History's Agenda
Exploring recent and historic events that have defined America, this podcast is perfect for understanding the foundations of American culture. Have you always wondered about the events that led to the deaths of JFK or the story of Son of Sam? What about the full story behind the Founding Fathers? Each episode of History's Agenda provides detailed storytelling of these issues and many others. This is an ideal podcast for fact-hungry listeners.
History's Agenda
Sports Talk Live! With Steve and Justin! NFL Offseason Analysis: Team Moves and Super Bowl Predictions
CLICK HERE! To send us a message! Ask us a Question or just let us know what you think!
When it comes to NFL offseason strategy, front office decisions often make more headlines than on-field performance. The Jets' recent signings of Sauce Gardner and Garrett Wilson to four-year extensions represent a seismic shift for a franchise that historically lets talent walk. While Gardner's playing style differs dramatically from shutdown corners of the past—playing 7-8 yards off receivers rather than press coverage—the financial commitment signals a new era under Aaron Glenn's leadership.
Meanwhile, the Giants' mishandling of Saquon Barkley's departure epitomizes organizational dysfunction. The casual phone call from a general manager with "feet up on the desk" instead of a face-to-face meeting shows a fundamental misunderstanding of how to treat generational talent. Now watching Barkley flourish with the rival Eagles, Giants fans face another rebuilding phase with draft pick Abdul Carter offering a glimmer of defensive hope.
Jerry Jones emerges as a cautionary tale of ego-driven ownership. Despite Dallas's consistent talent acquisition, Jones habitually undervalues his stars until it's too late, creating a revolving door that prevents championship contention. This stands in stark contrast to well-managed franchises like Philadelphia and San Francisco, where organizational alignment creates sustainable success.
The conversation shifts to the controversial quarterback rankings that inexplicably place Super Bowl quarterback Jalen Hurts ninth behind less accomplished signal-callers. This disconnect between on-field achievement and perceived value highlights the subjective nature of talent evaluation in today's NFL.
After analyzing betting odds for division winners, we conclude that despite the statistical rarity of Super Bowl rematches, the Chiefs and Eagles remain the class of their respective conferences, with teams like the Ravens, Bills, Commanders, and Lions positioned as credible challengers.
What football storylines are you most interested in as training camps approach? Let us know in the comments and subscribe to catch our next episode on the first Tuesday of August!
Hello everyone and welcome to a better life sports live with my good friend, justin. How are you, justin? I'm good. Your Thank you for having me on. Are you going to start calling me that now? Huh, I'm not quite sure if we're broadcasting or not broadcasting. It looks like we are. It's running on my end.
Speaker 2:There's a count there.
Speaker 1:Yep, it's running on my end too, but I don't really see it on the website. I could bring it up just as a test. Let's do a new window just for aggravation sake. Maybe there's a little bit of a delay, I don't know. Welcome to our live. Whoa, there you go, it's there. So we're broadcasting live Nice to know, and we're in the beginning of what we're going to say is a sports show. Right now, we're going to try to do this at least once a month, at least for the beginning. We're going to try to do twice a month First, third, second, would we say First and third.
Speaker 2:Tuesdays First and third Tuesday of the month.
Speaker 1:At 6 o'clock. In between meetings.
Speaker 2:What In between meetings? What In between meetings?
Speaker 1:In between meetings. That's the thing. Justin and I both belong to some of the same social clubs. That's part of it, and we're going to record this and put it out on the air. It'll be available in a recorded version even though we didn't really publicize it. So it's hard unless you're a subscriber to a Better Life New York podcast. This is a supplemental group of Better Life New York called Sports Live. First thing maybe we could get into and certainly it's one of Justin's sore subjects and that is our favorite football teams. It seems to be the topic of conversation, even though tonight is the all-star game for Major League Baseball. All day everyone's talking about football, but I guess that's what makes the money right.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's certainly all about money. Today's big news was Jets related. They don't usually have big news, but it is the offseason. That's usually the best season. They signed two players this week, both former rookies of the year. They signed their big time wide receiver, garrett Wilson, to a four-year extension, and today they signed Sauce Gardner to a four-year extension, making the highest paid corner in football, which for the Jets, I don't know. That's a little laughable to me, but I do have to give them credit, because they normally don't go outside that box.
Speaker 2:This is a new regime and you would think maybe the new regime would want to get away from the players that the previous general manager had taken on. But it seems as though they are ahead of the curve now because in the long run they've added four years to both contracts. So both players are still playing under a rookie contract and if they finish out the extension, it'll actually save the Jets money in the end, which is not usually what the Jets do. Usually they're buying players to complete pieces. They don't hold on to their talent, which is something I think that drives the fan base incredibly nuts to watch guys play well and then leave and go somewhere else and even win championships. Certainly Rivas comes to mind. But Sauce Gardner we'll start there. I guess he's not the talent that Rivas was.
Speaker 2:Completely different makeup as a corner Rivas was under six feet. An all-time cover corner. Could lock up anybody. Could play tight, could play man, could play off, can play zone. Could lock up anybody could play tight, could play man, could play off, can play zone. But Sauce Gardner typically plays about seven or eight yards off the football. Very rarely do you see him lock anybody up in man coverage. He gets beat a lot but he has great recovery. You usually don't see that in terms of teams paying cornerbacks for that kind of talent. Again, not knocking sauce.
Speaker 2:But it's interesting because I think the Jets are telling you a couple things here. They're willing to keep their talent now and this is going to lay a format for the new coaching staff. Aaron Glenn is going to build his defense to his specs with these players and he was willing to keep Sauce, which I think is a big tell in terms of what kind of defense they're going to run. If they're going to run single high, cover two. Usually I think his format is single high, so he's going to have limited safety help over the top, but Rivas plays off, so he's usually good at covering the first move.
Speaker 2:A double move, he's susceptible to getting beat. He's very handsy, which is something that they criticize him about. He gets away with a ton of pounties and I don't know if that's because of his name recognition. It's certainly something the Jets love to sell. Woody bought the big sauce necklace, all the bling. He's definitely got swagger. He talks the talk, but I wouldn't put him in the elite level of cornerbacks that we've seen previously in the NFL, like Revis, charles Woodson, champ Bailey, deion Sanders different type of athlete altogether.
