The Mighty NFC North - The Best Division in Football

[00:00:00] I'm just really excited, our guys. Sonic and Knuckles. It's official now, right? I've been warned that that's what they want to be called, so Sonic and Knuckles are doing what we ask them to do.

[00:00:11] The following is a presentation of Hobson Media.

[00:00:15] Woohoo!

[00:00:23] This is the Church Pew Sports Podcast, featuring a group of pastors delivering bombastic takes on sports, life, and faith.

[00:00:35] Take a knee.

[00:00:36] Man, it's hard to break us now. It's hard to break us. As a matter of fact, you ain't gonna do it.

[00:00:40] Lend an ear.

[00:00:41] These are some of the best questions I've had, I have to tell you that straight up.

[00:00:45] As the Church Pew Sports Podcast begins.

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[00:00:50] Kegs and eggs in football, let's go.

[00:00:54] Kegs and eggs in football.

[00:00:55] Kegs and eggs in football.

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[00:00:58] It's good to have you with us for Church Pew Sports.

[00:00:59] Church, thank you for subscribing and hopefully sharing the links with other sports fans in your world,

[00:01:05] and especially if you're a football fan.

[00:01:07] And especially this week, if you're a football fan of a team in the NFC North,

[00:01:14] because that's primarily our focus today,

[00:01:16] as we talk about Sonic and Knuckles and Vikings and Lions and Bears and not Packers.

[00:01:23] Not Packers.

[00:01:24] The strength of this incredible division that's come kind of, I think, as a surprise to a lot of the NFL.

[00:01:30] Bill Hobson here, along with Pastor Paul Miller, who is always by my side,

[00:01:34] I guess connected by technology because he's literally not by my side.

[00:01:40] And good to see you.

[00:01:41] We have a couple of special guests joining us tonight.

[00:01:43] Why don't you introduce the one from closest to you, and then I'll introduce the one from closest to me.

[00:01:49] Yes.

[00:01:50] I just want all of our listeners to meet my friend Alex Rauch from the EFCA National Office.

[00:01:58] And he's a Minnesota guy.

[00:02:01] That's all I'll say about that.

[00:02:04] But he's one of my coworkers, one of my colleagues and new friends with the Evangelical Free Church of America.

[00:02:10] And brother, we have a little hazing thing that we do with all first time guests on the podcast.

[00:02:15] So I just have one question for you.

[00:02:19] And that is so that our people can get to know you a little bit.

[00:02:22] Who is or are the teams that you follow any sport, any level, at irrational levels where other sports fans or your spouse would look at you and say,

[00:02:38] that guy's a little over the top.

[00:02:40] So who would that be for you?

[00:02:41] Again, any sport, any level.

[00:02:44] Yeah, for me, I am an NFL purist.

[00:02:48] So the only teams I follow are NFL teams at an obscene level is NFL teams, which for me is Vikings.

[00:02:57] But as a big fantasy football buff as well, it's basically the offensive side of every other NFL team as well.

[00:03:06] Yeah, that's so.

[00:03:07] So, you know, we're in the same fantasy league.

[00:03:09] Who's who's got a better record right now?

[00:03:12] You know, I haven't checked in a minute, but I do think it's probably you.

[00:03:16] Well, yeah, it is.

[00:03:18] In case you're wondering.

[00:03:19] He didn't say he didn't set you up for that to name yourself, Alex.

[00:03:22] I hear I guarantee you that's how that works.

[00:03:24] Also joining us on the podcast is Pastor Dan Davis, who was with Lifebridge Church in South Haven.

[00:03:31] But for a quarter of a century was at Hopevale Church in Saginaw and is, I believe, in the running for most ardent Detroit sports fan across the board of all the crazy sports fans out there.

[00:03:44] And so, Dan, we come into this conversation tonight.

[00:03:48] I think the surprise of the football world, not just our Lions, but the division as a whole.

[00:03:57] When can anybody think of and Dan, you can go first.

[00:04:00] Think of a time when the NFC North was the most feared division in football.

[00:04:06] The Vikings five and oh, the Lions four and one.

[00:04:09] The team from up north four and two and the team from Chicago four and two.

[00:04:14] I know they haven't started playing each other yet, but this is crazy.

[00:04:19] Yeah, well, first of all, great to be on the show.

[00:04:23] Second, as tribute to Chris Berman, NFC Norris, I think was how he affectionately referred to to this division.

[00:04:35] Yeah, it's kind of wild, like to give you my bio, not that I was following it in the 60s, but it was all Packers, 70s, all Vikings, 80s, all Bears.

[00:04:48] And then just kind of jumbled in there, although the Packers just just strong.

[00:04:54] But yeah, these kind of records that they have right now are absolutely insane.

[00:04:59] I say, you know, what did I read? Top four point differential.

[00:05:03] No other division has had a high winning percentage through the first six weeks.

[00:05:08] Absolutely crazy, which means it's going to be a bloodbath, right?

[00:05:13] Well, how do you how do you bounce from one team to another like that, especially when they're all rivals?

[00:05:18] Is that like based on where you're living at the time or how does that work?

[00:05:24] What do you mean?

[00:05:25] You asking for a friend?

[00:05:31] You know, in this in this division, you know, I first of all, Alex, glad to have you on.

[00:05:38] And when I first saw you were wearing a purple jersey, all I can see you on the zoom window is like from the neck up.

[00:05:44] And so I was like, oh, man, this guy's coming in diehard Vikings fan.

[00:05:48] But then he leans back and reveals that it's the J.J. McCarthy Vikings jersey.

[00:05:53] And now I've got to like him because, you know, we've got some other allegiances in this mix.

[00:05:58] Have you been a lifelong Vikings fan, Alex?

[00:06:03] Yes and no.

[00:06:04] So I didn't follow NFL at all until about 2013 in college.

[00:06:13] So I have been a lifelong Vikings fan for as long as I've been an NFL fan, which we're coming up on a decade now for that.

[00:06:21] Okay, Bill, I was hoping he was was rocking the Nick Tinglehoff jersey that was center maybe in the 70s.

[00:06:32] If I've got my Viking trivia like a Fran Tarkenton jersey or something.

