• 2 days ago
Nate | Barstool Rundown
Transcript
00:00Who is a guy that is out there right now, coach, that you think would make a very good head coach?
00:06You know, I hate to do that, Stephen, because I think it's all about the interview process,
00:12you know, unless you really know somebody and sit down with them. Like when I interviewed for Al
00:17Davis, I interviewed for four days. I mean, it wasn't a four hour, it was four days. And he
00:22asked me about personnel, practice schedules, how you'd look at hiring a coaching staff,
00:28league policies. I mean, it was endless. And then we finally started getting into coaching
00:33the quarterback, what kind of offense we run. A four day interview, that's a kidnapping.
00:38What is Al Davis saying to you? What was he asking you about?
00:45Rundown, January 6th, 2025. We got two Super Bowl winners. Me, of course, two times. We got
00:54coach Gruden, head coach, a Super Bowl 37 chance to make his rundown debut. We got Barcelletti,
01:00who won, you know, kind of your guy's Super Bowl yesterday, beating the Packers. Congrats.
01:05Don't do this. OK, don't don't do that. You've got to be you've got it. You've got to be happy
01:09about slaying the dragon, the Packers. I am. But don't talk about a Super Bowl and then talk to me
01:14about breaking a 10 game losing streak, Stephen. This is this is patronizing. You know what you're
01:18doing. Continue with the show. I mean, we got we got to introduce coach under the right context.
01:24I'm honored to be here, man. It's an honor to be here with Eddie. The last time I saw Eddie,
01:28we were driving around in the back. I was in the backseat of his Tesla. I got Carson.
01:34Great to see you, Eddie. Good to see you, too. I hope there's no hard feelings about my phone
01:39call last week. I was really I was really, really, really fired up. John, I love you. I got to meet
01:44you last week. Had a nice and a nice day with you. Four hours in the car. You're a good guy.
01:50You love football. You're for the kids. You even donated money to my high school.
01:55But don't you fucking dare. Don't you fucking dare come to my city again and tell me I'm too
02:02negative about the cock sucking Chicago Bears. And you tell me about the history of the stadium.
02:07Let me tell you this, John. We had a fan reach out. They ran out of fucking hot dogs and such
02:13in Section 112 last year. It took the guy 20 minutes to get a fucking Polish sausage.
02:18If you think that's fucking acceptable on any level, then maybe you've lost this stuff, John.
02:24I love you. Like I said, this isn't personal, but when it comes to the Chicago fucking Bears,
02:29don't you dare tell me that I am too negative because they deserve every ounce of negativity
02:35for what they're doing to us as fans in this fucking story franchise.
02:40Don't worry. I don't hold a grudge, brother. I just get even. That's all I get.
02:44I'm talk. It's I don't think you're technically supposed to refer to it as a
02:51Black Monday, but like this is the day where the coaches get let go.
02:55We were taping this at noon Eastern, just a couple minutes after noon Eastern.
02:59So far, we got Gerard Mayo let go after one season in New England. And then we got Doug
03:07Peterson in Jacksonville, both being let go. Coach, start with you. I mean, this is the ugly
03:14part of the business. What does this debt do to coach it to all coaches that are getting
03:18canned? No, they're getting canned the day before. Like, how does this work?
03:22Well, I mean, I think there's a probably a pretty good idea. You're in trouble based on
03:28the feeling that you have walking in the building every day and you're one lost record, obviously.
03:33But I hate seeing guys get fired minutes after the final horn. You know, I think you
03:40do it a little bit differently. Give these people a chance to concentrate, let the emotions wear off
03:45for a few days. But the Gerard Mayo firing was shocking to me. Same. One year. Is it are we,
03:54you know, people talk about rookie quarterbacks not giving a time. We're not giving head coaches
03:57enough time. It seems like one year ago. There are so many coaching changes in this league.
04:02I remember when I got into the league in 1998 as a head coach, I went to the owners meetings
04:08and every team pretty much had a coach that you grew up with. Tony Dungy in Tampa,
04:13Tom Coughlin in Jacksonville, Bill Cower, Joe Gibbs, Shanahan, Parcells, Marty Schottenheimer.
04:19You recognized every team with their coach. Now, I think when you roll down your window,
04:25you don't know in some of these cities who the coach is. There have been so many changes.
