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Outkicked the Coverage with Clay Travis

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0:27

Rolling through the program with us on the

0:29

Monday edition of the program

0:32

Big Takeaways, I started off the first

0:34

hour of the program talking about this. I think

0:36

Alabama should be at this point

0:38

in time a prohibitive favorite

0:41

to win the college football Playoff.

0:43

I think they are the best team that we

0:45

have seen in college football this year. Uh

0:48

they are set to be the number one overall

0:50

seed. I think that Alabama will

0:52

beat Florida in the SEC Championship

0:54

game. I certainly think that they will beat

0:57

Arkansas this weekend and they

0:59

will get to Tennano. And I think when they beat Arkansas this

1:01

weekend on Saturday, I think Alabama

1:03

will be the first team to effectively punch

1:05

their ticket to the college football

1:08

Playoff. But also, if

1:10

you watch the Chiefs win against

1:13

the Broncos again, the Chiefs

1:15

are now twenty and one

1:18

that is twenty wins and one

1:20

loss in their last one.

1:23

As long as Patrick Mahomes is healthy

1:26

and or doesn't test positive for

1:28

COVID, I don't see how

1:30

the Chiefs are going to get beaten in

1:33

the playoffs because I think they are

1:35

gonna flip the switch and they

1:37

are gonna take their overall caliber play

1:40

to a different level. I think

1:42

if you look around in the a f C, the

1:44

Chiefs are gonna be a fairly substantial

1:46

favorite against everyone

1:49

out there, and maybe

1:51

if they get to the super Bowl, there are

1:54

teams like the Saints that have such

1:56

a good defense that they could give

1:58

Patrick Mahomes trouble and

2:01

maybe everything could go perfect for the

2:03

Steelers and you could turn them over a

2:05

couple of times. But I just don't see

2:07

it as you're looking at right

2:09

now the NFL playoff picture

2:12

in the a f C, I don't think anybody's

2:14

gonna beat the Chiefs. I think They're gonna be back in the super

2:16

Bowl. And I've seen this for a couple of weeks now. I

2:19

think if you had to predict what the Super Bowl

2:21

is gonna be right now, Chiefs

2:23

and Saints is by far

2:26

to me the most likely single

2:28

matchup down in Tampa.

2:30

As you try and sketch out

2:32

and analyze the entirety of the NFL,

2:35

several different I would say big stories

2:38

that came out of the NFL and

2:41

and to me, the biggest story is

2:43

still the NFC West. The

2:47

Rams go and they find a way

2:49

to beat the Cardinals to get to eight

2:51

and four, and now they have the tie

2:54

break again over the Seahawks, who

2:56

lost a game as double digit

2:58

favorites that I don't think any to anticipated

3:00

they were going to lose. And so as

3:03

you start to look at the NFL playoff

3:05

picture right now, I've been arguing this

3:07

for a long time and I don't think it's

3:09

gotten as much attention as it should. But

3:13

the best matchup you can probably

3:15

get in the NFL playoffs

3:17

right now is if you are fortunate

3:19

enough to be a wild card team.

3:23

I think getting to be matched up against

3:25

the NFC East team is

3:27

going to be by far the biggest spread

3:29

that we're gonna see. But Giants

3:32

are starting to play pretty well. And if you

3:34

go back and look at what the Giants

3:36

have done the past several weeks,

3:39

first of all, they've won several close

3:41

games, right They've won four games in a row

3:43

now, But if you remember, they could

3:45

have very easily beaten the Bucks. Remember

3:47

that two point conversion. They threw the

3:49

flag and then they picked it up. Uh,

3:52

they probably arguably should

3:54

have beaten the the

3:56

Eagles on that Thursday night football

3:58

game. They've played a lot of clothe games. They

4:00

really probably should have beaten the Cowboys.

4:03

You kind of run through the Giants

4:05

schedule. Remember they gave away a game against the

4:07

Bears. There are a lot of games you

4:10

go back and you look at and you say, okay, hey, they could

4:12

have won that game. And now you come

4:14

down the stretch rund of the season and I still have no idea

4:16

who's gonna win the NFC East. But you can

4:18

at least start to look at the playoff

4:20

picture and think, okay, what's going

4:23

on right, Like, how are these how are these

4:25

teams gonna all break out? And in

4:27

fact, I'll start here in the a

4:29

f C. If the season we're ending today, we

4:31

got two Monday night football games. We got a

4:33

Tuesday night game Kansas City,

4:36

who we just saw when last night

4:38

against the Broncos. Kansas City

4:40

would be hosting the Indianapolis Colts.

4:42

That'd be one wild Card game. The

4:45

Buffalo Bills would be

4:47

hosting the Miami Dolphins,

4:50

and certainly that would be the third time those

4:52

two teams have played. And you

4:54

would have the Tennessee Titans

4:57

hosting the Cleveland Browns.

