Bag alert, bag alert, bag alert, bag alert, bag alert folksy.
I keep telling you guys, and you guys don't listen, but I keep telling you guys, this
is exactly why we are the greatest football podcast in the world.
Because you know why?
Just as I was getting ready to finish editing and put out the previous episode, guess what
happens?
Bam!
Boodle Baker gets paid.
Kirk Cousins gets benched.
All the crazy things happen either when I'm recording, when I'm done recording, or when
I'm about to record.
It happens every time.
I'm just saying, just trying to make a connection.
They're coincidence, I think not.
But as I just said, Boodle Baker gets paid.
Kirk Cousins gets benched.
Michael Pinnick's is in.
Okay, we have to talk about the ins and outs of that, all the financials and whatnot.
Broncos vs Chargers preview tonight, Texans and Chiefs, and Steelers and Ravens on Saturday.
We got a loaded episode.
We got a loaded weekend, a pre-Christmas gift for all the football junkies in the world,
okay?
Because you know why?
We got football on Saturday starting at 11 o'clock.
Okay, and then we got football on Sunday, then you got football on Monday, then you got
football on Wednesday.
It's just a whole bunch of football just everywhere, okay?
But this is the 56th episode of the Football Junkies podcast, okay?
I am your host with the most, okay?
I'm your chief bagrodomist.
I am your chief head of the table, all things related to football from Mock Drass, which
we'll be talking about fairly soon.
Just you wait, still looking at some all 22 footage from a few people, okay?
Just giving you a heads up, okay?
As well as everything related to the bag alerts and money related to football, okay?
But guess what?
I am all these things or more, but I am your GM who currently is not on a team right now,
but don't you worry about it, okay?
Don't you worry your little head, my fellow football junkie, because guess what?
The most important thing that you must remember is I am your host, Kale.
You already know how these episodes go.
You already know how these intros go.
So guess what?
On three, one, two, three, let's lock in.
All right, folks, let's just get into the meat and potato.
Let's get into the meat and potatoes of everything that is going on in the league right now,
okay?
So yes, yes, yes, we got football on Saturday, but before we get to that, we got football
tonight.
But before we get to that, we got to talk about the bag alert, the surprise bag alert,
if we can be honest here, okay?
So Buddha Baker, safety for the Cardinals, ain't a three-year, $54 million extension
to stay with them folks.
30 million guaranteed, and he will be making 18 million a year, okay?
Now when we look at his stats this year so far, 142 total tackles, two sacks, three past
afflictions.
When you probably read these stats and when you probably look at his stats, you're probably
thinking, they pay 18 million for that?
Listen, Buddha Baker is someone who has been loyal to the team through and through, okay?
He's been with them when they were tanking.
He's been with them when they're winning, like they like how they're winning now.
He's been through it all, okay?
And what better way to reward a player who has been loyal to the organization through
and through, who was supposed to be a free agent after this season, but now with this
deal, of course, he's now locked in.
And most likely he will retire a Cardinal.
So all in all, it's a great situation, okay?
Because similar to the Garibald situation, you have somebody who was looking for a new
deal and had no problem hitting free agency next year at all.
And so both of those teams realize the impact that they play on their teams, not just on
the field, but also off the field, in the locker room, in practice, every aspect of
the team.
They play a major role in it.
And what better way to reward those type of players than to make them a Bronco as well
as a Cardinal for life.
And so all in all, it's a really good situation because again, Cardinals are winning right
now.
The Cardinals are going to continue to be a problem if they hit on their next draft as
well as their free agency class.
If they hit on both of those things, this team is going to be way more competitive than
that one year when they had AJ Green and DHop and JJ Watten company.
So all in all, congratulations to Budo Baker.
You're probably going to be a Cardinal for life.
Now let's get into a more spicier situation.
I think everybody has been talking about since the news is broken.
That is the Lenta Falcons have benched Kirk Cousins.
