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You know, obviously I stand behind our guys for the reaction, and I think it's a natural, it's a natural reaction. I was a little surprised, and look, I've got a ton of respect for D'Mico, he's a former player, I'm a former player, emotions run high. I would say that if it happened, you know, to their quarterback, I think the reaction would have been the same, quite frankly. Doug Peterson talking about the hit that led to the concussion suffered by Trevor Lawrence, the three game suspension imposed on Aziz al Shire, the Texans, linebacker, last night, the NFL announced that Ramon Foster, one of the four hearing officers who have been hired jointly by the league in the union, to handle the appeals of on-field punishments, fines, suspensions, et cetera, Foster upheld the decision. And it's not like a normal case where apparently there's no written ruling, there's no reasoning. I'd like to know why, I'd like to know how, is it as simple as Ramon Foster hears both sides and does the Judge Wopner, I'll be back in five minutes, and I'll tell you who wins. I would like the process to be a little more, a little more transparent and a little more based in precedent and reality, not just whichever way the wind is blowing at the time these cases are held. It gets back to what I was talking about yesterday, you're right. I want to know what he's suspended for, I want to know what specifically it is. You've lumped all this stuff into your press release and in the letter from John Runyon, what is it specifically? And I want to know more about why Ramon Foster said yes, what Derek Brooks have said no, what Jordy Nelson have said no, is it just as simple as spin the wheel and see which guy you get and that determines who you end up or what you end up having occur. So I really think this, when situations like this come up, it gives us a glimpse into how lacking this in-house justice system the NFL has put together really is. Yeah, I mean, I'm with you in that I wish it was more transparent. I honestly, I think it would do them, you know, do them good in a lot of ways. Yeah, it would silence the talk and the conversation a little bit. Yes, it was like me. Exactly. I'm questioning it, the process, why I went down to their exterior motives, what all the things you talked about, right? I understand that completely, but I think we do have enough common sense to kind of put it all together to realize why one, there's, you know, repeat history a little bit. I think a guy that's probably told the line a little bit with these type of plays throughout his career. And then I think the biggest thing here more than anything is just example setting like Doug Peterson was just talking about. We don't want this in the game, right? Most guys, if not all have realized, right, a quarterback getting down in that position, they've realized how to pull up to a degree or at least not go, wait, I'm just going to double down and throw a forearm and launch at his head now. That's, I think, the part that the NFL is going, wait, you've seen this enough as E-Sail Shire. You know football, all this type of stuff. You know that wasn't right, and you know you could have pulled back. And then I think on top of that, there's also the example of this is an ugly look. This is an ugly look what we're watching right here. A melee going down on the sidelines and then going into the ends on the NFL does not want this. They don't. And I think that's where they're also making an example of him that I know the reaction by Jacksonville was harsh and all that. But I will agree with Doug Peterson again, I think if it's the other way around, it's just as harsh from Houston. And whereas E-Sail Shire, I think is wrong, is that he reacted to all that in such a way. He could have got pushed and shoved and just been like, ah, my bad man, I messed up. I'm sorry, I'm sorry. And done that. And he probably would have got shoved a few more times in doing that. But been like, ah, my bad, but whatever, whatever, instead he went F you, I'm going to take you down and take you down and fight all of you and do all of that. And I think that's another part of the example the NFL is trying to set here is that they're not going to let that go down. You're absolutely right. A thousand percent, which is mathematically impossible, but at the same time, why doesn't the NFL just say what I said? I know. Why can't Ramon Foster reduce that to writing? Right. Here's why. Hey, yeah, Peter King used to always say you're wrong and here's why. The here's why is important. You can't just say you're wrong. You got to tell me why. So you're suspended three games. Here's why. And it's not enough for John Runyon to frame it and the NFL to present it as a PR thing because it was a PR thing. They released it affirmatively to the media, the letter, the excerpts and a press release that tried to make. I'll show you look like a villain, why don't we have something from Ramon Foster other than up or down? Yeah, that's the thing. He's not, you know, it's not. I haven't seen gladiator to yet. I have a feeling I'm going to be disappointed by it, but you need more than just wait to see which way the emperor's thumb does. You want to know what the reasoning is because there's a message to be sent. That's look, one of the reasons for doing this is to deter others from engaging in similar behavior. What do you find, determine what behavior should I not engage in? All of it. Well, can you be more specific, please? What specifically that happened in that exchange is the thing. And you know, I think the hit itself had a lot to do with it. I think the hit gets you suspended multiple games even without the history. Yeah, I think so too. Going in hot with your elbow in your guy's head, when you have a chance to at least not hit him in the head, you might not be able to avoid hitting him, but you definitely can avoid hitting him with the elbow in the head. That's right. And so that's for guidance purposes, like if I had a client who was playing in the NFL, I'd want to be able to call him up today and say, Hey, look, here's the big takeaway from the ruling in the Aziz al Shire case. Here's the big takeaway and there isn't a big takeaway. It's just upheld three games upheld for everything you did. Well, what was the everything? Well, could you be more everything? That's what I have a problem with. Yeah, I understand there. I do. And that's where I don't know why the NFL makes it harder on themselves with stuff like that. I'm sure they have some logic and not wanting to, you know, show you behind