The volume are Week eleven reaction presented by Uber Eats. Get game day deals all season long on Uber Eats. Okay, here we go on a Sunday, Buffalo thirty Kansas City twenty one in the epic best rivalry in the NFL. John Middlecoff, former NFL scout with the Philadelphia Eagles, is joining us. So I'll start with this, and I've said this for the last couple of weeks. This team's the best equipped to beat Kansas City. First of all, they have their best running game with James Cook, best running
back they've had. I think they have an interesting group of receivers, and they now have two tight ends, although Kincaid banged up, but you know, Amari Cooper made several nice plays today. They've got the slot guy. We know they're going to be well coached defensively because of Sean McDermott. And as I watched this game, I thought Kansas City would win because they were so much talk of injuries to Buffalo receivers, but you know, most of them showed
up and played. And my take is we all kind of knew Buffalo was gonna win one of these games. And I think this Buffalo team at home. This was I kind of felt like this team can beat anybody, including kse.
Listen. I think we talked about the Chiefs owning them because they beat them in the playoffs last year and then a couple of years ago in that thirteen second game. The Bills have now beat him three straight regular seasons. Now two of those, I think back to back years have been in Buffalo, definitely two of the three of them. So it's like they play well against them, Like, there's no disputing I'm sure we'll get into Lamar later. Lamar
against the Chiefs looked like a different player. Josh Allen has played really really well against the Chiefs. Yeah, regular season and in the playoffs. I mean today, is this game really as closed if he doesn't make that disastrous decision on that fourth down where he just threw that ball up and then it led to a Chiefs touch which they struggle to score. I mean, so he doesn't turn it over right there, Let's say they kick a field goal. I mean, do they have twenty one points
at the end of the day. I mean, this is a team that struggles to score points, yes, right, I mean it's a problem now, you know, playoff games look like this, and they were nine to zero, you know, in their margin for victory. And a lot of these games are coming down the But that's how a lot of playoff games they're gonna be very equipped and because they're coaching, because they're quarterback. But listen, like Buffalo and maybe it's Pittsburgh now more than the Ravens, like these
games like it's there for the taking. Yes, it is wide open. Can't we say that it's wide open in the AFC? Yeah?
And I think, you know, it's funny watching when I look at Josh Allen, just take I mean, nobody thinks Brady was the most talented quarterback. We all know Marino was more talented. Tom gets some you know, seven rings, Reno gets none. And Dan had a great coach in Don Shula. So we know that winning Super Bowls is not just on talent. But if you're asking me the most talented quarterback I've ever seen that last touchdown round by Josh Allen, there's not three four quarterbacks ever. Maybe
Steve Young makes that. You know, I don't know if Mahomes can run over two defenders at the goal line. Josh is about size, arm Ad libbing pocket. With Lamar, he loses in the playoffs and we're like he's a different quarterback. We don't say that. With Josh. It's like, oh, he threw for four hundred yards and came up short. I'm watching him today. He had one really terrible throw. Mahomes had a bad pick early. It's like there's just
I mean, I guess Marino, John Elway, Josh Allen. It's a really I mean, Montana and Brady have the rings. I don't think they're the most talented quarterbacks, had two of the best coaches. I think Josh is the MVP. There's just nothing like I can't he doesn't have a comp to me.
Well, think about this of the Internet era. I mean, Brady's the best quarterback of all time and Peyton is the top five quarterback of all time, and neither one was the best most talented quarterback of their era. That was Aaron Rodgers right right, But he wouldn't rank ahead
of either guy. I think, you know, John Elway forever was like, yeah, the perfect player because he could move, and I think Josh Allen has entered into that because part of like the way we talk, they also checked all the boxes right work ethic, leader of the team, teammates loved him. Monday through Saturday, was fantastic. I said it coming into this season, and I stand by it. I think he's the second best quarterback in the NFL.
And obviously a lot of people come at you like, well, Lamar's havn't because he's having a better season up until the day than he was last year when he won the MVP. Well part of it last year was an awful MVP class. And listen, Lamar's also, I don't know, one of the greatest quarterbacks I've ever seen. So but the one thing that that he still leaves to be desired is playing really well in the lights of the
brightest those first couple of weeks. Well, I mean, if you look at it, and that is not a question with Josh, He's been dominant in the playoffs.
If you look at a time Lamar against Kansas City in Pittsburgh, he's bad. His passer writing's like sixty six. Josh is never bad. I mean, he'll have a bad Sunday. But I kind of looked at this game and it goes to show and we know this in the Super Bowl last several years, defense as good as Spag's defense is. When Josh Allen is running out in the end and running over guys, it just doesn't matter what the scheme is.
The great ones and Josh is an all timer. Elway had at one point, I don't know what he ended with, like forty four game winning drives in the fourth He played some of the best defenses, the great defensive coordinators. You know, you couldn't stop Kobe or mj or Lebron when they wanted it. I just look at Josh and he's sort of he's a scheme buster. If he's in, if he's got the right components, there's not much you can do well.
He's Cam Newton as a runner because of his power in his size, but he's such a dominant passer. I mean, I think he has a chance. I mean, he's got a long runway the rest of his career to go down as one of the better players of all time. Now you get to fine, you know, in football, like in most pro sports, how you do in the playoffs, and you know it's not he hasn't lost them games. I mean their defense has obviously let them down in
some playoff games, but the pretty good opportunity this year. Right, like the Pittsburgh Steelers aren't scoring many touchdowns. The Ravens have a lot of flaws. They just beat the Chiefs. Now, home field advantage is very, very big for Buffalo. I mean they had it last year and they blew it to Kansas City, but they were the favorite in that game. Now the Chiefs get the Panthers next week, so they
still have a one game cushion on the Bills. But think about this, you know you live back in the Northeast. For a lot of the Brady era, the Bills, I would say, at the Internet age before Josh got there were mainly a joke. Yeah, I mean they were really, really bad. You could look at him a little bit like Mahalves is one of the greatest players I've ever seen any sport. I'm not diminishing anything he's done. But he did take over a team that was winning ten
to eleven games. He just took them to thirteen fourteen a Super Bowls. Right he Josh Allen arrived, This team was a joke. You know, it was an embarrassment. So was you know, you get more credit. I'm not saying like just as an individual in a vacuum, Like, that's really really impressive what he's done. Same with Sea Dermott elevating this franchise because they're like obviously the Chiefs have
had are much more accomplished. But in terms of rest of the league, how many you know, we talked about the Ravens, we hold them to such high regard, or the Pittsburgh Pittsburgh Steelers haven't won a playoff game in close to a decade, right, I mean, look at the Bill's success. They are dominating, They're shoeing for their division every year, and honestly they're coin flipped of like are they going to be the one or two seed every year?
Well? Yeah, I mean, and what if Allen gets drafted by the Chiefs and Mahomes goes to the Bills. You know, A prime example this year, and we'll get to this later is bo Knicks. Bo Nix has tearn it up. Bow Knicks now has four games completing over seventy percent no picks, two touchdowns. That's tied for the greatest rookie season accomplishment ever. Well, a huge component to that, about
seventy five percent of that is Sean Payton. I mean Kayleb Williams with a defensive coach and the defensive culture, the more talented than bo Nicks, so I think. But I will say this, I don't think anybody holds it over the head of Josh Allen. I think we all know Mahomes is great and Andy's helped a lot. And I think we all know Josh Allen's great, and he doesn't have Andy Reid. And I think Sean mcdermot's terrific, and I really do. I think Sean McDermott I've compared him.
You may not remember this much. Chuck Knox, who was great everywhere he was at. He was great in Seattle, Buffalo, rams won everywhere, just not the postseason. But he was meticulous in his details. So Chuck Knox would come into your organization, John, and he is like Marty Schottenheimer. He would just clean it up, just over and I would clean it up. He was like the janitor with a headset like he Immediately, your special team's got good, your
defense got good, you didn't turn the ball over. Then Schottenheimer and Chuck Knox and a little bit Sean McDermott get too the playoffs and they get outworked they get schemed by a great offensive coach. It can be a Bill Walsh, whoever it is, And I kind of feel McDermott is his generations Chuck Knox, great coach, attention to detail, tough teams are resilient always in the big games. But Chuck Knox, Marty Schottneimer, you're always like they get a
little conservative in the postseason. And I think that's a fair criticism of McDermott. But I'll defend him forever. He's a hell of a coach.
Yeah, listen, I've known him since I worked for the Eagles. You know he's a tightly wound Yeah, very disciplined individual.
Well.
