3 & Out - INSTANT REACTION: Dak Prescott & Cowboys OUTDUEL Saquon Barkley & Eagles on MNF,Raiders’ Plan for Fernando Mendoza, Will Colts BENCH Daniel Jones?

0:14 What is going on, my people? I'm John Middlecoff, it's the Reign Out Podcast. The Dallas Cowboys annihilate the Eagles backups and their starters on defense, which we will dive into. I'd say the Philadelphia Eagles are in major trouble. Some other breaking news tonight. Dante Moore, the Oregon quarterback who was KO'd at USC, who was going to be a top five pick last year, who came back, is now out for the year. slash, you know, it's like no point for him to come back. Give a couple quick thoughts on that. We had Fernando Mendoza. Should he be inserted?

0:47 Shane Steichen staying loyal to Daniel Jones. John Harbaugh. We'll do a couple mailbag questions. At John Middlecoff is the Instagram. Fire in those DMs. And that'll be the show. So you guys know the drill. If you listen on Colin's feed, make sure you subscribe to 3NOW. If you want to watch us, check us out on Netflix. We got a bunch of content up on the YouTube page as well.

1:10 And let's just dive into Monday Night Football. Coming in, let's face it. In the NFL, when you invest heavily into a unit, this is not baseball, where you can just keep buying players and it doesn't matter, the Dodgers, the Yankees historically, it doesn't guarantee you wins, obviously, as we see. But in football, when you invest, especially a lot of money, which they paid Jalen Carter, Jordan Davis and Jonathan Grenard, I think I saw online, they're making $ 89 million this year. And Zach Bond makes a ton at linebacker. You need that unit to be really good.

1:49 Just like the Cowboys, right? CeeDee Lamb makes a ton. Dak Prescott, $ 60 million. George Pickens, I know he's only on a one-year deal, but he's making $ 27 million. They've invested a ton into their offensive line. So it's like, here's where we invested. That's where you invested. Let's see where we're at. And tonight was... Troy Aikman said it well toward the end of the game. We have not sent Jalen Carter or Jordan Davis' name all night. And you go back to early in the season, like through three games, statistically, the Eagles' pass rush was atrocious. Tonight, they didn't have a tackle for loss. Not only did they not sack Dak, I don't feel like they really even touched him. Beside one play where Dak ended up laughing,

2:37 I don't remember them being around him. And, like, at the end of the day, if someone is going to run for 200 yards on you in the NFL... you're going to lose the majority of those games. And most of the time, if their defense is just okay, you're going to get throttled because they're going to run the, running the ball. I think, you know, for a little bit of time became a lost art. We became at every level from high school to college to the NFL.

3:08 We went through that period when all the guys were hopping on Zoom, mad they weren't getting paid. And it was pass, pass, pass, pass. You don't really demoralize people through the air. In football, you demoralize people on the ground. It's where toughness is established as a team. And you watch tonight, the Dallas Cowboys gave it to Javante Williams, and he looked like Emmitt Smith. Which to me, it's like, yeah, well, good player. Cowboys have, in theory, a good offensive line, a bunch of guys who are drafted high. But when you have two supposedly elite defensive linemen at defensive tackle, eventually you draw a line in the sand and be like, I'm making a play. Historically, that's the way it works.

3:55 I'm a $ 30, $ 40 million player. I'm on a $ 100 million contract. I'm going to wreck some shop. And both those guys got worked. Yet on the other side, Quinn and Williams, who the Cowboys traded for last year, people were like, Jerry, what are you doing? Like, you felt him tonight. On the goal line. Going up against a rookie.

4:13 Smokes him. TFL. Another play later in the game. Sack Tanner McKee. In most games, like, you feel Quinn and Williams' presence. And you have his whole career. The question mark with Jalen Carter is like, can you trust him? Jordan Davis has always been like, how good really is he? And I think anytime... I have older people in my life.

4:37 When they start waffling how much I want to do this, what's my motivation, should I walk away from something, I think it's fair to question their heart. Is their heart in it? For an older person to expend the energy, especially in a profession like coaching... That is a grind. Like Vic Fangio flirted with this offseason. And his unit has played like a guy that, like, is Vic Fangio all in? Because his defensive players clearly are not all in.

5:09 And he is a coordinator who I have the utmost respect for. His defenses a couple years ago, I mean, they had four guys that had 10 sacks. They dominated. You know, when he was with the 49ers, they were one of the most violent defenses I've ever seen with my own eyes. And for whatever's going on right now, this is a disaster. And the Cowboys, who a lot of people make fun of for being the soft operation, even the way they play offense is like George Pickens, who's always like trying to jump over guys. CeeDee Lamb, who sometimes can coast a little bit. It's like, oh, they're just going to pass it on them. No, they're just going to run it down their throat. And obviously, I mean, those guys scored one CDF, two touchdowns, and

5:49 Pickens had one. But the night was determined by, you guys have no chance to stop us. And you come into a game like this, you know, they scored 21 points. And Tanner McKee, I thought he looked okay, and then throws the pick, and then it just completely unraveled. Like, he's not built. I mean, he came into the season until, you know, they had retirements or whatever, and they cut Andy Dalton before they went overseas. He was our third-string quarterback. So, like, this is somewhat, if you're going to score 21 points, hey, Vic Fangio and the defense, we're going to need a night where we flex our muscles. And not only did they not flex their muscles, they got embarrassed. And here's the problem for the Eagles. Like, I'm not saying the Cowboys, like,

6:34 still a lot of question marks defensively. Can they get a pass rush, you know, on the edges? Do their DBs make enough plays? Even a night in some big spots. It's like, do you trust their secondary? There was a one on a fourth and two in the second half on the first drive coming out of halftime. Eagles drove right down the field. It was 17 plays, nine minutes and made it 21 to 20. Like that's like the best Eagle drive I've seen since they won the Super Bowl.

7:04 That was incredible. And then they never looked back after that. But a couple individual plays on that. You're like, there was a fourth and it was a fourth and one. I wrote down fourth and two. It was like, one and three quarters. And it was just like, Mekhi Lemon coming across the middle. You don't quite trust him. But the one way that you can overcome kind of a weak secondary is get turnovers. The Bears did it last year.

7:28 They had a bunch of turnovers. So Overshawn's back, picks off the ball. You can be a weak defense, but if you create some turnovers, pick off balls when they hit your DBs in the hands, maybe create a couple fumbles, you can make up for having some issues. Like this Cowboy unit is never going to be that good. But if they're able to get a turnover or two and their offense plays like this, they're going to have a pretty good chance. And you look at their schedule, it's like they get the Cardinals coming up. who, I mean, are just a joke. Then they play the Colts, who are going to be 1-2-3 Cancun if they're not already.

8:02 Then they play the Niners. And then they play the Titans. So if you are 3-4, your next four games, I'm sorry, you should be 6-5. And then you have a chance right there with the Giants. We'll see if J.J. McCarthy can maintain this. But keep running the ball. Makes it easier. Open stuff up for the wide receivers. And listen, you should gain some confidence. I understand the Eagles defense has not played well, but you embarrass them. And the other thing is on Monday Night Football, like if you're a fan, Joe, and this is the other thing. You know, Vic is an old school, pretty, just kind of grouchy, a curmudgeon. Remember, I think it was Jalek's Hunt had gone on a podcast or did an interview like a couple days after

8:49 they won the Super Bowl. They got back. It was like doing exit meetings, and it was a fun time. And Vic got in front of the defense and started going over the second half and some of the poor execution. I remember they blew out the Chiefs. And you're like, God, but that's who he is. And it's one thing when you're winning. And let's face it, the Eagles have done a lot of winning. I brought up their records since 2017 when they won the Super Bowl. They went 13-3.

9:16 They have made the playoffs eight of the last nine years. And they've won the Division V of those. And one of those, you know, a couple of them, they went 11-6, the Cowboys won 12 games. So it's not like they squeaked in at one of those 9-7-1 years. Like, they've had successful seasons even when they didn't win the division.