Yes, that's right, Kirk Cove, big Kirk Cove.
The person that they just gave $100 million to in free agency.
Now before we get into all the business side of everything, let's just read the statement
and then we'll get into all the business side and performance side and everything associated
with that.
So this is the official statement from head coach Raheem Morris.
That's basically what he says.
And I quote, after review, we have made the decision.
Michael Pennings Jr. will be the Atlanta Falcons starting quarterback moving forward.
This was a football decision.
We are fully focused on preparing the team for Sunday's game against the New York Giants.
And I quote very short sweet until the point quote, but let's just be real here.
I think they realized that they reached for Kirk Cousins.
And the reason why I say that is because since week 10, Kirk Cousins has only thrown for
one touchdown in nine interceptions.
That is 17 consecutive quarters without a passing touchdown.
According to next gen stats.
Shout out to them.
That's not good.
That's not good at all.
They were thinking that when they were going to get Kirk Cousins, they were going to get
the same Kirk Cousins that the Vikings had all those years.
Well, newsflash here, folks.
The reason why you're not getting that person is because for one, you have now a defensive
minded head coach.
And we've all seen that defensive minded coaches do not adequately address the offense as much
as they do the defense.
Kirk Cousins was in a situation with the Vikings where you had a two headed monster in both
Jordan Addison and Justin Jefferson.
You had TJ Hawkinson.
You had Dalvin Cook for, you know, for those few years, you had a complete offense, not
saying that the Falcons aren't.
But when you compare the talent wise, the Vikings have more talent on their offense than they
do with Falcons.
That's just what it is.
When we look at everything, I think the Falcons did not expect for them to be where they are
right now, because right now the Buccaneers are eight and six.
The Buccaneers right now are in the driver's seat to win this division.
The Falcons are seven and seven, as I just said.
Now when we look at the Falcons schedule, the remaining games that they have, they have
to go against the Giants, commanders and Panthers.
The Giants, that's a steamroll.
But those last two games, those are two games you're going to have to fight.
This is what I will say, though.
This is an opportunity to see exactly what do they have in Michael Pinnick's, because
Michael Pinnick's is sort of like bow nicks, a quarterback who has a lot of experience,
has a high ceiling.
It can definitely change the franchise.
Okay.
But I wonder what made Raheem Morris want to make this change now, because prior to this
move, he was reassuring everyone and saying that Kirk Cousins was going to be the quarterback.
So what exactly transpired from when he made his last statement to this statement?
Because granted, I understand that yes, you guys did pay a lot of money to get Kirk Cousins.
Yes he was paid to be the franchise quarterback.
Yes he was supposed to be, you know, the bridge quarterback until Michael Pinnick's is basically
ready to take things over.
But at the same time, though, you're not about to make this move if you haven't thought
about either releasing him, trading him, or just completely just getting rid of him all
together.
You just haven't.
I really think about this.
They just pay Kirk Cousins a hundred plus million dollars this off season, and now they're
just going to get rid of him after just one season.
Come on now.
Not to mention they probably have thought about maybe he would have a trademark.
Maybe that could help us out in the long run because again, as I've said before and I will
continue to say this quarterback draft class is not good.
It is not solid.
And right now, there's not a lot of quarterbacks that you can flat out say, Oh, that can be
my franchise quarterback.
Oh, that's a quarterback that I can develop.
Oh, that's a quarterback that in the right situation, we might be able to bring the best
out of it because a lot of the quarterbacks realize, listen, my draft value right now
is not where I want it to be.
So let me just go back for another year, build it back up and let's try this thing again.
Because as of right now, the only two quarterbacks that everyone is, you know, head over heels
for is Cam Ward inch a door.
That's it.
Quinn Ewers.
That's a question mark.
And then the question mark is only going to get either bigger or smaller within the college
playoffs.
If he puts on a clinic in the playoffs and when at all, hey, you just put yourself in
the first round category, sir.
But if you don't, if you are a one in done, then that's it.
