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00:00Can you explain to people the process that goes into making this schedule for the league?
00:06Yeah, so Kevin, look, they actually start, it's interesting, they really start in February and March.
00:12That's actually when they start really digging in.
00:14And they're done before the draft.
00:17And the thing is, they have to use computers.
00:21Because they used to do it by hand decades ago, but it's all done by computer with certain criteria.
00:27And Kevin, the interesting thing is they have to talk to every team in terms of things that they want blocked off,
00:33recommendations, things that the clubs like to have.
00:36They have to look at rest, which we could obviously talk about.
00:39And then the league takes over.
00:41What the league wants, Kevin, when you talk about matchups, they want the most eyes on every game.
00:48So that's why teams like the Chiefs are going to get seven primetime games.
00:54That's why the Cowboys, despite them being sort of mediocre,
00:57that's why they're getting a lot of pride time games.
01:00Your Eagles, of course, they won the Super Bowl.
01:02But they're what we call a national team.
01:04If you're a national team, that means a team nationally that fans recognize and back and like,
01:10you're going to be on national TV now.
01:13And we'll talk about flex scheduling.
01:15You also could play yourself off of national television.
01:18If you're a team like the Jets last year, Kevin.
01:22Hey, Aaron Rodgers, everybody wants to see it.
01:24Well, Rodgers played, I'm told, with two injuries.
01:27And he didn't play well.
01:28And they were a bad team.
01:29Hence, they were taken off.
01:30They were flexed out, if you will, of some primetime game.
01:34So let's do that right away then.
01:37Because one thing that jumps out to me is the league is going with Pittsburgh in some prime spots.
01:44And I understand the Steelers are an institution in this league with Mike Tomlin and the winning and TJ Watt.
01:50It feels like the league is betting on Aaron Rodgers being their quarterback, though, week number one.
01:56And if not, they may need to find ways to get out of week 10 Steelers at Chargers.
02:03If that's Mason Rudolph going for the 10th time or Will Howard maybe going for Pittsburgh, do you think I'm right to say the league is somewhat betting on Rodgers being Pittsburgh's quarterback?
02:16Well, it's interesting.
02:17So on the national media call, which I was in last week, they actually addressed that.
02:22So and this is where flex scheduling comes in.
02:24Let's say, well, it's one thing if Rodgers doesn't play.
02:28What if Rodgers plays for the Steelers and then he gets hurt?
02:30Well, and if they're bad, they have the ability to flex out games like in week 10, right, at the Chargers.
02:37That's a primetime game.
02:38If they're three and six, well, there's a very good chance they won't be playing that game in primetime, that they'll be flexed out.
02:45And the league talked about that.
02:48They're pretty clear.
02:48If you've got one elite team just based on performance of the season and the other team is not what they thought they were, clunker, they're going to take them out because they want the best possible matchup.
03:00But they get their fans, too.
03:01They get it.
03:02By the way, it's quarterback versus quarterback.
03:05And sometimes, Kevin, it doesn't have to be two teams that are great.
03:09They could have two teams that are mediocre, but both quarterbacks are playing outstanding football.
03:13It's a quarterback-driven league.
03:14That stuff matters as well.
03:16It's funny.
03:17I wonder how the league is going to approach flexing.
03:20I'm just going to, you know, a little personal anecdote.
03:22I had tickets for Eagles-Jaguars, which was supposed to be a Sunday night game, first time with the Kelly Greens.
03:31And the way Jacksonville was struggling, the league pivoted, actually, to Minnesota-Indianapolis.
03:36Look, in hindsight, a nightmare of a decision.
03:39They took the eventual Super Bowl champs off TV.
03:42Now, I know you can maybe butterfly effect it.
03:44That was the game that Saquon Barkley jumped backwards over a guy, the N'Kobe Dean interception that clinched it.
03:52That Colts game ended up with Joe Flacco starting.
03:54It was a terrible football game, really.
03:57I wonder if the league—now, Cap, at the end of the day, all these games still do well.
04:03But that was such a misfire.
04:05I wonder if they'll be, in any capacity, gun-shy around flexing this year.
04:10No, it's a week-to-week basis, right?
04:13Although you have to make a decision in advance, you know, a bunch of weeks in advance, then you change your schedule.
04:18But they made it pretty clear.
04:20And this brings up a case, okay?
04:22This brings up what you talked about.
04:23Last year, the Washington Commanders, right?
04:26And then we talked about the Jets.
04:29You want to have the ability to flex in a team like the Commanders, where they come out of nowhere.
04:33We could say all we want about how well—I was one of them that, like Jaden Daniels, let him be a pretty good quarterback.
04:39We had no idea how good the Commanders were going to be.
04:41So they want the ability to move that team into prime time.
04:45And by the way, Washington could be a national team.
04:48They've got a good following.
04:49They've been so bad for decades, as you know, under former owner Daniel Snyder.
04:53And now they look like they'd potentially be elite going forward.
04:56So they want to find that team.
04:57And you know, Kevin, every year there's a team nobody likes.
05:00Like, nobody sees it coming.
05:01Last year, Denver was the books.
05:04Had them at four and a half or five wins.
05:06Now, they had an easy schedule.
05:08But that's what the league tries to identify.
05:12And by the way, they do their own projections.
05:13They try to get a feel for, in the spring, which teams are going to be those breakout teams.
05:19It's hard to do that, but they do the best that they can.
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