The Doug Gottlieb ShowOn a Wednesday edition of The Best Of The Doug Gottlieb Show: Doug is not buying the notion that the Cowboys will draft Shedeur Sanders after hiring Coach Prime to be their head coach, and he explains why.
On this version of "The Midway", Doug and the crew share what their most intriguing storyline in the college football season moving forward.
Doug welcomes former pro-bowl defensive back and current NFL Analyst Donte Whitner onto the show to talk about Coach Prime, the 49ers and all of the other major headlines around the NFL.
Thanks for listening to the best of the Doug Gottlieb Show podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weekday three to five Eastern twelve two Pacific on Fox Sports Radio. Find your local station for the Doug Gottlieb Show at boxsports Radio dot com, or stream us live every day on the iHeartRadio app by searching FSR Booming Up America. Doug Gottlieb Show, Fox Sports Radio coming to you from the tyrag dot com studios tyraq dot com. What you get there, unmatched selection, fast free shipping, free road has protection over ten thousand recommended sallars tyrat dot com.
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I got some thoughts for you on the whining and the manipulating of the media as Indiana gets ready to take on the Big ten. I give that to you coming up, But I do want to start with the story of the day. I know you guys want to start with the fact that my Green Bay Phoenix got our first home win last night, But I think the Dion Sanders story is the story of the day because it's really really interesting, really interesting. All coaches are tied to their quarterback, Okay, all coaches are tied to their quarterback and this idea, which Michael Irvin has spread, Colin Cowhert now has echoed others have talked about, which is the Dallas Cowboys are very likely to make a coaching change or so we're total though Jerry Jones says like he's still on board with Mike McCarthy and in reality, like Mike McCarthy up until this year, has been outstanding as the Cowboys head coach.
But as I told you yesterday, you just.
Signed Dak Prescott to a new contract which goes live next year. You're on the hook for roughly one hundred and thirty million dollars guaranteed over the next three years. Do I think you could trade him with a no trade clause?
Maybe?
Maybe, But we're told Dak Prescott is the culture center for the Cowboys and instead it would be Dion. Now, his son's not the number one overall prospect. He may be the first quarterback taken. This isn't a strong quarterback class. But that's not even what holds you back. Forget that Dion has said he doesn't want to be an NFL head coach. I mean again, I'm in the profession. I know most people in the profession don't say what they really think because what's the win in it. You still run into the issue of Dion being about Dion, and in the NFL it has to be about the players, not about the head coach. But having a head coach whose son is the quarterback, and if we're honest, even the way in which he's handled him in college, I don't believe anybody thinks that would actually work. Now, I'm not saying never, it won't happen because Jerry Jones is just like the just like the.
You know, Mike Tyson syndrome.
Right, There's nothing about a story about Mike Tyson you wouldn't believe to be true. There's nothing that you wouldn't think Jerry Jones would do to try and win a super Bowl. But the idea that Jerry Jones would, who wants to win Super Bowl before he dies, go and change quarterbacks when he's been all in on Dak Prescott seems hard to believe.
Additionally, it's a rookie.
Seems hard to believe he's not the number one prospect. It would seem like a bit of a reach. Then to hire the first coach whose son is the quarterback seems hard to believe, but it is Jerry, so the Tyson zone not Tyson zero. The Tyson zone does take into effect with Jerry Jones zone. Is there's no thing that you would think Jerry Jones would do to win a Super Bowl that he won't try. And for us in the media, it'd be great. But do people understand how hard it is to recruit to daddy ball, coach daddy ball, play daddy ball at the college level, let alone in the NFL, Because if we're honest with ourselves, Dion hasn't been great at critics towards his son, and the most of the criticism towards the son since he's risen to the FBS level has been towards the showman, the you know, the the watch thing, the trash talking, all that other stuff, Like I just in terms of percentage of chances that it would be an abject disaster, as well as the idea that I don't understand how anybody thinks that would it would work to just give away Dak Prescott for pennies on the dollar and somebody's going to absorb a massive, massive cap hit for a good not great quarterback. But the whole sale to Dak Prescott is he's a cowboy.
He's our leader. So what are we going to do?
He can't have draft schaedor have Dianna as the head coach and have Dak as your quarterback.
That doesn't work.
Trading him when that's when the money actually hits the salary cap, that does didn't really work. And even if it did, he gets to dictate terms on where he goes and that drives down his overall value. And then even if you.
Did pull it off.