Then you already know that guess what?
Most likely you're going to be drafted either in the second, third, fourth or fifth round.
That's just what it is.
Just being honest with you guys and then not to mention there are multiple teams that need
a quarterback.
49ers.
I would not be surprised if they would entertain going after Kirk Cousins because remember the
Kyle Shanahan connection with Kirk Cousins because Kirk Cousins was in Washington when
Kyle Shanahan was on the Washington staff.
I'm just putting out connections here.
That's just what I do.
I'm just saying because right now with all of the leagues coming out, probably
from Brock Purdy's camp, alluding that he wants to reset the market or he wants to get
close to resetting the market is something that if I'm John Lynch, we're not one to
entertain because you know why I've already done it for all the other players.
I done done it for Nick Bosa.
I done done it for Trent Williams.
I done did it for the receivers.
I done did it with this person.
I done did it with that person.
I done did it for everybody.
I'm tired of resetting the market and I'm not holding up a Lombardi trophy.
And if I'm being real here, if they feel like they can maybe they can maybe do one more,
one more shot at this thing to win a Super Bowl, I think why not give Kirk Cousins a
chance?
You have a veteran quarterback.
He probably would be fantastic in that situation.
And most likely you probably wouldn't have to give up a whole lot just to get him.
Now granted, if you want to try to negate taking on all that money, then most likely
you will have to give a first round pick just to justify everything.
Just so you don't have to take on, you know, the remaining part of this contract, but instead
just take on probably his guarantees, which happens to not be a whole lot.
Just saying shoot, even the Giants, if you feel like there is another position that you
want to draft high on, or if you feel like you've already addressed, you know, your
other positions and free agency and you feel like maybe you would prefer to get a veteran
quarterback and a rookie quarterback, then okay, cool, make that move.
But as of right now, there's probably a few teams that would be interested at going after
someone like a Kirk Cousins.
But who knows, but just know this, you heard it here first on who the football junkies
podcast.
Let's get into the Broncos and Chargers game tonight because I believe this is going to
be a dynamic game.
Okay, it's a divisional game.
So you already know how feel about divisional games.
So guess what?
Let's just get into the meat and potatoes of the junkie nuggets.
Okay, so the Broncos are one in five against teams who are above 500 and eight in O against
teams that are 500 or worse.
On top of this, all right, the Broncos have generated the second highest pressure rate
at 38.6% while blitzing quarterbacks at the second highest rate at 38.4%.
Since week 15, Lat-McConkie leads the Chargers with 63 receptions and 873 receiving yards.
The Chargers have the 12th highest pressure rate at 38.1%, which is the single highest
percentage since 2018, which was 38.3%.
Now when we look at all of these junkie nuggets and whatnot, expect the Broncos to blitz heavy
against Justin Herbert.
Now I'm not saying they're going to do it, you know, all four downs, but there is a good
chance that this Broncos defense is going to try to go after Justin Herbert.
Nick Benito is starting to look like a top 20, maybe top 15, pass rusher.
The defense for the Broncos has been going off recently.
If I am a team that is in the playoffs already, okay, some point to Steve, there's possibly,
that has to go up against the Broncos, that's a tough matchup.
Okay, that's not a team that you can just look over because, you know, they don't have
this person or that person or they don't have a star player in this position, that position.
No, this team is going to be a problem for other high seated teams in the playoffs because
this defense is playing with house money.
That offense, they're playing with house money, okay?
Bone Knicks has been doing his thing and I think people have not been talking about it
as much, but Bone Knicks right now, to me, I feel like it's probably the rookie of the
year, just saying.
But when we shift things over to the Chargers though, I want to see exactly how are they
going to try to attack this Broncos offense because we know that the Broncos pass rusher
is going to try to go after Justin Herbert.
And I want to see exactly how will they be able to adjust to the different types of blitzes
and schemes that the Broncos are going to try to throw at them.
As well as how are they going to be able to use Lama Conkey?
