Rams Are BAD, Caleb Crushes In Return, Start Mendoza? College Football Recap

0:10 Here we go. The Colin Coward podcast presented by Bud Light. Easy to drink, easy to enjoy. Well, John, the L.A.

0:21 Rams.

0:22 I mean, they're finding new ways to lose. This was the Super Bowl favorite. They were two weeks ago. Arizona 18, Rams 16. I hate talking about officiating. But they took a 16-15 lead with a touchdown. Heath Evans kicking his first ever NFL extra point. Then Jacoby Brissett comes back with a long completion and a personal foul. There were two calls today, one in the Jacksonville game. Touchdown was taken off the board because of a phantom holding call.

0:57 And this was a phantom– personal foul call. I, I, I didn't see it. I didn't get it. Did you?

1:06 No, but there were 47 seconds left and they were, you know, already at the 44 yard line. So I would have said the Rams were in major trouble the moment he completed that ball over the middle.

1:17 Yeah.

1:18 The Rams got their ass kicked today. I mean, they look terrible. They look lifeless. I mean, this, this has vibes of a team going the wrong direction. I First-round pick, Trent McDuffie. Another first-round pick, Myles Garrett. This is, you know, we talk in basketball a lot when you go all in and you trade your picks and then it backfires.

1:39 Kind of what it feels like for the Rams right now. I know who feels pretty good today. The Browns win, and they got that pick. Now, I don't think the Rams are going to go 4-13, but. But they do feel more 7, 8, 9 wins right now than they do double digits. That's for damn sure.

1:55 People are trying to explain it, but the Rams and Stafford last year owned first down. They were a great first down team. They're not this year. So they're an average, with a 38-year-old quarterback, they're an average first down team. What does that mean? They are living behind the sticks and they have an older quarterback on third and sixes and third and sevens instead of third and threes. So last year, the play action was working better because they were a great first down team. Some of it is they've got tight end injuries. But again, Stafford, it looks like, like that game winning drive, we thought, the two big plays to Puka and to Colby Parkinson, that was classic Stafford.

2:44 He's got, I think, 56 all time come from behind wins. Like Matt can still sling it. We don't question that. But this team last year was a tremendous first down team getting ahead of the sticks, third and short. I mean, if Arizona today would have been okay in the red zone. I think they were 0 for 5 until a field goal.

3:08 I mean, they were a bad red zone team today, Arizona. If they weren't, they would have blown the Rams out. And I don't think you can just say it was a sleepy performance off Monday night. Like it was a, you know, they didn't go anywhere. They didn't, not like Buffalo's having to live in Irvine. I don't know. I just, I look at it and I think this is what makes the NFL great. After San Francisco, who's clearly the number one team. If I ask you second best team in the NFL, I think I'm with Kansas City.

3:38 Yeah, I think it's easily Kansas City. You know, Buffalo, Josh just goes kind of him versus your entire team. 0-5 in the red zone, Colin. How about the fourth down where they were stuffed, where McVay gave a handoff to their backup tight end? Yeah. I think we have to acknowledge, listen, Sean's resume speaks for itself. He's been one of the best coaches in the league for a decade.

4:00 He's having a rough year. They're having a rough year. I think they went a little Daryl Morey. They tried to buy their stars. Chemistry matters in football.

4:08 Yeah.

4:09 You know, let's face it. Like they got gashed last week on the ground. Well, you know, they they went, well, we got to trade Jared verse for Miles Garrett. The Internet loved it. I'm watching their team. I mean, Miles Garrett's nowhere to be seen. You got to give the Browns credit like they his value couldn't have been any higher.

4:25 He'd been in the league a decade. He was making a ton of money. It's like, yeah, you're going to give us all these picks and a player. Take them. And the Rams, you know, they get a lot of credit for F them picks.

4:36 Yeah.

4:37 Not all of them have worked. You know, for every Jalen Ramsey, there's some Sammy Watkins and Brandon Cook. Like, not all their trades are just can't miss walk-off home runs. And this thing... No one can prepare for an injury, but it has been a colossal disaster. I mean, what they traded for Miles Garrett and they're getting nothing out of it. Their defense is really average right now. I mean, last week they got that they got. And I understand Josh Allen's a great player, but they were getting shredded by cooks on the ground. But, you know, Josh just running wild. It's like no one was even around him.

5:08 And today, like this is on McVay. You're coming. This is must win. I mean, the Niners have not lost. So now let's just assume the Niners win on Monday Night Football against an awful commanders team whose season, you know, could just be going to the tank after that Jaden Daniels thing. You are four games behind them. I mean, Colin, everyone makes fun of Arizona. I live in Arizona. They're a joke. I mean, the franchise is a laughing. They have the same exact record at two and four. Same exact record.

5:34 And Seattle, when they get the running backs back, Seattle's got a real defense. They'll be fine. They have zero run game right now, so they're having to kind of just, you know, hey, Sam, throw 51 times. Quarterbacks that throw 50 times in this league the last four years are 4-43.

5:50 And Colin, even if they split with Seattle, that's another loss. That's five. So, I mean, you start doing the math. You're looking at, I mean, it would be a... I would say a Herculean effort to get to 10 wins when you're two and four. You got to go on a stretch where you just do not lose. And clearly their margin for error doesn't exist now.

6:13 And part of Los Angeles is keeping up with the Joneses. And I really believe this is true. So you had the Dodgers going for a third world series. And L.A. is a very warm weather, distracted market, a beach, a lot of things to do. And I think they felt like Miles Garrett. was like a big splash and it, it sells tickets and it gets headlines. LA is very competitive that way. John, you know that. Yeah. And they go and get miles Garrett. And I thought, okay, this is, this is going to be a hell of a front, but I thought he would play. And there is something to be said about Jared verse was very well liked in the locker room, bit of a bull rusher. Um, I think you're onto something here. It just doesn't feel right.

6:54 I feel like I keep trying to talk myself into something. Like you ever gone on vacation and after about three days, you're like, you know, we came here 10 years ago, but the food and the hotel are just not as good this time. And you're trying to talk to yourself because you spent the money on the vacation. And you're like, yeah, this Hawaiian resort, they've let it go. It's not good.

7:15 I'm trying to talk myself into the Rams. A lot of yards, not a lot of points. They don't come with a ton of energy. They feel top-heavy. The special teams are a drag. We've got to be honest. They're just not that good. They're just not that good of a team.

7:29 Well, the other thing, Colin, if you just do the math, they're not that good. I think the playoffs are now in major jeopardy, right? I mean, the Bears are going to the playoffs. The Niners are going to the playoffs. The Vikings are already 5-0. You're a couple wins away from just walking into 10. So they're going to the playoffs. Carolina, they seem like a very credible team. They feel 10-plus wins to me. The NFC East, obviously, has got some issues.

7:53 But the Lions have a direct— they do something really well. It's called offense. That's the other thing. This offense, this reigning MVP— He looks a little older this year. He does. He does. He would get my Hall of Fame vote. He's had an incredible career, probably underrated when he was in Detroit, but he looks older. I mean, he just doesn't.

8:16 And late in the game, Devontae came off the game holding his calf or something. That's not a good sign. He's a guy that's had some muscle injuries. Like you said, Seattle. It's like, well, they can't run the ball. Well, yeah, they drafted a guy in the first round to be their starting running back. People are like, well, he was a backup. Anyone read that he turned down over a million dollars to stay at Notre Dame? Like he could have gone a handful of places in the top 10 and been their starter. He's good. I just think the Rams, I would heavily short them to make the playoffs right now.

8:46 And just the eye test. I mean, they have lost some games where they played well, but today was given the circumstance. I mean, this is LaFleur, McVay. I mean, these guys are all pretty interconnected. You would think he would be fired up to have his team ready to go against them.

9:01 They're finding new ways to lose. Special teams last week, you know, your secondary personal foul, give up a big play this week. Like, I mean, good teams find ways to win. Rams are finding ways to lose. All right, Chicago 31, Atlanta 23. They led 31 to seven. This game was not close. Time of possession, Bears had the ball for 40 minutes. So here's what's interesting. So Ben Johnson gets the Bears job. And he says, we got to clean up Caleb's sacks because Caleb was sacked 68 times.

