Super Bowl Week Preview: Darnold From Bust To Top Ten QB, Seahawks Valuation Too Low, Vikings Fire GM, Kubiak Will Succeed

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I began my broadcasting career doing play-by-play for the Las Vegas Stars, and I've been a Verizon customer for 15 years. Okay, I lied. All three are true. A Verizon isn't as expensive as you think. In fact, if you bring in your AT&T or T-Mobile bill to a Verizon store, they'll give you a better deal. That's right. A better deal on the best network with the most ways to save on plans, streaming, and phone deals. So take that AT&T or T-Mobile bill to your local Verizon store today. Get a better deal. Men start saving. Based on root metrics, best overall mobile network performance, U.S. second half 2025. All rights reserved must provide recent consumer mobile bill in the name of the person redeeming the deal. Additional terms, conditions, and restrictions apply. Former NFL scout, his name is John Middlecoff. Let's chop it up for 45 minutes to an hour. We didn't do our usual Sunday. He's got a new baby and I have a life. You know, that's just the way it works. It was so funny. I got in, you know, I flew and I watched, you know, Lakers, Knicks. But it was so weird. Like even doing today's show, I was just like, wow, it just felt totally like lifeless. There was no energy. So, you know, I was telling people about the GM for the Vikings got whacked. And one of my topics today, John, is that you can make a lot of mistakes as a GM. Ryan Grigson is rare where he got the quarterback right, struggled with some other picks, and in the end got whacked. Usually if you get the quarterback right. I mean, Joe Douglas, Sauce Gardner, Garrett Wilson, rookie of the year, multiple good draft picks. Whiffed on Zach Wilson. It's easy to run him out of the building. Brandon Bean got a job promotion. And, you know, he's hit on Deion Dawkins and Josh Allen. But I was reading reasons why this GM got fired. One of the ones that was interesting and I want to address is he took two weeks off in a busy time of the year for, you know, new baby in the family and that his work life balance like he had a life. And my take was, well, that's good. But did it potentially create animosity? You know, people sniping behind your back because you don't go to college, John, to be a GM. These are gold bar jobs. And when you get GM jobs and get fired, you get maybe one more chance to be a GM. Maybe. When you read the story about the firing, what was your take on, if I said two reasons why it happened, what would they be? I think the two things are pretty clear. Couldn't figure out how to get along and gain the respect of the coaching staff. And he has a coach that, as we found out last year, if it would have became available for trade, teams would have been lined up to trade for Kevin O'Connell. There were reports as well. Brian Flores held out to not resign because he was uncomfortable with the front office, aka the GM. And then he drafted extremely terrible. I mean, the paternity thing, that did happen years ago. He got extended after the fact. So two things can be true. I think people look at that and go, in this league? Like Sean McVay had a child on a Sunday night. He had a Thursday night game and he coached three days later. Kevin O'Connell has multiple kids. He's I'm sure no one says you can't see the birth of your child. But during cut down, if you're just working remotely, like, I'm sorry, this isn't Wells Fargo. You know, this is Kevin O'Connell. Young coach kind of needs your help there. You think John Schneider and Howie Roseman ain't showing up at the office? They have children. Like it's, so I think it's more that the coaching staff after that moment, because coaches and players aren't, they don't skip games for children. Last time I checked, a lot of players and coaches have kids. So how could I ever look at you the same? If you go, are we really in the bunker together? Or do you look at this a little differently than I do if I'm Kevin O'Connell? Yeah. Because to me, there's no other way around it. That Wessie does not get fired. If Kevin O'Connell likes him and wants him to stay. It's really that simple because there's not, This isn't a Josh Allen or Patrick Mahomes situation where they have some star quarterback. They have a star coach. So if he wanted him, he would still be there, which clearly they fell out of favor. And part of as a GM, you see the story, Vic Fangio a couple of weeks ago went into the room like, Howie, I'm done. What did Howie go into? Complete sales mode. And they made sure he kept them. Part of your job as a GM and a major job is dealing with the coaches, specifically the head coaching and coordinators. Both of them, Brian Flores now makes $6 million a year to be their defensive coordinator. so you're managing them as well as your owners and then picking the players and let's face it like thinking outside the box this kind of bothers me you you get credit just because you like think outside the box well it's like bob myers wasn't outside the box hire was he he played basketball for great ucla teams he then managed nba players for a decade plus and transitioned into the front office kind of like i was a chef then i ran the restaurant kind of all under the same umbrella When I first moved back to San Francisco When I was the West Coast scout I lived with a buddy named Bobby He had played baseball at Brown In the Ivies and was working at the VC Hedge Fund His life was not acquiring human capital It was buying buildings It was widgets It was just numbers Football's human capital And clearly Kwesi struggled with Acquiring human capital Which is way different than Wall Street That is just purchasing Excel spreadsheets, which is challenging as well. But how many major companies in America, Costco, Apple, they're not driven on humans. They're driven on whatever the product is, right? Or whatever their service is. So football is very unique. It's just, what's the business worth? 