Transcript of NFL Holiday Cards and 49ers-Rams TNF Preview with Colleen Wolfe and Jourdan Rodrigue

Welcome to NFL daily where we've always got a 400 page organizational bible just just nearby in case we ever need a new job. I'm Greg Rosenthal. I'm in the Chris Wesleyan podcast studio with my friends, Jordan Rodrigue of The Athletic and Colleen Wolf. She's back. I'm

back. Whoo. What's up? Great to see you guys.

How was New Orleans? I'm jealous.

It was great. I love New Orleans. I'd only been there 1 other time, and it was for Thursday night football. So it was really quick. Parachuted in and out.

So this time, I had a little bit more of a chance to

check it out

and have some good dinners. And it was great.

Where'd you go? Where'd you go?

I don't remember the name of any of the places, but I can get them to you. It was just like and it was so festive there. They really go all out for Christmas. It was so fun. And then immediately, very on brand for New Orleans.

My first Uber driver just immediately started talking about Lil Wayne. So there's it's thriving there in New Orleans. I love it. I cannot wait for the Super Bowl there.

I cannot either. We were we were talking about it earlier, and, yes, Colleen Wolf. We're a long way away from the the summer of Connie when you're going around the country doing

Maybe maybe maybe maybe early.

You're prepping for the Super Bowl. I I cannot wait. When I started out in this industry, I was at Rotor World, NBC, and NBC sent me to the Super Bowl for the very first time in 2,008 for the 2,007 season, Giants Patriots. And I said, my goal, if I make it to the Super Bowl in 2,012, then I've achieved something. That's all I want out of this career.

And when I got there, and it ended up being for the NFL, and do it around the NFL, or pre around the NFL, I was like, that's it. I'm not asking for anything more.

You've reached the mountain top.

Be back 12 years later, I I can't wait, and, hopefully, we're gonna have you here there. I don't know if we can announce that yet, but, let's go, Jordan.

Fingers crossed.

Okay.

And, Colleen, whenever you say you parachute in somewhere, I never actually rule out the potential that you literally parachuted. That would be so cool.

And I actually would love to I

would not put a paddle to

you out. She is a pilot. She is a pilot.

I don't have my license. She's 5. Street air legal, I guess you could say. But I did go to ground school for my private. And, yeah.

Working on some hours.

Yes. And then and, a stadium at the soup like, before a Super Bowl, got to watch you.

Oh, yeah. In the f 16. That was cool.

Let's talk a little holiday season. It's time. On this show, we're gonna send some holiday cards out. I don't know if you've started receiving them. I kinda doubt either of you guys are organized organized enough to send it.

Tell me I'm wrong.

This is a total shot, but you are not wrong.

Okay.

And I'm sad that I haven't gotten any yet. I haven't gotten 1 holiday.

It's early. It's early.

I mean, I People are getting lazy about that. Kenyon, please. Me and Techie will send you. I'm gonna start sending myself cards.

Well, we'll send the cards from from 1 figure to another or whatever you want. It was it was really left wide open. We're gonna do a little t and f preview, talk a little Rams Giants, and we got Stafford and Purdy who both took revenge on the voters of quarterback island. I should've said Rams niners rather. Stafford and Purdy.

So we'll have a little, you know, QB Island aftermath. There was some controversy about last season. So so we'll we'll talk about that then, but let's start with the cards. And this was your idea here, Colleen. And so I'm gonna

lot of pressure.

I'm gonna have you go first to really Oh

my gosh. Okay.

Set the tone. Alright. But, yes, it's holiday cards to to NFL figures.

So I really love getting Christmas cards, which makes it much sadder that I have not gotten 1 Christmas card yet. But, I'm really festive. I'm in the spirit. So here we go. This is my first Christmas card.

Dear coach Tomlin, I know you've been in the exact same spot for 18 seasons now, but for some reason, I can never find your address. As the coach of the year award, I've been sending myself around for a while now. So I wanted to personally greet you this holiday season and just get ahead of things this year. Christmas is a time for family, for love, for gratitude, and I'm just so thankful to have you in my life despite never telling you before this. As the longest tenured coach in the NFL, I'm kind of embarrassed that we've never spent time together.

I love coaches that win. And considering you've never had a losing season and you're consistently successful with an array of varying roster talent year after year with leadership and adaptability that deserves recognition, this seems long overdue. I know you probably don't care about having me in your life, but it's Christmas, Mike. Oh. And I hope this new year brings me my wish of finding my way into your heart and your warm embrace.

Oh. 0.

That's so nice.

That's a holiday card.

Yeah. Yeah.

G, public. This is what you're missing by not sending or receiving cards to me.

You could send them to the network. Someone send me a damn Christmas card.

Please do that, and tell them it's care of colleenwolf@nfldaily and and put the address there. You can find it online.

Read 1 on the air.

We we would absolutely.

That would be amazing, actually.

I would love that. Yeah. I feel like in part because of the new hard knocks, I don't know if you guys got a chance to watch it, and and we're gonna get 5 weeks of it. Just watching 5 minutes of that, you're like, oh, yeah. That's why Mike Tomlin's never had a losing season.

It's so it's so obvious that his combination of attention to detail on, like, the small schematic, like, defensive things that he doesn't get enough credit for, plus the way he gets everyone all bought in in a fresh way, it's there's no 1 like him.

It has to be either Tomlin or 3 of the qualified, and representative coaches from the NFC North, in my opinion. Like, it's gotta be 1 of 1 of these guys. And Tomlin, I mean, it's time. Right? It's been time.

So his whole thing was because he was asked about this before, and he said coach of the year award usually goes to a coach that is overachieved for a team that the expectations weren't that high. And for the Steelers, the expectations are always pretty up there. So he doesn't really care if he doesn't get it, but I think he deserves it.

I love that, though, because even in even in deferring and, like, sort of tell like, telling us why he doesn't care as much about it, he is that's such a flex.

Yes.

It's like, well, my standard is just higher than everybody else's.

The standard is the standard. And this this year is a little different though because of the quarterback situation coming into the year.

The expectation for that high season.

Was about 8a half, which is average, but for a Steelers team, that's about as low as it's ever gonna be. So I think you're on to something Every

question's Justin Fields, like, switching to Russell Wilson. Just You know?

