The Best of The Dan Patrick Show

00:00:00
Speaker 1: You are listening to the Dan Patrick Show on Fox Sports Radio.

00:00:04
Speaker 2: Let me start with the Blue Jays closing out the Yankees. The Tigers and Mariners are tied to two games apiece. The Phillies are still alive as Kyle Schwarber had a couple of home runs, and the Cubs over the Brewers, which certainly makes for some interesting baseball coming up. Phillies at the Dodgers and then the Brewers at the Cubs tonight to compete with Eagles at the Giants. Seaton, would you give us the poll question from the first hour.

00:00:33
Speaker 3: Yeah, first hour.

00:00:33
Speaker 4: We're going to go with one from Pauli here. Worst way to lose a playoff baseball game. You got four options, strikeout, looking with men on base, grounding into a game ending double play, an error in the field like a drop ball, something like that, or give up the game winning home run as a pitcher.

00:00:54
Speaker 2: Oh now, I'll reflect back on what Mitch Williams told me when he gave up a home run that won the World Series for Toronto. He gave up the home run to Joe Carter, and he said, hey, you know, it's not one of those that you're devastated by because I threw my best and he hit my best. I at least got that moment, and I like it was a completely different take than I would have had. But he said, hey, you want to throw your best. He hit my best, and he was the better man and they won the World Series.

00:01:25
Speaker 4: Yes, yeah, like some of you know, grounding into a game ending double play, I don't think that that's a bad way at all. It sucks, but you put the ball in play, you know, you make contact that just didn't find the gap.

00:01:37
Speaker 5: In the infield or whatever. But I mean, at least you gave your team a chance.

00:01:41
Speaker 4: That's a lot different than say like striking out looking where you don't even swing like that is just terrible. Or an error in the field is brutal. That's brutal. And you lose the game that way, that is just awful.

00:01:53
Speaker 2: And having been there when Bill Buckner had the ball go through his legs and he talked about that, you know, they win the World Series. Ball goes through his legs, and uh, you know that lives in infamy. All Right, we'll settle on a poll question here. I did want to bring the end the final call with the Yankees against the Blue Jays. Blue Jays have put up some runs. The Blue Jays have scored thirty four runs so far in the playoffs. That's the most by any team through its first four postseason games in baseball history. What's Gonna stat of Today has always brought to you by Panini America, the official trading cards to the program. This is how it sounded on the Blue Jays Radio Network.

00:02:44
Speaker 6: One two swinging them.

00:02:46
Speaker 7: In strike three, screaming flex from Hoffman. The Blue Jays are.

00:02:50
Speaker 8: Back in the ALCS for the first time since twenty sixteen.

00:02:55
Speaker 3: They down the Yankees in their own yard, and they're.

00:02:59
Speaker 8: The first team in Baseball's Final four.

00:03:03
Speaker 2: Okay, Blue Jays Radio Network. Dave Simms, of course, is the play by play voice for the Yankees radio network. He joined us a couple of days ago to talk about maybe his lack of enthusiasm for a Blad Guerrero Grand Slam. Fritzy called him out on that, so we thought, let's juxtapose the two calls there. So here's Dave Simms and the end of the Yankees season.

00:03:27
Speaker 9: There's a Pitts swing in a miss and I'll do it. The Ronald Blue Jays are going to the American League Championship Series, which starts on Sunday, as Hoffman is a very defiant look at the Yankee dugout now, very sad ending to a Yankee season here in twenty twenty five.

00:03:47
Speaker 2: Okay, Todd, you of course the big judge of Dave Simms enthusiasm or lack thereof a little.

00:03:54
Speaker 6: More Bode I was got to help. He would take it with him.

00:03:55
Speaker 5: How about that Blue Jays? He didn't do it. That's all right, he did not.

00:03:59
Speaker 2: You don't, are you okay with that kind of you know, very somber call.

00:04:04
Speaker 10: It ended the season, So I can wink at that, but it's very very somber, and I guess you're trying to capture your audience. The Yankee fans are upset and said, so you have to be sad, okay, understandable.

00:04:15
Speaker 5: Feel a big.

00:04:16
Speaker 10: Moment for the Blue Jays and then moving on to ALCS. That's a big knowledge even.

00:04:21
Speaker 7: As a ye know, yes, Paul, Yeah, it wasn't a huge play like a game ending home run by the Blue Jays where he had to do the excitement then bring it back down. It was more and with all the men left on base, it was like you could feel the disappointment coming. So he captured the tone.

00:04:36
Speaker 2: And I think that there was speculation, there wasn't anything that was concrete that maybe Aaron Boone would lose his job if they got swept and we had Christopher mad Dog russo on, he goes nope. Front office loves Boone, loves Cashman. Cashman's been there in some capacity since nineteen eighty six. But Aaron Boone looks like he'll survive even though they got one win out of this. And you have to start to wonder, are the Yankees okay with this? From from a certain standpoint? Are they okay that your team is good? You have maybe the best player in the game, you have a pretty you know, hefty payroll, But are you okay not going to the alcs? Like how would you sum this up? If you're a Yankee, you know, person in the front office or Aaron Boone, is there any part of you that goes okay? Like did you exceed expectations? Because I would be disappointed if I But you know, growing up and seeing the Yankees when the Yankees were truly dominating and spending more money than anybody, But that's not the case.

00:05:43
Speaker 5: Anymore.

