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00:00Let's get it started here, Joe. Game number one we'll talk about. It's actually a Sunday game
00:03between the Los Angeles Rams and the Chicago Bears. 6.30 start. Let me just dip in here and
00:08take a look at some of these conditions that we might be anticipating in weather. 19 degrees,
00:13Joe, but no precipitation and eight to nine mile an hour winds. Not bad. It's actually a beach day
00:18in Chicago at this point, but it don't team is going outdoors. The opening number, Joe,
00:23around three and a half. Most outlets still sitting at three and a half and a total of 50
00:27and a half. The Bears with an epic comeback. The Rams saving the best for last in Carolina.
00:32Let's get an early week spread line for you, Joe, for the Sunday game this weekend.
00:35Yeah, we've seen the total tick down here a little bit in this one from the opening of 51,
00:4251 and a half, but it stayed steadfast at three and a half here, Donnie. So we haven't gone under
00:51that, but one has to wonder at what point are the is the Rams money going to start coming in here and
00:58maybe drive this thing up a little bit or is it going to be the Bears? I mean, have the Bears turned
01:05a corner? They didn't get much public love the first go around, Donnie. It appeared there in that
01:11opening round win against Green Bay because everybody thought Green Bay was going to handle
01:17business and they did for it. Well, just about until the final four minutes of the fourth quarter
01:22there, Donnie. But the Bears just keep finding a way. This one, I'm really interested to see where
01:30this line goes here. Have the Bears finally become public favorites enough where this thing is going
01:37to get driven down to a field goal? I'm looking forward to watching this one during the week.
01:42Yeah, you want to make a million bucks in this game, Joe? Here's how you do it. You parlay the first
01:46half and take the Rams and you parlay with the second half of that parlay with the Chicago Bears.
01:50I mean, the Bears are notorious for saying we have no idea what we're doing in the first half
01:53and the second half in the final five minutes. Caleb turns into an absolute God out there and
01:57rips it around. We'll see how that plays out. But an underdog here once again for the Chicago Bears at
02:03home as the number two seed. Let's go to Saturday afternoon's game here. 430 start Buffalo and Denver,
02:09the Buffalo Bills, the lower seeded team, the Denver squad. What? The one seed? Joe still
02:16is an underdog. But some outlets are starting to flip that over now. You get one and a half on the
02:22Bills. You get one and a half on the Broncos here. A total 46 and a half. No respect, I tell you,
02:27for those Broncos. What's the spread line for you, Joe, for the Saturday? Well, I mean, let's face it.
02:32This was, this is shaping up to be very similar to what we saw with the Jacksonville Jaguar line
02:39throughout the week, right? It was Buffalo becoming very public. We saw them as a favorite for, well,
02:47at least a little while, a couple of days last week. And then right a couple of hours before kickoff,
02:54boy, did that Jacksonville money come rolling in and all of a sudden the Bills were a two,
02:59two and a half point underdog by the time that that, uh, that game started. It feels like this
03:06is going to be the same situation here where, listen, if you like Denver, if you're thinking
03:12about Denver and teasers or things along those lines, you better hurry up because I would think
03:18by the time we get to the end of the week, Donnie, uh, Denver is going to be the favorite in this game.
03:24And I do think the total is also going to begin to rise here as that money starts to come in later
03:30on. Yeah. You're talking about a team that's rested here. Also, you're taking a look at the
03:33Buffalo bills and a tough game on the road in Jacksonville banged up quarterback already.
03:38They'll probably give them a rest day here this week and we'll see what happens on that day.
03:42Now let's get to another game, Joe, San Francisco who beat the Philadelphia Eagles. They're moving on
03:46to take on Seattle. The NFL schedule makers didn't do the many favorites short week after flying to
03:51Philadelphia. Now flying back then going to have to play on a Saturday in Seattle, even more banged
03:55up than they were to start that Eagles game. This line opened up around seven. It's at seven and a
04:00half across the board as a favorite for Seattle and a total Joe of 45 and a half Saturday night,
04:05prime time. Give me a spread line here for nine of Seahawks. Yeah. The rematch of week 18,
04:11which seems kind of fitting, right? Cause that was the NFC West and who was going to get the buy.
04:16It seems fitting that these two teams meet here. And you know, what if the 49ers did? Well,
04:22they just went on the road, all banged up here, losing guys left and right. And they still beat
04:27the Eagles. And now they've got a much shorter trip to make here, taking on a very familiar foe in
04:33the Seahawks here. They do recede. Don't forget here, by the time we get to this particular point,
04:40which is why they are going up against Seattle. And I find this line very interesting because
04:46Seattle was steamed into a clear road favorite against the 49ers in week 18, Donnie.
04:53So I'm wondering at this, I mean, we saw most look-aheads were five and a half, six,
04:59and then we saw sevens. We saw seven and a half in a look ahead. We're right there. To me,
05:05Donnie, this is a question of whether or not the 49ers are going to get enough love to get this thing
05:10under a touchdown. I think it likely ends up higher than that. I think we get to eight,
05:16maybe even eight and a half, Donnie, by the time we get to kickoff.
