You Can Win With Anyone: NFL Week Four Reaction

There's a lot of ways we can go with today because today is kind of a malaise when it comes to week four. Like week four obviously ended last night with the Falcons taking care of the Saints. But really week four was about what happened Sunday. Lamar Jackson got hurt. The Cowboys had a comfort behind victory against the Texans. It was a lot of things to kind of pinpoint. But we have to start, in my opinion, with the referees.

And this is not a long topic, but it's just something that kind of jumping off point. So if we tap into what Warren Sharp, who is an aggregator of sorts, he is an NFL mind, but he's an aggregator in addition to that. And he's been going crazy on the Elon app. Because he's talking about the referees and the impact that they had just this past week and it's a recurring theme. Now he said this has not been done Since the 2000 some of the stuff I'm gonna read to you according to him and his data and his metrics this stuff has not been done since the year 2000 So Warren Sharp at Sharp Football. If you watch the NFL and thought something didn't feel right, you're not alone. Number one most flags in over a decade.

Through four weeks, reps are impacting the most critical moments of games. Number one, most red zone penalties per game by offenses in history. Number one most penalties on third fourth downs in the second half of games in history And 17 touchdowns nullified by penalty versus five in 2025, I'm assuming up until this point. And the year before that, in 2024, it was only four. So we go from five TDs taken off the board last year, four taken off the board the year before that, to now 17 through week four And he sums it up by saying refs are impacting the most important moments of games, unlike we've ever seen before in the NFL. And even some of the coaches are speaking up. Now this wasn't necessarily a thread, but he kind of went on.

Only four teams have more drives ending in a turnover than a touchdown. So he's kind of giving you his random thoughts, his random musings, his random analysis. But the main jumping off point is the referees, right? So the referees went out there. We saw what happened at MetLife with Trey McBride of the Arizona Cardinals. He went back and forth with the ref and the ref told him to go F himself multiple times. But the ref, either unbeknownst to himself or just being so locked in and cursing out Trey McBride, didn't realize that there was cameras rolling right there and we caught it all in 4K.

So I'm sure that's going to be a thing. Then we had the referee that got bumped. And then he got up and seemed like he was about to press the player that bumped into him, although he did not realize that the player was kind of pushed into him But the ref had energy as if he was about to press the player. So it was just a lot of angst and energy from officials who are supposed to be invisible. The whole concept of an official is that you're not supposed to even know who the referees or the line judge or whoever it is unless they make an important play or a distinction or a controversial call in the moment. But instead, we're just getting rained down upon with controversial moments. Like this isn't an official thing with referees, but a couple of weeks ago we had the ball boy down there in Jacksonville.

Who was trying to take the ball and snake Travis Hunter's first ever NFL interception ball away From James Hines uh Allen who was trying to get the ball so he could give it to his teammate and this ball boy was going rogue on the sidelines Trying to keep the ball for himself and then try to carry his way out of it by saying this football player touched me and complaining to NFL security and saying this NFL player touched me. So there's a lot of unruliness going on the field and off the field when it comes to the NFL But the fact of the matter is, number one most red zone penalties per game by offenses in history. Now, is this tied to lack of a preseason? A lot of these number one offenses don't get a lot of reps during first preseason because teams, whether it's front offices or coaches or both in tandem are extremely conservative and cautious to putting their number one offense out there in the field because they don't want to get beset by injuries because football is one of the most violent sports you can ever play in your life. So is it Rust? The fact that there's number one most red zone penalties per game by offenses in history Is it Rust that is most penalties? And this goes for defenses too that is most penalties on third and fourth downs.

Critical downs, by the way. Third and fourth downs in the second half of game. So in the most pivotal moments. The most vital moments, the most game-deciding moments on third and fourth downs, we're having the most penalties in the second game second half of games in history That is extremely telling. We'll shut that down So you have the number one most penalties on third and fourth downs in the second half of games in history, and 17. That is the number that kind of stands out to me. 17 touchdowns nullified by penalty.

And through four games last year, we were only at five, and the year before that we were at four. That's extremely troubling. But I know you're not here to talk about refs unless your team specifically got screwed by one. So we want to talk about these games, right? So let's get into these games. What the hell happened last night? The Falcons took care of the Saints, blew them out.

I mean look, the Saints have something in show, show, however you want to call it. But look, the Saints is still the Saints. Their running game is atrocious. Nothing much to take out of this game is said except for the fact that with Penix now back in the fold, this Falcons offense looks like I won't say they have turned it all the way around, but they starting to look closer to what we imagined all them years ago, assuming that they would get some kind of monicum of Good quarterback play, not even great elite top tier QB play, but just good QB play. Falcons are going out there putting up points to Bijan Robinson, they're letting him run wild. five touchdowns in accordance to the other Robinson. So the Robinsons combined had five touchdowns, but Bijan is him And I know we get into draft talk and we get into I like to focus on the fact that the running back position has been micromanaged and eradicated I think unjustly and unfairly.

But when you look at what Bijan can do, you can tell me that's not worthy of a first round pick. So if you care, nasty man got another dub. That was on Thursday night. That seems like it was an eternity ago, but on Thursday night, Nasty Man got another dub. And this is the question I keep coming back to. If nasty man is actually good and not good by Houston Texans nasty man, but just in terms of this is what he is right now in his career and that's what is going to be until he ages out of it This is solid QB play, borderline good QB play. What are you going to do if you're the Clee Cleveland Browns?

He is eligible for an extension. Now there's no way in hell they re-up and give him the same type of deal they gave him to get him in the first place. However, I know it's not Shedeur. We all know it's not Gabriel. What do you do with Nastyman? Who has proven to be competent, who when given a monicum of weapons, seems to be doing okay finding those weapons as long as he's not running for his life. What are you to do with Nasty Man?

I think that's a conversation that has to be had. So we had the game over in London. We keep sending shitty games to London. The Colts take care of business against the Commanders. Commanders went down to the third string quarterback. They need Jayden Daniels back in the worst way. There's thoughts that he might be able to come back this week.

We shall see. But nothing special there. When you have Jonathan Taylor and you run him the way that you should, they take care of business. And that was all she wrote for the Commanders. Patriots and what will be considered maybe the upset of the day, take out the Bills on the road at the new Bill Stadium. This game was more about the Bills defense and the fact that they could not stop. I won't say they could not stop Drake Maye, but we have certainly seen teams stop Drake Maye over the first couple of weeks of the season, but somehow the Bills defense could not do so.

And Josh Allen was not doing Josh Allen things, the things that people have become accustomed to seeing in terms of him being the white Kim Newton, those things were not happening against the Patriots on Sunday. Not necessarily a bad thing, not necessarily a sign of problems or whatever. Just for whatever reason it didn't work against the Patriots. Like he's still him. He's still a top-tier quarterback. He has worked himself into that with help along the way with top-tier talent. But now standing alone, he got something from Keon Coleman.

He's been trying to get other guys involved, but it just did not work. Watching that game, I didn't feel as though he ever got comfortable in that game in terms of figuring out what the Patriots were trying to do to stop him Bears take care of business with their uh second, third string, whatever they want to call themselves, whether it's Bayesian or Case Kingdom. They had Case Keenum out there for the first snap because Ben Johnson was mad that people were announcing that Bayon was going to be starter in lieu of Case Keenum. But the Bears go out there, get stuff done. Again, they stick to the running game. When that team sticks to the running game, that's going to be the per the prevailing theme. in terms of watching that offense is are they running the ball and are they having success running the ball?

If they're not having success running the ball, especially now with no Caleb Williams, I don't know what they're going to give you in the passing game. So it is now predicated more than ever that they continue to run that ball. And if you look at what they were able to do in terms of plays I mean they held on to the ball that Devin Bush made the quote after the game that it was the easiest football game he's ever played in his professional career And it's because the Bears controlled the clock. Time of possession, 42 minutes, compared to just 17 for your football jets. And I think again rushing yards to see 232 rushing yards. That's how you get over 40 minutes of time of possession. And you're converting on third downs at almost a 50% clip.

