Belichick Out In New England, Nick Saban Talk With Andy Staples, Aaron Schatz On Wild Card Weekend + Picks & Preview

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On today's part of my take, we have a packed, packed show. All of the coaches have been fired or retired. So we're going to talk about Bill Belichick, Pete Carroll, we have Andy Staples on, to talk about Nick Saban. Who's going to get that job. His legacy, why he was the best college football coach of all time. We also have a great interview with Aaron Schatz, the inventor of Dvoa. We finally got to the bottom of what DvOa is. And he talked about the playoff picture, what teams he thinks are over-performing, under-performing, what units you should be looking out for, especially when you're betting.

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Okay, let's go.

Now in the street, there is violence and there's lots of work to be done.

No place to hang out or wash in, and then I can't get all on the sun.

Oh no, we're gonna rock down to Electric Avenue and then we'll take it higher.

Oh, we're gonna rock down to Electric Avenue.

It's part of my take, even about martial sports.

Welcome to part of my take. Today is Friday, January 12th, and Bill Belichick has been fired, Pete Carroll has been fired, Nick Saban has retired.

There are a lot of really good coaches available out there, a lot of really good coaches with not a lot to do.

That was shocking, the fact that it happened. Bang, bang, bang. It was Pete Carroll. Last time we talked to you guys was on Wednesday, but Pete Carroll got fired on Wednesday morning. Nick Saban retired Wednesday night. Bill Belichick got fired on Thursday morning.

Yes.

Bill Belichick's the best N.FL coach of all time, yes, and Pete Carroll's probably a top 15 football coach of all time, maybe even top 10..

I'd say, maybe he's probably top 20 college coach of all time and top 20 N.FL coach of all time.

He's best duel.

He's 14 all time in NFL wins, he's got two national titles in college football.

Yeah.

I would say, if you put it all together, Pete Carroll has an argument for being a top 10 football coach of all time.

Yeah, and Ron Rivera fired. That's a Mount Rushmore of coaches right there, I'll tell you what.

So, Henry?

As we've been reporting consistently all year.

As we were reporting consistently, he was like, Well, Black Monday happened, and Bill Belichick's still the coach of the New England Patriots. And he was kind of needling us like, Hey, you guys are wrong.

I'm not going to ask Hank for an apology, but it wouldn't hurt to say you were right, yeah.

Just once.

No, all I did was ask when it was going to happen. You guys didn't have an answer for me.

We said Thursday morning, I think.

We don't know the predictions, we said at some point this week, yeah.

I got to say, when I woke up in the morning on Thursday morning because I get up at 630 in the morning. I think he got fired at like 7 in the morning on Eastern Standard time. I saw it and then I just sat and looked at my phone, waiting for Hank to wake up.

Yeah, I was like, he has to wake up.

He has to wake up.

Yeah, what does Belichick do now? I was just asking Jake before we started taping the show, Does he have to go for interviews? Do you bring Bill Belichick in?

If some owner calls him up and is like, Hey, Bill, we want to bring you in. And he's like, All right, do I have full control? He's like, Yep, you got full control. Or if he even has to go to an interview, he just wears all six of his rings and they're like, Oh, that's nice.

Yeah, bring your resume with you, Bill. I'd like you to print out your CV and have it on our desk.

Yeah, but the real story is. Henry, Yeah, our dear Henry. Well, no, people want to hear from you.

You don't remember a time when Belichick wasn't your head coach?

No, I don't, I do not. I was what I think eight years old when they won in 2001, so I don't remember anything before that. I barely remember that season to be honest, so it's very, very sad.

Here's a fun stat I got from Adam Schefter. Since the Patriots hired Belichick in 2000, the other 31 teams have used 162 head coaches in 224 total coaching stints. That's crazy.

That's nuts, I mean, it's an insane run of excellence. I actually hank. Can I make you feel a little bit better?

Please.

I actually think this was a good time for it to happen because he had this year that was bad, right last year. What did they finish? They finished 8-9..

Last year was not great either.