5:00

So that would be your a f C matchups right

5:02

now, and just on the outside

5:04

looking in hoping to make the playoffs,

5:07

the Raiders, the Ravens,

5:10

and New England, who was given up

5:12

for dead, has fought its way back

5:14

to get to six and six, and I think basically

5:17

Anthony Lynn's tenure as

5:19

the head coach of the Chargers is

5:21

basically over after that forty

5:23

five to nothing loss. We'll see when effectively

5:26

the Chargers actually go ahead and

5:28

pull the band aid off. But that's

5:30

kind of the a f C playoff picture right now,

5:33

right as we get ready for the to Monday night and

5:35

one Tuesday game. Then you've got

5:37

the Saints, and by the way, the Steelers would have to buy

5:39

the Saints would have to buy right now

5:42

in the NFC. Okay,

5:44

uh. Then you've got the Green Bay Packers, who

5:46

would be hosting the Minnesota Vikings.

5:49

It's crazy story, right that the

5:51

Vikings have gone from what were

5:53

they one in five, I think, and

5:56

have fought their way all the way back

5:58

to six and six X, and

6:01

that's a pretty incredible setup

6:04

when you look at where the Vikings were

6:06

to fight their way all the way back to

6:09

six and six. Now they should

6:11

be able to beat the Bears, the Vikings should they

6:13

should be able to beat the Lions. We'll

6:15

see if a Nate's good enough to potentially

6:18

make the playoffs in the NFC. It remains

6:20

to be seen, but that would be your uh

6:23

first round wild card matchup

6:25

two versus seven seed, And given the fact

6:27

that the Vikings went on the road and

6:30

dominated right against the Packers

6:33

just a few weeks ago in uh In

6:35

in Green Bay, I don't think you'd

6:37

have to be nervous about that

6:39

game very much at all. If you're a Vikings fan,

6:41

I think you'd have to feel pretty good about it. The Rams

6:44

have surged all the way up to the

6:46

three seed, and they would be hosting

6:48

Tampa Bay Buccaneers. That'd be a pretty

6:51

interesting game, right And then you would

6:53

have talking about that four or five matchup. You'd

6:55

have a rematch of the Giants,

6:58

although this time Seattle would have to try all

7:00

the way across the country to play at

7:02

New York, and then you've got the

7:04

Cardinals on the outside looking in. You've

7:06

got San Francisco forty Niners on the outside

7:08

looking in. By the way, the Bears, how

7:11

bad of the Bears been. They started five and one,

7:13

and I believe they have now lost six games

7:16

in a row. And it's hard to argue

7:18

at this point that there's any

7:20

way at all that Matt

7:23

Nage is gonna be back, right. I just

7:25

think it's almost impossible for

7:27

him to be back next season given

7:29

where they are. I think Anthony Lynn is

7:32

going to be gone. When exactly they're

7:34

gonna make the decision to move on, I'm not certain,

7:37

but all of those stories are out

7:39

there. That's the playoff picture. Now. I

7:43

went and watched. I'm a season

7:45

ticket holder. The Browns destroy

7:48

my Titans yesterday in Nashville.

7:51

Probably the greatest half of football the Browns

7:53

have ever played, Maybe the worst half of football

7:55

the Titans have ever played. Looked like it might

7:57

get close in the second half, Adam

8:00

Humphries drops so at what what would have

8:02

been a first in goal catch gets

8:04

picked off. We'll never know whether

8:06

the Browns, if they had gotten that game,

8:08

the Titans had down to thirteen

8:11

or so points, whether the Browns might

8:13

have started to get nervous about having had a thirty

8:15

eight to seven lead and it starts

8:17

to evaporate there right

8:19

then and now on them.

8:22

But I think as

8:24

you look at the Browns, nine

8:27

and three has to feel phenomenal

8:29

if you are a Browns fan, because

8:32

it hasn't happened since, I

8:36

am told was a long time ago, although

8:38

it doesn't seem that long ago to me.

8:40

But that's pretty wild to think

8:43

about how long it has been since

8:45

the Browns have been in a position where

8:48

they are sitting in as

8:50

good and as strong of position as

8:52

they are right now. So to

8:55

me, we've seen enough

8:57

football as we come up on seventy

9:00

percent of the season, and

9:02

I wonder on some level whether

9:05

the Browns have a matchup and have

9:07

a team that could that

9:11

could actually win a game

9:13

in the postseason. And let me explain

9:15

why I think that might be the

9:18

case. All Right, they have a running

9:20

game, so they can play in any environment.

9:24

Really, to me, the Browns comes down

9:26

to can they keep Baker

9:28

Mayfield in situations where he doesn't

9:30

have to win the game for him? He played fabulously

9:32

yesterday but I still feel

9:35

like Baker Mayfield runs too

9:37

hot and too cold. There's

9:39

very little consistency to his game, and

9:42

so I questioned whether if

9:44

the running game isn't working and you

9:46

have to rely entirely on Baker

9:49

Mayfield, whether he's going to be able to

9:51

win you a playoff game. But I think if you look at

9:53

those scenarios I just ran you through, I

9:55

think there's a decent chance that the

9:57

Browns are traveling back down to Nashville

10:00

and that's going to be your matchup

10:03

in UH in the wild card ground Titans

10:06

might get to host a home playoff game, although Titans

10:08

have to beat the Jags and then they certainly have

10:10

to beat the Lions because then they're gonna

10:13

go on the road against the Packers and that

10:15

becomes a really difficult game. But

10:18

a part of me feels like this

10:20

is how I opened the show, that

10:22

so much of this is like

10:24

us trying to create drama when

10:27

we already know how the show ends,

10:29

and the show ends with Patrick Mahomes

10:32

hoisting his second Lombardi Trophy.