certain doors and whatever else with other instances. And maybe that's why they just play it close to the best here. I don't get it either. Either way, it's resolved. I wasn't sure if it was going to be upheld three games. I wasn't. I thought maybe they knock a game off. So that was a little surprising to me yesterday when I saw upheld three games. I definitely opened my eyes a little bit and went, wow, okay, they did it, right? But as the more you think about it, the more I saw the play again yesterday a few times, I think some of the things that I said earlier in the thoughts and just the whole look of it and the NFL and the shield, they want no part of anything like this. That's one of the big, big things, let alone protecting the quarterback we know is important. This gets back to one of the things we talked about yesterday, the people who are hired for these jobs. There is a political element to it because if I recall correctly, and there is a chance I do not, but if I recall correctly, either the league or the union, if they're sufficiently upset with one of these hearing officers, they can pull the plug on the experiment. So you have to understand in some of these cases, maybe one side is more intent on the outcome than the other. And it might be that whether it was Ramon Foster, Jordi Nelson, Kevin Moai, or Derek Brooks, you get the sense, you know what? The NFL seems pretty upset about this. Yeah. And the NFL PA hasn't said anything and I reached out to the union yesterday, they had no comment other than to say they hope that Aziz al-Shire gets a fair hearing. That's not nearly the avalanche of negativity that came from the NFL. So when you match the two up, who's more likely to be sufficiently pissed off at me that I might not have this gig anymore? It would be the league. So that's just one of the factors, whether it's conscious or subconscious. That's human nature, especially when you're in a position like that, where you're trying to navigate two different sides to the same reality. Here's something else too, that one of the PFT writers has pointed out just while we've been talking about this, Ramon Foster works for the Titans. He's a sideline reporter for the Titans radio network. These people should be completely independent of any and all team. That's ludicrous to me that Ramon Foster would be a hearing officer when he works for and gets a paycheck from the Tennessee Titans. Even though he's not part of the coaching staff, you surely have to be able to find four people who can do these jobs who aren't working for an NFL team. I don't know how in the hell that one slipped through someone's five-hole that Ramon Foster works for the Titans, a division rival of the Texans. Yeah, I hear you though, that doesn't look necessarily right either. I don't disagree. I don't. I hear you there. But also, it's tough with some of these guys and Ramon Foster and Derrick Brooks. Yeah, they have ties to their old teams. I think you just got to trust. They're going to try to do the most professional thing possible. But yeah, I'm with you. It's a tough one. Derrick Brooks getting paid. Is Derrick Brooks getting paid by the bucket? No, no, he's not. He's definitely not. You're right. He's not. That's a pretty. No, there's a difference. I get it. I'm just saying a lot of these guys got ties to their ex-teams and we can go down a wormhole. Well, he talks to his ex-teams GM and blah, blah, blah. Quite so weak. Yeah, but I know it's different than being paid. There are certain things, right? There are certain bright line things like collecting a paycheck that would tend to be disqualifying. Yeah. I hear you. I hear you. Like, at least, at least try to create an impression that conflicts of interest aren't rampant throughout the NFL. You're touching on something else though, conflicts of interest are rampant throughout the NFL. That's all I try to say. Exactly. That's an eye when you've got a clear conflict of interest that never, ever should have allowed Ramon Foster to be a hearing officer unless he gives up his gig with the Titans radio network as a sideline reviewer. Right. Right. I hear you. Hey, listen, the NFLPA, they're in a tough spot and I think this one is so egregious here where it's probably one where that's all they can really say and they're kind of telling you, right? Hey, we just hope a Z cell share gets a fair hearing. And I think within that they've gotten the, the, the side eye and the look from the NFL. And I'm sure just within their own building and other people in the NFLPA to go, Hey, that was stupid hit by him and like the NFL's given the side eye like your players, we can't act like that after that happens. That's, that's not a good look. And then I think you couple that with the prior history and all of those type of things, that's probably where they were steadfast of like, no, he's getting three games. And there's that one. That's, that's a bad, well, Justin Fields. I mean, when that late slide, that's a late, it's late, you know, it's late, but it's not much different than what we saw the other day. Fantastic. Oh, you're right. And he does nothing to hold up again. That's the thing there that that's what's the concern. It's kind of similar in that way. Of course, we got the Brady choke play and all of that. We got the Tony Pollard from last week or few, two weeks ago, whatever it may be. Yeah. Here's, yeah, this is, this is putting his hand on the throw to Tom Brady. Yeah. Yep. So there's, there's some of that. And I'm sure they've kind of had their, their eye on him a little bit from, from some of the stuff he's done throughout the years. This is just from week 12. He was, that's Blake's just before the, the, the, yeah. And, and so history, the egregious nature of the hit, the two fights, they all come together into the same bucket and, and it results in a three game suspension. I just would prefer more transparency and more specificity as to what it is because I, I think ideally the NFL would have a system where everyone knows what you get in trouble for and how much trouble you get into. And I think the NFL is adamant about having the ability case by case to come up with whatever they think is right. Every business would love to do that. You don't want to be bound by your own precedent. You want to come up with what you think is right regardless of what you've done in the past. And I do need to be clear on Ramon Foster. Yeah. That's for cumulus and isn't paid directly by the Titans, but we know how these team radio networks operate. If they don't like you, you're out, you're, you work for, even if you're