Speaker 1:So how does that round out the whole defense for the Jets?
Speaker 2:I think what they're telling you is that they still don't have a pass rush. They're going to manufacture a pass rush because they're going to have to play soft coverage and they did lock up the other corner His name escapes me right now, sorry. So I think that this is them telling you that they have pieces in place that they can work with and they're probably still going to run the base 4-3 defense. They still have to replace their middle linebacker because he retired. I think more more importantly, this defense is probably gonna not be as aggressive as the lions were. I think they'll build up to that aaron glenn coming over from the lions, because they've built, on paper at least, the solid offensive line, which they haven't proven yet that they can protect the quarterback, but they're. They should be able to run the football with those two monsters they have in the backfield.
Speaker 1:So who's starting? Do you know yet, or is it still up there in a year? I know they have Justin Fields that they picked up from Pittsburgh, pittsburgh, which was, I guess, a little shock to everybody.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think everybody thought that they were going to go more of the Kirk Cousins route, but I think that they're trying to catch lightning in a bottle For Garrett Wilson. He's been on the team with eight different quarterbacks. He's limited. It's not like he's caught a bunch of touchdowns, but that's more an indictment on the Jets offense in total and their quarterback play. He does have a thousand yards receiving his first three years in the league each year. So that bodes well for them going forward and I think they're just trying to reconnect Justin Fields with Garrett Wilson and hope that they can rekindle some of their magic from Ohio State.
Speaker 1:I know that I was pretty shocked and I want to take a step back for a minute that they fired their coach and the only explanation last year I could come with is that Woody, in his divine madness, basically was former ambassador to England and he sat with his billionaire friends in the box and when they got embarrassed which there was a little bit of embarrassment, how they lost that game in England was upset and he just hauled off and fired the guy.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think that does play in to a degree. Certainly, even though he's 40 years old, you go out and get Aaron Rodgers and you have all these expectations of getting to the playoffs and making and winning a Super Bowl. I don't know if that was ever reality, even if he doesn't get hurt the way that the team was run. It's interesting because Woody, getting the ambassador position you would think would have maybe have been a blessing in disguise for the Jets that he wouldn't be as involved meddling with the coaching staff and everyday decisions and operations would be a good thing. But I think also maybe they missed the boat, maybe they just wanted to keep things steady while he was busy doing whatever he does as an ambassador, because you could have made the case that sailors should have been fired prior to that, and I think that I think that's true, but I, at the point they were at, I didn't really see it and not I'm really an expert on and we all know he's not an expert, he's just has a lot of money.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and when sean payton became available and ended up going to the broncos, I thought that was a mistake by the jets. And that's because he's a proven winner. He was on parcells coaching staff at one point. He's a football genius. He's got the respect of his players and his coaches. He knows how to win games and sale Sale. At that moment, look, you want to give the guy a chance. But when a coach of that caliber becomes available, those are the decisions that ownership has to be ready to make. Is this guy our coach of the future? Are we giving him one more chance or are we taking a chance on a proven commodity and pulling the trigger now? And the Jets? They fell short of that.
Speaker 2:I do see Aaron Glenn higher for the Jets. I think he's going to love being here. I don't think he's afraid of the media. I think he'll take all comers. I think he's going to discipline that locker room and hold them accountable, much like Dan Campbell does in Detroit. I think that's something the Jet culture needs. Certainly, the culture in the building has to change In the long run. Does Aaron Glenn accomplish that? I don't know. I don't know if he has the gravitas that someone from the Parcells tree necessarily has, although you could say I guess Aaron did Aaron Glenn play for Parcells when he was with the Jets. I think he must have.
Speaker 2:I believe aaron glenn is a disciplined guy and he's going to hold players accountable. I think that's something that you just won't see somebody at the microphone every week dodging questions and saying things like would have, could have, should have. He'll hold people accountable and put their feet to the fire I think there's something to that.
Speaker 1:I think I don't. Don't know if you could see the Aaron Glenn stats here. So he played with the Jets from 94 to 2001.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so he was there with Parcells in 98.
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 2:Yeah, right, yeah.
Speaker 1:So I don't know how well you could see that. So that's part of it. I think the hiring of Aaron Glenn clearly is the thing you'd have to do. If you're not going to give the fans what they want, you're going to give them somebody they like. Yeah, and they like Aaron Glenn. I like Aaron Glenn and he's a real player.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, he was a hell of a player. He was a hell of a player.
Speaker 1:He was a hell of a player. He always had competition being compared to others like Grievous, but I thought he was a stand-up guy and he had heart, something the Jets just haven't had.
Speaker 2:No, they haven't. They really haven't. You can't even say that they show glimpses of it anywhere, because they have so many clowns on the field the last five or ten years. It's it just the one guy has to lead the locker room, and if the one guy isn't a guy with integrity that holds people accountable, the locker room is lost no matter what. Very few times in the history of the nfl can you have a group of guys that are all different personalities without at least having one guy lead the locker room.
Speaker 1:So I guess they're putting a lot of faith too in the two draft picks they had this year for the offensive line that they're looking to start with correct.
Speaker 2:Yeah, one is the big left tackle. I don't want to butcher his name.
Speaker 1:I know I read it too. I was hoping you'd do correct. Yeah, One is the big left tackle. I don't want to butcher his name.
Speaker 2:I know, I read it too.
Speaker 1:I was hoping you knew it. Yeah, ulu Fashinu. Yeah yeah, and there's a lot of thought about him that he's going to be what you're looking for. He's an offensive tackle. He's 6'6", 3'12" Big boy. He's an offensive tackle. He's 6'6", 3'12" Big boy.
Speaker 2:He's a big boy. I liked his comment and he met at Penn State.
Speaker 1:He had a good year this year and they were a great running team, as well as everything else. I think that says a lot for this guy.