04:30And then you compound that with firing offensive coordinators, defensive coordinators.
04:35You got to start from scratch, teaching your quarterback, teaching your middle linebacker,
04:39what the calls are, what the system is. It's crazy how much change there has taken place.
04:46And in New England, Mayo was one of the Patriot guys. He grew up under Bill Belichick. The
04:51Patriots knew who they were hiring. And I'm stunned, given their roster,
04:56that they made a change this fast. Yeah. Eddie, what do you got?
05:01Yeah, but listen, I think, of course, Mayo, coaches should get more than one year. It's a
05:05raw deal for Mayo, right? But at the end of the day, if you think Drake Mays your guy,
05:10and you think Mike Vrabel, who by all accounts, it sounds like he's the guy to take this team to the
05:16next level and to really get him going, I think you got to applaud the Patriots for making that
05:21bold move. Well, why the hell didn't you draft him? Why didn't you hire him last year then,
05:25Eddie? He was available, if that's your feeling. Why the hell didn't they hire Vrabel last year?
05:30Because it's very clear that... You guys are twisted.
05:34Well, I think it's very clear that Kraft had some type of contingency wheel down plan here with
05:40Gerard Mayo. And I think he was too afraid to go back on his word. That's what I think it was.
05:46Possibly. It's all about the quarterback to me. I kind of grew up as an offensive head coach with
05:52Bill Walsh and Mike Holmgren. And I kind of modeled my career after that, where the head
05:57coach coaches the quarterback, he calls the plays, and that way you get some continuity.
06:02And you got to develop your quarterback. If you want to continue to be a head coach in the NFL,
06:07your quarterback has to play good. So whoever they hire in New England, you better get Drake
06:13May to play at a very high level, or they'll be hiring somebody else soon as well. Eddie,
06:18you know about hiring defensive head coaches to lead your franchise. What do you think about your
06:27guy's head coach opening? I mean, obviously we just saw Thomas Brown is going to interview. I
06:31mean, you have to give the interim interview, but who's the guy that you want for Chicago?
06:35It feels like Big Cat has given up on Vrabel and Ben Johnson.
06:39Yeah, I think, listen, for me, it's always been a tie for first with Vrabel and Ben Johnson.
06:45I'm assuming that Vrabel's going to New England, right? But I think Ben Johnson is someone who
06:53you got to identify with what he's done in Detroit as being the number one guy for a lot
06:56of teams. And you look at, there's only five jobs open. Ben Johnson said he's only going to
07:00interview at places where he actually would go. So I don't believe he's interviewing with the Jets.
07:04I don't believe he's interviewing with the Saints. So if Vrabel goes to New England,
07:10I'm sitting here as a Chicago guy thinking it's a 50-50 shot with him going here or Jacksonville.
07:15And the bulky move makes me that much more excited. So I'm feeling really good about
07:20Ben Johnson in Chicago right now. My only concern is that the Bears screw everything up. So I think
07:24they might screw this up too. You know, one thing to think about too is there is no salary cap on
07:30coaches. You know, they can pay offensive coordinators, whatever they want to pay them.
07:34So if I'm the Detroit Lions and I look at the core of players that we have,
07:39I might just choose to keep Ben Johnson there. I'll pay him a salary that's very competitive
07:44with some of these other coaching jobs. And he might want to stick around David Montgomery and
07:49Jameer Gibbs and Jamison Williams for another couple of years and keep kicking people's ass.
07:54It's a lot of fun when you're kicking ass. It's not much fun when you're getting your ass kicked.
07:58So I think Ben Johnson is probably thinking right now, this is a pretty good gig.
08:04So it looks like the Jets are requesting to interview everybody under the sun. One of those,
08:09Coach, your former quarterback Brian Greasy is the OC in San Francisco. Who is a guy that is
08:15out there right now, Coach, that you think would make a very good head coach?
08:20You know, I hate to do that, Stephen, because I think it's all about the interview process.
