# Nick Wright on Chiefs Super Bowl chances, Nick Saban to Penn State, Josh Allen issues | 10.15

An episode of [The Right Time with Bomani Jones](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/982639043), 15 Oct 2025, 56 min.

Audio: https://podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/pscrb.fm/rss/p/traffic.omny.fm/d/clips/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/370fc844-36bd-4f61-8b8f-b4bb010de39a/4753b85a-d680-41f8-be1f-b4bb011decbd/audio.mp3?utm_source=Podcast&in_playlist=919a7cbe-003c-4146-b592-b4bb010de3a5

Nick Wright, co host of "First Things First" joins Bomani Jones to discuss a wide array of football topics. First, they break down the Chiefs beating the Lions and discuss whether both teams are equipped for a Super Bowl run this season. Later, they discuss Baker Mayfield's incredible start to the NFL season and why he's making a legitimate case for MVP. Finally, they discuss whether Penn State should try and recruit Nick Saban to replace James Franklin, Josh Allen's recent struggles, and much more! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

## Transcript

[0:05] Speaker 1: Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the right time. A wave original.
[0:09] Speaker 1: My name is Beaumont Jones. Thanks for listening wherever you
[0:11] Speaker 1: get your podcast. Thanks for watching us on YouTube. Subscribe, like,
[0:15] Speaker 1: rate us, review us, give us five stars. You only
[0:17] Speaker 1: give us four stars. I'm inclined to believe you are
[0:20] Speaker 1: a hater. It is the time of week where we
[0:22] Speaker 1: have a guest join us. I just did this to
[0:23] Speaker 1: give you guys some proof of life to let you
[0:25] Speaker 1: know that even though sometimes people have to do serious
[0:28] Speaker 1: battle on a weekend, they can still be cool by Wednesday.
[0:32] Speaker 1: Check out First Things First on FS1 and the What's
[0:34] Speaker 1: Right Podcast. Nick Wright, what's going on?
[0:36] Speaker 2: Bo, how are you? How are you dealing with kind
[0:41] Speaker 2: of an embarrassing, emasculating, bullying loss for the biggest, toughest
[0:47] Speaker 2: team in football that got pushed around? See, here we go.
[0:52] Speaker 2: Here we go. Here we go.
[0:54] Speaker 1: I knew that there was some way that you were
[0:55] Speaker 1: going to have to wind up going a little bit
[0:57] Speaker 1: too far. I mean, you could make the argument, yes,
[1:00] Speaker 1: that maybe... Maybe they didn't stand on this square as
[1:03] Speaker 1: well as they could for 60 minutes of action. But
[1:07] Speaker 1: for that first minute after, baby, you saw that there
[1:10] Speaker 1: was still some fight in them, didn't you? There's still
[1:12] Speaker 1: some fight in them.
[1:13] Speaker 2: I'm worried about that lion safety room, which is, I
[1:19] Speaker 2: know it's actually all defensive backs, but Kirby is a
[1:22] Speaker 2: first-team all-pro who, after the game... sent out, I counted,
[1:27] Speaker 2: 24 tweets or retweets blaming the refs. And Brian Branch, Bo,
[1:37] Speaker 2: I thought he was about to cry in that postgame
[1:41] Speaker 2: when he said they were bullying me. And I just
[1:45] Speaker 2: think it was a good kind of end cap to
[1:48] Speaker 2: a game that started with the Lions telling the world,
[1:52] Speaker 2: We can't get six inches on the Kansas City Chiefs
[1:55] Speaker 2: without throwing it to Jared Goff. What happened to running
[1:59] Speaker 2: the ball with David Montgomery? What happened to the big,
[2:02] Speaker 2: tough offensive line? I'm worried about your Lions, Bo, I
[2:05] Speaker 2: got to tell you.
[2:06] Speaker 1: I got to tell you also, things were looking really
[2:09] Speaker 1: good up until they got big brained with that throw
[2:12] Speaker 1: to Jerry Kaufman, which I have to say, it always
[2:15] Speaker 1: looks impressive when it works, right?
[2:18] Speaker 2: Like for sure.
[2:18] Speaker 1: And I will also say that it feels tougher when
[2:22] Speaker 1: it's a throwback to Panay Sewell, right? That feels like
[2:26] Speaker 1: it's still within the ethos of what we got going.
[2:30] Speaker 1: Where I absolutely agree with you is you guys don't
[2:34] Speaker 1: have to do this anymore.
[2:36] Speaker 2: Right?
[2:37] Speaker 1: Like you don't have, and maybe you never had to
[2:39] Speaker 1: do it in the first place, but you don't have
[2:40] Speaker 1: to be so cute in doing some of these things.
[2:42] Speaker 1: Like this is, in many ways, this is beneath them.
[2:46] Speaker 1: What I find fascinating about it is, now that we
[2:49] Speaker 1: have seen this.
[2:50] Speaker 3: Persist through two offensive coordinators, it is very clear, ironically,
[2:56] Speaker 3: that the razzle-dazzle is coming from Dan Campbell.
[3:01] Speaker 2: Yes. That's right. That's what, and And he's not only
[3:08] Speaker 2: okay with it, but like as you put, maybe encouraging it.
[3:12] Speaker 2: And I just think there's a time. I don't mind.
[3:15] Speaker 2: I hate the analysis of trick plays are awesome when
[3:19] Speaker 2: they work and they suck when they don't. That's not
[3:21] Speaker 2: what I'm trying to do. I just thought fourth down
[3:25] Speaker 2: with inches to go was an odd place for it.
[3:29] Speaker 2: And I also, if you remember that exact sequence, the
[3:33] Speaker 2: Chiefs called No, Dan Campbell called a timeout right before
[3:38] Speaker 2: fourth down, but they had already started the play. Andy
[3:41] Speaker 2: was mad because he didn't think Campbell had called it
[3:44] Speaker 2: in time. But their initial fourth down play was a
[3:48] Speaker 2: golf rollout to the right that then ended up being aborted.
[3:52] Speaker 2: And then their next fourth down play, Is this trick pass,
[3:55] Speaker 2: trick play? It was really weird to me that they
[4:00] Speaker 2: wouldn't just try to run it straight down Kansas City's throat. Now,
[4:04] Speaker 2: I'm overstating the concern about the Lions. I texted you
[4:09] Speaker 2: that Amon Ross St. Brown literally had not had a
[4:14] Speaker 2: drop charted. Again, I haven't charted at all, but in
[4:17] Speaker 2: the numbers- since 2023. He went all of last year
[4:21] Speaker 2: without a drop, didn't have a drop all of this year,
[4:24] Speaker 2: and then dropped that fourth down, and that was a
[4:26] Speaker 2: huge play. I think your team obviously is excellent. I
[4:32] Speaker 2: didn't like after the game, but whatever. Dan Campbell handled
[4:35] Speaker 2: it great after the game. Dan Campbell's awesome. He's awesome.
[4:39] Speaker 2: My only question, big picture from that game for your team,
[4:43] Speaker 2: and then we can get to the team that's obviously
[4:45] Speaker 2: going to win the Super Bowl again. Obviously, he's the
[4:47] Speaker 2: best in the world. Um, did you, do you agree
[4:51] Speaker 2: with Collinsworth that the way they're built, they, it is
[4:58] Speaker 2: a concern if they have to play from behind. Collinsworth
[5:03] Speaker 2: sounded that alarm about like when you get golf into
[5:06] Speaker 2: a straight drop back passing game and the team's not
[5:09] Speaker 2: worried about the run, the opposing team, that's when they
[5:12] Speaker 2: can struggle. And it felt a little harsh, but then
[5:15] Speaker 2: I thought about it. I was like that. Playoff game,
[5:18] Speaker 2: week one, week six, those three instances when they were
[5:22] Speaker 2: behind by more than one score, Goff did seem– he
[5:26] Speaker 2: didn't struggle. He only didn't complete three passes. But the
[5:30] Speaker 2: offense didn't hum. Did you think that was fair critique? Yes.
[5:33] Speaker 2: And I drank out of my Bomani Jones mug.
[5:35] Speaker 1: Yes.
[5:36] Speaker 2: Yes, I do.
[5:36] Speaker 1: And I do think that– So the thing about Goff is,
[5:41] Speaker 1: Goff is one of these guys, like, I say this
[5:44] Speaker 1: about Joe Burrow, and I don't mean it to be insulting,
[5:47] Speaker 1: but it's just factually true, that, wow, he sure looks
[5:50] Speaker 1: awesome when everybody else is too. Right? So, like, Jared
[5:56] Speaker 1: Goff built his career off the time that Sean McVay
[5:58] Speaker 1: looked most like a genius, and that was when they
[6:00] Speaker 1: had Todd Gurley.
[6:01] Speaker 2: Right?
[6:01] Speaker 1: Like, you put somebody back there, and he can, if
[6:05] Speaker 1: you don't ask him to do too much, he might
[6:07] Speaker 1: be able to give you the world. And so, yeah,
[6:09] Speaker 1: if you have to play from behind or like, hey,
[6:11] Speaker 1: go get it for us, Tiger. Tiger is not that
[6:14] Speaker 1: kind of Tiger. The thing that I say about the
[6:16] Speaker 1: Lions is because of the nature of their running game,
[6:20] Speaker 1: when they get behind, I don't really see why you
[6:23] Speaker 1: need to stop running the ball.