He he did know. He he always knows. And yet, if if he doesn't win the award, this card's gonna almost seem like a little gas lady. You know? It's like

Well, it's return to sender.

It hasn't, like, actually reached him.

Well, if he gets there before Christmas, then he he doesn't get the award. Alright, Jordan. You give us a card.

Okay. I have a holiday card from a GM desperate to keep his job. He'll do anything seriously to the team owner. Season's greetings. I hope the holiday season is bringing you warm times with family.

I would like to be able to see my own, but you had my key card access limited, and my car keys are in my office. This also could have been an email, but for some reason, I can't access my work account anymore, and it says username not found. Yeah. Although the check's still cashed, so we're good. Right?

Right? Holiday season aside, I'm also writing to tell you how motivated I am to get this coaching hire right this time. I'm leaving no stone unturned, no angle unsearched. I'm looking for inspiration in places some might call unlikely, innovators when it works. That's why I'm writing to you from a post office down the

street from HopCat in Detroit,

a bar where tonight, a Dan Campbell look alike contest was held.

Wow. It

took a plane, a train, and an automobile, okay, an Uber, to get a firsthand scouting report on the qualities a fan base holds dearest in its beloved head coach. 1 hopeful winner even brought a wheelbarrow with 2 footballs in it on stage as a prop. That's that's the kind of confidence we're looking for in our next head coach. The actual winner, a man named Jeff Randall, brought a play card and a Trenta Starbucks cup. We're looking for that kind of energy.

I have to tell you, I've never been more inspired. After 3 failed attempts over the years, I finally understand.

Wow.

NFL players want a coach who gets them, who can navigate situational margins, who builds a culture in the team building and in the community, who hires a great staff. How crazy is that? I promise you, if you activate my key card again, I'll go find that coach. Please?

Oh, a a holiday card that is begging for a job.

Just a desperate general manager to stop Timo and her owners. Do anything. Any Seriously. GM out there. I was immediately trying to think, like, what GM has gotten that many swings at the apple?

And you know what? 1 that came to mind was Nick Caserio and

Tom Telesco.

He he did kinda get it done right on the 3rd try with the Damico Ryan. So

3rd time's

a charm. Can't have a happy ending.

I wanna thank Colton Patsy, my colleague at The Athletic, because he has this great recap of the Dan Campbell look alike contest, including descriptions of the props that people brought on stage.

I love that 1.

It it just it it seemed like an incredible atmosphere. It's so funny. Big Dan energy.

I love the women that got in the mix here. 1 of them legitimately just is Dan Campbell? Is is it, like, a cardboard cutout? Is it AI? I don't even know.

Like, that that guy right there, I mean, he he

He that's the that's the guy who won. That's Jeff Randall. He won.

There's a lot of people that look like Dan Campbell.

Here's the There are. Here's the thing. There there's no way to recreate Dan Campbell. Like, it is interesting, though, that the Mike Tomlins, the Dan Campbell's kind of the the culture builder. Maybe that's gonna be a little more in style.

Yeah. And I think a lot of these coach of the year candidates that we're talking about have that in spades. They are they have that little extra something in terms of whether it's you you're a quarterback whisperer like Kevin O'Connell or Matt LaFleur or you're a situational master and a culture builder. I think Mike Tomlin and and Dan Campbell both qualify for that. Or you're just you have that culture and that reputation.

This is it's hey. It's back in.

Yeah. You're not just, like, some generic coach that people don't remember. I mean, these are memorable people.

And he he's he's now, you know, kinda go up against a guy this week, Sean McDermott, which who, in another world, would be, like, a a candidate for coach of the year, but no 1 really ever remembers him. I He's

on my list.

I heard the great Chris Long on the Greenlight podcast. I think they were, like, referring to him as a guy that would show up on, like, a sketch for,

McDermott? Like,

this is sort of like an average guy.

Like a composite of him?

He's a composite guy. He's an NPC.

Oh, no.

And that might be part of his problem why he doesn't get a lot of love is he just looks, like, too much like an average guy, but it was really funny and it seemed germane. I've got a card that has some relation to your first card, but we don't plan this ahead of time. No. And that's what makes it exciting. The vibe is very different.

This card is actually from Russell Wilson.

Oh.

And it's to me. Wow. So I just got it. I can open it.

Did Geno Smith's card to you?

Yeah. He can just open it here, and that's really Okay. Exciting to me. To Greg, I I'm really looking forward to this. To Greg, merry Christmas,

man.

G's?

Yeah. You had it all right. Merry Christmas, man, or whatever you guys celebrate in Santa Monica. Rosenthal Christmas on December 14th because your family leaves you for Japan. Weird.

He knew that.

It's all beautiful, though. It's all family. How do I know this? Oh, I've been watching, man.

I've I've

been watching and listening. What? Yeah. I remember the around the NFL podcast you did back in 2021 when you said you'd rather have Mac Jones long term than me. That wasn't even so bad.

That goofy strident bastard almost beat Ja'Marr Chase in the rookie of the year voting that year. Like, I get it. He was younger. Nah. It was the smug way you would bring up this bad take over and over again when I was struggling in Denver and somehow acted like you were on to my downfall ahead of the pack.

We got Mac Jones ruining generations of potential NFL fans in Germany and getting Bailey zapped. Why I throw for 26 touchdowns and 8 interceptions for a coach that can't stand me, and sure. Yeah. You nailed that 1, buddy.

Wow.

It's all love, man. I'm, I'm in a better place now. Good to see you're doing well with the new show. Been digging that see you next Tuesday crew even though, you didn't think I was the best quarterback on my own team? Yeah.

I heard that 1 too. I mean, I get it. Why would 1 of the greatest coaches of all time dare change quarterbacks when they were scoring about 2 offensive touchdowns every game? I mean, he must not know what he's doing either, but Justin's my friend for real. I love this team around me for real.

Forget getting a quarterback island mentioned, what's a guy to do just just to get a little respect in the streets. I married Ciara for God's sakes. Come on now. So when you're watching those Christmas games alone on the couch, Greg, I want you to look up in the sky. That's not Santa Claus.

That's 1 of those sexy deep balls falling from the heavens to blow up 1 of your nay lazy narratives. Win the 7th, Russell Wilson.

Wow. I can't believe he used bastard. Wow.

Yeah.

Just don't picture that.

No. Sheets of paper seems like for that cut.