I bet if you looked at his breakfast and lunch orders for the last fifteen years, they have probably been very similar. But Nick Sabans had the same breakfast for twenty five years. I mean, these guys, they're very militaristic with their actions. I do think Sean looks like he's eased up a little bit. And let's face it, he made a move what a year and a half ago that is paid dividends of the Dorsey Joe Brady thing. I mean, I think the AFC like this Chiefs team.
Now they do get Putchaco back, which is gonna help. But Kareem Hunt's been good for them. Yeah, just offensively. The Worthy is one hundred and seventy pound rookie, like he's gonna be a lot better in a year or two than he is now. And Travis, let's face it, like the guy that we saw in those playoffs last year, which was the Hall of Fame dominant version, I think it's fair to go, does that guy still have it in him for this stretch run? Maybe he does, but
maybe he doesn't. And I think health. If the Bills are healthy on offense, because you add Coleman the rookie, you add Amari Cooper, if Kncaine's healthy, their running game clearly is a lot better. I mean that's yes. You've been hammering this all that balance of their team control the clock. I mean at one point in time headed in the fourth quarter, it was basically a one to one ratio of time and possession. It was like these two teams were equal, which the Bills couldn't play that style.
I felt like two years ago of what Andy Reid has morphed himself into because he's had to, like they said today on the broadcast Kareem Hunt, since he showed up. The only guy in the league that had more carries in Kareem Hunt was Dereck Henry. Andy Reid's known for passing it too much. Right, he brings his old buddy off the street because he has no choice. That their passing game, that their offensive line and pass protection is
not great. And the one thing I would say, Mahomes has some historic runs, like individual runs, but he's not as like dynamic of a runo right now. And that's an element. Remember Josh last year in the playoffs was awesome against the Chiefs today, Like he's given them more fits as a runner than Lamar has, which is somewhat ironic, right, I mean that playoff game last year is like Lamar takeoff run around. The Chiefs are vulnerable that way because
they're dbs. While great cover guys, you know, they're not exactly you know, Cam Chanceller's back there. Josh runs right through them.
Yeah. By the way, the Bill's more total yards, first down, time of possession not necessarily close. By the end of the game, they came out more aggressive. I think you know it's I think you started this off by saying Buffalo does be Kansas City, not in late January and February, right Like, that's and that's where we judge you. But if you said to your if you said right now, in the last five years, who's the best team in the league, we would all say Kansas City. Who's second best?
We would probably have to say San Francisco and Buffalo. And by the way, neither has a ring. It's it's a little Phil Mickelson and Tigers Prime. It's a little Sacramento Kings in the Lakers, Kobe and Chack. So I think I kind of felt good the Bill's winning today. It's like, guys, this is a really great team. They're the AFC San Francisco. The difference is the one area they've always been greatest quarterback. There have been other issues the O line, you know, the secondary and a couple
of these matchups has been banged up. They're receiving cores a little banged up today, but they go on to win. And what was I think that?
I think that Amari Cooper moved for them just balances them out a little too, because it felt like they had become more run heavy. Yeah, now you know Mari's you know, battling through a little wrist injury, had an awesome catch over the top, Shakir the Boise State kids, awesome over the middle. Coleman's just a big body, red zone target. Their tight end when healthy is obviously a
good player. And then the josh running like the Bills, like their offense is pretty complete if everyone's healthy, which is obviously the big question for any anful team. And their defense, like you said, well coached, and their past rushes good.
How about this, they have good pass rushers. So Brady dominated Peyton Manning in the early years of their rivalry and then at the end, and then at the end Peyton did pretty well. And I kind of feel like, oh six, it flipped a little bit. It flipped, and I'm thinking to myself, you know, you start looking at that you look at that Buffalo roster, and you're like, their defense isn't as good as Kansas City, but shit, Buffalo's got weapons. I mean they got number one receivers,
two tight ends, three receivers. I Like, it's like, are we going to get a little flip of the script.
And this is.
Generally how it works, maybe not in golf. For tennis, where a Jokovic can dominate. You know, guys get into their prime. But you know Brady at the end, you know Peyton at Indy, Peyton goes to Denver, You're like, yeah, yeah, he's got better players.
I would say the one thing with these AFC teams probably more than the NFC, though Detroit clearly tough wherever they're playing, but at home because of the you know, the Dome. Whoever gets the home field and whoever has home field, whether even if it's the two to three matchup in the second round, I mean, these are massive home field advantages, right Pittsburgh, Kansas City, Buffalo, Like that's that's the difference, Like you felt it today and honestly
you felt it in that playoff game. I bet on Buffalo last year in the playoffs because I'm like, this is a perfect spot for what's halfway through You're feeling good, you know, in Kansas City, like you said it just they just went on that Jordan Tiger like run. Like, listen, you would be crazy to ever bet against Mahomes and Andy. But Belichick lost to Rex Ryan in a playoff. It happens he lost to Denver. You don't win it. Everybody Honestly,
it's borerline impossible to win back to back? Aren't they the first team to do it since the early two thousands?
Nobody, I mean think nobody's ever done it three times. And I grew up with a Steelers who had like nine Hall of Famers and eventually the Shula or the Raiders. Somebody knocks you off. It's the way it works.
Somebody, I mean Walsh in Montana only went back to back one time. Hell, they only I think ever got back to back Super Bowls one time.
So congrats to the Buffalo Bills. The NFL season's rolling along. The contenders are separating from the pack. The one thing that hasn't changed this season is Draft Kings sports book and official sports book partner of the NFL. Are friends at the volume. It's the number one place to bet touchdowns. Fade at the corner of the end zone, running back breaks through the line, gallop sixty yards for a touchdown.
They don't care how you get them. They want to bet on touchdowns and you should at DraftKings the best place to do it. If you're ready to place your first bet. Make it simple. You're scoring a touchdown, just go to DraftKings Sportsbook app takes ninety seconds. Download it. Make your pick. Here's a reason new customers do a touchdown. Dance on your own bet five bucks, that's it, and get one hundred and fifty bucks in bonus bets if your bet wins. Score big. DraftKings Sportsbook number one place
to bet touchdowns. Download the DraftKings Sportsbook app and use the code column cli in gotta use the code coli in get one hundred and fifty bucks in bonus bets if your bet wins betting just five bucks only on DraftKings. The Crown is yours.
Gambling problem called one eight hundred gambler in New York call eight seven seven eight hope and why, or text hope and why four six seven three six nine. In Connecticut, help is available for problem gambling called eight eight eight seven eight nine seven seven seven seven or visit CCPG dot org. Please play responsibly on behalf of Boothill Casino in Resorting, Kansas twenty one and over. Agent eligibility varies by jurisdiction void in Ontario. Bet must win to receive reward.
Bonus bets expire one hundred and sixty eight hours after issue ins four additional terms and responsible gaming resources see DKNG, dot co slash ft ball.
Okay, this game is fascinating. Pittsburgh eighteen Baltimore sixteen. So Baltimore. Pittsburgh played a cleaner, more boring game, but the Ravens had twelve penalties, they lost two fumbles, they made more mistakes, and once again, God, the Ravens switch identity, so they were running fifty two percent of the time this year. Baltimore in this game thirty three passes, just nineteen runs and the entire game was a one possession game. And it felt like again, they did this in the playoffs
last year. Baltimore gets pass happy in these big spots and they I mean, let me look it up here. Tarrick Henry had sixty five yards. It's like, guys, you can pass, but your identity is you're slightly run centric, not run centric, you're run leaning. Today. Did they do this in a playoff game? I'm like, well, you're within a possession. It's almost like they panicked a little.
Your thoughts, Yeah, I mean I actually thought early in the game, when Tucker had missed multiple field goals and they fumbled on their first drive and the Steelers were only up seven to six with a little time remaining in the first half. I'm like, this is not gonna be good because they're gonna come alive. But for whatever reason, Lamar kind of looks like a different player against them.
I mean he has been. He is so much better I think this year, I mean for that stretch the last five or six weeks, than he was even last year. I mean, statistically, he's on a different planet. And then you're watching them to day, You're like, I don't know, he's just frenetic. He's now. Obviously, their pass rush is good. TJ. Watt throws them off even when he's breaking the tackles. But they were a flawed dominant team because defensively they
really struggled to defend the pass Baltimore. But when their offense is going to hit the skids to lose to a team and I get it, this is your Biddle rivalry, and the statistics of these two teams playing. It's determined over the course of I think, like the last ten games by like a plus minus margin of a couple points.
But the Steelers did not score a touchdown and you guys weren't ever really have a chance, you know, But like you said, the score, sometimes offensive coordinators get away from the run, even when if you're watching the game, you feel one team's in control. But there's a difference of being in control, like the Detroit Lions today when they're up thirty five to six, right, you're like, yeah, and there's a difference of like you're only down twelve to seven. Here, let's take it.
