Speaker 1: Lene fifteen ten touchdown. What's up? Guys? Welcome into a
Speaker 1: brand new episode of Chargers Weekly, post super Bowl edition
Speaker 1: as always, joined by Matt money Smith, friend of the show,
Speaker 1: Jeff Miller, La Times joining us. Funny. We always love
Speaker 1: having Jeff. One. We get mister Miyata on here. I'm
Speaker 1: all about it, man, especially to break down a super Bowl,
Speaker 1: especially to break down a Super Bowl. I'm just glad
Speaker 1: that somebody considers me a friend. Oh yeah, hey, you
Speaker 1: are a friend, mister Miyata. We all need a mister
Speaker 1: Miata friend, you know, cruising the streets of Huntington Beach
Speaker 1: and a sweet red Miata butt the drop top. That's
Speaker 1: what we are all about, Miller. That's indeed, nothing says
Speaker 1: old man. Everybody was missing that. Everybody was missing that
Speaker 1: Miyata in Huntington Beach last week because Jeff was in
Speaker 1: Arizona all week before we read to the game. You
Speaker 1: gotta tell us about the week and what you did.
Speaker 1: I tried to stay warm. It was weird, you know,
Speaker 1: it's that Arizona winter. So uh. One I ran into
Speaker 1: somebody who I met, writer from the New York Times,
Speaker 1: and he was asking me, uh, he had never been
Speaker 1: to Arizona before, and he said, I never knew that
Speaker 1: sixty five degrees could be so cold, and that that's
Speaker 1: really it was a weird week that way. It was
Speaker 1: very dry and very windy, so it was weird week
Speaker 1: that way, but it was it was good. You know,
Speaker 1: it's a super Bowl, so it uh, as we were
Speaker 1: talking about, just a little bit off the area there
Speaker 1: that it gets a little by that by the end
Speaker 1: of the week, you're ready for a game. It's not
Speaker 1: just a player. So it was good. It was a
Speaker 1: good week and productive week, but it was great to
Speaker 1: get to that game. And then it turned out to
Speaker 1: be a really good game too, so good good trip
Speaker 1: all in off. Yeah, a great game. And now that
Speaker 1: the Chiefs have had their parade and uh, the Charger
Speaker 1: fans gag reflexes have maybe finally relied after watching the
Speaker 1: way this whole postseason played out, the regular season played out,
Speaker 1: you know, before we just dig into the game, Jeff,
Speaker 1: I think it's you know, probably more important for the
Speaker 1: sake of this podcast than the people listening to it,
Speaker 1: kind of what, you know, what the long term, I
Speaker 1: don't know if ramifications is the right word, but but
Speaker 1: what it means long term for the Chiefs, for the
Speaker 1: AFC West, for the AFC, for the league that you know,
Speaker 1: it looks like a pretty young team won a freaking
Speaker 1: super Bowl and their second in a few years. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I think we, Uh, the reality of it is, I
Speaker 1: think everybody right now is of the opinion. You know,
Speaker 1: Mahomes is going to probably win two three more at least,
Speaker 1: right and he can be done this for quite a while.
Speaker 1: He's still won twenty seven only, so uh, yeah, it's uh,
Speaker 1: you know, I guess I was thinking about this the
Speaker 1: other day. If you're a Charger fan, or if you're
Speaker 1: the Chargers, you're gonna have to beat the Chiefs eventually,
Speaker 1: you know, even if you're in the other conference. Probably.
Speaker 1: So unfortunately they you know, they're they got to play
Speaker 1: him twice a year and they they kind of own
Speaker 1: the division right now. But you know, you're gonna have
Speaker 1: to beat them anyway. So I guess if you want
Speaker 1: to look at it from that perspective, you can't really
Speaker 1: avoid them, and they really can't. But yeah, this the
Speaker 1: Chiefs say, they look really good and Andy Reid doesn't
Speaker 1: sound like he's going anywhere anytime soon, So yeah, they're
Speaker 1: They're gonna be a problem for the rest of the
Speaker 1: league for a while. It looks like, Jeff, I look
Speaker 1: at how they won the game, and obviously it starts
Speaker 1: with Mahones, but just some of the young guys that
Speaker 1: they've they've recently drafted or acquired, right, you know, Bolton
Speaker 1: gets that that scoop and score for a touchdown. Kadarius
Speaker 1: Tony had one of the or two of the big
Speaker 1: biggest plays of the game that that punt returned in
Speaker 1: the touchdown Pacheco. They really leaned on him. The fact
Speaker 1: that this team is young and they relied on a
Speaker 1: lot of rookies and they have the ability to kind
Speaker 1: of reload I think offensively in terms of the wide
Speaker 1: receiver position. I guess what lessons can the Chargers take
Speaker 1: from this season and just what the Chiefs are doing
Speaker 1: how to beat them. The Chargers are always so close
Speaker 1: to beating the Chiefs. It's always comes down to like
Speaker 1: a three point game or one position game. Yet they
Speaker 1: can't get over the hump. It looks like the Chiefs
Speaker 1: aren't going over Yeah. I heard after the game the
Speaker 1: next day. I think that's someone in the NFL networks
Speaker 1: and the Chiefs had twenty four new players for last season,
Speaker 1: and we all know remember when Tyreek Hill left, we
Speaker 1: all thought, oh boy, the Chiefs just came back to
Speaker 1: the pack. And I think it just comes down to really,
Speaker 1: uh they you know, they're they have a really special
Speaker 1: quarterback and it just makes such a big difference, and
Speaker 1: it's almost like it doesn't really matter. All these weapons
Speaker 1: are going to be better because of Patrick Mahomes. And
Speaker 1: you look at you mentioned the young guys Pacheco, Isaiah Pacheco.
Speaker 1: Twenty one running backs were drafted before him. It seems
Speaker 1: remarkable when you watch watch him play this season and
Speaker 1: watch that game and how hard he runs and how
Speaker 1: fast he is. How is it even possible? And you know,
Speaker 1: guys at Rutgers, it's it's bizarre to me. I don't
Speaker 1: know how that works. And the Chiefs seem to find
Speaker 1: these guys and they show up there, and part of it,
Speaker 1: I think is a scheme. Part of it's Andy Reid,
Speaker 1: you know, and Eric b Enemy that offense. And I
Speaker 1: think a big part of it though, is just it's
Speaker 1: just Mahomes and he just he changes the dynamic of
Speaker 1: the whole the whole game when he's out there and
Speaker 1: even he saw him. He's limping around and he's still
Speaker 1: is just he's just a unique weapon, and they just aren't,
Speaker 1: you know, they haven't. I don't know there's I've ever
Speaker 1: been anybody like him in the NFL. And I don't
Speaker 1: want to turn this into like the guy you know,
Speaker 1: it's like Jesus out there running around, but it really
Speaker 1: there's he just he just changes everything and everybody around
Speaker 1: him is better because of him, and um, it's just
Speaker 1: he's the riddle that everybody's going to try to figure
Speaker 1: out for a bunch of more years. It looks like, yeah,
Speaker 1: you know, I think there's a few things there, Jeff.
Speaker 1: One is you know, and this is something we've talked
Speaker 1: about on the pod before, and I know, you know,
Speaker 1: I've asked Staley about it and he got a little
Speaker 1: defensive when I did. But the Chargers need to learn
Speaker 1: how to win. That's what the Chiefs do. They know
Speaker 1: how to win, you know, when they are trailing in games,
Speaker 1: when they're down double digits, they know how to get
Speaker 1: that score that they absolutely have to get to make
Speaker 1: sure they're within striking distance in the fourth quarter. And
Speaker 1: it doesn't matter if it's thirteen seconds in the AFC
Speaker 1: Championship Game last year, or if it's five minutes in
Speaker 1: the Super Bowl. They just know how to win games.
