The Big 6 in 60
The Buffalo Bills Dominate for the Second Straight Week | The Big 6 in 60
[MUSIC PLAYING] It's the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. My top takeaways from the Bills, proud of the Jacksonville Jaguars. The Cincinnati Bengals might have the worst defense in the NFL. The NFL has come down excessively harsh on safety during when James is spending him one game for his hit on Sunday. Max Strouves, guard of the Cleveland Cavaliers, is the ACC really about to keep the band together. The Lockdown Podcast Network presents The Big 6 in 60, the six biggest national sports stories from the local experts of the Lockdown Podcast Network. Get the real story. Why it matters, what's next, who wins the big game and more? All in 60 minutes. The Big 6 in 60 starts now with the biggest story in sports. My top takeaways from the Bills, proud of the Jacksonville Jaguars. You are locked on Bills, your daily Buffalo Bills podcast. The Buffalo Bills, the feed of the Jacksonville Jaguars, 47 to 10, and improved to 3 and 0. On the season, boy was that a fun football game to watch if you are a Bills fan. I mean, what more can you possibly ask for out of a football team? Five touchdowns in a row to start the game offensively. Six total touchdowns scored by six different players. Splash plays all over the place on defense. It was one heck of a night. The three and 0 Buffalo Bills are humming the last 10 quarters. They have outscored their opponent 102 to 31. I'll tell you what, the vision for this operation and how that has manifested itself so quickly is very encouraging. A lot of people wrote this Bills team off. They couldn't understand the roster turnover. And while there's a lot of season left, it could not be off to a better start. This Bills team is a very mature operation. I keep coming back to that phrase, mature. And it goes back to what this team became after the Philly loss last year coming out of the buy. I like the way this team is playing. I like their approach. And I like what they're capable of. And looking at this game in particular, we're going to do what we do. We'll talk about things I liked. We got a lot to talk about there. A couple of things I didn't like. We'll recap the predictions and talk about what's next. But as we get into things I liked, you got to start with Josh Allen. You've got to start with Josh Allen. If you've listened to me analyze Josh Allen over the years, you know the way he played against Jacksonville on Monday night is exactly the type of quarterback play that I've been dreaming of from him, consistently doing the smart right thing with the football, taking profits, avoiding negative plays, not chasing big plays. Just let the game come to him, sprinkle in the special Josh Allen stuff when needed and go play ball. And tonight was an amazing example of exactly what I've been preaching. 23 of 30, 263 passing yards, four passing touchdowns adds 44 rushing yards. He better be the AFC offensive player of the week. And remember he did all of that in about 40 minutes of game clock. I mean, what if this was a competitive football game? Was Josh Allen going to throw for 500 yards? The Jacksonville Jaguars certainly wasn't going to stop him. I just love how he's executing. I love the decision making. I love how clean his mechanics are. This is incredibly high level quarterback play from Josh Allen and shout out to Joe Brady. Joe Brady anticipated the looks that Jacksonville was going to provide their unique defense and he had all the right answers. Joe Brady completely in his bag. Josh Allen in this game, the first quarterback in the history of the NFL to complete 75% of his passes, throw for four touchdowns, have no turnovers, take no sacks and lead his team in rushing all in the same game. Special night from a special quarterback. And how about the weapons? Everybody eats right. Well, Josh Allen completed passes to 10 different players. 10. I think the only skill players, offensive skill players that didn't catch a pass. Quentin Morris, the third string tight end and the full back Reggie Gillian. Everyone else caught a pass. But Kalil Shakir, six catches, 72 yards touchdown. How good's this guy? 14 catches on 14 targets to start the year. Yards after catch, unbelievable. I mean, what's better than watching Kalil Shakir operate with the ball in his hands? He's creative, he's creative, he's physical, he's competitive and he just gets yards. He just gets yards. What a player, Dalton Kincaid. He got to see him win down the field. Three catches 41 yards and a touchdown. Love the kind of corner route towards the sideline, a big play down the field and then an extended play. Josh Allen finds him streaking across the back line of the end zone as he rolls to his right. Keon Coleman touchdown reception, the first of his career. James Cook, 15 touches, 87 yards and a touchdown. Ty Johnson, six touches, 46 yards and a touchdown. Ray Davis, his first career rushing touchdown scored in this game. Macka Hollins with a 16 yard catch. Curtis Samuel, 22 yards after 18 in his first two games. Everybody eats. Impressive stuff, getting so many different players involved and it puts a lot of stress on a defense. What a defensive defense is trying to do. They say, let me figure out what the best thing is that you do and take that away from you and try to make you play the game left handed. Well, pick whatever you want. Pick whatever you want against the Bills. They have too many different ways that they can attack you. It's not based on one guy. Outside of Josh Allen, of course it's based around Josh Allen, but it's not about any one single player around him. It's about the totality of all of it. And it's a beautiful thing so far. How about this offensive line? How good were they? Josh Allen not sacked for the second game in a row. I think Jacksonville was credited with one quarterback hit. Kept the quarterback clean over four yards per carry running the football and Dionne Dawkins and Spencer Brown just continue to play at any elite level. This was a big test for them. I talked about it, right? Shut down Arizona and Miami, but neither of those teams have ever drushers like Joshua Heinz Allen and Trayvon Walker. It's a great pair of Ed Drushers. Did you know they were playing? Dawkins and Brown shut them down. How about this courtesy of next gen stats on Spencer Brown? Bill's right tackle Spencer Brown did not allow a single pressure on 35 pass blocking snaps. His third straight game without allowing a pressure this season. Brown is the only offensive lineman league wide with at least 25 pass blocking snaps and zero pressures allowed. Good thing the bills were patient with him and let him develop into this