldn't, like, historically, his defenses have never lived up to how well he recruits because that's established in practice. So you use Cignetti, Marcus Freeman, and Bob Chesney. What do you think their practices look like? The majority of it is running the ball.

22:00 When Nico gets hurt yesterday, it's like, whatever. I think they've thrown for four touchdowns on the season. They were 5-0 or 4-0. They're not as dependent on pass. He's not running four and five verticals for periods on end on Tuesday and Wednesday in the middle of practice. Where a lot of these other offensive guys, Lane is a good example. What do you think Lane wants to do most of? Throw the ball. That's what a lot of these guys, and I don't even blame them. so i but that's like one thing that this guy clearly is going to hang his hat on is we're going to be tougher than you it's why after the game when laning kind of transitioned still talking about usc but into ucla he had a lot of respect for ucla because

22:39 of the way they play because coming from kirby and nick that's a mindset that's in theory how oregon kind of wants to operate but their quarterback was so bad and I don't know what's going on with them. I mean, they got too many people getting paid, not working.

22:54 Remember, Dante Moore can move. The backup, who played well against USC, but remember, he comes into the game against USC in the middle of the game, so you haven't scouted him. You're preparing for Dante Moore and his kind of viability and his mobility. This kid's a pocket quarterback, so UCLA knew where he was going to be. He didn't play well. He's kind of a plotting athlete. And it was ugly, but I was just taken by when you watched UCLA play, you're like, it's Cignetti. It's just run the ball, line of scrimmage, no frills. If you have to give a running back 25 carries, that's what you do. Dominate time of possession, go on the road, get the crowd to be quiet. You control the ball.

23:38 It was just like watching Indiana in Cignetti's first year where they were good, but Remember his first year? But they just weren't. They didn't have the quarterback. They weren't explosive.

23:49 Right.

23:50 Like last year, they get Mendoza. And it's like, oh, OK, now it all comes together. Indiana, to me, has kind of regressed to the first year with Hoover, which is they're really good. They're not quite as explosive offensively. There's some limitations. But I feel like I was watching Indiana first year Signetti. I'm like, that's how you do it.

24:07 Physicality jumps to the television.

24:10 Well, you hit it on the head when you started with the money thing with the coaches. UCLA has never had to deal with this ever. Nothing even close to be like, you know what the going rate is for a top guy? You know what his coordinators make if he wants to keep them? We're talking two, three million dollars.

24:27 I mean, especially in this conference.

24:29 Yeah.

24:30 Now, he's not just leaving for any random job at this point in time. To me, he feels like a pretty regal big time. But Indiana, kind of used to a lot of success in the basketball program historically, knows what sports mean. Boom, take care of him now. Signetti and his coordinators are making millions of dollars. UCLA, Big Ten's in a little trouble this year for the playoff spots.

24:52 Ohio State in. I feel pretty confident Indiana is going to be in. After that, you look at UCLA does not play Ohio State. Their toughest game left is USC, maybe at Michigan, but Michigan's been terrible. A lot of.

25:08 Wisconsin, Michigan State, Nevada.

25:10 They're going to be a playoff team, probably. 10-2 playoffs.

25:13 Yeah, because USC's 6-1, but they have. Ohio State at home, they do not match up. USC secondary is an issue. They do not match up with Ohio State. Then they go to Indiana, and then it's at UCLA. So if a betting person, UCLA has an absolute route to the playoff. By the way, Cignetti's first year from James Madison to Indiana. Playoffs. What did they lack?

25:38 Yeah.

25:39 Offensive wow. They were good. They didn't have penalties. The special teams were good, but they didn't have wow. Mendoza was the wow. So I'm telling you, I'm watching them. I'm like, that's the first Indiana team. That's what they look like. Kind of ugly, no frills, kind of control the clock. And you look up and you're like, yeah, Indiana's kind of good. And then they played Notre Dame in the playoff. They just didn't have any firepower.

