The volume the NFL season it's going strong and Draftking Sportsbook hooking new customers up with an offer even stronger. Bet five bucks that's it on any game this week to score two hundred dollars instantly, instantly in bonus bets. How easy is that? And DraftKings isn't stopping there? All customers can take advantage of a sweetener offer every game this October. Get in on the action, get in on the game day greatness. Download the DraftKings Sportsbook at now.
The code is Colin COLN. New customers can score two hundred dollars instantly in bonus bets when you just bet five bucks on the National Football League. That easy? That's the code column co l i N only on Draft King Sportsbook and official sports betting partner of the NFL. The Crown is.
Yours gambling problem called one eight hundred gambler or visit www dot one eight hundred gambler dot net. In New York call eight seven seven eight hope and why or text hope and why to four six seven three six nine. In Connecticut. Help us available for problem gambling. Call eight eight eight seven eight nine seven seven seven seven or visit CCPG dot org. Please play responsibly on behalf of
Boothill Casino and Resort in Kansas. Licensee partner Golden Nugget like Charles and Louisiana twenty one plus age varies by jurisdiction. Void in Ontario. Bonus bets expire one hundred and sixty eight hours after issuance. See Sportsbook dot DraftKings dot com, slash Football terms for eligibility and deposit restrictions, terms and responsible gaming resources.
Hi, everybody welcome in an active and a very successful Sunday. I was five and zero in the Blazing five four and one last week, so dreadful start to the year. But get up more information, get a better feel for the league. I didn't think it was a great week for lines, but you know what you get hot, you take it. I'll have a stinker here coming up in no time. My first takeaway is watching Philadelphia. I still don't think Philadelphia is playing as well as they're capable
of playing. But if you watched every snap of that Rams game, or most of them, and I did, that was one of the more physically dominating performances I've ever seen. They had over four hundred and fifty yards. They had a thirty eight to twenty two minute time of possession edge, twenty eight first downs to seventeen. They were impeccable on third down. And the score is not even remotely indicative
of what the game was like. Philadelphia just smushed and pounded and buried and punished the Rams for three and a half hours. You know, Cooper cup got some nice catches early, but McVeigh is a great coach. You have some really nice players for the Rams. They're young. But this is really what separates to me Philadelphia from everybody except the forty nine ers in football. A Buffalo can beat you, soak in Kansas City. So can Cincinnati. There's
a lot of teams that can beat you. The two teams last year, San Francisco teams the following week after playing the Niners. I think every team the following week lost. They don't beat you, they punish you, They hurt you. I feel the same way with Philadelphia, and I don't even think they're clicking. But between AJ Brown and Jalen Hurts and the dominating offensive line, they just get yards when they need it. They have no personnel shortcomings. They
can do virtually anything they want to do. That doesn't mean they always do it well. You know, a well coached team will do well what they're personnel allows them to do well. You know they're shortcomings. I'll get to the Jets in a second. They do that, they do well what they can do with their personnel. But Philadelphia there's everything. They have a quarterback that can throw and can move. They can play power football, they can go
over the top. They get a great pass rush. On the other end, you know, their secondary may not be as good as it was in previous years. But you know, the NFC, the team that you're concerned about San Francisco's got brock perty or Dallas has dak. You don't feel like you know your B B plus quarterbacks are going to pick you apart because of the pass rush you create. So Philadelphia is such an impressive organization and they do what very few teams do in the NFL. They pivot
a lot, and they remain successful. Bill Belichick can't pivot off Brady. Patriots are a clown show. They can't pivot once. Pete Carroll's pivoted four times in Seattle. Philadelphia pivoted off Carson Wentz. They pivoted off Nick Foles. They just keep changing. Pivoted off Chip Kelly. This team is stacked. Now, you know the offensive line, they got some older players Kelsey the center, but you know they've drafted well up front as well. So I just don't think Philadelphia has any shortcomings.
I think they can match up with anybody in the league and can go toe to toe with anybody. I mean, think about this. Have they played a great game yet? Nope, They're five and zero. That's I mean, Buffalo's had some great games and been blaw Today they were blah and they lost. Right. That's the way it works in the league when you don't play well. Last year, the Chiefs super Bowl champs, lost with the Colts went to overtime with the bad Houston team. Generally, you don't play well,
you don't win. Not the case with Philadelphia. So a super impressive, physically punishing win over the Rams. The score is not indicative of what it looked like. Let's go back to what I said a second ago. Jet fans may complain about their team, but you can tell they're well coached because they do well what they're allowed to do well based on their personnel. They can run the football. They have good backs, and I think they have a pretty good run blocking o line. They're not a fireworks
show in the perimeter. They have one really big time receiver, Garrett Wilson. That's it. So they're not an aerial circus. They've got good corners, they have a pass rush, they're physical, they play with great passion. So the Jets do as they beat the Broncos. They do what their personnel allows them to do. They need to go get another wide receiver. When Aaron Rodgers comes back and Zack Wilson's the backup, they should be better at quarterback. I would address the
offensive line again, but they're not that far away. I mean, if Aaron stays healthy. You know, they do a lot of things very well. Denver's another story. They don't do anything particularly well. Russell Wilson, you know, he's better than Zach Wilson. But you know key fumble late late in the third quarter, he had sixty six yards passing. It was underneath stuff. So I think the Broncos, even though they have I think some pretty good personnel in the
offensive line, run games hit and miss mostly miss. Even though they have some people in the secondary I like their secondary is okay, so they're disjointed right now. Jets Denver was an ugly football game, but if you're a Jets fan, you have to feel like we do some things well. I'm not sure what Denver does well. And I think Denver's got some good personnel now, whereas the Jets good personnel is primarily on one side of the ball, which is why they're a better defensive team than an
offensive team. You know, the Broncos personnel is kind of spread around, but they're going to have major issues here. There's so much pressure in the Broncos organization. Sean Payton's contract, Russell Wilson's contract. It doesn't matter if Russell has proved that he isn't washed, he'd better not be. For what they're paying him and the pressure on him. He's got to be excellent. He has to be an a quarterback. That's an a quarterback contract. Right now. He's playing at
a B minus level C plus. That's what it is. So people say, well, he's not the problem, Well he's not the solution. I'm not really interested in pointing fingers on who the problem is. What's the solution, or everybody gets fired Russell right now is not good enough to be the solution. Who the problem is? Who cares you can't win football games? And I think the personality differences between Sean Payton, who's super intense, and Russell Wilson, who's
more diplomatic. I think that rub will be interesting to say the least, to watch. You also have new owners. They didn't spend all this money to lose. I think this could be just a very toxic mess by the time we get to Thanksgiving, and Sean Payton's going to win that battle. You know. I think Denver and I think you have to think about this. We have an incredible college quarterback class. I think we have to be honest about it. I think Denver, if they're an opportunity,
even though they have issues on the defensive side. You know, Drake May, Michael Pennix, bow Nix, don't you have to take a look. I think you have to take a look. You know, Let's say Denver finishes with five wins, and I'm you know, today, I'm not sure they get there five or six wins. That's a top eight draft pick. I would imagine if Drake May or Michael Pennix was available Caleb Williams was not available, you'd have to look at it the only way to get out of that
Russell Wilson deal. And again, he's not the problem, but he's not good enough right now to be the solution. Or maybe it's just too many things that have been asked of Sean Payton and they just they don't have the personnel on the defensive side. But I'd feel good if I was a Jets fan today because I can do I do well what I have the personnel to do well. For a limited time, Verizon customers can get Netflix and NFL Plus for just twenty five dollars a month.
