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to fly with DB Cooper. Oh

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Absolutely The freedom

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of just disappearing off the face of the earth where

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no one could ever ever bother

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you ever again I'm on

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a break. Welcome to heed the call with

0:37

Dan Hansus and Mark Sessler Another

0:40

big week in the NFL another big morning

0:43

in the NFL Mark Sessler two

0:46

big trades Involving teams that

0:48

needed help that now get it and

0:50

we'll see what effect it has coming

0:52

up today Yeah, and one of them

0:54

is a team that you've Verbally

0:57

suggested that you're taking a break

0:59

from and so in natural Jets

1:02

fashion They

1:04

turn around and I think they try to tempt

1:06

you back into the into the world

1:08

of the Jets Where are you with that? I'd love to

1:11

know Well since like 12

1:13

hours ago I am in the exact same

1:15

spot and I would say

1:17

this would be the equivalent of You

1:19

know being on the break and then that partner

1:21

that you've disconnected from Text

1:24

you hey, by the way I

1:26

actually started seeing that therapist that

1:28

you you mentioned or hey I

1:30

remember remember we drove past that

1:32

yoga studio and I said it was silly that

1:34

you would recommend trying it I actually walked in

1:36

there today and I signed up like that type

1:38

of thing where it's like I like Seeing

1:41

that you're trying But

1:43

I'm not ready to you know go running back in the

1:45

door just because I see that you're trying Do you know

1:47

what I mean? Does that make sense? Well,

1:50

no, that's a it's not a ploy necessarily

1:52

by the the ex or the other partner,

1:54

but um, it's effective It's it's

1:56

getting into the mind. It's making you think

1:58

suddenly you're thinking a little differently about where

2:00

we were 24 hours ago. So

2:03

just as you have often told me when

2:05

I took a break from my team, like,

2:07

well, this can't be real forever. I just

2:09

I'm monitoring this situation for you. You should.

2:12

You should. I'm happy. I'm

2:14

happy for them. And I hope I hope the best

2:16

for them. Let's welcome in another person I'm happy for

2:19

because he is actually in his childhood bedroom.

2:22

I see what was what was that

2:24

a Cal Ripken junior poster behind you,

2:26

Conner, or yeah, with

2:29

a with the dictionary definition of

2:31

the word perseverance on it. Yes.

2:34

What was that store in the mall in the 90s? It

2:36

was like sensations or something

2:39

that had all the the

2:41

motivational sayings with the guy hanging up the

2:43

cliff and everything. I

2:46

don't think you'd be hanging off the cliff. This

2:48

ours was field goal sports. And

2:51

I think that's where this came from, as did my speaking

2:53

of teams that we've long abandoned my 1999

2:56

Brown's draft day hat, which I'm sure they I'm

2:58

sure they nailed that one. And

3:01

we'll get to the Browns, too. In fact, let's

3:03

get to it, guys, because wouldn't

3:06

you know it, it is the Jets and the

3:08

Browns in the center of the news storm once

3:11

again. First we'll

3:13

start with Devontae Adams, as we said, he was

3:15

traded on Tuesday from the Las

3:17

Vegas Raiders to the New York Jets. See

3:19

my like we talked about on Sunday. Don't

3:22

let that whole cottage industry of insiders

3:25

spreading misinformation just to make everybody look

3:27

good and everybody's getting their little pats

3:29

on the head. This

3:32

was always going to happen. Adams was going to get moved.

3:34

It was just a matter of what trade the

3:36

terms were going to be, where everyone looked like

3:39

they could save face at the end of the

3:41

day. And that move was Devontae Adams to the

3:43

Jets for a conditional third round pick that can

3:45

become a second round pick. I

3:48

believe if Adams is either first or second team

3:50

all pro this year, which is obviously a long

3:52

shot or the Jets go

3:54

to the AFC title game, I believe, which

3:56

is an even longer of a long shot.

3:58

Anyway, the Jets pick up the South. but

4:00

they also rap sheet reported on

4:03

Tuesday that they have restructured

4:05

Adams's contract to

4:07

free up some money cap wise and

4:09

perhaps open a pathway for Adams

4:12

stay to be with the Jets beyond the season

4:14

we shall see a lot of factors coming to

4:16

play there and the Raiders have dead cap hits

4:19

Coming off this for the next two seasons

4:21

that are beefy But they get rid of

4:23

a player who did not want to be

4:25

there anywhere more Mark Sessler Well,

4:28

and I hope he wants to be in New

4:30

York and there's certainly reasons to think that to

4:32

even watch the clip From the

4:35

McAfee show today where de Vante

4:37

shows up behind Aaron Rodgers Rodgers

4:39

looks pleased and I think if we know

4:41

anything that now you've got a Now

4:44

you've got a wide receiver of Alan Lazard de

4:46

Vante Adams Garrett Wilson

4:48

and probably a soon to be dispatched Mike

4:51

Williams, but we know that That

4:53

Aaron Rodgers and de Vante Adams work

4:56

together. Well, we I mean they've got

4:58

pretty incredible career numbers together It's

5:00

another move towards someone a wide receiver who knows

5:03

the playbook I think it's like one of the

5:05

bigger things to come out of the Monday night

5:07

loss for the Jets was the overt

5:10

displeasure of Aaron Rodgers Toward

5:13

Mike Williams on the failed route that caused problems

5:15

for the Jets It's like this is one of

5:17

those guys that needs his wide receivers to be

5:19

on the same page. So from that angle It's

5:22

like the Jets are going for it. You're two

5:24

and four. You've got a you're in a tough

5:26

situation I think the Jets probably need to go

5:28

about nine and two down the stretch to make

5:31

the playoffs That would just be my guess to

5:33

get to 11 wins in

5:35

a pretty rugged AFC You don't need 11

5:38

I mean well 10 will probably do it but

5:40

still 10 my point stands They have to get

5:42

nuclear hot and have a 10 and 3 then or then 8 and 3 But

5:46

like to be 8 and 3 you need to

5:48

be a different team than we've seen and is

5:50

de Vante Adams Enough to

5:52

make all that happen because I don't like the idea of him

5:54

having to come in and save the whole thing But

5:57

there's a lot to fix here and he won't

6:00

fix it. We know that a wide receiver

6:02

does not fix an offense just typically so

6:04

I think it's a big TBD. I think

6:06

Connor one thing that has become

6:09

clear to me in these six weeks and

6:11

Packers fans will tell you this and they knew

6:14

it as well as anyone that

6:16

one thing that I've learned from Rodgers because

6:18

I think that Aaron Rodgers has has really

6:20

had on balance

6:22

a pretty good season he had a bad game

6:24

in London but overall every game I see him

6:26

make throws that I haven't seen a Jets quarterback

6:28

make ever it's kind of there

6:30

but he is kind of like a Ferrari

6:33

in the sense that if

6:35

you if you maintain it right and you

6:37

and you take care of it and you

6:39

know what it needs it will run beautifully

6:41

but if you don't have everything around it

6:44

handled well if you don't have the if

6:46

you don't know what you're doing around him

6:48

and that that is personnel that's the chemistry

6:50

of the personnel with the quarterback that's obviously

6:52

the coaching things can go

6:54

sideways pretty quickly and I think that's what we've seen

6:56

with some of the struggles of the

6:58

offense so Adams is obviously an elixir

7:01

to that in terms of

7:03

here's a proven star former

7:05

teammate friend that knows they have a mind

7:07

meld so the trade makes sense whether or

7:09

not it's already too late for this Jets

7:11

team that's a very fair question but it

7:13

makes sense within the structure of what they're

7:16

trying to do which is get this offense

7:18

to be in a more functional place right

7:21

I mean I compared it to wedding

7:23

crashes a little bit where it's like

7:25

what if you're in this deep it

7:27

does make sense to steal a waiter's

7:29

uniform and try to crash someone's engagement

7:31

right it like it makes sense all

7:33

the other decisions that you've made to

7:35

this point have made this decision a

7:38

sensible one but my concern is twofold Dan I

7:40

mean I was on the ground covering the 2010

7:43

11 Jets we remember when this team got hot

7:45

and they procured I went down the list of

7:47

the veterans that they got was

7:49

pure insanity I mean Plexico Burris

7:52

Derek Mason oh

7:54

my gosh like there were at Lydani

7:57

and Tom Linson keep

7:59

going I mean You know, there's there was like nine

8:01

or 10 of these guys and Braille and Edwards, San

8:05

Antonio Holmes. And

8:07

what happened eventually was that

8:10

chemistry just completely boiled over. And I

8:12

think it's stunning to me that Woody

8:15

Johnson lived through this like 10 years

8:17

ago and now is doing almost the

8:19

exact same thing and hoping that after

8:22

Aaron Rodgers is sort of like publicly

8:24

just through Mike Williams in

8:26

front of a bus on Monday is

8:29

now hoping that like he doesn't do that again

8:31

for the rest of the season and that everyone

8:33

can maintain this chemistry. And then you're putting all

8:35

of that onto the shoulders of

8:37

a guy who became a head coach six

8:39

days ago. So that's a lot. But I

8:42

mean, is it going to end

8:44

well, probably not. But at the same time, this is

8:46

not just some all star collected and they've

8:49

never played together. Like I think that's

8:51

that's an important distinction that this isn't

8:53

Derek Mason all over again with Mark

8:55

Sanchez. This is the attempt to

8:57

bring back the magic of receiver

8:59

who's going to be 32 years old. And we'll

9:02

see if he still could play the guitar at the

9:04

same level. So I think the trade makes sense. I

9:06

just think the timing of it, it's such a big

9:08

especially coming off yet another deflating prime time loss. It's

9:10

just like, all right. And maybe this

9:12

is more Mark where I'm now I'm

9:15

so disconnected emotionally from the product.

