3 & Out - Thursday Night Football Reaction, NFL Sunday 4-Box, Best Week 8 Matchups & Weekend Predictions

0:01 The volume what is going on my friends how are we doing just watched a extremely entertaining thursday night game chicago bears we will dive into that thing caleb williams Battling this hamstring. Look, I would say 80, 85% throwing dots. Drake May and the Patriots. They wouldn't quit. I'll give them that. The end of the first half. We'll dive into the game. We will also dive into a bunch of games for this weekend. We got, you know, I would say better than last week for sure. Still not great.

0:52 But that's what happens when, you know, we get bye weeks and Thursday night games are really good. I mean, even next week we've got a good Thursday night game. So we'll do a couple mailbag questions at the end as well. At John Middlecoff. At John Middlecoff is the Instagram. Fire in those DMs. We had a little dad diary moment here with Jack tonight at about halftime. We'll get into next week. I'll save that. All-timer, though. All-timer. Other than that, you guys know the drill. Subscribe. Three and Out Podcast. If you listen on Colin's feed, you can check us out on Netflix. Never miss an episode. Appreciate it.

1:25 Hit the alert button, and let's just dive into the game. And I said it yesterday. My philosophy never changes. If the teams are semi-evenly matched, and tonight, I mean, these are two playoff teams. The Bears are definitely, as long as Caleb's healthy, going to go to the playoffs. Well, you know, New England... should if Drake's gonna keep playing like he's playing they should be you know a wild card team for sure but like you have such a huge advantage being the home team on these short weeks and I thought it was pretty evident you know I mean the Bears should have been up at one point in time 27 to 7 but obviously the end of the first half you know you know you blitz and I don't know what 21 was doing, and it was

2:09 a nightmare, right? So you ended up 27-14, and that was just, you couldn't even make that up, right? I guess it was 20-14 at half after they scored. But then the Bears got the ball back, and boom, drove right down the field and scored a touchdown. And I thought big picture tonight, a couple things stand out. One, I would say in my lifetime, like I don't truly remember in their prime, besides going to YouTube, like Marino and Elway, but it was Favre. You know, I would say Favre had a slightly better arm than Rodgers. Again, we're talking like Randy Johnson and, you know, Pedro Marti.

2:53 We're talking guys that throw gas. But to me, Caleb easily throws the tightest, hardest spiral in the NFL. And I think sometimes, like, how'd you drop that ball, right? Well, I mean, sometimes it's getting on you, and this used to happen to Favre, at warp speed. I mean, there was one tonight with Kalief Raymond on, like, an out route.

3:16 I think it was third down. And, you know, he was a little late to turn his head. It had to sound like a bullet flying by his ear hole. And, well, the crazy part is I think Rome, because I thought one of Caleb's best plays tonight might have been his best play. It was like third and 11 or third and 12, late in the game, pinned up against his own end zone. It wasn't too late in the game.

3:38 It was probably like nine, ten minutes left. And he avoids a blitz and throws an absolute dart to Rome. He obviously hit Rome on another one that was kind of behind him. He hit Loveland on a fourth and two. And Loveland had some drops. You know, Rome had a drop on actually like an easier ball. I think sometimes with Caleb, and this gets back to Favre than I would imagine when it was playing with Elway and Marino in their prime. When that ball is coming to you, you have to be ultra-focused because it cannot come any harder.

4:12 It cannot come with any more velocity. On the flip side, Drake May is clearly an extremely talented player who's got his confidence back and is playing well. He has a strong arm, but to me, he's much more of a touch thrower. And when he's on tonight, his touch throws are pretty money. He throws an extremely catchable ball. Caleb does too. It's just coming at warp speed. And I think it's pretty clear too is, and this is where I, you know, defended Caleb when he went down, he was carted off. You know, this is a guy that's been pretty durable, hasn't been injured. So before he got injured, I wouldn't compare him to like Lamar Jackson, but based on the speed in which he had been recorded running,

4:59 he was running like 21 miles an hour. And you could tell the Knight, sometimes he's hesitant. Even on a play that ended up just short and Vrabel ends up going off sides on purpose, which was the right play. It does feel like he's a little bit slower right now. Because I think he's thinking about it in the back of his mind, which I totally understand. And there were some plays behind the line of scrimmage in the pocket.

5:26 that I would say typically he gets around you know a blitzing linebacker he's able to stop and start change the direction keep a play alive tonight a couple plays just kind of died because he's not quite there I think you know I was talking to a buddy today at the gym who's a diehard Bears fan And he was like, one thing that stuck out last week is like, you could tell, wasn't close to 100% movement-wise. He's definitely improved from last week, but I would say, I don't know what percentage it is, but it's probably closer to 80 than it is 100 in terms of just flying with his legs. And that is a huge, huge element to this offense, especially with Menungai out. Like, they were pretty dependent on Swift. He was running his ass off, but...

6:10 22 carries for 78 yards. The Patriots are a stout defense. You know, that's, you know, Vrabel, they do a really good job. Beside Barmore, Christian Gonzalez, they're obviously missing some pieces with some injuries in the secondary. But they play hard. They're physical. Like, that's a tough team. Like, that's a buckle your chin strap type game. You can feel that they miss Mnungi. And that's what was impressive about this offense.

6:35 Short week, scored 30 points. You're missing it with a guy that you would have ridden in the second half late in that game up, handed him the ball, and Caleb's legs because they were pretty bad tonight on third down. They were 4 of 12. And. Part of the reason that they just felt a little off for still relative to their standards. Because they hit that big play at the end of the first half when they run kind of that fake screen to the left, screen it to Luther, and he walks right in. That was just a great play call, great play by him.

7:13 Just a well-rounded operation, but... Loveland had some drops. It looks like Komet, you know, who was pretty solid tonight, not a great injury, gave a thumbs up on his way out. Who knows what that's going to be. They're going to need the rookie tight end from Stanford to come through. You know, Rome's a bizarre player because you can throw him a ball that a small percentage of humans on this planet could catch going 500 miles an hour out of Caleb's hands. And he can make a beautiful, like, God, what a catch. But then he can also, and he did this early in the season when he dropped the ball in the back of the end zone. He did this tonight that wasn't offensive pass interference, but where he dropped it, it was right in his hands. Loveland, to me,

7:58 extremely talented, a lot of hype behind him. Little underwhelming right now. They're going to need... If they want to go where they're going to go, because let's face it, their defense is going to have some issues. Like Jalen Johnson just... has some speed limitations. Can't run with anybody. You know, I would never say he was like Darrell Revis or Deion Sanders in his prime, but he clearly moved a lot better before the injury. He's never quite been the same since he's come back. You kind of felt Gordon's presence early in this game, flying around, being just pretty physical, right? And in a perfect world, they signed Kobe Bryant to go with him. That's a lot of secondary pieces to use. Now, the corner position is

8:41 going to be a work in progress. Stevenson had the nice play at the end of the game. I'd also say, and this is the thing with the Bears, I do feel like their guys really compete. Their skill guys play really, really hard, which is clearly demanded by the head coach. I've always been an A.J. Brown fan. But if I'm going to trade a future first-round pick for you, and you're making all this money, and you make this big deal, I want to come. Obviously, you get injured in the first game, pass, whatever. Last week, okay, come back, bunch of drops. Tonight, you just have these... like stretches in the game, like what's he, where is he? And then when he throws a ball that's a 50-50 ball, you are going up against Stevenson, who I would imagine most

9:29 Bears fans say, yeah, pretty replaceable player. You are a former All-Pro, a guy making huge coin, a physical freak. Shouldn't you be like, well, this is a 50-50 ball, but in my world, this is like a 90-10 ball, and I'm going to fucking high point it, or at least fight you for it. And he just kind of looked, laissez-faire, didn't do anything, easy PBU. It's like, that's the type of stuff with Chicago and Ben that is not, doesn't fly. Like, listen, you might not catch the ball, but you got to compete for it. And Ben does a good job. Like, Loveland had a drop. They went right back to him.

