Las Vegas Raiders Insider Podcast on the Process for Mark Davis, Major Changes for the NFL, and the Playoffs
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00:00 Hi everybody this is Hondo Carpenter from Sports Illustrated's Fan Nation Las Vegas
00:06 Raiders Insider Podcast and I'm great great I'm glad to be joined by my dear friend the
00:13 great Johnny Shopp.
00:15 Terrific attorney he's a tremendously respected journalist great at what he does we love having
00:20 him Johnny I gotta ask you because I'm getting asked all the time are you working on sound
00:24 for your riff?
00:26 Yeah still we're still working on it we had it lined up and then we couldn't get it to
00:33 play through still working on it I got plenty of tools I got 13 guitars here enough amps
00:39 and enough other stuff yes we're working on it.
00:43 All right Johnny we got so much to cover tonight where this is gonna be a today this is gonna
00:48 be a long podcast but man I think it's gonna be good so let me just right at the onset
00:53 say to all of our listeners thank you tens of thousands of you are listening you're subscribing
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02:07 me on IG Instagram @HondoSR or on X formerly known as Twitter @HondoCarpenter all right
02:15 John let's get right into it we got a ton of stuff to talk about and tonight everybody
02:21 we got so much Raider content looking at certain stats the coaching search the NFL and so much
02:30 more we're going to jump back and forth you don't want to miss anything so stay with us
02:34 Johnny I'm going to start with the Raiders no doubt Jim Harbaugh is a terrific football
02:41 coach anybody trying to say he's not is ridiculous I saw people I had some guy send me a message
02:48 yesterday why are you removing my comments pro Harbaugh I'm like we haven't removed any
02:53 comments stop and then another person you know how come you know you are you're saying
03:01 you're pro AP but if anyone else does you're getting rid of them are you really secretly
03:07 for Harbaugh stop you're all acting like a bunch of Karen's and people can have differing
03:12 opinions they're both good coaches it's just ludicrous but to me and I'm around the team
03:23 I'm talking to the team I know the the the mood of the team I know some things going
03:29 on inside the team to me this is a no-brainer you hire champ Kelly and you go get champ
03:38 Kelly and Antonio Pierce but they're going to do whatever they want to do Mark Davis
03:42 doesn't mean my opinion doesn't need yours but John how big of a colossal mistake will
03:47 this be Mark Davis moving all in to use a Vegas term on his legacy if he goes anywhere
03:53 other than AP what are your thoughts on AP do you think he's deserved the job you think
03:57 he's earned it your thoughts I think he's proven that he would get a head coach at the
04:02 NFL level that's the massive takeaway from his interim work most of the time we see an
04:09 interim coach we don't see them do very much or maybe they don't do anywhere near enough
04:14 to think hey that's a guy that's going to be a head coach that's the first thing the
04:18 second thing is yes I think he's done enough to earn the job with the Raiders and I think
04:23 he would be the best fit with the Raiders should champ Kelly be the general manager
04:29 now when you look at Jim Harbaugh yes we all know that once upon a time he began his coaching
04:37 career with the Raiders folks that was so long ago most of the guys on the team were
04:43 like five years old or so does not matter what does matter is what kind of coach would
04:52 he be what kind of coach would the other candidates be out there Dan Quinn Mike Frable etc and
04:57 those things are worth considering but with Harbaugh I think there's an x-factor that
05:01 you've talked about a bit before that we need to learn more about it is expected that he's
05:06 going to have at least a three to six game suspension from college football for stuff
05:12 that happened before this cheating scandal what is unclear is what will the NFL do I
05:18 want it John I'm going to interrupt for one second because I want people are so emotional
05:23 right now I want them to hear what you said we're not talking about the alleged cheating
05:28 scandal we're talking about stuff that happened before and I want everyone to hear me I don't
05:34 trust the NCAA I think they're the most other than Congress they're the most disingenuous
05:40 part of American society so until there's evidence that proves them guilty we're not
05:46 even talking about a cheating scandal or alleged he's innocent of that until proof is presented
05:51 we're doing stuff before go ahead John yeah we're talking about stuff before so rather
05:56 than cooperate and take up to a six game suspension Michigan and Harbaugh just voluntarily gave
06:04 themselves three well in reality that may not be received at all so he may get as many
06:10 as six for that but most likely he's going to get at least three and we're talking about
06:15 stuff that has nothing to do with the cheating scandal the point is what does that mean to
06:20 his NFL hiring does somebody want to hire a guy at 10 to 15 million bucks a year who's
06:27 going to be missing half his first season I would venture that that would cause a pause
06:33 for a second so whether it's the Chargers or the Raiders or anybody else this is something
06:38 that these teams are trying to figure out and get a gauge on there is a one of the press
06:44 I need to interrupt one more time for clarity I apologize but for people that don't know
06:51 the NFL has a precedence when a coach jumps to the NFL who has NCAA issues remember Jim
06:58 Trestle John if you can elaborate on that so that the people understand that we're not
07:03 just one timely saying this please go ahead now we're talking about a little more than
07:08 ten years ago after Jim Trestle resigned from Ohio State I believe after he resigned he
07:15 was stuck or I believe he took a five game suspension basically or was received stamped
07:21 on a five game suspension and then resigned the point is that suspension basically carried