It was a lot of lot of words, like, overly burnt

for wood. You get those, like, newsletters from people. He's like, this is what's going on.

That's what I

was This is way too much.

3rd day of September, my dog breed.

If you know that Russell Wilson has a catchphrase in Pittsburgh No. And it's win the 7th. And I guess it hasn't really caught on nationally, but he does end some of the interviews and press conferences with win the 7th. Win the 7th Super Bowl for Yeah. Steelers.

I did not know that he was doing catch phrases again.

Got another 1.

I didn't. I thought he'd kinda given up, but,

I wanted him to. At least he has decentered. There's no let's. There's no first name

Yeah.

Reference by himself. There's no it's it is a collective Yeah. That's true.

And he does deserve respect out here in the streets. I mean, he's a guy who you would've thought wouldn't have been able to handle a situation where he essentially was benched for a chunk of the season.

That you wouldn't have been able Yes. Mhmm. Process.

But to be fair, I think that section of the letter, just reading it closely, he did note that really all of us were kind of against going to Russell Wilson at the time when it was Justin Fields. And he is proving

He is correct.

A lot of people wrong. And he's been a good teammate and leader for Justin Fields. I don't think, like, it's it's pretend they really all get along there.

You know what I really appreciated out of this letter from Russell Wilson to you Yeah. Was his graciousness.

Yeah.

Like, it

was because I picked up a little different tone.

It was like a graciousness with 2 g's, about just how just he he forgives you, and he listens to everything you say specifically, Greg, and details it, thoroughly. And and really just even the receipts provided, by Russell to you had some sort of a positive Greg spin on it.

It showed it showed he's a good listener. It just showed he's a he's a strong listener.

I'm a little concerned that he is watching and listening to everything you're doing, and he knows when your family is not gonna be in town. Like, do you have SimpliSafe or Ring or anything like that? It's just a little worrying.

Is he Santa?

Or he's Santa?

Is Russell Wilson real? On the next NFL day. Alright. Colleen, give me give me another card.

Okay. Here we go. Where's my music? Great.

Great. There she is.

Season's greetings to everyone trying to gaslight the eagles into thinking it's 2023. Good tidings, I bring to you and your kin. It's with great pleasure I inform you that everything is totally fine in Philadelphia. In fact, things could not be better this holiday season. There's absolutely no tension or unresolved issues resurfacing.

Nothing to worry about other than warm wishes and Yuletide during this special time of peace and joy. You know, Christmas has always brought the wolves closer together, as in my family.

Including Tim.

Including Tim. Never

Love that, Tim guy.

Never did dysfunctional family dynamics get in the way of what's most important, winning. Winning at gift giving, at decorating, at cookies, but most importantly, winning at games. And that last 1 is true for AJ Brown and Jalen Hurts too. 9 straight wins led them to this special time of year. And it would just be so much more cheerful if you didn't project your own problems onto a team that isn't at all scarred from the results of 2023.

2024 has brought blessings that will carry over into the arms of Saquon Barkley to 2025. This year is not last year. Next year won't be last year either if you're following all of this. May the holiday spirit fill whatever emptiness is in your heart, and may any concerns about the Eagles team chemistry fade away with the hap hap happiest Christmas since Bing Crosby danced with Danny k.

Oh, what a nice note you ended on. And I like that it's everyone trying to gas. It's basically everyone that you have in your address book

I mean

your emails.

So many cards went out. I'm out of cards.

Brandon Graham maybe include on that? Like, is he getting the card? I feel I wonder what the call was like and who made the first call to Brandon Graham and when he realized maybe he stepped into

it a

little bit.

But, you know, he seemed he didn't seem that, I don't know, perturbed or upset or, you know, at a, like, flummoxed by it.

It is interesting. He's he said it so confidently in the moment. It was almost like, hey. We all know about this. Right?

Right. And so what's interesting to me

Flustered was the word I was looking for.

Yeah. But what's interesting to me is, like, veterans, whether they're playing for a team or not currently able to play for the team, they have their methods tried and true. They've got their ways of sorta getting everybody in back into line, back into step with each other.

Mhmm.

If the especially if there are people in the locker room talking to the media about what we could work on, passing. And if there are, you know, some sort if there's an, sort of forced obliviousness from Jalen Hurts, if you if I'm a veteran player and this is just what I would do personally. If I'm a veteran player, I would sort of call call them out and signal to get back into line without so much overtly doing that. You know? Yeah.

That's what I would do.

Privately. I mean, that was what Brandon Graham said in his sort of retraction. It's like, yeah. I just didn't want people calling out anyone in the media.

I think I think it was very it was done with purpose, perhaps.

Yeah. I think so too. And it honestly, I like I like the mess. I like the drama just from the outside. I'm rooting for the Eagles too.

Yeah.

But this is kinda fun, and it makes

It is like

It makes a little sense too.

Isn't it so classic of what we know this regime to be at this point where it's like, everything is going great, guys. Yeah. Like, why why

The vibes are fine. And then also 2 vibes. That's what Sirianni said. Right?

It's like it's like a red flag team in terms of, like, when you like, if you meet someone and, like, everything is so great and it's going so well that I've gotta throw a bomb into this to ruin it. Right? Like, everything's gonna be fine, guys.

Everything's totally fine. There's nothing to worry about.

I just hope Jalen Hurts can meet the moment because there's just a lot on him, and I and I thought about it after he made that 30 yard run last week. You know, 1 of his best plays of the the game where he finished the inside the 10 yard line kinda, you know, jumped over. And right after that play, which was an awesome play, the crowd's going crazy. It was an important moment of the game. It was a great play by him.

He just stood up and walked stone faced back to the huddle, and I was like, man, is this guy having any fun at all?

He's all business.

I get it. Like, he is a very serious dude, but he just seems like he's gripping the ball too tight, which is maybe what AJ Brown is getting at a little bit. It's like it's

all open quite a few times wide open, and AJ did not go to him, or Jaylen did not go to him. Or if he did, it was not a great ball.

Alright. Let's get your next card, Jordan.

This one's a little bit shorter than Greg's.

My next one's even longer. Oh, no.

To this is to the rest of the MVP, the rest in all caps of the MVP candidates from Joe Burrow. Dear Josh, Saquon, Lamar, Jared, and Penay. Penay. Writing to wish you a very warm MVPsons greetings. Am I right?