05:20You'll see what happens here. Third game. We'll talk about Sunday, three o'clock here. And some
05:24of these times changing over the years, changing with tradition. We're supposed to have the one
05:27and four o'clock games. We're 25 games. This one's a three o'clock game. It's Houston. We saw last
05:31night decimate the Pittsburgh Steelers now going to take on the New England Patriots who played some
05:36pretty good defense of their own against the Los Angeles Chargers. Line opened up two and a half,
05:40Joe. Still sits two and a half. The favorite for the two-seed New England Patriots over Houston,
05:44which is spread line early in the week for this game on Sunday. Yeah. I mean, listen,
05:48it should be noted, right? I mean, two defensive touchdowns last night by the Texans, but they did
05:53rack up over 400 yards of offense there. But the three turnovers have to stop in that spot if this is
06:00going to be anywhere close. Just home field advantage here, right? Basically, we're seeing
06:05look ahead. It was two and a half, maybe three. And that's kind of what we're seeing in the market
06:10here, Donnie. But this also feels like a game where a lot of under money is going to hit it,
06:17is going to hit the board. So I think this might land under 40 when it's all said and done.
06:23The Mike Tomlin question may be tied at the hip with Aaron Rodgers because you saw the press
06:27conference last night after the game. Aaron Rodgers, you got to be crazy for getting rid of Mike Tomlin.
06:31And it feels like you are now officially at the crossroads for the Pittsburgh Steelers because if
06:36Mike Tomlin does come back, I do think Aaron Rodgers comes back for one more season. City really
06:40explained for Mike. They have a mutual respect. They won the division. They got to the playoffs.
06:43There's something, you know, admirable about that. But the Steelers were never about being 500 and
06:48winning division championships. That's an organization with a lot of Lombardi trophies that
06:52hasn't sniffed one in a long, long time. So for me, Joe, if Tomlin comes back, Aaron Rodgers comes back,
06:57they run it back for one more year. What's the appetite for that in Pittsburgh? But to be honest,
07:02this seems like the perfect time to say, all right, Mike, we're going to move on. Aaron,
07:06thank you for your time. We got to get younger here. We're going to tear down that high priced
07:10aging defense, trade it for scrap, restart this franchise and enter into a football team that
07:15you can have for the 21st century here. Now, some might say, Donnie, you are crazy. You see what
07:20the Pittsburgh Steelers do. They win every year. But trust me, as a fan for the Pittsburgh Steelers,
07:24that's not a lot of fun from winning a couple of games above 500, sneaking in a bad division into
07:30the playoffs and then getting routed every year. The minute you step on the field in the playoffs,
07:35Joe, are you with me on maybe it's best to move on from Mike Tomlin or are you in that camp of
07:40you're crazy? You can't get rid of Tomlin. Where else are you going to go?
07:44Well, again, OK, and get what exactly? The problem isn't Tomlin. The problem is the Steelers
07:51front office has put this team into football purgatory, Donnie. I mean, this is a Steelers
07:57organization for years that has been as conservative an operation as it gets. They did things the right
08:04way to hit the reset button when they did. They got young quarterback, young players. They rebuilt
08:10it. They, you know, they promote from it. They've done it that way from, you know, the beginning of
08:15time. And what did they do this year, Donnie? It was like they all of a sudden they were getting
08:20drunk at the poker table at the end and just pushed all their chips in the table because you go out
08:26in the offseason instead of trying to rebuild the roster, get a young quarterback, right? Maybe a rookie
08:32quarterback, somebody that you can build for the future. Now, all of a sudden you went out, you made
08:36a deal for, you know, a 28-year-old Metcalf, a 31-year-old Jalen Ramsey, and a 30-year-old Jonah
08:43Smith. You 31-year-old TJ Watt, who is already having issues, 36-year-old. And then you sign a
08:5042-year-old quarterback in Aaron Rodgers. And what do you do? Great. You didn't have a losing
08:55season, but once again, you're out in the first round. To me, I don't understand the direction of
09:00the front office here. What are you doing? Like, you're basically putting all the chips in the
09:05middle of a table for an aging roster that is not good enough to compete outside of, okay, we, you know,
09:13we make it to the postseason barely and we get bounced out in the first round. It's like rinse and
09:18repeat. What are they doing, Donnie? And by the way, also you look at Mike Tomlin, like he got hired
09:23so young. It's not like the dude is like 75 years old on his way out. Like Bill Belichick was like,
09:28I asked the question this too, for the Pittsburgh Steelers, where are we, are we worried about the
09:31Tomlin streak or you think Mike Tomlin, like as a football coach, like, okay, here's what the game
09:36plan is going to be. Mike, we're going to keep you. You can have your coordinators, but we're going to
09:38tear this football team down. And we think you're the perfect steward to fight us right through this
09:42tear down, which probably should only take two years. Then we'll be on the upswing again with the young
09:46football team. Isn't that an option on the table? Like it doesn't have to be mutual exclusive that
09:52you just blow Tomlin out because you want to restart. Like wouldn't Mike Tomlin be a great