[00:06:39] Well, Alex, it's not a problem for Dan and I to just sit here for an hour and talk about our Lions low moments of our lifetimes,

[00:06:48] because we've got a pretty decent roster of them to choose from.

[00:06:52] And we've got some highs as well.

[00:06:54] For you as a Vikings fan, give us what would be, you know, when you put your head on the pillow later tonight,

[00:07:00] what would be the the high that you've experienced as a Vikings fan and then the gut crushing low that you've had?

[00:07:08] The high for me easily was Case Keenum to Stefan Diggs, Minneapolis miracle.

[00:07:17] When we thought there was no hope left in that in that playoff game to both celebrate my favorite receiver at the time,

[00:07:28] catching that touchdown and to see Sean Payton's face fall.

[00:07:34] Both were equally as sweet.

[00:07:38] Toughest Vikings moment for me has to be I think it was when we were playing the Eagles.

[00:07:48] I can't remember what year what year this was might have been 16.

[00:07:52] We were playing the Eagles and I think it was NFC championship game to go to the Super Bowl.

[00:07:58] And we scored touchdown on our first drive and everybody in the room.

[00:08:03] We had a big party to watch it. We were hyped.

[00:08:06] We went right in first touchdown.

[00:08:08] We are going to the Super Bowl and the rest of the game.

[00:08:12] Mr. Nick Foles just dismantled us drive by drive to the point where I mean, I was one of the group that stopped watching the game.

[00:08:21] I just couldn't watch the couldn't watch the pounding any longer.

[00:08:25] Paul, you're here representing the Bears.

[00:08:27] Give us your give us your I mean, your high has to be way back in the 80s with the Super Bowl, but maybe you've got a different one and then you're low.

[00:08:36] Yeah, my high would be anything that has to do with Walter Payton.

[00:08:40] Yeah, right.

[00:08:40] And so the pinnacle of that is the Bears, the 85 Bears and jumping on the train and we I was a Wheaton student at the time jumping on the train after they won the Super Bowl and taking the ride down to Daly Plaza for the parade and just navigating.

[00:08:59] Like I think it was like a million people in Daly Plaza for the Super Bowl parade.

[00:09:03] All the memories, all the things I probably have the Super Bowl shuffle on my Spotify somewhere.

[00:09:11] Be candid and to be honest with that, the the the lows for me as a Bears fan always have to do with whoever is the Packers quarterback at the time and how much I hate him.

[00:09:27] And how especially when it was Aaron Rodgers, right?

[00:09:30] How the the smug confidence no matter what the score was in the last two to three minutes of the game knowing that they were going to come back and win.

[00:09:41] And now Jordan Love seems to be picking up some of those same tendencies.

[00:09:46] And I just oh, it's just really hard.

[00:09:49] I was in I was in Wausau, Wisconsin last week for the Alex for the Forest Lakes District Conference, and it was just cheese heads everywhere.

[00:10:00] And it's just hard for me. I don't know why I have this visceral reaction.

[00:10:03] So now you're asking me about my low my low light as a Bears fan and I'm talking about the Packers.

[00:10:09] What's that? What does that tell you?

[00:10:11] Yeah. Do we have a counselor on the panel tonight?

[00:10:14] Somebody that can maybe put Paul on the couch and work through how deeply embedded the Packers are really probably in all of our psyche?

[00:10:23] Yeah. I was gonna say I'm picturing the Spider-Man meme where we're all pointing at each other.

[00:10:29] I know that feeling. I resemble that feeling of Packers quarterbacks.

[00:10:34] You know, this this week, Rogers for the not a very good Jets team, but he threw a halftime Hail Mary halftime.

[00:10:43] Yeah, it was halftime Hail Mary.

[00:10:44] And when the ball was in the air, I first of all, I was flashing back to both Rogers and Favre and what they did to my Lions.

[00:10:52] And then I also had zero doubt that was going to be caught.

[00:10:55] And I don't know why any team that he's on it, whenever they get to midfield, they ought to just start throwing Hail Mary's.

[00:11:03] It's their best possible offensive strategy.

[00:11:06] All right, Dan, we've got to give Lions fans a crack here.

[00:11:09] So your high and low as a Lions fan.

[00:11:15] Yeah, the where do we begin with the lows? Right.

[00:11:18] Right. Yes.

[00:11:19] Yeah. So childhood memory, not can it.

[00:11:23] It came back this week with the Lions playing Dallas.

[00:11:27] It's the 1971 playoffs.

[00:11:31] Detroit loses five nothing.

[00:11:34] That's a baseball score.

[00:11:36] That's a field goal and a safety.

[00:11:40] And like if I could time travel, I would talk to young Daniel and say, buddy, this is just the start.

[00:11:46] Buckle up of your next.

[00:11:49] Yeah.

[00:11:49] So I mean, the highs, you know, last year was was, you know, we can talk about a playoff win in the 90s.

[00:11:58] But last year was just just a magical run.

[00:12:02] And the all the records they were breaking during the year to not one, but to play off like for us, it's playoff appearances.

[00:12:11] But these were wins.

[00:12:12] So clearly.

[00:12:14] And this is not just recency bias.

[00:12:16] I mean, this is just too good to be true for us.

[00:12:20] And they've brought Dan Campbell.

[00:12:21] Sorry.

[00:12:21] Is Dan Campbell the best coach that has been at the head of the Lions during your fandom?

[00:12:28] I guess that's for Bill or Dan.

[00:12:30] Yeah.

[00:12:30] Yeah.

[00:12:31] Paul, I watched those like those locker room clips at the end.

[00:12:36] And I'm like, why didn't I see that before Sunday morning while I was getting up to preach?

[00:12:40] Because I think, you know, I just would have been bringing the fire.

[00:12:43] No.

[00:12:44] And then I think this this last week, you you see the love that is play.

[00:12:50] I mean, the genuine love and respect that his players have for him and vice versa.

[00:12:54] Even I think even this week, what he gave golf the game ball and golf gave it back to him.

[00:13:00] You're like, who wouldn't want to be part of something like that? Right.

[00:13:03] You know, it's also interesting.

[00:13:05] And Alex, I'll be interested to hear your thoughts on this in a minute.