Speaker 1: And to me, that is the one thing that this
Speaker 1: Chargers team has been missing the last couple of years
Speaker 1: is you know, they have the lead at home on
Speaker 1: Thursday Night Football or whatever that was Sunday and Night
Speaker 1: Football against the Chiefs with two minutes left and they
Speaker 1: can't close the deal. They're in Kansas City and the
Speaker 1: pick six, like's to me, that's and look, I don't
Speaker 1: know how you coach that. I don't know how you
Speaker 1: signed players to do that, but that, to me is
Speaker 1: the one thing that the Chiefs do that is very
Speaker 1: reminiscent of the Patriots. It doesn't matter if it's thirty
Speaker 1: eight thirty five or it's seventeen thirty, they're they're always
Speaker 1: on the right end that score. And I think the
Speaker 1: second thing that that you got into there, you know,
Speaker 1: was these offensive players that they plug in are ready
Speaker 1: to perform. You know, if it's Marques Veldez, Marquess Veldez, Scantling,
Speaker 1: if it's you know, they trade for Codarius Tony, who
Speaker 1: was who became an afterthought for the Giants and he
Speaker 1: has that that killer. Like they know their personnel and
Speaker 1: they have a play caller that you know, makes those
Speaker 1: play calls for his personnel and it buffuddles their opponents.
Speaker 1: I mean, you've got a defense that you know. And
Speaker 1: we'll get into this a little bit more, but like
Speaker 1: when you have a defense that was effect as effective
Speaker 1: as the Eagles were all season long, and you see
Speaker 1: two guys wide open for touchdowns in the Super Bowl,
Speaker 1: I mean wide ass open, you know, by ten yards.
Speaker 1: That speaks to play caller, quarterback execution, doing what your
Speaker 1: players do best. And I to me, like, those are
Speaker 1: the takeaways Chris, that I see from that Super Bowl
Speaker 1: and what the Chargers can point to. I don't know
Speaker 1: what the answers are, but because I don't know how
Speaker 1: you answer, well, how do you win? But I think
Speaker 1: that's that's got to be it, Like what are we
Speaker 1: doing wrong in the critical moments of games where we
Speaker 1: lose these games instead of win these games? Yeah? And Jeff,
Speaker 1: I'll ask you this too, because you know Money alluded
Speaker 1: to it. Also, zero sacks. The Eagles had seventy sacks
Speaker 1: this year. Zero in that game when the Eagles got
Speaker 1: up in Arizona, and they look like they were going
Speaker 1: to run away with it for a minute. What were
Speaker 1: your thoughts, Jeff, because you've seen this stories too many times,
Speaker 1: you know that Chiefs were out of it it. Yeah, I
Speaker 1: think Money hit it right on the head. It's just
Speaker 1: and I think that again. I just keep you know,
Speaker 1: I'm going to put a halo over the guy's head here.
Speaker 1: But it's Mahomes again, like if you always hear this,
Speaker 1: and I think it's true. I think they really believe
Speaker 1: with Justin Herbert, the charges have said for three years now,
Speaker 1: as long as we've got him, we're in the game.
Speaker 1: We know we're in the game. We know we're in
Speaker 1: the game. And I think they really, they really believe
Speaker 1: that the difference is with Mahomes. There's such a track
Speaker 1: record now that that everybody believes it, like you just
Speaker 1: the other team believes believes it. You know, at the
Speaker 1: end of the first half, Okay, it's a ten point game,
Speaker 1: Mahomes is my I had my BADACA is trained on
Speaker 1: Mahomes leaving the field. I want to see how badly
Speaker 1: he was limping. He's limping off the field. They're down
Speaker 1: ten and I remember at the time thinking maybe he's done. Now,
Speaker 1: maybe this is a you know, maybe with him being hurt,
Speaker 1: and then you saw what happened. They come out in
Speaker 1: the second half and they literally they Eagles literally could
Speaker 1: not stop them. You know, three straight touchdowns. One obviously
Speaker 1: was after the punt returns, very short peel, but three
Speaker 1: touchdowns and the fourth time they get the ball, they
Speaker 1: take up the last five minutes. They get to help
Speaker 1: with the holding call, but I mean, five minutes to
Speaker 1: go in that game, two time outs for the Eagles.
Speaker 1: I didn't think there was any chance that they were
Speaker 1: going to run that that five minutes off the clock
Speaker 1: and give the Eagles no time. I thought they're gonna
Speaker 1: go down, They're gonna do something. Now we're gonna see
Speaker 1: if Jalen Hurds can finish the game. It's either win
Speaker 1: it or sent it to overtime. And you know, all
Speaker 1: they needed was a little bit of a break maybe
Speaker 1: with that holding call, and that's all and they were
Speaker 1: able to kill the rest of that five That's just
Speaker 1: to be able to do that at the end of
Speaker 1: the Super Bowl is you know, and that's a tribute
Speaker 1: to the whole offense, an offensive line. I mean, just
Speaker 1: that was ridiculous. Five minutes ago. The other team has
Speaker 1: two time outs and the Eagles, you saw what they
Speaker 1: ended up getting. You know, they had one last ridiculous
Speaker 1: chance for one play. That's that was such a performance
Speaker 1: that second half. It was almost a perfect second half
Speaker 1: to the Chiefs played that just really impressive money. It's exactly,
Speaker 1: it's winning plays. It's winning plays money, right that Jared
Speaker 1: McKinnon sliding at the one. Yeah. Yeah, But I think, like,
Speaker 1: to me, the one thing that that you brought up
Speaker 1: their Jeff, that I think is important to address and
Speaker 1: look at it again. Is it fair? Maybe maybe not,
Speaker 1: But justin Herbert had a twenty seven zero lead in
Speaker 1: a playoff game and they lost the game. Like that's
Speaker 1: you know, you may not want it because we love
Speaker 1: Herbert as much as we do, but that sticks to Herbert,
Speaker 1: Like that's that's stuck on you. I'm sorry, you know,
Speaker 1: there is a portion of that that is now attached
Speaker 1: to him. That like we talked about, you know, Mahomes
Speaker 1: in the Super Bowl down ten, hobbling off the field,
Speaker 1: going in and then all of a sudden has a
Speaker 1: perfect second half and just carves up what was the
Speaker 1: best defense in football. He had a lot of help
Speaker 1: obviously from his offensive line, But I think that's something
Speaker 1: that I've got to believe Justin is watching that game
Speaker 1: and you know, thinking about, you know, the situation that
Speaker 1: presented itself to him, and look, it's not all on Justin.
Speaker 1: You know, Austin Eckler rush for negative three yards in
Speaker 1: the second half. You know, it's it's not like it's
Speaker 1: all on him. But I do think that sticks to you.
Speaker 1: And that's as as a leader of a team, as
Speaker 1: as the quarterback that's gonna get probably the largest contract
Speaker 1: in the NFL this offseason, you know, that's something that
Speaker 1: I think he's got that he's got to probably reconcile, like, man,
Speaker 1: this this guy's on one leg and down ten and
Speaker 1: it looks like it's getting away from them, and he
Speaker 1: ends up rallying and scoring thirty eight point twenty eight
Speaker 1: points in the second half and essentially a perfect performance,
Speaker 1: and we're up twenty seven zero and somehow figure out
Speaker 1: how to lose that game. Like, to me, that's I
Speaker 1: think something that I would that if I were you know,
Speaker 1: if I were looking at it, I would probably figure
Speaker 1: out how do I connect these two Like what what
Speaker 1: are we doing? And what can what can we do
Speaker 1: better to make sure that that does not happen again. Like,
Speaker 1: there's a lot that goes into it. It's the injury
Speaker 1: to Jamari, It's the inability. You know, there's a reason
Speaker 1: why Kellen Morris here and play calling and the inability
Speaker 1: on designed runs to get anything positive going. But when
Speaker 1: I and just like expanding that Chris and Jeff, like
Speaker 1: when I watched the performance from Jalen Hurtz, you know,
Speaker 1: and just willing to do anything and everything to get
Speaker 1: that last yard, to get that single yard, and the
Speaker 1: way that stike and you know, the way the coach
Speaker 1: stike and we and like that's something I hope Kellen
Speaker 1: Moore gets back to just using Jalen Hurt's feet as
Speaker 1: a weapon to as an equalizer, you know. And he
Speaker 1: did it with justin his rookie year. You know, we
Speaker 1: just saw Justin moving a lot more that rookie year
Speaker 1: than the last two years. And I think that's something
Speaker 1: I'd love to see Kellen Moore get back to, you know,
Speaker 1: specifically all those third and fourth down conversions. You know
Speaker 1: that we're a byproduct or a direct result of him,
Speaker 1: you know, Jalen's willingness to use his legs to put
Speaker 1: immense pressure on a defense. Yeah, it's it's true. I mean,
Speaker 1: I think a lot of people are of that opinion that,
Speaker 1: you know, moving justin, justin Herbert a little more, using
Speaker 1: his legs a little more. I mean, we saw that
Speaker 1: with Mahomes right too in that second half, a couple
Speaker 1: of those runs, and you know, and we see what
Speaker 1: the Eagles do with Hurts on the especially those short
Speaker 1: yardage things. I don't know if it seems like to
Speaker 1: me that that power sneak stuff is almost gonna they're
Speaker 1: gonna have to outlaw that, aren't they or something. I
Speaker 1: don't I don't know, I'm guessing. I mean, it's not
Speaker 1: I don't think it's gonna happen this offseason, Jeff, but
Speaker 1: a one hundred percent. But you know what, as long
Speaker 1: as it's they're using with you completely, and you know
Speaker 1: how the Charges have struggled with short yardage for a
Speaker 1: while now, So yeah, I think, you know, it's the
Speaker 1: old thing with with Herbert. You know, you got to
Speaker 1: be careful with them, right, you gotta be careful with
Speaker 1: these guys. But you know, Josh Allen seems to do
Speaker 1: it and he and Herbert are very similar that you know,
Speaker 1: structure status wise, you know, their physicality very similar. So
Speaker 1: I think I think the Chargers I would be shocked
Speaker 1: if assuming you know, as long as Justin is healthy
Speaker 1: and isn't dealing with the going of ribs stuff and
Speaker 1: the show stuff where it could be something significant, I
Speaker 1: think they're by the way, where do you get hurt?
