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Drivers you save by switching save nearly $750 on average, and auto customers qualify for an average of seven discounts. So, multitask right now. Get your quote now at progressive.com. Progressive, casual insurance company and affiliates, national average, 12 months savings of $744 by new customers surveyed, who saved with Progressive between June 2022 and May 2023. Potential savings will vary. Discounts not available in all states and situations. And that was what happened last night to cap Sunday night football to cap the first Sunday of the 2024 regular season. Crazy day. Long week. Long week. One more game left. Oh, it was great. It was great. I still don't know what to make of it, which is fine because we shouldn't make broad proclamations based on week one. Right. No, you definitely shouldn't. Let's don't be, you know, let's let it. It's a long season. You don't know how good the team is. Right. That beat you if you lost. Right. You don't know how bad the team is that you beat if you want. I think back to the 2001 Carolina Panthers, Steve Smith debut. He had a kick return for a touchdown. The first time he touched the ball, the Panthers beat the Vikings with Chris Winky at quarterback. Yeah. Minnesota native came home and then they didn't want another game. One and 15. It's it's it's it's week one, right? Everybody's getting their their, you know, their bearing straight, right? And you, I think especially with the current age of the NFL with teams not playing in the pre season and some play, some don't. I think it's harder to tell week one what a team is now than than ever before. Right. We've seen so many teams. I feel like in the last decade, get off to slow starts and then end up being playoff football teams. But yeah, it's hard to gauge it. I think we know who the majority of the quality teams are in the league, right? And then we just go, wait, who's gonna be those three or four other teams that kind of surprise us and come out of nowhere. And, uh, you know, I don't know if I know yet, but you know, yesterday was a little bit of a gleam into that. And the reality is teams will change between now and January, better or they'll get worse. They're not going to stay the same. And injuries will be an issue. Right. It is a long slog. It is no longer a marathon. It is a triathlon. It is crazy. The number of games and you have to keep your keep players healthy and you have to hope you're peeking at the right time. There are so many factors that go into it. You just kind of strap in and enjoy the ride. Although there are aspects of the ride based upon what your favorite team does or doesn't do that are not very enjoyable. Yeah. Right. Right. Well, I mean, the way it looks is my year's not going to be all that enjoyable as a giant fan. Yours is a little more promising. Certainly. Well, but, but the Vikings could go one and 16. Yeah, but I think they might have gotten the worst team in football. Maybe, but I think you guys will be better than that. But there's the other thing I think that jumps out to me a little bit about like the first week of the NFL season because I think people are shocked, right? The Patriots beat the Bengals. Well, we've been in two weeks of college football mode where not a ton of upsets happen. I know Northern Illinois beat Notre Dame this weekend certainly, but I think it's a little bit of like, Hey, this is back to the NFL and the worst team is not like that far worse than the best team in the league. Well, except for the Panthers. Well, the Panthers are certainly looking like the worst team in the league. But, but for the most part, I think that's what makes the NFL so awesome is it's so close in the talent level, the coaching, all of that, that, you know, you just get more good quality football games on a week to week basis because it's so close on the free agency and salary cap and all that. The question for the Panthers yesterday wasn't whether or not owner David Tepper threw a drink on someone. It's how many drinks did he? Oh, he might have been 30 points in the first half is quite an accomplishment to give up 30 points in the first half. That's bad. You didn't like anything that way. And score none. Well, they got three at the very end of the day. Didn't like the way anything that looked there. You know, maybe we'll hit that a little later on, but that's probably all we need to say about it. But for the most part, hey Thursday night, great game, Friday night, great game. Yesterday was a lot of good football games. The Sunday night game was amazing last night. And we got a freaking dandy tonight. And you know, it was nice because right in between I had Saturday and I just like laid around and didn't do anything. I didn't do a damn thing. Good for you. Just others work. Did you all right? Did you watch me at least? I and I was to like 25 stories on PFT. So I did. Okay. I mean, I did watch. Okay. I did watch. I did watch. I appreciate you. Yeah. Appreciate. Yeah. I was there. It was a long day on Saturday. What time did you get in or what time did you leave? Saturday like it wasn't bad. They didn't make me do everything because it was such a long weekend. So I got in, I believe around 12 and then left about, you know, nine 30. Yeah. 10 o'clock right around that range. Others had longer days. I know they Saturday here. I know they did. I'm aware of at least one that a longer day. This company's been grinding ever since the Olympics started. And I definitely feel bad for some of the underlings who they're like, yeah, just just sleep here and just keep working and doing that. But it's fun times and men. The fall fall air fall smell in the air is here. And that's what I'm excited about. Football is here. You think that's what that smell is? Yeah, it is. It is for now. It wasn't until until later tonight. Then the smell will be different. That'll be that'll be what we're going to like when you get the leaves and you burn them. Yeah, right? This time of year, you get the leaves and you burn them and just burn some leaves. Yeah. Okay. The lions burn some Rams eventually. It it felt for a while like the lions were going to find a way to blow it and the Rams were going to find a way to steal it with the injuries and Matthew Stafford getting banged around and here's Dan Campbell, coach of the Lions after Detroit pulled off the overtime victory on the Rams and Stafford and the tenacity that ultimately was required by the home team to get the victory. You know, I there's a lot of respect. I do. I respect it. In that quarterback, man, Stafford, I thought played lights up man and played tough and hit after hit. Just kept getting up and making unbelievable throws. So I just getting a lot of credit. They did. They fought now, but but we're hard to break. So we did what we had to do and you know, our defense held there before that Fox makes a heck of a punt and defense holds offense. We get it back and you know, get it in overtime. We win the toss and we don't look back. So we eventually found our rhythm. We did what we had to do. And I said it early in the week, the team that makes the most mistakes is the one who usually loses these early games and we made one last mistake and and so now we just got to improve from there. Look, there are still 16 games for both teams to play, but that was a big one to get the victory to have two playoff rematches at home to start the season to have the Lions host the Rams and the Bucks back to back weeks