So the Bears are doing what they're supposed to do. The passing game is fed off of the running game, and that needs to continue whenever Caleb Williams comes back. So we'll keep an eye on that. See what else we got here. Jags and Bengals. This one was a fun one. Ja'Marr Chase got hurt during this game This was more about the Jaguars and not uh Travis Hunter did not play one snap on offense.

And he got another pick, by the way. So that's two straight weeks for a pick when he went all last year, no picks. In the first couple of games this year, no picks. Now he's had picks in back-to-back games. Are we now witnessing the emergence of lockdown corner or ball hawk corner? I don't know if he'll ever be a true lockdown. And we'll get to some of the lockdown stuff and how some of that could be fougazy.

Are we entering the world or the time of where Travis Hunter begins to show Now again, trading up for them and mortgaging what they did to get up for them, that will probably end up not being the right thing. But in terms of putting yourself in position to take a corner Who could potentially be a lockdown or at least a extremely high-level ball hawking corner if he's going to keep making plays like this? I think it was worth it. The value proposition for me was more so of I'm getting a number one, number two type DB, and I'm getting a number two, number three wide receiver out of it as well. That they tried that last year. It didn't really work on either end. And then he got hurt.

So we never really got to see it in its fruit in its fullest capacity. Now they're running it back this year, but he's getting even less snaps on offense and they seem to be more locked into him just being a DB. If that's the case. They mortgage too much, but I like the gamble of saying, hey, if we can get two players for one, this is the NFL. They're all about the cheapness. I'm here for it. Giants and Jameis Winston take care.

Business against the Cardinals. Look, man, the Jameis experience is always going to be a fun one. The Jameis experience is always going to be something that You're gonna live and die with uh Malik Nabers look like Malik Nabers. We got a really big performance from him in this game. So I liken this to the fact of Taking care of what you can do in regards to if you are The Giants. This season is lost, right? This season is lost.

You lost Jaxson Dart. You had to go out there and get JJ McCarthy and you're handing the keys over to Jameis Winston and you're praying he doesn't go 30 for 30. Again The issue is that, okay, we need to see what we got for next year, right? This is all about next year. All these games, these wins, I mean they're leading the NFC East right now, but that's full gaze. We all know that The issue is that okay, what do you have going forward? If you're going to invest in Jaxson Dart, now you have to be a little cautious because this is now two years in a row, but he's had injuries and severe ones at that.

Now you're having to go scrape off JJ McCarthy off the scrap heap who went from a first round pick to now being given up and handed over to you for a conditional fifth round pick. It goes to show that the Vikings did not hold him in high regard and he was just with one of the latest QB gurus in KOC, Kevin O'Connell. You need to make sure Malik Nabers is back to himself and he certainly looked apart this past Sunday. What you also need to figure out is what do you have on that defense? Abdul Carter comes and goes, but Reese looks to be a s not a steal, but he looks to be a problem. And a problem in a good way. If you're the football giants.

So continuing to amass the pieces so that whoever you get at the QB position can be able to walk in there and have weapons. I still think the running back is a problem. I never believed the whole notion of Skattebo is a premiere back or a top-tier RB1. I thought he was a stopgap just like I thought Jaxson Dart was a stopgap. Now that Jaxson Dart can't remain healthy, it is easier to now put him and relegate him to, okay, we'll deal with that if he actually comes to fruition and plays for a long time. But we're just gonna make sure and try to plan for the future because we clearly cannot trust him. If we can even get through the first half of his rookie contract without him having severe injuries, then that is a telltale sign going forward.

So that rookie extension. Like Daniel Jones was able to get off. I don't see Jaxson Dart being able to get that off because of the injury is gonna make sure that does not happen. Okay Oh the Eagles and the Rams. So this game had a lot going on. And you know Jalen Hurts again. I always say the whole Jalen Hurts experience.

is so interesting because as a millinated person, as a black person that has a microphone that likes to talk about sports and likes to talk about football There is a certain precursor of you can only go so far in terms of your criticism of Jalen Hurts because he walks it, he talks it. He looks it and he has done all the right things that make you think, all right, we're gonna give this guy the benefit of the doubt, not just because he's home team, but he's authentically and genuinely home team. But that shit needs to stop. And I've been hinting at it. I've been insinuating at it for a very long time. Criticizing Jalen Hurts should not be predicated on what the color of your skin is. If he's not playing well, if he's not doing certain things that he should be doing as a person that has been put in position to be the number one.

To be a QB1, to be a unquestioned QB1, to be a Super Bowl-winning QB1, to be a top 10 QB1, then if he's not playing like it, we should be allowed to say as such. And as much as you want to bring in Sirianni, new system, new offensive line, mixing the matching pieces, injuries, it still comes down to he is supposed to be. A one-of-one. He is supposed to be in the top tier. He is supposed to play and be able to put a team on his back like some of the others that are held in high regard in terms of being top tier. Too often though, Jalen Hurts doesn't do that. Yes, he does rise to occasion in big moments.

Yes, he did rise to occasion against Mahomes twice. I know all the narratives about being pro-Jalen Hurts. What I want to know is what happens when the negatives come up with Jalen Hurts? And what is the response to that? Because at some point, accountability has to fall on the quarterback. It can't just be all Sirianni every single time. It can't just be all Howie every single time.

It can't just be all new system every single time. Because all the top-tier quarterbacks have had that and have still been able to play at a top-tier level regardless Lamar Jackson won MVPs and his number one number one wide receiver was Rashod Bateman. Josh Allen won MVPs and who is his number one number one wide receiver? Do he really want to go there? What is it, Shakir, Shafir? I think there is a conversation to be had. The offense is inept and I have the sound.

Let's see, do we have the sound? We have the sound of him being mad at one of his receivers because the receiver didn't line up. Uh here we go Let's play this. I heard two charmers in the I heard two nope that's not the right sound. Where did I put that sound? Let's find it. Where is that?

Oh, it was it didn't save? Is that what's going on here? Uh green line, I should fuck. Hurts, I had it. Where is the hurts sound? Don't tell me we lost the hurt sound We might have lost a hurts sound. That's crazy.

Alright, we'll have to that is unfortunate. Because I had that loaded up That's crazy. Okay. Let me see if I can just drag that in real quick. I don't know if I can drag it in while I'm recording, but let's see, because I do have the sound cut and ready to go. In essence, they were able to. The Eagles were lined up and a receiver was covering up the line of scrimmage.

And Hurts had to get him to motion. Let me come off screen for that. Alright, let me pull that up. Roccaster. I deadass rolled that in there last night. Are they gonna let me do it? Let's see Recording in progress.

I know. No, they're not gonna let me do it. Okay, so I don't have the sound. Good lord. Had the sound. It was in there last night. Woke up this morning, it's not there.

Okay We'll move on. But in essence, when we're talking about the Eagles, when we're talking about what's going on with Jalen Hurts, yes, no DeVonta Smith. But again, QBs are able to make plays and make things happen, right? The conservativeness of how he plays the quarterback position comes to bite him in the ass. When you look at the fact that he needed to put the team on his back, then they lose Saquon. So it's like, all right, if you're not gonna run the team to death with Saquon because you don't have any receivers now, because You know, blackballed and scapegoated your former number one wide receiver. You got him out of town.