Speaker 1: Where where do you get hurt? Jeff? Did he get
Speaker 1: hurt on the runner? Did you get hurt? Yeah? Yeah,
Speaker 1: so ye, you know you exactly, So I think, yeah,
Speaker 1: I think you know, you're hearing quite a bit of
Speaker 1: rumblings of that here in the last few weeks about
Speaker 1: after the Kellen Moore got hired, that that's something they
Speaker 1: need to get back to it, and I think I
Speaker 1: think we will see that. A couple of things that
Speaker 1: stand out to me in Justin's career that that run
Speaker 1: in the Rose Bowl and then that Sun and Night
Speaker 1: game against Pittsburgh where he ran all over the field
Speaker 1: because they were given it to him and it was
Speaker 1: partly the reason they won that game. Justin didn't run
Speaker 1: as much last year, and you're right, maybe it's because
Speaker 1: of the ribs in the shoulder, but that's a weapon
Speaker 1: on this offense that needs to be utilized more and
Speaker 1: I just wonder how it's gonna look next year. Jeff
Speaker 1: Doug nust Meyer is now the quarterbacks coach. Was with
Speaker 1: Kellen Moore in Dallas and he has an interesting background,
Speaker 1: a lot of a lot of stops in college. I
Speaker 1: think he interviewed for the Ravens offensive coordinator position. He
Speaker 1: was also linked to the Miami offensive coordinator position with
Speaker 1: Justin's former coach Mario Christoval, but comes to Los Angeles
Speaker 1: with Kellen Moore. Um, I guess your thoughts on that
Speaker 1: higher it probably makes sense to link the offensive coordinator
Speaker 1: in the quarterback coach from a different stop and maybe
Speaker 1: make that offense a little bit more translatable. To Herbert, Yeah,
Speaker 1: I think my take on a lot of these position coaches,
Speaker 1: especially because people, as you know, they this position coaches there,
Speaker 1: what does it mean now? And a lot of this,
Speaker 1: A lot of these guys are They're all really good coaches,
Speaker 1: and I don't think they would be in the NFL
Speaker 1: if they were a bad coach. But to me, it
Speaker 1: comes it always It's the same thing. It always just
Speaker 1: comes down to the players and even the coordinators. I
Speaker 1: know they they can make a difference, there's no doubt
Speaker 1: about it. But let's you know, a perfect illustration. What
Speaker 1: I'm talking about is in the second half of the
Speaker 1: Super Bowl, we saw, you know money, you mentioned those
Speaker 1: two plays that the Chiefs last two touchdowns where Tony's
Speaker 1: wide open. They run that jet sweep. You know, you turn,
Speaker 1: he goes back, he's wide open. They do it that
Speaker 1: It appears to be about the same thing in the
Speaker 1: opposite side of the field, the sky More wide open
Speaker 1: for a touchdown. Well, we've learned since then, thanks to
Speaker 1: NFL films, that that second one, the sky More, was
Speaker 1: a mistake. They actually were in the wrong formation, right.
Speaker 1: They come up to the line of scrimmage and it's
Speaker 1: all messed up, Like Mahomes is looking at it, he's
Speaker 1: look at the shot in the play, clocks running down,
Speaker 1: he looks around, all right, we're just gonna do this.
Speaker 1: He's waves his hands. Here comes sky More. And so
Speaker 1: the point is, you know that play happened in the
Speaker 1: press box everybody. First thing we all thought was, oh
Speaker 1: my god, Andy Reid and oh my god, Eric, Eric,
Speaker 1: these guys are so brilliant. Look at the smart how smart.
Speaker 1: They are like what they did. Come to find out
Speaker 1: it was actually they Mahomes claims he called it right,
Speaker 1: they lined up wrong, and the players just said, Okay,
Speaker 1: we're gonna figure it out anyway, Mahomes, We're gonna go
Speaker 1: through it anyway. He's don't have time for anything else,
Speaker 1: let's just run it. I'm gonna do this instead. And
Speaker 1: it turns out to be a great play. The players
Speaker 1: make that play. And the point is, as much as
Speaker 1: we want to give all these the coaches and it's
Speaker 1: like a big deal, they got this guy, they got
Speaker 1: that guy. Uh, it really does come down to the players.
Speaker 1: Having said that, Yes, I mean there's no doubt that
Speaker 1: these coaches do make a difference, but it's, uh, you know,
Speaker 1: in terms of what like a quarterback coach is going
Speaker 1: to mean for Justin, it's really hard to tell until
Speaker 1: they get out there and they get on you know,
Speaker 1: in practice and they get in these meetings. Um. I
Speaker 1: think with the connection between Moore and nuss Meyer is
Speaker 1: obviously there, um since they've worked together. So I think
Speaker 1: that that you know that that's going to be seamless obviously,
Speaker 1: And with Justin, I mean, come on, you guys, we
Speaker 1: we could coach him and he's going to be a
Speaker 1: really good quarterback, right, I mean it's not it's not
Speaker 1: that hard to be a really good coach when he's
Speaker 1: your he's your quarterback when you have a player like that. So, uh,
Speaker 1: we'll see. I think, uh, you know, I think we're
Speaker 1: all hoping for a little more creativity with this new
Speaker 1: offensive coach and the coaches on this offense now, a
Speaker 1: little more creativity, a little more ingenuity. Um, you know
Speaker 1: some of the motion pre snap stuff. We've talked about
Speaker 1: Herbert moving a little more. I think we're all hoping
Speaker 1: that and expecting to see that. But well, um, you know,
Speaker 1: we'll see when when when this really gets into motion,
Speaker 1: what it looks like. Yeah, I think you know, for me, Chris,
Speaker 1: it's I just want someone to challenge him. You know.
Speaker 1: I think about you know, Brady on his retirement tour
Speaker 1: and you know talking to you know, Jim Gray or
Speaker 1: whatever on his podcast, or Peyton Manning talking you know,
Speaker 1: through his broadcast with his brother, Like there's a commonality there,
Speaker 1: and they always say like, I didn't want coaches that
Speaker 1: that coddled me. I got them out of there immediately.
Speaker 1: I need guys that are telling me what I'm doing wrong.
Speaker 1: Like I need dudes to challenge me. And that's what
Speaker 1: the great ones want, you know. And look, I'm not
Speaker 1: in the room. I don't know if if Shane Day
Speaker 1: and Joe Lombardi were a little too easy on on Justin,
Speaker 1: but that's that's what I would want from a quarterback coach,
Speaker 1: you know, as someone saying, hey, you know what, why
Speaker 1: you dropping your arm angle so much? You're six foot
Speaker 1: six man, Let's the sidearm stuff. I get it. There's
Speaker 1: some sweet plays in there when you're wrapping it around,
Speaker 1: but man, when you're you're dropping that slot repeatedly, let's
Speaker 1: let's get away from that, dude. Let's let's use that stature,
Speaker 1: you know, let's use your levers and let's get that
Speaker 1: thing like. That's That's what I think you want is
Speaker 1: someone that's confident. And I think the key with nuss
Speaker 1: Meyer is that he and Kellen have been together, so
Speaker 1: it's not somewhat you know, whereas Shane Day and Joe Lombardi,
Speaker 1: they're coming from two different places, you know, and I
Speaker 1: think maybe there was this sort of I don't want
Speaker 1: to call awkwardness, but a warming up period you know,
Speaker 1: am I overstepping my bounds by getting with Justin? Is?