Wait, wait, if you did pull it off, you're gonna have Dion Sanders coach his son in the NFL. Good luck, here's coach prime. When asked about the speculation he'd be a candidate to be a head coach in the NFL next season.
I'm happy where I am, man, I'm good. I got a kickstand down. You know what a kickstand is a lot of people don't. In there and not out of age, you don't know what a kickstand is. I mean, I'm resting. I'm good, I'm happy, I'm excited. I'm enthusiastic about where I am. I love it here, I truly do. Next question, Yeah.
That's an un answer answer, which is okay, Well, there's no win in saying I coached the NFL.
I wouldn't.
Maybe Jacksonville, I don't know. The problem is they have Trevor Lawrence under contract, and Trevor Lawrence was a higher rated prospect as NFL has playoff experience. Same thing with Dak Prescott. Like I just those don't seem to be teams that would sacrifice what they built with their quarterbacks, even if the Cowboys are in scrap it and start over.
Right.
It's one of those things that it sounds really good, it sounds.
Really sexy, but the execution of it that's a lot harder. That's a lot harder. It's a lot harder. Let me transition to something. Last night, we.
Got our first home win as we played in what's called the Rest Center. The Rest Center is right across the street from lambeau Field. It's a ten thousand seed arena. It's really really cool, so you feel like it's got a chance to be a big time basketball And we played Southern Illinois University Edwardsville SIUE or as Dan Beyer said, and they're actually a really good team.
They came in at four and two.
They're picked to win the Ohio Valley Conference and we end up winning by twenty five points. Now get to three things that I have known or learned or whatever that I would share that you don't know learn in one second. First, let me give a little love my guy. Foster Wonders a gigantic three. We were up nine at the end of the first half. Gave up a three on an inbounds play.
At the end of the half. I was livid.
Come out and our team is just flat. Three bad plays on offense, give up three layups on defense. I call a timeout not safe for work language. And we started to figure it out. When Foster hit this three.
There's Roy.
To reading her to Wonders for three. There it is Foster Wonders with his second May three. He's got ten right now.
You heard Roy.
Of course, that's my star player, Anthony Roy. I didn't think he played terribly well, but he still had thirty four, five rebounds, four assists, and he was much more patient the second half.
Premail reset, bounce past to Roy. He's got Dylan on him, Roy right hand.
That time thirty three for Roy. Here's the final call of the game.
Coach Doug Gottlie and getting his first home victory for the Green Bay Phoenix eighty two fifty seven.
So here's the thing. Obviously, I feel great. We win a game, we were tied at one point in the second half, we end up winting.
By twenty five. How could you not feel good?
And we'll get to a little later on the show. We'll talk about Indiana and who they played and how they played them. But if I'm terribly honest, and that's what I try and do on a daily basis, I've done so before I was a head coach, why can't and I still be honest? It was a bit of an unfair fight, right. SIU Edwardsville played their fourth game in seven days. They played three games this weekend. I think it was Thursday, Friday, Saturday, we're home Sunday, traveled up here Monday, and then played US on Tuesday. That's four and seven days. That's a lot of basketball games. That's a lot of travel. And though they won all three this past weekend, I think those three games more so than US really did them in there. They have they're a better team than they played, and you look at the fall off, it was about the thirty minute mark, you know, last ten minutes a game.
They just had no juice at all.
So the first thing is that when we look at raw schedules or we look at data at the end of seasons, there's context that is missing across the board. The second part is I've never been big. I know how you practice is how you play, and generally that's true. But when I say we had horrendous practices in the day before and the day of, I'm under selling it. Like Anthony Roy, who had thirty four, was just he couldn't figure it out, and he kept trying to. I kept taking him out of drills to rest him, and he kept trying to get in to fix it, and it kept getting worse. It was like I said, did you touch the space jam basketball?
Is that what happened?
So as much as we want to say how you practice is how you play, we weren't very good at practice and we ended up winning by twenty five. And the last thing is I'm I'm doing this thing that we used to do in the Big Twelve Tournament when I was at Oklahoma State, and you'd get there and I think two of the years we played on maybe even all three of you played in the first day of the tournament or the not the we didn't get to buy. And I remember it was actually my junior year where we had to play four and four days and the first day we probably had one hundred fans, The second day we had three hundred and four hundred fans, the third day we had a thousand fans. In the championship game, we end up having like nine ten thousand fans or now maybe not even maybe five thousand fans, And I may be off with my numbers or whatever. The point is, as we're getting ready for introductions, Jordan mccabs one of my assistants. He's from Kocannall, which is close to here, and I said, let's let's take a snapshot in our brains of how many people are here now, and let's watch it grow as we play.