It wasn't great, but it was a competitive-ish year. If you had kept Bill Belichick and he had done one more really bad year, then the memories start to sour a little bit. Whereas now, yeah, there was four or five years after Tom Brady, but I think those four or five years kind of wash away as the time goes by. We just remember the wins and the Super Bowls and the six Super Bowls. So in a weird way, I think you should be happy. Because it could have gotten worse and then it would have been like, what is going on here?

Yeah, that's fair. Yeah, you always remember the good times. The greatest times I've ever had were because of Bill Belichick, because of Tom Brady, because of the Patriots. I will always love him, I'll always appreciate him.

He kind of ruined football for you.

In a way, yeah, they were so good for so long that I now just have to like. And it's also weird. It's like a stepmom situation, like whoever comes in—.

Stuck somewhere?

No, it's like, whoever comes in, are you ever really going to love them?

Well, what if it's—would you rather it be Jared Mayo or Mike Vrabel?

I would like it to be a former player, the Vrabel one like. —.and I could be way off base here. But I think Vrabel is fun to say and I love Vrabel. He's a great guest on the show.

The name is fun to say.

No, it's fun to say, like, we want Vrabel, and I was saying it today, like, I want Vrabel. I don't know that. Like, he's as tight with the organization as people might think.

They just put him in the ring of honor, though, a couple weeks ago.

And an inside source told me—that inside source being will Compton, who was here in the office today. That maybe Vrabel going back to New England for the Ring of Honor might have had the Titans be like, huh, maybe he just wants to go back there.

Well, that was a report that came out today.

Oh, okay, so will just told me that.

Yeah, he read the report, and then he said, Hey, big cat, this is what I'm hearing. Yeah, apparently. When he went back there and he said so many glowing things about the Patriots Organization, he was saying, like, don't take this for granted, because not every place is like this. He went back to Tennessee and Amy Adams-strunk was like, Why'd you say all that stuff? Yeah.

So it feels like he's got the love I would absolutely love Vrabel.

Yeah, it feels like he's got the love for the Patriots, so why wouldn't? —Would you rather him or Jared Mayo? Because there was? —the argument could be made. Like, there was a lot of smoke this year, a lot of smoke about the coaching staff and guys not getting along. Jared Mayo was part of that coaching staff.

I would rather Vrabel, yeah, recurring guest friend of the program.

He's proven it.

Proven it, yeah, Super Bowl champion, obviously, Mayo is, too, but I'd rather vrabel just proclivity to the show.

So okay.

Good use of that word, yeah, good use.

Proclivity.

It's funny that you said that was it?

Kind of.

Proximity is what you're looking for, yeah.

Proclivity. We know what you meant. Yeah, it's funny that you said, like, if he had stuck around another year, because that is the ultimate Belichick way, right?

And this year was bad. But again, I think that as long as you don't stack up like five, six bad years, the memory will fade away. And you'll just be like, Oh yeah, that Bailey Zappi year that was weird and you won't even like, really remember it?

How do you hire a GM? Interview them, interview them like, what?

You talk to Ernie Corcy, he says. He recommends Bill Pullian. Bill Pullian, then recommends, like one of his fail sons.

That's going to be weird, boom.

GM done.

Getting like dealing with a new coach and new GM.

Well, if it's Wrabel, he might be the GM, too.

Really.

I don't know. He wanted more control in Tennessee.

I don't know that. They give him complete control. I feel like Kraft is going to want a GM and a head coach to be separate right now.

Unless it's a guy like Mike Wrabel, who he trusts, who's part of his family, that's a different situation.

Do you think that Kraft is going to like Belichick? Do you think Belichick is going to have a say in the new head coach? No.

He's got fired.

What do you mean, Hank?

You're in denial right now, hold on.

He's no longer part of the organization, they said bye to him.

It's not like Nick Saban, Nick Saban will have a say in the—he probably gave them a list of names.

He was in the facility, yeah.

Yeah, because he retired, Bill Belichick got fired.

He doesn't—.

It was a mutual parting of ways.

Okay, wait.

Hold on. But like, him, and Kraft are close.

No, but—okay?

It was a mutual parting, like Belichick probably wants Mayo wait because that—.

But it was a mutual parting of ways. Do you think Bill Belichick wants to go find a new job? Do you think Bill Belichick didn't want to stay where he's been and won six Super Bowls because I would imagine he probably wanted to stay?

