Takes

Bill Belichick will be the next head coach of the Atlanta Falcons

Belichick's gonna go to Atlanta. ... because all you wanna do, if you're, if you're Arthur Blank, all you wanna do is win.

The Bears will be a playoff team next year no matter who is at quarterback

The Bears will be a playoff team next year, no matter who plays quarterback. ... They got good tackles. ... You have the, the weapons, the runners.

Jim Harbaugh will be the next head coach of the Chargers

I think Harbaugh to the Chargers makes all the sense. Yeah, in large part because it's the best job. You get the quarterback, you don't have to worry about the quarterback. And, and so I think that's the best scenario for him. I think he does end up going there.

I have completely converted to being a wipes person for bathroom hygiene

I buy them at stores 'cause I'm just like, I I've completely converted to a wipes person. ... You have to finish [with them].

You got the full Joe Flacco experience — elite stretches where he can throw it a mile, then he just quits after the first quarter; that's Baldinger's cat

You got the full Joe Flacco experience because the old debate on whether or not he's elite goes back to Joe having games and stretches where he's just like, oh, this guy can throw the football a mile. And then he'll have a game like this where he just pretty much quits after the first quarter. And it's like, okay, it's not here today. I'm not elite today, but my eliteness will come back. It's Baldinger's cat — being elite and not elite at the same time.

The Texans are officially 'next up' and will be a powerhouse that the rest of the AFC has to deal with for the next decade

The Texans are next up. I think that's officially happened. We'll see how the rest of the Playoffs go for them. But the conversation is now when you talk about the AFC and it's [Joe] Burrow and it's [Josh] Allen and it's [Patrick] Mahomes, it's [Lamar Jackson], C.J. Stroud and the Texans and how good they are. This quickly is insane. ... you're gonna have to deal with the Texans.

C.J. Stroud needs to win at least three Super Bowls or his career will be a disappointment

I think now it's our responsibility as media figures to set some unrealistic expectations. ... How many Super Bowls can he win in order for his career to not be a disappointment? ... You gotta get three or else you suck or else this or else you should have been bad from the get go. But you were so good at the start. Now you have to get three Super Bowls.

C.J. Stroud has the best rookie season ever for a quarterback

I think the conversation might end with [Stroud] is the best rookie season in its totality in the NFL. ... led him to the Playoffs. This is, and who knows, I mean, they, they're probably, although I'm thinking back to it, like they played the Ravens, I think week one. ... and now winning a Playoff game as a rookie quarterback. I think [Stroud] might be it.

The Dolphins lack toughness and are officially 'soft'

I know that sounds very, we're like minimizing everything. But the Dolphins do lack toughness. Yeah. ... they're soft. ... The Dolphins are are pretty much predicated on like, you gotta hit those big shots. And on Saturday night there were, there were none.

Patrick Mahomes is going to pass every great quarterback in history; he's already pacing to lap Montana and Favre

Patrick Mahomes has more playoff wins than any franchise. ... He has 12 playoff wins in six seasons. He's 12 and 3. It's insane. ... Brady's the only one who's come close. ... He will pass everyone. He's four away from [Joe] Montana. Like, it's crazy. He's out of this world good.

Patrick Mahomes is the undisputed best quarterback in the NFL

The running disclaimer for Patrick Mahomes on this show is that like everything that we say... it could be prefaced by Patrick Mahomes is the best quarterback in the NFL. But, and then I say whatever I'm gonna say anyway. ... it's understood. He's the best quarterback in the NFL.

Jordan Love is officially a future Hall of Famer

The Packers Jordan Love is really fucking good. I've just accepted the fact that he's probably a future Hall of Famer. I'm hoping that, I'm hoping it's just one Super Bowl like the last two guys. ... Jordan Love is so calm, cool, collected everything we said for CJ's job goes for Jordan Love.

Mike McCarthy is done as the head coach of the Cowboys

Mike McCarthy's out. ... Busiest cat in Texas. ... I think there's gonna be a little cooling off period with Mike McCarthy. 'cause this was a, like, you just can't look. They looked so bad.

Dak Prescott has the 'yips' and cannot throw the football

I have never seen in person witness someone have the yips like Dak had the yips. ... The first interception was a terrible throw. ... You could see he was telegraphing the pass. ... Dak Prescott, he had the yips. I, there was no other way to describe it. ... Dak Prescott's horrible, like literally is a quarterback that can't throw.

The Cowboys must get rid of Dak Prescott and hire Bill Belichick and Josh McDaniels

I think you gotta get rid of Dak. Okay. You gotta, you can't pay Dak, CD and Parsons. ... You gotta get rid of Dak. You gotta get Bill Belichick in there, clean house. Let 'em, let 'em run the show. ... Belichick and McDaniels together again.

Sean McVay is an incredible coach but simply cannot figure out clock management or late-game decision making

I also think Sean McVay, just like Sean McVay is an incredible coach. One of the best coaches in the league. He can't figure out clock management. I don't know why they punted there with one timeout. I don't know how they got one timeout going to the last four minutes of the game. But punting there made no sense to me.