Speaker 2:His comments. When they asked him about giving up a sack. I think he was the one he said go look at the tape. I didn't let up a sack and he talks the talk and he can walk the walk. They need somebody to galvanize that offensive line and anchor it and if they can get that left tackle position solidified, not only to protect the quarterback but also to establish the run game and keep other guys healthy. Once you have guys locked into a position and they don't have to rotate every week or fill in here and put another guy there, that next man up thing only goes so far when you've got injuries. When you've got somebody to stabilize especially your offensive line, you're able to do more because there's continuity there that you have play in, play out, weekend, week out, it's.
Speaker 1:it makes a difference in the long run for sure and then the other side is the other new draft pick, armand mambo, mambo, yeah, yeah. So he's six, four, three, thirty two, come on so that should.
Speaker 2:His tape indicates that not only can he protect the quarterback but that he mauls people, he gets underneath guys. He's got you know they call it footwork. He's got a good base, but you don't see him off balance a lot. He's very good in the run, he gets up on guys pretty quickly and another, another one who just you know accountability. He's an accountability guy and they're going to need that.
Speaker 2:Now you can put Elijah Vera Tucker somewhere on that offensive line where he can play one position and be good at it, and his versatility doesn't have to put him in harm's way, so to speak. Because once these guys start bouncing around from position to position making up for somebody else who's injured right now, they have a clear cut, at least on paper, who's starting at what position and if they can stay healthy again. Those are all big ifs, especially with the Jets every year. If this, if that. But yeah, that offensive line is poised to really solidify itself and make some improvements on their offense. For sure. They've got two guys they have in the backfield are compliments to one another, very similar to having, I would say, priest Holmes and Jamal Lewis when the Ravens won the Super Bowl in 2000. We didn't know yet that both those guys were going to be Hall of Famers.
Speaker 1:And I'm not saying these guys are.
Speaker 2:I'm just saying that their talent level is indicative of those two. One is a speedster he can catch the ball out of the backfield, he's shifty, he can break away. He's got speed. And then the kid from Wisconsin he's deceptively fast for a big guy and he'll probably vulture touchdowns in the goal line situations. But he's every bit as tough as a running back for a young guy that I've seen in the NFL in a while and he's a bruiser in his own right. So I think they have a nice complement there. They added somebody else who I think will be like their third down back. But either of those guys can be the third down back, depending on the situation, how they want to use them. So right now, again, it's on paper. It's the offseason, the Jets are making some moves and they look fairly decent.
Speaker 1:And it's funny because some of the main complaint against Fields and let's say Fields is going to start right. He was the guy. He's the guy we think. I don't know what you think, but he seems to be top draft pick for Pittsburgh. They put all their eggs in his basket, but the complaint about him has always been that he doesn't haul off and throw the long ball.
Speaker 2:Yeah, he doesn't have that in his repertoire. He's not necessarily a gunslinger, he's very much a system quarterback. He's also had what? Five or six different offensive coordinators at this point in his career. For a young guy, that's a lot.
Speaker 1:That's correct.
Speaker 2:I would probably liken it to somebody like Alex Smith in terms of the similarities between the start to their careers.
Speaker 1:At least it seems like there's some possibilities there. You picked up some defense. The Jets fan base always loved a great pass rush right. They always had a great pass rush, even going back to the right, and even going back to the 69 team, where they had big time players and really kept them in the game and some of that won the super bowl for him right so in 69 that and the gambling maybe a little.
Speaker 1:I don't know that much about gambling, so let's leave that aside, but I I think there's some hope on that team. And then you look at the Giants.
Speaker 2:The Giants are a lot of promise. I thought they picked the right guy in the draft when they got Abdul Carter. I think he adds a tremendous aspect to their defense. I think he's going to open up things for other players. Specifically, what's the other guy's name that they drafted high number five, thibodeau, kayvon Thibodeau. Yeah, I think that'll make him a little more flexible. Now he's going to see a little bit more one-on-one and it's time to shine for them up front. Defensively. Offensively as far as their secondary is concerned, that probably leaves a little bit to be desired, but up front, if they can get to the quarterback, it's going to help keep them in games. They'll be competitive.
Speaker 1:Offensively they're still yeah, the offensive line really hasn't been helped.
Speaker 2:No, I don't think it's lived up to its potential in the last five or ten seasons, and that's been unusual because the Giants typically have good offensive lines. That's kind of part of their identity.
Speaker 1:That and a defense.
Speaker 2:Yeah, usually a team is well built all around, even though maybe their identity is one side of the football. But the Giants seem to have been making up for all the losses since Reese was out, gettleman was in and it just has never. It's never worked. It hasn't been something you want to look forward to every week and go watch and see them get better. They don't get better. They're just out there playing football and each week it's. Are they going to win this week? Are they not going to win this week? Maybe they'll be in the game, maybe they'll score points, maybe they won't score points. Can we have a passing touchdown? There's never a compliment or a stepping stone, whereas you watch the Eagles get better every year. For the last five years they're tremendous. Washington now looks like world beaters, even though maybe they're still behind Philly in the division, but they can play with anybody in this league right now and you can see them getting better, going forward, whereas the Giants. Can we at least stabilize the ship? Can we find our way through this trough of water and not get crashed by a huge wave? I think Giant fans are holding their breath. They want to see that defense at least at front seven. I think they're excited about it, and they should be. They're going to have to build to make that work, and when you get a new quarterback, that's a three-year project. It's not like they're built to win a Super Bowl and you can just go out and get a free agent quarterback to come in here and manage the offense. They're building a new offense from the ground up without a solidified unit in terms of their offensive line.
Speaker 2:We really don't know what Jackson Dart has in terms of ability outside of the college game. I hate to compare him to Zach Wilson. He had some moments on film that looked great. Other times not so much. How do you coach those bad things out of him? How do you coach good things into him? Do the Giants have a coaching staff that can do those things I do?
Speaker 2:I was very turned off to the general manager when I watched hard knocks. He's sitting there with his feet up on the desk and he calls Saquon Barkley basically to tell him to go scratch because you have a player of that caliber. You don't just call them and say, hey, this is our offer, you can go look somewhere else. You, that's a guy. You got to go knock on his door and say look, this is where we're at. We're at X amount of millions of dollars. We don't want to go to the next level and this is why. But I came here to look you in the eye and tell you face to face and that, to me, is how you handle a situation like that.