26:03 I know UCLA historically wasn't as bad as Indiana, the all-time losingest program. But last year, wasn't it week one they played New Mexico and UCLA lost like 40-0? And you knew right away, this Deshaun Foster thing is not– it had hit an Indiana low. This program's at an all-time low. So to come and do this immediately– the other thing is, whatever JMU– to bring in the running back, and I'm sure he's got other transfers– Cignetti did the same thing. We're seeing Penn State bring Iowa State. They can't play in the Big Ten. These guys don't belong in the Big Ten. Some of these guys that move programs and bring their guys with them, it's like, yeah, this is not good enough. You've seen it at Penn

26:42 State when he brought all his Iowa State guys. You're like, this is not good enough here. Yet these guys from JMU, they just come and they don't just belong. You're like, is this one of the best players in the conference? Remember with Cignetti, it was immediate. It was like that Pons. It was like multiple guys. You're like, Jesus. So whatever they're doing at that program, it's got to be one of the most incredible four-year stretches of Cignetti and then this guy for a couple years and what they produced of getting kids in a day and age when you can transfer portal, land guys, steal guys. Pretty incredible story, Colin.

27:15 They are.

27:16 Not the funnest watch. You got to like some old school football, but it's a pretty great story.

27:20 Good coaching jumps off the television. UCLA looks very well coached. Oklahoma 27, Texas 24. This is why I want to talk about this game. I think I've told you this before. All SART teams are the same. Big, talented, skillful, good quarterback play. Little loose on the details. They had a blocked punt. They had eight penalties. There was a pick six by Arch Manning. I feel like all Sark teams.

27:50 Sark does the big stuff very well. He's good with your AD. He's good with the boosters. He's great on recruiting. He tends to be able to, he's got a good eye for personnel. But penalty, every time I watch a big game with them, I'm like, oh, they'll have like a horrible half or a terrible special teams play or too many penalties. I feel like all Sark teams look the same. It's not a criticism, it's a reality. But I was thinking about this with Arch Manning. He's 6'4, 222, mobile, good arm and smart. He is really inconsistent. So was Brock Purdy in college. And I look at Arch Manning, and I thought, of course, he should play another year of college. Wouldn't hurt him at all. But my takeaway is, how many years has he been there? Is this year four?

28:41 And my take is, isn't he really better? Because he's going to get drafted. He's big. He moves. He's smart. He's a Manning. And he does have, I don't know if he has a plus arm, but he makes some nice throws. He's just all over the map consistently. My take is NFL coaching, if you get the right guy, is better than college coaching. And being in an NFL facility is better than being on a college campus. And I'm watching Arch, and I'm thinking to myself, he's never going to be super consistent at college. He needs to get NFL coaching. I mean, he's been in that. He's got the ecosystem of the Mannings. He's listening to high-end conversations about quarterback play since he was 6th. And I watched them and I said, you know, we can just

29:25 keep saying, because I don't think Texas is going to win a national championship. They make too many mistakes. Sark will always make the playoffs. They'll always have NFL guys. But hell, they've got a star receiver, a star quarterback, a star left tackle, a star edge rusher, an offensive coach, and they're losing to Oklahoma. What about this argument? is that certain quarterbacks, they're not going to get significantly better in college. And by the way, a week ago, you could have talked me into Arch Manning staying in college. Absolutely.

29:54 But I'm watching him and I'm thinking he's big, he moves, he's smart. He's got a ton of college starts now by the end of the year. Why not just draft him and sit him for a year or two?

30:04 Draft him where?

30:05 I mean, he'll go first round.

30:08 To me, I mean, I know he's made some highlight plays throughout his career, even a couple in this game. The unraveling at the end of the game. I mean, the scramble pick six. Oklahoma has no offense, Colin. Like, none. Their quarterback is, I would say, one of the quote-unquote bigger busts of the year in college. But he didn't turn it over. And that kind of turned out to be the difference in the game. I mean, Arch, the one pick six– It's like he thought he was Russell Wilson. Coleman, when you watch the behind, he's open streaking across the field and Arch just air mails it. The pick was obviously really bad. The second one that led to the game winning field, that just can't happen. You can't turn.

30:52 The ball over.

30:53 It just it's you could when you listen to Brady, there are certain things with players do that just to his inner football core, make him want to just like jump out of the booth, you know. because he's been trained the way to think. And a lot of it is, it's all decision-making. It's not, it's like, Tom's like, I couldn't run like Sam or Purdy, but you just can't make that throw in that spot. You're better off just hitting the ground. And he's a younger player, but like you said, this isn't, I watched Keelan Russell last night against Georgia, and you're watching this redshirt freshman against a team full of I.

31:28 Mean, I don't know how many like seven, seven guys will get drafted.

31:31 Yeah.

31:32 Yeah.

