Hey guys, it's been a while. I know nothing's
wrong. Nothing crazy has happened. I just got
a little bit tired Okay, but now that i'm refreshed
now that i'm ready to go. Let's get into football
All right, so eagles and giants recap rams and
ravens recap browns and steelers recap 49ers
and Bucks recap, Broncos and Jets recap, Bills
versus Falcons recap, my thoughts on Tua's comments
and trade predictions, okay? All of this and
more on the 94th episode of the Football Junkies
Podcast, okay? I am your host with the most,
all right? I am your GM who currently is not
on a team right now, but don't you worry about
it, all right? Don't you worry about it because
I'm your chief bag road dominance, all right?
Chief, head of the table, anything and everything
related to the bag, rumors to the bag and more,
but guess what? I'm all... these things and more
but most importantly the most important thing
that you must remember is i am your host kale
i know it's been a while but i still got the
juice and i can still go toe -to -toe with any
and every other podcaster that you can name i
can do it because i'm that guy so guess what
on three one two three let's lock in All right,
folks, let's get into the meat and potatoes of
everything that is going on in the league right
now. So I know it's been a while. You guys are
probably wondering what's going on. Nothing is
going on. The last time I tried to put out an
episode, it just wasn't that good. I was really
tired. And I was like, you know what? Instead
of me trying to push through this episode, and
I know it's not going to be the best to my standards,
I'll just take a break, recharge. And then when
I come back, we're back in the race. And while
I was going, I do have a few ideas that I think
I'm probably going to start rolling out fairly
soon. Just have to figure out how I want to do
it while incorporating the daily episodes that
I give you guys as well. So with that being said,
let's get into football because I have a lot
to say because a lot of time has passed. Let's
get into it, all right? So let's start with the
Eagles and Giants game. So Jackson Dart, 25 attempts
for 17 completions, 195 passing yards, one touchdown,
7 .8 yards per attempt, and a 68 completion percentage.
Cam Scadavo, 19 attempts for 98 rushing yards,
5 .2 rushing yards per carry, three touchdowns,
and four rushes of 10 plus yards or more. Wondell
Robinson, seven targets for six receptions, 84
receiving yards, one touchdown, and 14 receiving
yards per reception. Jalen Hurts. 33 attempts
for 24 completions, 283 passing yards, one touchdown,
one pick, 8 .6 yards per attempt, and a 72 .7
completion percentage. Saquon Barkley, 12 attempts
for 58 rushing yards, 4 .8 rushing yards per
carry, and 3 rushes of 10 plus yards or more.
Dallas Goddard, 11 targets for 9 receptions,
110 receiving yards, 1 touchdown, and 12 .2 receiving
yards per reception. So a couple takeaways from
this game. For starters, Jackson Dart is going
to be the reason why the Giants have a chance
to have a better season than what they did last
year. I understand that he's a rookie. I understand
that he's going to make mistakes. I understand
there's going to be highs and lows throughout
this entire season. But if Jackson Dark can do
at least 50 % of what he did against the Eagles
for the rest of the season, they have a chance
because the defense is formidable. All they need
is just the offense to just be a little bit better.
I'm not saying the offense has to be elite, but
if they're average to slightly above average,
I think that's enough. Let's be real here, folks.
The Giants are in a good situation. I think with
what Jackson Dart showed, I think that's something
that you can hang your hat on. And mind you,
he did this without Malik Nabors. He did this
with Wanda Robinson, Jalen Hyatt, Theo Johnson,
and Cam Scadabo. Think about that for a second.
Now, I know all the Eagles fans are saying, well,
we didn't have Jalen Carter on the field, and
Quinion Mitchell was out, and this person was
hurt, and that person was hurt. There's no excuses
because you know why? Everybody is dealing with
some type of injury at this point in the season.
It's either you put up or you shut up, plain
and simple. And the fact of the matter is Jackson
Dart put up and shut up the Eagles. Now, am I
saying that Jackson Dart is going to, you know,
beat the Eagles the next time they face each
other? No, but I will say this. He ain't just
no average quarterback. He got a little fight
in him. He got a little dog in him. And I like
to see that. Now, I'll be honest with you. Leading
up to this past draft, I wasn't high on Jackson
Dart. I thought Jackson Dart was very average
quarterback. There wasn't anything in his repertoire
that I felt like, okay, this is a franchise quarterback.
But what he showed on Thursday, I can rock with
that. Now, let's talk about the Giants defense,
okay? So for starters, that defensive line is
formidable. I would make a strong case that that's
probably a top five defensive line in the league.
Not in their division, but in their league. They
have to find a way to keep that core. And for
all the people that were saying, well, the Giants
had traded away Dexter Lawrence or Kayvon Thibodeau,
now they draft Abdul Carter. No. You have to
find a way to keep that core. Because that core
is successful, and there are stats that actually
back it up. So according to NextGenStats, When
Brian Burns, Kayvon Thibodeau, and Abdul Carter
are all on the field, the Giants pressure the
quarterback 45 .7 % of their dropbacks. When
two of the three pass rushers are on the field,
the pressure rate drops to 32 .1 % and the dropback
success rate increases to 46 .8%. And I don't
want to hear from any Eagles fan that says, well,
they went up against a beat -up offensive line.
Let's see if they try to do that when everybody
is healthy. Stop it, okay? This is not Madden.
This isn't something where you can take out one
person and you put somebody in and now they're
gonna play healthy the entire game. No, people
get hurt. This is real life, okay? So relax.
Now let's talk about the Eagles. So for starters,
the offense lacks creativity, explosiveness,
and consistency. Granted, I understand they have
a new offensive coordinator and things take time,
but what is going on? Because all I keep on hearing
is cookie cutter bull from a lot of these offensive
leaders. When somebody needs to be saying, hey,
this offense ain't right. We need to get something
going here. Because again, you are about to approach
the middle point of the season. And if your offense
isn't comfortable at this point, what are we
doing? I understand that you guys don't have
a lot of your starting offensive linemen. I understand
that you're going up against a really good defensive
line. But there is no excuse for this offense
to not be where it's supposed to be. And I put
a lot of this on Jalen Hurts. You had two people
that you could have easily thrown to that you
could have won the game with. But you didn't
want to do it. Why? I don't know. A .J. Brown
had the leverage. So all you had to do was just
give him the ball. It was a guaranteed catch
and touchdown. Same thing with Dallas Goddard.
He was guaranteed to get a first down. So why
in the world would you not look at them first
before giving it to Devontae Smith, which led
to a pick six? This is something that I said
with my friends as well as Corey from the Get
It Done With Four podcast. Shout out to him.
If you're a Commanders fan, Eagles fan, Cowboys
fan, Giants fan, you should listen to his podcast
because he gives a really in -depth analysis
on your division. The offensive coordinator problem
will be the reason why A .J. Brown and Devontae
Smith want to leave. As an offensive coordinator,
anytime you're on a loaded offense like the Eagles,
your job is to find creative ways to utilize
your weapons. And if you can't utilize them in
a special way, you just don't need to be an offensive
coordinator. And I understand that this is Nick
Sirianni's friend, he's known him a long time,
but clearly he doesn't know what he's doing.
And I understand some people are saying, well,
you got to give it time. You got to be patient.
You know, sometimes you got to go through trial
by fire. No, because right now the Buccaneers
are going to be a problem. The Lions are still
going to be a problem. There's a few other NFC
teams that you're going to have to worry about.
So you can't continue to lose these type of games
when you know you have the weapons to beat the
other team. That doesn't make any sense. You
cannot give the type of money that you just gave
to Saquon and think, oh, we're really not going
to use him like how we should use him. No. 12
attempts for 58 rushing yards? That's not good
enough. 4 .8 rushing yards per carry? And you
only have three rushes of 10 plus yards or more?
No. I understand that the defensive line is loaded,
but you as the offensive coordinator need to
find a creative way on how to utilize Saquon
Barkley. And you didn't do it. Better yet. Since
we're talking about the offense, let's talk about
what Lane Johnson had to say after the game.
Because it's very important to know what he said.
Because he's one of the tenured veterans on this
team. Not just on the offense, on the entire
team. This is what he said, and I quote, I felt
like a lot of what we did last year was run play
action, and it kind of fed off of each other.