Yeah, of course. Okay. All right, that was a dumb question. I just thought, you know, him and Kraft are super, super close, obviously. Again, like, but they both know Belichick is aware of how bad things have gone.

We probably gave him a suggestion, I just don't know if Kraft would be like, Yeah, I'm just going to take whatever you say.

What you're thinking of here, Hank, is like—.

I didn't ask if he's going to listen, I said. Does he have a say?

Oh, no, he does not have a say.

Belichick the GM was the worst part of Belichick, and now you want Belichick the GM to hire the next head coach.

I'm not saying hiring him. My question was, does he have a say? he has a say?

I don't think so. What are you going to say, Max?

I think that there's a chance he did want to leave.

Really.

I think that he might be at a point where he doesn't want to do a rebuilding coaching team and he wants to go to a place that has guys.

He doesn't want to fix his age.

Kraft said it was mutual.

Yeah, I think there's a chance that, like, he's like, I'm too old. To go through a rebuild and get back to winning Super Bowls, I need to go to a place where I can win Super Bowls now.

I kind of like that.

And if he was like, if you keep Mayo and my son around, like, I'll go.

Hold on.

Do you think your son is staying around?

Hold on, wait back up for a sec. I don't think so.

I think it was all Belichick's out.

If that is true, Max, like Bill Belichick, will not get as much control anywhere else than what he had in New England.

Well, I think, regardless, they were taking away the GM.

Right? But he would always still have more control than the GM if they hired a GM. Because he's Bill Belichick, true, like that is his place. He has six Super Bowls.

But I'm looking at it like, we'll get into the rumors, I assume. But like, if the Cowboys are on the table, I think that there's a chance that, like that, could be a mutual parting of ways. He's talked to Jerry Jones and was like, I can take over this Cowboys roster now rather than go to the Patriots.

But he wouldn't have any control.

Yeah, but I think that he might just be like, he may be willing to give that up for a team that could win now.

I think he can probably see some silver linings to it, but I don't think there's any possible chance that this was like, nothing in life is totally mutual.

Right, there's no way that, like, Yeah, PFT is exactly right. Like, I bet you Bill Bocek today. Or, you know, when he wakes up, he's like, you know what? This might not be a bad thing, but there's. He wanted, and especially like he's a historian of the game. You don't think he wanted to break the record with the Patriots, a team that he made his entire career there?

Sure.

But there's some silver linings for him, especially if you're right, if he can go. Find a roster that's ready to go right now and win a shitload of games. Because, like, he, probably there's a part of Bill Bocek. That's like, I kind of need to win another Super Bowl so that we're even on the Tom Brady one.

Yeah, it's the brady effect. So there are a number of teams that are interested right now. I'd just like to say, on behalf of the commanders, I don't think I'm interested any longer in Bill Bocek. Because now that he doesn't have a team, it's like, Uh, do I really do?

What is Shane's hit rate on Photoshop's You've forced him to do?

No, I'm just saying, like, at the time there was a material change, the material change was he got fired. I don't want a fired coach, I don't want a retread like Belichick.

A washout.

Yeah, a washout.

We'll circle back to that soon.

Come on, it's the same like six guys that keep getting hired to the NFL, they never do anything good. I don't want Belichick.

You want more like a strong, silent type like Ron Rivera.

Or Mike Vrabel, like a guy that, you know, you know, he can coach, yeah. So when it comes to the teams that are looking at Belichick, I know that the Falcons are looking at them.

Yeah, which would be very funny, and I did put out my worst case scenario. Because I do think that. Belichick would go to the Falcons, the Bears would trade Justin Fields to them, and Belichick would win a Super Bowl with Justin Fields.

It's a possibility, they've got a good roster, the Chargers, that's another option for them. And then there's a mystery team that's still in the playoffs. I love a good mystery team.

Okay.

And two of them would be great for the show.

Yes.

The Dallas Cowboys yes, if Mike McCarthy loses in the first, or maybe even in the second game if they get their ass kicked in the divisional round. I could see Jerry Jones being like, we've got to make a chance, we've got to make a change. Belichick's out here.

