Reaction to Matthew Stafford & Rams DESTROYING Bucs on SNF + NFL Week 12 | 3 & Out NFL Live

Reaction to Matthew Stafford & Rams DESTROYING Bucs on SNF + NFL Week 12 | 3 & Out NFL Live

Today’s show is brought to you by our new presenting sponsor, Hard Rock Bet. There are three things to be thankful for this week. Family, food, and you guessed it, football. Thanks to Hard Rock Bet, you can easily sneak in some bets while your crazy uncle goes on his annual rant. Sign up today and you could feast with 150 in bonus bets. Just place a $5 bet. If it hits, you not only get your winnings, but also 150 extra in bonus bets. That’s an offer you can’t pass up, even on a full stomach. Plus, this week on Hard Rock Bet, you get three 50% profit boosts, one for each Thanksgiving Day game. Boost your same game parlay or same game parlay max, so your bet pays extra winnings. Hard Rock Bet offers new promos every single day. Download the Hard Rock Bet app now and make your first deposit. Heat. Heat. What is going on everybody? Happy Thanksgiving week. Turkey Day is right around the corner, meaning a lot of football. We got a big Monday night game tomorrow night. We had a lot happen. The uh the Rams just blow out, destroy, ruin Tampa, who is in complete shambles right now. Obviously, Baker Mayfield injured, couldn’t finish the game. Teddy Bridgewwater, who was coaching high school football, leading his team to championships until uh impermissible benefits and hamburgers and Uber rides. Some opposing team surely turned them in, got him fired slash he resigned. But uh Teddy Bridgewwater’s backup quarterback, so probably pays a little more than a high school football coach. Uh so we’ll dive into that game. Lot happened today. Eagles, the Lions, the Packers, and JJ McCarthy. Chicago Bears. I mean, all the Chicago Bears do is win. Steelers in shambles. We actually just had some breaking news with Chip Kelly. Obviously, the Raider game wasn’t that interesting, right? But Shadore is making him his start, so we had to pay attention. Miles Garrett had 75 sacks. And then after Chip Kelly was just fired, some thoughts on the Monday night football game, which has a lot on the line with the 49ers in Carolina, especially with Tampa losing. So, we will dive into it all. Uh, what started to be kind of like h not much going on got good and obviously the Eagles Cowboy game really kind of uh took the afternoon to another level. But we will start with the Rams. I I do think you know after the Eagles fell apart and lost a just an awful game. I mean there you’re up 21 nothing killing the Cowboys that there’s not any part of any human being alive including Jerry Jones, Dak Prescott, Brian Shottimer when they were up 21 nothing you think the Eagles were going to lose and then they did and then the Rams come out like that. You got to say the two best teams right now in the NFC still are the Los Angeles Rams and Seattle. But the Rams ceiling right now, you know, the Devonte Adams move, I mean, you could argue two of the best offseason moves were Devonte Adams and George Pickkins. I mean, both guys are completely dominant. Now, the difference is, you know, George was a very polarizing player. Devonte was, at least in my opinion, a firstbound Hall of Fame level guy. And I think this little run with Stafford is going to really help solidify that because the way he looks with Matt looks like he did in the prime of Aaron Rogers career. He is just a dominant force. I think he has 10 touchdowns on the year. Uh he’s uncoverable. You put him with Puka, especially in the red zone. Their offense looks incredible. Their defense looks awesome. Their coaching is elite. Uh this is a team to me that just looks poised to compete slashwin a Super Bowl and now that they you know gain control of the conference like they can get homefield advantage and anytime you give Shawn McVey I mean this is a team you give them a buy especially Bat Stafford they are going to be extremely dangerous uh offensively they have a potent passing game you put them indoors hell I mean we saw them last year in the playoff game in the snow go toe-to-toe with the Eagles who clearly clearly then were better than they are now. Uh but you put this guy indoors, you know, with the weapons he has, how good their defense is playing. I mean, I did not know this Landman character from Colorado was essentially Ray Lewis reincarnated. They just extended him within the last 48 hours. He’s hitting people today like like he’s Rocoan Smith or Fred Warner. I mean I mean he’s an elite player. Then Forbes, the guy they traded for from You can’t argue with the physical characteristics and they’ve immediately flipped that guy overnight into a high-end contributing player. Like you you speak about coaching, you speak about culture, you know, if I’m a commander fan, it’s like Dan Quinn, you’re a defensive guy. We just had this guy. Our secondary sucks. You couldn’t make this work. Like what’s going on? He comes with Schula and McVey. within a couple weeks he’s he’s making huge plays tonight on Chris Godwin. Like, God, this guy’s moving. He’s mirroring the guy across the field, making plays on the ball. Like, damn. Uh, now listen, Tampa is really banged up. Obviously, Baker’s in shambles, but like their back was kind of against the wall. And to get curb stomp like they did tonight was to me much more of a reflection on the Rams than it is on them. I mean, their season’s kind of spiraling in the wrong direction, but the Rams are humming. You know, you get the momentum last week from that Seattle game and uh they look like a team like right now to me if I had to say, “Hey, who’s going to win a Super Bowl?” I would take them over Seattle just because I trust Matt Stafford a lot more than I trust Sam Darnold. Now, you know, every time now I get they’re playing the Titans. Like Sam Darnold is playing really, really well, but he is going to be under a magnifying glass as we come down the home stretch and obviously in the playoff game. But there is no disputing something pretty special is going on with Matt Stafford. Um he’s clearly going to be the betting favorite over the next 24 hours in the in the race to win the MVP. He’s playing as well as he ever has in his career. uh the the back injury, which was a real thing. He could not practice in training