I mean, Russell had a terrible pick in the end zone. He could worst.
Pick, worst throw of the day. I'd say that I saw terrible.
He was only twenty three or thirty six. Rus Neither quarterback played well. Russell didn't play well. Najie Harris three point five yards are run. So now, George Pickens and Russell Wilson, this is where you really have to credit Russell, Wilson and Arthur Smith. That thing is a real relationship. Now it's a top five like combo thing in the league. Right now, Pickens and Russell Wilson eight catches, eleven and a half yards of catch like it's a thing. But
Russell didn't. If I'm the Steelers, I'm like, we didn't play very well. It was Russell's worst game. He had probably the worst interception he's had in years. We didn't score a touchdown, but you just said something. There is something about Lamar. Now is four and twelve against Kansas City and Pittsburgh, with more turnovers and touchdowns. It's not that he's losing. It's okay if you lose. He is a different player against the Chiefs and against the Steelers.
And my takeaway with him is the more you face Lamar, the easier it gets. This is why he's so dominant against the NFC. It's almost like, you know, it's like dominates.
I mean, it's not even fair. It's like Superman.
It's you know, it's like in a weird way, it's like facing a knuckleball pitcher, like in his prime, the late Tim Wakefield. If you never faced a great knuckleball pitcher, you don't know what the hell it is like. You just don't. There's like one in the league at any one time. And then if all of a sudden you faced a knuckleball pitcher four to five times a year,
you get you get around on it. And I feel like with Lamar, I remember talking to Tom to LESCo when he was the Chargers GM and they played him I was at the game they played him at you know that soccer stadium and lost. Then they played him the second time in the playoffs and one, and he just said he's so much faster in person than he is on film, Like you can't your players, you play him and then you're like, okay, okay, we really can't
get away with that. We wondered if we could. So it's like, listen, Pittsburgh has his number.
Well, I would say over the last couple of years, going back to last year, most teams a step on the field with Baltimore are inferior, and there's an intimidation factor. Yes, and there are definitely two teams. I mean, I mean that game today had a couple of moments where you thought you were gonna get like a nineties throwback, like the brawl on the field, which was it was refreshing. Yeah, I mean, it was like these teams, you know in a day and age where everyone's buddies, they all go
on each other's podcast. You're like, this just feels like the NFL I grew up on, where it's like this, these two teams hate each other. Pittsburgh is not intimidated by him at all. Like you said, they understand his speed. They also like do a pretty good job of corralling him. I mean, their teams speed is fantastic. TJ. Watson dominant player. I just think for whatever reason, there is just not
you're gonna you're you're gonna roll us. And I think the Bills have that against Kansas City, where there's an intimidation factor of the moment you start warming up and you see the other color jersey, you know.
And I really noticed it when Baltimore went for two. So Lamar Jackson going for two is like feels about his I mean, honestly, it's it's about as safe a bet in the league for two.
And they run that play a lot where he starts running and he gets in easily. I've seen it ten times.
It's insane, and I'm thinking, but Pittsburgh has seen it so many times. When the ball was snapped that you could have run a dive play. They didn't care. They had nine of their eleven players on the edge. They're like, we know in lateral, we know what you're gonna Donna, You're gonna go You're not gonna go at us, You're gonna go to the side and I thought that two point conversion. I'm like because I kept thinking, oh boy, they don't even buy the fake. They don't even care
about the fullback on the field. They know it's Lamar on the edges.
One concerning thing for Pittsburgh, who obviously is right there with Buffalo. I mean, the record's fantastic. What are they eight and two after a day? So you got two eight and two teams and nine to one team and that loss to the Raiders now for Baltimore is a pretty big swing loss because now they got four losses. When they throw the ball outside the numbers and he throws the deep, he's good at it right. Russell's comfortable thrown to Pickens. I would say any rollout to they
have a good connection. But when there has to be something a little more quick hitting, he held the ball a couple times and he got sacked. It's like it's kind of a feast for famine, and against the Ravens, it's harder to just I think Najee Harris has really resurrected his career. I think he looks a lot better
this season than he has most of his career. Jalen Warren's a good player, but you're not just gonna gash them for one hundred and fifty yards because I mean, they were I think they are the best statistical run defense coming in the league, or definitely, I mean this this week. One of them is you know, Russell can be had if you can just neutralize their deep passing game because he's he will hold on to the ball.
And a couple of times he had some bad sacks where I thought, bro, you got to get rid of this, and it could have cost him. But they were lucky. The Ravens just had noe. The Ravens looked off they've had. It's weird because when you watch them, when they're right on offense, it looks like one of the greatest offenses you've ever seen. But in some of these games, it's just like they got a little like Lsu Brian Kelly thing going on. You're like, things are just a little
out of whack. Yeah, it's like a ton of good players. I'd want ninety percent of their roster, But you watch them today, You're like, and maybe it's Pittsburgh. I've seen him play inferior teams with being off It's weird.
You know, it's interesting. Let's I want to go back to the thing you said about Russell Wilson that that was the knock that I think Sean Payton really had on Russell is that Sean would diagram plays that were over the middle and Russell would hold it and there would be a sack, and Sean in the offensive line would be blamed. This was a knock Pete sack four
times a day. Yeah, And that was a knock Pete Carolyn john Snyder had is that people kept banging on the Seahawks offensive line and Pete privately, I was told this for a couple of years, like, hey, those are those balls are being schemed up, those plays are open. That's been the knock on Russell Wilson is that he's very successful deep ball, the lollipop, the rainbow. He's very good rolling, and he's not a guy that turns the ball over much. Some of that's it's a little Aaron
Rodgers in his prime. He'd rather take a hit or a throwaway, throw a pick. So that's not the worst thing. But when you say that that has been the knock on him, I know through Sean Payton was he holds the ball, those are diagram and I think we have to be honest about this. Sometimes it's a hype thing. It is he just you know, left tackle six or seven.
I feel like most of Purdy's interceptions are a large percentage of them are tip balls. And when you're shorter, I mean sometimes Caleb, what did he do better today? Get on the move, get outside when you're not six foot three, it's just basic math. How are you seeing over guys that are six foot five? The thing with Russell, like, I think we have to acknowledge. Now Pittsburgh's eight and two, I would say high percentage they're gonna win the division.
And now it's gonna be like, hey, can they take on Kansas City and Buffalo and well, both those two teams have good pass rushes, so can they? And obviously Spagnola and McDermott are to the top defensive guys. If they can neutralize some of those lollipop throws, can Russell pick them apart? Because especially Kansas City, it's gonna be hard to run it on them. You're not just gonna be able to probably run for one hundred and forty yards in a playoff game. You know you play today
like that score? I mean all they kicked the fuel goals. They didn't score a touchdown? Right, So could you beat Buffalo because that's where now Pittsburgh separated of Like you're eight and two? Can you beat those teams? I would still have reservation? Yes, Now could Your defense would just have to have one of those games where they pick Allen or pick a yes, two or three times, maybe
a strip sack. But I don't know if that offense that we witnessed today can beat those two teams without being a little more like you said, I mean explosive over the middle of the field, which is not his thing. He doesn't do it. It's not his style of offense.
All right, Let's move to Packers blocking a kick to win out played by the Bears twenty to nineteen. Packers beat the Bears. They've now won eleven straight for Chicago. Part of that is good. Good franchises win games they shouldn't. Bad franchises lose games they should win. The Bears dominate time of possession thirty six minutes to twenty three. They're great on third down. Caleb Williams nine rushes twenty three to thirty one, played pretty well, one hundred and eighty
yards rushing and they lost. My takeaway in this game though, even though they lost and there were those that defended Shane Waldron, two things the Bear just did today that they didn't do with Shane Waldron. They got the ball out really quick, and they got Caleb layups. They schemed layups. I've said this, Sean Payton does this to bow Nicks. He gets seven completions to ten completions a Sunday that are just let's get him going okay, and then and
then bowl will complete another eighteen or sixteen. But he gets some ten, he gets some easy rollout stuff. They were not doing this. I mean, you and I were banging on this for a month. I thought the Bears quick layups, get a rhythm. I thought they did a really good job forget the score for a second in the outcome. I did think Chicago's offense looked a little dynamic. It looked like, oh, that's how you should play a young quarterback.
Yeah, I mean I thought it was a big, big step forward for Caleb. Yeah. Was had one of the shittier three week stretches you're gonna see. Listen, you should throw a quick screen to Dj Moore minimum on once a quarter down and they started doing that. It's like, yeah, novel concept. Yeah, you know, a guy that can break tackles, is physical, you know, getting a guy on the move.
