Las Vegas Raiders Insider Podcast the Antonio Pierce Philosophy, Raider MOJO is Back, NFL News, Maxx Crosby, More
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00:00 It's fine.
00:00 Hi everybody.
00:03 Welcome back to sports illustrated.
00:04 It's fan nation, Las Vegas Raiders insider podcast.
00:07 We're glad to be back with our guy.
00:09 It's game day.
00:10 Johnny guitars, Johnny, you're, you got a riff for the people that you wrote.
00:15 Take it away.
00:15 [MUSIC]
00:25, how about that?
00:54 There you go.
00:55 That's Johnny guitars.
00:57 We're back in business.
01:00 Huh?
01:01 I said, we're back in business.
01:03 I'll tell you what my favorite rock and roll song is Metallica.
01:08 Enter the Sandman.
01:09 Enter Sandman.
01:11 I think a lot of people have, it's an extraordinarily popular, hard rock,
01:16 heavy metal song across the entire world.
01:18 So as many people as want to hate on it, there's like a hundred million plus
01:22 that would agree the other way.
01:25 Who hates that song?
01:26 Uh, there's some Metallica fans that hate it.
01:29 There's some people that hate anything that gets too popular or
01:32 they feel like is, is overplayed.
01:34 Um, the bottom line about that one is it's good and it sounds good.
01:40 That's really the bottom line for all the people that made hate it.
01:44 They shouldn't it's good.
01:45 And it sounds good.
01:46 Is it the best Metallica song?
01:48 No, I understand what people are saying there.
01:50 Is it the most popular?
01:52 Probably, and it will never ever go bad.
01:55 And it is a perfect fit for just about anybody to enter a football game.
02:01 We know Virginia tech has it and rightfully kept it.
02:05 Unlike a school on the banks of the red Cedar that may be bungled their
02:09 opening song, their entrance song and Nick Saban snatched it away.
02:14 Enter Sandman is always going to be good.
02:16 It'll never go bad.
02:17 There's no doubt.
02:18 The people have decided hundreds of thousands.
02:21 Everyone, cause your favorite rock band is the red hot jalapenos.
02:25 No, no, it's not.
02:28 It's not the red hot chili peppers.
02:29 Uh, no, it's that's what they're called.
02:32 Red hot chili peppers.
02:33 Yeah.
02:35 I never heard of them.
02:35 Yeah.
02:37 They've been around a long time.
02:38 They're from Los Angeles.
02:39 I've heard about you talking about them, but I've never heard any song.
02:43 They've got my favorite is Pearl jam overall without much of a question.
02:47 All right.
02:48 I got a hootie shirt on.
02:49 So there's plenty.
02:50 There's plenty.
02:51 Trust me.
02:51 There's plenty to go around.
02:53 All right.
02:54 But, but the greatest American rock band of all time, no one can argue this.
02:59 Boston.
03:00 They argue all the time.
03:02 They'll argue about that one too, because you realize Boston was just one guy.
03:05 Some people don't know that that was one guy that did all that, which is like crazy.
03:13 Well, I've been to probably 60.
03:15 I've been to probably 60 Boston concerts.
03:18 It's not one guy.
03:19 No, no.
03:19 But just one guy wrote all that stuff.
03:21 That's the, that's the wild card thing.
03:23 There's the band, the whole separate from those records.
03:25 Um, they're tremendous, but most, most of the, I mean, there's never ending
03:30 debates and arguments, Aerosmith, Pearl jam, Metallica, those are three that
03:34 that people would throw in that mix.
03:36 The thing about Boston forever.
03:38 Was the, I think Aerosmith's good.
03:40 I think Metallica is good, but to me it goes, here's the way it goes for me.
03:45 It goes, Boston sticks, Metallica, Aerosmith.
03:51 Boston had one of the biggest debut records ever.
03:56 Some people, a lot of people, they wrote the coattails of that forever.
04:01 Didn't they?
04:01 Oh yeah.
04:02 The first two records.
04:03 I mean, a lot of people like it a lot.
04:05 There's a few people that don't like the sound.
04:07 I never understood that the first time you hear Boston as a kid on, on classic
04:12 rock or whatever it's called now, it just sounds good.
04:15 So there's no wrong answer there.
04:17 Um, no wrong answer.
04:19 And fortunately, my favorite Boston song and there's so many, but my
04:25 favorite Boston song is American band.
04:27 That is a great song.
04:28 We were just another band out of Boston trying hard to make ends meet.
04:34 Not a singer, obviously.
04:36 All right.
04:37 Listen, it's not a music podcast.
04:39 I apologize to everybody.
04:40 Let's dig in.
04:41 I'm Hondo carpenter from sports illustrated span nation, Las Vegas
04:44 Raiders insider podcast joined by my very good friend, award-winning
04:48 journalist, a tremendous attorney from down in Atlanta, again, very successful
04:55 journalist, very successful attorney.
04:56 I have John on every single week with us for a couple of reasons.
05:02 First of all, he is being an attorney.
05:06 He's extremely analytical.
05:08 Um, and just the way he analyzes and looks at stuff.