9:39 And really, for the last four years, 14-3, 11-6, 14-3, and 11-6. Like last year was an epic failure. They still won the division and won 11 games. Think how many teams that we make fun of constantly that would sell their left leg to win 11 games. This season's going to be a disaster. They're obviously 2-5. Does feel like they're headed toward 5 wins max. Jalen's out, who wasn't playing well to begin with. They're just constantly missing guys.

10:10 You see Saquon. He's just not going to be able to stay healthy. That's the other elephant in the room. I've seen a lot of headlines. Should they trade Saquon? Obviously, Howie's always open to do a deal. I think a lot of guys on his team, typically Howie is the one coming in for your asset and trying to get it for 65, 70 cents on the dollar. Well, Saquon makes a lot of money, and even the night coming back from the hamstring injury, played nine plays, and then his body started falling apart. Then he comes back in the game, immediately his back's tight. It's like his hamstring looks tight. It's like he can't finish the game. And I just don't see anyone in the NFL trading anything of value for a guy whose health is just in

10:57 serious question right now. They can't trade the defensive lineman because they just paid him a bunch of money. Devontae Smith, could you just sell him now? They're not even active for any of these games. So the players that would have some value if you wanted to do a fire sale are all injured. And it's like, well, Jordan Mailata, well, it's like, you're not going to trade your left tackle.

11:18 I actually don't really think, given that a lot of their guys make a lot of money who are way underperforming, it makes no sense to trade them because you're not going to get anything of value. You might as well just keep them, write it out. And let's face it, the other elephant in the room, Tonight's not on Sirianni.

11:34 Sirianni's taking a lot of heat. He has nothing to do with the defense. Just like anyone that employs Vic Fangio, I would have said the same thing for Jim Harbaugh when he coached for the 49ers. I would have said the same thing when he coached for the... Matt Nagy and the Chicago Bears or for Mike McDaniel. Vic Fangio is the boss of the defense. Like tonight's on him.

11:52 They got embarrassed and his players. And that's, I mean, you can't stop anybody at any moment from just running basic off-tackle runs. Like, I don't know what to say. And at the end of the day, he's the head coach. And let's face it, whoever had lost this game, that head coach, people were going to go, whoa. Schottenheimer desperately needed this game. You got Stephen A sitting with Jerry.

12:15 You got Michael Irvin and Stephen, you know, throwing back cocktails, smiling ear to ear. They kind of needed this because I think you can look ahead, even in the NFL, which, you know, it's hard to do that. Like there are a bunch of winnable games coming up and they get some momentum because at the end of the day, they do have a high end quarterback. But I just look at this Eagles team that, Their shitty seasons over the course of basically the last decade have been nine and seven.

12:41 They're not going to sniff that. And I think you're looking at wholesale off-season changes. I don't really think there's that much they can do right now. Because Howie's never been in the business of like, oh, just take my player for a fifth. I'm like, hey, I don't see that happening. You might as well keep an undervalued asset who you've drafted, who you've acquired, who you've developed, who's playing like shit, and see if the new staff and the new coach can get them going. Because right now, all these guys, underachieving feels like a major understatement. It really does. I mean, tonight, I've been to a lot of games at that stadium. You know, I can't even imagine the vibes walking out. You know, when they've lost

13:23 awful games, like close games, devastating games, you know, people are on edge, of course. I think a lot of people leave this stadium just thinking, we're done. You know, they play the Giants in a couple weeks in Philadelphia. It would not surprise me at all if you remember when the Knicks played the Sixers and they basically, Knicks fans took over. Wouldn't shock me at all if that's a Giants home game. Because if I'm an Eagles fan, like I... I'm going to take, you know, tailgating, going early, getting home. That's a seven, eight hour day to go watch this. No chance. And it's, listen, the injuries, the bunch of guys are on the shelf. Even the guys playing feel like they're being held together and duct tape.

14:03 Tanner McKee is, I mean, at best, I mean, competing third guy. I mean, he can't move, you know, their offensive line, bunch of random guys. If, And look who he's throwing to. So this Eagles season has just imploded quickly. I need to tell you about this new sports trading app called Polymarket. It's the best way to trade in sports.

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15:48 for more information. The Polymarket US app serves as an independent software provider and affiliate of Polymarket US and Polymarket Clearing. The CFTC Regulated Exchange and Clearing Organization. Before we get out of here, the other thing I wanted to hit on this news broke tonight is Dante Moore, the Oregon quarterback who got KO'd at the USC game, is out for the year. Historically, when a guy returned, most of my life, in basketball or in football that was viewed as a high pick, a lot of people went, that is very risky. Your stock could fall off a cliff because you play poorly or you could get injured. In the NIL era, I mean, what do you think he made this year? Six, seven, eight million dollars? Probably one of,

16:47 if not the highest paid quarterback in all of college football. He made, you know, maybe Arch Banning made more and I bet it wasn't that much different. And I respect he came back because he thought they could win a national championship. And he would help provide the first national championship in program history and become a legend at the program while getting rich and then becoming a high pick.

17:10 You know, as long as he doesn't have some neurological long-term effect, which we've seen a lot of guys get concussions and come back. And I know his was a bad one. But if I'm going to assume he's going to make a full bill of health based on what Dan Lanning said, he will. and already has, I still think he's going to be a top 10 pick. And I actually think he has a chance to be like a top two or three pick. Look at this quarterback class.

17:35 Who's he competing against? I mean, I think Trinidad's performance the other night really rattled some people against an NFL defense on the road. It was like, whoa. And I'm a huge fan. You know, we'll see Darian Mensah, the better teams they play, but Like the Oklahoma State guy has started like a year and a half of his college career. He didn't even start a game in high school.

17:58 Arch Manning wouldn't get drafted in the fourth round right now. So what are we even talking about? Everything's going to be okay. He made a decision. He got compensated for it. and a freak thing happened, and it derailed his season. And then, like, and Dan Lanning, I watched some of his press conference, like, this guy's not quitting. Well, you just fired the offensive coordinator. The offense is a nightmare.

18:22 So even if you could come back for a team that's not going to the playoffs, your offense, the coaching staff, is in disarray. It is, it's one of those that everyone in the NFL would be like, right decision, right move. Start getting ready for the NFL. Just stay with the team. Keep training. Stay in shape. And then, you know, get ready for whether you want to play in the Senior Bowl or just get ready for the Combine. But there's going to be a lot of different takes about this.

18:48 And he would have made more money if he would have come out and gone to the Browns or the Jets, right? I guess he probably would have gone number two to the Jets. I actually think if you go to the Jets next year, they are much more equipped, right? Adding Omar Cooper Jr., adding, you know, Sadiq, his teammate. Like, they just, I mean, who knows? Maybe they could flip Garrett Wilson the next week for a first-round pick. Like, they are going to be much more equipped to handle him.

19:15 You know, the Browns are no longer going to be drafting that high. And if there are some teams I would be very hesitant to go to if I was him. Like, if the Arizona Cardinals had one of the top picks, I would refuse to go. I would have some similar thoughts when it came to the Miami Dolphins. Like, I do wonder now if some of these guys are highly compensated.

19:35 They're already rich. They already got some juice. They start kind of pulling some Eli Manning move of like, I'm not playing here. Because that's essentially what he did. He went back to try to win a national championship. But also, like, I'm not comfortable. with the group of teams drafting high so now if I if I am coming out which I guess technically probably could still end up going back we'll see how that plays out but I think all expectations him going to pro depending on who's drafting high and we got a long way to go we'll see how this quarterback situation plays out I think some quarterbacks need to start going like, I'm not playing for you.

20:11 It happens all the time in the NBA. NFL players would juice historically have done it. I would not go to a place where careers go to die. And we'll have to see how it all shakes out, but... I think he 100%, I mean, it wasn't even a decision to be made. Once the OC gets fired, like, for who, for what, as my man Ricky Waters said. So the Dallas Cowboys dominate, and Dante Moore says adios, Oregon. When do the Raiders put Fernando Mendoza in the game? Early on, Raiders were competitive. Everyone's like, God, do you compete for a playoff spot with Cousins? Kirko Chains, baby. Just ride that wave. Then they almost beat the Chiefs, and I'm guilty of this. I'm like, God, the Raiders are not bad.

