Double bag alert double bag alert double bag
alert folks. That's right. We got a low Sweet
episode full of twists and turns, hot takes,
truth bombs, and more, okay? Jeremy Ruckert and
Jacoby Myers get paid. Brandon Ayuk and the 49ers
are headed to a divorce. Tua gets benched. Falcons
and Bucks recap. Chargers and Chiefs recap. Bills
and Patriots recap. Packers and Browns recap.
And Dolphins and Steelers recap, okay? All of
this and more on the 101th episode of Football
Junkies Podcast, okay? I am your host with the
most, all right? I am your chief, Bad Girl Dominance.
That's right, chief. Head of the table. Anything.
and everything related to the bag, rumors to
the bag, and more. I am your hopium, hopium,
hopium, hopium, hopium dealer. That's right.
All the hopium that you need to make it through
the last remaining games of the regular season,
I am your guy, 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 guess what? 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. You're about to get a lot of
truth bombs, hot takes, and everything in between.
So guess what? On three. One, two, three. Let's
lock in. All right, folks, let's get to the meat
and potatoes of everything that is going on in
the league right now. So you know when we have
bad alerts, we got to get them out of the way
before we get into the good stuff, all right?
So Jeremy Rucker tied in for the Jets, inks a
two -year $10 million deal. He'll be making $10
million a year. When we look at his stats from
this season so far, 23 targets for 20 receptions.
152 receiving yards, one touchdown, and 7 .6
receiving yards per reception. A proactive, team
-friendly deal for a productive tight end. Although
there is a lot of teams that don't like to do
contract negotiations during the regular season,
I feel like they should change that. The reason
why I say that is because whenever you have deals
like this, it's better to hash them out during
the regular season than to wait until the offseason.
Because if you do that, sometimes a team may
overpay for that player just because they either
have them on their draft board or they were really
interested in them. So rather for you to do that,
you could just hash it out during the regular
season. It's going to save you some money while
at the same time create more money for the cap
next year. Proactive versus reactive. Come on,
guys. Now, Jacoby Myers, wide receiver for the
Jacksonville Jaguars, inks a three -year $60
million deal, $40 million guaranteed. He'll be
making $20 million a year. When we look at his
stats from this season so far, 87 targets for
60 receptions, 707 receiving yards, three touchdowns,
and 11 .8 receiving yards per reception. So here's
a few junkie nuggets with Jacoby Myers, okay?
Since the start of last season, Jacoby Myers
has a 1 .4 % drop rate. That's three drops on
216 targets. Among players with 150 -plus targets
in that span, A .J. Brown and Trey McBride have
lower drop rates according to the 3013. Now,
since being traded, the Jags are 5 -1 since acquiring
Jacoby Myers, according to U Stadium. Now, think
about that for a second. Because I know I'm going
to have to take back what I said about them when
it came to the trade deadline and whatnot. But
at that time, nobody said anything about the
Jaguars and Jacoby Morris possibly working out
a deal. So this is a 100 % curveball that I think
nobody was expecting. But at the same time, I
think the Jaguars realized that at some point,
I think we need to hash out a deal now so that
he doesn't hit free agency. Because they knew
that if he hits free agency, he's going to get
a big bag. Because he's been really productive
since joining the Jags. Trevor Lawrence has actually
looked good because of Jacoby Myers. Like really
think about that for a second. I'll be honest,
I was wrong. And I'm probably going to be having
a lot of apologies in this episode. So bear with
me, okay? I was wrong about the Jags being losers
for the trade deadline. You're getting a productive
veteran wide receiver. You're pairing him with
Trevor Lawrence and it's working. And right now
the Jaguars are in a position where they could
possibly get a high seat in the... playoffs and
possibly go on a good run. Now, am I saying they're
going to go on the Super Bowl run or AFC Championship
run? No. But what I am saying is this. This is
what happens when you give ballers. This is what
happens when you make that aggressive move to
help out your quarterback. Because at that time,
Travis Hunter was hurt. Brian Thomas wasn't playing
his best ball. They let go of Gabe Davis. So
they didn't have a lot of options. So making
the move for Jacoby Morris has paid off. Now
the question is, what are they going to do in
the draft? But we'll save that for later because
I have an idea that I'm going to probably start
doing fairly soon. Stay tuned for that. All right.
Now, with all that being said and done, this
is a good deal. This is a pretty good deal. 20
million a year. I feel like that's perfect. I
feel like anything over 25 was a reach. I think
this is perfect. He liked the Jaguars and the
Jaguars liked him. So, hey, who's really complaining,
right? Now, let's talk about Kyle Shanahan and
Brandon Ayewa because they're headed for a nasty
divorce. And the reason why I say that is because.
A couple weeks ago, Diane Rossini and a few other
reporters that follow the 49ers were reporting
that the 49ers were going to void future guarantees
for Brandon Iyuk. So when that was announced,
I'm thinking something crazy must have happened.
And since then, nobody has really given a detailed
response on why this is happening. But yesterday,
Kyle Shanahan had to say this about Brandon Iyuk,
and I quote, I didn't get to hang around Ayud
much since he tore his ACL in Week 7 against
Kansas City. We've been trying to get him back
to our team since then and haven't been able
to pull that off. Having totally had the opportunity
to get him part of our team, this is what Kyle
Shanahan said, this is not what I'm saying, this
is what he said, he has been extremely distant
since he got hurt. Was hoping it would happen
once he got healthy, but it never happened, end
quote. And this is from Grant Cohn from Sports
Illustrated, which, believe it or not, if you're
a 49ers fan, you should probably follow him.
Okay, free promotion. Now, before I get into
my opinion about this, we need to talk about
the past so that we can catch everybody up, right?
So in 2024, he signed a four -year $120 million
deal, a $23 million signing bonus, $45 million
guaranteed at signing, and $76 million in total
guarantees. Now, according to SpodRat, the 49ers
paid out $48 .1 million of his contract for only
seven games, 25 catches across two seasons. Now,
the 49ers have voided the remaining $85 .1 million
that is left on Brandon Ayuk's contract. Now,
if the 49ers release Brandon Ayuk before June
1st and without a post -June 1st designation,
the 49ers will take on $29 .5 million in dead
cap in 2026 with a loss of $14 .1 million in
cap but freeze up $41 .7 million in 2027. Now,
if traded before June 1st, the 49ers would take
on the same amount of dead cap as a release,
which would be 29 .5 million with a loss of 14
.2 million in cap. Now, if designated as a post
-June 1st, the 49ers would carry Brandon Ayuk's
15 .3 cap hit and then take on dead cap hits
of 13 .3 in 26 and 21 .2 million in 27. Now,
for those of you who don't know, a post -June
1st designation allows teams to release a player
but not fully process the move until after June
1st. So my takeaway from this move is that the
49ers are done with Brandon Iyuk. They've tried
to reconcile with him. They've tried to make
things work. They've tried to patch things up.
And clearly, Brandon Iyuk isn't satisfied. Why?
I don't know. You literally held out the entire
offseason into training camp looking for a contract.
They were getting ready to trade you to Pittsburgh.
They finally give you an ultimatum. Either you
sign the contract or you're going to Pittsburgh.
You finally sign the contract and everybody is
thinking all is forgiven. Water under the bridge.