to get things started. Yeah, that that kind of sets the tone for whether or not you're able to at least try to match what you did last year. And obviously the Lions would like to get one step farther, but they have to take care of business. And the Rams aren't going away. The question is, can they keep from falling apart physically? Right, because that's what we talked about Lamar Jackson, you're not going to make it through a full season playing like that. At least he's fine after the game. The Rams are already banged up. They were banged up already, which is crazy, right? They don't play in the preseason and they were banged up going in. Anyways, I think I do want to start there would just give the Rams like, you know, a little bit of credit for being tough and hanging in there last night. Matthew Stafford, Matt, I mean, Dan Campbell said it right, played phenomenal. I mean, they're down to what their fourth and fifth tackles playing in the football game. They lose Puka Nakua, who probably is their best receiver on their football team. And that's no disrespect to Cooper Cup, who's still awesome, right? But I mean, it either way, they're both great to lose him as a big deal. And then, yes, lose him on top of the fact that, yeah, we're missing offensive lineman and we had a guard go out in the game. So we can't run the ball. So we have to pass the ball. And now we don't have Puka Nakua to do that. So McVay, Stafford, tough way to go, way to hang in there, way to pull it off. But Dan Campbell said it right. And I can't even believe I'm saying this, but like the Detroit Lions are become one of those teams where I never felt like they were going to lose the game last night, even when they were losing. I just went up, they're going to make a stop and they'll get down there. And who knows, they might score a touchdown at the end of regulation and win this thing. They've done that. That's the, the culture turnaround Dan Campbell has done. Dan Campbell, Jared Goff's toughness, Aaron Glenn on the sideline, Ben Johnson and Mark Brunel, they got a bunch of real football people who were just, they don't blink. And I just think that shows. And there wasn't their best game last night, but it all came together at the right time. And yeah, they didn't play good second half football, but they played good late third quarter and overtime football to put it away. We had video of Matthew Stafford getting that ankle. Yeah, you could see his left hand. He had some sort of a thumb thing that happened during camp. Right hand was wrapped and the glove was on it. And Campbell made the comment that the more you hit him, the better he plays. And he had that one throw where it wasn't no look. It was like unconscious. Like he wasn't even trying to look like he just was getting rid of the ball. He just knows where it is. And he went exactly to where it needed to go. He's the inventor of the no look pass. He needs to get respect for that. But it's like a higher level than no look because it's not like he deliberately did it to fooling money. I got to get rid of the ball. And I know where this guy is. And it went perfectly to where it was supposed to go. He's extremely gifted. I mean, one of the greatest throwers we've ever seen in the history of the NFL, his hand I and ability to flick the ball and do stuff like that is up there with all the all time grades that we've ever seen. So yeah, they had to ride him. And that was the problem with the football game that they had to ride him too much last night. That is not going to be sustainable either. I think to your point and Lamar Jackson and all that if they have to drop back and throw the ball 50 times again, they threw it 49 last night with with Matthew Stafford a quarterback. Yeah, this is not going to be a recipe for success. That's where they need to get that offensive line healthy. And they got one of the best backs in football and Kyren Williams and lean on that a little bit. And then of course that takes pressure off of Matthew Stafford and everything there. But a lot of respect to them, especially New Decordinator. And hey, the one thing I worried about and I know you worried about it too was the fact that I thought Detroit's O line might steamroll them like they did in overtime, right? I thought that might be the whole the whole night. And I'll give Shula the New defensive coordinator a lot of respect. They look like they had a good game plan. They play tough and physical always. That's the one thing McVay and the Rams always do and maybe don't get enough credit. But those young guys on the front seven showed up. So respect to them. But the Lions are arguably the best roster in football. They believe in themselves as much as any team in football, maybe other than the Kansas City Chiefs. And we saw that, you know, kind of come to a head there late in the football game. And it's going to be tough to beat them in that building. The Rams definitely miss Aaron Donald and Heat showed up at the USC game on Saturday night wearing a t-shirt that said at the top always ready. And one of the things I was doing because we had segments to fill Thursday night and Friday night with some news in advance of just reacting to what happened on Sunday, which we do every Sunday night on football night in America. I was poking around. Is there a chance Aaron Donald comes back? And it came back with nothing. It came back in conclusive. But always ready always ready. Well, it depends on what the Rams do too. Sure. But it's also that attitude of football seasons here. It's moving on without me. I can still play. Right. He didn't want to count as a whole, but it's not that cool. Off season. Right. Crazy knives routine, even though they weren't real nice. Like he was always working, always busting his ass. The question is how much does he retain? If he didn't do all that, can he still go? And he looks like he can still go. But that was one of the things I was chasing. And when I saw that always ready on top of that T shirt that he was wearing on Saturday night at the USC game, I don't know how to animate. And they missed him, especially on that overtime drive where the Lions crammed it right down their throats. And it helped because the Lions had driven down for the overtime forcing field goal at the end of the game, win the toss. There's still an issue with overtime. I just think in the regular season, you've got to get the game over. I know. And if you score a touchdown on the first possession, that's that. Right. Right. But still, but still, still effort didn't get the ball and you get a flip of a coin, determines the game. Yes. Right. That's the problem. Yep. That's right. But there's a lot of high-paid players on that Rams defense and people there and they're professional. And they gotta stop them from scoring a touchdown. But I think ultimately, I think all the things you talked about, they're a little bit smaller upfront. It's not a huge front seven. They got some young guys. There's no Aaron Donald there. Right. They traded away one of their middle linebackers a few weeks ago. They got some new guys in the secondary. And I think they just got finally a little bit worn down by the size and the physicality of this Lions football team. Let alone the Lions didn't play their starters or anybody the whole preseason. And I bet by the end of this game, the offensive line finally started to get in some sync with how they were blocking the calls they're making at the Lions scrimmage, how the Rams are playing