not being paid by the team, you're working for the team, you're approved by the team. They don't just let whoever the outside network is bring in anyone and there's a business relationship between the Titans and cumulus radio. So maybe there's not a direct employment relationship. But still is close enough that ideally, but for the fact that conflicts of interest are rife throughout the national football league, someone would say, probably not a good idea to have someone who is embedded with the team working as a sideline reporter be in this position. And I guess he would recuse himself for anything that directly affects the Titans, but still, and the Titans stink this year. It's not like the Titans are chasing down the Texans for a division title. I wonder if they would have not given it to Ramon Foster if you had a Detroit Lions Green Bay Packers situation right now in the AFC South. I think they shouldn't have if that was the case, but I don't, I think they shouldn't have anyway. Yeah, I agree with you there. I don't know exactly, excuse me, how that pecking order goes down there. I'm not sure how they assign people, I'm just not privy to that. And I don't think I've ever heard that, but you're right. I mean, again, in the gambling era, like we always talk about the money, the business, all of that, these are little things that NFL could do to certainly help calm everybody's worries about these type of issues. The process, I believe is random, but, but who knows, who knows, and they added two more guys this year. They've gone from two to four, James Thrash is no longer doing it. They've hired three new hearing officers to go along with Derek Brooks, just because of the volume. There's so many of these. We only hear about the big ones, the suspensions, but a lot of these fines get appealed. They handle those as well. And a lot of times you don't find out, no, the NFL is very transparent about the imposition of the fines. We don't hear about the end result unless the player decides to make it known, right? The fine was overturned on appeal. By the way, Trevor Lawrence has been placed on injured reserve. He's going to have season ending surgery on the left shoulder that knocked him out of a couple of games before he came back for that game against the Houston Texans. So we won't see him again this season. He signed a five year, $275 million extension back in June. He's the long term quarterback of the Jacksonville Jaguars. The question is, who's the coach going to be next year? That's right. Probably won't be Doug Peterson. Who will it be? Whatever it is is going to be tied to Lawrence and that contract. And it's not necessarily a bad thing. He was looking a couple of years ago like he was, he was trending toward franchise quarterback. Now I don't really know. I don't think anyone really know. No, you know, I think he's, listen, I think with, with a lot of coaches out there that are looking to be a head coach or a guy that could be the head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars, they're going to go, Hey, that it could be worse. You mean I got a six five guy that runs four or six and got a laser arm and like is pretty damn talented. And we've seen enough to go, Hey, he can carry a team. And like we've said many times, he had the chiefs on the ropes of the divisional playoff game. Yeah, he's had a deal with being banged up last year. They're not very good this year. And of course, it's not just him. Everybody's bad. So like everybody, look at that. And I'm not sitting here trying to say Trevor Lawrence is a top five quarterback. But I certainly wouldn't be giving up on him. I certainly wouldn't turn down the Jacksonville job because I'm like, Oh man, they got Trevor Lawrence. I don't want to go to that team. Nope. I don't want to do it. Yeah. So that, that, that is, he needs to be fixed. It's the worst defense in football. They can't run the ball. They weren't able to protect the passer at all. I mean, it's been dysfunction throughout there in Jacksonville over the last year. So of course he doesn't look great either. And I think it's totally the right freaking move. I said this on Sunday night on my pot, be done for the year. What are we going to come back in a week or two with this crappy team and put the franchise out there to what? So we can finish four and 13 or five and 12, like who gives a crap, call it, chalk it. It's over. See you next year. And this is a contract that the Jaguars are tied to for several more years into the future, maybe even through 2028 before they could get out of it without a massive cap problem given the guarantees and whatnot. So he's the long term guy. They need to find a coach who's going to get the most out of the long term guy, just like Chicago. They want somebody who's going to get the most out of Caleb Williams. The Jaguars need somebody who's going to get the most out of Trevor Lawrence. That needs to be the guiding principle because he is the guy who is likely to be with the team well into the future unless they're willing to deal with what would be a significant cash and cap headache moving on from Trevor Lawrence if they decide if the new coach decides to do so. We've decided to take a break. When we return, John Harbaugh was cryptic about why receiver Deontay Johnson didn't play for the Ravens on Sunday. Now we know why he didn't want to. That's next here on PFT Live with the invites. The first ever Kia K4 seamlessly combines bold style and advanced tech with striking star map LED headlights and an available panoramic display, the Kia K4 delivers design and function. The available surround view and blind spot view monitors can help provide added confidence. 