What were they saying basketball? Right when your shots not falling, get to the rim, get foul, get some easy stuff, get some get a layup, or get get some free throws to get your rhythm back, and you get him some easy layups. What did that bring out? That brought out the kleb that everyone had the hype on, because the guy we have seen the last couple of weeks, it's like, where's his confidence? Why is he just sitting in the pocket? Become a playmaker? And today I wrote
down this. He started making plays. Yeah, with his legs, not even just running, but running to throw, which is a huge element of his game. He's not He's never gonna sit in the pocket like Jared Goff or Peyton Manning or Philip rip That's not gonna be his game. His game is going to be playmaking on the move using his arm. And whatever they did, they look dramatically better. I mean they he looked like a player. I mean
I was starting to get a little worried. Same say and sometimes in football, clearly coaching whatever they were telling him, whether they were just like getting in his head and he was playing almost too conservative because that's what it felt like, and it started snowballing the wrong way. You went, oh, I see you watch him and Jordan Love on the same field at the same time, Like, Okay, this guy can be a really good player. I don't know the hype ever be like the top player in the league,
but like, this guy could be a top ten quarterback. Yeah, right, but his style is going to be specific to moving around and if you just ask him three to five step drop in the pocket all day long, it's not gonna be his style of offense. And today, honestly it's you're firing your coach, like you're not making the playoffs anyway, I would say at the end of the day, like that sucks to be a Bears fan. That individual moment, but big picture in a couple of years, help your
draft pick. I mean, it's what was this actually going to do if you want to lose? It was obviously a huge moment for the Packers. I mean, that's a huge swing game, but it's not the end of the world that you got the field goal block.
It's interesting off of By now, the Packers averaged almost, you know, eight and a half yards play, so they're an explosive offense, no question. But it is pretty clear. You watch Buffalo in Kansas City, you watch Detroit. I no longer classify San Francisco. We'll get to this in a minute or two. But I mean there are three or three teams in this league that just are different. And I think Buffalo, Kansas City, and Detroit right now they just look different than everybody else. Baltimore can, but
in big spots they don't live up to it. But I think Green Bay feels like they're a year away. They're still young, you know. I like Jordan Love a lot. He was thirteen to seventeen touchdown pick off of Bye. He was Okay, I think you're gonna my take on Jordan Love. He's always been more far than Rogers. He's just more reckless. He is also more dynamic. But I think you're going to have to live with someone. Jordan loves mistakes because he's becoming what he was in college.
If you just watched two minutes of his best on YouTube, you're like, this is one of the best players I've ever seen. But when I look at Jordan Love, I'm like he he goes off script a lot, and I think Matt Lafleur allows it and knows what he has. But I think, as a Packer fan, like FARV. He's not FARV obviously, but he has some FARV. There's some FARV in him, and I understand why they picked him.
They moved up, they liked him. But when I watch him, do you ever feel with him he's going to drive Packer fans crazy?
Yeah? I mean he had an awful pick today where it sailed on him in the red zone. Yes, bad, bad, you know Rogers. For most of his career with McCarthy, one knock was always like the run game sucked and beside like a little moment with Eddie Lacy, they did not have a great running game for most of his prime. But it didn't matter, right, I mean, he was rattling
off MVPs. This guy's going to be more dependent on a back, partly because it just helps any young quarterback and partly because it takes a little prey off, like we don't really want you throwing it forty times in all these games because you are liable to make a miss. Yes, where Aaron Rodgers could just turn in like I can. I'll throw it forty seven times a day and I won't DV won't touch a ball that will never be this player. But they're wide receiver room. I mean, when
Watson's hamstring's healthy, how good is that guy? You know? The Tucker's good, I mean they are. I thought, for the most part, he's pretty good today, like I thought you had a pretty same He's also just been banged up, and maybe that's just going to be something that follows his career.
The way he plays, That's what I thought. When I watched the game plan today. I thought Chicago came out aggressive, smart, Caleb quick, get rid of the ball. I really was watching them Bears all day. I thought the Bears are the better team almost most of the day. I do think there's something to be said about the Chiefs. A couple of weeks ago against Denver, the Packers blocking the kick.
This is what coaching and execution do. You see these little moments in games, and I think that's coaching and execution. It's not luck. But I felt with Green Bay watching him today, it was Chicago's it was it was really an urgent performance needed by Chicago. I mean, like you said, it was kind of like man overboard. If they came out and looked like shit today, you'd be like, we got real problems. And I thought, and you could sense
that in the game. You to me. When I watched the game, I felt there was a sense of absolute urgency by Chicago.
Yeah. I mean I think, you know, you get to this level. It's a public job, but I think any human can relate, Like when your back's really against the wall, Yeah, you really got two options. You can either fold and melt or kind of just drop your nuts and you know, start swinging back. And that's I honestly that's what they
did today. Because I would say this week people started questioning literally everything before I was like, oh, the coaching, It's like, well, do you guys think Caleb sucks your defense? You guys just quit? Hey, wide receivers, are you just over it? And it's this game. You know, if this was in Green Bay, I would have a little more I was. I understand they're coming off a bye, but this is on a road game in Chicago. They're basically
fighting for their or respectability. Like they're not fighting for the playoffs or anything. But they got a lot of high priced guys. Yeah right, he now makes a lot. DJ Moore makes a lot. DJ Moore start getting called out like are you just quitting on Caleb? And to me, I thought Dj Moore and Caleb uh just showed a
lot of like competitive fight today. I thought Caleb honestly showed a lot of fight because I was not man overboard on them, but I was like, I would take Drake May, I would take j B Neck like this guy, this guy might like got bust territory.
Yeah, meantimes.
Okay, maybe Shane Waldron just stinks.
Yeah, Well, the Bears had more total yards, they were better on third and fourth down, dominated time of possession. So when you watch the game today, sometimes the better team, at least on a Sunday loses, and I thought Chicago today, my feeling was they were more aggressive, they dominate time of possession. It's you know, we'd say this about once a month a team loses a game and you're like that kind of almost felt like a win big picture.
What happened. It happened to Denver last week, same scenario. Yeah, play them, you had a feel goal to win it, it gets blocked, but you feel good. Now. The difference is like Denver than immediately parlayed that in the day, Chicago this might be like this is just kind of over. You know, Denver still had a lot to play for.
But I think if Chicago's record was just maybe a game or two better, yeah, I think they could parlay this into some momentum where it's like, I don't necessarily know how I feel about them moving forward, though, I would say if Caleb plays like this as a playmaker, scrambling around, they become a much more potent opponent to the Lions and the Vikings and the good teams. And they play the forty nine ers like they're not a
lock to lose all these games. If they're going to play like that today with the.
Offense, time to look at this weekend's Tasius matchup Sunday Night food Ball, brought to you by Uber Eats. This game needs to be discussed, and I swear to God, I don't want to talk about Aaron Rodgers, but Colts twenty eight Jets twenty seven. So Anthony Richardson came out and again there was a time in a mayor you could bench a quarterback and it was not a headline story. They bench him for a couple of games. He comes back.
I thought he was very self aware. Today, twenty of thirty Anthony Richards in two hundred and seventy two yards, ten rushes. Again, Colts dominate time of possession. I thought Anthony great first and at eight almost double the first down the Jets did. So let's just start with this before we go to Aaron Rodgers. I honestly thought you saw a little Shane Steichen, you saw a more mature quarterback. He made a couple of big seam throws today he made some really nice throws and again he was benched.
It was appropriate. They gave Joe Flacco, you know, a run. Joe looks kind of washed. But I've been saying this for a week. I liked the Colts personnel. They're one of those most of the time I look at a team and I think, you know, there's something I like, something I don't like. It's not that I don't like Anthony Richards. And because I watched today and I thought, yeah, he's the more dynamic of the two quarterbacks. He's the our quarterback on the field today. There's a question of
it not even close. But my take is the benching people freak out, but it happens. It happens in high school, college and the pros we get very sensitive now that we don't. But the kid is small town kid. One starting year at Florida hurt a lot of last year. I watched that game and I thought, well, if this is what I get with, Anthony Richards said I could live with that. You could wait games with that.
You know. I think that that moment when he tapped his head was so polarizing, and then he made it worse. I think with his comments after the game, and clearly the teammates they had no choice but to Benjamin. I did think his comments this week of saying like, this is my job, but I have to play well or I will get yanked again showed a little self awareness. Yes, and there were some articles that I think they had. You know, Kenny Moore said, this captain sat down with them, listen.