10:04 The slow motion on the fourth and two right through the defensive lineman's hands was a pretty badass camera view. But the offensive ceiling with the Bears is extremely high. And I do think the defense has felt a little bit better. Because if you remove the one It was a pretty embarrassing play. I mean, I think I saw a slow motion with the X's and the O's on Twitter.

10:27 You know, it's like, this is what happens when you blitz on this play. So they bring extra rushers. So there's less defenders. There were still enough defenders to tackle the guy. Like three of the guys ran right with him. 21 kind of gave up. It's one of those all-time embarrassing moments for a defense. But if you remove that play, I do think they're playing pretty hard. And, you know, both teams, I haven't seen the numbers. I felt like they were bringing pressure a lot on these two quarterbacks.

10:54 And with Caleb, because of the hamstring, I would say that is not something I would recommend. But right now, he's not a sitting duck, but he didn't make him pay as much as he would have fully healthy. Where Drake May a couple times really made him play. Like, you know, I thought Drake May, I thought he was excellent.

11:11 Beside the one play which was horrendous. Like you throw a red zone pick literally right to a defender, which then leads to seven points. Pretty big kick in the dick. Because at the time when he throws the pick, it's 13-7. They're driving. You're thinking like, he throws a touchdown right here. It's going to be, Patriots are going to have the lead.

11:30 It's like, I felt like they were getting their ass kicked and they're going to be in the lead. And then he throws the pick, they drive the field and all of a sudden it's 20-7. And then obviously the Stevenson play happens. But I thought overall, and this is where the Patriots deserve a lot of credit. His confidence, his calm demeanor as a quarterback, he feels very under control.

11:55 I would say both quarterbacks clearly do. But we hold Caleb, especially before he got injured, to a much higher, I would say, status earlier this season because we're like, Drake Mays falling apart. And whatever they did to calm him down, to just get him back on track, it has worked. Because he's playing really, really well. Like, you leave that game tonight, like, I was going to say it's not his fault. I mean, that pick was pretty bad. But if you're going to make a devastating mistake, he did do it in the first half, right? This wasn't a fourth-quarter interception like Sam Darnold or like he's done, you know, in the first game. But I thought 24-31, 320 yards.

12:34 Look who he's throwing to. Like, Hunter Henry. Hunter Henry. Eli Roldan, who actually is pretty good. You know, the Notre Dame tight end. 6'6, 250 pounds, runs a 4'6. Had that seam route where he just smoked Devin Bush. I mean, that guy's a fucking monster. Again, A.J. Brown. Six targets, three catches. It just feels... I don't know if it's Josh. I don't know if it's A.J. 's body language. He does play... like a guy that the Belichick-Brady dynasty run would have hated. I don't know what happened to him since last year in Philly, but there's something just the way he carries himself that is like, bro, what's going on here? Okay, I'll give you a pass last week. You have all these drops. You're playing the Jets. Okay,

13:29 coming back from injury. But tonight's a night. You're playing a team that has some major corner question marks. You're a premium player. You should be walking into this thing like, I'm going to smoke these guys. Get open. Feed me the rock. This should be like a 12-target game. But this goes back to that, you know, the last target of the game to him, where he just kind of looks.

13:52 Stevenson bats it. He's like, oh, whatever. Back to the huddle. We'll kick a field goal. Get out of here. Like, what? Is this what we're getting for this amount of money? This is one of those where, Mike, you're the one pounding the table for this acquisition. You're going to need a little more out of him. I assumed he was going to have a huge year, be reinvigorated, gets away from the Philly situation, gets back with his boy, Mike. Drake, beautiful deep ball thrower. And it's just, it's just off.

14:24 I mean, way off. I mean, seems like he's kind of non-existent throughout the game. You know, you feel like the Bears receivers. You know, hell, I feel like he, like they go to Pop Douglas and this little dude from Eastern Washington in bigger spots than A.J. Brown. So that to me, now that you'll go on this mini bye week, is something you have to figure out. And, um, Big picture for the Bears, you're 5-2. Obviously, this weekend, you're rooting for the Colts to beat Minnesota. I don't think that's going to happen. But you get this mini bye week. You don't play again until next Monday night against Seattle, who you're going to have a massive, massive rest advantage here. You just play at home. You get

15:15 several days to chill. You get Caleb, you know, an extra set of days to get this hamstring even closer. Seattle is going to play an absolute war zone game Sunday night against the Chiefs, which, let's face it, is kind of a must-win for them. And then you get the Buccaneers the following week on Sunday night, who could be completely reeling by then, to go into your bye week.

15:38 So I would say 6-3 feels borderline a lock, and 7-2 would be on the table But part of it is losing that game to Minnesota. You know, someone's got to win the game between the Packers and the Lions. You just got to hold serve and keep winning these games. And on the flip side with the Patriots, I was looking at their schedule. It's like, geez, Louise here. You get the Dolphins coming up. Okay, you're five and three.

16:05 Then you go on a stretch here where you're getting... Now, they're in Foxborough. New England and Detroit back-to-back weeks. Then a week off... chargers but it's in la so it's a long flight and then you play the bills and the vikings and the chiefs so basically you have a stretch post this dolphins game of playoff team playoff team playoff team i mean the vikings they're a couple wins away from just they're gonna go to the playoffs playoff team and then the chiefs playoff team now i i think they're pretty good like you could tell like the bears have more higher end ceiling because of the explosion they have on offense right The Patriots are much more just like, they're not a knockout puncher. They're hitting you

16:49 with jabs. They're hitting you in, you know, the side. They're hitting you, you know, just fucking body blows. And they're good at that. And that's kind of been Vrabel's deal, I would say, his career as a head coach. But when you play like that, you're going to play some of these teams that can score some serious points. I mean, Green Bay gets Jacobs back. The Lions are one of the best offense in the league. Obviously, the Bills, who...

17:11 You know, you beat earlier this year, so there's going to be a lot of juice for them trying to win that game. And then the Chiefs, the Monday night football game late in December. I mean, that's just a tough run of games. But listen, we all talk crap about this Thursday night game for a long time. And because of Amazon's cash, these games are dramatically better. I mean, we're not that far removed from this game being like the Cardinals against the Jags. You know, the Browns against like the Indianapolis Colts. It felt like it was just these awful games on repeat. The Dolphins against the Jets.

17:50 Now we're getting a team that was just in the Super Bowl against a team that was in the second round of the playoffs. I mean, it's just, this is fun. I mean, this is, Thursday night has become truly a marquee event for the NFL. And it has for a while because football's so big and the NFL's so big. But it was like, yeah, millions of people are watching because of the NFL, but it's not great. Now, I mean, this is back-to-back weeks of just Seattle at Denver. Obviously tonight, I look, next week is Carolina at Green Bay. I mean, these are good games. These are games that if you put them on Sunday would be some of the best games of the weekend. And given, like last week, that would have been the best game of the week, just

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20:46 It came in my algorithm. And he mentioned that, you know, the league has had a lot of traction clearly in London. Like that's been successful. Germany, Spain, like they feel really good about. Roger Goodell from the owner's meetings. was thrilled with the Australia experience. I mean, they got 100,000 people at 10.30 in the morning on a Friday. I promise you they're doing that thing again. My guess is Australia becomes a yearly thing unless, like, Tokyo gets involved, which I think would have to be in that similar spot.

21:16 But I would be stunned if we don't get Australia week one every year. I said that after the game, and I feel pretty confident about that. Now, I think this France thing, and I– was in the car, and I was listening to something that potential, you know, some chaos planned for Saturday in France. But I would imagine, like, both these teams don't want to be there. The Saints have been there all week, I think, on the outskirts.