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This game takes everything you've got, so don't give it anything less than the world's most superior sports drink. Gatorade, is it in you? I know we expect Captain Johnson after game, and is there any other clarification you've with that? Right. At the time, I'm going to have to wait. Just to clarify, there's some moving parts there that we're going to have to figure out and explore and just see where we're at. I know I've got the question, the answer you want, but it's the best I can do and fairness to everybody right now. John Harbaugh after the game on Sunday, as to the failure of John K. Johnson, to be utilized at any point during the game, this statement landed out of the blue on Wednesday. It made a difficult decision to spend the update, Johnson, for our upcoming game against the New York Giants, for conduct detrimental to the team, the suspension stems from refusing to enter our game against the Philadelphia Eagles who have no further comment on this matter going forward. We need no further comment. Holy crap. How often have we ever seen a team just take both barrels and just make it clear to the world that this guy, this guy, he wouldn't do his job. You got a guy here who refused to do his job. Hey, everybody, look at this guy who refused to do his job. I was stunned when I saw that. Yeah, stunned, but not stunned. I mean, what I want to say is like, well, what is Deontay Johnson doing? Is he on a, like, a mission to make sure he never plays in the NFL again? I mean, that's what I would say. I go, hey, this is self-sabotage. This guy really doesn't want to play in football, obviously. I mean, again, when you can, when the Steelers and the Ravens not sure they want you anymore, two teams that are famous for kind of managing renegades and personalities and all that, you got problems. The NFL is going to look at Deontay Johnson and go, what the hell would we want that guy for? What? I mean, they got, he got traded to Carolina, needed a receiver desperately. They got rid of him as first, as the quickest thing possible. Oh, you want to trade him? Get him the hell out of here. So, I mean, Deontay Johnson, I don't know what he's doing. I know he's unhappy. He's not playing enough and doing all that. What did he think? He was just going to come into a team that went to the AFC Championship, they were going to be like, oh, you're the man, we're going to orchestrate the offense around you. I mean, they got Zay Flowers. He's way better than Deontay Johnson. Rashad Babin, when he's healthy, is definitely better than Deontay Johnson. So why did he think he should be out there catching 12 balls of football game? I just, like, who's advising these guys, who's doing, like, why would you do this? Career suicide. He will have a hard time finding a team next year because of this. This is a bad year for Deontay Johnson. Well, when it first came up yesterday, I was on 9-3-7 to fan yesterday in Pittsburgh. We were talking about this because I said, hey, this sounds like Laguerre Blunt trying to get cut by the Steelers so it can go back to the Patriots, like Deontay Johnson trying to get cut by the Ravens so it can go to another contender this year, whether it's the Chiefs or whoever, but the Ravens called his bluff. They didn't just cut him and move on, no comment. They made, they painted him in a way that makes him unattractive to other teams and they aren't going to cut him because if you cut the guy, you don't have a situation where he leaves as a free agent and you get credit for compensatory draft picks, not that anyone's going to want him next year, but if he does get the message that we're not going to release you, we're going to play hard ball, get your ass out there and do your job and if he does his job well enough and maybe rehabilitates himself enough, then he does leave as a free agent next year and the Ravens get the compensatory draft pick credit. I guarantee you when they traded for him, they gave up a five for him and a six, which when you consider where the Ravens are going to be and where the Panthers are going to be, you're not dropping all that far in the draft order to get Deontay Johnson. They have an eye toward what it means to their compensatory draft picks in 2026 because they have that system mastered better than anyone. Right. Yeah, them and the 49ers have mastered that system 100% you're right. But yeah, I mean, let's, let's read between the tea leaves a little bit. Okay. This, these are four, four, four, four, four alarm type moments or whatever. Is that what I'm saying that right? I think I am, but I'm not sure like a five alarm fire, four alarm buyer, four alarm buyer. There we go. Mike Tomlin, famous for dealing with renegades, famous, they, they got him out of there, traded him and then immediately started looking to trade for a wide receiver that, that, that says something. Wait, wait, we had a receiver, but he's so annoying. We're going to trade him and then still go through the whole trade market of trying to find another receiver. Carolina Panthers are still looking for receivers as we talk right now and they traded. A pretty damn good corner for Deontae Johnson. They got nothing in return and they have no good receivers and they said, get the hell out of here. We don't want you. And now you're with the Baltimore Ravens. So at some point, right, it's either you or everybody else. And when it becomes like you said this yesterday, when it starts to become everybody else, no, it's you buddy, it's you. And I don't know what he's thinking, but like I said, it's career suicide. And this is the last thing the Ravens need right now. They don't need this crap. They're eight and five. They're finding ways to lose game, mess up situations. And these are little, you know, distractions in a locker room on a, on a Wednesday and Thursday afternoon. The way I said it yesterday was far more entertaining. Yes, it was way better bleeps for the rear on hopefully, hopefully they heard it. Hopefully Nigel wasn't watching a soccer match and missed it all together and just didn't hit the button. Okay. Um, I will say this though, it's another example of the mastery of Mike Tomlin. I did watch hard knocks yesterday. And I think it got oversold to me. So I was expecting just even more than the full Mike Tomlin experience. It was great to see him sitting in the meeting room eating chili, chili cheese, free does. Oh, it was so good. Open open a bag. My wife was like, Oh, what is that? And I was like, Oh, those look like free does. I don't know. Yeah, I know. It was good. He's, he's awesome. He's, he's awesome. And he knows how to speak to the better angels of players who, who might be inclined to be a problem. Yeah. What he did with George Pickens after he got pushed down to the ground on the pick six to start the game three plays into the opening drive. He pulls George Pickens aside and he says what he needs to say to get George Pickens ready to go out and score touchdown and even things up. So they decided they had enough with the onte Johnson just like they decided they had enough with Antonio Brown just like they decided they've had enough with other guys and they might decide they've had enough with, with George Pickens, who knows, but the guys always going to be worse the next stop and we're going to see all the warts and, and, and I think in some weird sort of way, Deontay Johnson believed he could, he could act out just enough to get a ticket out of Baltimore and they'd cut