Are you a Steelers fan that's just tired of eating
the same old, same old stuff every single day?
You know, donuts and coffee or bland cereal,
oatmeal, toast, a bagel. We're introducing Wacko
Flackos. That's right, folks, Wacko Flackos,
the best cereal that you can eat. If you are
a Steelers fan, post a buy, especially for the
Bengals. Now, see, with this cereal, it is different
from every other cereal that you've ever had
before because this cereal is shaped in L's.
That's right, not lowercase. L's, not cursive
L's, but big ol' large L's. That's right, folks.
You take about three bites of this cereal and
you are already full of L's like how every Steelers
fan is right now post this Bengals game. But...
You can only get it at your local Pittsburgh
grocery store. That's right, folks. So go on
down to your local Pittsburgh grocery store and
get you as many boxes of Wacko Flackos as you
possibly can. Now, once you buy these Wacko Flackos,
make sure you go to the next Bengals game and
have Joe Flacko. That's right, Mr. Wacko Flacko
himself. Sign off on these boxes. And when you
do so, make sure that you keep them so you will
remember the ass beating that him, Jamar Chase,
and Tee Higgins gave. Now, with that being said,
we have other things that we have to talk about.
Brandon Graham returns to the Eagles. Brian Callahan
gets fired. Commanders and Cowboys recap. Dolphins
and Browns recap. Giants and Broncos recap. And
Texans and Seahawks recap. All right, all of
this and more. On the 95th episode of the Football
Junkies Podcast, okay, I am your host with the
most, all right? I am your hopium, hopium, hopium,
hopium dealer. That's 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 am all these things and more.
But most importantly, the most important thing
that you must remember is I am your host, Kale.
Buckle up because it's going to be a long episode.
It's going to be a great episode. It's going
to be an episode full of twists, turns, truth
bombs, and more. 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 was going to start with the Steelers and Bengals
first, but I want to save that for last because
I have a lot to say with that, okay? So let's
just get into the Texans and Seahawks, all right?
So CJ Stroud, 49 attempts for 23 completions,
229 passing yards, one touchdown, one pick, 4
.7 yards per attempt, a 46 .9 completion percentage.
CJ Stroud again. Two attempts for 25 rushing
yards, 12 .5 rushing yards per carry, and two
rushes of 10 plus yards or more. Dolson Schultz,
10 targets for nine receptions, 98 receiving
yards, and 10 .9 receiving yards per reception.
Sam Darnall, 31 attempts for 17 completions,
213 passing yards, one touchdown, one pick, 6
.9 yards per attempt, and a 54 .8 completion
percentage. Kenneth Walker. 17 attempts for 66
rushing yards, 3 .9 rushing yards per carry,
and two rushes of 10 plus yards or more. JSN,
14 targets for eight receptions, 123 receiving
yards, one touchdown, and 15 .4 receiving yards
per reception. So here's a few junkie nuggets,
okay? When the line out wide, JSN caught eight
of his 14 targets from 123 yards and one touchdown.
Sam Donald targeted in breaking routes 11 times,
completing seven passes for 97 yards and one
touchdown. Sam Donald ranks third in passing
yards at 1 ,541 passing yards, despite the Seahawks
passing on 50 .3 % of their plays, the lowest
pass rate in the NFL. So a couple takeaways from
this game. For starters, the Texans need to protect
C .J. Stroud. I understand that you're going
up against a really good defense that has a really
good defensive line, but just drafting one offensive
lineman is not going to do the job. Because right
now, CJ Stroud has significantly regressed. When
we look at his rookie year and compare that to
how he's playing now, it's really bad. And a
lot of that you have to blame on what's around
him. He has a bad offensive line. His run game
is not dependable. I mean, everyone was thinking,
okay, you're going to have Joe Mixon and Nick
Chubb. Joe Mixon still hasn't played. but you
have all these receivers. So what sense does
it make? And I will continue to say this, and
I'm going to say this with the Dolphins and Browns
game. You can have all the weapons in the world,
but if you don't have an offensive line that's
going to be able to protect you, you can't feed
your weapons. And that's exactly what happened
this game. If it wasn't for the Texans having
Will Anderson and Daniil Hunter, best believe
this would have been a shutout because that Texas
offense couldn't do anything. The run game was
inconsistent. The passing game was inconsistent.
They had no consistency throughout the entire
game. The Seahawks was locking it down. But let's
continue. The Seahawks are the best team in the
NFC West. I am willing to die on this hill and
say that there is nobody else in that division
that you have to worry about. The Rams still
look a little bit shaky. The 49ers, as I've said
before, before the season even started, I don't
believe them. I believe that they are pretenders.
And the Cardinals are most likely going to just
tank for the rest of the year because Kyler Murray
is just not the same guy. So as of right now,
the Seahawks are in pole position to win that
division and can really be true contenders against
the Lions, Buccaneers, or Eagles. You could probably
even sprinkle in the Cowboys in there as well,
but we'll talk about them when we get there,
okay? But as of right now, the Seahawks really
don't have a lot of flaws on neither side of
the ball. The run game is consistent. The passing
game looks really good. Sam Darnold looks really
good. The defense is sort of giving you like
a Legion of Boom 2 .0 type of vibe. The DBs are
really physical. The defensive line is getting
after them. Now, the question is this. Are they
going to be buyers or sellers when the trade
deadline hits? Put a bookmark on that. We may
talk about that in the next episode. Just saying.
Sam Darnold for MVP? Question mark? Yes, I know
we all drunk from the same cup last year. And
we all were thinking, you know, Sam Darnold's
going to win MVP. And then he just, I don't know.
went down the wrong slide or something. It was
just atrocious towards the end of last season.
But this year, I mean, we may have to have a
conversation because as of right now, there are
only four quarterbacks in my mind that I would
consider MVP candidates. Baker Mayfield is number
one, Dak Prescott, number two, Sam Darnold, number
three, and maybe Justin Herbert, depending on
how the rest of the season goes. I don't know,
but just saying. But let's keep this thing going
with a truth bomb. Self -inflicted wounds will
be the downfall of the Texans. When they drafted
C .J. Stroud, I was thinking, okay, they've turned
the page from Deshaun Watson. They're going in
a different direction. There's a light at the
end of the tunnel. And since C .J. Stroud's rookie
season, it has been a sharp decline in his play.
And offensively, it's regressed. And so I understand
that you traded Loremi Tonto. I understand that
you've made a lot of movement. on the offensive
line, and on the offense as a whole. But there
is no cohesiveness on this offense right now.
I'm sorry. I understand that you've lost Joe
Mixon for, I would say, maybe the rest of the
year. But you have to make a trade for a running
back. You have to inject some energy into this
offense because right now they just got their
ass kicked by the Seahawks. And it's only going
to get worse from here because right now the
Colts is the number one team that every AFC team
is going to have to face. And that's your division
rival. So whoever their GM is, they need to be
on the phone trying to make some trades now because
things are not looking good within your division.