10:35

Because I just feel like the Chiefs,

10:37

when pretty much every other team

10:40

has given you at least at some point

10:43

ample reason to not believe

10:46

that they are the answer here, that they're not

10:48

going to be able to consistently

10:50

play well. The Chiefs are freaking twenty

10:52

and one in their last twenty one

10:55

games. Dubb. I asked you

10:57

this last week, but based on what

10:59

you've seen so far, are what

11:01

do you like more? Chiefs

11:03

or the field? It's a crazy

11:06

thing. You should always take the field

11:08

because there's better value on the other

11:11

thirty one teams, and certainly

11:13

there's better value on the other thirteen

11:15

teams that are gonna make the NFL

11:18

playoffs. But I feel like the Chiefs

11:20

are on a different level than

11:22

everybody else, and maybe

11:24

in a one game situation somebody

11:27

can get lucky, but I just don't see it happening.

11:30

I'm with you kind of. It's crazy to even say out

11:32

loud that I would take one team

11:34

over the entire field of the NFL. But when you

11:36

really start to look at it, especially in the a

11:38

f C, I don't buy the Steelers can hang

11:41

with the Chiefs. They have no running games, especially not without

11:43

with bud dupree out. I liked otherwise

11:45

t J. Watt and bud Dupre's

11:47

ability to get pressure, but now that Bud

11:50

dupres out you can double team t J. Watt.

11:52

Like you said, they can't run the ball. I

11:54

just look, it's always possible

11:57

that somebody has a couple of tip ball interceptions,

11:59

that that or fumbles, that there's big turnover,

12:01

somebody returns a punt. All

12:04

of those things can happen. But it

12:06

seems to me that the Chiefs have the ability

12:08

to play at a different level than anybody else.

12:10

I agree. And then when you look across to the other side

12:12

in the in the NFC, to me, it's

12:15

two teams. It's Green Bay and it's New Orleans.

12:17

And of those two, I'd probably say New Orleans

12:19

just because the way their defense has been playing in recent

12:21

weeks. I mean, they're really flying around

12:24

and making plays. They're holding teams to well

12:26

below their season average in terms of

12:28

scoring. But if the Chiefs

12:30

and Saints played on a neutral field, the Chiefs

12:32

would be I would say at least a

12:34

four or five point favorite. So I'm not gonna put

12:36

my money behind that. So I think I'm ready

12:39

to say it's I'll take the Chiefs

12:41

over the entire field. It's crazy. How about

12:43

the Titans knowing that they

12:45

have to find a way to beat the Chiefs and

12:48

spending twenty plus million

12:50

dollars on free agent signings

12:52

Vic Beasley and Jadeveon Clowney

12:55

and getting zero sacks out of either

12:57

of those guys and now neither of them are still

13:00

left on the team. Clowney's on I R

13:02

basically and Vic Beasley

13:04

has been released. Is that one of the all

13:06

time, Like they knew exactly

13:09

what they needed to do, right, They

13:11

lost to the Chiefs last year and

13:13

they weren't able to get pressure, and they knew

13:15

they needed to go out and be able to get better

13:18

at getting pressure with their front four.

13:20

They spent all that money and they're gonna get zero

13:22

return for it. Yeah, that's gotta be

13:25

up there in terms of they knew exactly

13:27

what they needed exactly like you said, and

13:29

the production they got was literally zero from

13:32

the people they signed, literally zero. That'd be like

13:34

for a huge cost, they spent over

13:37

twenty million dollars on those guys, thinking

13:39

this can be the difference maker, We'll be able

13:41

to get better pressure. We know we need to get pressure

13:44

on Patrick Mahomes because I watched the game, and

13:46

I like going in person to a game

13:48

because you can see the field better. I don't. I'm

13:50

not gonna be the guy like Joel klatt Will who

13:52

sits around and watches an All twenty two

13:55

version of the of the film. But when

13:57

you're sitting up in the stands, you can see the field

13:59

better than you can on television, right, and

14:01

you can see the pocket better, and you can see what kind

14:04

of pressure they never got near Baker

14:06

Mayfield. With the exception of one corner

14:08

blitz, they barely even touched

14:10

him. And that's why

14:12

it's frustrating to be rooting for a team. I think

14:15

you have to be, you know, sort of wide eyed

14:17

and and and acknowledge what's out there.

14:19

The Titans have a zero percent chance to win the

14:21

Super Bowl. They can't get pressure, Like there's no way

14:24

you can beat Patrick Mahomes without

14:26

getting pressure on him, and you can't blitz

14:28

him because he picks it apart. So you have to be

14:30

able to get pressure with your front four. The Titans

14:32

can't do it. Like to me, it's kind of

14:35

like, you know, I'd like to see the Titans

14:37

make the playoffs, but when you know your team can't

14:39

win a championship, it kind of defeats

14:41

the purpose of feeling that that worked

14:43

up about making the playoffs. Yeah.