21:49 They left from New York after beating the Giants. The Steelers are taking some red-eye on Thursday night. I don't know, man. I would lean the Steelers here. I would like the Saints more if this was just a normal home game, but I don't know. This is just one of those that it feels like I'm prepared for anything. I have no strong takes. Obviously, Aaron Rodgers played really well this year.

22:16 There is no disputing that. Aaron Rodgers has looked good. Him and McCarthy, button heads in the one game against the Browns, and that going viral, did not faze them. Like, old married couples can get in arguments that would cripple a young relationship. That couple's unfazed. You know, once you've been through the ringer with your significant other, some things that look crazy are not crazy to them. So I did believe when both guys came out after the fact, like, yeah, we're fine. Like, I believe it. And Aaron's into this.

22:49 I give him a lot of credit for, at this point in time in his career, battling his ass off. And Jalen Warren's been awesome. Kamara's banged up, so their running game could be an issue. You know, Shuck, who made some plays in that game, but he's got a banged up hand. I'll lean the Steelers here. Okay, let's go four bucks, which again, there's a lot of Cleveland at Titans, Dolphins at the Jets. I mean, the Giants are a massive underdog with J.J. McCarthy going to Houston, which I think is kind of an interesting game. Not making my four bucks, but Houston's defense has looked pretty bad.

23:32 They've also played pretty good quarterbacks. Josh Allen, Joe Burrow, okay, Daniel Jones, somewhat of an outlier, and Dak Prescott. Like, they got lit up by three guys making $ 55, $ 60 million. I mean, I do wonder, and then even last week against the Jags, like Trevor Lawrence has completely resurrected his career over the last year and a half under Trevor Lawrence.

23:58 I would say J.J. McCarthy's a little bit different animal. if you want to go counter, you'd be like, hey, I'll take the points. A little risky. He hasn't even been there that long. Think about his struggles in 2000, what would it have been, 2025. He started 10 games for the Vikings. He had been there the entire time.

24:19 I know he was banged up and missed the season, but he was in meetings. He knew the offense. How long has he been with the Giants? Has it even been a month? So it's like the understanding of the offense, the rapport with the offensive players. I mean, this is his first week truly repping with these guys. He could go on to look better as the season goes on, and this game could be a disaster. So that's not going to make my four bucks. The four games are going to go as follows. The Niners at Atlanta, which I do believe is a really tough spot for the 49ers.

24:54 You know, anytime you're going west to east, off a short week, they played Monday night. The defense was on the field a ton. Mike Evans, who, you know, everyone's like, Purdy's the MVP. And then Mike Evans leaves like, maybe Mike Evans and Purdy should share the MVP. Mike Evans is pretty important. Now, as I'm recording this, you know, status is up in the air. To me, this is pretty black and white. You're 6-0. Like, how about you got the bye next week? How about you just take a deep breath? How about you say, hey, Mike, we're holding you back from yourself. You're taking the week off.

25:29 This is one of those games when the dust settles and you look back. If you win 12 or 13 games, it's okay to lose this game. Now, that's not how football teams approach it. That's definitely not how Purdy and Kyle and any of those guys look at it. And definitely not how Mike Evans looks at it. Like I would have said, hey, Mike, you're not feeling great. Take the commander game off. But clearly he didn't feel that way.

25:52 He couldn't practice. And then all of a sudden he's limping to the locker room before halftime. So it would not shock me at all if he attempts to play. The connection of being in this division, playing this opponent, might mean something to him. Also a big game for Raheem Morris. I don't care who you are. Life's going pretty good for Raheem Morris. Hell, life's been good for Raheem Morris. Football, he's made a ton of money. He's had a lot of success as an assistant coach. Clearly the head coaching situation in Atlanta was a disaster. And they made a horrendous quarterback decision in the Cousins thing off the injury and then the Pennix draft pick at eight.

26:29 And it blew up in his face and it cost him his job. And life's good right now in San Francisco, but you don't think he wants to win this game? Imagine sitting in an office and having people tell you, you're not good enough, pack your shit and get out. And I know they probably said it in nicer words than that. But if you're a competitor, I mean, if you're a prideful human, I've been fired. I've looked across that desk with the HR person and the boss that said, yeah, you're not welcome here anymore. Even if you think those people are idiots, even if you think those people are incompetent, you never forget that moment. And that drives you. And whenever you need a little ounce of motivation in life,

27:10 I'm not even talking football. Anyone who has been laid off, fired or whatever, you never forget that moment. And every once in a while, you just kind of think about it to get a little extra juice. I can't imagine in a profession like football where you get to just straight up play them. Now, Matt Ryan, Stefanski, obviously they have no connection, but a lot of these players were there.

27:32 He should have a very, very good understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the entire offense. I mean, their whole core unit is the same, and specifically Penix. Because one thing's pretty clear, if you can get into Penix's feet, he's done. Get around his feet, he's completely thrown out. If he has time to throw, he can look really good.

27:52 As he just did against the Bears in a bunch of hollow yards down 31-7. Playing a bunch of prevent defense. I don't even count some of those numbers. And the Bears fumbled to give him the ball to make the score closer than it actually was. But we have seen when you can get around him, he completely unravels. unlike some of the other guys in that draft, that can move around. I mean, you see Caleb and Drake and even Jaden on Monday night. If he just kind of can scramble to keep a ball alive, Pennix cannot do that. Now, the key against Atlanta is you've got to slow down Bijan Robinson that might be, I would say, right up there as the most purely talented player in the NFL.

28:34 So when he gets going, and I talked to an assistant earlier this year, who played him is like, you can have great defensive calls and it doesn't even matter, which is what happens with a great running back. You can have the perfect call and he can cut it back. He can make a guy miss. He can run a guy over. He can just beat a guy to the corner.

28:53 So to me, you slow him down and then just start setting the house at Pennix. Drake London's become an excellent player, but You know, if Mike Evans is out, it'll be interesting how this offense looks. You know, Debo's out, Evans is out. I mean, basically all their offensive weapons are out in terms of the receiver unit, right? Stribling, their first draft pick is on IR, right? And he's still in a boot as of like last week. Debo Evans, I mean, that's your top three wide receivers. So you're Brandon Cooks and Jacob Cowing and Jordan Watkins. I mean, you're pretty dependent on some random guy. So it basically just becomes a kiddo McCaffrey game, which is fine. I mean, those guys are elite players, but it's asking them to

29:34 do a lot. And the one thing McCaffrey hasn't really had feels like in a while, it's just like, hey, can you get us like 150 yards? You know, and maybe it's a little bit more committee, right? Him and Kalon Black of just like, hey, can the two of you guys, 30 carries, 140, 150 yards, slow this game down?

29:54 But I think the sexy pick is Atlanta here plus the points, but tough spot for the 49ers. The travel, the Monday night game, Atlanta just played at home. But who knows? Is Atlanta the team that looked really good for a couple weeks, or were they the team that just laid an all-time egg against the Chicago Bears, who don't have as good of a defense as the 49ers? Indy, Minnesota.

30:20 I was thinking about this this morning. I think Indianapolis is on quit watch. This is an incredible spot for the Vikings. Coming off a bye, at home against a team. Every clip I saw over the last 24 hours for a Colts player was discussed about getting traded. Do you expect to get traded? Their defensive linemen, Quinn Nelson, any wide receiver with a pulse, Jonathan Taylor. That now that Chris Ballard has been fired, could all you guys get fired? Slash, not fired, traded, excuse me. Ballard got fired. Shane Steichen feels like he's destined to get fired. But you can't tell me internally in this locker room, like I've seen, you know, the natural, it happens a lot with the interim coach bump, right? Their record historically is pretty good.

31:13 That first week and then it kind of levels off. To me, the GM is not the same. But what the GM is, especially in a place like Indy, like he was in charge, all those players there, especially the guys drafted, the guys traded for, it's like they were handpicked by him. And now he's gone. Is there going to be some pressure from above to like, hey, let's detonate this thing. These are human beings. So I love Minnesota this week. And, you know, it's great. the numbers approaching a touchdown, but you can't convince me that after that loss to the Titans, and now they've spent all week, like, do you expect to be here in a couple weeks?