This is some humans need guidance just because they played the quarterback position, not defensive line, any other position and it wouldn't be that weird. There were moments today. There was a fumble caused on on a blitz by Anthony Rigson led to a Jets touchdown that I thought it kind of started to unravel on the on the Colts, I would say three weeks ago. The Colts lose that game and fall apart. On the game winning drive, Richardson hits a play down the sideline. Yes, it's like he
didn't melt. That's right, And I just wonder sometimes you get to take a deep breath the other thing, if you get it. I don't know if you saw it, but on the Colts posted out after in the locker room as he's walking in all every guy in the locker room screaming, chanting his name, screaming, framed it. So I think there was and he and he like, no, no, no, listen.
Sometimes as a young player, it's really difficult. He made an awful decision and he paid a price for he was benched, and then today he came out and let's fake it. I mean the Jets stink, Yeah, I mean the Jets stink. But obviously he had some great moments. He had an awesome touchdown, he had a couple, he had some great throws, but he also had some disastrous fumble He lost one of them. And he didn't just
melt and go into the tank. So I think from a maturity standpoint, like there's there's no disputing there's a ton to work with there. Like he's never gonna be Drew Brees or Steve No, somebody is right.
No, but boy, you go you get.
But can he play some version of Cam Newton Josh Allen just running guys over, making some big plays like yeah, I mean he shows it when he's playing well.
Yeah, I mean in the red zone. He's a handful dude. He is a he's just a big guy.
Well because the difference like that Lamar two point play. Lamar is not gonna run guys over. Yeah, but he's gonna beat you with speed Anthony Richards and he gets you one on one like Cam back in the day, you are going backwards. Yeah, he's winning. Josh does it all the time. Yeah. And then the other guy. You know, one thing I wrote down today because I was like,
you know, he's not even a top fifteen quarterback. And then I started doing I was like Aaron Rodgers not even a top twenty five quarterback in the NFL.
Listen, because I think the only.
Quarterbacks today did you watch you went that team, like Will Levis. I mean, it's a short list of teams that like, yeah, we'd take Aeron over all. Again, No, I mean it's a very short list.
And Aaron's twenty to twenty nine, and you think, oh, he plays pretty well, doesn't really throw the ball down the field a lot. All it's Derek Carr. I mean even the Saints pulled Derek Car for Taysom Hill to be more dynamic. I mean, Aaron his winning percentage of the Jets is twenty seven percent. Sam Donalder Sam Donald was thirty four percent, Zach Wilson was thirty six percent. So, because I've been so critical of Aaron through the years, anytime I said this a month ago, I said, guys,
not the coaching. Slaw is your best coach. This is a big mistake. It's not the coaching, it's not the young players. DeVante Adams is not worth half a point. I mean, I I farv was eight and three with the Jets left and had one of the great years. Remember he was like thirty three touchdowns, eight picks or something in Minnesota. Insane, incredible, one of the best years.
I mean, he's a bad He's a bad interception across his body from them going.
To superaw Aaron's three and eight and looks like an old man. And we look at Farb's tenure in New York and thinks what a shit show. No No. I talked to Eric Mangini about this. Like Brett was eight and three, he brought a huge energy to New York and had a lot left in the tank. Aaron has never been known as the hardest worker in the off season. He just hasn't been. He has a little like a little like Cam and that he was given God given
talent and wasn't known as a grinder. You know. I mean, like Cam would joke that he sat and ate pretzels during film movies. I put on twenty five pound pretzel. Wait, Aaron doesn't do that. But Aaron is not a grinder in the off season. And you know, I was thinking about this today. I wrote it down. John. You can tell how hard somebody works by how they age. I don't need to see Lebron James off seasons or Kobe Bryant's.
I can see how gracefully and slowly they aged. I can look at Big Ben and go he had fun in the offseason. Like he had a good time. I can look at Cam now I look at Aaron and I'm like John, he's aging really really fast, and I think a lot of it is God gave him talent, he cultivated it. He deserves credit. But you go to that last year in Green Bay where he was off go the year before that MVP, what was that twenty twenty one wasn't that long ago?
There was a throw today over the middle early in that game where Garrett Wilson was open and he threw it way behind him. I mean, this guy was like, you know, a Navy seal sniper in terms of accuracy, because like Peyton Mann or Tom Brady. I guess Tom had a good arm. But like the Peyton types, you know, Philip Rivers, guys that Matt Rye hung their hat on accuracy, Aaron was just as accurate. But he threw ten miles an hour faster, right, so he could wait till the
last second. And now he's not accurate inside the pocket like he once was. The movement, you know, part of his game. I would say the last couple of years. I guess we didn't really get a chance to see him last year, but that last year in Greenback, he wasn't as dynamic and his accurate accuracy didn't quite feel as great as it was in the MVP year. And clearly, you know, when you get thirty nine, thirty forty years old, you're not gonna be as fast as you were thirty three.
So he was never gonna be as fast. But the Achilles thing, I don't see how we could even debate like it is if he was a video game and his speed before, Like if Lamar's a ten out of ten, you know, Aaron's like a seven or an eight, you know in his heyday. Yeah, he's like a three right now. Yeah, he can't move, but his whole game his like Jared Goff can't run. Let's use Cousins a good example. I know they had a shitty game today. Cousins kind of unfazed by the Achilles because he never left a two
or three yard radius. Yeah, Aaron Rodd half of his game was at any moment's notice, I'll take off, keep a play alive that is dead. And clearly his accuracy for whatever reason, maybe he's just aged, like you said, Drew Brees and Roethlisberger felt like those guys started losing his arm. I still feel like Rogers is pretty good power, but I don't think he knows where it's going as much.
And maybe that gets back to fundamentals. Well, what is the thing that Brady All the guys had to dominate Cousins Jared Goff, They had to be great at fundamentals because they couldn't move. And Rogers' fundamentals never really matters. Why he threw off his back of his foot most of his career, but he was so accurate. Well now the back of the foot. He's not accurate when his feet are planted, let alone kind of freelancing inside the bunk.
I just think he's just shot. He's a shot fire. Listen, Mike Tyson's fifty eight years old, but he's got Mike Tyson vibes of like I'm watching a completely different human being than I've watched in fifteen.
Well, and you never got you know, let's be honest, you never but thereon there were some things. Somebody once said this to me years ago, a coach in the NFL. He's like, he's Jay Cutler, but he can play. You never got the best locker room guy. You got kind of a self serving guy. You never got the most dedicated off season guy. He was always even in his prime in Green Bay, you know, the passive, aggressive shots on Milwaukee radio, you know, where he didn't like stuff.
So there were stuff you always dealt with with Aaron that, you know, Brady just swallowed it for the team. Brady and Belichick. Stro you didn't hear anything until you saw that documentary that Gotham Chopra did where Tom finally was. You know, he was just where I think Giselle said, he just wants to be respected, like Tom kept that to himself for twenty years. Aaron. Lets you know, I mean he once he got the big contract, so now I don't get the talent. Well, you never got the intangibles.
Dak Prescott gives you intangibles, but the tangibles aren't much. Well, Aaron, the tangibles were through the roof, but the intangibles were never perfect.
Yeah. You know what's funny is you know, I think he made some comments this week about coming back and there are many industries that pay thirty five to forty million dollars huh, which he's probably well aware of. They aren't football. But he feels like a guy that you know, if he was a PGA Tour golfer that shot under par and now he's struggling to break ninety, Like, how would he come back if this is what he's playing
Like he can't move, so he's a sitting duck. You know, the organization even if they hire some new coach and he doesn't want Rogers, It's not like Rogers has some market. What teams even trade.
For John John If we had last year's quarterback draft class, the Jets would move on. We don't. We have Shador Sanders, who the Giants will probably get, and we've got cam Ward who's a big risk because he plays a lot of off platform and he's kind of there's a lot of backyard stuff. I think if it's a big quarter if you had the class that had Burrow and Herbert and Tua and Hurts, they draft a quarterback.
But my thing is, yeah, I mean this quarterback class is everyone in the NFL thinks.
Sustaining it's weaker by the week.
But do you think in the listen, I understands a lot of money. He's made so much money, he's got want to do this again, Like this is and it's hard, Like Peyton Manning couldn't throw, and the only reason he quit is because people wouldn't sign him. You know, Roethlisberger and Drew Brees, they just their arms betrayed them. This guy's lower bodies betraying. Yeah, right to me, that's and it's just you know, you're sitting duck. What happened to Tom that last year? He didn't want no part of
getting hit hard to blame forty five years old. You know, Roger's forty one years old. He's gonna want to keep getting peppered when he knows that I can't run away. And my game's never been like, you know, one thing. Tom and Peyton were always good as like hitting the ground because they always had to get used to that. Aaron's kind of uncomfortable, you know, because even now he'll kind of do a scramble and he's like, oh fuck,
I can't move and this's get taken out. And every time he starts to scramble left or right and you see a guy turning that corner, you're like, he's gonna get caught immediately. And it's just really discombobulating his game because he's never had to worry about that because he's always been able to get out outside the tackle box, keep it play alive and throw a strike. And now that's completely dead, which, of course, he's forty years old
coming off an Achilles injury. Twenty years ago. Aaron Rodgers' career would have ended that night, right at thirty nine years old torn Achilles. Yeah, in nineteen ninety three, his career ends. So it's just it's a testament to like modern day medicine. But I don't care how good the doctor was in his rehab of dolphins or whatever the hell he was doing. He is he's not even half the player that he once was.