It's called Plus Play. That's one hundred and twenty bucks an annual savings we LUs play as a platform where Verizon customers can shop, manage, and save on the subscriptions that you already love, right like Netflix and NFL Plus. With NFL Plus Premium, you get access to live games on mobile, My Faith, NFL Red Zone, NFL Network, and more. Just go to Verizon dot com Slash plus Play Verizon dot com Slash plus Play to save on Netflix and NFL Plus today for a limited time only, Now, limited
time only. Here's the good news for the New England Patriots. They didn't give up draft capital to get Mac Jones like San Francisco did to get Trey Lance. They just waited and he fell into their lap. And we all kind of knew what Mac was coming out of college. Low ceiling, high floor. We thought bright kid accurate had
a very good rookie year. He's regressed, and I think one of the things that hurts him is they got completely destroyed at Foxborough back to back weeks, getting destroyed at Dallas now at home against the Saints, is that he has no allies in the building. He's pissed off coaches, he's ticked off teammates. I've been told he you know, he can bristle at times at being coached really really hard, which Belichick, I don't think you ever appreciated that. Brady love
to be coach hard most players. Great players do. Insecure players don't max regressed. The longer he's around the building, the more liabilities that surface. But the good news is for New England, they're bad, and they're gonna have a top ten pick and they have to go get a quarterback. I mean, again, Jared Goff isn't highly mobile, but he's a beautiful thrower of the football. He's six two and a half six ' three. You know, for all the punishment he took at Callan his NFL career so far,
he didn't get hurt. He's always available. Mac doesn't give you anything. I mean, Mac doesn't give you any juice, any special. Doesn't have the right size, mobility, temperament. You know, one of the things impressive about c. J. Stroud, it's the temperament. It's at the podium, it's the temperament. Is he liked in the room And people talk about that all the time. Jordan Palmer always talks about it. If you're liked in the room, nobody cares outside the building. I
don't think mac Jones is liked in the room. I mean it's pretty well documented and reported. The coaches were furious last year with him when he went outside the building for advice, all the cheap shots on players. I was told that that didn't sit well with a couple of veteran players on the offense. And you know, nobody's there to support him when he hits Sauce Gardner. Nobody raced in the Patriot locker room spoke out to support him.
So where are the allies at When you're struggling at any company in any industry, find the helpers, find the friends, find the allies. That's why be nice to people, be nice, lubricate, don't agitate. Mac Jones hasn't done that, And they're going to have draft a quarterback because I mean between the offense in Miami, Aaron Rodgers comes back, Josh Allen, you know what it is interesting? We always figured Brady was
more important than Belichick. But for years and years, you know, there was a lot of people saying Brady's a quarterback and Belichick's a genius. New England now is a dumb football team. They do what bad teams do in opportune penalties, turnovers. They're just a bad football team. And I also think Belichick's a classic example of you know, anytime anybody bristles at the current situation, he says, you know, we've we've done pretty well around here. Nobody would deny that, formally
done very well around here. They have to draft a quarterback. And I said this two years It sounded crazy two years ago when I said it. But I don't know what to do with Belichick if he's not willing to give up personnel. He doesn't draft well. I mean they drafted two kickers and three guards and last year's draft and then the slowest offense in the league. Now again, Judon's injury, Christian Gonzal's injury. They'd be a much more competitive team with those guys healthy. But you got to
get Belichick out of personnel. And Andy Reid got run out of Philadelphia. And Andy Reid right now is the best coach in the NFL. You know, again, it'd be one thing to fire Belichick a year or two after Brady left, but this is another disaster. He appears to be a rigid personality, meaning he's going to do it his way or the highway. I think you have to consider having a long talk with Belichick. I know the
Don Schuler record is close all time wins. I think in the offseason you have to have a long talk with him. You know, when it comes to these Thursday games or these London or overseas games, it always feels like one team is just off. One team doesn't show up, they don't get enough rest. It was the Commanders on Thursday against the Bears. It was the Bills today against the Jaguars. First of all, the Jaguars are healthier. They it was their second straight game there. They were more comfortable.