31:56 And they're all thinking like, yeah, I'll do whatever. I'm just living where my feet are, just saying all the cliche bullshit. What do you think they're all thinking to themselves, telling their wives, telling their buddies? Like, I'm probably going to get traded. And as they should. I would trade every single player of value because this job, one, it's not that desirable. And two, like you don't have picks because of the sauce gardener trade. Think how crazy looking back that trade is. You know, sometimes when you just make a trade because you think it's a good deal, that's where it's powerful. When you make a trade because you're as desperate as the Colts were to trade for sauce gardener, It's like, geez, Luis. And I know they

32:34 had a good record at the time of doing it, but then they get him, he immediately gets hurt, and then Daniel Jones goes down. And then it's just been a disaster ever since. And now Chris Ballard's at home just hanging out because of it. So this is less to me about the Vikings, who, one, I would like them in this situation at home, Indy, in normal circumstances.

32:56 But to me, if they can find a way to get an early lead, and obviously, you know, Flores bringing the heat, fucking with DJ, who's kind of imploding. If they find themselves down in like the first half, 10-0, 13-3, it does feel like one of those things that could completely crack and the dam could open and we could be looking at quit watch, which there are two types of quitters. Like one, people that just quit, right? We all know those humans that just tap out. And then there's a situation where, so weird so bizarre so fractured like i don't even blame these guys for thinking like it's almost like when you have you're working somewhere but you have accepted another job and you're just playing out

33:41 the string they're probably not getting your best effort because your mind's somewhere else how could that not be true for these guys And I'm not saying these guys, like the one thing the Colts would have, I would agree with like Ballard and the people, you probably Shane Sykes. It's like you do have some pretty high level guys like DeForest Buckner, Quentin Nelson, Jonathan Taylor. I don't view these guys as like quitters, but. I would understand if it was just a complete implosion. And that's what I expect.

34:11 As long as the Vikings get an early lead, this thing could get ugly. For the Vikings. They're probably not a team that's blowing you out 40-3. But could this just be like a 23-6, just strangle them out? That would be my expectation. Tampa at Carolina. All signs look like Baker Mayfield is going to play. He's going to wear this glove. Still not 100%. I think I love Carolina in this spot. I mean, that was a pretty devastating loss for Tampa because they played so well. The defense was throttling the Steelers and it just looked like, God.

34:50 They're going to win like 19-6, complete domination of a game that turned into a Steeler home game with an undrafted free agent, like kind of a cool moment. It felt like it was just going to be like, hey, Todd's rattling off a couple wins, short period of time, Thursday the Cowboys, then the Steelers. Like, listen, he's still maybe very much on the hot seat, but that's a pretty good little stretch. Your owner's pretty happy if you back-to-back wins against the Cowboys and the Steelers. And then the quarterback just completely melted down. I mean, there's no other way to put it. The quarterback melted down, which is understandable. He's an undrafted free agent. So I would say Baker clearly is a better player. But one, he

35:33 wasn't playing that well to begin with. And two, I was reading some quotes today. It's like, does he have full range of motion in the thumb and gripping the ball? He's wearing this glove. Makes me a little nervous. I don't like the Panthers. I love the Panthers. And honestly, the 25-14 game last week does not reflect what we witnessed.

35:53 That wasn't ass-kicking. Bryce has been exceptional this year. Chuba Hubbard gashed the Eagles. I just think this is a spot that Carolina at home, like if you're real, like if you're going to be a real playoff team, which I went from last year like, okay, they kind of got gifted 8-9, whatever, to like, Could this team win like 10, 11 games and be a team that, you know, in that first round is the three seed or the two seed or the four seed, wherever, probably not going to be the one seed, but be a team that you're like, yeah, they can win a game. I mean, hell, they almost did it last year. You have a huge advantage just having the home game in the wildcard round.

36:33 But I think there's a potential by the time the playoffs come, they're a team that in the first round, depending on the matchup, it's like, yeah, they could beat the Lions. They could beat the Packers in that 3-6 game. They could beat the Bears or whoever, the Seattle, whoever they're matched up against. So I'm really high on Carolina this week. I'm actually kind of excited to watch this game, partly because the bar is low. But the best game of, you could argue, the day, but definitely of the morning would be the Ravens hosting the Bengals. Now, I'm assuming that Lamar is going to play. Because if he doesn't, that sucks and this game becomes, one, it immediately becomes a must-win for the Bengals. If you do get Tyler Huntley,

37:19 you know, yesterday he wasn't spotted at practice. Today, you know, the media during the year is only allowed out for a short period of time. So they get booted, and then once you start running your game plan stuff, no one's out there. And he was out of practice. Based on the point spread, I do believe if Tyler Huntley was playing in this game, the Bengals would be favored. Burrow, historically against the Ravens, is 4-7. So, obviously, that's against Lamar Jackson. I would imagine all of them. Definitely in most of them. But this is a team that, now, a couple years ago when they went 9-8, they went 0-2 against the Ravens, and he threw nine touchdowns in the two games. So it by no means was his fault.

38:05 But I was someone who was really, really high on this team coming in. This is a big spot for them. And even if you get Lamar Jackson, right, how good he looked before he got hurt in that Titans game. Same thing with Baker Mayfield. It's hard to just miss several games with an ankle if you're Lamar Jackson or a hand gripping the football if you're Baker Mayfield and just hit the ground running against another good opponent. Right now, I think the argument would be Caleb did it. Caleb came back and looked pretty good. But I was talking to a buddy at the gym today who's a big Bears fan. He's like, well, he was throwing the ball exceptional, but you could tell movement wise this was not the explosive runner. Right. It wasn't the same. He was just

38:52 slicing and dicing with his throwing the ball like 26 to 26 when he wasn't pressured. But he wasn't gashing him like it was Carolina week one, which is understandable coming off the injury. So a huge part of Lamar Jackson, you know, who's obviously a much more high-end pocket passer at this point in time in his career than the scrambling version early on when he hit the scene. But his game is still pretty predicated on moving around, keeping plays alive. And if an ankle injury is going to keep you out multiple weeks and still limit you at practice, like it does make me nervous. So this feels like almost too good to be true. Like if it's Huntley auto bangles, even if it's Lamar, like there's still some

39:35 pressure on Cincinnati. You're getting a guy that probably isn't a hundred percent. You're getting a team that the injury report as of, uh, as of Thursday afternoon, uh, was 15 guys from the Ravens on the report, one guy on the Bengals. So from a health standpoint, the Bengals coming off the bye are way, way healthier, which has to factor in. Both of them have, you know, the Bengals lost to the Steelers and obviously the Ravens lost to the Browns. So they're 0-1 in the division. You never want to fall to 0-2 because then you basically, I mean, got to play really well just to split and go 3-3, right? This is a big game. This is a massive game. To me, the Lamar Jackson thing, if he doesn't go, that'd be a disaster. If he

40:22 does go and you lose, it does feel like all this early momentum after you look pretty good, like what the hell has happened? And you have these first-time coaches, first-time head coach, first-time offensive coordinator that I think are good. But you just start finding yourself a little bit behind the eight ball. The pressure starts mounting. Same thing with Cincinnati, but Zach Taylor and Golden, those guys have been there before.

40:43 They understand what's at stake. It's pretty intense. I think I'm leaning Cincinnati here, but historically it makes you a little nervous going into Baltimore. I mean, this is a game that Baltimore just normally wins. At home, against the Bengals, like... say what you want about John Harbaugh. I have no issue with them firing him. It was time. John Harbaugh's feeling good about his spot in the league now, but man, I think this would be crazy. If you just tell me all of a sudden, the Ravens now are fighting an uphill battle because at one point in time, a couple of games in, it's like, oh, Lamar was humming.