[00:13:07] When you have personnel changes over the years, finding that right mix for a team, not just with on field talent, but with with chemistry, with being willing to sacrifice on behalf of the greater good.

[00:13:21] That's not easy to find.

[00:13:23] And so in Detroit, you've got a couple of running backs who I'm certain would both love to be the featured back.

[00:13:30] We had a little fun.

[00:13:31] Their nicknames is Sonic and Knuckles.

[00:13:33] I don't know why, except that they I did hear the running backs coach say they did not want to be called peanut butter and jelly because no running back wants to be the jelly in that equation.

[00:13:45] That's fair.

[00:13:46] But they're doing they're doing such innovative and fun things on the offensive side of the ball.

[00:13:54] I cannot imagine.

[00:13:56] Well, during the thrashing of the Cowboys on Sunday, even Tom Brady said, I would love to play in that offense because it's just fun and creative and it kind of shatters the mold of what most playbooks normally look like, including this little magic moment.

[00:14:15] Jared takes tosses to Montgomery flips it back to Amon Ra.

[00:14:18] He gives it to golf is going to throw downfield.

[00:14:20] He's got Laporta makes the grab 20 15 10 5 touchdown Detroit Lions.

[00:14:27] How about a little razzle dazzle in the Lone Star State 52 yards little flea flicker to get things started.

[00:14:36] With nobody guessing that they would later on try something somewhat similar to an offensive line to tackle.

[00:14:43] Right.

[00:14:43] So these things are are kind of wild.

[00:14:46] Then I look up in Minnesota where Alex is set up shop.

[00:14:49] And I think that you talk about personnel plugging in.

[00:14:53] You've got a quarterback up there, Alex, who nobody thought was maybe going to see the field again, let alone be the leader of the team.

[00:15:01] They say goodbye to an established really good veteran quarterback who gets hurt last year in Kirk cousins.

[00:15:08] Are you surprised that your team is currently five and oh, and has Sam Darnold playing at an all pro level?

[00:15:17] Anybody who tells you they're not surprised is lying.

[00:15:22] A thousand percent.

[00:15:24] Yeah, it's I went into this season, you know, I watch a lot of NFL games.

[00:15:29] I also pay attention to my fancy football leagues and my conception of this year was the Vikings are going to be the least interesting part of this football season.

[00:15:40] And partially because of poor fantasy football performance, but mainly because of the Vikings.

[00:15:45] They are by far the most interesting part of this football season.

[00:15:51] What do you think is clicking for Darnold?

[00:15:53] Like, why is it happening for him this year?

[00:15:55] It's not like he had a history of stellar play.

[00:16:00] It's a great question.

[00:16:03] And I wish every every team in the NFL wishes they had that answer.

[00:16:07] Right. Because to get this kind of production out of Darnold for 10 million dollars, who wouldn't have signed up for that?

[00:16:13] Okay, I think it probably joking.

[00:16:15] What were his previous two teams slash organizations?

[00:16:20] He was on the Jets.

[00:16:21] He started for the Jets was drafted by them, started for Carolina, and then he was a backup in San Francisco.

[00:16:29] Well, at least those first two, right?

[00:16:31] You know, I, you know, organizations and development.

[00:16:36] Those are big things.

[00:16:37] Maybe it's just the right spot, right time.

[00:16:40] Yeah, he's not on record as saying that he came into New York as like a 20 or 21 year old rookie.

[00:16:47] And the mental pressure in that market, he said was just kind of crushing.

[00:16:53] He felt like he had to be perfect.

[00:16:54] He felt like everything was on the quarterback.

[00:16:57] And then going to San Francisco, he referenced, you know, it's a lot about the quarterback, but it's not all about the quarterback.

[00:17:04] And I think in addition to that, O'Connell is probably a gracious coach in a lot of ways.

[00:17:15] And I'm guessing that his demeanor and default to encouragement, as well as his knowledge of just the quarterback position as an old quarterback himself,

[00:17:26] I think has probably been the linchpin for Darnell turning it around.

[00:17:31] You know, it's interesting you said there, Alex, I love that phrase, his default to encouragement.

[00:17:36] When I think about Dan Campbell's locker room, I think that's, I've never heard a story yet where he, you know, shut the door and just lit the room up with a flame throwing blue streak.

[00:17:49] You know, maybe he has, but I haven't heard about it.

[00:17:52] And you don't hear players come out and say anything other than run through a wall for that guy.

[00:17:58] And perhaps that's what O'Connell's got going up there.

[00:18:00] And Paul, with your bears, I have to think that at least in the division, they would be the biggest surprise at four and two right now,

[00:18:10] just because they're starting a rookie quarterback and relying on the monsters of the midway defense to carry them through a couple of these wins, at least.

[00:18:18] While Caleb gets more and more comfortable in the, in the NFL speed of things.

[00:18:24] Yeah. You know, like I have the bears defense on my fantasy team.

[00:18:28] Ask Alex if he has Sam Darnold. Right. And, uh,

[00:18:31] Okay, let's do that right now. Alex, who's your quarterback on your fantasy team?

[00:18:37] Well, I have five of them, but, uh, the one that I have is Mr.

[00:18:44] Jaden Daniels, actually a different rookie quarterback. He's doing very well.

[00:18:47] He's doing very well. So here's my thing, right? The bears, I'm an Ohio state guy.

[00:18:52] I was pretty ticked when they traded fields for a cup of coffee and drafted Caleb Williams.

[00:19:00] I didn't honestly, I didn't think Caleb Williams, who he seemed to be as a person would fit in the culture of Chicago.

[00:19:12] You know, that was, that just felt like a force, but now you're six games in and they're, they're foreign to, and they're showing signs of life and Williams is playing well.

[00:19:22] I heard an interesting, um, comment from, I think it was DJ Moore, the wide receiver, um, talking about how Williams is now starting to, um, show leadership in the locker room and in the huddle. Um, and it's becoming his team, which I think that's really interesting that it, you know, I'm, I'm not surprised that it took a few games for that to start to happen, but it's, they sure seem to be, um, taking.

[00:19:51] Taking to him, but I'm probably of all of us on this, on this, in this conversation right now, I'm probably the least optimistic about the future rest of the season for my team.