And defenses had a real hard time of guessing
what it was going to be. And I think the last
two weeks, you kind of know what it is. You know
when the pass is coming. You know when the run
is coming. Moving forward, we've got to do a
better job of that. There's flashes, but flashes
don't score points. It's about consistency. We
have spurts, but nothing consistent enough. We
have things we talk about, but the execution
isn't there. We get behind the chains. We get
very predictable sometimes. It's frustrating,
but we have a lot of season ahead of us. confident
with the guys in the room to get it fixed, and
not make games so hard on ourselves, make it
more fluid. I feel like we've been very stagnant
offensively. We have to be able to keep the defenses
guessing, not being predictable. We have spurts,
but nothing consistent with what we're doing.
I feel like last year we had big shots, big explosives
that we were able to feed off of on our drives.
We have some, but we're not able to capitalize
on them. We may have a huge play, but we're not
able to keep going and score. We were winning
in the first month, but we weren't dominating.
It's frustrating. You see the guys that we have
on the offensive side of the ball. We should
be doing a lot more to help our defense out.
It's frustrating, but nothing we can't turn around,
end quote. Everything that I just said, Lane
Johnson just backed it up. You can tell that
this offense is not the same. You can tell that...
It went from being a more creative, multidimensional
type of offense to a borderline, one -dimensional
type of offense. That's not going to win you
games. That's not going to put points on the
board. And you can't continue to rely on the
defense to bail you out of games. At some point,
the offense is going to have to do its thing.
Jeffrey Lurie isn't going to continue to write
checks for big offensive weapons and the offensive
weapons aren't being utilized. It's already bad
enough that A .J. Brown doesn't want to be there.
It's already bad enough that you have a little
bit of friction on other parts of this offense.
But the fact that you guys can't put points on
the board against a team like the Giants? Come
on. What are we doing here? Now, when we talk
about the defense for the Eagles, there's a lot
of things that could be said. But I think the
number one thing that needs to be addressed is
corner. I understand they have Quinion Mitchell.
I understand they have Cooper DeGene and the
Dory Jackson, Kelly Ringo. Howie, get on the
phone. Call the Seahawks. Trade for Tyreek Wood.
Because the Dory Jackson is not going to solve
it. Kelly Ringo ain't going to solve it. Wondell
Robinson had a career night. Jalen Hyatt, a name
that we haven't talked about in years, looked
really good. Theo Johnson looked really good.
Cam Scadabo looked really good. And I understand,
oh, we didn't have Jalen Carter and we don't
have this person, that person. No excuses. Because
you have to be able to find a way to win games
even without Jalen Carter. You still have Jordan
Davis. You still have Mario Jomo. You just drafted
Ty Robinson. You had Zedarius before he unexpectedly
retired. So what exactly isn't clicking? And
speaking of pass rusher, the Eagles are going
to need that as well. Because right now, we don't
know when Noah Smith is coming back. I don't
know if Zach Bond is hurt or not. So you're going
to need other pass rushers to step up. And you
trade away Bryce Huff. You let Josh Sweat go
in free agency, which, I mean, you wouldn't be
able to afford him anyway. But you're going to
have to make some significant trades to bolster
up this defense. So Matthew Stafford, 26 attempts
for 17 completions. 181 passing yards, 1 touchdown,
7 yards per attempt, and a 65 .4 completion percentage.
Kyron Williams, 13 attempts for 50 rushing yards,
3 .8 rushing yards per carry, 1 touchdown, and
1 rush of 10 plus yards or more. Tyler Higby,
4 targets for 4 receptions, 40 receiving yards,
1 touchdown, and 10 receiving yards per reception.
Cooper Rush, 19 attempts for 11 completions,
72 passing yards, one pick, 3 .8 yards per attempt,
and a 57 .9 completion percentage. Tyler Huntley,
15 attempts for 10 completions, 68 passing yards,
4 .5 yards per attempt, and a 66 .7 completion
percentage. Derrick Henry, 24 attempts for 122
rushing yards, 5 .1 rushing yards per carry,
and four rushes of 10 plus yards or more. Zay
Flowers. 10 targets for six receptions, 46 receiving
yards, 7 .7 receiving yards per reception. So
a couple of things with this game, all right?
For starters, I feel like the Ravens should have
relied more on the run game than the pass game.
I just feel like personally, if you're gonna
go with Cooper Rush, keep a very strict plan.
Short intermediate passes, play action, and most
importantly, run the damn ball. If you do those
three things, You're guaranteed to win. Because
you have Keaton Mitchell and Derrick Henry. You
have Lightning and Thunder. And you also have
Justice Hill as well. So anytime Cooper Rush
has the ball in his hand, yo, we are not doing
anything past 15 yards. So all that deep ball
action, it's out the window. All you're trying
to do is just get to the bye. Because let's be
real here. The Rams didn't play a good game as
well. They were very sloppy on defense. offense,
and in special teams. So this was a very winnable
game for the Ravens. But once again, what did
they do? They flop. But let's talk about the
defense. So for starters, I feel like they left
a lot of meat on the bone. And the reason why
I say that is because there were a lot of times
where they could have made some big plays and
they didn't. So I feel like, yes, the defense
is starting to maybe fix their problems, but
I don't feel confident in the Ravens. I don't
feel confident on their trajectory right now
because right now I truly believe this is not
going to be their year. And if they don't go
anywhere this year, John Harbaugh has to go.
Because right now you are wasting the prime years
of Lamar Jackson, Derrick Henry, Roquan Smith,
Kyle Hamilton, Nate Wiggins, and everybody else
you can possibly think of. I'm sorry. This team
has invested too much money, time, resources,
you name it. They've invested way too much just
for this team not to make it to the Super Bowl
and win. At some point, either you can do the
job or you can't. Because guess what? Most likely
who you're going to have to face in the playoffs,
the Chiefs or the Bills or other. Now, right
now, I'll be completely honest with you. Even
though I should save this for the Bills game,
the Bills don't look strong. The Bills look very
beatable this year. And right now, you've already
lost to three AFC teams. So when the seeding
comes around, that's going to negatively affect
you. So right now, you're fighting an uphill
battle trying to at least bring some confidence
back in. So what exactly are you going to do
to turn this thing around? Because you still
have a lot of games left, so anything can happen.
But at the same time, if you're not willing to
make changes, then that's a problem. Daniel Folele
and Andrew Voorhees is a problem. You have Kevin
Zeidler that's available. You have the Browns
guards that are available. There are viable options
that you could trade for right now that would
instantly upgrade this offense and this team
as a whole. So I don't understand what Eric DaCosta
is doing, but right now it just looks like you're
just sitting on your hands and just waiting.
So at some point, someone's going to have to
ask the tough questions. John, can you do the
job? Can you turn this team around? Because I've
seen Mike Tomlin do this multiple times in the
last three years. I've seen him do this without
TJ Watt. I've seen him do this with different
quarterbacks from Justin Fields to Russell Wilson,
now Aaron Rodgers. So why can't you do it, John,
when you have a better, more complete roster
than what Mike Tomlin does? I'm going to say
that when we talk about gut check time, okay?
Just giving you guys a heads up, after the trade
deadline, we'll have gut check time. Until then,
I'm not saying anything else. I'm going to give
you the most basic of the basic for every single
team moving forward. Once the trade deadline
ends, best believe that episode is going to have
a gut check time for all the teams. So it may
be a long episode, but don't worry, it's on the
way. Now let's talk about the Rams. The Rams
played sloppy. There were a lot of times where
they were off sides. There were a lot of times
where they were just making unnecessary penalties
and it was hurting them. And they just weren't
playing like how the Rams are supposed to play.
So I don't know if they're just going through
their bumps and bruises. I don't know if they're
trying to get themselves comfortable. I don't
know what's going on with the Rams. But you need
to get your act together, okay? Because this
could possibly be the last year for Matthew Stafford.
Now, defensively, I do believe they need to go
after some corners. Because right now, Emmanuel
Forbes and Akella Weatherspoon just isn't enough.
I feel like they need to go after a veteran corner.
I don't know who's out there that you could really
make a trade for. I mean, anybody that would
be available will probably be in the NFC. And
I don't know if they're going to be willing to
do that. But you're going to have to do something.