player. Took a big step last year and he's taken another step this year. Good thing he's locked up because he's a stud of a football player. Boy, oh boy is Dionne Dawkins as well. Playing high level football Dionne Dawkins firmly wanted a premier offensive lineman in the game. Special pair of tackles this team has with a special quarterback and Josh Allen and an offensive coordinator and Joe Brady that is completely in his bag right now. This is fun to watch long season, right? Only played three games, but they all count for one 17th and you have to be encouraged by what you're seeing out of this new look very multiple creative Buffalo Bills offense. And oh, by the way, you saw the play action kicking up in this game, right? I'm excited to see where the numbers fall. But Jacksonville, they were, they were trying some different things. They started playing some off man and they played up in the face of the receivers. They started loading up the box. Didn't matter. Didn't matter. Bills had answers and executed all night long. You've heard us talk a lot about FanDuel America's number one sportsbook. 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Have to turn down the volume with all that shouting. Make the switch to locked on sports today a free 24/7 sports streaming channel programmed for you every day to bring you the biggest stories without all the screaming locked on sports today brings you Canvas analysis opinions and news streaming 24/7 on YouTube or the free Amazon fire TV channels app part of the locked on podcast network your team every day. The Cincinnati Bengals might have the worst defense in the NFL. You are locked on Bengals your daily Cincinnati Bengals podcast. Jamesus was an embarrassing effort from a defense that might have one NFL quality. Maybe that's not quite fair. I think you know Chris Jenkins is okay tonight. The defensive line is a problem. It is the root of their issues on defense to me. It was a root of why they could not get a single stop a single stop and they could have won this game. But they could not get a single stop all night. No, none. The clock. The clock stopped them at half and gave them a breather. It just for the special teams to let Austin Echler return a huge kick off and set the momentum for the third quarter. Yeah, it was just awful. I mean, the defense is awful. You know what it looked like? It looked like when you're playing against someone in Madden. That just isn't used to playing defense. And it's like, all right, well, the first of 40 is going to win. And the first one to make a mistake is going to win. And the Bengals literally couldn't force them into making any mistakes, a field goal, which put them up by two scores felt like a huge win. And that's just wild. And yet that's the reality that they face tonight. And there was, there was a mixture. It was explosive plays in the passing game. It was long drives that just take the clock right out of it. And, uh, especially in the fourth quarter, some really great throws and great plays by Jaden Daniels, like there was a mixture. Miss tackles and just no playmaking ability. Second and nine. Well, the commanders get eight yards. Well, now they're converted. You got them second and nine. You can't give up eight yards. And I felt like that happened like 12 times tonight. And they, they continuously saw third and short and then converted three fourth downs fourth and short. You could not get off the field. It couldn't make plays. That's the story because the offense was making plays and it never felt like they were going to win that game. It never truly now were there times where I had. Some hope that they were going to be able to turn things around. Sure. No doubt about it because the offense kept a minute, but this defense. That is the story because if the defense plays like that. They're not beating any, many. Maybe any teams as I think about this. Probably any teams in the NFL. I mean, that's as bad as you can be on defense. Literally getting no stops. A few crazy stats about this game. The one that I like is that. Oh, where did it go? I just had it. The. Since 1920 Taylor Cornell had this treat. Teams that have zero turnover, zero points and score at least 33 points had. Never lost a game. According to his stat head search 112 and. Oh, after tonight it's 113 and one because the commanders did it and one and the Bengals didn't do it in loss. This comes a week after the Chiefs had the first win by a team that went for less than 100 less than 300 yards. Gave up 21 points or more had three or more turnovers and converted 18% or less to their third downs. So the Bengals on two. Two ones. A very crazy stats in terms of. Incomplete football games. And that's what this was. This was a defensive meltdown. Of massive proportions. The Washington commanders had 22 first downs. On 57 plays only nine third downs faced in the game. And as you mentioned, when they got to those third downs and they got the stops, they went for it on three fourth downs and converted all of them with. Out too much drama and that's. One of the more frustrating things about this game is there wasn't. Any apparent difficulty in what Washington was doing outside of their yards per carry, which were much lower than I think either of us would have expected at 3.4. If I would have told you that the Bengals were going to rush for 6.2 a carry and the commanders were going to rush for 3.4 a carry. Who would have won this game? If I would have told you that before this game. Probably. Let's go pretty well. Right. Yeah, I think so. At the same time. That's why run the ball guys wrong. It doesn't necessarily matter. Well, and it just so happened that the Bengals response to it was selling out to stop the run, which meant they were vanilla and vulnerable defending the past when they couldn't get pressure rushing for. And that's where it comes back to the defensive line. They're trying to give them help. They're trying to do things to help with the run game. And then there's just no pressure. Trey Henderson almost single handled the one the game last week by creating havoc, creating pressures, drawing penalties. This week he had a much tougher go of it. And it was much more apparent that when he can't win consistently. They have nothing in the past rush and Jay Daniels was sitting back there for three seconds. Per throw on unpressured pockets. And as Troy Aikton pointed out on the broadcast, essentially play seven on seven. He was just standing in clean pockets all night. Yeah, and that was literally the story. I mean, the story is Jayton Daniels going 21 of 23 being comfortable. Seeing the field, making these awesome throws from a crisp, clean, comfortable pocket. And