it. And we all saw it come, you know, to light with David Montgomery and Gibbs and everybody on that last run. Remember that talk in the late preseason, right around training camp? Not even preseason, but it was late off season. Right. Almond Ross St. Brown was going to give Jamir Gibbs whatever he wanted. The gods on him. He had a thousand rushing yards and a thousand receiving yards. Dude, did you forget about David Montgomery? Like Montgomery had 17 carries for 91 yards last night. Gibbs only had 40 yards rushing. He added 34 receiving. It's hard to get a thousand in the thousand. You have 74 yards from scrimmage. Okay. Week one. But David Montgomery said this isn't Jamir Gibbs is becoming Christian McCaffrey or Marshall Falcon is prime. You've still got another guy there and look at what Montgomery did late in the game with the game on the line just pounding and pounding and pounding and pounding and to have that element where you have both guys that helps you have the kind of offense the Rams don't look at what the Rams didn't do running the ball. Right. Blake quorum. Blake quorum didn't have a rush. No, well, they got a stud there running back. And I think the, you know, they, I was 2.8 last night though, Kyron Williams, 2.8. I know. Well, they couldn't open up a hole. It wasn't like there was something there and he couldn't make it happen or anything. It was interesting approach they took. They didn't have their, a lot of their starting offense alignment. Instead of trying to run the ball against that front, they just said, we're going to give it a Stafford. We'll get the ball out quick early. And they basically use the short passing game as a substitute to the run game is what they did. But again, it's not sustainable to your point. And Detroit Detroit's got everything. It is up there. It's certainly a top three roster in the game. Jameer Gibbs. Yeah, he just got back healthy. Right. So they probably want to bring him along slow, but there's, yeah, but they're still so good. They just go, Hey, we got David Montgomery. Don't worry about it. But the other thing is this with Detroit. Oh, yes, he is here. His name is Jameson Williams. Yeah, he is about to take the league by storm. I've always been a fan. He was my number one receiver coming out a few years ago with the injury and all that. He's finally arrived. You heard it all through training camp. And you know, this is a guy that he's got three rockets up his ass. This one right here. It is as fast as anybody in football, not named Tyree Kill. And I think he could give Tyree Kill a run for his money too. I do. But this is where I think this Rams offense will go to another level. It's like they unlocked another part, a cheat code in the video games or something like that. We can run the ball. We got almond Ross St. Brown. We got Laporta. We can work the middle of the field in the intermediate stuff and oh no. Now we got a deep threat that Jared Goff is comfortable with. And if you try to play almond Ross St. Brown in our run game too aggressively, he will tear you apart deep over the top. And that's what I'm excited about for the Lions. I'd love to know what they did to set up the stop and go with Trudavius. Oh, right. Because he, it doesn't matter how fast you are. When you freeze a guy like that with the stop, you're gone. That's usually a thing where receiver comes to the sideline. He goes, I can run by this guy. And then he starts to go and he's sitting on some of my underneath routes. He's, he's daring us too. Right. And then they see a few pictures on the, you know, on the tablet and all that. And they start to go, yeah, he really is. He's not really backing up once you get to eight or 10 yards. He's waiting to wear an outrouter, a curl rat. And I think they saw that and they said, okay, let's, let's teach him a lesson here. He's being a little too aggressive and boom, right over the top. And Trudavius White's dealing, has dealt with injuries the last few years. He's certainly not going to be able to run with Jamies and Williams. That could be a concern for the Rams down the, down the path here as their secondary altogether. But damn, this Detroit football team. What a group of weapons though, between Williams and almond Ross St. Brown and Sam LaPorda and the O line. Don't worry. Holy crap. Exactly. The weakest link on offense. I don't want to say it because Jared golf, but he's not a weak link, but I understand. I'm not saying he's a, he's not a weak link, but okay, he is. Every chain has a weakest link. I guess so. He's the weakest link in the chain because everything else is so good. Yeah, I hear you, but damn, that's still a damn strong. I mean, I, I'm not going to say I totally disagree with you there. Right. I hear you, but that's a strong weak link. I'll say that. No, I, and he's getting better. He is getting better. He makes plays more on him. He's perfect for their football team. You know, he is. He just leads, he's humble. They got a coach that's a great leader and they don't need Jared golf's voice. They're perfect that way. They got a few psychos on defense that are great leaders. So Jared golf is more of like, Hey, I'm just going to be the guy that show you how to do things, lead the way, be tough. I'll be humble. I'll be the first one in the last one out. That's all he needs to do here. And he's perfect for that, let alone Mark Brunel and Ben Johnson have gotten him playing a style of football. That's incredible. Yeah, he throws the interception here. That was an incredible play by Johnson the third. It was, but it was an amazing game. It really looked like, man, Detroit might run away with this thing the way halftime ended. And I thought, man, the Rams got no chance. And there we got midway through the fourth quarter. And I went, man, Detroit can do anything. And the Rams are moving the ball up and down the field at will. Ms. Stafford was just picking them apart with all these slot options and slot option outs and fake the out and come back in and do all that. And slowly, but surely they make the comeback, get a touchdown called back on the one yard line, right? Had to settle for a field goal. That was a big play in the football game. That was followed up by the next drive Jared golf in the interception we saw. Then they go down a score and you're going, holy, can the Rams pull this off with these injuries and not run the ball and doing that, but ultimately Detroit, that toughness, that knee biting attitude showed up. There's an alternate universe where Matthew Stafford sat down with Dan Campbell after Campbell became the head coach of the team and decided he didn't want to leave. And I know that getting the two first round picks and the third round pick and also getting Jared Goff, who was supposed to be the, will you please take this guy away from us, we'll give you an extra first round. That's right. He was insertion. But if Stafford had just said, you know what, I've been here since 2009, I'm just going to stick it out. Let's give it one more try. Let's give it one more go with Dan Campbell and Brad Holmes. And let's see what kind of a roster they can build. That would have been a hell of a lot better story. And we talked earlier about golf. I mean, now Stafford, who knows how much he has left? That's the problem. They would have needed to have a replacement ready to go. But Stafford's skill set with what they have in that offense. And again, they wouldn't have all these guys because the draft picks helped, but it because