Speaker 1: You know? Am I am I supposed to be? You know,
Speaker 1: So I think the nice thing about bringing in Doug
Speaker 1: with Kellen is they've already done it. You know, they
Speaker 1: did it with Dak, they did it with Cooper Rush
Speaker 1: like they've you know, they've worked together. So I think
Speaker 1: that's if they have a good cop bad got routine,
Speaker 1: whatever it may be, you know that already exists. There's
Speaker 1: reps there. So that's what I you know, that's one
Speaker 1: of the things I like about the hire. And I
Speaker 1: don't think just you know, look, Dak was a fourth
Speaker 1: round you know, it was fourth rounder. You know, it
Speaker 1: became an all became a pro bowler, you know, led
Speaker 1: the league in passing. So it's it's clear they can
Speaker 1: coach guys up cause you know, Cooper Rush went undefeated,
Speaker 1: right or three and one, whatever it was, so we
Speaker 1: know they can coach um. You know, I think I
Speaker 1: look at the you know, I let's just talk about,
Speaker 1: you know, kind of the Eagles and the Cowboys. These
Speaker 1: are two teams that had I think I want to
Speaker 1: say they're the two most or if not two of
Speaker 1: the top three, I think most rushing first downs in
Speaker 1: the league, you know, And we talked about that getting connected,
Speaker 1: and you saw how important that run attack was for
Speaker 1: the Chiefs in the in the Super Bowl, you know.
Speaker 1: So I think that's something that you know, we focus
Speaker 1: so much on justin I think it's so important to
Speaker 1: focus on the rushing game, specifically designed rushes. And you
Speaker 1: saw what that was able to do for the Eagles,
Speaker 1: the way that the chain Stiken, you know, and Nick
Speaker 1: Sirianna called Sirianni called that game. You know, they got
Speaker 1: eight minute drives, they got seven minute drive these scoring
Speaker 1: drives that are just taking a ton of time off
Speaker 1: the clock. And that's what you gotta do because you know,
Speaker 1: and I guess this is as good a time as
Speaker 1: any to get into it. Like I don't, I don't
Speaker 1: want to hear about defense anymore. Like I just I don't.
Speaker 1: I don't care, you know, I don't care. It's like
Speaker 1: it does not matter. It just doesn't. It doesn't matter
Speaker 1: these offenses the way games are called. Yeah, I don't.
Speaker 1: It's thirty eight to thirty five. You know. The Eagles
Speaker 1: put thirty five up on the Chiefs with the number
Speaker 1: one defense and they lost by three. Like, you know,
Speaker 1: the Bills have the number one defense and Joe Burrow
Speaker 1: went in there and carved them to shreds. So like
Speaker 1: to me, this offseason, you know, go get as many
Speaker 1: weapons as you can. Keep getting depth on the offensive line,
Speaker 1: Get me a new tight end, get me a speed receiver,
Speaker 1: get me another running back. Just freaking load up on
Speaker 1: offense and whatever. Figure out how to coach it up, Brandon,
Speaker 1: because I I just you gotta score thirty five points
Speaker 1: to win these games. Like that's just the reality of it.
Speaker 1: Your offense has got to be able to put points
Speaker 1: on the board when they absolutely have to. I think
Speaker 1: moving forward, that's just what the league has become. And
Speaker 1: the reality is, Bunny with Justin Herbert, you should be
Speaker 1: scoring thirty plus points a game, like, no questions asked.
Speaker 1: I love the comparison to like I think of Bill
Speaker 1: O'Brien and Tom Brady cussing each other out on the sideline.
Speaker 1: That's what made Tom better, right, is to be challenged
Speaker 1: by a guy. So you know, you hope you see that.
Speaker 1: Let's take a quick break and let's dig in a
Speaker 1: little bit more on the offense. What changes could be
Speaker 1: coming and what maybe free agency and the draft will break.
Speaker 1: All right, guys, A big thank you to our partner,
Speaker 1: Microsoft Surface, celebrating ten years of partnership with the NFL
Speaker 1: as the official laptop, tablet and sideline technology provider for
Speaker 1: the LA Chargers. Microsoft Surface provides players and coaches with
Speaker 1: the tools to succeed both on and off the field
Speaker 1: every day. Learn more about Surface at surface dot com.
Speaker 1: All right, money, you teed it up perfectly. Let's talk
Speaker 1: offense now, and you know the Chargers gonna have some
Speaker 1: decisions to make on both sides of the ball. With
Speaker 1: with Khalil Mack and Keenan Allen. Um, I think they
Speaker 1: need a tight end. I think they're gonna need a
Speaker 1: speed receiver. I think they may need another running back
Speaker 1: to compliment Austin Eckler. Jeff, I'll start with you. Where
Speaker 1: do you begin in terms of reloading this offense? Well,
Speaker 1: I think we all got to have to figure out
Speaker 1: Keenan Allen situation. Right, That's that's kind of the one
Speaker 1: of the lunch pins here. Um. And then then we
Speaker 1: go from there. But I will tell you when they
Speaker 1: after the Kellen Moore higher um. That next day, the
Speaker 1: story I wrote about had nothing to do with Justin Herbert.
Speaker 1: I wrote about what does this mean for the running game?
Speaker 1: Because I think that's where this that's that's going to
Speaker 1: be the key for the Chargers in twenty twenty three.
Speaker 1: We we know Justin Herbert's going to be fine. You know,
Speaker 1: as long as he's healthy, they're gonna be able to
Speaker 1: throw the ball, and they're gonna put He's gonna put
Speaker 1: up big numbers and Pro Bowl type numbers. The key
Speaker 1: to me is running the ball. And I think you've
Speaker 1: you know, the offensive line. You can't invest enough in
Speaker 1: the offensive line. When you look at the Cowboys, you know,
Speaker 1: Kellen Moore was there. The Cowboys offense was really good. Well,
Speaker 1: their offensive line was really good. What do we always
Speaker 1: hear about We hear about the Kyle Shanahan offense. We
Speaker 1: hear about Shane Sean mcvay's offense. When those offensives are
Speaker 1: really good. The forty nine ers. What's really great about
Speaker 1: the forty nine ers is their offensive line. When the
Speaker 1: Rams won the Super Bowl, they had a really good
Speaker 1: offensive line. They lost a bunch of the offensive line.
Speaker 1: They stink. Okay, you look at the Chiefs, the Eagles,
Speaker 1: those both those teams have really good offensive lines. I
Speaker 1: get it. I think they need more speed, absolutely, one
Speaker 1: hundred percent, especially on the perimeter. They need more speed.
Speaker 1: But they need to figure out this running game and
Speaker 1: they need to be able to run the ball. I'm
Speaker 1: not saying they have to leave the league, but they've
Speaker 1: got to be a threat to run the ball. And
Speaker 1: you saw it when you know, Kellen More with the Cowboys,
Speaker 1: they had you know, two and Ezekiel Elliott and Tony Pollard,
Speaker 1: two really good running backs and they you know, they
Speaker 1: they were able to run the ball. So that's what
Speaker 1: the Chargers. Chargers need to be able. They need to
Speaker 1: figure out a way to run the ball efficiently and effectively.
Speaker 1: And if they could have run the ball at all
Speaker 1: in the second half of that that playoff game in Jacksonville,
Speaker 1: they probably win the game. So to me, you know,
Speaker 1: the big the big question is Keenan and what's going
Speaker 1: to happen there. But in terms of rebuilding or beefing
Speaker 1: up this deep offense, I just you know, you've got
Speaker 1: to you've got to be able to run the ball.
Speaker 1: And I think that's the offensive line and part of
Speaker 1: that too. Obviously they're gonna get Rashaun Slater back, So
Speaker 1: that's a big, big plus. But you know they you know,
Speaker 1: if they get another tackle, I mean that'd be great.