Speaker 2:And when Mara came into the to the guy's office I hope we don't lose him to Philly he should have picked up the phone right then and said we're going to give you the $2 million, please come back. They shot themselves in the foot in a big way with their fan base, with the franchise. I think they've taken some major steps back and I'm not saying that Saquon Stang would have won them a Super Bowl or even the division. But I think the way they handled that was poor and I don't see the light at the end of the tunnel there, or the forest through the trees, if you will. It seems. If those are the types of moves he's going to make and that's going to be his attitude, it's going to sink Dableship eventually.
Speaker 1:Saquon's a multi-generational talent. There's no question about question about that. He did at least one thing. That's become his rear. Jump over the guy, it's something that's going to be.
Speaker 2:You're going to see that in video games.
Speaker 1:You're going to see that forever. Yeah, you're going to be seeing that 20 years from now. The Spinarama back hurdle and he could have sent the season record. If they didn't sit him, yeah, which?
Speaker 2:was his decision which makes him record if they didn't sit him. Yeah, which was his decision, which makes him. It makes it raises his level of a teammate and a player far beyond anything you could hope for. When you're drafting these guys, you don't know you're drafting that to me.
Speaker 1:That's the issue. If I'm a player and we all know in football it's once go around, you're as good as your last play Barely any contracts are guaranteed, unless you're a superstar, Somewhat guaranteed. You're out and no other sport. You're really risking your body and maybe more your body. Sometimes you're risking your life and we've seen it on live television.
Speaker 2:No question about it.
Speaker 1:So if you're going to take a guy like Saquon who you really haven't given a fair shake to, you never gave him a line, you never protected his body, you never really offered him anything he didn't succeed for sure. You kind of hung him out there to drive, and that's a good way to put it.
Speaker 2:He never gave him you could see it in the way he played, because he was always felt like he was trying to do more than he could because he knew he had to, whereas with the eagles he fits in their scheme, the holes are there. He doesn't really have to be superman, even though he's more likely to be superman now because he's more likely to be Superman now because he's protected and they open holes for him, they block downfield, they do all those little things and then, as a result, you see the spin and the backwards hurdle. You weren't going to see that with the Giants.
Speaker 1:Right, listen, it's easy to say Philadelphia had the best offensive line and that helped make him great.
Speaker 2:Okay.
Speaker 1:It's easy to say that they have a quarterback that could do the running gun or whatever you want to call it, and that could run and split out and take some of the pressure off him. That's true. There's a lot of things you could say, and you can also say the giants never did any of that for him. The Philadelphia offensive line is probably the best offensive line, at least since the Dallas offensive line of five, six, seven years ago, when they had a great line and still couldn't win.
Speaker 2:That offensive line was tremendous. I think it took a little time for them to put together the rest of the compliments on their offense. And then when they had it, romo got hurt and they still went 13-3. And it was looking like, wow, are they really going to make the Super Bowl? Because they were certainly a Super Bowl contender in terms of talent on the field, even their coaching. You've got to give them credit. But in the end it was Romo not being there.
Speaker 2:I think that's even more apparent when you listen to him on the broadcast how smart he is when he breaks down these plays. He's giving away information so much that they had to tell him to tone it down. But he sees the field like nobody else. And if that's the way he was in the huddle and on the field, then he almost had some really unfortunate strings of bad luck right being the placeholder and still being in the game and you're the starting quarterback. There's no backup for the placeholder.
Speaker 2:But he did drop the ball, but your starting quarterback should not be the placeholder on the kicking team. That could be a coaching thing, that could be just an unfortunate incident. That I don't really think was his fault, and there's other things like guys dropping balls and the fumble where the guy dropped the ball, running into the end zone. He picked it up and was trying to score and there was just some really unfortunate things that, for whatever reason, seemed to happen to him that I don't really think were entirely his fault, and then when they finally had a window and everyone was healthy, he got hurt. It's unfortunate, but sometimes that's the way the cookie crumbles.
Speaker 1:No question. But I think also Jerry Jones is a strange guy and I know I'm not talking out of school or saying anything. Anybody ever know All the money he has and he spends, and he's known for spending, but at the end of the day he gets cheap.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and I think he does that to himself. And I think if you circle back and look what the Jets just did, does that to himself. And I think if you circle back and look what the Jets just did, you know that they offered these contract extensions is forward thinking, something the Jets have never done. And when you look at Jerry Jones, he always waits it out and he'll wait until he prices himself out of the market and instead of addressing the contract concerns when they arise. Now, a lot of it is media driven and he thumbs his nose at the media. So he takes it with a grain of salt.
Speaker 2:The talking heads, which he probably should do, but the forward thinking people in the room are just are not there. It's him, and I think he's lost the handle on how it works and he puts himself in these positions where he's trading away talent or not bringing talent back. He gets all excited about a draft pick and the guy's in on the team three years later and he's playing somewhere else and it continues to happen. It's not like a one-time thing. Amari Cooper and CeeDee Lamb and all these big talents that they've had are all elsewhere. And it's not just that position.
Speaker 1:There's other positions too, and they're going to lose their biggest defensive player.
Speaker 2:I'll tell you where he goes would be interesting. You're talking about Mika Parsons, right? Yeah, yeah, because the Giants handed him over on a silver platter to the Cowboys. They ran to the podium to get Mika Parsons. I think the Giants are going to regret that for a long time, but we'll see what happens. I think, jerry, like you said, he gets tight, he gets cheap. He looks like we haven't won anything with you, so I can get rid of you and find somebody else that can do a better job for less money. Where it's wait a minute, you have a player here that can help you win, and it's not like you have a logjam of players where you have to make room for somebody. There's room here for the guy. Just pay him. You just have to be ahead of the curve, and the Cowboys have not been ahead of the curve at all when it comes to taking care of paying their own players, and they lose a lot of talent as a result.
Speaker 1:It almost you almost think it's Jerry's ego that he doesn't like anybody bigger than the bigger than him.
Speaker 2:Oh no question.