[6:24] Speaker 2: I totally agree. Like they were never behind in the
[6:27] Speaker 2: Chiefs game enough to where it felt like they were
[6:30] Speaker 2: never behind three scores. Like the most they were ever
[6:33] Speaker 2: down was 10 points. I guess 13 at the very end. But,
[6:37] Speaker 2: you know, effectively 10. And it just felt like you
[6:41] Speaker 2: could keep running the ball. And the other thing that
[6:45] Speaker 2: I was surprised they didn't do more of, and I
[6:50] Speaker 2: think if they were to meet in the Super Bowl,
[6:53] Speaker 2: they would, is passing to Jameer Gibbs. Like where the
[6:58] Speaker 2: Chiefs defense, I don't have the numbers to back this up.
[7:02] Speaker 2: I haven't looked at this. I just know from watching
[7:05] Speaker 2: them under spags, I'm not talking swing passes, but I'm
[7:11] Speaker 2: talking getting a running back out in a route as
[7:15] Speaker 2: a receiver because the Chiefs love playing all those linebackers
[7:20] Speaker 2: and you get Bolton on Jameer Gibbs and that's a problem.
[7:24] Speaker 2: And so I thought they would have done more of
[7:26] Speaker 2: that and they didn't so much.
[7:28] Speaker 1: I think the thing to watch out for with the
[7:30] Speaker 1: Lions is, looking at personnel, they have to scheme big plays.
[7:34] Speaker 1: Because the only real big play receiver they have is
[7:37] Speaker 1: the dude that got caught betting from the team facility.
[7:40] Speaker 1: You know, like, you got to put a lot of
[7:43] Speaker 1: faith in an untrustworthy fellow in order to make it happen.
[7:46] Speaker 2: But he's really the only guy. Like, he and Gibbs, like.
[7:50] Speaker 1: They can't stop running the ball with Gibbs because Gibbs
[7:52] Speaker 1: is as much a big play threat as anybody outside
[7:55] Speaker 1: of JMO is. If you're going to figure something out
[7:57] Speaker 1: like they they're going to have to manufacture this and
[8:00] Speaker 1: they're going to have to somehow figure out how to
[8:01] Speaker 1: stay healthy because they feel kind of like San Francisco
[8:03] Speaker 1: where we play big, strong, physical football. And the line
[8:06] Speaker 1: between the hammer and the nail is like really narrow.
[8:10] Speaker 1: And they're dudes like Kirby Joseph is not physically there
[8:13] Speaker 1: on top of everything else.
[8:14] Speaker 2: Right.
[8:15] Speaker 1: All those guys on defense are that are hurt. It's
[8:18] Speaker 1: going to be a tough road for them. next game
[8:20] Speaker 1: they play just because they're so physically beat up. And it's,
[8:23] Speaker 1: we're not deep enough into the season. Like last year,
[8:25] Speaker 1: they ended the season with a mass unit, but that
[8:27] Speaker 1: was ending.
[8:28] Speaker 2: That was ending. It wasn't early. And it's also why
[8:32] Speaker 2: branch getting himself suspended for a huge game play. This
[8:36] Speaker 2: could determine the one seat.
[8:38] Speaker 4: Yeah.
[8:38] Speaker 2: Like the, and I'm not saying it's just down to
[8:41] Speaker 2: these two teams, but if Tampa wins and, they have
[8:45] Speaker 2: an effective three-game lead on Detroit for the one seed
[8:49] Speaker 2: because they'll be two up in the standings and have
[8:51] Speaker 2: the head-to-head tiebreaker. And listen, I understand Branch probably didn't
[8:55] Speaker 2: think he was going to get suspended and wasn't thinking,
[8:57] Speaker 2: but that is a brutal time and a brutal team
[9:02] Speaker 2: to have one of your safeties, as you mentioned, Kirby Joseph,
[9:05] Speaker 2: who limped, like the way he came off the field
[9:08] Speaker 2: in that game, I was like, oh, he can't play again.
[9:11] Speaker 2: And then he did come back. That was weird. But
[9:13] Speaker 2: his knees bothering him. And Branch now suspended. Now, the
[9:17] Speaker 2: glass half full or three quarters full. You probably just played,
[9:22] Speaker 2: you know. the best team in the league by a
[9:24] Speaker 2: large margin. And so maybe that's it. I mean, maybe
[9:28] Speaker 2: you guys were the only team in the league that
[9:30] Speaker 2: would have held the buzzsaw that is the Kansas City
[9:33] Speaker 2: Chiefs to just 30 points this weekend.
[9:36] Speaker 1: This is why, aside from the fact that I watch,
[9:38] Speaker 1: I don't typically watch night games at Nick's house because
[9:40] Speaker 1: I have to get back home.
[9:42] Speaker 2: But this is the other reason I thought it would
[9:43] Speaker 2: be better for us that if.
[9:44] Speaker 1: It was a 430 kick, I'd have broke out my
[9:47] Speaker 1: Barry Sanders throwback and come on over to the crib
[9:49] Speaker 1: and endangered.
[9:50] Speaker 2: I thought you might show up. Honestly, I thought there
[9:52] Speaker 2: was a chance you were going to show up after
[9:54] Speaker 2: that first drive when they're just running it down the
[9:57] Speaker 2: field i was like if they go up seven nothing
[10:00] Speaker 2: bo could bo's four minutes away by car like bo
[10:03] Speaker 2: could show up at any moment i was prepared for
[10:06] Speaker 2: it it crossed my mind it's not a difficult subway
[10:08] Speaker 2: ride at all it it it it dawned on your
[10:11] Speaker 2: boy that that might have been it but with the
[10:12] Speaker 2: chiefs I am with you. They're okay. They're just fine.
[10:17] Speaker 2: It looked a little tough early on, but now that
[10:19] Speaker 2: they got the.
[10:19] Speaker 1: Look, honestly, everything changed for me with that Thornton dude.
[10:24] Speaker 1: I'm not saying he's the greatest receiver in the world,
[10:26] Speaker 1: but I am saying he's running by people and worthy,
[10:29] Speaker 1: at least until the next time he runs into somebody,
[10:32] Speaker 1: is out here running by people. And Rasheed Rice will
[10:35] Speaker 1: be back at some point.
[10:37] Speaker 2: They had.
[10:38] Speaker 1: for a couple of years, a bunch of, we can
[10:40] Speaker 1: just get open guys. And now we look up and realize,
[10:43] Speaker 1: Oh no, they got a lot of, we can run
[10:45] Speaker 1: by you guys.
[10:46] Speaker 2: Well, and so they have now the Thornton. So I
[10:50] Speaker 2: thought this last game was a good example. Thornton didn't
[10:52] Speaker 2: have a catch, but he impacted the game when he
[10:55] Speaker 2: was on the field. It was not that much because,
[10:58] Speaker 2: because of his speed plus my home's ability to throw
[11:02] Speaker 2: it anywhere. And my home's, putting on tape, I will
[11:05] Speaker 2: throw to this guy. He's not just a decoy. Like,
[11:08] Speaker 2: if he's open down the field, I will throw to him.
[11:11] Speaker 2: The way it opened up the intermediate part, which is
[11:15] Speaker 2: why people are overthinking. They're like, why is Kelsey better
[11:20] Speaker 2: this year? It's not because he lost seven pounds, in
[11:23] Speaker 2: my opinion. It's because there's less congestion in the middle
[11:29] Speaker 2: of the field because... Safeties have to worry about Taequann Thornton.
[11:33] Speaker 2: The Chiefs are throwing deep again. Now you have Xavier there.
[11:36] Speaker 2: And where I am super bullish is, listen, I give
[11:39] Speaker 2: credit to Juju for doing his role great. He blocks.
[11:45] Speaker 2: He's tough. He plays that kind of intermediate slot receiver.
[11:49] Speaker 2: But at this point in his career, I bet he
[11:51] Speaker 2: runs a 4-7. Like his knees are shot. They are
[11:57] Speaker 2: going to just drop Rasheed Rice into the role Juju's
[12:01] Speaker 2: been playing. And you're going to have Kelsey and Rasheed
[12:04] Speaker 2: Rice in the intermediate. Tyquan Thornton, basically, my guess is
[12:09] Speaker 2: running nine routes when he's on the field or Hollywood Brown.
[12:12] Speaker 2: And then Xavier, the thing about Xavier Worthy, and you
[12:15] Speaker 2: obviously know this as Texas guy. Yes, he's a 4'2,
[12:19] Speaker 2: 40 and weighs 160 pounds. but for good or for bad,
[12:24] Speaker 2: the guy does run all the routes. He's not just
[12:27] Speaker 2: a deep. Now, maybe he should be mostly a deep
[12:29] Speaker 2: downfield receiver because he's going to get beat up, but
[12:32] Speaker 2: Xavier can, you know, run posts, can run ends, can
[12:35] Speaker 2: do anything. And so I just think they're going to
[12:38] Speaker 2: be an incredibly difficult offense to defend, especially since my
[12:44] Speaker 2: homes now trust his offensive line for the first time
[12:46] Speaker 2: in a few years.