camp, feels like something that happened seven years ago. And I I had someone actually send me a direct message and it kind of got me thinking. And the gist of it was this guy was having a conversation about quarterback legacies and I brought up how Matt Stafford is already a Hall of Famer, which I agree. But if he wins the MVP and also wins the Super Bowl MVP, that would put him in rarified air because listen, some people have come, you know, kind of prisoner of the moment comparing his career to Rogers career. It’s not even fair. Aaron got to go to Green Bay, a place that is called like quarterback heaven. It’s an incredible place to go. And it listen, I have always defended Rogers career in the prime of his career in Green Bay. It didn’t get any better. Mass Stafford played for the Lions, right? You’re going to do a lot better in life when you go to a place that knows what they’re doing when you’re young than a place that had no clue. And when he went to the Lions, it was a joke. But what we have seen of him with Shawn McVey over these last four or five years, like he’s already checked off. If he had good coaching, no one could argue he would have been considered one of the greatest players of all time. It’s like, well, look at his record with the Lions. Everyone’s record before Dan Campbell got there my entire life was awful. Their two best players at 30 years old quit. Barry Sanders and Calvin Johnson. Literally, they said, “I’m done playing football at 30 years old. It’s like unprecedented. it never happens. He comes to the Rams, he’s now taken them to the playoffs basically every year. Obviously, he won the Super Bowl and now he’s going to win an MVP. So, like he will never have the longevity of some of these guys that are quote unquote his peers. Obviously, Rogers, Breeze, Rothlessberger, those type players because when they got and you see it now with, you know, Mahomes or Lamar, those guys got to the league and they immediately started winning. But like if I put Patrick Mahomes or Lamar Jackson on the 2008 Detroit Lions, I’m pretty confident it wouldn’t have gone that well. Why? Because it hadn’t gone well for literally everyone that went to that franchise. And now I’m watching him with the Rams. I I do think it’s whether they win the Super Bowl this year or not, if he wins the MVP, like it’s really going to be a validation for his career. And I also think he’d have to start asking himself because the quarterback draft this year is atrocious. It is not good. Besides Fernando Mendoza, who’s probably going to go number one overall, there is not another player that most people in the NFL feel comfortable that you would take in the top 20 picks. Well, his franchise, the Rams, they have the Falcons first round pick. So, they’re going to get a pick within the probably the top 15 and then they’re also going to have their pick. Well, they have a young like Devonte Adams is under contract for multiple years. Puka is going nowhere. Kyron Williams is under contract. Lamb man’s under contract. Other defensive linemen are young and under contract. So, this nucleus of the team isn’t going anywhere. So, if you’re Stafford, even if you won an MVP and the Super Bowl, doesn’t get much better. I I know he’s made a lot of money. He literally has. I think he’s one of, if not the highest paid quarterbacks or because most quarterbacks are the highest paid players of all time. I think he’s either three or two. Maybe Brady was one. Uh maybe Rogers was one. I forget. I haven’t looked at the list recently. But he’s he’s definitely in the top five of all-time career earnings for an NFL player. And he’s making $40 million this year. But why not run it back and make $45 million again next year? If this is how good your team is, this is how good you’re playing. Especially physically, he looks to be in great condition. The league has never been more conducive about extending your career as a quarterback because they can’t touch you. They literally can’t hit you. So, if you’re Matt Stafford and you feel good, uh you clearly like living in Los Angeles, your head coach is also your offensive coordinator. You have this great rapport now with these two wide receivers. Your team’s going to be in position to potentially draft some sweet offensive linemen high. I don’t think he’s going anywhere. he could only just start kind of gaining this legacy, which is kind of cool. Every once in a while, you get a guy that kind of becomes this legendary player in his mid to late 30s. And some guys have a stronger case than others, right? When when I was in high school, it was Rich Ganon, who was kind of this afterthought. Then Gruden convinces Al Davis to bring him to the Raiders, and he resurrects his career for a four or five year run, wins an MVP, takes a team to a Super Bowl. Now what Stafford’s doing more is more impressive and Stafford is a better player. But my point is that sometimes you get in these situations that you get some like late life. Now Stafford led a good life in Detroit in terms of he was always making one of if not the highest paid players in the league. Made a ton of money. Clearly was a good player but was just in a dysfunctional place. Then he goes to a place that just knows what they’re doing and you watch him and now he’s excelling and their franchise is thriving. What they did a couple years ago when they pivoted and Shawn clearly had to uh you know, listen, he didn’t handle losing well. All he had done is win and he flirted with Amazon. Don’t blame them. They were going to pay him 15 plus million dollars to call Thursday Night Football with Al Michaels. You work one day a week. You fly everywhere in a private jet with Al. It’s a pretty good life. Like it’s what I personally would have chose. But you know, I’m a media talking guy. You know, Sean McVeyy’s a football coach and he realized like, yeah, my life’s pretty good. And just because I’m a dad looked around, a lot of football coaches have kids and he’s meant to coach football. And him staying him making the move with his his college roommate Schula to be his defensive coordinator, that has been an incredible hire. And clearly, I don’t know if insecure is the right word, but he was just hesitant to do it just the way it would be looked upon. Probably not even from the outside, more