41:23 They're playing the Titans, blowing them out. You're like, God, this team looks like 12 or 13 win team. And then all of a sudden you miss your quarterback for a couple of weeks. I mean, they're, They're pretty fortunate to have made a comeback in the Atlanta Falcons game. But I do think the injuries play a huge, huge role.

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43:47 I mean, that's just, even Rams at Vegas, that's a way more interesting game because there's heavy money on the Raiders in this spot. the Rams are in shambles. There's no way to get around it. I mean, you talk about the Ravens injuries. I mean, half their team's now on injury reserve. You just lost the guy that led the league in touchdowns last year. I mean, part of having Devontae and Puka out there is it just takes a little pressure off both guys. Devontae's so good in the red zone. Puka opens so much up, you know, the 20s of the 20s. You can just feed him the rock. You know, I would treat it if I'm the Raiders. And listen, their defensive backfield is not great.

44:27 What Indiana did to Jeremiah Smith, somewhat similar game plan to Puka Nakua. I'm throwing several guys at his way. And let's face it, the Rams have a lot of just weird juju going on. They just do. I mean, the pressure coming into the season after making all the moves, starting two and four, special teams is a joke. Now you factor in the injuries, the quarterback, every statistical category is like kind of close to the middle. I mean, it's hard to argue that Stafford's been pretty average at best.

45:00 And statistically, you could make the argument that Cousins has been much better in the eye test for sure. Now, the Raiders have limitations. One, the running back just, you can tell me he's got this lingering foot issue from the end of the preseason training camp, right when he got hurt right before week one, whatever, but they have no rushing attack. And they don't really have wide receivers.

45:25 I saw Cousins this week's like Tucker can roll. So he's like, I play with Deshaun Jackson. I play with four, two guys. This guy can roll. Sometimes you just got to let it rip. And that's true. But the overall snap to snap wide receiver unit relative to most of the league is bottom tier. Right. But their tight ends are elite. I mean, Bowers is the best pass catching tight end in the league. And Mayer's an unreal number two.

45:52 In theory, it's a lot like Loveland and Komet. That's just an unreal unit. And Cousins throws to him all the time. And he has to because they can't run the ball and their wide receivers aren't exactly getting open. So the key to Cousins is you've got to get after him. Well, it's like, well, who's rushing the passer?

46:07 You just lost multiple defensive linemen. Miles Garrett is already injured. You're just going to be dependent on Aaron Donald turning back the clock. Braden Fisk better fucking turn into Aaron Donald 2.0. So, I mean, I like the Raiders in this spot. And at night, I guess I skipped over Green Bay and Detroit. This feels like a pretty good spot for Green Bay. I feel these two teams have a lot in common. I mean, the offenses are elite.

46:35 And for Green Bay, it's like this goes back to the Rodgers era. They were tailor-made for a dome because their passing game is so good. And I was watching Dan Campbell's press conference on Wednesday. He's like, those two wide receivers are ballers. And he's right. Watson and Golden, and I understand they've had some drops, but especially Golden.

46:54 But I got him on my fantasy team, and he produces every single week. Because that fucking guy, you talk about rolling. That guy's a player. They gave Watson whatever, $ 80 million or whatever this offseason. So he's one of the fastest guys in the league with the ball in his hands. Everyone knew that. The only question with him was can his hamstrings not get pulled? Because if his hamstrings don't get pulled, he's a high-end NFL player. I do think there were some question marks on Golden. They got rid of a bunch of wide receivers. It's like, we're going all in on this guy. And he has answered the bell. And now Jacobs, even though everyone basically admitted something happened, no one cares because the NFL is back.

47:33 And that's a huge addition. And the reason that they didn't look past it all is because they are in desperate need for him. They need him. And so when you look at the Lions, it's like they have a sweet tight end who's pissed off they haven't paid him. Well, it's like, hey, They've already paid everyone else, and they're going to need some defensive players. They're probably never going to pay you. And luckily for you, hitting free agency might end up making you more money on the open market.

47:59 It sucks, but that's kind of the way a salary cap league goes. Green Bay's defense, now I get it. A couple weeks ago, they were playing Tyson Bajent, and they're picking them off left and right. But obviously, even last week, they have just looked. So I would say the last two weeks, they have, if you look at the Cowboy game, they picked him off twice. And then the Bajent game, they picked him off. They had three picks in that game because Bajent threw two and Keenum threw one. Now, if I remember correctly, Keenum threw one on like fourth down in the red zone. But regardless, they have five interceptions the last two weeks. So from a defensive standpoint, they're just making some plays. And the

48:47 offensive line just should look better if you have Josh Jacobs. Why? Because there have been holes early in the season in their running backs. I mean, Lloyd, to me, looks like a UFL player. I mean, their running back unit has looked really, really slow. Marshawn Lloyd, I don't quite understand that. And I get it. They drafted him in the third round.

49:11 He looks like a practice squatter. And Jacobs is just a high-end player. I mean, the gap between those two players is extraordinary. wide. I mean, the addition of him is huge. Now, you know, if you're looking at Detroit, playing at home, coming off a bye, it's a pretty big spot. This is a massive game. I mean, this is a massive game. And I think you've got to be careful about overreacting, you know, because just a couple weeks ago we were all burying Matt LaFleur and the Packers.

49:46 Rightfully so. Their offensive line looked horrendous. And then they play Tyson Bajent, and they play the Cowboys who are just in shambles. Little different animal here. I mean, this offense is much, much better. But the Lions' defense is atrocious. And what do they do? They play a lot of man-to-man defense. They put their corners out on islands. Well, I know this. I like Watson and Golden against a defense that can't cover a soul. So Aiden Hutchinson better have, like, to me, for the Lions to compete on defenses, he's going to have to be an unstoppable force. Be like one of those where he has, like, seven, eight pressures, three sacks, and he's just all over Jordan Love. Because Jordan Love the last couple weeks, I mean, they're just

50:29 throwing bombs. Well, why wouldn't you throw bombs against these guys? In a dome, DBs they can't cover. Like, it's tailor-made to you. So, kind of like the Packers on the road in this spot. Last but not least, the night game. This borderline must win for Seattle. As crazy as that sounds, right? Kansas City's already... There's not another undefeated team in the AFC, right? So, you have, like, the Ravens and Cincy, whoever ends up winning that game, we'll see in the Lamar situation. Both those two teams already have two losses. You're already kind of playing a little bit with house money. The other thing with Seattle is they have not allowed a 100-yard rusher since James Cook week eight, 2024. I mean, it

51:18 has been a long time. And you would also imagine they're pretty geared up to play Kenneth Walker, their guy, for this spot. A huge part of the Chiefs' success is just the running back has been unstoppable. I mean, I think we would all agree he should be in the MVP discussion. He's a true MVP candidate, deserves it, earned it, and has been, to me, some, it's not exactly apples to apples, but there are some parallels to when the Eagles signed Saquon Barkley, and their offense just went to another level, and that's what this feels like. Now, they had more juice on the outside with A.J. and Devontae Smith that year, but just in terms of impact on the ground, it's probably not going to happen. And,

52:05 you know, the Chiefs felt kind of like the anti-Eagles. They placed Josh Simmons, their first-round left tackle from a couple years ago, on injury reserve today. There's been a lot of question marks with his back. They just threw Rick Burkholder out there, the trainer, and he just described the situation. He's like, it's because of this, this, we did this, and he tried this, and... It's just not kind of working. We've plateaued. It was like, yeah, kind of a, it felt like a strategic move. And you know, this is again, you never ever forget when someone fires you, no matter how good life has gone. And I would say for the Chiefs and Andy, couldn't have gotten any better.