That was this week's Sunday Night food Ball, brought to you by Uber eats as the official on demand delivery partner of the NFL. Uber eats has the best game day deals all season long. Order now for Game Day now for a segment called making It Look Easy, brought to you by Morgan and Morgan, America's largest injury law firm. Today Jared Goff did that four hundred and twelve yards, four touchdowns, perfect passer rating. Detroit scored a touchdown on all seven drives that Jared Goff was in the game.
Like Jared goff making it look easy. Morgan and Morgan does the same, makes it easy to submit a claim. Over one hundred offices nationwide, more than eight hundred lawyers with over fifteen billion dollars recovered. Morgan and Morgan has a proven track record of fighting to get you full and fair compensation. They've been fighting for the people for over thirty five years. If you're ever injured, go to four Thepeople dot com slash Colin or dial pound five
to two nine. If you're ever injured, go to fourth People dot Com slash Colin or dial Pound five to two nine to check out America's largest injury law firm. Winning in the NFL is hard, Hiring Morgan and Morgan is easy, all right. This game's a corner TV game for a lot of people, But you have so much insight to the Niners Seattle Gino Smith runs it in with twelve seconds left. San Francisco loses to the Seahawks twenty seventeen. Juwan Jennings that third quarter drive was huge.
He's such a you can tell. The players just love him, the fans love him. Great player, But San Francisco is now five and five. Arizona looks more dynamic offensively. The Rams look like they're much better defensively with all those young defensive players Seattle. I like Seattle's roster. I think they're a quarterback away from like being really really interesting. Well, I wrote this down during the game. The Niners had another iffy special team's day, John. They just don't feel special.
They don't feel like Philly, Detroit. They don't feel like Baltimore, Kansas City, Buffalo. They feel much closer to Houston and not quite as good at quarterback. I mean, I I that's what I wrote on my sheet twice. First hat. They just don't feel special.
Yeah, I mean, I think Colin. They don't feel like a playoff team. I think today the playoffs, say Cyanara, because they've lost three divisional games. They've lost, They're one and three. They've lost all three teams.
John listened to this. They have the second worst scoring defense in the final two minutes of the second half in the league. And they brought Christian McCaffrey back. He's got no TV's in two games, so there's limit. Is the offensive line an issue to you.
Yeah, I mean they're right tackle stinks and they're huge on drafting skill guys over offensive lineman. Kyle and their offensive line coach have said as much over the last six months. They draft for Ricky Piersoll in the first round. Who I like Ricky Piersoll A lot offensive linemen there when your offensive line. Trent Williams one of the greatest players of all time. Last time I checked his like thirty six years old. I thought today was on Kyle.
He challenged two plays in the second half, failed on him, both when it was pretty clear, like yeah, let's not getting overturned. And then they had the ball with an opportunity to basically ice them out and not give the ball back to Seattle. Seattle is all three timeouts, so they run the ball, they get stuffed, call timeout second
and nine or whatever. Okay, they went for the kill shot and he run Juwan Jennings looks like Terrell Owens meets Jerry Rice out there today, and he runs a play to ice the game to Deebo Samuel, who does not quite look like himself right now, looks slow, not even remotely close to being open, pretty airmails it over his head. Thank god, it might have got picked. And then they just had to punt and the obviously, Gino
drives him right down the field. The other thing is, you know Kittled Today, who's having a fantastic season, He's an older player, he's banged up, can't play hamstring. Bosa, who's probably their best playing dealing with his hip. Pointer can barely stay on the field. You can see him grimacing like he's in a lot of pain. I mean, this is just a devastating, tragic event. But Tarvarius Ward's daughter passes away. He's gone, like they're missing a ton
of top players. Are us on the couch with his leg up like you just can't overcome, Like you're talking, there's a lot of money worth a player. Colin and Kyle then has a little bit of an off day and it just snowballs in their division. Now, Like one thing you'd say about the NFC, well that's pretty competitive. You know, Seattle's your worst team and technically the Niners are Now that's a pretty good worst team.
Yeah. No, I mean listen, I said, this.
Is m screwed. It's over. They play their next two games with the Packers and the Bills on the road. Yeah, they're not going to the playoffs.
Yeah, And I think these windows in a sport that has it's like a like hockey, you've got a regulated level of violence. Guys, older players get hurt. One of the things one of my big predictions this year was San Francisco. I felt last year peaked and they would you would see a slow regression, and I think you're seeing it. I don't think they're special defensively. I don't really blame it on brock Purty. I think I think if I was John Lynch, I would have attacked the
offensive line. It was a good year for tackles, you know. I mean, by the way, Jim Harbaugh could have chosen, you know, the receiver from LSU, Brian Thomas. He went Joe Alt and you can see the benefits already. Joe Alt, by the way, has had a tremendous rookie year pass blocking for the Chargers. So I think this is one of those It's one of those things where a lot
of time stuff surprises us in the NFL. I think if you were totally honest and not a Niner guy, if you were you know, like what you and I do for a liv, you could kind of see it. Last year, they just felt like older players get hurt more often and they're out longer, and then McCaffrey comes back and it doesn't feel the same.
Well, what's the difference this year? I mean last year and really the last couple of years. These games where they are dominating the other opponent statistically, they end up winning by fifteen to twenty points Seattle, the Rams, and the Cardinals, and this year they lose them all. They lose all three games, and at the end of the year it's not you know, they're gonna end up eight ish wins, but that's the difference between being eight or eleven and twelve, and it's because the depth of their
roster isn't is good. The other thing that is coming back to bite them a little bit, and it ultimately didn't impact in the last couple of years because they had Purdy and Jimmy g the Trey Lance trade that was three years worth a first round pick. Yeah, that was the Trey Lance pick. They used him. He gave them nothing four games and then the next two years of picks. So even if you're drafting thirty one, you know, look at all the years of Kansas City or Baltimore,
or you trade back in the second round. You just add players. They added nothing because those picks disappeared, so their depth. Some of their older players are injured, but they're missing a couple of players that they would have had if they had not made that trade. That didn't sink them because they found pretty but I think you felt it this year with some of their injuries.
Yeah, as you talked about their schedule, I just looked it up. They have the fourth hardest remaining schedule at green Bay at Buffalo, Chicago, Rams at Miami Detroit at Cardinals and that at Arizona game. Is that's tough.
There are tough this is you know, we'll see Arizona. I mean, that guy's doing an incredible job. It's like, who would you pick right now to win the division? I guess I would lean the Rams. I mean Geno, he had an awful pick. I can't I can't trust him. He can have drives where he looks like a top ten quarterback, and then he can have drives where he looks like you know, Will Levis Arizona. Like, I think they're overachieving so much on defense. You know the Rams.
When Stafford plays Rio, it's like they're hard. The crazy part about the Rams it's coming into today. The last two weeks they'd only scored one offensive touchdown, and even to day, you're like, how they feel a little off, And then it switched and he threw had like I think four touchdowns and nine completions or something, and you're like, oh,
they get their mojo back. Now it's the Patriots. But you could argue it's between those two teams because I think the Niners are done in Seattle, it's just hard to trust the quarterback, so Arizona or the Rams, And honestly, this might be a division where you only get one team in because I don't think nine and eight's getting you the wild card. Because Minnesota won today, the Packers won the day, So both those two teams are gonna
have I would say eleven plus wins. The Lions are gonna win thirteen, and Atlanta's in because they won the division. And you know, you look at Washington schedule like they're probably at minimum getting to ten and the Eagles will probably get what twelve thirteen win team, So the NFC West probably only getting their division winner into the playoffs. If I was a betting man right now, I would say it's a one Playoff Division. I guess I would
lean the Rams. But the Cardinals, shit, I mean, they're very tough out if the quarterback's gonna play well.