internally, guys on the staff, and he’d had a bunch of good defensive coordinators. I mean, the moment he got there, Wade Phillips, uh Brandon Staley ran one of the great scams of all time in 2020. Uh obviously, Raheem was a stud for him, but Schula has been every bit as good as all those guys. And if you think about some of the teams that are probably going to have to beat, you know, to win the NFC, uh Seattle, they’re clearly pretty comfortable playing Sam Darnold. If they match up with the 49ers early, they’re pretty comfortable playing, you know, that operation as a franchise. The Eagles, they’ve played them really, really well despite losing the last two times when they played them uh this year and last year in the playoffs. You know, the Lions are extremely flawed. I I feel really really good. Obviously, health can change anything at a moment’s notice, but if you’re a Rams fan right now, I mean, tonight that that game was over after the first quarter, that that was a glorified training camp joint practice, you know, for the Rams. And uh they’re riding high. They they look they look fantastic. And Matt Stafford feels like he’s kind of solidifying his legacy on a completely different level, which is cool because I think he always had a lot of supporters in the NFL. a lot of people that, you know, thought that he was better than he ever got credit for. And it’s hard. You don’t get that much credit when you lose a lot. You just don’t. Fair not. You can be a good coach on a losing team because you’re in a dysfunctional organization, right? You can be a good player on a losing team uh because you have a bad GM, a bad coach. And when you see Matt Stafford with the Rams, it has been impressive to watch. On the flip side, I’m a big Jason Light guy. I I think he’s one of the best GMs in the league and their team fully healthy is really good, but they are not only not fully healthy, they they are trending in the wrong direction. And I get asked a lot of questions about Todd BS and even Collinssworth mentioned it tonight like those two coaches tonight couldn’t be on the opposite ends of the spectrum, right? McVey looks like a Hollywood actor. Todd looks like this old grumpy kind of quiet guy. I like Todd. He was always cool to me when I worked with him in Philly. Uh I I think he’s an excellent defensive mind, but clearly the team is really offkilter. If if Baker is seriously injured, they are just completely There really is no way around it. They would have no chance to compete. I mean, Teddy is is an awesome guy, but I mean, he was coaching high school two months ago. He he was not planning on being in the situation. So, you throw him out there out of desperation. the injuries on this team have continued to mount. Uh obviously the you know Todd is a defensive guy right now and their defense looks atrocious. So e even if you go listen you got some injuries we don’t expect you to be the 85 Bears. Can we just at least neutralize opponents a little bit? And the answer right now is no. I mean it felt like they could have thrown to Devonte every single play and there’s nothing they could do. So, I I think Tampa right now, a couple weeks ago, it felt like they would have been a shoein to win this division. The Panthers are coming and they still play the Panthers twice. Baker’s health, if you told me Baker has a serious injury, he’s going to miss a lot of time, I I would say the Panthers could not only win this division, I you could convince me Tampa’s not going to win many games moving forward. They can’t stop a sole on defense. Their offense without Mayfield is going to be in shambles. And it it just feels like the momentum that they had early in the season winning all those close games. I think you feel like you watch the Rams, you know, you you watch Seattle, you watch uh you know, some of these teams, Denver, some of these teams have a lot of momentum this year. It it feels like the the Bucks had it and now they’re rolling back down the hill going in the wrong direction. So, I don’t really know what else to say beside it’s not looking pretty at all, you know, for Tampa Bay. Uh before we dive into some other stuff, there was just some breaking news about Chip Kelly getting fired and we’ll we can talk a little too about Shadore and Miles Garrett. I I I never understood the hire for the Raiders when it came to Chip Kelly. This was a guy over the course of his last couple years at UCLA, even their good teams, they were dominated by the defensive side of the ball. The offense was not good. Dante Moore, who’s you know become a collegiate scar uh star and was one of the I I don’t know if he was second or third overall recruit. He was supposed to go to Oregon, flipped last second, went to Chip. They started him as a as a freshman and he looked at and you watch him with Oregon Dan Lanning and Will Stein, he looks fantastic. This notion that Chip Kelly is some dominant offensive mind in 2025 is laughable. Uh, I I listen I I I don’t know if it’s Pete Carol, if it was Tom Brady, but to give Chip Kelly three years, $18 million in 2025 is one of the more crazy financial investments in recent memory. It really is insane. Obviously, the Pete Carol situation is not going well. It’s it’s safe to say. I think we overuse this term. We just use it for anything right now. Like, is is your dog just washed? No, my dog’s old. He can’t walk that fast. But anything that we see that’s slowing down, we go that’s washed. Perol might legitimately be over the hill. It might be over. Same thing for Bellich. Like sometimes you get in your mid70s, no matter how much you love football, no matter how much you think about football, no matter like how much you just a football lifer, you just lose your fastball. I mean, we saw that video of Nick Sabin on the Lazy Boy watching Bill’s Chiefs when Miss Terry screams at him to sit up. He kind of looked like a grandpa. Similar age as those guys. He he just didn’t have his fast ball anymore. Doesn’t mean he doesn’t love football. Doesn’t mean he doesn’t think about football all the time, but it was just over. And I respect him for just saying, “I’m out.” Pete Carol just just couldn’t live without it. He He’s richer than he ever could have imagined his wildest dreams if you would ask him at 30 or 40 years old. But there’s just some like I don’t