They were choppy early in the season. But as Greg Cosell had said, Trevor Lawrence had been playing very well. Even Calvin Ridley, his top receivers, had had a case of the drops. He made some slick throws today. The Jags were picked up ten first downs on third down, they were the better team four hundred and seventy four yards of total offense. Some of that is Buffalo now has lost our top corner Milano, their top linebacker. They got banged up, They had a one of their pass
rushers got banged up. You know, Trevor Lawrence is twenty five to thirty seven, three hundred and fifteen yards. He was slinging it today. And that's the thing when you watch a Trevor Lawrence or a Josh Allen. But let's talk Trevor Lawrence because he was humming today against Buffalo, and it's not the end of the world. Buffalo has
been a hot, cold team there. As I always say that the Mike Tyson of the NFL big knockouts or they can look really sloppy and ugly, and Buffalo coming off that dramatic win at home, goes overseas and they just looked out of sink. Then the injury started to pile up. But when you look at Trevor Lawrence and you watch his size six five and a half six six, he can sling it, he can move well. Compare Russell Wilson to that, you know, or Zach Wilson to that, or the countless number of sort of C B minus
D quarterbacks in this league. Trevor Lawrence is really good. This is a losing franchise that we've had doubts about forever. But when you watch that game today, I mean, he makes throws so effortlessly and so accurately. And by the way, it's all great quarterbacks get into ruts. Caleb Williams at USC and in the first half got into a rout last night against Arizona, three or four throws open receivers
behind them. It happens. Maholmes will go into the weeds sometimes and Andy Reid a couple of weeks later mechanically brings him back. It happens. Brady didn't because he was so obsessed with it. But most quarterbacks, especially the hyper athletic ones that move around a lot, they've got a lot of gifts. Sometimes they go mechanically into the weeds and misthrows, and Trevor Lawrence can do that, But when you're watching him sling it, he is he makes it
look really easy. I remember not comparing him to Michael Jordan, but I remember years ago watching Michael Jordan against Phoenix in the NBA Finals, and I was on the couch with a friend and I said, you know, he's not the best shooter, he's not the strongest player. He's not the best ball handler or the best passer. But I told a friend, I said, he made it look so easy. He's just six six, he's you know, he's just a six to six guy. Everything looked easy to Michael. Now
we know it's not. But that's what great players. Caleb Williams does stuff. You're like, what, whether it's a great golfer a great quarterback. There are times Trevor Lawrence and he makes mistakes like everybody, but he will just let it rip downfield and it is a laser and you're like, yeah, that's why he was the number one high school player, the number one college player. A lot of his struggles early were his teammates. It's not an excuse, it was
his teammates. And I think Buffalo is going to be fine. I think this is what Buffalo is. I would be concerned a little bit there, banged up defensively, but I don't question one of the things I saw on the sideline, Stefan Diggs kind of blew a fuse and Josh Allen was looking at him. That went viral. Stefan is is very emotional guy, and in losses, that's just kind of part of his makeup. It happens, It's happened with the receivers my entire life. I don't I think it's fine
as long as Buffalo is winning. But you know Buffalo so far in the season, you know, they go overseas, look awful, looked awful against the Jets, great against Miami, great against Washington. You get a little everything with Buffalo. They are very They're a very temperamental team, highly emotional. That's the way they play, That's the way Stefan Diggs is as a player. So I think that's just that's kind of what they are. They're not consistent, they're just
they're an avalanche. When they're playing well, they just bury you. And now for a segment called making it Look Easy, brought to you by Morgan and Morgan, America's largest injury law firm. This week, Travis ATM made it look easy Jags offense. He rushed for one hundred and thirty six yards and two touchdowns. Travis had four catches forty eight yards. Jags hammered the Bills in a game in which it felt like they controlled, just like Travis making it look easy.
That's what Morgan and Morgan does, so easy to submit a claim. Has over one hundred offices nationwide, so there is a Morgan and Morgan office somewhere around you. Fifteen billion dollars recovered over three hundred thousand clients. Morgan and Morgan has a proven track record of fighting so you get full and fair compensation. Morgan and Morgan has been
fighting for the people for over thirty five years. If you ever get injured, go to for the People dot com slash Colin for the People dot com slash Colin, or dial pound five to nine. Checkout America's largest injury law firm. Winning in the NFL is hard, but hiring Morgan and Morgan is easy. Is there a better sports month than October? Let me think about that. Uh No, football is underway, Baseball playoffs, basketball, hockey seasons are upon
us pretty good. While we love watching our favorite teams on TV, there is nothing better than watching sports in person. You know that. I know that. The drama, the crowd, the energy, the adrenaline. It's perfect. And the best way to go to any of these games and see these games in person is game Time, the fastest growing ticketing app in the United States. Game Time is the only ticket app that gives you peace of mind, okay with
your purchase. That's a biggie. They let you see the view game Time does from your seats, so when you buy it, you know exactly what you're getting with game Time. They're all in prices also, let you know what you're getting on what you're paying up front. There's no hidden fees with game Time, and it takes no time at all. Nobody wants a headache, right, I want tickets. I want them now. I want to buy them. Two taps, ten seconds you can buy your tickets. That's it. Two taps
all it takes. So take the guesswork out of buying tickets with game Time. So download the game Time app quickly, create an account and use the redeem code column. That's me, redeem code column cli n twenty dollars. If you do that, twenty bucks off your first purchase. If you do that, terms now apply again. Create an account the redeem code colin coli in for twenty bucks off. Download game Time today, last minute tickets, lowest prices guaranteed, John middlecoff three and
out the volume. So obviously when you have a quarterback, you think about what's their salary. I mean, if Russell Wilson was a seventh round pick, everything in Denver would feel completely different than his five year contract kicking in next year. Right, So if you consider contract age, mobility, accuracy, talent, and I said today, brock Purty or Dak Prescott, it's not even close. I would take brock Purty, It's not even close. Dak now is not mobile, He's had too
many lower extremity injuries. Dak's a pocket thrower, but he was never a great pocket passer like Russell Wilson. Although Russell throws a pretty your ball, Russell needs mobility to be Russell Wilson. A big part of Dak was that he could move. He no longer moves, So I get a below average pocket thrower who's super expensive. Brock Purty makes way too many good throws to be a system guy. Dude hitting things down the middle tonight. And it sounds crazy,
but you have to consider what you pay players. Once you pay guys Burrow Mahomes, Herbert Allen Lamar, well, those are special talents. Dak's got a special contract. He's an average pocket guy. Look at that lineup for the Niners. If you, for instance, John if Brock made what Dak made, you couldn't have Fred Warner couldn't You couldn't have been able to get Christian McCaffrey. You probably would have to
get rid of one of your d linemen. It's not quite the same team, right, it's a good team, it's not quite team Well.
When the forty nine Ers made the trade for Trey Lance, you know, the logic of trying to swing for the fences and get a star was in the right place. But a driving force was they wanted that rookie quarterback contract. And my big thing is the rookie quarterback contract isn't that relevant when the guy can't play. Part of what made Dak such a good draft choice back in the day was he was a.
