his kids can ever spend, who continues to hang around
football, because he loves
the game. We've talked about that before. I can't think of
another guy. Peyton Manning wasn't going to hang around and
take a backup quarterback. Paycheck time Brady isn't going
to hang around and take a backup quarterback paycheck.
He'll be good enough until he's 62.
Be the number two guy
on an NFL roster. No, they're not doing that.
They're not doing that. There's a pride that comes into play
here. This is the equivalent. Rocky carrying around the spit
buckets in Rocky to, Joe, Flacco's willing to do it
because he loves it.
And we'll find out
Week 1 against the Ravens, what? He's still got left in
the tank, some 14 years after he entered the NFL.
Yeah, and a lot of ways. I don't you know it's not all
that bad. Joe Flacco, first off can throw it, you've heard
throughout training camp
that he's had a great, you know,
a great training, camp, throwing the ball,
he's one of the,
you know, it's one of the more
Underrated quarterbacks in the history of the game, in my
opinion. Now, of course he's not that guy anymore but in
a lot of ways
I could say this is not that, you know, crushing
and and the fact that hey, I wish Zach Wilson was out there
and they're trying to build something for the future and
now hey it's going to take a little time here you know to
get things going.
But at the same time
man Ravens coming to town. Okay and
whoa, you get to deal with that defense.
Fence and all the crazy things they do,
right? Joe Flacco's got experience against that crew
and what they do
this their defense in Baltimore. I don't think going
to be a whole lot different than what it was under Don Wink
Martindale there. Who's now, the D coordinator of the Giants
and the guy they got there, he was also a Ravens guy as well.
They've been running that system for a while there.
So in some ways I look at it and go,
you know, from the mental aspect and how to pick up
the blitzes and all the Easy disguises that Baltimore can
do. Joe Flacco's going to be a calming presence for the Jets.
When it comes to that Hazel to be like, well, I saw this
in practice every day,
I know what to do, and he might even be able to close his guys
in a little bit on. Hey coach. When
they line up, we line up in this formation,
they like to do this in this blitz and they like to check to
this coverage. So I do think there's some positives, he
certainly not the Joe Flacco bold but I think the Jets have
maybe a solid enough team here and him to be. Smart where they
can be a pain in the butt here, early on, in
the year, even with Joe Flacco at quarterback. So I'm not
giving up on them quite yet well and let's not forget that
there's schedule once again. Oh, it's crazy. Crippling they
have somebody at 3:45 Park Avenue? Pissed off to high
heaven?
I mean, look at that with or without Zach Wilson. Now, maybe
they get lucky and they draw Jacoby percent, but still,
I don't want to go to Cleveland week 24,
which I assume will be the home opener. Yes, because they're in
Carolina week. Home opener at Cleveland? No, thank you. Ben
go Steelers, Dolphins Packers
Broncos. Now, what the hell? It's unreal, we get a, what do
we get? A team that we maybe have a chance to beat the Bears
in week. 12. See, look at the backend Bears. Lions Jaguar, if
they would have gotten those games crammed into September
early, October you maybe win some games, you build some
confidence
and that confidence becomes the fuel. I know to knock off
a couple of these teams where I mean look through. The left
side of that, that column, they're gonna be underdogs in
every game. A hug Our Lives running on Zach Wilson's, at
quarterback. You're right, you're right. And there are
team, that's you know, do what you're saying, they're, they're
young, they're not battle-tested. They don't know
what it takes to you know, put together a four-quarter game
and manage the game and do all the right things to beat some
of those football teams. They're not. And
then that means Bangles with my quite IP. I know I know. Hey,
listen, that was passed. It was a great day. I get it, I get
it. Yes, but that's this. Is there a young organization?
You know. It's a second year head coach.
So yeah, that's where I get into.
Hey, they're talented. The schedule is brutal,
but you're right. They got to find a way
to steal a game early on
and I don't know how you're going to do that. You gotta,
you know, that's where the coaches got to go back to
the lab with the pain and the pad and go and start to go. All
right, well,
where can we, maybe a trick play here, maybe a trick play there?
Maybe an onside kick, you know. Again I I say this to some of
my coaching friends all the time. I just don't think a lot
of teams run enough trick plays. I go, you know, who's
led the league and trick plays over the last 17 years?
The team that wins the damn Super Bowl every other year.
The New England Patriots, I mean, nobody is one more trick
plays in them. So
find little ways and games where you go,
hey, they're more, they're a little more talented than us.
Yes. But we're going to find a way to throw the ball
backwards, the Julian Edelman, and he's going to throw
the ball down the field to Danny.
Dhola. And, and that. And then that's, that's where Solomon
company are going to have to find some some advantages that
way.
And look, this could end up being a disastrous year for
the Jets from the standpoint of how many games they win and how
many games they lose. But along the way,
they could be better, they could lay the foundation is to
make a jump next year and this is one of the problems of
today's NFL where The Five-Year Plan
is out the window
too much impatience
from owners, especially Especially the owners of
the teams that can't get out of their own way. And I think part
of the problem is, and this is good for the NFL and it's very
good for us. The nonstop focus on the sport during an extended
offseason. That goes some seven months,
it just creates more pressure. When it comes down to those
three hour increments 17 times a year, you don't have many
opportunities to make your team truly better. You don't have
many chances to prove
that you can hang with the best teams in the NFL.
So you start piling up.