09:55foundational piece to put in that new foundation of a team and get that second wind on his career
09:59in Pittsburgh? No. Yes. But again, at some point here, this organization has to take the bull by the
10:08horns, Donnie, and they've got to start building for the future. Now they have been stockpiling draft
10:14picks. I'll give them that. Right. Uh, they've been doing that, but you know, is Rogers come,
10:19are you going to bring back a 43 year old Aaron Rogers? Is that where we're at? Right. I'd be more
10:25worried if I was Pittsburgh, that Tomlin goes, what am I doing here? Like you said, he's still young
10:31in this, in this hiring cycle, he immediately becomes again, him and Harbaugh one, one a, they become
10:39the two top guys that organizations will throw everything at. If I'm Pittsburgh, you got to be
10:44worried about Tomlin throwing a talent and be like, I'm done here. Like this is not working at all. You
10:50I don't know the direction you guys are heading, but none of it is about winning football games here
10:55for the longterm. Not with this roster. Yeah. We'll keep talking about this. Mike Tomlin,
11:00if there is a situation, which again, Pittsburgh doesn't fire head coaches all that much. We'll find
11:04out later in the week, if we do have any changes, but I'm pretty sure you hear one way or another
11:08over the next 24 hours. Like, yeah, Mike's not going anywhere or breaking news from Adam Schefter,
11:13Mike Tomlin and the Steelers amicably part ways. We'll find out, but the NFL, they're going to have
11:18four more games this weekend, two on Saturday, two on Sunday. Joe, let me ask you this question.
11:21I always like to say, make me commissioner. The NFL needs to be a better partner with college
11:26football and college football season goes on a little bit too long. Like the FCS playoffs, Joe,
11:30they've been done for a while. We're still waiting on the NCAA champion for division one year.
11:34Those changes can be made, but hear me out Saturday. Why do we have four 30 and eight 30
11:39here? The NFL one o'clock game, four o'clock game, NCAA national championship on a Saturday
11:45at eight o'clock. And then you have the two Sunday games. Can the NFL be a better partner
11:49to college football? So we all win. So we don't have to wait till a Monday night football game.
11:53It could just be an absolute party weekend of football. Am I in the wrong, Joe?
11:58Listen, the NFL could care less about college football and they could certainly care less
12:04about the NBA. Remember the NBA was supposed to, that would, you can have every other day
12:10NFL, just give us the, just give us Christmas and they can't even do that. So they're gluttonous
12:15and they just, they want it all for themselves. So college football be there. How in the world
12:21is a college football national championship game? Not on Saturday. I'm with you, Donnie.
12:25It makes no sense to me.
12:27Again, if we would equate that to the Superbowl was played on Sunday, right? That's what the tradition
12:32is. Can you imagine? I was like, you know what? Friday night Superbowl here. Like, well,
12:36we'll watch it, but that's not really what football is meant to be. And you say, well,
12:39Donnie, they play on Saturdays and Mondays. I get it. But Sunday is the traditional football
12:42day where the Superbowl is played. And over the years, keeps getting pushed back later
12:45and later, but also Joe Sunday, three o'clock and six 30. That's usually reserved for like
12:50the championship weekend, the following week for the AFC and the NFC. I don't like waiting
12:55till three o'clock on a Sunday to get that game. And I don't need that six 30 game
12:58where I'm tired because, well, Donnie, you're an old man. The game gets over at nine 30.
13:01That game shouldn't get over at nine 30 on Sunday night. Come on.
13:05I agree. Well, yeah, I mean, Donnie, it should be a national holiday on Monday, right? Isn't
13:10that what we've been screaming at for years? Like, can we just all get off on Monday would
13:15be fantastic. But yeah, no, that's not going to happen either. It's all about eyeballs, Donnie.
13:21And don't forget what it's in San Francisco this year. So it really will only be six o'clock
13:26by the time that game kicks off there. And by the way, San Francisco, that stadium is
13:32horrible, man. The Superbowl is in there. It looks, I don't know what type of commission
13:35built that or what type of architecture firm. They ought to be sued out of their mind. That
13:40place looks like an erector set out there. It looks terrible. Just wanted to get that
13:43off my chest here. Let's move on to some other hot topics. Ben Johnson. Hey, look, that's
13:47a rivalry and he's been known in the NFC North at Detroit to hate himself some green Bay.
13:52He let loose, man. Blank him. Blank him. Hate those guys. How about that?
13:58I love this, Donnie. Absolutely. We need more of this back in sports. We do. We need this
14:04in the NBA. We have it in baseball, which is great. We've never kind of lost that. But
14:10we need more of this rivalry. There has to be villains in pro sports, Donnie. If there's
14:17not, then it becomes background noise and nobody becomes interested if everyone is happy
14:23with one another. So yeah, Ben Johnson, give me more. Hate everybody, Ben. I love it.
14:29Exactly. And how about Herbert out here on the West Coast taking blame for yet another
14:33playoff loss? Is he going to come out with an Instagram story about him and Madison Beer
14:36saying we apologize because we're just not focused on football as much as we could be, Joe?