More and more home games. So it's really cool. It's really cool.
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Download type in Doug outleib and you get it and get the bonus hour as well. Oh well, is it November twentieth already? I just every time I think of that, I look at the date, I think of you, Chase two. Yeah, I do. I think of you because soon enough we're going to be to Thanksgiving. Is it December already?
I mean next year is right around the corner. Yeah, It's crazy how time flies.
Yeah.
And of course the old joke of I just got used to write in twenty twenty four of my checks goes away because nobody actually writes checks anymore.
I do actually write checks.
My mind still write checks.
My mom and dad used to write checks to Vaughn's for cash and get my dad did.
The same thing.
Checks to Vaughan's for cash. Bit of a flawed system there, but somehow they stop that.
If we still do that, we just get it right out of the checking count for you via your debit card.
If you want to stay writing it. Check is good.
Yeah, it's good, it's good. I'm good for this.
Yeah. But listen, my dad used to have he's my uh.
Ten years ago he passed. But before that, like dude, three different times he drove off from this one. He only went to one gas station in Orange, California. There's a mobile station. What is that the corner of I think it's like the corner of like Paulmira and Chapman Avenue. And he always went to the same mobile station. And three times he drove off with the hose still in in the the nozzle still in the gas thing and busted it three times. But before that, you know, he would this is back. That's that was an old station that I think is Dan's exon. And you know, he just go in, pull in, put the gas in. And for a long time there were several times where he forgot to pay for the gas because he used to be able to pump gas before he paid for it. Then got to the point to where there are times in which he went and paid for it and then drove off without pumping and a gas.
In there a bit of an appts in mind. The professor.
All right, enough about talking about old days. Let's uh, let's get to the midway.
He's not getting the middle. It's time for.
The midway, all right, Jay, Stu or Dan, But I think this more of a Dan Byer. You love this because you and I much more into with college football. What's the topic djure for the midway?
It's a Jason Stewart idea. But yeah, you know me, I love college football, so I'm totally down.
Thank you, Dan. I'll take it from here. I just want to know, like, from right now, moving forward, what is the most intriguing storyline to you? What are you looking forward to seeing play out the most of the four of us, I'm the most casual college football guy, so I'm gonna just get mine out of the way and then I'm gonna listen to you guys geek out for the next seventeen minutes about college football. I'm interested in this Army Notre Dame game coming up. You know, if Notre Dame wins and their fourteen point favorites, they could be classified as unpatriotic. How could you not allow Army to go undefeated. It's the one hundredth anniversary of the Four Horsemen game, as pointed out by Pat Forty. I get all my college football content from Pat forty one hundredth anniversary of the Four Horsemen game. How could Notre Dame in good conscience beat Army in an election year? So I will definitely call them on patriotic if they do so. I'm rooting for Army.
In this game.
That was I did not see that one coming me either.
I'm glad. I'm glad it did though.
Yeah, Okay, what do you got there?
Dan barr Well, What has been intriguing to me through this process of the reveal is what we've seen with the first round games. The buys are whatever, and the buys are going to be in bowls, and whoever wins the Big Ten is going to end up playing in the Rose Bowl against the winner of whatever game. But each week we have these matchups for ten matchups right now, but at some point they will become real that are so salivating that you need a gallon of water to just wash down the great taste of these matchups. Look at this, Because of BYU's loss this past weekend to Kansas, they've fallen out of the automatic buy because they aren't the highest ranked conference winner of the five, they are actually fifth. The four highest rated conference winners get buys, So BYU would be at Ohio State, Alabama would be at Notre Dame, Georgia at Penn State, in ole Miss at Indiana, And I know there was some talk about maybe moving these games. Maybe Ohio State would move a game to Indianapolis. I don't know if that's possible, But those four games on what would be home sites for the first round, Two.
In the state of Indiana, one in Ohio. That'd be amazing.
I'd be crazy. Heck, and next door to Ohio's Pennsylvania where Penn State is. But you would have Alabama, Georgia, and Ole Miss all going on the road facing these cold weather teams in December, and that to me is what.
I don't know how the bracket's gonna play out.
I have no idea, So I am so focused on those four matchups and seeing those every week as a whole is what is really what does it for me? Last night, I loved seeing these matchups and they've been great every single week.
I love it too.