Speaker 1: I mean Trey Pipkins was good, and I mean I
Speaker 1: wouldn't be surprised. I mean that we're talking about you know,
Speaker 1: they don't have a ton of money to work with unfortunately,
Speaker 1: but to me, it's like the next few months or
Speaker 1: they've got to you're at this rushing game and be
Speaker 1: able to run the ball next season, because that's going
Speaker 1: to be I think the key to this offense. You know,
Speaker 1: money talks about putting up points. That's that's going to
Speaker 1: be the key is if you can run the ball,
Speaker 1: and all of a sudden, now it makes Herbert even
Speaker 1: that much better. Yeah. Look, I mean there's there's there's
Speaker 1: a bunch of different ways to attack this, right one. Uh,
Speaker 1: the Saints go into every season somehow thirty million bucks
Speaker 1: over the cap and somehow they sign free agents and
Speaker 1: there's ways to do it. There's ways to do it. Yeah.
Speaker 1: Same with the Rams. Right when they won their Super Bowl,
Speaker 1: like they were thirty millions. So the idea that they've
Speaker 1: got to start cutting players because they're twenty one mill over. No,
Speaker 1: they can. They can attack this a different way. I'm sure, Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 1: You can convert salary into signing bonus. You can add
Speaker 1: bogus years onto the back and you know, lower that
Speaker 1: cap number and end up adding a little bit of
Speaker 1: money up front for these guys. There's ways to do it.
Speaker 1: It's just whether or not you want to and whether
Speaker 1: or not you want to write the checks. And this
Speaker 1: is where I think a lot of people would be like, oh,
Speaker 1: you know, you gotta be you know Spano's ownership. You
Speaker 1: gotta spend money. They did. They spent a grip of
Speaker 1: cash last year. Last year was the year that they
Speaker 1: spent all that money. Per What I'm guessing is coach
Speaker 1: Staley saying, hey, our offense is good. I need this
Speaker 1: and I need this and I need this, And what
Speaker 1: do they do. They traded for twenty five million in
Speaker 1: Khalil Mack. They signed twenty million combined in Austin Johnson.
Speaker 1: It's Sebastian Joseph. They they signed, you know, seventy five
Speaker 1: million bucks JC Jackson. Well, now that bills come due,
Speaker 1: So like the thing is, you don't come to me,
Speaker 1: and you know, if I'm Tom Tallesco. And you know,
Speaker 1: you know, here's Brandon Staley saying, hey, I need more. No,
Speaker 1: I gave you all that last year and now ed
Speaker 1: and I've got to figure this out because now we're
Speaker 1: in a mess because you know, you told us this, this,
Speaker 1: this and this, and we gave it to you and
Speaker 1: it didn't work. And you know, Mikey Davis was a
Speaker 1: better corner back at ten mil per year than j C.
Speaker 1: Jackson at twenty mill per year. So now I'm stuck.
Speaker 1: Now I've got to figure this out. So like, to me,
Speaker 1: that's more. I would love for it to be more
Speaker 1: cap gymnastics than we got to get rid of Keenan
Speaker 1: Allen's twenty one million bucks, because, like I said, I
Speaker 1: just think it's too important. I think, you know, I
Speaker 1: think having Keenan and Josh and Mike Williams and adding
Speaker 1: two speed receivers and drafting a tight end in the
Speaker 1: first round or signing Dalton Schultz from the Cowboys, and like,
Speaker 1: to me, that's the solution. You know, I'm not gonna
Speaker 1: name names because I don't want to put people out
Speaker 1: on the street, but if I'm looking to move people,
Speaker 1: it's gonna be on the defensive side. You know, even
Speaker 1: though that was the side that a lot of people
Speaker 1: circle and say, wow, they really let us down. You know,
Speaker 1: look at all these statistical numbers. I don't whatever, Man,
Speaker 1: keep the offense intact and let's go out there and
Speaker 1: allowed twenty four and score thirty one or allowed twenty
Speaker 1: five and score thirty whatever like That's so I think
Speaker 1: that's what people need to remember is one, it can
Speaker 1: be done because it happens every year. And two, you know,
Speaker 1: this was a team that pushed all their chips to
Speaker 1: the center last year and spent two hundred million bucks
Speaker 1: in free agency to try to make that Super Bowl
Speaker 1: run this year. So, by no means is ownership or
Speaker 1: the front office cheap. They just did it last year,
Speaker 1: and now they've got to figure out a way to
Speaker 1: account for all of those contracts they handed out on
Speaker 1: all those checks they wrote last year, you know, as
Speaker 1: we go into twenty twenty three. Yeah, and Jeff, now
Speaker 1: now you don't know if j. C. Jackson's going to
Speaker 1: be ready for the start of the season. Khalil Mack
Speaker 1: is a year older. And then just going back to
Speaker 1: the offense, guys, I'm looking down at both the cap
Speaker 1: numbers this year and also just the box scores last year.
Speaker 1: The Chargers only scored over thirty points twice last year,
Speaker 1: So why Kellen Moore's here, And that's why Kellen Moore's here. Yeah,
Speaker 1: exactly exactly. So I agree with you though, Jeff, you
Speaker 1: know money and I've talked about it. I think we
Speaker 1: talked about last year too. This all season in terms
Speaker 1: of trying to find some consistency of a running game.
Speaker 1: What I loved about what Shane Stekin and the Eagles
Speaker 1: did was every single week, Jeff was different. It was
Speaker 1: either a run heavy game or it was like we're
Speaker 1: gonna We're gonna air it out to DeVante Smith and A. J. Brown.
Speaker 1: And I feel like the Chargers they need to establish
Speaker 1: that type of identity on offense. But yes, it runs
Speaker 1: through Justin Herbert. But if there's a game where we
Speaker 1: can rely on the running game to beat you and
Speaker 1: then have Justin hit you over the top of play
Speaker 1: action or whatever the case may be, I feel like
Speaker 1: the offense lacked at it was more predictable last year
Speaker 1: and that needs to change in twenty twenty. Absolutely. I
Speaker 1: mean the other night after the Super Bowl, we're down
Speaker 1: there I'm down there with Nick Sirianni press conference and
Speaker 1: one of the first questions was about the lack of
Speaker 1: a pass rush, and the first thing he said was, well,
Speaker 1: they ran the ball. You know. That was that you know,
Speaker 1: look what they ran. They ran for like one hundred
Speaker 1: and fifty, didn't they you know, And that, you know, again,
Speaker 1: it just goes back to that's the importance of It's
Speaker 1: it's not just look at we ran for this many
Speaker 1: touchdowns and this many yards. It's because we ran. All
Speaker 1: of a sudden, Now we weren't able to pressure the
Speaker 1: quarterback as much because you know, we gotta we got
Speaker 1: to look at pachecos he take it off. You know,
Speaker 1: Mahomes is a threat to take offs. And so this
Speaker 1: like it's it's you know, football has been around for
Speaker 1: a billion years, right, and for a billion years they've
Speaker 1: been talking about you got to run the ball, you
Speaker 1: gotta run the ball. Well, you know, we're not We're
Speaker 1: not inventing anything new here. It's just it's just that's
Speaker 1: the way this game works. And you know, you guys,
Speaker 1: I mean, you guys watched the games last year direferent times.
Speaker 1: I wanted to scream. It was so it was so
Speaker 1: hard to watch these guys try to run. It was ridiculous.
Speaker 1: They just it was impossible. They couldn't run the ball.
Speaker 1: So many games where I mean, they weren't even a
Speaker 1: threat to run. You get into the second half and
Speaker 1: there was zero threat. You know, that last game in Jackson,
Speaker 1: well there was there was no threat of them running
Speaker 1: the ball in the second half of the game. It's
Speaker 1: just it's hard to watch, you know, and you see
Speaker 1: what it does. So the entire offense just grinds to
Speaker 1: a hall when you aren't a threat to run the ball,
Speaker 1: and the other team knows it and they they don't
Speaker 1: even have to worry about you running the ball, even
Speaker 1: when you got a guy. Look how productive Austin Ekeler
Speaker 1: is and he can't you know, he just can't do anything.
Speaker 1: And that that's got to get fixed. Yeah, and I
Speaker 1: think that's Look, it's a product and again it's why
Speaker 1: Kellen Morris here. It's also a product of all the
Speaker 1: checkdowns and just all the sticks and all the curls
Speaker 1: and all the comebacks. So if you watch, like if
Speaker 1: you go back and watch every game and you start
Speaker 1: watching the defensive alignment, that they're not afraid, like like
Speaker 1: they were two years ago and especially three years ago.