00:05:44
Speaker 2: They've almost become kind of prudent, where you know, we're going to pick and choose, We're not going to go crazy on the Sodo contract. And you know, we've got a couple of good guys here. I mean, they overpaid for a couple of players. Are they still paying Jacoby Ellsbury? He might, he might still be getting paid by them, But it just feels like and they didn't have Garrett Cole so you got I mean, that's one of the best pitchers in the game. But I don't know, this wouldn't have happened. They wouldn't have you know, been kind of stuck in neutral with George Steinbrenner. I just can't imagine he would go. Yeah, I'm okay with that. They won one World Series game since what twenty six, twenty sixteen, Yes, Todd.

00:06:28
Speaker 5: Is that right, Marvin two thousand and nine, oh, two thousand and nine.

00:06:34
Speaker 11: Time.

00:06:34
Speaker 6: Yeah, The last time.

00:06:35
Speaker 10: They won was against the Phillies in two thousand and nine when they won the.

00:06:37
Speaker 5: World See no, no, I'm talking about winning a game, nineries. So they won one World Series game and that was last year. Yes, yes, yeah, okay, all right, yes, Tom?

00:06:48
Speaker 10: Is it enough of a band aid that they can say they knocked out the Red Sox in the playoffs. As far as who's keeping their jobs and having anything positive to say about this season for the Yanking.

00:06:57
Speaker 2: I don't think this was a great Red Sox team. I think Red Sox team felt like they overachieved a little bit. But if I'm the Yankee Yankee fan, no, this ain't about the Red Sox anymore.

00:07:07
Speaker 5: No, because that Red.

00:07:08
Speaker 2: Sox aren't the second best team or the or the best team in the American League. You know, Toronto is a young team and they got a lot of power, score a lot of runs. You know, Tigers aren't going away anytime soon. Uh, Seattle up and coming young team, you know, so you got to start thinking bigger picture here than hey, we beat the Red Sox. That wouldn't satisfy me, Yeah, Paul.

00:07:30
Speaker 7: The Yankees are currently at sixteen straight seasons without winning a World Series, and that ties their longest stretch in the history of the franchise. They went from seventy nine till ninety six without winning, so sixteen years then as well.

00:07:44
Speaker 2: And having been there when George would fire Billy Martin a couple of times, he just didn't, you know, And it was very reactionary. You know, you were never surprised that George was going to do something like that. And granted, there has to be somewhere in between of today's you know Yankees back to when George was there, but still accountability. And I'm not, you know, I guess, pleading for or suggesting they fire Aaron Boone. I mean, I'm not a big fan of his from the standpoint of analytics. And here's a guy who played the game, brother played the game, his dad played the games, dad managed, Like gut feeling still has a place in the game, and it doesn't always feel that way when I look at the Yankees. But I'm just surprised. But then you're going to say, or at least I would say, all right, and who you bringing in? Because how many great managers out there, and Aaron Boone, I think is a very good manager. I just don't like when you bring out the binder and all of a sudden, it's like you're ordering off a menu or something.

00:08:46
Speaker 7: Yeah, Pauline, I went back and look at the Blue Jays history. They won the World Series in ninety two and ninety three, and then they didn't appear in the postseason for twenty years? Would you sign up for that? If you're a fan.

00:09:02
Speaker 5: Pick it in ninety two and ninety three.

00:09:04
Speaker 7: I would like, if you're a Cleveland Guardians fan, you can win the next two World Series and you don't make the playoffs again for twenty years.

00:09:11
Speaker 5: I would sign up for that.

00:09:12
Speaker 2: Yeah, you have to write if I'm in Cleveland, yes the choice, Yes, yes, yes I would. I mean the Marlin fans they did that twice where you Okay, you're gonna win and then you're not gonna do anything, and then you'll win again and then not do anything.

00:09:27
Speaker 5: Yeah, Marvin Marlin's got fans. Ah yeah, wow, all right.

00:09:34
Speaker 2: Uh so eight seven seven three DP show a few things talk about Uh we'll talk to Florio about this Belichick situation in North Carolina. And when you have to put out statements you know that, hey, we totally backed Bill Bellie, Like we're we're what five games in and we're putting out statements that doesn't bode well here, and I I think what's happened. A lot of this has happened, and that is we're blaming his young girlfriend. She gets you know, like, oh my gosh, you know, how does he let this happen? Exactly? Bill never had messes in New England. Never he controlled everything, and now it seems like he controls nothing. So I put the blame is on Bill. Bill has to get this right. And everything that you're hearing is like it's all negative. Now, granted, they do have two wins, it's just they've been blown out three times and the two wins aren't impressive. But if you didn't have all this drama, and let's say you had a groundswell of support, the locker room wasn't fractured. Guys, are you know there's positive positivity out there? Hey that guy looks pretty good. Hey we got a bright future here. Well, you don't have any of that. And if you're a recruit or you're the parents of a recruit, I want your kid going to North Carolina. And North Carolina has never had a problem with getting top talent.

00:11:04
Speaker 5: Never.

00:11:05
Speaker 2: Every single draft, it feels like, oh, another player at in North Carolina.

00:11:10
Speaker 5: This is on Bill.

00:11:11
Speaker 2: Bill's gonna wear this and this will be his last stop. I can't imagine the Dolphins are gonna go Hey, when we get rid of Mike McDaniel, Why don't you just come down here and break Don Schules all time victory record. I don't see that happening. But man, there's a lot of reporting going on with this with Belichick North Carolina. But you know, the owner should not be on his girlfriend. Okay, I mean, she's acting like she's twenty four years of age. She's acting like she's in charge. Bill has allowed this to happen. He allowed this to happen. And I can't imagine if he was coaching the Patriots, she would be on the sidelines. I can't imagine that she would be involved in an interw like this does never happened. So it's not just her and I think she's getting she's the focal point because we all have this, you know, same reaction of he's seventy three and she's twenty four.