he was able to make plays with his legs when needed to. And I think that's what was so tough. And that's why I compared it to Madden. It's like, Oh, okay, well, this isn't there. Why have time to get to this? Oh, well, that's not there. Why have time to go here or I have time to step up or I have time to move over. Well, man, you're going to tackle Brian Robinson on this play. So I'm going to take it myself and I'm going to get the three yards on third and two. And or fourth and one. Like it was just, it was that easy. It really, it was like he had an easy button. And there was, he was, he was playing against a bingles defense that was in rookie mode. And he was like on all pro and it's just. That's it. And I was waiting and waiting because we've seen this bingles defense do this, especially last year, where they get off to these awful starts. They're giving up yards points. And then they adjust. And then they find a way to get a stop and it might be ugly and it might not feel great. But you look up and they've gotten a couple of stops and they build a little bit of momentum. And I was waiting and waiting and waiting and in the second half after Washington went down the score again it's like, this probably isn't coming. And it didn't. You said it at the, they needed one stop today. One stop, one turnover. And they couldn't do that. And that's why the bingles are all in three for the first time in the Jobaro era, first time since 2019. They have one chance at a stop. And they couldn't fall on the ball. We'll recap that play talk about what's to come for this defense will nitpick the offense a little bit, although that's not really fair. The offense was great tonight. There were ways for the offense to win them this game. They did leave some things on the field. So not perfect anywhere, but you can't really expect perfection anywhere. I guess, unless you're the Washington commander's offense who scored on every single drive that didn't end a kneel dance tonight in Cincinnati. You are locked on college football, your daily podcast on all things college football. This didn't go according to plan if you are in Pac-12 land. Here's what I think about it. And this analogy, I think is pretty appropriate, shall we say, given the circumstances. They're applying for college, the Pac-12 are, and they had their dream school. That was getting Memphis, Tulane and South Florida. That was their dream school. You know what, they had a good chance because they'd been put on the wait list by their dream school. And they were waiting to hear back and thinking, "Okay, I think we've got a good shot. I wrote a good cover letter. I made a good pitch." I mean, all of these things, you feel like you had it lined up and you didn't get into your dream school. Okay, well, you know what, not the end of the world because we've still got the safety, what do you mean I didn't get into the safety school? You're saying that we have to call the local community college and do they need students available? Well, look, they don't have the major that I'm looking for, but at least it's something, right? This is how everything progressed for the Pac-12 yesterday. The gold medal outcome was get Tulane and Memphis and South Florida, and they said, "Nope, we're good." And UTSA had been in the mix, "Nope, we're good. Stay in with the American." Oh, okay. Well, then in that case, we'll go get UNLV, and we're still waiting on UNLV because the Mountain West is making a strong pitch, and UNLV is considering. Well, you know, Air Force would be a good get. Nope, Air Force is getting a financial incentive to stay in the Mountain West. Gloria Navares, the commissioner of the Mountain West, is doing yeoman's work for that league at the moment. She is getting plenty of money in exit fees from the departing schools, which now include Utah State, who is going to the Pac-12 and has accepted the offer, and everything kind of hinges on UNLV right now as to what happens next. But the fact that she was able to keep her membership intact and say, "You should stay here," and that UNLV wasn't an automatic jump, that she made some pitch that is making the rebels on a university level think about this whole ordeal, she's doing an incredible job. To Pac-12, on the other hand, this is not going according to plan. You could even argue that it was a disastrous day, I wouldn't push back because they didn't get option one, they didn't get option two, then they had this side option, a school that they applied to and said, "Well, you know, if we get in, that'd be really fun, this is Gonzaga, by the way." And Gonzaga is not coming to the Pac-12, that report got shut down in about 2.8 seconds, so the Zags have had conversations, but the Zags are not going there yet. So, not a good day for the conference in their realignment rebuild. Still, it is important to remember, I'll offer a silver lining for those in Pac-12 country out there, you've still got Boise State, the Beaves and the Cougs, of course. You got Fresno State, you got San Diego State, you have Colorado State. That's still a good foundation, and with Utah State and the mixed, you've got seven, and without those schools, but keeping Air Force and keeping UNLV, the Mountain West currently has seven, so who gets to eight first? Because even if Gonzaga winds up joining the Pac-12, they don't have football, and they're not going to get it, so you still need to find another member. Where are you going? Where are you looking? Who are you getting? Are you going to listen to Sacramento State and pull them up from the FCS ranks? Are you going to try and get Texas State out of the Sunbelt? Do you hold out and just sit steady for several months while the ACC figures its stuff out and hope that someone comes available that would eventually join your league? That's a thought that has to be considered at the moment. It has a sense of urgency to it right now in the middle of the season. I don't really know why, because there's a lot of time before these moves really have to be decided. I thought these sorts of decisions would get made after the season, sometime in the February, March era, but apparently not. And so we're waiting on UNLV, because UNLV keeps the Mountain West at seven, and UNLV would get the Pac-12 to eight, and then they could stay there and that would be their league starting July 1st, 2026. And if you're looking at it from a neutral observer standpoint, well, what should I want? Who should I be rooting for here? The Mountain West has a much easier path to filling spots from departed members than does the Pac-12. Because the Mountain West would probably go get New Mexico State and UTEP, which are right in their geographic footprint. Or maybe