know if he’s got to scratch his itch with the ego, but watching him today, I mean, people talk a lot of about Stfansky, myself included, a little bit. They were just running circles around the Raiders. But like part of Chip Kelly once you get like an innovative offensive guy, you should watch something go, god, I see some stuff. Like I’m watching Stfansky today. He called some just deeper breaking routes for Shadore. Why? He’s got a bigger arm than Dylan Gabriel. And then they got in the goal line and they like ran some wildcat just direct snap to Junkkins. You can’t stop this guy because he’s one of the well Miles Garrett’s the best player on the field. Max Crosby the second best player on the field, but this guy’s might be the third best player on the field. We’re going to direct snap it to him. You watch Chip Kelly, he’s just running a normal offense. It’s like I I thought this guy was like this innovative guy. No, what he is is he’s running an all-time scam and he got $18 million. More power to him. But that is going to go down as one of the most insane hires in recent memory. Especially when you factor in he got that much money because who are you bidding against? What was he making at Ohio State? $2.5 million. He had to almost 3x his money. Uh the guy went from this kind of legendary person to just turned into this mercenary chasing cash. And he was good at it, but left UCLA a couple years ago high and dry. went to Ohio State, you know, was a huge reason that they lost to Michigan for the fourth straight year as a 20point favorite last year, running one of the worst game plans you’ve ever seen. Obviously got hot in the playoffs and parlayed that into getting fired before Thanksgiving. And listen, P. Carol’s fired a lot of coaches and typically when you fire a coordinator uh in a situation that’s getting really ugly, you’re next. So I I think at this point in time if I was a betting man I would say Pete Carol is going to be one and done. And you know speaking of that game obviously Shadore just gave the Browns a little life. I mean Dylan Gables is not good. You know I’m not going to act like Shadore is the the second coming here of Patrick Mahomes. Uh let’s see him play a real team because right now the Raiders are not a real team. That that’s you know that’s like a minor league operation. Pretty embarrassing honestly. And that’s back to Pete Carol. I don’t know what’s going on, but you only play who’s on the schedule. Shador had a couple just explosive plays down the field. Kind of refreshing if you’re a Browns fan. And I think he showed enough like he’s starting the rest of the year. And if I’m Jimmy Hasslam and they show the picture of like the GM with his laptop and Jimmy behind him on his phone like scrolling Twitter or looking at babes on Instagram or something, I I think Jimmy’s just just blame him. I appreciate the Browns too bringing Deshun Watson to mentor Shador. Quite the combination. But the to me the story for the Browns is I’ve been watching football a long time. Miles Garrett and I I wasn’t old enough to remember Lawrence Taylor beside the highlights on YouTube and obviously the way people talk about him. Uh and you just watch the highlights. I mean, show up benders on crack and then get three sacks against Joe Montana. Bellich and Parcels, you know, will go to their grave calling him the greatest defensive player of all time. The the greatest defensive players I’ve seen will probably be like Reggie White, Ray Lewis, Ed Reid. Um, there’s a short list of guys. Miles Garrett is every bit as good as any of those guys. And today he was just a man amongst boys. And I get the Raiders offensive line is in shambles, but they might as well have had me out there. They might as well had a cone out there because it did not matter. He he had three sacks. Uh, you know, he has 18 now on the season. I I think my producer Shane was telling me he’s got like 13 in this in this month. Uh, he is just an absolute wrecking ball of domination coming off the edge. I mean, he he looks like a Greek god. uh his ability to bend and explosion and tenacity. I I I I stand by what I said. I do believe that they should have traded him just because their team is so bad. I mean, they’re going to win four games with a guy that’s going to end up with like 25 28 sacks. But I also can understand if you’re the owner, are we ever going to have a player this good again? Like if you just go, who are the best players in the history of the Browns? You’d be like Jim Brown, Miles Garrett. Like that’s kind of Joe Thomas. Like it’s it’s a pretty short list of like all-time great players and like I do get it like we just need someone that some of our fans can be proud of and you know when Shadore hit the big bomb early in the game you saw his excitement. So if you’re going to motivate him just with a little more juice the Browns just today became a little more interesting while the Raiders all time circle the drain moment. I mean, God, that was that that was embarrassing. What the stat stuck he had given me is the Browns since 2000 have started 17 guys have made their debut for the Cleveland Browns and they were 0 and 17. Well, Shadur ended that today. Uh, speaking of of streaks that ended I I can’t imagine how often you’re up 21 nothing in the first half and you lose a game, right? Nick Cirriani was 55 and 22 coming into this game and I would imagine anytime he’s had a 20 plus point lead uh in a game he’s won the majority of them. There’s not at one point in time in that first half that I think the Cowboys could win. And then it just started getting weird. Me and Colin were going to go early and it’s like god now it’s 2114 and I I I just I can’t even describe what I witnessed. An all-time meltdown of just doing nothing. What I don’t get is they come out the Eagles and they’re just slicing and dicing the Cowboys. And AJ Brown looks fantastic. He’s into it. Devonte’s making plays. Jaylen’s got a rhythm. And then the second half starts and it’s just like punt punt punt punt. Miss field goal punt. It’s like how I I don’t get it. And I saw Saquon have some comments after the game trying to put it on himself saying that he’s been a non-factor all season. I do think there’s some truth to that. Uh I I don’t know if he’s, you know, had a huge year, maybe feeling himself