they, they still boo the hell out of him. And it's a shame that they do help when he went to the Rams, like the Rams games in Detroit, Detroit ratings went through my buddy Ahmed Fari's got a shirt because he's a lion's fan that says Detroit Rams because he was rooting for Stafford. But he did want out. But yes, he did. I didn't understand that. You know, it's been a long time there. Nothing's gone well. It's about to chill. We're going to rebuild. He's going, wait, the Rams, it's McVeigh, the quarterback, all they need is a big time quarterback. They're ready to win a Super Bowl. He got that. He got the Super Bowl. And then the Detroit fans are like, all right, fine. It's time for us to get one of, get one for us now. So the hell with you and boo, Jared Goff. So it's an incredible story. It really is. Stafford goes and gets a Super Bowl. Now Jared Goff is sitting on top of a team that's arguably the best team in football. I mean, I feel like they'll be in that conversation all year. The improvements in the secondary. I know we didn't see it last night totally, but it looks better. There's no doubt about that along with Marcus Davenford helping out as a pass rusher. So I'm very confident in the Detroit football team wasn't their best ball last night, but it was their first time on the field altogether the whole year and they still pulled out a win against the Rams. They better enjoy Marcus Davenport by the, well, they, I know because injuries are the issue, right? That is something to watch out for. If they can get production from him to where it doesn't have to be Aiden Hutchinson or Aaron Glenn calling blitzes to get pressure on the quarterback and they can play and get to the quarterback with the front four a little bit more. Man, they will be tough because they're creative on the back end with what they do in coverage and they got a little talent back there right now. That's for sure. Well, flipping around the Rams did everything they could to win that game for a while late. It looked like they were going to hear his head coach Sean McVeigh on the loss to Detroit to start the Rams season. This is an opportunity for us to be able to move forward the right way. And I think tonight was a good indicator of the mental, the physical toughness of this group. Hats off to Detroit for being able to finish the game. I thought our guys put themselves in position to be able to make some plays to be able to win it. And there were some outstanding plays that kept us in that game that gave us a chance to be able to take the lead, that gave us a chance to be able to do the things that we were able to do the force over time. But when you come up short, you know, this is a real learning opportunity growth up for us. And I know that this group is going to respond the right way. And I'm excited about being able to do that as soon as we get back to L.A. How's he not have a Red Bull deal? Good Lord. Well, that guy's like perpetually on caffeine drip. Well, that's why he's a great head coach. I mean, that's why a lot of them always say psycho in a good way. That's what he is. But but I will say this, and I'm not trying to be critical. The guy it's just it just kind of hits you in the face right out of the gates. Here he is with the same energy that he would have if they would want that there's a point where it's just you got to modulate your approach. There's a point where it's just too much. Come on, dude. I mean, it's just too much. If you're around him all the time, who the hell are you to talk about to him? He's a Super Bowl wouldn't go. That's fine. He's been to another. That's fine. That doesn't give him a lifetime. His modulation is modulation. There is no modulation. Well, whatever. It's always this, this, this, Chris, Chris, Chris. It's always, always, always, Chris. It's always that. There's a point where I think you did. There's a point where you just got to say, we get let's just let's write a roller coaster a little bit. He's real. It's really him though. That's where I think and then it comes off genuine. And it's also a love of football and wanting to be great that if you're in that facility, those players, his energy, it goes throughout the whole facility. So that's where, okay, like, I don't disagree with that. There's just a point where it just, I mean, it was 1130 at night, midnight. Well, he's trying to give a message to his team and the fans and say, hey, we did a lot of good things, right? Now, he might go back on getting the line to get on the plane. And then you'll start to hear, you know, gosh, damn, F me, we should have and the modulation will change. But he's not going to show that to you. And he's not. I don't know that he ever changes. I don't know that he's ever anything. He does. What we see all the time. He does. He does change. But he's a hell of a coach. We know that. And I really do that their toughness is is up there with anybody. Mad respect for them and what they did. They were out manned last night in a lot of ways. And especially with the injuries and the old line getting beat up the way it was for them to hang in there. And then like he said, have a chance to win the football game was impressive in itself. It really was. You know, we all find ourselves in situations where we can feel a little bit nervous sometimes from me standing in a studio. The lights get a little hot. The anxiety runs a little high as I wonder whether or not the words are going to come out of my mouth the way that they are supposed to. When you get in a situation like that, you worry about sweating. Here's one way to take that worry off the table. Dove men plus care whole body deodorant provides you all day care and odor protection wherever you need it most from your pits to your privates to your feet. It's available at Walmart in the soothing sense of aloe and bamboo and shea butter and cedar. And when they say whole body, they mean it. Dove Mandio works on anywhere that smells. It goes on instantly dry for odor protection that last giving you confidence to celebrate like a real fan all day long. The Dove Mandio is aluminum free with vitamin E paraben free and dermatologist tested to keep you feeling just as great as you smell pick up Dove men plus care whole body deodorants at your local Walmart. Get your holidays started with the perfect tree and your perfect style from the Home Depot. Whether you want something that you can assemble in a few clicks, steal the show with over 2,000 color changing bulbs or a tree with lights that can be controlled by remote or foot pedal. The Home Depot has it all in our huge assortment of premium trees plus get free delivery on over 2 million items this holiday from the Home Depot subject to availability see Home Depot dot com slash delivery for details. This time of year, Saturdays mean one thing and one thing only college football with sling. You get access to hundreds of games and the biggest network starting at $40 a month. That's just $40 a month. Slings takes your love of college football to the next level. It's a no brainer streaming games and saving on them too and it's not just college football. Slings has live sports news entertainment channels you love and less of the ones you don't. So you save hundreds of dollars on live TV. Slings also lets you choose and customize your channel line up so you can choose the channels you actually like to watch. Slings cloud DVR lets you record your shows to watch on your schedule. There's no complex technology, no long term contracts and