And another thing that we have to talk about
with this game. the Ravens' defensive line was
not creating any pressure on Matthew Stafford.
According to NextGenStats, Matthew Stafford was
pressured on four of his 29 dropbacks at 13 .8%.
That's the second lowest pressure rate he's faced
in a game since 2018. Now, I really want you
to think about this for a second here, folks.
The Ravens traded away Adafi away not too long
ago, and he gets a sack in his first game with
the Chargers. Since that trade, the Ravens haven't
done anything significant with pass rushers.
Granted, you have Mike Green, you have Kyle Van
Nooy, you have Travis Jones, Tavius Robinson.
It's not enough. I don't know what Zach Lawrence
is teaching them, but they're not getting after
the quarterback. And that's a problem. Mike Green
has all the potential in the world. I keep on
saying this and I will continue to say this from
the mountaintops. Mike Green could be the Ravens
version of TJ Watt for all we know. But we would
never know because why? The Ravens don't know
how to use their pass rushers. The Ravens pass
rushers can never get home. And this is a repeated
trend that we have seen for the last few years.
Every pass rusher that they have had do so much
better when they leave the Ravens. Matthew Judon,
Z'Darrius Smith, potentially Adafio Wake. I can
continue to go down the list. The last great
pass rusher that the Ravens actually developed
was Terrell Suggs. Since then, what have they
done? But I'm going to save that for gut check
time. I'm not going to go any further because
if I do, I'm just going to continue to go down
this wormhole of why the Ravens will never win
a Super Bowl with John Harbaugh and this coaching
staff. I don't really want to do that right now.
I want to save that for gut check time, all right?
Because a lot can happen from now until then,
all right? So let's talk about the Steelers.
So Dylan Gabriel, 52 attempts for 29 completions,
221 passing yards, 4 .3 yards per attempt, and
a 55 .8 completion percentage. Quenshawn Junkins,
12 attempts for 36 rushing yards, 3 rushing yards
per carry. Harold Fannin Jr., 10 targets for
7 receptions, 81 receiving yards, and 11 .6 receiving
yards per receptions. Aaron Rodgers, 30 attempts
for 21 completions, 235 passing yards, 2 touchdowns,
7 .8 yards per attempt, and a 70 % completion
percentage. Jalen Warren. 11 attempts for 52
rushing yards, 4 .7 rushing yards per carry,
and three rushes of 10 plus yards or more. DK
Metcalf, nine targets for four receptions, 95
receiving yards, one touchdown, and 23 .8 receiving
yards per reception. So before we get into this
game, I just need to have a public service announcement
for all the Steelers fans, beat writers, and
journalists, okay? Roderick Jones didn't lock
up Myles Garrett, okay? So for all you beat writers,
for all you journalists, for all you so -called
people that cover the team that have been making
articles and tweets and posts on social media
saying, well, Roger Jones locked up Miles Garrett.
No, he didn't. Instead, Arthur Smith schemed
up a good game plan to counteract Miles Garrett's
effectiveness. All they did was just not go in
Miles Garrett direction. They were utilizing
Darnell Washington a lot. They were running up
the middle. They were doing different things
to negate Myles Garrett. It's the same thing
that teams do against TJ Watt and every other
great pass rusher. So can we please stop? Especially
media people who cover the Steelers. You guys,
and I will continue to say this, and I said this
on somebody's YouTube video. It's one thing if
a fan... Can fanboy over Broderick Jones and
the Miles Garrett and that whole Steelers and
Ravens rivalry. Okay, fine. I have no problem
with that because you know why? You guys are
fans. Fans is short for fanatics. But if you
are a person who covers the team, if you are
a journalist slash beat writer that covers the
team, you should not be pushing out your personal
agendas. Talking about, well, Project Jones is
looking pretty good. Project Jones, Project Jones.
Aaron Rodgers, Aaron Rodgers. Oh, my God, the
stairs are going through. They're going to do
something this year. I remember clear as day
those first three weeks of the season when Aaron
Rodgers was actually doing his thing. I saw journalists
who covered the team talk about, well, it was
worth the wait. It was worth the wait. It was
worth getting Aaron Rodgers. So far, it looks
like it's a great idea. It's the first three
weeks of the season. What are we talking about?
You get a little chubby for just three weeks
of football? Are you serious? Really? Three weeks,
and you're already talking about, well, it was
worth the wait. Stop it. Stop it. You are a journalist.
There is a standard that you must abide by. So
all that fanboying and whatnot. Leave that for
the burner accounts and the restaurant talk and
the barbershop talk. Don't do that when that's
your job. You're J -O -B. Now that I've got that
off my chest, let's talk about some football.
So offensively, what is there to say that hasn't
already been said? This Browns offense isn't
cutting it. If you really expect Dylan Gabriel
to turn mud into gold, I don't know what to tell
you. Because all he has is what? Isaiah Bond,
Jerry Judy. Quinn Sean -Junkins, Damon Njoku,
Harold Fannin Jr. That's it. You don't have a
good offensive line, and you're going up against
a team who's coming off a bye, whose head coach
has a winning record against rookies, and you're
playing in a place that you haven't won since
the early 2000s. So leading up to this game,
you had little to no momentum in your favor.
And as the game continued on, all the momentum
that you did have just went down and down and
down. I didn't expect Quinshawn Junkins to do
a whole lot. I didn't expect the receivers to
do a whole lot. The Steelers were playing their
type of ball. Physical, punch you in the face,
run the rock hard, and just put points on the
board. And that's exactly what they did. Now,
defensively, the Browns tried to stay in the
game. But it just wasn't enough, especially when
you have Arthur Smith, who purposely schemed
up a game plan to negate Myles Garrett. So I'll
be honest, I wasn't expecting the Browns to win.
I wasn't expecting this game to be even close.
Honestly speaking, they probably should have
just kept Joe Flacco. If they had Joe Flacco
on the field, then I think we could have a different
conversation. But because you traded him to the
Bengals, Not so much. But before we talk about
the Steelers, I have to give credit where credit
is due. Mike Tomlin looks like a genius right
now. You traded for Jalen Ramsey, a person that
a lot of people were saying, oh, he's a head
case. He's going to be a problem in the locker
room. And so far, there haven't been no problems.
You waited for Aaron Rodgers, even though. I
said it during that entire process. You can look
at my previous episodes. I was 100 % against
waiting for Aaron Rodgers. But so far, it looks
like it's working. The Aaron Rodgers that we
saw with the Jets and the Packers, you don't
see that here. You see somebody that's focused,
that's locked in, that's been a ray of sunshine
for this offense. And I think that's great. And
I think that just shows that, hey, being in a
different situation sometimes can bring the best
out of you. People can change. Sometimes you're
in a really crappy, toxic situation for a season
or two, and then you go to another team, and
you have your best year. And so right now, Aaron
Rodgers is looking really good. Now, am I saying
that the Steelers are going to go to the Super
Bowl this year? No. I'm not going to say anything.
Mind you, I really haven't said anything like
how I did last year. Last year, I'll be honest.
Mook, you know what I'm getting ready to say.
I was drinking from the cup. I was taking big
gulps of the cup last year. But this year, no.
I'm going to let things play out. I'm going to
wait until we face the Colts, the Bills, and
the Packers. If we can beat two of those three
teams, then I may start talking my stuff. But
until we reach that point, I'm not saying anything.
But back to football. This was a really good
game plan for the Steelers. Sure, I want the
run game to be a little bit better. Sure, I want
them to convert on their third down. Sure, I
want them to attack the middle of the field more.
Sure, I want them to start passing it to Pat
Frymuth and start using different players in
a different way. Sure, but the fact of the matter
is the Steelers offense is finding ways to win.
put points on the board while at the same time
using people that quite frankly were not being
utilized in the last two or three years. That's
significant. And that needs to be talked about
a whole lot. Arthur Smith's offense is very boring
by a lot of people's standards. But guess what?
It gets the job done. If I'm not mistaken, and
I will have to fact check this, I think the Steelers
are like top five or top 10 when it comes to
the red zone. I mean, they're using Darnell Washington
like he's Gronk, which, I mean, that's probably
a bad analogy, but that's the only person I could
think of because, you know, size and whatnot.