Speaker 1: Three you know, when Herbert was a rookie, they were
Speaker 1: terrified of his arm. I mean terrified you had too
Speaker 1: high way deep and now you can run into that,
Speaker 1: you know, same thing last year, not you know, not
Speaker 1: twenty two, but twenty twenty one. You know, so you
Speaker 1: because you're taking those shots, and this year they took
Speaker 1: almost zero shots. Like every I can't tell you how
Speaker 1: many times we're calling the game in DJ's like, you know,
Speaker 1: it's a perfect spot for a shot play. You can
Speaker 1: kind of see the alignment and you know, I'd love
Speaker 1: to see that play action Bootleg and Herbert, you know,
Speaker 1: just throwing across and it's a checkdown for three yards.
Speaker 1: And so I think, you know, going back to your
Speaker 1: question or your point, Chris about you know, the coaches
Speaker 1: and Doug, Doug and Kellen, like they gotta get justin
Speaker 1: back to what makes him different from everybody else in
Speaker 1: the league, and that's he's got this freaking cannon that
Speaker 1: no one else has, and he can he doesn't have to,
Speaker 1: Like I think that's what people don't. They're like, oh, well,
Speaker 1: look how far this ball traveled for just pick your
Speaker 1: quarterback to or who justin doesn't have to set up.
Speaker 1: He doesn't have to drop and he doesn't have to
Speaker 1: you know, jump into those balls to push him down.
Speaker 1: You can have a pass rush coming in his lap boom,
Speaker 1: and he just snaps it and that ball goes fifty
Speaker 1: yards on a rope Like that's the difference, you know,
Speaker 1: where you don't have to have these deep drops and
Speaker 1: he doesn't have to crow hop into it to push
Speaker 1: it down field. You get a four two five four
Speaker 1: three five guy out there and he's taking a five
Speaker 1: step drop. That guy's got his guy beat boom. You know.
Speaker 1: Those those are the plays that they were missing that
Speaker 1: led to an ineffective run game. You know. So now
Speaker 1: you've got all you've got secondary playing press, you're playing
Speaker 1: press man. You know your corners, you've got safeties that
Speaker 1: are crept up into the box because they just don't
Speaker 1: they didn't fear it. So I think they're you know,
Speaker 1: there's again, I don't mean for this to be a
Speaker 1: pile on Joe Lombardi podcast. That's not my intention. It
Speaker 1: sort of sounds like it, But it's like you can't
Speaker 1: run into stack boxes, you know, you can't run when
Speaker 1: when Foster Serell is your right tackle and Zion Johnson's
Speaker 1: your right guard, when you've got you know, Sawyer and
Speaker 1: Filer and Corey on the left side, like that's what
Speaker 1: was working like or or or run it to the
Speaker 1: right side when it was working with Trey and Zi on.
Speaker 1: There were games when it was just befuddling, you know
Speaker 1: what plays were being called on those designed runs. So
Speaker 1: for me, like I feel you know, I feel like
Speaker 1: and man, I tell you, we talked about it already, Jeff,
Speaker 1: I'll just you know, kind of throw this team like
Speaker 1: to me, one of the big I think you brought
Speaker 1: this up, Chris, you know, like one of the great mistakes.
Speaker 1: You know, I hate saying it, but one of the
Speaker 1: great mistakes of the season was why why is Isaiah
Speaker 1: Spiller not? You're featured back in week eighteen. I gotta
Speaker 1: see what this guy can do, Like, I've got this
Speaker 1: game means nothing, it means nothing. Give me Isaiah Spiller
Speaker 1: for twenty touches and let's call some designed runs and
Speaker 1: let's take some shot plays to open it up for him.
Speaker 1: So I know what I got because I have no
Speaker 1: idea what I got. Yeah, I mean, we still don't know, right,
Speaker 1: we have no no clue. I mean, everybody looked great
Speaker 1: at it, and now everybody's talking about they're gonna, you know,
Speaker 1: maybe they should draft running back in the first round.
Speaker 1: Here we go again. I mean, I've covered this team
Speaker 1: since twenty eighteen. I think they've taken a running back
Speaker 1: every year except the one in the draft, even down
Speaker 1: this road, and you need, they draft these guys and
Speaker 1: we never really see him again. Um So, I would
Speaker 1: think a lot of people thought we'd see a Spiller
Speaker 1: at least at least out there at some point, and
Speaker 1: we just didn't. We barely saw him at all this season.
Speaker 1: And you know, you know, you talk about the shots
Speaker 1: and you know that. I mean we all have seen
Speaker 1: it a million times, and not a million times when
Speaker 1: we've seen it enough where you know justin you know,
Speaker 1: rolls out, stops, looks back and throws. But you know,
Speaker 1: when Mike Williams is the only option on that, it's
Speaker 1: not the same. Like I know, Mike Williams, Yeah, he's
Speaker 1: he can make those, he can get those fifty fifty
Speaker 1: balls and all that, and he can throw it up
Speaker 1: for him deep. It's not the same as having a
Speaker 1: speed guy who can run by people. Even if it's
Speaker 1: Jalen Dydon who can run by you like we you know,
Speaker 1: it's just not the same. And they can, they can,
Speaker 1: they can reference Mike Williams and and that's a great
Speaker 1: option to have and to know that he can, you know,
Speaker 1: justin get just throw it up there at times and
Speaker 1: he needs to and Mike and make make these ridiculous catches.
Speaker 1: But it's not the same as if you have some
Speaker 1: if you have speed out there and that you know
Speaker 1: we did, uh, Eric Smith, you know the Chargers dot Com.
Speaker 1: We did a mailbag kind of thing. And what's what's
Speaker 1: the most important thing this team needs to add? I said, speed?
Speaker 1: You know, that's that's what they need to get faster.
Speaker 1: And I mean, there's no doubt about that. And you're
Speaker 1: right on money. If they you know, when you have
Speaker 1: that speed outside and that thread, it does, it's gonna
Speaker 1: loosen up the running game. It's good. It just does.
Speaker 1: That's the way football works. And and they have to
Speaker 1: get they have to do something. I mean, we talked
Speaker 1: about the last off season. They never did. There's no
Speaker 1: way they can make that mistake again and go into
Speaker 1: the season thinking, Okay, Mike Williams is our deep threat.
Speaker 1: I mean, that's not going to work. They need they
Speaker 1: need actual speed, guys. I'll pose this to both you guys. Um,
Speaker 1: we were talking about the app and obviously we know
Speaker 1: Justin Herbert is gonna get paid at some point, but
Speaker 1: there are a number of quarterbacks in that same boat
Speaker 1: as Justin Herbert. Two of them have been to a
Speaker 1: Super Bowl and Joe Burrow and Jalen Hurts. The other one,
Speaker 1: Lamar Jackson, was MVP of the league. So I think
Speaker 1: it's an interesting offseason to see which domino is gonna
Speaker 1: fall first, where Justin falls in line with that, and
Speaker 1: how that affects the cap. Now, Tom Tolesco has been
Speaker 1: steadfast and saying that he doesn't really buy into the
Speaker 1: rookie window for the quarterback, and you know there's things
Speaker 1: you could still do. But Jeff, I'll start with you.
Speaker 1: Where do you think that that falls in line in
Speaker 1: terms of Justin and these other quarterbacks? And how much
Speaker 1: wiggle room do you think it gives the Chargers to
Speaker 1: get the weapons that they need to kind of help
Speaker 1: Justin be at his bast well, yeah, a money set
Speaker 1: it These teams seem to figure out other teams do
Speaker 1: it and they figure it out and they so there
Speaker 1: is a way around, and we know there's a path
Speaker 1: to take. But I'm interested in what you guys think.
Speaker 1: If you're justin, do you dare sign before Joe Burrow?