14:46

Absolutely, it seems like they just

14:48

need to pretend they're down twenty or thirty points

14:50

to start the game because they played a lot better against Cleveland

14:53

in that actual scenario. Yeah, I think that

14:55

was by design. I think the Browns knew

14:57

that the only way they could lose is if they turn the

14:59

ball over, and really didn't until the final couple

15:01

of minutes. All right, when we come back, we'll talk

15:03

with whites Out himself Shawn Merriman about

15:06

all of these NFL related issues, and

15:08

then I'll break down some of the

15:10

college football playoffs scenarios before

15:12

we get done very much longer as well. This

15:15

is Outkicked on Fox Sports Radio. This

15:18

is Outkicked the coverage with Clay Travis.

15:24

We bring in Seawan Maryman lights Out himself.

15:27

He's been on the field a lot of

15:29

times. Sean, I want

15:31

to start with the game that obviously is not that big

15:33

in the grand scheme of things right now, but

15:36

has everybody talking, and that's

15:38

the way that the Jets game ended against

15:40

the Raiders. You've been on the field for

15:42

a lot of snaps of defensive

15:44

football in your career. Have you

15:47

ever seen someone send pressure

15:50

in that situation like happened

15:53

for the Raiders to

15:55

have a chance to make that play to Henry Ruggs. No,

15:59

never, Um, And you

16:01

know I'll say this, Yeah, I've heard a lot of people

16:03

over the course of time say the team's

16:05

tanking. And I said, look,

16:08

NFL. Maybe some other sports maybe,

16:10

but definitely not in NFL. There's

16:13

no such thing as an NFL team tanking

16:15

for a number one overall traft pick. Today

16:18

I questioned that for the first time, uh,

16:21

we have we have never seen I've

16:23

never seen that ever where

16:25

you're up and you know, at

16:27

the end of the game and you call us zero blitch

16:31

with no safety over top. I've

16:33

never seen anything like that ever in

16:36

the history of the game and watching, especially when

16:38

you're trying to go out there and win. And you

16:40

know, you heard a few of the players after the

16:42

game of the press conference say we could have got

16:44

a better call. We need some help there. Um,

16:47

it is really bad over it right now. And I

16:49

for the first time ever watching football,

16:53

I think I've seen the team tanking on purpose,

16:55

uh, in order to get that first round, the first overall

16:58

traftick. You ever, you're

17:00

a smart guy. You you've called a lot

17:02

of plays, You've seen a lot of defensive calls.

17:05

You ever go rogue as a

17:07

as a defensive player and do something

17:09

different than the call in a situation

17:12

like that because or is it so

17:14

your obligation to run that

17:16

defense even if you have questions

17:18

about it? Oh

17:21

yeah, you run whatever plate call. Now. Don't get me

17:23

wrong, I have made my own place.

17:26

But my coach would tell me, way you phill

17:28

Ups or John Forgano who was a decorder

17:30

uh, you know, defense coordinated

17:32

at the time, or a linebacker coach, they would

17:34

tell me if you if you go outside the

17:36

playbook, you better make the play right

17:39

that if you freelance for lack of a

17:41

better term, like you better be like

17:43

your responsibility. You still gotta take it. Oh

17:46

yeah, absolutely, they called a plate. You run

17:48

it no matter what that situation is. Now,

17:50

if you go up under a play or come on

17:53

a stunting of lips because you see a

17:55

packle kicking out too far, yeah

17:57

you can go and get creative. But at

18:00

the time, you know night not in the time, you run whatever

18:03

plays called. And for Greg Williams

18:05

to put that team. Uh, and

18:07

look, I can't mencessarily blame it on Greg

18:09

Williams. Um. I don't think he's a bad

18:11

defensive coordinate. I think he's in a bad

18:13

organization. I think he's on a bad

18:16

defense um. And who

18:18

knows if that play call came

18:20

from him, I mean that might be bigger powers.

18:23

That's uh. They said, Hey, this is a play

18:25

call we're gonna make. We're gonna lose this game,

18:28

right, And maybe he didn't come down directly

18:30

like that, but I can't see somebody

18:33

experienced as Gregg Williams

18:37

play call make a play call like that.