Everybody's buddy, buddy. But that's not the
case. Instead, there's more drama between Brandon
Iyuk and the 49ers. For all of you who wasn't
following the Brandon Iyuk saga, it was really
nasty. There was a point in time where Brandon
Iyuk was wearing the wrong colored shirts and
Kyle Shanahan approached him about it in a nice
way. He didn't yell at him. He didn't cuss him
out. He didn't expose him in front of everybody.
He just walked up to him and asked him, hey,
can you change your shorts? Because we're not
wearing that color today. We're wearing this
color today. And he caused a whole scene about
it. And there were points in time where you can
see that both Kyle Shanahan and John Lynch were
heavily affected by this entire saga. Because
that was the craze from the national media and
the 49ers media. Everybody was asking the same
thing. When is the deal going to get done? When
is there going to be some resolution? And there
was a point in time where Brandon Ayuk was possibly
going to be traded to the Steelers. Because originally
it was the Patriots, it was the Steelers. And
I think it was like two other teams that were
really interested in trading for Brandon Ayuk.
There were teams that already had a contract
in place. And all they had to do was disagree
upon the compensation. And Brandon Ayuk dragged
his feet the entire time. Now, let's be honest
here. I understand that when players are trying
to get their money, a lot of times they got to
get nitty gritty. They got to do the whole traditional.
I got to delete everything off my social media.
I got to change my profile picture to black.
I got to have the hood on, you know, in the corner
somewhere looking angry and disgruntled, looking
like my stomach has been hurting for like two
weeks or whatever. That whole shenanigan playbook
that everybody plays, right? And, you know, the
49ers have had problems when it comes to contract
negotiations with their wide receivers. Let's
look at Debo's situation, for instance. His was
just as public as Brandon Ayuk's. There were
points where he was in the club somewhere and
they had a sign up about him re -signing with
the 49ers. He was like, nope, I'm not re -signing
with the 49ers. These are the things that continue
to emerge with the 49ers and the 49ers said to
hell with it. We gave you the money. We still
want you here. We still love you. But what we're
not going to do is deal with this bull. And that's
exactly what they did. And I don't hate them
for it. Now, it doesn't help that Brandon Iyuk
isn't saying anything about this. Now, if Brandon
Iyuk comes out and he, you know, just spills
out what happened and what led up to this decision,
okay, I think people will have a different opinion
about Brandon Iyuk. But right now, he looks like
the villain in this story. And it doesn't help
that right now they need Brandon Iyuk because
all they have is Jawan Jennings and Ricky Pearsall
and Kendrick Bourne. Now, Kendrick Bourne and
Jawan Jennings are doing their thing. Saul can't
stay healthy. But this is when you would need
your 30 plus million dollar wide receiver to
come in and do his thing. But clearly he doesn't
want to be there. And this is a conversation
that I was having with somebody on Twitter, GM
Kale, for all of those who want to follow me,
GM Kale, K -I -L -E. That's where I do a lot
of my interactions with a lot of fan bases. And
the person was simply saying, oh, the Steelers
dodged a bullet by not signing Brandon Ayew because
they will be dealing with this drama and foolishness.
And I had to break it down to him and say, listen.
you have to look at it from Brandon Iyuk's perspective.
He's stuck between staying on a team that is
very competitive and can possibly win a Super
Bowl or going to a team that's nowhere near a
Super Bowl contender, let alone a playoff contender.
That's a difficult decision to make, especially
when the 49ers said, we're not willing to meet
the number that you want. And the Steelers said,
we're willing to meet the number that you want.
Now, depending on who you listen to and ask,
most people are going to give you a different
response about Brian Iyuk. Me personally, I just
feel like he's conflicted. One minute he wants
to do this, the next minute he wants to do that.
I don't know what Brian Iyuk wants to do at this
point. And if we can be honest here, I don't
know if he really wants to play football anymore.
His actions show that he's complacent with not
getting the rest of his money. So if he's okay
with that, cool. But if he does want to play,
just know. Any team that he goes to, they're
going to lowball him. And they're probably going
to make the contract heavy on the incentives.
And they're probably going to make it to where,
listen, any of those antics, you're gone. Or
they'll just do what the 49ers did, which is
we're just going to void all your future guarantees
if they give him that long of a contract. So
I just think this is just a nasty situation.
And I think this is just a lesson learned for
the 49ers because most likely what they're going
to do from now on is not pay a boatload of money
to wide receivers. I would have rather for them
just move off of Brandon Ayuk or just pick up
his fifth year option than to just go through
what they went through with him. And in some
ways, they went through a little bit of a tussle
with Jawan Jennings as well because he was looking
for more money. And even then, his situation
is worse because for one, He's an older player.
He's not a wide receiver one or two. He's a three
at best that sometimes can play the role of a
two. And his market value is not that strong.
So if you're the 49ers moving forward, most likely
you're just going to start drafting a boatload
of receivers. Now, granted, next year, the wide
receiver class is actually supposed to be really
good. So if I'm the 49ers, I'm either drafting
a left tackle or I'm getting one of those receivers,
specifically one of those receivers from USC.
That's what I'm doing. I'm just going to just
flood that position with cheap talent. Because
what I'm not going to do is go through the same
conundrum that I just finished going through
with Deebo Samuel, a little bit of Jawan Jennings,
and Brandon Ayuk. But on to Tua getting benched.
So for those of you who don't know, Mike McDaniel
has made the decision to bench Tua. And Quinn
Ewers is now the starting quarterback and Zach
Wilson will back him up. So this is what Tua
had to say. And I quote, naturally, I'd say I'm
disappointed. It's a normal human emotion. Outside
of that, I got to do my part. My role here right
now is to help whoever the quarterback is going
to be for this team. To lead this team, help
him in whatever way I can to help the team win
this game on Sunday, end quote. And that quote
came from Eric Richter of the New York Post.
Let's just talk about this whole situation with
Tua, okay? Now, according to SpotRack, if the
Dolphins are unable to find a trade candidate,
then the Dolphins will designate this as a post
-June 1st release. Now, $99 .2 million of dead
cap is currently attached to the deal, including
$54 million of fully guaranteed salary. Tua's
26 cap hit is $56 .4 million. with a 15 million
dollar option bonus that may be exercised in
march now if they designated this as a post june
1st transaction 67 .4 million of tua's money
will become dead cap and 31 .8 million of that
will become dead cap in 27. even with the post
june 1st designation the dolphins would lose
11 million in cap now the dolphins could convert
54 million of tua's money into a signing bonus
prior to a post -June 1st designation, which
would result in $27 million of his salary being
converted with a cap hit of $46 .8 million, and
a debt cap of $45 .8 million in 26, and then
a $53 .4 million debt cap hit in 27. So with
that being said, let's just unpack this entire
situation. Now, was this expected? Yes, to some
degree. And the reason why I say that is because
Tua did not have a good game against the Steelers.