100, $200 billion. Their product is all these human beings. So it's, you know, I think that they thought outside the box and it backfired clearly because his drafts, Do you see some, I'm sure you talked about today on the show, relative to just his own division. Like he was getting lapped. Honestly, Colin, it couldn't have gone much worse separate from the quarterback situation. Well, yeah. And I mean, it was one of those things where it's one thing to let Darnold and Daniel Jones go. It's another, it sounded like Aaron Rodgers was more interested in the Vikings. and you know i i've said for years john and i've told managers that i've worked with espn and fox the only thing the only criticism i've really ever had with any boss i've ever had i don't currently have this problem um the person over the last 10 years that did this regularly is no longer employed in my business. But when you make decisions that are just validating your previous choices, and so could I argue this, that the GM really liked J.J. McCarthy, and in the end, to validate that draft pick, that they didn't go with Aaron Rodgers or Darnold. Is it possible? Or do you think Kevin O'Connell loved McCarthy because I think Kevin O'Connell knows quarterbacks. J.J. McCarthy was the only quarterback in that class that I didn't like. I liked everybody. If I can see that, then Kevin O'Connell can certainly see that. So I guess my take is, was part of the rub, do you think Kevin O'Connell and the general manager saw J.J. McCarthy equally? I have a hard time that the GM got extended after they had drafted this without Kevin O'Connell being on board with JJ. Like, I also have a hard time thinking a general manager would draft a quarterback that his coach was on the fence indifferent about. Now, you could also argue they were pretty desperate. I mean, they were and that's when you make pretty poor decisions. The Colts, Anthony Richardson, the 49ers, Trey Lance. You put yourself in desperate quarterback positions. when do you make your best decisions like no one saw the chiefs trading up to get patrick homes it's because you have conviction on the player uh it's pretty well documented they wanted drake may but a lot of people wanted andrew luck he was never available so it's like yeah i mean you wanted the guy that everyone liked uh the jj mccarthy thing is has potential to just derail this organization because even like what's kevin o'connell's move this offseason like who trade for mac jones well what are you going to trade for him because the 49ers aren't just going to give to you and is he really solving your problems the way that kyle plays a lot different kevin i'm just throwing out mac because i who are the who are the options daniel jones maybe back up malik willis like you don't really have that many options to fix this situation you saw justin jefferson's quotes today like yeah probably would have been different it would have been we would have been better with sam darwin so you you can talk about the process was correct and they wanted it i i'd be a little stunned if Questy went over Kevin O'Connell's head. Maybe Kevin O'Connell talked himself into it. I think that happens a lot when coaches are desperate, but anytime that you acquire a quarterback that high and you have to change his mechanics, like it's... Oh, that's... You could argue that this thing is... We have enough evidence now in recent memory, like this thing's not... This thing's over before we even start. Oh, I... Listen. I... Jason McIntyre came on my show one day, and he was talking up J.J. McCarthy. And I had a source of mine in the league said, tell your boy, Jason McIntyre, this this Viking J.J. McCarthy thing, they're hiding a lot of information. He's lost confidence. They don't trust him physically. They like the kid. But it was somebody who has been a impeachable source for me. And he was listening to the show. he said you're on the right track on this like this is going to unravel pretty high percentage i would bet it's going to unravel so that just leads me to believe there in one once you make you give up multiple picks in the first round to get a quarterback we just see the end result but i think there probably has been strain between the coach and the gm probably for you I think you go back to that paternity thing. Once I think you're not all in with me and I can't like at the end of the day, lesson, Sean, we're extended today, right? Like those guys have been in the boat row in the same direction for a long, long time. And I think you when you look at the healthiest partnerships, there is like a respect level of we're in this thing together. The ship goes down. We're arm in arm. I know you're grinding. I know when you're not around, you're at some college game, you know that, you know, how much I work. How could I look at you the same, knowing that during the cut down? My first year in the league, I slept at the office for two nights during that period. It is the craziest time. And it's even crazier now because there are more guys in the league, right? The the the cut down, it went from like 90 to 75, then 75 to 53. Well, now it just goes from like 80 to 53. So it's a it's a massive amount of it's a crazy couple of days. And it's it's the GM's time to grind. so I'm not anti working from home like no one said you couldn't go see the birth of your son but if you just disappear for a couple weeks in the middle of training camp how could the coach ever look at you Brian Flores, we could dispute his ability to work with the offensive guys no one argues that guy's not a grinder so where does he come from? the place where you have no life in Belichick so that to me is do you work with people you don't respect? it's not even possible after a while Well, and I've said this for years. Now I own a company. Is that one of the reasons I like the volume is because you can work remotely Outside of football you may be able to work four days a week You can kind of set your own schedule. I mean, John, you set your own schedule. It is the opposite of the other place where I missed one day during the football season in six months because I got pukey sick out here in L.A. The flu was going around, and I mean, I woke up and was vomiting, which I do about once a decade. So, but there's just an understanding is you have to play sick in certain instances and certain careers. And it's one of those things where it doesn't play well on the internet, which can lean far right or far left. But there are things