07:27 over to the NFL just like it did for Terrell prior what we don't know about Jim Harbaugh
07:32 is whether that will come over how long it will be three to six games is a fair guess
07:38 and then we have no idea the Pandora's box with the cheating scandal the point is this
07:44 we know Antonio Pierce has no game suspension possible Mike Vrabel none Dan Quinn none etc
07:53 so when you're looking at what NFL owners do here in the coming months and weeks there
07:58 is another factor in there that has not yet been widely reported that we talked about
08:04 here that does need to be considered that's something to consider it doesn't probably
08:10 well you know what depending on what the NFL learns about whether that suspensions will
08:17 stick and carry over there may be some teams that say forget it I'm not going to pay a
08:21 guy that's not going to work for nine weeks or have all that disrupt in the first year
08:25 we know the NFL is a win now league we also know some teams are a total disaster Carolina
08:33 for example would Carolina with that wild card of an owner would they back up the Brinks
08:38 truck and say take all the time you need we'll take all the suspensions here you go and would
08:43 Harbaugh want any part of that I don't know but relative to the Raiders it's something
08:48 worth considering and I do think as we talked about last week it's a it's a chemistry disruption
08:55 risk if you do anything but stick with Antonio Pearson champ Kelly now you're not tied to
09:02 them you're not tied to the coordinators heck you may not even have a choice on Patrick
09:06 Graham who is already on some interview lists I would be curious and I'm sure that maybe
09:11 they would not be explaining in public what Antonio Pierce might do coordinator wise what
09:17 he might do staff wise that might be a little bit different while everybody else who has
09:22 fired a coach or is needing to make a change they're likely going to make a major shift
09:27 of the gear and sometimes you go back a little before that clutch catches and you accelerate
09:32 the Raiders are probably looking to accelerate without any kind of lag there was not an expectation
09:38 across the sport that the Raiders would be expected to go backward next year there's
09:43 an expectation that they are where they are and they're going to keep going on the forward
09:47 trajectory it's not a good idea to risk and screw with that this time.
09:53 And I'm going to say this too it's going to probably cost about 15 million a year to get
09:57 hardball which is no big deal at a 10 at a 10 year deal that this is the NFL they're
10:03 rolling in money the Chargers have shown that they're not willing to spend they could change
10:09 for sure there are other jobs that will come open we're going to get into all that in a
10:14 minute again nobody's saying Jim's not a great candidate we're just simply saying for the
10:19 Raiders I've made this statement several times I actually made it on a national radio show
10:25 earlier if I'm any of the other 31 teams Jim Harbaugh is my number one candidate now I'm
10:32 going to have to meet with them because there's some things about him I'm going to have to
10:36 talk to him about not the NCAA stuff but to me number one candidate I got to work through
10:47 some things if you're the Raiders Antonio Pierce is my number one guy for all the right
10:53 reasons and he did an amazing job John if they go get Harbaugh and they don't step forward
11:07 they get Rich Versace it gets him in the playoffs Josh McDaniels goes backwards I mean this
11:13 is such a risk if he hires AP there's no risk he doesn't work out he doesn't work out you
11:19 go get your guy you hire Jim Harbaugh doesn't work out everyone's going to be remembering
11:25 remember you let AP go good it's good point all right we got a ton of Raiders it's a massive
11:32 risk and there is like you said there's baggage that Jim Harbaugh would bring back to the
11:37 NFL not everybody that's gone away from the NFL and come back has done so well Raider
11:42 fans know that there's no just guarantee you'd have a lot to clear up you'd have like
11:48 what lessons did you learn in San Francisco when people quit and started retiring etc
11:54 all that is to be explored these are very good points and they must be made now at this
11:59 time in January before all this happens and we're looking down the road next year like
12:03 hey look at this.
12:05 Totally agree all right we're going to hit some NFL issues but a lot of this relates
12:10 to Raiders so stay with us Raider Nation.
12:13 John first thing I want to talk to you about is that I found interesting is the NFL as
12:20 a league is offering buyouts to a couple of hundred employees this is from CNBC talk about
12:27 this.
12:28 Yeah this was a kind of late breaking story late breaking meaning it broke later in the
12:34 day and what we're talking about is NFL basically NFL headquarters offering buyouts to not quite
12:41 20% of the employees it's an organization with somewhere near 1100 employees this buyout
12:48 letters went out and it's interesting because everybody wants to get more efficient understandably
12:54 almost every industry almost every industry gets more efficient you can do more with less
12:59 technology etc but it's a little bit of a weird story because the NFL has never been
13:05 more popular it probably never been more profitable it's on the way up and yet they're looking
13:11 to buy out 200 or so employees it's not clear what level what number of employees may be
13:20 able to take this or be willing to take the buyout but it is interesting and it's a little
13:25 bit of a probably a little bit of a shock to the folks in New York and elsewhere who
13:29 work for the NFL it's a little bit of a bizarre story and it's kind of hidden I wonder if
13:35 it's hidden on purpose because we know it's super wild card weekend and we have a playoff
13:40 sir here so maybe it's a good time to just kind of squeeze this in a little corporate
13:44 efficiency for the National Football League offices.