no hidden rigamarole. Get rewarded for watching college football. Slings let you do that. Visit sling dot com slash play to learn more and get started. That's sling dot com slash play sling dot com slash play. That was Sunday night football. Yeah. Earlier in the day, late afternoon, 425 PM Eastern. It was the Tom Brady show guest starring the Cowboys and the Browns. I mean, that's how it was so I don't care. Get mad at me. I don't care. It was too much. It really was too much. Well, when they put it was embarrassing when they put they send him up to fail. Yeah. Dak Prescott is on one side for the Cowboys and it's Tom Brady and the Browns are a playoff team with the defensive player of the year on their team, let alone to Sean Watson and we'll talk about him in a minute. But there's certainly enough players that they get to put on the graphic there with Dak Prescott on Cleveland to do that. But they made it. Yeah, they made it all about Brady. Did anyone watch that game yesterday who wouldn't have watched that game if you and I were calling it? I would submit to you that not a single extra person watched that game yesterday. It's still the Cowboys and the Browns week one. Nobody's saying I have to go here, Tom Brady. Nobody is. I disagree with you. I think there's some people out there that probably went, man, I want to watch Denver, Seattle and I'm but I want to hear Brady. Do you think a Broncos or Seahawks fan is going to say I'd rather hear Tom Brady than watch my favorite one because yesterday was soft. I mean, come on, Broncos Seahawks only Broncos Seahawks and fans are watching that game. Like a soft Broncos or see like one that's not totally invested. Like the ones they're like, yeah, like the Broncos. I could see curiosity, curiosity, just to see how does he sound. Yes. Does he have a maliflorous voice or is it a little squeaking all the time? You got a lot of squeaking complete sentences or are there stops and starts all the time. And look, I just think that the way this was handled, it creates natural human resentment and irritation. Like God has come down from heaven to call football games. Let's start with a lower bar. He came into the NFL as a sixth round pick. He was on not even on the bench. Nobody knew who he was for a year and opportunity arose and he proved himself. They have made this into and I guess you have to if you're paying him 37 and a half million a year, but you're doing him no favors. You're doing him no favors because I'll submit to you getting 37 million a year. That's true. But he it's not like he needs it. But I'll submit to you not a single person watched it who wouldn't have watched it. There was plenty of criticism as expected. And you wonder if they'll get to be a point where someone who otherwise would have watched a Brady game doesn't want to watch a Brady game. Well, what one thing it does is if you have a TV with four boxes, I think you'll be more intent to or more inclined to maybe listen to that one, at least with him. Until you've had enough and you're done. In our viewing room, he dominated it because we wanted to hear what he did. It was Tom Brady. We wanted to see how it was and all that and the reactions and everything. So either way, that was part of the show. And it's fitting that it was the Cowboys and them as well because the Cowboys are always kind of their own show to begin with as well. One of the reasons I'm being so blown about it is I'm not that he's going to be aware of anything that we say, but I'm trying to get everybody. I'm trying to go off the weak link, McVay's modulations and issues, Brady's a squeaky voice. I mean, damn, it's Monday, doomsday already. We haven't been together. And this is we're just going to start like, well, you know, I got to get it all in in one day because somebody fucking ditched me. Okay, for two days a week. So I got to get it all out when I have you for two hours. Okay. So sorry, London. So anyway, then watch that'll make it through. Like the whoever's watching soccer, he's smoking his cigarette with a pint. He's not even going to press the button. Nigel is going to miss the button altogether. So anyway, I'm trying to go Tom Brady into being what he wants to be. I watched the interview during the Texas, Michigan debacle. I watch it as well. And you can see, and we've both been doing broadcasting long enough, not that the experience is actually made a difference, but I can see when someone's wheels are turning and they're searching for words. He had these long pauses. And I think he's filtering every thought he has through this. Can I say it? No, I can't. I need to say something more politically acceptable. Okay. When they asked him about the Sean Watson, for example, right, it was this vanilla cliche bullshit instead of hey, Deshawn, this is the year. This is the year Deshawn. You've got to earn that contract. You've got to prove the Browns right for the investment they made and not only 46 million a year on a five year fully guaranteed contract, but three first round picks that could have been low cost integral key players on the roster or roster. This is already pretty damn good. And three other draft picks that we're giving up. You have to do it now or that's it. It's done. This is it. If you don't rewind the clock the 2020, the clock is going to just fall apart. Right. It's done. Yeah. And I know he wanted to say it. Sure. And I don't want to listen to Tom Brady not being Tom Brady. And I'm trying to dare him and goad him into saying screw all that shit. I'm going to say what I believe. Somebody doesn't like it. That's their problem. I've made a career out of that, Tom. And I know that it makes your life a little more difficult. You get phone calls from pre 45 Park Avenue and you get in trouble with the boss. But you're serving the audience. And it's a disservice to the audience to sit there and give us a bunch of cliches and not say what you think. Well, he's going to teach us the game. That's one great thing he's going to be able to do. And maybe he'll get into that. If there's a Tom Brady is an awesome guy. He really is. Hey, there's no doubt about that. You know, well, you know, I think he took the air out of the football. He did not send me a D. But either way, right? I do think if there's a flaw with him is that he wants everybody to like him. Right? And then there's someone that up tall. And that is at some point going to have to, you know, stop a little bit to make some points. Like you said, they're very real. That's that's the biggest thing. Life is easier when you want everybody to hate you. Then you could just then you could be your son. I think you want everybody to but you just don't care. And I'm just going to be who I am. Because that's how you serve an audience in a medium life is. Sometimes people don't like you anyway. So yeah, hopefully he'll learn that because they can sense phony above all else. And you can like me or hate me. You can agree or disagree with what I say. But I'm never going to be anything other than who I am. When I sit in this chair, when I'm talking on the phone with a radio host, when I'm doing a podcast, I'm not going to sugarcoat it. I'm not going to pretend to be anything other than I'm not. And I think the audience appreciates authenticity and they can detect bullshit a mile away and phony and fake a mile away. It's not phony and fake though. I don't want to say that. It is phony and fake. I think it's more. I'm not what he truly believes. I think it's more just like