they'd look to the FCS ranks and go get the Montana schools. I think they'd probably look to New Mexico State and UTEP. You already have New Mexico in your league, if you're the Mountain West, which has gotten commitments from a bunch of schools, but not UNLV. Air Force is staying put, and that's a major domino, because the American was thinking about getting them. There were a lot of things unfolding. I kind of forgot how exciting it is to follow along a realignment news craze day. That's what we had yesterday. And the Pac-12 was right in the center of it. And the Mountain West was at the center of it. And Gloria Novars and Teresa Gold, they have worked together before, known each other for a long time. And guess what? They were doing battle yesterday. I don't think there is anything nefarious between the two. They understand each of them has a job to do, and they are being professionals about it. But at some level, they were sitting in their office going, "Gosh, I can't... She got who I need to go, and I need to do this." And Gloria Novars has been ready. She's been ready, and she's doing a good job so far. But UNLV is the next big domino to fall. If UNLV does enjoy the Pac-12, the options become scarce, because you're struck out on the American conference, you're struck out getting the Rebels originally, you would have liked to maybe get the Falcons, that's Air Force, but they're not going to be available. So you had to settle for Utah State, which is fine. You know, it doesn't have the exact degree program you're looking for, but it's still a college that you've been accepted to. You're still going to be able to get a degree, turn that into a job, like it's an option. But it was option number three, not option number one. So things did not go according to plan. They really didn't, and the Rebels are the next domino to fall in this particular landscape. There's still the ACC. I don't know what Florida State and Clemson's lawsuit latest is. It'll be honest during the football season. I haven't kept as high tabs on that, and there hasn't really been any news. The lawsuits are ongoing, and we just continue to wait to see if they can get out of the grant of rights, which is what the Mountain West is asking their members to recommit to, and the Pac-12 is asking their members to sign a five-year grant of rights, which is very honest. Now, the question then becomes, for Tulane, South Florida Memphis, why would you not go to the Pac-12? I think this came down in all likelihood to two reasons. Number one, I think the travel was a factor. The travel that is going to offset some of the increased financial value you could get from a different media rights contract. I'll get to that in a moment. The travel is a huge factor, especially for South Florida. And even Memphis, which was the crown jewel, the most important piece of this entire puzzle that the Pac-12 wasn't able to land, Memphis, that's a long way to go. Pullman, Washington, Corvallis, Oregon, San Diego, that's a lot of travel. And with instability in the ACC, the American schools, I think, decide, you know what, we can move. There's upside to it, but there's downside to it as well. And the downside in the American conference, it is a higher floor, lower ceiling situation. Less reward, but far less risk. Going to the Pac-12, there's greater reward, but there's greater risk. So I think the travel and stability was part of it. And the other aspect is the plan that was reportedly presented to those American schools was a hypothetical media deal, not a concrete one. So you can give them projections on, hey, this is what we think our media rights valuation will be, which the Pac-12 has never overestimated before. Hey, this is what we believe the schools are going to get. That's not an assurance. And so I think that's what it ultimately came down to. And what a statement by the American conference to freely admit, and I appreciate the honesty that, hey, these schools were courted by other conferences. And you want to stay in the American conference? That's a heck of a statement to make right now. Because Pac-12, pretty appealing place to be. Boise State's in the top 25. Oregon State and Washington State look good. We know what San Diego State and Fresno State can be. Fresno's got a pretty good team this year. I mean, that's an appealing conference to go to. But for them to have this stomach to say, no, we don't need that deal. We're not going to make that change right now. I think that's a really impressive job by, I think, Tom Aaronetti is how you pronounce the name of the American conference commissioner. And I think he did obviously a great job. Tim Pernetti, sorry. Tim Pernetti, formerly Mike Oresco, but Tim Pernetti is the commissioner of the American conference. He's appointed earlier this year. That's a heck of a first move, heck of a first move in the realignment space. So props to the American, not a good day for the Pac-12. UNLV is up next. If you don't get the Rebels, where would you look? Would you go to another Mountain West team? Would you look at a Wyoming? Would you look at... Hawaii? Logistics are pretty tough there. Would you look at Texas State out of the Sunbelt? Would you look at North Texas? I don't know. I don't know. I think there are a lot of different candidates you could go and evaluate for the Pac-12. But Monday was Judgment Day and Monday was not a good day for the Pac. Game Time makes getting to the ballpark even faster and easier. Prices on the Game Time app actually go down the closer it gets to first pitch. 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Are you watching Fox Sports or ESPN on your TV all day? Have to turn down the volume with all that shouting. Make the switch to locked-on sports today, free 24/7 sports streaming channel, programmed for you every day to bring you the biggest stories without all the screaming. Locked-on sports today brings you can't miss analysis, opinions, and news streaming 24/7 on YouTube or the free Amazon Fire TV channels app, part of the locked-on podcast network. Your team, every day. This is David Harrison of the locked-on commanders podcast. And you know we love talking stats here at the locked-on podcast network. Well, here's one that's super simple to remember. Discover automatically doubles the cashback you've earned on your credit card at the end of your first year with cashback match. That means with Discover, you can turn $150 cashback into $300. That's right. You can put it towards some sports memorabilia you've had your eye on or treat yourself to a premium sports network. You earn and discover doubles. See terms at discover.com/creditcard. The NFL has come down excessively harsh on safety. Derwin