52:44 He's won Super Bowls. He's in fucking commercials. He's got one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time. His team's undefeated. But I don't think they just randomly threw him out where they could have just released a statement he's gone on IR, deal with the back. Now, they have done that before. But the timing, you know, when the Eagles are taking a lot of shrapnel, just something to keep an eye on. If the 49ers were to win in the morning and the Seattle were to lose at home to Kansas City, they would be four games behind the 49ers.

53:18 And all of a sudden the 49ers would be undefeated with the Rams in Seattle. And I'll even give the Rams the win at the Raiders would both be four games behind them. That's pretty nuts. We're not even to Halloween yet, but it's even separate from the 49ers. Like you're not going to win at home against clearly a tough matchup. One of the best teams in the NFL, but also like their main weapon is a guy that you should know, like the back of your hand. And, you neutralize run games as well as any team in the league. Like no one runs on you, especially no individual, right? Again, week eight, 2024, it's, or week seven, 2026. That's almost two full years ago. One player ran for over a hundred yards and James Cook didn't run for 180. I

54:07 think it was 110. So, I mean, they are not getting gashed. Now there is some, here's the thing. Hey, Sam, We got to make some better decisions with the football. And he talked about this after the Thursday night game. It's on me. I can't keep turning the ball over. You just, the ball just can't go in some of these spots. I mean, you can't be late on some of these passes with DBs, either safeties coming over that pick the ball with ease to a crossing route where the DB has in his hip pocket. I mean, those two interceptions were really bad. There's just no way around it.

54:44 But Sam Darnold's always turned the ball over a lot. If he turns the ball over against the Chiefs, like multiple turnovers, I do think it'll be a difficult game for Seattle to win. Now, Charbonnet is getting activated. You know, is Seattle a team that sniffs around on Jonathan Taylor? Like, are they a team that, hey, would you give your second-round pick, get Jonathan Taylor, get him with Jadarian Price, he's under contract, you get... kind of a double-headed monster with Sam Darnold. I, I think you would have to heavily contemplate that, uh, depending on like what the value is, like what they're asking for, who you're bidding against. But I, I would guess they, they are definitely sniffing around on

55:28 the running back position. We'll see if they look better this week, but, um, I guess I just lean Seattle just because I do think it's must win. And then before we do a couple of mailbag questions, uh, Let's do some quick predictions brought to you by my friends at Polymarket. Like I said, I love Minnesota in this spot. Simply, my logic, quit watch Indianapolis. Quit watch. 1-2-3 Cancun. 1-2-3, I just got traded. $ 100 on Minnesota to cover 6.5 points pays $ 197. Promise you this, I'm going to put more than $ 100 on that one. The other one, not as confident. These divisional games, they clearly get weird. You know, Todd Bull is going to blitz a lot. You hit Bryce Young. But I think Carolina all of a sudden

56:21 kind of gets on a little roll here. Carolina to cover two and a half, $ 100 pays $ 184. And then last but not least, like, until proven otherwise, I'm kind of short on the ramps. I don't necessarily think they lose this game. Like, eventually they're going to win. But, like, the Raiders just proved, like, against the Chiefs just last week, like, against the Bills, like, one, they could score late touchdowns.

56:50 They play their ass off. This is a team, like, you remove that Patriot game, they got rolled, right? But that was one of those where they just lose a crazy game to the Chiefs. They fly out east and get their ass kicked. But two of the last three games against Kansas City and Buffalo, they– Kind of went toe-to-toe with him. I mean, hell, Josh, one of his touchdowns, one of the most miraculous plays you're ever going to see, that scramble kind of pitch play. So I'm taking the Rams to not cover the three-and-a-half. You're getting the Raiders at home, catching over a field goal. $ 100 pays $ 199.

57:21 A couple quick mailbag questions. I did see that Joel Klatt said today that– When the 2014 playoff is formalized, there will also be an agreement between the SEC and the Big Ten to have every year they'll play each other. Probably some rotating, you know, they do in basketball a lot, right? The Big Ten, SEC showdown, ACC Pac-12 showdown. Basketball is easier because you have more games. I do believe we've got to find a way to get closer to, like, can't we do this like a four-way? with the Big 12 and the ACC. The problem is, like, is the ACC going to be around in 10 years? I'm reading an article about Miami already talking about, like, going independent or trying to jump to the Big 10. Their AD is,

58:11 you know, former, like, private sector, I think, KPMG. So he ain't feeling the ACC. They don't even get a vote. The 2014 playoff was basically the Big 10 and the SEC. Long time listener, first time questioner. I was listening to a recent episode and you talked about Arch Manning and how he's now a day three pick. If you were Arch's agent or maybe an NFL scout, what would your recommendation be for him to improve his draft stock for the next year or two? I personally was thinking about it and thought he should transfer out of Texas and go somewhere and start new. It might sound crazy, but what, uh, Might sound crazy, but what if he went to a place like Tulane or JMU, like that type school, an elite G5 program with playoff aspirations? I was considering maybe

59:02 you give Lincoln a call at USC, considering he's had a lot of success with quarterbacks, Baker Hurts, Maiava, etc. I have a hard time seeing him go to like Tulane though he's I think he's from didn't he grow up in New Orleans Tulane's not as good this year after losing Summerall even though they just did I watched some of that game on Friday they beat Memphis but they were I think two and four going into that game two and three They're not as dominant of a team. Now, granted, these non-Power 4 schools, year to year, it's like you lose a coach, JMU's kind of an outlier, Boise's an outlier.

59:40 To me, Tulane's a little more fickle. I just think the draft talk, we can do it with Jeremiah Smith, we've been talking about his draft stock since his freshman year. In basketball, we were talking about Darren Peterson or A.J. DeBonsa or Carlos Boozer when they're in high school. I think with quarterbacks, we've got to be very careful. We've learned our lesson. Carson Beck is like, this guy's undraftable.

1:00:09 Then he goes to Miami. He's like, not going well. Then by the end of the season, he's like, God, he's a third-round pick. Drew Aller can be the number one overall pick. Then he gets injured. Disaster. Goes in the third round. We have no clue. I do think you've got to be very careful in the Arch Manning.

1:00:23 I definitely think it's on the table this week. They're playing Ole Miss. And the best quarterback in the country, Trinidad, who, you know, Ole Miss can be a little fickle too, right? I mean, some weeks they look incredible. They beat the shit out of Missouri last week. They also aren't that far removed from getting curb stomped against Florida. So I'm not as confident week to week what this team is going to look like. But if they play well, Ole Miss is going to win that game. Especially now that you don't have Colin Simmons, who's a top 10 pick, to chase Trinidad. And listen, they have a ton of talent on their roster. What if this thing gets really weird?

1:00:59 What if Ole Miss is up like 24-6 at halftime? I mean, clearly people are going to be booing the games at Texas. Does he make a switch? I do think the problem is, and you saw this with Underwood and Carr, once you make the switch, there is no going back. Once you bench Arch, I just think it's over. Like Bryce Underwood's career for Michigan is over. And I commend him. He was like chest bumping car. I almost said CJ. It's not CJ. It's whatever. It's CJ's brother.

1:01:35 I do think it would be a weird spot. But it's on the table. I think it's 100% on the table. What time is that game? Texas Ole Miss is 430 ABC. So I would guess it's. It's Herb Street and I don't want to say Reese Davis, but who the hell does Herb Street call that game with? Why can't I think of his name? Oh, Chris Fowler. Michigan, I'm trying to get, what's Carr's name? Tommy. Tommy. 7 of 9.

1:02:13 70 yards. Touchdown. He actually made some nice throws. And just some easy throws that just Underwood missed. But Michigan kind of sexy pick there. I just think we need to pump the brakes on the he's going to the NFL. Like it just as of right now he's not. A lot of people shit on Herbert for how unproductive the offense looks or how he can't win in big spots.