14:41I mean, listen, it's very hard for me to say anything bad about a guy that, you know,
14:46broke his hand, had surgery and played in four days. Like it's just, you know, the guy is as
14:51tough as nails, but unfortunately the supporting cast around him wasn't that great here with all
14:58the injuries this season. How about Jalen Hurts? He don't want to endorse his offensive coordinator,
15:02Kevin Petula. Nobody's endorsing that guy. We all knew it was a bad marriage, but also at the
15:06same time, Jalen, he'd be a little bit better as well. It's not all the co-coordinator's fault.
15:11Some of those passes, some of those options. And by the way, the fact that I can beat you now,
15:15Jalen Hurts, in a race, that says something as well. Yeah, it was Sirianni's buddy. I mean,
15:20I don't know why, you know, Harry Roseman and company allowed him to even choose it to begin with,
15:25but okay. But yeah, changes are coming in Philly. By the way, Joe, we like the evolution of time.
15:31You can go back with a nice little trend. How about really good offensive coordinator,
15:34make the Super Bowl. Really bad one, don't make the Super Bowl.
15:36Really good one, don't make the Super Bowl. Really bad one, don't make the Super Bowl.
15:39How about next year? A really good coordinator, get back to the Super Bowl.
15:43One hot topic's in the way next.
15:46More news and notes around the NFL. We saw a game on Sunday down there in Jacksonville. Boy,
15:51what a game it was. Comeback here for Jacksonville. I want to see another comeback for the Buffalo Bills,
15:55but there will be no comeback for Gabe Davis, who came back to the Buffalo Bills this season.
15:59Suffered a torn ACL versus the Jaguars. You saw that hit whenever that leg gets bent a certain
16:03direction. You see him hobble off, you expect the worst, and they got the worst. Gabe Davis down for
16:08the season and possibly next year as well, and maybe that's a career for Gabe Davis.
16:13Yeah, just unfortunate, too, because he's made, actually, ever since he came back,
16:17he's made some big-time catches and big-time plays there for Josh Allen. They've got synergy,
16:24those two, but now they're down another wide receiver, so they're going to have to game plan
16:30accordingly against this Denver defense coming up, and they're going to have to do it without
16:35one of the deep shot threats now. Yeah, that's going to be a fun game to watch. More on Josh Allen's
16:41playing just the way it is here. The Patriots, they're moving on, but also could be without
16:45their best cornerback in Christian Gonzalez making his first Pro Bowl this season. He's in concussion
16:50protocol. Here's what I love, Joe. Football players are football players. Coaches and organizations
16:55want to win. If this is week five, there's no shot that he makes it through concussion protocol in a
17:00week because it's pretty much standard now. You get a concussion, you're out at a minimum of one week
17:05and maybe two to three weeks, depending on if you had a concussion history. What are the odds for you,
17:09Joe, that Christian Gonzalez stays in concussion protocol and misses this playoff game? What would
17:14you put that percentage at? Yeah, I don't know that he is missing anything here. They will either,
17:23the current doctor or one that they choose will okay him at some particular point here. And you
17:31know he's going to want to play, but short of anything crazy, he's likely going to be out on
17:37the field for him. You know, it's insane. Like I always say this, like concussions, like they didn't
17:41diagnose them back in my day. Like I played peewee football in the 80s, high school football and
17:45college football in the 90s. And I'm going to tell you this, honestly, I only saw one time, Joe,
17:50in my years, I don't know, 10 or 12 years, whatever I played football for, that there
17:54was one diagnosed concussion in 12 years of football. So I don't know how many high concussions
17:58I had at this point, but it is a little bit interesting. If you don't know, you have one
18:01or you feel a little bit down or I've had hits in my life where it's like, man, something
18:04just isn't right. But the fact that they diagnosed you with a concussion, that's scary though,
18:08isn't it? Like, Hey, I just got one last week. Like I could scramble my brain again this
18:11week and then my career could be done or my effects down the road. But man, these guys are
18:16absolute mercenaries at times. Just put me back in coach. I don't care.
18:20Yeah. And they've done it optically. They've done all they can do here to try and mitigate
18:28the concussions and those types of things. But it's one thing to pull a player off the
18:33field in week three, Donnie. It's a whole nother thing to keep them out during a, you
18:37know, Superbowl run here, which is the point of the season we're at.
18:41And by the way, this was, I'm going to go to, let's call it 1998. And you know how we knew
18:45the kid had a concussion on my team during the game was carried out on a stretcher. That's
18:49how they diagnosed concussions. That's that's back in the day, Joe. I mean, we live in a
18:53certain different time right now with totally different. Yeah. I'm totally different. Four
18:58games this weekend. If I ask you, Joe Denver or Buffalo, Denver, San Francisco, Seattle,
19:03Houston, New England, Los Angeles, and Chicago. If we do the meter of which game does Joe think
19:09will be the most intriguing game and a must watch on Joe Ranieri's table this weekend, which
19:14one is it? Yeah. Well, they're all very intriguing, right? In their own right, Donnie, because they
19:21all have a lot of narratives and storylines around them. I think a lot of people are going
19:28to look at the bears game and they're going to say, all right, the bears, this whole thing
19:33is, you're not going to keep doing this, but I, it's all a house of cards here. I think there
19:40are some teams that a lot of people in the post season right now that remain think maybe just
19:46listen, your time is coming here. You know, the 49ers, how many games can they win with a depleted
19:52roster like this? How many, how many times can the bears win games in the last, but I call me crazy.