20:57 Since then, it's imploded, and they clearly do not look good. They've been blown out essentially in two of the three games, are now under. 500, and feel destined to kind of unravel here, which is understandable. They don't have a great team on paper, and Cousins at his age has some limitations. But actually seeing the situation, I think this goes back to Bill Polian, that he had a famous line that if you listen to the fans, you will be sitting with them. And I think in public jobs, and this would probably go for in relation to major public companies, obviously sports franchises, there is a huge loud noise outside the building. And the Raiders were adamant the moment they drafted Fernando Mendoza from Tom Brady to their head coach

21:47 that they believed the best case scenario for any young quarterback in his shoes is to not play as a rookie. Clearly, Brady, who has a major influence over this organization, specifically with the quarterback position, is a benefactor now way different situation six round pick first overall pick but he sat the first year he made the team he learned by the next year you know by after Bledsoe gets injured in game one like the rest is history but I bet you know if you're having beers with him that first year of seeing how everything was done uh helped change the course of his career Now again, even going back to his time at Michigan, which when he was there, unlike currently was an elite program, he battled the job,

22:36 he played a lot, but he was in and out of the lineup, unlike Fernando, full-time starter, national champion. It does make me think, and listen, these situations are not easy. I do think it is easier. We often see it when coaches are competing for their job. Wins and losses impact their status within the building. We've seen it countless times.

23:01 They go to the guy they just drafted, whether it was the number one overall pick or whether it was a guy in the second round, just to hopefully get a spark, get some hope, and have the owner go, you know what, we can ride this out another year. Clearly with Clint Kubiak, he's got a long leash. They are not running through him of like, hey, you went 6-11, or hell, let's say they win two more games the rest of the year, he's not going to get fired.

23:29 He is getting a long leash to work with Fernando Mendoza at minimum a couple years after this season, rightfully so. But I was watching the Saban documentary. I still need to finish the last episode. And one thing, a lot of things stuck out. I want to watch it again and take notes. I mean, it is... I think there are a lot of parallels to whatever you do in life, takeaways and messaging that you could use for yourself. It really is... I mean, it's a football documentary. It's a life documentary. But I think there are a lot of lessons in there that you can, you know... remove the athletic portion of it and just use in your everyday life to help you be successful in whatever you do and one thing really stuck out to me is there

24:17 I forget what episode maybe like the third or fourth episode it basically documented the situation when Nick Saban fired Lane Kiffin he fired Lane Kiffin after the final four game which they won 24 to 7 They rolled wide. I remember watching that game. That score was not as close as the game. But in that game, they went over in the dock, like, bunch of penalties, bunch of guys didn't know the plays. It was very discombobulated. It did not look right, especially for his standards, the program standards, and the standard in which it would take to win the national championship game. And Lane had already accepted the job at FAU and clearly was basically his mind and just emotional being was already out the door. And Saban

25:05 knew it. Everyone in the building knew it, but no one does that. No one fires the offensive coordinator where you have been winning and had success with them right before the biggest game of the season, literally for another ring. And Nick did it. And they were interviewing the other coaches and The strike staff, even Jalen Hurts, who all thought it was pretty nuts. I mean, Jalen, who's exceptional in the doc, was like, I was a true freshman.

25:34 It's a pretty big change for them just to insert Steve Sarkeesian the week of the biggest game of my life. Mike Loxley was like, yeah, we all thought it was crazy. Like, hey, man, can't we just suck it up for seven more days? We're all cool with it. The offensive staff, we'll just deal with it. And Nick essentially said, like, I knew it wasn't right. And there are certain lines that if you cross, I have to make a decision. And no matter what everyone outside thinks, and in a gig like that, a lot of people on the outside have a lot of opinions. And people thought he was insane when he did it, right? And even looking back, it's pretty unheard of, and I don't think you'd see that ever again. I mean,

26:17 most times when these teams make runs, you see these coaches continue to operate for their program. Saban's guys have been doing it forever. Last year, Bob Chesney is coaching a playoff game. He did the UCLA press conference like two weeks before. So it's proven it can be done time and time again. But now with Lane Kiffin, Nick Saban knew it, and he moved on. And you watch the documentary and you go, you know, it's weird saying this because it's like, listen, he's already had a bunch of national championships. His job, it's not like he's worrying on a year-to-year basis. But that's the type move that's like, this guy's got some balls, you know. This guy's like, I'm not having this crap happen under my watch, watching

27:03 it firsthand, knowing what this guy's doing, which is essentially not trying that hard. It's not acceptable big picture. And I was thinking, think how many guys in Alabama, whether it be the coaches, even a guy like Jalen, that will never forget that and the way they operate the rest of their lives. And I think it's so easy.

27:24 You get so much credit for, In the sport of football, when things aren't going well, especially like this Cousins thing, he can't move. So they can't run the ball. They don't really have wide receivers. Their defense isn't that good. He's not going to be able to turn into Josh Allen or Patrick Mahomes and win them games against better competition.

27:43 It's not really possible. The longer the season goes, I also think the worse he's going to look. The freshest he was going to be was in September. Wait until it looks like in November. But I also think this is a situation that is not equipped very well for Fernando Mendoza. You throw him out there, one, only they know truly behind the scenes, like how comfortable is he in the office? How comfortable is he under center? Is this a situation where we put him out there and it's like, I don't think he really knows, or is that comfortable doing a lot of the stuff that Cousins is doing, which he's been doing for over a decade in this offense? He knows this offense, this terminology, the checks, what to do with the line of scrimmage, like the

28:27 back of his hand. And one day, in a perfect world, Fernando Mendoza will too. But there's currently no possible way for that to happen. And to stick with your guns, knowing that if you do throw Fernando Mendoza out there, and clearly he reiterated today, we have Cousins, our guy, he's playing well. They're not doing it anytime soon. But the moment a Monday comes and he just goes, they could have lost seven straight games. Fernando Mendoza's starting this week.

28:56 Everyone would give him an applause. Everyone would be excited, even if it's the wrong decision. And that's part of, that's why you make all this money. Because you're really paid for your decisions. Obviously, as the offensive coordinator, you're paid for your schemes too. But as the head coach, you've got to stick with your guns. And this is where organizational alignment really matters. And this is also where organizations that people are always worried about their jobs make poor decisions and you put yourself in bad spots. So, listen.

29:30 If he truly was ready and was kicking ass at practice, it'd be a no-brainer. But I think it's an easy one where you go, you know, we are not equipped. He could use some knowledge and more understanding of watching cousins go through. This is part of paying cousins. Like, in a weird way, you paid to throw him to the wolves and get his ass kicked. And that's kind of what's happening. And listen, he hasn't played that bad by any means. But if I was a betting man, this thing's only going to get worse. And that's why I said it yesterday on the podcast, I would be shopping Max Crosby. And if you are in a position to get more draft picks, get more players, because as you see, they're in a position now where Max can

30:13 be a high-end player, and they're down 28-3 to the Rams, who have played like shit and just had to put like six guys on injured reserve. And that was a practice for the Rams. In Vegas. You know, so... I think the key here, and I don't expect it to change, stick with your guns. And speaking of sticking with your guns, people keep asking Shane Steichen every week as the Colts keep losing. And Daniel Jones was just getting punked. I mean, Flores, I saw some clips last night of people breaking down He was faking stunts to run other stunts. I mean, the shit he's doing, he blitzed them almost 90% of the plays. Like, at this point in time, he's going to have a game where he blitzes every defensive play call,

30:58 which is awesome. You know what I mean? They just got a bunch of guys in the line of scrimmage. Everyone runs one is running stunts and twists. You got guys coming through creases. It's crazy. And they're just crushing the quarterback. And if they don't land the quarterback, they're getting in his face. I mean, Flores is easily right now the coordinator of the year. And kind of carrying that team with how poor Kyler Murray played. But Shane Sykin was asked, like, do you have any plans? Like, we're going to make quarterback change? He's like, absolutely not.