9:37 First year, Caleb doesn't get sacked. This year, it was about you need to improve your completion percentage. You're too erratic. He completed 83% of his throws today. He leads the NFL currently completing 72% of his throws. So A, Caleb Williams is really coachable. Secondly, he's a good listener. Secondly, Ben Johnson's a really good coach because even Lincoln Riley, who Jaden Maiava right now is the top-rated Big Ten quarterback, we know Lincoln can coach quarterbacks. He couldn't solve the erratic nature of his passing game. Ben Johnson has, year two.

10:18 There was a stat today where he was 24-24, like throwing the ball down the field.

10:22 It was like, what?

10:23 It was the best number. I think it was the best number in six years. I'm going to find it here.

10:31 Hold on.

10:31 I want to find this for the podcast audience because this is crazy. Yeah. He was 24-24 for 248 yards from a clean pocket against Atlanta today.

10:39 His 24 attempts.

10:46 are the most without an incompletion from a clean pocket in the game in six years. So my take, even Brady said it at one point today, he's like, there's smoke coming off that ball. I just thought he looked, I think he's just really matured for the last two years.

11:05 Yeah, I mean, I felt like the game was over at 14-0. They had two drives, combined it for 19 yards, or I mean 19 plays, basically a full quarter combined. I was like, geez, they look on. You could tell he was motivated. They got embarrassed last week. I mean, they got thoroughly embarrassed. Now, obviously, it's a different quarterback, but...

11:24 To me, you never know a guy coming off injury. Could he be a little rusty after three plays? You're like, ah, that looks like the Panther bears offense. And like you said, it, it got a little weird at the end, but the only way they could come back was with the turnover and the bears gave him a fumble. And all of a sudden they scored, you know, what's crazy is when you watch those two quarterbacks through the bulk of this game, like when you said it was 31, seven, one guy went one, the other guy went eight. So, I mean, they were both in the same draft in the same top 10 and, Penix can't move. I mean, physically, when he's on, he throws a beautiful ball down the sideline, but that's about it. I mean, there is no movement.

11:59 It feels like a sitting duck. And when he's a little off... It can't function. If Caleb's a little off, he can move around. He can keep plays alive. The gap between those two talents, again, same draft one and eight. It's not like one guy was one and the other guy was a fourth round pick. I mean, that was pretty glaring. But listen, I think Ben, I appreciate it.

12:24 You appreciate it. Has a big opinion of himself. Has talked it into the Bears. After that happens to the Packers, you know, I can imagine he worked an extra hour, burned a little midnight oil like this. They had a little chip on their shoulder coming in. And let's face it, Atlanta, even last week, they played pretty well. It took a crazy effort by Snoop Huntley at the end of the game to pull that thing off. They were playing well.

12:48 And to be up 31-7 on the road in the NFL, I don't care who you're playing. That's a pretty big muscle flex, especially a team that had a lot of momentum this season.

12:57 Also, did you notice Colston Loveland had six catches and a touchdown? He returned. He'd been missing in action. Luther Burden had eight catches. So last year at the end of the year, his two favorite targets were Luther Burden and Colston Loveland. And we're kind of like, where'd Colston go? Again, these are his guys. Roma Dunze had a big-time catch today.

13:16 I will say this. There's a rookie receiver for Atlanta, Zakarian Branch, who had a fumble on a punt return and a fumble on a kickoff return. I remember when USC recruited him. Highly touted five-star kid. He had great speed and absolutely nothing else. And he was just I just watched him today. And I'm like, you know, USC, eventually Lincoln Riley could not figure out what to do with him. They just they just couldn't figure it out.

13:40 And I'm like, that's a problem. Lincoln knows offense. So I thought today, I mean, any any chance they had that kid.

13:48 One thing the Bears can do to you is when their offense is on, they can take a lead. and all of a sudden you're down multiple scores. I mean, the best player on the Falcons by a mile is the running back. B. John Robinson had nine carries today. I know he kind of got banged up, but it's like you kind of take him out of the game because all of a sudden you're like, God, we're down two, three scores. We got to sling that thing around, which is not really how they're built to play despite having a bunch of weapons because their quarterback's such a sitting duck.

14:18 Even today, I know he got sacked four times, but how many plays does Caleb keep alive? Even some throwaway plays.

14:24 He is.

14:25 Scott, he looked pretty good today.

14:28 Yeah, and I think I really do believe that, and I said this when he came out, Ryan Poles, some people said, well, Poles didn't really look at any other quarterbacks. Listen, if you got a five-minute highlight reel of Caleb Williams and hadn't gone to his game, which Ryan Poles had done, He's just different. Like, I'm watching Josh Allen against the Rams, and then I'm watching that flip touchdown against the Raiders.

14:54 There's nobody like Josh Allen in my lifetime that looks like that playing quarterback. I've said the second most gifted quarterback isn't Mahomes. It's Caleb Williams. To literally be able to eliminate sacks one year and now be the most accurate passer in the league, not even Josh can do that. So it just tells you Caleb's one of those people that is so gifted and he clearly takes to coaching.

15:18 You know, he's not arrogant. He's not rigid. He takes to coaching. If he respects you, he takes to it. And, you know, a lot of people, I think great players want to be coached, but it's more than just a little thing. I look at it and I think to myself, all right, this is a guy that is, he wants to be an all-time great because his gifts are good enough to get there. It's just a matter of, can he, practically speaking, take in coaching, and then execute on it. Well, he's two for two in the last two years.

15:47 Yeah, I think when we look back in that draft, Michael Penix, they would not have taken him at eight. Bo Nix's spot is in major question right now with how the way he's playing. Jaden is a very talented player, but his body, I mean, who would bet on his body holding up for another seven, eight years? It is clearly Caleb Williams and Drake May. And I think that's the only conversation to be had. And Caleb, Caleb to me has a little more horsepower, but those two guys have separated from the pack and Jaden should be right there. But, you know, it goes back to the Herm saying, right.

16:20 Best ability is availability. And you just never on a game to game basis. You're like, is he going to last through the whole game?

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18:15 top of your finances, it's time you try Xero. Learn more at Xero.com. The 91% claim is based on a 2024 Xero survey conducted in the U.S., U.K., and Australia. Okay, Kansas City 22, Chargers 6. I mean, there's not a lot to say. It was 19-3 at half, so the game was over. There's a story that came out this week where Mike McDaniel took this job and he changed Justin Herbert's footwork, and it's been a tailspin since. I saw Justin Herbert walking into the game. They had a camera following him. He just looked discouraged. I said it this week. Andrew Luck, literally a big, thick, great athlete, retired because his body couldn't take the beating. Justin Herbert has been sacked in the same number of full years,

19:12 70 more times. Now, Herbert now has six more games on top of that. But Herbert's getting sacked and hit 15% to 20% more than Andrew Luck. And I really do.

19:26 I don't.

19:28 Listen, everybody quit on C.J. Stroud. He was great today. Everybody quit on Drake May. He was great today. We tend to quit on young quarterbacks when they struggle. I tend to say, no, no, no, no, no.

19:39 It's okay.

19:39 It's okay. It's okay. Bo Nix, I'm kind of a seller. He's one of the– J.J. McCarthy, I was really a seller, but everybody was. But I think with Justin Herbert, I don't think Mike McDaniel works with him. him. I think they need to get him out of the building. I don't think it works. I'm not blaming him for everything.

19:55 Kansas City is a really good football team. I think they're the second-best team in the league. Maybe Buffalo is third. I don't know who is third right now. Maybe Seattle. But I think you have to consider just going back to basics or do you just stick with it for the rest of the year?

20:11 Have you watched any of the Saban documentary? Yeah, yeah. When he hires, I think it's like, I was just watching it late last night, the fifth episode when he hires Lane Kiffin because he needed to infuse his program with a different offensive mindset. Nick, like Jim Harbaugh, they want to play like the 70s and 80s and they didn't realize the game was changing. But Alabama had so much talent that the floor was so high. You're watching this.