James is spending him one game for his hit on Sunday. You are locked-on chargers. Your daily podcast on the Los Angeles Chargers. Part of the locked-on podcast network. Your team, every day. Well, Daniel, the NFL is trying to make an example of Derwin James after his penalty on Sunday. And I think it's too much too soon. And I just hope that it does not make Derwin James gun shy. And we got several injury updates. Justin Herbert x-rays negative. Thank God. But unfortunately, his two tackles are going to miss some time. And is the Ben Herbert signing a failure? Man, I think it's a question a lot of people are asking on this buyer's cell Tuesday. And right now it is harder to say that the chargers are harder to break. But today's episode is brought to you by FanDuel. Place your first $5 bet and you'll get started with $200 in bonus bets. And guaranteed is a FanDuel.com to get started. David, I thought there would be a fine. I thought Derwin James would definitely potentially get fined because of his track record after the hit that he had on Pat Firemouth on Sunday. And it was undoubtedly a helmet to helmet hit, right? What I would argue back against is the fact that I don't think it was a defenseless receiver who had taken multiple steps after he had made the catch and was prepared for Derwin James to hit him. I also think that it was not in any way a dirty hit and was absolutely a football play. And so for him to have his first offense of this season, I thought it was very excessive for them to go straight to putting him under an intense microscope and suspending him the first possible chance that they could get. I understand player safety. I understand trying to eliminate helmet to helmet hits. I think a suspension for the first offense this season, even with his track record, was too far by the NFL. It's way too much. It's way too much too soon. I mean, what, like a hefty fine? Yeah, I get it. I understand you want to try to keep the game as safe as possible. But understand, this is a violent game. Like these things are going to happen. Like, and like you said, I don't think this is like targeting or anything like that. Derwin James was not intentionally trying to hit somebody who could not defend themselves. Fat Firemuth knew that Derwin James was coming at him. He attempted to stiff arm Derwin James when he was coming at him. So it's not a defenseless receiver. Was it a helmet to helmet hit? Yes. Do you want Derwin James to wrap up? Yes, you do. But I just think a suspension after this so early on in the season is way too excessive. And I think this is just the NFL trying to make an example out of a superstar player. And I just hope it doesn't change the way he plays the game. And it just really sucks because it does feel like Derwin James is the throwback type of player. It feels like I said, you know, on Sunday that Derwin James was meant for those kind of matchups. And if you look in that game and if you look at every carry that happened in that game, you're going to see way more players against non defenseless receivers making helmet to helmet contact when they go to tackle someone. Yeah. It happened 20 times in that game. It's far from the most egregious hit that we saw over the weekend. If anyone watched the Eagles game and saw a player that was getting held up by multiple defenders that another player targeted in the helmet crushed, got crushed, right? So I get it. Do a uniform throughout the league and call it like that everywhere. That's not what's happening. This is someone getting singled out. This is someone getting punished for the NFL to show, hey, we care about player safety. We really care about it. This is the guy that you have to worry about it and ignoring all of the other offenses that are going on throughout the league and the countless number of flags that you could throw in every single game. I understand it. According to the AP, he has the most unnecessary roughness since the start of 2023. In 2022, we also had the game where he got ejected for a play of hitting a defenseless receiver. This was not a defenseless receiver. This was a football play that happened and he happened to catch his helmet like somewhat, right? It wasn't just a blatant helmet to helmet like that. There was helmet contact for sure. I did not think this was a dirty point in any way. And I definitely thought it was overkill for sure for the NFL to suspend him for the playing question. I just think it is. This is what they said. The video of the play shows that you lowered your head and made forcible contact to Steelers' tight end path. For Iron move, you had an unobstructed path through your opponent and the illegal contact could have been avoided. Your continued disregard for NFL playing rules will not be tolerated. Substantial penalties are warranted when players violate the rules intended to protect player safety on a repeated basis, particularly the violations that carry with them a significant risk of injury to an opposing player. He is a repeat offender. I understand that, right? But to suspend him for this specific hit, it just feels like they were just waiting for any moment they could possibly take to send this suspension to him and to send a message. That's not really going to change the way any other player does it. It's just so that they can say, "Hey, look, we're trying to help. We're trying to be more safe." And that's just to me what it is at the end of the day. And it makes me sick. It does bring up an interesting buyer cell, though, David, because this is the first thing I thought of when we saw this news. Buy yourself. The best version of Derwin James is always going to come with these risks. Yeah, I'm going to buy it. I mean, that's just the way that Derwin James plays the game. And that's the way that he knows how. That's how way he's always played it. Fast, physical, and free. You do not want a Derwin James that's gun shy, that's trying to think before he goes out there and plays. Or he's thinking while he's playing, because that's what leads to mistakes. That's what leads to missed tackles. And, you know, if he's like, "Oh, how do I approach this? I don't know how to do this safely." Like, that's just going to cause a level of play that we are not familiar with with Derwin James. When he's at his best, when he's in that all pro form, he's flying around, making physical stops, and making his presence felt. And I just don't want this situation to change the way he plays the game, because that's where Derwin James is at his best. And it sucks, you know, because it does hurt the team. I think it does potentially hurt him in the game in 2022 against the Colts. He can cuss himself trying to make a big