[12:47] Speaker 1: Yeah. And, The defense looks like a defense because that was,
[12:50] Speaker 1: I think most of us would agree when it was
[12:52] Speaker 1: looking bad early this year, it had as much to
[12:54] Speaker 1: do with defense as anything else, especially since Chris Jones,
[12:57] Speaker 1: you know, is willing to play football apparently. I don't
[13:00] Speaker 1: know how excited he is about it, but you know,
[13:03] Speaker 1: punch in, punch out.
[13:04] Speaker 2: Listen, when you're, when for a decade, your season's 21
[13:09] Speaker 2: games for a sport that's designed to play about 15,
[13:13] Speaker 2: you have to pick your spots. And Chris, in that
[13:16] Speaker 2: Lions game, by the way, as he historically has, made
[13:20] Speaker 2: his biggest impact on the biggest third down late in
[13:25] Speaker 2: the game to kind of ice it. I'm not worried
[13:27] Speaker 2: about Chris Jones. I do think they're going to make
[13:32] Speaker 2: a trade. And the question is, are they going to
[13:36] Speaker 2: trade for a running back or attempt to trade for
[13:39] Speaker 2: a pass rusher? I have been saying running back, and
[13:44] Speaker 2: I think running back is far easier to come by
[13:47] Speaker 2: It seems like the consensus is, or close to consensus is,
[13:51] Speaker 2: they're more likely to go after a pass rusher. I
[13:54] Speaker 2: would just, listen, I have massive respect for Isaiah Pacheco.
[13:59] Speaker 2: He does, it appears, breaking his leg last year sadly
[14:03] Speaker 2: changed the trajectory of his career. He's just not the
[14:07] Speaker 2: same guy. And it is, you know, it's funny. Your
[14:10] Speaker 2: favorite person in the world, my youngest daughter, Deanna, her
[14:14] Speaker 2: entire career, of watching professional football is watching Chiefs games
[14:19] Speaker 2: with me. Yes. And so we were watching, oh, some
[14:25] Speaker 2: other game. It doesn't matter. That was just on. And
[14:29] Speaker 2: the running back went for six yards. And she turns
[14:32] Speaker 2: to me. She's like, that was really good by him,
[14:35] Speaker 2: wasn't it, Daddy? And I'm like, actually, that's pretty normal.
[14:38] Speaker 2: She's like, no. And I'm like, oh, you're just used
[14:42] Speaker 2: to Pacheco getting a yard and a half every single time.
[14:46] Speaker 2: You just think the running back is supposed to run
[14:49] Speaker 2: into the offensive line and it's second and eight. So
[14:52] Speaker 2: you saw a different running back get you to second
[14:54] Speaker 2: and four and thought it was a huge play. So
[14:57] Speaker 2: if Pacheco's not going to bounce back, I think Adding
[15:01] Speaker 2: a running back could really add a dynamism to this offense.
[15:06] Speaker 2: But either way, it doesn't matter because nobody else is
[15:09] Speaker 2: good in the AFC.
[15:11] Speaker 1: Football through the eyes of an uninvested child is so
[15:14] Speaker 1: great as my favorite Deanna line from football is her
[15:16] Speaker 1: walking in, looking at her father and.
[15:18] Speaker 2: Saying, and I quote, who do we want to win today? Oh, yeah,
[15:22] Speaker 2: that was right. That was not watching the Chiefs.
[15:24] Speaker 1: Yeah, I was like, hey, buddy, I think you need
[15:26] Speaker 1: to do some math here about what this is telling you.
[15:30] Speaker 2: About what life is. Yeah, she, listen, let me tell
[15:34] Speaker 2: you something else that you didn't know. Because she knows
[15:36] Speaker 2: I bet on the games. And now every Tuesday morning
[15:43] Speaker 2: when I take her to school, this is, I think
[15:47] Speaker 2: you might actually not like this, Beau. But she says
[15:52] Speaker 2: to me, she goes, can I quiz you? And what
[15:57] Speaker 2: that means is She wants me to open whatever sports
[16:02] Speaker 2: betting app of my choice and her to do a
[16:06] Speaker 2: version of the Simmons and Sal guess the lines with me.
[16:09] Speaker 2: Where she will tell me the game and I will
[16:12] Speaker 2: guess what I think the point spread is and she'll
[16:14] Speaker 2: tell me if I'm wrong or right. And we've done
[16:17] Speaker 2: that for six weeks now of this season.
[16:21] Speaker 1: Have you seen the episode of The Simpsons where Homer
[16:24] Speaker 1: and Lisa are watching football because she's giving him great
[16:27] Speaker 1: tips as she.
[16:28] Speaker 2: Comes into class?
[16:31] Speaker 1: And the Saints kick the meaningful field goal to cover
[16:34] Speaker 1: the spread.
[16:35] Speaker 2: Yeah, that's right. Yeah, that's where we're at. It's great parenting.
[16:38] Speaker 2: I don't care.
[16:40] Speaker 1: Well, I mean, I'm surprised you haven't bought her a
[16:41] Speaker 1: Baker Mayfield jersey as she is roughly his height. And
[16:44] Speaker 1: he is playing well enough that somebody would have perhaps
[16:46] Speaker 1: won one of those jerseys.
[16:48] Speaker 2: Are you shocked by this, Bo? Okay.
[16:51] Speaker 1: So I have a slight bit of Nick Wright in
[16:55] Speaker 1: me where, and what I mean by that is this,
[16:59] Speaker 1: like being good at negotiating involves having the stomach to
[17:03] Speaker 1: hold your position deep, deep, deep, deep, deep.
[17:06] Speaker 2: And knowing that it's ultimately going to be correct.
[17:09] Speaker 1: You are willing to do that in the face of
[17:11] Speaker 1: what can obviously seem like being wrong in an uncanny
[17:14] Speaker 1: fashion that often pays off greatly, right?
[17:17] Speaker 2: I'll jump off ship way before you do. You hold
[17:19] Speaker 2: it down.
[17:22] Speaker 1: I cannot jump off the SS Mayfield nor the SS
[17:27] Speaker 1: Darnold in the fashion that I have been in completely.
[17:32] Speaker 2: Here's what I say about Baker.
[17:34] Speaker 1: I think that we mess up and we get too
[17:36] Speaker 1: locked into the idea of everybody being a franchise quarterback
[17:39] Speaker 1: and we ignore the value of a starting quarterback. I
[17:42] Speaker 1: just watched a starting quarterback win the Super Bowl last year,
[17:45] Speaker 1: for example. I think that Baker is upper echelon at
[17:49] Speaker 1: this point of your starting quarterbacks, right? While also playing
[17:52] Speaker 1: for a team that plays in a poor division. But,
[17:57] Speaker 1: He is throwing to people of whom I have never
[18:00] Speaker 1: heard right now. I would also, however, like to give
[18:04] Speaker 1: some credit to those people of whom I have never heard.
[18:07] Speaker 2: Because they're open.
[18:08] Speaker 1: Like they are getting really excellent wide receiver play from
[18:12] Speaker 1: dudes who I had never heard of. But if there's
[18:15] Speaker 1: anything Baker Mayfield has ever been able to do is
[18:18] Speaker 1: throw the ball on the money. And if you're giving
[18:21] Speaker 1: him a bunch of dudes that are getting open, which is,
[18:23] Speaker 1: this is, not everybody can do this. If the dudes
[18:27] Speaker 1: are open, they ain't even got to be a lot open.
[18:29] Speaker 1: If they're open, that's a dude that's going to get
[18:30] Speaker 1: them the ball. And he is doing it and now
[18:32] Speaker 1: playing with a confidence where he looks like college Baker
[18:35] Speaker 1: Mayfield outside the pocket, making things happen.
[18:37] Speaker 2: Like, yeah, this is, this has been a lot.
[18:39] Speaker 1: Like he's on his way to the Brian site, Bert Jones,
[18:44] Speaker 1: Matt Ryan, Boomer Esiason.
[18:46] Speaker 2: Hey, that guy won an MVP. Won an MVP, man.
[18:49] Speaker 2: Won an MVP. And he, listen, he's always had a
[18:54] Speaker 2: crazy strong arm and been, as you mentioned, crazy accurate. He,
[19:01] Speaker 2: at his worst, so many of his best non-throwing moments
[19:07] Speaker 2: for the last two years look just like his worst
[19:10] Speaker 2: non-throwing moments from early in his career, which is him
[19:15] Speaker 2: seemingly overestimating his athleticism compared to the guy chasing him.
[19:21] Speaker 2: And it felt like in Cleveland and certainly in Carolina,
[19:24] Speaker 2: those ended in egregious sacks. And now for the last
[19:28] Speaker 2: two years, they end in some of the sickest plays
[19:32] Speaker 2: anyone has all year. Last year when Nicky Bosa has
[19:36] Speaker 2: him and they are basically both holding each other's jersey
[19:40] Speaker 2: and he makes the fourth down throw. The third and
[19:44] Speaker 2: 14 in a one-point game this weekend where he is
[19:47] Speaker 2: wrapped up, escapes, and then somehow sidelines his way to
[19:50] Speaker 2: 14 yards. Listen, I think it is one of the
[19:55] Speaker 2: coolest stories in NFL history if he continues this and
[20:00] Speaker 2: pulls this off. I also think there is something to
[20:07] Speaker 2: be learned because you're talking about guys getting open. And,
[20:10] Speaker 2: you know, he obviously has gone through, what, four OCs
[20:15] Speaker 2: in Tampa. Because his OC, everyone is so, maybe it
[20:19] Speaker 2: stops now, but Baker playing well was so shocking to people.
