Pod Insights The Pivot Podcast: Full Episodes It's NFL Week 5: Talking Tua, Brady, Dallas' D, AFC North, Jalen Hurts & Game Picks About this episode FOLLOW THE PIVOT PODCAST:
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Transcript Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.
0:01 Speaker 00 Every game day you show up for your team. Now it's your time.
0:11 Speaker 00 Ask your prescriber about Wegovy. Semaglutide injection 2.4 milligrams a GLP-1. Call 1-8334-WEGOVIE or visit wegovie.com to view the medication guide and to learn more about Wegovy. Why wait?
0:30 Ryan Clark? Guys, we are so excited. This is another Sunday morning and look, football's already started. The Packers and the Giants, they are already getting at it. But it's all good because we're gonna catch you up on some things and go for it. But first, before we even start, we have to talk about our new sponsor, SeatGeek. Because they're actually sponsoring this video, this show. Without them, this show doesn't happen. SeatGeek is a super cool app that gets you tickets to all kinds of games, whether it's baseball, football, basketball. They find ways to get you the best deals, the best seats. They do all kinds of other things, champ, but you also use them for games.
1:01 Channing Crowder? Oh, man, I downloaded that app. You use the promo code PIVOT on that app.
1:05 Ryan Clark? Yep.
1:05 Channing Crowder? You get $20 off already just putting in PIVOT. And we don't know where we're gonna be. We move around. So if we somewhere on a Sunday morning and I know a game's there, go on SeatGeek. It's so easy. Get my tickets and they're gonna watch out for you.
1:17 Fred Taylor? And there's so many good deals on there. You're talking about moving around. Look for the three green dots. Three green dots mean it's a great deal. Freddie Flowers wants you to get the great deal. Three red dots, not so good. Three green dots make it happen.
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1:42 Ryan Clark? Listen, we gotta get to the show. But before we do, make sure you click the link in our description and the promo code PIVOT gets you $20. Now, let's get back to this show.
2:14 Ryan Clark? Hey man, listen, to start a Sunday show, it's great to be able to talk about the Thursday game, right? It's the one game that's already happened in Week 5. And your boy Russ is not playing well. It's your boy. Because remember coming over here, you said you was gonna defend him.
2:28 Channing Crowder? And I got to, man. I gotta defend Russ, fellas. I know he's not playing well. I know Geno Smith is actually outplaying him in his own city. But do you believe that Nathaniel Hackett is really putting this man in the best situation to be successful?
2:40 Ryan Clark? I don't.
2:40 Channing Crowder? You think this coaching staff is really putting him there? You think his weapons? I love Jerry Judy. We caught him a couple the other night. But I don't think the team is there for Russ. So is Russ not playing up the Hall of Fame potential? No. But is it all on Russ? No.
2:54 Ryan Clark? Freddie T., when you think about him saying it's not all on Russ, and Nathaniel Hackett has to play a huge role in it, I believe that too, right? So first-year coach, he doesn't have an experienced office coordinator, he doesn't have an experienced defense coordinator. Even a guy like Sean McVay, when he got the job, he hired Wade Phillips. So he had that old-school coach that can help him out. We don't have that. But you don't think Russ has to somehow overcome maybe some bad coaching every now and then? Because he's that good, he's a Hall of Fame player, and he's making 256 million.
3:22 Fred Taylor? You said everything I was gonna say, RC. I mean, Russ, the expectations are high. When you have a trade as such, I think Denver gave up three players, six picks, you know, first-rounders, second-rounders, this year, next year. I mean, so the expectations are high. And he's certainly underachieving, but it's just the first quarter of the season. I think let's give it a chance to see how it comes into play, and then we'll come back to it, maybe after Week 8 or something like that. But right now, we know Russ is an amazing player. He's extremely gifted, he's a Hall of Famer. If he retired today, he'll be a Hall of Famer. So I would say, no, let's come back and revisit this Russ situation in four weeks, and let's see what happens.