Speaker 1: Don't you have to kind of see what happens with
Speaker 1: Joe Burrow and sort of let him. I mean, what
Speaker 1: do you what do you guys think? I think I'm
Speaker 1: him and said, well, let's see what Joe Burrow does
Speaker 1: and then we'll h That's what's tricky is because because
Speaker 1: those guys have been to a super Bowl and Lamar
Speaker 1: has won an MVP. So like, I don't know, I
Speaker 1: don't know what the strategy is. Money. To me, it's
Speaker 1: you know, to look the tom to LESCo, I don't
Speaker 1: want to hear this, but I just go to his
Speaker 1: people and say, okay, what do you want. Let's just
Speaker 1: let's let's get that baseline. What is it if we
Speaker 1: can do a deal today? You know, what does it
Speaker 1: look like? Is it? Is it mahomes Ian? Is it
Speaker 1: ten years, five hundred million dollars? Is it more? You know,
Speaker 1: are you gonna do the Lamar Jackson Deshaun Watson thing? Hey, no,
Speaker 1: we want you know, five years fully guaranteed. That's not
Speaker 1: going to happen. That, like, the whole fully guaranteed thing's
Speaker 1: not going to happen. Um. I think the like I
Speaker 1: look at mahomes contract like that's it's funny because now
Speaker 1: it's been criticized a little bit as we've gotten away
Speaker 1: from it. Like when they first gave it to him,
Speaker 1: they were like, my god, they gave this guy half
Speaker 1: a billion dollars. But when you look at it, I think,
Speaker 1: not to get too deep into cap you know linguist,
Speaker 1: you know CAP conversation here, but remember the second you
Speaker 1: do a deal, whatever is guaranteed has got to show
Speaker 1: up an escrow, Like you've got to write a check
Speaker 1: for that. So the like a two hundred and sixty
Speaker 1: million dollars guaranteed deal, well, now the spanis just have
Speaker 1: to write a check for two hundred and sixty million
Speaker 1: dollars and deposit it into account that they can't touch.
Speaker 1: It's stupid, it's archaic. It should be gone because of
Speaker 1: how much money these teams make now from TV deals
Speaker 1: that are guaranteed deals for the next ten years. Like
Speaker 1: you shouldn't have to do that because it really gives
Speaker 1: an advantage to owners that have just obscene amounts of
Speaker 1: money that can afford to put half a billion dollars
Speaker 1: into account that they can't touch for five years. So
Speaker 1: to me, it's okay, let's let's focus on maybe the
Speaker 1: you know, the Josh Allen, the Patrick Mahomes deal, and
Speaker 1: what does it look like, because like I think about,
Speaker 1: you know, as I'm kind of going through, I'm actually
Speaker 1: on spot track right now, you know, looking at all
Speaker 1: of it. And so Mahomes was ten years, four hundred
Speaker 1: and fifty million dollars right with sixty three guaranteed. You know,
Speaker 1: Josh's is six years, two hundred and fifty eight million
Speaker 1: dollars with one hundred million guaranteed. So it's they're all
Speaker 1: gonna look relatively the same, you know, And people are like, well,
Speaker 1: you know, Josh was the only the highest paid quarterback
Speaker 1: for a day, and then Russell Wilson topped or you
Speaker 1: know what I mean. It was like one of those things,
Speaker 1: and then Aaron Rodgers topped it. Like look, the thing,
Speaker 1: the thing you have to separate is it's not always
Speaker 1: the player, it's the agent. So I don't know how
Speaker 1: Justin's agents want to operate this. But I think if
Speaker 1: you can just make Justin the highest paid player in
Speaker 1: football the day you do the deal, doesn't matter if
Speaker 1: Borrow passes it the next day, because if he passes it,
Speaker 1: it's gonna be by a million dollar dollars or something.
Speaker 1: You know, that's negligible. So I think you figure out,
Speaker 1: do you want it to be a Josh Allen deal
Speaker 1: six two fifty eight, one hundred guarantee? Do you want
Speaker 1: it to be a Patrick Mahomes deal ten five hundred,
Speaker 1: you know, with less guaranteed? And that gives us a
Speaker 1: little bit more wiggle room with do we want to
Speaker 1: stack it on the back end? Do we want to
Speaker 1: stack it here on the front end? How are we
Speaker 1: going to do it? So? I think, like to me,
Speaker 1: I don't think it's this is again if Tom were
Speaker 1: Harry slap me. I don't think this is a hard deal.
Speaker 1: I think it's just a what do you want it
Speaker 1: to look like? And let me just get this off
Speaker 1: my plate. This is priority one. Let me get it
Speaker 1: off my plate. If it's you know, if Josh is
Speaker 1: six for two fifty eight for an average of forty three,
Speaker 1: all right, fine, I'm gonna give you six for two
Speaker 1: eighty for an average of forty nine, and let's go
Speaker 1: get it done, you know, and one hundred and five
Speaker 1: million at signing instead of one hundred million, you know
Speaker 1: kind of thing. Like to me, it's I just I
Speaker 1: don't think it's a hard deal because every deal falls
Speaker 1: in line. All of these quarterbacks are slotted like, okay,
Speaker 1: well he was six for two fifty eight, all right,
Speaker 1: year seven for two, or you're six for two eighty,
Speaker 1: you're six. Okay, now here comes Joe Burrow. He's six
Speaker 1: for two eighty two. Oh no, don't hire Justin's agent.
Speaker 1: He cost him two million bucks on his two hundred
Speaker 1: and eighty two million dollars deal. Like, to me, that's
Speaker 1: just ultimately what this looks like. You ride, you ride
Speaker 1: the wave of what year we're in, right, And that's
Speaker 1: what Kyler Murray did. Frankly, I mean, Kyler Murray got
Speaker 1: paid because of because of the guys who got paid
Speaker 1: that year. Right. So it's all gonna be, I think,
Speaker 1: in the same bucket. I'm just fascinating to see how
Speaker 1: it plays out and who signs first and who benefits
Speaker 1: from signing last. That'll be stuff that'll that'll happen over
Speaker 1: the next few months. Final I things a time your
Speaker 1: hands with everything else, Chris, that's the thing. Yeah, Like
Speaker 1: you've got to, you know, in order to restructure everybody
Speaker 1: else because of escrow, Like how much do I now
Speaker 1: have to put into escrow? How many of these contracts?
Speaker 1: So I have to rework into signing bonuses it, you know,
Speaker 1: converting salaries in two signing bonuses and adding years Like
Speaker 1: I do not envy Ed McGuire at all. And what
Speaker 1: he's got to figure out this offseason to put a
Speaker 1: Super Bowl contending team on the field while Justin's still
Speaker 1: on his rookie deal. Yeah, no question. And you know,
Speaker 1: these guys have worked behind the scenes. They know that
Speaker 1: this day was coming. So you know, we'll see what
Speaker 1: it looks like in a couple of months as free
Speaker 1: agency gets underway. But I figured we may as well
Speaker 1: just get the entire landscape of the AFC West here, guys,
Speaker 1: and I'll get you out here on this. And Jeff,
Speaker 1: we'll start with you, just your thoughts on Sean Payton
Speaker 1: joining the AFC West, maybe Rex Ryant's coming with him
Speaker 1: as a defensive coordinator. And Derek Carr officially released by
Speaker 1: the Raiders and new quarterbacks coming in to Las Vegas.
Speaker 1: Could it be Rogers, Could it be Garoppolo? Your thoughts
Speaker 1: on what the other two teams in the AFC West
Speaker 1: look like. Yeah, you know, it's funny that everybody talked
Speaker 1: about when the Peyton deal happened with the Broncos. Oh boy,
Speaker 1: now the Chargers have to deal with that. Well, don't
Speaker 1: forget the last time they played the Broncos, they lost,
Speaker 1: so it's not as if they've beat in the Broncos
Speaker 1: ten straight times. So but yeah, you know, it's here
Speaker 1: we go again with the ANC West. Right, remember last
Speaker 1: year we were talking about how it's the best division
Speaker 1: of football, everybody's going to make the playoffs, and we
Speaker 1: saw what happened. So it's really hard to tell these things.
Speaker 1: But certainly you gotta believe the Broncos are going to
Speaker 1: be better, and you got to figure Sean Payton's going
Speaker 1: to figure out something with Russell Wilson. The Raiders. Who knows,
Speaker 1: you know, the Raiders always they seem to have a
Speaker 1: way of raidering at the end of the day, you know,
Speaker 1: and who knows what they're gonna do at their quarterback thing.
Speaker 1: Obviously Aaron Rodgers would be would be very interesting. It
Speaker 1: wouldn't be that would not be a great development for
Speaker 1: the Chargers. Uh so, uh, it's just you know it,
Speaker 1: we're just at the beginning of this. Who knows where
Speaker 1: this is all going to go, but it's it's gonna
Speaker 1: be a tough division no matter what, just because the
Speaker 1: Chiefs are there, as we've talked about. So we'll see
Speaker 1: what the Raider. The Raiders are the one that's really
Speaker 1: most interesting to me because they can kind of go
Speaker 1: either way on this thing. And I think the Broncos
Speaker 1: are going to improve and the Raiders, who knows, Yeah, Chris,
Speaker 1: I think the Raiders. Look, I think they're gonna make
Speaker 1: a run of Aaron Rodgers. Obviously they've got the money.