31:32 I mean, probably all 11 of the starters will eventually play in the NFL and you just see like, okay. And as the game went, he just kind of calms down. I do think there's like an innate feel for the position. That's my issue back with Bo Nix. You just watching like something's off. You can give me the quarterback rating or some of his touchdowns in the fourth quarter or I almost feel like there's a luck involved because I don't think that's normal. It's like, you're not going to do this. John Elway had a lot of fourth quarter comebacks.

32:00 He also had a lot of just normal games, you know? And the thing with Arch is like, okay, he makes a couple of nice passes. And then throughout the course of the game, they do nothing. I mean, their offense throughout the year has been pretty bad. And they are clearly spending a lot of money. Camp Coleman is a two, $ 3 million wide receiver who had a pretty good game, but he's getting open all the time and arch can't hit them. And I think there's just a natural inaccuracy with him, whether it's, whether he's thinking too much, whether there's a timing and rhythm to it, but it's just, you watch him. I've been watching football to know something's off.

32:30 I'm not into those type players again. It's not his fault that it's his last name and a bunch of people kind of shit on him. But that was pretty bad. I mean, I also think this, they're in the sec but it doesn't feel like an sec game when those two teams play right that is a really big deal to those two programs it means everything.

32:49 Well especially for venables and texas.

32:52 For venables it was huge i mean it was leaking oil people were down on them but for texas they they got a lot of people stroking big time checks for this team to win the national championship and when they're down to stomp about you know oklahoma uh has never beat Texas, I saw yesterday, when they've been unranked and Texas has been a top 10 team, let alone number one. Now, was Texas a normal number one team?

33:13 Probably not, but they had earned to be a top five-ish team. And they couldn't run away from them because they have no offense. And how often do you have like a quote-unquote first-round quarterback where you clearly have a lot of skill around you and your offense is just bad every single game? Beside the fourth quarter in Ohio State when he just kind of let it rip. But throughout the other games, El Paso, Oklahoma, they just look terrible.

33:38 So I have a hard time. If this guy's an NFL quarterback, A first round quarterback, you would think they would just have stretches for like two quarters where they're just scoring with the talent he has around him.

33:50 Yeah, I watch him. He has a certain anxiety. Bo Nix has this too. Lamar Jackson showed a little bit of this in the playoffs where sometimes with Lamar, you'd be like, oh, he's tight. Lamar is so hard on Lamar. Like Lamar gets so visibly tight. mad at himself. It's like, Lamar, you're great. It's okay. But sometimes Lamar on the playoff, she'd be like, oh, he's tight. Bo Nix looks tight.

34:17 Sometimes Arch does. He looks nervous almost. I remember his first game last year against Ohio State, not this year, last year. He skipped balls from 15 yards. Oh my God. His mechanics, it's all in his head. I think a lot of it is the Manning thing, but I'm watching him and I'm like, he's big, he moves, he's smart, he's Manning. I'm like, man, maybe it's just better off to go pros and sit for two years and get round-the-clock coaching because I kind of just feel like what he is in college, the longer he stays, the more you see, the more flaws he'll have. He could get hurt.

34:51 I wonder if this is just sort of what he's going to be even as a pro, just an inconsistent quarterback. I'm like, I don't mind the picks. Again, Brock Purdy threw a ton in college. Josh Allen was sometimes– I watched him against Oregon and Iowa in college. He was awful. There are quarterbacks who, you know, Brady's a great example.

35:09 I mean, good God, Russell Wilson, North Carolina State said, we're not even going to start yet. Like, so like guys, college routes are different. The college pressure is the college coaching. Great. Sark's above average coach. I almost, I just feel like with art, sometimes there's so much state school of Texas.

35:28 It almost feels like, God, I wish a small market team. I wish, honestly. He would go to Minnesota or something. A franchise we don't talk a lot about. He could go to a franchise and hide a little bit, although he's Arch Manning, so he probably couldn't hide.

35:49 I would have thought after the Ohio State win, you kind of get the monkey off your back. Biggest win in the program since some of the peak Mac Brown era. They'd be OK. They'd be loose and they'd start rolling because they have talent everywhere. Then they've just looked. I mean, UTSA, they were getting the arch was getting killed. Tennessee game was just a slog. This Oklahoma game now that Florida's bad, but then they still got Trinidad. They got Mississippi State.