20:38 You're like, well, they already have a lot of offensive line issues immediately again because they have a million injuries. Listen, Jim, relative to the NFL, is not Saban relative to college football. This marriage, it feels completely way off. Like this has they'd already be going through the divorce, reaching out to the attorneys now. When I hear and listen, he's not played well.

21:00 Right.

21:00 If you just watch him, it's not going well for Herbert. When I see people go, would they trade him? Are you insane? Do you know how many NFL teams would be like? They're like, what do you think you get for him? Like a one and a two? There would be teams trading multiple first round picks for this guy.

21:16 I think you could get three.

21:18 So do I.

21:19 But the Spanos family, they would fire every one of these coaches, including Jim Harbaugh. You don't fire the players first, not when they have that much pedigree. It was just last year where the guy's team was a joke. He had a broken hand, and he was carrying them on a game-to-game basis. So like you said, it's not even Halloween.

21:39 We've had a couple games. It's not going well. Mike McDaniel kind of was a laughingstock in the NFL. I think that's continuing. And I do think it's fair to say is Jim– Is it just off? Is it him? Is it like, is this hiring? I mean, because him and John kind of throw coaches back and forth. Should they have just kept Greg Roman? Every time Greg Roman gets fired, he goes, someone else is solid.

22:00 Yeah.

22:00 Is he Bill Walsh? No. But is he that bad? You know, there's not many perfect offensive coordinators. So I just think this is a disaster. But I watched in the day, they kind of felt lifeless, especially on offense. There was a couple series where it's like, The tight end didn't even try to catch a ball. It's like, what is going on? Meanwhile, you watch Kansas City, who just went through the year from hell after going to five Super Bowls in six years. They have one of the great personnel acquisitions I can ever remember. It happens in basketball and baseball sometimes. You're like, yeah, no-brainer, big-time free agent, signed Shohei Otani, MVP. I don't know if he's going to win the MVP. We've got a long

22:37 way to go. But he is in the conversation, Kenneth Walker. 19 carries, 130 yards. He's scoring touchdowns every single game. You can just chalk him in for 130 to 140 yards. Andy, who has never been– he uses his running backs a lot, but he throws to them. He is just like, I'll go back to the old days and just hand him the ball. Taking the pressure off Patrick. Patrick looks dramatically better.

22:59 You know, a couple of years ago when they were making Super Bowl runs, Patrick wasn't playing as well as he had early in his career. Now it feels like he's in complete control.

23:08 John, they had no play action pass for two years. That's why I say everybody's like Darnold struggling. They've got no play action pass. Charbonnet and Price are both out there. Ham and egg at running back. This is the first time now. The running back situation the last two years for Kansas City was egregious. It was awful. And now it's great. In his early years, it wasn't great, but it wasn't as bad as it was the previous two years.

23:31 But it does prove the point that even Patrick Mahomes, with no running game, you're going to throw more interceptions and be less efficient. By the way, Travis Kelsey looks younger and more dynamic now because you can't cheat. And so he has space between linebackers and DBs. So he looks better.

23:50 I think the other thing is their defense. They draft all those kids high in the draft. Everyone always gets crushed. I've been defending these good teams forever. Do you know how hard it is to draft 30th in every round? I think Andy B... Well, yeah, it was kind of nice having two top 10 picks in the first and second round.

24:09 We got R.

24:09 Mason Thomas and Mansard Delane. I mean, that kind of helps.

24:13 And they've both been good.

24:14 Guess where those guys wouldn't have been? If we would have been in the AFC Championship game, we wouldn't even have evaluated them. They wouldn't have been on the board. So maybe we got R. Mason Thomas with our first round pick at the end of the round. It just... Typically, good organizations, when they have a year from hell, can bounce back immediately because they can nail a draft. Do you notice what Philadelphia is doing with Jalen Hurts? Okay, we're going to sit him out. Also, we're going to trade Cam Juergens.

24:41 Have you noticed this? Anybody that's nicked up, Philadelphia, in my opinion, I don't think it's called– people say soft tanking. They're not soft tanking. What they're doing is Howie's like, listen, it's a great quarterback draft. I think they're going to move off. Nick Ceriani, let's talk about this game. Eagles lost their fourth straight, Carolina 25, Philadelphia 14. And I think by, you know, they trade Juergens, Lane retires, Jalen out now for a month. And again, you can call it whatever you want, but I think this is the classic, hey man, this Mannion's not working. Nick Ceriani is not a play designer, play caller. We're kind of stuck here and how he's like, listen, I've got, And some of

25:24 this is on Howie. After the Chip Kelly situation, he hired Doug Peterson and Nick Ceriani, who are never going to have control in that building after Chip basically kicked him to the curb. So the downside is, you know, when you get Jalen, you're not paying him anything. You can stack the roster and you have, you know, you can win a Super Bowl. But I sort of look at Philadelphia now, and my take is Carolina's good. I think offensively, they're very clever. They're a hard matchup. But I think a lot of this, it does feel like to me, and you work for the organization, it does feel like they're kind of strategically making sure we're going to arrest some guys. And I'm not saying that Jalen Hurt's blood clot isn't real and isn't frightening, but I'm

26:07 just saying it feels like it's a bit of a reset.

26:11 Yeah, I mean, part of it is just the nature of– they're losing guys. Every time I looked up at the screen today, there was a guy laying on the ground.

26:18 Devontae Smith got hurt today.

26:19 Yeah, Nolan Smith got– I mean, they were losing guys left. They are having a streak of injuries right now that no one can overcome unless your name's Kyle Shanahan. So I think part of it is– This is just it does feel like Sirianni's team has been relatively healthy in some of the runs they've had. That is not the case.

26:38 I also am going to defend Howie. When they hired Doug Peterson, the job was not very desirable. Sirianni was a little different, but I think all this negative perception come out the way they had handled Doug earlier.

26:51 Yeah.

26:51 When like after he had won a Super Bowl and then they kind of kicked him to the curb. Turns out, you know, Doug's a nice guy, not super dynamic coach. I think Howie over the Sirianni era has proven to be as dynamic of any GM and all of professional sports.

27:05 Yes.

27:05 So if I was a Mike Tomlin type, let's assume he wanted back in or I don't know how this crop is going to play out. You know, Sean McDermott, who's worked there before, whoever. Some of these OCs that will separate themselves. Wouldn't you be lined up to go to a place with a GM that has elite ability to get talent? In 28 with some of their trades, they have two first round picks, two second round picks.

27:27 So big picture. The other thing, they have an owner. that will spend enormous amounts of money on this team and cook the books. I think this job of what Sirianni and Doug Peterson, the way coaches were– I think it's dramatically different this time around. Again, I don't know what the crop of coaches is going to look like.

27:44 But you think Nick's gone.

27:47 Well, I mean, I just think in a town like that, how do you overcome four or five wins? It'd be one thing if last year the negativity hadn't, you know, kind of grown as the season had gone. If it had just been your normal division champs losing a weird game in the first round of the playoffs, he would get another year. I think there's so much negative momentum carrying over. They couldn't get anyone to take the offensive coordinator job. Sean Manning is taking a lot of shit.

28:13 He's a 34-year-old guy. I'm probably guilty of it, too. No one would take the gig.

28:17 They interviewed 17 people. Nobody wanted it.

28:20 And it wasn't because of Howie. It was because of the quarterback. I feel weird. He's got blood clots. My neighbor's a doctor. Diehard Philly guy. Retired doctor. He's like, he ain't coming back this year. Because he usually takes a couple months to just see if you can handle it with whatever the procedures are. So, like, listen, it's not like he was playing well anyway, but this quarterback now, you have an inexperienced quarterback with no talent around him because of the injuries. You have a bunch of new offensive— they' re just going to lose a lot of games naturally, right?

28:52 Right.

28:52 Even if you had decent coaching around him, I just in a city. I mean, Colin, they were booing today. I had on the audio. They're down three nothing. It was like, you know, it'd be one thing if it was the Bears game and you're just down like twenty one to seven. And it's just like, oh, my God, it was three to nothing. You know why? And here's where I will defend Philly fans. is they've kind of been watching the same thing here for a while. It's not like, well, you know, this is pretty entertaining. It's like you're a Dodger fan. Like, if you're booing, getting swept, you're a Dodger fan. Like, give me a break. Philly fans, like, I'm kind of supporting them.