1:02:40 But I've watched a plethora of Chargers games over the years, and I really think he had systems in place like Mahomes or Josh Allen that he wouldn't catch as much heat. He's been through numerous coordinators and three different head coaches. Do you think he'd be considered an elite quarterback if he had a stable foundation? If you put Justin Herbert with a Andy Reid or Kyle Shanahan or Sean McVay, yes, he probably wouldn't be in this situation. But, you know, there were some question marks about him coming out. He's not playing that well right now. Jim Harbaugh does have a history of doing well. I do think this mesh with Mike McDaniel has blown up in their face. But, yeah, he's just going to take a lot of shit. He

1:03:21 already was pretty polarizing. I think the playoff games only added fuel to the fire because they were such a disaster. This year could get even worse. Like, I mean, there's a pretty good chance they win two or three games this year. Mahomes had an all-time disastrous season last year. They went 6-11, but he didn't lose all those games.

1:03:42 I think he won all– what was Mahomes? If you look at Patrick Mahomes, my guess is he was like 6-8 last year because they went to the other quarterbacks and they went really bad. Mahomes last year went 6-8, so I was right. Which if he doesn't get hurt and he plays the last three games, in a weird way, it was probably good he got injured. Clearly because he's okay now, but like they lost all their other games and they got a high pick and it landed them two high picks in the first and second round, which are clearly helping. Why do some injured NFL players stay on the sidelines with their teams while others do not?

1:04:24 For example, Deebo stood on the sidelines, Micah Parsons supports his team from the sidelines, yet Miles Garrett was seen in a luxury box. I think certain teams have rules. I think it's also based on your injury, right? If you're on crutches, it's not going to be safe. Debo has a tight hamstring, so it's probably up to him if the movement ability, but you've got to be able to move if guys are coming to the sideline. I just think it's kind of dependent on the injury. I think certain teams have certain protocols that But I think if you physically can stand and move around, if you have a sling, if you have Baker Mayfield, the thumb, standing on the sideline, quarterbacks typically are helping out. I

1:05:09 would say most players, unless it's a devastating, like if you rip up your knee and you're in a fucking wheelchair, yeah. But most guys, if they can move around, come back to the sideline, if they're in street clothes, as veteran players. But I don't think there's a hard, fast rule from the NFL. It's kind of team by team. One year, the 49ers had so many injuries. They were playing in Arizona, and they had a box. And the box was like Bosa, Sherman, Kittle, Jimmy Garoppolo, Trent Williams. It was crazy. It was like $ 200 million worth of players, just all in the box.

1:05:51 You recently mentioned that you don't really care who's calling games. I mainly agree. My one exception is Nance and Romo. My take on those two guys, especially Tony, definitely feels like an outlier. And frankly, I'm willing to admit that I have a major bias as a Bills fan. But something about their chemistry really clicked with me. I think I'll always look back on the most recent three to five year period as a Bills fan with some serious nostalgia.

1:06:14 And the unscripted at time off the rails banter between them will be a big piece of that. What are your thoughts? Well, I would just say that during your guys' run of Josh Allen, Tony Romo and Jim Nance feels like called the majority of your big games, right? All the big games against the Chiefs, they were calling. All your big games over the last couple years with the Patriots, I guess the Patriots have been bad, but the Ravens, whoever, right?

1:06:40 Against Joe Burrow, they were on the mic. So yeah, I completely understand. It was announced today that J.J. Watt is going to keep that job. Which, he's fine. I think the one thing that Romo had that he kind of lost is once everyone just essentially called him lazy playing too much golf, he couldn't call the plays out early.

1:07:03 It felt like it was just all that fucking around. And the thing is, like, Madden and Al Michaels, Al's super old now, right? In Al's prime, he was a born bullshitter. And I think sometimes that's what Madden, that's what Gruden, they could just bullshit about sports, bullshit about football. And that's not really Nance's deal. But Romo was so just off the cuff and excited, but that's all it kind of turned into. But for you, like, listen, what was the bill stretch when they finally made the playoffs, Sean McDermott's first year? Wasn't it like 15, 20 years of not making the playoffs? So to go from that and being a bad franchise to getting Josh and being this good, I don't blame you at all. But, God,

1:07:54 they pivoted quick. My one thing with J.J. is he's fine. You do need to kind of find a lane. You've got to find a spot, right? Chris Collinsworth just nuts his pants over quarterbacks. right? Obviously, John Madden and Gruden, they were clear what they brought to the table, and just their kind of fun-loving football nerds. Madden embraced, like, food, eating, big guys hitting, gunslingers. Gruden had the guys that he loved.

1:08:28 Romo could predict plays early on. Aikman's kind of a dick, which I enjoy. Like, JJ's got a You almost got to just embrace being like this big in the trenches guy. And it's okay you're not a quarterback. John Madden wasn't a quarterback. John Madden at his core was an offensive lineman. Gruden was a coach. I just think you got to be comfortable with who you are. You're not like those guys, which is fine. So I hope that... I don't know, he's doing a fine job, but you've just got to embrace some fucking around a little, which can be hard with Nance. It's not an easy spot. I commend JJ for being as smooth as it's been with Jim. who is very old school, pretty serious. Ramos didn't give a shit.

1:09:23 JJ does, which I respect. Okay, a couple more quick ones. Thoughts on the potential trade deadline and teams you could see as buyers or sellers. Do you believe that buying at the trade deadline is a sign of a good GM? Thinking of Ballard specifically was sauce, but I can't remember a big time deadline acquisition that made a large impact for a playoff team down the stretch other than CMC.

1:09:48 I think you've got to be very careful because chemistry matters. You know, usually these guys are expensive. Personally, I'll take the L on this. I thought the Niners were nuts. You're going to give your second, your third, your fourth round pick for Christian McCaffrey, and it clearly is one of the best trades in franchise history. But I'm more of a fan of those in the offseason, like the 49ers did it for Trent Williams, right? The Eagles for A.J. Brown, like doing– Those type big moves in the offseason with a guy that you feel comfortable with. The Rams have done a lot. Some work, some don't. They traded for Jalen Ramsey in season. Like Quentin Nelson, who's still a high-end guard. You trade for a guy like that, it's

1:10:33 clearly an upgrade, but is that changing your trajectory as a Super Bowl team and how much you've got to give up? The sauce thing, when you make a move like that, you just need him to be immediately Darrell Rivas or Deion Sanders. He's got to be a dominant all-pro player. And one, I thought it was risky because he was trending. They kept calling PIs on him. He couldn't play the way he did his first couple years.

1:10:56 And then two, he's been banged up. He's solid, but clearly if they could have a do-over. Honestly, at the time, it felt nuts. It's like, are you sure you're doing this? Mika Fitzpatrick, remember the Steelers traded first-round pick for Mika Fitzpatrick? Thought that was pretty crazy, and it kind of worked out.

1:11:16 I'm trying to think of any big, big deadline ones. I've seen Vaughn Miller traded to the Rams. He was older, though. You just don't see, because GMs value their draft picks. So, yeah, I'll trade a random fourth-round pick for a guy, but good players... If I got a package like definitely ones, I'm losing sleep over that. But like second and thirds for players, that can be difficult to do. And it can be difficult to convince a GM to say yes.

1:11:47 This was a question basically the inevitability of the 18th game. Do you think the NFL would ever consider the concept of rivalry week? Every year teams would play the same team each year rotating home and away. Such Giants, Jets, Eagles, Steelers, Commanders, Ravens, so on and so on. Panthers, Jags, Bucks, Finns, Niners, Raiders, Rams, Chargers.

1:12:05 I think the problem with that is, I've been asked this question before, is that you rotate divisions. So like the Niners play in the Raiders this year. Every four years you rotate playing the AFC division. AFC West, AFC North, AFC South, AFC East. And it's just a four-year rotation. So there would be given years with, I don't hate the idea, but what happens on like this year? The Niners play the Raiders, right? The Rams play the Chargers.