31:27 And essentially like, you know, he's got to play better. You know the reason that Daniel Jones is not going to get benched? Because football is not stocks, right? You can't just take the loss and, you know, you paid X for some stock and all of a sudden you're down 30%. You're like, I want out and you just sell it and you invest in something else. That's not how it works in the middle of the season, especially with a guy like him. It's not like you could trade him. You're stuck with the guy. But the most important number in this Shane Steichen, Daniel Jones conversation, when Daniel Jones signed his two-year $ 88 million contract, They gave him a $ 44 million signing bonus. So they essentially gave

32:08 him half the total amount of the deal, which, unless I'm reading this wrong, a couple weeks within signing the deal. A direct deposit. They gave him a huge sum of money for a guy coming off an Achilles, a broken leg, which is crazy. I mean, they hit their wagon to a broken down four-torss. And now they're stunned that they're on the side of the road needing to call AAA.

32:36 That's the situation they're in. We all saw this coming except them. Now you could argue they didn't have any other options. My argument would be, even if I don't have any other options, I could not choose that option, but they did. And once you give a guy that much money and they sound like they have anyone else on the roster, clearly Steichen can't stand Anthony Richardson as a player. Uh, They're going down, like, the ship is going down with Daniel Jones and Shane Steichen on it. So, unless he gets injured, which is obviously always in play, given his career arc, he's not going to get benched.

33:11 No matter how many bad picks he throws. I mean, there wasn't, for a second, listen, Minnesota's a very, very tough matchup. If they just, I mean, God, they didn't cover the six and a half, but if their quarterback just played a little bit better, they don't get a field goal block, like, it's They should have won that game by double digits. The Colts stink. I mean, they are not good. And a lot of it starts, Daniel Jones is a very good player. And I know he had a good stretch last year, but this all gets back to the money. And this is how football works for a long period of time. And now the money is so astronomical. You see all these teams in the offseason cutting guys, paying them to go away, which I

33:49 would imagine, you know, depending on how the cap works and who the new coach is and administration is, Daniel Jones probably won't be on the team next year. But as of right now, when you gave him that much money up front on a short-term deal, I'm just telling you, the ship is going down with this guy steering it.

34:07 And don't be shocked. He's going to get this question asked after every single loss, and it's probably only going to get worse if they do the right thing, which is a full-on fire sale. I do not understand why I'm recording this part in the afternoon before the Monday Night Football game, how there haven't been five different stories today of like, hey, The Colts are in negotiations with these two players. What are you waiting for? Part of leadership, and this is what the Raiders, we are not playing him.

34:36 I don't care how ugly this gets. We aren't pivoting. Now, three and four, it's easier to say that than, you know, four and nine, but they better stick to their guns. It's part of leadership. Well, Carly Ursae, if you want to be a leader, like, hey, we need to get rid, we're two and five, we fucking suck. The money's already been spent. I read an article today that like her dad was always big on the cash going out. And this gets back to some of these families that are living in like the 80s, even the 90s, like the money's way different. While $ 44 million to give a signing bonus is a lot of money, relative to some of these contracts, it's really not. You know, you just saw a center for the Raiders get $ 27 million a year.

35:17 You see random guards get $ 25 million a year. I mean, Brandon Ayuk, who was at best a good number two, solid player, who had, I mean, now is a disaster, but at the time, they gave him $ 75 million. I mean, it's just like the money is way different. I do think it's hard for some of these families to kind of wrap their head around. It's human nature, right? If you're a guy making $ 100, 000 and you're used to living on that amount, right? How much your rent costs, how much you live, and that's then whatever you actually take home net after taxes and stuff, you have a pretty good idea. Well, if I tell you in five years or 10 years, you're going to go from $ 100, 000 to $ 7 million. It's a pretty big jump. But the key

36:04 is if you want to change lifestyles, if you want to send your kid to private schools, if you want to start flying in first class, if you want to upgrade your house, you're going to have to change your mindset a little bit because the money coming in is a lot different than what it once was. And I think for some of these families, it's hard. There shouldn't even be a question. But when I saw that comment of, like, the one thing her dad taught her was, like, about cash going out. And there was a comment in Mike Sandoz's article today. He's like, you know, the irony is Ursaic could be cheap at certain things, but then go pay an unlimited amount for Johnny Cash's guitar. And, listen, none of these owners are being very frugal when it

36:42 comes to the fun shit outside. But, like, I'm sorry... I understand the Ravens being like, are we super comfortable? Is this guy going to get injured a bunch moving forward? But the cost of Lamar Jackson, you're talking hundreds of millions of dollars. That is the cost of an extension. You just have to be comfortable with it if you're going to sign it. And I do understand them being a little uncomfortable because we said the stat yesterday, he's missed more games since 2021 than Joe Burrow. Yet when we talk about Joe Burrow, and I'm guilty of this all we ever say, guys always hurt. Elbow, wrist, knee, turf toe, fucking always on the training room, the blue tent.

37:25 It's like, well, if we're saying that about him, we definitely got to say it about Lamar. And the cost of extending guys like that is just a lot of money. So I get it. Like I'm not one of those got to pay everybody. I saw someone online was like billionaire propaganda. I've defended John Snyder on here because it's like, well, they couldn't pay Kenneth Walker. Guys, they paid a ton of money to other guys literally this off season. I mean, the highest paid players in league history, DB and wide receiver.

37:56 And both guys are worth every penny. But you've got to make tough decisions. But your core big-time guys like your quarterback, like Daniel Jones, relative to the league, is a bargain. Turns out he just sucks. If Daniel Jones was just solid, two-year $ 88 million is an incredible deal. But when he's one of the worst quarterbacks in the league, it's awful. Because, you know, you see other guys. You see Bridgecourt. I mean, what's Cousins making? $ 10 million a year.

38:23 And Cousins is just a way better player. So I think some of these families have a really, really hard time because they're stuck in the past. And a lot of humans are like that. A lot of humans hold on to what things used to be. And listen, if things aren't going well, I've always defended people like I never have a problem with people being cheap that don't have money. But like Tiger Woods taking a bunch of Marines to cheeseburgers and just paying for himself, it's like, come on, Tiger. I get you didn't grow up with a lot of means, but once you are worth hundreds of millions of dollars, time to be a fucking grown-up. Now, you don't need to be Charles Barkley or Mike Ditka and just be taking care of everybody all the time.

39:01 That's a personal wiring. but you've got to change the mindset. I think you're honestly kind of a loser if that's how you think, once you have the means where it's not that big a deal. And this gets back to Rodgers yesterday talking about the Roonies of like, yeah, you know, the league should mandate we come out a week early. Well, why did the Roonies not come out a week early?

39:21 Saved them a bunch of money. And what's one of the biggest talking points this year when they traded away Joey Porter? It's like, well, they don't guarantee after the first year. That might... have been cool with like Lin Swan and, you know, some of your guys in the mid-90s. Times have fucking changed, guys. I mean, this is that you didn't buy, you know, I get you bought the franchise for $ 7, 500 and it's worth 8 billion now, but the revenue you have coming in, like you got to adapt, you got to change your mindset. And if you don't, you're going to get lapped. So, yeah, I mean, I just think if you're a Colts fan or you think, you know, this is going to change, it's not this year.

40:01 And it gets back to them giving them $ 44 million over the summer. Can I tell you about my friends at SeatGeek? I got a text, I think, last week from Coach Canales, new basketball coach at Weber State. Boys with Dame. They're trying to rebuild that bad boy. And he says, what app do you use again? I'm like, oh, SeatGeek.

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41:23 One big picture topic, I was thinking about this. There was a visual yesterday of Mike LaFleur. Like there was a play and he just looks like, God, we got no shot. And maybe I'm being judgmental. This is nothing personal. And by everything I've always heard, seems like a high-level guy and clearly knows football. I don't know any general manager in the league that would hire him to be the head coach. And he has absolutely no shot to win with Arizona. Zero. He is a, I would bet, a large amount of money. He's a lock to get fired in the next couple years. Aaron Glenn, who actually has much more experience around the NFL as a player, and obviously he's been coaching now for a while, is clearly completely over his head and is a disaster. And

42:13 both those guys are good examples of, they went to places that are in shambles. A little different, right? The Jets owner, ton of cash. Arizona... no money relative to these guys. But both places, if you think about the last people to win there, like think about Arizona. Who's the last guy to win there? Bruce Arians. When you think about Bruce Arians, to me, the first thing that comes to mind, grown up, veteran guy, a lot of pelts on the wall, a lot of experience, dude that's been in the mud for a while. And when you think about the Jets, like who's the last guy to have a lot of success there? Rex Ryan. who's literally born into a coaching family. And even him, he could only last so long until the wheels just unraveled. And

43:02 you look at John Harbaugh, like one underrated skill in college and definitely in the NFL, is like, I kind of want a grown-up to run my franchise. Now, it doesn't mean you have to, you know, Harbaugh's in his early 60s. I'm not necessarily talking about age. I'm talking about a mentality. And when you look at John Harbaugh taking over the Giants, they have been a disaster since Tom Coughlin left. Another guy who would fall into the category of, like, grown-up leader. Guy who's been around the block a few times. Which, to me, kind of matters. Right?