13:48 I thought that was interesting all right something happened on Tuesday that blew my mind the
13:57 Titans just fire of rebel they don't try to trade them now I'm told that they were asked
14:05 did you not want to trade them nope because we want to go get our guy and we didn't want
14:11 to have to go through all the negotiations and lose whoever we wanted this was stunning
14:16 to me this is a top coach a great coach these guys very rarely get on the market now somebody
14:28 may say well how great is he hasn't won a Super Bowl okay that's a fair argument but
14:33 he also has general managers and other people working for him I mean work that work above
14:37 them is X's and O's are unquestioned.
14:42 Vrabel out I was stunned they didn't try to do a trade I was stunned that they didn't
14:48 do it and again what were your thoughts when it broke when it broke I get a text I'll read
14:59 it to you.
15:03 I'll give you my - when it broke I had to read it twice because I was like wait a minute
15:07 well I got it on a text before it was public and I sent it to my son Duffy this is what
15:14 the text was.
15:17 Holy you can figure it out Vrabel just got fired not a trade fired holy.
15:29 Pretty much I mean wait a second here wait a second here you have probably a top five
15:34 coach and it is okay to say well what is the guy won well relative to his roster his team's
15:40 overachieved on more than one occasion he had a good eye at times for developing coaches
15:46 maybe one that he'll reunite with very very soon which of course takes him out of a potential
15:53 opening in Atlanta just obviously there's a lot of reasons to like Mike Vrabel he's
15:58 won championships he's obviously groomed in a great organization he was a former player
16:03 recently much like you know who Antonio Pierce so this is without a doubt I think a top five
16:09 candidate right away and the amazing thing to me is if this is what the ownership of
16:15 Tennessee is talking about we couldn't get a trade done fast enough are you out of your
16:19 mind there is supposedly a couple of franchises I don't know maybe one in Washington that's
16:24 been looking around could we make a trade for a coach for months and that would be a
16:29 place that would for sure love to have Mike Vrabel holy cow they let this guy walk away
16:36 and if what you're hearing is because they're gonna get their guy I want to see who that
16:40 guy is as soon as they can make it happen if it's I don't even know who it could be
16:46 to justify this if it's Bill Belichick what are you gonna do there and and what's the
16:51 succession plan if it's Dan Quinn are you telling me you couldn't wait a little longer
16:56 if it's Kellen Moore it's Kellen Moore this is beyond belief that they would just let
17:04 this guy walk because what it's doing to the value of the franchise is is taking it down
17:12 you're telling me that on the trade market let's say they couldn't get top value but
17:16 there's no compensation for Mike Vrabel this is going to go down as a really really bad
17:24 move for the Titans that they're gonna take probably a number of years to dig out of and
17:30 like one of my friends said who's very close to the situation he gets all his money they
17:36 just caught him yeah I like money doesn't appear to matter it just doesn't make any
17:43 sense are you I mean you couldn't get a second or in a fourth round draft pick or something
17:48 for this guy somewhere let me just say this the next time a player holds out and fans
17:56 get mad at him don't get mad at him when an owner's being cheap when Mark Davis is paying
18:04 tens of millions to coaches that don't work for him and they're cutting Vrabel and not
18:08 trading him to try to save money these guys are rolling in the dough don't feel any sympathy
18:13 when a player wants theirs John I want to talk about the Steelers we got into yesterday's
18:20 podcast with Matt Holadek about the NFL and I was talking to a player and he's like I
18:28 don't mind if we extend the season and not extend it but add three more games and get
18:34 rid of exhibition but I'm only gonna vote for it is if we expand the roster because
18:43 it's just it's too it's not safe everybody's beat up everybody's injured I think there's
18:51 and then today I had a conversation with an executive who was listening to our podcast
19:01 or yesterday and when they were driving home and they actually called me about it and said
19:08 listen I thought your podcast was great today I mean this is not good for the NFL at the
19:13 end of the year when everyone's having to go sign a bunch of no names Vegas is gonna
19:18 get ticked about this and this is not a Vegas executive but Vegas is gonna get ticked because
19:25 they said a lot of these lines before the year you know we got 17 games now so many
19:31 injuries and they talked to me about I think it's you got the right idea expand the roster
19:37 no practice squad or you can have a practice squad but if you play on game day you get
19:42 a game check but let it and then not you know who's our inactives everybody's active everybody
19:50 they just go we got to do something now there is a concern and I told this story Warren
19:56 Spahn the great major league baseball pitcher years and years ago I got to spend an afternoon
20:03 with him what a great afternoon and we talked about the game of baseball and how it's changed
20:08 and he didn't even know what a pitch count was coming up playing in the league you got
20:12 the ball and you were told go pitch nine innings told me a story I think it was his rookie
20:18 year maybe in his sophomore year but he's down a ton of runs I don't remember how many
20:22 for some reason I think it was seven or nine but if I'm wrong I'm not making that up but
20:27 it was a huge number and he goes and I remember it was it was like the second or third inning
20:35 I just my job was to pitch my way through it nowadays we're pulling kids we don't want
20:39 their confidence heard and oh we got pitch counts anyways he told me that there are so
20:47 many more teams that players that used to be triple a and double a players are now playing
20:53 in the major leagues and it's watered down the product now he goes you know a guy that
20:59 had X amount of home runs playing in our time there were less teams so you had you were
21:04 facing better pitchers more now you're getting to the third fourth fifth end of the pitching
21:10 rotation it's not good anyways my concern is the NFL is great because they always leave
21:17 them wanting more if they keep the exhibition games and keep adding more games it's just
21:23 gonna water down the product there's gonna at some point there's already seeing it there's
21:29 guys in the NFL right now they don't belong in the NFL talk about this situation if you
21:34 would with the Steelers roster what's going on give us your perspective.