The Cowboys losing takes a lot of pressure off the Eagles locker room

The Cowboys losing has changed everything. It has changed everything. The entire vibe of Philadelphia. ... Nothing the Eagles can do tomorrow is worse than what the Cowboys did today. ... A lot of pressure has been taken, taken off out of that locker room. ... they're not going to say it out loud, but inside of their, inside of their head. Yes.

The Lions just won their Super Bowl by beating the Rams

The Lions just won their Super Bowl. ... Max will be all the way back in. If the Eagles had had to play the 49ers next week, Max would've been like, whatever... Now he is so close to being all the way back in.

The Eagles are going to smoke the Buccaneers

I think I'm gonna bet the Eagles. I don't, I'm on the Eagles. ... I just think the Bucs have beaten a lot of NFC south teams that don't know. ... I think you're gonna smoke 'em.

Jerry Reinsdorf is a 'half-ass' owner who set the Bulls Ring of Honor up to fail

Jerry Reinsdorf being the absolute worst. ... He's a fucking half-ass owner. He's bullshit. ... he knew that [Jerry Krause] was gonna get booed. ... He set it up. ... I'm not like absolving the fans, but I think that the real blame should be Jerry Reinsdorf for putting together a half-ass thing.

Pete Carroll has an argument for being a top 10 football coach of all time

Pete Carroll has an argument for being a top 10 football coach of all time. He's 14th all time in NFL wins. He's got two national titles in college football. If you put it all together, Pete Carroll has an argument for being a top 10 football coach of all time.

I would rather the Patriots hire Mike Vrabel than Jerod Mayo to replace Bill Belichick

I would rather Vrabel... He's a recurring guest, friend of the program. He's proven it. Super Bowl champion. Obviously Mayo is too, but I would rather Vrabel just [because of his] proximity to the show.

Bill Belichick might have wanted to leave the Patriots to find a team with a roster ready to win now.

I think that there's a chance he did wanna leave. I think that he might be at a point where he doesn't want to do a rebuilding coaching team and he wants to go to a, a place that has guys. I think that like, if the Cowboys are on the table... he may be willing to go to a give that up for a team. A team that could win now.

I am no longer interested in the Commanders hiring Bill Belichick because he is now unemployed

I don't think I'm interested any longer at Bill Belichick because now that he doesn't have a team, it's like, do I really want to... he was way more attractive as a candidate when he had a job. Now it's like, oh, this unemployed guy wants to work for me... I don't want a retread like Belichick.

Bill Belichick's mystery landing spot could be the Dallas Cowboys

I have three candidates for the mystery team. The Dallas Cowboys. If Mike McCarthy loses in the first, or maybe even in the second game, if they get their ass kicked in the divisional round, I could see Jerry Jones being like, we gotta make a change, Belichick's out here.

I still give Bill Belichick slightly more credit than Tom Brady for the Patriots' dynasty, roughly a 51 to 49 percent split.

I think it's 51-49 [Belichick over Brady]... it's not a one or the other. 2001 that was, that was Belichick. I know [Brady won a Super Bowl without him], I'm just saying it's not like... I think it's, if it's 51-49, whoever you want to call it. It's not a one or the other.

I will be the biggest Dallas Cowboys fan if they hire Bill Belichick

If he goes to Dallas, I'm gonna be the biggest Cowboys fan. Even bigger than I am now.

The Cleveland Browns will beat the Houston Texans in the Wild Card round

I think there's maybe a little, like, you might get into a point where it's like, as great as CJ Stroud's been this year, this is a different animal. And this is a different beast. And this is a team that's, that's completely different than the teams that they've been beating down the stretch.

Deshaun Watson has the highest ratio of football talent to being a bad person of any player currently in the NFL.

In today's game, I would say that Deshaun Watson has the biggest football to good guy ratio. [He is a] way better football player than human being. Insanely a large gap.

I like the over in the Browns vs. Texans game.

I kinda like the over in the game too. Good weather... I like the Browns offense. I like the Texans offense. Browns defense obviously is out of this world. But I still think CJ Stroud is gonna get his.

The Kansas City Chiefs will beat the Miami Dolphins because Tua Tagovailoa cannot play in the cold

I don't see Tua winning this game... the stats that you had for Tua, you can just watch Tua when he plays in the cold. He looks very uncomfortable going on the road. Arrowhead is like one of the top two or three hardest places to play... I think I'm gonna take the Chiefs.

Travis Kelce to score a touchdown is the Super Wild Card prop of the year

Travis Kelce scored touchdowns plus money now. And the dolphins are not great guarding the tight end. And I do think that like when you get to the playoffs, Patrick Mahomes will be like, who can I trust? Travis Kelce's the guy I can trust.

Josh Allen will have a big day running against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

I see a lot of plays where [Herbig] gets upfield because he likes to do that... they leave that little gap there on the end. And Josh [Allen] is just gonna eat that up. I think that Josh is gonna have a big day running.