But we're not talking about that, okay? We're
talking about football. I think if they continue
to grow as the season progresses, I think this
offense could be a little bit of a problem for
other defenses because I truly believe that right
now, with the formula that they have, I think
they could beat the Bills. I think they could
give a lot of other AFC teams problems. Because
let's be real here. The AFC this year is weak.
And the teams that we thought were going to be
the Super Bowl candidates really aren't. If you
would have told me that the Colts would be playing
the way that they're playing with Daniel Jones,
I would have called you a liar. But they are.
The Bills really aren't a problem. The Chiefs
right now, they're starting to get their act
together. But I still have to wait and see what
they're going to do with the trade deadline coming
up. And honestly, I mean, the Ravens, they're
just going down the toilet. Broncos, they're
going to get their act together. Everybody else,
it's whatever. But huge shout out to Aaron Rodgers
and Arthur Smith and Mike Tomlin for scheming
up a good game plan against the Browns. Now,
defensively, they were going after Dylan Gabriel.
They were crushing Dylan Gabriel. Nick Herbig
had a really good game. Jalen Ramsey. got a sack.
Think about that. If you would have told me that
Jalen Ramsey would get a sack before Myles Garrett
gets a sack in this game, I would have called
you a liar. I know somebody made a crazy bet
with that and probably won some money off of
it. Hey, things are clicking. Things are starting
to look good for the Steelers. Now, it's only
up from here. Granted, they still have some positions
that they do need to address, corner, maybe interior
defensive line. maybe safety, but outside of
those positions, I think they're a really good
team. Now again, we've seen this same recipe
before. The first half of the season, they're
playing really well, they're dominating, playing
really good ball, and then that second half of
the season, They're like flower hitting water.
They just disintegrate. So hopefully that doesn't
happen. Hopefully they actually do something
this year because I truly believe that there
is a good chance that this year they could possibly
win a playoff game, maybe even more. If that
offense really starts clicking and that defense
stays consistent, we may have to have a different
conversation. I'm just saying. I'm not going
to go there yet, but it's starting to get there.
Now let's talk about the 49ers and Buccaneers
games. So Mack Jones, 39 attempts for 27 completions,
347 passing yards, two picks, 8 .9 yards per
attempt, and a 69 .2 completion percentage. Christian
McCaffrey, 17 attempts for 54 rushing yards,
3 .2 rushing yards per carry, one touchdown,
and one rush of 10 plus yards more. Kendrick
Bourne, nine targets for five receptions, 142
receiving yards, 28 .4 receiving yards per reception.
Baker Mayfield, 23 attempts for 17 completions,
256 passing yards, 2 touchdowns, 11 .1 yards
per attempt, and a 73 .9 completion percentage.
Ricard White, 17 attempts for 65 rushing yards,
3 .8 rushing yards per carry, 1 touchdown, and
2 rushes of 10 plus yards or more. Cameron Johnson,
four targets for four receptions, 64 receiving
yards, one touchdown, and 16 receiving yards
per reception. So, man, oh man, what is there
to say about this game? Oh, I know. Baker Mayfield
is my MVP this year. I don't care what anyone
says. You can name me this quarterback. You can
name me this player. Baker Mayfield is the MVP
this year. If this game don't say it, I don't
know what else to tell you. Because the fact
that he won this game without Mike Evans, Chris
Godwin, you lost Emeka Ibuka during the game.
You didn't have Bucky Irvin. And you still found
a way to win? Come on, guys. Come on, guys. We
got to have an honest conversation. If we don't
want to have an honest conversation, then I don't
know what to tell you. But that game right there
proved that the Buccaneers are a legitimate problem
this year. I will continue to say it. Do not
sleep on the Buccaneers. If they get healthy
and if they make one or two moves during the
trade deadline, I guarantee you they will be
able to go toe -to -toe with the Eagles and any
other NFC candidate you could possibly name me
right now. That's how good they are. That's how
well they played on Sunday. But defensively,
they did a really good job. Even though they
didn't have Benjamin Morrison and a few other
people, they did a really good job. According
to NextGenStats, in Week 6, the Buccaneers were
7th in run defense and they allowed 1 rushing
touchdown, 67 rushing yards per game, 3 rushing
yards per play, and 1 rush of 10 plus yards or
more. So the fact that they limit Christian McCaffrey
to 17 attempts for 54 rushing yards, 3 .2 rushing
yards per carry, one touchdown, and one rush
of 10 plus yards or more, I would say job well
done. I would say you completed the mission.
Now I know 49ers fans are saying, well, we didn't
have Rob Purdy, and we lost Fred Warner, and
we didn't have this person, that person. Don't
worry. I got some stuff I gotta say about you
guys, but we're gonna talk about the Buccaneers
though. As of right now, what is stopping the
Buccaneers? Like really think about this for
a second. What is really stopping the Buccaneers?
Because right now, they're easily going to win
their division, okay? Once they win their division,
you're either going to have to face the Eagles,
Lions, or whoever. Now, depending on how high
of a seed they get, if they get home field advantage
and you have to face the Eagles, the Lions, or
other, I think they can beat them. And honestly
speaking, I think another thing that's not being
talked about is the fact that Baker Mayfield
continues to play despite having another offensive
coordinator. He had David Canales, then he had
Liam Cohen, and now he has the offensive coordinator
that he has now. Under all three of those offensive
coordinators, he's played well. And honestly
speaking, every single year, he's gotten better.
So right now, I think if Mike Evans and Chris
Godwin can get healthy, I think this is the team
that you're going to have to worry about when
it gets to the seeding. Because they're going
to win their division. Who's going to beat them?
Falcons? Panthers? Saints? Nah. It's the Buccaneers
division. But let's talk about the 49ers offense.
So for starters, Matt Jones is playing really
well. Am I saying he's going to take somebody's
job? No. Am I saying he's going to be able to
compete for a starting job next year? No. I think
right now he's playing like an above average
backup quarterback. And a lot of teams need that.
Now, Kendrick Bourne had a really good game.
Christian McCaffrey probably could have done
a little bit more. But again, you're facing the
Buccaneers who are one of the better run defenses
in the entire league. So I'm not really surprised.
But let's talk about the defense. So with them
losing Fred Warner, I know a lot of people are
freaking out and they're trying to figure out,
oh, what are they going to do? All hope is lost.
The season is over with. No, it's not. They can
still do something. It's just going to be a lot
difficult because they don't have Fred Warner
nor Nick Bosa on the field. And let's be real
here. There isn't a Fred Warner that's just available
right now for a trade, okay? So either you're
going to have to rely on your younger players.
Or you're just going to have to scheme up something
different to supplement Fred Warner not being
on the field. Now, honestly speaking here, if
you had Dre Greenlaw, guess what? You wouldn't
be in this situation. But, well, you know what?
Let's leave that alone because that might be
sensitive for 49ers fans. Let's just leave that
alone. But on a serious note, I do believe the
49ers can still make some noise. But it all depends
on what they do with the trade deadline coming
up. I do believe they should go after a pass
rusher than trying to go after a middle linebacker,
and here's why. Outside of Nick Bosa, who else
do you really have to worry about on this defensive
line? Who else on this defensive line can create
consistent pressure on the quarterback? Nobody?
Oh, okay. According to NextGenStats, the 49ers
defense has blitzed on 20 .7 % of opponents'
dropbacks. That is the fifth lowest rate in the
National Football League. Now, with that being
said, if you're the 49ers, what are you willing
to give up to get an elite pass rusher? Because
we all know you're going to have to give up a
first round pick. The question is, are you willing
to do it knowing that most likely you're going
to have to address the offensive line in next
year's draft? Because you could get Max Crosby.
You could get Jeffrey Simmons. You could get
Trey Hendrickson. But just know you're not going
to have a first round pick. So the question is.
Do you get a tier two or tier three pass rusher?
Maybe somebody that's familiar with Robert Sala?