Solid player, right, solid Kirk.
Cousins back in the day. And then obviously we've seen in recent memory some of the star quarterbacks drafted. Brock Purty won. He's really good. I mean, you just watch, if you just watch NFL football, like that guy's really good.
John Kyle Shanahan didn't make Blaine Gabbert or Trey Lance great players. Not all quarterbacks work with Kyle right, like Brock, Brock's really good.
Well, listen, and the other thing about Brock you just hit on with Dak Prescott. There were a couple of plays a night. It's like Dak forgot that Dray Greenlaw and Fred Warner are the best linebacking duo in the league. Their play speed is elite for their position. And he rolled out a couple of times. It's like, Dak, what are you doing? You know, get rid of the ball. If you're not gonna be the athlete that you once were after the ankle injury, you can't scramble away from
these guys, can't. And then Perdy the underrated part about his game because I remember I listen, I'd be lying if I said I watched that much Iowa State football. But the one thing that was immediate when he started playing, and the biggest difference between him and Jimmy, and they obviously won a ton of games with Jimmy, yeah, was Jimmy's lack of mobility after the ACL injury and his
just ability to play make outside of the pocket. When you watch Perdy scramble, you're confident that something good is gonna happen. How about the touch that he has on the move. When you're playing with this much talent. Everyone's like, well, he's playing with a lot of talent. Well, you ain't got to get him the ball. How many players if we've seen play with other good players, Larry Fitzgerald can tell you played with a million quarterbacks, couldn't get him
the rock over the years. This guy, you just watch him. Obviously he's a little smaller, but listen, I mean his this fucking kid can play. I mean the bottom.
Line, yeah, I mean, and again it's Mark Brunel was a late pick, Brady, Kurt Warner, Romo. It's not shocking. We've seen guys undrafted and I think there's a ceiling, but it's not a Mac Jones ceiling. He moves really well, and they don't ask him to throw a ton of deep balls. I mean, they just don't this. You know, it's just it's funny, like the Dak's rookie year in
the first couple of years. You know, he got an MVP voter to his first year in the league, and so much of that was you weren't paying Dak anything. So they had the O line, they had Zeke. It was an all star team, even their defense. I went and looked it up the other day. Was top five in the league, Dallas right now, because once you pay that quarterback. I mean, Kansas City's roster is not great. Cincinnati, there's holes in that thing. Everybody's roster has a hole except San Francisco.
I mean, so I I think.
I think also when you take a core to back high, you like a specific guy and you get aggressive, from Josh Allen to Mahomes to when the Texans drafted Deshaun Watson to Baker Mayfield, like you like that guy. To me, when you get a guy in the third, fourth and beyond, there's an element of luck right at quarterback because teams are passing on the guy.
It's easy to look back. God, look how good perty is.
But at the time, I mean, he was one spot away from being an undrafted free agent. But you cannot value And I think it's pretty clear guys like him. You and I have talked about it. When you go to Alabama or Georgia, you have such an advantage on a weekly basis, right, you really do. Hell, we'll probably talk about Kleb a little bit later. I think he's benefiting a lot, or at least scouts are gonna benefit watching him play. It's not as easy this year, Like
he has to make shit happen. His team has a huge advantage. Well perty his entire career, we're going into games either as underdogs or having less talent than their opponents. So you have to learn how to play. So now you watch him, well, he clearly he knows how to play, and now he has the talent around him, and it's bombs away. I mean they feel, I mean clearly like one of the better teams we've seen in terms of the way they start and just how the level in
which they're playing. In recent memory in the NFL.
Oh I think honestly, again, if you had even a good quarterback Kirk Cousins, you could not have the same roster. You would not get both of those linebackers, you know, you wouldn't. You would not have been able to acquire Christian McCaffrey. Well, if you take Christian McCaffrey and Fred Warner off this team, it's not the same team. That's the best linebacker in the game and the best running back right now and what they can use, you know. It's the other thing is when I mean, we've all
had a bunch of bosses in our life. But like when you're in sports. Basketball is in hockey or really so fast, but in football, you huddle. Football plays are choreographed, so you can sit on that bench as a football player. Right. Baseball very individual. If a guy's hot on the mound,
there's not a lot you can do. Again, Basketball is moving a thousand miles an hour, and football, you know when the other coaches better than your coach, like Dallas players are watching this Rubik's Cuba and offense, you know they're going, shit, we're getting worked tonight, right, like a player would know that.
Well, think about this a couple of years ago. They led the league in penalties. When the forty nine ers beat them two years ago at Dallas, they had a ton of penalties. There was an undisciplined nature watching them play tonight, there were a couple late hits out of bounds, and I understand I always struggle, like in a physical matchup like this, you want guys to kind of be
on edge. But there's also the fifteen yards when you thought the game was going to be you know, in somewhat doubt early it was going to be a tight game, really really matter, And you just watch Dallas, you know they're just they're not buttoned up. And I think you always talk about this with defensive coaches. They just don't understand the quarterback. They don't value certain things on offense.
One thing, having had a front row seat for Kyle that really makes them special is how much he values defense. Think about they paid They drafted Nick Moosa number two, They paid him a lot.
This year.
They signed Hargrave as a free agent immediately the moment free agency opened. Last year, they signed Tarvarius Ward at corner. They've paid multiple linebackers. I think his favorite player on the defense is TAALANOA hu Funga from USC. I mean, he loves that guy. He really really cares about that side of the ball while being I don't know, the best play caller in the league.
Yeah, you know, it's it's funny too. There's an alpha with San Francisco. I was thinking about this tonight. You know, the old Cowboy teams, the Akman, Jimmy Johnson, even the coach had a personality. They were big and really good in big games. That Cowboy team had personality. They had alpha. It was Irvin, it was Jimmy, it was Akman. Some of it unspoken, some of it very spoken. Michael Irvan. This Cowboy team, to me is kind of kind of dull. Mike,
Mike mc karthy's a little dull. There's not a lot of alpha. I mean, if I took the last ten big games they played in, they probably won three of them. I just feel like what the great Cowboy teams in my memory were better in big games. I feel this Cowboy team we always kind of roll our eyes at Kirk Cousins because he shrinks. This Cowboy team shrinks. They shrink against the Eagles, they shrink against the Niners. I mean, we have to be honest about this is that whereas
the Buffalo Bills can be inconsistent. I mean they're a real avalanche team, but when they're in the big games against Miami, they show. Now they'll go to London and dog it, or they'll they'll play a team like twice a year and you're like, what is happening to Buffalo. But in the moment the biggest games, the Bills bring their best fight. I think, Dallas, we have to acknowledge this. They shrink in big games a lot.