It's never gonna happen right Ohio State in Indiana are not going to be you know, whoever wins this weekend, buses this weekend gonna be in bad shape. Indiana wins, there're a lot to be in Ohio state and now all of a sudden, I think they get in. But like last seed type of type of deal.
But it also doesn't mean if if Indiana were to lose them going on the road.
You know, that's not the point though. The point is.
The point is these matchups that we've got, like these, yeah, they are more than awesome. I mean Alabama Notre Dame, you know, like I think that cryer was like Georgia Notre Dame. I mean it's We're gonna get four unbelievable, great first round games, and I think that that's what is so awesome about this bracket.
I would agree with that, Dan, on your on your point there, I am curious just because, like you brought up, how these Southern teams go on the road and play. How will they fare playing in cold weather in the winter. We've never done this before. We've done it in the FCS. But you know, the SEC teams they don't really like leaving their neck of the woods. They like they like having a neutral site game in the South. They like having other teams come to their home stadiums. But now you're really gonna have to see you know, a George like you know, I had the picture just right in a Georgia at Penn State. You know that just kind of I'd love it Alabama had another Dame. It blows your mind.
And to go along with that if it was flipped, I know, like the cold weather is, but it still would be like, oh, Penn State's at Georgia. Yes, please sign me up. I want to see that game. When Alabama went and played at Wisconsin this year, Alabama ended up you know, boat racing them, I mean, but it was neat to see Alabama on the road at a Big ten school.
Definitely, I completely agree with what you're getting at Dan, which is like these are matchups we can only dream of having this. We having playoffs, and there's gonna be some good ones.
But I would also caution people.
Like snapshot of now know there's you know, Water's gonna find its level some I still think how many SEC teams like five right?
Five?
Feels about the five is gonna happen? Who are those five teams? And then how they're how they're spaced out? Uh, you know, the most intriguing storyline is going to be Indiana, assuming they lose this weekend.
How do we view them?
And I just I saw we're all just kidding ourselves, like there it's a great story. But they haven't been anybody that anybody thinks is any good.
They just haven't. They haven't played anybody in the Big ten that's any good. Not one.
Have they been one team that's about five hundred and the Big Ten that's crazy, like what are we doing? And the Big ten's not a great conference even Big ten people.
There's a lot of like five and five teams that are desperate to get to a bullet.
And look, I'm a Big twelve guy. I'll tell you the Big twelve is not any good either.
But okay, now let me let me let me give you this, Doug.
What is the all the players the SEC, Ohio State, Oregon, they have all the players.
It's not a fair fight. Okay, it's just not Sorry, go ahead, Well I.
Was gonna say so, I've seen now Boise State getting a first round by over the Big twelve champs.
You saw that where the bracket they do?
Yeah, so boys, and I don't get so tell me why it because of the three point Oregon. I love Boise they have a really great tailback and ash and genty and but they're beaten up there.
Anybody one second.
Does anybody think for one second that they would win the Big twelve?
I don't And.
Yeah they could, no, butild it that way.
I don't deserve a bye. I don't know about that.
Right, Okay, So you're saying they're better than the Big twelve champ not. Look what are we doing? Like again, it's totally fine if you want to include Boise State, great, they're the twelfth team. Fine, okay with that, put them on the road again. Some of it, like give them a home buy. What are we doing? It's just bordersigne ridiculous, like we get and this is in many ways, it's a lot. It's very it's like we have to please these people and be now we don't. You're including them in the playoff. They're not as good. Can they win one game?
Sure?
Can they win three? Zero chants? Not a single possible chance. Football is different than even basketball. It just is you're like, well, the NCAA tournament, these teams can I got it?
Okay? And maybe for one game? For one game.
Boysey State could beat an Oklahoma team in the Fiesta Bowl, they couldn't have turned around the next week and beaten Texas the next week or whomever.
They just couldn't. They're not built for that.
It's a sport of attrition, and there's gonna be a ton of attrition in this. That's why people don't want to play in these conference championship games because now you had an extra game. If you lose, now, if you get to the playoffs, now you got to play three more games.
Like you're just roster is gonna be decimated. If you're not in.
The SEC where you would load it up with talent, you shot, you gotta shot now.
I think that we should caution and say that there's a lot of football to be played. In the likelihood of a Big twelve champion leaping Boise State, for that buy is in all likelihood, I think a real possibility. Boise State doesn't have enough on their resume to probably improve where they are where if you are BYU, if you are Colorado one of those schools, you will have an opportunity to improve your resume, which would put you higher in the rankings. But Doug, you mentioned it. I think it was yesterday or maybe it was even earlier today when you mentioned remember when USF was like second in the rankings.