Do you think that? do you think? Because it doesn't on paper make any sense? Because Jerry Jones, that is, it's his show. Like, Bill Belichick doesn't seem like the type of guy who wants his owner doing radio hits. Talking about his coaching job every single week, that doesn't make sense. Do you think there's maybe a chance?

He's gotten better.

I'm in the ring of honor.

He's gotten a lot better recently.

So maybe he has a change of heart. That one would be weird to me, just because of the power. And Jerry Jones has shown it doesn't matter that it's Bill Belichick, it's Jerry Jones team.

Yeah, and I think, if it was the Cowboys, Belichick, you know. Jerry Jones has said publicly, like, I want to win another Super Bowl before I die. He's thinking about death all the time, right? Like any second.

Philadelphia Eagles.

Max If they fire Sirianni, I would love to see that. I would love for you to get Hank's leader. I would love that, Max, yeah.

I'm worried about the playoffs right now, it's about winning on Monday night.

But it's not a must win.

Yeah, I thought you've already given up on the playoffs.

Yeah, no spoiler, but.

But favorites?

But.

If Bill Belichick came to, the everything I've seen is that no one in Philadelphia wants Bill Belichick.

Yeah, would you want it? For football reasons? I actually would not want him on the commander of football, I want him strictly to troll Hank.

I would, I've convinced myself for football reasons, yes, but I think that is fueled by Hank.

Wait, hold on, time out, time out. What do you mean? You wouldn't want him for football reasons?

I want him for football reasons.

Yeah, and you already have a roster.

That's kind of what I was saying.

He'll go find a fifth round linebacker like a Mike Vrabel and just be like, Oh, he's the best player now.

When I was talking earlier, I was saying cowboys, but I was really thinking eagles. Because I think if Bill Belichick had that roster, it would be a whole different ballgame.

Yeah, honestly, if he went to a team like the Eagles or the Cowboys, it would make way more sense. It would go to the Commanders, which is a multi-year rebuild.

Right, it would be great for just entertainment in general.

And I think that the Eagles roster is getting older, like the window is short.

Uh-oh.

So it's like, I'm all right. Having an old coach who's going to come in and be like, we're going to win. And we're going to win. Right now, while our window is still available, we're going to go win.

So the third mystery team, I think, might be the Bucs. Yeah, I agree. I think it could be the Bucs, I agree.

It might be the Belichick Bowl on Monday night.

Winner advances, loser gets the Goat.

The Belichick, Yeah.

Which would you rather, Max, would you rather win this game, lose next round or lose this game and get Belichick?

I'll win, I want to win.

So you don't want to win.

Yeah, but if you're guaranteed to lose next round, what's the point of winning this round?

But the window is closing, dude.

Jalen Hurts might make too much money. For Belichick. That might be a sticking issue.

The other one, that would be very interesting, but would never in a million years happen because Kevin Stavansky might win Coach of the Year. But just doing the full circle Browns.

Get him and Saban back there.

That would be hilarious, yeah, and he is a historian of the game.

Mm-hmm. But he hates them.

What?

He hates the Browns.

Well, that's a different owner.

Yeah, because they moved to Baltimore, by the way. Yeah, yeah, so hank—.

Well, their current owner's a douchebag, too, but yeah.

Yeah, Jimmy Haslam. Yeah, he defrauded, like tens of millions of dollars from truckers. Hank. I want to get a little sentimental. Is that okay?

Where do you begin?

I mean, mine was when he didn't high-five those kids at the Lions game.

Oh, yeah, that was fun.

That was the best.

Mine was all the cheating.

Oh, wait.

Are you going? Are you back to Commanders PFT? Yeah, okay, yeah.

Okay, the Cincinnati press conference and just how that, you know, catapulted the season. That was a Super Bowl-winning season. That was a great press conference, great moment. Anytime he threw a challenge flag, every press conference like that was. You know, I don't watch. I still would watch the press conferences Monday morning, like Periscope, tunein, Bill Belichick press conference, like, laugh out loud, funny.

Time travel, yeah.

When he would prove, like his vastly superior knowledge of the game of football, just for fun, just to prove it. The dropkick Doug Flutie Like, just to do a dropkick, because it was like a cool moment in a football thing.

There's a lot, yeah, when he would put, like, Aaron Hernandez—.