43:41 It really does. And McVay, I think, spoiled it for a lot of people. Outlier. Like, I look at Bob Chesney at UCLA. Isn't that surprising he's had a lot of success? Another guy who has been in jobs where he was probably in charge of driving the bus to the airplane for the team to travel to an opponent.

44:02 And that airplane was not a chartered jet. It was at an airport terminal with other normal people in it like me and you. And that gives perspective on life and gives the ability once you're given a big opportunity to handle it. John Harbaugh was once upon a time given an incredible opportunity to take over the Ravens. from being a special teams assistant DB coach with the Eagles.

44:26 But over the course of 18 years, you better believe he's seen a lot of shit. And so when he gets to the Giants, who are a much more, in theory, buttoned up operation than, say, the Cardinals or the Jets, it was still an organization that all they'd been doing was losing. That, I don't want to say toxic, but was not a place that you would say was successful.

44:51 And he has got there and has immediately turned them around. And it's not like, well, everything's gone well. They lost their starting quarterback on the first drive of the second game. His knee just snapped in half. Most places, like if you give me Aaron Glenn or Mike LaFleur in that situation, I would say at best they would be able to win four games. At best. Honestly, you could convince me they just wouldn't win another game the rest of the season.

45:20 With Jameis and even adding J.J., it just would have been a nightmare. Yet John comes there, has a bunch of ideas of like, I'm going to need this, this, that, and this. And even John Mara eventually was like, I got to capitulate to his demands because we are this desperate for a big-time coach and a guy that just simply knows what he's doing. And within the last couple weeks, trades for J.J. McCarthy were most of us were like, I get why he did it, but it's like, I don't know, man. This is not going to go well.

45:54 I have no, like, I didn't even think it was that weird, the Cam Scadaboo situation. Because again, part of being a great coach is understanding your players. Like, I never understood the Scadaboo being a big story because Scadaboo was like, yeah, there are consequences for mistakes. You know why? Because any competitor, any human worth their salt, when they...

46:16 you know, mess up at whatever they're doing has no problem going. Yeah, I got it. It's on me. And as Mike Malone, the now coach of UNC, former Sacramento Kings and Nuggets coach, I think he said this when he was with the Kings. He said, my bads get your ass kicked. And it's true because there's a difference between my bad, you know, and not taking accountability and kind of wearing it. And the way players like it used to happen a lot doesn't happen anymore because these guys make a ton of cash and a lot of coaches are in a weird way, are intimidated by players.

46:46 I'm just like, you're benched. You're not playing this week. And it clearly worked. And the J.J. McCarthy thing, again, it's early. Who knows how it's going to play out? Has a chance to work because of John Harbaugh. And I saw this headline today on Pro Football Talk, like, does John Harbaugh's success impact Mike Tomlin? How could it not? Honestly, it has a huge impact to me on Sean McDermott.

47:14 Look at these teams that are just completely lost. And some of these teams are not going to sell or, you know, fire their coach, right? The Cardinals, the Jets probably will. But there are going to be a lot of teams that it's just like, this is just not going to work. This is just not working. And in football, it's easy to blame the players, but the Giants have sucked with a lot of these same players. I mean, the Cardinals sucked with a bunch of guys that Bruce Arians inherited. Tom Coughlin got there like he won a Super Bowl with a lot of the core players who had been on the team for a while. You know why?

47:53 Because those guys know what they're doing. Experience, to me, always matters. At one point in time, you're going to get a gig where you don't have the experience to back it up. That literally happens to us all. But then once you get to a point in time, if you do have the requisite skills, which guys like Harbaugh and Tomlin clearly have, then the experience builds and you're like, I'm pretty good at this. I know what I'm doing, even if I have some flaws. And Harbaugh, Tomlin, Sean McDermott, I would say one big flaw they all have is none of them coach offense. None of them coach the quarterback.

48:29 But what they can do is build up the guy, build up the people around them, and lead the unit forwards. And I said, Sean McDermott, Indianapolis Colts. If I'm the Jets, and listen, I'm not saying Tomlin would want to be involved in that shit show, but I would say money talks. And who knows? Maybe he's just destined to just make seven figs, live a chill life, play a little Minecraft, and work on TV. I hope not, because I think football's more interesting with him in it. I say the same thing about Sean McVay. I think it's more interesting with him being a coach. I want more personality with the coaches. They're huge, huge main characters in this reality television show. But you can't convince me that as the

49:14 Jets end up going you know 3 and 14 as the commanders probably unravel as well as those teams don't you kind of turn their sights toward Mike Tomlin and get really aggressive because again it's like well his upside we're not talking about are they going to win 14 games a year for seven straight years can you just have back-to-back years with double digit wins because that's worth a lot to the franchise Think about the Giants, how irrelevant they've been for a long period of time. Now with John Harbaugh, they're not just a relevant franchise, they feel like a credible franchise. You could argue that was one of the most impressive wins they've had since Tom Coughlin.

49:55 A quarterback who was literally left for dead, we all were doing it, and has the best game of his life against a team who's... They're clearly underperforming, but is pretty desperate for a win on the road? I'm blown away. I think Mike Tomlin's value on the open market has gone up like 20% just based on the first two months of John Harbaugh's coaching career with the New York Giants. Okay, before we do the mailbag, quick dad diaries. This happened, I think, last Thursday, right? But I was like, you know, we had a lot going on in the podcast and Thursday Night Football. I was like, we'll save it toward next week. We've talked a lot about blowouts. As he's gotten older, we've had less of those. Maybe it's just

50:50 we've kind of perfected how to put on a diaper. And a blowout is kind of when it comes out of the diaper and goes everywhere. It can typically happen in a car seat. in any seating arrangements that you have around the house, like little bouncy things. That's usually a prime position to get him to explode. Well, now I would say over the course of the last month, he's become a crawler. And every couple days, the crawling speed, I would say, accelerates. So at first, he could barely crawl.

51:22 Then he's kind of moving. Now, if you don't look, he's in the other room, chasing the dog around. I mean, he is flying. I mean, it feels like he's pretty close to walking. Pretty close might be strong, but within a couple months for sure. He's already pulling himself up, can kind of stand on his feet on his own, but the crawling speed is getting faster and faster by the day. So on Thursday, this might have been around lunchtime, I had gone in the house, and he was kind of crawling around by the kitchen, And all of a sudden, like Maria picks him up and she's wearing like a crop top. So basically her chest exposed or like, you know, above the neck, kind of around the neck area. And I'm not really paying attention. And all of a sudden

52:08 I hear a, I mean, a loud, loud scream. And she screamed so loud that immediately kind of scared him. So he starts crying. So it's just mayhem. And I turn the corner and I look. And you know those patches now that like Ohio State and Notre Dame have? Like Chase or SoFi? She basically had a perfect square patch on her chest of poop. You know, it's like a mixture of diarrhea. It's kind of hard, kind of soft.