[00:20:03] And there is a reason for that. Um, if you look at the bears first six games, right? Titans, Texans, Colts, Rams, Panthers, Jaguars.

[00:20:16] It's not like murderers row of stud teams that they've played so far this year, but I was listening to a podcast yesterday and it was a little bit depressing. Let me just read the list of games that they have coming up.

[00:20:30] The commanders, the car, uh, Arizona Cardinals, Patriots, Packers, Vikings, lions, 49ers, Vikings, again, lions, again, Seahawks, Packers.

[00:20:40] You could argue that there's only one game in the rest of their season where they should be favored. Right. And that's, um, so it's time to, maybe it's time to sell high on the bears defense in my fantasy league. I don't know.

[00:20:53] Um, but I, I'm going to take it and I'll, I'll go with it and I'm happy. And as long as they beat green Bay, it'll be a good season for me.

[00:21:04] Well, and the tough thing is once interdivision play starts, then obviously everything gets jumbled up because it's unlikely that you sweep anybody in two games for two games in this division.

[00:21:15] It can happen. You know, the lions got the Packers twice last year, but it's, it's pretty rare. Uh, and a major upheaval has taken place in Detroit and Dan, you know, this'll be one of those.

[00:21:28] Do you remember where you were when? Right. So on Sunday afternoon, um, after I left church, I had a five hour drive to Drummond Island, Michigan up in the UP, take a car ferry to the island for a video shoot.

[00:21:43] And we got out of the car at like 6 PM. And by 6 15, we were beginning to shoot. And all of a sudden my phone started exploding. And most of the texts were N O O O O O O O O O O O O O O.

[00:22:00] With the agonizing. And I didn't know what was going on. And then my son, I think ended it with not Hutch.

[00:22:10] so i instantly pulled my phone out of my pocket flicked flicked open youtube tv in time to see

[00:22:16] the ambulance and the stretcher and all that um there are there are teams in fact we've heard

[00:22:24] some interviews with other coaches and former coaches in the last couple days who have talked

[00:22:30] about how they completely schemed their offenses to run away from him from 97 on the end because

[00:22:38] he's a game wrecker dan what does this do to our boys in honolulu blue and silver well anytime a

[00:22:47] conversation of about aden hutchinson comes up i have to start by saying uh thank you jacksonville

[00:22:55] for um somehow not making him the first pick i that is it still boggles me in the best possible way

[00:23:05] that he he fell to uh detroit you know sunday you know use use whatever words you want surreal

[00:23:13] or split or you know whatever of just this incredible romp over america's team on jerry jones's birthday

[00:23:22] right and just yeah you know anything and everything happening and yet to see hutchinson go down and

[00:23:29] when the announcers say we're not going to show this replay yeah you know you you know it's serious so

[00:23:37] um we're midweek now and i'm you know still really kind of trying to process because you don't this is

[00:23:43] not an example where next man up works right so um i don't feel desperate i am awfully curious though

[00:23:53] and so we'll just have to see how aaron glenn schemes the defense to to try to make up for this

[00:24:01] but you know this this i think they pick someone up like max crosby or something you i mean that's

[00:24:06] the rumor right i don't think they can justify two first round picks for him although i i heard a really

[00:24:15] neat perspective on a podcast at first i'll get back to that in a second first of all uh i received

[00:24:21] the text on sunday at 607 from dan davis it says i'd settle for a no drama second half

[00:24:28] no injuries and a quick running clock that's it's your fault wait that's at 607 at 622

[00:24:37] all the no's the why's the all that started arriving on my phone 15 minutes later so i i'm afraid we do

[00:24:46] have to lay the blame squarely on dan davis um the perspective that i heard was um from some analyst

[00:24:55] who said if you could tell any team that the their number one draft pick next year would result in a

[00:25:03] max crosby then that instantly makes it a good trade for a number one pick now because you don't

[00:25:08] even have to guess you just you have that delivered to you so the problem comes when they're demanding

[00:25:14] if they're demanding two number ones and then you're taking on a salary that is would be by far

[00:25:21] the highest uh defensive salary on your team and it jumbles some things up so i don't know what

[00:25:26] they're going to do about it but it is a big deal but there was a sweet moment this week and i'll move

[00:25:31] away from hutch i promise um hutch has a a really good reputation in detroit for visiting kids in

[00:25:39] children's hospital and um these kids got together to put a little get well video uh together for hutch

[00:25:49] i hope you feel better hutch stay strong hutch it's all part of god's plan i'm just hoping you

[00:25:55] have a speedy recovery you're there for me now i'm here for you hope everything goes well

[00:25:59] we love you more hutch you were there for us now we're there for you you know these kids are

[00:26:05] dealing with literally life-threatening illnesses so i just thought that was really cool

[00:26:10] that is cool and the one last blessing to come out of the lion's thrashing of the cowboys dan

[00:26:15] alluded to it on jerry jones's birthday was what happened the next morning

[00:26:20] and he's i think he's the only owner that has a radio show because he probably owns the radio station

[00:26:26] yeah which he's trying to remind the hosts of when they apparently cross a line by asking him what

[00:26:34] went wrong this is delightful now if you think i'm interested in on a phone call with you over a radio

[00:26:41] and sitting here and throwing all the good out with the dishwater you have got to be smoking something

[00:26:48] over there this morning i'm not and i really don't and i don't even want our listeners to listen to me

[00:26:54] uh to talk about this is not your job your job isn't to let me go over all the reasons that i did

[00:27:02] something and i'm sorry that i did it that's not your job well my job is to ask a job or i'll get

[00:27:08] another i'll get somebody else to ask these questions man i'll get somebody else to ask these questions

[00:27:16] you guys might want to try that as pastors just see how that goes over in general just you know various

[00:27:22] questions come up from from folks in the church um okay so let me go around the horn alex will come

[00:27:29] back up to you how do you think this division shakes out and is it possible you get your division winner

[00:27:36] and then you've got some wild card options is it possible that three teams from the north could make

[00:27:41] it to the postseason boy how does the division shake out i'm gonna go with vikings being on top um

[00:27:48] um but in some way i feel like the answer to that question is going to be answered on sunday when