9:17

Like I'm not excited about it.

9:19

But I also. But

9:21

I also think it makes a lot of sense for

9:24

the team and we'll see if it makes a difference

9:26

because they have the Steelers. I mean, the prime

9:28

time games like we knew this going into the

9:30

year. This is absurd as you go through it.

9:33

We've already they've been on prime time almost

9:35

every week. They're on prime time again on

9:37

Sunday in Pittsburgh. And then they get

9:40

their they play on a Sunday the following week.

9:42

And then on Halloween night Thursday night football, they're

9:45

on prime time again. And it's just like I'm

9:47

not making any excuses for that team. But it's

9:49

got to be pretty tough to get into any

9:51

type of routine and flow when in addition to

9:54

the fact that you're firing the coach and all

9:56

the drama around that you don't play on any

9:58

goddamn Sunday afternoons. It's an. absurd schedule and again,

10:00

you know, a lot of it was about making

10:03

money for the league and

10:05

the Jets probably welcomed it when they made the

10:07

schedule, but I feel like it's been a little

10:09

bit of a backfire for them. Well, it has,

10:11

but it's also it's understandable. It's kind of perfect

10:13

to have the Jets on prime time. Like I

10:15

don't mind, like I can get more jazzed up

10:17

for them against the Bills yesterday than other matchups

10:19

just because they're intriguing good or bad. I would

10:21

say this, this Steelers game is

10:25

as important as any game that's occurred

10:27

under the Rogers reign. Like you cannot

10:29

go two and five. You

10:31

simply cannot. Like you've got to carve

10:33

out multiple wins in a row. And

10:35

so that is requiring a Devontae

10:37

Adams to move across the country, get

10:40

into gear with the rest of this

10:42

offense right away. Offensive line needs to

10:44

be in sync. Every coach that's had

10:47

their job markedly changed over the last

10:49

48 hours needs to get up to

10:51

snuff right away to go into Pittsburgh

10:54

to face TJ Watt who destroys quarterbacks

10:56

and turns offenses into a blender. That

10:59

also happened very, very capably and right away. And

11:01

I mean, the Steelers are going through some changes

11:03

too, but I don't know. Each

11:05

week I'm like, are the Jets up to this week's

11:07

task? Are they up to this week's task? And

11:10

the answer too often is no. In

11:13

other wide receiver news, and this

11:15

happened shortly after a couple hours

11:17

after we learned about the

11:19

Adams trade and we wondered, you

11:22

know, you had heard Adams was connected to his

11:25

two old buddies, Derek Carr and

11:28

Aaron Rodgers. You know, there's no connection to

11:30

Josh Allen, but obviously the bills had a

11:32

very big need at wide receiver.

11:34

So after the Adams Jets move is done,

11:37

was it a pivot by the bills? Were

11:40

they in on Adams? And maybe we'll find

11:42

out down the line. But Amari Cooper ends

11:44

up being the wide receiver veteran that they

11:46

grab. They acquire Cooper and a

11:49

2025 sixth round pick from the Browns in

11:51

exchange for a 2025 third round pick and a 2026

11:53

seventh round pick. Two things here, Mark. one

12:01

makes a lot of sense for the bills. Just like

12:04

the Adams move in a vacuum makes a lot of

12:06

sense for the Jets. This makes a lot of sense

12:08

for the bills who post Stefan Diggs did not have

12:10

a true number one Khalil Shakir. Really profiles

12:13

to me is more like a number two. So

12:15

Cooper immediately slides into that role and we'll see

12:17

how their chemistry is. And two, and

12:19

maybe we'll put pause on this one. This will start with

12:21

the bills but it feels like a little bit of a

12:23

punting by the Cleveland Browns on

12:26

their offense entirely. Let's start with the bills

12:28

though. This

12:30

is really good for the bills. I think like

12:32

a number one you're in a in a division

12:34

that is in turmoil.

12:36

I mean you could say the Jets have been

12:38

through a lot of turmoil. The Dolphins are in

12:40

a really weird place so it's a very winnable

12:42

division. That's the number one goal. So this is

12:44

like a trade not really made about winning the

12:46

AFC East. It's about actually getting out of the

12:48

AFC. I feel like this is a

12:50

move made to take them to the next

12:53

step as a contender. I think so absolutely.

12:55

I mean I think it's interesting because they

12:57

tried to sell us an offseason plan where

13:00

we're gonna go into the year without a very

13:02

clear number one guy at wide receiver and use

13:04

a lot of different parts and have

13:06

come to the conclusion that's not enough and I

13:08

think that's the right conclusion. And Cooper makes it

13:10

I think if you're Khalil Shakira, if you're Dalton

13:12

Kincaid, like Cooper it's not great for them for

13:15

fantasy people and I don't really care about that

13:17

but it is great for the team to

13:19

really slot in a lead guy because the

13:21

one thing about Cooper he went through a

13:23

lot in Cleveland but I go back to

13:25

where he was with Joe Flacco a year

13:27

ago. He looked fantastic at times. He can still

13:29

do it. He can still be a number

13:31

one and I think he'll mesh quickly with

13:33

the Bills. It's a dangerous addition. He can

13:35

still play. He's out of of stench in

13:37

Cleveland and the Bills have gone and done

13:40

what they need to do. I like a

13:42

team that can shift and say whatever we told

13:44

you our plan was you know roster building wise

13:46

on offense like we're actually going

13:48

to make a change right here now and improve

13:50

and it makes the Bills a completely different team

13:52

to me on offense. Yeah I mean I agree

13:55

I think that Amari Cooper 538

13:58

did this really cool receiver. project a

14:01

couple of years ago where they tried

14:03

to quantify receivers based on two or

14:05

three tangible things that you

14:07

could measure. And Amari Cooper's hands are still far

14:09

and away some of the best in the NFL.

14:12

And if you talk to receiver coaches around the

14:14

NFL, still one of the best technical route runners

14:16

in the league. So maybe not a pure alpha

14:18

like Justin Jefferson, maybe not a pure alpha like

14:20

Jamar Chase or Malik neighbors, but he's a guy

14:23

that is going to be exactly where you tell

14:25

him to be when you tell him to be

14:27

there and he's going to catch the ball. And

14:29

while I don't know exactly how that's going to

14:31

profile with a receiver or with a quarterback like

14:34

Josh Allen, who does improvise a

14:36

little bit, I think it's one of those

14:38

situations where you had to do something, the

14:40

price was right. And Cooper is going to

14:42

be a net positive in terms of a

14:44

locker room guy fits what they're trying to

14:46

do there in Buffalo too. Yeah.

14:50

And now it's just a matter of how

14:52

long it takes those that quarterback and

14:54

that wide receiver to to be

14:56

on the same page because you can't assume those things.

15:00

But God, it does. You saw

15:02

it. I think the previous week they

15:05

had three catches total out of the wide

15:07

receiver position. We didn't

15:09

see a lot of big plays coming on

15:12

Monday night against the Jets either from the wide

15:14

receiver group. We'll see what this

15:16

means for Dalton Kincaid, obviously. But you know,

15:18

I think both these moves just made a

15:20

lot of sense. And I would imagine there

15:23

are other teams that needed wide receivers that

15:25

were kicking themselves because I

15:27

don't see in terms of the price tag.