him. He passed through waivers and he'd be able to go wherever he wants to go to try to win a Super Bowl ring. I, I, that's the only thing that would seem to motivate a guy refusing to do his job because if I refuse to do my job, they're going to cut me and he may not be aware aware of what happened with a Derek Blunt and Pittsburgh 10 years ago, but he signed at the Steelers. He became a malcontent, walked off the field and they cut him and he went to the Patriots and won a Super Bowl. Right. Right. No, I, I know. Maybe that, that was going to go down. I, I don't know. I don't know. But either way, he better be careful. The Ravens don't need it. I think they've handled it about as well as they possibly can. We'll see where it goes from here. I don't think this is going to do him any favors and get him on the field any quicker now. I don't. I don't think they're going to be like, Oh, now he's after suspension. We know he's angry. We're going to throw him out there more. No, I think knowing the Ravens, they'll probably stick it to a little more. He'll never play again. They'll never release him and they'll make him ride it out just in case they have an injury down the stretch or something like that. Hey, if they know how to push his buttons, he can act out again. They can suspend him again and I'll have to pay him as a thing. They're not paying him for this week. You can suspend a guy for up to four games consecutively at once, but you suspend him and then he comes back and if he continues the misbehaviour, you suspend him again. And look, Chris, I suspect the Ravens have their stuff buttoned up here. You don't just get suspended out of the blue. There's usually other stuff that's happened before that that culminates in the suspension. Although you could argue. I think that's why Harbaugh had that answer. I'm using to play. Yeah. They're refusing to play as enough to suspend a guy, even if there isn't a prior history. Suspending to play is kind of the cardinal sin. Refusing to play, excuse me, is kind of the cardinal sin. I would think. Right. No, I would think so too. And I would think that's why Harbaugh didn't want to talk too much about it because they're probably just some other things there and he just doesn't want to, you know, get himself in trouble. Potentially grievance. Potentially grievance. Anything you say can be used against you. He has rights to appeal this and, you know, they could, they could ultimately lose, but they wanted to send a message to this guy. You're not going to, you're not going to talk your way out of town. You're not going to passively, aggressively get out of here. We're not going to cut you. That's not happening. And this is the clearest possible message we can send. You're here to play. You're here to earn your money. We expected to do so. All right. Let's take a break. When we return getting ready for week 14 and a little game of what's more likely that's next on PFT Live presented by Accenture. They're great fans. They're great football fans. And I would think as a result they'll make it as hostile as they can for us. You know, I didn't touch with Kevin O'Connell much. I know you guys are both busy, but give it out closely. Yeah. I don't even know the rules nowadays with tampering, right? So we've got, we've kind of been through this, Ben. I have friends in the league on other teams. So I don't know if friendships are allowed or not, but yeah, I do, I do try to relate to people around the league legally and I don't know, I guess if it's illegal to text your friend and I'm sorry, but yes, I do try to keep in touch with a lot of people there and Kevin's certainly one of them. What a great, what a great moment because it was at that same podium I would assume back in March where Kirk Cousins admitting to like five different ways the Falcons tampered with him and they avoid it was one of the worst examples of tampering I've ever seen and they avoided getting slammed, maybe the way they should have. And a lot of it was Kirk's just a good natured person that isn't thinking about those things and he had conversations that he shouldn't had before he officially signed his contract with the Falcons. But he has and now he returns to Minnesota, oh man, what's more likely in this one Kirk Cousins throws multiple interceptions or Sam Darnold, not both, not neither either. Sam Darnold Kirk Cousins multiple interceptions who you got. Well, go, you start first, this is your favorite quarterback and your second favorite team. So let's hear what you got to say here, slugger, go ahead. I think it's more likely that Darnold does, I think that, and I haven't gone through and pulled scores out of thin air and/or elsewhere for today's picks podcast, but I can't imagine Kirk Cousins going back to Minnesota, a place where he's comfortable, a place where the last time we saw him in uniform, he had one of the best games of his career. I can't imagine that not boosting him at a time when he needs a boost because if he blows this one, you really do have to wonder how soon we're going to see Michael Pennings Jr. I think it's going to be Sam Darnold just because I think Kirk Cousins is going to have a big game against the Vikings. All right, yeah, I would expect them to bounce back. I would. I'm going to go, if you're going to make me choose one though, I'm going to choose Kirk Cousins. I am. Sam Darnold has been playing pretty good football lately. I've been, I've been liking what I've seen there as far as his play, made some dumb decisions in Jacksonville. We know that a few weeks ago, made a lot of great throws in that game and did a lot of awesome stuff, but did some boneheaded decisions getting down there close to the end zone. But, but, but yeah, after that, it's been clean. He's definitely been throwing to more receivers. So I, I, and I just, I think the other aspect of this is I just don't trust Atlanta's defense all that much to pressure Sam Darnold that way, you know, make plays. I do think Minnesota might be able to run on them and we know Minnesota's defense does a lot of crazy creative stuff. And I think it'll be hard as we talk about Kirk Cousins having to drive 12 14 plays all the time. Do that against Brian floors and all the stuff he does there. I'll, I'll go with Cousins. Yeah. I can't believe you have a Sam Darnold, you just, you just can't be positive about your team. You just can't. I knew you were going to pick Sam Darnold. I knew that. I knew it. He's your new. I love you not. I have to make a choice between Cousins or Darnold Pete sets the rules, who's more likely to throw multiple interceptions. I