00:12:08
Speaker 5: But that's why I wonder where his priorities are. I truly do.

00:12:11
Speaker 2: I don't know if he wants to continue to be, you know, this mastermind, this great football coach. It just feels like something is missing there, Like his enthusiasm doesn't seem like it's pointed towards football, and everybody that he hired, his son is his defensive coordinator. He brought in Mike Lombardi. I mean he brought in all the people, and plus when you recruit, he recruited. So you bring in freshmen and you bring in transfers. So those are players that Bill is bringing in. Seventy players he brought in, not I'm going to inherit Mac Brown's roster. If you said in North Carolina, hey, you want to do over you want to keep mac Brown?

00:12:55
Speaker 5: I think we know the answer to that. All right, we'll get to a pole question.

00:13:00
Speaker 2: We'll get your phone calls and we'll talk to Florio coming up. Also the Cincinnati Bengals. You know when that or I should say the Browns. When the head coach doesn't realize that Joe Flacco is going to be traded, I don't know what that says about Kevin Stefanski, but he was like, oh, I was surprised we traded Joe. All right, Andrew Berry, the GM pulled the trade off. And then your head coach is like, okay, I'm fine with it. I'm fine with it, and you got Flacco playing against the Green Bay Packers again. He can be the second quarterback in NFL history, pro football history to beat the same team in the same season while playing for two different teams. I'll give you the answer to that after this Dan Patrick Show.

00:13:47
Speaker 1: Be sure to catch the live edition of The Dan Patrick Show weekdays at nine am Eastern six am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and the iHeartRadio app.

00:13:56
Speaker 6: He's Mike Carmen, I'm Dan Bayern.

00:13:58
Speaker 8: We have a brand new fan of see football podcast called I Want Your Flex. Twice a week, every Tuesday and Friday, we come up with new episodes to not.

00:14:08
Speaker 6: Only look back at what happened, what you need.

00:14:10
Speaker 8: To do at that minute, and also look ahead of what's coming up in the fantasy football world.

00:14:16
Speaker 1: That's right, Dan.

00:14:16
Speaker 12: Every week we're going to scour the waiver wire to find the pickups to turbo boost your fantasy lineup six starts, fantasy football players rankings to get you ready to dominate the competition.

00:14:28
Speaker 8: Listen to I Want Your Flex with Mike Carmon and me Dan Beyer on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts.

00:14:35
Speaker 2: Before the commercial break, I said that Joe Flacco could become just the second quarterback since nineteen fifty to start and win a game against the same opponent on two different teams in a single season. The only other quarterback to do it did it in nineteen sixty two. This is really tough, so I don't know if I mean, you'd have to be a really really big fan of this football team or this quarterback because the only other quarterback to do that was Jack Kemp. He beat the Titans as a member of the Chargers and the Bills. That was nineteen sixty two. Mike Florio probably knew the answer. He knows all Pro Football Talk Live, co host and contributor to Football Night in America, and his latest novel, Big Shield, definitely not about the NFL. But it's a tale of gambling, the mob, and pro football, but definitely not the NFL. The e book available on Amazon for only ninety nine cents.

00:15:38
Speaker 5: Good morning, Mike, how are you great?

00:15:40
Speaker 1: Dan?

00:15:40
Speaker 13: For disclosure, I had no idea the answer to that awesome stat of the day.

00:15:47
Speaker 2: What does it say about the Browns and Kevin Stefanski that he had no idea that his backup quarterback was traded to the Bengals.

00:15:55
Speaker 13: I'm surprised he said it out loud because I feel like so much of what happens in Klee. They understand that in order to hold these jobs, they are at the whims of whatever the owner decides to do. And I think the owner has created destruction. Now this is just my opinion. I think he's created a structure where it looks like there's a plan, it looks like there's a program, it looks like there's a formula for everything.

00:16:17
Speaker 3: But at the end of the day, it's just what the owner wants.

00:16:19
Speaker 13: And I think everyone's in tune with figuring out what the owner wants and when the owner wants something, it happens. So doesn't surprise me at all. It doesn't surprise me. They traded him, I mean they benched him, they saved some money, they upgrade a draft pick, and they move on from a guy that no longer fit into their plan. So they got something out of him. They have to be happy with this, all right.

00:16:38
Speaker 2: Given all the coverage with Belichick with North Carolina, what's your number one question about this situation today?

00:16:46
Speaker 13: How much money changes hands and in which direction does it go when it finally ends. I feel like that's where this is headed. And those companion statements that came out at nine thirty six PM Eastern last night, Like if you hadn't been paying attention to all the reports that are out there, and you just happen to open your Twitter and you're a North Carolina fan and you see that the next post since the one about Drake May that they were shamed into making on Monday, is this statement that Bill Belichick's committed to the team, and then the statement from Bubba Cunningham the ad team is committed to him. It's like, why are we doing this? It just legitimizes that there's this avalanche right now of reporting that they've made no effort to push back against, of dysfunction and deterioration and just flat out disintegration of the program. And I feel like that this is just the idea of if I'm going to go, you're going to pay me to go. And from the team's perspective, if you're going to go, we're not going to pay you, and maybe you're going to pay part of your one million dollar price tag to get out of here. And they're just it feels like they're staking out what the endgame and the dissolution of this is going to be hell damaged.

00:17:57
Speaker 5: Is his NFL reputation?

00:18:00
Speaker 13: I don't think it affects anything he's done in the NFL.

00:18:04
Speaker 5: I think, but future employment, Oh.