within, you know, sort of the, there are jobs. And I think NFL is one of those where it is a badge of honor to have no life. it is an absolute i mean i've heard stories for years about belichick i mean i mean i yeah so andy andy andy's a notorious all-time grinder so it's like it doesn't play well on the interweb but the reality is take you're going to work six months you're not going to have a day after the football season and you're going to miss your kids little league games sometimes that's just the way it is. And that doesn't play well publicly, but privately, I think there are businesses, you lose the respect of other people in the building, men and women, if you don't sacrifice for the job. I'm sorry, but that's just the way it is. Well, totally. I've said this forever. If you work for Walmart or Costco and you're a six-figure guy, but you're a WDU, you're crazy if you don't take the paternity leave. In these massive corporations. This is a very specific situation and a timing thing, right? It's like, yeah, Sean McVay, it's not ideal that he had a baby on Sunday and they play that Thursday on the road in Seattle. He can't control that. And that's the thing with football, but that isn't that sports LeBron said this, this like a couple of months ago, I would rather be at home on Christmas day, but part of my gig, they put me on Christmas day for 20 straight years. It sucks, but it's, that's what the what don draper say that's what the money is for this isn't your normal job so i i think and and it's not even just the administration the players players so pretty had a kid two days later he's playing the game that's comes with the territory i mean it's like it's it's no one's absolved from this so like you said it's not an ideal like mike mcdonald wasn't trying to brag that he only sees his son on thursday nights for an hour right it's just part of the gig for six months. It sucks. And then guess what? Your life dramatically chills out as a coach once the season ends. They have scouts and drafts like you're not, this isn't college. So it's, Brady I think said this on your show, it's a six-month-a-year job. Obviously you train and stuff in the offseason, but you get to be around, you get to make your own schedule in the offseason. So yeah, I think he got fired for the draft picks and not getting along with the coach, clearly. Not for the paternity leave, but that was something that I think clearly factored into the relationship with the coach. I don't even see how that's debatable. Today's show is brought to you by our presenting sponsor, Hard Rock Bet, Florida's sportsbook. It's big game week on Hard Rock Bet. Seattle, a four and a half point favorite over New England. For games like this, basic bets just don't cut it. Here's a parlay I like. New England plus five, under 45 and a half points, and under one and a half passing touchdowns for Darnold. I think Sam takes a lead. They play a semi-conservative game, and the game is fairly low scoring. 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Listen to Doubt, The Case of Lucy Letby on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Nancy Glass, host of the Burden of Guilt Season 2 podcast. This is a story about a horrendous lie that destroyed two families. Late one night, Bobby Gumpright became the victim of a random crime. He pulls the gun, tells me to lie down on the ground. He identified Jermaine Hudson as the perpetrator. Jermaine was sentenced to 99 years. I'm like, Lord, this can't be real. I thought it was a mistaken identity. The best lie is partial truth. For 22 years, only two people knew the truth until a confession changed everything. I was a monster. Listen to Burden of Guilt Season 2 on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What if mind control is real? If you could control the behavior of anybody around you, what kind of life would you have? Can you hypnotically persuade someone to buy a car? When you look at your car, you're going to become overwhelmed with such good feelings. Can you hypnotize someone into sleeping with you? I gave her some suggestions to be sexually aroused. Can you get someone to join your cult? NLP was used on me to access my subconscious. NLP, aka Neuro Linguistic Programming, is a blend of hypnosis, linguistics, and psychology. Fans say it's like finally getting a user manual for your brain. It's about engineering consciousness. Mind Games is the story of NLP, its crazy cast of disciples, and the fake doctor who invented it at a New Age commune and sold it to guys in suits. He stood trial for murder and got acquitted. The biggest mind game of all? NLP might actually work. This is wild. Listen to Mind Games on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. China's Ministry of State Security is one of the most mysterious and powerful spy agencies in the world. But in 2017, the FBI got inside. This is Special Agent Regal, Special Agent Bradley Hall. This MSS officer has no idea the U.S. government is on to him. But the FBI has his chats, texts, emails, even his personal diary. Hear how they got it on the Sixth Bureau podcast. I now have several terabytes of an MSS officer, no doubt, no question, of his life. And that's a unicorn. No one had ever seen anything like that. It was unbelievable. This is a story of the inner workings of the MSS and how one man's ambition and mistakes opened its vault of secrets. Listen to The Sixth Bureau on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. So I said, I asked Albert Breer today, and his answer was Jeff Halfley. I said, give me the new coaching hire that in four years, because half of these guys are going to be out of work in three. Give me of all these coaching hires, and I'll give you mine first, that we're going to look up in four years and go, wow, that worked out better than I thought. And mine is Clint Kubiak. So second most cap space, massive upgrade, not only in cap viability with the quarterback, but in talent. Colton Miller comes back. So you're going to have a rookie quarterback who's more talented than the guy you're getting rid of. Left tackle, elite weapon, running back that just needs an O-line, and you have an elite pass rusher in Max Crosby. I actually think last year's draft was okay, and I think