21:38 HB - This is the problem we're championing this flag to expand the rosters to 70 this
21:44 is when you want the NFL to be at its best and what's happening in Pittsburgh and what's
21:48 happening Miami is a horrible example of them limping in to what should be the best time
21:55 of the year who wants to tune into the Steelers with TJ Watt out and Mason Rudolph as the starter
22:01 just for example what we are seeing is maybe the combination of so many games and not enough
22:09 roster space and not enough rest we're seeing too many late season injuries and the problem
22:15 that I've always had is it really hurts the product when the product should be best a
22:21 couple years back the Chiefs go to a Super Bowl they have one injury too many and that
22:28 injury should not have cost them a chance to win that Super Bowl for example we see
22:33 the Steelers who one of us had making the playoffs with a guy in Mason Rudolph that
22:38 I don't know how many people would have expected to be in the NFL in 2024 and without a real
22:43 star of the game able to play we go down to Miami and watch their team just the wheels
22:51 are falling off with guys getting hurt they're playing for the division last week on Sunday
22:56 night football against the Bills you know fracture or dislocation in a wrist for Baker
23:05 Van Gruden whatever his last name is injured also we're seeing too many injuries because
23:11 too many of these guys are playing too many reps if the rosters expanded to 70 and we
23:17 know we're going 17 games from the start not only do we have more competition and likely
23:22 more improvement on our roster we have a chance to give guys more time to recover we have
23:28 a chance to give guys get more guys into games that maybe don't enough guys get hurt the
23:36 problem I have as a fan and all the folks out there probably do too is this is when
23:40 we want the NFL to be at its best and what we've seen is a couple of teams those are
23:45 just two examples getting shrunk to not be able to be their best in these playoffs that's
23:51 the whole point of this thing we want the best going into the playoffs the rosters have
23:56 got to be expanded to help ensure that that is the case.
24:00 And didn't Miami have like 25 guys on the injured list?
24:05 Last week before the Bill we had 25 guys on the injury list my math is okay 25 is almost
24:11 half of 53 25 is about a third of 70 it's close.
24:18 All right now in talking to executives they said they didn't think the NFL would have
24:23 a problem going to 70 as long as the salary pool the percentage of salary cap of revenue
24:31 didn't change.
24:33 The players are like no we don't want to expand the roster if you don't up the salary cap
24:40 so it's kind of both neither party wants to give up cash and this is where the NFL hurts
24:49 itself because it does not have a good commissioner Roger Goodell works for the owners which all
24:55 do but you may remember years ago in baseball there was a clause where the commissioner
25:00 of baseball could make a decision if it was in the best interest of the game.
25:05 I don't trust Roger Goodell but that's not the way the NFL operates so here's a good
25:11 idea if both parties would give a little I think there's something here but to be honest
25:17 I'm not expecting it.
25:19 I understand what you're saying I'm hoping that it's practically demanded and this is
25:25 the common ground to be reached the product will get better again I'm not a Chiefs fan
25:30 but they were completely knocked out of that Super Bowl possibility I think it was Eric
25:36 Fisher that got injured that was the third injury when you count the one guy that was
25:41 doing doctor work I believe that killed him and now we've got you've got there's just
25:48 too many injuries late in the season that are not necessary I don't think that will
25:53 happen if our rosters are to 70 it makes too much sense for the sport you've said it as
25:58 simply and as clearly as it can they need to do the right thing for the best interest
26:03 of the sport this is also going to be the easiest time ever to do it I mean good God
26:09 this thing is on fire do it now when it seems like ah but it's really in reality the easiest
26:16 time that the NFL could do this they're not doing it at a low point this is doing it when
26:20 they are flying high.
26:22 Totally agree.
26:23 All right John I want to talk to you because I found it to be fascinating.
26:28 Kirk Cousins.
26:32 Love Kirk good friend love his family know them all very well so I'm not saying that
26:38 to brag I'm just saying the interest of full disclosure so I don't think my opinions will
26:42 be tainted but maybe.