[20:23] Speaker 2: He got people who had coaching jobs. People were like, well,
[20:26] Speaker 2: it can't be Baker. Dave Canales, you get a job.
[20:29] Speaker 2: It can't be Baker. Liam Cohen, you get a job.
[20:31] Speaker 2: So he's going through all of that. And I think
[20:34] Speaker 2: there is an element, and tell me if you buy this,
[20:38] Speaker 2: because this, This is where I really love talking about
[20:42] Speaker 2: this sport specifically because more than any other sport, I
[20:48] Speaker 2: do think there is more to be learned from the
[20:53] Speaker 2: guys who played it that can't be explained in the
[20:58] Speaker 2: numbers or the data more so than basketball or baseball
[21:02] Speaker 2: to me by a lot because it's so hard to
[21:06] Speaker 2: And it's so brutal that there is some of that, like, listen,
[21:11] Speaker 2: you know, running a run for four yards is better
[21:16] Speaker 2: for your team than a pass for four yards. You
[21:18] Speaker 2: just have to take my word for it. That type
[21:20] Speaker 2: of stuff. I believe the guys. Like, I believe them.
[21:25] Speaker 2: And I say all that to say this. There is
[21:27] Speaker 2: an element of Baker that the way his teammates love
[21:33] Speaker 2: him and the way he seems to be the true,
[21:37] Speaker 2: and I know it sounds cliche, but guy's guy, alpha leader,
[21:42] Speaker 2: I think makes everyone better. And I actually think we
[21:46] Speaker 2: are seeing something of the exact opposite in Miami, where
[21:52] Speaker 2: I think from a personality standpoint and what the players
[21:56] Speaker 2: on the team think about their quarterback, off the record,
[22:01] Speaker 2: behind the scenes, in Tampa compared to Miami, are diametrically opposed.
[22:07] Speaker 2: And I think that has a real part of the
[22:10] Speaker 2: reason why two teams that, yes, there is a talent
[22:14] Speaker 2: gap between them, but it's not a 5-1 to 1-5
[22:17] Speaker 2: talent gap. And Tua is supposed to... Baker has obviously
[22:22] Speaker 2: different limitations than Tua, but they're both undersized quarterbacks with
[22:27] Speaker 2: some limitations. But Baker's guys freaking love him. And it
[22:33] Speaker 2: feels like Tua's team... is kind of sick of him.
[22:37] Speaker 2: And I think that shows up every Sunday. And so
[22:39] Speaker 2: I think the Bucs get a real edge from it.
[22:42] Speaker 2: And I think it's one of the reasons the Dolphins stink. Well,
[22:45] Speaker 2: it's interesting because.
[22:46] Speaker 1: And look, we all like different things, right? But... It
[22:52] Speaker 1: feels like in real life, if you were to put
[22:53] Speaker 1: those two guys next to each other and be like,
[22:55] Speaker 1: which one of them do you think is more likable?
[22:57] Speaker 1: The answer may not be Tua, but it really isn't
[23:00] Speaker 1: Baker Mayfield.
[23:00] Speaker 2: Correct.
[23:01] Speaker 1: In the context of the football. And I wonder how
[23:04] Speaker 1: it went for Baker when it wasn't going well. Because
[23:06] Speaker 1: the question I always had about him is chip on
[23:09] Speaker 1: shoulder guy. generally has this problem which is you're proving
[23:12] Speaker 1: everybody wrong but what what do you do when they
[23:14] Speaker 1: start looking right like what happens when you start thinking
[23:17] Speaker 1: they're right do you what's your what's your next play
[23:20] Speaker 1: like do you have that if you're fueled by that
[23:22] Speaker 1: and he has managed to turn into this whole different
[23:25] Speaker 1: you know this better player than we even saw at
[23:28] Speaker 1: the height of it in cleveland and you're right the
[23:31] Speaker 1: people are around him because there's a confidence to him
[23:33] Speaker 1: that is magnetic i think And they know if there's
[23:37] Speaker 1: a throw, he's going to make it. Like the guys
[23:39] Speaker 1: that hold the ball too long, that has to be demoralizing.
[23:42] Speaker 1: I don't think that guys who play with Baker Mayfield
[23:45] Speaker 1: are running down the field. And then if they're open,
[23:49] Speaker 1: not getting the ball, right?
[23:50] Speaker 2: Correct.
[23:50] Speaker 1: There's got to be something for that. The thing with Tua,
[23:53] Speaker 1: it does seem to be very clear. That press conference
[23:56] Speaker 1: that he did, and I've heard you say this, and
[23:58] Speaker 1: you're right, he needs to get out of the press
[23:59] Speaker 1: conference business. He doesn't have that club in his bag.
[24:03] Speaker 2: He's not good at it. No. But these cats don't
[24:07] Speaker 2: seem to respect him.
[24:08] Speaker 1: Like when you're talking about you're having players only meetings
[24:10] Speaker 1: and they don't respect you. Mike McCoy, the interim coach
[24:14] Speaker 1: now with the Titans, was talking about how going into
[24:16] Speaker 1: that game, you know, that got Callahan fired and Jeff Simmons,
[24:20] Speaker 1: Jeffrey Simmons had said they had the worst week of practice,
[24:22] Speaker 1: like all of these things. McCoy came out and said, yeah,
[24:25] Speaker 1: there was some something in practice. Maybe in the whole
[24:27] Speaker 1: practice was drills or whatever. But Jeffrey Simmons was like, hey,
[24:30] Speaker 1: we're going to do that again. And then everybody went
[24:34] Speaker 1: and they did it again. This is on an awful team, right?
[24:38] Speaker 1: With really nothing to play for. And that dude said, no,
[24:40] Speaker 1: we're going to do that again.
[24:41] Speaker 2: And they did it again.
[24:44] Speaker 1: Do you think that if Tua Tungabailoa told his team,
[24:46] Speaker 1: we're going to do that again, that they would do
[24:48] Speaker 1: it again?
[24:48] Speaker 2: Because he can't even get them to come to no
[24:50] Speaker 2: goddamn meetings. Well, and I think part of that is
[24:53] Speaker 2: because it's always everyone else's fault. There is a stunning...
[25:03] Speaker 2: Some of the things he says after games that he
[25:07] Speaker 2: plays terribly, you would blanch at if Patrick Mahomes or
[25:12] Speaker 2: Josh Allen said it in a game where they played
[25:15] Speaker 2: great and a dropped pass turned into an interception. You'd
[25:19] Speaker 2: still be like, man, kind of part of the deal
[25:22] Speaker 2: with being the quarterback is when you're in front of
[25:25] Speaker 2: the podium, it's always your fault. Like that's one of
[25:27] Speaker 2: the reasons you're kind of part of management and you
[25:30] Speaker 2: get paid so much more is you gotta eat it,
[25:36] Speaker 2: even it, like the, again, I'll use Mahomes as an example.
[25:40] Speaker 2: Now he was throwing to a, you know, a future
[25:42] Speaker 2: Hall of Famer and his best friend, but the interception
[25:44] Speaker 2: against the Eagles that hit Travis Kelsey in his hands
[25:48] Speaker 2: for a touchdown. Patrick said, he's like, yeah, I threw
[25:51] Speaker 2: it to a bad spot. Like, no, you didn't. Like
[25:53] Speaker 2: you're just, you didn't, but you're being a good guy.
[25:57] Speaker 2: Two is coming off a three interception game. And he's
[26:01] Speaker 2: talking about things other guys need to do. And this
[26:04] Speaker 2: is my kind of bigger picture tricky Tua take. Which is,
[26:13] Speaker 2: I think there has been, understandably, from a human perspective,
[26:23] Speaker 2: a kid glove treatment the last couple of years with
[26:27] Speaker 2: criticism of Tua. in the media because all of us
[26:31] Speaker 2: know like, man, this guy's like literally putting his life
[26:37] Speaker 2: on the line in a way. I know everybody is,
[26:39] Speaker 2: but in a different way, he has dealt with such
[26:43] Speaker 2: horrifying injuries that to me, there's, there's an element of,
[26:49] Speaker 2: and again, I want to be careful with how I'm
[26:51] Speaker 2: saying this, but where you, just like if DeMar Hamlin got,
[26:59] Speaker 2: beat for a touchdown I don't know that he would
[27:01] Speaker 2: be criticized the way and it's totally understandable it's like
[27:03] Speaker 2: we've seen what the guy's been through and it feels
[27:06] Speaker 2: like Tua has coasted a bit on that like him
[27:11] Speaker 2: going after Mike McDaniel indirectly or directly is so crazy
[27:17] Speaker 2: to me it's like bro Mike McDaniel is the reason
[27:20] Speaker 2: you got that second contract like we can talk about
[27:22] Speaker 2: Mike McDaniel the head coach whatever it is Mike McDaniel's
[27:25] Speaker 2: offense and system Is what led to you getting paid
[27:30] Speaker 2: and did not take accountability for your own poor play
[27:35] Speaker 2: is really jarring and disconfitting to me. Yeah, I think
[27:40] Speaker 2: that is all fair.