19:58I think the Buffalo Denver game may be the most intriguing, maybe the most wildest one, because
20:03you've got, uh, you've got a proven quarterback in Josh Allen taking on a number one defense and Josh
20:10Allen. The thing on him is he has always played his best football against the best defenses that he
20:15has faced. Buffalo gets into trouble when they're better than the team that they play. But in this spot
20:22here, this is going to be an all out war. And I think the winner of that game could very likely move on to
20:28be one of the favorites to win it all. Uh, when it's all said and done, give me the bookend games,
20:34Joe, give me the first game of the weekend, four 30 on Saturday, Buffalo and Denver. Very intrigued
20:38for me. Give me the next game on to the last game on Sunday, which is the six 30 game Rams in the
20:44Chicago bears. I'm intrigued by those. I'm not saying I'm not going to watch all four games.
20:48I'm going to love every bit of it. San Francisco, Seattle, seven, eight points spread the engine that
20:52could the San Francisco 49ers. That's sort of fun. Houston, New England should be a good game. But when I just
20:57look at like explosive fireworks and Oh my goodness, did you see this? It's probably because
21:01Caleb makes throws. You don't see Matthew Stafford is a gunslinger superstars all over
21:06the field for the Rams. And then Buffalo, you just want to watch what Josh Allen does. That dude is
21:10a freak that basically says, I don't need any help around me. I'll win this myself. And then the
21:14upstart Denver Broncos at home in elevation with Bo Nix. He's trying to go toe to toe like he's the next
21:19generation of quarterbacks in the NFL. So for me, Buffalo, Denver, Los Angeles, Chicago,
21:24that's the way I'm rolling with it this weekend, Joe. Yeah, I agree. I think that I could even make
21:31the argument maybe that the Texans and the Patriots also should be maybe the last game
21:37when it's all, you know what I mean? Or even back to back here, because I think the, you know,
21:42it used to be Donnie, wasn't it AFC one day, NFC the next, or, or it, you know, way back in the day,
21:48it was like, all right, let's figure out who the AFC is. Let's figure out who the NFC is.
21:52And then we wait six weeks and we play a Superbowl. This should be very, very interesting
21:57weekend because you've got a lot of public opinion looking at these teams remaining, Donnie.
22:04And we know what they have thought all the way through to the season. Is public going to,
22:09is Buffalo going to keep being the public darling out of sight, out of mind? What, how much love is
22:14Denver or Seattle going to get since nobody's seen them now in a couple of weeks? So I'm going to be
22:19interested to see this line movement throughout the week with these teams.
22:24Also weather conditions in Denver for this game, 45 degrees, Joe, no precipitation. The forecast wins
22:29under five miles an hour, a great slate Seattle for this weekend, Joe, quick weather update for
22:34their game, 50 degrees, no rain and two mile an hour winds. Then we flip it over to Sunday in New
22:40England, 35 degree temperatures, no rain or snow in the forecast around 10 mile an hour winds. So not
22:45too bad there. And then the final game, the Chicago bears, that Sunday night game, 19 degrees,
22:50no precipitation and also winds around eight miles per hour. Like you're not going to get one of those
22:55games, freezing cold conditions, crazy windy conditions where you can't perform should be
22:59clean for all these teams. And that's all we ask for at this point, predictive markets,
23:03an interesting way to look at maybe investing money and making money. Isn't that the goal after all?
23:08Sonny Wright said it's Joe Renier. Let's dip our toes into the water of some interesting hot topics here,
23:13which includes the Miami Dolphins. They are looking for a head coach. And if we take a look
23:17at Kalshi, I don't know if you want to waste money, but it feels like you might do it. Here's
23:22the problem. Sometimes where there's smoke, there's fire. And just like in the stock markets,
23:26hey, that hot stock is rising here. Jeff Halfley is a defensive coordinator that's well thought after.
23:32He was terrible in that game against the Chicago Bears, but did you know the director of player
23:37personnel for the Chicago Bears, excuse me, for the Green Bay Packers is now the general manager of the
23:42Miami Dolphins? We're connecting dots here. Halfley, 32% chance, up 12% in the recent days
23:49to be the new head coach of the Miami Dolphins, Joe. Say it ain't so. We're going defense in Miami?
23:56Come on.
23:58What's the difference? They don't have a quarterback. They, I mean, at this point,
24:02you're rebuilding the team anyway. And as a new GM in that spot, you're going to want to have
24:08somebody that, you know, you're familiar with and that you trust and, you know, it makes sense.