15:30

OK, third round pick. That's

15:33

worth it to me that if for the upside

15:35

that Cooper can bring, just like the upside that

15:37

Adams can bring, I think this is a no

15:39

brainer for Buffalo. And let's see if it makes

15:41

a big difference. It'll be good. You

15:43

know, as somebody that enjoys watching Josh

15:45

Allen play, having a some proper villains

15:48

to quote oceans. Is

15:50

a nice development for him. kind

16:00

of smart on was acquiring veteran

16:02

wide receivers ahead of their contracts. I mean, they did

16:04

it with Jerry Judy, they did it with Amari Cooper,

16:07

and they were getting guys before they had to be

16:09

paid 30 to 35 million. And

16:11

once that position jumped to that $35 million

16:13

threshold, you kind

16:15

of do need to moneyball that a little

16:18

bit if you're going to pay your quarterback,

16:20

if you're going to pay other people on

16:22

your team. And so for the bills, this

16:24

again, to me is one of those things

16:26

where you can probably get top 15 receiver

16:28

production out of Amari Cooper down the stretch

16:30

here and pay him not commensurate with the

16:32

position, which is ultimately what you're trying to

16:35

do. Spicy.

16:40

Spicy. If you're the

16:42

bills. Meanwhile,

16:44

on the brown side, it

16:46

is something we all kind of already

16:48

knew. This season has played out like a train wreck

16:51

that they're punting a little bit

16:53

here. And, you know, one of the conspiracy

16:55

theories out there, Mark, is maybe

16:57

the Browns are, you know, major league in the

16:59

situation and they want to go two and 15

17:02

and they want to get a quarterback with

17:04

the first overall pick and taking away his

17:06

stem, his number one wide receiver. That should

17:08

help if that is indeed the plan. Not

17:11

saying it is, but it's an interesting theory.

17:13

Well, I think it's become the plan. It's

17:16

become a very feasible plan. I don't think that was

17:18

what they thought going into the year. There was hope

17:20

that this could grow into

17:22

something more. But to Connor's point, Amari Cooper

17:25

was agitated with the Browns for not wanting

17:27

to pay him months ago. And I think

17:29

that there, if you're Andrew Berry, you're in

17:32

a position where you have

17:34

to moneyball this. You've got to work around

17:36

one of the largest evolving, you know,

17:38

volcanoes league wise, cap wise. And so

17:40

how do you do it? You don't

17:42

go pay Amari Cooper at the latter

17:44

stages of his career. And so I

17:46

get the move. I

17:49

would say this, I think it is very

17:51

plausible that Cleveland wins one more game this

17:53

season, two tops. You're in a very good

17:55

position at that point to

17:58

take another quarterback. do that

18:00

if that isn't the plan at that point. We've

18:03

lost complete faith that this business they're a

18:05

business number one that they know how to

18:07

function at all. This is a complete disaster.

18:09

The only way out of it is

18:12

a new quarterback new hope through the draft and you

18:14

need a quarterback contract at the rookie level you cannot

18:16

there's no one else to sign you can't do anything

18:18

else. People forget this

18:21

is a team, you know, a colleague of

18:23

mine and I did an investigation on this

18:25

a couple of years ago where we got

18:27

the documents from the Hugh Jackson arbitration case

18:30

where he claimed that the Browns had given

18:32

them cash incentives to lose games. I pulled

18:34

it up and like for someone to say

18:36

like, Oh, this is beyond the Brown scope

18:39

of a bill of ability. Oh, well actually

18:42

in 2016 they they made him

18:44

sign, you know, he signed a

18:46

document that gave him cash if

18:49

he made at least 11 picks

18:51

the next year and five in the first

18:53

three rounds. So how do you do that

18:55

guys? You lose games, right? Or like any

18:58

of this other stuff, you know, like spend

19:00

the least amount and free agency in the

19:02

league. How do you do that? You know

19:04

what happens if you don't do that, right?

19:06

And so I think that

19:09

we could ever imagine that this team's not cute

19:11

enough or not smart enough to do this. I

19:13

mean, I don't know what is Don DeLillo say

19:15

all plots move death word like this is this

19:18

is happening, baby. Like I don't I don't doubt

19:20

it for a second. So

19:22

at a certain point, yeah, if you're a

19:24

Cleveland fan, you embrace the suck and and

19:27

that's the path forward. But it's also like

19:29

I think one thing that because Watson, the

19:31

Watson of it all has been so overwhelming.

19:33

And that's the story around the Browns and

19:36

has been now for three years that

19:38

it is lost a little bit just in general.

19:40

Like this was a team that was a good

19:43

football team last year. And it really is stunning

19:45

to me that on

19:47

October 15th, we're talking

19:49

about them perhaps having the number one overall

19:51

pick and having just traded their wide receiver

19:53

one. It's it's it's

19:55

it's almost like we're not we haven't

19:57

talked about enough. the

20:00

absolute freefall organizationally beyond just Watson,

20:02

but Watson at the obviously at

20:04

the front of the table,

20:07

um, that he could have this

20:09

much of a devastating effect, but it hasn't been

20:11

just him. It's been a full meltdown this season

20:13

for that team. Well, I'd also

20:15

say that like it's another lesson to me

20:18

that when your offensive line, um,

20:20

vanishes on you entirely, like a

20:22

lot goes south. Like that is a big

20:24

part of what's happening, but in general, like

20:27

these are human beings and they're young human beings and

20:29

there's a locker room. And I think that you're, we're

20:31

looking at a locker room that completely

20:34

has lost hope and

20:36

faith in, how do you think they feel after

20:38

hearing this news? You know, well,

20:40

I think this is because this, I mean, and you

20:42

know, and Connor, you're, you're in locker rooms all the

20:45

time, but it's like, when you go and do this

20:47

to a team, some of these moves that

20:49

are made for political reasons or future reasons,

20:52

well, it's not my future. It's like, I, like,

20:54

I'm looking to produce now to get my next

20:56

contract. If I'm a player, we want to win

20:58

now. And it's like, this is an advertisement that

21:01

says we're jumping ship. Uh, we already were terrible.

21:03

We were sinking, but now we're jumping off it

21:05

and you're not coming with us. I'm Kate Winslet.

21:07

You're Leo DiCaprio. Check you later. We

21:10

can both fit on the door guys. Um, the

21:12

door was big enough. Can we, but

21:15

all right, let's wrap it up. I

21:17

don't know if you're, well, you obviously remember this

21:19

Mark, but like the free fall that came with,

21:21

what was it? Mitchell Schwartz, Alex Mack, uh, that

21:24

version of that Browns team that just gutted talent

21:26

and people saying, how could they do this to

21:28

guys like Joe Thomas? It doesn't

21:30

matter. Like once you decide that you

21:32

were moving in this direction, it is

21:34

a, it is an unstoppable choo-choo

21:37

train. All right. That's where we're at with blockbuster

21:39

trades. Let's take a quick break and come back

21:41

and hit the TNF preview and then a little

21:43

fly on the wall. This

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right, we're back. Let's pivot real quick and talk a little

24:30

TNF at the beginning of week seven as

24:33

the Denver Broncos travel to the

24:35

Superdome to face the Saints. Saints

24:40

2-4 coming off just a humiliating

24:43

home game in which they allow the Bucks

24:45

to score 51 points. Spencer

24:48

Rattler has some moments

24:51

as the QB with Derek Carr injured

24:53

but gets stymied in the second half

24:55

by Todd Bowles in his blitzing scheme.

24:58

Now here comes Denver Broncos, and

25:00

Connor with the Broncos, the

25:05

offense has obviously been very touch and

25:07

go, and that's being kind. It was

25:10

miserable for most of the week

25:12

six game, and

25:15

now we're going to see the next step for

25:17

Bowe next, playing a game in prime time and

25:19

see how he looks in this game. But I

25:21

do feel confident about this defense and

25:24

their ability to stop the Saints if it again

25:26

is Rattler and company on the field. Bowe

25:29

Nix when he's scripted, like if you look at

25:31

some of the opening drives, I

25:33

think that was true the second or third

25:35

week of the season, and it's been true

25:37

a couple of times, is lights out. He's

25:40

playing really well, and interestingly enough, I think

25:42

his EPA per drop back was actually better

25:44

this past week than it was the week

25:46

ago, I guess we'll call it the Ferris

25:48

Bueller game against the Raiders. I

25:51

do think there are things that he's doing

25:53

well. I think that, I mean,

25:55

what, you were the fourth or the fifth quarterback taken,

25:57

and there's a reason for that,

25:59

right? I don't. think you're going to explode

26:02

as quickly as Caleb Williams and or Jaden

26:04

Daniels, but this is on Sean Payton and

26:06

he said this multiple times, right? The defense

26:08

is doing his part and the offense has

26:10

got to get going. And I think if

26:12

you're the Broncos and you're the Penner family

26:15

and you're looking down here, it's like, okay,

26:17

where is the guy that we hired who

26:19

won games with Taysom Hill at quarterback? And

26:21

can we see a little bit of that

26:23

as we get into Bo Nix's rookie season?