How are they going to be able to use JK Dobbins?
I want to see exactly what will the Chargers offense do when they have to go up against
a divisional team like the Broncos who right now have been playing lights out.
They've been holding their own with some of the best teams and granted, I understand that
they've probably been looked over, but this isn't a team you can look over.
They got everything right.
If they hit on their next draft and on free agency, I guarantee you they will be able
to compete against the Chiefs.
I am willing to die on that hill today.
Now my expectations for this game, it's probably not going to be super high scoreings, probably
very low in the mid 20s.
I sound like meteorologists right now, but I'm not trying to so forgive me about it,
but most divisional games, they're not going to be super high scoreings going to be low.
We already know that this game has major playoff implications.
You already know this game is going to be good.
Now let's focus on the Texans and Chiefs because this one will be more interesting.
So since 2018, the Chiefs average five yards per play without Patrick Holmes compared to
6.3 yards per play with him on the field.
The Texans have the third highest pressure rate in the league at 38.2% and one of the
teams will have multiple defenders who are generating 50 or more pressures.
The Chiefs have won 50 consecutive one possession games, including the playoffs and the Neil
Hunter and Will Anderson are the only team made duo in the league with at least 10 sacks
each.
Now if it was me personally, if I'm Andy Reed, I probably would not start Patrick Holmes
this game.
I wouldn't.
I would rest him, let him just, you know, rest his ankle, put Carson Wentz in, see what
you have with Carson Wentz, see if he still hasn't.
If he doesn't, okay, cool.
You know what you have to do once the season is over with.
But right now you need to rest Patrick Holmes because next week you have to go up against
the Steelers and you know that is going to be a major game.
You know that game has major implications to it when it comes to the seeding.
Not saying that this one doesn't, but I feel like that one is a little bit more than this
game right here.
Now when we look at it for the Texans though, the Texans defense is a defense that not a
lot of people are talking about.
But that duo of Will Anderson and the Neil Hunter is like Shakikovic in the early 2000s,
dominant.
That's the best way to put it.
And you know what, I truly believe the Neil Hunter and Will Anderson are going to go off
in this game because you know why?
When you have two tackles that always want to get off super early, yes, I'm talking to
you Chiefs fans because you guys all know it.
Jawon Taylor and that other tackle, they're getting off super early and no one is calling
about it and no one is saying anything about it, but they need to say something about it.
They're going to be chopped cheese.
They're going to be Jamaican beef patties and cocoa bread to the Neil Hunter and Will
Anderson because you know why that team has been able to generate a lot of pressure.
They have been able to close the pocket and go after the quarterback.
And I think this is the game where they should be able to do with the most.
Now for the Chiefs, I think things are a little bit more complicated for them because you're
still waiting for Hollywood to get back.
You know, my homes just got injured, so you want to try to have him rested and prepared
for for the remaining schedule.
However, news just broke recently.
I just checked my notifications because my phone's been going off for like the past 30
seconds or whatever.
I just checked it.
Patrick Mahomes will be playing against the Texans.
That has been confirmed by Andy Reed.
Patrick Mahomes will be playing on one hand.
I understand the move because they realize that right now the number one seed is still
up in the air.
The Buffalo Bills could still get it.
Other teams could still sneak in and get the number one seed.
So they want to make sure that they lock that number one seed up.
Most likely they'll probably rest, you know, all their starters after after they face the
Steelers.
So and the best for last, the Steelers and the Ravens.
And we have some breaking news.
Okay, George Pickens and Justin Fields have been ruled out for the game and TJ Y is off
injury designation.
So let's just get into everything.
So as of right now, we have seen that this offense, of course, is not as effective, is
not as dominant or spectacular without George Pickens.
And now that George Pickens is out, I don't know how things are going to go.
But I don't know that this is that this is I wasn't expecting this.
I'm going to be honest with you.
This is my real reaction.