The Jaguars actually look pretty good this year.
The Titans, I mean, that's just a lost cause.
We already know. But the Colts is the team that
you're going to have to worry about. But let's
talk about the Giants and Broncos games. So Jackson
Dart, 33 attempts for 15 completions, 283 passing
yards, three touchdowns, one pick, and a 45 .5
completion percentage. Cam Scadabo. 16 attempts
for 60 rushing yards, 3 .8 rushing yards per
carry, and 1 rush of 10 plus yards or more. Wondell
Robinson, 12 targets for 6 receptions, 95 receiving
yards, and 15 .8 receiving yards per reception.
Bo Nix, 50 attempts for 23 completions, 279 passing
yards, 2 touchdowns, 5 .6 yards per attempt.
and a 54 completion percentage kay dobbins 14
attempts for 81 rushing yards 5 .8 rushing yards
per carry and one rush of 10 plus yards or more
courtland 10 targets for six receptions 87 receiving
yards and 14 .5 receiving yards per reception
so here's a few junkie nuggets against the broncos
blitz jackson dark completed eight of his 14
passes for 193 yards two touchdowns and one pick
the third most passing yards by any player facing
the Blitz. On 37 coverage snaps, PS2 didn't allow
reception. PS2 was targeted twice and only recorded
one pass deflection. With that being said, let's
talk about the Broncos offense. So for starters,
they couldn't get a scoring drive together to
save their life. Every time that they had a little
momentum going, guess what? The Giants just knocked
it down. That pass rush was doing its thing.
And mind you, This offense is supposed to be
one of the better offenses in the entire league.
So for Abdul Carter, Brian Burns, you know, the
same old same do their thing. Man, oh man, is
that great to see. Now I will say this. Andrew
Phillips was physical. I mean, old school 2000s
quarterback physical. He was making tackles.
He was doing it all, man. I mean, this Giants
defense looks really good, really productive,
really consistent, honestly, on all three levels,
which is actually really good. Because they are
the bright spot of this team. But we have to
talk about Jackson Dart effectively distributing
the ball to everybody on that offense. Wondell
Robinson was getting his. Theo Johnson was getting
his. The other tight end was getting his. Everybody
was getting some attention. And that's how you
win games. Now, I mean, we all know how they
lost. And that's a little bit controversial by
some people's standards. But we're not going
to talk about that, okay? We're just going to
leave that alone. But this is very promising.
Even though they lost, for Jackson to own against
a really good defense like the Broncos says a
lot. Now, am I saying that, hey, this team could
possibly make it to the playoffs? No. But I will
say this. Anytime you have a quarterback, a rookie
quarterback on top of that, to be this effective
without their supposed number one weapon, that's
promising right there. But with that being said,
if you're Joe Shane, should you make a move to
bring in another receiver? Now, I understand
that Wanda Robinson, Jalen Hyatt, and everybody
else is being really productive, but you still
need somebody to play that number one wide receiver
role. So do you bring in a Chris Alave? Do you
bring in a Jacoby Myers? Do you bring in an Alan
Lazard if he is available? Do you bring in another
receiver to help out? Because I think what they
have right now is sustainable. Now, am I saying
it's sustainable enough for them to possibly
make it in the playoffs? No. But I think it's
enough to maybe win seven, maybe eight games.
And I think if you do that, John Mara has to
keep Brian Dable and Joe Shane. You can't get
rid of them now. If Russell Wilson was still
in the game, oh, by all means, everybody's gone.
But with Jackson Dart playing the way that he's
been playing, you got to keep him. There is something
there that can be built off of this season. But
with that being said, the Broncos defense. I'm
not saying it's the best, but it's up there.
I would venture to say it's probably top three
right now because if it wasn't for them having
that defense, the Giants would have easily steamrolled
the Broncos because the Broncos offense couldn't
do anything. And the defense was the only thing
that was keeping them in the game. But let's
talk about the game that not a lot of people
watched. I can assure you there was a lot of
people that was probably taking a nap, maybe
getting some brunch or making dinner, you know,
just doing different things just to pass the
time because who in the world is watching the
Dolphins and the Browns? Nobody. But let's talk
about it. Tua, 23 attempts for 12 completions,
100 passing yards, three picks, 4 .3 yards per
attempt, and a 52 .5 completion percentage. Quinn
Ewerts. 8 attempts for 5 completions, 53 passing
yards, 6 .6 yards per attempt, and a 62 .5 completion
percentage. Devon Achan, 13 attempts for 82 rushing
yards, 6 .3 rushing yards per carry, and 2 rushes
of 10 plus yards or more. Dee Eskridge, 2 targets
for 2 receptions, 45 receiving yards, and 22
.5 receiving yards per reception. Dylan Gabriel,
18 attempts for 13 completions, 116 passing yards,
6 .4 yards per attempt, and a 72 .2 completion
percentage. Quinshaw -Junkins, 25 attempts for
84 rushing yards, 3 .4 rushing yards per carry,
3 touchdowns, and 2 rushes of 10 plus yards or
more. Harold Fannin Jr., 5 targets for 4 receptions,
36 receiving yards, and 9 receiving yards per
reception. So with this game, honestly, yes,
it was a bad game on both sides. It was rainy
and everything, but there is something to come
out of this. There's no need to fire Mike McDaniel.
I understand that's not the popular option. I
understand it's not the popular thing that Dolphins
fans want to hear, but that's the truth. There's
no need in firing him if Anthony Weaver, who
by all intents and purposes will be the interim
head coach, is not doing a good job either. So
all you're doing is replacing crap with more
crap. It's like that meme of the grandfather.
He got the same shirt that he's wearing for Christmas.
That's exactly what it is in this situation.
So you might as well want to suck it up and just
deal with it. Because guess what? This is what
happens when you try to take an easy pass in
roster building. We're going to go to class right
now. Here's the thing. Okay. And I had to really
think about this when I was watching the game.
Who can you blame for the Dolphins not being
where they're supposed to be? Mike McDaniel,
Chris Greer, Stephen Ross, Anthony Weaver, Tua.
Who do you blame in this? And the number one
person that needs to be blamed for this is Chris
Greer. And here's why. And this is something
that I've said in multiple episodes. Whenever
you are drafting a quarterback, you must make
sure that you invest into a good offensive line.
Because if you don't, you're going to put your
quarterback in harm's way. We have seen it multiple
times where teams neglect offensive line. And
by the time that they actually start to do it,
it's already too late. The damage is already
done. Now, I'm not saying that, you know, once
the Dolphins drafted Tua, the next few years
they need to be drafting an offensive lineman
in the first round. No, but you have to make
investments on that line. Otherwise, guess what?