[00:27:54] the lions and the vikings face off uh it would be a pretty massive advantage um for the vikings

[00:28:02] looking for the rest of the season to take down the lions enough as a first head-to-head win and

[00:28:07] uh to just be up a clean two games as well whereas if that's a loss that's a same record and a head-to-head

[00:28:15] loss for the vikings uh between us us and the lions so it's it's a pretty big game coming up on sunday

[00:28:22] but just looking at remaining schedule i feel like vikings schedule was front loaded where we've

[00:28:29] already taken some of our toughest opponents down in the in the niners in the texans taking down the

[00:28:37] packers once already and our next six games knock on wood feel like cake compared to the start of the

[00:28:45] season where we have uh after the lions we have rams colts jaguars titans bears cardinals it's just not

[00:28:56] a very tough next seven eight games in there so um i like our chances even though i'm is everybody

[00:29:06] else waiting for darnold to revert back to old darnold like is he is he really the next gino or

[00:29:11] is he uh just had a few good games um and obviously we all hope that the packers finish last

[00:29:20] i think we can all agree on that we were kind of hoping darnold would revert back to being darnold

[00:29:25] because hutch was chasing him all over the field this sunday now we need somebody else to step up and

[00:29:30] do that kind of thing paul you've got a young quarterback does he continue to get

[00:29:35] i mean experience can only help where do you see the season going for your boys yeah i think

[00:29:42] caleb williams continues to improve and i think the bears as a team i really do think they'll

[00:29:48] continue to improve i don't think they're gonna continue to win at the rate that they are right

[00:29:52] now if i'm am i just jaded maybe i don't know i think they're probably a 500 team um and i don't

[00:30:00] think that makes the playoffs like to answer your question i don't it'd be really tough with all the

[00:30:05] you know knocking each other off and all the division matchups for three teams well for two

[00:30:10] teams to make the wild card you know plus the division winner it'd be really cool if it did

[00:30:16] especially if it was the vikings lions and the bears that would be awesome but um i just think it

[00:30:22] would be difficult so i think the i think the bears if you talked to me at the beginning of the

[00:30:26] season and said are they going to finish 500 i would have said that's great yeah that's a successful

[00:30:31] season for them so i'm sticking with it you know dan and i are in this unusual position of trying to

[00:30:36] figure out how people continually use the two words super and bowl in the same sentence with

[00:30:43] detroit and lions and so after the hutch injury you heard kind of an even 50 50 analysis of this does

[00:30:51] not hurt their super bowl chances or this dooms their super bowl chances and dan i don't i don't

[00:30:56] know about everybody else but for me i'm not even used to hearing them consider that concept with the

[00:31:03] lions so are we i don't like it to be honest with you i wish they would not do that so where are you

[00:31:09] with that kind of talk well it's interesting this whole um you know uh nfc north conversation because i

[00:31:19] remember the games from last year uh they were pretty close you know chicago actually played

[00:31:25] detroit really tough games last one at ford field could have gone either way uh hutchinson strip

[00:31:33] at the end sealed that game yep yep and then you know chicago manhandled them at home and so these

[00:31:40] you know and same with the vikings i mean the lions have had their number the last couple years but

[00:31:45] they've been close games as well so uh i don't i don't go into these these games you know feeling

[00:31:53] like they're slam dunks at all so it'll it'll really be interesting you know having said that

[00:31:58] and again i realized like half of dallas's defense was out last week but you know the first two weeks

[00:32:05] there was a little panic in in in motown because the offense was was not getting off to a good start

[00:32:11] and now they seem to be rolling you know the truth is probably somewhere in between though i mean

[00:32:16] realistically because they're gonna be facing three good different defenses within the conference so

[00:32:22] um obviously pulling for them still got to believe they're the favorite but um much less confidence

[00:32:30] you know after hutchinson's uh injury that's for sure you know i'm reminded of the razor thin margins

[00:32:37] in the nfl i mean it's it's pretty rare it's really rare for a team to get dominated like dallas did

[00:32:44] normally it's you know you get through the game and you can look back and say you know there were

[00:32:48] really two plays or three plays that decided the outcome of this one and you just obviously hope

[00:32:53] they go your way because you're right dan last year it was it was nail-biter time but the lions kept

[00:32:59] pulling out the close games that doesn't always happen and we're starting to see ben johnson dig a little

[00:33:06] deeper into that bag of fun that he has in his playbook and maybe that's going to be the makeup

[00:33:10] for hutch way maybe that's it maybe it's just going to turn into a pinball game and you never know which

[00:33:16] way this ball is going to go so if nothing else it'll be highly entertaining it may be 40 to 38 wins or

[00:33:23] losses depending on how things go i have a question for all of you um this is completely unrelated to the

[00:33:31] nfc north but it is related to aaron rogers um i'm going to play a soundbite for you

[00:33:38] from uh from his post game after the jets loss uh a night ago a couple nights ago um i've never heard

[00:33:48] this phrase before so alex i'm gonna start with you and and i'm gonna play this he's complaining

[00:33:54] about the referees and by the way he's complaining about even calls that he benefited from because they

[00:33:58] were horrendous in that game somebody tell me what this means yeah some of them seemed really bad

[00:34:07] including the rough in the passer on me that's not rough in the passer um i was able to play

[00:34:12] sarcastic ball if we're gonna call those things and i thought the one on kinlaw was not rough in the

[00:34:17] passer either okay somebody help me uh maybe i'm just living in a cave alex sarcastic ball

[00:34:23] i think he made it up i mean i think in the moment he lost his vocab and that's what came out

[00:34:29] it just went with sarcastic ball we should google it while we're here i have yeah somebody with a

[00:34:36] computer handy so here's another throwback reference to the old uh kelvin and hobbes a comic strip there

[00:34:43] was something called kelvin ball where i think you just kind of make the rules up as you go along maybe

[00:34:49] that's where good old aaron was uh yeah coming from is it like backyard fenway greatness when you're

[00:34:56] playing wiffle ball in your backyard alex you've got a theory he he didn't make it up according to

[00:35:01] google it is a reference to the tv show south park oh there you go yeah no wonder i missed it