[27:41] Speaker 1: And I also think that for the Dolphins, right, who
[27:45] Speaker 1: are in some ways kind of like seven up. They're
[27:48] Speaker 1: kind of like RC Cola. They're kind of like what
[27:50] Speaker 1: the Packers were in the 80s, which is, somebody tell you,
[27:54] Speaker 1: you know, back when I was young, this was one
[27:56] Speaker 1: of the most important franchises in the NFL.
[27:59] Speaker 2: I mean, they went to, Don Shula went to four
[28:02] Speaker 2: Super Bowls with his team.
[28:04] Speaker 1: Went to three in a row. Yeah, and went to
[28:07] Speaker 1: one with Danny Woodley in 1982. Like, this was a really,
[28:10] Speaker 1: really important franchise who fired him, by the way, for
[28:13] Speaker 1: going nine and seven, and it ain't been the same since,
[28:16] Speaker 1: just throwing it out there. But they have fallen off
[28:19] Speaker 1: so far, but those two are a bad combination as
[28:24] Speaker 1: your quarterback and head coach because people got to be
[28:26] Speaker 1: afraid of somebody, right? Like Flores was too much of
[28:30] Speaker 1: a jerk being in charge of that team. McDaniel, perhaps
[28:34] Speaker 1: not enough of a jerk, but somebody's got to be
[28:37] Speaker 1: the somebody. So like when Tyreek Hill is acting up,
[28:40] Speaker 1: somebody got to do something more than whine about it
[28:41] Speaker 1: in a press conference. Somebody's got to be the one
[28:44] Speaker 1: that carries enough weight to be like, hey, man, This
[28:46] Speaker 1: stops now.
[28:47] Speaker 4: Right.
[28:47] Speaker 2: Neither of those guys seem to be the guy who
[28:49] Speaker 2: can do it. No. And, and I, listen, I think
[28:53] Speaker 2: Mike McDaniel is a really good case study in, uh,
[29:03] Speaker 2: there is so much more to being a head coach
[29:07] Speaker 2: than being a play caller and being, you know, designing
[29:11] Speaker 2: fancy offense. And by the way, I actually think Mike
[29:16] Speaker 2: McDaniel could be a really good head coach again, if
[29:21] Speaker 2: he were sorry to invoke the chiefs here, but like
[29:25] Speaker 2: if Andy Reed took a leave of absence and it's like, Hey,
[29:28] Speaker 2: we got to drop someone in for a season. I
[29:31] Speaker 2: think if you have a team with a true leadership structure,
[29:35] Speaker 2: a real culture and real internal accountability and Mike McDaniel, can,
[29:41] Speaker 2: you know, most of his job is the fancy play-calling
[29:44] Speaker 2: offense stuff, I think that would work. Like, but I
[29:47] Speaker 2: don't think he is a guy who is going to
[29:51] Speaker 2: be able, and I think we're seeing it, be able
[29:55] Speaker 2: to command the room when things are going sideways on
[29:58] Speaker 2: your squad. And so you do need, to your point,
[30:03] Speaker 2: your co-leader, the quarterback of the team, to be someone
[30:07] Speaker 2: people feel accountable to. And Tua clearly is not that.
[30:13] Speaker 2: Just flatly is not that.
[30:15] Speaker 1: I appreciate that McDaniel is self-aware about who he is.
[30:19] Speaker 2: I mean, come on. You know what I mean? That
[30:23] Speaker 2: ain't Ray Nitschke.
[30:24] Speaker 3: Right?
[30:25] Speaker 1: You know who you're dealing with on that. But I
[30:27] Speaker 1: remember early in him taking the job, it was an
[30:29] Speaker 1: interesting interview he did where he was talking about motivating players.
[30:32] Speaker 1: And he was like, you know, the thing that I've
[30:34] Speaker 1: come to learn in doing this job is that what
[30:37] Speaker 1: these guys really want to know is that you're going
[30:41] Speaker 1: to put them in a position to get paid, right?
[30:43] Speaker 1: That you're going to put them in a position to
[30:45] Speaker 1: take care, you know, they want to take care of
[30:46] Speaker 1: their families.
[30:46] Speaker 2: They want to do these things.
[30:48] Speaker 1: And if you can Tell them that we're doing things
[30:51] Speaker 1: that's going to get you paid.
[30:52] Speaker 2: You will get them.
[30:53] Speaker 1: And that is, I think, a great and important observation, right?
[30:57] Speaker 1: Like there's nothing tone deaf about it. There's no point
[30:59] Speaker 1: being missed in that. But that is only part of this, right?
[31:03] Speaker 1: Like I really do think in the end, especially for
[31:05] Speaker 1: that type of job, but there's something that's, you know,
[31:08] Speaker 1: it's a little bit primal if we're being perfectly honest.
[31:11] Speaker 1: you got to relate to them also in ways that
[31:14] Speaker 1: are somewhat primal. Like you talked to Dominique about Ray
[31:17] Speaker 1: Lewis and like what kind of leader Ray Lewis is.
[31:19] Speaker 1: Ray Lewis ain't out there like everybody's going to get
[31:22] Speaker 1: paid after the game.
[31:23] Speaker 2: No, no, no, no, no. Ray Lewis got something different
[31:25] Speaker 2: about him that makes you want to go where he goes. Well,
[31:28] Speaker 2: and so I hadn't thought about that point by McDaniel
[31:35] Speaker 2: in a while. Did he say that with Ryan Clark?
[31:37] Speaker 2: I don't remember. I can't remember where. I think it
[31:39] Speaker 2: was on the pivot, but doesn't matter. I guess it
[31:42] Speaker 2: does matter, but the point stands. And I saw it
[31:46] Speaker 2: when it happened, but I hadn't thought about it since
[31:48] Speaker 2: then until you brought it up. I also wonder, is
[31:51] Speaker 2: there a limitation to that for some guys because if
[31:56] Speaker 2: and when they then do get paid, do they then
[32:00] Speaker 2: kind of tune you out? It's like, okay, job here's done.
[32:03] Speaker 2: You know, some guys you would hope it's like, oh,
[32:06] Speaker 2: he told me do this. I'll get paid. I got paid.
[32:08] Speaker 2: That's my guy forever. Other guys, it might be like, okay, well,
[32:12] Speaker 2: you know, we'll check back in when the contract's coming up.
[32:16] Speaker 2: But for the time being, I'm good here. And so, yeah,
[32:19] Speaker 2: they're in a, they're in a really bad, you know,
[32:22] Speaker 2: really bad spot. They probably shouldn't be as bad as
[32:24] Speaker 2: their record is. And I don't know. I don't know
[32:29] Speaker 2: if they're going to fire McDaniel. I mean, I can't
[32:32] Speaker 2: imagine him being the coach there next year, but the
[32:35] Speaker 2: fact that they didn't fire him this week makes me
[32:37] Speaker 2: think maybe he survives the year. I don't know. Let
[32:39] Speaker 2: me tell you something.
[32:41] Speaker 1: If they don't fire McDaniel, maybe they wait until the
[32:43] Speaker 1: end of the year to do it, but if somehow
[32:44] Speaker 1: Mike McDaniel is the coach next year, I can't tell
[32:48] Speaker 1: if that is a staggering indictment of Brian.
[32:50] Speaker 2: Flores or more fodder for his lawsuit.
[32:53] Speaker 1: I can't like, because that would be incredibly telling.
[32:57] Speaker 2: They were like, nah, we'll do another year of this.
[33:00] Speaker 2: By the way, I don't know if this is on
[33:01] Speaker 2: the schedule for our conversation today, but I wanted to
[33:04] Speaker 2: get your take on it. Can we do, since we're
[33:07] Speaker 2: talking about firing coaches, can we do a couple minutes
[33:09] Speaker 2: on James Franklin? Coming up next. Yes.
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[34:36] Speaker 1: All right, we are back with Nick Wright, who has
[34:38] Speaker 1: made a special request. He has James Franklin thoughts, and
[34:41] Speaker 1: I'm curious to hear them.
[34:42] Speaker 2: Well, first I would like to hear just a quick,
[34:46] Speaker 2: because I know you've talked about it, version of yours.
[34:49] Speaker 2: Because I care more about what Bomani Jones thinks about
[34:54] Speaker 2: college football than what anybody else in the media thinks
[34:57] Speaker 2: about college football. I have... What I would consider casual
[35:01] Speaker 2: James Franklin thoughts that I want to run by you.
[35:04] Speaker 2: But first, I want to be briefed on your general feeling.
[35:07] Speaker 1: Long of the short is not just how many games
[35:09] Speaker 1: you win or how many games you lose. It's what
[35:11] Speaker 1: games you win and what games you lose. And in
[35:14] Speaker 1: the end, he did a little not enough winning of
[35:16] Speaker 1: the right games. And then for the last two weeks,
[35:19] Speaker 1: way too much of losing the wrong ones. Okay, so
[35:22] Speaker 1: that's put perfectly.