When he got mad, when he got, they poured the Gatorade ice bath on him and he got furiously mad. Yeah, that was hilarious because his dad was right there.

I'm not bringing this up just to mention Hernandez. But that one season when they didn't really have any running backs. And he's like, I'm just going to turn my tight end into a running back. Yeah, and it worked, it was awesome, like the Danny Woodhead years were incredible.

Yeah, also anytime outfits, anytime it got cold.

Yeah.

Like when he would just bundle up and just look so miserable. Yeah, yeah, I mean, he's like, the sadness of the last day and a half is like, Saban Belichick, Pete Carroll are all-time like character fodder for when we watch football.

Yeah.

Like they are the three of them, like, you know their antics, you know, like the style they have, you can depend on them. So, yeah, it's changed.

He was a fan of barstool. His sons are, you know, big fans of barstool. Met them a bunch of times over the years. Never got to meet Bill, but like,—.

He probably knows who you are.

They were, you know, obviously part of a huge, huge Bill Belichick. None of us are probably sitting here. If it's not for Bill Belichick. You could make that argument easily.

But if I would say, maybe Tom Brady, who would you give more credit to?

Belichick, belichick.

Okay.

Really.

Players make plays.

Players make plays, but like 2001, that was Belichick.

Yeah, I mean, it's true. Barstool doesn't exist without the Rams checking in, Brady.

Yeah, I mean, obviously it's Brady too, but it's I don't think it's one or the other, it's not one or the other, it's a chicken-and-the-egg situation.

What if he goes to one of these rosters that are really good and again doesn't do well? Do you still say it's Belichick over Brady?

Oh, good question, Maxwell.

That would probably change things. I don't—if it's Belichick over Brady, it's still close, but I do think—I think it's both. But I think the Tom Brady Prime years, they lost two of those Super Bowls.

Yeah, they also won a bunch.

I know, but I'm saying, like, 2001, you can, you know? Obviously. Tom Brady made that fourth quarter drive, but it was like the defense that won that championship.

But then Brady has one without him.

No, I know, I know, I'm just saying, it's not. I think it's 51-49. Whoever you want to call it, it's not one or the other.

So you would say that Bill Belichick as Batman is undefeated in Super Bowls, Tom Brady as Batman?

No, no, I'm just saying, like, people that want to say, oh, just because Brady won one, it's definitively Brady. But when Brady was playing his best football 18-0, like he was the MVP, they still lost those Super Bowls.

I don't know if that helps your argument, but I do agree. Like, it's the answer that no one wants to hear. Because in sports talk like everyone wants to be like, well, it's one or the other, you've got to pick a side. I mean, you're right that it's both of them, they both need each other.

DALLAS Okay.

You would become so much more of a cowboy.

Oh yeah, I'd be a bigger cowboy. I said it on the show. As it happened with the Bucs, like, I'm rooting for the Patriots first, Bucs second. The only way I'm not rooting for the Bucs is if they play the Patriots in the Super Bowl. Which obviously didn't happen.

Okay, well, it's going to be exciting to see where he goes because it'll be funny just seeing him in different colors.

Yeah.

Like, that alone will be just –.

Atlanta would suck.

It also, I have a feeling –.

He's just not an Atlanta guy, he's not a Dallas guy.

I don't know if it's this, might not be what happens, but I have a feeling Belichick might lighten up a little with his new team. Like he might just a little bit, he's still going to be Belichick.

Well, if he goes to a warm weather place, he might be –.

He might lighten up just a little bit.

If he goes to Philly, I don't think he will.

Yeah, probably not.

Yeah, it'll probably get harder if he's not going to Philly, I hope he goes to Philly now.

Man, if he goes to Philly, it's a show.

As of now, the chargers are my favorite.

What would you do if he went to Philly?

I would love it, man Hank, I would love it so much. You would be –.

Everything, I just said I would not apply.

What if he goes to Philly and you guys win the Super Bowl? No, you would –.

What if he goes to Philly and wins multiple Super Bowls?

What if he wins them all?

And it's your fault. We would blame you for Max's happiness.

Yeah, no.

You shouldn't have kicked him out.

No, but Philly fans are scumbags. They would not appreciate him, they would treat him like a piece of shit, like it would not be –.