36:15 The Missouri quarterback's pretty damn good. They play at LSU. I know LSU's not great, but that's going to be a tough environment. I'm sure that game's going to be at night. I just have no confidence in him, in them, as an offense to win these games. And I do think it shows you, you know, speaking of Chesney or Cignetti, these guys that don't have the– even Freeman. Freeman's hype is he's at Notre Dame, but he's not talked about like Lane and Sark and even, you know, the Saban guys. Like, I mean, Sark and Lane– The hype machine behind them doesn't equal the results. DeBoer's a good example. I know they lost, but you see Kalen with a real team.

36:54 He's going toe-to-toe with Kirby. And this is the thing with Arch. You just watch those two quarterbacks, Stockton's older and Keelan Russell's younger. But as that game's going, both of them are just comfortable playing in that environment, which I can't even imagine. You couldn't even hear yourself think.

37:12 And I just don't see it. I'm not putting it all on Arch. It's the Texas program. It starts with their coach. There's a softness to it. Sark, I think, has a lot of parallels.

37:21 With the Lincoln.

37:22 I even think Lane falls under this as well. You know, they're just at their core. These guys are like quarterback, kind of softer guys. You see the Kirby thing going viral. Like, Kirby would be like shattering concrete if he wasn't working in football. You know, these guys are just wired a little bit. Marcus Freeman was a linebacker at Ohio State.

37:42 I mean, you see the thing going viral on Mario Cristobal in the pregame talk. Like, how do you think Mario talks to his team and Lane and Sark? Offensive guys just talk differently. They just do. In college, in the NFL, guys get up for it themselves, especially older veterans. Trent Williams doesn't need a rah-rah speech. It's more about scheme.

38:03 In college, the motivation and the drive and the focus during the week and the standard– And there's a toughness that coaches bring. And I think you see some of these guys that, I mean, Sark, Lane, Lincoln, I mean, those guys are making a combined, what, like $ 40 million? There's just something they can buy, especially Lane and Sark can buy the top defensive guys. They're just not tough guys.

38:25 They're just not.

38:25 Well, I mean, Mike Ditka passed away. I mean, Nick Saban documentary. Look at Saban and all the good press Saban gets in this documentary and look at Mike Ditka passing. What were they?

38:39 Loud?

38:40 Intense, demanding, relentless, my way or the highway. There is something about the football culture in America. It simply works. Mike Ditka, nobody thought he was a better player than a coach, even though he helped build a Super Bowl champ. But the reality with Mike is he could be a bully. So could Saban. I mean, Saban would be throwing headsets at 18-year-old, not at the kids, but throwing them during games.

39:06 Some of it's like, wow, this is over the top. He's barking at Kiffin. The reality of, we talked about Bob Chesney and Kurt Cignetti and Marcus Freeman. The one way to turn around a program, it's always been physicality. And by the way, this is not the NBA. There's no load management. There's no pandering. You know, Adam Silver's like, my players are miserable. They read Twitter all day. It's so negative. Can you imagine a football coach saying that?

39:33 Roger Goodell saying that about pro football players. Is that if you look at Kirby Smart, he's a lot more like Saban and Ditka, right? Like, we allow that in football. And frankly, if you look at Saban's ex-players and Ditka's ex-players, they love him. They appreciate it. And I think the American football culture, at its core, you play hurt, you play for, you sacrifice for the team, and pretty eventually unravels.

40:02 And I think you saw that with Lane this weekend. I think you saw it with Sark this weekend. And I think eventually with Lincoln. I mean, it's a fair criticism, even against Penn State. The defense didn't look great. I think your point's well taken. There is something about football. I mean, when I watch New England today and how they have changed in the last two weeks, outplaying Buffalo and destroying the Raiders. That team three weeks ago was an absolute freaking mess. That is a– you know there was some volume at those New England practices. In the hallway.

40:33 I mean, you put your head down, you walk past the meeting.

40:36 Keep quiet.

40:37 They pushed Buffalo around. They pushed the Raiders around. The way these kind of guys like Saban course correct or Ditka or Vrabel, it's always run the ball and be more physical. They forced Josh Allen to have a horrible day. Kirk Cousins was lost. at its core ground zero for football at its best, it is, it's kind of inappropriate.

40:58 It's kind of rough around the edges. Go watch the old Jimmy Johnson stuff where Jimmy's like, I couldn't have done that today. You could not do that today. So rest in peace to Mike.