Or do you try to get somebody that maybe, you
know, they get released or something? What exactly
do you do to address this problem? Because you
need to create pressure. Because if you're not
creating pressure, a quarterback is going to
pick you apart. If you're the 49ers, you have
a lot of thinking that you have to do within
the next few weeks. And you have to come up with
a decision fairly quickly because why? The trade
deadline is only a few weeks away. And teams
are going to start calling. I wouldn't be surprised
if the Eagles, Ravens, and a few other teams
that need pass rushers are doing the same thing.
Now we all know the Eagles would be willing to
give up a first round pick and more just to get
an elite pass rusher because they're that desperate.
The question is, will you meet their desperation?
But let's talk about the Jets and Broncos game.
So Bo Nix, 30 attempts for 19 completions, 174
passing yards, one touchdown, 5 .8 yards per
attempt, and a 63 .3 completion percentage. J
.K. Dobbins, 14 attempts for 40 rushing yards,
2 .9 rushing yards per carry. Evan Ingram. Six
targets for five receptions, 42 receiving yards,
8 .4 receiving yards per reception. Justin Fields,
17 attempts for nine completions, 45 passing
yards, 2 .6 yards per attempt, and a 52 .9 completion
percentage. Brees Hall, 22 attempts for 59 rushing
yards, 2 .7 rushing yards per carry. Josh Reynolds,
three targets for three receptions, 25 receiving
yards, and 8 .3 receiving yards per reception.
I'll be honest here, this was a really good defensive
game if you love those type of games, but offensively,
it was atrocious. Nobody was really able to do
anything. So let's start with the Broncos offense.
They lacked explosive plays, and honestly speaking,
they weren't in rhythm. And every time that they
tried to get into a rhythm, it was always disrupted.
And if it wasn't for the defense, I couldn't
tell you how this game would have ended. Now,
according to NextGenStats, The Broncos defense
held the Jets to zero explosive plays. The first
time an offense has gone without an explosive
play in the game since week 22 of the 2021 season,
which was the Texans versus the Titans. The Broncos
generated 16 pressures on 29 dropbacks against
the Jets. That's the fifth highest pressure rate
by any team this season. I don't know what's
going on with the Jets, but they need to figure
it out. Because since week one, they have regressed
every single week. And that's not good. You're
supposed to be progressing every single week.
This has to be Justin Fields' worst game of his
entire career. And honestly speaking, now looking
back at it, Pittsburgh made the right decision.
They decided to go and weigh things out with
Aaron Rodgers. And so far, it's working. Meanwhile,
Justin Fields decided to chase the money. And
now look, you look horrible. And most likely,
this will probably be the last chance that you
get of being a starting quarterback in the league.
Because I promise you, the Jets most likely will
take a quarterback next year. You cannot run
it back with Justin Fields. I'm sorry. Now, if
you're Justin Fields, this just goes to show,
chasing the money isn't always the best option.
Sometimes the opportunity is better than the
money. And I know people are probably scratching
their heads and they're probably figuring out,
what do you mean? Sometimes if you're in a better
opportunity, you really won't be focused on the
money as much because the opportunity is great.
Case in point, the Patriots. all those years
all those players that want to go to the Patriots
they knew hey listen I'm dealing with Bill Belichick
who's going to be hard -nosed who's going to
be on my ass on the smallest of the small details
but guess what I'm always going to be competing
for a championship and people brought into that
for 20 plus years and honestly speaking I would
have stayed with Pittsburgh because why even
if you're the backup with Aaron Rodgers the fact
that Arthur Smith loved you, and he was probably
going to scheme up something specifically for
you? Come on, man. Because now look at you. Outside
of week one, what have you really shown? Nothing.
All you've shown is that you're very athletic
and that you can run with your legs. That's it.
If you take away his running ability, what does
Justin Fields have? It's not like he has this
rocket arm or this quick release or he's able
to decipher plays fairly quickly. It's none of
those things. So if you're the Jets, how long
of a leash are you going to give Justin Fields
before you say, you know what, we have to go
in a different direction? We literally saw the
Jets just look around like they're in La La Land
while the clock is going down and everyone's
trying to figure out, okay, are we going to run
a play? Are we going to take a knee? Are we going
to do a timeout? What are we going to do? And
they didn't do anything. And guess what? Next
thing you know, it hits triple zeros and now
they're going into halftime. And Garrett Wilson
is letting Aaron Glenn have it and he deserves
every right to do so because it's like, bro,
what the hell are we doing? If this is any veteran
quarterback, oh, it's going to be a timeout.
They're taking a knee. They're doing something.
But Justin Fields is a deer in headlights. Why?
If it wasn't for their defense, this would have
been probably the worst game of all time. And
even then, let's talk about their defense. Sauce
does not look good. I've been holding in for
a very long time, but I said it. They should
have never gave Sauce that type of contract because
outside of his rookie year, what has he shown?
Nothing. Even with Garrett Wilson, you're having
these hissy fits and going off on people in the
sidelines. Brother, you didn't have to sign that
contract. You decided that you wanted to be here.
You made that decision. You didn't even give
yourself the ability to test free agency just
to see, hey, which teams would be interested
in me? What's my market? You just said, you know
what? F it. I'm just going to sign here. Forget
about it. Now look at you. You're back in the
same cycle of losing and bad and inconsistent
quarterback play that you thought you were going
to get out of. I keep telling people the money
isn't always worth it. If I'm a player, I would
rather take less just so I can be in a better
opportunity than to just say, hey, I'm making
30 plus million, but I'm on a team that's probably
not going to win 10 games this season. Or I'm
on a team right now that most likely I'm going
to have a new head coach come next year. Come
on, man. What are we doing? But the Jets will
be the Jets. So let's talk about the Falcons
and Bills game. So Josh Allen, 26 attempts for
15 completions, 180 passing yards, two touchdowns,
two picks, 6 .9 yards per attempt, and a 57 .7
completion percentage. James Cook, 17 attempts
for 87 rushing yards, 5 .1 rushing yards per
carry, and two rushes of 10 plus yards or more.
Josh Palmer, two targets for two receptions,
60 receiving yards, and 30 receiving yards per
reception. Michael Penix, 32 attempts for 20
completions, 250 passing yards, 1 touchdown,
7 .8 yards per attempt, and a 62 .5 completion
percentage. Bijan Robinson, 19 attempts for 170
rushing yards, 8 .9 rushing yards per carry,
1 touchdown, and 3 rushes of 10 plus yards or
more. Drake London, 16 targets for 10 receptions,
158 receiving yards, 1 touchdown, and 15 .8 receiving
yards per reception. Let's be honest here. The
Bills are not Super Bowl contenders. You guys
know that meme of the Bugatti in that really
crappy house? That's exactly what Josh Allen
is with the Bills. Great talent, but in a really
messed up situation. And they believe that Josh
Allen will be the sole reason why they go to
the Super Bowl and win. And that's not the case.
The man doesn't have really good weapons. And
honestly speaking, their defense is atrocious.
I know usually I talk about the offense and the
defense, but I have to group them in together
because there's so much to talk about with this
Bills team. And I knew that something wasn't
right with this Bills team when they faced the
Saints. Anytime the Saints, a team that doesn't
have a lot of weapons, a team that is trying
to compete for a top five or top ten pick, is
going toe -to -toe with you for the majority
of the game, that is a problem. And it clearly
showed because B. John Robinson had a great game.
The Bills cannot stop the run, and that's a problem.
Mind you, they invested a lot of resources into
the defensive line this past offseason. From
drafting Deion Walker and T .J. Sanders to bringing
in Joey Bosa, they've done a lot, and clearly
it hasn't shown. So what in the world is going
on? Not to mention, your corners are not good.
Your linebackers are not good. Your safeties
are not good. There is nothing on this defense
that screams problem. Good problem, by the way.
Not bad problem. Good problem. So what in the
world are they going to do? Because guess what?
If they face the Chiefs again, oh, that's a slaughter.
If they face the Ravens, if they get their act
together, that could possibly be a problem. So
you can't just say, oh, Josh Allen will save
us. He's done it before. He'll do it again. No,
you have to give him time. You have to give him
adequate weapons. You can't just throw him Keon
Coleman and Khalil Shakir and Gabe Davis was
still trying to recover from his past injury
and just say, you know what? Turn water into
wine. It doesn't work like that. You have to
give him a chance. Honestly speaking. I'll be
the first person to say it because nobody else
wants to say it. And I don't have no ties to
any team or any journalists or anything. I truly
believe that the Bill's Super Bowl window has
closed. And you can only blame that on poor drafting,
free agency moves, and poor roster building.