Like I'm I am reacting in real time about this because I would have thought that George
Pickens would have been able to play because from on the clips that I've seen, he's been,
you know, running routes, he's been doing the exercises and things look pretty good.
Now you could definitely tell that he does have a hamstring strain because you can see
that one of his legs is just like it looks like it may be a little bit painful for him
to do it.
But dang.
So then that means Kyle Island is now going to be the backup quarterback for Russell Wilson.
Oh, man.
This game.
This this is a gun when I keep telling y'all that this was a gunling.
This is exactly what I mean.
This is a gauntlet, folks.
But let's just get into these junkie notes, though.
Ma'mar is one in four against the Steelers with a 66.2 passer ready.
Gary Canary is second in both yards per contact, yards before contact, excuse me, at 478 in
second in yards after contact at 993.
He's only trailing behind Saquon Barkley.
The Steelers defense has allowed 5.6 yards per carry, which is two more full yards per
carry when Cam Hayward is off the field compared to when he is on the field, which is only
3.4 yards per carry.
And then the last two starts, Russell Wilson has only averaged 143 passing yards per game
without George Pickens.
But in his first six starts with George Pickens, he averaged 271 passing yards per game.
Now I'm going to go on a little bit of a tangent and a little bit of a rant, but I'm going
to save that for later.
I'm going to save that for last.
But this is what I will say, though.
This makes this game even more important because George Pickens is out.
Most likely there may be a few other people that are going to be out.
So that means Arthur Smith has to come up with a better game plan because what he came
up with against the Eagles was not good enough.
And granted, we saw some creativity and with that creativity, guess what happened?
You got to first down and more.
So you have to continue to try to do something different because right now what we are seeing
is a play caller who is a little bit inconsistent.
He'll have three or four drives where he's, you know, creating some some really good some
really good plays and, you know, they're productive and putting points on the board and whatnot.
And then next thing you know, he's reverting back to things that aren't as successful.
And then we're just stabbing.
That's not how you want things to go, especially with this game, because if we win this game,
we lock up the division and one better way to lock up the division than against your
division rivals home.
That's the best way to do it.
So you have to you have to get in your bag.
I'm talking about not at the top part of the bag.
You got to get in the bag bag.
I'm talking about at the bottom where that little hole is in the bag.
You got to go deep and you got to scoop and you have to come up with some better game
plan because right now George Pickens isn't probably going to come back until either the
chiefs game or the bangles game.
So you have to prepare for that.
Start using Mike Williams more.
Start using Pathfire move more.
Start using the people that you have currently in a more creative way.
And I guarantee you you can still be a little bit more effective without George Pickens.
You can do it.
But the only way that you do this is if you are able to scheme things up better.
The Eagles knew, oh, most likely they're going to run the ball without since George Pickens
is not going to be playing.
And so guess what they did?
They loaded up the box.
They loaded up that defensive line and say, guess what?
Try it.
I dare you.
Try it.
And that's exactly what happened.
So we have to be better with this game.
And then not to mention, then you got to prepare for the chiefs.
Man, Omar, you might want to try to go and get OBJ just saying.
But this is my little bit of a rant here because I've been arguing with some people
on Twitter, you know, because, you know, Steward's fans can be a little bit delusional sometimes.
And that's OK, you know, for those, for those don't know, yes, I do have a Twitter GM Kale.
OK, GM Kale or at Sir Football Junk.
OK, I have been arguing with a lot of people on Twitter because everyone has been saying
that, you know, oh, Omar messed us up.
He put us in a bad situation.
We got to get rid of old Marwa.
What?
What's going on?
What?
Named the GM has whiffed on the position of need.
You named the GM and most likely when you look at their track record, they have wiffed
on something.
This is Omar's first whiff.
And it's OK.
It happens.
But we can't say that.
Oh, it's the end of the world because we didn't go and we didn't get a receiver.
It sure he tried to rewrite his wrongs by getting my Williams.
OK, that's perfectly fine.