00:18:07
Speaker 13: Well, let me just add this caveat in advance. We know that there are plenty of teams in the NFL that don't know what the hell they're doing, and it all comes from the owner. Dysfunctional teams do dysfunctional things, as our friend Big Kat says, And I can't rule out an owner of a team that is chronically bad and they've got a revolving door at the coaching position saying what the hell. Nothing else we've tried has worked. Let's give it a shot. But here's the problem. How do you sell this Bill Belichick to a fan.

00:18:39
Speaker 3: Base and to the media that cover the team.

00:18:41
Speaker 13: Who's going to renew season tickets when they find out that this Bill Belichick is coming in to take over.

00:18:47
Speaker 3: I think that's the hardest thing.

00:18:49
Speaker 13: From a football standpoint, what the hell? Maybe he can recapture some magic. From a business standpoint, I don't know how you help your bottom line by trotting out Bill Belichick posts North Carolina.

00:19:03
Speaker 2: But could you see a scenario where the Dolphins bring him in if they fire Mike McDaniel. Even though he would be trying to pass Don Shula's record in the all time victory list while being a Dolphins coach in the process.

00:19:20
Speaker 13: I think that's a practical impediment to getting the fans to buy in.

00:19:24
Speaker 3: That's the key these guys. They act like.

00:19:27
Speaker 13: They're obsessed with winning the Super Bowl. All we want to do is win the Super Bowl. We want to win the Super Bowl. Well, you know what, only one team wins it, but they all win at the Bank Vault. And if you are going to make a hire that sabotages your ability to fill your stadium, you're just asking for red ink in a business where there should be none. So I think that is the one factor that we need to keep in mind here. He will be received very differently wherever he would go next in the NFL than he would have been two years ago.

00:19:58
Speaker 3: Now, I won't rule out.

00:20:00
Speaker 13: That there's some owner that's going to decide I don't care, this is what I want to do, But I don't know who it would be. And I think that whole Don shul of Bill Belichick feud would be a factor against him going to Miami.

00:20:12
Speaker 5: But it feels like Mike McDaniel's already done in Miami.

00:20:16
Speaker 3: Oh, I agree with you.

00:20:17
Speaker 13: I agree with you, But that doesn't mean the replacement's going to be Bill Belichick. They need to find a middle ground between the Brian Flores Belichick type that couldn't get along with Tuatoga I low and it was kind of a hard charging task master and Mike McDaniel, who's everybody's buddy and he's just really chill and he's authentic. Authentic works until you're piling up losses and you see this guy who seems to be unaffected by the fact that they're piling up losses. So they need to find someone in the middle. But this is what dysfunctional teams do. It doesn't work out with one coach, so the next guy we hire is the exact opposite from a personality standpoint, and they.

00:20:51
Speaker 3: Just swing back and forth between those two types.

00:20:56
Speaker 2: Two hundred and fifty thousand dollars for flipping somebody off for Jerry Jones, I'm always curious if the commissioner has a book, you know, like he just goes over, opens his desk and goes, let me see you got that flipping off fans two hundred and fifty Like, how did they come up with two hundred and fifty thousand dollars for Jerry Jones.

00:21:16
Speaker 13: Well sixteen years ago Bud Adams, the late founder of the Oilers who were then the Titans, he got fined two hundred and fifty.

00:21:23
Speaker 3: Thousand dollars for two of them.

00:21:25
Speaker 13: So I don't know if it's inflation cost of living increase.

00:21:29
Speaker 3: But Dan, here's my big takeaway.

00:21:32
Speaker 13: Beyond the fact that Jerry had the ridiculous I meant to give a thumbs up, and you know, my hand has a life of its own, a mind of his own, and I gave the figer. But I think Jerry should say, you know what, next time, I'll just throw a drink on them, because that only costs three hundred thousand dollars when David Tepper did it, that's a.

00:21:48
Speaker 3: Bargain in comparison.

00:21:49
Speaker 13: If I really, if I'm really upset, I'll just throw the drink and pay the extra fifty grand.

00:21:54
Speaker 2: Dang two hundred and fifty k. And then did the team Jonathan Gannon got fined. Did the team do it or the NFL?

00:22:03
Speaker 13: The team did it, and the NFL was satisfied by it. And you know a lot of times what happens, isn't. They don't come out and admit it. The league makes it clear to the team, you need to do something about this or we will. And I think it was appropriate. He crossed the line. We're in an age where you can't put hands on your players, and he made contact with Mri d Marcato multiple times, including kind of an aggressive slap to the arm as he walked away, So I think it was appropriate. The real question is does the locker room accept his apology?

00:22:30
Speaker 3: Do they buy it?

00:22:31
Speaker 13: Did it seem sincere or was it a hostage video type of an apology that he had to make. And we'll see as soon as this weekend when it's time for them to play, we'll see what kind of performance he gets from his players.

00:22:43
Speaker 2: So that Jerry Jones's middle finger is two and a half times worse than Jonathan Gannon's action correct.

00:22:51
Speaker 13: Well, again, I don't know where the book is that tells them what to do. And we always hear that owners are held to a higher standard than players, and sometimes they are. Jerry Judy of the Browns did the double barrel middle finger to Ravens fans, and his fine was somewhere between ten and twenty thousand for that. So in this situation, they hold the owners to a higher standard.

00:23:14
Speaker 3: So I don't know.

00:23:15
Speaker 13: I just wonder like if if Jonathan Gannon had messed with the wrong guy and we would have had a Latrell Spreewell situation on the sideline.

00:23:22
Speaker 3: I mean, that's the problem.

00:23:24
Speaker 13: There are certain guys in the NFL who aren't going to take what Mrii d. Morcado received from Jonathan Gannon. So I think it's probably wise for coaches to not lay hands on these gladiators who are out there hitting people for a living.