26:27

Well, and you've got Sean Payton who

26:30

takes things personally. He

26:33

is competitive. He is going to be going

26:35

into New Orleans. And I think

26:37

it's a good setup for the Broncos. Their defense

26:39

is completely legit. You've got

26:41

Derek Carr, not practicing Chris Olave,

26:44

not practicing your center guard,

26:46

Lucas Patrick. They're down to the third center,

26:48

Cesar Ruiz, Eric McCoy out, Rashid Shahid, who's

26:50

been their deep threat and kind of was

26:52

like the secret sauce to that early offensive

26:54

explosion that's gone away. Pete Werner, I think

26:57

their best defensive player in terms of the

26:59

front seven, probably none

27:01

of them in the lineup on a short week.

27:03

And so this is a good setup for Denver's

27:05

offense to play a solid

27:07

game in the defense to take over

27:09

a Saints offense that is down to,

27:11

I think like three projected starters from

27:13

week one at this point. Yeah,

27:16

that seems problematic. And Chris

27:18

Olave, did you mention

27:20

Olave coming off the concussion and,

27:23

and if you take him out of the mix, that's just going to make

27:25

it all the more difficult

27:27

for this team. And on the Broncos side,

27:30

speaking of concussions, Patrick Sertan, who's,

27:32

you know, had a fantastic season. He

27:35

suffered a concussion and left the week

27:37

six game early. So you

27:39

know, these teams, these are, it's a

27:42

war of attrition as the NFL season grinds

27:44

on. But when you get to these Thursday

27:46

games, when the teams are beat up, it's

27:48

like you, I

27:50

don't know how you could pick this

27:52

game with confidence knowing like the state

27:54

of these rosters. But

27:56

at the same time, if I had

27:59

to just based on what I've seen

28:01

with both these teams and based on

28:03

what I imagine the film watching will

28:05

be for the

28:08

Denver Broncos, I would think Rattler is going

28:10

to be under fire again in this game.

28:12

And I think that's going to end up

28:14

to me being the key is does he

28:16

learn, does he process, how does he handle

28:18

being under the lights in prime time, that

28:21

heat coming his way. And that's kind

28:24

of where the Saints are. They're going to have to make

28:26

a decision eventually because I think

28:28

it's a week to week type injury for

28:30

Derek Carr, this oblique issue. And I think

28:32

it's fair to say Connor that if Rattler

28:35

can show progress, there's a pretty decent chance

28:37

that the Saints are going to want to

28:39

roll forward with a young kid. But

28:42

this would be a great opportunity for

28:44

him to really open some eyes organizationally

28:47

toward that goal. I'm glad that

28:49

we're talking about this because it's one of those

28:51

times where you had heard a nugget of information

28:53

like two years ago and you're like, this is

28:55

going to be completely useless. But lo and behold,

28:58

Spencer Rattler, when he went to South Carolina,

29:00

like the entire offensive line graduated. And so

29:02

that was one of the big things that

29:04

was tough for scouts and everybody to evaluate

29:06

when he got there. It's like, is this

29:08

kid frantic? Is he you know, is he

29:10

the guy that got benched for Caleb Williams?

29:13

Is he still good or not? And I

29:15

think one of the strengths if you talk

29:17

to some of the coaches who are there

29:19

alongside his development college was the fact that

29:21

he really had to learn the position over

29:23

again, in front of an offensive line of

29:25

freshmen of guys that we had just gotten

29:27

through the transfer portal of a lot of

29:29

guys who probably aren't NFL caliber draft picks.

29:31

And so this has kind of been his

29:33

billing when we talk about him going to

29:35

the NFL is like, Hey, guys, I can

29:37

already do this. I know how to do

29:39

the difficult stuff. You know, what's interesting is

29:41

that in that in on Sunday, he

29:44

had to throw on the run or chose

29:46

to almost 33% of the time, which was

29:49

the highest by any quarterback

29:52

in the game this season. And I think it speaks a

29:54

little bit to just, you know, being out there for the

29:56

first time, but also an offensive line that's all over the

29:58

place. And so you're right, if that's

30:01

in his DNA, that's helpful. But I just don't,

30:03

I don't love like a

30:05

second starting quarterback, second game starting quarterback on

30:07

a short week. I think in these short

30:09

weeks, you don't get to practice. You're basically

30:11

like you got two days to kind of

30:13

go through the motions. And then suddenly, you

30:15

know, it's happening and a bunch of guys

30:17

around you aren't on the field. So it's

30:19

going to be a challenge. I think the

30:21

Broncos defense is, I'd say top

30:23

three in the league, top two right now. And

30:25

I think this is their opportunity to kind of

30:27

seize the season. And again, I think the Sean

30:30

Payton factor, they're going to talk about that a

30:32

ton. Like to go back into New Orleans, like,

30:34

yeah, he wants this. Need

30:36

CB1 on the field, though. That's a

30:38

big part of their entire attack

30:42

on defense. Let's see the HTC power

30:44

rankings, by the way, which are up.

30:46

And we'll post that every week on

30:49

our social media handles at he'd the call

30:51

pod on Twitter, he'd the

30:53

call pod on Instagram. And

30:56

let's see the Broncos coming at number

30:58

20 and the Saints coming at 25. So

31:01

not the most marquee TNF matchup,

31:03

but kind of like a throwback

31:05

TNF this week. But Dan,

31:07

you had the Broncos a week

31:10

ago at 13, which

31:12

was much higher than us. And then we

31:14

refiled ours individually this

31:16

morning covertly. Have

31:19

they stayed at 13? Have

31:21

they risen? Have they dropped? Well,

31:24

this is evidence that, yes, they dropped

31:26

for me because the offense pooped its

31:28

pants again on Sunday.

31:30

That wasn't attractive to you. Yeah. And when

31:32

that happens, when you need to put on

31:35

a diaper because you can't run the offense

31:37

functionally for three and a half quarters, I

31:39

tend to back off my thought. Because number 13,

31:41

as I've said, is the Twilight Zone. It's like,

31:43

I don't really know what to make of you.

31:46

So show me something a little bit more. And

31:48

in this case, they showed me a little bit

31:50

less. So now they have dropped in my estimation.

31:52

But a lot of football left. By the way,

31:54

speaking of the Broncos, the last

31:56

two weeks, the Ferris Bueller game,

31:59

which were they're wearing the throwback

32:01

uniforms and then last week's loss

32:03

where they're wearing the quote-unquote modern

32:06

uniforms. I tweeted about this. I mean,

32:09

listen man, objectively

32:11

a superior uniform, the

32:14

old-school uni, but they're like the

32:16

Patriots in that and there

32:19

are, I saw some comments, somebody mentioned the

32:21

Seahawks is another example of this, where

32:24

you're, as an organizationally, you're in a

32:26

bit of a conundrum because when

32:29

all of your success, in this case three Super

32:31

Bowl titles for the Broncos, two with Elway before

32:33

he retired and the title with

32:35

Manning and Von Miller

32:38

are in the, you know, kind of

32:40

ghastly futuristic Bronco

32:42

uniform, but the

32:44

Elway uniform slash retro

32:47

uniform, throwback uniform, is

32:49

just a beautiful thing, the Orange Crush Broncos.

32:51

So what do you do? Do

32:54

you leave the championship look behind

32:58

or do you just go with what makes us look better

33:00

on the field and I lean towards

33:02

the latter. I don't know where you guys come down on

33:04

this. Well, I would like one thing about uniforms has,

33:06

it's crept into, it's become an annoyance to

33:09

me. First of all, they did win the

33:11

drive and the fumble games

33:13

and those old uniforms and that and they, you

33:15

know, they went on to lose three Super Bowls

33:17

in the two, I get that, but don't we

33:19

do this because when they switched, we're talking about

33:21

chips bro, we're talking about chips. Well, alright, but

33:23

I would say this like when it comes to

33:26

clothing and fashion, like when they

33:28

switched to the new ones, a bunch of

33:30

people liked it. They were ready for it

33:32

and when the Patriots switched away from like,

33:34

you know, Pat the Patriot to their new

33:36

ones, a lot of people liked it, but

33:38

all we do with fashion is we just

33:40

come, we circle back around and we're like

33:42

now longing for what we once rejected about

33:44

20 years ago. I'm not saying that you

33:46

did that dance specifically from a fashion angle,

33:48

but like in general, we're like, oh those

33:50

old Giants, you know, I think of the

33:52

old Giants uniforms, the old, the way the

33:54

Jets looked like on Monday night, like I

33:57

yearn for what suddenly we all rejected.