26:47 I think he wants to stay in Minnesota I think there's a deal to be made there I think they
26:54 saw we don't have anybody on the roster that can do anything for us I think there can be
26:59 a deal but if there's not and he can pass a physical and show his health this guy's
27:06 up for another monster deal.
27:10 But I if I had to guess today I think he ends up back in Minnesota what do you think.
27:17 If I had to guess today I think he ends up back in Minnesota but I want to see what the
27:23 program is in Washington and what the program is in Atlanta those are the two obvious places
27:29 beyond Detroit that doesn't need a quarterback beyond Chicago that doesn't look like that
27:35 would possibly be true Atlanta is where his wife's family is from Washington is where
27:41 his career started and he seemed to have a great experience other than the all your balloons
27:47 are back isn't that something other than the ownership so circling the wagons.
27:54 Let's see who the coaches in Atlanta let's see what the organization looks like in Washington
27:59 I would be there betting with you that he will be back the Vikings I'm actually really
28:04 long on the Vikings being an awesome offense next year depending when he comes back in
28:10 another massive late season injury to Hawkinson but you got to give some of the people credit
28:17 like here that talked about how good Jordan Addison would be he's done better than I thought
28:22 he would do when Justin Jefferson went out you got Hawkinson they got some plug and play
28:27 at the tight at the at the running back position the Vikings are going to be really really
28:32 good but but this is also probably his last move right where he would be moving to start
28:38 for a number of seasons that would be the intention I want to see who's in Washington
28:43 who's in Atlanta but I like the Vikings ahead right now because Kirk doesn't he likes to
28:48 he likes things steady but let's see if those other two have anything at all to offer him
28:53 there's a really good chance that either one or or they both absolutely will not be interesting
28:58 to him right we're in the hiring season the question is who blinks first who's going to
29:06 make the first hire to me and I got to be really careful what I say but to me this is
29:17 a no-brainer it should be the Raiders I mean it's a two-horse race it's Harbaugh and it's
29:23 Pierce so to me this is not a big brain surgery type situation but it's interesting it's fascinating
29:33 what do you think makes the first hire John to me it if it's not gonna be the Raiders
29:36 I almost think Tennessee because they said we needed to move on from him we didn't want
29:41 to lose our guy I don't know what do you think that to me is the wild card when you look
29:45 at the list of who's been asked to interview you can see teams who should have a hard time
29:51 filling their job like Carolina and Los Angeles Chargers they have a large list you see teams
29:56 in a position like the Washington football team that are really gonna start from from
30:01 far back although maybe they want to move quicker now with with with Rable being out
30:06 there when you're talking about the Raiders if it really is down to just two then that
30:10 would make the most sense because I don't know anybody else that's narrowed down to
30:14 two as we're taping this we're not expecting Pete Carroll to retire we don't know what's
30:19 going to exactly happen in New England but anybody that's watched this show understands
30:23 that you've laid out a couple of the succession opportunities one that's in the house now
30:28 and one of course that just became free so it's not as if they would be going through
30:32 a super giant process you know I mean they would have to follow the reign of the Rooney
30:37 rule and all that kind of stuff yeah but if they I would I would think if it's teed up
30:44 it's teed up um let's talk a little bit I'm kind of with you and again I'm gonna hang
30:50 my hat on the around Super Bowl week or before I think the Raiders want something to bring
30:56 some attention to them I would look for them my guess from way far out here is that they
31:00 will have something before the Super Bowl to announce in Super Bowl week or the oh god
31:06 yeah no yeah that's not even that's not even part of the equation I expect it done by the
31:10 31st of the month as early as a week from now as late as the 31st they got to get on
31:16 that immediately I mean combine prep all that kind of stuff they got to get on it all right
31:22 John um let's talk a little bit about the Raiders okay so the first that I want to talk
31:32 about is well you hit it because it's one that I think that is pretty important you
31:39 hit it Johnny you know the interesting thing to me is where do the Raiders rank in rushing
31:45 the ball and the interesting thing is because of who Josh Jacobs is what he did last year
31:50 how he came into this season late and then of course squeezed out at the end by injury
31:56 what you see is that the Raiders are third from last in total rush yards and I do think
32:02 that 30th yeah so that matters a little more than what a lot of folks see with their eyes
32:08 when they think understandably who is our quarterback is our quarterback one that can
32:14 play at the NFL level and start as our quarterback one that can win or compete for a division
32:19 all that stuff's really important but the Raiders didn't run the ball very well and
32:25 I think we can point to the fact that because of Josh Jacobs missing camp and then missing
32:32 the end of the year that actually shows up when you look at them and think how are they
32:36 third from last in the league rushing with Jacobs that's why I'm going to say a couple
32:42 things I disagree with you they were third from the bottom but that's over the whole
32:49 year after AP took over they exponentially rose and at the end when Josh was injured
32:56 Samir white did really really good I mean and that last game I think he did as good
33:02 as Josh would have done so I think what we're what I love about this stat is there what
33:11 so I guess that they would be 30 their third from the bottom so 30th in the NFL overall
33:15 in rushing but you got Josh McDaniels who's well respected around the NFL as an offensive
33:22 genius incomes AP they make the commitment and they skyrocket I thought that was fascinating
33:29 now let's talk about defense yes they're 15th in total defense but significantly higher
33:40 after Josh McDaniels is gone and AP allows Patrick Graham to run the defense that he
33:46 wants to run and then the last stat is the one that I want to talk about total defense
33:53 27th that's the last one wasn't it John yeah total offense I mean total offense 27th to
34:00 me again the issue here the defense was well the offense was much improved under AP even