they're a little better on defense than people think. but this league is about GM, owner, quarterback offensive weapons I think the Clint Kubiak thing and I couldn't say the last time I thought Pete Carroll would do better I thought he would add stability no question it was a disaster Kubiak Brock Bowers, Fernando Mendoza Spitek Ashton Jenty they have a number two receiver they got at a TCU I think last year yeah um i kind of think colton miller i kind of think that sneaky good hire what's yours well you stole mine because that offense is tailor-made for fernando mendoza isn't it and i i texted a position coach in the nfl who doesn't work with him anymore but did and kubiak tried to get him on the staff in seattle i said what do you think about him and here's what he texts me he said i love the guy he's all ball you can tell he's been raised around the OGs in that way. The O-line coach, the senior offensive assistant that works with him now, were with his dad when Clint was in high school. That's why he comes across like he does, but behind the scenes, he's much more open, genuine guy, no ego, easy to see why Brady liked him. And from a scheme standpoint, these guys, the Shanahans and the Kubiaks, this offense is, it's like their family Bible. I mean, their understanding of the offense. I just think Fernando Mendoza in that offense, Watching him play at Indiana, you went, God, you put him in a Packer uniform or a Niner uniform, he might win the MVP. His control, his accuracy, his mobility, his comparison to Goff, but he moves way better than Goff. Imagine if Goff could move. He wouldn't struggle in some of these moments in which he does. Obviously, John Harbaugh has some must-needed stability. That one's a no-brainer. McCarthy, I would say, too, just maintains. maintains. I actually have one for you that it's easy to believe in the guy because he just comes off across. I totally understand why the players love him and his understanding of defensive scheme and Robert Sala seems like a stud. He went to the Jets and it was just, you can't overcome that. A lot of people would tell you the Titans ain't that much different. and that owner, Amy Adams, is not exactly viewed like Jeffrey Lurie. So I would say that is, and I get it, they were clearly paying a lot of money to get Robert Sala, to get Dayball. They opened up their checkbook like I think they had in years past. And they have big cap space. And they got a new stadium. It's an incredible place to live. It was easy. They have a young quarterback on a rookie contract. It was an enticing situation. But that owner, I mean, she ran for Abel out of town because he didn't smile enough. I mean, it's just that is an organization that to me, I kind of read if Saul is able to, and Borgazi comes from the Chiefs, they have people in that organization and good resumes, but can you overcome that owner? Because it's proven now, look at the Jets, what's going on. I mean, they're firing coaches left and right, Colin. It's middle of February. What are we doing? Yeah. And I just think sometimes it's proven that these owners that are really emotional, it's just, it's really, really hard to overcome. It's like the Cardinals. LaFleur, I'm sure he's a high-level, smart guy. Everyone seems – you got no chance there. That guy, they'll be fired in a couple years. You're going up against Mike McDonald, Kyle Shanahan, and Sean McVay and all the resources they have in those three organizations? I mean, imagine if Seattle does sell, some richer guy is going to come in and purchase them so they'll even have more money. And this Bidwell, I mean, he makes you pay for, like, the to-go cups? Good luck. Good luck. And you have no quarterback? Like, I'm just – you could be Bill Walsh. You'd have a hard time. So the Kubiak thing I with you Here the other thing they have And you might have mentioned this I was looking for the text message They can dangle Max Crosby and get a ton and really start over Because the problem was this P Carroll I mean he truly was trying to win the day at 75 years old He wasn living for the next 10 years You get Kubiak and Spitek and going, hey, Tom, let's look this from a macro, big picture view and think about 2028, not necessarily week three this upcoming season. And they have a very powerful asset in Crosby. Because unlike Miles Garrett, there is not any question about showing up on time, ultimate character guy. He's been sober for years. I think they could get a haul for him and truly just restart this organization moving forward. And I'm not in the business of trading guys like Max Crosby, but in the Raiders, what are you going to do? Beat Denver and the Chargers in Kansas City next year? Probably not. So I think you can take like a three-year view. And yeah, I think hiring a young coach, I'm with you on the Kubiak thing. I think that made a lot of sense. I was saying this how so much of what we do with quarterback play is based on the trophies you hoist, right? Like, I mean, that's really what separates Jordan from LeBron is that the six for six. And I've always argued if Michael Jordan and the Bulls were in the Western Conference, then Jordan would have lost finals facing maybe the Pistons or the Celtics. But every time he got through, when he finally got through the East, they were the best team. And they faced a bunch of Utah teams or Blazers or Sonics that were good teams, but not legendarily great. And you just forget that Jordan really never won a playoff series without Pippen. I mean, we tend to worship and titles. Even Jordan has acknowledged, I'm not one of these things without Pippen. I didn't win a lot of games that mattered without Pippen. but nobody wants to hear that and i'm trying to think when we think of great quarterbacks in the league in any one season i'm trying to think if there's ever been a quarterback that we viewed late 20s as a top seven or eight quarterback in the league that was viewed as a bust for four years that we have this arc that's happening in the NFL now. It used to be Drew Brees was almost a historic outlier. First quarterback team that drafts him doesn't work and still becomes great. It used to be, John, people kind of bailed on you. If it didn't work initially, people moved off you. Now we're