4:05 Ryan Clark? Yeah, I don't think you can judge right now, but even with not being able to judge right now on what the totality of Russ's season will be, or who he'll be as a Denver Broncos, I believe it's at least safe to say, this isn't what we expected. We didn't expect it to look like this, we didn't expect it to feel like this. And so, we know that Russell Wilson and Nathaniel Hackett have to get going because of the expectations that are in Denver. The one team, or the one quarterback, who's been meeting expectations to me, Freddie T., has been Jalen Hurts. And when we were talking before the show, you said that if you had to give him a label right now, he'll be the 2022 Pivotal Player of the Year. What are you seeing in Jalen that makes you want to give him Freddie's flowers?
4:44 Fred Taylor? Everything. A guy who has a chip on his shoulder. I mean, he's so competitive, but more than that, he's a leader. He's leading that team. They gave him some weapons. You're talking about coaching, development, roster. He has a roster. He has so much talent around him. Devonta Smith's a dog. A.J. Brown's a dog. Miles Sanders, he's running the ball. So, they're freeing him up to just be relaxed. And he's playing relaxed. He doesn't seem phased. He's so poised. Chan, I know you said, at one point, they're running him a lot.
5:14 Channing Crowder? Yes.
5:15 Fred Taylor? He doesn't even want to run first. But he has that packaging, he has that ability. And he's just, for me, the player, the most pivotal player to this point in the season, I would certainly give it to Jalen Hurts.
5:26 Channing Crowder? My fear about him is that, like you're saying, they're not designed runs for him, just like Kyler Murray. Not designed runs.
5:32 Fred Taylor? Some.
5:32 Channing Crowder? And they're playing. You know what I'm saying? They going after it. But those smaller guys, Cam can do it. Josh Allen, we see him get beat up, banged up, he jump back up. Bigger frame dudes. My thing is, Jalen is playing out of his mind. Four passing touchdowns, four rushing touchdowns. The man is balling now. I'm with you, Fred. I give him my MVP as well. But can he do that for the next, what, 13 weeks? That's my only question about Jalen, with the style that he's playing with right now.
5:55 Fred Taylor? You don't think, though, Chan, that Jalen, he's the type of player, he's gonna study. We see, I just talked about leadership. He's watching the go. He saw how Tom has come around. I think he's gonna take a page out of Tom's book in terms of taking care of his body. At this point, when you have a good record, as what the Eagles are having right now, then you're gonna do certain things to make sure you're available.
6:18 Ryan Clark? The other piece about this is, and I know, you know... Jalen Hurts, as well documented, is a 600-pound squatter. And he's not the tall guy, he's not the Cam and the Josh Allen by frame, but he's also 220 pounds plus. So he's not necessarily as little, or as fragile, or as frail as some of these other quarterbacks we see. He is almost built like a Fred Taylor, like a running back, and he's strong like that. So I think he can take some of those hits. But I agree with you too, as a quarterback, you can't take the excessive hits when you're already gonna get banged up in the pocket. When we talk about quarterbacks, I wanted to focus on what is our most pivotal moment, though, in the first four weeks. And it has to be down in your land, and that's the Tua Tagovailoa saga. Obviously, Mike McDaniel tried to handle it the best way he can.
7:02 Ryan Clark? I mean, he's almost in tears in talking about what he saw with Tua Tagovailoa as he lay on the ground against the Cincinnati Bengals. But this was a team that was on the rise. This was a quarterback that was proving he could be franchised, a team that was gonna battle with the Buffalo Bills, or was leading the Buffalo Bills at the time in the AFC East. How have you seen that moment affect the team in South Beach?
7:22 Channing Crowder? Oh, it affected them a lot, man. It's all they talk about. You know, we're going into the games, the whole week, we're not even evaluating football anymore. We're talking about Tua, was the decision made right? That's about to change football. They're about to redo the concussion protocol because of the situation.