Your quarterback is going to be a sitting duck.
And that's exactly what's happened since Tua
has been with the Dolphins. You cannot just make
a trade for Tyreek Hill, draft Jalen Waddell,
make a trade for Bradley Chubb, make a trade
for Jalen Ramsey and think, oh, okay, we're this
really good team. We can do whatever we want.
No, it doesn't work like that. There is a process,
and that process starts with good scouting, drafting,
and being frugalent when it comes to free agency
moves. Not just throwing everything away within
the first two or three years and thinking, oh,
okay, we can compete with the Chiefs. We can
compete with the Ravens or the Bills or any other
Super Bowl team. No, you can't. Because guess
what? When you guys went to Kansas City, you
learned right then and there that guess what?
You still can't hang with the big dogs. I don't
care if you have Tyreek Hill, Jalen Ramsey, this
person, that person. You still can't do it. Because
why? Not everything else is built around Tua.
And granted, there are some quarterbacks that
can overcome their situation, but it's very rare.
Tua is not one of those people. Tua is somebody
that needs everything around him in order for
him to be successful. So I don't understand why
the Dolphins try to take the fast way to try
to build this roster when you didn't. Okay, you
paid for Teron Armstead, but how long did that
last? OK, you paid for Tyreek Hill and then you
had to repay him again, which was unnecessary.
And then you did the same thing for Jalen Ramsey,
which was unnecessary. So you see the kind of
get out here, folks. This is a clear cut example
of what happens when you do not build a team
the right way. You can't just keep on writing
check after check after check after check, thinking
that guess what's going to build the team. No,
you have to start hitting on your draft picks.
You look at any dynasty, the Chiefs, Patriots,
even the dynasties of old, what is the one thing
that they all have in common? A majority of the
people that are on that roster, they drafted
and developed them successfully. So when you
don't hit on your draft picks, guess what happens?
It pushes the process back even farther. We see
that with the Steelers right now. The Steelers'
success in the early 2000s was because of what?
Good drafting and development. It wasn't because
they got lucky in free agency. No, they were
hitting on their draft picks year after year
after year after year. And sooner or later, guess
what? It made the process easier. And all they
had to do was just get this person in free agency,
get that person in free agency, just to put the
bowl on the gift. And that's it. But with the
trade deadline coming up, I think the number
one question that needs to be asked in the front
office is, who are the building blocks for this
team? Is it Jalen Waddell? Is it Devon A. Chan?
Is it Kenneth Grant? Is it Jonah Savanaya? Is
it your tight ends? Who on this team can you
say is a building block? Somebody that you're
not going to trade away no matter who offers
you what. Because right now, you are going to
have to scrap this thing to the nuts and bolts.
But you're going to have to keep some players.
So who's it going to be? But let's talk about
the Browns. So for starters, defensively, this
was a really good bounce back performance. Because
prior to this game, I had a lot of questions
about this Browns team as a whole. But this defense,
although I am confident that it's still going
to be top five, I wanted to see how they're going
to respond after losing to the Steelers the way
that they did. I wanted to see, hey, are they
still going to be effective in the run game?
Are they going to be better in the passing game?
How are they going to approach the Dolphins?
Because everybody knows that the Dolphins' offensive
line is not good, and they know that they could
get after Tua. And that's exactly what they did.
But when we look at the offense, however, there
is promise with Quenshawn Jenkins and Dylan Gabriel.
However, you must reduce their expectations.
They're going to have highs, lows, head -scratching
moments, and just WTF moments. But that's what
happens when you're a rookie in the National
Football League, okay? The one critique I do
have for Kevin Stefanski is, let Shador Sanders
play. And the reason why I say that is because
at this point, with you trading away Joe Flacco,
you need to do a fair assessment on both quarterbacks.
You need to see their limitations, their pros
and cons, as well as what situation would be
best for them if... you were to move forward
with it. That's the only way you can really know
what you have in these two. The preseason is
nice, yes, but you need to see how they react
in real competition in real time. That's the
only way you can know, hey, he's good when he's
facing cover two, cover three, cover four. Hey,
this person isn't good when he's facing the blitz.
Hey, this person is good with little to no offensive
line. Et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. Only then
can you come to a real conclusion of, hey, next
year we're going after a quarterback. Or, hey,
next year we need to go after a wide receiver
or offensive lineman or just a whole different
direction. Remember, the Browns have two first
round picks next year. They have the Jaguars
and their own. So you really need to make a real
decision on what you're going to do moving forward.
Because right now, listen, I understand that
Shador Sanders is, you know, the name carries
a lot of weight, both negatively and positively.
But at the same time, it is your job as the head
coach to assess with what you have on your team.
Because the Browns aren't going to fire you.
We all know that. But you need to see what you
have in both Dylan Gabriel and Shador Sanders.
One of them needs to play one whole game and
the other one needs to play the next game, regardless
of who the opponent is. We all know that the
defense is going to be great this year, but the
offense isn't. Because why? The offensive line
is beat up and depleted. The weapons, eh, they're
there, but they're not really there. So you just
need to see what you have. And everybody, honestly,
I would expand it for every single position.
offensive line, wide receiver, tight end, running
back, you name it. Because again, the Browns
would be in a much better situation if they just
addressed quarterback. If they find stability
at quarterback, this is a playoff team. Remember,
a Joe Flacco -led Browns team made a deep playoff
run. So imagine if they get their guy. Imagine
if they have Baker Mayfield on this team. That's
a Super Bowl team, guaranteed. So you have to
do these things now. There's no need for you
to just have Shador just on the bench holding
a clipboard. No, put him out on the field. Let
him call some real plays. Not that bull crap
that you guys say are real plays in training
camp and in the preseason because it's not. It's
the generic stuff. Have him play call. Have him
execute. Have him do the things that he needs
to do on a Sunday. He needs to experience this.
Otherwise, it's just wasted talent. That's like
you going to the grocery store and you buying
groceries and you're just going to let them sit
and just rot. Then what's the point of going
to the grocery store? Now, for the Dolphins,
however, I probably would do the same thing because
most likely there's going to be a new regime.
There's going to be, you know, a lot of changes
and a lot of people are going to be moved. So
you need to see exactly what do you have so far?
What other positions do you need to address?
Because right now, whoever is the next head coach
and GM, you have a lot of work you have to do.
Let's talk about the Commanders and Cowboys.
Yes, yes, yes. How about them Cowboys? How about
them Cowboys? You got to say it sometimes, folks.