08:26You know, unless you really know somebody and sit down with them. Like when I interviewed for Al
08:31Davis, I interviewed for four days. I mean, it wasn't a four hour, it was four days. And he
08:36asked me about personnel, practice schedules, how you'd look at hiring a coaching staff,
08:42league policies. I mean, it was endless. And then we finally started getting into coaching
08:47the quarterback, what kind of offense we run. You really don't just sit here and recommend
08:53people that you've never really coached with. I'll say this though about Brian Greasy here,
08:57as an example, he's a smart quarterback. He loves football. He gave up a great gig at ESPN
09:03and he helped Brock Purdy play well. But I think Brian's got to go in there and knock
09:07this interview out of the park. And I think he's got to feel that synergy with the Jets.
09:12It's got to be a right fit. And to answer your question, I don't have five or six candidates.
09:19I know a lot of really good coaches, but I don't know them well enough to really come out and
09:23recommend anybody here. A four-day interview, that's a kidnapping. What is Al Davis saying
09:29to you? What was he asking you about? He would say, hey, Eddie, who's the third receiver of
09:34the San Diego Chargers? And you better say Terrence Shaw. And when you say it's Terrence
09:40Shaw, you better say, where's he from? You got to know he went to San Jose State. He wants to know
09:46all about personnel, matchups, drills, how you coach the quarterback's footwork on a five-step
09:53drop when you're throwing an out route to the left. I mean, he would kill you on punt protection.
09:58Hell, I didn't know hardly anything about punt protection, but he enjoyed learning football,
10:03seeing how you taught, all kinds of stuff, ideas about the facility, what's your policy
10:11with discipline. If a guy's late, it was unbelievable. He introduced me to a lot
10:16of the legendary Raider players just to see how I interacted with them and the respect
10:21that he felt I had. It was unbelievable. Wow. That's actually kind of awesome. He had everything.
10:26Well, Al was a football guy. You remember, he was an owner that was an offensive line coach at USC.
10:32He was an offensive line coach at the Citadel. Al Davis was the coach of the year in the NFL.
10:38So he was a football guy. He loved it. He needed it. He craved it. A lot of the owners are
10:44outstanding businessmen. So it's going to be interesting to see who's involved in these
10:49hiring processes, who's asking the questions and what answers are they hearing and how do
10:55they hear the answers? Eddie, I'll ask you this one. The Dolphins and Giants both came out and
11:02said they're going to keep their GM and head coach. As a guy, obviously, Bears fan, you're
11:06familiar with, you know, kind of a constant cycle. If you're a fan of one of these teams,
11:12are you really pissed off after just a very disappointing year to keep those guys intact?
11:19I mean, look at the Dolphins. And I think I know their big hurdle is obviously the playoffs. And
11:24they were kind of sniffing around. But two didn't play the whole year. I think that's kind of
11:29from afar. I know Dolphins fans might kill me for that. But to me, that seems like the story, right?
11:35If you have a healthy two, you're probably in and you're probably trying to break that
11:39bad streak of losing playoff games. Am I right or am I missing something?
11:44I mean, is there like half the year? But yeah, I mean, certainly a fully healthy two would
11:48improve the record, you'd think. Yeah. So I don't know. That's what I would think.
11:52What do you think, Coach? Well, I don't know. And I hear Tyreek Hill yesterday come out saying,
11:57I'm out of here. I want out of here. You know, that's kind of a bad sign when you trade all
12:04these draft picks for this marquee offensive player. And right after the game, seconds after
12:10he gets out of the shower, he says, I want out of this place. You know, there's something missing in
12:15Miami. They really don't have a running game. They're not a great cold weather team. They
12:20proved it yesterday. I don't know what's missing in Miami, but it just doesn't feel right to me.