52:40 But it was perfectly square. And somehow she had like picked them up and kind of held them against her. And the square patch was just perfect. And she's freaking. And the other thing is, the smell of these things, I would say, dramatically changes. It gets worse and worse. I mean, there are some days where I just do like Steve Irwin chasing a crocodile. You hold a breath and hopefully can make it a couple minutes while you do the whole changing station. So I immediately grab a wet towel, kind of clean her off, take them. Then I look, and it is all over me. And then it's all over the ground. And I can see the dog kind of turn in the corner. I'm like, she, I don't want her licking this. I don't want her

53:24 paws on this running all over the house. It was just like nightmare on Elm street. Like what, what just happened? And, um, yeah, he just had to take him to the bath and kind of attempt to, uh, mitigate the disaster that was poop gate in the middle cough house at about lunchtime on a Thursday afternoon. So, You just never know when it's coming. Some days, it's clean as a whistle. Other days, you look and there's just poop on the walls. And there's nothing really you can do about it. Can I tell you about my new friends at Trees.com? Do you know that they're America's largest and most trusted online nursery?

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55:31 That's an additional 20% off. Better plants, better growing at Trees.com using 3 and out at checkout. That's Trees, T-R-E-E-S.com, code number 3 and out. Valid for a limited time. Terms and conditions apply. Okay, let's do a quick... Middlecoff Mailbag, at John Middlecoff, at John Middlecoff is the Instagram. Fire in those DMs and get your questions answered here on the show. This is from Trevor. You mentioned about having a coach or commentator that shows his opinion. I don't know if he would coach, but a perfect commentator would be Steve Smith Sr., The dude calls balls and strikes without caring about someone's feelings. Steve would be a perfect commentator, knows the game, and would be entertaining. I agree. Here's

56:33 the problem. While I enjoy those type people, and really, Aikman's, I would say, the last of a dying breed of someone that you can just tell by his tone will be really, really aggressive. Even Tom is, I would say, pretty corporate with it, which I totally understand. He's an owner. He's very tied to the NFL. Let's face it, him and Roger now are probably closer than they've ever been.

57:00 The NFL doesn't want that. And most importantly, the teams don't want that. So you and I, I think we would really enjoy guys like that who would just start basically talking a bunch of shit when it's needed. I just want a guy to reiterate what you and I are saying on the couch, what you and I are texting our friends. What you and I during a game are texting or group text with other people that are a fan of that team or that are watching the games or gambling on the games. Let's face it, we all probably lean a little negative, which to me in a weird way is like healthy and almost cathartic of watching these games, of getting it off your chest. And sometimes you look back, you're like, God, I feel kind

57:44 of miserable. But the league does not want that. They want, I would say, happy or go lucky team partners. It's honestly why I learned when I was in radio, I'm not a very good corporate partner if we're just talking about sports for a living. That's not going to be my lane. I'm not going to thrive because I can't pretend it's raining or it's sunny when it's raining on just basic, obvious stuff. I think the league is telling these guys they're definitely not as aggressive on the officiating as you and I would be if we were sitting there with a microphone. You know, Tom kind of was like, I don't agree. It's like, you should blast these people.

58:26 But it's hard to blast people. They all know each other. They want to keep these gigs. I mean, Mark Sanchez, who's settling with this old guy, probably for millions. Do you know what a moron Mark Sanchez is that he couldn't just put down the booze and the drugs when he was on the road? He was like the third or fourth chair at Fox, probably making a million dollars a year, working one day a week, traveling to NFL cities for working three hours on Sunday. And he blew it.

58:54 It's a pretty cush gig. Tomlin said it best a couple weeks ago. It's full-time pay for part-time work. And these guys, and listen, some of them, you know if you're a former player like you're used to making big cash so jj watt i don't know what his peak earnings were 15 20 million dollars a year right in his peak like the late 2010s he ain't getting that now but he's probably this new extension he got to stay with dance is probably two years 10 million dollars maybe two years 15 million dollars Pretty good gig, you know?

59:28 Pretty good gig. And if it goes well, we see some of the numbers, that number will grow exponentially overnight. So I just think the league, they want corporate partners, man. That's why the journalists get so offended. Like, I'm not a journalist, but I do miss the days when everyone would just, or, you know, like, truthfully too. Not faking it on first take to create an argument like Skip Bayless and Stephen A to like, make good entertaining debate TV.

59:59 I'm saying like, say something that you truly believe. And it's just, that's not going to happen as much on television. And it's only going to get worse, I would say. That's why I appreciate Fitzpatrick saying that the other day about Bo Nix. He literally said what we all thought. And whenever I saw anyone going back at him, I'm like, Listen, Ryan Fitzpatrick ain't Tom Brady or Peyton Manning, but if you play in the league for 17 years, an undrafted free agent from Harvard, you've got a pretty good idea what it looks like. And he's also not a guy that just blasts people. He was literally offended watching that game, which I don't blame him. This is coming from a non-Vikings fan. But why when a team has an amazing

1:00:44 offense but a crap defense, they get put on a pedestal? But a team with an amazing defense like Minnesota and a bad offense just gets completely overlooked and almost disrespected. Offense is sexier. We just talk about the offensive play callers way more. Fantasy football plays a huge role. If you have one of the top offenses, your players are thriving in fantasy, which a large portion of the viewing public plays and is active with. I think that's a huge correlation. But it's also more fun to watch. It's more fun to watch, not necessarily for myself, but I think statistically shows, or the NFL knows that the league is better off when their offenses are thriving than the defense.

1:01:36 I admire what Brian Flores is doing. It's not like he's doing it with Daniil Hunter, John Randall, Eric Kendricks, Anthony Barr, Harrison Smith in his prime. Those guys are overachieving. But it's just truly not as sexy. And the NFL, I think, directly goes against that side of the ball. They promote offense. They promote the quarterbacks. They promote the play callers. They promote the wide receivers and the running backs.

1:02:10 And the defense is almost an afterthought, which is not the way the league used to be. When I was a kid, I would say defense was on an equal pedestal and honestly more with the hits and the videos that used to go, the VHS tapes of the biggest hits of the year. I mean, I own like seven different seasons of those. Those are done. Those will never get created anymore. I agree to what Scadaboo said. He's like, you know, it's funny. The league loves promoting me when I have some sweet physical run, but they're also going to find me. It's like they kind of talk both sides of their mouth. Because at the end of the day, we all yearn for a little violence when we're watching football.

1:02:47 And Scadaboo and a lot of defenders provide that. But the league, that's not their business model. And in fairness to them, they go, well, look at the revenue in 2026 and look at the revenue in 1998. What world would you rather be living in if you're associated with the league? Player, coach, owner, GM. Obviously now is the best financial time in the history of the league by a mile and it's only trending to get better. Hopefully for the course of my adult life so I can keep this business rolling. Matt LaFleur should not be coaching for his job. He definitely makes some bad decisions in play calling in fourth downs, but he has Jordan Love playing at a high level. Again, he's dealing with a bunch of injuries case in point this week against the Lions.

1:03:35 The starting center gets hurt the first series of the game. The backup center gets hurt the second series. Weren't they playing a guy kind of had that game? I was in and out of the audio. Wasn't the guy that came in, he had never played center. I'm pretty sure Burkhart said that. Yeah, it looked like he did a pretty valiant effort there. His kicker keeps missing easy kicks, and the penalties his teams are getting are so ridiculous that even the callers of the game are saying how bad it is. Do you think there is something Matt LaFleur can do better or different to make a difference?

1:04:08 I do think both of those guys, and I know Dan Campbell tried to justify the fourth down against his own territory about being, you know, even if they gave it up, he felt pretty comfortable about getting the ball back. I think both of them could be a little reckless with the fourth down play calling. I think they both were in that game. Like you said, it's not his fault the kicker's missing chip shot field goals. A kicker missing field goals, I would say, is never on a coaching staff. A kicker missing chip shot field goals is 100% on the player. So it's basically like, should we work out other kickers? And to me, you just have to bring in a bunch of guys this week and work them out in front of the kicker. I would do

1:04:55 it on Wednesday at practice. I would say while practice is going on, Gutekind's in the personnel department, and this is where LeFleur can get involved. We need to get aggressive to send a fucking message. The workout is going to go on one of the fields out in our operation. So it is in plain view of the kicker and the long snapper and the punter. So they all can see it. So I either scare and send them, you know, like really dial back in, or we, maybe we find another guy and replace them, but you got to run the football. And what, what, what Jacobs have. And I know it's the first game back. They have to find a way to have a hundred yard rushing games. I don't think it's sustainable playing the way they're playing as

1:05:45 the weather turns. Like I, I, I feel like they just constantly throw bombs. And it's not his fault, you know, Golden's not making these tough catches. But if I bring up the Packers, who are 4-3 and in good position, they play the Panthers this week at home. I mean, the Panthers, you would think are going to give a pretty good effort after just losing. It's crazy. The final score, you know, they only scored, what was the score at halftime?