Well, I think you know, I was thinking about this watching the Patriots today. We talk a lot about culture, you know in football, and usually the coach gets all the credit for setting the culture. It's really the players. And you got rid of Tom Brady and it kind of unraveled. But look, I mean you talk to Edelman, he comes through Fox Edelman, Gronk, mccordy, all those guys are gone. So when you look at the forty nine ers, they are full on both sides of the ball. They're
all pro level players, are high character, grinder, tough guys. Right, you think about Buffalo, who are their high level guys? Josh Allen Poyer Milano, Right, they're just high level guys. So the Chiefs are a great example, like this modern day Brady Belichick guy, super high level, very serious, all
about football. You watch Dallas, Listen, I appreciate Jerry taking some big swings in the draft, but you get some of these character guys and then you laugh about it in your seven million interviews every other week, like it's like that does unravel from the inside. And listen, Dak's clearly a good guy, high level guy. But is he good enough to kind of be the tone setter for the locker clearly not.
No. I think Mike is probably the tone center for the locker room. Yeah, and I think we kind of circle back to Dak. Is that I'm not I'm not blaming Dak for it. But when Jerry talks about, you know, these long term extensions, it's like, Jerry, long term extensions, that's what you did for Brady or Patrick Mahomes. They keep reworking the deal, Lamar, Josh Allen. Dak is not a long term extension guy. He is no longer He's
no longer a mobile quarterback. He is Greg Greg Cosell said this on my show about a month ago, and it really I thought was one of the eye opening bites. He comes on every Thursday, and he said the tape doesn't lie. Da Dak can't move. Well, we never thought what if Russell Wilson couldn't move? I mean, seriously, what if? What if? I mean you start looking around. I love Josh Allen, but the part where he moves is what makes him big guy with a cannon to oh holy
hell in the red zone. You can't stop him. Like Dak is an average pocket guy who's now expensive and doesn't move. Well.
Here here's the problem for the Cowboys. Dak always hung his hat on like I'm the best of the second tier guys. Right, I'm not the superstar, but I'm the best. I watched the Chiefs Minnesota game because he's a better player tonight. Cli Perty's a better player. So if you're no longer that and the way these contracts work, right or wrong, it just it is what it is. Dak's making forty million dollars a year, so the contract extension, listen,
it's just football inflation. He's gonna want forty five million dollars a year. Like you said, sorry, I can't pay it. The problem is, what the hell do you do, right, because there's still gonna be a ten to eleven win team.
So do you just hope you can draft a guy? Do you let them walk?
Trey Lance isn't even I mean, he not even in the same universe as Dak Cooper Rush.
They're kind of in a weird spot.
So and here's what the Dak defenders say, We'll le he's winning a lot of games. We'll time out. Aren't you anam guys the one that always tell me that winning is not a quarterback stat? Right, you can't have it both ways. You can't lecture me on winning's not a quarterback stat because if you look at Dax wins, it's a lot of wins over Washington, over the Giants, over crappy NFC teams. But again, let's go back to the big games. They're not a very good big game team.
So you can't have it both ways. You can't tell me Dak's great and he wins a lot of games, and then simultaneously, all the smart people on the internet is winning's not a quarterback stat. So, I mean, I do think that Dak's intangibles are very very strong, leadership, smart, pre snap all that stuff.
Works hard.
Yeah, I like all that stuff, but just throwing darts from the pocket or making plays with your feet, it's not there.
Well at any moment. Josh Allen's, the Herberts, the Mahomes can do something that like only l Way and Farbes could do, right, Dak can't do that. So to be the best version of that Tier two group, you can't be turning it over.
Right.
There was that moment on Monday Night Football when when Daniel Jones throws the pick and Dable you can't. You're not allowed to do We're not good enough with you doing that. Dak had the moment tonight, threw the ball in the center field to absolutely no man's land, a pick that the guy just had to, you know, play it like Willie Mays and even McCarthy was looking at him a little sidey coming off the field. That can't happen with you. And all we talked about all off
season was the turnovers. The turnovers cut him. You watch him the night against a team that they are going to have to beat in the second or the third round if they want to go anywhere, and he's throwing the ball to the other team easily. I mean the third pick hit the guy in the hands. Now, maybe his confidence is unraveled, but he just wasn't good enough early beside really the one drive.
All right, I want to talk about Russell Wilson, Sean Payton, Denver and the Jets. So I'm not a huge fan of Zach Wilson. He's the opposite of Dak. I don't like any of his intangibles. But he has a good arm. But I don't like any of his intangibles. I don't trust his leadership. I don't trust him priests. I don't trust them in one of my franchise But he's got a good arm. But I will say this about the Jets, and I think this is where Robert Solid does a
good job. You're as good as your personnel allows you to be. Right, if you're a real franchise coach, the Jets do what their personnel allows them to do. They have good running backs, they run it. They have a good defense, they have a pass rush. They have good corners, although they're all banged up. What the Jets can't do they only have one legit big time receiver. They don't have a very good quarterback, so there's limitations on what they they can't get into track meets. But you know,
I watched them today. Denver doesn't do anything well. The Jets do a couple of things really well. The things they don't john They're personnel doesn't allow them to do that. If Mikale Beckton, forget Zach Wilson, if Mikale Beckton would have been a really high end left tackle, maybe I think differently. But they got tackle issues, they got a quarterback issue, so they can't get into track meets. That's not what they can do. But when I watch Denver, what do they do well?
Nothing?