12:27What do you do if you have a player like that? Like, what does that exit meeting the next day
12:31look like, Coach? Well, I would just encourage him to just get away from us,
12:35get away from football for a couple of weeks, decompress. Let's talk about it when, you know,
12:41we're more calm, when we're emotionally able to have a conversation. A lot of these guys put a
12:46lot into this. Tyreek had injuries this year. He didn't get the ball. I think he only had
12:51two catches. I don't believe he had a thousand yards this year. So, there's something going
12:55on there in Miami where he wasn't the focal point of the offense. But when you sacrifice all these
13:01draft picks, like the Raiders did with Devontae Adams, and then you give the guy the big contract,
13:07you just don't let him walk away. You get nothing. So, it's a very complex issue, but I think a
13:12little time might be the best healer right now. Is that the worst part of coaching, Coach? When
13:18you go through a tough year, you know, 16-17 game season, and then you hear that out of a
13:23guy's mouth. Like, obviously, the fun part is strategizing, figuring out how to beat the team
13:27across from you, but when you hear players talk like that, is that like, this is the worst part
13:31to deal with when it comes to the game? It is tough. You know, what's really agonizing, Eddie,
13:35is when your own coaches come in and they want their contracts renewed. They want a one-year
13:40contract extension. They want a two-year extension. They want a three-year extension. They
13:44want to be a coordinator. They want to go someplace else. They all have agents, so you got to really
13:49deal with all your coaches. Some teams have two line coaches, two secondary coaches. They got two
13:55defensive line coaches, and you want to keep your continuity with your coaching staff, but dealing
14:01with your coaches sometimes is very hard, too. So, these head coaches, they got a lot on their plate,
14:07and then you got to deal with the GM, and you got to deal with the owner,
14:11and then you got to deal with pain-in-the-ass media people like Stephen Chey. It's hard.
14:17With Black Monday, as Stephen said, is this like a day where a lot of your coaches are, you know,
14:24you're sending out texts, you know, checking on your guys and being like, hey, you know,
14:28what's that like from a coach's standpoint? Well, the hard part is you have coordinators
14:35that are getting interviewed. Let's use Brian Greasy as an example. So, when Brian Greasy goes
14:40to the Jets to interview, the first question is they're going to say, hey, Brian, who can you
14:44bring with you? So, you got to say, well, this will be my defensive coordinator. This will be
14:48my line coach. I'll call the plays. You better have an army of guys together. So, a lot of times
14:54late in the season, there's three or four coaches on your staff that are on the phone working to try
15:00to get guys in line to be on their package so they can present it to the owners. There's just
15:06a lot of behind-the-scenes twists and turns, but I don't want to waste all your time on my debut of
15:13this great show talking about that. Coach, I'd rather ask you questions for hours. It's tough,
15:21you know, when you get interviewed for a head coaching job, they want to know who you're
15:26bringing with you. Who's the strength coach? Who's the line coach? And you better have these
15:29answers, and then if you do get the job, you better make sure these guys can get out of
15:34their contracts and come with you or your relationship doesn't start very good.
15:39Ooh, that's some interesting insight there. Let's move on to the games. Let's talk first
15:45about BetterHelp. The Rundown is sponsored by BetterHelp. Every January, it gives you 365 blank
15:51pages waiting to be filled. In 2025, maybe you're ready for a plot twist, or maybe there's a part
15:55of your story that you've been waiting to revise. Life isn't about resolutions that fade by
15:59February. It's about picking up the pen and becoming the author of your own life story.
16:04If you think therapy as your editorial partner helping you write new chapters and create the
16:09meaningful story, you deserve to live. BetterHelp is fully online, making therapy affordable and
16:13convenient. Over 5 million people worldwide use BetterHelp. Access a diverse network of more than
16:1930,000 credentialed therapists and a wide range of specialty. Easily switch therapists at any time
16:25at no extra cost. So write your story with BetterHelp. Visit betterhelp.com slash rundown
16:30to get 10% off your first month. That's betterhelp.com slash rundown. Let's talk about the
16:37actual games yesterday. The Night Game. Bit of a letdown as far as entertainment for, you know,
16:45high-scoring points bonanza, but we did see the Detroit Lions absolutely dominate the Minnesota
16:52Vikings. I think two questions here. Is Detroit the team to beat in the NFC? Obviously the number
16:58one seed, but are they the prohibitive favorite? And then did Sam Darnold turn into a pumpkin last
17:03night? Coach, what do you think? Yeah, Sam Darnold struggled. I was really surprised. I think he had
17:08five or six throws early in the game that could have switched the outcome and certainly created
17:13some momentum. He was off. He missed a lot of open receivers. I do give Detroit a lot of credit,
17:19man. They blitzed him. They gave him different looks. Some of their young defenders really rose
17:24to the challenge. I thought they kicked Minnesota's ass personally. I didn't think Minnesota picked up
17:29blitzes very well. And I thought when Van Ginkle had a chance to intercept that pass, that was a
17:36big turning point in the game, certainly. And I think, look, when Minnesota gets a field goal at
17:42the end of the first half and with 35 seconds, their kicker kicks the ball out of bounds.