You just have to, all right? So Jaden Daniels,
22 attempts for 12 completions, 156 passing yards,
one touchdown, 7 .1 yards per attempt, and a
54 .5 completion percentage. Marcus Mariota,
10 attempts for four completions. 63 passing
yards, 1 pick, 6 .3 yards per attempt, a 40 %
completion percentage. Jaden Daniels again. 8
attempts for 35 rushing yards, 4 .4 rushing yards
per carry, 1 touchdown, and 1 rush of 10 plus
yards or more. Jalen Lane. 6 targets for 3 receptions,
60 receiving yards, and 20 receiving yards per
reception. Dak Prescott. 30 attempts for 21 completions.
264 passing yards, three touchdowns, 8 .8 yards
per attempt, and a 70 % Javante Williams. 19
attempts for 116 rushing yards, 6 .1 rushing
yards per carry, one touchdown, and two rushes
of 10 plus yards or more. CeeDee Lamb, eight
targets for five receptions, 110 receiving yards,
one touchdown, and 22 receiving yards per reception.
So here's a few junkie nuggets. In play action.
Dak was 9 of 11 for 130 yards and two touchdowns.
When Dak threw under 2 .5 seconds, he was 10
of 11 passes for 71 yards, but all three touchdowns
came from throws that took more than 2 .5 seconds
to release. Javante Williams gained 75 yards
and two explosive eight carries running to the
left, 9 .4 yards per carry, while gaining 41
yards and one touchdown. when carrying to the
right, 3 .7 yards per carry. So a couple takeaways
from this game. For starters, the Commanders
need Terry McLaurin. I have never seen, well,
actually, you know what? I lied, because, I mean,
we've seen a lot of bad Commanders football,
but we're not going to talk about that. We're
not going to talk about that. But all jokes aside,
the Commanders do need Terry McLaurin. The receivers
were just struggling, and this isn't a really
good Cowboys defense. But, I mean, you had Robbie
Chosen, you had Jalen Lane, you had Luke McCaffrey,
and they were just struggling. Nobody could really
create separation. Nobody could really get to
the ball. It was just bad, honestly. But if I'm
not mistaken, I think Terry McLaurin will be
playing on Monday night. Don't take my word for
it. I think I saw it somewhere on Twitter. I
don't know. Don't worry about that. Moving forward,
the commander's cornerback struggled against
Pickens and CeeDee Lamb, specifically Marshawn
Lattimore. I have never seen Marshawn Lattimore
struggle that bad. Like, he was struggling hard
against George Pickens and CeeDee Lamb. And it
was a barbecue chicken alert every single time
he was matched up against one of those corners.
And mind you, he's the most veteran corner out
of everybody in that room. But... We're going
to put a bookmark on that, all right? Because
there's a lot that needs to be talked about that.
The Cowboys need interior defensive line help.
Granted, you traded for Kenny Clark. Kenny Clark
is only one person, okay? You need to bolster
up that defensive line. But the problem is you
can't do it when people are not available. Because
it sounds like to me like Maxie nor Jeffrey Simmons
is available. So it's like, who do you get an
interior defensive lineman from? Because the
compensation isn't a problem. They have two first
round picks. It's just a matter of can they do
business with another team? That's the question,
right? Or do you take a cheaper route and try
to get someone that's not as well known but is
productive? I think that's just the best way
to put it. But I mean, we'll talk about that
as the days go by and as we get closer to the
trade deadline. The Cowboys' best move this offseason
was signing Javante Williams. Super productive,
quick, hitting his gaps, and is just really,
really, really good. But moving forward, the
Commanders need another receiving tight end option.
I'll be honest here. I feel like the Commanders
should have drafted Tyler Warren. And the only
reason why I say that is because The best friend
for any rookie quarterback or any young quarterback
is a tight end. Patrick Mahomes, Tom Brady, Peyton
Manning, even Ben Roethlisberger. They've all
had productive tight ends at some point in their
career, and it worked. So I would have at least
dabbled with the idea of maybe getting one in
the first round or maybe even in the second round,
personally, because Zach Ertz is showing his
age. He really can't create separation. He really
can't get to the ball like how he used to. And
some of that is out of his control. I'll be honest.
But I think in this situation, where you don't
have your two primary receivers, having that
tied in would have at least added a little bit
of stability to the offense. Instead of you relying
on Robbie Chosen and Luke McCaffrey and Jalen
Lane and other receivers. And this is no disrespect
to them at all, but... I just feel like a lot
of the problems that the commanders are having
is because of poor roster building. And that
goes directly towards Adam Peters. Because when
we really look at this, right, trading Marshawn
Lattimore, it's starting to look like it was
a bad move. Okay, I'll be honest here. Granted,
you didn't have to give up a lot to get him,
but it looks like it's starting to look like
a bad move because You're not seeing any production.
You're not seeing the same Marshawn Lattimore
that the Saints had. Instead, you're seeing somebody
that really can't go toe -to -toe with number
one, number two receivers. I'm sorry, that's
a problem. Because outside of him, who else can
you rely on? You have Mike Sandstrom. You have
Jonathan Jones. Can't rely on him. Who else can
you rely on? He's supposed to be the most reliable
cornerback in that room, and he isn't. So what
do you do? Do you have to make a trade for Tyreek
Woolen? Do you have to make a trade for somebody
else that may be available? Because right now,
that secondary is a weak spot. And I think another
thing that the commanders also have to address
is pass rusher and running back. Because I feel
like with them losing Austin Eckler and then
trading away Bryan Robinson, they need an elusive
back. They need somebody that can just cut one
time, go. And I feel like, you know, going after
someone like a Brees Hall or David R. Chan or,
you know, somebody that has some speed to him,
I think that would actually provide a lot of
help for the commanders. Because I feel like
with Jaden Daniels being hurt, right? Coming
into this game, I feel like the plan should have
been, you know what? We are not going to put
Jaden Daniels in harm's way. We are going to
try to take the ball out of his hand as much
as possible. And I would say, you know what?
Hey, we about to run this thing 20. 25, maybe
30 times. We're going to chuck up the ball a
few times to some of these receivers and tight
ends, but we're going to run this ball. We're
going to run this rock hard. You know that the
Cowboys defensive line isn't that strong, especially
in the interior. So I just don't understand why
you guys haven't made any moves by now. Because
you need to. Because trying to bring that same
energy from last year to this year is not going
to solve anything. Because guess what? Everybody
knows how to counter what you're trying to do.
Everybody now has tape on Jaden Daniels. Everybody
now has tape on how you run your defense, how
you run your offense. Switch things up. I understand
that they still have a lot of things that they
need to clean up and it's going to take some
time. I get that. But again, you cannot fall
into the same pitfalls as the previous regime.
I'm sorry. We have to be honest here. The offensive
line has to be better. I don't understand why
as a head coach or as anybody, why you would
want Jaden Daniels to play this game. If it's
me personally, I'm not letting Jaden Daniels
play until after the bye because you are our
future. And so I can't afford for you to get
hurt like how you are now, where most likely
it's going to take him after the bye to get healthy.