which I know we're going to talk about them towards
the end of the podcast. He wasn't able to push
the ball down the field. He wasn't aggressive
when he needed to be. He was holding on the ball
for too long. He just was bad. And I understand
that prior to the Steelers game, they're on a
four game winning streak and there was a chance
that they could make it into the playoffs and
whatnot. But after that Steelers game, Mike McDaniel
probably had no choice but to bench him. Now
with this move, this most likely means that they're
just done fighting. They're going to give up
and they're going to try to see if they can get
a high enough pick to address whatever position
that they're going to address next year and just
go from there. But the question is this. If you
fire Mike McDaniel and you bring in a new head
coach and GM, what are they going to do with
Tua? Because it doesn't help that next year's
draft class for quarterbacks is not good. And
it's starting to shape up that Fernando Mendoza
may be the only quarterback that's going to be
drafted in the first round next year. So if that's
the case, you're going to have to stick with
Tua. Because there's no other options in free
agency that you can get. Daniel Jones is probably
going to go back to the Colts. Sam Darnold is
staying with the Seahawks. Kyler Murray probably
doesn't want to go to the Dolphins. Kirk Cousins
doesn't want to go to the Dolphins. So who would
be an upgrade over Tua? At this point, you may
have to keep him just so you can try to figure
out the financial part of his contract because
nobody is going to be trading for a quarterback
who has an extensive injury history. You can
see that his mechanics are off, and you can see
that he is no longer the quarterback that he
was just two years ago. No one is giving up a
first, a second, a third, a fourth, a fifth,
a sixth, a seventh. No one is doing any of that
because it's pointless. And it also doesn't help
that you're not going to have a lot of cap space
next year as well. So you're really in a bad
space. Now, you could probably move some money
around, you know, create some cap space because
the cap isn't real and whatnot. I get all that
blah, blah, blah, yada, yada, yada. But the fact
of the matter is this. What are you going to
do with Tua? Can anything be salvaged with Tua?
Is his hip injury starting to show its ugly face
again with Tua? Because something is wrong with
Tua. And it sucks because there's not a procedure
or a routine or medicine or workout or something
different that can be done that can help Tua.
So if you're the Dolphins, what are you going
to do at this point? How are you going to sell
this to a GM and a new head coach? How are you
going to sell it that most likely you're going
to have a quarterback who you can't get off of
because the team decided to give him a stupid
contract that if we're being real here, he did
not earn? Granted, I understand he was putting
up crazy numbers, but you have to look at what
he had around him. You had one of the best running
back tandems at that time with Raheem Mostert
and Devon Achan. You had Tyree Killen, Jayna
Waddle. You had Teron Armstead as your left tackle.
So of course you were going to ball out. But
since then, what have you done? Nothing. But
if the Dolphins were to trade Tua, I think the
number one question we need to ask is, what is
Tua's market? Is it high? Is it low? Does he
not have a market at all? What can you do to
ease the pain with this process? Because it's
going to be painful. And there's going to be
a lot of people that are going to be leaving
the Dolphins. I would not be surprised if Jalen
Waddell actually gets traded next offseason.
It's just a bad situation for everybody. And
so if you're a team that needs a quarterback,
like the Steelers, like the Jets, like all those
other teams, is Tua on your radar? And if he
is, what are you willing to give up to get Tua?
Are you willing to take on the contract? Are
you willing to give up a high pick to possibly
acquire him? Do you have an infrastructure that
is better than what he has with the Dolphins?
These are the questions that need to be asked.
Because right now, the league may view him as
a backup. Or the league may just say, you know
what? We're just done with Tua. And I can see
why. You've had a lot of crazy head injuries.
You have a bad hip. Your mechanics are off. Can't
push the ball down the field. Your deep pass
is gone. What do you have? What is something
in his game that an offensive coordinator and
a head coach can at least enhance? Because I
would venture to say there's nothing. And this
is no shot at Tua. I think Tua is probably a
great person. But the fact of the matter is your
production has declined. And now the Dolphins
are probably trying to figure out how do we get
off of this contract? What are we going to do?
Now they could take the barbaric route and just
take all that dead cap at one time and do what
the Broncos did. Or you could try to divvy up
and just take it on piece by piece by piece.
Either way, you're going to feel the pain. But
one more thing we need to talk about with the
situation, then we'll get into the games. This
somewhat proves the stereotype of what GMs are
looking for when they're trying to get quarterbacks.
And that is bigger body quarterbacks. Quarterbacks
that are 6 '2 and above. When you look at some
of the greatest quarterbacks of all time, what
is the one thing that they all have in common?
They're big. And the reason why you want to get
a bigger body quarterback than these smaller
quarterbacks is because they're able to handle
the blows that comes with the season. A smaller
quarterback can't handle that. And if they do,
they can only handle it for so much. There's
a difference in a threshold of pain that Justin
Herbert is able to take compared to a Kyle Murray
or a Tua. And even if you do get a smaller quarterback,
the best thing that you can do is to build an
offensive line that is going to protect them.
But the Dolphins were unsuccessful in doing that.
And if we're being real here, the last few years
was probably the best time that they actually
made those investments. You drafted Patrick Paul,
which actually looks like a pretty good tackle.
You drafted Jonah Sevenaya. He looks like he's
pretty good. You should have been doing that
earlier on into this process, not doing it now
because it's too late. But we'll talk about this
more when the offseason arrives. So let's talk
about the Falcons and Bucs, all right? So Kirk
Cousins. 44 attempts for 30 completions, 373
passing yards, 3 touchdowns, 8 .5 yards per attempt,
and a 68 .2 completion percentage. Bijan Robinson.
19 attempts for 93 rushing yards, 4 .9 rushing
yards per carry, 1 touchdown, and 3 rushes of
10 plus yards or more. Kyle Pitts. 12 targets
for 11 receptions, 166 receiving yards, 3 touchdowns,
and 15 .1 receiving yards per reception. Baker
Mayfield. 34 attempts for 19 completions, 277
passing yards, two touchdowns, one pick, 8 .1
yards per attempt, and a 55 .9 completion percentage.
Bucky Irvin, 16 attempts for 60 rushing yards,
3 .8 rushing yards per carry, and two rushes
of 10 plus yards or more. Mike Evans, 12 targets
for six receptions, 132 receiving yards, and
22 receiving yards per reception. So here's a
few junkie nuggets, and there's a lot of junkie
nuggets with this game. When operating in shotgun
formation, Kirk Cousins completed 23 of 29 passes
for 281 passing yards and three touchdowns. When
passing over 2 .5 seconds... Kirk Cousins completed
21 of 32 attempts for 300 yards and two touchdowns,
his most passing yards on such throws since week
five against the Bucs last season, which he threw
for 323 yards. When matched up against Kobe Bryant,
Mike Evans hauled in four receptions for 102
yards on five targets, the fifth most yards a
wide receiver has gained in a coverage matchup
this season. Baker Mayfield has had fewer than
200 passing yards in each of his last four games.
the longest streak in his career. This is the
longest streak by a Bucs quarterback since Mike
Glennon in 2013. Since their Week 9 bye, the
Bucs have lost four of their five games. The
Bucs were 5 -1 in one possession games before
the bye and are now 1 -2 in one score games after
the bye. James Pierce and Jalen Walker lead all
NFL rookies with six and five sacks. The Falcons
have 25 .5 sacks by players under the age of
25 this season. which is eight and a half more
sacks than any other team in the NFL. So the
main takeaway from this game is that the Buccaneers
have cooled. There was a point in time where
I was considering Baker Mayfield as a potential
MVP candidate. And since I made that claim, he's
just declined. And I don't know if it's because
certain people were hurt or the matchups, but
this team as a whole is not the same team that
we saw in the first six weeks of the season.