I wouldn't be surprised if we tried to get OBJ after this game. I just wouldn't and that's okay
But what you cannot do is just flat out just say that Omar Khan is a bad GM when literally he's cleaned up the books
He's hit on his draft picks. He's hit on his free agency signings
What more do you want if Omar Khan was any other teams is GM?
They would be head over heels for this guy. They will be like, yo, this dude is great when it comes to Steelers fans
No, we are now in the situation
We were we can now have cap flexibility when we are no longer strapped
You know when it comes to the cap space
That's amazing. We can finally actually do something and why Omar Khan had to do that Omar Khan had to fix the offensive line
He had to fix the quarterback position. He had to fix other positions. We are still a work in progress folks
It's gonna take time before our Super Bowl window open. So until that time happens sit back
Relax, enjoy the ride
Look outside see take a few pictures do whatever okay and even for people that are talking about the draft for next year
Everyone is saying that
Receiver is our number one priority in the draft. No, it is not the receiver class is not that good
Out of outside of Luther Burton the receiver from Arizona. I'm sorry. I cannot think of your name right now
But it's not meant to be disrespectful. Isaiah Bond save you on Williams. I'm aka
Ibuka if I'm not mistaken. I'm sorry if I'm butchering your name as well
There's not as many, you know, why receivers that you can be like man. That's the first round receiver right there
No, you might as well just want to go in free agency and get and get one because why there's gonna be multiple veteran receivers
Who are looking to win? You're gonna have Kenan Allen. You're gonna have Stefan digs. Deontay Johnson de hop
Mike Williams, you're gonna have a plethora of different receivers that you can go after hell
You can even go for a big fish and try to get tea higgard from the bangles. I'm just saying
I'm just saying here. Steve's fans. We have to be a little bit more patient
I understand that at that time the move that they made was you know controversial
I get all that but we have to
Relax and I'm gonna end my rant here. I'm gonna end this episode here
If you guys like what you're listening, please, please, please, please like share subscribe leave a five star review
Whatever you do with this podcast, okay on any in every place that you can listen to the football junkies podcast now
for my
Podcast people make sure that you download the episode so I can give you guys the fix that you guys need want and desire
Make sure you guys leave a comment
Make sure you guys leave a five star review for my YouTube people
Football junkies pod, okay football junkies pod when you go on the YouTube you click on the link tree
It'll take you anywhere and everywhere. We have football junkies content, okay now for my tiktok people
Football junkies pod, okay football junkies pod clips. I know work with me. I'll work with you
Okay now for my Instagram people football underscore junkies pod, okay football underscore junkies pod junkies pod is not what?
It is together not spaced it is together not space
Football underscore junkies pod, okay junkies pod is together not space as always
I hope I gave you guys the fix that you guys need. I love you guys. I appreciate you guys so much as
You probably have heard in my voice
I am a little bit tired
So I have a lot of fun
I am a little bit tired, so I have decided that I will be taking a break until the new year
So until then Merry Christmas. Happy holidays. Happy New Year's
Thank you guys so much for being on this ride with me
you know if you would have told me that I would have started a podcast in March and
You know, we would be close to almost 60 episodes in I
would have called you a liar, but
um
We did it
We did it. We were close to the 60 60 episode, you know, March this year
But um, you know, I got a little bit tired and I'm tired right now. I'm not gonna hold you
so um
I'm just gonna take a little bit a little bit of a break and
You know when we come back
We're gonna be better than ever refreshed ready to talk about some hot takes and some truth bombs and maybe some bag alerts
And who knows maybe the steers might be on their way to the you know to the Subaru who knows but as always
I love you guys. I appreciate you guys so much. You guys don't know how much you guys mean to me
um on this journey of you know starting the football junkies podcast, but
Bigger and better things are gonna happen next year. Just you wait. It'll all pay off
You know
I love you guys
Appreciate you guys
Happy New Year's
Peace and love
K.O. signing out