24:15It really does because it's not like he's going to be tasked with trying to reinvent Tua. You know,
24:21there's, there's going to be a lot of change in Miami, unlike some other teams like Pittsburgh,
24:26who just signs 42 year old quarterbacks. They are going to hit the reset button. They're going to do it
24:32with a new front office. And I like Halfley to tell you the truth. I like him. I mean,
24:36I think the guy deserves a shot. Boo. He lost me money, Joe. Recency bias. Get that guy out of
24:43town. By the way, you bring up some good points on this. Comfortability always works. Like typically
24:48when you see a head coach get a job in the NFL, he's going to bring a lot of guys from the previous
24:52staff, unless there's that unwritten rule. You know, that unwritten rule is Andy Reid. Hey,
24:56look, you can leave, but you're not taking anybody with you. That's just the way we do business around
24:59here. And everybody usually holds up to that. But if Halfley comes to town, you see a perfect working
25:03relationship with the general manager. I'm not saying it works, but it's a good level.
25:07If you're a brand new general manager, like John Harbaugh is in line number two with a 13% chance.
25:12Do you think as a first time general manager, you want the presence of John Harbaugh,
25:16that's basically going to be able to overrule you in every decision at your beck and saw at this point?
25:20We saw that in Philadelphia, like, Hey, Howie Roseman's a GM. Chip Kelly came to town
25:24and banished Howie Roseman. General managers want to have a say that it's going to have the coach run
25:28over him. So maybe it is just that comfortability with Halfley and a hundred dollar investment
25:31on hate on Halfley, excuse me, pays back three 13. He's the favorite in the clubhouse right now
25:37for the NFL. Like every kid you grow up, like, Hey, I'm a kid. I want to be a teacher. I want
25:41to be a firefighter, police officer. I want to be the president of the United States. Like,
25:44that's what you say as a five-year-old kid, I'm going to teach these kids to grow up and be good
25:47quarterbacks. Maybe that's hard to do, but Hey kid, just get into the NFL somehow and get into
25:52those circles. You have a lot of fun because we look at jobs where we have to show up to,
25:56we have to perform. And if we don't perform, we absolutely get fired. Well,
26:00players do get fired and it's hard to make the NFL. We get that. But when you're in ownership
26:04or you're royalty in a franchise, you just get positions made for you. Like Matt Ryan,
26:08I'm sure he knows a ton about football. He's now the president of football operations,
26:12almost similar to what we saw for the Denver Broncos, which by the way, worked out when you
26:16did have a superstar quarterback, like John Elway and a legendary guy in the franchise,
26:21won a couple of Superbowls. But as you saw over the years, like, what is your actual job? And it turned
26:24out it was, you know, hanging out with your friends in the organization, grabbing beers in the
26:28afternoon, charging stakes to the organization, interviewing a couple of guys and just having
26:32fun. Matt Ryan, president of football operations, Atlanta has to be the greatest job in the history
26:37of sports. You're not even the general manager. You're probably gonna be paid a couple million
26:40dollars to sit next to Arthur Blank and go, yeah, I like that quarterback. Okay. There's your job
26:45for the week done and bet done and done. It's we've always known the NFL to be a copy copycat league.
26:54It's what they do. Right. And we already knew, right. We had well, Tom Brady with the Raiders.
27:01Then we learned that Troy Aikman leaving the booth or in the booth, as well as consulting with the
27:07Miami Dolphins. And now you have Matt Ryan, who will be leaving television to go to the front office,
27:14all of this is all a by-product because Brady got involved. Now you got Aikman. Now you got Ryan,
27:22but all of this isn't the first time we've seen this, Donnie. Remember John Elway? He was like one
27:27of the first guys that was, he went from quarterback to, and he was very good at it. So it, it's like
27:34the owners here are saying, not really happy with the general manager pool of, uh, pool of talent that
27:42we have to choose from. So they're going to go a proven way. I mean, Elway killed it in the front
27:48office of Denver. And it looks like a lot of these owners are hoping former great quarterbacks can do
27:54the same for them. By the way, Elway was about that business too. Like they were actually winning
27:58playoff games with Tim Tebow and John Elway was like, this guy can't play. Like we got to get a
28:01better quarterback and moved on obviously to Peyton Manning and won a Superbowl. But like some of
28:05these do actually work. Some of them absolutely do not work like the track record right now for Tom
28:10Brady horrendous right now out there in Las Vegas. Maybe Ryan can add that to it, but like, what a
28:15great job, like being the front office of a football team, but you're playing fantasy general manager
28:19every single day of your life and you're Matt Ryan. So even if you do get fired, Oh no, where am I
28:24going to live? I don't have any money. It's made hundreds of millions of dollars already at this
28:28point. So, Hey, I'm going to be a hater, but congratulations on Matt Ryan. They get a great job
28:32here. How about the green Bay Packers? Great job to be their head coach. And where they just
28:36collapsed, but green Bay's like, that's no big deal, Matt. Come on back. Let's work out a deal.