And it's a little bit troublesome because The
season is about to end. And right now, it looks
like the Panthers are probably going to win the
division. Even though you were in pole position
to win the division. Make it make sense. And
another thing we need to talk about is these
questionable plays. Specifically, Kyle pitches
catch. Because that's considered a catch. But
what Isaiah likely did against the Steelers was
not considered a catch. Make it make sense. Second
and 10. Five minutes and 12 seconds left. Moody
fumbles the ball, but it stays with Atlanta,
even though there's multiple Buccaneer players
around the ball. Make it make sense. Between
that and the ticky tack penalties, I don't know
which one was worse because the penalties were
really starting to irritate me. It seemed like
almost every single time there was always a penalty
and it was always on the Falcons offensive line.
Jake Matthews had a whole bunch of penalties.
This person had a whole bunch of penalties. And
I'm just thinking to myself, what are we doing?
What are we doing? Can we at least get through
one drive, one complete drive with no penalties
whatsoever, please? But on a serious note, I
think the Falcons are starting to see the return
in drafting both pass rushers, which is very
promising. However, I still believe that the
price that they paid to acquire both pass rushers
was a little bit too high. And the reason why
I say that is because... there's most likely
a chance that you're going to have to draft a
quarterback within the next two years. And with
you not having that first round pick, what are
you going to do? Because you needed that first
round pick. It'll be different if the team was
already built up, there wasn't a lot of holes
on your team, and all you needed to do was just
address that one position, and there was a player
that you really, really, really wanted. Okay,
fine, no problem. But that's not the case. You
still have other positions of need that you needed
to address. And there's a good chance that you
could possibly address it in next year's draft
class. But you can't do that now because why?
The Rams now have your first round pick. So with
that first round pick, they can either address
something on offense, on defense, or possibly
flip it for another first round pick in 27. That's
the only knock that I have against the Falcons.
Outside of that, I think they play really well.
Defensively, they were going after Baker Mayfield.
And the Buccaneers didn't have an answer for
it. And at times, it made you wonder, Should
they rely more on the run game? Should they try
to at least scheme up something a little bit
different? Should they try to get Chris Godwin
involved? Should they try to get Emeka Buka involved?
What can they do to get back on straight street?
Because I don't know what's happened, but they've
just fallen off. And I'm talking about tenderism
falling off. If you know, you know. I'm trying
to be humorous about this, but at the same time,
I'm trying to be serious. Because it's really
saddening to see that this really good roster
is just falling off a cliff. Even though just
a couple weeks ago, I was talking very high about
them. I was thinking, oh, they're going to run
away with this division and they're going to
face the Eagles or the Lions or whoever else
is in the NFC and whatnot. But clearly that's
not the case. So what's going to happen? Better
yet, what needs to happen? One more thing I want
to bring up about this game. Falcons fans, if
Raheem Morris finds a way to win out, even though
you guys aren't going to make it in the playoffs,
do you feel like that's enough for him to keep
his job? Y 'all let me know on our YouTube at
Football Junkies Pod, all right? Now on to the
Chargers and Chiefs game. So Justin Herbert,
29 attempts for 19 completions, 210 passing yards,
one touchdown, one pick, 7 .2 yards per attempt,
and a 65 .5 completion percentage. Omarion Hanson.
15 attempts for 61 rushing yards, 4 .1 rushing
yards per carry, and one rush of 10 plus yards
or more. Oronde Gatson, the second. Five targets
for four receptions, 61 receiving yards, and
15 .3 receiving yards per reception. Patrick
Mahomes, 28 attempts for 16 completions, 189
passing yards, one pick, 6 .8 yards per attempt,
and a 57 .1 completion percentage. Gardner Minshew,
five attempts for three completions, 22 passing
yards, one pick. 4 .4 yards per attempt and a
60 % completion percentage. Isaiah Pacheco, 11
attempts for 21 rushing yards, 1 .9 rushing yards
per carry. Yeah, that is horrible. Travis Kelsey,
nine targets for seven receptions, 70 rushing
yards and 10 receiving yards per reception. So
here's a few junkie nuggets with this game. Patrick
Mahomes was under pressure on 48 .6 % of his
dropbacks against the Chargers. His second highest
pressure rate this season. When pressure. Mahomes
completed four of his 10 passes, which is 40%,
for 53 yards and one pick while being sacked
five times, the most in a game this season. Without
being pressured, Mahomes completed 12 of 18 passes,
which is 66 .7%, for 136 yards. Justin Herbert
was blitzed on 19 of 34 dropbacks, which is 55
.9%, which was his second highest blitz rate
he's faced this season. When facing the blitz,
Herbert completed 10 of 17 passes, for 101 yards,
one touchdown, and one pick. Since 2019, the
Chiefs generated their second highest blitz rate,
generating 10 to 15 pressures. The Chargers defense
generated pressures on 21 of 40 dropbacks, which
is 52 .5 % against the Chiefs, despite blitzing
only twice. Khalil Mack and Tuli... Tulepilatu
generated 8 of 7 pressures while both generating
pressure rates of 20%. Adafia Way and Tule Tulepilatu
each recorded 2 sacks while 9 different Chargers
defenders recorded a pressure. Since being traded
to the Chargers, Adafia Way has generated a 14
.1 pressure rate. We're going to put a bookmark
on that for just a moment. My main takeaway from
this game is that the Chargers are heating up
at the right time. This is the point where a
lot of teams either heat up or they cool off.
And right now, if you're Pittsburgh, if you're
the Bills, if you're any of those AFC teams that
may have to face the Chargers, I don't know if
you really want to do that. Because defensively,
they're on fire. And offensively, Justin Herbert
has been cooking. And that run game low -key
has been cooking as well. Greg Roman, I see what
you're doing, my boy. I see what you're doing.
And mind you, Justin Herbert is doing this without
his starting tackles. If you would have told
me that the Chargers would be playing the way
that they've been playing without their starting
tackles, I would have called you a liar. But
Justin Herbert has been able to adapt with it,
make it work, and win. And that's a good sign.
But it's also a dangerous sign as well. Because
then that means he's playing with house money.
So anybody that he faces, oh, you about to get
the business. Steelers, I really hope you guys
don't have to face the Chargers. I really do,
because I don't want to see that, honestly. But
we're not talking about that, okay? All jokes
aside, though, I think we need to have an honest
conversation about the Chiefs. And I know most
people have been hearing about it from, you know,
different platforms and whatnot. Oh, is the dynasty
over? Is it over? What are they going to do now?
I'm here to say that the Chiefs dynasty is over.
Yes, I still have my GM hat on. Yes, we're going
to go a little bit deep about the Chiefs. Although
Patrick Mahomes got hurt. I think this was the
perfect moment to have this conversation with
the Chiefs. Because what we've seen in the last
few years is that they have been declining significantly.
And I think at this point, it's time for you
to make a significant change. It's time for you
to let go some of these veteran players go that
have value and just rebuild this team. What you
have right now offensively is not good enough.