05:12 I think it's great to bring other points of view to the podcast to get some
05:17 analytics or some analyzation from other people we've got, John, we've got so many
05:24 guests coming up on the podcast this off season, we're having a couple of guys who
05:28 are big Raider fans in the UK parliament.
05:32 How cool is that?
05:33 Two members of the UK parliament, huge Raider fans.
05:37 We're going to be bringing in Raider fans from around the world.
05:41 Um, I'm bringing in a group of Raider fans to get their perspective on Raider nation.
05:48 We just got a lot of good stuff going up.
05:49 Now, a lot of you have asked me, I am coming Tuesday, February 20th
05:56 at six o'clock to San Antonio.
05:59 We're going to have a meet up there.
06:01 I expect to have all the information soon.
06:03 We're going to have a meet up in San Antonio.
06:06 It's 100% free.
06:08 You buy your own drinks and food, but there's no cost to come.
06:11 And from, you got to get there before six and order your dinner.
06:14 Cause from six to seven 30, I'm going to be talking for the first 45 minutes
06:19 about the latest on the Raiders.
06:20 Um, it's going to be heading into the combine.
06:24 So we're going to answer a lot of draft.
06:26 We're going to talk a lot about the staff and, um, a lot of
06:30 stuff going on inside the Raiders.
06:33 And then we'll have 45 minutes where you guys can ask me the questions that you
06:36 want to know about the Raiders and I'm going to answer to it's a hundred percent
06:39 free, but you must sign up.
06:41 So we'll have announcement coming up, hopefully as early as Monday, but we'll
06:46 have all the announcements coming up as where you go sign up and everything else.
06:50 100% free.
06:51 All right, John, let's get right to it.
06:53 The Raiders make it official.
06:55 They hire Antonio Pierce border to border coast to coast.
06:59 This is being lauded as the right decision.
07:01 I a hundred percent agree.
07:03 I think it was the right decision.
07:04 Listen.
07:05 If I was any other team in America of the, of the other 31 NFL teams and I
07:13 needed a coach, Antonio Pierce would not have been my first choice.
07:16 He would have been on the list, but not my first choice.
07:20 But for the Raiders, there was one choice.
07:23 Antonio Pierce, what did you think about it?
07:26 How it all went down and on all of it?
07:28 Well, it did seem to be inevitable, but for the right reasons, it wasn't
07:33 inevitable because they had nowhere else they could go.
07:36 It wasn't inevitable because Pierce had no other options.
07:39 It really was inevitable because we saw the first of its kind, as far as an
07:43 interim coach taking over and actually operating as much like a head coach.
07:49 Who had been there from the start as he could.
07:52 So he's limited in some ways, but he makes the changes that we know on
07:55 the offensive side of the ball.
07:56 They make some personnel changes.
07:58 And what you saw there is the new blueprint for how to
08:02 handle an interim situation.
08:04 We will absolutely see it repeated next fall.
08:08 We know, we don't know where it will be.
08:09 We may guess where it could be, but we will see it happen again next fall.
08:13 And when that does happen, the interim coach that takes over is going to be
08:17 saying, I want to do it like Antonio Pierce did because of that.
08:20 This hiring makes sense.
08:22 It seems like the best fit for the right reasons.
08:25 It's the right place at the right time.
08:27 I don't take Tom Coughlin's endorsement lightly.
08:31 Tom Coughlin does not need to endorse Antonio Pierce, did not need to, but
08:36 there's some real strength behind it.
08:38 When a guy with that experience level, pro football, college level,
08:44 organizational front office, if you will, at the NFL level says, this is, this is good.
08:50 So now you have some momentum behind the Raiders and it's not tire spinning
08:55 momentum that you've seen with John Gruden being hired with Josh McDaniels
09:00 being hired, these tires have already spun and they've grabbed on to the
09:04 concrete and they're moving forward.
09:06 So you have some real momentum.
09:08 I'm excited to see what comes next.
09:11 Of course, there's a curve ball with the general manager hire, but that, that,
09:15 that's always going to happen.
09:17 What we've seen here is the Raiders tore the page out of the book, threw it away
09:22 when they, when they turned the page from McDaniels and from that regime.
09:26 Now really have turned the whole page and it is a new chapter and
09:32 it's going to start pretty quickly.
09:33 John, one of the things that really stood out to me, and there are a lot of things
09:41 that did, but one of the things that really stood out to me was Antonio Pierce
09:49 is interviewing a broad spectrum of coordinators.
09:54 Now at the time that we're taping this, they've not yet released who it is.
09:58 So we're not going to go into a lot of detail, but it can be released at any time.
10:02 But, um, he, what I liked is he wasn't married to anybody and he wanted to
10:10 bring in a bunch of guys in here.
10:13 You know, he wanted deep passing chunk plays, 24 point, 25 yards.
10:19 He wanted to hear from a bunch of different guys.
10:22 Now I'm going to, I'm going to use for you an example.
10:24 I thought this was a big one.
10:26 He, um, understood, you know, Patrick Graham was a guy.
10:33 A lot of people thought was going to get consideration for a head coach.
10:36 He goes to the New York giants where his coach really limited him.