I mean, you saw today. If the Jets get a lead, that's where they're built, and the pass rush can tee off and their pass rush goes seven to eight deep and they're as good as anyone in the NFL. To me and listen, I saw it at the end of Andy Reid's run. He had all this juice, all this power, and every decision went through him, and it obviously unraveled. That opened up perfectly for him because he went to Kansas City and became an absolute legend. Now he has
mahomes and off and run. But when the coach has so much power and won't listen to anyone else. And even then Andy had Howie, he would listen to other people. There is no one in that building Sean Payton's going to listen to. And there is a powerful dynamic in the NFL when you have a personnel guy that can go that's not a good idea because coaches sometimes are too close to the sun. Sure, they're desperate to get mcglinchy's a great example. They gave him fifty million dollars.
There cannot be many personnel people in the league that would have signed off on this pass. There's no he You cannot sign to tackle the fifty million dollars.
That can't pass block You can't do it.
So you just moves like that, and Sean Payton's power is only going to go up because George Payton will probably be fired. He'll bring in his own guy. Well, when he brings in his own guy, that guy's not gonna have the Jews. That guy's gonna, you know, kind of rely on Sean Payton and try to make him happy. So the dynamics there are a little off. Sometimes it can work right. Pete Carroll hired John Schneider, but immediately John talked to him into rustle and he earned the
respect and it changed everything. I think that's an underrated part of this because their issues are gonna be personnel oriented. How do we improve, what do we do in the draft? What kind of moves we can make? Sean has unlimited power, and Sewn always had Mickey Loomis in New Orleans, who he's even said is his best friend, trusted him, believed
in him. Even when you have trust, the two of you won't always be right, but at least you'll make decisions with mutual respect, and ultimately, whenever the decision was made, you both move forward. Here, it's a kind of a one man band. Sean's a coach and they got enough issues on the field. He needs help in the personnel department. And I could already see that, like, I don't know how they fix that well.
And by the way, Bill Belichick, he's got too much power. I mean, last year they drafted three guards and two kickers, and this team has no speed and it's like a ridiculous draft. Pete Carroll I thought had a few years after Paul Allen's death, Remember when Snyder went to the Lions to interview because Pete had usurped some of his power, kind of power vacuum, and then last couple of years Snyder has gotten some promise. There's guarantees he has more power.
They've had back to back great drafts. That doesn't mean Pete doesn't know personnel. But it's hard enough to be a great coach. You can't be a Pete.
And Pete looks better for that, right.
I think how much higher everyone thinks of Pete Carroll now that he lets his GM influence these picks.
Now everyone benefits.
Yeah, it's it's really interesting. I really like Sean, but when he wanted the Chargers job, so when he so, he and I were talking during the pursuit, right like he was telling me. I didn't go on the air with it, but he told me who he was, you know, talking to. And then when the Denver thing came out, he went kind of silent for a couple of weeks. So I figured, okay, I just I know I get it,
so I stay away. I thought my takeaway was, well, I think he'll make Russell better, and I think they'll go from four or five wins to nine or ten. But I think the issue is I think he solved Russell to some degree. But Russell at the contract level that will start next year is not good enough for that contract if he was making twelve million a year
twenty forty fifty five. So I think when Sean took the job, somebody offered him a lot of money, and money, you know, gives you power and makes you feel confident, but it's not. It was not, Frankly John, a great job. You had to either have a superstar quarterback in their prime, you know, Alan Lamar or my homes right right, Herbert, Okay, that's a great job. The Chargers now is a great job. Buffalo is a great job. Or you have to have
a super talented rookie on a rookie deal. CJ. Stroud, Dimiko Ryan suddenly may have himself a really good job, right, Kyle Shanahan. What's not a good job is a wildly expensive contract for a guy who's lost his fastball. So this is a great example. This is a prime example of Sean. I think he's already good coach. I think he took a job that's not right now a really good job.
Well, and think about this, there's two Listen. Obviously, you get ninety million dollars. He's making eighteen million dollars a year. Ninety nine percent of humans take the job, especially coaches. They always view jobs like they can fix it. But there's a dynamic as part of accepting this job that doesn't get discussed very much. And Sean brought this up.
I think at the combine he had planned to go as a package deal with Vic Fangio like they were, but Vic obviously had just gotten fired a year ago from Denver wasn't going to go back, so Vic he couldn't take Vic Fangil with him. So part of Russell Wilson, if this was gonna work, they were gonna have to be really good on defense, right, be a defensive team, be kind of conservative on offense, like that's how they
were gonna have to play. For a couple of years, Vance Jose has been terrible, and in fairness, Sean had the right guy. But he even said like Vic just wouldn't do it. It was too uncomfortable. He had literally just been fired twelve months before. So yeah, it worked for Sean getting the money, but big picture of how he wanted to build the franchise with the defensive coordinator he wanted and the quarterback he was going to be forced to work with because of the contract.
Yeah.
I mean, we'll see this year some of these jobs that open. If the number one overall pick job opens, I think it's easy to kind of play Monday morning quarterback and go. That was probably a major mistake by him rushing into it a little bit just because he had the itch.
And listen, that's coaching. Remember when Jim Harbaugh took the job, people like got a forty nine er situation. That's a disaster. So you know coaches that they're sick, Colin, that they really are.
That they view things for as much as they get paid, they also think this this deep down confidence in their own abilities to change things. And let's face it, in this league, like Kyle Shanahan looks a lot better with the guys he has than he does three or four years ago when he had scrubs around him.
Another game I want to talk about. I did it in my preamble, Philadelphia beat the Rams. Philadelphia is the one team that could match up with San Francisco in the NFC. I love Jalen Hurts. I didn't know he was going to be this. You know. My takeaway was he was when he came into the league. I'm like, I don't know what is he? What is he is? You know he can move? I didn't know what he was.
And then he gets Shane Steiken and it's interesting. So he gets Shane Steikeen, and once Nick Sirianni gives Shane Stikeen the play calling duties, he explodes. So Shane leaves and Jalen first couple of weeks is just scuffing. He's trying to get it. And then you've watched the last couple of games, it's like the kid worked so hard. Now he's starting to refine it without Shane Stikeen. And
we've seen this before. You have a coordinator Matt Ryan, and you get this great cord Kyle Shanahan, You're amazing MVP level. He leaves, you're never the same player. But I think a testament to Jalen Hurts and just his ability to be coachable. I have watched him now for five weeks. Just get a little better and a little better,
and it's hard. It's like losing your best friend. It's like losing your best boss at work, your sales manager in your an account executive, and you're just off and I felt Jalen was like, because Stiken's really a brilliant guy. You see it again today I was gonna say this, I think Stiken calls as good a game as anybody in the league. I'm watching today with Gardner Minshew and I'm like, shit, this is this guy can call a game.