seeing all, I mean, even Geno Smith, who's pretty good, but not great. Geno Smith got a second chance. baker darnold if baker if darnold wins a super bowl let's say convincingly 30 21 looks good plays like he did by and large like he did against the rams which is a pretty damn clean game start of next season where do we put him what is he as a quarterback well i think he's easily a top 10 quarterback and one thing that he's proven that no one would have believed a couple years ago when he's on, he's damn good. And to me, when you're on and you're damn good is a strong quality to have. I mean, look at Caleb. He's only on like in fourth quarters of games. If you, and the one thing Sam, no one ever disputed his physical capabilities, right? Anyone that's met him, he is big. I met him last year at the Super Bowl. I went to my hotel gym. His head's big. He is a big dude. And he's got a big arm. And he's got a big arm. So you're 6'5". We talk a lot about this during the season. It's like, eh, Bryce Young can't see anything. Purdy has to scramble sometimes so he can see. Sam Darnold could stand there like Tom Brady or Peyton Manning and see over his offensive lineman. And his arm throwing the ball downfield, not a lack of arm strength. And he's never going to be missed or accurate, but he was drafted third overall for a reason. He has some serious physical attributes. And, you know, it turns out he's probably more, I'm not comparing him to Favre, but he's more gunslinger kind of Favreian. than he is Drew Brees. I think there's a lot of... My comp out of USC was a little lesser version of Andrew Luck. There's absolutely some Andrew Luck toughness, arm movement. Luck could probably memorize the phone book of San Antonio over a weekend, so you're dealing with a different guy at the whiteboard. But I thought there was Andrew Luck qualities. And one thing that clearly flipped in that Thursday night game, because he played like crap again against the Rams, and that final drive or two, he has been a different guy now down the stretch not making mistakes. When's the last time he turned the ball over? I mean, last game's a great example. You and I talked about it. He's taking sacks. Just hit the ground, man. Live the fight another day. So he's actually playing like the version that Holmgren and Andy tried to shake into Favre, which he kind of figured out and never really shook. Sam, just do what we tell you in this offense. It's stealing candy from a baby and maybe a couple times throughout a tight game, we're going to need you to make a big time play. And he did against the Rams. Might not need to do that against the Patriots. I mean, there's a chance that Seattle can overwhelm them. And he just, this is not a shot. Just manage the game. Maybe throw a touchdown or two. But we're not going to need 350 yards like we did against the Rams. Just game manage. Let our defense, which is hard for a young court. I think he's just, think of what he's seen now and really that Carolina situation, backing up with the Niners, and then these last couple. Think of the experience the guy has in a short period of time before he's 30 years old. You brought up, I don't remember this. I was a little young. And it's probably not apples to apples, but Jim Plunkett was drafted number one overall and then resurrected his career with Al Davis and the Raiders and won Super Bowls. And you get drafted number one overall. You're a big-time talent. And sometimes you just get with the right person. The right person resonates with you. And I think for Sam, when Kyle Shanahan called and said, we want you here, I think that changed the course of his life, clearly. And then Kevin O'Connell, because I think that built up some confidence. so when he went into minnesota he had much more belief being around the niners but specifically kyle and those guys clint was there kubiak and that was his springboard then he had to put it together he did he's just and then even it's like okay everyone's kind of anointing him when he gets kicked in the you know what in those last couple games kind of had to shake it off a little bit the one thing alex smith who never had the talent of wonky or definitely darnold his metal toughness was elite right i mean that guy there's a reason that andy reed and jim harbaugh from a from a mental toughness and thick skin by the time you got him after about six or seven years he had seen it all sam's seen a lot you know this is the first time patrick mahomes saw like the nfl's hard man like this this is this ain't easy this is what coaches try to tell these players i mean i was talking to veach and some of their guys last year like trent mcduffie and carloftis had never not been in the Super Bowl in their first three years. Think about like Garrett Wilson runs into like Trent McDuffie. What do they have in common from a football standpoint? It's just sometimes you just get lucky who drafts you and Sam Darnold got the, got the wrong end of that. Now he might've been a raw product in a, no matter where he went, but you get drafted the jets. I mean, Godspeed, buddy. You know, I, John, I've, I've thought about this. I did an essay on Caleb Williams a couple of weeks ago. And one of the things that is, it used to be quarterbacks that threw interceptions outside of maybe Favre because he was so beloved. It was seen, it would detract from you. And I just wonder this, John, now that we have more huddle free football and that sometimes now you'll have 77 snaps in a game, 87 snaps in a game. There were a lot of games in the 70s, 80s, 90s, early 2000s. Your offense got 54 snaps, but it was more of a run league. Well, the clock stops more. It's a passing league. There's fewer huddles. And John, and I thought a lot about it when Stafford led the NFL in picks and won the Super Bowl, is that the interception, which used to be really punitive, and it was. Like if you looked at quarterbacks who threw an interception, you lost most of those games. it has benefited the Andrew Lux and to some degree to Baker Mayfield's and the Matt Stafford's is that when you have 15 to 18 percent more snaps, right, fewer huddles, when you have to pass to win in this game, right, like Philadelphia is an outlier, Jalen throw less, we win more, is that