10:41 So when he got hired by the Raiders, I said, this was a great hire.
10:46 Um, this guy should be the guy, all of that.
10:51 And I said, he's going to be a head coach.
10:54 Man, I took a bunch of grief.
10:55 Then after last year, you know, I was saying we're so blessed to have Patrick
11:01 Graham, people like you're nuts.
11:03 You're just kissing the butt of the regime.
11:05 You're afraid to call him out.
11:07 I said, no, I'm not.
11:08 I sincerely believe this guy should be a head coach.
11:10 Now everyone's like, we got to keep Patrick Graham just because a
11:14 coordinator has failed somewhere does not mean they're a failed coach.
11:19 Cause a lot of times the head coach has a lot to do with it.
11:22 I like the fact he isn't worried about, has this guy been fired?
11:26 Was this guy a failure somewhere?
11:28 Cause he understands coaches are limited.
11:31 He's bringing in so many different guys.
11:33 I love his approach.
11:34 What's your thought?
11:35 My thought is that Antonio Pierce saw Nick Saban and Bill Belichick
11:41 Art of being a coach.
11:42 And one of the things they talk about in there is that every single team is
11:46 different and that you have to figure out what your team can do and then adapt
11:52 and adjust your coaching accordingly.
11:54 Too often we see square peg in a round hole and it doesn't work.
11:59 You could say that you saw that in Oakland at times, you could say that
12:03 you saw it in Las Vegas at times.
12:05 So if Antonio Pierce is literally the page has been turned, the slate is blank.
12:11 I think it's a good sign that he wants to hear from a lot of different
12:14 folks with some different ideas.
12:16 You've got some significant questions.
12:18 Always.
12:19 You're going to have questions.
12:20 What do you think of our quarterback situation?
12:23 How do you see that playing out?
12:24 Do you want a competition?
12:25 Um, there are plenty of questions and angles Pierce could take an
12:31 interview and candidates to find out if they're going to be adaptable.
12:35 If they're going to be somewhat set in their ways, if they're, if they are
12:39 really current and what I mean by that is Pierce was in the college game.
12:46 Pierce is in the NFL.
12:47 Pierce takes over as interim head coach.
12:50 He literally knows what's going on around the league because he's been amongst it.
12:55 You've got an idea of guys that are maybe Mike Zimmer Esch, if you will, and stuck.
13:02 And you've got an idea of other guys, uh, like Belichick and, and, and, and Saban
13:08 that have really flexed and moved with their team.
13:11 So it would be a mistake to come in with a super narrow, tight focus and say, for
13:18 example, Callen Moore or bust or pick a name that doesn't make any sense, but.
13:24 It does make sense to entertain and listen to people's ideas about, you know, what
13:31 the roster is, here's what, you know, obviously is going to be at, or could be
13:35 at, or should expect it to be added.
13:36 Now, how do you see this playing out?
13:38 The head coach's job is to meld that offensive philosophy, ideally with a
13:44 defensive philosophy to somewhat.
13:46 We don't want to see things, something working against itself.
13:50 You don't want to see, um, a team that's just, let's say, let's let's go way back
13:56 Raiders.
13:57 Like we're going to be the Kings of the deep ball.
13:59 You know, that doesn't really exist anymore to that extent, but how does that
14:06 match up with what's going to go on on the defensive side of the ball?
14:09 If you don't explore all those options, just so you have the information
14:13 you're selling your team short.
14:15 So Pierce is going in, he's listening.
14:17 He's catching a wide variety of the information that in itself is going to
14:21 help him narrow down who probably is the best fit for the Raiders of 2024.
14:26 Because again, the team that was just there in 2023, it's it's for whatever
14:31 reason, it's just, it's not going to be the exact same thing next year.
14:34 The schedule won't be exactly the same next year.
14:37 This is a good sign.
14:38 So Tom Telesco gets the GM job.
14:43 I know going into Saturday, people in the building were telling me it's done.
14:48 Champ's getting it.
14:49 That was the mentality in the building.
14:51 Um, they went a different direction.
14:55 Um, I thought champ was best for the job.
14:59 I still do.
15:00 I know that's, was the feeling of many in the building.
15:04 But they went a different direction.
15:06 So we don't, we don't blame Tom Telesco for that.
15:08 But as you know, cause you and I have been friends a long time.
15:12 I listened to the people who I let in my inner circle, Drew Stanton,
15:17 Superbowl winning quarterback played in the NFL for a decade, 12 years.
15:23 Um, one of the best college quarterbacks ever is a dear friend, him
15:29 and Christian, great friends of mine.
15:31 And he knows Tom Telesco well, and has bragged to me about the
15:38 man he is, the integrity he has.
15:40 Um, he told me if Tom Telesco shakes your hand, you don't need it in writing.
15:45 He'll remind you that he said it.
15:48 Um, so many people vouched for him.
15:52 He's a Bill Pullian disciple and we all love Bill Pullian and talking to people
15:59 who were with him with the Chargers, man, his hands were tied a lot.
16:03 Yup.
16:03 He made some bad decisions.
16:05 He certainly did.
16:06 Staley was a terrible decision, but they talked about how the owner handicapped him.