Speaker 1:He doesn't let players get to that point where they can criticize Jerry almost, and no one would but undermine him a little bit maybe is a better word and he always knocks the big guys down to size and boasts about the people that he overpays for that everybody's scratching their head about yeah, yeah, I think that was probably more apparent with terrell owens in terms of some player challenging him, and obviously Terrell Owens wanted to win.
Speaker 2:He wasn't there just to collect a paycheck, Obviously he was looking for the most money. But you bring that guy in, you know what you're getting and you're getting a premier talent and the way it ended was like wow, what happened there? And Terrell was still fairly successful after he left Dallas. It was never more apparent. I think that there was a problem in Dallas and Jerry was the problem when that went down and it's gotten worse since then.
Speaker 1:I agree, and since we all of a sudden started to go around the league and I know we're talking about football in the middle of baseball season, but it seems to be what's on everybody's minds at the moment, it's what america stops and watches and baseball just seems to be something else entirely. It's gotten to be and I blame the commissioner on that, but that's a whole, nother story but the, the other teams around the league now. So you have almost a disrespect of the quarterback from Philadelphia Hertz, almost a total disrespect. This week where a poll came out where the New York, I'm sorry where executives and owners all rated him, as I don't know if it was number nine or number eight of of future quarterbacks that they would use for their team, I think one was. One was obviously mahomes, who is ever.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and then josh allen, who played his heart out and didn't win. I blame his coach. It's easy to blame the coach on that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think he's like a level two type coach. They've had some really good talent and other assistance on the coaching staff the last three, four years and they have some players that I don't particularly care for. I think it's Flowers is the one who's always pointing after a first down and spiking the ball and not holding onto the ball in big spots. But Josh Allen does play his heart out and listening to coaches that I know they're in agreement that coaching is more responsible for their failures than their lack of play on the field. Yeah, it's hard.
Speaker 1:I mean, it seems like if you're looking at quarterbacks, you have some big decisions to make. Are you making? Here? It is execs, coaches and scouts rank. So number one and this has been all is obviously Mahomes. Number two, josh Allen. And can you flip those two? I don't think so, because Josh Allen hasn't done what Mahomes is, Though he's a great talent and he's made things happen. Everybody remembers the Mahomes miracle plays where he wins the game in the last, whatever. It was 16, 23 seconds or whatever.
Speaker 2:And the Phantom holding him, yeah, passing the three-inch calls.
Speaker 1:So the third quarterback they have is Joe Burrows, which I mean he's got a lot of talent right. He took the team to the Super Bowl.
Speaker 2:But didn't win.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so that's interesting. And Lamar Jackson I know he hasn't won the big game and he hasn't got his team to the Super Bowl, maybe like Burroughs, and that's the difference between the two of them, but he's some talent.
Speaker 2:Incredible talent, incredible athlete.
Speaker 1:I would love to hear a team say we wouldn't take him if we had the opportunity to get him. I think every team in the NFL would grab him.
Speaker 2:No question about it. Just a year ago we were talking about the Jets reaching out and trying to grab him because Baltimore wasn't going to pay him and it would be crazy not to. Like you said before, generational talent, I think. If you had to find something to knock him on, I think it would be his passing accuracy, maybe his decision-making, reading defenses, but that level of talent can usually play itself out of the situation more times than that.
Speaker 2:But the deeper you go into the playoffs, the less likely you're going to be able to get away with that, and I think that they've created an environment there where they can, offensively, they can score points with anybody, week in and week out. They just have yet to not only get over the hump in terms of closing out these games offensively, but defensively. They're not the same Ravens as they were in 2000, or even in was it 2009,? I think they won the Super Bowl when they had Ed Mead. They were still known for their defense, whereas now they're not that same Ravens defense with that defensive prowess. And a lot falls on the shoulders of Lamar Jackson and when he gets figured out it seems like he gets very frustrated and it's hard for him to come out of that hole. But it usually only takes one play to change his attitude, to jumpstart the offense, to get them going.
Speaker 2:So the coaching staff I'm sure is aware of that. If I can see that sitting on my couch on Sunday, I'm sure they see it. They have to continue to. Their offense is tremendous. They can score it when they want to. I think they just have to be aware that they can't run the same thing every week. They're going to have to find a different wrinkle here and a different wrinkle there and get everybody involved. And I don't know they're going to have to coach through his lack of accuracy. Whether that means getting them in and throwing more passes in practice and throwing the ball through the moving tire, I don't know. But they get paid a lot more than I do to do that. I don't do that for a living anymore.
Speaker 1:So what I find interesting is Jalen Hurts on this list. I just can't so. The reason you put Burrow ahead of Lamar is because he's made it to a Super Bowl.
Speaker 2:Yeah, how is Hurts not in it? If that's the case, then you know you could make the argument for Josh Allen to be number one, but he's not. And you could make the argument for Josh Allen to be number one, but he's not. And I think Hurts, I think he loses points with talking heads, people who make these lists, because he's not. He's pretty young, but he's not.
Speaker 1:Hurts, but he's pretty young, he's a good player. He's a good player. Number five on the list is Jaden Daniels.
Speaker 2:You don't put Hertz before Daniels, I wouldn't put Daniels ahead of him.
Speaker 1:So next is Matt.
Speaker 2:Stafford. I'm biased because I love Matthew Stafford.
Speaker 1:I know he's not the same quarterback that he was.
Speaker 2:If you had this list even five years ago, I would say no, he deserves to be in the top five. Now, if you wanted to tell me he didn't belong in the top ten, I would argue to the death because I love him so much. But yeah, I would put at this point I would take Hurts. He's younger.
Speaker 1:Stafford's 37.
Speaker 2:Yeah he's not a young man anymore.
Speaker 1:So after Stafford is Justin Herbert.
Speaker 2:I just don't who made this list.
Speaker 1:NFL. It was a poll of Let me read it NFL execs, coaches and scouts.
Speaker 2:Okay, so you probably waited here a little bit. They're probably taking into account the tush push. They're holding that against him. Coaches and scouts Okay, so you probably waited here a little bit. They're probably taking into account the tush push. They're holding that against him. But I would have no problem right now with the guys you already gave me him being in the top five for sure.