00:23:40
Speaker 2: I'm talking to Mike Florio and his novel Big Shield. It's about gambling the mob in a pro football league that is not the NFL. The e book available at Amazon for only ninety nine cents.

00:23:51
Speaker 12: You know.

00:23:52
Speaker 2: The Mac Jones situation. Now, it's not surprising for me because Kyle Shanahan didn't like him going into that draft, and then you get him, even though they don't have weapons, He's played really well. I don't want to go as far as to say do they have a quarterback controversy? But if Mac Jones plays great again, I think six touchdowns in one interception, you know could this be a quarterback controversy.

00:24:18
Speaker 13: Here's the big picture, and the forty nine Ers were very wise dan to sign mac Jones, not to a one year deal like they did with Sam Darnold, two years with mac Jones at around eight million dollars. The way that the brock Party contract that was negotiated in the offseason is structured two years is what Purty is guaranteed and the forty nine Ers have, and they build this into all their contracts. A lot of teams the next year becomes guaranteed right after the league year begins in the middle of March. The forty nine Ers always demand until April one.

00:24:51
Speaker 3: To make a decision, So they have until.

00:24:53
Speaker 13: April one of twenty twenty seven to make a decision about brock Party. After the twenty sixth season, well, there's a lot of football to be played between now and the end of the twenty twenty six season. By then, you know, a lot of times you think you have a problem, you have an issue.

00:25:08
Speaker 3: What are we going to do?

00:25:09
Speaker 13: The decision reveals itself in time. By the time we get to the end of the twenty twenty six season, I think we'll know and they'll know which of the two guys is the long term play, and they'll have a seamless way if they want to do it to pivot to mac Jones and get away from the remainder of brock Purty's contract.

00:25:25
Speaker 3: That's the key.

00:25:26
Speaker 13: So for now, they got both guys for the next two years, and then they'll make a decision, and you know it'll be.

00:25:33
Speaker 3: Driven by health.

00:25:34
Speaker 13: Between now and then, they can always play the one hundred percent card, where brock Perdy plays only if he's one hundred percent well. Is the one hundred percent No, I've decided he's not.

00:25:42
Speaker 3: We're going to play mac Jones.

00:25:44
Speaker 13: But hey, in a league where plenty of teams don't have one quarterback who can get it done, they're fortunate to have two. And I know they've had plenty of misadventures at the quarterback position, but they're in a good spot right now because they've got two guys who can play. And I think we see how it plays out between now and week eighteen and twenty twenty, and I think by then they'll know and will know which of the two guys is the answer for the long haul.

00:26:06
Speaker 5: Is John Harbaugh safe in Baltimore?

00:26:09
Speaker 3: Probably not?

00:26:11
Speaker 13: And it's been a long relationship, and you know, he falls into that category of guy who would get fired if he gets fired, or if he would resign, or if it would be a mutual parting, and he'd probably lands somewhere else right away if he wanted to, like Andy Reid did, like Mike Tomlin would.

00:26:28
Speaker 3: You know, there's that.

00:26:30
Speaker 13: Thirty percent chunk of the Steelers fan base that is ready to fire Mike Tomlin anytime they lose two games in a row. There have been times over the years where it's felt like it's coming to an end between the Ravens and Harball, and it's always skewed toward him staying. This has got to be the biggest test of the relationship between the front office and Harbaugh that we've ever seen. As the roster disintegrates, the team can't win. They got embarrassed at home by the Texans over the weekend, a team that had never won in Baltimore went in there and blew them out. So there's gonna be a lot of pressure in that owner coach relationship with the GM kind of caught in the middle.

00:27:08
Speaker 3: What's going to happen after this season?

00:27:09
Speaker 13: So I think there's a very real chance based on what we've seen through five weeks that then a mutual parting is what happens when the season.

00:27:17
Speaker 2: Ends, because it seems like we've focused on Mike Tomlin's tenure in Pittsburgh and here they are just kind of quiet.

00:27:25
Speaker 5: Now.

00:27:25
Speaker 2: You know, they can't control what the other teams do or don't do in the injuries, but you know, I thought this might be the last year for Tomlin in Pittsburgh and maybe Aaron Rodgers, like they were all in together for this one year and then Aaron would go on his way and Mike Tomlin would go into TV. But here they are leading the division and we have no other reason to think that they won't be there at the very end of the season.

00:27:50
Speaker 13: The last two weeks had been incredible for the Steelers. They beat the Vikings in Ireland and the rest of the division has gone a combined ohen six. So here they are and the Bengal they're done. The Ravens seem to be done. And this is just a reminder and look, I don't want to complain about the business that we've chosen, but we spend the off season talking about how the next season's gonna go with this assumption that everyone's gonna stay healthy. We know guys are gonna get injured. It's bad for him to say, well, this guy could get injured, that guy can get injured, but we.

00:28:22
Speaker 3: Know it's gonna happen.

00:28:23
Speaker 13: Five weeks to the day since the regular season began, the Ravens and the Bengals have been decimated.

00:28:28
Speaker 3: For the Bengals, all it took was one guy. For the Ravens. It's a bunch of guys, but it changes everything.

00:28:33
Speaker 13: And here are the Steelers at three and one, and they're sitting pretty and it's working. They finally had a game where both the offense and the defense showed up at the same time and they got that win.

00:28:42
Speaker 3: They stole one from the Patriots. They shouldn't have won.

00:28:44
Speaker 13: But here they are, and yeah, that's you know, as a wise man once said.

00:28:49
Speaker 1: They're sweaty played games.

00:28:52
Speaker 3: And that's part of the fun of it.