16:10 And then after I saw his press conference, I was very impressed with him.
16:15 No ego.
16:16 Uh, how much weight do you put in, um, on being a Bill Pullian disciple?
16:25 I put some weight in there because now look, everybody that worked under Bill
16:29 Pullian, maybe didn't necessarily learn or take the lesson.
16:32 We'll grant you that.
16:33 But this is apparently a guy that did.
16:36 So the people that were in those conversations, as far as evaluating
16:39 who was the most prepared to help the Las Vegas Raiders today.
16:44 For 2024 and beyond, um, there must have been some value there in not only
16:50 falling from the Pullian tree, but the experience that he had.
16:54 It is very possible that you could take an independent look at say, Kelly
17:00 and Telesco is your final two and find reasons to put Kelly above Telesco.
17:05 It's also very likely based on the hire that there was enough that convinced the
17:11 Raiders powers that be decision makers.
17:14 We should go with Telesco here.
17:16 It does look like a little bit of a risk.
17:18 Every GM hire is a bit of a risk.
17:20 What I'd be interested in is probably the information that we're never going to get.
17:25 It's where specifically do the Raiders see Telesco as an advantage over anybody
17:31 else they could have hired, not even necessarily Kelly.
17:34 And I would be curious what lessons he learned from San Diego slash Los Angeles.
17:40 And how are they going to be applied here?
17:44 That's a huge thing.
17:45 I'm sure they covered.
17:46 The other thing is how does he integrate immediately with Antonio Pierce?
17:51 Both of these guys?
17:52 No, not for long.
17:54 Are the issues of the NFL.
17:56 They also know that they are what maybe two bad draft classes away from being in a
18:03 warming situation, if not a hot seat, that's just the nature of the sport.
18:07 This has got to come together quickly.
18:09 I'm sure these guys are working at this time.
18:12 I do think it's an interesting hire and there's a little bit unknown.
18:16 There's no way we can know how good a GM Telesco is going to be.
18:23 But.
18:24 This is it.
18:26 We're going to find out this is not a guy that's going to get a third shot at being
18:30 an NFL GM.
18:31 So I got a few things I want to talk about.
18:34 Some of them are Raiders specific.
18:36 Some aren't.
18:36 And then we're going to come back and finish with the Raiders.
18:38 But.
18:39 There is they're putting in a special kind of grass at Allegiant field.
18:45 Will you talk about it?
18:46 Everybody saw the Superbowl last year.
18:51 We should never see anything like it again.
18:54 The field turf conditions affected and impacted in a horrific, really a bad
18:59 fashion, they affected the Superbowl.
19:01 I don't think we've ever really seen it.
19:02 We never should see it again.
19:04 Fast forward a year.
19:05 Everybody's eyes are on the grass.
19:07 The folks at Allegiant are already on it.
19:09 Now, conditions wise, it's unlikely that some massive ice storm or monsoon or
19:15 deluge is going to come in.
19:16 So the grass that is growing outside, it's already in there.
19:20 It's doing its roots thing.
19:22 It's outside sitting there for a couple of weeks.
19:24 It's being watched like a hawk.
19:25 You're talking about moisture content, signs of mold, a whole bunch of other
19:30 stuff.
19:30 Now, some of that's really not going to be in play because of how dry it is there.
19:33 Meaning grass in, let's say, a humid climate like Miami, not necessarily going
19:38 to be susceptible to the same type of stuff.
19:40 But I think we can rest assured that we will not hear a post game comment like,
19:47 I'm so glad Hassan Riddick made last year when he said, I'm not going to lie.
19:51 It's the worst field I've ever played on.
19:53 That is a huge part of the Super Bowl last year.
19:56 Things are looking good for Allegiant Stadium to have the turf be a non story
20:05 other than it's not a problem.
20:08 It's good to go.
20:09 Which anybody who follows me on social media, the last game of the year when the
20:14 turf was bad, I told everyone, relax, the NFL is going to be bringing in a new
20:18 turf.
20:19 I want to talk about Bill Belichick and Nick Saban.
20:21 At the time of this taping, it looks like Bill is going to be not part of a head
20:30 coaching hire, even if he does catch on somewhere.
20:34 He was not as big of a commodity as people thought.
20:37 Neither was Tom Brady.
20:39 I would love to see Belichick and Saban do a podcast just once a week.
20:49 Breaking down the game, all of it.
20:52 How much would you love it?
20:54 And I mean, would this not be the number one podcast?
20:58 I mean, other than Rogan.
20:59 And for football, it would be number one, without a doubt.
21:02 Um, the Belichick and Saban coaching documentary was better than I thought it
21:08 would be.
21:08 I'm admittedly biased because of where I went to school, when I went to school and
21:14 the influence that flowed from the Belichick tree through Nick Saban.
21:18 These guys to me know more than anybody else about football at the highest levels,
21:25 partially because of their age, mostly because of their experience.
21:29 It's a, it's, it's certainly going to be a shock.
21:32 It's surprising right now that neither is going to coach next year.
21:35 It's going to be a shock when we get to labor day and neither is coaching.