It would be –.

If he started winning football games.

Oh man, it would be so great, like just seeing for this show. Belichick to the Eagles and the Eagles starting hot and then having like, a tail off.

If we're looking at –.

We might have to do a spinoff PMT.

Cattle corn.

We just do Max and Hank.

If we're looking at –.

Talking Belichick?

At chess pieces, because Belichick loves that he coached Lawrence Taylor. Yeah, he loves that he coached Tom Brady.

Michael Parsons or Max Crosby?

Max Crosby Build a Vegas, Yeah.

Why not Bosa?

T.J. Watt.

T.J. Watt to Pittsburgh.

That would be weird if he went to Pittsburgh.

That would fit, though.

I don't think that they would hire him in Pittsburgh because Belichick is what, 70 years old.

Yeah.

You can't really hire a 70-year-old.

I actually think, the more I think about it, the interview is probably just going to go. Hey Bill, we'd like for you to coach here. Are you going to bring your son with you?

Will he do the licking thing?

Yeah, is your son going to be working on the sidelines? yeah.

Well, either way, I'm excited to see what happens, what transpires for both Hank, Your Patriots and where Belichick ends up. We should talk briefly about Pete Carroll. Pete Carroll fired.

I don't think so. So it sounds like he's going to remain, maybe in the Seahawks organization if he wants to, as I don't know, probably not GM, but like, advisor yeah, consigliere, yeah.

Yeah, okay, that makes sense. I mean, Pete Carroll, all-time coach, and if he won that, I think he would be a slam dunk top 10 football coach.

Yes, yeah, he was one handoff away, yeah.

And he was, yeah, an incredible college coach, incredible N.FL coach, also a guy that, like, I feel like he's at the top of the list of guys you'd want to play for.

Yeah, he also, he ages in reverse, so it wouldn't shock me if he just if his hair turned darker. After he got out of the game, got a little bit more tan, looked another 10 years younger, like Pete Carroll is, he does not look as old as he is. But then you look at, you know, if you're a team like the Seahawks, you're probably not going to be great next year.

They have a decent roster, that's the thing.

Do they want, they don't want? Like an older guy leading that rebuild?

Right, he also now can go spend more time with his twin.

It's true, right?

He's going to find him first.

Or he'll get to the bottom of the 9-11 investigation, yes.

One or the other.

That's really what he's up to.

So we are going to talk about Nick Saban with Andy Staples, we have him on talking about Nick Saban. Everything that's going on in Alabama, who's going to be coaching there next? I had one thing that I forgot to bring up about Nick Saban, the stat that's crazy.

Yeah, the best college football coach of all time. I want to play this call.

It's not even close.

It happened on the Paul Feinbaum show, so Paul Feinbaum has the best callers in the business. They started talking about replacements for Nick Saban, and they started tossing a few names out there. Paul Feinbaum mentioned Dabo Sweeney as being a name that could come to town. This is legend.

Sons, if it's Dabo Sweeney, I'm pouring gasoline on myself and setting myself on fire on the 50-yard line, you can guarantee it. If it's Dabo Sweeney, I'm pulling my arm off.

And taking that contract fracture and beating the hell out of myself.

No, damn Dabo, do you hear me, big brother? That's from the Alabama nation, get it right.

You'll be judged on this one right here, brother.

You'll be judged on this one right here.

Man Paul, I don't know, brother, I don't know. y'all. pray for me, pray for me, help me, Jesus.

I like that. He slipped into a little hulk hogan there, just dropping some brothers.

Yeah, come on, brother Paul.

Pray for me, brother.

No damn dabo.

Break my own arm.

Beat myself from my own compound fracture, Paul.

I mean, yeah, Dabo, we're going to talk about it with staples, but Dabo would be. —he was the guy for a while that everyone thought would be at Alabama, but he has not adapted at all.

Yeah, I'm interested to know what Saban does in retirement.

I kind of hope it's Tommy Reese, if enough, people—.

You think they promote from within?

If there's enough—I mean, Dan Lanning, obviously saying he's staying if enough guys in that top three, four. And the buyout is not—.you know, is the buyout too much? I don't know like, we'll see, we'll see.

That would be a nightmare scenario for Tommy Reese.