1:12:40 The Seahawks played the Broncos. So like the regional, like those teams are playing each other. You play them twice. That's where I think why it probably never happens. Because you naturally are playing them every four years. Or do you just embrace it? You're playing them every year and that game would count toward it. I don't know exactly what you would do. But my guess is that's not what they do. Even though that would be cool. I wouldn't be against it. Big Bears fan, but notice your J.J.

1:13:22 McCarthy slander. Darnold is now seen as a good after being a tire fire for five years. You know McCarthy led the Vikings to a winning record last year, and that was his only full season playing quarterback. What are your thoughts on who should start for the Giants this week? Well, I think he sent this before they named J.J. You know that his record last year, he played 10 games because he was soft benched in the middle of that.

1:13:46 He threw 11 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. and was well under 60% completion percentage. So he had a winning record, but I wouldn't say he was winning because of him. Also, I've just reacted. He couldn't win the backup quarterback job over Carson Wentz. That's no slander from me. That's what the Vikings did. Kevin O'Connell, a GM that did not draft him, came from Seattle, agreed clearly, and then traded him. Again, zero slander from your boy here. I'm just reacting to what they did. We all watched. Didn't look good. Then his own team who drafted him in the top 10 said, you can't be our backup and we're going to trade you for a fucking fifth round pick. Think about that.

1:14:34 There is no slander. Like, slandering would be like, you know, LeBron James, man, kind of overrated. You'd be like, what? You know, Mahomes, like, some of these wins. No. No. There's no slander when a guy doesn't play well, his own team, after drafting him high, doesn't make him the backup quarterback, and then trades him before year three. I'm just reacting to other people's actions that agree with my eyes.

1:15:00 He hasn't been very good. And I expect him to not play well this week. Even though I do think he could play better, I think there's going to be a little Rayola situation. Rayola, thrown into the USC game, did awesome. Had to start the following week. Disaster. Okay, two more questions. As a Browns fan, pleasantly surprised with Todd Munkin. I still think we finish near. 500, but Barry has been crushing the drafts. Here's a fun hypothetical question.

1:15:31 What route do we do to figure out the quarterback? Option one, go all in for Herbert. Package the two ones, ours and the Rams, and see if he thrives in a new system. Option two, go for a flyer on a young quarterback on a rookie contract, like a Cam Ward type. Throw a mid-round pick and see if Munkin can develop him on a rookie deal. Option three, package the two ones and move up in the draft. I don't think Herbert's going to be available. I think they could go winless, and I do not think the Chargers are trading Justin Herbert. I think Justin Herbert is, you would say like locks, like Mahomes, Josh Allen, locks to be on the team next year. Burrow, you never know.

1:16:13 Season can get crazy. You get the man trade. Lamar Jackson, you know, things can get weird. He doesn't have a contract yet. I would say Herbert's a pretty good lock based on their ownership. Don't hate option two. Like there has to be quarterbacks worth going up there to get in the draft. You know, Trinidad is 5'10. That would make me a little nervous, and I love the player.

1:16:37 But it's like, am I going to pack three ones to get a guy 5'10? It better fucking go right. I don't hate like the, you just use Cam Ward, but like something like that. I think until you feel confident with the quarterback, you cannot go all in for a guy. Especially in the draft. Look, they did it with Anthony Richardson with the Colts, and it blew up in their face. 49ers did it with Trey Lance. It's just the Vikings did it with J.J. McCarthy. The Broncos did it with Bo Nix. You're like, yeah, we kind of like them, but then you kind of regret it.

1:17:11 So to me, keep building the squad, keep loading up the team, and be in a position if you can find a Sam Darnold, somewhat ironic here, Baker Mayfield type, right, with the Bucs. I know he came from you, kind of, roundabout way. But, yeah, I would just keep building the team unless you're all in on a quarterback in the draft.

1:17:35 Not necessarily needing to be part of the mailbag, but we need to hear more about your experience at the Warriors-Cavs 2016 Game 7. It's one of my great regrets. Most of my adult life going to games, I didn't drink. I was typically working, right? Football games... At Fresno State and then the Eagles, I never had one sip alcohol at a game. Once I got into radio, I was working at the Raider games. If I went to the Warriors games or the Giants games, even playoff games, World Series games, I was always sober. I mean, I could count on, I mean, I don't know the last time I drank heavily at a sporting event, pro sporting event.

1:18:25 This was a game that I got heavily intoxicated. It was pre-gaming. I was with a girl. We were kind of broken up then. Dating might be a strong way to describe it, but we were definitely hanging out. She got a couple tickets. She was kind of in the business. There were good seats right behind the basket, probably middle of the lower bowl. And, you know, I had seen– I had been going to Warriors games at the radio station constantly. Like I had seen that Steph Curry, Klay Thompson team play, I don't know, 30, 40 times over the course of those two years, including playoff games. Honestly, most of the time I would be leaving by middle of the third quarter. Because they were destroying people. I mean,

1:19:11 I can't vividly remember driving my car home. I lived at the time in a condo in Emeryville, which is kind of right by the Bay Bridge, and listening to the fourth quarter of these games when they were just beating the shit out of everybody. I mean, Steph was incredible. Clay, they were just barrage of threes. No one had an answer for it. And they felt like they made every single one. And it just felt, it was getting a little weird, but you're like, yeah, they're going to win this game. I remember vividly walking into Oracle, walking by Ndamukong Su and Jared Goff. I think Jared Goff had just been drafted. I just remember thinking, Ndamukong, I'm like, God, this guy's a monster. I just remember having too much

1:19:57 to drink. Not like puking or anything. It's just one of those that if I could do it over again, I might have had like a beer. And I probably had 10. With a couple pregame cocktails. And then we drank more after. I'll never forget, though, watching as the Cavs won, we were on their side watching that bench and those guys filter onto the court and just thinking, oh my God. And you knew it was just a lot of history at play, right? The Warriors just shattered the record. Steph MVPs, LeBron trying to win it. I mean, you just knew you were part of something big. But, you know, you kind of get to a point where probably how Patriot fans feel, you know, Alabama, Saban. It had only been a couple years, but when you went

1:20:51 to Oracle, once Steve Kerr got there, you just expected a win. Honestly, it was crazy the previous round when they went to seven games against Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook. Obviously, Clay bailed them out in that game six where you just went nuclear from three, saved their season. But then they were dominating, and he gets suspended for the nut thing with LeBron. But it's just, I'm not a huge, I don't really, obviously during NFL games, I never drink on Sundays. Now with Jack, I barely even drink on Saturdays anymore. I do enjoy just watching the games. You know, I enjoy knowing what I'm watching and not like, what happened again? And hell, that happened sober. So, I mean, you'd start mixing in booze. But that was just too

1:21:40 big of an event. I just, I regret boozing as hard as I did. It's probably one of my biggest regrets ever for an event that I have attended. I just... I wish I would have soaked that in and just been able to remember all the things that happened because it was a historical sporting moment. And listen, you know, the Warriors went cold. I also remember Draymond just draining threes.

1:22:11 I mean, if it wasn't for him, the Warriors might have lost by like 15, 20 points. I think he had like 32 points. It's like the greatest game of his career. I looked at his box score last night because I went to bed early. Scored two points. Warriors stink now. I mean, the Warriors stink. They are terrible.

1:22:30 Their rookie from Michigan's talking a bunch of shit. It's like, listen, I like a good cocky athlete, but you can't just get blown out game one of your NBA career and be like blasting one of the best players in the league who just beat the shit out of you. It's like, come on. The 10-year-ago Warriors would have laughed. At whatever that was. The Warriors are down bad. This is not good.

1:22:53 You got the Steph Curry sleeve on his knee. We got some tendonitis. You know, the snow time Lakers. They look pretty good. I mean, Luka throwing lobs at that dude from Utah. They're going to be a problem. If you're going to go to a big event, Super Bowl. Super Bowl. Man, I got kind of intoxicated there, too.

1:23:13 But that was fun. It didn't necessarily matter, and I was betting on the Broncos. Adios. The volume.