21:39 What's going on.
21:40 These guys just turn on the tape.
21:42 If they need somebody to, to host or point them in the right direction, there's
21:46 probably 164,000 people that would do it like you and me without any question.
21:52 I do it for free.
21:53 I want to hear these guys just talk for whatever they want for however long they
21:57 want.
21:58 They can have the clicker thing in their hand.
22:00 We're all going to listen because all you can do is learn.
22:03 So these are two guys at the top of the hill.
22:06 Understandably, they appear to want complete control if they're going to be an NFL
22:12 head coach.
22:13 And it looks as we take now that not only was there not a deal to trade bill
22:19 Belichick to Washington in October or whatever, whatever was there with that
22:25 franchise and Belichick appears to be gone.
22:27 And understandably there's other options that franchises have.
22:33 Are they making a mistake?
22:36 Maybe.
22:37 I think the interesting thing is what if the Eagles or the Cowboys flop next
22:43 year?
22:43 If they do.
22:45 Backward looking folks are going to say, I told you, you should have gone and got
22:50 Belichick here to wrap this thing up.
22:52 Of course, it's not that simple, but it is simple to get Bill and Nick on a line
22:59 talking.
23:00 Somebody records it.
23:01 We want that.
23:03 All the football fans want to hear that if it's possible.
23:06 All right, let's talk to the best interim stat for Antonio Pierce.
23:11 This really stuck out to you.
23:13 It did.
23:14 Let's talk about actual stats under Josh McDaniels, the Raiders three and five with
23:20 a minus 61 point differential minus eight turnovers with Pierce.
23:26 The Raiders went five and four plus 62 point differential plus six turnover
23:32 margin.
23:33 Those are stats we saw obviously within the four days, the incredible goose egg to
23:40 60 points in the Pierce era.
23:43 I think we can bet safely that nothing like that's probably ever going to happen
23:47 again for a million different reasons.
23:48 But to flip the turnover margin that much tells you again, that this was not just
23:54 somebody carrying the water from game six to the end of the year.
23:58 It was actually an interim coach changing things.
24:01 The reason that stat stands out to me most is that it tells you that there was
24:06 actually a change made not just based on what we saw as far as effort focused
24:10 determination, but there was actually some effective change in terms of scheme
24:14 using the players and clearly getting the ball to their playmakers when they've
24:19 got the ball in their hands.
24:20 Yeah, I agree with you.
24:23 Let's talk about Max Crosby, defensive player of the year finalist.
24:26 Your thoughts on Crosby.
24:28 I mean, to me, this is a no brainer.
24:29 It's not a no brainer to me.
24:32 I don't think that I think Micah Parsons is going to be hurt by the fall of the
24:38 Cowboys.
24:39 I think TJ Watt is probably the guy to beat just for a number of reasons.
24:43 I think he's going to get it.
24:44 I think he's going to get it.
24:45 I mean, popularity is what it is.
24:47 You've got, I mean, practically have a legacy or family support.
24:51 You can't say what without thinking of JJ also.
24:55 So it's almost like he gets a push, but there's a great argument to be made.
24:58 Give him his credit.
24:59 He's not getting it because of the Steelers or his brother.
25:02 He's had a monster year.
25:03 He's had a monster year.
25:05 So has Miles Garrett.
25:07 Miles Garrett is extraordinarily effective and has affected the game.
25:10 But there's a real good case to be made for Crosby because he had more
25:15 pressures than Garrett or Watt.
25:17 He had extraordinary durability.
25:22 Who knows what happened with the knee, but I don't know that it was as simple
25:27 as it was made out to be, you know, just for example, he played his John, he
25:30 played his last three games at 60%.
25:33 Yeah.
25:34 You know, when you look at the, the, the run stops, the run stuffs, he
25:38 played every snap in 10 games this year for the Raiders.
25:42 There is, if you're talking about.
25:44 Defensive player of the year.
25:46 And you're talking about overall picture candidate.
25:49 I think Crosby is really, really tough to beat.
25:52 Um, it's a tough call.
25:54 I think it's a tougher call this year.
25:56 I would be a little bit let down if it went to Mac or to Parsons.
26:01 I would be okay if it's Crosby Watt and probably Garrett.
26:05 Probably to me, it's, to me, it's Crosby or Watt.
26:09 If either one of those guys wins it, I have no issue with it.
26:12 Anybody else, anybody else that got an issue gets a good call on your part.
26:16 All right.
26:17 Talk about Crosby in Las Vegas.
26:19 What a fit.
26:23 It's a guy that looks like he's got the thing peddled down the whole time.
26:28 He's got the Raider look.
26:30 He's got plenty of ink.
26:31 He's got plenty of personality, but I don't see a whole lot of fluff a room.
26:36 You don't see a lot of over celebrating and underperforming.
26:40 A lot of people don't like what we see a lot in the college level.
26:44 Kids going crazy, stopping a guy on a second and three in the second
26:49 quarter and like, you know, September 15th.
26:52 Now the NFL, every game is huge and it should be.
26:55 What I see with Max Crosby is a consistent determination and production.
27:01 He's very consistently producing.