Now you're elevating the other wide receiver, number one wide receiver, and now he's hurt. If you're not realizing, okay, we need to just run with the last thing we got, which is Saquon, then he gets hurt, then it's okay, yo, Jalen, you gotta win this game. And the number one I keep hearing about what Jalen hurts is that he's a winner. He's a winner, he's a winner, he's a winner, he's a winner. Okay, well that was a game where they were up 10 with what eight minutes left and ended up losing that game. So a winner doesn't do that. Putting a team on your back is not only comfortable or is not only available to do When you have AJ Brown, DeVonta Smith, and one of the best offensive lines we've seen in a very long time, and the Saquon and everything else.

Like it's not you're not just a winner And you're not just a big time big game QB in those moments. Being a big-time big game QB is having that type of play. When you don't have two number one wide receivers, when you don't have one of the best offensive lines we've ever seen, when you don't have a top five running back. But you can still carry whatever's left across the finish line against a good team in the Rams. That's when you earn The praise that you get. That's when you earn all the stuff that's been heaped upon you because weird people that look like me are afraid to criticize you openly because then you get called a Tom, a Sambo. Jalen Hurts has not played well.

And it's on him. Eagles were up by 10 points with a third and goal from the two-yard line with eight minutes to go and lost. That's real. That actually happened. Where was the tush push? Can't get the tush push off two times in a row, like years before? Doesn't work when you have one of the most dominant offensive lines, right?

Doesn't work the same. Doesn't hit the same, I guess, right? Jalen Hurts had 10 passing yards in the second half. Two of nine overall, ten passing yards, and fourteen rushing yards. Again, this is supposed to be a dual-threat quarterback. Let Lamar have put these numbers up. Roasted.

Open season. Shit, Lamar got hurt and people are opening open season on him Jalen Hurts is healthy and playing like shit the last two weeks and is quiet It's quiet in the melanated sports space. It is quiet Jalen Hurts in the second half, the last two weeks combined. So that's again losing to the Bears and then losing to the Rams as they got booed out of their home stadium. Eight of 21. 52 passing yards. So we could do that math.

He had 10 against the Rams. That means he only had 42 against the Bears the week before. Against a backup QB and Case Keenum, by the way. Against a defense that was given up points left and right the weeks prior, by the way But again, he's a winner. Is he a winner when he doesn't have top-tier talent that Howie has bestowed upon him every witch away? Is he still a winner? Because the scapegoat is in New England.

Can't use that anymore. You could try to wiggle out and say, hey, the Saquon Orangeman curse is a thing. You could try to get that off, but we know in actuality that's not what it is. DeVonta Smith gets hurt. There's some there's some pieces on the offensive line that are hurt. Yeah, I get it. Defense isn't as good as we thought.

The defensive line isn't that hasn't been as impactful as you would think with the names and the players on that roster. All that is factual. None of that is made up. None of that is hyperbole. But it still comes down to at the most important position on the field in the sport, Eight of twenty-one, fifty-two yards in the second half of these games over the last two weeks. Yet it's quiet. It can't continue to be quiet.

We will hit the chat. Make sure I got my cameras up here. Appreciate you with the super chat Love your change good brother. What are your thoughts on my Ravens? I have no clue what they're doing on defense. Brother, okay, so one, thank you for the super chat. I appreciate you.

Uh look, the Ravens are in a weird spot, right, where they are supposed to be something. They are supposed to be, if you look at the names. You know, we did the stream of top 10 players at QB, at wide receiver, and defensive players. And on my list, I had two Ravens. I had Roquan and Cal Hamilton. By that notion, that should mean the Ravens defense should be elite, should be top tier. But that has not been the case, and that has not been the case for a few years, by the way They don't get pressure on the quarterback.

They don't get home. So now your front four can't get home. So now you gotta bring pressure with your front seven. So now that means more Cal Hamilton in the box. Which isn't necessarily a problem per se, but you really want him to be that hybrid guy of yes, he can go down on the line And be a linebacker. He could go down online in a pinch and be a blitzing edge. But then you also want him to go back and actually be the safety that he is more natural at being.

And help to be the be that dynamic playmaker that could be a jack of all trades. But unfortunately, because that defense, that defensive line is not getting home. They're not getting the pressure. You got a blitz. Roquan, as good as he is, as good as I think he is, I think he is the best linebacker in the sport I know Kurt Warner exists out there in San Francisco, but I'm more leaning towards Roquan. And yes, I used to be a Bears fan in my former life, but that has nothing to do with it here. It's more so the fact of when it comes right down to it, that Ravens defense, whether it's philosophy, whether it's Looking at the scheme, but it's looking at the players, something hasn't been right for quite a long time with that Ravens defense.

And when you're looking at what's on that other side in terms of that Ravens offense, we know that Ravens offense can be dynamic I mean look Lamar has to be healthy, right? But in assuming health, when you have Derrick Henry, Zay Flowers looks to be good enough. He's not a true number one in my opinion, but he looks to be good enough in this offense where everything revolves around Lamar and King Henry So as long as that's the case, I mean obviously it would be an embarrassment of Richards if they have a true number one wide receiver, which the Ravens and the front office and DeCosta have failed at doing. But ultimately, I'm looking at it from the standpoint of that Ravens offense has done enough over the years to where you should be should have been in at least one Super Bowl. And if I give any other defense a Roquan Smith and a Cal Hamilton, that should be enough to get a team to a Super Bowl with that offense. Or at least with the playmakers in terms of having uh Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry. If I have Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry and they're playing to their abilities on one side and I have Roquan Smith and Cal Hamilton on the other side I should be in the conference championship and or a Super Bowl every single year.

But that has not been the case in Baltimore. And it got Harbaugh up out of there and I think it was long overdue to get him up out of there. But unfortunately, something always seems to happen. And now the bugaboo is the Ravens defense continues to be pissed poor And now we got Lamar hurt on top of it. And now you're looking at Snoop getting some run again, which is not a problem, but we know that there's a huge drop-off there. And we can only do so much with that. You can only take the Ravens as serious when they don't have Lamar Jalen Hurts was never an elite key to me, just good enough to not lose you games.

And I think that's the part that a lot of folks don't want to admit out loud. Because then you're looked upon a certain way if you look like how I look. If you're a black person that you say, hey Jalen Hurts, he's good, but he's not He's not top tier. He's not Mahomes. He's not Josh Allen. Like, well, what do you mean? No, he won a Super Bowl.

Like, yeah, he won a Super Bowl with a stacked roster. He won a Super Bowl with having two number one wide receivers in a dominant offensive line. And they won that Super Bowl in spite of Sirianni, in spite of some of the OCs that they've had there in his in his run there. They won the Super Bowl anyway. So if they so but then the narrative came, well now we gotta get AJ Brown on there. He's not the same. He's not he's not a he's not a game changer anymore.

He's not okay fine. You want to say that? Okay, cool. I don't believe it. But okay, cool. But you better have something in the top. And how we went out there in the draft and tried to get some guys, but that's not going to fill and replace AJ Brown.

Because DeVonta Smith, as good as he is, he ain't no AJ Brown. In terms of being dominant, AJ Brown was dominant at his peak, at his height, as an Eagle, and certainly as a Titan And you can argue, yeah, sure, maybe the decline was starting, but not starting to the point where we need to get rid of him. Now there were other factors going on there. I won't get into that, but in regards to playing ability. AJ Brown did not fall off enough to where it's like, yeah, we gotta get rid of him. We can certainly replace him. You don't replace an AJ Brown.

The Titans are still looking to replace AJ Brown. And now it looks like the Eagles are still trying to replace AJ Brown. Appreciate you in the chat. So let's get back to the screen. Chat is open if you want to tap in. We got some super chat goals as well. If you want to tap in, be a part of that.

Show some support to the channel as we do these streams off the strand. here so feel free to tap in uh packers and bucks this was an ugly game no baker mayfield they had a rook starting and the look and the rook looked like a rook Uh Jordan Love, he's another guy you got to call into question. Again, these QBs are held in high regard, but when they don't have the weapons. What does it look like? The Packers do not have a running game right now, and a lot of it is being put on Jordan Love's shoulders, and it hasn't looked the smoothest. We talked about the Ravens, but let's talk more about the Titans, only from the standpoint of what's going on with Cam Ward. So Cam Ward is under fire.