a little bit in the off season, but like their offensive line clearly is nowhere near what it was last year, but a huge reason that they were such a dominant team last year is he had like seven or eight runs of over 50 yards. Obviously, he had whatever he had 2,000 rushing yards on the season. He had one of the truly great u you know just years for a running back that you will ever see. But there is no explosive big play capability from their running game. And clearly when they just have to depend on the pass throughout the entire game, they can’t maintain it. And I’ve had people DMing me and and texting me. I know a lot of Eagle fans in my life. Like, how can this guy who is right now I I don’t know how many touchdowns he’s thrown on the season, but he only has thrown one interception. Like, Jaylen does not turn it over. You can go through these stretches where it just looks like he is like there is no uh nothing happens. It’s like what did I just witness out of those three plays? And the knock on him has been that when you play zone, he will just dink and dunk. He will not press the envelope down the field. And I do think that’s indicative of the number of he hasn’t thrown any picks because he’s not willing to take chances. And you watch as this game. Now granted, they’re backs against the wall. They need to push the ball, but like Dak consistently, you know, in moments. Now granted, sometimes where Dak does his scariest work is when he’s down like 21, 24, 28 nothing. That’s where Dak can put up some hollow stats, but today he he played legitimate highle football. And George Pickkins has thoroughly outplayed CD Lamb. I will take a huge L. Uh Jaylen has 17 touchdowns, but when you watch him play, especially when they go through these ruts, he does not feel like a guy with a 17 to1 touchdown to interception ratio because he’s just not willing to take chances. And clearly looking back on that game, it’s like, well, they had a game plan and he felt comfortable with the first 10, 15 plays, but as the game goes on, it just kind of gets bogged down in the mud and it just goes nowhere. And then their running game doesn’t exist because their interior offensive line’s in shambles. Obviously, Lane Johnson’s injured. Saquin, I don’t know if he’s lost a step. He just doesn’t have the same burst. And all of a sudden, George Pickkins looks like I don’t know, Terrell Owens meets Randy Moss. And he he’s been he’s been elite. He’s outplayed CD Lamb. He he simply has. And he had some comments last week. Clearly matured. Uh, now you could argue some guys you got to be careful about people in contract years, but he is a dominant dominant player. And let’s face it, like CD Lamb has had stretches this year where it’s like kind of underwhelming. Had a lot of big drops. I mean, one of the reasons that they lost they they easily could be 6’4 and one if it wasn’t for CD Lamb’s big drops week one against Philadelphia. He had more today. But George Pick’s like, “Don’t worry, I got you.” and he does and he did today. He had a massive game. I mean, the last two weeks he has 20 catches, 300 yards, and two touchdowns. He has been as good of a player as anyone in the NFL. And Jerry deserves a lot of credit cuz everyone was on him. You can’t trade Micah Parsons. Well, he did and they’ve been fine. And honestly, adding Quinnon Williams, their defense looks dramatically better cuz you put him next to Clark, they just feel much more of like a solidified unit. And then offensively, the other thing is Javvonte Williams was a guy who’s like, “Oh, this guy’s shot. Don’t mess with him.” He runs his ass off. So you put him with Ferguson, even though CD is kind of hit or miss this year, the threat of him takes so much pressure off George. I mean, George is every bit as good as a number two wide receiver as there has been in the NFL in 2025. And now there’s going to be a lot of pressure on the Cowboys that even Dak said like, I can’t imagine like him going anywhere. I want him here. So, you would imagine Jerry’s going to pay him and there’s going to be a lot of pressure on their draft picks this off seasonason, but that was a fantastic win. Brian Shottenheimer deserves a lot of credit. Another guy that everyone on. Everyone just took a pulled their pants down and took a dump on the hire. I’m probably guilty as well. There is no disputing that he’s excellent with Dak and the offense throughout the majority of the season has been awesome. I also thought I was like, you’re going to put a wildcard human like George Pickins on Brian Shottimer feels a little unfair and he’s he’s thrived. So he he deserves credit for that as well. Like he can handle personalities. He’s getting the best out of his players. So if I’m Jerry, I’m taking a pretty big victory lap all week long leading right into Thanksgiving when I host the Chiefs. Okay, before we dive into a couple more games, you know, I got to tell you about my friends, my partners, and the official ticketing app of this podcast, Game Time. If you want to go to one of these games, if you want to go to a professional football game, we got you covered because Game Time, they have tickets as low as $100. They have flash deals. They have the easiest interface I’ve ever used when it comes to a ticketing app. Also, when you look at the price on the app, that is the price you will pay at checkout. There are no hidden fees. The price you see when you click on it is the price you play at checkout. So, uh, take the guess work out of buying tickets with Game Time. Download the Game Time app. Create an account. Use the code John for $20 off. Terms apply again. Create an account, redeem the code JN for $20 off. Download the Game Time app today, last minute. Take it lowest price guaranteed. Somehow in this uh podcast internet business that we’re all in, I I’ve inherited a lot of Giants fans in my life. And uh the one thing I will say, and I’ve always said this, us on the West Coast when and I having been in radio and just a lot of my friends are big Niner people. When they suck, no one pays attention. People stop watching them. yet having lived in Philly, knowing all these Giants people, New England that in the Northeast, it’s kind of like the SEC, even when you suck, they’re still going to consume it. They they kind of need it and and they try to