hit like that. But this is a guy that also, according to Daniel Popper, spent the offseason trying to correct his tackling form. Trying to figure out what the refs that were calling, how they were calling it with George Stewart, their former coach that now works in the NFL offices. He's trying to get better at it, but he plays a fast physical game. He plays a fun game. He is good for the NFL. He's an exciting player in a league loaded with defense. He's the maybe the most fun safety to watch in the entire league. And it feels like they're trying to take that out of him. Because to me, a timid, apprehensive Derwin James is not a special player. We've seen it. It happened already when he was trying to stay away from the penalties a couple of years ago and over the last couple of years we've seen it. He has to play it 100%. He has to be on turbo at all times every game or else he's just not the same kind of player. And I do think he has to be like this for him to be the best version of himself because this was easily his best game of the season before. He was incredible. Easily. Face mask. That hurts you. You can't have that. That's just one of like five huge hits that Derwin James had in this game. He wasn't headhunting all game. Every one of his other big hits that he had was a perfectly legal hit. And they found the one that they can make the argument for to send the message. And that's what makes me sick because they're going to take a special kind of player out of the league and a player that's not out there intentionally trying to hurt people. He asked me better. He's trying to be better. Right? But it's just I don't know if I can see him evolving and still being the same caliber of player that's making top safety in the money league. If he has to play under these conditions that are strictly and specifically only for him. There was only one player that was going to get that whistle in that suspension in that game and it was Derwin James when we saw it. It's not for everyone. They're specifically trying to target him. And the problem is is these suspensions are probably going to get worse. Right? The next one could be a two game suspension. The next one could be a four game suspension. And he knows he's not trying to hurt his team or any other player. It's just tough man. And this is going to be really interesting to see how it goes going forward. But they're taking one of their best players and one of the funnest styles of play out of the league when they do something like this. And it makes me sick. Let's get to Sam's ball here real quick who has a buyer self for us David who says if Sanjay Samuel Jr. doesn't miss fix his missed tackles. He's not getting resigned. I was short on time here. But I think it's simple and I think it's a simple answer. Yep. It's easy by his four missed tackles so far. 28.6 missed tackle percentage rate, which is 11% higher than his career average. You can handle that when you have the interceptions. We haven't seen the interceptions. So you can't handle it. If that doesn't change, she's not getting resigned. Yeah. And I mean, I always wondered how much of a fit he was for Jesse Menders defense. A defense that asked their corners to be able to make the plays like he didn't make on Sunday. And two of the big plays he's allowed because of the missed tackles have led to two of the only three touchdowns the Chargers have allowed this season. Right? He already has four missed tackles this year. He had 14 last year. Four missed tackles and three games isn't going to cut it. It's his biggest flaw and he doesn't have the takeovers in the plus side and the high ceiling to make up for his inefficiencies. And what he doesn't isn't able to do at least to this point. So you can hope it gets better. That's not been who he has been at least to this point in his NFL career. You've heard us talk a lot about Fandall America's number one sports book. Well, we have something a little different for you. Now through September 22nd, all Fandall customers can bet $5 and get a three week free trial of NFL Sunday ticket from YouTube and YouTube TV. Then with a YouTube TV base plan, you'll be able to watch every regular season Sunday afternoon out of market game. All you need is a Google account and a current form of payment. Plus you can cancel anytime. For that $5 bet, you can take a look at some week four lines. The red hot Minnesota Vikings are two and a half point road dogs. Against the Green Bay Packers this Sunday, could an official return from Jordan Love give betters. More confidence in Green Bay at home. Meanwhile, Chicago Bears favor. Yes, you heard that correctly favored by two and a half against the L.A. Rams. Other Rams and Ty Rossers on IR, but we all saw what they did against San Francisco. No. So visit fandall.com/lockdown to download America's number one sports book. Are you watching Fox Sports or ESPN on your TV all day? Have to turn down the volume with all that shouting. Make the switch to locked on sports today. A free 24/7 sports streaming channel programmed for you every day to bring you the biggest stories without all the screaming. Locked on sports today brings you camis analysis opinions and news. Streaming 24/7 on YouTube or the free Amazon fire TV channels app. Part of the locked on podcast network. Your team every day. Max Drew scarred the Cleveland Cavaliers. You are locked on cabs. Your daily Cleveland Cavaliers podcast. So what's your summer routine like as far as recovering from a season that just happened and then transitioning into preparing for a season that will happen. And how did you sort of have to adjust that? You mentioned this is the longest summer you've had in a while after some deeper playoff runs with the heat them. The caps have this past season. So how did that change? Yeah, you know, it's it's different. Every summer is different. Whether you're dealing with injuries, whether you're battling through things or have to rehab stuff. But, you know, I was lucky enough to be, you know, in a good, good place of my health after the season last year. And, but, you know, with the time we had, you know, having the whole month of June, having the whole month of July. You know, I kind of took some time off as a season ended just to let my body heal and, you know, physically and mentally just to get it away from it. And I think that was, you know, very beneficial for me. So I kind of took about like a month off after the season was over and, you know, definitely did like physical therapy and lifted, but, you know, kind of got away from the game kind of got away from the gym and, you know, just kind of did the reset from everything. So, you know, took that time and then, you know, after