Yes, that's where we are.
Maybe maybe we're.
A little bit further down the road than when USF was there, But this is the point you're going to say five years I can remember that point when Boise State had a buy at one point in this playoff. That's what we're going to think of, and that's what we're going to remember. And maybe it's the same case with Indiana. Indiana right now is enjoying this ride, and I think that that people like Doug always think of the end process with this, where Indiana's. I mean, it's the journey, right, it's not the destination. So even if if Indiana gets left out of the playoff that I think that would stink for them. But their season has been quite the wild ride so far, so kudos to them. Like there's a lot to be excited about with ten and zero, but I would caution in just saying that, yeah, the SEC is better, so they should get more teams they basically do.
I mean, the ACC and the Big.
Twelve only have one representative, so it's between the SEC and the Big Ten. And yeah, it's a little bit more difficult to split hairs between those two than any of the other two conferences.
Right, fair, it's not about But to me, it's not about entrance into it. And I know that boys to beat Oregon at home, and I understand that Oregon's had two games where they survived Frompoyse at home.
Ohio stayed at home.
I'd say the challenge is that, again, the attrition of the season in these big, big boy conferences, especially when you play the top teams in the big Boy conferences, it's just different, all right.
I want everybody here to pick an SEC team that they think can win it all, because we got a lot of candidates. Who do you who do you like if the SEC goes on to win it all? Who do you like doing doing so well? I like Carson Beck I think more than others like. I think it's there.
I know he hasn't been great, but I do think that there is something there with him.
I agree. I mean, I would say Georgia one, Alabama two, those are the I see.
I'm going to exclude Old miss and Georgia because of what happened when they played Kentucky. Kentucky went on the road upset Ole Miss and they were a point shy of upsetting Georgia.
And wait, they lost at Georgia, and you're gonna hold it against Georgia.
They yes, they Georgia should have gone there. One in six Kentucky is one. If you don't If you don't like CC.
I got it. If you don't like Laws, I got it. If you don't like them, who do you like it?
I like Texas and I know that Georgia went on the road and beat Texas the whole wild bottle tossing thing. Yeah, badly, But I think that they have a great quarterback. And I think the Texas Longhorns are the team to beat.
Okay, well, well they are.
I mean right now they are the top. Yeah, but I think they will go. They're the team that I would pick to go and run. If ANESSEC team does it, they're going to do it.
We're doing college football storylines Doug otlib Show here on Fox Sports Trading. By the way, uh lolo who asked me why I say my name during an interview and that.
It's Fox for that's called a reset. That's actually excellent Formatic radio just you know, Lolo, appreciate you listening.
Before we before we conclude this midway isn't an interesting How little anybody cares about the Heisman Trophy. It feels like it feels like a two team, two guy race, right, Travis Hunter cam Ward is missing? Anybody maybe genty, maybe the kid from Boise State.
Those are the three.
Yeah, that's good.
That's a good three, you know, But gosh, it's it's an award that just it's not the same level of discussion anymore, not the same anybody.
Else, anybody else, any else they want to get in. Okay, I know we got what happens at Florida State. That's a big storyline of me.
One last point.
Yeah, Northern Illinois lost to Miami Ohio last night twenty to nine, to slip to six and five and three and four in the mac Notre Dame. Fans have to be scratching their head and be like, how did that happen? How did we lose at home to a Northern Illinois team that is not particularly special this year.
It's just got to be a head scratcher.
No, man, it's just what do you think? They just beat A and M on the road, they come back home, they see Northern Illinois. Oh yeah, seriously, and as Northern Illinois Super Bowl.
Yeah, at least you got that win over Notre Dame.
Man, That's that's baseball, and that's the Midway, the Midway.
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So so here.
Here's the thing, okay, and I understand that, okay, if you do the pros and cons thing to the di'ondial, right, did win at Jackson State? In fairness, like, if we're being honest, just like I was honest with you about my team last night and our victory, it doesn't take away from me from what we were able to do. I'm just you know, I'm just keeping it real, yo, And I'm just keeping it real. And in an effort to keep it real, I mean, look, if we were tired and we played what was that we played Thursday and Saturday. It's two and so we played three in I guess in six days. So our guys were little gasked. But four and seven days and all on the road, what's a lot.
I'm tired.