When you compare this Chiefs offense, or better
yet, the last... Two years of the Chiefs offense
compared to the first three years of the Chiefs
offense. This offense right here would get crushed.
And granted, I understand they don't have a whole
lot of talent. They don't have a Tyree kill and
whatnot. But you would have thought by now that
Xavier Worthy would have taken that next step.
You would have thought Rasheed Rice and Hollywood
Brown would have taken that next step. You would
have thought somebody in the tight end room would
have taken that next step. But clearly nobody
has it. The run game has significantly regressed.
And so if you're management, it's time for you
to let go some of these players. Now, me personally,
I would venture to say you're probably have to
get rid of Chris Jones first. Now, I know these
fans, you're probably, you know, probably freaking
out right now because of what I just said. You
probably stopped listening to this podcast. And
for that, I say thank you for listening to the
Football Junkies podcast, okay? But on a serious
note. I think you need to approach Chris Jones
and I think you need to ask him, would you be
willing to take a pay cut? And if he says no,
trade him. Because he still has value. Somebody
would be willing to give up a first round pick
for Chris Jones. Somebody would be willing to
give up a second or third round pick for George
Kaloftis. Somebody would be willing to give you
X amount of draft picks for some of these players.
Your team needs to get younger and it needs to
get cheap. Right now, according to SpotRack,
your free agents are Hollywood Brown, Eliza Mitchell,
Jerry Tillery, Kareem Hunt, Brian Cook, Juju
Smith -Schuster, Derek Nandi, Leo Chanel, Deion
Bush, Robert Tunyon Jr., Gardner Minshew, Janorius
Robinson, Tyquan Thorin, just to name a few.
Now, granted, you are in a good position from
a financial standpoint because you can still
create cash space. So, according to SpotRack,
Patrick Mahomes right now carries a $78 .2 million
cap hit into next year. That's second only to
Lamar Jackson, who carries a $80 .7 million cap
hit, which most likely is going to be adjusted.
But the Chiefs can convert $54 .5 million of
this compensation into a signing bonus this March,
bringing up $43 .5 million of cap space for 26.
That is the model that you want to do for a lot
of these contracts. And you need to convince
them by saying, listen, If you take this pay
cut, we're going to be able to surround you guys
with better talent so that we can continue to
win. But we can't win if you guys are taking
on a lot of money. And if they don't want to
hear it, ship them off. Whoever is giving you
the best offer, whether it be a divisional rival
or not, ship them off. Because that's what you
need to do at this point. Because what you have
right now is not sustainable. The Broncos have
finally catched up. They got their act together.
Their Chargers are starting to get their act
together as well. There are other teams in the
AFC that you are now going to have to worry about
moving forward. So what are you going to do?
Because the model that you have right now is
not sustainable. Granted, you guys won a championship
after trading away Tyreek Hill. Cool. But since
then, this offense is not dynamic, explosive,
or consistent. And another thing, you guys might
need to bring back Eric Biennemi. No disrespect
to Matt Nagy, but brother, you are just absolutely
atrocious. Like, this offense is just bad. You
mean to tell me that Isaiah Pacheco was averaging
1 .9 rushing yards per carry? This is no shot
at Isaiah Pacheco. This is not me saying that
he went up against the Steel Curtain or the Four
Horsemen or whatever. But are you serious? 1
.9 rushing yards per carry? That means your rushing
game was just non -existent. You need to surround
Patrick Mahomes with more reliable weapons. The
speedy receiver model is dead. You need to be
going after some Nick Harbors of the world, Denzel
Bosses of the world, Makai Lemons, Cardinal Tapes,
just to name a few. Those are the people that
you need to be concerned about. Because the speedy
receivers, they don't work no more. You have
Xavier Worthy. And what has he done? What has
he done that makes you think that he is wide
receiver one? Be honest. What are you going to
do with Trent McDuffie? That's a lot of money
that you're going to have to pay him. Are you
going to be willing to pay him? Because the quarterback
room that you have right now isn't sustainable.
You have a lot of tough decisions that you have
to make moving forward. And I think if you're
Andy Reid, you're going to buy into the process.
But if you feel like the process is just a little
bit too slow for you, then just walk away. Because
right now... you have solidified yourself as
one of the greatest head coaches of this era.
You are going to be a first ballot Hall of Famer
without question. I would rather for you to just
ride off into the sunset than for you to stay
way too long. But again, this is why we have
to appreciate the Patriots model because they
were not only coaching well. but they were convincing
players to take less. And by taking less and
trading away players two years earlier than two
years later, they were able to sustain long -term
success. The number one thing that messed up
the Chiefs was when they paid Patrick Holmes
a bunch of that money, Travis Kelsey a bunch
of that money, and then Chris Jones a bunch of
that money. Granted, I understand those are the
three faces of this team. And I understand without
those three faces, A lot of people are not going
to want to go to the games and buy those jerseys
and merch and whatnot. But at some point, you
have to draw the line and have to say, I understand
what you want, but are you trying to win more
championships or are you trying to stuff your
pockets? Because if you're trying to win a championship,
you know what you got to do. Look at Tom Brady.
Look at Gronk. Look at Julian Edelman. They don't
have to work another day in their life if they
don't want to. Because you know why? Every time
they go on a show, every time that they go on
a podcast, every time that they make appearance,
what do they say? Three -time Super Bowl champion.
Six -time Super Bowl champion. Seven -time Super
Bowl champion. That's the first thing that they
say about them. And that title alone is money.
But we're going to talk about that when the offseason
comes. Let's talk about the Bills and Patriots.
But before we do that, We got to pay some bills.
Pardon the interruption, but this is your GM,
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Now back to the good stuff. And we're back, folks.
So I know I was supposed to talk about the Bills
and Patriots game, but there was a few things
that I forgot about the Chiefs game. So for starters,
the Chargers clearly won the Odafeo Way trade.
Now, I know in previous episodes, I've said every
time a pass rusher leaves Baltimore and goes
to another team, they have success. And that
is true. And we're seeing that with Odafeo Way.
Here's a stat for you. During weeks one through
five with the Ravens, Adafia Way pressure rate
was 13%. Now, during those same weeks, Adafia
Way didn't record a sack, but since being with
the Chargers, has four sacks over the last four
weeks with the Chargers, and has a 40 % pressure
to sack conversion rate. You don't believe me?
Here's another stat. Since being traded to the
Chargers, Adafi Owe has generated a 14 .1 % pressure
rate. The proof is in the pudding here, folks.
Something clearly is wrong with the Ravens. Because
when he was on the Ravens, he really wasn't that
good. He wasn't able to showcase his skill set.