They didn't skip a beat, not a bit.
And I mean Gardner Minshew, but I'm like, God is clever and and you lose a Kyle Shanahan level a coordinator. And I watched today Jalen Hurts and I'm like, man, that kid, he is just I think that team has such strong belief in Jalen Hurts. He had a couple of plays today when he scrambled a act stayed on his feet and I'm like.
That was an incredible run.
It was it just like God, I there's just Jalen Hurts is one of those players. I don't know if I was a professional scout and used to do this, I don't know what I would have put on paper I had. I never saw this coming, did you what.
He's a great result or a great example of the intangible stuff being so powerful. He has improved dramatic even the Eagles. I mean, they never thought he would be this one thing today happened though, and I jotted it down because I tension in football can be very healthy. The Patriots had it forever. I'm talking like players with the coaches during games. As long as you know, losing teams, it unravels. But winning teams they harness it and then
they like improve on the next drive. Jalen threw a terrible pick in like the the front pylon of the end zone to Witherspoon, who actually made an incredible play he did, and Siriani lights him up. I mean, they just start going and Jalen kind of takes it. How many guys in the NFL in twenty twenty three, just pro sports in general, making forty five million dollars a year,
who just had the Super Bowl? He had that That never happens anymore, even in football, and even I think burke Hart and Olsen, we're calling that game, and even like Dad's a coach, he asked for this, he wants it. And then there was another moment Jason Kelsey getting on the coaches. But it never feels destructive. It never feels like there's these guys are like players against coaches, coaches against players.
It's all we're kind of in the boat together.
You're talking about there, the greatest offensive lineman the franchise ever had is going to the Hall of Fame and they're forty five to fifty million dollars quarterback, and it's like, yeah, it's just normal. They handle it. Their character. I've seen it with the Niners. They have it to Andy's staff is not they don't really yell as much, but they have the same thing. It's just we will do whatever it takes to improve on the next drive to get
it right. Where a lot of teams the coach has to be right, the player gets it's bitter and there's like this animosity. The Eagles do not have that, And it all starts with their player's character.
Yeah, and it starts with Jalen Hurts. I mean I've heard this before about Mac Jones, is that he can be very prickly with hard coaching, right, like he can be very prickly. Jalen Hurts totally accepts it. And if the quarterback who got the bag accepts it, then everybody has to accept it. And I think that's i you know, because that was that was an interesting pick. It was in the end zone.
If I recall that, it was, yeah, the front pylon of the.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. But it was funny because the Eagles are now five and zero. I don't think they played a great football game, but I said earlier, I don't think I've seen a team now. Maybe the Niners tonight physically imposed their will. The Rams never had the ball in the second happen in Philadelphia, and it was really smart. They're like, we're just gonna eat this clock, maybe an occasional AJ Brown, We're just gonna get four and a
half yards. And you could just see the Rams the body language and they were tired, and it was like, there's a culture.
And by the way, this impressive game by the Rams call, I mean they hang a rock.
Yeah, they are much.
Better than I thought that they really. I thought they got Caleb Williams written all over them. Pooka Nakula looks fantastic. Stafford's playing well, Donald's still playing his ass off.
They're gonna compete for a wildcard spot for sure.
One more thing here, Colin, I saw a lot today on the internet. You have to protect Anthony Richardson. You can't let him play like this well. Part of drafting Cam Newton Anthony Richardson RG three I.
Saw last year with Trey Lance. You can't run him around. That's what he well.
Trade didn't, but those other guys do well. And right now, Anthony Richardson, running is his greatest attribute. And then off that he's gonna be fifty percent completion, hit some big plays. So today when he hurts his shoulder like that is a strength of his right now, he cannot just sit in the pocket throw or they will have no shot. So I can't blame Shane Stiken for running him around when that is his positive attribute.
Curer go back to early Big Ben. Big Ben was a little over his skis for even the great team his first year. Yeah, but part of what made him great is it was backyard Thanksgiving Day football where Ben would just take the It was like a NERF game and Ben's running around with the ball in his hands like otherwise, Ben was not good enough pre snap he came from Miami of Ohio. He just wasn't good enough. You had to let Big Ben run and so and I think Cam was a much more refined product than
Big Ben. First during the league. You know, Cam had played a sec he'd seen played against great players. But I remember Big Ben Early was one of the first times I'm like, oh no, no, no, you just got to let him do backyard football a little bit. And I know it's a structured Steeler environment, but Miami of Ohio to the Pittsburgh Steelers playing an AFC championship games, like, you got to let dudes be dude it. By the way, Anthony Richardson has gotten banged up. A couple of them
have not been like violent hits while he's running. He's a He is just a kid that likes contact. That he's a big body. Sometimes I think with Anthony Richardson, Big Ben Cam, big strong athletes, Herbert's done this.
They have no idea.
They think they're bulletproof. I've seen Justin Herbert put his shoulder down on a two hundred and seventy five pounds defensive and I'll say, Justin, it's not high school football against Roseburg High School.
I think the concerning part about Anthony Richardson is sometimes and listen, Herbert hasn't really missed time, right, but.
He's been banged up a lot.
I don't remember early Young Cam ever, getting hurt. I mean, he was probably physically hurting, but he could play listen. I mean, sometimes he's just random because you see Anthony Rigarson, like, this guy's indestructible. He has to be feeling that because he's running by and over guys. The problem is unlike those guys, he's not getting up. Yeah, so that would be. And sometimes certain guys, for whatever reason, big, small, all sorts of shapes and sizes, just get hurt more for
whatever reason. And it's not the you know, the trainer's fault, it's not the weight room guy's fault.
It's just their body. Because like you said today, what was a pretty just normal football play.
You see a lot of even non running quarterbacks kind of scramble and get tackled that I'd be a little scared that. I don't know what we need to do with this young guy. But he's kind of getting banged up in pretty uh, I would say random play.
He's not maliciously violent, just absurd hits.