7:35 Ryan Clark? Just basically, somebody looks that way.
7:37 Channing Crowder? Yes.
7:37 Ryan Clark? It's an issue.
7:38 Channing Crowder? And we saw with football, past that, that's that Thursday night game, that now dude wobbles a little bit, dude gets up and shakes their head. They're taking him out of there. They're calling it the eye test, which I actually like. You know, you look at your teammate's eyes and see if he's there or he's not there. I know all y'all have looked over and, yeah, old boy gone.
7:53 Ryan Clark? Right.
7:54 Channing Crowder? So it's changing football right now. But for the team, for the Dolphins, like you were saying, they were 3-1. They beat the Buffalo Bills. The Super Bowl contending, you know, Super Bowl favorite to win, they beat them boys, can, you know, beat them convincingly, right there, and went head-to-head with them all game. Now, I don't know if Teddy can do it. Teddy's a 500 quarterback. Love Teddy, I'm name drop, he's a friend of mine, I got his phone number. But if you look at his career, he's a 500 guy. So now with Tua down and ascending, and what he was doing, he threw six touchdowns in that Ravens game.
8:23 Ryan Clark? Mm-hmm.
8:24 Channing Crowder? Can we get that, or anywhere close to that, out of Teddy to keep this team getting right? I think it really affected the team mentally, Tua.
8:29 Ryan Clark? Freddie, team, when you look at a team, and you're an offensive player, and I know you understand this better than we do, when you have a piece like that at quarterback, and you're starting to gel, and your team is ascending. What is it like trying to come back from that moment of seeing your quarterback on the ground like that, but then also understand that we gotta now go out and produce without it?
8:49 Fred Taylor? I mean, they pride themselves on defense. You know, they've been a team that's been great on the other side of the ball defensively. I think the offensive guys coming into the season, when they added Cheetah, you know, having Waddle coming back, they said, "We're gonna be explosive." Who's gonna be the guy to deliver the package? It was gonna be Tua. So, yeah, those guys are gonna get down on themselves, but they still have a very good record. And as long as they're trending that way, they're gonna get behind Teddy Bridgewater, a guy who has shown the ability to win in this league, Chan. And I think Teddy, as long as he knows he's gonna be the starter each and every week now going forward, I think he prepares accordingly and he puts them in the right position to go out there and make some great plays and win some of those games because they are competitive
9:34 Fred Taylor? and he doesn't have to do a lot. He has the playmakers around him. Give the ball to the playmakers, let them make the plays, let the defense save you on the other side, you're still in it.
9:43 Channing Crowder? And one more thing, quickly, with McDaniel. They're criticizing Mike McDaniel, saying he put his player in a bad situation. McDaniel said something in his press conference down there that made a lot of sense to me. The medical staff clears Tua. Now, I personally don't let Tua play. Flip the coin.
9:59 Ryan Clark? And we lose, that's on me.
10:00 Channing Crowder? Yeah, but flip the coin too. If the medical staff says he can't play, it's now it's my decision to put him in the game? So if I go with the doctors, I need to go with the doctors on both be halves. If they said, the doctor said he's done, he's done. Now the doctor says he's good, I'm gonna say he's done? That's not fair.
10:16 Ryan Clark? Yeah, I know. And so I don't push back on that. I 100% understand that. We also had an opportunity to sit down with Mike Tomlin. I didn't have one doctor that said I was good to play in Denver. I had several doctors. I had a team that was assembled and a staff that was assembled around me that said I was cleared, said I'd be okay, also said they'd be on extra alert and they'd do everything they need and take every precaution to be prepared in case of anything. And Mike Tomlin made that decision for me. And so whereas I understand and hear Mike McDaniel's and what Mike McDaniel's saying is very true. If I'm gonna go with him in one way, I need to go with him in another way. I don't have to go with him, right? I don't have to make that decision.