But since being with the Chargers, he's been
going off. And I know people are going to say,
well, of course you're going to go off because
you have Khalil Mack, you have this person, that
person, but... Adafi Owe was creating pressure
just by himself. Same thing as the other pass
rusher and Khalil Mack. They were going after
Patrick Mahomes and he didn't have an answer
for it. And if we're being real here, I would
venture to say this is probably, well, let's
see. I can't even remember now to think about
it. This is probably the one year where I've
seen Patrick Mahomes run a lot. Usually he'll
do it in spurts and he'll usually do it like
in the playoffs, but every chance he gets, he's
just escaping the pocket. And I think a lot of
that had to do with, you know, people not getting
open and defenses now have the personnel and
they now have something in place. to counteract
Patrick Mahomes. But again, we're going to save
that for the offseason. Okay, so let's talk about
the Bills and Patriots. All right, this time,
this time for real, we're going to do it. All
right, so Josh Allen, 28 attempts for 19 completions,
193 passing yards, three touchdowns, 6 .9 yards
per tip, and a 67 .9 completion percentage. James
Cook, 22 attempts for 107 rushing yards, 4 .9
rushing yards per carry, two touchdowns, and
three rushes of 10 plus yards or more. Khalir
Shakir, Five targets for five receptions, 65
receiving yards, and 13 receiving yards per reception.
Drake May, 23 attempts for 14 completions, 155
passing yards, one pick, 6 .7 yards per attempt,
and a 60 .9 completion percentage. Travion Henderson,
14 attempts for 148 rushing yards, 10 .6 rushing
yards per carry, two touchdowns, and two rushes
of 10 plus yards or more. Mack Hollins, eight
targets for four receptions. 41 receiving yards,
and 10 .3 receiving yards per reception. So here's
a few junkie nuggets. The Bills are 10 -1 when
James Cook rushes for over 100 scrimmage yards,
and are 0 -3 when he has fewer than 100 rushing
yards. The loss to the Bills was the first game
the Patriots allowed over 27 points. The Patriots
have allowed 23 or fewer points in 12 of the
first 13 games this season. The Patriots allowed
a season -high 168 rushing yards against the
Bills. the first game allowing over 140 rushing
yards this season. In the first half, Josh Allen
averaged 2 .4 air yards per attempt, but in the
second half, Josh Allen averaged 9 .8 air yards
per attempt and completed four of seven downfield
passes for 91 yards and one touchdown. He also
had 11 carries for 48 rushing yards, including
32 rushing yards on three design runs. On short
passes, Drake May completed 11 of 13 attempts
for 89 yards, but struggled downfield going three
for nine for 66 yards and a pick on passes over
10 air yards. May also ran for 43 rushing yards
and two touchdowns. Now with that being said,
let's unpack this game because there's a lot
to be said about this. For starters, I really
believe that the Patriots had choked this game
away. But when I actually looked at the game
again, I was like, the refs may have cheated
them out of this game. Perfect example, third
and goal, three minutes and 50 seconds left,
James Cook rushing touchdown. Now, when you look
at it, it looks like he's not in the end zone.
It looks like he hasn't crossed the white line,
but apparently they ruled it a touchdown. Why?
I don't know. Another example, fourth and two,
11 minutes, 22 seconds left, fourth quarter,
Josh Allen throws a deep pass to Khalir Sakhir
that they rule a catch, even though technically
speaking, It probably should have been an interception.
Or better yet, just replay the play. But outside
of those two controversial plays, Josh Allen
was cooking in the second half. Second and goal,
two minutes left. Josh Allen throws to James
Cook for a touchdown. Second and goal, third
quarter, 11 minutes, 35 seconds left. Josh Allen
throws to Dawson Knox for a touchdown. Third
and seven, the third quarter, 10 minutes and
five seconds left. Drake May is sacked by Matt
Milano. Third and goal. Three minutes and 50
seconds left. Well, actually, no, we just talked
about that actually now that I think about it.
Third and goal, 10 minutes, 10 seconds left.
Fourth quarter, Josh Allen to Dawson Knox. Second
and one, six minutes and 53 seconds left. Fourth
quarter again, James Cook rushing touchdown.
Now, in between all this, you know, Travion Henderson
runs for a touchdown and extend the lead, and
Drake May, you know, catches up with him one
down. Ooh, it's a great thing, it's a great thing,
but... I'm listing off those plays because I
believe that those plays were the turning points
of this game. Because once Josh Allen started
cooking, the Patriots defense didn't have an
answer for it. And mind you, they wasn't doing
anything spectacular. They were doing the same
thing. He was passing the ball well. They were
running the ball well. And Josh Allen was just
being Josh Allen. But my thing is this. Why did
you stop running the ball like how you did in
the first half? Because in the first half, you
ran 33 plays for 285 total yards, 11 passing
attempts for 9 completions, 108 passing yards,
22 rushing attempts for 177 rushing yards, 3
touchdowns, and 16 first downs. Now in the second
half, you ran 18 total plays, 100 total yards,
12 attempts for 5 passing completions, 47 passing
yards, took 3 sacks, 1 pick, And three rushing
attempts for 69 rushing yards, one touchdown,
and three first downs. What happened? And I don't
want anybody to say, well, they got this person
or that person on the defense. That defense for
the Bills really isn't that good. They just clamped
you down. They made adjustments. They figured
out what you were going to do. And they took
it away. And they dared you. And if you're the
Patriots, that has to leave a bitter taste in
your mouth because you had the lead. The game
was yours. All you had to do was maintain the
lead. All you had to do was continue to run the
ball. But you didn't want to run the ball. Why?
I don't know. So now you've given the Bills a
glimmer of hope. Now am I saying that the Bills
can face the Patriots in the playoffs and possibly
beat them? At this point, anything is possible.
With the Chiefs being eliminated from the playoffs,
this is basically open season for any team. Anybody
that you feel like could make a run this year,
this could be their year. But I will say this.
If Josh Allen doesn't make it to the Super Bowl
this year, there is no excuses. I don't care
what any Bills fan says. I don't care what any
Josh Allen fan says. I don't care what you pull
up. There is no excuse on why they shouldn't
be in the Super Bowl this year. because they
are in the prime position to do it. You don't
have to face the Chiefs this year. The only other
team that you really have to worry about is the
Broncos. As long as you don't have to go to Denver,
as long as you don't have to go to LA, as long
as you don't have to face the Texas again, you're
good. But let's talk about the Packers and Broncos.
So Jordan Love, 40 attempts for 24 completions,
276 passing yards. one touchdown, two picks,
6 .9 yards per attempt, and a 60 % completion
percentage. Josh Jacobs, 12 attempts for 73 rushing
yards, 6 .1 rushing yards per carry, one touchdown,
and two rushes of 10 plus yards or more. Jaden
Reed, six targets for five receptions, 55 receiving
yards, and 11 receiving yards per reception.
Bo Nix. 34 attempts for 23 completions, 302 passing
yards, 4 touchdowns, and 8 .9 yards per attempt,
and a 67 .6 completion percentage. RJ Harvey,
19 attempts for 65 rushing yards, 3 .4 rushing
yards per carry, and 1 touchdown. Cortland Sutton,
10 targets for 7 receptions, 113 receiving yards,
1 touchdown, and 16 .1 receiving yards per reception.
So here's a few junkie nuggets. Prior to week
15, Jordan Love had only threw four picks. When
Jordan Love throws one or fewer picks, the Packers
are 9 -1 -1. And 7 -0 when Jordan Love doesn't
throw an interception at all. Jordan Love faced
pressure on 52 .2 % of his dropbacks, the highest
pressure rate of his career as a starter. Now
when facing this pressure in the first half,
Jordan Love completed 8 of 11 passes. for 119
yards and one touchdown while not taking a sack.