The Pittsburgh Steelers will beat the Buffalo Bills outright

I like the Steelers moneyline... You hate all our friends. You hate our futures. It's gotta be a dog that wins.

The Bills are very dangerous to go to the Super Bowl because they finally have a legitimate running game.

I do think the Bills are very dangerous to go to the Super Bowl... I'm bullish about the Bills because if you look back at last year and that Bengals game and that playoff game and they got bullied, absolutely bullied. The Bills now do have a legitimate running game... They have James Cook who's been awesome. Josh Allen is a part of the running game and Leonard Fournette can be a bully in cold weather.

Nuclear missile whale play on the Packers vs. Cowboys over

I think I might make this a nuclear missile whale play on the over... I don't know how the Packers are gonna stop the Cowboys. And I also don't really know how the Cowboys are gonna stop the Packers 'cause Jordan Love's been that good... I like this over a lot. 50 and a half.

I am switching my pick to the Detroit Lions over the Los Angeles Rams

I said Rams all week... and I've switched... I'm betting the Lions. I'm gonna take the Lions just because I don't want to make blood money off the Rams winning... I think the Lions are better.

NIL is the primary reason Nick Saban decided to retire.

I think that the NIL stuff would be number one outta that bunch. [The NIL part] was something that bothered him... Texas is coming into the SEC Oklahoma's coming into the SEC, they gotta deal with LSU. Tennessee's very well funded. Like you can't make more rich people in Alabama... You're not gonna have as many people as they care deeply about Texas and Texas A&M football 'cause they just have more people.

The Alabama job is still a top three job but harder than Georgia and Ohio State

I still think [Georgia's] the best job. I think it's easier to recruit to Georgia... Ohio State's probably a better job because the way you dominate that state... Alabama is a little bit harder than those jobs. And Nick Saban made it look easy.

Mike Norvell is my guess for the next Alabama head coach

I'm going to say Mike Norvell. That is going to be my guess. He's been recruiting in this area... Florida State has to recruit against Alabama, Auburn...

The next Alabama head coach will be expected to win a National Title within three years.

Your job at Alabama is to win the national title every year... The Alabama fan base will not be patient. But I think the administration given like if, if the the person is making reasonable progress toward national titles... the administration's probably gonna be fine with that. But the fan base will be raising holy hell if they're not winning national titles in three years.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are slightly favored over the Philadelphia Eagles in Wild Card Weekend

The biggest one for me is Philadelphia and Tampa Bay. I actually, in my projections, I have Tampa Bay very, very slightly favored... If you look at the weighted numbers that give more weight to recent games, Tampa Bay is 15th, Philadelphia is 21st.

The Rams' historically bad special teams will likely cost them a game at some point in the playoffs.

The worst [special teams unit] by far by far was the Rams. Yeah. The Rams were the sixth worst special teams unit in DVOA history... Their special teams like it almost cost them against the Giants. It absolutely cost them the game against the Ravens. Punt return and touchdown in overtime. Their special teams are terrible... I would say it's likely that that will happen at some point along the way.

Josh Allen is elite despite the interceptions because he has the lowest sack rate in the league and often throws 'punted' interceptions.

The interceptions that Allen throws are for the most part not as bad because they tend to be downfield or on fourth down. And we don't talk about the fact that he had the lowest sack rate of any quarterback this year. Right. Those are negative plays too. And he doesn't take a lot of sacks. So like he was in quarterback value, I think we had him third this year... Allen does so much more of it on his own.

Buffalo and Dallas are the two best teams in the NFL outside of San Francisco and Baltimore

The number two teams in each conference are pretty clearly Buffalo and Dallas. Not just the number two seeds, but the number two teams by both DVOA and weighted towards the end of the season. If somebody's gonna win this thing other than San Francisco or Baltimore, it's probably going to be Buffalo or Dallas.

Michigan was the best team in college football this year by a large margin

Washington fans, as much as it sucks right now, I just wanna say this, Michigan was always gonna win that game. That is what Michigan does... I really truly believe Michigan was the best team by a large margin in college football this year.

JJ McCarthy should stay at Michigan for another season instead of entering the NFL Draft

JJ McCarthy, there's some JJ McCarthy haters out there... he's not like gonna electrify you with his throws, but he is one of those guys that just makes the big plays when they have to be made... I think he probably should stay another year.

I'm out on Boeing airplanes until the safety issues are addressed

Boeing airplanes... had an explosive decompressor at 16,000 feet... So if it's, I don't know what kind of flights we have planned soon. But if it's Boeing, I ain't going. I'm out. I'm out on Boeing anytime soon.

College football is ultimately about who is the best at cheating

I also think this proves that cheaters win, like in the, in the long term, everybody cheats. All right. This is not just Michigan. Every school, every major school in the country, they cheat in certain ways... college football is about who is the best at cheating. And Michigan was really fucking good at cheating.

Vacating a national title is the dumbest thing in sports

The vacated national title is the dumbest thing in sports. You have to take down the banner. Yeah. It's like, who cares? Every fan lived it. Every [Rick] Pitino's got a tattoo. Who cares?