find positive uh little elements to the team and to the operation, little things they can hold on to for the future, which I appreciate. Like, I love this. I do this for a living. I I can talk football, any team with anybody. And I I I I do wonder, and I mentioned this to Coward today, that if they if the Giants would have made Jameus Winston the backup from the jump, and honestly even made him the starting quarterback from the jump and then when they went to Jackson Dart, just turned Jameson into the backup, would Brian Davos still have a job? Cuz clearly Jamus is a lot better than Russell Wilson. Now he’s clearly a wild card and the Lions defense is in shambles. like they have issues. They can’t stop anybody. It’s the It looks like the same exact thing from last year. Explosive plays, guys wide open. And this is not Mario Manningham, uh Odell Beckham and Malik Neighbors running around out there. It’s Juan Dale Robinson, a bunch of randos, you know, Cam Scataboo getting into it with people on Twitter because he has a cast on his leg bitching and moaning about him going to Monday Night Raw. So the players Jamus is throwing to will probably not be on the team in a couple years. Yet you look up, he’s thrown for over 350 yards. He catches a touchdown, breaks tackles. I respect Dan Campbell a lot. And him making the Lions respectable is as impressive as anything you’ll ever see. Like it it it should not happen and it happened. It’s like when Jim Harbaugh showed up at Stanford and they were 11 and 11. Couple years later they’re in a BCS game. It’s like how did you do this? It’s like will, determination, heart. But once you get to the highest level, you kind of need some players. Like that’s the thing with the Eagles. It’s going to be impossible to quit the Eagles going into the playoffs because you’re like, they could beat anybody. They have the players, right? They have the elite blue chip guys at different positions. You look around the lines, you’re like, are they good enough? Like are they? They got Aiden Hutchinson, but you know, Arnold’s hurt. Who are these? Like, I don’t think they are. And what we also know about the Lions, they got to go on the road. If you tell me they’re the wild card and they’re going to Philly, they’re going to Green Bay, guess what we are all going to do? And I love Jared Goff. I’ve watched his entire career going back from when he was a freshman on a one- win team at Cal. I’m a huge golf fan, but he’s got serious limitations outdoors. And if it’s freezing cold and he’s got the two gloves, none of us are going to believe in him. So, I I I do believe and I I I think the Lions are going to be one and done here come the playoffs. And the team that’s trending a little bit just because at home, if they can win the division, they control it. They still play the Bears twice. Uh that defense is fantastic. And listen, the the stats on JJ McCarthy, I I saw something that I put in our group chat that he was as bad basically the only guy worse through a certain amount of games was Jamarcus Russell. Where’ I put it? I won’t even be able to find it, but it was essentially here it is. JJ McCarthy now ranks 851st out of 852 in expected uh in EPA per dropback among qualified passers since 2000. So basically the internet era. The only player below McCarthy is a man named Jamarcus Russell. But oh wait, it gets worse. When eliminating drop backs with quick pressures under 2.5 seconds, JJ McCarthy’s performance against the Packers ranked 344th of 346 quarterback performances this year in EPA per dropback. When he dropped backs today and really in the entire season, it is stunning when something good happens. And obviously the Packers are an elite defense. They were flying around. It was my favorite bet on the board. JJ McCarthy going into Lambo. I don’t know what that number would have had to be to put some money on the Vikings, but for me probably would have had to been at minimum 15 plus points. And that game went about as I expected. JJ McCarthy looks atrocious. And the Packers defense, listen, they’re really good. And if they are able to get home games at Lambo, they’re going to be extremely tough because we know how naturally like a lot of their games If it’s 10 degrees in the middle of January and you can’t feel your hands, you can’t feel your feet, it’s hard to sling it around. So naturally, sometimes in those moments, I remember when the Niners went in there a couple years ago against Rogers, it was awful weather. There aren’t going to be many points to be scored. So you have a huge advantage if you have an elite defense. And historically, the Packers, especially many years with Rogers, didn’t have a good defense. Well, now they got a dominant defense with an awesome pass rush. So, if I’m the Packers, like, listen, our offense is going to be a little hit or miss. But, if we can get home games at Lambo, we are going to be tough to beat. So, clearly got to win the division. And who knows with Philly, right? You going to start rooting for the Bears. You want the Bears to beat the Eagles and then you beat the Bears. And speaking of the Bears, it’s been pretty cool if you’re a Bears fan because of how shitty you have been. It’d be like if next year the New York Giants are eight and three or eight and four. It’s like, well, you’ve played nobody. You’d be like, I don’t care. Have you watched us play for the last decade? We are apologizing to nobody. And I I I mentioned this to Coward once he got sacked by TJ Watt in the play in the end zone where they where the uh Pittsburgh fell on it and the Steelers went up 14 to7. I went, I could kind of see them implode in this game. And not only did they not implode, I thought Caleb showed a lot of mental fortitude. I I thought he showed a lot of mental toughness and I I thought he played the best second half he has all season given how it kind of started, how it could have got away from him and he was getting rid of the ball fast. He makes explosive plays obviously as a scrambler. He’s excellent. And the other thing was for the first time in a while and the Bears are one of the better rushing attacks in the NFL. I think technically they’re number two. I don’t know what they are after a day. They were not running the ball well at all. So, a lot of pressure and listen, their defense isn’t