In the second half, Jordan Love completed two
of eight attempts for 28 yards, one pick, and
took on three sacks. Bo Nix faced zone coverage
on 89 .2 % of his dropbacks, the third consecutive
game he's faced zone at a rate above 89%. Now
when facing zone coverage, Bo Nix completed 21
of 30 passes for 267 yards, the second most of
his career. The Packers were in 12 personnel
on 25 .4 % of offensive plays, which is 16 out
of 63, averaging 9 .4 yards per play. The Packers
accumulated 150 total yards, including Josh Jacobs'
40 -yard touchdown run. Luke Musgrave catching
four of six targets for 52 yards. And John Fitzpatrick
catching three of four targets for 18 yards.
My takeaway from this game is that the Broncos
can go toe -to -toe with any AFC or NFC opponent.
And the reason why I say that is because every
time Jordan Love made a play, Bo Nix responded.
And he didn't just tamper down. He increased
as the game continued. And as the game continued
for Jordan Love, he decreased. Now, is that because
he threw picks? Is that because he got sacked?
Who knows? But Bo Nix showed that he can go toe
-to -toe with the best of them. And mind you,
the Broncos was really beating the Packers in
the air. It wasn't on the ground. The Packers'
secondary allowed 302 passing yards. I feel like
that's a bigger story to talk about than Micah
Parsons tearing his ACL. Now, granted, I understand
that with Micah Parsons being out for the rest
of the year, their Super Bowl chances are basically
slim to none. But come on. The Broncos were shutting
down Micah Parsons. He wasn't doing anything.
They were double and triple teaming him every
single time. And it worked. So if you're the
Packers, what do you do at this point? Because
Rashawn Gary can't just do it by himself. And
there were a lot of times where... the Packers
secondary just gave up a crucial play for no
reason. And it really didn't make any sense.
Let me just read off to you some of the plays
that I feel like were the turning points in this
game. 3rd and 10, 3rd quarter, 5 minutes and
36 seconds left. Jordan Love gets sacked by Jonah
Ellis. 2nd and 10, 2 minutes and 34 seconds left.
Bo Nix to Troy Franklin for a first down. 1st
and 10, 1 minute, 7 seconds left, 3rd quarter.
Bo Nix to Marvell Mims for a first down. Parsons
also got hurt on that play as well. Praise to
him. Second and 15, six seconds left. Third quarter,
Bo Nix to Troy Franklin. The two -point conversion
failed. Fourth and three, nine minutes and three
seconds left. Fourth quarter, Bo Nix to Cortland
Sutton for a first down. First and goal, seven
minutes, 32 seconds left. Fourth quarter, R .J.
Harvey's rushing touchdown. Second and eight.
Six minutes, 37 seconds left. Fourth quarter.
Jordan Love throws a pick to Riley Moss, even
though the pass was intended to Dontavian Hicks.
Second and eight. Three minutes and 56 seconds
left. Fourth quarter. Jordan Love gets sacked
by Tillman. Fourth and 10. Two minutes and 33
seconds left. Fourth quarter. Jordan Love gets
sacked again, but by Nick Benito and Zach Allen.
Fourth and one. One minute, 15 seconds left.
Fourth quarter. The Packers stuffed the Broncos,
okay? So now you're thinking, what's gonna happen?
Fourth and 15, 50 seconds left. Fourth quarter,
Jordan Love throws an incomplete pass. As I just
said, as the game continued on, the Broncos became
more relentless in trying to go after Jordan
Love. And they were successful. Nick Benito,
Zach Allen. Jonah Ellis. I can continue to go
down the list. All of those guys was creating
a lot of pressure on Jordan Love. And at the
same time, that secondary was able to hold their
own against the Packers receivers. So I think
with the Packers having a leaky secondary and
their offense having to rely on Jordan Love having
a perfect game and not throw any picks, I just
think right now they're not in a position to
compete for a Super Bowl. I think if they did
this again in the Super Bowl, I think it would
have been the same outcome, which is the Broncos
beating the Packers. Because I feel like defensively,
they know when to turn it on and turn it off
when it comes to blitzing. And they have the
line that is able to create pressure from multiple
players. It's not just coming from one player.
You have to worry about Nick Benito, Zach Allen.
Cooper. You have to worry about Jonah Ellis.
You have to worry about Roach. You have to worry
about every single one of those guys. You have
to worry about Hufanga. You have to worry about
Dre Greenlaw. They were playing a physical brand
of football that as the game continued, the Packers
weren't able to match their physicality. And
it got to a point where Jordan Love just looked
demoralized because there was nothing else that
he could do. And I don't blame him for it. Because
again, you're going up against the best defense
in the entire league. And I dare anybody to say
otherwise. I'm going to ask this question again.
If you're the Packers, do you still believe that
you are playoff contenders despite losing Micah
Parsons? Do you still believe that you can make
it to the NFC Championship? Do you believe that
this season is a waste no matter the outcome
of the rest of the season? You guys let me know
in the comments on our YouTube, Football Junkies
Pod, all right? Football Junkies Pod. I really
want to have an honest conversation with you
guys. I really do. I look forward to the conversations.
I'm not somebody that's just going to ignore
what you have to say. I value each and every
one of your opinions, regardless if I feel like
it's wrong or indifferent. I value your opinion.
This is how we have honest conversations about
teams and players and games and all those different
things. But let's talk about the Dolphins and
Steelers, okay? So Tua, 28 attempts for 22 completions,
253 passing yards, two touchdowns, one pick,
nine yards per attempt, and a 78 .6 completion
percentage. Devon A. Chan, 12 attempts for 60
rushing yards, five rushing yards per carry,
and one rush of 10 plus yards or more. Devon
A. Chan again. Six targets for six receptions,
67 receiving yards, and 11 .2 receiving yards
per reception. Aaron Rodgers, 27 attempts for
23 completions, 224 passing yards, two touchdowns,
8 .3 yards per attempt, and an 85 .2 completion
percentage. Kenneth Gainwell. 13 attempts for
80 rushing yards, 6 .2 rushing yards per carry,
and 1 rush of 10 plus yards more. DK Metcalf,
3 targets for 3 receptions, 55 receiving yards,
1 touchdown, and 18 .3 receiving yards per reception.
So here's a few junkie nuggets. Tua finished
with an average time to throw of 3 .36 seconds.
The first game of his career with a time to throw
longer than 3 seconds. Tua completed four of
his six dropbacks over four seconds for 60 yards,
one touchdown, but faced 10 pressures, which
is 30 .3%, if you want to do pressure rate, right,
and took on four sacks. The first time Tua has
faced double -digit pressures in a game since
week five. Between the numbers. Aaron Rodgers
finished 17 of 18 for 173 yards, recording a
94 .4 completion percentage, his highest in the
game since week 14 of the 2016 season. On 30
pass blocks, Dylan Cook didn't allow a single
pressure at left tackle. Dylan Cook faced Bradley
Chubb on 18 matchups. Bradley Chubb's most pass
rushes against a blocker without generating pressure
in any game since 2018. In their last two matchups
following the bye, the Dolphins have primarily
used zone coverage on over 80 % of opponents'
dropbacks. When playing zone defense before the
bye, the Dolphins allowed 4 .5 yards per play
and held opponents to a 40 .8 % success rate.