Offices. And at some point, Woody Johnson, or whichever
owner of whichever team is making changes to prematurely
and too. Hastily is going to fire somebody
because the fan base feels like something needs to be done or
I'm not renewing my season tickets and that's not the way
to run a football team
but again look the state.
The Steelers are the
the model that will never be matched again. Three coaches
since 1969 but they won before they were winning. They were
throwing out.
Coaches every other year, right? You have to get to
a point where you're winning to justify the patient's that's
necessary to stick with a team. Stick with the coach stick with
the GM,
through thick and thin, it's just harder to do than ever,
especially, you know, those first few pools of a lawnmower
yet, you tard to get it started. It's harder than ever
to get a program started. You got to hit early
or you're gone? Yeah,
agreed it is. And it's just where
I No, the schedule is brutal.
They got some young football, you know, young players, young
coaches. I hope they do hang in there. It has become
an inpatient culture in the NFL between,
you know, the fanbase. Yes. People Like Us where were,
you know, dissecting everything all the time
and we just as a society have become now. Now, now, now, now now
and there are there's very few teams that
have been patient that way
and not impatient through bad.
Here's where it's just like, Hey we're going to take our
lumps or two or three years with this guy because we think
something's going to happen positively
and you know, I hey you look at
New England with Bill Belichick.
You look at hey we could the 49ers Kyle Shanahan
first year wasn't that good
second year. Jimmy Garoppolo gets hurt.
I mean oh well. Whoa,
you know people were clamoring out there.
Well we gotta get rid of this guy. All he does is,
you know, blow the
end. Falcon Super Bowl and all that. Well, yeah. All right.
You know, eat crap because now you're one of the best times in
football and he'd been to the Super Bowl in the NFC champion
or him. The noise started up again last year, right? No, no
doubt.
It's just where it's just, it's could be gotten a little
ridiculous that way. And I think you're right, Mike that,
you know, cooler, heads need to Prevail in some of these
situations a little more often.
We are basically a nation of Veruca salts. We want
everything. Now, we want it now and this isn't a political
observation by any means, and I don't mean to take it down this
Track Chris and I let me just make a comment with no response
from you. Yeah, there's a certain high-profile story
right now that you may have noticed
that has engulfed, the entire political world, and everybody
wants to go like to the end of the book. Now, you just had
some point, you just got to sit and wait and see what happens.
Everybody wants to know the answer is everybody
wants to reach their conclusions. Everybody wants to
argue the final facts and they don't know what the facts are
at some point, we just got to sit down. Shut our mouths and
wait,
we don't have I have everything right now. We have more
distractions than ever to keep us occupied while we express
patients. Sometimes we need to be patient. We don't need
everything
right now. Alright, now let's pivot to the Baltimore Ravens
and and there has been extreme Patience by owner, Steve
Bisciotti, because John Harbaugh has been the coach
since 2008. It's easy to be patient because
he's been good far more often than not since he joined
the team, he arrived the same year is Joe Flacco. Here's John
Harbaugh from yesterday, talking about the prospect of
facing his former starting quarterback. Come week, one.
Well, we'll prepare, you know, we'll prepare for
prepare for the Jets will prepare for all
the quarterbacks. Obviously have great respect for all their
guys but Joe we know and he's a raven once a raven always
a raven. So we got a lot of respect for Joe and great
family. So,
but at this point in time, we're preparing for the players
on the Jets and the schemes and the things that they
that they do, and that'll be part of it. Finn. He's been
playing for three or four years now away from us, and he's set
some great moments. I've seen him on TV few times.
We've never played against his team
yet. Don't believe, but
it's been fun watching them but it'll be different when you
play against, you know, him as opponent. We haven't done that
yet.
Look, I don't follow baseball anymore, not the way I used to
in recent years. My general understanding is the Orioles
suck. They must be pretty good this year, there's no longer on
Hardball. Where's that
hat? Yeah. If the Orioles are offering like the way they've
been the last 20, you know, one of the surprises of baseball
this year Mike that's why he's got the Hat. As of right now,
I believe they're one of the wild-card teams if they're not
there like right
in the thick of things and like, you know, within a game
of being in it but yes,
no doubt about it. You're right. He's so Spy only
relevance the Orioles have had to me the past 20 years has
been they had a home game.
The night. The Ravens were supposed to hang their Banner
in the Ravens. Had to go on the road to Denver. That's the only
time I've cared about the Orioles really since the 1979
World Series.
Well, okay, well, they're back but, you know, hopefully they
can do something there and hopefully not at the Yankees
expense, you know me, I'm a Yankees fan.
But hey,
he, yeah, I bet you in some ways
Harbaugh's probably like,
ah,
You know, I want them to, you know, fluster the Young
second-year quarterback, we got this. We got some new shiny
pieces on defense and I would have loved to Blitz his ass and
do all these crazy defenses and
see if he can handle it all.
And now he's probably like, well, Joe's and have answers
Joe's going to. This isn't going to fluster Joe. I mean,
we've seen Joe Flacco. Nothing flusters, Joe Flacco. That's
what he's amazing.
I was on the field for his
his second playoff game in the history of his life. I mean
the, we were the number one
Seed and he acted like he was a 10 year veteran. No big deal.
Oh Albert Haynesworth about to hit me and Keith Bullock. Big
deal with zoom laser down the middle.
He's got a great way about him that way
and he's not going to get rattled by this Baltimore
Ravens football team. So I'm sure there is a part of
Hardball that's like damn,
you know, we're going to lose that advantage of being able to
try to trick the quarterback a little bit with Flacco
underneath the center.