Yeah, And I it's it's one of those things where I just love watching him play. And he's the culture lucky to have him, and he's lucky to have Shane Steichen And now Jonathan Taylor and I by the way, I think this was an example where Jonathan Taylor was aided by a couple of these injuries. I think Chris Patler looked at this thought, we got to take some
carries out of Anthony Richardson. We got to stop. I mean, I honestly think everybody, Oh, running backs don't get paid, and it's like, no, no, the Colts guys got paid a Saquon by the way, because of Daniel jones inefficiency. Saquon got paid. I still think with Mike Williams out, Austin Eckler, you know I need him around, So I do think in this instant Jonathan Taylor, I think Chris Botler looked at it and thought, Mike, Mike, quarterback's getting
he's getting hit too much. I got to give somebody else the football.
Also, my coach is good enough. I'm looking around my division. Why couldn't we win this thing?
Right?
Why why couldn't we go ten and seven and win the division?
That bad division? Shane Steiken looks like he's got a chance to be a home run. Demiko Ryans looks like pretty damn good Coade. Obviously, v abel a stud that's Doug Peterson's Super Bowl champ. Pretty good coaching in the in the AFC South.
Right, Now, let's talk for a couple of minutes. We must because we both love college football. So here was my take on USC's near loss. Notre Dame was next. They were a three touchdown favorite home against Arizona, and they can see Notre Dame Utah washing. They know, players know they're three touchdowns favorites. So part of it is that had it had close game written all over it. Secondly, outside of Washington, Arizona has the best receiving tandem McMillan and Jacob Cowling in the conference.
Those guys are pros and they're good. Arizona's not bad.
No, and the Trojans don't have great corners, so the game was going to be high scoring. The other thing is, uh, and this is you get into a weird spot us. He's a terrible tackling team. Terrible, So I don't know what that is. Is it practice? Is it the fact that their safeties and corners have to make so many tackles. Those are not your best tacklers. It's they don't bring down guys in our first shot. But when I look at USC. My takeaways, they'll beat Notre Dame because they're
built to beat average offenses with good defenses. They all they're just they're going to score thirty five points. That's just what they're going to do. I don't think they can beat Oregon. I don't think they can beat Washington. Ucla is getting better every time I watch them. What do you make of the battle inside of program? When Caleb in an offense is carrying it? How good is USC's personnel in your opinion?
Yeah, to me it Lincoln is a Mike Leach guy, right, spend a lot of time there. That's what shaped his philosophical beliefs, and he's kind of morphed it off that Well, that offense you practice, you only have so many guys on the football team. Your offense practice against your defense, right when you go up against the Eagles or the forty nine ers every day, Right, there's just a physicality
in practice. Look look at Jim Harbaugh. Over the time, as he's gotten better players, his team is dramatically more physical. Urban Meyer always had this. Nick Saban's had this on most of his teams because that's how you play on offense. Well, His offense has always been spread it out, throw it to the outside, especially now because they are so predicated
on these outside, sweet wide receivers. It doesn't even if you're personnel, you don't have Ray mal Luga and Brian Cushing walking through that door.
It's harder to improve.
When you're running sideline the sideline in practice and not taking things on. So what happens sometimes guys just run it down their throat because to me, their front seven doesn't look that physical. I will say this though, from an evaluation standpoint of Caleb. Sometimes I get a lot of my buddies like, tell your boy Colin to slow down the hype train. You know, scouts are always big on us the way, and I was like this when I was in the league, and I'm like it now.
I get excited watching guys and Caleb's talent is immense, but you know, you don't.
Draft just purely off hype.
Right now, his talent and what he's doing now at Oklahoma and even last year, for the most part, it became very very easy to them.
This year it's a little more difficult.
They're playing in all these close games, even in conference, so you're seeing him the.
Spot last night where it was like he had to carry him.
If he screwed up, they lose, and he made remarkable because the only negative thing I've heard is from an executive that said, you know, we have them kind of their verified measurement slightly under six.
Feet it's like six oos.
But he's not small. You saw the play last night when he carried the defender in the end zone. So he's thick and his arm is just absolutely and last night his moxie and his I mean, Lincoln called was it in overtime when he did the shift place doing weird, but Caleb just refused to let him lose and made a play one on one with the guy. I actually am learning more about Caleb in those moments than you do when they're just routing Stanford seventy five to three, right.
So you see him pressed, You see him making these plays against teams that you could argue they should be blown out, but because of their defense, they're just not. So if he doesn't score on an every drive basis, it's like the Cowboys and Niners. If Dak didn't throw four touchdowns to night, they had no chance. And he doesn't have that capability where Caleb's like, yeah, I gotta throw seven touchdowns and run for two more. I'll do it right, and that to me, it's like we talked
about brock Perty. He played on some of those teams where he had to be awesome for them to upset somebody, and he did a lot of the times in college why he was two time Big twelve Player of the Year.
The only knock I've seen is that sometimes he can get a little off on his accuracy, but he usually self correct next drive. But I have found josh Allen Mahomes. I think hyper athletic players sometimes they like their mechanics go a little sideways because they're moving around, Whereas Brady's mechanics were great because he had to have great mechanics.
You know, Burn, Yeah, Burrow.
But I do think I do think he gets a little off on his mechanics. Sometimes he didn't get sloppy. But he's such a bright kid. I know him pretty well. He's self corrects really really quickly. I don't see a lot of weaknesses.
He's going to have to be absolutely remarkable in my opinion for them to be in the Pac twelve Championship game, because now that they don't have like the North and South. It's just the best two teams right record wise, they feel to me more like ten and two. Yeah, and if Oregon and Washington, whoever loses that game still runs the table and beats them, because I have a hard time seeing them beat organ in Washington the way they're playing right now.
Yeah, I don't think they would. In fact, I think I think I don't think Washington's defense is great. They have a couple of good players. I think Oregon could hammer them. I mean, I think that game's in Otson.
That's trouble and the other thing USC could. We'll see how Utah's playing. But the Utah's defense is unreal. So that's just and we saw last year they beat him twice. That's just a tough game for Caleb and the offense.
Right right.
John Middlecoff three and out former NFL scout, Good stuff, John Good talking again.
Take it easy, gone
The volume.