And I know I'm about to go on a tangent, but
just follow me, okay? When we look at the NFC
and AFC. The reason why I will always choose
an NFC GM over an AFC GM, because you know why?
NFC GMs build the entire team. They don't just
build one side of the ball. They try to make
the team as balanced as possibly can. Whereas
the AFC, as long as they have the quarterback,
they can just wing it. And most of the times,
their windows close a lot faster than NFC teams.
The AFC have all the elite quarterbacks, but
guess what? they have some of the worst rosters
in the entire league. Whereas the NFC, on the
other hand, they have some of the best rosters
and they may not have some of the best quarterbacks
in the league. So me personally, I would rather
have the roster over the quarterback because
you can sort of do what the Eagles are doing.
You can have a good quarterback in Jalen Hurts,
but you can have this loaded roster that can
hide his flaws while at the same time be very
productive and put points on the board. Why in
the world do we continue to say, oh, this is
going to be the year for the Bills. The Bills
are going to do it this year. They're not. They're
not going to win a Super Bowl. Their last legitimate
chance of going to the Super Bowl was the year
they lost to the Chiefs in overtime. Because
their defense was productive. The offense was
productive. They were moving on all cylinders.
But what happened? They kept on choking to Patrick
Mahomes. Every single time. So at some point,
you have to start asking the question, is Sean
McDermott the guy that's going to take us to
the promised land? Because I'm starting to believe
that he can't. I'm sorry. If you lose to the
Falcons, we have to talk. And this is no discredit
to the Falcons, but I mean, this is the same
team that got blown out by the Panthers. 30 -0.
30 -0. That's a Madden score. That's not a real
score. That is a Madden score. And they just
finished beating a potential quote -unquote Super
Bowl team? Are you serious? And I understand
everyone's going to say, well, you know, crazy
things can happen in the National Football League.
That's why the NFL is so special. Okay, I understand
where you're coming from, but come on. Here is
a stat that backs up everything that I just said.
According to NextGenStats. The Falcons blitzed
Josh Allen on 55 .9 % of his dropbacks, the highest
blitz rate Josh Allen has faced since week eight
of the 2021 season. When blitzed, Josh Allen
completed eight of his 14 for 120 yards, one
touchdown, but was pressured nine of 19 blitz
dropbacks and was sacked three times. Don't believe
me? Okay, I got another stat. Across 34 routes.
Drake London hauled in 10 of his 16 targets for
a touchdown. His receptions came from either
short or intermediate areas. I'm sorry folks,
but something's wrong. Clearly this defense is
incompetent. Clearly this defense lacks talent.
Your corners are bad. You didn't do anything
about it. And you could have done something about
it. I'm not really going to put a lot of blame
on Maxwell Harrison because he's a rookie. He
doesn't really know anything. But for everybody
else that's been here, what are we doing? And
you guys think that you guys can beat the Chiefs?
Hell no! But let's talk about the Falcons, though.
They did a great job with their execution, both
offensively and defensively. The offense knew
that the Bills' run defense isn't that strong,
and they attacked it. And they continued to do
that the entire game, and it worked. Now, defensively,
they did a great job as well because they were
able to create consistent pressure on Josh Allen.
And everybody knows that if you continue to do
it on Josh Allen enough, he's going to get startled.
And that's exactly what happened. Outside of
those first few explosive plays that the Bills
did, the Falcons had him on lock. So great job
to the Falcons. And you just gave a playbook
for everybody to see on how to beat the Bills.
But let's talk about Tua, though. But before
we do that, we've got to pay some bills. Pardon
the interruption, but this is your GM, your bad
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Now back to the good stuff. And we're back, folks.
Let's talk about Tua and these ridiculous comments
that he has made that has put everybody against
him. I'm talking about former players. I'm talking
about current players, media personalities, you
name it. Everybody is against Tua right now,
okay? So this is what he said in response to
a question being asked by Omar Kelly, the Miami
hero, okay? So this is what Tua said in that
quote. I think it starts with the leadership
and helping to articulate that for the guys.
And that what we're expecting out of the guys,
we're expecting this. Are we getting that? Are
we not getting that? We have guys showing up
to player only meetings late. Guys not showing
up to the player only meetings. There's a lot
that goes into that. Do we have to make this
mandatory? So it's a lot of things of that nature
that we got to get cleaned up. And it starts
with the little things like that, end quote.
Now, this is what Jason McCourty had to say about
this. And I quote, I hated every bit of that.
I played in New England with Bill Belichick and
Tom Brady and Coach Belichick used to talk about
it. When you have true leadership, it doesn't
need to be talked about. So if there is a problem,
Tua, you're the captain of this team. You're
the quarterback. Go handle it. Don't sit here
in front of the camera and talk to media members
about guys messing up. Get in the locker room,
call those guys out by name, and if confrontation
happens... then it happens sometimes. But I think
to come and air out your dirty laundry and let
everybody know that there's a problem, we know
there's a problem. You're not winning football
games. Go fix it in -house. Handle it that way.
I think that's true leadership, end quote. Now,
this is what Mitchell Swartz had to say about
this. And I quote, isn't he just telling on himself?
He is the leader of the team and guys aren't
showing up to players -only meetings. This has
nothing to do with coaches, front office, et
cetera. Very weird to talk about and admit, end
quote. Now this is what former Tennessee GM Rand
Carthorn had to say about this, end quote. Everything
that you said post -game had to do with players,
right? And the last time I checked, you wear
that C on your chest, which means you're one
of the leaders on this team. So if players aren't
showing up to player -led meetings, that starts
with you. That has nothing to do with Mike McDaniel.
That has nothing to do with Chris Greer. That
has nothing to do with anybody that is not in
that locker room. That's you. That's your teammates
that all wear that C on their chest. That's you
guys not holding each other accountable. That
has nothing to do with the head coach. And what
I see out of Tua Tagovailoa, I've never seen
him come to the front and say, I have to play
better. When he's questioned about the volume
of turnovers, it's him being defensive. What
do you mean? I don't turn the ball over as in
bunches. But you turn the ball over. You don't
hold yourself accountable. And in order for this
organization to play well and to win football
games, you have to lead. And no matter what's
going on around you, that's out of the player's
hands, right? And it comes down to you fighting
for the man next to you, your brother that's
in the huddle, your brother that's across the
locker room for you. So don't worry about any
of that. It starts with you. You need to look
yourself in the mirror and figure out what you
need to do as the starting quarterback for this
Miami Dolphins franchise to help them win football
games, end quote. Now, this is what Mike McDaniel
had to say Monday after these two comments were
already out, and I quote, After a loss as the
franchise quarterback, that's not the form to
displace that. I think he knows that now. I do
believe there was no ill will intention, but
you're talking about a misguided representation
of a player orchestrated film sessions. You're
trying to look for reasons that you can attribute
to losses, and heavy is the crown of being a
franchise quarterback. What I do know is that
he's directly communicating with a lot of guys,
starting with last night. That's what teammates
do. You live and you learn. And ultimately, I
look at it like everything else. There's no ifs,
ands, or buts about it. Accountability and our
team's performance lie squarely on my shoulders,
end quote. Now, here's the stat line for Tua
for that game, okay? 32 attempts for 21 completions,
205 passing yards, one touchdown, three picks,
6 .4 yards per attempt, and a 65 .6 completion
percentage. Now here's the injury report for
the Chargers. They didn't have Quentin Johnson,
Darius Davis, Scott Matlock, Nico Reed, Jamari
Slayer, Joe Ault, or Trey Pickens III. So you
mean to tell me that you're going to air out
the team's dirty laundry the way that you did?
on public forum. Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Drew
Brees, none of those great quarterbacks would
never do anything like that. So what gives you
the right to say the things that you say? I understand
you're not winning. I understand there's a lot
of turmoil around you. I understand that from
the outside looking in, everybody is saying the
same thing. Blow everything up. You're not a
good quarterback. I understand that. But what
you cannot do is air out the team's dirty laundry.