10:59 Ryan Clark? And what I said on Monday after, I mean on Friday after watching Tua talking about Luka go down, I said, sometimes common sense has to weigh in. And I wasn't talking about what happened against the Bengals. It was about what happened against Buffalo. That sometimes when I'm watching this man stumble back to the line, I gotta be smart enough to say it doesn't look like a back to me. And that's not his job, that's not his obligation. But I think that's something we are moving to now in the concussion protocol. I think another thing for me though, it brings me to teams who haven't played well the first four weeks, right? Because we saw the Miami Dolphins, they were 3-1. A team that very well could have been 4-0 if their quarterback is still healthy. So let's think a little bit about teams who haven't performed the way we thought they should. Or teams that may have played OK that you think can make the pivot
11:42 Ryan Clark? to be a team in the second half or the second quarter of the season.
11:46 Channing Crowder? The defending AFC champions.
11:49 Speaker 04 Every game day you show up for your team. Now it's your time.
12:00 Speaker 00 Ask your prescriber about Wegovy. Some aglitide injection 2.4 milligrams a GLP-1. Call 1-833-4-WEGOVIE or visit wegovie.com to view the medication guide and to learn more about Wegovy. Why wait?
12:18 Ryan Clark? Cincinnati Bengals, they started out 0-2. I sat and watched what T. Higgins did when Jamar Chase wasn't showing out. Now they start leaning towards T. Like exactly what we saw last year, they can do that. Joe Burrow didn't practice a lot. We were up there. Remember we were up in Cincinnati and Joe Burrow wasn't even at practice? So he didn't get a lot of preseason, you know, say maybe a little bit of that Super Bowl hangover they had, losing the Super Bowl hangover. And so now I think they're gonna get back to where it was. I think Zach Taylor can get the boys back. Proven winning coach. And I think that 2-2 Cincinnati Bengals team, I think they're gonna make a big run.
12:51 Fred Taylor? Channing took my team. That was my initial pick. But I gotta go and I want to follow Russ again, man. You know, Denver's not, Denver, Russell Wilson, his, his presence alone should win you some ballgames. I mean, he's an amazing talent. We can't ever deny that.
13:06 Channing Crowder? Oh, defense now.
13:07 Fred Taylor? Right. And they have a solid defense. And they have some players around Russ. What's happening there? You know, I don't know. We can all point to fingers. We want to say Coach Hackett, first year coach, no OC, no, Russ still getting warmed up, all this other stuff. We don't know. But I think they're underachieving because for them to pay Russ, the amount of money they paid him, and the expectations was as, as high as they've probably ever been around here since bringing in Peyton Manning. That's what they thought was gonna happen. They felt that they were bringing in Peyton. They got new ownership. It felt good. They brought in Russ. And they're underachieving. So they definitely get the let's ride into the swamp
13:47 Fred Taylor? award because they, they're not playing good ball.
13:49 Channing Crowder? Yeah, I hate when people bring up money when talking about it. Money is a, y'all all know overpaid dudes. Everybody brings up Russ, they paid him that much money. That was a bad decision, maybe.
13:58 Ryan Clark? But like the thing is though, we're not saying, we're not saying that it's a bad decision or they overpaid him. Well, what we're saying is you paid him based on what you thought he was going to do.
14:07 Fred Taylor? Correct.
14:07 Ryan Clark? What you thought he brought to the team. And now not seeing that, you kind of get that feeling like, okay, maybe we made that mistake. But obviously you have to let it play out. We had to see Nathaniel Hackett continue to grow. For me, it's the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. This is a team that's 2-2. They haven't played well offensively in the first three games. Mike Evans comes back last week. They play a little bit better. But now we're seeing the defense falter a little bit. I think the pride kicks in. I think the understanding of who they are kicks in and they start to play better. But I want to finish this conversation off talking about a team that I think had to pivot the most in the entire first quarter of the season. That's the Dallas Cowboys. Right? You look at a team who not playing well against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Dak Prescott goes down. And that's your franchise quarterback. That's your leader. That's the best player on the office, the most important player on the offense.