got to pick one or the other. I just think Cousins after six over the last three games, no touchdown passes back in a familiar place. I really do think that, that he will have a solid day. And I really do hope Vikings fans don't boo him. He made a business decision that anyone in that same circumstance would have made. The Vikings were going year to year. The Falcons made a massive nine figure fully guaranteed commitment. You would do the same thing Vikings fan. You would tell your family member to do it. It was a no brainer. The Vikings were trying to kick the can one year at a time. The Falcons came in with something more significant. His wife grew up in the area. You can't fault him for leaving. You shouldn't boo him because he did. It was the Vikings that didn't want to make the commitment to him. All right. Those Rams. Don't you? I like it. I like it. All right. Bill's 10 and two Rams six and six. What's more likely Josh Allen's biggest wow play comes from his arm or from his legs? Well, with Josh Allen, you could say both, right? He'll make some wow escape and then a wow throw off of that escape. But I'll go with the arm in this one. I think this will be a Josh Allen arm game one. It's an LA. Okay. So he doesn't have to rely on his legs. And you know, I think that's something we all should talk about more with Josh Allen. I mean, the elements he's got to play up in in Buffalo. Nobody else has to do that. And he continues to deliver with big plays, big throws and effects his stats. And we still don't even realize because we go, he just a human highlight film. Yeah, I'm going to go with the arm one. I think they can protect against the Rams. The other other thing I bring into this is I don't think the Rams are going to be able to cover Buffalo all that well. And I do think that if he does run, the Rams got a little speed on the edge to run him down. So that's where I'll go arm there. Yeah. I think I'll go legs just because it feels like he's, he's willing to use them more and more as the bills get closer and closer to tracking down the chiefs for the number one seed in the AFC Sean McDermott said after Sunday night's win, that's the goal now. They've got the division locked up for the fourth straight year. They want to catch the chief. So strategically unleashing Josh Allen and Allen's one of the guys and people that I've talked to about this whole slide can under me. We're not going to solve it today. We're not going to try to. But Allen is one of the names that comes up because he's a guy who's not afraid to run you over that and he's not afraid to slide and that exacerbates the problem the defender finds himself in. I'm racing for a hit. Am I trying to attack? When's he going to slide? It really does. When you have a big physical guy like that, it puts the defender in a much tougher spot and Allen is very aggressive and also Allen is very, very skilled at when he gets hit, throwing his arms up, drawing those cows and knows how to use the rules to his advantage. Yeah. Now you're, you're a hundred percent right and a hundred percent right on he is the poster child for, wow, it's tough for a defensive guy out there because he is really the only quarterback in football that we see consistently that will lower his shoulder and try to drive a defender back or run him over. And that, you know, that is a tough spot. You're certainly right about that. And he is very good at drawing the fouls off of that. He's on fire right now. MVP was Saquon Barkley right now, certainly Josh Allen. I remember 2018 late September Vikings were favored by 17 points and we all learned that day. Holy cow. You know, we're so obsessed with Josh Allen's completion percentage at Wyoming. Holy cow. The guy's athletic. Holy cow. The guy can run. Holy crap. He jumped over Anthony Barr. Right. Remember that? He jumped over. I was the welcome like, I think that was a moment everyone like, whoa, Josh Allen has got some crazy talent. Let's watch out for this guy. All right, Chargers chiefs, both teams have some crazy talent. The over-under for this one is 43, 27 points were scored total when the Chiefs beat the Chargers 17 to 10 in week four. So given the over-under of 43, what's more likely? Teams combined for under 38 or more than 48. I'm going under here. I'm going under. I think this is the, I think it'll be similar to what we saw in the first matchup. I do. And if anything, you know, I just look at it and go, I think the Chargers will be even more comfortable defending the Kansas City Chiefs than they were the first time around. And then the opposite side of that is just the Chargers, you know, they're not capable of scoring a ton of points against really good defenses. I don't, I don't think they, I don't think they have enough guys there. That's going to be the question. They're going to get some chances in this game. We know against some man-to-man coverage. And can somebody besides Ladd McConkie make the plays? We've seen Quentin Johnson do it from here, you know, from time to time, but not consistently. I'm pumped for this game. I think this is one of the best games of the weekend. The Chargers gave the Chiefs fits even when they didn't have their crap together. And Jim Harbaugh has put them in a position where they've gotten their crap together. And so yes, and the Chargers, they're trying to reestablish themselves, you know, they had that loss to the Raven that pissed them off. I think they want everyone to recognize. They are a dangerous team when the postseason rolls around. You go into Arrowhead Stadium and you take down the Chiefs. That gives you confidence you can play with anyone, which bodes well for what they can do in the postseason. See us. Are you going under? You're going under 38? I'm going under. I'm going under. No, I'm going under. All right. All right. All right. See us. 7-5. Cardinal 6-6. What's more likely? My Kyler Murray throws multiple touchdown passes, or Leonard Williams has multiple 92-yard interception returns for touchdowns. No. Leonard Williams has multiple sacks. What's more like? My Kyler Murray throws multiple touchdown passes. And again, I don't think that'll be easy here. We saw Seattle's defense gave Arizona a lot of problems a few weeks ago up there in Seattle. Seattle's defense align. You've heard me say a few times over the last few weeks since they've been healthy. That defense is different. They've changed. They're tough. They really are, but I'm not going to go with Leonard Williams multiple sacks. I'll go with Kyler Murray against multiple touchdowns. The three and nine Browns take on the nine and three