Because guess what's going to happen? The media
is going to run with this. You cannot be making
the type of money that you are making and just
do something like this. It'll be different if
this was a receiver, if this was an offensive
lineman, if this was a corner or a pass rusher.
Okay, fine, whatever. You'll still get some flack
back, but it won't be as big as what it is right
now. But you're the quarterback. You're the face
of the franchise. When people talk about the
team, you are the first person that pops up.
And the fact that you didn't think about that
in that moment and you were so brutally honest
that now that you have essentially destroyed
any and all relationships in that locker room,
who in the world really wants to fight for a
quarterback who just finished saying, oh yeah,
people don't really show up to the player -only
meetings like that. People are just, you know,
late sometimes or they may just not come at all.
What? Who in the world does something like this?
No one cares. You know what people care about
is you winning. And then on top of that, why
in the world are you talking when you threw three
picks in this game? Three picks. It'll be different
if you was balling out and you was doing your
thing and you may get a little bit frustrated.
Okay, fine. That's a normal thing as a person.
But for you to do what you have done to him.
by some people's standards, is unforgivable.
I'm sorry, you cannot do that because guess what's
going to happen? Everyone is going to look at
you with a side eye because guess what? When
Tyreek Hill said what he said this offseason,
oh, let's protect Tua. Let's make sure Tua's
okay. Let's coddle Tua. Oh, where's that now?
Where's that now? Because all I see is somebody
who really can't handle the pressure. This is
what happens when you are a quarterback in the
National Football League. You have to deal with
the pressure. And if you can't handle the pressure,
let somebody else do it. But this is exactly
why I said what I said about why they shouldn't
have never gave him the contract that they gave
him. Because ever since they gave him his contract,
he's been feeling himself. He's been smelling
his own shit every single week. And you can't
just air yourself out like that. Because guess
what? If you don't have a good game on Sunday,
guess what? Everybody's going to refer to exactly
what you just said this past Sunday. And if you're
a team who possibly want to make a trade for
you, because most likely the Dolphins are going
to get rid of you, who would want that in their
locker room? I wouldn't want that in my locker
room. Too much is given, much is required. You
cannot be making the type of money that you are
making and say the things that you are saying.
And not once did I hear, you know what, I just
have to play better. Or you could have just said,
you know what, I don't really have the answer
for that, but you know what, come back to me
maybe about a few days and I'll give you an answer.
There's so many different ways that you could
have went about answering that question. But
you decided that, you know what, I'm going to
be super honest. And in doing so, you have now
essentially burned every relationship that you
have in your locker room. Not to mention, by
some people's standards, one could assume that,
hey, are you throwing your head coach under the
bus as well? And this is the same head coach
that said, you know what, I'm going to help you
out. I'm going to build the best version of Tua
that the NFL has ever seen. And so far, all I
see is somebody that is smelling himself, that
feels like he's the big man on the block, when
in actuality, you're not. I just saw Baker Mayfield
without Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, who lost a
mecha buka during the game, who didn't have Bucky
Irvin, find a way to win. So what is your excuse?
There is no excuse. Either you got it or you
don't. That's just what it is. So why in the
world would you say something like this? And
I remember that entire summer, everyone was making
it seem like Tyreek Hill was just this villainous
person for the things that he said. There may
be some truth with this. We only saw one side
of Tyreek Hill with that entire situation of
him saying, you know, I would rather have these
other quarterbacks than Tua. We don't know the
day -to -day relationship that he has with Tua.
We don't know how Tua is on a day -to -day basis.
It's the same thing with Russell Wilson. No disrespect
to Russell Wilson, but there are a lot of people
that said, hey, Russ really isn't a cool person.
As a Steelers fan, when the leaks were coming
out about how him and Arthur Smith were at odds
and they had disagreements on how they wanted
to execute the offense and whatnot, oh, then
let me know. That already let me know what type
of person we're dealing with. So at some point,
you're going to take accountability or not to
it. Because you have to take accountability for
this. Granted, there are some things that are
out of your control. But the things that you
can control, you don't control. And you point
the finger at everybody else. And so how are
you going to be able to talk to your guys and
say, you know what, guys? That's on me. I apologize
for that. You can't do it anymore because it's
already done. And guess what? Everybody's going
to be asking the same question for the rest of
the year to all of these players. But you want
to know what makes things worse? And this is
the last thing I'm going to say about this. I
want to talk about trade projections and then
we're going to end the episode. Justin Herbert
didn't have neither one of his starting tackles
and found a way to win. But when you face a little
bit of adversity, you crumble like flower hitting
water. I'm done. Let's talk about trade projections.
so with the trade deadline coming around i feel
like we need to talk about the cap space with
every single team right now before we get into
you know possible trades and whatnot so of course
we all know The Patriots right now have the most
cap space in the entire league. They have 54
.3 million. The Cowboys have 31 .7 million. The
Commanders have 27 .8 million. The San Francisco
49ers have 26 .3. The Lions have 25 .2. The Browns
have 23 .6. The Seahawks have 22 .8. The Steelers
have 21 .2. The Panthers have 20 .4. The Titans
have 19 .2. The Buccaneers have 17 million. The
Vikings have, what, 16 .9 million. The Cardinals
have 16 .7. The Ravens have 14 .1. The Broncos
have 13 .5. The Texans have 12 .8. The Packers
have 12 .1. The Jets have 11 .7 million. The
Rams have 11 .6 million. The Saints have 11 .6
million as well. The Eagles have 11 .3. The Bengals
have 9 .7. The Bears have 8 .2. The Raiders have
8 million. The Colts have 6 .9 million. The Falcons
have 5 .8 million. The Chiefs have 3 .4 million.
The Charters have 2 .6 million. The Bills have
2 .2 million. The Dolphins have 1 .2 million.
The Giants have negative 488 ,454 cap space.
And the Jaguars have negative 9. $798 ,791. Woo!
So if you're the Dolphins, Giants, or Jaguars,
you essentially don't have anything. So you're
probably not gonna be a player. Or if you are,
you're most likely gonna be a seller. So with
that being said, if you're any of the teams that
I just listed, from the Patriots probably to,
I would say maybe the Colts, you can make some
moves. Everybody else, not so much. But let's
talk about it, though. So the first person that
comes to mind is Jeffrey Simmons. I truly believe
that he's going to get traded. I think right
now, if you're the Titans, you can use that extra
pick because most likely you can ask for a first
round pick and somebody will be willing to give
it to you. So you have two first round picks
next year, which you're really going to need
because you're going to need to bring in more
weapons for Cam Ward while at the same time address
other needs on this team. Now, the teams that
could be interesting for Jeffrey Simmons includes
Ravens, 49ers, Eagles, and Bills. What do they
all have in common? Bad defensive lines right
now that need an elite pass rusher. And Jeffrey
Simmons can play on the inside and outside. And
even when you look at his contract, his contract
is actually really good. His base salary this
year, according to Spotrack, is only $17 .5 million,
and his cap hit is only $22 .7 million. And then
the next two years, $20 .1 million for his base
salary. His cap hit $25 .4 million. And then
his last year before he's an unrestricted free
agent, $23 million with a cap hit of $28 .3 million.
That's not bad at all. And he's only 28 years
old. I would give up a first round pick in a
heartbeat. Now, Kirk Cousins, I don't believe
he's going to get traded. For one, he has a bad
contract. And two, why would I want to give up?
a potential second or third round pick for a
quarterback that when he was on the field really
didn't show a lot. Not to mention, when you look
at his contract, I mean, the cap hits are egregious.
This year, $40 million. Next year, $57 .5 million.
And then the year after that, $57 .5 million
as well. That's not good. And then your base
salaries, I mean, come on, $27 .5 million this
year and then $35 million for the next two years.