18:39

Ever. It just doesn't happen. It never

18:41

happens, you know. You know what's interesting

18:44

is you talked about this to start and and

18:46

you've heard a lot of football players to say

18:48

it over the years, and I think a lot of fans

18:50

don't really understand it when

18:53

it's said. And that is

18:55

this, which is if you

18:57

can't really tank and play football right,

18:59

Like you can have guys that aren't as good

19:02

as the other team, but it's so

19:04

physical and you have to commit so much

19:06

of your mind and body to play

19:09

that it's really impossible. Unlike

19:11

you know, let's say, in the in basketball

19:14

or somewhere else, it's really impossible

19:16

to do that, right, It's

19:19

next the impossible because it's eleven

19:21

men on the field. So in order to tank, and this

19:23

is why I always say that when you're talking about the

19:26

NFL and football watch impossible for people

19:28

a tank, you still have to other guys. So say,

19:30

for example, they were in a right play call,

19:32

they were more than a uh prevent

19:35

style defense or some kind of cover for or

19:38

three where you keep everything in front of you. Now,

19:41

if the quarterback Bob was the ball and he missed

19:43

the play and the wide receiver still catches

19:45

it, then you gotta safety right there. They

19:47

can make your tackle and in the play and game

19:49

over, you still win. But to

19:52

have no one back then overtops. That

19:55

was a play call that was nothing to do with the

19:57

players. Yeah, you want to go have a gutten

19:59

mas step mental man and hope that

20:01

he goes out and prevent prevent something

20:04

wyracut can catch it. But to

20:06

have no help over top that

20:09

is coming from the coach, that is coming from the organization,

20:11

and sometimes the cornerback is gonna get beat,

20:14

but you still should in that particular situation,

20:16

you still should have somebody over time we're

20:19

talking to Sean merriman Lights Out podcast on

20:21

the I Heart Podcast network. Let's

20:23

go into what's going on in the NFC

20:25

West. It's like every single week

20:28

something different happens in terms

20:30

of the expected leader of

20:32

the division. And the

20:34

Giants got an absolutely massive

20:36

win that I don't think anybody anticipated

20:39

against the Seahawks. What's going

20:41

on with the Seahawks in that larger

20:43

context, and who do you like to come

20:46

out of the NFC West with four games to

20:48

go? Well?

20:50

For one, Rusce Wilson

20:53

had done a couple of things uncharacteristic and

20:55

him not taking to the ball and I'm not talking about

20:57

the bibble pass, the cars and the inident

20:59

to interception, but you know third and

21:01

long situations when you can throw the ball

21:03

out of bounds and live to fight another day,

21:06

you take the sack and you know he's

21:08

not taking care of the football right now. But

21:10

also I don't think they were prepared to see

21:12

coach McCory. You know, there's if

21:14

you talk about two different style of players and

21:17

for whatever reason, uh they

21:19

played up to the Seahawks level, or if

21:21

you want to look at the other way, the Seahawks

21:23

played down to the Giants level, and that's

21:26

what happens, and we just I don't

21:28

understand that how they could come for

21:30

week to week and play great against

21:33

better teams and then you come and face

21:35

a team like the Giants who are

21:37

not really a great football team at all, and

21:40

then you you stick it up. So, you

21:43

know, I think that they need to have the same level

21:45

of confidence, the same mindset going

21:47

from week to week, no matter who they're playing, because it

21:49

seems like when they play the teams that aren't

21:52

as good as they are, they

21:54

played down to their level. We're

21:56

talking to Sean Merriman as you work

21:58

through so that the race in the NFC West

22:01

is gonna be super interesting. In the Rams

22:03

right now are in the lead there,

22:05

and also the race in the a

22:07

f C South seems like it's gonna be interesting. And

22:10

for the first time since I

22:13

believe it is, the Browns are

22:15

nine and three. I was at this game.