28:41Let's extend you here. The Packer friendly, faithful. They love you too. Or do they at this
28:46point? That's the look, as a fan, I don't want to hear my coaches coming back after getting beat
28:50like that. I don't, it's don't. Yeah. It's, it's rough. But again, what, what's the options here?
28:57Extend them because listen, he, he has single-handedly been the one that
29:02is, you know, your franchise quarterback is all about LaFleur. Like he is, you know,
29:06gotten to this point in his career because of LaFleur and, you know, injuries were a big part of
29:12what happened to green Bay this year. I think even if they give him the extension, Donnie,
29:17he's still, you know, it, the pressure is on from this point on here. He cannot keep melting down in
29:24the biggest games. They will pay him, but they will move on from him at some particular point. So
29:29he has got really no more, no more room for error. I think moving forward, even if he gets the
29:35extension. Yeah. Fire just to fire somebody. I think we're always on the same page show because
29:40it's like, get him out of here and be like, all right, let's bring in Brian Flores. Like, okay,
29:44what did that handle? Or let's bring in a, a passing coordinator from the Los Angeles Rams because he
29:50just is in touch with Sean McVay. Like be careful what you wish for and how you restart it because
29:54it's always tough when you have a franchise like the Packers, which great, like they're Superbowl or
29:58boss. Like, well, I know that. Yes, they are. Their expectations are when the division make the
30:02playoffs and make a deep run, which is basically Superbowl or bust. I don't think it's all on
30:06Matt LaFleur, but it's just hard. Like 24 hours after the game, like, okay, let's work on bringing
30:10the guy back after an epic collapse at that point, but we'll see how they turn to. And again,
30:14be careful what you wish for. You just might, I get it. And it might be even worse than what you
30:18thought it was going to be. Mike McDaniel interviewed with the Atlanta Falcons, multiple interviews.
30:24The Falcons are moving fast right now at this point, but that's Mike McDaniels in and out.
30:29It's going to be interesting to see where he ends up landing because there's a lot of jobs out there
30:33and he's still well thought out or well throughout throughout the league. Is that a spot for him in
30:37Atlanta? Cause it does make some sense. Listen, if you have a young quarterback, I would want
30:44McDaniel in some capacity to be a part of my organization to help that quarterback and, and
30:50Penn X jr. If he can stay healthy, you know, he would benefit from a guy like McDaniel. And I said,
30:56listen, the guy is the quirkiest dude you will ever meet ever. Uh, you know, it may be less time
31:02up at the podium, but he's got the experience of being a head coach now in Miami and how that team
31:09did not quit on him, how he still got that team. Once he got rid of a couple of bad apples in that
31:14locker room and wasn't afraid to sit to a and tell him he ain't good enough. You got to give
31:20the guy respect. I think he's going to land a job sooner than later, especially with a team that has
31:26a young quarterback. Yeah, no, I agree with you. And also other interviews there with the Atlanta
31:30Falcons, John Harbaugh. So let me ask you this question. If you had your choice of Mike McDaniel
31:36or Harbaugh, which way would you go? Cause Harbaugh, you know, is going to come in and set a really good
31:39foundation, but I don't need the foundation. Like I feel the foundation has already said in Atlanta,
31:43where your only goal is to get Michael Pennix to be the best quarterback he can be. And I don't
31:47know if Harbaugh can do that. Just being honest. No, Harbaugh to me makes the most sense with the
31:53Giants. I think that's the Giants have lacked leadership and stability and a lot of the other
32:00traits that, you know, this organization once stood for, he represents all of that, right? So he is the
32:07guy, I think it's not just the X's and O's, but he represents a certain stability and leadership
32:13and respect that the Giants have Joe judge didn't bring to the table here. Brian Dable did not bring
32:20to the table. So I think he's the perfect fit for the Giants. Yeah. We'll see if he ends up there,
32:27but sooner or later, that coaching carousel is going to start the move and then it's going to
32:31get slower and slower. And before you know, we'll be down to one coaching spot and see where some of
32:35these big time coaches end up here. How about the Giants executive? Chris Mara, brother of owner,
32:40John Mara told Ian O'Connor that he met with Harbaugh at his house Sunday for informal meetings.
32:46Both sides are very interested here. Hmm. And by the way, let me ask you this question. Am I reading
32:53this right? Because I don't know the Giants' inner workings here. Maybe you can help me out.
32:57Chris Mara is the brother of the owner, John Mara. So is Chris Mara an owner as well?
33:01Or no? What am I missing? Well, yes, yes. They're all owners. If you have the last name,
33:07Mara, you're an owner at some particular point, which is why he's holding the preliminary meetings
33:12there. I think it's a great fit. I really do. Don't screw it up, Chris Mara or any Mara for that
33:19matter. I think Harbaugh will help get this Giants organization back on track.
33:25By the way, the interesting part about this too is, you know what I find? Like John Harbaugh has earned
33:30the right. He is a hot commodity, but you see the reports coming out. It's basically John Harbaugh
33:34interviewing the organization to see if he wants to be there, not the other way around. Like, man,
33:40I would love to be in this organization. He's basically sitting down going, what can you do
33:44for me if I come to your organization? That's power moves right there, Joe.