[00:35:09] it's probably good that i didn't know that right away it's probably okay that you yeah yeah now if it

[00:35:15] had been a simpsons reference i would have gotten it but he went to the wrong animated series

[00:35:20] sarcastable sarcastic got it all right good stuff time to go into uh say what say what

[00:35:26] kid you tried your best and you failed miserably the lesson is never try

[00:35:33] tell us something huh huh what huh uh i mean listen we're talking about practice weaseling out of

[00:35:41] things is important to learn it's what separates us from the animals except the weasel i'm sorry

[00:35:46] about this afternoon that's what he said say what say what okay this is how say what works um dan i

[00:35:54] don't know if you've ever done this with us before it'll be new for you alex here's what happens i

[00:35:58] i tend to live on espn.com and other sites and so every week i'm i find these uh sound bites of

[00:36:08] things that guys have said in the world of sports that catch my attention so you have to think

[00:36:12] through the lens of how my brain works right so i have three we have three audio clips that we're

[00:36:17] going to pay play for you guys and then alex and dan you get you each have to decide who this week's

[00:36:23] winner is that's really all there is to it very prestigious by the way the winner the winner

[00:36:27] receives a wonderful prize yes so you can't get there's no wrong answers um these are three things

[00:36:33] that caught my attention and we're just going to let you pick this week's winner the first one is

[00:36:37] baker mayfield who was in a press conference and somebody asked him about the texas longhorns

[00:36:44] planting his jersey at the center of the cotton bowl after the red river red river rivalry win and this

[00:36:52] is what he had to say that's just uh a kid from austin texas they went to oklahoma and won his last

[00:36:57] two red river games and being rent free in their heads for almost a decade now so um yeah it's a good

[00:37:03] feeling there you go baker living rent free in the heads of the texas football program and not being

[00:37:10] afraid to talk about it okay our next quote comes from mike gundy the coach of oklahoma state

[00:37:16] who this past weekend um canceled his in-person press conference because he had a run-in with one

[00:37:21] of his cattle and so he did his weekly presser via zoom and he had his camera turned off so nobody

[00:37:27] could see his face they were asking him why that was the case and here's his explanation well i had a

[00:37:32] little uh run-in with my cattle over the weekend and um i guess they've been watching this play

[00:37:41] and uh got head-butted so i've got a i've got a bad eye that i didn't think would be particularly

[00:37:50] enjoyable for people when they were looking at my pretty face uh in a live interview

[00:37:58] there you go then at the end of that he says but other than that i'm doing fine um so that's

[00:38:03] that's my gundy and then our third quote is from bill belichick who was on the manning cast

[00:38:07] on monday night football and he had something to say about the jets that's kind of what it's been

[00:38:12] there at the jets you know it went barely won over 30 percent in the last 10 years so

[00:38:17] you know the owner being the owner just ready fire aim but bill you mentioned i mean in 99

[00:38:23] ready fire aim ready the owner being the owner okay so you got baker mayfield owning the fact that

[00:38:29] he's living rent free in the longhorns heads you got mike gundy talking about being head-butted by a cow

[00:38:34] and you have bill belichick calling out the owners of the jets um dan and alex you each get to decide

[00:38:41] who for you who is this week's winner i gotta go baker he is like fully embracing the villain role

[00:38:50] right and that he can be petty enough to flash back to a decade like he's all in you know and

[00:38:56] uh i i love that and you know i mean we know sports rivalries right and texas oklahoma is a huge one

[00:39:04] you know you could have also mentioned uh sark walking into the press conference with a corn dog

[00:39:11] yeah that was i think another dig at uh coach uh uh oklahoma's coach so yeah yeah no we're going

[00:39:18] baker on that one all right alex who you got i'm with dan baker he i feel like that answer he didn't

[00:39:28] have to think about it that type of thing just comes to him so fast and he knows so immediately

[00:39:34] why the other person that situation is wrong for some reason and how can you repeat what he said

[00:39:40] you know those fans are going to be thinking about it uh every year they win against texas now

[00:39:46] you know yeah i did see a follow-up well they were interviewing the guy from texas who did that

[00:39:53] who planted the flag on the jersey and he was like oh it was just the first jersey i got my hands on and

[00:39:59] from the stands and it just happened to be a baker mayfield jersey there's nothing there and we're

[00:40:03] like okay yeah right okay we believe you hey i'm gonna add a bonus a bonus say what to this

[00:40:10] oh because and i wish that everybody could see the video of the soundbite i'm about to play from

[00:40:17] oregon coach dan lanning because while he was answering the question about whether or not the

[00:40:23] addition of a 12th defender in the key seconds final seconds of that game whether that was intentional or

[00:40:30] not as he's answering the question he has a smirk on his face that you cannot wipe off you could not

[00:40:36] photoshop away it's clear that they did do it on purpose because the ncaa somehow is already sprinting

[00:40:42] to an overreaction to change the rule but here is his answer he wasn't one-on-one he we actually had

[00:40:48] a safety on top so there was a so it's called dog it's when you play but he wasn't an extremely tight

[00:40:54] coverage but he was in dog coverage where he had safety on top of him and uh yeah there was a time

[00:40:58] out before that we spent an inordinate amount of time on situations there's some situations that don't

[00:41:02] show up very often uh in college football but uh this is one that obviously uh was something that

[00:41:08] we we have worked on so um you can see the result and he is smiling from ear to ear throughout the

[00:41:13] whole thing this is obviously one that we have worked on i found that to be quite humorous and uh

[00:41:20] yeah i didn't i didn't think you probably would so let's uh let's run over to our uh holy discontent

[00:41:26] and let everybody blow off a little steam it's time to blow off some steam get it off your chest

[00:41:36] rant about what's most bothering you i got a lot of problems with you people now you're gonna hear

[00:41:42] about it it's time for holy discontent and alex i don't know if you've been cued into what we're

[00:41:49] doing but we'd like to let you go first as the newcomer to the show what's on your mind

[00:41:53] i think my holy discontent right now with the nfl is why with today's technology can we not just get

[00:42:04] the calls right when reffing doesn't get it right um and specifically i'm thinking prime time a week ago