Dak Prescott throws interceptions, is that the current style of football is draft to Caleb Williams, get the horsepower, worry about the completion percentage later. That is not the way football was 15 years ago. And that I think it is playing into your, what you don't want is Jared Goff, you know, in cold weather or the offensive line regresses, or there's an injury. You're like, oh, we're in trouble. Is that with more snaps, more mistakes from the quarterback are okay. I mean, hell, Sam threw four picks and almost beat the Rams. 15 years ago, four interceptions mean you lost 35 to 10. You were not competitive. So when I look at, I think what's happened is I am less critical of the interception than I was 10 years ago. I don't think it's the be all end all. I think defensive coaches hate it. But my take is I think it's hurt Aaron Rodgers over the last seven, eight years. He plays it too safe. He doesn't throw it downfield enough. Is that nuts? Well, because he grew up on, you don't throw it over the middle if there's a safety over there because it's known as the hospital ball, someone get killed. That's wired into his thinking. He plays like he did in 2013 when the rules were good. You could argue offense in all of professional sports, no one cares if you strike out anymore. I heard Dusty Baker do a radio show. He was like, I went and watched guys hit batting practice. All the balls are hitting the top of the BP net because they're all trying to hit it out. Where we grew up, you drive the ball in batting practice and you watch them, they all strike out. No one cares. Think about basketball. Just I'm watching Denver. Okay. See, everyone's just gunning threes, make or miss. Who cares? Nobody cares if you miss back in the day, you miss a couple of threes. You're not supposed to shoot them. You're coming to the bench. That's like high school basketball, let alone the pros call it. You don't think about the NFL back in the, let's go to the nineties. 60% was known as good. One, it was hard to complete balls. People would get murdered. trying to not just the DB was mugging you, but the safeties and linebackers could hurt you. So the sport has dramatically changed. So yeah, you're just going to throw more touchdowns. So live with the interceptions. Who can take more chance? That's why Josh Allen and Patrick Mahomes are tailor-made. Let it fly. You know, Lamar Jackson has kind of been letting it loose the last four or five years. Just let it loose. You couldn't play letting it loose in 2006 against the Baltimore Ravens or the Pittsburgh Steelers because three of your offensive guys, two of them would be in the hospital. Well, Josh Allen had four turnovers. And in the end, it came down to a controversial call. The bottom line, if you can move the ball, be dynamic, have horsepower, score quickly, you're just going to get more possessions. And so I look at the Darnold, and maybe when he broke into the league, it was more, you can't throw picks. What I don't want is safe. That's what I don't want. I think that's short in the career of Derek Carr. Not enough juice. Like, Derek, throw it down. Kirk Cousins. Okay, you're limited. Alex Smith. All good guys. All capable. I mean, if you told me my quarterback had 37 total touchdowns and 14 picks, I would take it tomorrow. Yeah, I think the days of those Roger stat lines, right, the 38 and three or 38 and it's it's never gonna happen again now he was you know in his heyday he was so uniquely powerful and accurate like it's pretty rare to i mean look at josh allen he's got the power but his accuracy can be a little hit or miss uh so i think once you're that accurate you kind of overthink certain shot you're like i'm not gonna take that right where josh goes i'll just throw it he hit the circle he's throwing it to is a lot bigger than the one drew breeze tom brady they were just trained differently the sport they all these sports have changed every single one of them and a lot of them they all come back to offensive and offensive power and i think that's the thing with football you look i mean caleb williams can you imagine talking about him 20 years ago with a 55 completion percentage but no one cares because he makes huge plays if you make him big plays throwing touchdowns i can live with some incompletions on wheel routes and i was hesitant and I got to take the L because he makes so many big plays that are enormous explosive plays and throws touchdowns in the opportune times. You got to live with the second and third quarter looking like crap. With a big game coming up, we're all about enjoying the moment without paying for it the next day. Whether I'm hosting friends, jamming, cheering from the couch, heading to a watch party, I want to be fully present and still feel good in the morning. For me, that means planning ahead, especially if I'm going to have a few drinks. My simple trick, start the night with Z-Biotics Pre-Alcohol. Z-Biotics Pre-Alcohol Probiotic Drink, the world's first genetically engineered probiotic. It was invented by PhD scientists to tackle rough mornings after drinking. Here's how it works. When you drink, alcohol gets converted into a toxic byproduct in the gut. It's a buildup of this byproduct, not dehydration, that's actually to blame for rough days after drinking. So pre-alcohol produces an enzyme to break this bioproduct down. Just remember, to make pre-alcohol your first drink of the night, drink responsibly, you'll feel your best tomorrow. If you're planning to enjoy the big game without sacrificing your productivity the next day, Z-Biotics pre-alcohol as you cover. Start your night with pre-alcohol. Wake up ready to show up for work the next day. Go to zbiotics.com slash Colin. 