steal. Oh, by the way, I'll go with the multiple touchdowns by Kyler. Let's go. Stay with the segments. Come on. Like work with me here. All right. It's not going to be easy to sack Kyler Murray. Okay. Browns three and nine at the Steelers nine and three. What's more likely? Jamie Swinton throws a pick six or George Pickens has a personal foul. Each guy had two of their specific thing in week 13. George Pickens didn't get ejected though because the second unsportsman like conduct foul didn't fall under the categories that are eligible for that two and you're gone. But still Winston two pick six is George Pickens two personal fouls. Who's more likely to get one? You know, hey, Jamie Swinton, you know, you made the funny quote like Lord delivered me from these pick six. He said that after the game. It is remarkable. And again, the way he played on Monday night was phenomenal. It was phenomenal. Some of the throws he makes and the things he makes, he's the reason they were in that game and the game was close because he just makes some unbelievable plays. I'm going to say, and this is tough because we know, I'm going to say that I'm going to go with George Pickens as a personal foul. I am. I'm going to go. I'm going to say that Jamie Swinton plays just smart and plays more like we saw him play against Pittsburgh a few weeks ago on Thursday night. He plays that style football. Hey, the Browns defense. It's chippy. They're going to play man to man. They like to get chippy with wide receivers. I think they'll get George Pickens into a personal foul situation. I think it's more likely Winston throws a pick six. How dare you? Mike Tomlin spent the week making sure George Pickens keeps himself in order. And now, now, now Pickens is the one who popped off after they lost to the Browns. I'm, I wait a minute. My hand's not on. Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, hold on there. Slugger. Yeah. Two weeks ago, Pickens popped off after the game. They're not a good team. The weather made a difference. So I think that the Browns are going to be even more intense coming after him and trying to get under his skin and make it about him and hit him legally whenever they can wherever they can. Sorry. Are you changing your answer? Okay. Pickens. Let me. It's very important. It's very important because people were wagering on on these, these made up props that are just intended to be fun. I didn't realize this when the Browns lost on Monday night and I'm looking at the records now. Steelers have a six game lead over the Browns with five to play. The Steelers were guaranteed to not finish in last place in the division, extending a streak that goes all the way back to 1988, my first year of law school. What were you? A junior in high school? What? I wasn't even close. I was in second grade there, big guy. Just to make you sit. 1988. 1988. I was born in 80. Eight years old. Yeah. Yeah. Lifes fly and lifes fly and buy, right? Yeah. No, it's it's that was, yeah, that was in Mrs. Ferran's class in second grade. All right. I bet I bet Mrs. Ferran love you. She was tough. She was strict. I was on my P's and Q's that year. I knew I couldn't mess with Mrs. Ferran. So I was good that year. Christopher. Christopher. That's all she had to do. Christopher. She was very good at that. Right. She only had to say it once. She had that way in a look in her eye where you're like, Oh, I'm not. I'm messing with Mrs. Ferran. She'll she'll she'll kick my butt. How old are you? I'm 44. It's it's night. It's twenty twenty four. I was born in 80. That was forty four years ago. Six years ago. Carry the one. See, that's when you know you're getting old because I'm even getting like that too. When I talk to young whippersnappers now, I'm like, wait, what were you more? Who? How old are you? Yeah. So you're you're old and I'm getting old too. Well, you know, another sign of the fact that we're getting old. I watch some of these NFL games now and I see players on the sideline, especially kickers. And I'm like, when did they start signing 10 year olds to kick in the NFL? When did that happen? I missed that. All right. Let's take a break. Kayla Williams spoke for the first time yesterday since coach Matt Iberflus was fired. We'll let you hear some of what he had to say next year. It's kind of a microcosm of what we've seen all year from the 49ers. It's just there for lack of a better way to say microcosm and a little bit of a, you know, just 27 seconds later and it all seems like it's finally just coming to a pinnacle where it's collapsing and crashing down here. Pinnacle. Damn. Microcosm and pin it. I'm hot right now. Are you sure you were working college football and didn't actually go to college for the last? Finally, go to class for the last four months. I'm a great graduate. Damn. Oh, yeah, that was cool until you had boy Williams coming over to hit me. Way away. Way away. Coming in and knock that diploma out of your hands. That's what he's doing. That's that's what he's done. Yeah. He did that to me in the end zone once before, but it was more valuable than a diploma. It was a football. I didn't want to lose that the hell with the diploma. Who needs that? Chris is our own in house version of Thornton Mellon back to school, playing some, playing some college football and finally going to college. Okay. Caleb Williams yesterday meeting with reporters asked about the firing of Matt Eber Flus and specifically answered this question was a new voice needed in the locker room. I wouldn't say a new voice was needed. I would say there was change that was needed. And that goes from what Thomas is talking about accountability, unifying each other, us being on each other, whether it's coaches, players, us communicating, us doing all these different things. I wouldn't say that a new voice, I wouldn't say that a change from head coaches or anything like that, that's not a decision that I get to choose, a decision that I get to make. I wouldn't say that that's the situation that I get to choose, the players, all of us. I'd say that us players, we got to deal with it, we have to handle it. And then from there, we got to go out and win games. Look, Caleb Williams is the centerpiece of the franchise moving forward. The hiring of a new coach is going to be framed predominantly by what is going to get us the most out of Caleb Williams. So he's in a great position. And I suspect if that's the case, they are going to involve him. Even if they don't specifically ask him, you know, have dinner with Caleb Williams, monitor how they get along, make it as best whether or not you think it'll