17:48They did some things last night that showed me they got what they deserved.
17:52Yeah. Eddie, what'd you think from this NFC North rivalry? Listen, I really like this Vikings team.
17:58I'm not one of those guys who sit there and think they've been riding a fluke all season long.
18:01My problem with last night is they have a well-balanced offense. I don't know why every
18:06time in the red zone, they just look for Justin Jefferson. I understand that he's the best wide
18:10receiver on football, but still use all your guys. It seems like they don't know how to use
18:14Hockinson yet. And it's been like seven, eight weeks. That's a problem. Jordan Edison's a great
18:19number two. Obviously they got a good run game. I was very disappointed with how they kind of,
18:25I don't know if it was how the plays were designed or if that's just what Donald was
18:28looking at every time. But yeah, definitely a stinker of a game from the Vikings.
18:32Yeah. When you go three for 13 on third down, 0 for 3 on fourth down, 0 for 4 in the red zone,
18:39you're not going to beat the Lions. Wow. They got absolutely plastered in the secondary.
18:45Unable to get open. Jordan Edison, one catch, zero yards. Justin Jefferson, very subpar game.
18:50He'd previously dominated Detroit. So a tough outcome. Is Detroit the team to beat in the
18:55NFC? I feel like it's them, Philadelphia, Tampa maybe. Coach, who do you like in the NFC?
19:04Well, you know, Tampa Bay, you laugh. Tampa Bay beat Detroit in Detroit.
19:08Yep. I don't know.
19:11That was the game Hutchinson had a lot of sacks and Luke Getteke didn't play.
19:15You know, Tampa Bay's got the best offensive line in football, arguably. You might say
19:19Philadelphia, but Tampa Bay, man, they can pass protect. They have weapons and say what you want.
19:25Todd Bowles is tough to go against, man, in a playoff game. He has a lot of guts. He'll call
19:30blitzes that you haven't prepared for because you haven't seen them. But I do like Philadelphia.
19:35I'll tell you why. Because they have a great offensive line. They can run the ball with a
19:42great running back and a great running quarterback. And they have firepower, man, on the outside.
19:48Say whatever you want. Smith and A.J. Brown, they can burn you bad. But they can possess the ball
19:54with this running game for 33 or 34 minutes. And they can keep golf on the sideline. And
20:01Vic Fangio, another ex-Chicago Bear, that these Bears ran out of town.
20:06No, not true. He got the Denver job. Don't say that, coach.
20:09Well, he was available for you. Vic Fangio has this young Philadelphia Eagle defense playing
20:15good. I think that's your NFC championship game right there. And it would be a hell of a game.
20:20Yeah, I think you nailed it. I think as much as I just bagged on the Vikings offense there,
20:25you got to respect Detroit's defense. Anzalone makes a difference, I think.
20:29And it really showed on Sunday night. And then that's where a lot of my shares are. But I am
20:36diversifying the portfolio a little bit with Philly. I do like them a lot, too. So I would
20:40say I'm with you there, coach. I think you ask about head coaching
20:44candidates, Steve. And I think Aaron Glenn's got to be at the top of the list.
20:48Here's a guy that has 13 of his defensive players on IR. And not only players. I'm
20:53talking about real players, man. Aiden Hutchinson, Davenport, the whole D-line,
20:58McNeil. All these guys are out. Carlton Davis, starting corner. And they absolutely shred
21:05Minnesota last night. I give the guy credit. He's a great leader. He's a great technician.
21:11And the guy really knows how to motivate his team.
21:14Coach, I got to ask you about this. Me, you, and Dave were texting about it yesterday
21:17after it happened. So Mike Evans gets a thousand yards for the 11th straight season. Incredible
21:23record. He does so with 36 seconds left. The game is over. They could kneel the ball.
21:31How do you feel about the Bucs at home? Crowd chanting, you know, standing up cheering for it.
21:37How do you feel about them passing right there to get Evans the record? He did get,
21:42I think it was a million and a half for breaking a thousand yards. Three million
21:47overall from the game. How do you feel about him? And the lights just went out on me. How
21:51do you feel about him breaking the record with in garbage time, basically?