Speaker 1:Wait so Matt Stafford, and listen, he's a great quarterback. Great Justin Herbert is number seven. Doesn't belong there. I agree. Talent Jared Goff is number eight.
Speaker 2:That's inexcusable. I'm sorry. I know Goff had a good season and he's playing with the right guy but that's absurd. Jalen.
Speaker 1:Hurts. Last year he had honorable mention on the list and he's been rated as high as sixth, but the guy won a Super Bowl they're holding against him. They had an amazing team around him. They had an incredible offensive line.
Speaker 2:I think there's a lot of doubters out there for a variety of reasons, guess what?
Speaker 1:Every team that wins the Super Bowl has an amazing offensive line.
Speaker 2:Right, you can't get there without it.
Speaker 1:And then after him. Now think of the drop-off. Here Hertz is number nine. Number 10 is Baker Mayfield, Ahead of Jalen Hertz. No behind.
Speaker 2:Like a fantasy league. No.
Speaker 1:Is this based on fantasy? Espn has been talking about it all week, so here's honorable mention. Let's go through it. Cj Stroud, I love that guy.
Speaker 2:I think he's honorable mention let's go through it. Cj stroud, I love that guy I think he's good yeah, yeah, a rough year last year, but and jordan love he's coming, I would put him ahead of goth.
Speaker 2:I would put him ahead of who was the one before that. I just I don't. That's. That's interesting.
Speaker 2:You can see, like I said before about teams getting better, you can see when they're getting better. Even if they're not winning, they start to do things better. I think a classic example is somebody like Eli Manning, who took more criticism than he deserved the first five years of his career and that old adage about the five-year plan. I remember calling my buddy, who's a huge Giants fan, and saying so what's the deal? Are they going to get over the hump this year? Are they going to win a playoff game? Maybe a little Super Bowl action? And he was, oh, I don't know, We'll see. And I certainly didn't expect the Giants to win the Super Bowl that year against an undefeated Patriots team with Randy Moss and company. But you could see the level of play had taken a step forward. You could see that Eli had progressed and was doing things that previously were in question. And if you can do those things as a quarterback in this league and progress, you should win games theoretically.
Speaker 2:Now there are certain things that some of the guys in that list you just mentioned. They're not getting better. They might be in a better situation, but there's still things that they can't do. Baker may still have gotten better, but he was in a better situation. I wouldn't say he's better than Jalen Hurts by any stretch. Can he play in this league? Sure Did he have fantasy points last year through the roof, but what does that have to do with winning games on Sunday and being the guy you'd want as your franchise guy? I just don't understand that. And Jalen Hurts is a good guy off the field, so you want all of that stuff that should factor when you're making a decision on who you want to play quarterback for your team. So I don't not knocking the other guys, saying that they're not good guys, but I just don't see how he's so far down on that list.
Speaker 1:Are there any other teams you want to think that are making all the right moves or making great moves are going to be greatly increased? I know people say Pittsburgh. I'm not so sure.
Speaker 2:You watch out for teams that have good coaches and good quarterbacks, like the Rams. I think you watch out for a team like the Texans and CJ Stroud, because it looks like they might be coming on. They've got Nico Collins in that offense. They've got a decent running back. Their defense seemed to get better a little bit. Miami's a wild card. You don't know what you're going to get. The coach is an eclectic guy, so they have a tremendous amount of talent.
Speaker 2:I think the Redskins are definitely the Redskins conceivably could win the division this year, not knocking the Eagles, but the Eagles did have some losses and nobody has won that division two years in a row in a very long time. That's not to say the Eagles can't do it, but I wouldn't be surprised if the Redskins made a run at the division, because the Giants and the Cowboys are just awful. The AFC West is always intriguing because you never know. Even with the Chiefs you never know what's going to happen. But can the Chargers, can they get over the hump? Can Justin Herbert earn his number seven spot or six spot, whatever it is on that list? Do they have the talent to make that happen? What about Denver? Denver's well coached. They got much better.
Speaker 1:last year they showed a great improvement and everybody's talking about Nix, their quarterback Yep, and he's in an aggressive state.
Speaker 2:What is? This?
Speaker 2:his fourth season, so he's 25 years old yeah that's where you want to be in the five-year plan. You want your quarterback to keep making progressions. Sophomore slump is one thing, but year three you have to see them turn the corner. It doesn't mean they have to go win an MVP, it just means that you have to find something that they do that makes you think he got better and you can hang your hat going forward. And then now, if this is his fourth or fifth season, if he eliminates mistakes that he's made in the past and they coach that out of him and his talent level reaches the level of play in the NFL, there's no reason why they can't be competitive and look to win a playoff game or at least be in the playoffs.
Speaker 1:Atlanta. You never could figure out what they're doing, why they do it. I don't even know if it's worth discussion.
Speaker 2:That division, the yo-yo division, every year somebody else wins the division.
Speaker 1:You're right, or they play great during the year, make it all the way to the Super Bowl and then winning, and then decide to go home in the middle of the game.
Speaker 2:Again, that's on the coach. Absolutely Run the football. What are you doing? Sometimes it's just so glaringly obvious they out-coach themselves. I think they forget. Sometimes there's just you know who they are. Where they are, an ego takes over and they want to be the smartest guy in the room instead of being the safest guy, or the decisions that they make sometimes in these spots are egregious to me and they should be held accountable and fired and all that stuff. That's part of the process. Hard to get over, those losses, don't get past them anyway. Hard and it sticks with the fan base. It sticks with the fan base. It's winning and losing is a fine line.
Speaker 2:You look at people talk about yankee fans how we are yankee fans living in the past. They expect to win the World Series every year. That's our standard. Why are we playing? Why are we going to the ballpark? Why do we buy all these jerseys? Because we win and we want to keep winning and we want to win championships. We're not here because it's a nice day. We're not here to see Aaron. Case in point, aaron Judge is having an all time fantastic great. His name is up there with Ruth Gary. It's beyond Willie Mays name, somebody in the upper echelon of the Hall of Fame players, because nowadays anybody gets in but his name is up there with the greats of all time in terms of the season he's having. And it won't mean a damn thing to Yankee fans if they don't win the World Series.