Oh, no.

Jared, I know you love that 1. Listen. I still consider myself a part of this group. Have you seen my stats? And boys, I know you're pulling for me too.

Mhmm. Even though it's from the warm comforts of your respective teams that haven't royally screwed each of you over during MVP caliber seasons in literally, literally historic fashion. Anyway, this isn't about me, even though I fully expect to take 1 of your spots on many 5 candidate ballots when it comes time to vote.

But it's not

about me. I just wanted to wish you all a very happy holiday, a happy k. Let me try that again. I wanted to wish you all a very happy holiday and a happy post season. Love you, my bros, and you deserve it.

I mean, I deserve it too, so does Jamar, but it's not about me. It's not about me. PS, Penay and Jared, can you send me Ben Johnson's cell phone number?

There we go. I love, Joe Burrow getting on our agenda by putting Penay just even on the list.

I know. Right?

That was fine.

That's fine. That dude gets it.

You never know. May maybe if Burrow went absolutely crazy down the stretch and

he

finished 9 and a

and mentally crazy?

No. I mean, just

here with him.

Just the numbers, maybe they could be so good that he does get it.

They're not mathematically out of here.

Well, that too.

That too. According to Cynthia Freeland, I asked her last night. So, how did the probability move? Yeah. She said it went from, like, 1.3% to what looks like about 5% chance of making the playoffs now.

So hey. I mean, there's a chance.

That's that's real. Now I don't know if that those numbers are, you know, accounting for the fact that it took the cowboys completely botching up, you know, fake putt just to beat Cooper Rush. Like, there was about 58 minutes of concern that reminded you why this Bengals team is where they are, and that's what makes it so frustrating for the show.

They really needed that. And to reiterate, Joe Burrow is 7th in EPA per drop back, 7th in total EPA. 1st in completion attempts completions, completion attempts, yards, touchdowns, and 4th in passer rating. Joe would want me to tell you that.

He he is outstanding. He's, he's a good looking young man. I watched the game yesterday

Greg, you're getting your Stacy stuff.

Younger with some younger generation, like, friends of my daughters of my friends and, all there was a lot of Joe Burrow as hot talk that was between the moms and the and the kids. Just saying. Okay. He's connecting on a level.

Good for him. That's great. He's winning in multiple departments, I guess.

Anything from the dads? Or

They I mean, we we we talked about his outfit quite a bit. I don't know if you thought

that last night. Bring that up because I I'm not even sure how to describe it because it was just like it was a 2 piece matching set. But there

were he was wearing Christmas lights, guys.

Lines all over. Yeah. But and it was almost like was it yarn? Like, kind of looked like yarn it reminded me of? Or or like a house decorated for Christmas with lights?

He was in the spirit, guys. Didn't you hear how much in the spirit he was in his

According to my sources, he ate he ate it. You know? He he looked great.

Yeah.

Well, maybe we could get you in that outfit.

My last card is that would be great. I would not I would not eat. My last card is from Bill Belichick to exactly 29 NFL team owners. Starts out very traditionally. When the magic of Christmas fills the air, I hope you find it everywhere.

I have found anything but over the last few months. After watching the human Detreus on the field and the hackneyed tragicomedies that qualify for game plans in 2024, surely you felt that something integral was missing from this 2024 season. Namely, me. Oh, sure. You could have found me on McAfee or the underdog show coach with Michael Lombardi and Matt Patricia 2 0 or the Manning cast on Monday nights or the breakdown, a show with Peyton Manning that should be football Nirvana, and yet no 1 has told me they watched it.

No 1. Or inside the NFL on the CW, which at 1 point aired opposite the breakdown. Wow. Or in my role with the No. Or in my role with the 33rd team as a strategic adviser, which means I'm potentially advising on the Jets coaching series.

Or let's go a legendary podcast with Jim Gray in which I replaced master orator.

How does he have the time? Brady.

If you caught me on any of those mediums, you will recognize I have not lost my fastball. I've been keeping up with league trends and constructing a plan of attack that makes that story about Mike McCarthy buying a subscription in 2020 look like Harold and the purple crayon.

No. Great hook.

I will return better than ever, but with many of the favorites you came to love. Patricia 2 0, humbled Josh McDaniels, and Dante Scarnecchia if that rascal would just return my calls. Think same old greatest coach of old time, but with a vibey new banner. And yet, I haven't heard from any of you. No 1 responds to my DMs.

I am sending this while flirting as hard as I possibly can with UNC and other college teams just hoping that being wanted makes me look more attractive to the league where my father once played for the Detroit Lions. If you have any concerns that I spoke negatively about your players or organizations on air, Fear not. I only dismiss players from the Jets, Patriots, and Falcons because they wronged me, and you wouldn't wanna wrong me too, would you? From my home to yours, I hope you have a hot happy holiday season and a prosperous new year, preferably with me running your organization, wink emoji.

So a holiday threat. Yeah.

A wink emoji's new. Give him.

Just like he tried to end it a

little softer. Wow.

Yeah. He's he's learning. You know? He could really I mean, with with language like that, he could really connect with the youths. You know?

This guy could really use a break, Bill Belichick. So I hope he does get another job.

I

He doesn't have enough No. Right now.

He doesn't. All of those jobs and the news that came out from our friend, Ollie Connolly and

Insider,

Ollie Connolly.

Let's talk about it right now, outside of this card. Ollie Connolly, who's been on this show 3 or 4 times, including, cohost in London, does an awesome job. 1 1 of the best exes in those guy has been reporting about Bill Belichick. So let's just go over what he reported to. He said in his words that Belichick had agreed to become the UNC next UNC coach, although the UNC side of it was not settled.

Belichick had handled the school a 400 page organizational bible with structure payment plans, staffing choices, and decisions on whether to commit with, UNC. And he's expected to know their decision. Maybe by the time you guys hear this within 24 hours, you know, as of Tuesday morning, he has a a college and pro version of his updated manual, and he shared it with NFL teams and schools. But he made 1 specifically to UNC that touched on every aspect of the program. And, there's already been some pushback at UNC from their group of trustees, because, essentially, Belichick is unsure if the school will meet his demands, and he is unwilling to negotiate at all.

He just says, this is what we're going to do.

He wants what he wants.

And it'll include a GM that does all the the signing of the players and the probably, the recruiting.