he's trying to be a polite gentleman. He wants to say that guy sucks. And here's why he sucks. Maybe and maybe he'll get there. Let's give him. Let's like we talked about what we want. It's with the team. Let's drop a little work into it a little drop in the break. I mean, you hear we are in a 730 and you have shit on everybody in the NFL so far. Not everybody. We haven't gotten them off to them all yet. We're getting there. Oh my gosh. The cowboys are great. The cowboys are great. Hey, how about them cowboys? They found them some glory hole in Cleveland. You're on fire today. So, you know what it is? It's four days of sleep deprivation. That's what it is. Because when it's time for me to sleep, I can't. Last night games over. Oh, clock's ticking. I can maybe get five and a half hours. I'm lucky. And I'm later thinking, oh, I'm not going to get five hours of. I'm like, I can't fall asleep. It happened on Thursday night. I got two hours of sleep because the third hour was me fretting that I only had three hours of sleep. Well, guess what? Only had two hours of sleep. So anyway, the cowboys look great. Yes. And Dak Prescott finally gets the contract better late than never, I guess. But it went all the way up until Sunday morning and somebody emailed me and this is a great observation. Jerry Jones yet again, stealing the headlines, taking over the Sunday morning of week one. You're right about that. Let's not get it done Saturday night. Let's wait till Sunday. Let's make it the talk of the pregame shows, even jumping past the Tyree kill thing we were going to talk about later. Because once the Dak Prescott thing happened, that's that's it. Dak Prescott. Boom. But it was smart. They did it and they went out and played well. They and I went back and forth on the Browns Cowboys game. You ended up picking the Cowboys or Browns. I picked the Cowboys. I was going to pick the Browns when we were doing the picks podcast last week. It's like, no, no, no. I, you know, yeah, the Browns were great last year, but I still, there's still a giant wild card and that's what we need to find out with this Browns team. What are they going to be with DeShawn Watts in a quarterback? Because he's dragging them down. Yeah. All right. So, let's start with the Browns before we start with the Cowboys. Oh, I'm trying to be positive. Well, you're an expert to be with everybody. But I mean, I hear you. I think the big thing is, hey, it's two games in a row. We've seen last year's best defense and football just get absolutely torn apart, right? They, they have a problem with teams from the state of Texas, obviously, because the Texans destroyed them in the wild card game and Dallas had a good game plan yesterday for Jim Schwartz and all the craziness and what she does. And they knew how to protect some of the blitzes with all the blitzes. They had nice little route combinations because Cleveland does some advanced stuff. They'll blitz everybody and it'll look like man to man and they still find ways to pass it off and play zone and do some crazy stuff. Dallas was all over it. So that's a little scary and people are going to have studied Cleveland and everything they did. So maybe people have caught up. Then you get into, hey, they're missing their, they're starting to tackles yesterday. And that's tough against Michael Parst and the markets, Lawrence, who were in the backfield. And then unlike the Cowboys who got really like more from their investment in Dak Prescott and CDLAM yesterday than the Browns have gotten in the whole Deshawn Watson era period. Deshawn Watson, I don't know what to say. The magic is gone. The person we saw, like you said, in 2020 and 2019, where he was undoubtedly like a top five quarterback in football that no longer exists. Those years of not playing football, everybody looking at him weird now because of what happened to him, it has obviously affected him. There's no magic in Deshawn Watson's game, nothing. And what's even more concerning, I think on top of that for me as an ex quarterback, is the way they call the game. They call the game as in if they don't really trust him, almost like there's training wheels on still. And that is like, they didn't want to just go, hey, we're losing their beat in this. Let's just get in the shotgun and let Deshawn just carry us a little bit. That's not even an option for them anymore because I think they're afraid, like, if we do that, he'll throw five interceptions and he'll miss throws everywhere. His throwing's not good. He's not as athletic as he used to be. And I'll say it. And I know you agree with this because we've talked about this before. The magic looking as I is gone, where he used to, I used to be like, oh, they're down by 10, but Deshawn still, he's feeling it still. It ain't over yet. I haven't seen that since Houston. And I don't know if we're ever going to see it. So right now, it's going down as the worst contract in the history of the NFL. Period. It's there is no doubt. And trade. Well, they didn't just sign him as a free agent. They gave up three first round picks and three other picks. That was a mid-round pick back. And when and how do you ever get that lawn mower to start? Because you're right, whatever it was, whether it was all the scrutiny publicly, the embarrassment of the allegations that were made against him, very strong. And the kind of thing that will cause everyone to think of someone differently for the rest of their lives. Every time you walk in a room, all that stuff's out there, right? All those graphic details of allegations of sexual misconduct and a predator allegedly, and going to Instagram to find massages wherever he could with this vague understanding allegation that he was looking for something more than that. I mean, how do you ever get past that? And then you throw on top of it the fact that he didn't play in 2021. He was dealing with the league. He got suspended. The embarrassment got compounded. And at some point along the way, he just lost his confidence. I think that's what it is. When you lose your confidence and you have limited opportunities to try to get it back, you feel like you're kind of in quicksand. Right. And then he doesn't just can't play and stay out there. And it's snowballs. I'm trying to think of the right metaphor here, but it's just like, oh, come on, I have to, I have to, and you get to a point where you just give up. I almost feel like he's just giving up. And he's just hanging on. They owe him the balance of 46 million this year, 46 million next year, 46 million a year after it. My main objective at that point would be keep out of any trouble whatsoever, give them no reason to void my guarantees, because there was a point last year where, you know, maybe there, and they all know, we're not trying to do that. But if he would, I guarantee you at this point, if he would get like, get suspended for something to get anything that they could do to say we're flushing those guarantees, they would, they'd move on for it. If they could dump him right now, they would. They're saying all the right things. We know that, you know, I feel bad for Kevin Stafansky. He's always got to kind of talk positive and hey, he's great and all of that. But yeah, they can't feel warm and cozy about what they look like and Deshawn what looks like at quarterback right now. Our guy Gary is pointing out that we may want to watch carefully and listen carefully to Deshawn Watson from after the game, talking about the poor offense and the