Cam Ward, let's be real, has not looked good. Now, we can also say Cam Ward does not have a lot of weapons. He does not have a system that is put in place to help him win. But again, if you're drafting someone number one overall You're thinking this person's gonna have that it factor, that number one top-tier elite status to be able to win me games when we have no business to win them. And Cam Ward has not shown that. And it's obviously extremely early. It's obviously something to where I'm not going to write him off, but he certainly has not shown a mental.

Uh I don't like saying these types of words, but let's just go ahead and say it. So he has not shown a maturity to him handle the spotlight of being number one on a shit team. And knowing where he's come from and the stops he's had to make along his career. It's a little surprising to me that he has not been able to handle it better because he was not a blue chip prospect everywhere he's gone. So he should know what it's like to get it out the mud. He should know what it's like to be an underdog and rise up. Yes, you were able to go to Miami and be at the U and be have all the things heaped upon you while you were at the U.

But now you realize you're being drafted as high by a shit team. That's the way the system works. So you should know, especially looking at the Tennessee Titans roster which is still trying to replace AJ Brown. You should know it there ain't a lot here, bruh They've had multiple regimes over the last couple of years, multiple coaches over the last couple of years. You should know you're walking into a direct franchise. You're walking into a poverty franchise The Tennessee Titans are a poverty franchise and you're walking in and you're being looked upon as the savior And he has not shown the maturity to be able to take that mantle and be able to walk with that and carry that The fact that he was at the press conference and you know he was upset that the reporters were not there yet because they were still in the locker room talking with the coach and stuff like that. He was upset that he was at the day at the little at the podium or whatever And no reporters were there.

And he said he's only going to give them three minutes. And then he's out. That's not how you carry yourself when you're the guy. You're the guy. You're the guy. You signed up for this. You signed up.

You wanted to be number one. If you're number one, you're more than likely going to a shit operation. You signed up for this. You signed up to be in the spot where you're going to be 0-4 in your second year in the league, and the keys were handed to you your rookie year. This is a poverty franchise. There's nowhere to go but up. But you got a man up.

When your best weapon is Wendell Robinson, you're in trouble. But guess what? You knew you were going to be in trouble. Because that's the perk of being drafted number one. You're gonna be taken by a shit team. And it's on you to help rebuild it. And it's starting to look like I don't know if Cam Ward has it in him to stick it out to rebuild that thing.

Now, the front office still got to do what they got to do. They got to do their jobs and surround him with talent so that we can see what level of QB he is. Because that's always the symbiotic relationship, right? You draft a guy that you feel is extremely high level talented at number one. Your job is then to put equal talent around him so that he can reach that peak, reach that potential as soon as possible. The Titans have not done that yet. Because when you look at let's take the Panthers for example, who we're we're gonna get to, but let's just jump to the Panthers.

Bryce Young came under a lot of scrutiny. He didn't look the part too short, too small, all that stuff, and he was not playing well. Then the Panthers started giving talent around him. And now you're like, oh, Bryce Young actually looks pretty good now. Hey, wait a minute. I think they actually got something in Bryce Young. It wasn't looking like that when he didn't have the talent around him Which then shows you the level of how high he can go.

That shows you that if he was left to his lonesome, to where he's just a guy. on a team and he's just the best player on the team that team's only gonna go only going to go so far at this level But then you put some guys around him, you put some actual weapons around him, you improve the offensive line, you give him running game You give some stability in the front office and on the sidelines. Okay, now he's in an atmosphere where he can cook up. But that shows you where the ceiling is. That shows you he'll never be elite. And the thing is, when you draft a quarterback number one overall, you're thinking you're getting a player that is elite. To me, Bryce Young will never be elite.

He could be really good. That's his ceiling. But with Cam Ward, we won't know what he is until he's been given the help around him, and then we see what he does with that help. When he's given competent weapons, a competent system, competent coordinators, and a good front office, then we'll see just how good he is. Cowboys comeback victory or at least yeah comeback victory CD Lamb what seventeen catches a ridiculous stat line if you had him in fantasy you didn't even have to bother playing anybody else Uh but let's see here. The funny thing for me is that the Texans, their strategy, I understand it's a tough cover Right? It's a tough cover going up against a squad that has George Pickens, CeeDee Lamb, and Dak Prescott playing at a high level.

It's extremely difficult, right? So I get that. However, the Texans are supposed to have good defensive players The Texans are supposed to have Stingley and Lassiter and D'Amico Ryans and just that brain trust Will Anderson. There's guys everywhere On the defensive side of the ball. There's certainly more weapons on the defensive side of the ball for the Texans than on the offensive side of the ball. So how do you allow CD Lamb to be targeted 21 times and catch 17 balls You have Derek Stingley. Why do you have him?

Why are you paying him a hundred Ms if he's not gonna follow CD Lamb around? And guess I know you gotta mix it up, cloud coverage, bracket. I get it, I get all of that. But once someone is dominating you to the point Of where they're in double-digit receptions? You have to switch that up. Are you telling me you would rather die? With CD Lamb getting 21 targets, if it if that means you hold George Pickens to three?

Is that what you're trying to tell me? Is that what you what you're trying to sell to me? Now you'd rather die with CD Lamb getting 17 for 189 in a tutty If that means George Pickens only gets two for 75 on three targets. Because that's bad philosophy. That's a f that is that would tell me you don't have a lot of faith in your secondary. But if I got one corner that makes 100M's and then another corner who is held in high regard in Lassiter, then wait, why am I not manning up every time? If ever there was a game to show that Stingley is him, why wouldn't it be?

Hey, you know what? Cedar Lands cooked us for 10 receptions. You know what? The rest of the game, Stingley, man him up, follow him everywhere. We'll give you help on a couple of occasions, but you're following him everywhere. Because then that tells me you were more afraid of Lassiter You were more afraid of Lassiter? Hang on one second.

You were more afraid of Lassiter on CD? Is that what you're trying to tell me? Because that doesn't make a lot of sense to me. If you were more afraid of Lassiter being left on the island With Pickens as opposed to CD or the vice versa of that of CD as opposed to Pickens, because if you're telling me, okay, I needed to keep Stingley. On uh Stingley on Pickens to control that. We're more afraid of the game breaking ability of Pickens, especially after the catch. I can quasi go along with that But then that means you're telling me, okay, so now I got Lassiter on CD.

But CD is cooking Lassiter, he's cooking safeties, he's cooking everybody else, but Stingley. Why are we not changing that philosophy? At what point do you audible from that? That to me is extremely troubling if because if I am the GM, if I am the owner and I just pay Stingley a hundred M's And I go out there and the Cowboys are slicing and dicing me with CeeDee Lamb and they're running him everywhere. It's not just in the slot. He was on the outside. He was the X and the Y at times.

He was everything. On the game-winning play, they had him lined up on a safety. This is in the red zone. This is with the game on the line. You're telling me even at that point you can't go against your philosophy? You can't decide to switch it up even then? Because that is the most maddening thing.

And you know, Ryan Clark and those guys on the pivot, they broke the play down, but it was clear as day, like, wait, hold up, you mean the most important play of the game? We're not gonna have our best on their best, especially when that guy's on a hitter. We're not gonna do that. Extremely troubling detail of putting that all together. It did not make a lot of sense to me, to be quite honest. It did not make a lot of sense to me So I don't know what's gonna happen there. Obviously, when you're looking at and I'll put this up here on the screen so y'all can see it.

When you're taking a look at what this is, right? 17 for 189. That to me is the biggest number. 21 targets. That means you did nothing to adjust. You did nothing. To try to make sense of what it is.