15% off your first order if you use Colin at checkout. Backed by 100% money back guarantee, no risk. Subscriptions are also available for maximum consistency. Go to zbiotics.com slash Colin. Use my name at checkout, 15% off. In 2023 a story gripped the UK evoking horror and disbelief The nurse who should have been in charge of caring for tiny babies is now the most prolific child killer in modern British history Everyone thought they knew how it ended. A verdict, a villain, a nurse named Lucy Letby. Lucy Letby has been found guilty. But what if we didn't get the whole story? The moment you look at the whole picture, the case collapses. I'm Amanda Knox and in the new podcast Doubt the case of Lucy Letby we follow the evidence and hear from the people that lived it to ask what really happened when the world decided who Lucy Letby was no voicing of any skepticism or doubt it'll cause so much harm at every single level of the British establishment of this is wrong listen to Doubt the case of Lucy Letby on the iHeartRadio app Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts I'm Nancy Glass, host of the Burden of Guilt Season 2 podcast. This is a story about a horrendous lie that destroyed two families. Late one night, Bobby Gumpright became the victim of a random crime. He pulls the gun, tells me to lie down on the ground. He identified Jermaine Hudson as the perpetrator. Jermaine was sentenced to 99 years. I'm like, Lord, this can't be real. I thought it was a mistaken identity. The best lie is partial truth. For 22 years, only two people knew the truth. Until a confession changed everything. I was a monster. Listen to Burden of Guilt Season 2 on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What if mind control is real? If you could control the behavior of anybody around you, what kind of life would you have? Can you hypnotically persuade someone to buy a car? When you look at your car, you're going to become overwhelmed with such good feelings. Can you hypnotize someone into sleeping with you? I gave her some suggestions to be sexually aroused. Can you get someone to join your cult? NLP was used on me to access my subconscious. NLP, aka Neuro Linguistic Programming, is a blend of hypnosis, linguistics, and psychology. Fans say it's like finally getting a user manual for your brain. It's about engineering consciousness. Mind Games is the story of NLP. It's crazy cast of disciples and the fake doctor who invented it at a New Age commune and sold it to guys in suits. He stood trial for murder and got acquitted. The biggest mind game of all? NLP might actually work. This is wild. Listen to Mind Games on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. China's Ministry of State Security is one of the most mysterious and powerful spy agencies in the world. But in 2017, the FBI got inside. This is Special Agent Regal, Special Agent Bradley Hall. This MSS officer has no idea the U.S. government is on to him. But the FBI has his chats, texts, emails, even his personal diary. Hear how they got it on the Sixth Bureau podcast. I now have several terabytes of an MSS officer, no doubt, no question, of his life. And that's a unicorn. No one had ever seen anything like that. It was unbelievable. This is a story of the inner workings of the MSS and how one man's ambition and mistakes opened its vault of secrets. Listen to The Sixth Bureau on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Can I ask you a question, Colin? Please do. so the lakers and that i'm sure you read that article but they sold for the 10 billion valuation yeah yeah and you could argue while they did have luka lebron's going to be gone it's very difficult to acquire players in the nba now yes you know these guys are to make it's hard to make trades the more complicated the brand is elite but the actual functionality of then running that this isn't baseball where you can just buy whoever you want like to do it's a lot more challenging like the brand is more valuable than the ease in which it's going to be to flip that thing into some powerhouse again if seattle truly hits the market as a franchise and let's let's assume they win the super bowl think about some of the recent sales in the nfl commanders i mean was the joke of the league for 20 years the browns when jimmy has them typically with these franchise the panthers they have been kind of questionably run needed a major overhaul and in bad shape you would inherit let's not even count the players a hall of fame general manager and a coach that looks like he's got the chance to be like the next belichick on defense yes yes off a super bowl championship and and with the league printing money i mean how does it get any better than that and like when i saw the price for the Seahawks at like $6 billion. I'm like, that is a discount. So you have arguably the most loyal fan base in the league that looks forward to sitting and driving rainstorms, like sees it as a team advantage. You have a GM with at least 10 more years, a coach with maybe 15. With gambling exploding, Those numbers only go up. You have the strongest corporate relationship. It's a bidding war. You can stay with your terrestrial partners or move, which I think they will. They'll stay with Fox and CBS. You still need that. I mean, a lot of people like, you know, a lot of people over 60, they don't want to own six. A lot of these boomers, they retire. They don't want six stations. put them on maybe Netflix or Amazon. They're not buying multiple Hulus to watch games. I've said this forever. If you had oil money or you had like tech money, there are a lot of times that rich people buy things and I just do not get. Tell me another business in America, the San Francisco 49ers. You don't know. Sears died. JCPenney died. You have, I mean, the top 20 companies in the Dow Jones 15 years ago, I think one still exists, Microsoft. Nobody's trading the Yankees. The Yankees will exist. The Niners will exist. The Bears will exist. If I was a billionaire, no sports league outside of the English Premier League has more leverage over television and streaming services than the National Football League. Last year, every team got a $450 million paycheck from the TV. That's going up. So just think about that. If you bought it, it was worth $8 billion. And you said, okay, I'm going to own 55% of it. I'll be majority owner. I'll sell the other 45%. I'll have partners, but I get to run it. I have the power. You're getting, I mean, you could live off 60 million a year, and the rest of it, you're just paying down debt. And also, the stadium in Seattle is fairly new. You don't have to build a new stadium. When I see those numbers, I'm like, $7 billion? That's it? That feels like a discount. And you inherit the two hardest guys to acquire in the business, a coach