[35:24] Speaker 2: It is crazy that like 20 days ago, he had
[35:27] Speaker 2: a lead in overtime against Oregon, and now he's just out.
[35:30] Speaker 1: They were the national championship favorite two and a.
[35:34] Speaker 2: Half weeks ago. So here's my question, essentially. Yes. That
[35:41] Speaker 2: I trust just your institutional knowledge of college football to
[35:45] Speaker 2: help me with. How good of a program is Penn State?
[35:49] Speaker 1: That is the fundamental question. That is the one that
[35:52] Speaker 1: I think is left unanswered is how good is it?
[35:55] Speaker 2: When you have one coach there for 50 years, there's
[35:59] Speaker 2: no way to be like what the program is or without.
[36:03] Speaker 2: So it's not like some of these other programs that
[36:07] Speaker 2: had this amazing coach for 10 years. He left and
[36:10] Speaker 2: then you found out what you really were. So my worry,
[36:15] Speaker 2: if I were Penn State, is, and I'm, let me
[36:19] Speaker 2: give you my, you know, what I'm scarred by a bit.
[36:22] Speaker 2: I get to Syracuse and my, after my freshman year there,
[36:29] Speaker 2: after going six and six, a couple of years in
[36:31] Speaker 2: a row under Paul Pasqualone, who they were, they were
[36:35] Speaker 2: a program under Pasqualone that usually won eight games. They
[36:39] Speaker 2: were like an eight, nine win program. Six was disappointing,
[36:43] Speaker 2: but that was the absolute floor. And, you know, five
[36:46] Speaker 2: out of eight years, they'd finished this year in the
[36:50] Speaker 2: top 25, close to 20. You know, that's who they were.
[36:54] Speaker 2: They were like, we're better than this. And for the
[36:57] Speaker 2: next 20 years, they finished this season ranked one time.
[37:01] Speaker 2: They just, in reaching for a ceiling, they didn't realize
[37:06] Speaker 2: the floor, like the floor is Greg Robinson and you
[37:09] Speaker 2: are the worst team in college football. It felt like,
[37:14] Speaker 2: you know, other examples. Tom Osborne's at Nebraska. It's like
[37:17] Speaker 2: the greatest run maybe ever in a short period of time.
[37:21] Speaker 2: Frank Solich goes there. They're really good, but it's like, man,
[37:25] Speaker 2: this ain't Tom Osborne. They still haven't recovered. They moved
[37:28] Speaker 2: on Frank Solich thinking they were something they weren't. They
[37:31] Speaker 2: still have not recovered. Feels like Florida State. Still hasn't
[37:35] Speaker 2: recovered from Jimbo Fisher. Now I understand there were other
[37:38] Speaker 2: things involved in that. I think scandal. I don't know.
[37:40] Speaker 1: They had to recover from Jimbo Fisher also. It's a
[37:43] Speaker 1: very interesting thing.
[37:44] Speaker 2: Okay. But, but so my question to you is Michigan
[37:49] Speaker 2: with Lloyd Carr, right?
[37:50] Speaker 4: Yeah.
[37:50] Speaker 2: They were like, we should be better than this. Then
[37:52] Speaker 2: it's like, okay, but now you're just bad for a
[37:54] Speaker 2: long time. Then they did recover. Do you think it's
[37:57] Speaker 2: on the board that in two years, Penn state's like,
[38:02] Speaker 2: Oh shit. We're five and seven. Like, we are... There
[38:07] Speaker 2: was a floor here with Franklin that while this year
[38:10] Speaker 2: was a disaster, we... It was fun to be in
[38:14] Speaker 2: big games even if we always lost them. Like, is that...
[38:18] Speaker 2: Do you think that's a fair... Because that would be
[38:19] Speaker 2: my concern. Yeah, on the board. That is.
[38:21] Speaker 3: They.
[38:24] Speaker 1: They just didn't want him to be the coach anymore
[38:26] Speaker 1: for a number of reasons. I don't think he made
[38:28] Speaker 1: the he had some of the right friends, but not
[38:30] Speaker 1: enough of the right friends, especially the friends on the
[38:33] Speaker 1: money end of it. But it just reached a point
[38:36] Speaker 1: where what he was giving them wasn't necessarily any fun anymore.
[38:40] Speaker 2: But you're right. It's on the board.
[38:42] Speaker 1: I was talking to somebody, though, who worked at Penn State,
[38:45] Speaker 1: who made the point to me, and this is where
[38:46] Speaker 1: they could get in trouble. locally, they think that they
[38:50] Speaker 1: and Ohio State are peers. That's what Michigan thought.
[38:55] Speaker 2: Yeah. Michigan is not Ohio State historically. But go ahead. No,
[39:00] Speaker 2: but Michigan, at least, I have seen.
[39:02] Speaker 1: To me, Michigan, it makes more sense to think that
[39:06] Speaker 1: this is what you could be. But for Penn State,
[39:09] Speaker 1: they do think that they should be as good as
[39:13] Speaker 1: Ohio State. And That's crazy talk to me. So like,
[39:17] Speaker 1: we're going to find out what exactly, I mean, they've
[39:19] Speaker 1: demonstrated they're willing to do the things. And what got
[39:22] Speaker 1: Franklin in trouble also was Franklin was like, I need this, this, this,
[39:25] Speaker 1: and this. And they were like, fine, here it is.
[39:28] Speaker 1: And then you go out here and you lose the UCLA.
[39:29] Speaker 1: and you lose the Northwestern. And they were like, okay, well,
[39:32] Speaker 1: we did the things for you.
[39:33] Speaker 2: But no, no, no, no, no. This is not guaranteed
[39:36] Speaker 2: to make things any better.
[39:38] Speaker 1: This is not a job where you should be like, oh,
[39:41] Speaker 1: we win 10 games every year.
[39:44] Speaker 2: It ain't that.
[39:45] Speaker 1: At least I've seen no evidence that it is that.
[39:49] Speaker 1: But I also feel like it's this, in line with this.
[39:53] Speaker 1: The Kansas City Chiefs have Andy Reid as their coach
[39:56] Speaker 1: because the Eagles are just like, we need to do
[39:58] Speaker 1: something different. Have the Eagles had a coach since Andy
[40:01] Speaker 1: Reid who was better than Andy Reid?
[40:03] Speaker 4: No.
[40:05] Speaker 2: But they've made three Super Bowls and won two. Yep. So, yes,
[40:10] Speaker 2: that's fair. One last thing on this before we get
[40:13] Speaker 2: to the other stuff. Because I hear people are like,
[40:16] Speaker 2: should Matt Rule go there? And I'm like, man, I
[40:18] Speaker 2: do not think that. Oh, write that down. Write that down.
[40:21] Speaker 2: You think that's happening? Okay. I don't know that I
[40:24] Speaker 2: think that's an upgrade for Penn State. He's kind of
[40:28] Speaker 2: sort of the same guy. Yeah, I don't. But he's
[40:30] Speaker 2: a Penn State grad. Right. No, that's. I understand why
[40:34] Speaker 2: he would want to go there.
[40:35] Speaker 1: Yeah.
[40:36] Speaker 2: Am I? So this is where my college football lack
[40:40] Speaker 2: of institutional knowledge can hurt me. So I just want
[40:42] Speaker 2: to ask. Because this is one of these things I'm
[40:45] Speaker 2: afraid to just say on TV. Because people are like,
[40:47] Speaker 2: you idiot. Why should they not... If they thought, hey,
[40:53] Speaker 2: we're the eighth best team in the country and it's
[40:55] Speaker 2: not good enough. Why should they not just say, hey,
[40:58] Speaker 2: Nick Saban, you want to just do three years here?
[41:00] Speaker 2: Win a national championship? You've done it at LSU. You've
[41:04] Speaker 2: done it at Alabama. Why not? Why should they not
[41:10] Speaker 2: just say, Nick Saban, come here. and win one in
[41:13] Speaker 2: the Big Ten and go off into the sunset.
[41:17] Speaker 1: Well, I think in line with that point, a suggestion
[41:22] Speaker 1: from Ryan Brumley, nobody's much better for a three-year run
[41:28] Speaker 1: than Urban Meyer. And I mean, you know, if like,
[41:33] Speaker 1: They doing the Spider-Man meme on Overlooking Scandal.
[41:37] Speaker 2: You know what I'm saying? Like they all looking at
[41:39] Speaker 2: each other. Maybe it's a fit. Maybe it's a fit.
[41:43] Speaker 1: Everybody will hate each other by year four, but you'll
[41:46] Speaker 1: win a title in those first three.
[41:47] Speaker 2: Win a title. And like, yeah, in theory, you could
[41:51] Speaker 2: go longer with Urban. I just said three years for
[41:53] Speaker 2: saving because of his age. Oh, no, no, no, no, no.
[41:54] Speaker 2: You'll want Urban out of there after three. because you'll
[41:57] Speaker 2: be furious by fourth so yeah i mean i would
[42:01] Speaker 2: just try to shoot bigger than matt rule um that's
[42:03] Speaker 2: all all right i know you want to get back
[42:05] Speaker 2: to the nfl all right.