[00:42:12] coming down to the wire kyle pitts goes into the end zone obvious defensive pass interference

[00:42:21] on him game changing penalty and no call and no explanation and no win um i mean today

[00:42:34] why can't we get those calls right especially since we can see it at home and if we can see it at home

[00:42:41] it should be readily correctable so either stop showing the replays to us or figure out a way

[00:42:49] to make it quickly correctable yeah alex just so you know we've been bill and i've been doing this

[00:42:55] podcast for a couple years now and it's about every third week where bill's holy discontent has

[00:42:59] something to do with this it's true just drives me nuts it drives me nuts i'm a two-trick pony but

[00:43:05] that's one of my tricks so yeah dan what's on your mind anything to vent about so if you were uh to

[00:43:14] open up a dictionary and look under first world problems what i'm about to share would qualify as

[00:43:22] this we're given this beautiful gift on youtube tv of uh multi-view yes being able to watch four games

[00:43:31] at a time why did they never give you the choice of the four games you want to watch the most yes right

[00:43:38] um you know so i'm flipping around going no that's not it that's not it that's not it so uh boy that's

[00:43:48] pretty crotchety isn't it right no because you i'm with you they never even if they even if they give

[00:43:55] you options like you know five four game options there's never the four games that you would choose

[00:44:01] to watch even though they're from different yeah you're absolutely right paul miller

[00:44:07] yeah okay my holy discontent this week is with ohio state fans with my own people who just can't

[00:44:16] seem to help themselves right so ohio state loses to the number t three team in the country on the road

[00:44:23] with a controversial offensive pass interference call and then the 12 man play by dan lanning which

[00:44:31] i actually give him props for i think smart smart on you right and all that stuff and of

[00:44:36] course and all the all the headlines now and all the blogosphere and all the other stuff ohio state

[00:44:41] fans are calling again once again for ryan day to be fired right so here's my thing i looked it up

[00:44:48] kirby smart sixth year at georgia six years before he won a natty urban meyer six years as a head coach

[00:44:55] his second year at florida woody hayes nine years uh before he won one nick saban 14 years before he won

[00:45:03] his first natty bear bryant 17 years so ryan day is in his sixth year he's 61 and 9 as a head coach

[00:45:12] you can list every loss that he's taken as a head coach that win percentage is actually probably going

[00:45:19] to improve significantly if the ncaa has anything to say about their games against michigan these last

[00:45:24] oh stop it yours but we won't go there stop it it's gonna say 61 and 9 is pretty good ryan day is

[00:45:31] has the number one all-time win percentage of from active ncaa football head coaches 87.5 percent

[00:45:39] kirby smart dan lanning lincoln riley and kaylin deborre are the the rest of the top five but ryan

[00:45:44] day is number one every goal they set for this season is still in front of them i think they can

[00:45:50] show up the last week of the regular season and maybe play a good game against michigan i think that's

[00:45:55] still available to them i think the big 10 championship is still on the table for them

[00:46:00] yeah we're going to talk about how ryan day needs to be fired so my question is well who are they

[00:46:06] going to hire to replace him are they going to bring urban back i don't think so there's nobody

[00:46:12] maybe luke fickle maybe mike vrabel i don't know ohio state fans we just need to relax not be so

[00:46:21] entitled not be so spoiled and maybe say hey a loss like this isn't the end of the world and maybe we'll

[00:46:28] make our team better especially in the 12 team playoff year they're going to be just fine yeah

[00:46:32] however if they were to remove him from his place of employment it would give him more time to find

[00:46:38] out where lou holtz is okay my holy discontent

[00:46:44] pause for that after the comment about the pause for rim there's no hammer drop and stop it

[00:46:48] my holy discontent valley sports diamond sports owns valley sports diamond sports is a subsidiary

[00:46:55] of sinclair broadcasting everything sinclair touches turns to fecal matter so they have diamond sports in

[00:47:01] in bankruptcy which means the regional sports networks around the country are all really kind

[00:47:06] of up in the air they carry most of the franchises you all like to watch throughout the season in our

[00:47:12] case in detroit they carry the pistons and the tigers and the red wings valley sports announced

[00:47:18] earlier today that valley is removing itself valley is a gaming company removing itself from the name

[00:47:25] of the network and the new naming rights have been purchased by fanduel as our culture continues to dive

[00:47:37] deeper into the fool's gold that is gambling we are now apparently pretty darn comfortable with just

[00:47:45] slapping the names of online gaming companies on everything in an effort to draw more sports fans

[00:47:53] into losing more of their money and developing exceedingly unhealthy habits and addictions and uh it's it

[00:48:03] no it's just i i was wishing i knew a name change was coming to valley sports i certainly never gave a thought

[00:48:10] to it being a gaming company i guess i probably should have but man oh man i wish it was something

[00:48:16] different so diamond sports sinclair congratulations you've continued finding a new low in the bottom of

[00:48:23] the barrel at a time when we kind of thought you were the lowest point in the bottom of the barrel

[00:48:28] which makes the transition from holy discontent to that guy a little bit awkward but here we go

[00:48:34] right now this minute today this week i am okay i think i'm leading out with that guy which is where

[00:48:48] we each have the opportunity to give a shout out to somebody in the world of sports who's doing it

[00:48:53] right and you guys if you know me you know that i love sarcasm and the thing i look for the most on

[00:48:58] twitter is snarky sarcastic replies and i happened upon this twitter account from a guy named greg i have no

[00:49:06] idea who greg is but lebron tweeted uh i think it was a couple days ago can someone please explain to

[00:49:15] me why we're getting on a plane and heading to milwaukee for one preseason game that was lebron's

[00:49:21] tweet and here's what greg replied he said hey lebron it's greg the reason for this is because if you

[00:49:27] were to drive there it would take over 29 hours so i'm guessing your coaches thought it would be

[00:49:31] more efficient to fly i hope that helps that's just great i think i'm gonna have to follow this guy

[00:49:38] and and see who else he interacts with on twitter oh it's a double win for you when it also involves

[00:49:44] lebron right i mean it's it is it's it's yeah it's like a win-win dan dan you've known that for

[00:49:51] as long as you've known paul death taxes and something about lebron on this podcast i yes