that, it's, it's a grind. You know, I have a physical therapist named Brett Painter that I work with in Chicago and been working with him since my DePaul day. So we have a great connection and, you know, I lift with him. I do PT with him every single day and then, you know, right from there, I go to the court. So, you know, Monday through Friday, that's, that's pretty much the schedule. You know, we're doing that every morning and then, you know, mixing some yoga, mixing some Pilates random random workouts throughout the week, just to keep the body right and, you know, start gearing up for the season. So I'm in a great spot right now with my health and my body and really looking forward to the season getting underway. So you mentioned getting out of the gym for a little bit out of the court for a little bit after the season. What kind of, what can that, I guess, mental refresh do for you? Yeah, I mean, it makes you miss it again. You know, getting away from it. I mean, the seasons are long. It's a grind. There's a lot of stuff that goes on throughout the years. So, you know, just to have the ability to just check out from everything, just to get away from it. You know, have that time, have that, you know, that reset for everything, just to feel good about it again and come back with a positive mindset to. You know, be better for the next year coming. So, you know, that's really the main gist of it is just to get away. It's just such a long season, such a long grind and wearing tear on your body and your mind that, you know, you just need that time just to get away from everything. So a year ago at this point, you were preparing to go into your first training camp with the calves after spending, you know, the first part of your career, mostly with Miami Heat. What was it for you that made Cleveland the right place for you to go when you did hit free agency? I know it was a sign in trade, but what made Cleveland the right place for you? Honestly, it felt like the perfect fit, you know, as the free agency was going on and just talking and working things out with my agent and looking at the best possible scenarios. Cleveland was very high on our list. Mainly because of, you know, the shooting that they needed, you know, after the playoff series that had against the Knicks who was, you know, we need shooting at the wing guys that can space the floor for Donovan and Darius and help our big, our big guys. So, I think I fit that mold pretty well and, you know, we had a pretty solid first year with it and, you know, I think it's only going to get better. You know, now we got Kenny's in here now, you know, I've been dealing with him for the past, you know, a couple weeks just being around him and getting to know him and I think it's going to be beneficial for us. I think our offense is going to exceed and we're going to be, you know, a lot more better on that side of the ball, for sure. So you mentioned Kenny Atkinson, new head coach of the Cavs replacing JB Bickerstaff that's the biggest change to this organization, the roster for the most part is very similar to what it was last year, but what have your initial impressions of Kenny been so far, Max. He's been great. Every conversation I've had with him has been phenomenal. The way he sees the game, the way he thinks the game. And just his mindset and his drive and his, you know, accountability in the building. I think it's going to be huge just for not only our players, but for our organization. He just brings a chip on a shoulder. He has a winning mentality and, you know, he's going to do whatever he takes to do that. So he's a hard worker and he wants to instill that and his players instill that and his staff. And I think it's going to be huge for organization and for this building as a whole. So I know you can't give everything away here, but you did mention some, some differences to what the offense is going to look like. And I think a lot of Cavs fans are very interested in that considering that if you're not changing the group of players, something else might need to change offensively. What do you expect to be different about the offense this upcoming season than in the past? Yeah, I just think it's going to be new ways just to, you know, have more space and be more organized and, you know, get our best players in the best positions to succeed. So, you know, anyway, we can get Donovan Darius, you know, J and Evan get those guys and positions to score positions, you know, do what they're best at. I just think our organization between that and having the proper spacing on the floor at times is something can he's just been stressing. And I think, you know, throughout training camp and throughout, you know, the next month or so, it's going to be very crucial for us to lock in on that and understand his system and the way he sees the game. You know, with where he's been the past couple years in Golden State, you know, it's exciting to have that. You know, I think he's learned a lot, you know, being over there and having him bring some of that to Cleveland, I think is going to be huge for us. You know, an adjustment, is it max as a player to go from playing for one coach to playing for a different coach. This will, for you personally be your third coach in three years going from Miami with Eric Spolstra to JB Bickerstaff here last year, now, Keny Atkinson. How much of an of an adjustment is it on the player side of things? I don't think that often gets, it gets thought about. It's definitely an adjustment, you know, everybody has their own principles, everybody has their own, you know, things that they stand for and you got to learn that and it's a field out system, field out type of thing to begin with. But as the season goes on, you get more comfortable with it, but it is an adjustment at first. But, you know, so far my relationships Kenny has been great and I think we see the game the same way. And I think it's going to help us a lot. Game time makes getting to the ballpark even faster and easier prices on the game time app actually go down the closer it gets to first pitch with killer last minute deals all in prices and their best price guarantee game time takes the guesswork out of buying tickets. They're obsessed with finding ways to help you save money on tickets. Game time has deals on tickets right up to the start of the event and even an hour after it starts, it's the place to find last minute seats. 