That's a lot, Okay, especially for college kids, So it's hard. If we're honest, it wasn't a fair fight. When he's at Jackson State night. Chador was a three or four star recruit at the you know, so he's a I mean, he's basically a pro playing against kids, and then they had Travis Hunter. Now, look, that's how you win, don't get me wrong, better players than your level. It's what we'd love to do here. But again, if we're honest, wasn't a fair fight. And I actually think that Colorado wall better this year. The reality is they're playing in a league that's not great, right, not great. I'm not gonna hold the Nebraska game against them, but let's be honest. They were completely outclassed by Nebraska, and Nebraska is middle to bottom of the Big Ten, right, So but again, they're winning a bunch of games. They may well play in the College t Ball Playoff, and Schador is really good and Travis Hunter is amazing. But just in terms of execution, if we get past the point that they just signed Dak Prescott and he's been their guy and he's been and I would have allowed Dak Prescott to.
Walk regardless of which.
But they're locked into this long term deal with Dak and he's supposed to be the culture center. So you're completely starting over with a rookie quarterback and you're hoping that you can line up a team he wants to play for, with a team that will actually trade for him. They want him back, they want him as well. And even if that happens and you can clear that that salary to whatever level, then you have to execute having a head coach have his son as a quarterback. And what that does is it makes us so the locker room is no longer truly.
A safe space. That's the reality.
Like it's really really hard because you can't talk about your coach around your quarterback. And then if you talk about your quarterback when he's not around and it gets to the coach, you're dead there too. And let's just also be honest, Shador, I'm sure his guys at Colorado like him. I don't know, Like it's not like he's been the most warm and fuzzy guy. Not everybody will like how he purports himself and believe it or not, that's actually really important in the NFL. So chances of it happening not great, great at all. And if it would happen, chances of success are not great, not great at all.
You know, here's what I'll do.
How about we ask somebody who's actually been in an NFL locker room, actually been a pro bowler, covers the Nation Football League and find out what he thinks. Dante Whitner joins his former Pro Bowl defensive back Bill's Niners. Of course, he covers the Niners on a daily basis up in northern California. He joins us on the Dougatlieb Show on Fox Sports Radio.
Is there a way? Again?
They would have to move back with a brand new contract, a lot of other things, But is there a Do you think it works in the NFL to have a coach have his son as quarterback?
Absolutely, nobody's going to hold you to a higher standard than your father, and you have to think about what should do and the alon standers have an endure together. And you know, being a professional athlete, I know what it takes. Even as a kid, we're going to practice going to school, going to a personal trainer, having a special coach, and you have to know that shauduor you know, he's been doing it for a long time and Dion put a lot into his son to make sure that he had the ability to play at a high level. And now that he's doing it and all of his dreams are coming to fruition. And we've seen what Dion Sanders is doing with the turnaround at Colorado. It doesn't matter what you think about him personally, it doesn't matter what you think about the antics. It's about the results, and he's winning. His son is playing at a high level, a Heisman level. I think absolutely.
Stuck Gottlieb Show here on Fox Sports Radio. Dante Whitner is joining us. Let's get closer to home. What's your perception. I mean, obviously you don't have a youth. They've done dealt through a bunch of injuries, but most of that has, at least on the surface, gone away.
Right.
They still you have Christian McCaffrey back, you do have Deebo Samuel.
What's going on with the Niners? Why are they not better or.
They're not playing up to their championship standard? And when I say championship standard that's all eleven on offense, defense, and special teams consistently doing their job at a high level, and they have players play at a high level this year Juwan Jennings kidto at times, Deebo Samuel at times, but not all collectively. When the forty nine ers are operating at their highest level, there's multiple times in the game where they go five, six to ten plays where the ball doesn't touch the ground, where they don't have a negative run, where they don't have a penalty on offense, and they just haven't had that consistency on offense this year. And then on defense, I think you would have to you know, a lot of people would have to agree with me that the forty nine ers don't have the personnelity we're a customed to seeing them have. Usually they're loaded on the front floor, they can true depend on those guys to get home and create pressure and then allow the secondary in the back seventh to just play a lot of basic coverage and tackle. Well, they don't have that this year. And they have a new defensive coordinator who at times I feel like has been out coached with just some of the simple things. But all in all, when you look at the remaining schedule for the forty nine ers, I think that more than half of those games they will be favored. And you know, maybe this is what they need. A team that you know, won a lot of games over the past few years, they need, you know, a little you know, kick in the backside and a little bit of negativity in the media to really wake this team up.
Tottee Winner is our guest here on the Doug Gottlieb Show on Fox Sports Radio. Okay, what's your what's your takeaway from the Bengals?