22:17

I went and watched it in in person. Unfortunately,

22:20

as a Titans fan, it was thirty

22:22

eight to seven at the half. The Titans

22:24

got absolutely obliterated. How

22:27

good are the Browns? Was this one of those games

22:29

where you just kind of toss it out and say,

22:32

this isn't really representative of what would

22:34

typically happen because these teams could end up playing

22:36

in the postseason if they both get there. Or

22:39

is it something more significant at

22:41

play based on what happened in that Browns

22:43

Titans game. Well,

22:46

you know, you I believe that both of their records

22:48

were three the team,

22:51

but you see one a three team going

22:53

upwards and you kind of see the other eight three

22:55

team going downwards. And right

22:59

now is when you want to play your your best football,

23:01

November December, going into the playoffs,

23:03

when you want to pick up you're playing your best

23:05

football. And it seems that the last three or four games

23:08

the Titans are going the other way and the Browns

23:10

are you know, hit that hot streak

23:13

going into the playoffs. And that's the way

23:15

that those are the best teams when they when

23:17

they come down to it. Uh, you know, Titans

23:19

started the season off grade. I mean, these guys

23:21

with are stoppable running the ball and a

23:23

J. Brown, these guys and Davis catching

23:26

the ball to mean, you know, getting they were getting off

23:28

to people on the defense side of the ball. And the last

23:30

three or four weeks you just haven't seen that. So

23:32

you know, you get closer and closer to the playoffs, and

23:35

the teams are playing well, are really

23:37

going to start the show around this time? November

23:39

December will tell you a lot about

23:41

what a team's gonna do in the playoffs. What

23:44

did you think? I know, it's been several days

23:46

since this game happened and we had to you

23:48

know, game take place on a I think

23:50

it was what a Wednesday, right, the crazy

23:53

Wednesday game? But when you look

23:55

at the Steelers, are the

23:57

Steelers a team that you would be

23:59

afraid of? Or because they've played

24:02

so many close games I think they've won six

24:04

by seven or less, or are

24:06

you gonna look at it and say we can

24:08

beat this team like the Steelers. I know they're

24:11

eleven and oh, they may well finished fifteen and one, fourteen

24:13

and two, sixteen and oh, but that doesn't

24:15

feel like they have the same aura of invincibility

24:18

that typically teams with that kind of record

24:21

have. Well,

24:23

you know, it's uh, it's funny

24:25

because I said last week a few weeks

24:27

ago, that this is the most balanced

24:29

team in football, Like they don't do one particular

24:32

thing extremely well, they do a lot of things

24:34

across the board. Well, right,

24:36

it's you know not. You know, they're not a running

24:38

attack team. They don't have a great you know,

24:40

they do everything across the

24:43

board well. And those are the teams are scary

24:45

because when you're going to start game planning, you

24:47

started to stack up against whatever they do well, you

24:49

want to stop that, right, So when you can't

24:52

do that, and they have so many different

24:55

ways to hurt you and t J. Watt, these guys

24:57

get napews up. I know a

24:59

budget went down with that h c L. That's

25:01

going to hurt a little bit. But they're still so

25:04

they're will coached and they will balanced. So when

25:06

you're trying to figure a team out like that, it's

25:08

like, Okay, we gotta go in and really play these guys

25:10

well because it's not one thing

25:13

they do great. Plus you know they know how to

25:15

win football games at the end, the good

25:17

teams, it don't matter if you win by one point, six

25:19

point, seven point, it didn't matter. A win is

25:21

a win, and they've found a way to close

25:23

games out. So that's championship

25:25

football. That's that's what you're gonna need when a

25:27

game gets tight. When you get deeper to those playoffs,

25:30

you've got so much money invested in

25:32

Carson Wentz. Still if you are the Eagles,

25:35

Jalen Hurts came in, We'll see what ends

25:37

up happening with him going forward.

25:39

But as you look at Jalen Hurts and

25:42

you look at Carson Wins, what do the Eagles

25:44

have to do? I mean, given how much

25:46

money they have invested in Carson Wins, but

25:48

also given that they took Jalen Hurts in

25:50

the second round, what what should they

25:52

be doing? Well?

25:55

You move, you move on while you still

25:57

can um and if you him

26:00

permanently and already showed that you're moving off from,

26:02

then his trade value and to

26:04

be able to move him becomes the left. So

26:07

do it right now or as soon

26:09

as you can. You know, past trade that line overady, but do

26:11

it as soon as you can. Why they're still

26:13

a good market for maybe you can get a third or fourth round

26:16

pick, uh, you know, for Carson Wins.

26:18

Because look, at the end of the day, you've already

26:20

made your decision. You made your decision when you draft.

26:22

It hurts. You don't draft a

26:24

guy in the second round after you have a

26:26

quarterback you just paid if you're not playing

26:28

a move on at some point right that

26:31

just doesn't that just don't happen. I mean, we've seen

26:33

it with Aaron Rodgers. You know, even though Aaron

26:35

Rodgers is playing an m v P count level

26:38

football. You know, at the end of the day,

26:41

they still drafted a guy to come in and play.

26:43

Whether it's a year or two years, they got a guy that's

26:46

ready to go. So look, make that move,

26:48

get something for Carson Wentz now, and just

26:50

move on. I mean you you've already kind of made that decision.

26:53

Anyway. What happened to your Chargers?

26:55

We're talking to Sean Merriman. I mean, that was

26:57

a beat down of epic proportions that

26:59

Bill Bell to check the Patriots put on.

27:02

What's the story there? I mean, the Chargers

27:05

had a tough loss against the Bills. Are

27:07

they done in your mind? Yeah,

27:11

and it's unfortunate. I think now is the time to

27:13

make changes. And you know, I never want to call

27:15

out and got a poach or anybody in

27:17

the staff to get fired, because I've never done

27:19

that and I never will. But at

27:21

some point in time, you gotta look at what you have.

27:24

Right, you got a young quarterback just playing out

27:26

standing, so he has infinite

27:28

amount of ability or where he's going

27:31

with his career. You have a in

27:34

me and my opinion, three the best

27:36

wide receivers the court in

27:38

NFL. You got Uh Hunter, Henry

27:42

uh Island, and Mike Williams,

27:44

Kim and Island and Mike Williams. And so you're telling

27:46

me that with that core right there alone,

27:49

you can't score a point. I

27:51

mean, that's that was pretty embarrassing. I'm sitting

27:54

there watching, I'm back on Twitter and say and

27:56

I'm getting to the point where I just don't have anything

27:58

to say. And I never want to call out

28:00

a coach. You never want to point figuer than

28:02

anybody. But you're not scored you.