34:00

You know in the mid 90s for the most part a

34:02

lot of these changes came around and so

34:04

we're absurd It comes down to us as a people were

34:06

absurd Did

34:08

you ask Justin to play that the clapping

34:10

sound I'm nice wasn't a pronouncement for me

34:12

But am I wrong do we not flip

34:14

we flip-flop non-stop on this yeah. Yeah, that's

34:17

how it works, man. Yeah, that's how it

34:19

works I'm

34:22

just saying I love I love the way the orange crush

34:24

uniforms with the blue helmet Connor I think it's just a

34:26

real clean look I and it goes

34:28

back to right I mean there are probably people in

34:30

that locker room who feel like they look better in

34:32

that one But I would guess that there are also

34:35

people in that locker room who feel like they look

34:37

better in The more modern

34:39

one. It's like a flat brim baseball cap

34:41

like not everybody can can do that, right?

34:43

And so not everybody can pull off orange

34:45

crush You know and so that's where I

34:47

would guess that a lot of the turmoil

34:49

here is coming from absolutely

34:52

You know give Connor a round of applause though because

34:55

he really distilled everything in a way that well

34:57

he's in his childhood bedroom I

35:01

do think I have an orange Browns Jersey in

35:03

there by the way Gerard

35:05

Warren All

35:07

right, let's take a break and when we

35:10

get back we will will be a

35:12

fly on the wall stay right there We're

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Northbrook, Illinois. All right, we are back.

36:53

All right, Mark, how you feeling buddy? I'm

36:55

good. Something, you know,

36:57

in the morning before these shows we prepare, we look

37:00

at a lot of stuff and something. Yeah, we really

37:02

do. Something got on my radar. You

37:04

know, the London, I think the London games are sort

37:06

of a, for them obviously, like it's

37:08

novert celebration and they're very excited about what they're doing

37:10

and I'm happy for them. But they bring everyone out

37:13

of the woodwork to be part of it. We've been

37:15

there. Who's they? I'm

37:17

sorry, who's they? Well, the British.

37:19

And also I know that I annoyed some

37:21

people with my dialogue about the, did you

37:23

get any, did you get any pushback on

37:25

the flushing out of the queen? I would,

37:28

I think it would be some tangible pushback

37:30

from some people that found that to be

37:32

not the right way to approach that situation

37:34

verbally. Well, let it learn, right? There

37:37

were a couple that said, you know, yes, that was,

37:39

that was exactly how I feel too. But that, a

37:41

couple, there were many that taking the right lessons out

37:43

of it, find the people that agree with you and

37:46

just move forward. Yeah. Cause I think it's important to

37:48

ally with a Royal family in general. It's not, it's

37:50

not, you don't want to be their enemy. And

37:52

I, we do have a friend who's

37:55

done just that. Take a look at this photo that

37:57

Justin's going to throw out here. everybody.

38:00

Well we'll describe it but okay

38:02

so three men in

38:05

the middle our friend Henry Hodgson

38:07

who used to just, handsome Hank

38:09

himself, handsome Hank walks around the

38:11

newsroom with us and you know love to

38:13

go out for a drink or two with

38:16

him and here he is with Prince

38:19

William. Describe the photo Mark, describe to the

38:21

people. It is the Prince of Wales speaking

38:25

excitedly with Henry his hands are in a

38:27

gesture of I'm excited to be here with

38:29

you and Henry looks very handsome and by

38:31

the way Henry just was hanging out with

38:33

Prince Harry like at the Super Bowl so

38:35

we are our friend who once

38:38

was a peer and I'm not suggesting that

38:40

he's you know he thinks he's more than

38:42

that but like we just see that he's

38:44

rising in acclaim he is now hanging out

38:46

actively with both with the

38:48

with both sons of the King of England so

38:50

you I don't know where to leave it

38:52

from there other than I am impressed with Henry

38:55

everyone looks very handsome in the photo. He

38:58

used to be I used to joke with Henry

39:00

that he's kind of like the Kevin Bacon of

39:02

the UK six degrees of separation but now we're

39:05

to like two degrees of separation like

39:07

it's him just chopping it up and the

39:10

boy who will be king with his hands

39:12

expressively outreach toward Henry

39:14

and he's engaged with this man so I guess

39:16

we're just lucky to have known the man and

39:19

we can't wait to see him again when we

39:21

get out to England because we'll be back out

39:23

there soon enough trust us. You

39:26

know Connor and Henry were very close too

39:28

so now you're just it is a Kevin

39:30

Bacon scenario for for you as well Connor.

39:32

Just love the like just trying to think

39:35

of what the Prince is saying in

39:37

that moment and it's just like I would

39:40

love to meet this Doug Paterson you know

39:42

like you know like what's the what's the

39:44

converse like what could we have offered them

39:46

from a football perspective at that point that

39:49

would have been even the most. You

39:51

just look at the two of those guys talking together

39:54

just the flawless Kings

39:56

English just flying back and forth. Two

39:58

smoke show males. I mean, hot dudes.

40:00

Are we gonna go smoke show for

40:03

Prince William? He has, he has. Let's

40:06

calm down a little bit. I think since

40:08

I became a bald, I will say that

40:10

the look is growing on me in other

40:12

men. And I do think that he has

40:15

really gotten his foundation under the hair. He

40:18

is, I give him points because he

40:20

looks noble. He just looks noble. I'd

40:22

say Harry is hotter. I'm gonna get out

40:24

of the way on this one, Connor, because

40:26

I've stumbled into the bald

40:28

community on this one. And I see what you're

40:31

saying though. Like you're coming from a different angle

40:34

and bald is beautiful. Thank you. Yeah.

40:37

As is the wallpaper in your bedroom, which obviously

40:40

has not been changed since 1983. It's

40:43

little footballs. All

40:46

right. The yards, yeah. Let's get

40:48

into it. Speaking of walls, wouldn't it be

40:50

nice to be a fly on the wall

40:52

in some of these facilities? Because nobody talks

40:54

anymore. Nobody, you never get anything real, you

40:56

know? You never get the

40:59

real low down because these

41:01

buildings, I was gonna say

41:04

they're iron fortresses, but

41:07

Rich Zimini of espn.com put

41:10

out an article about like how the

41:13

Robert Sala firing went down. And

41:15

he's giving a minute by a minute account to

41:18

the point where he writes that he

41:20

learned of the firing two minutes after it happened.

41:23

I was like, that place leaks like a

41:25

sieve. Holy shit. But other buildings that are

41:28

run in a professional manner, they

41:31

don't have that problem. But what we're here

41:33

to do on today's segment is to take

41:37

you inside these buildings and let you know what

41:39

they're actually talking about. Mark

41:42

Sessler, why don't you get us going today? Okay.

41:46

I am a fly filing a report

41:48

on a part of the country. Here we go. Here

41:51

we go. I am a fly. That's how this

41:54

works. And from my

41:56

body, I will lay 500 eggs in batches of

41:58

75. 150

42:01

eggs over a three to four day period. My bodily

42:04

open will be on fire. But

42:06

on this day, before those eggs

42:08

come out of my office, my orifice, my

42:11

orifice, I am sitting inside of a steamy

42:13

human room. What

42:15

large ones like to call an office and

42:18

the human orifice, or an

42:21

orifice, the human in that room, he

42:23

picks up that thing you talk on and he says into it,

42:26

it's the mouse. Get your beehind

42:28

in here. The

42:30

mouse is moist above the shoulders. His head is

42:32

sweaty. I am attracted to the

42:34

idea of buzzing over and absorbing some of his

42:36

forehead liquid, smells of onions

42:39

and shellfish and purchased love. And

42:42

don't judge me. I'm just a fly. I live

42:44

for less than a month. I enjoy liquids. That's

42:46

part of my makeup. But then another

42:49

man comes in, quiet and obedient.

42:51

He sits down. He peers up quietly at

42:54

what I assume is his superior, the man

42:56

who calls himself the mouse. Now

42:58

look, says the mouse, you're gonna

43:00

start that rookie quarterback for the rest of the year. We

43:03

know this offense is on thin ice. Thin ice.