Speaker 1: You know, they're like seventy million bucks under the cap
Speaker 1: or whatever, so they could easily, you know, take on
Speaker 1: his fifty million dollar salary. How to Aaron Rodgers and
Speaker 1: Josh McDaniels get along that, I don't know, because Josh
Speaker 1: is very stubborn about how he wants football played and
Speaker 1: Aaron is very stubborn about how he wants to play football.
Speaker 1: Like if you told me, I know, you talked about Jeff.
Speaker 1: You just said like it would not be a good
Speaker 1: development for the Chargers. Well, there's a I think there's
Speaker 1: a lane there, Like if you tell me that we're
Speaker 1: gonna get disinterested Aaron Rodgers that doesn't want to work
Speaker 1: out with his rookie receivers in mini camp and doesn't
Speaker 1: show up, and it's like, hey, you got Romeo Dubs
Speaker 1: and you got Christian Watson, you got all these guys,
Speaker 1: and oh you're not even gonna show up till the
Speaker 1: first take training camp. Okay, then yeah, I'm all for it.
Speaker 1: Bring him in, bring him into Cash's laugh two years
Speaker 1: and his Little Darkness Tour and his Ayahaska Tour, and
Speaker 1: you can be that guy. Dude, I'm all about it.
Speaker 1: Put him on the Raiders in a half second, because man,
Speaker 1: between that personality and Josh mcdannez, that's going to get
Speaker 1: sideways in a hurry. I think it's more likely that
Speaker 1: it's Jimmy Garoppolo and they draft somebody. You know, if
Speaker 1: if if like you want to like what I think
Speaker 1: is a scary development is they bring in Jimmy and
Speaker 1: they draft Anthony Richardson and they just let him sit
Speaker 1: for a year or two and and like that to
Speaker 1: me is a more scary long term, you know development
Speaker 1: as far as the Broncos go, Look, yeah, I think
Speaker 1: you said at Jeff, I don't think they can't be worse.
Speaker 1: The defense was great last year. Now they lost a Jerry,
Speaker 1: They lost Vic Fangio the year before, so it'll be interesting.
Speaker 1: You know, I'm kind of up for a Rex ryand
Speaker 1: coordinated defense. I wouldn't mind, you know, considering the the
Speaker 1: shots that he took at Brandon Staley every single day
Speaker 1: on ESPN, calling him boy Wonder and laughing when they fail,
Speaker 1: and like that would I think be a great development
Speaker 1: for us. I would absolutely love to see that. Sean's
Speaker 1: one of the Sean Payton's one of the great play
Speaker 1: callers in the history of the league. I mean, every
Speaker 1: single year, no matter who was out there for the Saints,
Speaker 1: they were great. But you know, there's a little part
Speaker 1: of me. And again maybe this is the Charger bias.
Speaker 1: It's like sounding like Sean was was really about that money,
Speaker 1: Like you know, you kept hearing about, oh am I
Speaker 1: interested in this? Okay, So is this a I really
Speaker 1: want another challenge or is this a no, I really
Speaker 1: want to cash in. You know, I cannot believe that
Speaker 1: some of the McVeigh and Belichick and these guys are
Speaker 1: making north of twenty million bucks. I want some of
Speaker 1: that action, so, you know, I I and again I don't.
Speaker 1: I don't know. I heard um. I heard DJ bring
Speaker 1: it up on his podcast and it was a great point.
Speaker 1: He said, you know, both Drew Brees and Russell Wilson
Speaker 1: spend their off season in San Diego. He's like, all right, yeah,
Speaker 1: if Russell's smart, he's gonna be a Drew's house every
Speaker 1: single day. What do I need to know? Walk me
Speaker 1: through you know what's the most important parts of this.
Speaker 1: Let's get my receivers out here, and you know we
Speaker 1: can instead of just me working out with him, Drew,
Speaker 1: you're out there with us, because he's not a coach,
Speaker 1: he's just you know, he's just a guy. So he's
Speaker 1: there's nothing, you know. And meanwhile, you're gonna have freaking
Speaker 1: Sean Payton in his ear, you know, on his iPhone
Speaker 1: or something and his AirPods just saying, hey, haven't run
Speaker 1: through this, haven't run That's all. That's all legal. So
Speaker 1: I think it'll be I can't imagine that offense not
Speaker 1: being really good. But um, yeah, look that's what we want.
Speaker 1: I say it all the time, like I don't want
Speaker 1: it some crappy division. I want to. I want to.
Speaker 1: I want Aaron Rodgers in a Raiders uniform. I want
Speaker 1: Sean Payton colin the Bronc. I want it to be
Speaker 1: a heavyweight fight every single time in those six games.
Speaker 1: I think that's what makes football great. You know, when
Speaker 1: divisional matchups are that intense and that tight and everybody's good,
Speaker 1: it's so much fun. Yeah, and charges were on primetime
Speaker 1: six times this year, and that's fun, right, those the
Speaker 1: big game field for the division games, it's funny. I
Speaker 1: think Sean Payton said that Drew Brees was like, uh
Speaker 1: special assistant in Delmark for Russell. Wilson said that that, uh,
Speaker 1: Russell's wearing them out down there, right, that's an interesting development.
Speaker 1: Javonte Williams coming back, Tim Patrick coming back from Tim
Speaker 1: Patrick didn't played all last year. So the Bronc is
Speaker 1: gonna get yeah, another a couple offensive weapons. Um and
Speaker 1: I wouldn't be surprised if you know, the Raiders, especially
Speaker 1: Josh McDaniels, with that long term deal, what if they
Speaker 1: draft a guy like c. J. Strout and maybe move
Speaker 1: up in the draft and get a guy that they
Speaker 1: can groom for the next you know, ten years. Um
Speaker 1: that that could be interesting as well. But I wouldn't
Speaker 1: be surprised Baron Rodgers gets in that division. Um, it's fun.
Speaker 1: We're in February. We have no idea what's gonna happen,
Speaker 1: but um, all the all the predictions that head a
Speaker 1: free agency in the draft are always interesting. Jeff, you
Speaker 1: can you can end this podcast by giving us your
Speaker 1: best Super Bowl party store. I know you were hanging
Speaker 1: with Sam Farmer. You you were at a party. What
Speaker 1: was your favorite party? You know, I'm very disappointing on
Speaker 1: this front. I was not a big partygoer this time around.
Speaker 1: I uh yeah, I hate that's really say. I didn't
Speaker 1: have any drinks or anything. I'm just as far as uh,
Speaker 1: as far as super Bowl parties go, I kind of
Speaker 1: laid low a little bit this year. Um. And also
Speaker 1: the you know, the Big Commissioner party, I didn't get
Speaker 1: an invitation. I don't know what that means, but I
Speaker 1: I know Sam Farmer attended, but I didn't get an invitation,
Speaker 1: so that probably would have been the one. But but
Speaker 1: they didn't want me there, I guess, so what you
Speaker 1: do instead of the part I discovered it the Phoenix
Speaker 1: area and a lot of the local breweries, a lot
Speaker 1: of them, and I tried to hit as as I could,
Speaker 1: so so that was nice. Yeah, And I just uh
Speaker 1: And I also had the advantage of the football season
Speaker 1: so long now that I ran into some of my
Speaker 1: old baseball writer friends there for spring training, so um,
Speaker 1: we were able to rekindle some some old baseball and
Speaker 1: you know, drinking moments a few of those nights. So yeah,
Speaker 1: so that was I laid a little more a little
Speaker 1: low low for me this year. I'm getting I'm getting
Speaker 1: too old for that. And on that he just exited.
Speaker 1: On that note, he literally finished his answer and then
Speaker 1: logged off. There's a beer waiting for me. I'm out.
Speaker 1: It could have been more perfect. Well, money, thanks to
Speaker 1: Jeff Miller. Thanks to you man. We'll do it again
Speaker 1: next week with another guest exactly right, all right for money,
Speaker 1: I'm Chris. This has been Chargers Weekly, presented by Microsoft
Speaker 1: Service