and a GM, they're all in a contract going nowhere. Again, I do not like the Lakers, but I have to acknowledge the power of their brand and the organization. But if you told me just what would be easier the next five, 10 years financially, local television in major shambles, isn't that going to impact the Lakers? My point is Seattle, which no one would have said 20 years ago, you could make an argument. It's a way better buy, even if it's the same price, than the Los Angeles Lakers. Could I not? Yeah, the Lakers have one of the last great local TV deals. But isn't that dying? Aren't they in shambles? Isn't that why Genie's getting out? Well, and the other thing is with the NBA. There is no local TV in the NFL. It's all national. It's all national. And so, and I mean, what do you think is going to survive? A local cable station that pays the Lakers or Netflix and Fox? So I think the NBA has got several problems. They have guaranteed money over the next 10 years. So that's why the Lakers, I mean, the Walters group, what they really liked is once the contract was signed with NBC, Amazon and ESPN, the money was guaranteed. So you become less beholden to your local TV deal. But it's really hard with a new aprons to make an NBA trade. That's my point. It's very difficult to operate these NBA franchise. It's never been more like one, these free agents just don't hit the market anymore because the team that has the player can offer them so much more. And then, like you said, the execution of making the trade, which historically in basketball used to be pretty easy. There have been trades my entire life. Those days kind of feel over. So it's like I understand why the Walter group bought the Lakers. But my point is the difficulty of now turning that into what he's got with the Dodgers is going to be much more of an uphill battle than to ever have. There's a chance that they might be good with Luca, but never some like Kobe Shaq power where Seattle financially won. It's foolproof. And then two, from an on the field standpoint, you just, the GM has a 15 year track record and this coach pretty clear. He's a star. So you're getting these, like when Josh Harris bought the commanders, they had nothing. You had to blow the whole thing up. It's hard. I mean, Eddie DeBartle will be the first time. I like Bill Walsh, but I didn't know it was going to be the hat. You just never know. I mean, hiring a coach is like picking a player. They already got those two guys. So it's like, I I'm with you. When I saw the 6 billion valuation, I get Seattle's not Chicago or the Bay area size wise. If you told me Bezos or whatever buys it for $10 billion, I said, all right, don't blame him at all. I mean, I wouldn't pull the trigger there. I think it's, I think that thing is going to sell. If it's true, it actually goes down. I think the NFL and the families push back a little bit against it, but I don't think that story comes out of nowhere. Is that fair? So it's like, I just think that franchise is pretty unique. These franchises typically come available or just like are trash. They got nothing beside the money, but they're not well run. They need to blow it all up. And the other thing to remember, the game day revenue in Seattle is pretty strong. Seattle is a corporate hub. You know, I mean, it's Starbucks. It's like Silicon Valley Lite, don't you think? Yeah. So there's a lot of money up in Seattle. I mean, Amazon is from there. Starbucks, Microsoft. Yeah. So Minneapolis has that field, too, where you look at Minneapolis and people say small market. Minneapolis has a lot of money and, you know, your targets and your major corporations, Fortune 500 companies are swimming around Seattle and Minneapolis. So, yeah, when I saw that number, I thought, if you told me I could own anything in the world, The two things I would own is an English Premier League soccer team and an NFL team. Those two are the TV revenue is guaranteed and the interest. Remember, fewer games, much more of a buzz on a per game basis. Both gambling is like a natural client. We've been betting football. I've been betting football since 1986 when I moved to Vegas. From that day forward, I bet football almost every day of the football season. I think we're done, buddy. Cool. This is Special Agent Regal, Special Agent Bradley Hall. In 2018, the FBI took down a ring of spies working for China's Ministry of State Security, one of the most mysterious intelligence agencies in the world. The Sixth Bureau podcast is a story of the inner workings of the MSS and how one man's ambition and mistakes opened its vault of secrets. Listen to The Sixth Bureau on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Nancy Glass, host of the Burden of Guilt Season 2 podcast. This is a story about a horrendous lie that destroyed two families. Late one night, Bobby Gumpright became the victim of a random crime. The perpetrator was sentenced to 99 years until a confession changed everything. I was a monster. Listen to Burden of Guilt Season 2 on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. On the Adventures of Curiosity Cove podcast, when peanut butter disappears from school, Ella, Scout, and Layla launch a full detective mission. Their search leads them back in time to meet a brilliant inventor whose curiosity changed the world. In this Black History Month adventure, asking questions, thinking creatively, can lead to amazing discoveries. Listen to Adventures of Curiosity Cove every Monday from the Black Effect Podcast Network on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What if mind control is real? If you could control the behavior of anybody around you, what kind of life would you have? Can you hypnotically persuade someone to buy a car? When you look at your car, you're going to become overwhelmed with such good feelings. Can you hypnotize someone into sleeping with you? I gave her some suggestions to be sexually aroused. Can you get someone to join your cult? NLP was used on me to access my subconscious. Mind Games, a new podcast exploring NLP, a.k.a. neurolinguistic programming. Is it a self-help miracle, a shady hypnosis scam, or both? Listen to Mind Games on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an iHeart Podcast. Guaranteed human.