So what exactly do you do at this point? Because
I don't expect the Commanders to do a lot this
year. I expect for them to probably be maybe
the third or fourth best team in their division.
Just being honest here. When you compare their
roster to the Cowboys, Eagles, and the Giants,
they got motion right now. And that defense is
more productive than what Washington has. Let's
just call it spade to spade, folks. Let's just
have an honest conversation. Now, when we look
at the Cowboys, however, the Cowboys offensively
look great. George Pickens and CeeDee Lamb? greatness.
And this is the recipe for success with Dak Prescott.
You give him two productive wide receivers or
more, and you give him a productive running back
and a decent offensive line, he's going to make
some magic. As I've said before in the early
part of this episode, Dak, to me, is an MVP candidate.
Now, am I just going to give him the award? No.
But I would say right now, he is playing at an
MVP level. And it's only up from here because
mind you, again, as I've said before, the Cowboys
defense can only do so much. So the Cowboys offense
is going to have to do the heavy lifting. So
right now, if you're the Cowboys, what are you
going to do to make this team better? Are you
going to make a trade to target the offense or
are you going to make a trade to target the defense?
And since we're talking about George Pickens,
another thing we have to talk about is the Cowboys
were right in trading George Pickens. And the
Steelers are now regretting that move because
now you have this super productive receiver who,
granted, you probably would like for him to run,
you know, more routes, but hey, he's super productive.
Anytime that ball is coming his way, he's getting
it. Now, I mean, he did have a little bit of
an outburst and, you know, he did have a little
bit of an attitude when playing Chicago and whatnot,
but all is forgiven, right? The fact that you
got George Pickens for the compensation that
you got him for, It's a blessing in disguise
because personally right now, he's playing at
a second round pick, possibly a late first round
pick if he was to be traded, just being honest
here. But if you're the Steelers, you have to
have some level of regret right now because why?
You could have had that same production or more
out of George Pickens had you could have tried
to make things work. And granted, I know there's
going to be a lot of Steelers journalists and
people that follow TV will be like, well, George
Pickens was just such a problem in the locker
room and on the field and we just couldn't deal
with him and whatnot. Y 'all knew who George
Pickens was when you drafted him. So I don't
understand why you guys are reacting like this.
You knew what you were getting with him. You
knew the attitude problems. You knew that he
wanted to get fed a lot. You knew all these things.
So why would you continue to draft him? This
isn't like AB. You guys have tried to do this
over and over and over again. And every single
time that you do it, it blows up in your face.
You tried it with Chase Claypool. You tried it
with George Pickens. You tried it with Deontay
Johnson. All three of them are gone. And now
look at you. You are now in a situation once
again. when you're trying to get another receiver.
But you didn't have to do it had you just kept
him. And mind you, George Pickens said that his
favorite quarterback that he wanted to be thrown
to was Aaron Rodgers. So I guarantee you he probably
would have bought in. Aaron and DK alone probably
would have pulled him to the side and said, hey,
dog, listen, we're going to run things this way.
We're not going to have no problems because DK
would have been the big dog. But again, this
is the Steelers. But with that being said, the
Cowboys right now are putting up a fight. And
depending on what the Eagles do during the trade
deadline, depending on what the Giants do, I
could make a strong case that the Cowboys have
a chance. I'm not saying it's a big chance, but
they have a chance to disrupt somebody in this
division high up. Whether that be the Eagles,
whether it be the Giants, whoever. Because mind
you, this division, if I'm not mistaken, has
not had a back -to -back divisional winner in
a long time. Every single year, there's always
another team winning the division. Hey, just
saying. If the Cowboys do it, I think it's working.
I think right now, Brian Schottenheimer was a
good hire. We got to be honest here, folks. If
we cannot be honest, if we cannot have honest
conversations about the assessment of teams right
now, then what's the point in having podcasts?
What's the point in just having conversations
about football? But let's talk about Brian Callahan
getting fired. So if you guys did not know, he
was let go last Monday. And with him being fired,
his overall coaching record with the Titans was
4 -19. In this season, it was 1 -5 with Cam Ward,
according to Teron Davenport of ESPN. Now, this
is what Titans president of football operations,
Chad Brinker, had to say on why Brian Callahan
was fired. And I quote, We just felt like this
was the right time to make a change. We were
looking for growth in this football team, and
that's what this is about right now. We're not
seeing enough growth from this football team,
end quote. During halftime against the Colts,
Fans were chanting, and I quote, fired Callahan
during the game and booing the team. Shortly
after, Callahan turned over play -calling responsibilities
to quarterback coach Bo Hardegree. After a 26
-0 loss to the Texans, Cam Ward voiced his frustration,
saying, and I quote, if we keep it in the book
right now, we're ass, end quote. Now, with the
Titans firing Brian Callahan, Mike McCoy is now
the interim head coach. He was the head coach
for the Chargers from 2013 to 2016, with a 27
-37 overall record and a playoff appearance within
his first season. Now, this is what Titans GM
Mike Borgonzi had to say about Mike McCoy, and
I quote, What Mike brings right now is experience
and leadership. He has been a head coach. He's
a former quarterback who's had some years in
the NFL as a player and has been around NFL quarterbacks
like Phillip Rivers. Peyton Manning, and he was
with Trevor Lawrence last year. Now, here's the
thing. According to ESPN research, six of the
last head coaches of number one overall quarterbacks
were fired. Cam Ward this year, Kayla Williams
last year, Trevor Lawrence in 2021, Bryce Young
in 2023, Baker Mayfield, and Jared Goff. Here's
the problem that I have with this, okay? You
cannot make Brian Callahan the scapegoat for
your mistakes. Because this all stems back to
when Mike Vrabel and that GM was there. You can't
trade away A .J. Brown and then just let Derrick
Henry walk and then not properly try to build
this team the right way and then just say, you
know what, we're just going to fire this GM and
then we're going to fire him and then we're going
to fire him and fire him. You know what? He's
not showing enough. You know what? Fire him,
fire him, fire him. You cannot continue to keep
on firing people. You have to give them a chance.
There's a reason why you got the number one overall
pick, because you suck. But again, this goes
back to what I've said a couple minutes ago with
the Dolphins. When you don't draft well, when
you don't develop well, when you don't go through
the process of properly building a roster, guess
what's going to happen? You're not going to see
success. That's just what it boils down to. Okay,
granted, you had Jeffrey Simmons. You traded
for a luxurious need. Okay, you signed Calvin
Ridley. That's not enough. Rand Carthorne was
trying to build this team, but guess what? You
fired him because you wasn't happy in the direction
of the team. It's a process. It's a rebuild.
You guys are trying to rebuild from the years
when you guys were productive, when you had a
great defense, and then on the offense you had
A .J. Brown, Corey Davis, Delaney Walker, Derrick
Henry, Ryan Tannehill, and that really good offensive
line. So of course it's going to take some time.