Like that means no adjustments were made. 11 first downs. 11 first downs. If you have a secondary that is thought to be in high regard, if you have a frontline, Will Anderson was getting home. When Will Anderson played while he did his job. The cloud coverage, the bracket coverage when someone is getting 21 targets and over half of those. were for first downs.

So 17 receptions of those 17, 11 went for first downs Bruh, I don't know what we're supposed to make of that Because it's extremely difficult for me to understand the fact of hey, you're supposed to be. Stingley is held in high regard. Stingley is supposed to be one of those, and Stingley is not for whatever reason. So I don't know what's gonna happen there, but that game was extremely troubling. Let me see here. What else we got? We could go back to this screen And then we'll bring bear with me, I gotta put up an overlay here so y'all can see what I'm seeing.

Video source. We'll do this one. We'll do it like that. And they will move that right there. Okay. Done. And now we'll do that.

Alright. So, all right, so we have talked about the Cowboys, Texans, Vikings take care of business against the Dolphins. Um They won in spite of Kyler Murray. Kyler Murray did not look good Dealing with injuries and things of that nature, but again, I just I don't see the progression. Kyler Murray's another guy where they gave him the money. And they assumed they as an Arizona Cardinals, they assumed he was gonna be elite. They assumed he was gonna be top tier.

Not understanding that He was given weapons. Yes, he had McBride. Yes, we thought he was going to have something with Marvin Harrison. It didn't work that way. But then before that, he had Nook. He had DeAndre Hopkins out there But he never played to a high enough level. He did not play it like someone that was worthy of being taken number one overall.

His ceiling is he could just be really good if he has enough things around him And now you would think in Minnesota wing when you have a KOC, when you have a Jettas, he's gonna have enough guys around him. And no, that's still not the case. Then that means it's on you. If you're being put in position to have all these guys around you, it's not it's not them, it's you. And I think that's what it is when it comes to cKyler Murray. Like at some point we just need to realize, hey, it's not a cKyler Murray thing That is a it's not a Vikings thing, it's not an Arizona Cardinals thing. That is a pure bona fide Kyler Murray thing.

And I think we're there now because I don't know how many more stops he'll have after this to be to be quite honest with you. I don't know how many more stops he'll have. Let's put in this in this camera. Alright, so Chiefs at Raiders, this was a great game, and this leads us to have a real question. One, are the Chiefs gonna bring back Tyreek Hill once he's healthy and cleared? And two Are the Raiders for real? Now the Raiders being for real is a thing that used to be just laughed about every year because every couple of years the Raiders would not look as trash as they was always ultimately end up being.

So we would have this moment in the season like wait a minute is this the year where the Raiders are for real? But now I have to look at the fact that they finally took a L But they didn't look piss poor playing up against the Chiefs. They did not look like a poverty franchise like they have looked like for the last couple of years against the Chiefs. And I think we need to have the conversation of not just Arterators for real, but also have the conversation of, hey man, the Chiefs are 4-0. And Mahomes is coming off the pine and coming off a bad injury, and he's walking in there 4-0. Kenneth Walker or Ken Walker has added a dimension to that offense that we have not seen In a very long time, and now potentially spinning the block on Tyreek Hill. If the offense If the all in the offensive line is not good, by the way.

The offensive line is mediocre. They're more of a running offensive line than a passing offensive line. But if we add Tyreek Hill to that, Kelce is he's still showing the remnants of himself. So you have a good enough Kelce. You have a really good Ken Walker. Then you put Cheetah out there and I don't know if he's still Cheetah, but I'll give him the benefit of the doubt of he should be able to do sluggos If he can't do nine routes, go routes, sluggos, then what are we doing here? Then you don't sign him.

So I will hope that the brain trust of the of the Chiefs is smart enough to know if the man can't do verts, if he can't do nine routes and go routes and sluggos, then there's no reason to even bring him in the fold. But if he can still do that Pair that with the fact that Ken Walker is dynamic. Pair that with the fact that Mahomes, even coming off the injury that he had, now looks to be not all the way back, but Damn near close enough, like 85-90% of the way back in their four and oh in the AFC where we gotta keep it a buck, no one's actually established themselves as being really good in the AFC right now. Outside of the Chiefs. They got Bieniemy back. The Chiefs that man, that man Mahomes. I don't know how you're gonna beat them in the AFC anyway.

Because what team in the AFC looks like Again, with Ken Walker looking the way that he looks, with Mahomes looking rejuvenated, obviously they're gonna have to figure out what to do with Thornton, who had that horrible injury. And that's why the Tyreek Hill thing has become even more stronger. The rumors were always there, but now become even stronger and louder with the injuries that they're now taking in that uh receiver room. But man, this is this is they're looking close to looking like a machine again. And that was not something I had heading into this year. I knew Ken Walker would be an upgrade for the running game, certainly, but the fact that Mahomes looks as good as he does this shortly removed from injury? Very impressive.

Uh Buccaneers, uh, Broncos, 49ers. 49ers are 4-0, but to me, it's not an impressive 4-0. They're beating the teams that have been in front of them As much as the Chiefs 4-0, to me, is more impressive than the 49ers 4-0, make of that what you will But this is more about the post-game stuff with uh Sean Payton and Greenlaw and all of that. If you want to get into that, you can. I'm not necessarily here for it per se. I don't necessarily care per se But Sean Payton is not a well-liked individual, and uh Greenlaw wanted to let him know that live and direct after they beat his former team and his former coach at the crib. Seahawks Chargers was a really good entertaining game.

Um The Seahawks are winning in spite Of the fact that they have Sam Darnold, that quarterback, they're winning in spite of the fact that, you know, they drafted Price to be their lead back to replace Ken Walker. And not only did he fumble his way into the doghouse, but now he's injured on top of that. This to me is more about the Chargers because how long are they gonna let Harbaugh in those in those Wrangler khakis slide He's found his scapegoat in Mike McDaniel, and that might be the case, and he might be a problem, but this has been a theme with Harbaugh while he's been with the Chargers. The offense has never looked right. The defense, now they're talking about putting Khalil Mack on the trade block to try to get him to a contender so they can get something for him. Like the team is not built correctly. So to me this game was more about the Chargers in Neptitude than the Seahawks taking care of business, but both things could be true.

We move on. Then we have the Sunday night where we got Bryce Young and the Lions. And I said that on the last on the last pod slash stream that I think the Lions window is closed. And I saw nothing Nothing from Sunday night to make me change my mind on that. And I think it's unfortunate because there's some real playmakers on that Lion squad that if you put them in the right position on other teams, they could really cook up. When you're when you're putting a lot of investment in Jared Goff having to win you games and trust me, I got him in fantasy. I've been very happy with Jared Goff.

And the reason why I have him in fantasy is because I know they're not going to do what I would do if I had Jahmyr Gibbs and that's run the hell off the ball and throw screens to him every single down. But I know they're gonna run, they're gonna throw the hell out the ball, despite the fact of having Jahmyr Gibbs. So Jared Goff is a great fantasy QB, but in terms of a game Like actual reality game winning QB is gonna be hard because that defense has not been solved. Um they've had injuries on that defense, they've had players be bust on that defense But I mean Hutchinson, Campbell, like those guys, they need a lot more from them Again, when we talk about are you a game changer? Are you a top-tier guy? Are you a guy that can carry the load pause and carry a direct unit or a trash unit to prominence? A lot of guys are being paid a lot of money with the thought that they're gonna be that, but it's coming to fruition that a lot of these guys are not up to that level.

But Bryce Young, you know they call it here a breakout. It's not really a breakout. He's just got some guys to throw the ball to now. And those guys are catching the ball. He's not depending on Legg. When he was depending on Leggett, Bryce Young looked like a bust. Now he's got Tet out there and Tet's catching the damn rock.