34:11 though they had you know the Minnesota game where they're shut out the Indianapolis game
34:17 disaster but still to me it all points to okay you didn't want Rich Versace you wanted
34:26 the shiny new toy the shiny new toy was Josh McDaniels and your franchise went backwards
34:34 yeah that's kind of the big takeaway that I see from those stats and this is the time
34:38 of year to look at them because they're complete the season's over and they're relatively fresh
34:44 when we look back at them down the road our memories get skewed and I don't it's not to
34:51 pound on Josh McDaniels but whatever he was trying to do either he couldn't get done or
34:57 it wasn't going to happen it's remarkable the gear shift that happened and when we talk
35:03 about why does it look like Antonio Pierce is a head coaching candidate it's because
35:08 of that he took what was going on the production levels he made some changes and they did take
35:14 off now they were definitely hurt somewhat by Jacobs being hurt at the end that's why
35:20 the rush numbers maybe aren't a little better when you see the defense though the total
35:25 defense is well ahead of many teams that are going to play this weekend in the playoffs
35:31 just look at the stats folks they're there and when you look at the offense the thing
35:36 that stands out to me is what in the hell were they doing early on when McDaniels was
35:42 there and the absolute not only commitment but execution to get the ball to Devante Adams
35:49 to get the ball to Josh Jacobs to start working the young tight end to feature and get the
35:55 ball in the playmakers hands that's yet another reason why to be really honest a lot of people
36:02 want to see what a full season or two would look like with Antonio Pierce and again we're
36:08 not I don't need to sell the guy he's going to be interviewed other places if he does
36:12 not get the Raiders job and it's because of what he did this year when we look at the
36:17 stats we see the impact of how bad the start was and we see for sure that this is not even
36:24 close to a rebuilding project this is one looking to get in that higher gear and what
36:30 you want if you're a Raider fan is consistently win more than you lose consistently be in
36:36 the playoffs and consistently have some pokes to try to get to the Super Bowl to the conference
36:42 championship game really in the rest of these 2020s we don't know what's going to happen
36:46 five six years down the road because those players aren't really the massive contributors
36:50 maybe aren't aren't here yet but for this window that this core playing group has the
36:58 direction is forward it's not a rebuild the stats would support that yeah I agree with
37:05 you 110 percent John it stats would all right let's get to a subject I'm getting a text
37:09 here from someone that may be something we can talk about on the podcast so I'm going
37:12 to read it all right we won't be talking about it on this podcast but we will be talking
37:23 about it in a future one all right now we move to a subject that you and I have been
37:29 hammering all year we have two subjects less the last one is all Raiders and that's officiating
37:36 it was terrible in the national championship game it has been horrible in the NFL it's
37:43 it's just and now everyone's talking about it it is the discussion I have a buddy that's
37:49 a radio show host of a very very large radio show and he sent me a clip of his show the
37:56 other day and he the whole hour first hour of the show was about the NFL being fixed
38:02 and officiating and all of that kind of stuff this is not I know all publicity is good publicity
38:09 this is not good publicity for the NFL this is bad John we've been on it we were ahead
38:16 of the curve we're talking about it when nobody else was they got to fix this we've we've been
38:21 talking about this for like nearly 10 years and in some ways partially because you know
38:26 if you look back at the history books the Big Ten Conference did a lot to lead with
38:31 bringing instant replay and refining instant replay at the college level they've done a
38:36 lot of leadership there there's more to do now at the NFL level this has become a gigantic
38:43 massive giant red bruise that's oozing there's a couple things that we'd like to see done
38:51 some technology mixed in do we still need a chain or can we have a 10-yard digital thing
38:57 just for example can we put some sensors on the ball I don't know again competition committee
39:03 needs some people that that's their full-time job they're not doing other jobs in the league
39:07 like we talked about but we want to see some technology we need to see for God's sake you
39:12 can call it the eye in the sky or the off-field official we need to see that too now the last
39:17 part I'd like to say is and there's no way for this not to sound like we're tapping ourselves
39:24 on the shoulder but the game looks very different when you're on the field folks at the field
39:30 level there are times many times when referees can't see through a body or see around a body
39:38 or two and they plain don't see stuff because of they're actually on the field and the game
39:44 is played on a flat plane they're not looking from above like we are like hondo is in the
39:49 box looking at the TV like we're watching for the TV like fans are watching from the
39:54 stands I don't know how to explain that unless you experience it but it is not the same when
40:01 you're on or watching from the field level and there are sometimes when things just plain
40:07 get missed when they're like how could you not see that referee and literally it's because
40:12 the guy didn't see it so taking that into account with some technology with the eye
40:17 in the sky with some continued improvements with replay I think we're going to get this
40:23 thing on a better track but I do believe there is a critical mass this year the critical
40:30 mass is behind something has to be done I hope the owners get it I hope the people that
40:36 run the sport get it and are working with it I worry that the competition committee
40:42 again is filled with too many people that have too many other responsibilities that
40:47 don't have giant checklist with all this stuff written down from literally week one so we
40:52 could put this get some ideas streamline it and move the game forward the officiating
40:57 has got to get better it is hurting the NFL right now and who knows what's around the
41:04 corner in these playoffs is somebody season going to get totally stung or going to get
41:11 a blown call or a missed call to knock them out if it's ever going to happen based on
41:17 what we've seen this year you got to think there's a real good chance somebody's going
41:21 home saying officiating is why we're going home and we do not want that if we are the
41:27 NFL that's like the second to last or last thing we want.