29:24 Yeah, and it's been a three-and-out factory for two and a half years. And the other thing is, because Sports Talk Radio still matters greatly in Philadelphia, and the GMs listen and the owners listen, because it's one of those cities like Boston. Everybody listens to WFAN when Mike... and the Mad Dog were on. Like it was GMs listen to it. It was the whole country. I saw the ratings.

29:44 If you go look at Felger and Maz in Boston, the numbers are insane.

29:48 Aren't they doing like 20 shares?

29:50 Yeah. So people listen. And if you don't listen, people tell you what they said. And the reality in Philadelphia is everybody that's a smart group of fans. The bottom line is what's Nick do? You know, again, he's an offensive coach and yet is totally reliant on an offensive coordinator. So, I mean, it just doesn't work. And so I think– and it doesn't happen very often, but sometimes the GM is the most important person in an organization. It's happened in hockey before. I mean, Theo Epstein, it's happened in baseball before. And I think– This is a rare NFL team where the star of the organization isn't the quarterback or the coach, it's the GM.

30:32 But even if you're a top coach, you know, it takes you a long time to establish yourself as like a Kyle Shanahan or an Andy Reid where it's like, I don't have to answer, Nick Saban, what he became at Alabama. Every high-level coach in, or maybe Kirby Smart, like everyone's answering to people. Like, you know, if Robert Kraft wants to talk to Mike Vrabel, he puts down everything he's doing and goes into his office. Most people making $ 20 million in a CEO job answer to a board.

31:01 There aren't many jobs where it's like what Nick Saban became at Alabama. Hell, if Jed York wants Kyle to do something, guess what? Kyle's doing it. That's kind of the way. So it's like, okay, Howie wants you to do something. I think part of the pushback years ago used to be this push and pull with the analytic movement.

31:20 Eagles were somewhat ahead of the curve on what they wanted you to do. Now, everyone's doing it. It's not as weird like, hey, we want you to go for it on fourth down. We don't want you to. I would say they were so ahead of it, it felt a little like out of left field and I'm going to get made fun of. You want me to do this? Now, everyone kind of plays the same. I would say on Saturdays and Sundays with going for it, not kicking field goals.

31:44 So it's like, yeah, they'll be able to push and pull with who's outspoken. What are we really talking about? Special teams, linebackers, like the top players are always going to be active if they're healthy. So it's I think the Eagles is a pretty desirable job just because here's the other thing. How is ruthless? He's like Belichick, like Bill Walsh. Listen, if the Eagles are going to be active, they're going to be active. if they need a quarterback change, they'll make a quarterback change. They've done it before. They'll do it again. If they need to start shipping people out of town, they'll do it. They, they, they do not care. They are, this isn't a, it's a player friendly place, but it's also, if you don't produce, it

32:18 won't be a player friendly place for long.

32:20 It's like Netflix just fired, you know, they're one of their top fairly new, very respected. We've dealt with the lady at, um, the woman who was the boss that got let go at the volume, highly respected. We had a great relationship with her. The way the guy Ted Sarandon runs Netflix is, we're teammates, we're not friends. If I have to cut you, I'll cut you. And that's Howie Roseman. We're not friends, we're teammates. And you'll be rewarded if you're a great teammate. But if the stock price is down at Netflix, you're going to get pushed out the door. Doesn't mean you're not great at what you do. That's just the way Netflix operates.

33:02 Well, Saquon, we loved you when you were rushing for 2K, and we have no problem giving you more money. But the moment you have back-to-back seasons like this, you're not going to be around anymore.

33:10 That's right.

33:11 That's right.

33:13 All right. Buffalo beats the Raiders 33-30. Josh Allen with the 15-yard flip for a touchdown. I actually think I have a pretty good beat on the Raiders. They need another draft. I think they've done a really good job. John Spitek's done a really good job. There are personnel shortcomings. I also think... Kirk Cousins is fine. We all know that Mendoza is eventually going to get the nod. The question becomes, when does Mendoza get the nod? If you look at their schedule, by the way, I thought it was going to be closer, but the Bills have scored at least 33 points in four of their six games.

33:51 New mentality. They're just more aggressive. They are. They're more aggressive with Brady than they are with Sean McDermott. it's almost like we can't collapse late in games if we're hyper-aggressive. Like Brady's one of those guys, like I don't want to have to think about going for it. We're just going to go for it throughout the game. So I do think the one thing with Buffalo is they're clearly with Brady a little bit more aggressive. I think Josh Allen likes that. And you'll bite the bullet sometimes because Josh is going to make mistakes. The question when I watch this game is, yeah, Buffalo is obviously a top three or four team. When do you go to Mendoza?

34:28 I mean, I think they were pretty adamant to start the season. They did not want to throw him out there. And I do think they can justify it by sticking without putting him out there. Personally, I've always been a believer, just my own personal experience in life. You learn through experience. And you can only learn so much by sitting on the sideline watching film and watching Kirk. The other thing with Mendoza... Sometimes you get an immature guy who needs to kind of be led. That's not really the book on him. He's learned everything he needs to learn, like what time to come in, what time to eat, how to recover. He's got that down, I would imagine, by now.

35:04 The one thing, and I know some people that are coaching there, I think the major question mark was, I haven't attacked him about since, but like in camp and OTAs, the transition from shotgun to under center in this offense is gigantic. It's a huge gap of just being under center the whole time. He had five career under center plays his entire college career, dating back to Cal. So if you go back to Matt Ryan and some of those guys that played in the Shanahan-Kubiak op, they felt very uncomfortable turning their back. They weren't comfortable in year one.

35:34 So they're basically just letting him do that in practice. I would guess, too... The way they treat him in practice, they would probably never admit this. He's not just your typical backup. They probably have developmental periods for him. That this is kind of a unique, like we're trying to win here, but because of the Brady, Kubiak, Spytek, these guys are kind of not going anywhere. Yes. They're in a unique spot. I've honestly been blown away. If you remove last week when they got their ass kicked, I know Tucker hit they hit a big bomb at the end to cover, which was awesome. But they got two tight ends, Colin. I mean, their offense is two tight ends who are awesome. I mean, Bowers, who they kept

36:13 talking about the broadcast and the receiver and they were treating like that. And Mayer is, I mean, as good of a number two tight end as there is in the league. Jensen's given him nothing. He had 10 carries for 22 yards a day. Washington looked more explosive. So it's not like they're explosive running. They got two tight ends.

36:28 That's their offense. And they're actually, besides you remove the Patriot game, they have been extremely competitive this year offensively. Yeah, I think they need to Kubiak and back to flurry. And like, there's just a drop off. Some guys are just better at their job than others. And clearly Kubiak is really good at his job. Yep.

36:44 They need another draft class. I mean, this is baby steps. I think they're respectable. I think they play hard. Listen, we got to just look at Buffalo right now. I told you the eight best offensive lines in the NFL are all eight offensive coaches, 13 of the top 15. There are primary advantages to having an offensive coach. They talk the same language as your quarterbacks. And the secondary advantage is your offensive line's better. And the last several weeks I have watched Buffalo, just the run game, the explosion plays, Josh feels incredibly comfortable. He's in a good mood on the sideline. I felt at the end of the McDermott run, they get into big games and I could feel attention. You can watch body language. You could watch,

37:31 you watch Josh now on the sideline. He is smiling. He is happy. He is married. Life is good. The new stadium. I mean, Buffalo fans are as good as any in the NFL. I kind of just feel you can be a good coach, but it's like Pat Riley said. There's a certain point where it becomes noise. Del Harris was not a bad coach. He just talked too much. And, you know, you needed this Svengali. You needed Phil Jackson.

37:58 And I just think the reality is with Buffalo right now, it feels like a happier team. team playing downhill. I think players like to be aggressive, especially Buffalo's offense is pretty stacked. And I think, I mean, I just think Buffalo needed an aggressive offensive guy who believed in them. And McDermott's a conservative defensive guy. And I think that's, I think every player in the locker room knew it.