21:56Well, I thought it was the only thing that Tampa could do. I've been calling plays and I've had to
22:01deal with some scenarios like this. Mike Evans has a chance to tie Jerry Rice's all-time record and
22:08get $3 million. And if you didn't do what you did there, you probably would have got your ass kicked
22:14by about four of your players. Mike Evans, I live in Tampa. Nobody is a better guy than Mike Evans.
22:20Nobody has worked harder and been more loyal to football than Mike Evans. And he deserved that.
22:26All they did was run a double slant and put him in the three spot. He ran right into the flat.
22:32He caught the pass. He knew he needed five yards. It wasn't a risky play. But Steven,
22:38I've seen guys, when I was in Tampa, my dad coached for the Bucs and James Wilder
22:43had a chance to win the rushing title. And we gave him the ball. And all the fans were like,
22:47well, he could have got hurt. It could have cost you this in the playoffs.
22:51You know, you got to ask the player. You got to get a sense for how important that really is.
22:57And that was a monumental thing, I think, for Mike Evans and the Buccaneers. Everybody wanted it.
23:03And when you saw him get that yardage, it brought tears to my eyes how they celebrated
23:07the outcome of it. I thought it was awesome. Who was, who was it? Was it 2007? Who got hurt?
23:15Was it Aaron Sears? Who got hurt in the last week of the season? We're playing for nothing.
23:20Was it that Aaron Sears? Yeah. Aaron Sears. How do you say, how do you feel about guys like
23:25coaches resting guys with the playoffs and stuff locked up versus, you know, playing their guys
23:31yesterday? Like we saw Washington, you know, they could have moved up a little bit and they did,
23:36but you know, they're in the playoffs, but they played their guys for the most part.
23:39Jane Daniels sitting some of the second half. But how do you feel about playing your guys when you
23:43kind of don't have that much at stake? Well, I think you're damned if you do and damned if you
23:47don't. You know, I remember when we clinched the division, I was on the airplane flying home from
23:51New Orleans and I talked to Rondé Barber about sitting them out because he had been beat up
23:56and Rondé Barber was adamant. Hey, I'm playing. He has a consecutive game streak. He's proud of a
24:01lot of these guys. They do not want to sit out. They take this thing very, very serious, man.
24:07And then is it really fair to the, you can't sit everybody down, Steve, and you only got 53 guys.
24:14So just because you sit your center down doesn't mean you can sit the whole offensive line down.
24:18Even in Kansas City's case yesterday, Andy Reid sat almost all of his players.
24:23So did Sean McVay, but there still were some critical guys that had to play. And perhaps it's
24:29not fair to those guys either, but that's just the way it goes. Funny you say that, coach, because
24:35I think it matters to the players more than people realize. We had Ron Rivera in here a couple months
24:39ago and I texted one of his former players and said, hey, let me know something about Ron. Let
24:43me know something. I asked him. He goes, yeah, ask him in 2005 if he regrets pulling us against
24:47Minnesota in week 17 when we could have broke the 85 bears most points allowed, or at least
24:53points allowed in a season record. He didn't forget, you know, it's that much time after.
25:00Yeah, but I love the fact he got it. I know that some people think it's ridiculous.
25:06I did not like how Strahan got the sack record when they claimed Brett Favre curled up in a
25:12fetal position, but Devins, to me, what he's been through this season coming back from the injury
25:18and helping Tampa Bay win the NFC South title. Fabulous, fabulous day. I'm really proud to say
25:24I saw that. Yes, agreed. All right, let's talk about the playoff matchups. We got Chargers,
25:31Texans, Steelers, Ravens, Denver and Buffalo, Green Bay, Philly, Washington, Tampa, which is
25:37next Sunday night in Minnesota against the Rams. Coach, you're going to be here streaming a bunch
25:42of these games next weekend. What is the game that stands out to you that you're most looking
25:46forward to? I can't wait to see Philadelphia play Green Bay. I think that's a rematch of
25:52the game they started the season with in Brazil. I really liked Green Bay. I thought Green Bay was
25:57a dark horse team to win the Super Bowl. With Josh Jacobs, they've kind of reinvented their
26:03offense. Their defense is better. I'm anxious to see that Green Bay-Philly game. I can't wait
26:08to see the Commanders play the Bucs. Eddie, what are games you're looking
26:13forward to most this week? Yeah, I would say Vikings-Rams. I think two of the best
26:17coaches in football, just going at it. I think that's going to be a matchup.