And the NIL.

Yeah. All of that, and and that's that's his plan. Pretty amazing.

So Belichick would actually have a GM?

He would have a GM.

Shocking.

That that's not fair. That's not fair. Maybe later in his career, at the very end when he was not running it well. But think of a lot of, good personnel people came from that tree.

But he wants full control over what's happening.

But yes. Scott Pioli was never totally in charge, if that's your point. Nick Kasarian.

Now we veered to another direction. But yeah. So this is this is obviously a huge story. This is significant. Kudos to Ollie, by the way.

We're gonna start referring to him as insider Ollie.

Oh, nice.

When I opened up the the post this morning, I was like, what the hell? Why is Kirk Cousins breaking news?

Yes.

All of a sudden, because they look so similar to me. Wait. Really? I have to Google. They really do.

Yeah. This is it's also significant because it's there's more reporting and shining a light on some of the dysfunction that's been happening and the in fighting among the board of trustees group over at UNC. It's a 13 person board of trustees. And then the athletic director Bubba Cunningham and the chancellor of the school Lee Roberts, they were the ones who ended up dismissing Mac Brown, who, reportedly had the support of the trustees. And now there's infighting over financial Oh, this is so frustrating.

And financial allocations and personnel decisions such as this 1. So it doesn't surprise me that Bill Belichick, through his 400 page, like, manifesto, was like, hey, man. Guys, this is a mess. Like, I want full control over what we're doing. And and the fact that they have he has salary allocations reportedly in in with included within this and set numbers for everybody, set personnel, Steve Belichick would have a role.

Of course, he would.

He would be the next head coach. This whole story to me, the most important thing from it was that Belichick had already sent this to NFL teams that he is ready to go work for UNC because of something I've been saying on this show. He is not confident whatsoever that he is gonna get an NFL job, and he loves football, and he wants to coach. In fact, I would surmise that if he's doing all this, he's guessing he won't have a job in the NFL, and he's got a plan, and he's done a lot of studying on how to make it work at the college level that he would be excited about, and here is his plan. Something tells me he's been working, like, just a, like, a little harder on this plan than, let's say, his let's go appearance with Jim Gray.

It supports my theory that he has been phoning in these media appearances, which has been really disappointing to me.

I've listen. You personalize. Yes. But also For real. I kinda feel like it could be a marketing ploy too.

Like, okay. Look at look at all of the people who want me, NFL. Like, I could be going here. You could lose out on me. Like, people want other people who are wanted by other people.

That was what the card was all about.

Yeah. You

know? He he sorta he sorta got to that. Yeah.

In 20 minutes.

How does he have time to write all of these bibles?

Okay. That's that's what I was getting at. His full time job has been Yeah. Making this bible The

Belichick Bible.

And trying to get jobs while he's got 10 other media jobs here.

I hope he copyrighted the phrase the Belichick Bible because if none of this works out for him, sell that thing, man. Bind it into an actual book and sell it.

That would be a best seller immediately. Yes.

The Bill Walsh book, Finding the Winning Edge, is just that, his sort of bible on football and is 1 of the most, you know, famous and treasured football books of all time. I can guarantee you Bill Belichick has it, and it's up on his thing. And it it'll cost you, like, a $180 on eBay to get it. It's it's out of print, but he he is the next guy to do it. That would be amazing.

Give him a job. I hope UNC gives him the job. Someone gives him the job.

It would be interesting to watch him navigate

again a very modern and rapidly changing college football It's so different.

Landscape, particularly at that school. I'm changing college football landscape, particularly at that school. I'm I'm I cannot, state this enough, how significant and this is, Brendon Marks and Ralph Russo at the athletic. Been reporting on this for several months now. The in fighting and the interpersonal drama that is happening over at UNC, the board with the board of trustees and between them, the athletic director, and the chancellor.

And for to to to throw a figure such as Bill Belichick into the midst of that, and then, oh, also, by the way, trying to be a football school, you know,

it it was They haven't in the past. I saw, a a story that said where they ranked in terms of NIL money, and they were behind, my 2 lane green wave, way low in the ranking. So they are not a team. It's just a They're not an organization or

unit fascinating structure over there.

Well, to your point, I found it really interesting that he was talking to directly to the chancellor and not the athletic director because that's usually how it goes when guys are hired to be a head coach.

And when he when you're going for a job like he is, he might think this is a long shot, actually, that UNC does all this, but he is absolutely prepared to take the job if they are willing to do

all this. Succession plan.

Yeah. Steve Belichick would have

to take over. NFL and MO baby succession.

And they they would be fine with that. Apparently, you're not gonna be able to pull that off, at the NFL. So I want Bill Belichick back in our lives, and I want him happy, and that's coaching football and clearly not doing podcast. Even though I think he coulda had a lot of potential if he actually put the energy that he put into coaching into doing that.

Wouldn't someone please think of Bill Belichick and throw him a w? I mean, my god. Would someone please think of him? It's about time.

On that note, we will take a break, and we'll be back talking about 2 teams that badly need a w, the Rams and the 40 niners. There's a net football. It's a fun 1. Back on NFL daily. If that bell check thing happens, it means we can get our UNC correspondent David Eley more back in the Oh.

Too. Great call.

That would be a lot of fun. He I just know Except

for Ely.

I I just made his day even just saying his name. Like, no 1 no 1 wants clout more than Ely.

He has reason for optimism with the Panthers too. Yeah. Like, love that for him.

The Panthers have the most feel good 3 game losing streak I've ever seen. They really do. It's it's awesome.

Everything's coming up easily.

I wanna talk about this Thursday night football game. Even going into last weekend, we didn't know how important this game would be. If the Niners and Rams had lost to the Bills and Bears respectively, would feel kinda like a dead game. And yet, Jordan, 1 of my favorite rivalries in the entire NFL

So good.

Because of all the history between the 2 coaches, which you've lovingly detailed, on the athletic and, of course

Times hatefully detailed.

With with the play callers. It matters that the winner of this game is gonna feel a little something inside. The Rams will have every reason to believe that they could maybe go make the playoffs and at least get to week 18 with a chance to win the division. And the 40 niners would have just broken the heart of their rival and maybe put themselves back in the mix at 7 and 7. Maybe both teams also coming off their best game that they've played literally all season long.