38:24 Well, I mean, players grow. But, you know, last year they draft Keyon Coleman at the end of the first round, early second round. I think they traded back, so they got him the first pick of the second round. And it was a nightmare. Remember, he was inactive, and it was not working out. And this year, it's like every time you watch Buffalo, he's making plays. And Joe Brady said, like, when he got hired, I was the guy pounding the table.

38:47 And if you look at it offensively, like watching them and Kansas City play at the same time, And the Raiders are better than the Chargers. But you just go when push comes to shove, the Chiefs, because both teams, like obviously have all time great quarterbacks. Both of them have star running backs. I mean, James Cook is an elite player. I know he fumbles the ball, but he's a pretty special backfield made for Josh. But defensively, they just can't cover it. There's not physical enough. So you play Kansas City with it all on the line. Who are you taking? A team that we got no problem now winning 19-15. Buffalo cannot play like that. I mean, they just played the Bears 33-30 last week. What the hell was the score? You're just playing in all these

39:27 high-scoring games. It's hard to...– their margin for error, if Josh does have one of those bad games, it goes out the window because their defense can't stop it.

39:36 The only two teams in the league that don't appear to have a major flaw right now are Kansas City and San Francisco. Buffalo's secondary, Seattle, right now has no run game. That should improve. Rams' special teams are awful. Miles Garrett's not playing. Everybody's got a problem. I will say this, though.

39:54 Baltimore, Lamar's health. I mean, yeah.

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40:59 within 14 days. Terms apply. Download Cash App today. Make your money work for you. Visit our link in bio. Texans 34, Jags 31. The best game of the day. The quarterback play was sensational. C.J. Stroud, you know, we've got to be honest about this. We all asked ourselves, like last year he was forcing really bad interceptions and fumbles.

41:28 He has been so good. The Jags defense, they don't have a consistent pass rush, so it really collapsed in the second half. But I thought it was a top five game of the season. I came out of that game and I thought Trevor Lawrence and CJ Stroud right now today are playing like top 10 quarterbacks. I just sat back and watched that thing for three and a half hours. And I'm like, man, we're going to have a good Sunday. That was the best game by a long.

41:54 And I'll tell you this, watching CJ and now with Nico Collins and now they have Marvin Harrison who had his first catch. You know, Woody Marks is healthy. It's not a great O-line, but I watched them today and I thought, okay, Houston looks like a playoff team today.

42:12 Do you know what's crazy about Houston is their defense, which was so awesome last year and carried the team, has been a problem this year.

42:18 Yes.

42:19 You don't feel very confident they're going to get stops, and you have guys wide open. But if their defense can ever kind of figure it out, I mean, their offense now, Woody Marks runs hard. I've been extremely impressed. I mean, C.J. Stroud, I'd say, has been pretty good and steady all season long. I'll take the L on this.

42:38 I thought it was a disaster. This shows you good organizations. They figure things out. How good is Travis Hunter look now? I mean, he's making plays left and right. And physically, there was a play where he thought he got shoved by Nico Collins, who is a man-child. I mean, he's closer to Calvin Johnson than your average wide receiver size-wise.

42:57 Travis looks a little thicker now. I said, this guy, and listen, I think Colorado's imploding under Dion, but one thing he was right is this guy's pretty special. And I was like, ah, he is. He's become an excellent corner. I mean, obviously he was a good corner in college, but he's an NFL corner and he's making plays on offense.

43:14 I mean, between Travis Hunter and Parker Washington, you have two of the top 10 athletes in the league on Jacksonville. And they're not a very good red zone team. They struggle a little bit in red zone. They make mistakes. I think Jacksonville is really good. But my takeaway today, and by the way, I thought Jacksonville won the thing, you know, and then all of a sudden Texas.

43:34 Texans had to win, right? Texas had to win or there's one in five, you're done.

43:38 D'Amico Ryan's good coach. CJ's playing really well. The Marvin Harrison, that's going to work at a higher level than Arizona. Their defense, the pass rush isn't as good as it was last year. But my takeaway on that was let's stop the CJ. It's like a little like Drake May. It's like, guys, Drake May is really good. C.J. Stroud's really good. So that made me feel happy today. All right, the best team in the league, I have them at four or five that nobody's talking about, is the last team to beat Buffalo. New England beat the Jets 26-19.

44:09 Jets were 0-3 in the red zone. Drake May, once again, 111 passer rating. Last three starts, Drake May has been sensational. Their running game is probably a B running game. But I said this before, the top teams in this league, you watch the Niners or you watch Kenneth Walker or you watch Josh Allen, the Bills. You watch the top teams in this league, John, and there's a wow factor.

44:41 You watch the Patriots and they put you to sleep with six yards at a time. But this team beat Buffalo. I think their coaching is unbelievable. They course-corrected Drake May, who's had back-to-back-to-back sensational starts. They did this last year, John. We're like, well, they're about a year away in the draft.

45:02 And you look up and they're in the Super Bowl. I got to tell you, A.J. Brown was awful today. Oh, my God. Oh, God.

45:11 He was awful.

45:12 And they didn't get distracted. They moved on to other options. They ran the ball pretty well. I think this team is going to get ignored. And considering Vrabel's offseason, that's the best thing.

45:26 In the world.

45:27 They're winning ugly. But nobody is talking about New England. And they just kind of dismantled teams week in and week out.

45:36 Yeah, I mean, you have to think A.J. Brown had 10 targets, three catches, and four drops, and he was their big offseason.

45:43 He had a drop on the onside kick.

45:45 Yeah, so you bring him– I mean, Drake made three touchdowns today, and A.J. Brown basically has given him nothing this season because he gets hurt early on in that first game, comes back today as a disaster. He's going to get it. I don't know if he'll ever be what he was in his prime, but he'll add something.

46:02 Pop Douglas has been really good for him. Every time you look up, he's making plays for him. This team looks headed toward 11 or 12 wins, where a couple weeks ago we went, is the quarterback falling off? And this is the confidence thing. How much better does he look on the move? How much better does he look throwing the ball down the field? Defensively, they're never going to be the sexiest defensive team because they don't have Miles Garrett. Their edge rushers aren't Will Anderson Jr., But every time you watch him play, it's like, God, they hit hard. And they are very, very stout against the run, typically.

46:36 I mean, today, you know, Braylon Allen, the backup running back for the Jets, pretty good. I mean, the Jets, Brees Hall and Braylon Allen's one of the better one-two runners. You know, we talk about Seattle. You're like, God, you need a backup running back. You watch Allen. It's like, that guy can play for my team any day. But the Jets, you watch them. I mean, Colin, Geno Smith– is not terrible. They have Omar Cooper Jr., who they just drafted in the first round. They got Garrett Wilson, who's on a big contract. They have multiple running backs.

47:02 This is a more credible Jets team. The coaching, up for debate, but just in terms of talent on the roster, way better than some of the years past. So it's like... It was kind of a sleepy game, and they were in complete control, and the Jets get a late touchdown to kind of cover the spread here. But yeah, I think you take the win, you move on if you're them.

47:25 Yeah, Aaron Glenn is 0-7 against the division. Listen, I'm not going to spend a lot of time talking about the Cleveland Browns. who are in first place. They beat the Ravens. Ravens lost another lead in the fourth quarter, missed a field goal. It went downhill. Derrick Henry fumble. I'm not going to talk about the Steelers 26, the Bucks 19 Steelers got saved a Jamel Dean pick. And then Aaron Rogers, his seventh overtime win in his career.

47:52 Those games were virtually unwatchable. Same with the Colts lost to the Titans. I do think. I do think we have some college football stuff to really talk about that's really interesting this week. So we have a 2014 playoff. People can complain all they want. Saturday was the best Saturday I have seen in two years. NFL today was the worst Sunday. Now, we haven't seen the Packers-Cowboys yet.

48:18 It was the worst Sunday of football that I have seen this year. So I want to start with Ohio State 19, Indiana 15. My takeaway is watching Julian Sayen Like, I don't think Ohio State can win a national championship if he's your quarterback. No, he's going to be hurt. He's going to be out. They're going to have this kid, Luke Fahey, who's like a three-star guy out of Mission Viejo, California.