28:04

I mean this we're talking about the NFL. This

28:07

is these approach. Did you tell

28:10

me you couldn't kick a damn field goal? You

28:12

can't you get a field goal block, you can't even

28:14

get up, you can't even get up on the board. This

28:16

is not Madden, this is not a blog. These

28:19

are professional athletes, and you can't

28:21

get into the end zone one or you can't

28:23

kick a field goal. And it's embarrassing right

28:25

now. It just seems to me that the players aren't responding

28:27

to Anthony Lynn, so they

28:29

need to find a way to make that situation better

28:32

and don't ruin what you have because

28:34

you have a you have a damn good team. Look, if

28:36

you get three or four those games you lost with a seven

28:38

points this year, we're talking about

28:40

a different season. Are

28:43

you a guy I know you said you don't like to call for guy's

28:45

names guy's jobs, But

28:48

does it make sense in the NFL to

28:50

move on from a coach during the season

28:52

or you a guy that would say regardless,

28:55

it makes sense to go ahead and finish the year

28:58

and then make your decision about who you're gonna

29:00

go get, maybe to maybe to replace

29:02

him. I mean, in other words, when things

29:04

are really going bad, like the Jets

29:07

basically have decided they're gonna stick with Adam

29:09

Gaze and make him wear all of these losses

29:11

it seems, and then move on at the end of

29:13

the year. The Chargers may stick with

29:15

Anthony Lynn for the rest of the year. But

29:18

then you see a guy like Dan Quinn get

29:20

forced out in Atlanta and

29:22

they go ahead and turn the page. What do you make

29:25

sense? Well,

29:28

when my opinions, you make that move now, because

29:30

anytime you have a game like that,

29:34

the win is knocked out of a team.

29:37

When you get back into the locker room, it

29:39

looks like a funeral home and

29:41

guys are just they're handed down,

29:43

they're moping. There's just not a good atmosphere.

29:46

So the only way to get fresh life

29:48

in there in the first breath of air is

29:50

to make decisions now, to show, you

29:54

know, the players, show the fans and

29:56

everybody around the organization that

29:58

things need to change. We need to stop at the

30:00

top and then we need to trickle down

30:03

and start making some decisions. And like I

30:05

said, I'm not I'm not saying whatever you

30:07

know, the fire, Anthony Lynn, I'm not saying that at all.

30:09

I would never call for a guy to

30:12

h to be fired, so a coach be fired because

30:14

it's not fun. But at the same time, unit

30:16

performance business and you're not performing,

30:18

so you have to expect, uh, these

30:20

type of things to go down this way. Sean

30:23

Merryman, he's in the Lights Out podcast. Go check it

30:25

out in the I Heart Podcast Network. I

30:27

appreciate you giving us the time, my man. We look forward and talking

30:29

to you next week. You gotta thank

30:31

that this

30:34

is outkicked the coverage with Clay Travis.

30:41

We were decorating the Christmas tree in my house. Uh,

30:44

last night had the kids running around putting up

30:46

the ornaments. Everybody's getting excited about

30:49

the Christmas season. And

30:51

we're just a couple of weeks away from Christmas

30:53

Week and so usually I've been

30:55

saying this for a long time. When I first started doing radio,

30:58

I would always say this is crazy. Every

31:00

December, the highest rated

31:03

radio uh anywhere

31:06

is Christmas music. Like any

31:08

marketplace out there, there

31:10

are a lot of people driving around in their car that

31:12

just want to listen to Christmas music. Case I used to say, like,

31:14

why don't we just take off December and

31:17

just play Christmas music? And like everybody

31:19

just gets to chill, nobody has to go to work and

31:22

uh, and we'll just dominate instead

31:24

of leaving whoever wants to play Christmas

31:26

music the opportunity to dominate in the ratings.

31:28

But there you go, Well, you're playing

31:30

our own version of Christmas music.

31:32

As we roll through the program

31:35

here and you will hear a lot of Fox Sports Radio

31:37

Christmas music going forward. And the biggest

31:39

president under the tree in

31:41

all of the NFL, to me, by

31:43

far, is going to be Trevor

31:46

Lawrence. And yet on

31:48

Sunday you had the

31:50

Jags going into overtime

31:53

against the Vikings, and you

31:55

had the Raiders about to choke

31:57

going up against the Jets. If

32:00

they don't play that zero coverage and

32:02

if Henry Ruggs doesn't run right by

32:04

the defensive back and give Derek

32:06

Carr an opportunity to make a play there, then

32:09

both of those teams are jostling, going

32:11

back and forth over who gets the right to draft

32:14

Trevor Lawrence. And this is

32:16

one of the big challenges. You just heard me talk

32:18

about this with Shawn Merriman. In

32:21

a lot of sports, we typically do

32:23

this and talk about it a lot in the n b A

32:25

because tanking in the NBA is relatively

32:28

easy. It's why they had to institute the draft

32:30

lottery, because if you know

32:32

there's a stud who everybody

32:34

wants to take as the number one overall

32:37

pick, well, the last fifteen or

32:39

twenty games of an NBA season, you

32:41

can tank by just trotting out bad

32:44

lineups, right, but that's really

32:46

not very easy to do in

32:49

the NFL, and so nobody

32:52

wants to lose. Everybody knows

32:54

the eye in the sky doesn't lie, right,

32:57

There's constantly film of

32:59

whatever you're putting out there, and

33:02

everybody is trying to do whatever they can

33:04

to guarantee themselves another contract,

33:06

whether it's a coach, whether it's a player, and

33:09

it's so hard to tank because

33:11

nobody wants to intentionally lose

33:13

in the NFL. But simultaneously,

33:17

now, maybe Justin Fields is going to be a great

33:20

NFL quarterback too, because

33:22

it seems pretty clear that those

33:24

are gonna be the first two guys off the board.