A lot of pressure, a lot of pressure.

Yeah, I would not want that if I'm Tommy Reese.

A lot of pressure, a lot of pressure. Okay, should we get into super wild Card weekend?

Super Wild Card weekend.

I am so excited for these games, I'm so excited we have to. —Again, I have to remind everyone you have 13 football games left and after this weekend it will be down to seven. So embrace it, enjoy it.

Let's do it all right.

Browns to Texans first game Saturday afternoon, which is the perfect spot for the Texans. Joe Flacco, he said,—What was his quote? Where he's like? We're going to do something in the next five weeks that we'll remember for the rest of our lives, I think, he said to his team.

That sounds good.

I mean, Joe Flacco, I've been there, yeah, we've said it before, we know that the Browns, their defense is elite. We know Joe Flacco was on the couch a month and a half ago. But if there's one guy, one guy in the world that can make you feel like, Hey, maybe a magical run's about to happen, it's Joe Flacco.

Yeah, he's got a good record on the road in the playoffs. Yep, 7-5 Flacco is coming off the heels on Christmas Eve of dismantling the Texans defense. Yep.

He was in that Murray Cooper game.

Yeah, it was a Murray Cooper game. What did he have? 265 yards or something?

That's crazy.

Something like that, which it also. You can make the argument that C.J. Stroud not playing that game might work in the Browns favor in this game, too, because C.J hasn't seen that defense yet. Jim Schwartz is going to have some shit.

He's going to have some shit.

It's going to be dialed up, guys are going to pin their ears back, guys will be flying around out there. I'm trying to think of what other cliches I can think of.

He's going to do some shit c.

Yeah, he's going to put, I don't know if he's going to put him in hell because C.

Yeah, it's 17-35-1, a rookie quarterback against a spread, a rookie quarterback going up against a quarterback that's played in the playoffs. And there's four of them this weekend.

Yeah.

It's c.

Yeah, so I think I like the Browns this weekend. I think the defense is Super Bowl caliber.

I would agree with you. The thing that I keep thinking about. The Texans, obviously like they've finished the season strong. Tank Dell injury was huge, but they've still, you know, won. I think they finished what? 4-2. I believe, yeah.

One big question is Denzel Ward? Because he hurt himself in practice today? Yes, so he hurt his knee in practice. I saw a report that he was questionable for Saturday. And then Ian Rappaport came back and said that. They think he's going to play. So I don't know if he's going to be 100, but that would be pretty significant for the Browns defense.

The Browns The one thing about the Browns is they are battle-tested with injuries. They've played pretty much every iteration of lineups this year, on both offense and defense.

Yeah, they do next man up, yeah.

I mean, it's like Denzel Ward's missed games. I mean, Miles Garrett didn't miss games, but he was hurt for a few games.

He's been hurt. Yeah, he's been hurt.

Like, their offensive line has missed, you know, all types of games, like in terms of shuffling. Everyone around. Nick Chubb got injured like 10 years ago.

Yeah.

So if there's one team that you can be like all right, well, they could probably still bounce back from injuries, probably the Browns.

I'm very excited to see if the Browns happen to win two playoff games. What goes on with the Deshaun-Joe Flacco discourse? Mm-hmm. Are they going to be able to afford Joe Flacco next year?

I would like to see the discourse right now.

Who would you rather have? Joe Flacco? I'm taking Flacco as a human, I'm taking Flacco.

Even better human being than Deshaun Watson as a human being.

Deshaun Watson way, way better football player than human being, correct, way better.

Insanely a large gap.

Maybe the biggest ratio, one of the biggest ratios. O.J. Not guilty, yeah.

Hernandez.

Also not guilty because it was vacated after, yeah.

Darren Sharper.

Darren Sharper Way better football player.

Way better football player.

Much better.

The tight end Murr Nugget.

Oh yeah, murr nugget.

Well, that was the offensive lineman.

Yeah, yeah.

But in today's game, I would say that Deshaun Watson has the biggest football to good guy ratio.

Yes, I would agree. Henry Ruggs.

He's not in the league.

Aaron Rodgers.

Yeah.

Oh yeah, good point. How many grandmothers has he killed? Joking, joking, joking.