Now before we get into all the games and whatnot,
I just have one thing to say. And this is directly
at Andrew Filippone and every single personal
axe grinder that had something negative to say
about Mike Tomlin. You thought I wasn't going
to say something, but I am going to say something.
Because all of you fools. I was going to use
another word, but I'm not going to use that word.
All of you fools. was saying, Mike Tomlin needs
to be fired. Mike Tomlin's got to go. He's an
embarrassment to the Pittsburgh Steelers. He's
wasting the prime years of our great players.
He's got to go. He's got to be fired. Well, he's
in pole position to win the division. He beat
the Ravens in Baltimore. And now there's a chance
that he could beat the Lions as well. And if
he beats the Lions, that makes it much more easier
for him to win the division. So again, you guys
put the cart before the horse because of your
personal feelings about Mike Tomlin. Because
you guys don't like Mike Tom because you're just
so tired of seeing him be successful and seeing
him persevere through all the crazy things that
has happened within the last five years. Just
say it. I would rather for you to say that. Then
for you to go on your platforms and say, Mike
Tomlin's got to go. He needs to be fired. Fuck
Mike Tomlin. Mike Tomlin is a punk. He's a no
good coach. He's a horrible coach. What do you
want to say now? What do you want to say now?
I just want to know what you want to say now.
I'm going to ask again. Name me one head coach.
that is able to do the exact same thing that
Mike Tomlin has been able to do in the circumstances
that he's been in for the last five years. I
don't know a lot of head coaches that would be
able to still carry teams to the playoffs and
still have winning records with Kenny Pickett.
Oh, no, wait, excuse me. Lenny Pickett, okay?
Justin Fields, Russell Wilson, Mitchell Trubisky,
Aaron Rodgers, and Mason Rudolph. He has been
successful. With all of those quarterbacks. And
with Matt Canada. And with Arthur Smith. And
another thing, I was wrong about Aaron Rodgers.
Now, do I take back anything that I've said about
Aaron Rodgers in the offseason? No. I still will
stand ten toes down on everything that I said.
And I still believe to this day that Aaron Rodgers
should have committed to the Steelers earlier
just so he could really be around everybody.
Now, I understand that he was going through things
and whatnot. You know, he's still playing really
well, but I just would have wanted to see that.
This was the Aaron Rodgers that I wanted to see.
If you would have told me that Aaron Rodgers
would be a class act professional from the start
of the season until now, through everything that
he's gone through, through periods of the offensive
line not blocking well and him breaking his wrist.
you know, the team losing whatnot and the offense
underperforming at times. If you would have told
me that he would still be a professional like
how he is, I would have called you a liar. And,
you know, kudos to Aaron Rodgers for really turning
over a leaf and really proving the naysayers
that, hey, despite what you guys think about
me, I am a good guy. I'm a really cool guy. And
I appreciate that. Now, he's had his moments
where he's been a little bit critical of certain
people and, you know, in different questions
that have been asked about him. But overall,
he has been a breath of fresh air for the Steelers.
And he's been a light to these younger players
on the offense. And I think that's great. Now,
would I like to see, you know, him and Pat Fryer
move to connect a little bit more? Of course.
But I'm not going to nitpick. But since we're
talking about Pat Fryer move. I would like to
see Pat Frymuth be used in a unique way like
how Johnnie Smith is used. That play when Johnnie
Smith was lined up as a running back and he rolled
out and he rushed in for a touchdown, I would
like to see Pat Frymuth do it. I believe he can
do that. You got to scheme something up different
with move, man. I know he can do something special.
You just got to give him a chance. Give him a
chance. But on a serious note, we knew that the
Dolphins' win streak was going to end with the
Steelers. We knew that at some point the Steelers
were going to flip a switch and they were just
going to end whatever little hope that the Dolphins
had. Now, granted, in the first half, they were
playing real physical ball. They was hitting
the Steelers. But then the Steelers responded
with more physicality. Jalen Ramsey was getting
the sack. This person was getting the sack. They
was just everywhere. And the Dolphins didn't
have an answer for it. And then Tua was holding
on the ball for far too long. He wasn't able
to push the ball down the field. And the Steelers
limited Jalen Waddell. Or better yet, they eliminated
Jalen Waddell and Devon A. Chan. And by the time
they started to get something going, the game
was essentially over. The Steelers had a significant
lead, and the Dolphins knew that they couldn't
make a comeback. And I think with the offense
not being productive with Tua, I think that probably
opened the door for Mike McDaniel to possibly
consider making a change at quarterback. Because
as of right now, you're eliminated from the playoffs.
So you have nothing to fight for. So at this
point, all of your starters, just count them
out. Bring on some of these younger players.
Let them start and play significant snaps on
Sunday just to see what you have in them. And
just go from there. Because at this point, Minka
is probably going to be gone. a lot of those
defensive players are going to be gone. So just
accept your losses. It was a good run, but it's
just time for you to admit your faults, admit
that you guys weren't going to go that far, and
just admit that this entire Tua remodel experiment
was a failure. And I understand that Mike McDaniel's
number one priority the minute that he was hired
by the Dolphins was to refine and to rebuild
Tua and whatnot, but it didn't work. You guys
did it the wrong way. You guys can't throw a
boatload of money at Teron Armstead and Tyreek
Hill and Jalen Ramsey and this person and that
person and think that you have a competent team.
It doesn't work like that. Because when you guys
was putting up 70 points on the Broncos and you
was just super fast and you was just putting
up these crazy numbers against all your opponents,
that all stopped when you went to Kansas City.
Because they beat you over the head. So if you're
Mike McDaniel, at this point, you have to admit
that you probably bit more than what you can
chew with this whole Tua situation. And I think
it's just best that you go into a more productive
and better situation than what you have right
now. Because staying with the Dolphins is not
going to help you. All it's going to do is just
ruin your reputation. Same thing with Anthony
Weaver. Same thing with any of those veteran
players. I would rather for you to go on a more
competitive team and possibly win a championship
than for you to be on this team and you guys
don't go anywhere. Because let's be honest. a
majority of the people that is on this team right
now are most likely going to be moved fairly
soon. But I'm going to end this episode here.
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G -M -K -A -I -L -E. G -M -K -A -I -L -E. It's
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-E. As always, I hope I gave you guys the fix
that you guys need. I love you guys. I appreciate
you guys so much. Thank you guys for listening
to the best football podcast that you can listen
to on a week -to -week, day -to -day basis. As
always, this is your GM Kale signing out. Peace
and love. Later, guys. And another thing. You
thought I wasn't going to talk about the Steelers
offense. I am going to talk about the Steelers
offense because Aaron Rodgers was cooking. DK
Metcalf was cooking. Everybody was cooking. And
we also have to talk about Cam Hayward trying
to do TJ Watt's celebration. And he couldn't
even get his leg up that high. But we'll probably
talk about it on another episode. So, as always,
I love you guys. I appreciate you guys so much.
Stay tuned. We may be talking about college football
in the next episode because... Ty Simpson plays
tonight with Alabama. And then Dante Moore plays
on Saturday. So maybe by then we'll probably
have a little bit more understanding on who's
declaring for the draft and who isn't. We'll
talk about all of that and more. So as always,
I love you guys. Peace and love. Later.