33:27

But simultaneously, it's

33:30

so ridiculous to watch your

33:32

team play down the stretch and

33:35

be rooting against them

33:38

because you want to be able

33:40

to climb up in the overall draft

33:42

order, and because you believe Trevor

33:44

Lawrence is just that good of a can't miss prospect,

33:47

and that if you get him, whether you're

33:50

Jacksonville or whether you're the Jets,

33:52

assuming he's willing to sign with you, and

33:54

assuming he doesn't pull a John Elway or an Eli

33:56

Manning and say I refuse to play

33:58

for this individual, particul oler team.

34:01

Then all of a sudden, one

34:03

season of awfulness is

34:06

flipped on its head overnight, and

34:08

the fact that you had so much

34:11

futility for an entire season,

34:14

I guarantee you there were Jets fans jumping

34:16

for joy when the Raiders hit that

34:18

touchdown pass, and I guarantee

34:20

you as well, there were a lot of people

34:23

out there who were Jacksonville fans

34:25

that are saying, like, man, why does this

34:27

team keep playing so hard? For

34:29

Doug Morone. I'll tell you as a Titans fan,

34:32

I would love if the Jags would

34:34

not show up at all next week and just go ahead

34:36

and give us an easy win because we need

34:38

it. But I think they're trying

34:41

to win, and and so I don't

34:43

really buy into the idea that

34:45

you can tank very easily in

34:47

the NFL. Now, if

34:50

you've got a good starting quarterback

34:52

and late in the season you decide that guy's

34:55

got a nagging foot injury or ankle

34:57

injury or something, you don't play him,

34:59

that would be basically as close as you

35:01

can get too intentionally tanking.

35:04

But Sam Donald I thought played pretty well.

35:06

It doesn't feel like Mike Glennon is

35:09

infinitely worse than Gardner Minshew.

35:11

And so I think what's likely

35:14

to happen, barring some form

35:16

of craziness, is the Jets

35:18

are probably going to keep their pole position

35:21

and go up and be able to draft,

35:23

Trevor Lawrence number one overall, and

35:25

then it is a pretty good chance that Justin Fields

35:27

is going to end up being the overall

35:30

number two pick. And we got

35:32

a bunch of guys that I think could end up being first

35:34

round picks, Mac Jones, Kyle

35:36

Trask, Zack Wilson,

35:39

Uh, the kid out of North Dakota State,

35:41

what's his name, Trevor Lance or something like

35:43

that. I think who haven't watched play a lot, but

35:45

I know there's an expectation that there's around

35:48

six guys that could end up being

35:50

the overall number one. Uh

35:53

pick Trey Lance, my bad, not

35:55

Trevor Lance. So what exactly

35:57

is gonna end up happening, we don't know, but

36:00

I know there are a lot of you out there listening to me right now who

36:02

were Jets and Jags fans. You're like, man, I would

36:04

go ahead and sign the papers

36:06

to lose out go one in fifteen

36:09

if I'm a Jags fan, go oh in sixteen

36:11

if I'm a Jets fan, just for

36:13

the guarantee to be able to go get

36:15

Trevor Lawrence. And so we

36:17

had a crazy I mean double were you watching

36:19

that, like, I mean, that was pretty insane

36:21

the way it went on those early games,

36:24

with both of those teams really being

36:26

in great shape to win. Yeah. I

36:28

was let's just say I was invested in the Raids.

36:30

In the Raiders Jets game, I had the Raiders on the teasers,

36:33

so thank you, uh, thank you to

36:35

the Jets for that one. But I was watching in

36:37

the eyes of a Jaguars fan because here

36:40

you are about to go to overtime. You arguably

36:42

should have won the game against Minnesota,

36:44

and if the Jets would have hold on to one to win

36:47

their game, it's like, oh, we we literally

36:49

just won this game for nothing because

36:51

the Jaguars hold the quote

36:53

one tie breaker. So if the Jets

36:55

finally do end up winning a game and they both

36:58

the Jets and Jaguars have the record

37:00

at the end of the year, then the Jags get the

37:02

number one pick. So I

37:04

was just watching through the eyes of a Jaguars fan,

37:06

thinking like, oh my god, of course the one week

37:08

the Jets win, we're also gonna

37:10

win to screw it all up. Yeah, I

37:13

just think it's a no brainer that you should

37:15

want to lose if you're a fan of

37:17

either of those teams, even within the concept

37:20

of oh you you know the to to

37:22

to go full on? Who was it? Uh?

37:24

Back in the day, was it Dennis Green? You play

37:26

to win the game? Or was that her Edwards? I can't even remember

37:29

who was now her Edwards?

37:31

You play to win the game, not really, you

37:33

win the game by getting the opportunity to draft Trevor

37:35

Lawrence or Justin Fields. All right, when

37:38

we come back start off the beginning of

37:40

our two, we will dive into

37:43

the Chiefs their game against the Broncos.

37:45

What do we learn from the Seahawks loss? How about

37:47

the Browns big win that I watched in person

37:49

over the Titans? What are our big takeaways?

37:52

Were also scheduled to be joined in our

37:54

three of the Monday edition of the program,

37:56

as we always are by Joel Clatt. He

37:58

will swing by to hang out with us

38:01

as well all that still to come. Fox

38:03

Sports Radio has the best sports talk

38:05

lineup in the nation. Catch all of

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our shows at Fox sports Radio dot

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