Who wants to deal with that? Nobody. Mark Andrews,
I would say he stays in Baltimore this year,
but I do believe they're going to move off of
him next year. I think with Isaiah Likely coming
up for a contract, it's just better that you
go with Isaiah Likely at this point. And even
if a team was to trade for Mark Andrews, he's
at the end of his contract. So his base salary
is only $7 million with a cap hit of only $16
.9 million. That's not bad at all. But let's
keep this thing going. DJ Moore. I think he may
get traded, but don't hold me to it. Now, if
he was traded, I believe the Steelers, 49ers,
Chiefs, Commanders, and Browns will be interested
in DJ Moore. Now, with him, you could probably
give up maybe, what, a third, maybe a fourth
round pick to get DJ Moore. Now, with his contract,
however, I mean, it's still fairly new, so even
when you look at the financials, it's somewhat
easy to take on, right? So his cap hit this year,
24 .9 million. Next year is 28 .5 million. The
year after that, 28 .5. The year after that,
28 .5. And then his last year, 24 .5. That's
not bad. Even with his base salaries, 20 .6 this
year, 23 .4 for the next three years, or actually
no, for the remainder of his contract. So either
way, it's a good contract to take on. And he's
only 28 years old. So with the Bears drafting
Luther Burden and them having Roma Dunzey and
the other receiver, you might as well want to
get off of DJ Moore. Just saying. Tyreek Woolen,
I think he's going to get traded. And the reason
why I say that is because there's a lot of teams
that need a good outside corner. I think the
Eagles, possibly the Ravens, 49ers, Commanders,
Bears, Colts, Bucks will definitely want someone
like a Tyreek Woolen. Now, if I'm the Bucks...
I would make this trade immediately. And the
reason why I say that is because if you make
a move for someone like a Tyreek Woolen, it's
going to show up your secondary a whole lot more.
Not to mention the cap hit that you're going
to take this year, $5 .4 million. Now, yes, you're
going to have to figure out what you're going
to do after this season, but we'll cross that
bridge when we cross that bridge. And even then...
I don't think he's due top five or top three
quarterback money. I think if you give him maybe
around 22, maybe 23 million a year, I think no
one's complaining about it, honestly. Bradley
Chubb, I think he's definitely going to get traded.
And I think you can give Bradley Chubb for a
steal. I think you can get him for maybe a fourth,
maybe fifth round pick, I would say. I don't
think no one is giving up a third round pick
for Bradley Chubb. Not with this crazy contract,
no. Now, I think the 49ers, Ravens, Bills, Chargers,
Cowboys, and Eagles should all be interested
in this. Now, his cap hit this year is $12 .3
million. Mind you, they did do a restructure,
I think, either this year or last year. But his
base salary in 26 is $19 .4, and then his base
salary in 27 is $18 .4 million. So it's not that
bad of a contract. It's just my thing is... Why
would I give up high compensation for somebody
that really hasn't been productive since being
with the Dolphins? Just saying. Now, when we
talk about Trevon Diggs, I'm a little bit undecided.
And the reason why I say that is because any
team that would be interested in him will most
likely be teams within their division. And I
don't think Jerry Jones is going to give Howie
Trevon Diggs. That's like the Steelers giving
TJ Watt to the Browns. If he was to make Trevon
Diggs available, I think the Ravens, 49ers, Commanders,
Bears, Colts, and Bucks may be interested in
him. Now, you could automatically disqualify
the Commanders because, again, division rivals,
and I don't think that would happen anyway, but
crazier things have happened. But if you're any
of those other teams, I feel like you should
probably call in for the Cowboys and see what's
the asking price for Trevon Diggs. Now, you already
know Jerry Jones is going to drive up the price.
He's probably going to say a second round pick,
even though most likely Trevon Diggs is worth
maybe a third or fourth round pick. And let's
keep this thing going. Chris Alave, I do believe
he's going to get traded. It's between him or
Rashid Shaeed. But with Chris Alave, he's on
his rookie deal, of course. They did pick up
his fifth year option. So most likely you are
going to have to pay him. Now his market value,
I don't know on my head. My guess is... It's
between 20 and maybe 28 million a year. I'm not
going over 28 for Chris Alave. I'm sorry. You
have concussion problems and you really can't
stay healthy. Just being completely honest here.
But if he was to get traded, I do believe the
Steelers, Commanders, 49ers, Chiefs, Browns,
and Titans would all be interested in him. But
I do believe the Steelers, Commanders, and 49ers,
and Chiefs will probably be more interested in
him. And the only reason why I say that is because...
All of them need another receiver, especially
the Steelers. Now, the question is, what would
be the asking price for someone like a Chris
Alave? My guess is, is maybe a second round pick,
maybe a third. If they're asking for a first
round pick for Chris Alave, you're out of your
mind because I'm not doing that. But a second,
I may not like it, but. If it means that I have
a wide receiver too and somebody that's going
to be with the team for the long run, well, then
I have to do what I have to do. If DK Metcalf
can get traded for a second round pick, Chris
Olave can get traded for a second or third round
pick. Just saying. Russell Wilson, trade it.
The only team that I could think of is the Raiders.
And the only reason why I say that is because
he can reunite with Pete Carroll. Now, the question
is this. How long is Russell Wilson going to
sit behind Jackson Dart? Because we all know
at some point Russell Wilson is going to get
a little bit antsy and then he's going to go
to the media and everyone's going to be talking
about, well, Russell Wilson is not happy with
his role on the Giants and whatnot. So we all
know that's going to happen within the next few
weeks. Just stay tuned for that. You already
know, right? Now let's talk about Jalen Phillips.
Trading. I think right now if you're a team that
wants a young pass rusher that, quite frankly,
you can give him an extension that's not going
to break the bank. I would say make a trade for
Jalen Phillips. Now, if you're the 49ers, Ravens,
or Eagles, I feel like you guys should be on
the phone with them right now. I think you can
get Jalen Phillips for a fifth round pick. Because,
I mean, this year he really has been playing
well. None of the pass rushers on the Dolphins
have been playing well. So I think that should
be more of a reason for any of those teams to
make a trade for him. Now, with Rasheed Shaheed,
one of two things are going to happen. Either
he's going to stay or he's going to be traded.
Now, I will say this. If you're trading for Rashid
Shaheed, just know he's just a season rental.
Because after this season, he's an unrestricted
free agent. Now, if he was to be traded, I think
the Steelers, 49ers, Browns, Commanders, Titans,
and Chiefs shall all inquire about him. Because
he is having a good year this year. The question
is, would you be willing to give up whatever
the Saints are asking for? Because either Chris
Alave or Rasheed Shaheed is getting traded. One
of the two, not the both of them. Now, if I'm
the Saints, I think I would probably trade away
Chris Alave because I can get more with Chris
Alave than I could with Rasheed Shaheed. But
that's just my personal opinion. And I think
you can give Rasheed Shaheed. maybe a two or
three year extension that it's not really going
to break the bank, but at the same time, it's
a reliable weapon that's going to stay here for
when the next quarterback gets drafted. Just
saying. Al -Azhar traded. And the only reason
why I say that is because his role on this offense
has dwindled as the season progresses. So that
lets me know that he's falling out of the good
graces of this team. Now, if I'm the Steelers,
reunite him with Aaron Rodgers. If I'm the 49ers,
Chiefs, Titans, Commanders, It's a bigger body
receiver, red zone threat, don't have to give
up a whole lot to get him. I would do it. I mean,
his cap hit this year is only $4 .1 million with
a base salary of only $1 .7 million. That's not
bad. Now, when you make this move, just know
he's only a seasoned rental. So after this season,
you're going to have to figure out what you're
going to do with him. Are you going to give him
an extension or are you going to let him know?
Now, there was a few other people that was thinking
about putting him on this list, but I was like,
you know what? No, it's not worth it. It really
isn't because a lot of those players are probably
going to stay with the team anyway. If there's
anybody I'm thinking of, maybe I'll talk about
it in the next episode. I don't know, but I want
to end this episode here. If you guys like what
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for listening to another episode of the Football
Junkies Podcast. I appreciate you guys oh, oh,
oh so much. I know it's been a while. But I'm
back, folks. I'm back. I'm refreshed, ready to
get back in the race. OK, so stay tuned. You
already know we're going to talk about football
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that will be coming out soon. You never know.
Stay tuned. Also, I'm going to say it again.
I will not be doing a gut check time until after
the trade deadline. OK. But if anything crazy
happens from now until the trade deadline that's
really significant, I'll do a quick episode about
it, all right? So as always, I love you guys.
I appreciate you guys so much. This is your GM
Kel signing out. Peace and love. Later.