I mean, you have you have.
I think he's the best wide receiver in the sport. I think I think you could make an argument he's one of the best to ever do it in Jamar Chase like, he's amazing. Joe Burrow is playing in a high level. But they keep losing, keep losing close games. What are your thoughts on what who's to blame for the Bengals.
I think everybody has to carry the blame. And I think what we're seeing what the Bengals is, even though you have the flash and explosive plays in the passing yardage, that's really not what wins football games. What wins football games is a physical dominance within the trenches, controlling the football, getting turnovers that correlate directly with winning, and then situational football, red zone, third down. All of those different things equate to winning. And though Joe Burrow is you know, throwing for you know, phenomenally amount of yards, it's not really equating to winning. So until they fix the other problems on their team with you know, some of the things in the secondary, you know, I don't know if they're going to be able to turn it around this year.
Steug Gottlieb show here on Fox Sports Radio Dante Hittner. Whittner is our guest. Of course, he covers the Nation Football League. He was a star in the Nation Football League. You spend a lot of time in Buffalo. What is your thoughts on how I know they haven't done the playoffs? Okay, so there's always gonna be people who are fans are like, ad doesn't matter, didn't beat the Chiefs in the playoffs. You've lived the life of an NFL player. Was it important in terms of psyche that they beat the Kansay Chiefs in the regular season?
It was very important in terms of psyche, and that sort of the same way about the forty nine Ers and the Kansas City Chiefs. They can't get over the hump. But each level of football, it requires a different level of focus and a different level of execution and critical moments. And the regular season is different from the playoffs. The playoffs are different from the championship games. Being ship is different from the Super Bowl. So I wouldn't crown the Buffalo Bills yet until they go through a high pressure situation being a favorite at home and they actually beat the Kansas City Chiefs in a game that means something to move on to the super Bowl. I think it's just a great regular season.
Now.
They're playing phenomenally. They're not turned the ball over. Josh Allen looks like he has a great handle on what they're asking him to do, and they always fly around defense. But I'm not I'm not ready to crown them just yet.
I wouldn't you want to crown them? Crown you want to crown them? Crown them?
Stug out the show here on Fox Sports Radio. Uh Chargers, this is some transition year. Transition year, right, not great Outside the numbers, UH defenses, they're you know, they're putting together even though the pieces weren't necessarily built for this style of defense. They are playing a fourth play schedule, but they're being successful on that fourth place schedule. They're looking like a playoff team and they have Justin Herbert playing effish and football. Would you buy into them having success in the playoffs?
Absolutely. I went on k Adams Show before the season started and I said that Jim Harball would have this Los Angeles Chargers team in the AFC Championship game this year. And o'lehartly meant that. And it goes down to the intangibles. Jim Harball is a winner because of his intangibles, his ability to get guys to believe, because his ability to hold even of Justin Herbert and Alex Smiths and the Frank Gores and the Patrick Willis to a higher standard. And if you don't like it, then you won't be on their team. And he's such a football junkie to where I remember it would be times where we would hear that the Seattle Seahawks had a day off from training camp and we would purposely run two hundred and sixty five plays. He would split the team in half and just run as many plays, so that we can watch the film if you ever to see any different way that they wanted to attack us on dans And I remember sitting in those meetings with Ed Donald tail and going over eight different route combinations for each coverage that we were going to play and how they could attack us, and every player having to get up on the board. That doesn't happen in professional sports. There are guys that barely put the time in and guys like Jim Harbaugh, he demands that you put the extra effort and time in. So I'm not surprised about what they're doing. When you look back to our teams in twenty eleven twenty twelve, it was patched together. We didn't have high expectations. We just had a bunch of guys that were free agents playing on one to three year deals, and we put it all together and we made it to the NFC Championship that first year. So I wholeheardly believe the LA Chargers are onto something special and it's all about Jim Harball and what he adds to an organization.
Well, why is that? What is it that he does specifically?
I mean you said it's just about holding people accountable, like he literally wins.
Huh.
He's a leader of men. Sometimes you have to have hard conversations with people that you don't want to have, and a lot of people will sweep those things under the rug. When you see something that's going wrong in the locker room, they act like they don't see a turn a blind eye. Jim Harball and Bill Belichick, those hard nose coaches Mike Tomlin that will not go under their watch, which is why they consistently win. The other Horball that's in Baltimore, he's the same. You have some guys that are just built to be offensive and defensive coordinators. You're not the leader of a bunch of men, right, So that's the difference with a lot of the head coaches, and particularly Jim Harbaugh.