26:24Whoever team, they can make a sneaky run, so I'm going to go with that one.
26:28Obviously, I'm going to say Bucs-Commanders, but I think the sneaky game is Pittsburgh-Baltimore.
26:33Saturday night, this is going to be a black and blue AFC North game. The Ravens are a team that
26:41could go into Kansas City and win. Pittsburgh, even though they're on a bit of a skid right now,
26:47Pittsburgh has given Lamar Jackson problems in the past. Coach, do you think Pittsburgh
26:52has a legitimate chance to not only beat the Ravens, but move past and into the second round?
26:58I'm off of Pittsburgh. I wish Jersey Jerry was here, because I'd like to kick him right in the
27:03groin. They haven't looked good to me on offense in a while. They can't score. They haven't scored
27:0817 points or more. They haven't scored more than 17 points since, I don't know, mid-season. They
27:14are really struggling to throw the football. Cincinnati is not the greatest defensive team.
27:20They didn't even have 200 yards of total offense. I don't like the body language of the receiver
27:25pickings. I just don't feel any rhythm at all. They're a slow starting team, man. They're like
27:31last in the league in first quarter points, and they're red zone offense. They're 31st in the
27:37league. They just don't put the ball into the end zone. I think Lamar is on fire. I think the Ravens
27:42are the most improved team right now in the AFC. Their defense is playing good, man, and I think
27:49they're going to smoke Pittsburgh personally. Who do you think is one of the teams in either
27:53conference that's not a one or two seed that can really make some noise and maybe get to a
27:58championship game? Well, I like Green Bay. I like Green Bay because I know they can score. I know
28:03they can possess the ball. I know they can run the rock, man, and they can create turnovers. I
28:08mean, Xavier McKinney's got seven interceptions. Their pass rush is much improved. Green Bay and
28:13Tampa Bay and the NFC are dangerous. Tampa Bay, they're dangerous. They're going to win this
28:18first round game against Washington. You watch. Baker Mayfield, I'm just telling you, Eddie,
28:24Baker Mayfield is a great quarterback, man. He is a great player. I love Baker Mayfield, man.
28:32Even my wife loves Baker Mayfield. We got Mayfield jerseys. We even made Christmas
28:37cookies with Baker Mayfield's number on there, number six. I like Baker too, coach, but I got
28:44to tell you, I saw the Green Bay Packers in person yesterday. You can cross them off. I
28:48think their season ends in Philly. Oh, you were at the game yesterday? Yeah, I was there, baby. It
28:52was great. So were you cheering for the field goal to go in at the end? Well, yeah, because
28:56you always want to beat the Packers, okay? Listen, I know it ruined our draft position,
29:00but I don't care. I hate the Packers so much. I was just happy to beat them and see them walking
29:05out of there. They're usually playing the Bear Still Sucks song. There was none of that. They
29:09were playing Bear Down in the parking lot. It was a beautiful thing. And masterful clock execution
29:16at the end of the game. DJ Moore catching the past 15 seconds left. They get in the field
29:20range. They spike it. I couldn't believe it. Tom Brown might be the guy. Couldn't believe it.
29:25All right. That was a fun Football Sunday. Let's touch on a couple more topics. Eddie,
29:30I know you're a big movies guy. Golden Globes last night. Coach, you're a movies guy. When was
29:35the last time you went to see a movie in the theater? It's been a while. I'm not a big fan
29:39of Hollywood right now, so I kind of stick to my own guns here, man. What's your favorite movie of
29:46all time? Just let me have a movie that I have to see. A must-see movie. I'm not talking about
29:51from my era. A movie in the last 24 months that I have to see that's worth going to a
29:58movie theater, listening to some guy crackle his popcorn next to me. What's a good one I should
30:03pay $24 to sit next to some guy who's on his cell phone eating popcorn? What movie should I go see?
30:15My favorite movie in the last two years has been Talk to Me, which is a horror movie,
30:18an Australian horror movie. I really liked Baby Girl, a very horny movie. That's going to be a
30:25whole different thing, but I thought that was a top two or three movies I saw this year.