27:03 And that goes well with Las Vegas because people come to Las
27:07 Vegas from all over the world.
27:08 They're not always going to have the best time in the world.
27:11 They're not always going to have the worst time in the world, but that city
27:14 delivers a consistent experience, consistent level of hospitality,
27:20 consistent level of care, the weather's pretty consistent.
27:23 A lot of things consistently deliver in Las Vegas.
27:26 You can get things done and have a really good time there.
27:30 And you can count on it.
27:32 The Raiders can count on Max Crosby to be basically, I mean, it seems like he's
27:37 running the thing nearly red line all the time, but I'm telling you there's,
27:41 there's, there's not enough focus on what's going on inside of his football
27:46 mind and how he's getting even sharper.
27:48 He can sharpen the sprues.
27:49 He's turning them.
27:50 More with his game mentally each year.
27:52 He's this well performing physically.
27:55 He's gaining an edge on the field because how many of the guys on the
27:59 other side of the ball are in their first or second year, they don't know what he
28:03 knows.
28:04 And it looks to me like he's got a lot of moves.
28:06 He's not nearly a one trick pony.
28:08 He's practically an all trick pony, a lot of ponies around Las Vegas.
28:12 There's a good, well-played John.
28:16 Well-played.
28:16 All right.
28:17 I want to, there's a trend among coaches right now, John, that it's fascinating.
28:25 You know, everything works in waves and, and I'm wondering how close we are to
28:31 the end of this wave and then swing them back.
28:34 Like, I think there's a wave now that's just beginning of former players.
28:38 Dan Campbell, a couple of years ago, two years ago, D'Amico Ryan this year.
28:44 Now it's Antonio Pierce.
28:46 I like it, but there's a trend that made that wave may be coming to an
28:52 end, talk about that, that trend.
28:53 The trend of the younger offensive coordinator, who's going to be
28:57 a head coach and call plays.
28:59 Now I understand that there's a real advantage in this in theory, in that
29:04 if my, if I pick an offensive head coach and he's calling the plays, I don't have
29:08 to worry about losing an offensive coordinator.
29:10 So already in Atlanta with the hiring of Raheem Morris, whoever they pick
29:15 as an offensive coordinator, if he does really well in 24, that's most likely
29:20 going to be a guy already in consideration to move on if this trend continues.
29:24 I do think that the trend is very obvious.
29:27 We've seen it work in a lot of places, Minnesota, Cincinnati.
29:31 We'll see it.
29:32 Who knows how well it's going to work.
29:34 Yeah, of course.
29:36 Yeah.
29:36 Now, how well is it going to work?
29:38 Um, I don't know that at some point there's going to be a dilution of talent.
29:42 At some point, things are going to even out, but I'm curious when we will see
29:46 some refining in some of the rules that we've poked at during the season.
29:51 And I'm sure we will take a whole show or two to go through down a list
29:56 and talk about in the off season.
29:57 I want to see the game played all 53 wide and the entire length of the field.
30:05 I want to see it officiated better and better.
30:08 And I want to see the penalties that are assigned make more sense.
30:12 Be graduated.
30:13 Is everything a 15 yard or does it start at five or 10 and
30:16 then accelerate from there as the sport, as the NFL hones in and maybe
30:22 cleans up some areas that have been left aside or not paid attention to.
30:26 Maybe that shifts the game a little bit.
30:29 I don't want to see it become any more pass driven or pass heavy.
30:34 As I've said before it this time, it's not that a quarterback is a
30:38 starting pitcher in baseball, but it's closer to that than it ever has been.
30:41 We don't want to go see an NFL game where we're basically going to see, okay,
30:45 how's this guy going to throw today?
30:47 I don't ever want to hear that.
30:49 And if that backs away, or if it gets a little more reasonable, or if the guys
30:54 on defense catch a little break, or if there's some things done to maybe
30:58 encourage more running the ball, then I think this trend of a young guy, who's
31:04 an offensive coordinator is going to be our head coach.
31:07 Then I think we probably see that fade away and maybe it will be overtaken
31:12 by this recent former player.
31:14 There's no reason to think that trend is going to slow down.
31:18 And of course the Raiders are on the front end of it.
31:20 And there's some other guys I'm sure that'll be candidates or hires as we sit
31:24 here next year and talk before the title games.
31:27 John, I want to talk about the AFC West because Antonio Pierce beat Andy Reid.
31:37 He beat Sean Payton.
31:38 He beat the Chiefs.
31:41 I mean, their coaches, I mean the Chargers, his coach isn't there anymore.
31:44 But a lot of young Raider fans, not all, but some young Raider fans,
31:51 "Oh God, we got Antonio Pierce and we got Andy Reid, Sean Payton, and
31:56 now Jim Harbaugh in the AFC West."
31:59 I said yesterday on my podcast and got some criticism.
32:03 I'm okay with that.
32:05 I'm not at all lumping all Raider fans into this group.
32:08 I think it's a lot of younger fans or newer fans.
32:11 You're the Raiders.
32:14 You're the freaking Raiders.
32:16 You already beat Andy Reid this year.
32:18 You already went out and beat Sean Payton twice last year.