What do you expect? This is the problem that
I have with dysfunctional organizations and dysfunctional
ownership. You guys would rather penalize the
head coach for flaws that are out of his control.
Now granted, Can you be critical of Brian Callahan
for the coaching staff? Most likely. But you
cannot penalize him for the lack of success that
you are seeing in the quarterback and in the
team as a whole. You guys suck. Now my thing
is this. If you know that you suck, why don't
you just trade away Jeffrey Simmons? You know
that you can get a guaranteed first round pick
with trading away Jeffrey Simmons. Guaranteed.
There are teams right now that would be willing,
willing to give you a first round pick and more
for Jeffrey Simmons. That way, guess what? You
can completely reshuffle the deck and then really
build this team in the way that you want to.
Because so far, all you've done is invest a first
round pick into Cam Ward, another first round
pick in Peter Skowronski, another first round
pick in JC Latham, another first round pick in
who? Tavondre Sweat, if I'm not mistaken? That's
not enough. It takes time. Sure, losing is not
good. Being in a stadium where there's not a
lot of people there isn't good. But guess what?
This is the nasty side of building a team. This
is a side that not a lot of people want to talk
about, but every team has to go through it. Every
single team goes through a rebuild. Now, the
severity of the rebuild depends on the team and
the direction of the team. When you have stable
ownership that isn't super involved with the
roster building process, the rebuild can be a
little bit faster, especially if you're hitting
on your draft picks. But if you're missing out
on your draft picks, especially your first, second,
and third round picks, you're not going to be
able to do anything. So what do you expect? Now,
am I saying that Brian Callahan was this great
coach and he was scheming up great ideas and
whatnot? No. But I'm not going to say that he
was just the sole reason of why this team is
not where they're supposed to be. I mean, come
on. What do you expect? Did you really expect
this team to be an 8 -9 team? Did you expect
this team to be in the playoffs? Did you expect
this team to win the playoffs? I didn't. Everybody
else didn't. So what are we doing? But I'm going
to get off my soapbox. I'm going to leave it
alone. But just know, when Mike Borgonzi gets
fired and everybody else gets fired, just know
I was right. But let's talk about Brandon Graham,
all right? So he has decided to un -retire. But
before we get there, we gotta pay some bills.
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Now back to the good stuff. And we're back, folks.
So let's talk about Brandon Graham unretiring.
So according to NBC Sports Philly, Dave Zingaro,
during the beginning of the season, Howie Roseman
reached out to Brandon Graham to solidify their
edge rotation. Although Graham didn't want to
retire, he decided to stay retired at that time,
thus making the Eagles signs to Darius Smith.
But here's the thing. Graham found his passion
while attending a joint practice against the
Browns during training camp. So here is Brandon
Graham explaining why he decided to un -retire,
and I quote, I understood both sides of it. Year
15, there's no better way to go out. They was
probably thinking the same thing. But then reality
set in for both of us. Another opportunity came.
That first one, I was like, nah, I'm going to
stick with it. And then I was like, who am I
fooling? If it come again, though. Baby, we gonna
get it. End quote. Now, this is how Brandon Graham
prepared himself to return to football. And I
quote, I put myself through some stuff already.
I'm excited with where I am and I feel springy,
bouncy. I feel like myself. I feel good. I can't
wait to go out there and be like Lane Johnson.
What's good? You thought I was finished? That's
where I'm at, man. I just can't wait for that
first initial jog out. I'm going to mess with
Jordan Malata first and then I'm going to see
Lane. Then I'm going to go out and... and get
the ones on the inside. Everybody gonna get it,
end quote. So this is actually a really good
move for the Eagles because let's be real here.
Once Adarius Smith unexpectedly retired, their
edge was just devastated, okay? And it also doesn't
help that all the edge options that they could
have traded for have basically dried up. Trey
Henderson looks like he's off the market. I know
there was like a few other edges that people
were talking about. But it looks like there's
no option. So you might as well want to go back
to Brandon Graham. He knows the system. He knows
the people. You might as well want to do it.
But I think the most important reason why they
did it is because of leadership. I think with
so much turmoil going on publicly and privately
with the Eagles, I think getting someone like
a Brandon Graham who's going to add stability
and eliminate all of that noise, I think that's
going to help out tremendously. Not to mention,
you signed him for pennies on the dollar and
you possibly have given yourself an opportunity
to maybe go after another pass rusher. Now, the
thing is, with you going after another pass rusher,
it doesn't have to be an elite one. It could
be someone that's a tier two or tier three pass
rusher just to help out. Because remember, you're
still waiting for Nolan Smith to get healthy.
You're still waiting for Zach Bond to, you know,
get in his groove. I think this move was great,
and it's only up from here at this point. Now
let's talk about the game that everybody has
been talking about, everybody has been crying
about and everything, and that is the Steelers
and the Bengals, okay? So Aaron Rodgers, 34 attempts
for 23 completions, 249 passing yards, four touchdowns,
two picks, 7 .3 yards per attempt, and a 67 .6
completion percentage. Jalen Warren. 16 attempts
for 127 rushing yards, 7 .9 rushing yards per
carry, and 4 rushes of 10 plus yards or more.
Pat Fryer move, 6 targets for 5 receptions, 111
receiving yards, 2 touchdowns, and 22 .2 receiving
yards per reception. Joe Flacco, 47 attempts
for 31 completions, 342 passing yards, 3 touchdowns,
7 .3 yards per attempt, and a 66 completion percentage.
Chase Brown, 11 attempts for 108 rushing yards,
9 .8 rushing yards per carry, and three rushes
of 10 plus yards or more. Jamar Chase, 23 targets
for 16 receptions, 161 receiving yards, one touchdown,
and 10 .1 receiving yards per reception. So here's
a few junkie nuggets. So Jalen Warren had a 62
.5 rushing success rate against the Bengals.
Chase Brown rushed 11 times for 108 yards with
101 yards after contact. His 9 .1 yards after
contact per carry were the most by any player
this season. Joe Flacco completed 28 of 37 passes
for 336 yards and three touchdowns from a clean
pocket. The most passing yards in a clean pocket
for Flacco since week four of 2018 versus the
Steelers, which he threw for 338 yards within
a clean pocket. Flacco was pressured a season
-low 24 .5 % of his drops while averaging a time
-to -throw of 2 .4 seconds, the quickest this
season. On quick throws, throws under 2 .5 seconds,
Flacco was 21 of 31 for 202 pass yards and three
touchdowns. When facing pressure, Flacco was
10 attempts for three completions for six yards.
There's a reason why I'm saying this for last
because there is so much I have to say about
this, okay? For starters, I'm glad the Steelers
lost this game. I'm glad they got their ass whooped
because they needed it. They needed to be exposed.