All right. If I was going to name, let's talk Denver Broncos thirty eight route the Atlanta Falcons. Kirk Cousins had a bad day six thirty eight to six. So if I was voting coach of the year, Mike Tomlin would win. My coach of the year. Sean Payton would be second. And Shawn has texted me about four times this year, and I'm not going to get into everything he said, but he text me again this week and he said, I'm telling you, this kid's got a much
better arm than all the analysts, said Colin. He can really sling it well today. Fourth game is a rookie and this is a thin roster that's in cap hell scarce scarcity of draft picks last year. In this year, fourth game of seventy plus completion percentage two TD's no picks. That ties the greatest in the modern ear Only one other rookie quarterback has done that. Bow knicks today, John he seven yards per play Denver's offense. Again, this is a five win team. They're twenty eight and thirty three.
Bow Knicks was today four touchdowns, no picks, and I want to go back. He outplayed Mahomes last week. Is that nobody is talking about bow Knicks. But if this continues, it will not be Jaden Daniels who appears to have hit a ceiling right like we've seen him now in the bigger games. Bow Knicks. If you look at their schedule, it's not easy. There was one point in the third quarter I looked up he was seventeen to nineteen. That's an NFL game, Like, what in the hell the kid is?
He is?
First of all, he is way more athletic than anybody wants to admit. And I watched his arm today because Shaun had texted me and said, I think his arm is better than people think. He made a couple of throws today. And by the way, Aaron Rodgers' arm got stronger from Cal to the NFL. It happens.
These guys are Brady's arm got definitely got strong.
There's no question. I watched bone next today. I'm like, that's not only a franchise quarterback, that's a top twelve quarterback in the league. Potentially for the next decade.
I thought the best throw so far of like his young career was the fourth touchdown where he scrambled and threw it across his body and you're like, God, that looks like Mahomes or Afford. You're letting it rip like that. And this is where coaching is so key. You know what is what did Oregon do a lot with him? Run those quick screens? Well, Sean Payton got two touchdowns off that today in the first one hit and they
went to the red zone. Ran it essentially, I mean it was a little different play, but essentially the same thing. Like that's coaching, do what he's good at. Because what do we talk about with Russell Wilson. Get the ball out of your hand fast. That's actually not an easy pass. You know it's in your hand off right away. Sometimes you don't even get to grip the laces. And I had a buddy text me, He's like, I put a decent amount on him at fourteen to one to win
the Rookie of the Year. I'm feeling pretty good. I'm like, well, Caleb's out of it. And if Jayden keeps trending like this like this, this team's winning ten games. They still got the Raiders, that they still got the Panthers. The schedule, the last game is the Chiefs. Who knows, maybe the Chiefs, you know, don't need to play for that game. Maybe they had the one seed wrapped up. Their defense is good.
The team's just good. I mean today was That's what we talked about earlier with Caleb, where you could have a bad loss and parlay that. But Denver, deep down, like unlike the Bears, they didn't think their season was over. Denver's like, shit, we are right there, and they came to day. They beat the living crap out of Atlanta today and listen, Atlanta's got one and done written all
over in the playoffs. But that was if the quarterback is going to be a fishing like that, Because I was with you, I looked up and it said seventeen of nineteen, I'm like, this is Jared Goff two point zero going right now.
Yeah.
But the running back, you know, if they can run the ball and their defense plays like this, who is going to want to play in the playoffs. Jim Harbaugh and Sean Payton in round one and I both of them are going to be on the road. You know, probably the sixth and seven seed. But you talked about playing two coaches with good defenses on the road good luck. Yeah, is it really shock you were recording this before the Charger game, but Charger of playoff team?
Yeah?
Did you look at some of these teams like, oh, yeah, the two coaches making a combined you know, thirty five million dollars resurrected the franchises? No, I mean it's this league. Isn't that complicated? Now? Both of them, you know, Jim got Herbert and obviously Sean picked a quarterback. I think Sean, you know, it can rub some people around the lead way, but he believed in the guy when let's face it, a lot of people did not a lot of scouts. Yeah,
Dank and Dunk guys. He's thirty years old and you watch him, you're like, and this what Oregon people say. If you just take out the quick screens, watch him move around. Like his statistics at Oregon were just pretty insane.
Also, he had multiple I think between Auburn and Oregon he had five different offensive coordinators. He did and so and Shawn's demanding. I mean, Sean, I mean, remember how much Russell Wilson and Russell's a smart guy. Remember how much trouble Russell had where Shawn's like, dude, you have to take a wristband out there. You're you're you're. Remember that was a big bone of contention, like Russell wasn't getting the plays off fast enough, and so like.
Well, how about two weeks ago when he snapped on on bo Nicks and bo Nicks snapped back, and then after he's like, I loved it.
Yeah, So, I mean, obviously Sean's system is not easy. I mean, Drew Brees comes on my show, He's on my show tomorrow and FS one on Monday, and Shawn has said, I mean Drew has said, like his it's hard, Like Shawn's demanding, he will snap. And I don't think a lot of these I'm just telling you without giving up everything he said, Sean has he right after they drafted him, he said, we got a guy. And about
every three weeks Seanald texted me. He did this week and this week he said, boy, his arm, it's really he is snapping stuff off.
It has to be. I mean, assuming that you know coach Ree, He's gonna keep coaching. I don't you know this guy loves football more than any human alive. As long as he's healthy, going to coach for a while. How many times in NFL history have we seen, especially if they coach against each other's to say, for like a five year stretch, Andy Reid, Sean Payton, and Jim Harbaugh, Like, good luck, Mark Davis, go get him that division with those three guys. I mean these are I mean, Andy's
a first ballot Hall of Famer. I mean, I'm pretty confident if Jim Harbaugh can keep Herbert healthy and they draft, they got a decent chance to win a Super Bowl these next five years. And Denver, I mean probably gonna be a playoff team moving forward. I mean you're talking about Hall of Fame coaches like great coaches. I mean, Harbaugh has a chance to go as like one of the true great coaches of all time. How many guys can go back and forth like that. Andy's easily established himself.
I mean, when it's all said and done, like in the history of the league, is Andy a top three or four coach? Ever? Yes, I mean Sean Payton resurrected the Saints in one.
Se they were the worst team in the league. He went I think he won eleven games this first year with them, or ten games, and he may have gotten to a conference championship the first year and lost I.
Think one thing, and you saw you know at the end of Shawn's run Drew Brees. Ultimately it wasn't as good anymore. But their defense was awesome, Harbaugh. Their defense is always awesome. The majority of Andy Reid's career has been Jim Johnson and Spagnola offensive coaches that placed a premium on defense. And this is why, like Kyle and McVeigh have had so much success. They're offensive guys, but they have no problem in spending there, investing in there,
drafting there, because it makes your job easier. Like it's a lot easier to win the day when you're Sean Payton, even though your quarterbacks having one of the best games of the season, when the other team scored six points, you could have the shittiest offensive performance of the year and win that thing nine to six. So offensive coaches that place a premium on defense have always been the type guy that I like.
Thursday Night Football is on. It's only on prime video, best season yet, packed with big rivalries and even bigger stars. Al Michaels, Kirk, Kirkstreet, Kaylee Hartung. Every week Games you Can't Miss coverage begins at seven Eastern with Football's Best Party TNF Tonight Thursday Night Football Tonight. If you're not a Prime member, no problem, sign up thirty day free trial, cancel any time Thursday Night Football and it's on Prime Video.
Restrictions apply. Seeamazon dot Com slash Amazon Prime for details. So I want to spend some time on Mike Tyson and Jake Paul. So, first of all, you know, the production wasn't great. Obviously, it was kind of a mess.
Listen.
Showtime Sports did some great work. It doesn't exist. HBO Sports did similarly great work, both led by boxing. It doesn't exist. Boxing is not a foundational piece to build in the modern era a sports department. That's why NBC Sports had boxing bailed. Fox Sports had some boxing bailed. ESPN had it bailed. It's just too quirky and weird and increasingly like the clickbait, you know, the these kind of fights Jake Paul against Tyson, it's what gets people,
you know, to the streaming platform. But it was interesting. I was watching this fight and I was thinking, what Jake Paul's done is create a business model, which is I'm going to fight big name guys. You know Tommy f Fury junior, you know Nate Robinson. At the time was like amazing two sport athlete Mike Tyson, and then immediately after the fight, like the next day, he's like Connor McGregor, and I thought, it's really a business model. I'm going to fight older guys way past their prime,
big name guys. If I lose, I make forty million dollars. What do I care. He's not all Lee, he didn't have a legacy to live up to. It's a business model, old huge names, even Fury's kid. Fury's the heavyweight chat, let's go after his kid the only fight he's ever lost. And that was my first takeaway. The second takeaway is July twentieth. I mean Mike tisnerbles died. He had like a blood transfusion and it's like liver something. And when you watch the fight, by the end of the third round,
Mike had no legs. It's like you think, to yourself, well it's November. It was July. He almost died, and so in the end, Mike probably should have fought in March. But you know, I mean for you know, Mike probably wanted to fight. You feel good. When I had a pulmonary embolism, I'll never forget this, not nearly anything resembling Mike. But it hurt for three weeks. But they had me on blood thinners for like four months, and I said,
I just don't want to be on blood thinners. I just, you know what if I cut myself shaven, I don't want to, you know, have stuff. Can I just stop? But they said, okay. But I remember going to talk to a doctor six months. They had me just do a final check, and he goes, people don't understand just because you don't feel something doesn't mean it's not a traumatic effect on your body. He goes, you have nerve damage.