41:07 I think it's very, I think it's very inappropriate kind of at its core. And that's why I think people like it. I, and I think most people that, you know, a large percentage of people that played football, the farthest they ever get to high school, uh, And even they, you know, no one watched them play, but they had a similar experience. You're getting yelled at, double days, no water.

41:26 I mean, the culture for the majority of Americans that played football up into the last like 10, 12 years, all kind of similar. Some were just on higher levels, but double days existed when I was in high school. You know, I mean, I think a lot of people have that shared experience of like a lot less people go to the military than But I think it's why a lot of people that played football have appreciation for that.

41:50 There's just a hierarchy. You listen. You respect it. You kind of respect your opponent. I saw they had a quote today that I think Burkhart said that Mike McDonald used to get like me versus this guy, me versus Kyle, whoever, when I was defensive coordinator. Then he realized I can't think like that because that's just that you got to just think me versus the opponent. It's almost like Coughlin used to have this like humble and victory. Because you start feeling yourself, you'll get knocked in the teeth the next week fast. I don't care who you are. So, yeah, man, that Bama-Georgia game, you talk about physicality, too.

42:27 Presented by J-Lab. Head to Amazon. The code is COLINCOWARD for 20% off any J-Lab products. And they are all awesome. Feel alive with J-Lab. You know, right now, Brock Purdy is on a heater. And, you know, obviously there are advantages to Kittle and Debo and Shanahan and Christian. You know this. When you have Trent Williams left tackle, the better the protection, the more confidence you have. But when I watch him, you can see the coaching. You can see his work ethic. Like he is just so dialed in.

43:09 And I think sometimes we forget All you pro athletes, 23, 25, 27, when I'm 27, I was still like pulling pranks. Like I was so immature. How long were you improving in your career? I mean, when did you say, okay, I've seen everything, but I think when I look at Purdy, I'm like, he's always had talent. I feel like he's gone up, like he's taken it to another strata. Was there a point, you know, the old cliche, you learn something every day. When was the point that you didn't necessarily?

43:44 Yeah, I mean, I think it's kind of, you know, again, kind of that year five, you know, where you're really– and especially him, he's been in the same offense for five years. That's such an advantage for a young quarterback or any quarterback where you're just in one system– And you have the same offensive coordinator, same guy calling the plays where you're growing together. Hey, you know, like why you're putting in this new play because, Hey, we ran this, this play last week. We're building off this. We're growing kind of our offensive package. You know, this is a look we have, you know, let's run, let's run more plays off this. And, and so you kind of understand the progressions of why the plays are in, why you're

44:25 putting this, what the coach is calling these plays for. Hey, you know, This is a play we've run this, you know, it's in the game plan every single week.

44:33 And Hey, we're calling it.

44:34 Cause you know, this team plays a lot of cover three. They play cover two on this play. Hey, I'm going to my check down right away. I'm going to go get four or five yards and coach will call it again.

44:44 Cause he knows, you know, I'm going to, I'm going to protect them.

44:47 If I'm, If we're trying to get a post route versus certain coverage, you don't get the coverage. Hey, the veteran quarterbacks, they'll take the check down knowing the coach will call it again and we'll get the right play and I'll hit it. I don't have to force it just because he's calling it this play. But I think Brock has done a great job. He knows exactly where he's going with the ball. He knows when he has bad plays. I think he's a better scrambler and guy who can run with the ball and move in the pocket and create plays and people kind of give him credit for. He's made a lot of plays running around and using his feet.

45:23 Okay. Week six predictions presented by Polymarket. Use the code Colin to sign up. All right. Interesting game. Bears at the Falcons. Caleb won't play. Pennix, I think, will. So, in my opinion, Atlanta at home is a tough beat on that fast track. You can trade the Falcons to win at 49%. I like Atlanta. Listen, they lost to Baltimore. There's...

45:49 That's one of the great organizations, owner down. And I think Snoop Hundley could be the best backup in the league. In fact, five of his last six starts, he had a passer rating over 100 as a backup. So I don't think losing to Baltimore takes any of the appeal of the Falcons away. I like him here. What say you?

46:05 Yeah, I mean, obviously, both these teams are running the ball better than anybody. And actually, Chicago's the best rushing team in the NFL right now, which you don't really think about that. But obviously, with Bijan Robinson, Atlanta, they want to run the ball.

46:20 Pinnock's back. Since he's gotten back, I think they're averaging.