[42:06] Speaker 1: I want to ask you this because we brought it
[42:07] Speaker 1: up just a little bit uh the buffalo bills are
[42:09] Speaker 1: now four and two and look this is just me
[42:12] Speaker 1: and my feelings about football you can't stop the run
[42:16] Speaker 1: you're not winning the super bowl hard stop But they've
[42:19] Speaker 1: also done this thing where you look on offense and
[42:21] Speaker 1: basically they're asking Josh Allen to do a little bit
[42:23] Speaker 1: of everything. And I don't feel like that's going so
[42:25] Speaker 1: smooth this year.
[42:26] Speaker 2: Like, am I wrong? No, no. I mean, they're asking
[42:29] Speaker 2: Josh Allen to be Superman, which, listen, I believe Josh
[42:34] Speaker 2: Allen is unequivocally the second best quarterback in the league.
[42:39] Speaker 2: This got me in a lot of arguments over the
[42:42] Speaker 2: summer because people were arguing that I had Josh Allen
[42:45] Speaker 2: too hot. I should have had Lamar ahead of him.
[42:52] Speaker 2: I also think he lives in a narrative place that
[42:58] Speaker 2: I've never seen for superstar quarterback, which is, you've heard
[43:02] Speaker 2: me say this to you before, that the single best
[43:06] Speaker 2: life in sports is being anywhere from like the 17th
[43:12] Speaker 2: to the 25th best player in the NBA. I would
[43:16] Speaker 2: call it the Klay Thompson with the Warriors corollary, which
[43:20] Speaker 2: is you get paid as much as the superstar. When
[43:23] Speaker 2: you're awesome, you get all the credit. And when you're
[43:27] Speaker 2: not good, everyone's like, the superstar should have done more.
[43:30] Speaker 2: It's just the greatest. Somehow that's where Josh Allen lives. Yes.
[43:37] Speaker 2: He has a great game on Monday Night Football against
[43:40] Speaker 2: the Dolphins. And I got to listen... Mike Greenberg, who
[43:46] Speaker 2: is great and not a hot take guy, says, I'm
[43:51] Speaker 2: watching that game and I'm thinking, no one has ever
[43:56] Speaker 2: played the position better than Josh Allen. And then we
[44:02] Speaker 2: watch him on Monday night against the Falcons try to
[44:05] Speaker 2: do a little fancy flip pass on fourth down, not
[44:08] Speaker 2: do it. Turn the ball over. The team scored 14 points.
[44:13] Speaker 2: And the conversation is, are the Bills letting Josh Allen down?
[44:17] Speaker 2: What the fuck? So I think he's awesome. And great.
[44:24] Speaker 2: obviously he you know I mean he's the defending league
[44:28] Speaker 2: MVP but for some reason folks seem more comfortable criticizing
[44:35] Speaker 2: Patrick after bad games than Josh which is baffling to
[44:40] Speaker 2: me so that's the Allen point go ahead.
[44:43] Speaker 1: You have made the point and I think it's fair
[44:46] Speaker 1: and on one hand I was like Nick is, you know,
[44:49] Speaker 1: endangering that old cookout invitation, except the cookout's at his house. So, like,
[44:55] Speaker 1: he's still okay here. But I think that there's a...
[44:59] Speaker 1: I don't think you're unfair when you say that many people.
[45:03] Speaker 1: Are leery of being critical of Lamar Jackson in some
[45:07] Speaker 1: ways when he has come up short, right? And it's
[45:09] Speaker 1: because you got to be careful about the company you
[45:11] Speaker 1: have around you because the people that bashed him were
[45:14] Speaker 1: so over the top early and obviously not with, I mean, honestly,
[45:18] Speaker 1: not with an evidentiary basis that there are people who
[45:20] Speaker 1: don't want to end up on that side. But while
[45:22] Speaker 1: that was going on, I've never, ever seen media more
[45:27] Speaker 1: invested in the success of anybody like they are with
[45:31] Speaker 1: the big galoop. Big Luke is like everybody's big son
[45:35] Speaker 1: that they just wanted to get it together so he
[45:37] Speaker 1: could get his big ass off their couch. They know
[45:39] Speaker 1: he can put it together if he'll just get his
[45:40] Speaker 1: mind right. I always felt like the most aware person
[45:44] Speaker 1: about Josh Allen was always Josh Allen. But I remember
[45:48] Speaker 1: that year three, Boomer Esiason once referred to him as the.
[45:53] Speaker 2: Great Josh Allen. And I was like, what are we
[45:55] Speaker 2: doing here?
[45:56] Speaker 1: There is a desire for people to see him do well,
[45:59] Speaker 1: and thank goodness for him and everybody else.
[46:01] Speaker 2: He got there. He got there.
[46:03] Speaker 1: He turned into that guy, but you are absolutely correct.
[46:06] Speaker 1: He is still prone to what was that, right? He's
[46:10] Speaker 1: still prone to good thing you throw the ball so hard,
[46:12] Speaker 1: otherwise that guy would have intercepted it.
[46:14] Speaker 2: He's still going to give you all these chances.
[46:16] Speaker 1: The ceiling on him is super high, and for the
[46:19] Speaker 1: most part, he doesn't shake in big games anymore. But
[46:22] Speaker 1: I still think the panic possibility is always there with him.
[46:25] Speaker 2: But we don't talk about him in those terms.
[46:27] Speaker 1: It's like you say, Mike Greenberg saying, we've never seen
[46:30] Speaker 1: anybody play this position better.
[46:31] Speaker 2: And that's crazy.
[46:32] Speaker 1: Yes.
[46:32] Speaker 2: That's crazy. That's like, that's just crazy. And again, this
[46:38] Speaker 2: is not... I said, you know, I said last year,
[46:43] Speaker 2: I thought he should be the league MVP for each
[46:45] Speaker 2: of the last two years. I have picked an AFC
[46:49] Speaker 2: championship game of chiefs bills. Even two years ago when
[46:52] Speaker 2: people are last year, when people thought the bills were
[46:55] Speaker 2: maybe on the downturn, like because I do believe when
[46:59] Speaker 2: you have a superhuman at quarterback, your floor, you just
[47:03] Speaker 2: raise your floor so high, but I, here is what
[47:06] Speaker 2: I think is noteworthy though, Bo. Because the one thing
[47:10] Speaker 2: the Bills have never had since he's been there, going
[47:15] Speaker 2: into the playoffs, is the bye. They've never had it.
[47:19] Speaker 2: And that's also led to a very odd playoff game
[47:23] Speaker 2: log for Josh, where it is every single year he
[47:27] Speaker 2: puts up these insane wildcard round game that they win
[47:32] Speaker 2: every year post his first year in the playoffs. And then...
[47:37] Speaker 2: And it's against Mason Rudolph or Bo Nix or Skylar Thompson.
[47:44] Speaker 2: Those teams, they play the seventh seed basically every year
[47:47] Speaker 2: in the playoffs. They blow them out. And then the
[47:49] Speaker 2: playoffs really start for them. This year, with their schedule
[47:54] Speaker 2: and the Chiefs scuttling early and the Ravens being bad
[47:58] Speaker 2: and Joe Burrow being injured, they had this clear path
[48:03] Speaker 2: to the one seed. And now they've blown it. Not
[48:07] Speaker 2: that they can't get the one seed, but they've blown
[48:09] Speaker 2: their advantage. And I think, so I think we are,
[48:13] Speaker 2: because I do think you could have said to Josh
[48:18] Speaker 2: with a flawed team, you're the one seed, get the bye.
[48:23] Speaker 2: First playoff game, we play the worst team that advances,
[48:26] Speaker 2: they're beat up, we're arrested. Then in an AFC championship
[48:31] Speaker 2: game in your building, put on the cape. play the game.
[48:34] Speaker 2: You know what I mean? Do it once for us
[48:36] Speaker 2: this postseason and we're in the Super Bowl. And then
[48:39] Speaker 2: we see they're now putting themselves in the position where
[48:44] Speaker 2: they're likely going to be playing the first weekend of
[48:47] Speaker 2: the playoffs. They're likely going to be playing a road
[48:49] Speaker 2: game or two in the playoffs. And I don't think
[48:53] Speaker 2: you can ask Josh Allen to put on the cape
[48:55] Speaker 2: for three straight rounds. And because they're flawed, like you said,
[48:59] Speaker 2: that's what they're going to ask him to do. So
[49:01] Speaker 2: I think these were two super damaging losses the Patriots
[49:06] Speaker 2: and the Falcons lost last two weeks for Buffalo well.
[49:08] Speaker 1: Let's also say this right let's say they get the
[49:10] Speaker 1: bye yep we're looking at home games all the way
[49:14] Speaker 1: through in that icebox Yep. Being in the icebox makes
[49:20] Speaker 1: teams not throw the ball as much because it's much
[49:23] Speaker 1: more difficult to throw the ball in the cold, right?
[49:25] Speaker 2: Yep.
[49:25] Speaker 1: Now, the most amazing thing about those four Super Bowl
[49:28] Speaker 1: Buffalo Bills teams is they were running that K-gun offense.