41:33 You talk about where we sit I have a friend who's a professional athlete you know him
41:38 who invited us to go to a game coming up now that the football season's over and he goes
41:44 I'll hook you up with a couple of court side seats or game side seats not saying it's basketball
41:50 it could be hockey whatever not going to get into I don't want people guessing but he's
41:54 like listen I'm going to get you a couple of first row seats and I'm like I don't want
41:59 to go he's like what are you talking about I'd rather be up in the upper deck I like
42:05 to watch the game you know okay so 10% of the plays happen right in front of me but
42:13 not the rest I like to be up where I can watch the entire game I always laugh people say
42:18 oh man they give the media the worst seats no I think we have the best seats in the house
42:21 way up high watch the game I love it all right John we're going to go over the games this
42:26 weekend make some picks and then I want to finish on a Raider note Buffalo the Browns
42:32 head to Houston I'm a huge Houston fan I love D'Amico Ryan I would love to see Houston wins
42:42 but I'm a Joe Flacco guy the Browns defense defense wins championships I'm riding with
42:51 the Brownies defense travels experience travels Joe Flacco still got a bone to pick it's not
42:58 Tyler Palko's fault folks if you go way back to Pitt when he had to leave Pitt to go to
43:03 Delaware Joe Flacco still got a chip on his shoulder defense plus experience they travel
43:09 Browns Dolphins head to Kansas City two finesse teams but it's in air ahead and it's a you
43:18 know I don't listen I don't think the Chiefs are who they were but it's in air ahead with
43:23 the cold they're from Miami the heat I'm going to ride with Kansas City at home and the Dolphins
43:30 are out of so many players this one only scares me for one reason the reason is those that
43:35 seem like the most obvious sure thing wins in the NFL oftentimes are not I take that
43:43 into account but I'm with you the Dolph there's too many guys injured on the Dolphins tremendous
43:48 hard knocks to watch this week you see Mike McDaniel trying to rally his team saying you
43:53 know we're not falling apart we're not we're not falling apart in reality looking from
43:58 the outside they're falling apart there's too many guys hurt it's unfortunate the Chiefs
44:02 win all right those are the Saturday game Sunday game Pittsburgh head to Buffalo and
44:08 Buffalo is just going to roast them you might as well call them the Pittsburgh wings I just
44:14 I don't even think this one's close I love Tomlin the fact that he got this team in the
44:19 playoff just echoes his greatness Buffalo all the way I think Buffalo's got a good shot
44:24 at the Super Bowl of course I had them in the Super Bowl from the wild card for those
44:29 that watched in August they know they remember thank you Buffalo by 17.
44:36 Green Bay heads to Dallas as you know I predicted Green Bay to win the NFC Norris they didn't
44:43 the Lions did it but Jordan loves everything we thought he was I think that they're going
44:48 to give I'm not a Dallas fan I don't think there's any shot they get to a Super Bowl
44:53 a lot of talent but not good I'm riding with Dallas though winning this game in Dallas
45:00 a lot of pressure on the Cowboys some experience advantage though I do think that shows up
45:05 here tremendous year for Green Bay in a lot of ways this is going to be a tremendous experience
45:11 builder for these guys but yeah I'm giving Dallas this one I think Dallas will win this
45:15 playoff game.
45:18 Next Rams head to the Lions which is hilarious Matthew Stafford back in the D.
45:26 Listen I just don't think the Lions against Stafford I'm going rated Rambo.
45:34 The Rams are hot they are hot and they know what to do here this is not the team I would
45:41 want to play if I was Detroit I think they're surging yeah I think the Lions are going to
45:47 feel some pressure to they've got distractions their coordinators are on all the lists everybody
45:52 is patting them on the shoulder way to go bring it back some restore the roar etc.
45:57 The Rams are going to come in McVay looks like he's happy I like the Rams to steal this
46:03 one a game that the Lions are like what do you mean their season is over that fast yes
46:09 here come the Rams stealing it.