32:24 I don't think there should be any fear about anybody when you're
32:29 the freaking Raiders, your thoughts.
32:30 I don't think there should be any fear, no.
32:34 Just jump on the elephant in the room.
32:37 So you have Jim Harbaugh coming back to the NFL.
32:39 We don't know what, if any, suspension he's going to have or carry over.
32:43 Let's leave that aside.
32:45 What we do have is some history of guys leaving the NFL for a long
32:50 period of time and then coming back.
32:51 It has not been easy for anybody.
32:55 Joe Gibbs had a couple tough years at the start and he said, "Hey, I had to adapt.
33:01 I had to adjust.
33:02 I screwed up."
33:03 John Gruden, it didn't just snap back into place by far.
33:07 Is it going to snap right back into place for Jim Harbaugh?
33:10 We don't know.
33:11 Just because-
33:12 It took him eight years at Michigan.
33:14 This is something people don't talk about.
33:16 No.
33:17 His first six years, seven years at Michigan, people hated him.
33:22 He had to take a massive pay cut.
33:24 He couldn't beat Ohio State.
33:26 He couldn't beat Mark D'Antonio in Michigan State.
33:28 I mean, people forget how bad it was for a long time at Michigan.
33:34 They do.
33:34 And they had a real hard time keeping staff.
33:38 They had a real hard time getting a quarterback.
33:40 So, okay, they're going to Los Angeles to really be a second citizen.
33:46 Listen, until you win a lot, you're going to be a second citizen
33:49 to Sean McVay and the Rams.
33:51 It's just true.
33:52 The quarterback's in place, but how's the rest of it going to go?
33:57 My point is, no, the Raiders shouldn't bow down to anybody.
34:01 Jim Harbaugh could win his first 10 games next year.
34:03 He could struggle in his first year or two there.
34:06 We don't know what that's going to be, but there's no point of bowing down.
34:09 This is somebody that's been out of the picture.
34:11 When he was fired in San Francisco, it wasn't a super clean operation.
34:15 Now he may have been right as far as the decision the 49ers made.
34:20 They went with this guy and not that guy and got rid of Harbaugh.
34:23 He may have been right, but there's some not great outcomes that
34:29 happen at the end of the time in San Francisco with guys leaving and retiring.
34:33 And we just don't know how it's going to work.
34:35 Here's the big difference.
34:36 Raider fans shouldn't be scared or worried about anything.
34:39 You know how Antonio Pierce is going to operate because he was in the building
34:43 as the interim head coach, and he was acting like the head coach
34:46 that was just taking the job and moving forward, baby.
34:48 We have no idea how it's going to go in San Diego
34:52 with Jim Harbaugh, with his staff, with his team.
34:55 No, Los Angeles.
34:57 Yeah, I'm forever most likely going to say San Diego, like I'm not
35:01 a know a lot of the people out there are going to do.
35:04 All right. So we have that situation.
35:06 You have what in the world is Sean Payton going to do next year?
35:09 We have the massive elephant in that room.
35:12 They got to get rid of Russell Wilson somehow.
35:14 So there's no reason to be back down or worried about that.
35:17 And when you look at the Chiefs, you could argue, well,
35:20 the Chiefs were a little bit down this year, but last I checked,
35:23 they're still playing.
35:25 And I think we could agree that they're probably going to be better
35:28 next year in some spots.
35:30 We expect they're going to address the deep ball issue, just for example.
35:34 But the Raiders already beat them and they played with them.
35:37 So, no, if I'm a Raider fan,
35:40 I got more than enough reasons to be as excited or more
35:44 than the Chargers, and I wouldn't back down a second.
35:48 You think Antonio Pierce has let any possible
35:52 appearance of back down?
35:55 No, and nor is he over.
35:57 And it's over pumped.
35:58 And it's not all fans.
35:59 I want to make sure.
36:01 Of course, it is not all fans.
36:02 It's not even the majority of fans, just a small group of young fans.
36:06 All right, John, let's get to tomorrow's games.
36:09 We've got the Lions and the Niners.
36:13 To me, this comes down to if the Niners have the lead in the ball
36:18 in the fourth quarter, they're just going to suck the air right out of the ball
36:21 and win Detroit's got to have the ball in the fourth quarter
36:24 down seven points or less, and that's their only way they win.
36:27 I'm predicting a San Francisco win.
36:30 A lion win would not shock me based on those circumstances.
36:34 Your thoughts.
36:34 Watch the defensive line for the 49ers.
36:39 How often and how quickly do they get there?
36:42 This is their time.
36:44 If the 49ers don't get to the Super Bowl here,
36:48 this is going to start to fall apart a little bit, I think.
36:51 This is what Mr.
36:54 Bosa is ready to do.
36:56 He's got Chase Young on the other side.
36:59 The Detroit story is great.
37:01 I understand that they're playing with house money,
37:03 but they're also running into it seems to be like a team,
37:07 a little bit of destiny.
37:09 I like 49ers by more than four.
37:11 All right, now we go to the other side of the ball.
37:15 I think the Baltimore.
37:17 I know I predicted Kansas City to make the Super Bowl to begin in the season.