I know I know the difference in quality of competition was different, but for 40 niners fans, I think it was really exciting for them to win a game convincingly. They literally haven't done that, like, since week 1 against the Jets.

The coaches now are in a place where they have, like, an ominous respect and friendship happening. Right? Although when they play each other, not so much. These teams freaking hate each other, though. Like, there are players in both locker rooms that they freaking hate each other.

And, you know, Aaron Donald, who is retired, will still go come pop up from out of nowhere out of, like, this amazing post career life that he I hope he's taking every victory lap he can, and he'll just say, I hate that team. Like, they'll just be a sound bite somewhere. And, like, that's the thing, is even if the 49er I mean, the 49ers, their window or their their chance is slim. Right? Winning this game would be huge for them.

It would swing things significantly, although they would still have a long road ahead. Both teams have a long road ahead regardless of the outcome. But they will always be up for each other, like, up to play each other, ready to go. It will always be a physical game. It does not matter who is at quarterback, who is at running back.

The 40 niners are gonna be missing probably Isaac Grendo, who's dealing with a foot sprain. It does not matter. This will be a game that both teams get the heck up for because it matters that much to the players in the locker room even regardless of the state.

And the first time they played this year, the Rams stole 1. It's a big reason why they're in position to possibly make the playoffs was that late comeback in a game that San Francisco kinda dominated early.

Shanahan had won 9 straight games against Sean McVay. Regular season. In the regular season. Now Sean McVay has 2 in a row, so he can start his own little streak here. But I think 1 of the most interesting things about this game is the fact that Pukanakua and Cooper Kupp will be playing together for the first time against the 40 niners.

It's never happened before. Wow. So that I think is obviously huge. They're averaging a ridiculous a 150.5 combined receiving yards per game in those 20 games that they have played together since Puka Nacua was drafted. So now the 40 niners have to deal with both of them at the same time for the first time.

Couple of good last week. They used them more vertically. They everything they did last week was awesome and got Rams fans like my daughter and wife thinking, oh, wow. Like, maybe they're gonna do it again. Because when their offense is humming like that, that was as impressive an offensive performance as we've seen all season long.

If they can run the ball on the 40 niners and then be that efficient with the big plays, they don't have that long a road, Jordan. Really, they would gotta win this game, but then you had you're at the Jets, and you finish with 2 division games at home, Cardinals, Seahawks.

They control their own destiny.

And they They really do. It Yeah. They could even afford to probably lose that Cardinals game because Seattle has such a hard schedule and go in with a chance. So it I think it is very fair because they've done it in the past and because their ceiling games are that high to think, man, maybe they are revving it back up again. The offensive line, I gotta tell me what you've seen out of them, and tell me why you think they went empty so often.

So that's what they did very often. That means no running backs in the backfield with Stafford. They did it to great effect when they won the Super Bowl. They weren't doing it nearly as much recently, and they did it way more in that Bills game and kinda caught them, off guard and and very successfully. Do you think they keep doing that?

Yeah. Well, in part, it's because they trust their offensive line a little bit more. It's just gonna be the 3rd game this year that that group, as intended, will be together because of the injuries early in the season. But they also go empty because Matthew Stafford likes to use it to get teams to declare their pressure. So all of the different intricacies that a team could send against you, whether it's extra pressure, standard pressure, the types of, even the types of, like, body language or shifts that you see from a defense when all of a sudden you spread the field out wide into empty.

It gives Matthew Stafford a ton of information, and then he can adjust accordingly. And they also are using different spacing on the field themselves to, maybe get some of the voids downfield that they that the Bills weren't quite expecting. You saw players schemed open a lot this game, and in part, that's

It hasn't been happening quite as much this season, I would

say, as the Bills were supposed to. The receivers aren't necessarily it's not the fastest group in the league. I mean, even Pukanuku, who's an absolute superstar, it's not necessarily they're not gonna, like, wow you early in the route necessarily other than some of these really physical catches. And we know Cooper can he still got some juice left in him and some of that short yardage stuff as well, but overall, it's not the fastest. So so this group declaring different voids on the field by spreading the field out wider, win an empty, and then also you're disguising, some of your passing contours in that way, but you're also getting the defense to tell you what it wants to do to you when you go in empty, which is why Matthew Stafford really likes to use it.

Now this was a Puka Nakuwa, like, Ascension game, in that we've seen

That catch on the sideline Yes. With that body control was in a safe

god mode.

Walker is so correct. Pukanakua does in fact rule. And part of it is he has no, he has no fear or, like, the the biggest thing for him is he loves football, and he does not wanna let anyone down in the in particular Matthew Stafford. Matthew Stafford can put him put it on him in any particular way with the with the catch radius that Puka has, and the trust that these 2 have developed in part because Cooper was injured for so much of last year, has really developed when Puka Naku is healthy and feeling good. He is almost unguardable between the trust that Stafford has in him and the the catch radius that that widens because of that and the the crazy things he'll do to sell out for the ball.

But then, also, because he just he gets open. He's physical. Even when he is contested, even when there's a a a a contact at the catch point, he just wins. He this kid is just a winner. He just is.

I I love him. Like, I do wonder in this game if the the 40 niners defense like, I feel like that game like, no 1 really watched that game live. When I went back to watch it, I was like, wow. This was a great performance by Purdy.

Yeah. He played all.

We're gonna get to the quarterback island element to this in a second, but let's get through sort of what the game talked to. Purdy had 1 of his best games of the season after getting kicked off quarterback island just like Matthew Stafford. He was pressured on 48% of his drop backs against the Bears, which is a really high number, and yet barely had an incompletion. He was throwing with anticipation. He was fantastic.

Kittle is having a great, great season. Yeah.

And he's having an all pro level to for his position. Season.

He

he's at 800 yards. It's it's him or Bowers. Yeah. Those are the top 2 for me. Deebo let let's talk about Deebo for a second.

Deebo had a funny tweet afterwards. I don't know if you saw this. Colleen, What is it? He tweeted out, he's not struggling at all, just not getting the ball.

Oh my god. A receiver that's, like, upset that he's not getting the ball? Is that what's happening here?

It we we we're seeing a a screen cap of it with 4,000,000 views, but you can no longer find it because he has

Just deleted. The views match the amount of times he used the exclamation point.

He's deleted it. He is getting the ball. He's so much less effective as a runner than he's ever been. He's not breaking tackles. He's not the same Devo Samuel.