They needed to feel that sting of an L because
they needed to understand that, listen, though
you have great defensive players, you are not
playing well, okay? Because here's the thing.
Anytime you have a quarterback, that has only
been with the team for 10 days, put up the numbers
that he just put up against your defense, your
defense that your head coach says has the potential
to be historic, that knocks you back down a few
notches. That puts you back into reality. Because
let's be real here. The run game wasn't a problem
for the Steelers. It was the passing game. It
was the one position That they tried to turn
over this offseason thinking that, oh, okay,
if we bring in these people, guess what? We are
going to see more production. And you haven't.
You traded for Jalen Ramsey. He had a bad game.
You signed Darius Slay. He looks like a shell
of himself. You go after Juan Thornhill. You're
not using him a whole lot. You bring in Jabril
Peppers. Excuse me. You're not using him. Why
is Chuck Clark out snapping Jabril Peppers? Chuck
Clark is not that good. And if you don't believe
me, ask the Ravens and ask the Jets. Or better
yet, ask Kyle Hamilton. He'll tell you personally.
So I don't understand why in the world do the
Steelers continue to do the same things year
after year after year. You know that you're going
up against the best wide receiver tandem in the
entire league. And I dare anybody to say any
other name than Jamar Chase and Tee Higgins.
Those two receivers alone are elite when it comes
to creating separation at the line of scrimmage.
They are elite when it comes to making contested
catches. They are elite in every category that
is needed to be an elite receiver. Jamar Chase
was cooking, cooking with hot grease. And I'm
not talking about just that mild, timid hot grease.
No, I'm talking about you could just put a speck
of flour in it and it's cooking. That's exactly
what happened. And they needed to know that,
listen, although you may have this name and that
name on your defense, that don't mean a damn
thing. Because let's be real here, folks. The
one quarterback that Mike Tomlin fears, it's
not Patrick Mahomes. It's not Lamar Jackson.
It's not Josh Allen. It's Joe Flacco. Because
Joe Flacco knows Mike Tomlin like the back of
his hand. No matter how fast TJ Watt or Alex
Highsmith or Nick Herbert try to get off, it
still is not going to be enough time to get after
Joe Flacco. I'm sorry. He's a seasoned veteran.
He's seen it all. Joe Flacco knows how to go
up against elite pass rushers. Anytime that Andre
Yoshibas, a wide receiver three slash four in
a lot of teams, can beat someone like Darius
Slay, that's a problem. Anytime I see bad tackling,
From Patrick Queen and Jalen Ramsey and Darius
Slate and others on this defense, that's a problem.
And so for all the Steelers fans that want to
talk about, well, Mike Tomlin has to go. Terrell
Austin has to go. We have to get rid of them.
They're just so toxic to this team. Give me three
reasons why. And I don't want you to say the
same generic crap. I want articulate, detailed
reasons on why you want both Mike Tomlin and
Terrell Austin fired. This is the same thing
that I asked somebody on Twitter because they
said the exact same thing. And I literally said,
when Mike Tomlin leaves this team, you will be
begging and pleading for someone like him to
come back to this team. Now, I'm not saying that
I'm a Mike Tomlin fan. No, I respect him for
what he does. But I'm very critical of the things
that he has done within the last five years.
So let me give you my three reasons on why Mike
Tomlin should go. For starters, you have a bad
coaching staff. I don't know if people understand
how important coaching is. Anytime you have players
like Keanu Benton and Joey Porter Jr. who have
not shown that next step in their progression,
that goes back to coaching. Keanu Benton is not
an interior defensive lineman. He is an end.
But you continue to put him in an uncomfortable
situation. It's like a child trying to put a
triangle peg in a circle peg. It's not going
to work. And Joey Porter Jr., his mechanics,
everything about him is just bad. He is a liability,
then an asset. Anytime that you are just holding
on people just so you can win that rep, that's
a problem. And granny, you guys let go the other
DB coach just so you can bring in Gerald Alexander.
Gerald Alexander, what are you doing with Joey
Porter Jr.? Because all I see is a whole bunch
of holding. That's all I see. Hold, hold, hold,
hold, hold, hold, hold. At this point, you might
as well want to play Mariah Carey touch my body
when Joey Porter Jr. is facing somebody. Because
that's all he's going to do, touch. So explain
to me. Why certain people on this team have not
shown that next level of progression. Coaching.
You have to give hard coaching to these players.
Because guess what? Keanu Benton and Joey Porter
Jr. are approaching contract years. And you know
they're going to want big money. So what are
you going to do? But you know what? This all
goes back to one thing and one thing only. You
could have easily addressed the quarterback room
had you just simply drafted Christian Gonzalez.
Or better yet, you could have drafted Nate Wiggins.
Or better yet, you could have drafted Quenya
Mitchell. But you didn't want to do it. Now,
going back to the coaching staff, you know that
Pat Meyer is not a good offensive line coach.
So then why in the world would you continue to
keep him when you know that you invested two
first round picks in tackles and back -to -back
years and you still have not seen the progression
that you have been looking for? That is something
that you can be critical of Mike Tomlin because
he has control of that. Another thing that we
need to be critical with Mike Tomlin is his decision
making when it comes to free agent acquisitions.
Mike! Why do you continue to go after these old
ass corners? You get Patrick Peterson thinking
that you're going to get the same production
that the Vikings got out of it. Prior to Patrick
Peterson signing with the Steelers, he was coming
off a season where he had five picks. Five picks.
You didn't see that type of progression when
Patrick Peterson joined the Steelers. It was
so bad that the Steelers said, you know what?
We're going to try you at safety just to see
if it'll work. Just to see if there's a little
bit of a spark. And it wasn't. Then you tried
it with Dante Jackson. My back hurts. Then you
tried it with Darius Slay. I can't do anything.
Where's Big Play Slay? I don't see that. I don't
see Big Play Slay. You know what I see? Someone
getting slayed. Jalen Ramsey. You're supposed
to be the big dog. You called out Jamar Chase
on the Pivot podcast. And you got exposed. You
gotta get your lick back, big dog. Joey Porter
Jr., I don't expect anything from you. because
I know that you can't go toe -to -toe with a
Jamar Chase, a Justin Jefferson and company.
I know you can't do that. You're not on that
level, but you have all the intangibles to be
on that level. Even when we look at the success
from when they had Brian Flores, you saw how
potent that defense was by adding someone like
a Brian Flores. So then why in the world didn't
you do it? And you can't say that there wasn't
people that wasn't available because guess what?
You could have easily signed Antonio Pierce.
You could have easily signed Gerard Mayo, but
you didn't want to do it. It's the same thing
that you can do with the offense. You had Pep
Hamilton. You could have brought in Byron Lethwich.
But you decided that you didn't want to do it.