43:06

Are you listening, buddy boy? We're down here in

43:09

the south, where you better know who your mama

43:11

is. Says

43:13

the obedient guy. Look,

43:15

Mickey, we can't do that to

43:17

the locker room. Sit the vet, start the

43:19

kid. That's suicide. I'll be fired

43:22

and you know it. I've got kids in

43:24

high school. I've got a daughter in ninth

43:26

grade. You can't pull her out. Earth science,

43:28

best friends, it wrecks her ego. The

43:31

mouse's face grows ruddy. Hey,

43:33

daddy-o, you ever watched my

43:35

pet project? The pelicans prancing

43:37

around the b-ball court? What

43:40

do the pelicans do? They obey.

43:42

We're down here in the old world. Maybe you

43:44

don't quite see how the south works. Maybe you're

43:46

as blind as your daddy was. You're

43:49

gonna keep that rookie in the lineup. The

43:51

other boy, that little Christian boy who will

43:53

never win a Super Bowl, he's gonna sit

43:55

with a hamstring that comes out of nowhere,

43:58

out of thin air. He's gonna sit until

44:00

Jesus returns. But Jesus, who will be too

44:02

busy posting selfies on Instagram to save anyone

44:04

this time around. This ain't the streets of

44:07

Jerusalem. This is Louisiana. Brian Kelly knew to

44:09

come down here and play ball with a

44:11

new accent. Cozy up. You better know what's

44:13

right for you. You better start that rookie

44:15

until the fat lady starts singing her song

44:18

from her esophagus. The mouse cracks

44:20

a window and I buzz away to see

44:22

if anyone dropped four french fries on the

44:24

steamy hot pavement below. Flycrest

44:26

out. Mmm. Unbelievable.

44:32

What a dispatch from the

44:34

headquarters of the New Orleans Saints. Quick

44:41

translation. So, um, so

44:45

the fly witness general manager,

44:47

Mickey Loomis, in

44:49

conversation with, help

44:52

me out here. Well, Dennis Allen.

44:55

Dennis Allen about Spencer Rattler. Yes.

44:58

Like, essentially, I control

45:00

Mickey Loomis has obviously, it seems to

45:02

me, is like control that organization post

45:05

Sean Payton in a way that few

45:07

GMs do in relationship to

45:09

the coach. And he just

45:12

basically tells Dennis Allen, you know, you're

45:14

basically not in control here. You're going

45:16

to do what I say. And

45:18

it might not make sense what we do because a

45:20

lot of the things that the Saints do don't seem

45:22

to make a lot of sense to me. But Mickey,

45:24

it makes some sort of sense to Mickey Loomis on

45:26

a deep brain level. Makes sense. I

45:28

mean, it would seem to me, Connor, that Mickey Loomis

45:30

or rather Dennis Allen, based

45:34

on the general trajectory

45:36

of his head coaching career down there

45:38

would not have a ton of leverage

45:40

or a voice inside the building that

45:42

would echo at too high a volume.

45:45

And no God to help him according to

45:47

Mark, which is, or at least a distracted

45:50

return Christ, which is difficult when you're trying

45:52

to operate. Jesus Christ. What like phone plan

45:54

is Jesus on, by the way, if

45:58

he's doing that stuff? Like I

46:00

guess that would be a major coup d'etat

46:03

for whoever learns that that

46:05

would be a huge advertising It's mobile

46:07

Ryan Reynolds one. Yeah. Yeah, that makes

46:09

sense. He's on mint mobile All

46:15

right, very good, I feel like we've learned

46:17

more so we're I guess based on what that

46:19

fly Conjured

46:22

up in terms of information Don't

46:25

expect Eric car back in the lineup anytime soon. Yeah,

46:27

Derek car has at this point morphed

46:30

into a ploy Just an

46:32

idea concept right not real Conroy

46:36

If he gives you for guys he it's a was he it's a was

46:38

he it's a Fairy dust it

46:40

doesn't exist. It's never landed. It is

46:42

no matter. It's not on the elemental

46:45

chart. It's not fucking real their

46:47

car Con

46:50

or you're up buddy. Oh man

46:53

That's talk about a tough act to follow So

46:56

I am a fly in the wall in Pittsburgh,

47:00

okay, and I am We're

47:04

working on a conversation here. We're in

47:07

offensive coordinator Arthur Smith's

47:09

office and there's a knock on the door and

47:13

incomes head coach Mike Tomlin with

47:15

a with a big smile on his face and

47:18

and he says Hey

47:20

art, I know who's going to be starting

47:22

a quarterback this week just wanted to see if

47:24

you wanted to play fun little guessing game and

47:27

Figure out who it is and art

47:30

Smith's like yeah. Yeah, I love love

47:32

guessing games. This is gonna be a lot of fun Okay,

47:35

let's see. Um, is

47:37

it the younger guy

47:40

with the higher ceiling? No,

47:43

it is not and and then art Smith

47:45

says, okay Is

47:48

it a guy who can throw over the middle of

47:50

the field and Mike Thomas

47:52

says okay god no Not

47:54

even once He says, okay

47:56

cool of of the guys that we have

47:58

is it that is it the more? dynamic athlete, like the guy that's

48:00

gonna be able to get out in space and run. And

48:04

Mike Tomlin says, no, no, it's

48:07

not. And he said, okay, well, is it

48:09

at least the guy that like, you know,

48:11

everybody really likes and isn't responsible for like

48:13

the destruction of like a historically talented NFL

48:15

dynasty, you know, anything like that. And

48:18

like Tomlin said, yeah, no,

48:21

it's it's it's that guy. And

48:25

Arthur Smith is like, fuck. And

48:28

then what do you do after that? Right? You

48:31

just kind of you unpack your tuna salad on wheat

48:33

that you made and and you

48:35

eat it. And it doesn't taste like

48:37

anything because the days are just running together and

48:39

you feel like you're slamming your head into the

48:41

drawer every time that you try to, you know,

48:43

take a step in your career. And

48:46

so, you know, here it is, man,

48:48

you know, and as the fly, you just feel bad for

48:50

the guy, you know, you want him to want him to

48:52

be able to be creative. So yeah,

48:54

I. And

48:56

that's a great dispatch from the fly because

48:59

I've been wondering what the actual thought process

49:01

there is. Is it that

49:03

is is is there a thing with Russell Wilson

49:06

where, you

49:09

know, there's still that

49:11

the the name is

49:13

beating the game out and coaches

49:15

are just getting sucked into it just like Sean Payton and

49:17

the Broncos got sucked into or not Sean Payton, but the

49:19

Broncos got sucked into it. But

49:22

we have quite a high

49:25

amount of evidence now that Russell Wilson is not going

49:27

to come into Pittsburgh and play the position at a

49:29

high level, right? I

49:31

would have said and I understand that there are

49:34

skeptics out there of the Hackett offense. I'm

49:36

probably on a podcast with a few of

49:39

them, one in particular. But if you went

49:41

back to that season and you watch the

49:43

guys like doing jumping jacks and saying, like,

49:45

please throw me the ball and they weren't

49:48

getting the ball and then you say, OK,

49:50

well, it was probably the offense that, you

49:52

know, this guy doesn't know what he's doing,

49:54

whatever, whatever. And then Sean Payton

49:56

comes in and, you know, OK, you

49:59

had like a 20. 26 touchdown season,

50:02

which is good for Steelers standards, right?

50:04

And so if you're Mike Tomlin, are you thinking like okay

50:07

if I can get 26

50:09

passing touchdowns out of a quarterback like I'm going to

50:11

the AFC title game There's no question to my mind

50:13

and if I can just get that

50:15

level of play which was not

50:17

stellar was not superior But it

50:19

was game manager Plus

50:22

point oh one five, you know, then

50:24

okay Maybe you take it and you

50:26

eliminate the the highs and

50:28

the lows of Justin Fields, which still

50:30

exist, right? Very much so I

50:33

don't know. I mean Nicky miss

50:36

if the record was flipped I'd get it. I

50:39

don't know what again. That's another these like how you have to

50:41

I hope the Steelers locker room

50:44

Agrees with this situation because I don't know

50:46

what Justin Fields. We all knew he was

50:49

I think he's a project He's

50:51

looked competent on a team that really isn't

50:54

built to score a lot of points or

50:56

be very dynamic and He

50:58

gives you a higher ceiling So I guess if you're Mike

51:00

Tomlin, are you because you're to your question Dan of like

51:02

why why do this at all? It's like Mike

51:05

Tomlin has you know been

51:07

in an NFL league where he's seen Russell Wilson

51:09

succeed and win Super Bowls and Win at a

51:11

high level and maybe he thinks like we're kind

51:14

of set up to help him do To

51:16

do his thing and we can win, you

51:18

know seven or eight games down the stretch

51:20

But from a quarterback angle, I I find

51:22

it to be a pretty beguiling and confusing

51:25

move For the Steelers right

51:27

now. Well two thoughts I have there is that One

51:30

if Justin Fields played better in this audition he

51:32

would have still been the quarterback and I think

51:34

he was too up and down

51:36

too hot and cold and And

51:39

that gave Wilson this opportunity the other part of

51:41

his encounter You mentioned on the Sunday show that

51:43

initially it was Tomlin that said that Wilson's my

51:45

number one quarterback So that kind of laid the

51:48

path for this to occur And

51:50

then there's the last part which is you know

51:52

It's been so long now because you know, when

51:54

was the last time like Big Ben was good?