00:28:53
Speaker 13: Because right now, Dan, who's the best team in the AFC?

00:28:56
Speaker 3: I really don't know the answer to that question.

00:29:01
Speaker 2: Is there a chance that Deshaun Watson plays again.

00:29:05
Speaker 3: Well for the Browns this year? Probably not.

00:29:07
Speaker 13: There's a subtext where he's trying to get healthy and at some point he shows up with a doctor's slip saying this man is cleared to play football, and the Browns have to make a decision. They're not going to cut him because that would trigger a one hundred and thirty five million dollars dead cap charge next year. They're trying to ride out this contract because they structured it so the bigger cap hits come later when the cap is higher. But but the other thing to keep in mind, there's an insurance policy that covers him for this year. If he plays, that insurance policy becomes jeopardized. I don't know how much they would lose by way of the money they get for the insurance they had against injury. It gets a little complicated. I think they'd like to finesse it. So he's on the team and he's around, but he's not on the roster, and we'll see if it comes to that. But there's other business issues that go into this calculation. But at this point, I don't think there's any Browns fan that is curious to see what the sh Sean Watson can do on the football field. They're ready to move on from him, but the reality is he's most likely going to be on the team through twenty twenty six.

00:30:10
Speaker 2: Have you ever done a list of the worst decisions made in NFL history? Like if I said the Browns moved on from Baker Mayfield and now he's an MVP candidate in Tampa and then you go all in and sign Deshaun Watson. Has there been a decision that has been worse than that in NFL history?

00:30:30
Speaker 3: No?

00:30:30
Speaker 13: No, And I've said before without the Baker Mayfield angle, the Deshaun Watson contract and trade is the single worst transaction in NFL history because it's the combination of and we get caught up in the money.

00:30:42
Speaker 3: Two hundred and thirty million.

00:30:43
Speaker 13: Fully guaranteed, it's easy to lose sight of the three first round picks and multiple other picks that were sent to Houston. Those are affordable young players who become the nucleus of your team if you use the picks right. They've lost all those guys, and so the fact that they're even able to win a game, the fact that they went to the playoffs two years ago, is remarkable given what they gave up to get Deshaun Watson. So they gave up a lot. They've paid them a lot, they've got nothing in return. Yes, I believe firmly that that. If there was a list, I don't know what.

00:31:16
Speaker 3: Number two would be, but number one would be the Deshaun Watson acquisition by the Browns.

00:31:21
Speaker 5: But what about the Herschel Walker trade?

00:31:24
Speaker 3: That would be that's probably number two, right, number two?

00:31:28
Speaker 5: Right number two, Ricky Williams with the Saints. Is that up.

00:31:34
Speaker 2: They gave up all their draft picks and Mike Dickett wanted to go play golf, and so take that.

00:31:39
Speaker 5: That's in there.

00:31:40
Speaker 3: That's in there now.

00:31:40
Speaker 2: Now.

00:31:40
Speaker 13: Back in those days, again, the draft picks made a lot more money relative to what they make now. The important thing to remember now, since twenty eleven, they have configured the rookie pay system so that those guys are cheap and you have them for four years. If it's a first round pick, you have them for five years. And that's how how you manage a team where you pay a few guys market value. The guts of your team are these young guys that you have gotten for peanuts in comparison what cost to get a veteran.

00:32:11
Speaker 5: Great stuff is always Mike, have a great weekend.

00:32:13
Speaker 2: Thanks for joining us, buddy, Thanks, Dan good talking to Mike Florio.

00:32:18
Speaker 1: Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in the nation. Catch all of our shows at foxsports Radio dot com and within the iHeartRadio app search FSR to listen live.

00:32:29
Speaker 2: He's Ross Tucker CBS Sports and Westwood One, NFL college football analyst, and he is the host of the Ross Tucker Football Podcast. He called the Niners Rams last weekend, Air Force and Navy as well. He's got the Monday night game between the Bears and the Commanders. Always good to see.

00:32:49
Speaker 5: Ross.

00:32:51
Speaker 2: What do you expect out of this Eagle offense now? Because I'm confused that there's still it seems like trying to find their identity of what kind of offense they are or they want to be.

00:33:03
Speaker 11: I think, Dan, that they're going to get back to what they had success with last year, which is running the football. Now, they have not run it as well this year as they did last year. I think the biggest reason for that is probably the offensive line. You know, for whatever reason, and there's a couple of them, they have not performed as well as it did last year. I thought last year they were pretty clearly the best offensive line in the NFL.

00:33:31
Speaker 6: This year, they haven't been.

00:33:32
Speaker 11: I don't even know if they were a top five unit with how they played yead guys like Jurgens at center, Landon Dickerson left guard, who's now out again coming off of major surgeries. You have a new right guarden, Tyler Steen, and it just has not looked the same as it did last year.

00:33:51
Speaker 6: Although in fairness, they.

00:33:52
Speaker 11: Also only gave Saquon Barkley the ball one time last week against Denver when they had a two touchdown. My guess is that going against a Giants run defense that's been really bad for a while, and Saquon yet again playing against his former team in a primetime game, this feels to me like a Saquon Barkley breakout game, Like a big Saquon Barkley game.

00:34:20
Speaker 6: You would think if they were going to do it, tonight would.

00:34:22
Speaker 11: Be the night.

00:34:23
Speaker 5: So this will be a market correction with the Eagles.

00:34:27
Speaker 6: I would think.

00:34:28
Speaker 11: So. Listen, They're just too talented to not be better on offense. I mean, we said this last year, but last year they had the best running back in the sport, they had the best offensive line in the sport. They had one of the two or three best wide receiver duos, they had a top five tight end, Super Bowl MVP quarterback.