14:51 Ryan Clark? Now Cooper Rush comes in, plays extremely well, but it's been more so about that defense. Chandler, you're watching Micah Parsons, Demarcus Lawrence, Donovan Wilson, Trayvon Diggs playing better than he even played last year. What do you think the ceiling is for this team that's playing the way that they are?
15:07 Channing Crowder? I don't know, I heard you say they Super Bowl team. I don't see it. I can't see a Super Bowl team in there, man. I don't think they really have a top elite number one receiver.
15:15 Ryan Clark? Okay.
15:15 Channing Crowder? I don't think Zeke is what he used to be. Even when Dak comes back, this offense scares me a little bit to say that Dallas is really gonna shake some up this year, but you hit it on the head. This defense can carry a team.
15:26 Ryan Clark? Mm-hmm.
15:26 Channing Crowder? So, back with them Eli Manning Giants. That defense carried the team. That front four with OC and them boys.
15:32 Ryan Clark? Right, then Eli found ways to make plays when it counted.
15:35 Channing Crowder? Couple throws, the Tyree, David Tyree catch, like, that's what that team was. So, if the Cowboys are a successful playoff team, it'll be on this defense's back, where Dak makes a couple plays here and there, but I'm still worried about a throwing thumb on his throwing hand, and now him carrying the team deep into the playoffs through cold weather.
15:54 Ryan Clark? Yeah, I think that's what's important. How good is Dak? How healthy is he when he gets back? Which brings me to this question though, Freddie T. We watched the Los Angeles Rams make the playoff run last year and win the Super Bowl. This is a team that's not playing at that level. There's no OBJ because he's injured. Allen Robinson isn't what he was in Chicago, at least not on this team.
16:12 Channing Crowder? Correct.
16:13 Ryan Clark? And defensively, we haven't seen, like, teams have been game planning around Aaron Donald. Quick throws, double teams, those different things. When you look at this matchup, Mike McCarthy said, "We are not the underdogs." But they're six points, they're the six-point underdog in this game. Who would you pick to win this game and why?
16:29 Fred Taylor? I'm gonna go with the Dallas Cowboys. As much as I talk about the Cowboys, man, I gotta go with the Cowboys. Just looking across the board, we're starting with defense. That defensive line is by far, in my opinion, the best defensive front in the NFL, led by Michael Parsons. And I think he's gonna get after that offensive tackle, because the Rams, they haven't shown to be able to protect their quarterback. And I just think Dallas, they're gonna trend in that direction. But from an offensive standpoint, they are gonna be able to move the ball on the Rams. And for that, that's my pick.
17:01 Ryan Clark? I tell you this, okay, so here's what I'm gonna ask you. This is off the cuff. Right now, a quarter through the season, what's your Super Bowl matchup?
17:09 Channing Crowder? Phew, that's a tough one. Right now, Buffalo out of the AFC.
17:18 Channing Crowder? Gotta go with Tampa?
17:19 Fred Taylor? Philly's playing lights out right now. If they stay healthy, amazing defense, solid offensive line, Jalen Hurts the leader. I think I'll take Philly from the NFC. And from the AFC? Oh, boy. I gotta go with Buffalo.
17:37 Channing Crowder? Yeah.
17:37 Fred Taylor? I certainly want to go with Buffalo.
17:39 Channing Crowder? And they come out AFC South.
17:41 Fred Taylor? You know what? I know you're gonna say that. And your iron didn't come out the closet this morning. You know, I didn't want to stay home and be a homer, but I do root for the Jags. I do think they'll win the South. I don't know if they're good enough to ascend and go as far as I believe the Bills can go. The Bills are a well put together team. They've been there. Now, they should have been there a year ago, and Josh Allen is a dog. So, I gotta go with Buffalo coming out AFC.