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Locked on sports today brings you can't miss analysis opinions and news streaming 24 seven on YouTube or the free Amazon Fire TV channels app part of the locked on podcast network. Your team every day. Is the ACC really about to keep the band together. You are locked on ACC your daily podcast on the Atlantic Coast Conference part of the locked on podcast network your team every day. Doug Rohan, a.k.a. Rohan Law, who's been following all of the ACC court dramas very, very closely and unlike Kenton and I, he is actually a lawyer. So we appreciate when Doug can hop in with us. So, first of all, Mr. Rohan, we hear all this chatter about possible a shortening of the grant of rights to 2030, but yet another revenue model possibly being introduced that could distribute more revenue to big brands like Florida State and Clemson. Give us the details on this Doug and also are any of the details maybe being misreported because the game of telephone can be ugly. Well, Alex and Ken, thank you so much for having me back. We did have a great time last time and I have appreciated the opportunity to share with your listeners and viewers some of the details of the litigation. So, yes, as you pointed out, Ross Dellinger reported last week that there was a preliminary offer on the table. There's some discussion as to whether or not it was proposed by Florida State and Clemson or this was the ACC bringing it back up. We don't really know and it doesn't really matter. That's really been the only bone of contention is people are trying to read behind this who is displaying weakness, who is representing a stronger position. It doesn't matter. At the end of the day, a settlement has to be agreed upon by both parties. So let's chill with the trying to figure out who's proposing what and trying to figure out what this means. What it means is that one possible solution, which we did bring up on another podcast about two months ago is that Florida State and Clemson State. This has always and only been about money. Now, this was a proposal that was brought up at the ACC media days two years ago. So in 2022, Florida State before going scorched earth said, look, we're not completely unhappy with the ACC. We didn't have the snub at that time. We're just worried about this money gap. And so if you can figure out a way to close the money gap, then we can figure out a way to stay happy and healthy here in the ACC. So the proposal allegedly was for Clemson and Florida State to get more money out of the other conference members. Now, the problem there is that means all the other conference members have to agree to cut their part of the pie into a smaller piece. Now, there was a non starter and agreed that is something that was probably unlikely to ever be the solution to this case. So now we fast forward two years, 13 months into this litigation. ESPN is being dragged into this ESPN has a deadline in February 2025 to decide what they want to do with the ACC conference. ESPN has seen the turmoil of the conference realignment process. And so now we have a new factor that's being added. And that is the possibility of not cutting from the other ACC members, but ESPN doing what apparently is something that we didn't expect them to do. Which is be willing to pony up a little bit more money. Now, there are a lot of questions. First off, this is a report from anonymous sources. Is it accurate or not? Who knows? We have no idea. Second, if this is the framework of a proposal that framework as reported as ESPN puts in more money, that more money goes to those who have better viewership as opposed to performance enhancements or rewards for the performance and the playoffs. And then that also is paired with a reduction of the grant of rights from 2036 to 2030. So that is the framework of the agreement. Without knowing how much money is going to be put into this pot, it really is incredibly speculative to talk about whether or not this is good or bad. What I will say is that what FSU is looking at is $20 million next year versus Vanderbilt getting $50 million next year. So we have a $30 million gap already. And that amount is only going to expand as we go further down the line of the grant of rights. So just getting it reduced to 2030 is a big deal. FSU fans wanted to be out of the ACC now. FSU fans are ready to be done, but to wrap this up and land this plane. We can't get out of the ACC before 2025. Even if we announced today, we're after the August deadline, we play 2024, we play 2025. Chances are, if litigation continues, we go into 2026. So if you're telling me for some amount of money, we don't know how much, but we just have to stay happy from 2026 through 2027, 2028, 2029, 2030. We're only talking about four additional years, and then we know we're out, or at least we know we can get out. That overall is the basic framework for something that is agreeable to both sides. We'll see what the details actually are. You know, the details of that are important, and like you said, it is majorly speculative at the moment. So let's talk about what we do now. Let's talk about what has happened, what is on Inc and all that. One of the things that is most perplexing to fans and myself and, you know, many folks here. Florida State did, in fact, sign and agree to the grant of rights twice before the litigation comes up. So what role do those signatures play in all this, or what has made them null and void now to where there is a substantive case that, you know, judges are willing to hear. That's a very fair question, Ken, and that's something that came up at the onset of this litigation. That's one of the few valid criticisms that come to this, this argument and this litigation. The problem with it is, first off, the leadership has changed. We had very weak leadership prior to Michael Allford, to President McCullough, to Mike Norvell, and to Stephen Ponder. Those are the four people now in charge of the upper echelon of Florida State. They are all very keen on saying Florida State return to dominance, despite Mike Norvell's coaching choices in the last few weeks. So, with that being said, they got a win. W, baby. So with that being said, they know the current thing and the current status can't be sustained. And if FSU doesn't fight, or if FSU fights and loses, there's no difference. There's no change. So there is contract dispute law. There is an entire industry dedicated to, yes, I signed a piece of paper. But no, I don't think the other party is held up there under the bargain. So a contract is a two way street Florida State has an obligation. The ACC has an obligation. And what Florida State is trying to outline now under the new leadership, and that's why this is coming seven years later, is the ACC has not met its obligations under the contract as well. A PRIME MEMBERS! You can listen to this locked on podcast, add free on Amazon Music. Download the Amazon Music app today! (upbeat music)