any good. So, the pressure was on Caleb and he came through. Like comparing Caleb Williams and JJ McCarth Caleb Williams like Joe Montana or Tom Brady compared to JJ McCarthy. Like there is no arguing that if you’re a Vikings fan, like this guy stinks. And it doesn’t bring me joy. I’m not I’m not rooting against him. But you can’t wear that war paint. You can’t look like a Viking going out to battle and then play like that. If you’re going to wear that war paint, you got to be good at football. It works in college if you’re on the number one team in the country. It does not work in the pros if you’re throwing two or three interceptions a game. So, props to Caleb. And luckily for if you’re a Bears fan, the Vikings are in absolute shambles. And the Lions are kind of leaking oil as well. Uh I I’ve said this for a while, the the Steelers are in full implosion mode. They’re just not that good. And if it’s not for TJ Watt making some incredible play, they’re just not very good. Their offense, I mean, Mason Rudolph was dinking and dunking my eyes to death today. It’s like, can you push the ball down the field? And then he try and it wasn’t even close. And JJ JJ Watt, who has a fantastic head of hair as a bald man who is pretty good judge of other people’s lettuce. JJ Watt, I don’t know if he’s a 10 out of 10. That’d be like Brad Pitt, but he’s like a nine. Just a remarkable head of lettuce on that man’s head. But his brother and that team is is going to circle the drain. Now, the Ravens are not very good either. Lamar Jackson looks like he’s like 70% right now. He’s he’s he’s clearly banged up. Doesn’t quite have the same juice. Uh they were just kind of playing with their food today against the Jets. They still won the game. Uh Henry had a couple touchdowns, but they look kind of like a oneanddone team as well. Obviously the Bengals stink and the Browns um have three wins, but at least they’re somewhat interesting because they got Miles Garrett and now Shadore, but they’re they’re not any good as a team either. So the AFC North went from was it a couple years ago we’re like that’s the best division in football to now being like that division stinks. So I I’d be stunned. We It’s a one playoff bid division. Whoever wins the division will be the four seed and I I think depending on who they play more than likely they are a oneandone team. Couple things now Monday Night Football. One story that went pretty viral over the weekend this Brandon Iayuk situation and I read Mike Silver and Diana’s article. I watched Kyle Shanahan’s press conference. I saw Rap Sheet and Gareth Folo and some of those guys on NFL Network chime in. And I gotta be honest, as we head to Monday Night Football and I follow this team as close, if not closer, than any other team in the league, I’m really confused. I do not quite understand what’s going on because the story broke that Ike is going to give up $25 million and not even fight it. I went in one you cannot do that as a human being unless you’re like Bezos like I mean super super rich no one ever just willingly gives up $25 million and you be like John what if something egregious happens and he doesn’t want it to get out. Well Kyle Shanahan mentioned yesterday this situation all started in July. Well training camp kind of starts in July. What’s the worst thing that could happen? He doesn’t show up day one in July. That doesn’t get $25 million voided. There are still more holes in this story than there are answers. I do not quite understand what is happening and we don’t have enough details because it does not make sense. It does not pass the sniff test. Especially when Kyle Shanahan goes, “Yeah, yeah, I’d take him back. If he’s healthy, he’ll play. By no means is it over.” Now, maybe he’s saying that because some team lawyers tell him to say that, but then Gareth Folio and Rap Sheet are saying like, “Yeah, it’s not out of the realm possibility that he still plays this season for the 49ers.” I’m like, “What? What the are we talking about? This this is a story that is typically made for those type teams that win like two or three games.” underrated part about the 49ers in the Shanahan era. They’ve won a lot of games, but they’ve had some weird stuff going on. Now, clearly this situation, they regretted this contract, I feel like the moment the ink dried the day he signed it. If they could have a doover over any contract or any situation, probably be Trey Lance because they want the first rounders back. But in terms of a veteran player that they resigned, it it would be this because th this has just been a disastrous situation. Honestly, pretty embarrassing for everyone involved that you’re voiding guarantees and clearly something weird enough happened that just the guy is not going to fight it. John Lynch’s agent is also Brandon Iayuk’s agent. I I just know this. There are things that do not add up. They do not pass the smell test. That is this situation. I I’m still waiting for more shoes to drop before I like just crush or take a position because even Kyle said never had this happen. What happened? What did he do? Not show up. Not show up gets $25 million voided. In what world? That’s why you have a players union. And then then he’s like, “No, just don’t even fight it.” what agent and what union representative allows that to happen. Most times in situations, it could be like 300 grand. It could be like a $800,000 bonus and your agent, the union would fight for it, let alone $25 million. I I it just honestly I’m at a lot. I felt more confused. Like I felt like reading that article I’m like this is weird. And then I watch Kyle talk and he’s like, “Oh, this happened in July.” Happened in July. Not enough could happen in July to make this happen. And then I started thinking like, is Kyle trying to be careful about saying something that he’ll regret? Uh, and then obviously people chimed in today saying that he could come back. I’m like, what? I I found myself more confused at the end of the weekend than I did at the beginning when I first read the article. But just the classic situation of what a disaster, you know, I I think the 49ers, if they are able to truly void this money, they they got pretty lucky to get out of this situation because they do not want any part of the Brandon IU business. Now, speaking Monday Night