Dante Whitner joining us NBC Sports Bay Area is his home as a NFL And let's you join us in the Doug Gottlieb Show here on Fox Sports Radio. Let's circle back to the Cowboys. Would you do that? Would you Jennison Dak Prescott to get Dean Sanders.
For everything and the value that that's going to bring, the value add to Dallas Cowboys organizations for Dion being a Hall of Fame player and a former player of the Dallas Cowboys. His son, you know, having the capabilities and all the tools to be a top ten quarterback in the NFL if things go well and they build around him, Yes, I would. Things are changing, right, guys are getting opportunities and they're running away with them and they're having success. So I will say yes, I would definitely make the decision to bring Dion Sanders and his son in the play quarterbacks.
What's what would you do for you the Jets? I feel like that's much more of a Jets move, to be honest with you, all Right, the Jets of the attention. The Jets are going to need a quarterback. The Jets are going to have a high draft pick. If you're the Jets, they need a new they need a new GM, they're going to need new they need a new head coach.
What do you do if you're the Jets?
Well, I think it's going to boil down to Deona Sanders and his decision where he wants his son to play. And I think he's going to take a play out of Archie man playbook. When Eli Manning decided that he wasn't going to go to the San Diego Chargers at the time, and he's already said it. There's a number of organizations that he wants his son to play for, and it looks like he can demand that. So I don't know if it'll really bowled down to the New York Jezz. If Deion Sanders doesn't feel like it's a great fit and the organization isn't going to build around his son, he probably won't be playing for that organization.
The Chicago Bears, what can you say?
Right, they were there were some things that were better and legitimately should have you know, should have won the game. But I mean here ebra Lewis Eberflus is under pressure and he he plays a conservative and plays for a forty six yard field goal, and lo and behold that the Packers get their hand on it. It feels like and look obviously not just being a coach now, but like being a realist one player. They shouldn't necessarily have the die be cast. But that felt like the death knell to his coaching, didn't it?
But no, I don't. I'm not sure when you think about how that team stuck in there and they fought, and what the Green Bay Packers have been doing to teams all year long, how they really stuck together and drove the football down to even having a tempt for a last minute field goal. That's what you want from your team. Majority of the games in the NFL are decided bout three points or less. And if you can give your if you would have told Matt Eberflus beginning of the game, you're going to have one or Tim to kick a last minute field goal to win this game, doesn't matter what happened through the entirety of the game, I think he would take that. So a lot of it is guys on that line not executing. But if that kick goes through, and we're having a different conversation about the Chicago Bears, and when you think about you know, Romeo Udo was a Dozzi, the receiver, the wide receiver. The young think about Romeo and you think about Kayleb Williams. I remember coming into the NFL my rookie year of the game was moving so fast. And that's end from Ohio State. So what these guys are doing in their first year, I think you have to give them a little time. I know a lot of the Chicago Bears fans are frustrated, but there's hope.
Well, what Caleb.
Williams is able to do with his legs, the game is going to slow down for him. Romeo to wide receiver. He's making some play. So if you give these guys some time to mature and learn how to win in the National Football League, they might be setting themselves up for the next decade.
Why does Jordan Love keep getting picked off? What's he doing?
I mean, as a guy who was a Pro Bowl defensive back, what's he doing that seems he's got a throw an interception every game this year.
Well, first off, he's a phenomenal player. And when he can step up in the pocket in a clean pocket and he can transport for the weight and power from his back led nobody can really throw the ball on the rope like him. It's just that he's still a young quarterback, and veteran defenses understand every detail and intricate thing matters as far as feet, corners, how far you're away from receivers, the width and vertical length, and you know, quarter safeties and stand away from all the inside of the field, so he can't get those clean reads. That's what professional football is all about. It's about deceiving the quarterback, a young quarterback, and to throwing you the football. And that's what some of the teams are doing. They're just baiting him into throwing the football. And then sometimes he gets a little anxious when he gets, you know, pressured directly in his face, like a lot of young quarterbacks do. But Jordan Love is phenomenal and the fortin Anders are definitely going to have a tax this weekend. Trying to stop them.
Stut Gottlieb Show here on Fox Sports True. That's the voice of Dante Whittenner. The dude is a savant in breaking down the real world of the National Football League and he works for NBC Sports Bay Area.
Dante, thanks so much for joining us. Really appreciate it.
Oh thank you, Doug