30:32You walked into a theater by yourself to see Horny Girl?
30:37I mean, is that what you did? I went with my wife.
30:41That's really cool. It was called Baby Girl, but yes, it was extremely horny. It was about
30:47a CEO as an affair with an intern. It was a whole thing.
30:53What did he say, Eddie? What should I go see? I don't know.
30:56You didn't go see Oppenheimer?
30:58No. Can I get it on Netflix?
31:01I'm sure you could get it somewhere, but the big screen is huge there, coach, right? You need that.
31:08Me and Eddie are movie guys.
31:09Who's your favorite actor and actress? That's all I want to know.
31:13Got to see the number one actor and actress today. Eddie, give it to me.
31:19Yeah. I like Christian Bale a lot. I think anything he is in is always going to be a good
31:24movie. What do you got, Steve? I like Joaquin Phoenix. Jake Gyllenhaal as well is very good.
31:32I wouldn't know Joaquin Phoenix if he walked in and hit me with an eraser.
31:36Coach, if you do go to the movies on the very rare occasion, you're not a popcorn guy?
31:42I definitely am a popcorn guy. I'm a big tub of popcorn. That way, I get free refill.
31:49Eddie, did you get nachos last time you went to the movies?
31:52Pretzel bites. Those things were good, too.
31:54That's a crazy move.
31:55No, no, no. Keep your eye on those, coach. They're good.
32:00One final thing I want to talk about, and I think this is an interesting topic.
32:04Derek Rose Knight was in Chicago on Saturday. The turnout was incredible. They built a whole
32:17diorama, a big showcase of all of his shoes and all this memorabilia in the atrium next to the
32:24Jordan statue. It was a whole ceremony. It was 1-4-25, which is three numbers that he's known
32:29for wearing in his career in the league. At halftime, all of his former teammates and stuff
32:35came out and said some nice words to him. There were video highlights on the board all day,
32:38etc. Is he the most important athlete to a city this century? Other ones I put up there
32:48are Jeter to New York, Tom Brady to Boston, because he's from Chicago. It didn't result
32:54in the rings and all that stuff. A lot of that is due to injury. He was MVP,
32:58number one pick, local guy, played for the team. Is he the most beloved athlete for a single city
33:07this century? Eddie, what are your thoughts? Obviously, very loved. There wasn't a lot of
33:13debate, but there was debate beforehand if he should have gotten his number retired or not.
33:18To me, it's more so half basketball-wise, half personal achievement, because he's from here.
33:24I still would go with Brady in Boston, though. The identity of that city is Tom Brady. I know
33:35he's not from there, and I'm not taking anything away from Rose. I love Derrick Rose. When you
33:40close your eyes, I think Brady in Boston is the big one. Coach, what do you think?
33:46I thought you were talking about Derrick Rose because he's a homegrown boy. Not many guys
33:52tear it up on the high school basketball court and then take it to the Bulls and the NBA and do
33:58it. Some of Derrick's best years weren't with the Bulls, too. That's a good question. I would
34:05throw Larry Bird out there. Some of these guys that have had long stints with their home team,
34:11Peyton Manning in Indianapolis, he's the prodigal son there. You can't go to Indianapolis without
34:16seeing Peyton Manning in a horseshoe somewhere. That's a good question. That's a little deep for
34:22me. I like to stay in two feet of water so I don't drown. You know what I mean, guys?
34:27Too much mess in the kiddie pool for me, Coach. Coach, I'm still thinking about Stephen Che going
34:31alone to go see Horny Boy. That was crazy. Yeah, it was Horny Boy, wasn't it?
34:38I mean, that's a pretty lame answer when you can't come up with a movie except for Horny Boy.
34:43I'm not at my roots with it. Baby Girl, 8.8. Very, very good movie. Best movie I've seen
34:53a little bit. All right, this was the Rundown. Coach, thanks for making a Rundown debut with
34:57me and Eddie. We're going to be spending some time together this week. We look forward to
35:01seeing you in the Chicago office. For Eddie, for Coach Gruden, I'm Stephen Che. Thanks for watching.
35:06Thanks, guys.
35:13you

Recommended