lack of work that he had in the preseason as he continued to recover from the shoulder injury that limited him to six games last year. Here he is from yesterday. Yeah, we, we, not the type of people that make excuses. So, you know, some people can say that, contribute a lot, you know, my injury, guys missing time. But at the end of the day, once you're on the field, you just got to, you know, you got to perform and you got to execute. And, you know, we didn't do that overall. And, yeah, it showed. He really, he, the spark is gone. Yeah, it's been gone. And I thought maybe he'd get it back last year and he never really got the chance to get going, getting a rhythm. And then he got hurt just as he kind of felt like, ooh, he's starting to maybe have that game in Baltimore. They've been in Baltimore. And then that was when we found out he had the shoulder and the fracture and the, and whatever he'd be done. But the magic, the charisma, whatever, you're right. I don't think it's there. Can they regain it? I hope so. Can he, can he regain it? I don't know. But it's going to be like what you said. It's got to be a string of games of good and, oh, that was real good. And, oh, all of a sudden, it's a great game. And then, and then maybe that can reignite that look in his eye and that play. But as it is right now, the throwing is average. The playmaking backyard extending plays is average. It's nowhere near what we used to see. And they got physically whooped yesterday. That's for sure. Dallas came in there like, hey, we've had all this stuff, but CD lamb and Dak Prescott with all the drama and all that, I can't get over how good CD lamb looked yesterday. It was like he didn't miss a beat and it didn't miss anything. You couple that with the way the defense looked. I mean, an impressive win on the road for Dallas and really never really at any point thought Cleveland had a chance once the first quarter was about over. I still question how good Dallas is going to be because they prevented themselves from addressing flaws in free agency. Given the fact that they were so bogged down in the CD lamb Dak Prescott, Mike Parsons contract situation. Now, they're very fortunate that Mike Parsons didn't hold out. He should have $3 million is criminal borderline for the best defensive player in football. With the risk you're taking. It's not just, oh, well, I can get an insurance policy if I have a career ending injury. It's an injury that keeps you from being Mike Parsons, that the insurance company is never going to pay on. That's what he's risking, but they still, even though they finally got everything stabilized the morning of week one, they still weren't able to go out and improve the team. So that's where I'm concerned. I hear you. Yeah. Hey, great win. Great start to the season. You still got 16 games. You go 12 and five again, and then it's time for the playoffs and what's going to happen when you run into the lines when you run into the 49. Is there enough meat and potatoes on their football team? Because they have, the one thing they have is they have difference makers, right? Sometimes I talk about the Buffalo Bills and I go, they got a lot of good meat and potatoes, right? But they don't have the sizzle players. The Dallas is the opposite. They got some playmakers, right? They, they got Demarcus Lawrence and Michael Parsons. Ooh, Trayvon Diggs is back in the secondary. Ooh, he's special, right? Deron Bland, when he gets back healthy with the foot injury, wow, another playmaker. Oh, CD lamb. We saw Brandon cooks pop up. Dak Prescott, wow. Yeah, running back. I don't know if we're going to see a lot of star plays there, but it was nonetheless looked good for Ezekiel LA yesterday, but here's CD lamb early in the game over the middle tough. And the one thing I do like about Dallas is they go down fighting with their stars more times than not. They're going, we're paying you. We're going to ride you every freaking past play. We're going to call for you and we're going to get our muddies worth out of you. And they got him indoctrinated into the game very early on in the football game, got them in a nice rhythm. And once they got that lead and you felt like once they got to 17 to three, you kind of felt like, ah, man, it doesn't look like Cleveland's going to be able to to mount enough offense here today to make this a football game. And that's the thing. It was just a suffocation where you don't need to have tremendous offensive statistics. When the other side keeps self-destructing and putting you in position where you can score and you know, they're not going to be able to respond and you get that sense, you know, it's not my day. That's always the biggest challenge, I think mentally for any quarterback, particularly quarterback, it applies to all players. But when you feel like it's not your day, can you consciously become aware of that and turn it around? Because so many guys just surrendered to that. And I feel like that's the fundamental problem with Deshawn Watson. He's kind of decided it's not my career. Right, right. I'm done. And back in the old days, he never accepted that. I'm taking my 46 million a year. No, that was your big criticism. He treated every play like it was the last play of the Super Bowl. Right. Now, it just feels like he's going through the motions. I'm going to get another 92 million after the 46 million I make this year. And probably at that point, my career will be over. But look at all this money I will have made and I'll go disappear into the anonymity I would love to be a part of right now and live the rest of my life. Just get me through the next three years. I just feel like that's attitude, get me through the next three years. I hear you there. We got to see something different for me. Yeah, it's all subject to change. You're right. It's week one. We'll see. But that was an ugly first start. And again, he didn't get to play in the preseason and he didn't get to practice much. But again, this is part of the problem with him right now. He can't stay on the field to do anything to really regain that magic. And there becomes a time where you go so long without the magic. I don't know if it ever comes back and we'll see where that goes. Other guy we got to give a little credit for? Mike Zimmer, the old Vikings coach. Yep. You know, I'll say this. He gives them a different look on defense. And with Dan Quinn, who's a hell of a defensive coach and all that, who moved on to be the head coach of the commanders, I love his defense. He does a lot of great things. But you've always heard me say it's a little aggressive. It's a little too relying on man to man all the time. Right. It's always that. And that's why they've had passing interference problems and stuff like that in big games. Zimmer, I think it's going to give them a little more versatility on that side of the ball. And I think that like when I say that is, I mean, just a little more, you know, game plan specific. Oh, this week, we're going to do this. And next week, we're going to do that. And I'm excited for that. And good for Mike Zimmer, you know, getting off to a good start there in Cleveland yesterday as a Dallas DC. And how about Brandon Arbery? I, you know, it's hard when we're watching multiple games at once. We saw him lining up for 71 yard field goal. He did make a 66. You got screwed wiped out by penalty, delay of game. Right. And then they were going to try 71. And they decided not to do it. They should have just what the