51:56

What was that about six years ago now five

51:58

years ago? And then he got old

52:01

and he was very much a rundown,

52:04

you know, faded version of himself in

52:06

a game manager type role. And

52:08

then we obviously went through the last

52:10

couple of years and, you know, watching

52:12

Mason Rudolph, oh, my God, in the

52:14

Steelers offense, in that game manager role.

52:17

And I think Russell Wilson

52:19

is closer to that type of quarterback.

52:21

And I think that makes Mike Tomlin

52:23

feel safe. And Mike Tomlin is like,

52:26

I know Dan Hansas specifically

52:28

cannot stand watching my team, but

52:31

I don't care because I like to win, you

52:33

know, 16 to nine,

52:35

like all the time. And I

52:37

think Wilson, with his steady floor,

52:41

will help me toward that goal better than

52:43

Fields, who's going to put me in danger

52:45

with some reckless decision making at times. So

52:47

I think that's that it may

52:49

not be exciting for Steelers fans, but I think I

52:51

think Tomlin is doing this for the most obvious

52:54

reason, which is he thinks that Wilson will help

52:56

the Steelers win more games and then go back

52:58

to Fields, whether or not that's true or not.

53:01

And by the way, if Wilson sucks, they'll go

53:03

back to Fields. We might end up seeing both

53:05

again. Right. And there could be a baked in

53:07

advantage to that, too, right? Like if Justin Fields

53:09

has ingratiated himself with the team, then

53:11

there is that tailwind that comes almost like

53:13

the interim coach, right? Where you go back

53:15

to the guy that everyone went for and

53:17

to with, and you remember that guy and

53:19

he laid out for you. And there's, you

53:21

know, a lot to like about that, too.

53:23

But with Fields, he has them in the

53:25

top 18. And I know

53:28

top 18 is not like, you know, spectacular.

53:30

But when you think about Kenny Pickett or

53:33

what's come before them top 18 and almost all

53:35

major passing categories in terms of efficiency, all the

53:37

kind of the analytics that you like to look

53:39

at when it comes to a quarterback, how

53:42

much better is Russell Wilson going to get you

53:44

when the Steelers are 20th and

53:46

below in rushing and you're not integrating the rushing

53:48

game in the passing game together? I

53:51

would just like them to be patient and

53:53

to allow Fields to get into that, you

53:55

know, get into the meat of like a

53:57

49ers style system here where you can mesh.

53:59

the run in the past together and it's

54:01

all cohesive. I think it's working towards that.

54:04

And it is a challenge for Arthur Smith. It's like

54:06

suddenly things that you were

54:08

doing that made sense from the

54:10

angle of Justin Fields, you're limited

54:12

in certain areas. And it's

54:15

a quarterback that's not played. And I know he's

54:17

practiced a couple of weeks, but you've got to

54:19

change the offense on some level. And they've already

54:21

been out of sync with quarterback wide receiver stuff.

54:23

So I think it's a little perilous.

54:27

I just don't really believe in Russell Wilson at

54:29

this point. So I think that's my biggest concern

54:31

is like, what are you doing organizationally? Like, is

54:33

it going to be your quarterback next year? No,

54:36

probably not, right? Definitely not. So it's like you had

54:38

a younger guy that you're looking at. I know you

54:40

want to win games, but it's like, what's the future

54:42

here? It just feels kind of like a bit of

54:45

a stall. All

54:47

right, finally, let's head to the star. Oh,

54:52

the star, the star, the impregnable

54:56

fortress down there in North

54:58

Texas. Where

55:00

you are a fly on the wall, landing

55:05

just in time for Stephen

55:08

Jones, executive vice president, CEO, and

55:10

director of player personnel for the

55:12

Cowboys, to deliver his

55:14

weekly zoom meeting to staff

55:17

both in this conference room and

55:21

throughout the premises in

55:24

and around Cowboys Nation. And

55:27

I know that there's some crumb cake out there. I

55:29

want you to try to control

55:31

yourself. They stay on the wall. There's

55:35

a sausage patty sitting out there. Don't worry about it.

55:37

Like, this is, you want to be, you want to

55:39

hear what's going on here. Oh, he's

55:41

about to start. Guys,

55:43

we're getting sloppy here. We already have some egg

55:45

on her face about the Zeke comments that got

55:47

out last week. You know, dad saying that we're

55:50

keeping Zeke fresh for the end of the season.

55:53

Need I remind everyone that we've been feeding

55:55

dad, Derek Henry stats

55:57

and telling him that there's Zeke's obviously.

55:59

that's gonna create an optics disconnect with

56:01

the outside world when we let dad

56:04

talk like that. Speaking

56:06

of the outside world, what

56:09

the fuck did I hear on

56:11

the way to the office this morning? Charlotte,

56:13

can you play back for the room? What

56:16

was in my car this morning? This

56:19

is not your job. Your

56:22

job isn't to let me go over all

56:24

the reasons that I did something and I'm

56:26

sorry that I did it. That's not your

56:28

job. Well,

56:31

my job is to ask why. I don't get a

56:33

job or I'll get another, I'll get somebody else to

56:35

ask these questions, man. Oh, Jerry,

56:38

we're just, we're trying to figure out

56:40

why the team is. I'm not kidding you,

56:42

I'm not kidding you. You're

56:44

not gonna figure out what

56:46

the team is doing right or wrong. If

56:49

you are or any five or

56:51

10 like you, you need

56:53

to come to this meeting I'm going to

56:55

today. There are 32 teams here, you're geniuses.

57:00

Jerry, it's good. Y'all really think you're

57:02

gonna sit here with a microphone and

57:04

tell me all of

57:06

the things that I've done wrong

57:09

and without going over the right? Guys,

57:13

what the fuck? I mean, need

57:15

I remind you that dad is under the

57:17

impression that we are currently six and oh.

57:20

You cannot successfully pull off a Truman show

57:22

when the main character is sniping back and

57:24

forth on live fucking radio with Dizzy and

57:26

Kooter in the morning. Let's

57:28

go ahead and resume 24 seven surveillance

57:31

of the phones with

57:33

the additional scripted radio

57:35

encounters. That's right, it's a

57:37

go on the scripted radio encounters. Again, other

57:40

reminders, lump payment two of 30

57:43

equaling 375 million to Fox for the weekly Tom

57:47

Brady arrangement. That's due at the end of the month. So

57:50

let's make sure we keep up to date with that

57:52

payment. Also under the category

57:54

of JCK, of course that's Jerry can't

57:56

know. Amari Cooper got traded

57:59

not to us. Christopher

58:01

Columbus canceled, Matt Locks

58:03

a chick now, and Mike Zimmer

58:05

is our defensive coordinator. Jerry

58:08

can't know. December look ahead

58:10

and progress report. Where

58:12

are we on operation Kris

58:14

Kringle turning the JARA bus into

58:16

a flying vehicle? Peter? Yeah

58:20

boss, one complication there. We don't

58:22

and by we I mean the

58:25

general science community but also the Dallas

58:27

Cowboys, we don't have

58:29

the technology to actually make cars fly

58:31

yet. No, no

58:33

stupid. Get out of

58:36

here. We're retrofitting JARA bus as a

58:38

full flight simulator experience flying car. You

58:40

fool. Need that in advance of the

58:43

Super Bowl in New Orleans guys. Get

58:45

on that. We got a lot

58:47

of work to do people. We need

58:49

to be sharper. This Truman

58:51

Show has to be a

58:53

clean operation. So tighten it

58:55

up. Alright,

58:59

let's have some pastries. Wow.