48:39 And he's, you know, apparently he beat out some five-star guy they recruited. Ohio State recruits a lot of five-star guys. But my takeaway on this game is even great coaching, Kurt Cignetti has a ceiling. They had a fumble. They made mistakes. They had an interception. Hoover got hurt. When I watch this game, personnel-wise, I think Ohio State's a much better team. I said this about Cignetti. I said this year's team is going to be closer to his first year that got to the playoff but got dominated by Notre Dame. This team, though more talented than that first Hoosier team with Cignetti, it's not as good offensively.

49:19 They have one star receiver who's really good, but I don't feel their defense is as good on the back end. And my take on Ohio State is, I don't know if they can win a national championship. I think Miami's the best team. I still think Notre Dame's fine, but they needed to win that game. I'll get there in a second. My take is Cignetti last year, Fernando Mendoza won five games. They could have easily lost. And we've given all the credit to Cignetti. He's a coach. They have limitations. You saw them Saturday.

49:54 Yeah, this does feel that him putting his foot out of bounds, a little makeup for some of the crazy games that they won last year. I mean, they won every single one of those. Both quarterbacks were really shaky. I thought Hoover was all over the map early in that game. I mean, balls are flying. The one thing I will say about Indiana is Becker Marsh is, I know he stepped out of bounds, is as good of a one-two combination as you're going to see in the country.

50:21 Jeremiah Smith is the best wide receiver by a mile, but like Travis Henry Jr. or Chris Henry Jr., excuse me, I like those two better than the depth of Ohio State. He is so good, it doesn't matter. To me, Hoover, and I know Cignetti gave him a lot of credit for last week making some big plays down the stretch, and he's done it this season. It's like I don't really trust him when I watch him. So even the final play, it's like he was wide open. If you just throw it a little more inside, he was trying to make a great play. You kind of led him that way. Whenever I see that sling, I'm just reminded of when Aaron Rodgers broke clavicles. College can be much more– kind of cloak and dagger and quiet about it the

51:07 information doesn't quite get out with you know like it does in the nfl we still don't quite know he's had a couple weeks or for a few weeks sure look like he had a broken clavicle or broken forearm or something bad if he needed a sling so i i would expect julian saying to not be back and the other guy looks small i mean so julian saying is already a major question mark just for their operation given how much talent they have Now you're going to the backup, who is, I mean, probably a wide gap.

51:36 I would say Ohio State's in major trouble. You could make the argument, just given that injury, that you feel better about Indiana moving forward than you do Ohio State because they're missing their quarterback now.

51:46 Here's the one thing where I'll defend Ohio State. This team's about defense, one superstar receiver, and Bo Jackson, the running back. It's not Julian Sand-led. I mean, he's pretty compromised athletically. There was a rollout near the goal line, and he had pressure. I mean, he couldn't throw it 15 yards. He's just not a big, strong kid. He really isn't. He's accurate. Well, it's easier to be accurate when you're playing at Ohio State. Ryan Day, offensive coach, great receivers. I think San's fine, but this defense to me and this star receiver, that's their recipe. So I think Ohio State will beat USC in Los Angeles, even though USC plays Wisconsin next, then it's Ohio State. I just think they have limitations, and I think starting quarterback

52:38 or backup, I just don't think they're special. Now, it's not the Texas situation where they're at times bad, but I just think there's a low ceiling with San.

52:47 I will say the one thing about Indiana coming out of that game, I thought their defense was pretty unreal against a guy that no one's been able to stop. I mean, Mike McDonald last week got pretty snippy with the reporters about wanting them to double-team Mike Evans. He's like, that's not what you do. They were throwing everything at Jeremiah Smith. And beside the one play where they just threw up and he jumped up like he's like Sean Kemp in his prime, he had four catches for 68 yards. Meanwhile, Charlie Becker and Signetti are going up against Patricia, who's won Super Bowls. He was unstoppable. And honestly, nine for 165, it felt like he should have had 200-plus and Hoover's overthrowing him. Hoover's missing those guys. So I thought the

53:29 coaching for Indiana, I mean, they clearly do a good job now of transfer portal, adding talent is on a different level. I mean, they are such a well coached team defensively because I expect everyone, Ohio state to be like a future top 50 pick, you know, Indiana, maybe it's something about the Jersey, something about the program. It is just remarkable to see such a big game there.

53:52 And then early on, it's like, God, they are still ready for this. I was having this thought yesterday, and I understand they went 16-0 and we're in a different world. But for them just to be able to maintain, we can go toe-to-toe with Ohio State. Whatever Cignetti's making, he's underpaid. I mean, that is a remarkable accomplishment, given how well Ohio State recruits. I mean, look at their two... They need some coordinators. Let's go buy Arthur Smith. Let's go buy Matt Patricia. Meanwhile, Cignetti's got the same guys back from, like, Elon.

54:22 You know, we've been with them forever. So I came away from that game... I even have more respect for IU. It is. They had some weird shit go on, midfield goals. You know, they went for some short yardage situation and got stuffed in the red zone. Well, they looked like they were just— It's hard. I mean, Ohio State, sometimes it's hard to get, you know, come through in those situations.

54:44 Yeah, I mean, it was one of the first times in a year that we watched Indiana make the same mistakes or struggle in situations that every other coach, even the well-coached teams do. Okay, Notre Dame gets beat by BYU 28-24. Now, was that pass interference in the corner of the end zone? Looked like it to me. Was there a second left? Yep, I think there was. It's really hard. And I thought CJ Carr had a really good final drive.

55:09 I agree.

55:11 And Notre Dame needed that win because the schedule's weak. But it is very hard for me. We want our officials to be perfect. Just remember, there's dozens and dozens of games every Saturday, and you need seven officials. Do the math. There's all sorts of average officials, even in big games. This is not the NFL where you've got your 14 games. You have dozens of games, seven officials, some conferences, eight. It's just a math equation. We've seen the Georgia... Alabama call. There are bad calls in college. Hell, there's even bad reviews. It's a bit of a circus.

55:49 But it's hard to defend Notre Dame on that pass interference at the end because A, Red zone, turnover, can't do that on the road. Couldn't stop BYU on multiple big third downs. I thought Notre Dame, and this doesn't happen much with Marcus Freeman, they weren't a terribly smart team. I thought they made all sorts of mistakes. I didn't think they played a very clean game. And considering how weak their schedule's been, and this was a circle game, I mean, they were emotionally ready for this game. Provo is loud, but it's not Autzen. You know, it's not Georgia.

56:24 I just– it's hard for me to– and I have Notre Dame and Miami as my top two teams in the country. Again, I thought Carr had a really good final drive regardless of the outcome. I don't know if he's a great quarterback. That was a really gutty drive with some athletic ability. But my take is just Notre– BYU deserved to win. I really felt that when the game was over.

56:45 Well, I thought Notre Dame was getting worked early in the game by the offensive coordinator and that quarterback. I mean, all I kept hearing was this, Bear Brockmire, he can't really throw. And then he's making plays with his arm and his legs. They're calling double pass throwbacks. Because I think a big question mark with BYU was like, well, their offense isn't going to be good enough. You know, you knew there would be a physical team. Their coach is solid. NIL has helped them. I mean, they got some cash, a lot of cash.

57:11 Yes, yeah.

57:12 So it's like they've always had NFL players going back decades. But that was a kitchen sink game for them. And they're up. And then in the second half, what happens? They muff a punt. They run one of the stupidest fake punch you'll ever see. You didn't even get close. That's one of those that is like that couldn't look that good on the whiteboard. I mean, a long way to go. And what does Notre Dame do with those two?

57:36 They kick two field goals. And to me, if you're a top five team, and this is where I feel no sympathy. It's like you stay independent. You keep all your money. You get these great television ratings. Well, when you play nobody except a couple big games and then you lose them, it's like it's easy for people to pile on because so much emphasis for these other programs, even BYU. Yeah. You know, I don't know exactly how their schedule shapes out, but most years they're playing Texas Tech.

58:03 They're playing Utah, Oklahoma State. They're just going to get random mix in games with other real programs every single year. So Notre Dame, like, yeah, well, we've scheduled the power for programs. Well, on the rotation in the ACC, it's down. So you're not playing anybody. And there's so much emphasis gets placed on this game. And then you're given some gifts in the second half and you don't take advantage of it. It's easy for people to push back against you.