[49:31] Speaker 1: We think about them whipping it around, but they were
[49:33] Speaker 1: playing a lot of them cold-weather games, which meant they
[49:35] Speaker 1: had to run the ball, and they got it done.
[49:37] Speaker 2: I have always said it was an irony of the
[49:39] Speaker 2: Aaron Rodgers Packers.
[49:40] Speaker 1: It's not a surprise that the year that they won
[49:42] Speaker 1: a Super Bowl was the year they had to play
[49:44] Speaker 1: all those games on the road because that football that
[49:46] Speaker 1: you're playing with Aaron Rodgers is not made for playing
[49:49] Speaker 1: in Lambeau Field in January.
[49:51] Speaker 2: Right.
[49:52] Speaker 1: Teams are going to run it down their throats if
[49:56] Speaker 1: they go play those if they do get those home games.
[49:59] Speaker 1: They're going to play against teams that are just going
[50:01] Speaker 1: to run it on them over and over and over
[50:04] Speaker 1: again and try to keep that big dude off the field. Like,
[50:07] Speaker 1: what do you do? What do you do then?
[50:10] Speaker 2: And while as much as I would love for the
[50:15] Speaker 2: Chiefs to once again host the Arrowhead Invitational in the
[50:19] Speaker 2: AFC Championship game, there is a part of me that because,
[50:24] Speaker 2: you know, this is the last year of Highmark Stadium. Yes. Oh,
[50:28] Speaker 2: you want to close it down? Well, it's not just
[50:32] Speaker 2: close it down, buddy. What if the AFC championship game,
[50:38] Speaker 2: the final game at Highmark Stadium, not only involves Patrick
[50:44] Speaker 2: getting to 5-0 in the playoffs against Josh, but the
[50:48] Speaker 2: Chiefs stealing the Bills' organizational chain of the only thing
[50:55] Speaker 2: they have to hang their hat on for the whole
[50:57] Speaker 2: franchise is we are the only team to make four
[51:00] Speaker 2: straight Super Bowls. And in the final game of your stadium,
[51:05] Speaker 2: the Kansas City Chiefs beat you to go to their
[51:09] Speaker 2: fourth straight Super Bowl. There is an element of that
[51:13] Speaker 2: that I really, really would like the poetry of, but
[51:18] Speaker 2: I prefer the game just be an arrowhead.
[51:20] Speaker 1: But that would be pretty sick. The fact that you
[51:23] Speaker 1: thought it out to that level is amazing. I want
[51:25] Speaker 1: to make one last point on this because I know
[51:27] Speaker 1: we have to let you go. Um, we forget that
[51:30] Speaker 1: Sean McDermott saved his job last year. Let's say they
[51:34] Speaker 1: go 11 and six. And let's say for a moment
[51:37] Speaker 1: that this Patriots thing is a little bit real because
[51:41] Speaker 1: the defense was real with Belichick. They just couldn't do
[51:43] Speaker 1: anything offensively. Now it's clear that they have a quarterback
[51:45] Speaker 1: or it looks very, I mean, it seems great quarterback.
[51:48] Speaker 2: Yes. Yeah.
[51:49] Speaker 1: Like it's not off the board that they could win
[51:52] Speaker 1: that division up there. At some point, they're going to
[51:57] Speaker 1: change coaches. They're not going to keep doing this, you
[51:59] Speaker 1: would think. Like, it's wild to have a case where
[52:01] Speaker 1: they haven't been to Super Bowl yet with all those years,
[52:03] Speaker 1: same quarterback, same coach.
[52:05] Speaker 2: So, you know, every single coach-quarterback combo that has ever
[52:13] Speaker 2: won a Super Bowl together, all of them won their
[52:17] Speaker 2: first Super Bowl together within five years. So every single
[52:22] Speaker 2: one that's ever won a Super Bowl together, they won
[52:24] Speaker 2: their first together within five years. For Harbaugh and Lamar
[52:29] Speaker 2: and for Sean and Josh, this is year eight. So
[52:33] Speaker 2: they're both, you know, trying to... Do you think it's...
[52:37] Speaker 2: So let's paint this scenario. The Ravens miss the playoffs,
[52:42] Speaker 2: which right now they're a favorite to do. And the
[52:46] Speaker 2: Bills lose in the playoffs. before the conference championship game.
[52:54] Speaker 2: Do you think it's on the board both of those
[52:56] Speaker 2: coaches get fired?
[52:57] Speaker 1: I think Harbaugh is done because it just makes too
[53:00] Speaker 1: much sense.
[53:02] Speaker 2: I think, what's his name? Brandon Bean is the guy
[53:04] Speaker 2: in charge of Buffalo.
[53:05] Speaker 1: Yeah.
[53:06] Speaker 2: Bean and McDermott are so.
[53:07] Speaker 1: Carolina Panthers attached at the hip that maybe that makes
[53:11] Speaker 1: it too difficult, but that's what owners are for. Like
[53:14] Speaker 1: at some point, the big boys got to come from
[53:16] Speaker 1: upstairs and be like, hey, You know, I was still
[53:19] Speaker 1: thinking about that 9-11 shit he said that one time,
[53:22] Speaker 1: and I just think it's time for us to do
[53:23] Speaker 1: something about it.
[53:25] Speaker 2: Yeah, I don't, I think it's really on the, and again,
[53:30] Speaker 2: I think Harbaugh and McDermott are both good coaches.
[53:33] Speaker 1: Yeah.
[53:33] Speaker 2: But I think at some point, and let me ask
[53:36] Speaker 2: one other Buffalo thing.
[53:37] Speaker 1: By the way, the James Franklin analogy fits with why
[53:39] Speaker 1: those guys have to go.
[53:41] Speaker 2: Yes, for sure. Let me ask you one other thing.
[53:46] Speaker 2: What do you think would be more damaging for McDermott
[53:52] Speaker 2: if they don't make the Super Bowl? Losing to the
[53:58] Speaker 2: Steelers and Aaron Rodgers in round two or losing to
[54:02] Speaker 2: the Chiefs again?
[54:03] Speaker 1: Yo, that's tough because with the losing of the Chiefs,
[54:08] Speaker 1: it's well, it's never going to happen.
[54:10] Speaker 2: Losing to the Steelers is, ew, we took a step back. Correct.
[54:15] Speaker 2: So that's where I think he's kind of screwed, barring
[54:19] Speaker 2: making the Super Bowl. You are either going to lose
[54:22] Speaker 2: a game where you are a big favorite, or you're
[54:27] Speaker 2: going to lose for the fifth time in six years
[54:31] Speaker 2: to the same team. Like, either way, there's no... Like,
[54:35] Speaker 2: in a weird way... the best thing for McDermott would
[54:41] Speaker 2: have been an awesome Ravens team. Yes. And the best
[54:47] Speaker 2: thing if they're not going to make the Super Bowl.
[54:49] Speaker 2: Like if they lost in the AFC title game to
[54:52] Speaker 2: the Ravens in Baltimore. And it's like, okay, you know
[54:56] Speaker 2: what I mean? Hey, that happens. We've shown we can
[54:59] Speaker 2: beat this team in the playoffs. They've now beaten us
[55:01] Speaker 2: in the playoffs. But when the quarterbacks in these AFC playoffs,
[55:06] Speaker 2: it's looking like it's going to be Drake May's first
[55:09] Speaker 2: career start, you know, Daniel Jones, Bo Nix, Herbert, who's
[55:14] Speaker 2: a good player but has never won a playoff game
[55:16] Speaker 2: if he gets there, 42-year-old Aaron Rodgers. I'm leaving somebody out,
[55:21] Speaker 2: but regardless. Oh, Trevor, my guy, the prince. I mean,
[55:25] Speaker 2: he's one of the greatest playoff competitors. And then Josh
[55:29] Speaker 2: and Patrick, like, you can't lose to any of those
[55:32] Speaker 2: guys if you're Josh, so it's a tough spot. That
[55:36] Speaker 2: is Nick Wright. Check him out.
[55:37] Speaker 1: First things first, 3 to 5 Eastern on FS1 and
[55:41] Speaker 1: the What's Right podcast that I one time crashed not
[55:44] Speaker 1: knowing the format properly, my brother.
[55:46] Speaker 2: I appreciate you. See you later, bro. All right, man.
[55:49] Speaker 1: And ladies and gentlemen, thanks so much for joining us
[55:50] Speaker 1: here on The Right Time. We do this somewhere between
[55:53] Speaker 1: three and four times a week. Ryan Brumley handles everything
[55:55] Speaker 1: behind the scenes.
[55:56] Speaker 2: Thank you, sir.
[55:57] Speaker 1: Remember, hit the voicemail line 323-596-7767. It's your world, baby.
[56:01] Speaker 1: Tell us what you want to talk about. Remember, follow
[56:04] Speaker 1: the right time. Subscribe, like, rate us, review us, give
[56:07] Speaker 1: us five stars. You only give us four stars. I'm
[56:09] Speaker 1: inclined to believe you are a hater. We'll talk to
[56:11] Speaker 1: you guys in a couple of days.
[56:12] Speaker 2: Take it easy.

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