[00:49:58] thank you the sun will come up tomorrow that's so funny alex do you have anybody you want to shout

[00:50:05] out i'm gonna shout out a guy from my hometown team that had a little bit uh uh some not nice

[00:50:13] things said about him in the media a few weeks ago defensive coordinator brian flores and i'm not

[00:50:19] going to talk about how he did or did not coach the dolphins well but um he may coming out swinging for

[00:50:27] him a couple weeks ago cam bynum talked about how they'd have fellowship thursdays for the team

[00:50:33] hangs out together after practice you go to brian flores's house play some basketball eat food hang

[00:50:39] with their kids i think that's a very cool thing that he's helping facilitate for the team

[00:50:45] that is awesome yeah very good dan you have anybody it's probably uh been a week or so since the uh

[00:50:53] tigers um had their little run were eventually eliminated maybe we'll call this uh that girl

[00:51:00] um there's a great clip of terek scoobal coming off the field game two after uh in cleveland pitching

[00:51:10] unbelievable uh the words he said to the crowd were less than um stellar to which terek's mom the next

[00:51:19] day posted a clip and just two words terek daniel as if he was being summons to the but you know and i

[00:51:27] just like isn't that great that mom can just like totally love her son and peak of sports you know

[00:51:34] intensity and fandom so yay for sports moms and you know who are you know pulling their uh sons on so

[00:51:41] yeah she went middle name that's serious yes that's so you can picture terek daniel you get down here

[00:51:47] right now right now you are grounded young man you will not pitch game five uh my that guy i don't

[00:51:55] know this person but uh usc the trojans have a very strange slash desperate fundraising idea

[00:52:02] you can pay you any of us could pay fifteen hundred dollars to run out of the tunnel at the coliseum

[00:52:11] with the team as they take the field for a game really yes fifteen hundred bucks like the band is

[00:52:17] out there the team has just gone out and then you come out right behind them and it's fifteen hundred

[00:52:22] bucks and as of last week they hadn't set any parameters for anything other than we want your

[00:52:30] money and then you can go run well as usc is getting ready to pay play penn state a guy who paid

[00:52:37] fifteen hundred dollars ran out with a team dressed in penn state gear and just decided he was gonna make

[00:52:45] a statement i don't know what his name is but i thought what a smart idea if you're gonna drop

[00:52:50] the money you might as well represent your team and so he ran out on the usc sidelines dressed as a

[00:52:56] nittany lion and i just thought that was delightful so uh good good stuff money to burn apparently by the

[00:53:03] way so yeah all right we're gonna wind things down as we always do with our three minute message and

[00:53:09] the three minute message is kind of led off well it kind of features a coach giving it a bit of a

[00:53:16] an encouraging message so let's get into it uh homer i'd like you to remember matthew 7 26

[00:53:23] the foolish man who built his house on sand and you remember matthew 21 17 and he left them and went

[00:53:35] out of the city into bethany and he lodged there yeah think about it think about it okay so my new

[00:53:45] favorite coach in ncaa football is matt rule um from nebraska um i was a fan when he was coaching

[00:53:53] at baylor and my daughter was at baylor um i was actually just in nebraska bill i sent you some

[00:53:58] pictures because i snuck out of the conference and ditched one of the sessions so i could drive over

[00:54:03] to the stadium and take some pictures of husker's stadium just because um needed to be done um but

[00:54:10] he's on his press conference um this is about a week ago and he was talking about some troubles

[00:54:15] that their their field goal kicking unit was going through and he references his season in the

[00:54:23] nfl as a carolina panthers head coach which didn't really go well for him but i love the way he

[00:54:29] talked about it and we'll just let you guys listen to this sometimes you walk through the valley of the

[00:54:32] shadow of death you know and you're going through these hard times and it's a great great thing

[00:54:36] about where i am in my life you know i can share with the guys like i went through the hardest time

[00:54:39] i could have ever imagined in carolina and all it was doing at the time i'm saying why am i going

[00:54:44] through this but it was preparing me for this amazing part of my life here and the empathy i have

[00:54:49] for players and so you know that feeling where like you know you have a bad game and you walk in and

[00:54:54] you you almost feel embarrassed to see people and i'm like none of that i'm not doing that you know

[00:54:58] maybe that's how it was because i know what that feels like when you're like hey can i even go into

[00:55:02] the grocery store you know or someone going to say something to me in front of my kids you know like

[00:55:05] that's so i understand that and so um as i've told john and i've told all those guys as you're going

[00:55:12] through this period this journey going from you know a player with potential to being a player

[00:55:20] who's potent you know you have to go through these things and parts of you have to die off and

[00:55:25] you have to really embrace it you can't just get through you have to embrace and say hey what am i

[00:55:28] supposed to be learning to go from someone who has potential to someone who's potent so james one

[00:55:34] right consider it pure joy my brothers and sisters whenever you face trials of many kinds because

[00:55:39] you know that the testing of your faith the testing of your faith produces and perseverance

[00:55:44] that perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete not lacking anything

[00:55:50] um i just love that perspective and the challenge for all of us this week this month this year is when

[00:55:57] you find yourself um in a season of testing instead of just saying what was me maybe you need to pause

[00:56:05] and i'm talking to myself here too maybe we need to pause and ask the lord what is it that you're

[00:56:10] trying to teach me what is it that you're trying to do in me to prepare me to go to go from being

[00:56:18] someone with potential to someone who is potent in whatever it might be so we can take that from

[00:56:24] matt rule the head coach at the university of nebraska and hopefully apply it to our own lives this week

[00:56:30] good stuff matt rule is delivering a lot of content for us on this program he's a very

[00:56:35] very well spoken kegs and eggs and football guy so he's got he's got both into the of the spectrum

[00:56:40] covered for sure alex thanks so much great to have you with us man it's uh and thanks for

[00:56:45] repping jj um it's nice to see that on the jersey and we want that recovery soon we don't wish the

[00:56:51] vikings all that well but we certainly want your quarterback to be in in good shape and

[00:56:55] dan it's good to see you thanks for jumping in here at the last minute and spending some time

[00:57:00] it's good to hang out with you guys we will talk to you all again next week make sure you check out

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