58:29 Even though I think if we all take the emotion out, they clearly are one of the 12 best teams. But if they lose against Miami and they're 10-2 and they're in this big mix, a lot of people are going to say no. And it's like, well, you guys get the riches, but you don't get the.

58:43 Rewards, right? Well, and the other thing is Notre Dame loves the 2014 playoff because when USC pulled out of that game, I have it sourced. Notre Dame freaked out because Notre Dame now with only 12 team playoff, like people are like, like SEC schools are like, what, we have to play the SEC schedule and now Oklahoma and Texas are in? And by the way, now Vandy's good in the in the Big Ten schools are like so we have to face Oregon Washington USC now UCLA is good So like these Big Ten SEC schools were like, we're not playing Notre Dame. And that's why Notre Dame, USC said, we'll play eventually, but it's going to be before the Big Ten season. It's going to be in sunny weather. We're not playing in November right after we

59:30 played Michigan or Ohio State. So the reality is nobody wants the 2014 playoff more than Notre Dame. And they have pulled because they want to muscle up their schedule. That's why that game was so important for them. If they lose against Miami, and I think Miami is better, they're not making the playoffs. They can't.

59:47 I would say this. Well, BYU is clearly pretty good, right? I mean, that's a good team. In BYU, could probably hang with most teams on their A game. I feel no sympathy if Notre Dame loses. You're getting them at home. It's like, okay, you lose that by BYU last year. You lose on the road to Miami. First game of the season, 100 degrees, humidity. Okay, you get Miami later in the season at Notre Dame. Like, you got to win that game. And then no one will be able to say anything. But if you lose that game, I'm kind of on the side of like, yeah, we're– Quit your bowl game again. Everyone go home. We don't give a shit. We've had enough of you. I think most people that aren't Notre Dame fans are kind of tired

1:00:32 of the independents bragging about how much money they make. No one cares. All you see these SEC teams going to war every week. And like you said, it's like... If you're Luke Fickle, you're like, now we're kind of good. All of a sudden, you're playing UCLA that three years ago would have been a lock W. You'd been like, we'll be five and one. Well, they got Bob Chesney, who I think if you're a UCLA fan, you're rooting for Michigan to win some games because you don't want Kyle to be one and done because that would be their first call. You know, you don't want Sark to get fired because they'll look around. If Cignetti won't leave, like they'll come calling for your guy. You know, so it's Bob Chesney. All of a sudden, you know, even Oregon,

1:01:08 it's like, yeah, they're down. Like if that's a down program, do you think people are signing up to play them on a weekly basis? So I just think Notre Dame like that was kind of a must win for them just to shut everyone up. And they just lost. And it's like, well, the one second. Well, the big 12 refs, when your conference, Notre Dame has some refs, you can provide them. But so far, you don't have one.

1:01:32 Presented by JLab. Head to Amazon. The code is Colin Coward for 20% off any JLab products. And they are all awesome. Feel alive with JLab. Florida 27, Texas 24. I mean, Texas only had like 210. 70 yards of offense. Florida ran 81 plays, Texas 50. Let's just cut to the chase. Sark was calling plays like he didn't trust Arch Manning. I went and looked at the SEC conference offensive numbers, not the country, just the SECs. Texas is near the bottom on third down, red zone, yards per play, with NFL guys that left tackle, wide receiver. I just And by the way, I've said this about, I like Sark.

1:02:22 I think Sark does the big things really well, but he's sort of the opposite of Cignetti, where he's a great front man. He's a great recruiter. He's great with quarterbacks. But on details, every Texas loss feels the same. You're like, they've got better players. I mean, Florida, this is a rebuilding Florida operation. This isn't a great Gator team. This isn't an Urban or a Spurrier Gator team. This is a rebuilding operation. Do you think Sark's in trouble?

1:02:52 Find me a business, especially, I mean, they're not like a billion dollar company, a smaller business that spends $ 50 million one year and the ROI is disaster. And if Texas misses the playoffs, that would be considered a disaster. And there aren't major question marks coming around by the people that cut the checks. They spent $ 50 million plus on this roster. They just gave Will Muschamp, I think, like a $ 9 million three-year contract. Sark has a bunch of buddies on the staff. Now, the Arch Manning thing is complicated, right? This isn't your– well, he's just– there's probably– it's not your– I'm not putting that all on Sark in the sense of like yesterday, Whittingham was like, I'm done with this car getting the game. I don't think

1:03:34 it's that easy with Arch Manning. So I'm in complete understanding. There was a clip, though, yesterday of a player coming off for Florida and John Summerall, who is clearly a young up-and-coming coach, lighting the guy up like you would have seen Nick Saban back in his prime. You would never see Sark doing that. The other thing is offensively, I think I heard someone say Florida didn't even rank in the top 130 in past defense. Previous two games, they had just been smoked. South Carolina, whose quarterback was a nightmare, scored 38 points. Against Missouri, they scored 45 points. Auburn, a couple weeks previously, had scored 39 points. They were getting lit up defensively. Like, they couldn't stop a soul.

1:04:16 And then you're watching Texas after the one drive. You're like, what are they doing? Their offense is anemic. And then the moment Simmons, who by far is their best defensive player, got injured, I went, God, this feels kind of weird. And then it got weird. And I just think– I just don't know any business of that scale. The proportions are $ 50 million, and if they miss the playoffs– But I also was thinking, like, who is– what are they going to do, call Saban?

1:04:44 What do they do? Does Arch consider transferring?

1:04:51 But who would want– I mean– Listen, I hate beating up on the kid. He's just not any good. He's just not a very good quarterback. We all watch enough college football. John, he doesn't see the field. He holds the ball too long. We rip the Hoovers. We rip the Sands. Arch is worse than all of them. He makes the occasional big play. Well, yeah, they have the number one transfer wide receiver in the country. You text any GM in college, they're like, you have no clue how much money they gave Coleman. If I wanted to push back on Sark, I'd go this. You are obsessed with these skill guys. Your offensive line has stunk for a while now. Why wouldn't you spend all your money there? Texas, you're going to recruit some. You'll have no trouble getting

1:05:33 some skill guys. How about spend all your resources on the line of scrimmage, offensive and defensive line, so everyone says they have the best line of scrimmage in the country. Instead, it's like, well, they bought this running back. They bought these wide receivers. I don't care. That's that's not Ohio State and Indiana's like, God, the line of scrimmage, those two teams.

1:05:50 Holy moly.

1:05:51 Especially defensive line. It's like, yeah, their defensive line is good with Colin Simmons, but he goes out. It's not quite the same. Well, and I just think like, listen, by all accounts, everyone I know, I know, you know, I'm a nice guy. Sometimes I need my coach to be a little bit of an asshole. I don't know if you saw the clip after the game. He was trying to be an a-hole because he knows he's desperate now because they lose one more game. That Ohio State win will carry a lot of weight, but they're not one of the 12 best teams in the country.

1:06:22 The best teams I've seen this year are, I still think, Notre Dame, BYU, Miami, Ohio State. I think Ohio State's defense, running game, And Jeremiah Smith will carry the day in their coaching. I think they'll win close, close and ugly. I think they're going to be hyper-conservative, the Buckeyes will, with whoever their quarterback is. They have two young kids.

1:06:47 I think they're going to be super conservative. They'll be in a lot of close games. But that defense is going to win games. That defense is going to create turnovers. They gave Indiana trouble, and Indiana is going to score 30 points a lot. So, yeah, I just– Everywhere Sark's gone, he was coordinator of the year at Bama. He's moved the chains. They are red zone, third down, yards per play. Well, it's not like they lack talent. I don't think Arch sees the field. We've talked about this before. Justin Fields.

1:07:19 Zach Wilson. There are these guys that you're like, they just don't see it quickly. And then there are other guys like Brock Purdy, who, I mean, Brady was legendary. Brock Purdy sees the field as well as right now, anybody not named Patrick Mahomes. He sees the entire field. Mahomes is great at that as well. Some guys just, what they say, some guys don't have fast eyes. They just don't.