1:06:12 Was it 33-6 in the final score? They scored 10 more points. That game felt like it was 70-0. That was one of the biggest massacres so far of the season. Even Canales was like, yeah, I've never been part of 33-6 at half. Sure hope so. So the Panthers, then the Patriots, first week in November. So I would say the weather is probably still pretty solid. They play Minnesota at home, 11-15. Weather could change a little bit. I mean, that could be a weird weather game. They get two dome games, which they're built for, at the Rams, at the Saints. Then they get the Bears-Dolphins at home in December.

1:06:52 I mean, the weather's probably going to be not great at the Bears. I mean, they're getting three weather games. Green Bay, Green Bay, at Chicago. I mean, then the final two games are home-home, Texans-Lions. They basically have a stretch from after the Saints game, the first week in December, every single game is outdoors in probably awful weather. So you're not just going to be able to throw bombs to Watson and golden. You're, you're going to have to run the football. And to me on the floor, it's like, okay, my offensive line struggling. I got to find a way to manipulate this a little bit. I don't have, I mean, sometimes if your offensive line just stinks, there might not be an answer on that one. I listen, I, They're clearly,

1:07:43 he's not going to get fired. I think he's definitely mellowed that out a lot. If it was going to continue like the Atlanta game, he was going to be in trouble. But then he immediately flipped it, and even in the loss, like, he probably got a little lucky. I mean, the Lions did a lot of stupid stuff. Now, you could also, he'd say, well, if my DBs can pick off Goff, they're hitting him in the hands. Like, yeah, they fumbled, but we also dropped interceptions. This is from Isaac.

1:08:13 Where would you rank Kevin O'Connell? I see him getting a lot of hate for the Vikings' poor offense, but he's a head coach, not the OC. He's a former OC, but his job now is to win football games. He's morphed into the, quote, leader of men, coach archetype like Dan Campbell or Harbaugh. Watching the Vikings this year, I've been impressed by his willingness to rely on the defense and play much more cautious. He could crank up the aggressiveness on offense and score in the 20s every game, but with Kyler at quarterback, that could lead to turnovers.

1:08:44 Kyler isn't very good. And that is not Kevin O'Connell's fault. Kyler Murray has been average to below for a while now. And even yesterday, it was pretty eye-opening how poor he played coming off a bye. He deserves... And I say this in GMs all the time. It's like your draft. Their job is to build the team and hire the coach.

1:09:06 So ultimately, they are judged on wins and losses. So if you have some draft misses, but you're going 11, 12 wins every year, who cares? Who cares? If you sustain winning as a team builder, you get credit for that. Right? So Kevin O'Connell is their play caller, but he also was the guy that hired Brian Flores, which looks like one of the great hires in recent memory. Because last time I checked, a lot of people weren't offering him their defensive coordinator job. Now, I do think he's going to be under the microscope for if Kyler continues to play like this, which, again, I'm not putting on him.

1:09:46 Kyler Murray's a veteran player. He's not going to improve at this point in time in his career and has major flaws that there's nothing Kevin O'Connell can do. But if J.J. McCarthy has a solid year and is a guy leading the Giants to the playoffs, there is fair questions of, like, where was the disconnect here? But I'm with you. Ultimately, Kevin O'Connell is judged on his Wikipedia page Not by how many yards they average per play.

1:10:14 Not where their scoring offense ranks. If they win 12 games this year, he will get credit for that. Even if a lot of people are going to give it to Flores, who deserves a lot of it. But he fucking hired him. So, yeah, I mean, I do think big picture they have a major question mark at quarterback. You know, Kyler, no chance he's back next year based on the way he looks now. You know, Carson Wentz is what he is. He's like a backup. What do you do? And if you win as many games, I mean, what?

1:10:46 They're already 6-0, so let's take a look at the Vikings schedule really quick. At the Lions, okay, it gets tough. You know, they did beat the Packers week one, which they deserve a lot of credit for. Even though they were losing that game and it flipped, right? Then they beat the Bears in the weather game. But hey, wins a win. So they're already 2-0 in the division. The Buccaneers, who they kind of worked. The Dolphins, who I bet on that game, that was pretty ugly. Saints are terrible, and the Colts stink. Now they got a stretch of at Detroit, which the Lions at home, they're going to score some points. This isn't going to be the culture of the Saints scoring 13 and 10 points. Now, they're not going to score 40 on Flores, especially because Goff

1:11:34 can't move, but you blitz them, they're going to have a lot of blitz beaters. They have elite skill. Then you're playing Josh Allen. Then you're playing Jordan Love again in Green Bay, and they're going to be pretty motivated after probably one of the Flores' most embarrassing games of all time. Then they play Kyle Shanahan and the 49ers.

1:11:54 So they got a stretch here where they're playing $ 50 million quarterbacks four straight weeks. And I mean, right now, you know, obviously Josh Allen, after Purdy's performance, probably the MVP leader, but you could make the argument that Goff, Jordan Love, and Purdy are right there, like, you know, in the mix to represent the NFC old school wise Pro Bowls, right? Obviously, Caleb's healthy again. He'll be back in the mix. But, I mean, you're talking three of the best quarterbacks in the conference. So, I think this next four-game stretch, I mean, if they go 2-2 in this stretch and you're 8-2, they got a lot of, you know, they got some commanders, Jets left. They got Panthers at home, Vikings at home. I guess... I mean,

1:12:48 you're looking at an 11 or 12 win team if they go 2-2. Now, let me take a look. I would imagine they're not favored. I haven't even looked at the lines this week. They're probably not favored this week. They will not be favored against Buffalo. I've got to update my ad. They will not be favored in Mexico City against the 49ers. I would imagine they're not favored in the Lambeau. So they're going to be an underdog in all four of these games. How attractive is coaching the Jets next year? They got three first-round picks. Both the Colts and the Cowboys look bad, and they have their own first. I think it's twofold. One, they clearly have a lot of talent. I mean, Omar Cooper Jr.

1:13:40 had back-to-back 100-yard games. I think they can trade Garrett Wilson right now. Would the Chiefs take him for like, I mean, if you're the Jets, would you do like a third this year and a one in 28, something like that? Because you don't need four first-round picks. So you just keep the cover bare. You take a little less right now. It's like, hey, we'll give you a first-round pick, but it'll be in a year. I think you would entertain something like that. Who knows? Maybe you get like a second and a first. The Chiefs are kind of desperate. I would think about that. So from a roster standpoint, from a team building standpoint, from an asset standpoint, extremely. Their owner is a kook. A guy with a lot of money who's nuts. Who's proven to

1:14:28 just be, I mean, not an easy place to work. So I think he had a lot of good going for it, but I think there's a lot of bad. And if I'm a Tomlin type, do I got to work with Darren Mugee? Who, by all accounts, seems like he's done a pretty solid job. But do I know him? How do I feel about him? Is he forced on me?

1:14:51 Who knows? Maybe they can just get their equivalent of some young hotshot. Their Clint Kubiak or Liam Cohen or a guy like that. I don't know who that guy is this year. I saw someone like Declan Doyle. Let's see when Lamar comes back how that looks. I know Brett Veach has done an excellent job over the years.