And he's bully balling people. So that is where you see now, oh Bryce Young looks good. No, he just got weapons And that's why to me I say it again, it's a symbiotic relationship because you can't tell how good a quarterback is until you find a receiver and a running back and an offensive line to gel around that player to make them to see like to see their peak to see their apex We should be good with that now. Let's see, let's take that off the screen. Stand by, remove that. Okay, there we go. Back to normal there.

And we got our normal looks back. Alright, cool. Uh da da da da da da let's go here, see this in the chat. Full-100 KJ3, Nick Foles who won a Super Bowl. And that's kind of the point, right? Like you can't keep holding on to this thing of your quarterback has to be at a high level. You can only win with an elite top-tier quarterback.

where there's plenty of examples of quarterbacks that have won that are not household names that are not top tier. I mean the fact that we could talk about your Brad Johnson's, your Trent Dilfers, like There's mediocre quarterbacks that are walking and breathing that have Super Bowl rings. And it has nothing to do with them being number one overall, has nothing to do with being top tier. Just the fact that they didn't fuck it up. They had a good enough roster around them and they were able to take advantage of it and be along for the ride and play to win the game and don't hurt the team. You can win that way too But these teams have in these front offices more so have tricked or convinced themselves that no you have to have a top tier quarterback because it makes your job that much easier. Well is the Bengals job that much easier because they have Joe Burrow?

It was early and they got to a Super Bowl and damn near won the thing. But have they looked any close to that since then? That's akin to like Marino. Marino made it to the one Super Bowl and never went back. Because it ain't guaranteed that Marino was a top-tier QB. There is no reason that Dan Marino has no Super Bowl rings in terms of QB ability. If we're talking quarterback ability, there is no reason that Dan Marino has zero quarterback rings.

Has zero Super Bowl rings and Troy Aikman has three. When it comes to skill set of the quarterback position, there is no way that Troy Aikman has three times the rings of Dan Marino. But that's the game. Troy Aikman is in the Hall of Fame because of the talent that was surrounded, that he was surrounded with. Troy Aikman's in the Hall of Fame because of Emmitt Smith. He's in the Hall of Fame because of Michael Irvin. He's in the Hall of Fame because of Alvin Harper.

He's in the Hall Fame because of the offensive line He's in the hall of fame because of that defense. He's in the hall of fame because of Jimmy Johnson. He's not in the Hall of Fame just because he was Troy Aikman and nobody else wasn't, and every and everybody else wasn't. He's in the Hall of Fame because he was surrounded He won a Super Bowl even with Barry Switzer. That had nothing to do with Troy Aikman and the help that was still there left over from the Jimmy Johnson era. There's no way Jim Kelly was a better quarterback than Troy Aikman. Yet Jim Kelly went to the Super Bowl four times and lost all four, and in part lost to the Dallas team.

Because that Dallas team was a more complete team on both sides of the ball than that Buffalo team, which was which was more of a defensive, which more which was more of an offensive first team Yes, I know they had Bruce Smith and they had Darryl Talley and some of those guys, but that team ran because of the K-gun. Because of the K-gun, which was on the offensive side of the ball. So Jim Kelly should have more Super Bowl rings based off skill set and talent than Troy Aikman. But that's not what happened. So you can't just say, well let's just go get the best guy and then that automatically means championships or it's gonna be an easier path to get to a championship just because we have the best guy. That is not automatic and I don't know what tricked them just because the Chiefs locked into Patrick Mahomes. Just because the Ravens lucked into Lamar Jackson, that doesn't just mean, oh yeah, let's just go ahead and copy and paste that because Lamar went at the bottom of the first round and Mahomes was well, he wasn't even top 10 So how is that the blueprint?

You're taking all these quarterbacks that are number one overall and they have not looked apart, or very few of them have looked the part. You can win with anyone. You can have a defense carry you to a championship. It damn near happen with the Bears or Rex Grossman. Ask me how I know. Anyway And if we want to get into some way too early like draft stuff, let's look at these rosters, right? Houston at 0-4.

Tennessee at 0-4. There's five teams that are 0-4. If you're Jeremiah Smith, who could be number one overall, where do you want to go? I don't think Houston will end up being The worst team in the league and having the number one overall pick. But if you're Jeremiah Smith, do you really want to go to Tennessee and Cam Ward? Do you want to go to Tampa and Baker Mayfield Do you want to go to Harbaugh out there in LA? It's not a very enticing bunch if you are a top flight prospect and you're looking for an opportunity.

If you're looking for an offense to flourish in, if I'm Jeremiah Smith, you better pray the Texans keep uh stinging up the joint Cause then you can have Stroud, Nico, Jeremiah Smith. Now you're talking if you're Houston But if it's it's unlikely to be that, but if it is a Tennessee, that's not a great that's a still a poverty franchise. If it's Tampa, I don't like the quarterback in Baker Mayfield being the guy there If it's the Chargers, I'm not sold on Harbaugh and I'm not sold on J Herbo, Justin Herbert. If it's Miami, that's a dumpster fire. They got a monicuma pieces. I'm not I'm not mad at Malik Willis, but I don't think he's a guy He's a very low-ceiling starter. So there's not a lot of places where you could land.

If you're a top-tier prospect, an offensively laden top-tier prospect, it's shaky. You know if you're Arch Manning, they got him going to the Titans. They gonna move on from Cam Ward this quick? I think that's just for clicks. Yeah, it's not it's not looking good. It's not looking good at all. It's not looking good at all.

Alright, let's see what else we got. Alright, so let's move on to college. So we have your man's out there in Boulder, Colorado. Coach Prime. They take another loss, what they lost to Texas Tech over the weekend. And it's not the fact that they lost, it's how they lose. And it's not necessarily how they lose.

It's it's in the sense of The downward trajectory of the whole machine that was Colorado, the missed opportunity of what Prime could have achieved, needs to be talked about and it needs to be studied. Prime had a chance with Jackson State where he could have been the Eddie Robinson of this generation. Eddie Robinson, if you're not familiar, is the legendary coach that Did his whole career at Grambling State University, a historically black college, and he built that program. From nothing into something. He got pros come out of that program. He established the fact that you can get top talent or develop talent into top talent at a HBCU. Dion had a chance with the run he had at Jackson State if he would have stayed to where he could have built Jackson State into a factory His name, his credibility, his celebrity, his status, his cachet, his swag, all of it would have worked In the swack, if he would have stayed, all of it would have worked.

The money that would have come pouring in would have came if he would have stayed there and won there And I know the narrative as well, they weren't getting enough money. He wasn't being paid the value of what he is. That's what it is when you're building something from nothing. But Prime didn't want that. Coach Prime, your man's prime out there in Boulder, he didn't want that. He wanted something ready-made. Now let's be clear.

Colorado was not ready-made, but was certainly more ready-made than Jackson State ever will be. But he left at HBCU after building that program up And I'm using building that up in a very facetious way, but he s he basically brought his children and Travis Hunter to Jackson State. Gave them a boost, gave them like a STEMI, that the STEMI, the stimulus package that Prime gave Jackson State, but then he bounced on them. And he took the Louis luggage, the alleged Louis luggage, to Colorado. And the Louis luggage must have just been Travis Hunter and Shedeur. Gone are the days where Wu Tang clan is just chilling on the sideline. Gone are the days where you have all these NFL luminaries just randomly popping up on the sidelines of Buffalo Games.

Now Colorado has gone back to being Colorado, which is an also ran program, despite the fact that they have a celebrity head coach. And it makes me channel, you know, watching lanterns on HBO. One of the you know lines that keeps coming up is was it worth it? Was it worth it? And that's what I would oppose to Coach Prime out there in Boulder. Was it worth it to leave Jackson State? Was it worth it to leave the HBCU?