I I put it, like, when he had an anticipatory throw early in that game that Purdy found him down the field, I was like, oh my god. More of that. I haven't seen Deebo catch a normal receiver, like, pass on the field in so long. And they they do give him the ball 6, 7, 8 times a game, and he's not the same guy as before. So was this uptick, Collin, you think for the 40 niners, like, their defense and their offense playing a perfect game just a blip, or did they go on 1 of their late season runs too?

Because I I wouldn't put it past them. I've just seen them win too much, especially in this matchup that you mentioned. They have totally dominated except for the most important game they ever played against each other, which was the NFC championship. But in the regular season, they've they've had their number, and it's a big test for me, I think, for Stafford and some of the older players like Kupp and some of the offensive line to, like, get it going again just on an on 3 days rest and win again.

I think if 1 of these 2 teams is going to go on a run based on their game last week, it's going to be the Rams. Yeah.

This is

kinda what the Rams do also. I mean, I was thought it was interesting. Last year, they went 7 and 1 after their buy. This year, they're 6 and 2. They both struggled or or both years, they struggled before the buy.

So they're kinda following that up. They were so good on 3rd down. 11 of 15, that was an area that they completely struggled in. I think they were converting 33% of the time. That was 3rd worst in the entire league.

So now that they're healthy, this is the offense that they kind of envisioned and that I thought was going to be the case all year long. So now that they have all the pieces in place, I think it's the perfect time for them to go on a run. And I think that's what we're gonna see.

The thing that keeps slowing me down with them. And they have a massive pile of data from last year about getting hot this time of year and then just going. Right? If they would have won that wild card game against Detroit, no team wanted to face them in the playoffs, and you heard that pretty publicly from people after the fact. Like but I also I sat in New Orleans up in the rafters of the Superdome, and I watched the Sean McVay team with a full cast with healthy receivers, with a healthy Stafford, with a healthy Kyron and Puka and Cooper get shut out in the first half against the New Orleans Saints defense or by the New New Orleans Saints defense.

And, like, to the point where it it just didn't it didn't just look bad, it looked like they were moving backwards comparative to what they were able to do against Buffalo. And so that's where I'm like, alright. 2 2 games in a row, they have not done this yet this season. They've they've beat bad teams, and they've lost to really good ones. Buffalo might have been their breakthrough, and they certainly hope to carry this momentum forward and to ride that wave because but they're they're gonna need more from their defense because Josh Allen

went Thursday is when it starts.

Yes. And but Josh Allen, like, went into, like, god mode, like, omniscient ball playing at that point. But, you know, and you can't do a lot against that if you're a defense and you're reeling from explosive after explosive after explosive that he's compounding against you, But they need more from their defense. They need more from their defense when a quarterback works out of structure. They need more from their defense tackling after the catch.

They need more from their secondary.

So They need more from their young pass rushers, I would say. They got they got run over in that Eagles game. Mhmm. It wasn't really about the pass rushers, but it's about physicality. And in the last 2 weeks, they had a 25% pressure rate, and then they had a 22% pressure rate against Josh Allen, which is really poor.

So is this young group hitting a bit of a wall? We'll see. We don't know if Trent Williams is not practicing on Tuesday, neither is Nick Bosa. That's good news for the Rams, but you're right. The the Rams need to get it going, but, ultimately, it is kind of about Stafford.

And and now we get to the the QB Island of it all because this game will be really interesting for the QB Island discussion.

I'm so mad.

1 of the reasons

set the stage. So mad.

1 of the reasons Oh,

you're gonna let Greg set the stage.

Why Matthew Saff. Not about the QB Island stuff. What are the reasons why

reversal of

he's not out there. Like, all time great players towards the end of their career sometimes, they can get it cranked up for that for a brilliant game, but they can't maybe do it week after week after week. And I I think we've seen that out of Stafford this season that he's had some lulls. And now he's gotta do it on the road on a short rest against his rival. And then if he doesn't play well, Jordan, you can take back all that guilty feeling that you shouldn't have for kicking Stafford off QB out.

Set us up here. You you you've been going through it.

I've been going through it. I've I think I've sent you, like, 30 texts about this. I fret. I'm a freter. I'm a catastrophizer.

It's part of what propels me through the season to get work done because I can never be behind on anything. And in this case, I am fretting and catastrophizing because I tried to be a good teammate on quarterback island after Greg Rosenthal. I'll and, Colleen, you were not here, and you gotta know what happened.

I can't believe I missed this.

Because Greg autonomously decided to shrink the list down to 10, which is fine. That's we we talked about doing that probably late in the season

Okay.

Down to 10. If it was still 12, I had Matthew as my 11. But shrinking down to 10, I wanted to be a good teammate

Mhmm.

And open debate. And because I had so vocally backed Matthew Stafford, even in low times, over the course of year. He's been hard to figure out.

He's had stood by your man.

He's had some highs, and he's had some real crash outs and some some very erratic games. And I thought I'll be a good teammate, and because I was the 1 that fought for him so hard, I will say, okay. Let's talk about pulling him back, and then we can revisit at the end, and we voted and all of that. And it was a triple no vote. We were all on the same accord because, again, there were 10 spots.

What I did not expect to happen late in the game was for Greg to totally just just bastardize the meaning of the riptide card in the mean in the worst way. Just kidding. It was an accident. Greg accidentally, messed up the definition of the riptide card, which is you have to pull somebody off the island, and then you can vote over who can be

I pulled the Colleen.

Instead, he autonomously put Geno on the island with no discussion. He tabled him the entire time, because Steve Steve brought him up as a potential no candidate. Yeah.

I think he was getting booted off, Geno was.

I don't I don't I don't necessarily agree with that, because he's been playing great football. But again, we were down to 10 spots, and it was supposed to come down to to a tongue of eylows who's been statistically extraordinary over the last several weeks, and it was gonna come down to Geno a debate between Geno to, probably Stafford again

Yes.

And Sam Darnold. And instead what happened was Greg made us table the Geno discussion until the very end, then panicking, pulled the folk the fake riptide card that had was not actually the definition of the previously introduced riptide card.

I don't love that he's saying that this is a Colleen move. Well, what it was was Colleen

What it was was I didn't understand the rules in the moment, which is a problem

for the so confident.