1:15:25 I know it has been an overreaction to the game last night. However, there was no pressure against Sam Darnall where the Chiefs defense gave up several longer third downs. The Chiefs don't have tackles who are available to play with Josh Shimon's situation and unreliable wide receivers. Additionally, Butker has missed the most field goals in the NFL since the 25 season. Every Chiefs fan has demanded the rest or major push for some sort of roster move. The chiefs, however, have no cap room paying Chris Jones, the most money for any defender in the NFL. And he's nowhere to be seen. People can say it's because the quarterback is being paid great money, but Patrick Mahomes has the 10th biggest cap hit in the NFL. Uh, how much of

1:16:06 the front office be blamed? I mean, they're five and one. They had the best free agent acquisition of the off season. The, I think you've got to give them somewhat of a pass. That was a perfect storm. They played Sunday night, right? The Chiefs did. And then they're playing a team coming off a Thursday game at home who, right there with the Chiefs, have one of the best home field advantages in all of football college included. So if they look like that moving forward, like the Josh Simmons situation, he's not healthy. Clearly they weren't happy with him. Andy and Mahomes kicked him out of the meeting room. But how many teams in the league would sign up to be for their record? They literally have the best record in

1:16:56 the AFC. I guess they're tied with Buffalo. Where's... I don't know why I'm screwing this up. So conference. I mean, obviously we've got a long way to go. Only them and the Bills are 5-1. Everyone has two losses. I... They're okay. They'll make a move. This was supposed to be a little bit of a transition year. Like, do I think the Chiefs are winning the Super Bowl? I do not. Is anyone going to want to play them in big games? Seattle's a tough matchup. It just is for them. Most people ain't Seattle, though. Who do the Chiefs play this week? The Broncos at Denver, which is a big game because they absolutely embarrassed Denver. So you would imagine Denver coming off a cupcake game against Arizona.

1:17:44 That's going to be a big one. But then the Chiefs, so even if they lose this game, let's say they lose, you know, 24 to 20. Everyone's like, oh, five and two. Then they get the Jets at the Falcons and the Cardinals. They're going to be okay. They need to make a move. You don't want to like, I'd be hesitant to give up some big time picks, but they'll canvas. They got a bunch of young defensive players. Listen, they're loyal to Chris Jones, but everyone kind of falls off a cliff sometime.

1:18:22 Do you think the increase in flags is actually a result of the commentators? Every game I watch, you hear guys in the booth saying, there's a flag. Was that a PI or a holding or something? Then they show the play looking for a call. Yeah, I just think everyone's so accustomed now to these officials just willingness to throw these flags. I think the people in the booth calling these games have zero impact on the officials, zero.

1:18:48 But I think their condition now, they're watching these games and every time something weird happens... Now, anytime the play-by-play guy goes, he's not going to say there's a flag until he sees the yellow on the ground. But I just think your condition when you watch the NFL now to just... I would say... assume that there's going to be a flag. Don't you think defensive coaches should alert the secondaries not to touch a player who is down within field goal range when there is virtually no time remaining?

1:19:18 I cannot fathom why the Bears defense allowed A.J. Brown to be down by contact instead of just waiting three seconds for the clock to expire and then touching him. They ended up allowing a crazy rushing touchdown at the end of the half. Something similar happened to Dallas and Rio de Janeiro. If you catch the ball, again, I'd have to talk to Mike Pereira. If I catch the ball in the middle of the field and I hit the ground and give myself up, I'm down. So if I'm down and I stay down and I give myself up, it's over. They don't technically need to touch them. I'm pretty sure. Especially in a situation like you said. Let's say a team has a timeout. and there's 10 seconds left, I throw over the middle of the field, I hit

1:20:07 the wide receiver, and now there's, let's say, five seconds left, and everyone basically makes sure he can't run to the end zone, but he's going to hit the ground, doesn't touch him, they will call the play dead if you give yourself up. I'm almost certain on that. I'm not Belichickian when it comes to rules, but I'm very certain that you can give yourself up in the NFL. Obviously, in college, you're down when you go down. But I think in the NFL, you obviously can on special teams, give yourself up. But you can over the middle of the field as well. But I hear you. I mean, it's a good observation. Do you think NFL fans and players look at the season and their playoff chances way differently? Like,

1:20:54 for example, the Steelers are 5-2, but they're not looked at as a real threat in the playoffs, and most people rightfully just write them off. But I guarantee if you went in that locker room, every player is there, is convinced they got a shot to win the Super Bowl. Isn't that kind of human nature, though? Like, if you would have asked me my career trajectory in my mid-20s, when I was making no money, you know, living off nothing, taking food home from the facility, whether it be working at Fresno State or the Eagles or even early on in my radio career where I was living paycheck to paycheck, barely scraping by. If I would have told you where I believed I was going, people would have thought I

1:21:37 was nuts. And I think that goes for a lot of people. The self-belief you have in your future, whether that be your immediate future or big picture future, probably is going to sound crazy to a lot of people. Isn't the old adage like, Don't make public your dreams because people will just rip them apart. And I think if you went in the Steelers' locker room, the Steelers could play any team in the NFL this week. Let's say the best teams in the NFL. The Bills, you know, if Lamar Jackson was playing and the Ravens were rolling, the Bengals, you pick the teams, right? Chiefs. On the road, obviously they would think they could win the game All these playoff games they've lost the last couple years, I'm

1:22:28 sure they believed they could, even last year, when they got curb stomped by the Texans. I think they went into that game with the belief they could win the game. So, do the Jets, do the bad teams believe that? No. But I completely agree with what you're saying, that all these teams, if we just went through it right now, the Steelers are a pretty good example, but we could even go lower than that. The Browns at 5-2. I think the Browns play the Steelers this week, right? Yeah, at Pittsburgh. I would say most people, okay, this is probably a bad example because the Steelers, we don't think are that great. But, I'm trying to, AFC is kind of tough because like the Ravens, the Patriots, the Bengals,

1:23:12 the Steelers, Denver, Jags, all these teams think they're probably pretty good. Let's go to the NFC is probably a better way. The Falcons, who are three and four. The Rams are three and four. They 100% believe they're winning the games they go into. You know, 1,000%. Definitely the Rams. Like, they have not gone into any of these games, even the Raiders. Like, they went into that game thinking they were going to roll. Where a lot of people were like, all right, kind of like the Raiders, plus four and a half. So I think it's a mindset, but I think a lot of people have that. When either times are bad, you're like, you really believe this is going to go that way? Or when times are good and everyone's like, eh, it's actually not as good as you think.

1:23:59 And the internal belief that you have to have, I think it's a wiring. One, I mean, to play pro sports, you kind of got to be a little nuts. You got to be off your rocker a little bit. And I think the Steelers probably more than most, like Cam Hayward, TJ Watt. I mean, I have nothing but respect for Jalen.

1:24:18 Jalen Ramsey's been one of my favorite players in the league for a long time. Like, he's one of the hardest hitting DBs Him and Sherman of the last, that are like, I know Ramsey's kind of a hybrid player now, but when he played corner, it's like, you think Jalen Ramsey goes into games and you're like, yeah, they're going to beat us. No chance. DK might be like, yeah, whatever.

1:24:38 I'll head home. But yeah, I think most of these teams, especially veteran teams, you know, The Steelers are probably, you're right. I mean, it's a better example than the Browns because there are some guys in the Browns that are probably taking it more week to week. But like Denver, New England, Baltimore, Buffalo, Kansas City, like they don't go into any games thinking they're going to lose. And it usually starts with a message from the head coach because you have to have this internal belief even if you think like it's crazy.

1:25:08 How do upsets happen that someone makes a team believe? This gets back to the Saban documentary when he was at Michigan State and they were playing the number one team in the country. He's like, just One play at a time. It sounds cliche and it's stupid, but I think it works for life. One day at a time.

1:25:24 If you find yourself in a hole, drop the shovel. You know, you can't make it all up. You can't make up two years in two days. You just got to start working slowly. It's no different when you're having success. That was Belichick's big thing. Saban's big thing. You can never get ahead of yourself. That's when you kind of come back to earth. But I think there's a deep belief that Especially teams with, like, I mean, their head coach is Mike McCarthy. Teams with veteran head coaches, I do, you know, Sean Payton, Andy Reid, like, Joe Brady, I bet there's sometimes, and he's, I don't want to say arrogant, but he's a pretty self-assured younger guy. If things go well in a couple years, he's never going to go

1:26:08 into a game thinking they're going to lose. And he might be that way now. But truly deep in his soul, other times, maybe he questions himself. But if you go to the NFC, like, You think Brian Flores is thinking anyone's scoring on them? You think Kyle Shanahan ever thinks he's losing the game? Or John Harbaugh? Or Ben Johnson?

1:26:24 These guys have deep belief, and that kind of gets inserted into the team through the messaging. We'll end on that. Adios. Have a great day.