00:34:51
Speaker 6: Those guys are all still there. You know, they had ten of the eleven starters returning this year.

00:34:57
Speaker 11: So I think sometimes since they don't play the preseason at all, teams are playing them a little bit differently.

00:35:04
Speaker 6: I guess I don't know when it'll fully.

00:35:07
Speaker 11: Click, Dan, but I would be surprised if in December when I come on with you, we're still talking about the Eagles issues offensively. I think they have a new offensive coordinator that makes a difference. Some guys aren't playing as well as they did last year, and defenses are playing them differently as they should, and they're kind of trying to figure out the best plan of attack.

00:35:30
Speaker 5: How much of an upgrade is Joe Flacco for the Bengals, You.

00:35:36
Speaker 6: Know, that's a great question.

00:35:37
Speaker 11: I'm not sure because a couple of years ago, I thought Browning was outstanding for the Bengals as their backup and really played well. I mean, there's a reason why he's been the backup the last couple of years because of how well he did whatever that was I think it was twenty twenty three. You know, he did so well they were pretty happy with him him as a backup. I think the Bengals, I don't want to say caught flat footed, Dan, but I think they were surprised that he didn't play better. I think they really thought he's been in this system for a few years, he played well when given the opportunity in twenty twenty three.

00:36:16
Speaker 6: It's kind of stunning.

00:36:18
Speaker 11: Maybe even it sounds like to Browning the way based on how he's talking that.

00:36:22
Speaker 6: He didn't play better.

00:36:24
Speaker 11: The Flacco thing is fascinating because I think that they are trying to give their fans and maybe even the locker room some hope.

00:36:35
Speaker 6: You know, it's not an organization that likes to really.

00:36:37
Speaker 11: Spend, and they went out and they're they're paying Hendrickson and Chase and Higgins. They don't want to give up on this year. Yet they're still suggesting that Joe Burrow could come back later in the year. I would just say this, Dan, I highly doubt it. I mean, I highly doubt we will see Joe Burrow this season. I guess if Flacco can surprise and they're still in the playoff race in December, then maybe Burrow would try to come back at that point. But I don't think they'll still be in the playoff race at that point. I don't think Flacco will play that well. I think if Flacco was playing that well, he would still be the quarterback in Cleveland, although he also didn't have these receivers. You know, we've seen Flacco a couple of years ago when he took the Browns the playoffs thrown all over the place. I know this much, Dan, he's forty, he's made over two hundred million dollars.

00:37:31
Speaker 6: He doesn't care. I mean, it should be entertaining as heck.

00:37:34
Speaker 11: I'm hoping that Flaco just chucks it to Higgins and Chase and that the Bengals become very, very entertaining, if nothing else.

00:37:44
Speaker 2: The brown situation they've moved on. Now where you ship Flacco to Cincinnati. Now you have your two rookies in there. And I thought Dylan Gabriel handled being overseas your first start and against a complex defense like the Vikings. But I just wonder, and the Browns are doing what I was hoping they would do it. Let's give these two kids enough of a runway where we're going to find out if they're a starting quarterback. Maybe they're destined to be a backup quarterback. But what do you make of this situation of the Are the Browns saying we're waiting until next year already? By making this move by getting rid of Flacco, they are very clearly.

00:38:27
Speaker 11: You know they always say we have one eye on the president, one eye on the future. Well, the Browns at this point have like a magnifying glass on that eye that's looking at the future. I mean, just look at the trades they've made this week. Okay, you move on from Flacco. You're not doing that because you're trying to win more games this year. You're doing that because you want to take a look at both Gabriel and should Or Sanders. And I do think should Or unless Gabriel plays very very well, I would imagine that we.

00:38:59
Speaker 6: Would see should door for at least three or four.

00:39:02
Speaker 11: Games this year, because I think they want to know at the end of this year, is Gabriel one two or three?

00:39:08
Speaker 6: Is Shadora one too or three? What do we have?

00:39:11
Speaker 11: And then they make this trade yesterday with the Jaguars flopping cornerbacks.

00:39:17
Speaker 6: Think about that. Okay, why would they do that?

00:39:20
Speaker 11: Because Greg Newsom is a free agent after this season? They probably don't want to pay Greg Newsom the huge money he's gonna get. Tyson Campbell meanwhile, got his big contract before last season. The Jaguars have already given them the big bonus, already given them a lot of.

00:39:39
Speaker 6: The guaranteed money.

00:39:40
Speaker 11: So now the Browns have Tyson Campbell cost controlled for the rest of this year twenty twenty six, twenty twenty seven. So the Browns I think, are making some shrewd moves to set themselves up to be as competitive as possible next year, and that includes finding out.

00:39:59
Speaker 6: What they have with Gabriel and Shador. It's kind of funny because, obviously Dan.

00:40:04
Speaker 11: They want Gabriel to play as well as possible, I mean, hopefully Gabriel is a starter and they love him, but they also kind of, I think, want to see what Shador has at some point, so that will be really interesting to see. I mean, it wasn't that surprising when they moved on from Flacco to Gabriel. I think it will be actually interesting when they move on from Gabriel to Shador if that happens.

00:40:26
Speaker 2: Ross Tucker, CBS Sports Westwood One analyst the Ross Tucker Football Podcast. How important is this game? Sunday, the Chiefs and the Lions for Kansas City.

00:40:38
Speaker 6: I'd say vary at this point.