59:07

So it's exactly how one

59:09

would imagine it is in Dallas. I

59:13

mean listen, that's

59:16

a big story and Connor I

59:18

know you're gonna that's a scoop that's gonna be tough

59:20

for you not to take back to your editors at

59:22

SI. But it's

59:24

one to think about. I mean

59:28

it's a circle of trust here and so I'll be

59:30

sure to keep it there. But I

59:32

when I was listening to I had

59:34

not heard the radio clip until right

59:36

now and my

59:38

first immediate thought was wow

59:41

did you hear the guy backtrack when

59:43

Jerry Jones threatened to fire him and

59:45

then my second thought was what

59:48

would you sound like if Jerry Jones threatened

59:50

to fire you on the air and you

59:52

know that he probably couldn't make that happen

59:55

very easily with like

59:57

one phone call. Yeah that I mean

59:59

imagine. Imagine your

1:00:01

stomach dropping, hearing that on an

1:00:03

otherwise mundane work day. I

1:00:06

wonder, what was the line of questioning that got

1:00:08

Jarrah so fired up? Was the guy just coming

1:00:10

a little too hard at him? And Jarrah's like,

1:00:12

I pay for you essentially? Is that what this

1:00:15

is about? Some of the foundation of it was...

1:00:17

Where was this? Where was this exactly, Justin? 105.3,

1:00:19

right Justin? Yes,

1:00:21

Sean and RJ's show on 105.3, the

1:00:23

fan, a station I used to listen

1:00:25

to when I lived in Dallas. Does

1:00:29

the Cowboys keep the lights on for that station?

1:00:31

Does he actually... They are

1:00:33

the Cowboys radio networks, the game

1:00:35

broadcasts locally are played on that

1:00:37

station. Yeah. And he's

1:00:39

been coming on that show for... I mean, we

1:00:42

used to write stories about this at the old

1:00:44

place. You'd kind of always have to write a

1:00:46

story about whatever Jerry Jones said in

1:00:48

these Q&As. But

1:00:51

I think the gist of it was

1:00:53

a general question around the idea that

1:00:55

there's... We're talking about the

1:00:57

Cowboys have spent the least amount of money leading

1:01:00

into the season that there seems to be

1:01:02

like, is there something else going on here?

1:01:04

Is it like a shell operation for something

1:01:07

other than the Dallas Cowboys because they're not

1:01:09

looking like price wise as competitive as other

1:01:11

teams. And Jerry Jones started saying,

1:01:14

look, I can look at some things from the past or

1:01:16

now. And you can say I was smarter or

1:01:19

an idiot about it. He was the word idiot at one point, but

1:01:21

I think he just started to get more offended. And I'm always like,

1:01:24

has he had three whiskeys? They

1:01:27

caught him in this Q&A where he's a

1:01:29

little sauced up and we... Well, or are

1:01:32

you coming around? My

1:01:35

theory from a couple of days ago. In

1:01:38

the matter of like 48 hours, we

1:01:41

used to have both Alzheimer's and then

1:01:43

being like a closet alcoholic. I

1:01:47

think that can all be true. But like, yeah.

1:01:49

And being an unwitting participant in a Truman Show

1:01:51

scenario. Things

1:01:55

are not great. Not at all. Anything

1:02:02

else that we want to touch

1:02:04

on today before we say goodbye

1:02:07

on this wonderful Tuesday

1:02:09

show getting up a little bit earlier with the breaking

1:02:11

news and the NFL? Always

1:02:14

coming down, Mark, down the pike. Well,

1:02:17

we're flexible. If we need to start 20

1:02:20

minutes earlier to get the news out, to

1:02:22

publish the show a bit quicker, we're nimble,

1:02:24

we're able to do that. As they would

1:02:26

say in the corporate world, we're flexible, we're

1:02:29

nimble. How's your PO Box going,

1:02:31

by the way? You have that PO Box, everybody

1:02:33

send art to Mark Sessler. What

1:02:35

happened to that thing? Is that any art? Can I

1:02:37

be honest? Yeah, where's the PO Box? A

1:02:40

very incredible person who we used to

1:02:42

work with actually painted something

1:02:45

for me and they sent it to my

1:02:47

apartment. And my apartment downstairs has like

1:02:49

88 packages scattered all around, just like the

1:02:52

FedEx guys and the people just come in and just

1:02:54

drop it in this big area that looks

1:02:56

like it's in Central India. And

1:02:59

it got lost. It got stolen. It was a

1:03:01

painting of Bernie Cozart. And so then it stopped

1:03:03

my progress a little bit. And then I looked

1:03:05

up PO Boxes. Wait, wouldn't that expedite your progress

1:03:07

when something like that happens? Yes. Well,

1:03:10

it stopped my... It just made me feel like I

1:03:13

felt a little ill about the whole thing. But then I went and

1:03:15

looked up PO Boxes because I had one way back in the day

1:03:17

and they were like $12 a month. You ever

1:03:19

ask a question and then as the

1:03:22

person's answering you wish you didn't ask

1:03:24

a question? Well, you shut up.

1:03:26

It costs like $300 for a PO Box. So

1:03:30

that's not worth the audience connecting with you after

1:03:32

you came out and said, I

1:03:34

want to make the audience part of my display and

1:03:36

it means a lot to me. But then you found

1:03:38

out it was too much money and now you just

1:03:40

turn your back on the audience. Is that what happened

1:03:42

here? Is it? Well, I like to lie

1:03:45

a lot too. Well I'm

1:03:47

not shallow. I guess that's what it comes down to.

1:03:49

It's a work in progress. I haven't closed down

1:03:52

the project, but it's been paused. I was just

1:03:54

checking in on a project because it had gone

1:03:56

a little quiet over on the construction side. I'd

1:04:00

say that's true, but I tried

1:04:02

to give you a thorough update as to why. Good.

1:04:06

Got her? Anything to add? I

1:04:09

don't think that's it. Just thinking

1:04:11

about your job is part of

1:04:13

this underground ring of package thieves,

1:04:15

and you go to the head

1:04:17

mob guy or whatever, and it's

1:04:19

like, okay, I got three iPhones,

1:04:22

a Google Chromebook, and

1:04:24

a painting of former Brown's quarterback

1:04:27

Bernie goes on. I

1:04:30

know. It's

1:04:33

somewhere in the world.

1:04:35

It's in someone's wall. It's

1:04:37

definitely the thing. Where is it? If you

1:04:40

stole it, where is it?

1:04:43

It's like when Tony had the horse, Pyomai,

1:04:47

and then the horse was

1:04:49

tragically killed and in an insurance

1:04:52

scheme, and then Tony

1:04:55

didn't even want to look at the painting anymore, even though

1:04:57

he paid all the money for it. Then Paulie took it out

1:04:59

of the dumpster, made some alterations

1:05:01

to it, and put it up on

1:05:03

his wall. Somebody might have that Bernie

1:05:05

Cozart poster centered ice in

1:05:08

their living room with one of

1:05:10

those lights on it. That's tough.

1:05:12

That's a tough thing. Well,

1:05:15

I think that's probably close to what's

1:05:17

occurred here. I'm offended. Well,

1:05:20

that's me. We

1:05:23

stole Greek letters off of a fraternity in

1:05:25

college, like the actual big letters

1:05:27

that are on a fraternity. You can

1:05:29

imagine what kind of a hornet's nest

1:05:31

that would be. We

1:05:34

took it, and then we thought, this is

1:05:36

it for us. How cool is this

1:05:38

going to be? We're just going to hang it up in

1:05:41

our house and show everybody when we come over. Then

1:05:44

the thought occurred to us once we got

1:05:46

these 13-foot tall letters home and

1:05:50

in the front door that like, we can't show

1:05:52

this to anybody. No

1:05:54

one can know. We just put

1:05:56

it in the attic, and if we trusted someone enough, we'd

1:05:58

be like, cool that we

1:06:00

can show you upstairs. And then when we moved out

1:06:02

the last day, we just threw it in the middle

1:06:05

of the road and just left. And

1:06:07

so that's kind of

1:06:10

the reverse Bernie Cozart situation. It also,

1:06:12

yes, it could be in the middle

1:06:14

of the road somewhere or in a

1:06:16

sewer. So that's, I mean, what's preferable

1:06:18

ultimately, Mark? No,

1:06:21

I'd rather it be in someone's apartment

1:06:23

and it's being admired. I

1:06:25

thought I filed a trenchant report because I thought

1:06:27

that became a, you know, you needed

1:06:30

to know what was going on with the dollar. You

1:06:32

know, dig through those couch cushions for some

1:06:34

change and maybe you can get up to

1:06:37

that amount of money that would cost to

1:06:39

let your promise to your fans follow

1:06:42

through, you know. That's my next

1:06:44

move. Beautiful. All

1:06:47

right, great stuff. Thank you to everybody.

1:06:50

We'll be back, when will we be back? We'll be back

1:06:52

on Thursday. How about that? With two

1:06:54

shows, as we always do. How

1:06:56

about that? Till then, do what

1:06:58

you must. Eat

1:07:00

the coffee. ["The