46:24 close to 30 points a game. And so they're really finding their rhythm. You know, it worries me. Atlanta is not very good against the run. So will Chicago be able to run the ball and just kind of make it easy on their quarterback because they're not in third and long situations. And so, again, I do like Atlanta.

46:42 I like Atlanta at home with Caleb Williams out. I think their defense can rally, get things going. I think Atlanta's offense, just with Pennix playing this week, with their run game, I think they're just in a great rhythm right now and really tough to stop.

46:58 Game two, the beleaguered Chargers at Kansas City. Andy, read off a bye. Yeah, you can trade the the Chiefs to win by double digits at 47 percent. I don't love blowouts. I never predict that. But there is something about Andy Reid with three more days to be a wizard. Um, I mean, I know you, you, in your career, if you had extra time, it matters. I think Kansas city is the play.

47:26 Yeah.

47:26 Kansas city. They're playing well. They're running the ball.

47:28 Well, Patrick Mahomes, you know, is enjoying the run game.

47:31 It sets up the play action.

47:32 The one thing I will say, the chargers defense is playing pretty well. Um, And they've been in a tough situation because their offense has turned the ball over.

47:41 They're not sustaining drives.

47:43 And so it could go either way in the sense, hey, if the Chargers can get something going and get a lead early in the game, they have a chance to make this close. but it also could implode if another game where they're putting a bind and you can maybe see the frustration, offense, defense.

48:02 Hey, we're doing our part. You're not doing your part.

48:06 But I will say the Chargers defense, considering they're not winning, but they're playing close games and they're not giving.

48:13 A whole lot of help with their offense right now.

48:16 Finally, I have a conviction about this. Dallas at Green Bay. So I would trade the Cowboys to win at 47%. So Eli, my theory has always been, When teams play standalone games and are humiliated, Dallas, a big favorite, was not only beaten, they didn't look prepared. I mean, it was a really bad look. Undrafted rookie quarterback up and down the field. Green Bay, meanwhile, seized on a primary weakness of the Bears, which the Cowboys don't have, which is atrocious corner play. So it looked like Green Bay is the best team in the league. We know they're not.

48:53 The Cowboys look awful. We know they're not. I actually think this is one of those extra prep, humiliating loss. You didn't have many in your career, but you had a few. Practice is really intense. I'm sure Coughlin went back to the plum-colored face after a bad loss. I like Dallas here.

49:13 Yeah, and Green Bay had two losses in a row. They came out versus Chicago last week and played really well. and Dallas coming off a tough loss. Their offense is playing as good as anybody. Dak's playing well. CeeDee Lamb, Piggins, they're explosive. They can make plays. They can make it look easy. Their defense is struggling a little bit, but When you have a tough loss and you've got time to think about it, I think you are coming back a little, hey, we've got something to prove here. We're trying to save our season. I think they'll be amped up.

49:49 I expect them to play well this week.

49:52 For the record, two Super Bowls, two MVPs. Take me to a month. Cause I think the league is fascinating. This year underdogs on all seven, um, primetime games have won.

50:08 Hmm.

50:09 Yeah.

50:09 You, you are bills.

50:11 Yeah.

50:11 Primetime game Buccaneers just this week. Um, Did you, you perform so well in primetime games and years that you won or after you won the Super Bowl, you were in a lot of those primetime games. Now they're a pain in the butt for your family because you're playing off schedule. I know Peyton famously didn't like them, but you performed well in those. Did you like them?

50:34 I liked him. I think it was a great opportunity.

50:35 I think you kind of get, get the, you know, you get fired up, you come together as a group, you kind of know everybody's talking about you.

50:42 And I think as the underdog, it's even.

50:44 You know, that's, I feel like that's like the coach, you know, sees like who's, who's, you know, which, which, uh, Sports personalities are making their predictions. And when everyone picks one team and you're the underdog, he's going to show that in a meeting. No one's expecting us. No one's picking us. Hey, we got to come together and rally.

51:06 And so when you have that extra time, you kind of have those extra meetings going. You know, you see those things when you're a Monday night or a Sunday night game. And so I think that's kind of what it is. You have extra motivation to come together when you're underdog and no.

51:23 One's giving you a chance. The coach uses that as motivation for sure.

51:28 As always, thanks, Eli.

51:29 All right. Always fun. Thank you.

51:35 This podcast presented by Bud Light. Easy to drink, easy to enjoy.