46:13 Philly goes to Tampa now listen I don't think Philly is what they were I'm not pretending
46:20 that they were what they were but still they're the defending Super Bowl representatives of
46:25 their conference.
46:28 I love what Baker Mayfield's done he's been awesome he's the NFL comeback player of the
46:34 year to me just like the Browns coach should be the coach of the year but I'm going to
46:39 pick Philly in Tampa I wouldn't be shocked at a Tampa win but I certainly would be surprised
46:46 I'm going to go with Philly.
46:48 Any concern about Jalen Hurts hand or his injury injury position I don't know you know
46:54 what we've seen here is complacency pretty much ruin the Eagles you saw Dan Orlovsky
47:01 with an incredible actual technical breakdown of like here's some mistakes that they're
47:05 literally making telegraph whether they're passing or running their receivers aren't
47:10 looking back I just am with you I got to bet that the Eagles are going to flip the switch
47:16 on now sometimes you hit the switch and it doesn't come on or sometimes you hit it and
47:21 it comes on but the stuff is not all quite wired right I think that's what happens here
47:27 I think that the Eagles by less than a field goal beat a team that I don't know how many
47:32 people thought Tampa would be in the playoffs a lot of people like Todd Bowles for a lot
47:36 of good reasons he does not have a terribly stacked roster he's gotten a lot out of that
47:41 in a bad division but for God's sake the Eagles have got to get this business taken care of
47:49 they flip the switch and win by three or less.
47:53 Right John now last thing I want to end with is a Raider thing Mark Davis doesn't care
48:00 what you think he didn't care what I think didn't care and he shouldn't let's give him
48:05 that credit he shouldn't but they say they care about what their players think that crowd
48:12 John I have never been in a stadium a non-championship event people chanting for the coach cheering
48:23 for the coach signs everywhere higher AP they're chanting AP the legends I mean we're talking
48:32 Hall of Famers are down in there all of it all of it to me Mark Davis this is a legacy
48:45 defining hire I've been saying this for weeks my question to you John shop am I overstating
48:53 no and here's why Mark Davis takes control the Raiders his legacy is establishing the
49:01 team in Las Vegas they're not going anywhere so they're the Las Vegas Raiders that is tied
49:06 to his legacy he has stumbled out of the gates this is the hire that will basically stick
49:14 for good what he had heard and saw last week whether it was Matt Millen Flores you go down
49:22 the name list we all saw him there we all saw what happened with the crowd what you
49:26 saw was kind of that magic that happens this is not college football this is professional
49:32 we got that this is not Les Miles being cheered and carried in a very strange scene in LSU
49:39 that really hurt everybody involved that's college this is pro football but this is the
49:45 Raiders the fans have spoken the players have spoken the legacy the alumni have spoken if
49:52 you will Mark Davis is not going to repeat the same mistake twice the people that matter
49:58 most in his franchise are the 53 hopefully soon to be 70 on the roster I don't think
50:05 there's any question this is the legacy and what we're seeing what will hopefully look
50:10 back at someday down the road is that last game in the 2023 season when everybody got
50:17 the feeling that this is our guy and this is the chemistry this is the magic that can
50:24 build the franchise and get it back in a winning mode on a consistent basis not a flash in
50:30 the pan not we might eke our way in the playoffs here and there we got our guy a guy that gets
50:37 us a guy that fits the logo a guy that fits the colors a guy that fits the city a guy
50:42 that fits the way we want to play football smart relentless disciplined innovative.
50:51 This is it.
50:53 Make your prediction today will he hire a P. Harbaugh or somebody else.
50:59 I think he's absolutely going to hire Antonio Pierce that's my prediction.
51:05 Here's my thing Mark Davis has zigged when I thought he would zag.
51:10 And zag when I thought he would zig.
51:13 He beats to his own drummer.
51:14 It's not a slam at all.
51:16 I think he's a good guy.
51:20 But I just don't think there's any room to zig or zag.
51:23 I think his alumni his team and his fans have made it so clear when the dust settles.
51:30 I think it's really close but I think when the dust settles it's Antonio Pearson I think
51:35 that'll be a good day for Raider Nation.
51:37 So good.
51:38 Thank you for your prediction.
51:39 That was mine too.
51:40 He is the great Johnny Shoppe.
51:43 The one and only joins us each and every week as you know he's a terrific journalist very
51:48 successful attorney.
51:50 He's been doing this with me for John I think it's 15 years now isn't it.
51:54 Yeah I think so 15.
51:58 And the reason I have him on every week is because he brings a perspective that's not
52:05 I'm not a fan.
52:07 But I'm there and I cover the team.
52:09 He is not a fan but he covers the team and watches from the bird's eye view.
52:14 I love it.
52:15 We've got a lot of great podcasts coming up with some other special guests I can't wait
52:18 to get to but John once again thank you for all that you do.
52:22 I appreciate you my brother and thanks for joining us.
52:25 It's such a fun thing to do.
52:26 We'll do it again soon.
52:28 Tell Alicia hi.
52:29 All right everybody we'll be back.