00:40:41
Speaker 11: You know, now they're fortunate that the Broncos have lost a couple close ones and that the Chargers are so beat up as always. I mean, Dan, there's certain teams, the Niners, the Chargers, the Lions, I don't I mean, I heard you talking about DraftKings earlier. We should all every year he's bet the over injuries for those three teams. It's unbelievable. And so now the Chargers are in a bad spot, so that makes it a little bit more palatable for the Chiefs.

00:41:10
Speaker 6: But he still can't go to two and four, right.

00:41:13
Speaker 11: I Mean, what they're looking like they're headed for is having to win some road playoff games, which they did a couple of years ago.

00:41:21
Speaker 6: But this is a big game. I think they don't want to get to two and four.

00:41:26
Speaker 11: Three and three's a lot different, and I really like the Chiefs in this game quite a bit. The Lions are just getting too beat up again. You know, they're missing a couple of d linemen, but now they're down Terry and Arnold at corner, so they're without their top corners, right, when Mahomes and the Chiefs passing game is starting to click a little bit with Xavier Worthy.

00:41:49
Speaker 6: They'll get Rashi Rice back soon.

00:41:51
Speaker 11: I think the second half of the year, we're gonna see probably the best Chiefs offense we've seen in a couple of years.

00:41:58
Speaker 5: How does Baker Mayfield MVP.

00:42:02
Speaker 11: Keep doing what he's doing. I mean, he's got my vote right now, you know, because not only is he playing awesome, he's just so fun to watch.

00:42:11
Speaker 6: Why can't every guy be like Baker?

00:42:15
Speaker 11: It is funny though, because when he was in Cleveland and would act certain ways, people would say he was a brasher, immature. You know, now that he's winning and he's with the Bucks, now it's moxie and guts. You know, like he said, up still acting the same, I'm just playing better and there's.

00:42:37
Speaker 6: A lot of truth to that. But love watching him. Listen.

00:42:41
Speaker 11: They have been so beat up on their offensive line and they haven't had a game yet with both Mike Evans and Chris Godwin.

00:42:49
Speaker 6: When they get Geticky.

00:42:50
Speaker 11: Back at right tackle and then they have Mike Evans, Godwin and Abuka at receiver, I mean we might need to start talking about the Bucks as being as much of a favorite to go to the Super Bowl from the NFC as anybody. You can put Detroit in there, Green Bay, the Eagles. Whoever, when when the Bucks are healthy, I think they were as good as anybody.

00:43:14
Speaker 5: Before I let you go.

00:43:15
Speaker 2: Do you ever have a moment like the coach treating you the way Jonathan Gannon acted on the sidelines.

00:43:22
Speaker 5: With the Cardinals. Did anybody ever put their hands on you, get in your face?

00:43:28
Speaker 6: No?

00:43:28
Speaker 11: I don't ever remember that, And I think that's a really really good thing, Dan, because you know, even though I'm smaller now and I'm more mild tempered, I guess when you're out there, Okay, I thought Dan, in my head for those three hours, I thought I was the biggest, baddest dude in the world. And I had to have that mentality to be able to compete with those guys I was going against. I was ready, and I often did hit anything that moved. We can't get in this scenario where coaches are touching NFL players. That's not gonna go well for the coaches a lot of times. I mean, I think he's fortunate that de Mercado was, you know, took it.

00:44:15
Speaker 6: That way, and I guess was sad, but there are other guys don't.

00:44:20
Speaker 11: It's hard to see from the video exactly what he did, but that would not go well if you look at it over time.

00:44:28
Speaker 6: If there's a lot of coaches touching a lot of.

00:44:30
Speaker 11: Players, that will not go well for the coaches and could lead to some really, really ugly incidents.

00:44:38
Speaker 2: We were asked our favorite sandwiches. I'm sure you, being in a ficionado of both hot and cold sandwiches, would you like to give us your favorites.

00:44:49
Speaker 11: Yeah, I mean my favorite cold sandwich is just any type of Italian sub absolutely love it. I mean, you can heat it up if you want, but you know, the pepperoni, the salami, the Capacola, American cheese, spicy mustard obviously, which, by the way, there are still some restaurants out there and sandwich shops that don't have deli or spicy mustard, and they're literally selling Deli sandwiches. They're very well known. They might be a sponsor, so I won't call them out. The hot sandwich everybody already knows. The greatest sandwich of all time is the sausage McMuffin with egg for McDonald's everybody knows this.

00:45:28
Speaker 6: There shouldn't be a debate.

00:45:30
Speaker 11: Sausage McMuffin with egg for McDonald's still undefeated, the greatest hot sandwich of all time. I used to get three, Now I only get two because I'm crazy healthy.

00:45:42
Speaker 5: Great to talk to you.

00:45:43
Speaker 2: Thank you for giving us those great sandwich suggestions. Oh please, Paully's got his head in his hand right now.

00:45:51
Speaker 7: You're so disappointed, Ross, You're so much better than that in what way?

00:45:56
Speaker 6: What?

00:45:56
Speaker 7: I love a sausage, egg and cheese, but there's bigger, better ones out there, and you should know that. Like what I'm just saying, I love the sandwich choice sausage, egg and cheese, but McDonald's not necessarily the best.

00:46:10
Speaker 6: It's delicious. You haven't had one in a long.

00:46:13
Speaker 5: Time, that's true. Yeah, Paul likes his sausage, EG and cheese a little more bespoke.

00:46:18
Speaker 4: Yeah, a nicer bread and nauc Yeah, range free.

00:46:24
Speaker 5: I want to be.

00:46:25
Speaker 7: Actually more like in a crummy deli. I'm also find with a deli that looks like it's not.

00:46:29
Speaker 5: Up to code.

00:46:33
Speaker 2: Thank you, Ross, Great to you boys, have a great weekend. That's Ross Tucker