work with these two. And maybe you ask Caleb Williams what he thinks, but they're looking to get the most out of him. So he's going to come out of this better. He's going to come out of this with a head coach who will never leave an offensive coordinator who will be tied to him. Yeah, and he'll have the same voice in his headset. He'll have the same person in the locker room. He'll have the same person in the meeting room indefinitely as long as that person doesn't get fired. Yeah. No, I mean, listen, that's what they should do. It should be about Caleb Williams and I mean, listen, he's super talented. Nobody should be giving up on Caleb Williams. I know Bo Nick and Jayden Daniels might have a better year. I'm still telling you, they don't have the talent Caleb Williams does in that right arm. It is special, right? We have a quote here from Kyle Shanahan and talking about how special the player is. He is damn good. He's in a tough situation there in Chicago. It was dysfunctional even by those answers there. He doesn't know how to answer. He wants to be respectful to Eber Flus. And the other thing too is why are people giving him crap for not calling a timeout late in that Thanksgiving game? That's not how it works in the NFL quarterback. He gets sacked. Yeah. And quarterbacks don't just call timeouts whenever they want late in a football game, right? I was with Kerry Collins, the Tennessee Titans. It was year 14. He'd been doing a Super Bowl. He had won a national championship. He wasn't allowed to call a timeout in the fourth quarter of the game because the head coach is going to be in control of it. So that's that's that crap. Everybody out there. By the way, we don't have time to talk about this, but I and I don't know whether it's just a slow week or people actually listen to this stuff that I spout off, but this whole bear should call the 49ers and see if they're willing to trade Kyle Shanahan is becoming a thing, which of course means it's never going to happen. But nevertheless, the bears should look under every stone, including contacting other teams and seeing if there's a way to pry away a proven head coach. Not enough teams do that. The bears should if they want to get the best coach for Caleb Williams. More PFC live right after this. On Tuesday's Pat McAfee show, Aaron Rodgers went on and on about ownership that publicly supports coaches and general managers when things are going poorly and he specifically pointed to the lions when it was really going sideways, middle of the 2022 season. He said that when you speak out publicly as ownership in that setting, it changes the energy of the entire team that came up because he was asked yesterday, well, you know, jets don't have anything to say when things aren't going well. And the end result is if you look at the tweet there, Chris, bottom line, yeah, that's the issue in New York. Ownership doesn't do that. But I mention it because that's from his press conference yesterday. It's nowhere to be seen in the transcript of the jets sent out. It's nowhere to be seen in the video of the press conference. They posted on YouTube. They have buried this thing and that happens from time to time, but it just shows you sometimes that dart gets a little bit too close to the bullseye. And sometimes someone says we can't have this and it just speaks to where things currently are between Aaron Rodgers and the Jets. He's not going to be back there next year. They're not going to want him back and he's not going to want to be back. I mean, I don't know either. I really don't. I don't know what to think with Aaron Rodgers and the Jets. It seems like he legitimately wants to be back. I think yeah, the question is, are they going to want him? Definitely. And they want to deal with all of it that comes with them. And then of course, then just even what they're dealing with yesterday. Yes, Pat McAfee and oh, he said this about the owner, we got to scrub this. This is kind of annoying, blah, blah, blah. Yeah, Mike, it feels like he won't be back with the Jets. It feels like nobody's going to want Aaron Rodgers. He wants them to not want him under circumstances where it looks like he wanted them. Exactly. But he does have a guess. So too, Mike, I hear you there. And he also mentioned he just redid his house in New Jersey, New Jersey, New Jersey. There's another team that plays in New Jersey just and then more PFT. Pete loves that more PFT live right after this. PFT live presented by Century and this would be very good news for Chris 20 years ago. Damn. It would have been damn. The NFL, the NFL has dramatically increased the minimum amount of THC concentration that will get you a positive test. It's gone from a 150 nanograms per milliliter to 350. And that basically means to get under 350, you'll be a regular smoker. You take a week off, you'll be able to pass a test even though the THC will still be in your system. Damn. Timing is everything as they say. Timing is everything. Gosh, if they had those rules, I wouldn't have been in the drug program and had to deal with all that stuff all the time. And the punishment for positive test is much, much lower. It's only 15,000. That's the way it should be. That's not half of a game check. All right. All right. That's it for today. Smoke them if you got them. No way tomorrow. See ya. Carry on is an edge of your seat action thriller that follows a young TSA agent who's blackmailed into an impossible situation at the height of Christmas Eve travel pandemonium. Neither let a dangerous package slip through security and risk the lives of many or save the passengers and risk the life of his pregnant girlfriend. Starring Taren Edgerton, Sophia Carson, and Jason Bateman, Carry on is a holiday thrill ride with nail biting nonstop action and suspense. Watch Carry on only on Netflix December 13th, rated PG-13. With Kingsford Match Lite, all it takes is a match. No lighter fluid needed. So whether it's a backyard barbecue or a parking lot tailgate, nothing gets the party started like Kingsford Match Lite charcoal. It's the perfect charcoal for on-the-go get-togethers. Give your food a smoky barbecue flavor and give your crowd something else to cheer about. Kingsford Match Lite charcoal, Kingsford's fastest lighting charcoal. Visit Kingsford.com. >> [BLANK_AUDIO]
Hour 2: Mike Florio (@ProFootballTalk) and Chris Simms (@CSimmsQB) discuss the latest news in the NFL including Azeez Al-Shaair’s suspension being upheld, Diontae Johnson’s suspension by the Ravens, Caleb Williams speaking on the Bears coaching changes and Aaron Rodgers saying he intends to play in New York.