Mike.
Mike lost half the blood in his body. And so I think if Mike would have fought in March, it would have been entertaining. I felt by the end of the third round, I'm like, he's done. Like that was my take, Like he's Mike, just doesn't he Mike could well.
Those last couple of rounds, he was just standing there.
So I didn't feel ripped off when I went into the sport thinking, listen, it's a circus. I compared it on Friday. It's the carnival at the parking lot at the mall in your hometown. Sometimes it goes sideways and you think to yourself, why did I waste a night of my life? So I wasn't. I just thought it was a mess. I kind of went in thinking fifty percent chance it would be a mess. It was. What was your take?
Well, I think we have to acknowledge, you know, I think the one thing Dana White is brought to the table is obviously not all of their cards are all time greats. But you do go in thinking I'm going to get the best of everyone that's fighting and for the most part in the and I'm not a big UFC guy. Yeah, like I admire what they've built in Dana White, but I'm not watching every card. But like, it's pretty clear I got things a war zone in
the octagon, I would say, in my adult life. And you know, I was born in the mid eighties, so I did not grow up on the peak of Tyson. When I was coming into my own as a kid, it was like Tyson Fight in the Holy Field. Lennox Lewis stuff, and that was not the same guy that
fought in the late eighties right in college. I'll never forget when Floyd Mayweather fought Oscar de la Hoya, and it was at the end of Oscar's prime, but it was It's probably one of the biggest fights of the last I don't know, twenty plus years and it was fucking terrible, and I remember it was a big deal for us to buy and we were watching it was
like the most boring fight of all time. And that is the business of boxing is they could hype it up and get you to We didn't have to buy it this one because it was on Netflix, which everyone owns why they got sixty million people watching, But they got sixty million people watching because they can hype something up. What was the last big one? When Connor McGregor box Floyd Mayweather, like it is kind of a carnival circus
that you can't miss. And when they do get the big names, I would say Dana White would die to have that, and he had it for a minute with Connor and when I was in college, like Chuck and Tito, But it's very very boxing for some reason, coming they've got this YouTube star that you see him, he looks like he's Ray Lewis. He's jacked up and he's not terrible, but you don't know how good he is. But it
doesn't even matter. His marketing is genius. Sixty million people watch well, and I was reading some business guy broke it down on social media that like, you know, Brady, because there weren't any glitches on the roast, but they're like that was domestic and they were like less than
it was like twenty five million people. There's a big difference between twenty five million and sixty million people worldwide, and clearly it was screwing up the the service because the NFL when they go on Christmas, that number is much more like the roast twenty million people than this. This was a worldwide listen because of my time and even Jake Paul, like Jake Paul's huge on YouTube where you can watch anywhere.
I'm in bed Friday night with my wife in Park City and I'm getting tired and my wife is bumping me. It's like six round. I'm just like starting to get not Off'm like this is bad. She's I can't believe this. This is beat. My wife was completely into it. By the way, Serrano and Taylor on the undercard was a fantastic fight. That was one for the agents.
But you know the thing with like, you know, some of the Floyd big fights, I would say, of the last whatever and Connor and Floyd, those were pay per view, so you know, you had to spend ninety nine ninety nine. So usually there was like, hey, I'm spending money on this, and you always left disappointed. Is why people always complained, I think of like the boxing, because they would get fooled into it and then be pissed off, like, God,
I knew it. No one paid you. You're already paying for net right, So all these people on social media complaining, it's like you could have just turned it off, like you, God, is Mike Tyson's fifty eight years old. Now if they had charged a buck fifty be like, Okay, I got fooled. I'd be pissed off. No one got fooled, And it was clear really early. Well, I mean by the end you kind of felt bad for the game. Yeah, I thought, you know, I thought, now twenty you got twenty million dollars.
I thought Jake Paul had real self awareness after the fight when he said, you know, there's just a time I didn't want to humiliate anybody. I mean, he knew you could tell by the fifth round. Like I'm watching it the fifth round and I'm I'm like, oh, this has got sad. Now. The other thing is, you know Netflix doesn't do sports. I mean, they've dabbled in it, and I think you know, I looked at it and I didn't think the production was very good. You know that I'm so used to it cheesy.
It fell a little off.
Yeah, I'm used to Jim Lampley, I want, but you know it took me even.
At UFC feels big league now, doesn't it.
Oh, there's no question. Joe Rogan, Yeah, it feels world class. And I think, yeah, I mean, I think what UFC feels like with Dana. One of the so I go to three to four UFC cards a year live in the summer. When I have time off in the summer and I'm not beholden to sit and watching college and pro football, I will go to UFC cards and I'll buy another five. So I probably seven times a year,
eight times. You know, I'm into the UFC. One of the things I always appreciated is that after a fight, I'll go in, I'll get I'll go to the bathroom in the media room, pour a cocktail or something, talk to a buddy, maybe grab a little you know, he'll have food in their chicken finger. I come out, fight starts in five minutes. Like Dana keeps that shit going. I mean, it's just let's go, let's go. It's such a well oiled machine with Dana. I've never had a
bad time at a UFC card. I never thought I would like watching women fight, and I watched Srono Taylor and I was like, wow, I've seen some USC fights with women like it's the it's the first or second best fight on the card. So Netflix did have a pretty good undercard. But when I looked at Netflix overall, I'm like, this is a blip. This this isn't one percent of their business. And they're building a sports department and I wouldn't be shocked if they had a daredevil
event that They're not INBC Sports. They're not Fox, that's not what they are.
Who is the guy that used to jump over the Grand Canyon and Robbie Cavel? Yeah, you know the one thing I think UFC has, which I think football has this. If you're gonna play in a football game, it's really hard to have asked because you can get taken out. You know, in basketball, one thing you could just kind of cruise through a month, right, just I go pass a little shoot a little football. If you're gonna play in the game, like you better be ready to go.
Boxing kind of has that too. I mean, Floyd got knocked for this, and obviously he's really skilled, but he could dance around, he can never touch him. You get in that octagon, man or woman, you better be ready to go because you could get legitimately hurt. And that's why I would say you're kind of you watch this Jake Paul fight, hoping Mike Tyson could knock him out early, but you knew more than likely. If you gave every human truth serum to follow sports, it's gonna be a weird,
bizarre event. When you go to a UFC event, you're like, at any moment, any person, the best, the random guy can get their jaw put one hundred and eighty degrees and you know that. And I think football is a lot like that too. When I turn on a football game, I mean hel Florida look like Alabama against LSU. Yeah, you put the pads on, you, buckle that chin strap.
You gotta be ready to go and listen. I'm not again, I'm not a huge UFC guy just because I've just like I really admire and appreciate the violence and the business they've built. I just don't watch it that much, but I do respect what it takes. Again that and in boxing, like you gotta fake it for a while. Yeah, I mean it feels like Floyd for the last five six years of his career made a lot of money dancing around that ring.
Yeah. No, And I think I mean Jake Paul again, it is it's a business model. Go find out a big name guy fight him. The Connor McGregor fight. I'll be honest, I would watch it. I think Jake Paul would hammer. I don't think Connor can get up to that weight, and Jake Paul he doesn't want to.
You know what is what is Jake way? Well, I mean Connor like struggled to get to like one sixty five.
No, I mean I look at I mean Jake's like, let's just not even count wait, and I'm thinking, give me a break. Jake. Jake looks like what if.
They got a what if they each got one hundred million dollars? I think Connor might I.
Can see fifty. I will say this though, Jake Paul looks like a little bit like an NFL defensive end. I mean that's how that's what he looks like.
Paul looks good, Jake Paul. Here's the one thing I appreciate bu Jake Paul. You know he takes it seriously. Yeah, like he's not showing in there with a belly or like he takes boxing really serious. Like whatever he's created, he has put all his chips in the middle of the table on his thing. And in terms of training, who do I hear say this that they watched him train and they're like, obviously, relative to like these guys in their prime, you can't compare him. But for what
he is, he's really impressive. You just watch him spar in some ram them gym On a Tuesday.
Afternoon, John Middlecoff, former NFL scout Good Hour twenty broke down everything I wanted to break down.
Buddy Good talking see you Collin
The volume