18:06 Ryan Clark? My picks are Philadelphia and Kansas City. I think we always want to doubt Kansas City and say people are coming. Patrick Mahomes is just playing at such a high level. And you doubt them because they go lose a game to Indy, but I feel like they learn so much and then we see what they do against Tampa. And I mean, we can't have this show if Chan don't Chan. Chan, I saw something, man, that reminded me of you. I saw a guy on a vehicle being toded somewhere to use the bathroom at a very inopportune time. And immediately, I thought DK Metcalf is like Channing. No, I didn't know the man had to clench his butt cheeks. You know, I didn't know, because I guess you used to piss on yourself.
18:43 Channing Crowder? Yeah. That's when they said he had to go to the bathroom. I was saying, I hope it's not number one.
18:48 Ryan Clark? Right.
18:49 Channing Crowder? You know, I'll be PG. I hope it's not number one.
18:52 Ryan Clark? You ain't got to. This is our show. You're not on First Take like you was early in the week talking about Tom Brady.
18:56 Channing Crowder? If he owned his damn cart to go piss, I was about to be fire hot. To take a piss? You got bottles, you got buckets, you got garbage cans, you got your leg, you got a towel. You ain't leaving a sideline.
19:08 Ryan Clark? Your leg is not a place to piss.
19:09 Channing Crowder? Well, every now and again. That's how life comes at you. But I heard them bubble guts got to him. And them bubble guts got to him, and he had to ride out. It's ridiculous, but I said, I've said it before, man, I can't criticize this, man. As a proud member of a unrespected community.
19:26 Ryan Clark? What's the community is that?
19:27 Channing Crowder? The IBS community, man.
19:28 Ryan Clark? The Irritable Bowel Syndrome community?
19:30 Channing Crowder? I can't even eat breakfast because if I put something in my stomach 9:00 a.m.,
19:36 Channing Crowder? So, you know I was just cheering, go cheering. I'm not even cheering on DK Metcalf because the man got IBS. He had to go boo boo. You gotta boo boo, you gotta boo boo. How you gonna run a nine route when you got a turtle head? He got a turtle head, go run a nine route. So it ain't gonna happen. It ain't gonna happen. So the man had to hit the road.
19:55 Fred Taylor? Has that ever happened to you? No, it's never happened to me, but I think he sharted. That's why he got carded. But you know, in all seriousness, man, love you guys, man. And you know, near and dear to us is our producer. And I know you was gonna talk about pivoting to Pink. Yeah, you got it. No, no, you got it. I just like how you make it sound. It just flows so smoothly. Mr. ESPN, take us there, man.
20:19 Ryan Clark? Hey, listen, guys. This is October. Obviously, it's Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and that's very near and dear to us. The only reason our show is what it is and it moves the way it moves is because of Alicia Zubikowski. And the things that she's done for our show can never, never be repaid to her. But what she did do is she fought through breast cancer. And one of the quotes that are on these shirts that we are selling now, if you go to our website, is "I have survived 100% of my worst days." And we all know people who have dealt with this. We all know families who have had to support their loved ones through it and how difficult it could be. And we want to see people come out on the other side. More than anything, we want to see these warriors recognized. So please tap in, go buy the shirts, support. We have a run that's coming up this weekend that we're extremely excited about.
21:03 Ryan Clark? But before we go, I just want y'all to tap in with SeatGeek. And remember, if you use the promo code PIVOT, you get $20 off of whatever purchase you make. And it's not just football. It's not just basketball. It's not just baseball. You can go to many events and SeatGeek is your way to get there. And remember, guys, anybody can podcast, but not everybody can pivot. And that's why they ain't working on Sunday.
21:59 Speaker 00 Ask your prescriber about Wegovy. Someaglutide injection 2.4mg a GLP-1. Call 1-8334-WEGOVIE or visit wegovie.com to view the medication guide and to learn more about Wegovy. Why wait? Wegovy.
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