hell I think they saw Denzel word back there. And they that's what scared them. They went, Oh man, we're going to have a bunch of blocks on the end of your Roger screw. Yeah, he runs four three five. And I don't know if we're going to be able to catch him if he turns the corner. So that's ultimately, I think the smart decision because they were controlling the game to such a extent. Don't even give them an inch or any wiggle room to feel good about themselves going into halftime. Here's Dak Prescott following the victory over the Browns on what ended up being a very good day for him in more ways than one. Yeah, I mean, great, great, great team win, great team effort. We can be better on offense. Defense did a hell of a job. Exciting start those super exciting start on the road a place that we weren't very very good in last year gets a team that was great at home last year last year. Last year's last year. But to turn the page and to start this year, the way we did was huge. And for me personally, good just to honestly, to finish these two questions. And I hope after the day we're done talking about talking about it and my pockets, I guess you can say, and can just move forward and focus on this team and the success that we plan to have and what we're working toward. We're not done talking about your pockets yet, Dak, because the full details have yet to be released. I will have the breakdown of his contract. It looks like a real 60 million. The question is how many years of the Cowboys tied to Dak, there's always an escape hatch in these contracts, whether it's after one year, like Daniel Jones, no, Daniel Jones is two years, you know, Smith was one year Derek Carr with the Raiders. His most recent contract there was one year. Sometimes it's two years like Daniel Jones. Sometimes it's three years like Toa and Jordan Love. The Cowboys had wanted a two year out. Yeah. And I'm going to be very interested to see. I bet it's a three year out. I bet it's a three year out. Yeah. And then you'll still have some guaranteed money that might be offset by whatever he would get somewhere else, assuming someone else would sign in. But they were looking for an out in this. And just in case, just in case they come to the conclusion on their own, that it's time to move on to someone else. Hey, he's a damn good quarterback. He is definitely a top 10 quarterback for me. And I think he's a top 10 quarterback for most people in the NFL. When you talk about it, I know he might not be my homes or Josh Allen or Burrow. But the one thing I love about him is, and Jason Garris said this yesterday yesterday, he can block everything out, right? He's got Stephen A Smith just absolutely crapping on him on ESPN every day. I mean, every day. And we know that's the biggest sports media personality out there right now. So that's not doing him any favor. He's close with Jerry to you. I mean, I can't help but wonder whether or not Jerry wants Dax button to be pressed to try to motive it. Maybe, maybe. But it doesn't seem to affect him. And he's an incredible leader. He's a perfect kind of quarterback attitude for the Dallas Cowboys when you have a show and an owner and everything that always wants to make it a big crazy, you know, carnival and party all the time. So that's where he's great. And he is super talented too. He's a really good thrower of the football. He stands in the pocket. He plays tough. He does all the things you want. So, you know, again, like 60 million. Yeah, it's a lot of money. Does he deserve to be the highest paid quarterback in football? No, I always look at it and go, my home should be number one and nobody should go beyond that. That's the way it should be. But this is the way the NFL is right now. And I certainly think Dak Prescott is better than Tula or Jared Goff. I'll say that on top of that. And I think they got a hell of a leader and a hell of a quarterback in Dallas and you know who needs and I look, I'm going to continue my reputation. Yeah, right. Go ahead and we give out the crap. Your boy Blue needs to show up and start kicking on Brandon Bean's door and say, hey, man, pay me. This is ridiculous. I'm at 42, whatever it is, and Dak's at 60. Get the hell out of here with that. Well, at least Josh Allen's one of the top two quarterbacks in the NFL. Brandon Bean's out there sending anybody that says he's overrated, doesn't know what they're talking about. Well, if he's not overrated, then he's underpaid. Right. You were Devin McCordy during my little segment last night, right? You have him across the studio. They're saying he's, yeah, right. He's overrated. I mean, Devin McCordy's had a front row seat of playing Josh Allen and he will tell you like they, like he did with my homes, they had rules, right? Like the Jordan rules, they had my homes rules. They had the same thing with Josh Allen. There was nobody else that they had that in football that should tell you Bill Belichick and McCordy, these great Super Bowl people, they had rules for Josh Allen because he's that special. Anybody else that's saying that about Josh Allen is an absolute, you're just a hater or you don't know what you're talking about. That's all I can really say about it because it's one of the most gifted players in the history of football. But I will say this with what your point, I like what your, I like where you're like, if you're going to pay him 42 million, then go out there and get some difference making players that they okay, it's got to be one of the other. You can't play him 42 million and then just go, Hey, we got a lot of good players, but no great players. And that's the problem with Buffalo and we'll get to them later. But that's what scares me about them. And I hear you my boy, Blue should be beginning. I don't want to go too far down the salary gap rabbit hole, but I think they structured his contract to give them the opportunity to do that in the past. I know didn't work. And now they're getting into the high dollar years and he's underpaid and they've kind of got a little bit of a mess. And he said he's not, but behind the scenes, like you can't come out and say, Yeah, I want more money. I'm underpaid because he's got a great relationship with the fans and they love him. You start saying things like that, it's going to go the other way. But I think behind the scenes, somebody's got to be saying, Hey, man, this is ridiculous. Hopefully it was the agent of saying it and people like us are going to say it. And hopefully that'll be enough to put a little pressure on Buffalo. I said it's a brand and being at the scouting combine. I'm sure you love that. Oh, yeah, that's right. You did get a dirty look. Yeah. And then maybe I might have gotten a, you know, some gives them myself. So that might have happened. Okay, let's take a break. When we return, Tyree Kill had a very unusual first day of the season. It started as bad as it could have been. And it got a lot better when it was time for him to play. That's next here on this Monday edition of PFT Live. Get your holidays started with the perfect tree and your perfect style from the Home Depot. Whether you want something that you can assemble in a few clicks, steal the show with over 2,000 color changing bulbs, or a tree with lights that can be controlled by remote or foot pedal. The Home Depot has it all in our huge assortment of premium trees. Plus, get free delivery on over 2 million items this holiday from the Home Depot. 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