33:49That's, well, that's what 18 years at an organization and plenty of respect will do for
33:54you. He's always done it the right way. He's handled a lot of stuff over the years. And, you know,
33:59listen, guys like him, they don't often, it's usually they go from the team they're at to
34:04retiring. They don't often become available like this. So yeah, uh, you get them when you can get
34:10them. What do you think they had at lunch, Joe? Like, what do you think? Like when you go over
34:13to the coach's house, is that a catered event? Is that, I picked up Chipotle. Is it real informal
34:18or is it like, Hey, let's get the crab legs out? Like, what does that meal look like when you head
34:22over there? Oh, I'm sure it's all mac and cheese and, uh, you know, finger food. Like who are you
34:28kidding? It should be nothing, but the finest top shelf bourbon known to mankind is what it should
34:34be here. Just sit for a drink in the study and, uh, and make an informal, uh, conversation about
34:40it. That's all should be no final segment of the day. Winners will be given out. We'll also get to
34:45see who you're going to be fading in the public, but I also want to talk about your, one of the
34:48topics is hot across the NFL coaches getting fired, coaches getting hired, but more importantly,
34:54at this point, this might be some turmoil in Philadelphia. Jalen hurts. Doesn't really talk
34:59about Kevin Petula, the way you're supposed to talk about your offensive coordinator, seemingly
35:03doesn't know his name. And of course the Philadelphia Eagles fans are upset about, but sometimes
35:07you just want to hear about the Philadelphia Eagles teammates of what they're saying about what
35:14happened this year. And also more importantly on the team's performance, let's get a little bit
35:18of information. You're talking with Jordan, my lot of in an interview here, a lot of people
35:23were pointing the finger at Kevin Petula saying it's his fault. The offense did this. And
35:27what is your opinion? What is your thought on that? Um, well, I said last night, I think,
35:32uh, I think the blame can be pointed at many places, not just one. Um, I think for us, for
35:39myself included, um, I place a place a lot of blame on myself and the players. We're out
35:46there. We're the ones that have to execute. And, uh, you know, we just, we weren't doing that
35:50this year. We're executing at a high rate. And that's why I think it's easy for me to
35:54say, you know, you can't just put all the blame on KP. You gotta, gotta play in the
35:58players. So we go, we, we take blame on that. Yeah. We gotta share it.
36:03By the way, if you didn't know, Julian, my lot of has the voice of an angel as well.
36:07Did you know, Joe?
36:08Oh yeah. Sounds it. Yeah, definitely. I was thinking angel when I was listening to that.
36:13Yeah. Yeah. There you go. Got a lot of words out right there, but he's not allowed to come
36:19out and say, we're going to get rid of, uh, you know, Kevin Patool at this point, but everybody
36:22I'm waiting for the notification that Kevin Patool is fired. Like Mike McDaniel is hired
36:27so I can enjoy the rest of my off season, but we'll find out. But now Joe, let's get to
36:30the, but we just heard from the people, which was Jordan Mailata. Now let's get to the real
36:34people right here. It's our Fade the Public Poll. Now here's my favorite part about the
36:45Fade the Public Polls, which sometimes, oh, there we go. It's on the screen because we
36:48had multiple polls put out this morning on the Sports Grid Network that you could vote
36:52on, which included who you think is going to win the national championship game that
36:55somehow came out of nowhere. But the real poll, Joe, should the Steelers move on from Mike
37:00Tomlin? Two answers on here. Yes, it's time. No dumb question. And
37:04right now, heavy votes coming in, Joe. Yes, it's time. 58%. And by the way, who voted
37:13right there? No dumb question. Who's that screenshot from? Who's revealing their ballot
37:16right there, Joe? Oh, I guess, uh, I, I tend to agree with whoever that was. Yeah. I, I tend
37:23to agree with that. Like, stop it. Like we, we have to stop this whole thing. Like it's like
37:29new is not necessarily better, especially with an organization that has been as
37:34conservative as the Pittsburgh Steelers have over the years with, you know, in their entire
37:40history, what three head coaches, like, come on, it's, it's not going to happen. And if
37:46it does good luck, uh, with a 43, I mean, do you think a 43 year old quarterback is signing
37:52for a new coat? No, uh, either you hit the reset button and you let Tomlin do what he's done
37:58his entire career and put this team together, or you, you, you're a guy, you got to be ready
38:03to pull a switch in there. You got to trade what you got to, you got to let everybody go
38:08here. And I don't see the Steelers doing that. Hear me out on this quickly, Joe. Mike Tomlin
38:14gets fired, hired by the Baltimore Ravens. I kind of like that. I kind of like that's hot.
38:22All right. That's what you got to worry about. Yeah. Right. Okay. That's what you got to
38:28worry. The Browns, Cleveland Browns.
38:30You.
38:32You.
38:34You.
38:36You.
38:38You.
38:40You.
38:42You.
38:44You.
38:46You.
38:48You.
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