Speaker 1:And the teams you talked about last year. There's also everybody's talking about the Patriots, that the quarterback is here to stay and he's going to have the year of his life, which to me is the kiss of death.
Speaker 2:Jones. Yeah, I don't see that happening. I don't know that he's matched progression with guys like jordan love or jalen hurts or even jane daniels at this point, and he's only been around for a year, basically, I think. I think there's a lot of question marks there. I think they're hoping that their coach can sustain winning and the culture and we have to move past the Belichick years. But I listen, they want enough. They can suffer. As far as I'm concerned, Wait.
Speaker 1:So here are the odds. Right, this draft King sport, not draft Kings, a fan dual sports book. So division winners AFC East Buffalo minus two, 80. Okay, new England plus five. I need new glasses 550. Miami plus 750. Jets plus 1,700.
Speaker 2:I would say that the best bet there is Miami, just because of their coaching and they have talent, but you know, ifua falls over the wrong way, the season's over. So I think that's why they're. And that is it.
Speaker 2:And that factors. I know sometimes you have to take the injury stuff out of it and just be a little bit more pragmatic about it, but in terms of gambling odds that's going to factor. I wouldn't have a problem putting money on Miami. That's really the safe bet. In terms of the three long shots the Jets are. They're not there. They're just not there. They've got a lot to look forward to, but they're not winning the division.
Speaker 1:So AFC South Texans plus 110. I don't know how everybody can be a plus, but they are. Jacksonville Jaguars plus 300. We didn't talk about them at all, but I don't see any need. Indianapolis Colts another team plus 310. And Tennessee Titans plus 780. That's the AFC.
Speaker 2:South. What did I say? And the Titans are plus 780?.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:So the Texans are the favorite.
Speaker 1:Texans are the favorite. I like the Texans, I do too. That's all in the quarterback, but they're still plus. That's probably the best bet there, because it's still plus. Where you have AFC North is Ravens minus 145. Bengals plus 240, steelers plus 500, and Browns plus 3,100.
Speaker 2:Forget the Browns, they're not going anywhere. I think the Steelers are fool's gold.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so AFC West Kansas City plus 115. Wow, Chargers plus 310. Maybe that's a minus. It is a minus 115. Chargers plus 310. Denver plus 340. Raiders plus 1,200.
Speaker 2:Yeah, forget about the Raiders. I think I would look for Denver to make a move there if you wanted to increase your odds in terms of getting a payout. And the Chiefs? I know they're not the same and they lost a couple of pieces here, but they still have enough talent on the field where you have to go beat them. I don't see the Chargers. I love Jim Harbaugh, so unless he can, what's this year two? Is this his second year? Yeah, it's his second year. If he can stabilize that franchise and work the kinks out of Justin Herbert, make him better, which he seems to do with quarterbacks, can they win the division? I think they probably have more talent maybe than Denver. Those two are going to fight it out to see who dethrones the Chiefs, if anyone does.
Speaker 1:NFC Ready. We'll end on just going through this stuff. Sure NFC Eagles Ready. We'll end on just going through this stuff. Sure NFC Eagles minus 135. Washington Commanders plus 210. That may be a good bet. It's always possible somebody gets hurt and everything shifts.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I'm definitely not taking the Giants or the Cowboys to win that division, and if I was trying to hit lightning in a bottle, I would put money on the Redskins. I think that's probably, of all the divisions that we discussed so far, that team in particular is poised to surprise everyone this year, I think.
Speaker 1:So Dallas is plus 550. And I don't have to tell you what the Giants are plus 2,500. So the North Lions 185, plus, 185, minus, plus whatever I need to make these bigger so I can see them.
Speaker 2:I thought I had a magnifying glass here.
Speaker 1:I don't so. Green Bay plus 280. Vikings plus, I'm sorry, plus 260, Green Bay Vikings plus 270. And Bears plus 550.
Speaker 2:Yeah, the Bears I'm surprised they're even that high. Very interesting stuff, right. The Vikings I thought for sure that they were going to make a move for Aaron Rodgers because I thought that they were that close last year and it made sense, but they obviously went a different direction. I thought bringing Rodgers in would have been a good idea because JJ McCarthy's coming off that horrible injury and I'm not a believer in throwing a quarterback right back out there, especially a young guy Missed his rookie season with the injury. He needs a mentor Again. Go back to the Giants when they had Kurt Warner. He was there to steady the ship, right the ship. Give Eli a chance to catch up with the playbook before turning the reins over, which was their intention all along, and I didn't have a problem with that. I thought Kurt Warner was a good quarterback. He certainly proved that he's a Hall of Famer. Should have won the Super Bowl against the Steelers. But as far as the Vikings are concerned, I'm a big Michigan fan, so I really do JJ. So I'm biased, but he's a very tenacious player. He's somebody that I think would benefit from having had a mentor and not just being thrown into the fire. He played for. Harbaugh coached him very well.
Speaker 2:I would stay away from the Vikings this year. In terms of betting on the wind of the vision, I just don't think it's a reality. I think JJ will play well, but we'll see. With an injury like that, you never know what's going to happen to a guy. Maybe they want to know sooner rather than later. That's why they didn't go after Aaron Rodgers, or maybe they just were trying to avoid the circus altogether with Aaron Rodgers. But I thought, regardless of the history with the Jets and everything else and Brett Favre and whatever, I thought that would have been a good move for them to make in terms of JJ's progression. So the Packers played very well last year and the Lions have lost a couple pieces and they seem to be on the fringe of. Are they still on the rise or are they on the downturn? And I wouldn't. I would put money on the Packers this year. I wouldn't. Somebody wanted to bet division winners and you chose the Packers. I wouldn't have a problem with that at all.
Speaker 1:I think that's also a good bet, better than some of the others. So, moving to the south, tampa Bay Bucks plus 110. Atlanta Falcons plus 220. Carolina Panthers plus 350. New England Saints, new Orleans Sense plus 1,100.