You could easily bring back Dick LeBeau to help
you out with the defense just so you can make
the defense a little bit more creative. But you're
not willing to do that. Why? And you want to
know what makes things worse? There is a good
chance that Arthur Smith might leave and be the
next head coach for the Titans. So then what
are you going to do then? Because you know that
next year you're going to have to get a quarterback.
These are the type of legitimate arguments that
you can make about Mike Tomlin. And the last
thing that we need to talk about when it comes
to some of his deficiencies, and that is his
inability to just change up his scheme. Quarterbacks
know what to do to counteract what you're trying
to do. We no longer live in a time where, guess
what? My guys are bigger. They're stronger. They're
tougher. They're faster. They can do it all.
And they're going to beat you. It doesn't work
like that. You have to be two, maybe three, maybe
six steps ahead of a lot of these offenses. Because
guess what? You know what's going to happen?
Patrick Mahomes is going to pick you apart. Josh
Allen is going to pick you apart. Lamar Jackson
is going to pick you apart. Those NFC teams,
they're going to pick you apart. Anytime Julian
Edelman, that's right, Julian Edelman and other
former players and people that still play right
now all say the same thing. Oh, we already knew
what they were doing. That's a problem. They're
not supposed to know what you're already doing
before the game even starts. What sense does
that make? But again, that all goes back to Mike
Tomlin. So again, when we look at this game,
passing defense is the bigger problem than the
run defense. And I understand that he said that
in his press conference, and I understand that
Terrell Austin said it in his press conference.
Well, they're lying, okay? And the stats back
it up. The Steelers rank 31st in pass defense.
I'm going to say that again so you can hear what
I just said. The Steelers rank 31st, 3 -1 in
pass defense. And they are allowing 258 .8 passing
yards per game, 6 passing yards per play, and
have allowed 10 passing touchdowns so far. Now
they are ranked 18th in run defense. And so far
they've allowed 4 rushing touchdowns. 115 .8
rushing yards per game, 4 .4 rushing yards per
play, and have allowed 20 rushes of 10 plus yards
or more. You cannot say that this defense is
historic when they are not doing historic things.
When you are not doing historic things. The 2000
Ravens is the gold standard for historic defenses.
They didn't just go into that season and say,
oh, this is going to be the greatest defense
of all time. This is going to be a defense that's
going to be so great that nobody will be able
to replicate this. They let their play speak
for themselves. So I don't understand why you
tried to hype this thing up before the season
even started. That was stupid. Because every
single time that Darius Slade, Jalen Ramsey,
Joey Porter Jr., Brandon Echols, whomever gets
blown up, guess what? They're going to revert
right back to what you said in the summer, Mike
Tomlin. And even then, at this point, I think
you may have to start using Brandon Echols on
the outside more and may have to use Darius Slade
in a more creative role. Because right now, he
can't do it. He don't got the juice. So something
has to change right now. Because you're going
to face the Packers on Sunday. After that, you're
going through a gauntlet. You're facing the Colts.
You're facing the Chargers. You're facing the
Lions. You're facing the Bengals, the Ravens.
You're facing all of those teams. And they have
quarterbacks that can play mistake -free football.
And another thing we need to talk about is this
turnover culture bullcrap is not working. I understand
that Terrell Austin has this vision of, okay,
if we just keep on making splash plays, everything
is going to be okay. No, it does not work. You
want to know the difference between a great defense
and just a subpar defense? A great defense is
consistent. Every single week, every single matchup,
no matter who is on the field or off the field.
A subpar defense hopes and prays and holds their
fingers together and have a rabbit's foot in
a four -leaf clover just to get some luck to
try to make a play. That doesn't work. You have
too much talent on this team to hope that you
make a big play. No, you just need to be consistent.
The passing defense needs to be consistent. The
running defense needs to be consistent. Everybody
needs to be consistent. And I understand that
consistency is hard, but you have to do it. That
is how you can classify yourself as an elite
defense, as a historic defense. You look at all
those great defenses. They were all consistent.
You look at all those great defenses for the
Patriots. They were all consistent. Sure, they
had their struggles. Sure, there were some players
that, I mean, they just gave them the business.
It happens. But when we look at the Bengals,
though, for them to overcome the Steelers the
way that they did is just great. I mean, let's
be honest here, folks. Coming into this game,
everybody was saying the same thing. The Bengals
are going to lose. The Steelers are going to
wipe the floor with the Bengals. And the Bengals
say, you know what? To hell with it. We're playing
with house money. We're going to fight. We're
going to fight to the end. And that's exactly
what they did. Joe Flacco put on a master class
of how to properly beat the Steelers. Now, am
I saying that Joe Flacco is going to continue
to play like this throughout the rest of the
season? No. Is there a chance? Yes. But I think
by them winning this game, that allowed them
to say, you know what? We're not going to sell
off our pieces. We're going to see how this season
goes and then make a decision moving forward.
Which I think, A, if Joe Flacco can buy Joe Burrow
enough time, I would say maybe by Christmas.
If they have a winning record, hey, we might
have to have a different conversation about this
team. I'm just saying, this is the second time
that Joe Flacco has done this. Remember, he did
this with the Browns. And the Browns, if we're
being real here, this is my personal opinion.
I could be wrong. The Browns probably could have
made it to the Super Bowl. That's how well Joe
Flacco and that team was playing. Just being
honest, I could be wrong, but... These are just
my personal opinions, okay? But I'm going to
end this episode here. If you guys like what
you are listening, please, please, please, please,
please make sure you guys download the episodes,
please. That is the only way that I can know
what you guys like and don't like so I can give
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all right? Football Junkies pod. i still have
a few more clips i have to post i want to try
to at least separate them just so i don't really
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right? Football underscore junkies pod. Junkies
pod is not what? It is together. not spaced,
okay? It is together, not spaced. Football underscore
junkies pod, all right? Football underscore junkies
pod. I thank you guys so much for blowing up
the Instagram. I appreciate you guys so much
for just being with me on this process. I know
I took an unexpected hiatus, but... I mean, for
you guys to give the interaction that you guys
have, it's just greatly appreciated. It makes
my heart feel really good. Now, for my X slash
Twitter people, GMKale, all right, GMKale, when
you follow me on X, just know we are going to
have some debates about the Steelers. We are
going to have some debates about certain teams.
Just want to let you know about that, all right?
Now on Blue Sky, same thing. G -M -K -L, all
right? G -M -K -L, K -A -I -L -E, all right?
As always, I hope I gave you guys the fix that
you guys need. I love you guys. I appreciate
you guys so much. Stay tuned. This episode should
be coming out fairly soon. If not late Saturday
night, then early Sunday morning, depending on
how things go. All right. So as always, I love
you guys. Appreciate you guys so much. This is
your GM Kale signing out. Peace and love. Later,
guys.