Football, you know, think about it. The Rams, uh, the Eagles, the Lions, the Packers, the Bears. I mean, we’re this is the playoffs, the 49ers, and the Panthers. This is a pseudo playoff game as well. like there is a lot on the line in this game. The one thing I will say because I think a lot of people, myself included, right now the line’s seven and a half. I I I do think taking the Panthers plus seven and a half is the right pick. Two things though make me a little nervous if I’m taking that bet. One, from the 49ers perspective, they’re a bright lights team. Kyle Shanahan has coached a lot of these Monday and Sunday night games. Last time I checked, he’s won a lot of them. Think about this year Sunday night when he had a bunch of injuries against the Atlanta Falcons. Dominated them. Thursday night with M. Jones against the uh LA Rams. What happened there? Won it in overtime. Now you’re playing the Panthers. Bryce Young’s never played a big game in in the pros. He he just hasn’t. Now I I do give him credit. He showed some mental toughness. He’s he’s hung in there. Clearly T McMillan looks like an excellent draft pick. But where have the Panthers been in this environment? Now, if you’re going to go into this environment, it’s kind of like Shadore. Listen, making your first start, a lot of pressure. Even he admitted, felt like everyone’s looking at me. People are rooting for me to fail. It’s much easier to go up against the Raiders than like the Packers. So, it’s much easier if you’re the 49ers to play a team with just a lot of unknowns than the Rams or Seattle in this spot. But I just have a hard time seeing the Panthers winning on Monday Night Football at Levi Stadium. I think the 49ers offense, KD, McCaffrey, Pearl’s back now. Jawan Jennings, you know, pretty obviously was really good against the Arizona a week ago. I think they’re scoring 30 plus. And to me, the question is obviously the Niners defense beside like Lenor is a bunch of guys you’ve never heard of. It’s a lot of random players. And no matter how good your defensive coordinator is in the highest levels of college and the highest obviously the NFL, you got to have some jimmies and joe’s to go with the X’s and nos’s on defense. I can scheme guys open on offense. Great offensive coordinators have made random guys look good on offense. It’s hard to make random guys look good playing defensive end. You can either bend the edge, have a bull rush, you know, overwhelm a guard or you can’t. You can either make an open field tackle or you can’t. And that’s the question mark with the 49ers. Do they have the Jimmies and the Joe’s that at least can make a couple stops? Now you’re playing a quarterback that Monday Night Football, lot of hype, like this Bucks in shambles, you’re in position to win the division. I mean, if if Carolina wins this game, I have a hard time, especially depending on what Baker’s injury is, they’re going to be division champs, more than likely, as crazy as that sounds. they lose this game, who knows? And I I I just I have a hard time u closing my eyes and just thinking Bryce Young dominated on Monday Night Football. Maybe I’m wrong. Uh he obviously was good last week against Atlanta. T McMillan’s been a stud. Even Legette started showing a little bit. Uh Dwaddle’s good. They got some good offensive pieces. They got a good offensive line went healthy. Uh Dave Canales has clearly been pretty solid. Like he’s a good offensive coordinator. I know he’s the head coach, but he calls the plays. Uh, but I I I I’m taking I like the 49ers to win. I like Carolina to cover, so I’m taking Carolina plus 7 and a half. Uh, I I like Ricky Pieraw score a touchdown. I like George KD to score a touchdown. And I like T McMillan to score a touchdown. That plays uh o over 20 to1. So I I put that little parlay together on uh on Hard Rock Bet. So I I do think seven and a half with the 49ers defense, especially with a back door cover. like the 49ers to win outright, but that’s that’s a lot of points for a defense that’s rolling out a practice squad roster. Have a great night. See you later.

Former NFL scout John Middlekauff is reacting LIVE immediately following the Week 12 Sunday Night Football matchup between Baker Mayfield and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. Matthew Stafford and the Los Angeles Rams. John kicks things off by reacting to the Rams blowout win on SNF vs. the Buccaneers in which Baker Mayfield was injured before halftime and did not return to the game. John speaks about how the Rams should be in the driver’s seat in the NFC as they look like the most complete team in the conference. John speculates if the Bucs are in danger of losing the NFC South to the surging Carolina Panthers, who play the San Francisco 49ers on Monday Night Football in Week 12. John then reacts to the Las Vegas Raiders firing their offensive coordinator Chip Kelly after the team lost to the Cleveland Browns. John also speaks on the starting debut of Shedeur Sanders as well as the historic performance from star edge rusher Myles Garrett. John then dives into the Philadelphia Eagles epic collapse on the road against the Dallas Cowboys as well as the New York Giants collapse on the road against the Detrot Lions. John then discusses how bad Minnesota Vikings QB J.J. McCarthy has looked under center in a loss to the Green Bay Packers. John gives flowers to Caleb WIlliams and the Chicago Bears who are in first place in the NFC North after a big time win vs. the Pittsburgh Steelers. Next, John reacts to reports that 49ers wide reciever Brandon Aiyuk will be getting his guarantees voided in his contract due to a contentious season on injured reserve. John wraps up with his Hard Rock Bet picks for Monday Night Football:

Panthers (+7.5) at 49ers
George Kittle Anytime Touchdown
Ricky Pearsall Anytime Touchdown
Teteroia McMillian Anytime Touchdown

00:00 // Hard Rock Bet
01:40 // Show Start
03:17 // Bucs-Rams reaction
15:12 // Bucs are trending in wrong direction
17:40 // Browns-Raiders
21:41 // Shedeur Sanders
22:38 // Myles Garrett
24:59 // Eagles-Cowboys
31:09 // GameTime
31:56 // Giants-Lions
35:27 // Vikings-Packers
38:03 // Steelers-Bears
41:31 // 49ers WR Brandon Aiyuk
45:57 // HRB Picks

All lines provided by @hardrockbet

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