Speaker 2:So this is the division that flip-flops every year, right Every year. At least that was the case a few years back. You went from worst to first every year. Not sure I see that happening this year. I don't think Tampa, I don't think any of these teams are great to begin with. I think they're just. No one in this division is winning 11 games. I think these are all nine. Maybe at best a 10-win team comes out of that conference or that division to win the division. I think it's more of a crapshoot than the odds indicate. But New Orleans is interesting, but I don't see them getting out of their own way. I think they're still living in the wake of quarterback controversy and losing the head coach.
Speaker 1:I think the best thing that they could win is possibly a wild-card spot. I don't think they're ever coming into that division, especially with Tampa Bay there. If they're healthy, their coach seems to at least get them to the playoffs. Yeah, they've got a good staff there. So, last but least, the West Los Angeles Rams plus 175. San Francisco 49ers plus 165. Arizona Cardinals plus 420. I think they would sell that quarterback or give that quarterback away to anybody. They made some real bad moves there. And Seattle Seahawks plus 580.
Speaker 2:Yeah, Seattle traded away some talent. I think they traded Metcalf to the Steelers or he could leave as a free agent. Seattle's interesting because what are you going to get from their quarterback? They've got the coach. I don't think anybody's necessarily running away with that division, although the last few years the 49ers have really been like the cream of the crop there Well-coached, managed team, their executive staff Very good.
Speaker 1:General manager, vice president of operations just really top-notch yeah.
Speaker 2:The Rams, pound for pound, might have the best coach in the league, and when they're healthy and they have all their pieces, they're virtually impossible to beat. Yeah, matthew Stafford, like you said before, 37 years old, so he's not exactly in his prime anymore, but they have weapons. They're not a team that's afraid to go get a piece if they need it. But I don't know, can they sustain winning into the trade deadline long enough to make it happen? I don't know.
Speaker 1:I believe in Stafford, like you do. I think he's a class act. I think he's a great quarterback.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, most likely the 49ers division to lose. I would say at this point I'd like to see the schedule because you never know, Maybe the Rams have an easier schedule up front and they get a piece or something to put them over the top. Who?
Speaker 1:knows. Okay, we'll end it on this Feet to the fire. What are the two teams in the Super Bowl?
Speaker 2:Feet to the fire. Two Super Bowl teams I don't think the Chiefs are done yet terrorizing us, I hate to say that. So I think the Chiefs and in the NFC it's hard to get past the Eagles because of how well-oiled they are. And if Jalen Hurts takes a look at this list and you light a fire under his ass, all you need to do is give a guy like that a chip on his shoulder and something to play for. They're going to come out to hurt you. So I think they will have their hands full with the Redskins in that division. But ultimately they're the class of the NFC right now and they really didn't lose much. I think it's unfortunately a repeat offense. I'll give the Ravens maybe a shout-out there as an honorable mention from the AFC, but the Chiefs and the Eagles are still here to stay.
Speaker 1:So I believe the exact same thing. I think the Chiefs and the eagles I know I really went out on a limb I know, I believe the chances of a super bowl reoccurring are slim, right, yeah, giving injuries and all those things. I think I believe that it's the chiefs. I don't know. We'll have to see what their offensive line is. We'll'll have to see. If Kelsey came to play this year, oh, he's getting a $5 billion wedding in Bora.
Speaker 2:I think if you took the Chiefs and the Eagles off the board and you had to pick two other teams in the NFC, you're probably looking at the Lions and maybe an upstart young upstart team. We've seen second-year quarterbacks go to the Super Bowl, so I don't have a problem with the Redskins being there. They played very well last year. They're going to get better, so I wouldn't have a problem with them being in that conversation. And then whoever comes out of the NFC West is going to be formidable. But I think the Lions and the Redskins are two teams that you have to really watch out for In the AFC.
Speaker 1:yeah, I agree with that. I agree with that. Right there, I think it's the Lions or the other team, and in the AFC, I think you can't forget, josh Allen's got to be looking for that, yeah.
Speaker 2:It's the Bills right, they're always one short. I think I would look. If I'm going to look past the Chiefs, it's the Ravens or the Bills. I think that's where the upstart new contestant would be. I don't see it being the Texans, although I really like them, I think they're still a year away from really being a formidable contender in the conference. I think they're still a year away from really being a formidable contender in the conference. I think they need a couple of more pieces. Whether or not they add them, who knows? And then, if Denver can dethrone the Chiefs in the West, that's certainly somebody to keep an eye on, because they have the pedigree in terms of coaching with Sean Payton.
Speaker 1:So that's where it is our first show in the can. I can't believe it. You did pretty well. You went right through it I didn't know anything, so I do a good job of asking the questions that I don't know the answers to anyway, but I appreciate it.
Speaker 2:I had a great time.
Speaker 1:Judge A little bit over. So, everybody, so we're going to have our live. So everybody, so we're going to have our live. We're going to do a little better about getting it out. So we'll do.
Speaker 1:This is today's the third. We'll be on the first Tuesday in August and we'll have a lot more football to talk about, because things will be starting to happen and we're I'm sorry, oh, I said oh, yeah, I'm agreeing. So things are going to start to happen and we're going to be talking about more things. We're going to have baseball teams going down the stretch. I wanted to have a whole conversation about the All-Star games from all the sports, but we could save that for another day. We'll see what happens tonight. So we're going to be live and then it's going to be recorded and it's going to be available on youtube. It's also a better life new york podcast. It'll all be recorded and audio will be on all the major services that that pot, that regular podcast, is on and this is a supplement to that. Justin um, thank you guys got a big cheer and remember to leave everything up. Let it finish uploading before it is so, before you get out of the software.
Speaker 1:Thank you everyone for listening. I'm not sure anybody was live because we didn't advertise it at all and I don't know how they would have gotten notifications. But we had some technical difficulties and we switched a whole bunch of equipment around, but at the end of the day it worked out pretty well. I thought yeah.
Speaker 2:I think, so I had a good time.
Speaker 1:I thought you did an amazing job. I'll see you in a few minutes, yeah.
Speaker 2:I'll see you in a few. I'm on my way.
Speaker 1:Thanks, thanks everyone for listening. Bye, thank you, we'll see you next time.