The host of the show. No 1 pointed out to me at the time. We heard from a lot of listeners, and what I said to Jordan in on multiple fronts

I've been in I've been in knots.

At the exec as the the executive producer of this segment as as the originator, it just, you know, a little controversy isn't the the worst thing. People are responding that they're very upset

that I

can say that because your guy played great last week, and and the guy that I introduced to vote off played amazing.

Here's where I you're you're conflating things out. In the end, Stafford was not getting on that island. Me using the ripcord or not, Riptide or not, He was he was not getting on it. I was I actually went into the staffer discussion with an open mind. I had a list about 4 or 5 guys, and I thought maybe he's on, maybe he's not.

He was kind of on my borderline. So I I was surprised when you brought him up. But once we went through the conversation, it was clear both Steve and I would have had Right. To a tongue of eylova over Stafford. We did have Sam Darnold over Stafford, and we put him on.

And And from the sound of it, we probably both had g

so in the end, like, the the same thing happened. You made the right decision in the moment. Sliding.

And you

This is gaslighting. This is what dictatorships do when they don't give you a vote. You should've we should've had the opportunity to discuss and vote because if we're really gonna talk there was really and all of the deleted footage on Facebook was that that was not in the show. If people could just hear all the footage that didn't make it in the show about how you thought there was less spots than for action.

Well, that was just losing track of

what happened. We would've had we would've had

So could be No. No.

We would've had kind of a Colleen move. Yeah.

We would've had 1 spot to bait between, and I and I'm serious. I went back because I'm I've been in knots over this. So I went back and I looked and I listened, and I went back and I did the scouting report and all of that, and I took notes because I'm a psychopath. And

You're giving that

away. I know. I'm, like, literally giving.

I was gonna ask you if you have any hobbies.

Here's the thing, though. Here's the thing.

This is my hobby.

Here's the thing. The the QB Island, the projection the the QB Island placement Mhmm. Is not a projection. It's not a look ahead to see what you're gonna do. We could have done that.

You could make it whatever you wanted. That's what I heard the last time. Certainly not.

You could.

Well, no. Greg can

make it whatever Greg wants.

The rules are fluid.

It's about what you've done, and Purdy got booted off. Yeah. Purdy, I thought, had maybe his best game of the season last week Yeah. Just because it wasn't against the Bills, in the national window. It didn't get any attention to.

So he responded to the challenge that we gave him. Stafford did as well, and it was the right decision at the time, and we could have done I'm just trying to ease your guilty conscience because I know there's a lot of Rams fans that are, like, you kick Stafford off, and now look what he's done.

My conscience have been insane.

We could have done that.

Oh my god.

We could

have done the version of that show 10 different ways, and Stafford ultimately was never getting on because I think we were all in agreement that he was probably about 12. Tudo was ahead of him, Darnell was at him. Gino probably would have been ahead of him, but it didn't matter. He was not getting on no matter what, no matter when you brought him up. So don't put it all on Jordan is what I'm saying.

Well, thank you.

It wouldn't have happened.

Thank you, Greg. And now I feel calmer. But, I will say the thing that should have happened is we should have been allowed to debate over the final opening between Gino and Stafford, although he was getting on Gino to, Sam Darnold and Matthew Stafford.

Reality of television, a little controversy is good. Yeah. Well, finger on the table.

You know what's great is the motivational tool that this clearly clearly provided to people who do not listen to the show. In that Brock Party and Matthew Stafford, to your point, Greg had incredible

I wouldn't I wouldn't assume that. Kelly Stafford, she's she's got ears everywhere. Who knows? Yeah.

She does. I don't know, guys.

How about that sleep number ad too? I like that. That that's all

I'm saying. Sleep number in general, but, I mean, in terms of this whole discussion that you guys are having, can't go back. Only can go forward. Yes. So, hopefully, there's debate in the next 1.

Thank you, Colleen, for wrapping

up so closely. So that's what happened last week. Oh, wow.

I've been losing sleep as well, Jordan, over

it. I Thank you. I guess I'm gonna pick the Rams, but I don't believe it. I'm just gonna I I my head actually says 40 niners, but because I wanna be on the side of my family, you know, I want them to be happy. Ultimately, I I I'm gonna just pick them, because I don't actually know what's gonna happen, little known fact.

So it doesn't matter who I pick. Might as well pick the what I'm rooting for. That's fine.

I mean, who do you actually think is gonna win?

Some something in my head just says, actually, the the way seasons go, like, the 40 niners are gonna are gonna ruin this, like, idea of a late season run by the Rams. Something says that.

I think you gotta go with it, though.

And then neither 1 of them, you know, ends up making the playoffs, and it's just annoying. I just don't want that to happen. So I'm gonna put

that Rams are gonna win.

Okay. Good.

It is gonna be raining. Looks like looks like it'll be raining. Obviously, outdoor stadium, the Rams don't have a ton of experience playing, outside in elements, being a California slash covered team, although that sideways lightning for that chargers game was a bit crazy. That 1

0, that was nice. Years ago. Yeah.

If the Rams can be this team that they showed against the Bills, like, they they really they let it all hang out. Right? And so if they do that again, I think I don't think anybody will have an easy time beating them. I'm gonna pick the Rams, to settle my mentions down and my DMs and my tags on social media sites that I don't even use anymore. Like

Check us out on blue sky.

Gonna come every time.

For a while.

Like a brewski. Yeah.

I then realized it's blue sky.

Yeah. Definitely not blue sky. The 40 niners are favored by 2a half. I feel

Home game in the elements. I get that.

I feel better about just taking the points with the Rams than I would about picking either team because it is truly a coin flip to me.

A real toss-up.

That is it for this show. I'm looking forward to we got a special extra show dropping into the feed later this week.

Oh, shoot.

Colleen Wolf is gonna be a part of it. My friend, Anthony Jeselnik, with whom I do the Jeselnik and Rosenthal vanity project, JRVP, and also has a new Netflix special out. We're gonna sit down with him and just have a little extra, show, and that'll drop into your feed later

in the week. Time.

Keep it keep an eye on that. The next time you'll hear us, though, will be our preview show. That's gonna be with my good friend, Patrick Claiborne, and special in studio guest, Campbell. Whoo. I'm a fan.

I love that.

Look. When a fictional Russ Wilson or is he fictional, is ready a card to me? You know football is back.