When you could have been this generation's Eddie Robinson, when you could have made top-tier talent come to Jackson. You could have had four and five stars pull up every single year to Jackson just off the strength of your name. And to now see you block other college players from using their name, image, and likeness when you were One of the first athletes who bought into the notion of name, image, and likeness. We only know you as primetime because you made it up to bring more attention to yourself. And to sell yourself as an entity, as a commodity entering the NFL, to now see you on the other side. Being a part of a system that's gonna put plans in place to block future prime time from getting their market value You wanted to change the market value for cornerbacks. You knew cornerbacks didn't make no money.

You knew cornerbacks were not held in high regard when it when it was time for them to get paid. When it was time to them to be drafted high at draft picks. So you turned yourself into something. You made yourself Prime Tom. You made yourself Neon Dion. You did all those things And now you're on the other side restricting future Neon Dions and future prime times Sherman's out there on Boulder. But let's get into the particulars.

This is a great tweet. I had a few people send this to me. And yeah, I was locked in on it, but I was glad that others knew that this would be something I would feed off of. So here we are. This is basically a rundown of all the things that Prime has done negatively while being in Boulder. He fired his OC Sean Lewis for no reason. He made his sidelines a celebrity circus.

He created double standards slash favoritism for his own kids within the locker room. He currently has no special teams coach. He can't develop a quarterback not named Shedeur. He has not been able to compete in NIL. He does not make recruiting visits. He has hired friends in coaching roles that they weren't qualified for. He ran off five-star Cormani McClain.

Again, he could have stayed at Jackson. He could have locked in at Jackson, and he could have built a powerhouse at Jackson. But he never wanted to be at Jackson. He always felt like Jackson was beneath him. And that's why He'd rather go to the worst program or one of, I think they were the worst, but one of the worst programs in all of D1. in Colorado as opposed to sticking it out at Jackson State. That tells you what he thought of the SWAC.

That tells you what he thought of the MIAC. That tells you what he thought of the CIAA. When he jumped on the first thing smoking to one of the worst setups in all of college sports, certainly in all of college football in Colorado. But that's your man's primes out there in Boulder. And he still talks stridently And there's no reason to still be talking stridently because the team is a joke. The program is back to being a joke. Again, another STIMI.

He brings the STIMI. And that's why I was absolutely stunned. That he stayed after Shedeur left. I was stunned because I knew what it was attached to. I knew what his Louis luggage was, and his Louis luggage was the luggage that he had personally carried. Mentor Shedeur and then he was able to lure Travis Hunter into the frame and now he's got two pieces of luggage. Now he's got no Louis luggage, but he's still talking like he's still got that luggage.

The luggage is gone. It would have been easier to withstand the losses of pro talent and Shedeur and Travis Hunter if he would have stayed at Jackson. You're at a D1. You're at a D1 that's in a power five. You are expected to compete because of who you are and because of who you have sold yourself to be. Now you have expectations. Not to say that you would have not had expectations at Jackson, but those expectations would have come with some grace.

At Jackson. They're way more appreciative of what you would have brought to the table. Outside of the Louis luggage that is your children and your in and your surrogate child, they would have been more gracious to give you more run. They can't do that in Colorado. You sold them a bill of false goods. You were supposed to have people coming in past your children being there. That has not been the case.

He would have been able to get it out the mud at Jackson. He would have been able to withstand this firestorm if he was still at Jackson. If they would have lost Shedeur and Travis Hunter, the expertise would have been, all right, well he'll find somebody eventually. He'll have some players come through here eventually. They're not going to treat you like that in Boulder. You came in with all the fluff, the fanfare, the pomp, and the circumstance, and now in just two years. A lot of people want you gone.

It wouldn't have happened like that at Jackson. But that's your man's prime out there in Boulder. Alright, what else we got? Tony Romo. Tony Romo was finally, they reached a financial settlement. He was let go. He got the majority of his bag.

We don't know the specifics of how much. I think he was owed 75 or 70 plus M's, 75, 70 million on his deal. They reached a financial settlement, but I spoke on it here. Ain't no way that man was gonna be back in the booth because again, you brought a sense of shame and embarrassment to the company with your OWI, but then Outside of that, for the last couple of years, the company and people within the industry have been openly saying, hey man, this dude ain't really putting in the work. This dude's analysis ain't hitting like it was when he was freshly you know fresh off the bench, fresh off the sidelines or walking into the booth and predicting plays. Like that shit wore off real quick. Within a couple of years, he had lost.

The fastball. Flash in the pan, Tony Romo in the booth. It's by no fault but to himself because The one thing that he had over all the other networks that had players in the booth is that as a QB, he was literally predicting plays by reading the coverages and understanding what systems these teams were doing and being able to predict the plays. The more the years went along, the further he got removed from being attached to the game, those predictions didn't hit at the same hit rate. Which means the one thing that he had to separate himself from others in the space was no longer a thing, and he was not putting that much effort to try to find another lane. To try to counteract the fact that he was no longer prevalent in the one lane that he initially had. And it was very obvious to those that paid attention.

And as someone that used to work for that company and know people within the industry, it was widely known that Management was not happy with his performance on and off the field, to be quite honest, for a very long time now. He got that bread during the pandemic. And now they're ready to write him a check for him to go away. More sports media stuff. Bill Simmons is quote unquote worried about fraud A. Smith. The slug line here is quote, I don't know if you should be on three shows a day.

And this is why I have called Fraud A. Smith overworked and underpaid. Despite the fact that he has all these platforms and he's making allegedly 40 plus when you add in all the different ventures. For the work he has to do, he is still overworked and underpaid. I've talked about it here a lot, but McAfee gets to do the one show One show he gets to do his one daily show during the week. He makes the run on game day on Saturday. He's a part of that.

And now they want to get him in with Monday night, so they're trying to put him in the same type of position, but the bulk of his bread is based off the fact that he does that one show five days a week. And then he contributes to game day. Whereas with Fraud A, you're looking at he's got first take, still does that five days a week. He's got a radio show on Sirius that he still does. That's five days a week. And then he's got his own YouTube stuff that he does. And how often does he do that?

Is that five days a week? I don't know if that's five days a week. Smith has two daily shows. He hosts First Take Every Morning for ESPN, his daily show for Sirius XM on Mad Dog Sports Radio. He also hosts a weekly political show for Sirius XM and pops in on his own YouTube channel for occasional content. So we're talking about four different platforms First take, daily show on Sirius, a weekly political show for Sirius, and then his own YouTube channel. So that's four different shows.

Overworked and underpaid Fraud A. Smith I don't know if you've noticed, but the Manning cast has also, just like we talk about stuff that got popping during the pandemic. Tony Romo was popping during the pandemic, and the Manningcast was popping during the pandemic. I think they got some Emmys and all that stuff, and they put up a lot of big numbers. But now The Manning Cast numbers have been diminished the last few weeks. It's been on a steadily decline. It had very low viewership, as you see here in the article.

Very low viewership for the Manningcast. And they tried to turn it into something more than what it was which originally hit. Because again, just like Tony Romo, they had the fastball when he first started. The Manning Cast had the fastball when it first started when it was just Peyton and E-line And then you're bringing the guy and you're watching the game and you're talking about the game and all this stuff, but then it got to be the theatrics as the clout for the show grew, as the Emmys came in for the show. And the popularity for the show grew. They tried to make it to be something bigger, something more, like a variety show, like a late-night show. And that's not what this show was supposed to be The Manning cast is in the goddamn name.

It's supposed to be about the Manning brothers chilling, watching Minnetite football, and us kind of peeking into their analysis in real time in their you know brotherly hijinks going back and forth. That's what the show was supposed to be, but they tried to make it to be something more And it's failed. And plus we're we're not in a pandemic anymore. So people ain't really locked in for an alternate cast of Monday Night Football. We just want to know who's winning, who's playing, and who's winning the game. Do I have people in fantasy in that game or what? Whereas in the pandemic, we were just looking for anything to entertain us, anything to take our mind off of the ominous stuff of being in lockdown So the Manning brothers talking they shit, that was fun.