1:07:42 Yeah. You know, I, My theory, and I've been telling you for a while, is the DNIL money has really put pressure on these coaches to ride it out with these quarterbacks. I'm watching Venables play Mateer. It's like, you can't tell me this defensive coach wants to play this guy that's turned the ball over every single game. And I think that's where I was watching, I don't know why, Michigan-Penn State, which was really rough. And when they came out with Carr's brother, You're just like, he gave them some life because he could just make some basic throws.

1:08:13 Yes, yes.

1:08:13 And I think, I don't know, Whittingham, I think he just said, I don't think he even swears because he's a BYU guy, but I know he coached at Utah, but he went to BYU. He just had enough. And he's like, if I'm going down, I'm not going down like this. So he went to the backup. Well, Texas, I think Sark's in this weird spot. I will be stunned if you just see Arch got benched in the next couple days. I think they're going to ride it out, and it's going to cost him probably his job. And the thing with Sark is, is he getting another job immediately if you can't win at Texas? But I also question, who are Texas' options? I was looking online. I was kind of nerding out on some real... message boards i

1:09:01 mean they're like talking kyle shanahan because in their mind it's always been nick savin we'll just buy those guys this is signetti's not leaving he has unlimited budget they got money he can win there you don't have who you steal.

1:09:14 It Who wins at Texas? Mack Brown did when he had Vince Young, but then after that, he had some struggles. Texas, again, it looks the part. It's like the Yankees, the pinstripes, Yankee Stadium, Aaron Judge, they're bad defensively, like the bullpen shaky. You watch them play the Rays and you're like, oh, they're not even close. But the Rays are better top to bottom. Like a lot of times there's a prestige with a franchise or a name. And in the end, Like, I don't know. I mean, I just Texas does not consistently win. Oklahoma's won with virtually every coach they've had.

1:09:52 I mean, there's been a couple of misses, but Bud Wilkerson won. Barry Switzer won. Bob Stoops won. Lincoln Riley said, what you want to average 11 wins like they they win. So I just Texas and I've been told this for years, a lot of voices, a very powerful A.D., Two billionaires have a say. A lot of Texas ego around the building.

1:10:17 Austin's a cool place, cool donors, cool money. There's too much going for it, the State School of Texas, to not win more. I don't think it's just a Sark issue. I just think it's a tough place to coach. Doesn't look like it, but it is.

1:10:35 Yeah, a lot of cooks in the kitchen. And I just think that... They would fire him, and the names they would start saying out loud, they'd be shocked. In this day and age, all these programs can pay their guys. What are you going to do, pay a guy $ 20 million a year? I just think it's a harder uphill battle.

1:10:55 You're not stealing Kirby Smart from Georgia.

1:10:57 Well, they've had some misses. Tom Herman was a miss. Charlie Strong was a miss. I mean, there's been some real swings.

1:11:05 Sark has– and listen, I've been a hater over the years, but he stabilized that program. They're a real football program. I just think this year when they go all out and they spend all that money. And Colin, they were up two touchdowns in that game. That's the other thing. It's like, it'd be one thing if, hey, we just, Florida just came in and we lost 40 to 20.

1:11:24 You were in complete control.

1:11:26 You're in complete control. And their quarterback, who is, you know, by all accounts, the highest paid quarterback in the country, got outplayed by a guy who'd never made a college start. who was a backup at Florida. You got outplayed by a backup, who actually by the end of the game, you're like, I might just keep rolling with this guy.

1:11:45 But you got outplayed by that guy. And the other thing I think if you're a Texas and the money guys– You know, and I understand Summerall was just coming off two ass kickings, but like if you had to pick a guy for the next five years, John Summerall is more my style of guy. I think in college that matters.

1:12:00 And I think Sark is a little more academic, more of the, you know, intellectual offensive mind.

1:12:08 Play designer, play caller.

1:12:10 At a place like Texas, you kind of got, look at the best coaches in college. They can be assholes every once in a while. Yes. You don't think Cignetti's lighting into guys today on Sunday, watching that film, Kirby today. I think that's the DeBoer question. It's like they went into Tennessee yesterday and they got shoved around. And I remember asking a buddy whose brother had played for Kalen at Fresno. I'm like, oh, this former offensive line from the Dakotas, he's got to be kind of like a Pat Hill 2.0. They're like, no, actually, he's pretty measured.

1:12:40 He's a smart offensive. He's not a screamer and a yeller. You're not getting what you think you would with that background, right? Little school, Dakotas, tough guy, offensive lineman at heart. He's actually pretty low-key. And this team sometimes plays like that. And they went into Tennessee yesterday. I thought... Florida beating them and Alabama getting work like that were the most eye-opening games of the day. I got one thing for you.

1:13:06 Yeah.

1:13:07 I've seen a lot of this, Colin, that the 2014 playoff will discredit or take away the importance of the individual games. Football, I don't care if it's high school. I don't care if it's Division II. I don't care if it's the NFL. Every game has always mattered. Anyone been to a high school football game, whether that team is De La Salle in their prime, haven't lost a game in years or a program trying to be 500.

1:13:33 Did you Auburn, who is not going to sniff the playoffs, upset Georgia? The coach started crying with his son on the sideline. Football is not the culture of these other sports. The. This is not the NCAA tournament with basketball where you play 40 regular season games in college basketball. 24 teams is not going to discredit the importance of the individual games for college football because college football coaches, college football, every game has always mattered because you only get a small number of games. I think that is the most overblown.

1:14:07 We can argue whether that's too many teams or not. But it will not take away the enjoyment and the intensity and how much people care. Players, coaches, fans included on a weekly basis on Saturdays.

1:14:21 John, I was telling a friend this over the weekend. I said, if the quality of something is great, you have a bakery in town and they move. They can't afford the lease. They move. People will find the bakery. Now the bakery has more money. They expand. It's like a warehouse bakery. people will still go to the bakery, even if it no longer has charm. If the quality of something is strong, it can move, it can expand, it's okay. The bottom line is, Saturday was much better than what we watched today. The drama, the intensity, the finishes, the officiating wasn't better, but it was one of the great Saturdays in a long time. And that has always been, I mean, it's like, it was very easy to move off baseball for about 20 years. It got real slow. Okay,

1:15:16 now they speed it up, right? They take away the defensive ship. The games are faster. It's harder if you get into a game. It moves. It's quick. The quality got bad. The ratings dipped. In college football, when it was about a three- to four-team sport, Alabama didn't sell in all their home games. The attendance was going down.

1:15:36 The ratings were going down. The Americans always seek and move to quality. You can't watch yesterday, Saturday, and say, yeah, I'm not watching with a 24-team player. We're at 12-team. And by the way, NFL, 44% of teams make the playoffs. NBA, it's closer to 60. Hockey, it's 50. If you like hockey, you're still watching when the Red Wings are taking on the Canadians and you got tickets and you go with your girlfriend or buddies, you're having a great time. You're totally engaged. You're rooting for your team. If you love something, people will find it and be loyal to it. All right, you can trade the 49ers to beat the Commanders at 78% right now on Polymarket. I actually think it's going to look a little like the Bills and the Raiders, which

1:16:30 finished 33-30, which is you're going to know who the better team is, but it's hard to get the Niners jacked up for Washington, right? And they've got bigger games ahead. They've had bigger games behind. I think the Niners win. But I think it may look a little like Buffalo, Vegas. We know who the better team is. But if Washington closed late, and by the way, if the Niners get dinged up, they rest a couple starters. I think it could be competitive.

1:17:00 If this game would have been on Sunday afternoon after that Washington game last week, I would have been like, I could see Washington quitting. But we've been watching Monday Night Football games our whole life. Players, coaches, they get up for it. You're playing on the prime time. The seven and a half number, Colin, I think you would have to take the Washington Commanders. Just because Monday Night Football, you're going to get a spirited effort. The 49ers are kind of riding high. They kind of take a deep breath.

1:17:27 Seattle and the Rams just lost. So a little less pressure on them. I'd be a little stunned if the commanders don't have a valiant effort here on Monday Night Football.

1:17:37 Underdogs have rolled this year in these standalone games. This podcast presented by Bud Light. Easy to drink, easy to enjoy.