Did you guys see that we got in a good luck off?

Oh, with who?

So Tony Diggs, who was a former co-worker of ours who we love, who works on the Pat McAfee show.

Tone diggs.

Tone diggs well, his name's Tony, and he got in a good luck off with Klay Travis.

Oh, who won?

I take the Pat McAfee show's side on this. Who won? I believe Klay did the last good luck, so Tony did.

Tony won, so Tony has the luck.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, he said. Yeah, Tony started saying, like, What was it?

I like that.

Yeah, good luck off.

Has Klay tweeted Good luck or well played more frequently?

He said, You guys legit said he was done for the year yesterday. Now he's suddenly back. Talking about Rodgers, which that wasn't the case, like, I don't know why people started Rodgers, I think. Stops doing the Pat McAfee show after the season's over, and he, like, comes on every now and then.

McAfee went woke.

Yeah, they fired Aaron Rodgers, so then McAfee, in a good heel move, brought Aaron Rodgers on today.

Okay, I like that. Also, it's very interesting to see everybody that covers sports media that hates Aaron Rodgers. Do nothing but tune in to the Aaron Rodgers interviews and transcribe every second. Why are they giving this guy so much free attention?

A lot of hand wringing, yeah, a lot of. What are we going to tell the children?

Yeah.

Shut the fuck up, it's entertainment, shut up. We will get to the Jason Whitlock, Stephen A. Smith in a little bit.

You fat bastard.

You fat bastard. It's entertainment, guys. So I kind of like the over in this game too.

Okay, good weather.

Yes, very good.

Yeah, I do, too.

Actually, you know what?

I like the Browns, I like the Browns offense, I like the Texans offense. Browns defense obviously is out of this world, but I still think C.J. Stroud is going to get his.

What you just said really bummed me out.

What?

Because I love all the dome overs, and I realize it's just because there's no weather.

There's no weather. Yeah, yeah.

Because it's such a contrast.

Is NRG Stadium a dome? It's got a retractable roof, right? It's a dome I believe we don't roof close.

Yeah, it's indoors.

Okay, no weather.

You just, you said one line, and it just like light bulb in my head, Hey you moron.

Yeah, if it's inside, yeah, it's over.

I might have to take the outdoor overs just to prove a point.

Do the outdoor overs.

I can lose money both indoors and outdoors.

Outdoors, the weather is going to be crazy.

All right, so you have a nerd nugget for us, Jake?

Yeah, for the playoffs, I actually researched one for each team. That's cool with you guys.

So we're doing two nerd nuggets.

We're just going to do one for each game.

No, no, go ahead, go give us the two.

For the Browns, since Joe Flacco has taken over as Browns quarterback. He has led Cleveland to a four and one record as a starter. And became the first player in N.F.L. history to record at least 250 passing yards and two touchdown passes in his first five games with the team.

Yeah, because he's elite.

That was a good nerd nugget because it was just Joe Flacco elite.

Also, it is a retractable stadium in Houston, yeah, but it's going to be closed, yeah.

And then, for the Texans, they're the first team in NFL history to win their division with a rookie quarterback and a first-year head coach. C.J. Stroud D'Amico Ryans, the fifth rookie QB and first-year head coach duo since the merger. To make the playoffs Do you guys know the last one rookie QB and first-year head coach to make the playoffs?

Rookie Q.B.

There's been five total.

Rookie QB and rookie head coach.

First-year head coach Yeah.

First-year head coach to make the playoffs.

Chuck Pagano Yeah.

Oh, nice rookie Chuck Pagano.

Yeah, that was good. Also. 0-9 Mark Sanchez and Rex Ryan, and then 2-0-8 Matt Ryan and Mike Smith and Joe Flacco and John Harbaugh.

Mike Smith.

Yeah, I remember that guy.

Yeah, Mike Smith was just create-a-coach on Madden.

Yeah, he looked like Phil Leotardo.

If Mike Smith walked by me on the street, I would never, never be able to pick him up.

Yeah, he looks like an insurance salesman.

And his name, too.

Yeah.

It really is a create-a-coach. Yeah, okay, good nerd nuggets. Jake All right. Saturday night dolphins at Chiefs, by the way, tune into our stream.