It was fun for a little bit. Not necessarily for me, but for a lot of people apparently. But now those numbers have been in steady decline. We hit the chat. Hit my chip, go here, then I gotta go there. Alright, so we'll go there, then we'll go here, and then we'll bring this up. Stephen A is a hyper capitalist working backwards.

See that and that's the funny part, right? Like He had all the smoke for Kaepernick, even though he was incorrect. Right? Like all of his you know maneuvering and you know trying to side with Jay-Z, like he's Charlemagne and all that stuff. Like He tries to picture himself as someone that makes a lot of money so that money gives him a lot of power. He has been disillusioned. I think because McAfee has walked in and has made more money than him and has garnered so much more power than him.

And it's stark. Like the fact that Ryan Clark was let go by the company, Ryan Clark was a frequent contributor to First Take, Get Up All Those Shows. So the Ryan Clark was not just important to the brand and the company, but it was important to Stephen A's show, which is first date. The fact that Stephen A, even if he wanted to, could not save Ryan Clark. Like let Ryan Clark like let ESPN decide to let go of AJ Hawk You notice AJ Hawk it wasn't in no layoffs, right? Like I know he's tied to McAfee's show, but like AJ Hawk doesn't do any other hits, uh to my knowledge, on any other ESPN shows. He's he's not in the car wash, he's not bouncing from show to show to show.

give it his analysis he is locked in on that McAfee thing like the people that we see in that McAfee universe they're untouched But frequently, the people that have been let go, your Cam Newton's, your Ryan Clark's, even Molly to a certain degree, Molly Cream, like the people that have been on that First take wave have been the people that the company has deemed to no longer be worthy of cashing a check. No one in that McAfee universe gets touched. McAfee didn't like Woj. He lined himself with Shams, even when Shams was working for a competitor to the Four Letter Network He'd rather have Shams on his show than Woge. And was able to get that off. That's power. So the perception that Fraude believes he has just because he makes a lot of money, he won, he makes a lot of money by working himself to death.

But then he makes a lot of money, but then there's no power behind that money. And he'll sit here and say to the to the you know to the cows come home or I put so many black people in position da da da I can tell you as someone that's worked in this industry for almost 20 years, I hear way more people saying how much they've got burned by Stephen A than people that's saying that they've been helped by Stephen A. Make of that what you will. Appreciate you in the chat. What else we got? We might go rapid fire here as we get to wrap up. So good man's Jon Gruden, who rehabbed his image by going to Barstool.

After being let go as Raiders coach because he got caught sending emails when he was working for the Four Letter Network that were racist, homophobic, transphobic, and misogynist. He pops up at a Trump rally. Make of that what you will. Seems to be a you know symbiotic relationship there as well. So former NFL coach Jon Gruden shows up to a Trump's Ohio rally. Now he can sit there like your Kurt Herbstreit of the world and claim to be apolitical Just like Jaxson Dart tried to get off like hey this has nothing to do with politics, you know, introducing Trump at a rally like Abdul Carter relax. This has nothing to do with that.

Like what what do you mean? What do you mean? So Jon Gruden, let me see, he rehabbed his image by going on Barstool, a company and an entity that has multiple people that love to say the N-word are misogynist. and lean hardcore right wing conservative. He was caught and let go from his prior employer Because he was being racist, homophobic, transphobic, and misogynist in email communications with other front office executives And now he pops up at a Trump rally. And he's gonna give us the line of he's apolitical. There is no ties, there is no there is no line of delineation, there's none of it.

There's no connecting points, there is no dotting the I's or crossing the T's there. There's nothing to make of it. These are all random happenstances. This is all coincidences. But some of you engage with his content, and that's how we get here. He gets there on this screen at a Trump rally because you thought it was cool. That Jon Gruden was rehabbing himself, putting himself out there on TikTok and then gotta deal with Barstool and then away he went.

When you don't when you don't see the play and they take advantage of you only to stab you in the back. This is what you get Uh let's see we have some quick hitters and then we'll get up out of here. So the Knicks and cat is gonna be a thing. Touching on basketball real quick. I'll touch on basketball and then one thing on one last note on sports media. So the Knicks are offering Karl- Anthony Towns Jalen Dern money. And I find that to be extremely insulting if I'm calling Anthony Towns.

So, you know, this all came down yesterday. Calling the Towns reiterated that he's not close to an extension agreement. The Knicks have offered Kat around 200 million. Not even saying firmly 200 million. Around 200 million. Which is 77 million less than his max. And I was called all types of things when I said that the whole Jalen Brunson taking less to help the team thing is going to be worse for the players.

Than anything else. Everyone love the fact that Jalen Brunson took less. Jalen Brunson took less. This is great. This is team first, team first. The team will be able to build around him. Well, what part of that plays into this?

Because Kat can't even get nowhere near his max because the team doesn't want to offer it to him So you save the team money to build a team around you and to help you keep and retain the players around you, yet they've let Mitch Rob walk And now they're playing tough with Karl-Anthony Towns. So why did you give them that discount for, Jalen Brunson? What was that discount for? A lot of people try to get at me like you're not you're not you're not seeing the vision. This is gonna help the Knicks. It's gonna help the Knicks. Okay, but here's the opportunity, but it's supposed to help the Knicks and it's not helping the Knicks.

Y'all told me this would not happen because Jalen Brunson gave back so much money and left so much money on the table so everybody else could eat. Here's Cat trying to eat, and Dolan still ain't trying to let him eat. Anyway One last story, and I appreciate everyone that's been able to tap in to the content. Appreciate you. Charles Barkley wants Jalen Rose to replace him on inside the NBA. So Chuck is making around saying this will be his last year He made the transition for the whole thing of you know TNT licensing the show to uh the Four Letter Network and he's been a part of that transition. But Charles Barkley wants Jalen Rose to replace him on inside the NBA.

And the funniest part of that to me is that when they were at TNT, they were clearly trying to hand that position off to the habitual nut hitter Draymond Green. They were doing everything that they could to line people up. If you remember, you know, the show was Tuesdays and Thursdays when they were over there at TNT. Then you saw the change of where they were having the main guys, you know, Shaq, Chuck, Kenny, EJ, on Thursdays. And then your Tuesdays would kind of be the new blood. D. Wade, Candace Parker, Adam Lefko, and the habitual nut hitter, Draymond Green You know, they have Grant Hill come in there sometimes.

I think C Web got some reps in there. Jamal Crawford got in there a little bit too. But the main core of that Tuesday group Was supposed to be D. Wade, Candace Parker, Adam Lefko, and Habitual Nutheader. Habitual Nutheader was going to play the Charles Barkley role Candace Parker was going to play the Kenny role. Obviously Lefko was going to be Ernie Johnson. And then you have um who's the other person I just mentioned?

D. Wade was going to be the Shaq role, right? Because D-Way likes to say silly shit with no back with no backstory and you know make up stuff just like Shaq does. So it fit, right? Everyone had their role, everyone played their part. And for a while there, that was the alternating thing. Tuesdays you got one crew, the young crew, and then on Thursdays you have your established crew, your vet crew, your Hall of Fame crew.

Draymond Green really believed he was gonna be the Charles Barkley. He really thought he was gonna have that pivot point, that transition point. And nothing he has done. He's been called out for how bad his takes are not only on that show, but even on his own pod He's been called out for how bad it is or how mid it is and how he's lacking in depth and dynamism dynamicism I love this. I think Jalen Rose should get another opportunity to be on TV. I can see Jalen Rose not necessarily replacing all the stuff that Chuck would bring, but there's a certain energy vibe.