37:20 On the other side, I said Philly or San Fran.
37:24 But I said I was leaning towards Philly.
37:29 And now you come over here and Kansas City is not Kansas City of old.
37:35 They finally got some weapons for Lamar Jackson.
37:38 Boy, doesn't every team look stupid that he was on the market?
37:41 Nobody went after him.
37:43 But I think Baltimore wins.
37:47 But not by more than four, which is the Vegas number.
37:51 So technically, Chiefs win it.
37:53 And, you know, betting wise, but Baltimore wins the game.
37:58 Your thoughts.
37:58 Kansas City knows what to do in this situation.
38:02 It's hard not to be a fan of what the Ravens do and how they do it.
38:07 They did stumble a couple of times in recent years
38:11 when it looked like they were going to be on the way to the Super Bowl.
38:14 And that's maybe part of the reason the changes were made.
38:16 This looks like a complete team in Baltimore right now.
38:20 They are playing in Baltimore, and they've got a little bit of a chip
38:25 on their shoulder.
38:26 They are going to position themselves as saying.
38:29 This game is going to be seen by more people than any but the Super Bowl.
38:35 How many of those people are just like, oh, I'm sure the Chiefs are going to win.
38:39 They got to be better.
38:40 They got Pat Mahomes there.
38:41 They're a better ballclub.
38:42 They don't know five guys on the Ravens.
38:45 They're going to know five guys on the Ravens Sunday night.
38:49 This is one that if you're the Ravens, you need to take control
38:53 right away and keep on going.
38:56 You can't put Pat Mahomes and the Chiefs out of the game.
39:00 They're not going to blow them out by any stretch of the mean.
39:02 But they need to take control.
39:04 Get ahead.
39:05 Keep the gas down and watch how much of the field
39:09 that Baltimore offense uses.
39:11 I got a feeling if we did one of those where they show all the plays
39:14 and the lines of who went where, it's going to be scribbled all over.
39:17 I'm not a homer, but you have to admire the way that organization does what it does.
39:22 It feels and seems like it's their time.
39:24 So call me a sucker.
39:26 I like the Ravens as well.
39:28 John Herbaugh is one of the most underrated coaches in the NFL.
39:33 Maybe maybe in NFL history so far.
39:37 Rick Gosling, as you know, many consider him
39:40 the greatest NFL writer of all time, he's my mentor, my great friend.
39:44 He has said for years, I mean.
39:48 30 years, 35 years.
39:52 I'm trying to think, hold on.
39:54 I'm 52.
39:57 29. So I know for a fact.
40:03 He's been saying for 27 years,
40:08 if he was a general manager and owner, he's looking at special teams
40:12 coaches for head coaches, he can't believe more.
40:15 Haven't made the jump.
40:18 To me, Herbaugh is the most underrated coach.
40:21 I kind of agree with you currently or in the history of the NFL.
40:26 He's a great guy.
40:27 And yes, he has all of his brother's skill.
40:30 But the personality to be likable.
40:33 Well, the thing is, you know, when John Herbaugh was hired,
40:38 it's like, OK, well, we know that name, but he's coming from special teams
40:41 of the Eagles, that's going to be interesting.
40:43 But right away, what you saw was a guy that knew how to bring the pot
40:48 to a boil and kind of keep it there.
40:50 It didn't just evaporate.
40:52 How many times have we seen his team show up and flop or fall on their face?
40:56 Not many.
40:57 How many times have we probably seen them overachieve?
41:00 Quite many.
41:01 They appear to be prepared.
41:03 When you look at one through 53, it feels like they're kind of all in it.
41:08 And there's not a huge drop.
41:10 If anything, sometimes the Ravens have guys who are more prepared
41:13 to play on a practice squad than maybe another team
41:15 they're playing during the season has out there starting.
41:17 There's an organization.
41:20 There's a technical skill.
41:21 There's a mastery of the game of football.
41:24 And there is that X element, that X factor of personal connection
41:28 and motivation that John Herbaugh does not yet get the credit he deserves.
41:32 If somehow he gets another Super Bowl, that credit is going to start to flow.
41:38 This is one of the most underrated pro football head coaches that we have seen.
41:42 And the great thing is, if you're a fan, I don't think he's anywhere close to done.
41:47 This is not a guy that looks like he's about ready to burn out or anything.
41:50 This is a guy that just loves it.
41:52 And that sticks and spreads all over his Ravens team.
41:57 Watch how ready he has them to just strike that match
42:01 when this game starts on Sunday.
42:03 Totally agree.
42:04 It's going to be a great day tomorrow.
42:05 Football, I can't wait.
42:07 Get to watch it.
42:08 You get to watch it.
42:09 It's going to be a lot of fun.
42:10 Johnny, another great week.
42:12 Going to have more riff from you next week, but it's always great to have you.
42:15 Remember everybody, I'm Hondo Carpenter from Sports Illustrated's Fan Nation,
42:19 Las Vegas Raiders Insider Podcast, part of the Fans First Sports Network.
42:23 Remember this, please.
42:25 You can follow me on X, formerly known as Twitter @HondoCarpenter.
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