00:00And then it was one of the comprehensively worst days of NFL football I've watched in my adult life.
00:05Holy hell, that was grotesque.
00:07Not into defensive struggles.
00:09No, I'm not into the red zone when Scott Hansen has so little to show you.
00:12They're showing punts, injuries, and seemingly a ton of commercials.
00:17But I digress.
00:18You had a rough weekend, including the people around you disappointing you.
00:22Because all I know is on the show sheet, you have something you wanted to bring up here,
00:26that you were besieged by people.
00:28It is a weird thing.
00:30It's a weird phenomenon.
00:31I even heard it driving in listening to Doug and Gator's show.
00:34I heard it this morning.
00:35And what is that?
00:36It's this weird fascination with Ben Johnson and Chicago Bears of just how, oh, well.
00:42We're doing this again?
00:43Are we still crowning them because they only scored three points in this game?
00:47And I'm like, whoa, whoa.
00:48You do realize it was raining for one.
00:52Horrible weather.
00:53They fumbled at the one.
00:55And Caleb Williams was on his way to score when he pulled his hamstring.
00:59They had a field goal block.
01:01It's not like they weren't about to score.
01:03But it was like, oh, see, maybe Ben just needs Dan Campbell.
01:07And oh, Chicago isn't that special anymore.
01:10What are you talking about?
01:11They absolutely are special.
01:13They had a bad game that they lost, but their quarterback went down.
01:18I couldn't understand.
01:20Mike, it's almost.
01:22Man, it was.
01:23Well, I mean, I know the people we work with and I have low expectations, but you're saying
01:26people were in your personal life.
01:28Yes.
01:30Personal life.
01:31And then I can fix one of the two.
01:34Personal life.
01:35The personal one.
01:35You need new friends.
01:36And it just amazes me.
01:39This is a real conversation.
01:41This is how multiple.
01:42No, no, just not one.
01:43Multiple conversations that will look at Ben Johnson.
01:46I was like, guys, yes, let's take a look at Ben Johnson.
01:50That team just scored 59.
01:52Yeah, but they only scored three.
01:53So ha ha ha.
01:54Like, this is what we're doing now.
01:56This is the team that won the North last year.
01:59They were the number two seed overall.
02:01They're not falling.
02:02Like, it's almost like the guy who just, you know, quit stalking your ex's Facebook page.
02:08Just Instagram.
02:09Let that go.
02:10I think I would put people to a test.
02:13And I'm only doing this as an exercise in stupidity because it's the only language those
02:17people speak.
02:18Okay, let's let's play the game.
02:20Okay.
02:21All of a sudden, Ben Johnson doesn't remember his name and doesn't know how to coordinate
02:24offense.
02:25And they're totally fake.
02:26Cool.
02:26So I guess their defense is elite now.
02:28Right?
02:29The same defense that you swear is going to give up 40 every week.
02:32They gave up nine points.
02:34Three.
02:35So as stupid as that sounds, and it is a factually stupid statement.
02:39The Bears defense is not awesome.
02:41Like, how about we don't play stupid games that win stupid prizes?
02:45But here's what we could do.
02:46If you really want to put people on the square, why don't we do this?
02:50You get your choice right here.
02:52Point forward.
02:53You can have Dan Campbell run your team the next five years, or you can have Ben Johnson.
02:57Who are you choosing?
03:00Because Dan Campbell's on his way to firing more staff members because he can't put together
03:04a staff.
03:07And go ahead.
03:08Say it with your chest.
03:10And I like Dan Campbell.
03:11Let me be very clear.
03:12I think both of these guys are good coaches.
03:15But unlike some of you, I don't have a hard-on for this whole Ben Johnson thing.
03:20Ben Johnson's awesome.
03:21It's a weird fascination to see Ben Johnson fail in Chicago.
03:25And I don't know because it's a Detroit-Chicago thing, or it's a Ben Johnson left you and you
03:30feel betrayed.
03:31He took an NFL job, people.
03:33It's not that many out there.
03:37Very weird.
03:38And the other thing is I'm more focused on what the Lions do, regardless of outside noise.
03:43You got dump trucked by Buffalo.
03:45You should be 0-2.
03:47Now you get word today of Ante Maddox is out for the year.
03:50I don't really care about some weird fever dream of Ben Johnson, revenge, and spite.
03:56Do your thing.
03:57But if you asked a lot of people around the league who would they rather have the next five
04:02years?
04:03I don't think you'd like their answer.
04:05It would be Ben Johnson.
04:06So do whatever you want.
04:08Now, again, I haven't wavered.
04:11I think the Lions are a 10-win football team.
04:13Might be good enough to win this division because I think this division's really good.
04:17That's another weird.
04:18I did hear a little bit of that today where all of a sudden, what, the North isn't?
04:21No, the North is hyper-competitive.
04:23But fine.
04:24We'll play this game.
04:26I have a term for that, but I'll give that to you later.
04:28What is that?
04:29No, no, no.
04:29Just say it now.
04:30We're starting the week.
04:31Let's just throw stuff out there.
04:32It's going to be in the can we say.
04:33Okay.
04:34Then I guess we will do that later.
04:35But no, I mean, like, I don't know.
04:39I watched a lot of that game because the Lions didn't play.
04:42Weather was atrocious.
04:43They still put up a 300-yard day in awful weather.
04:46You know, not everybody can play in their Pampers dome like you.
04:50And overall, it was a weird game.
04:52I don't know.
04:52I don't really take that much from it.
04:54I took more Caleb winning an Oscar.
04:57What was that performance?
04:58I thought he ripped his hamstring from the bone.
05:01He was doing, like, the thumbs up, leaving, like, the, no, no.
05:06Towel overhead.
05:07Take towel off.
05:08Wipe tears.
05:10Thumbs up, guys.
05:11That was a lot for me to deal with there because, I mean, I do like Caleb,
05:14but, like, that part of it, that's easy to dislike where you're like,
05:17okay, hold on a second here.
05:18When he fell, normally only two injuries happen like that.
05:21You blow off your knee or you popped your Achilles because nobody hit him.
05:25He was on his way to score a touchdown, and he just dropped.
05:28He just pulled up.
05:29And I said, oh, my goodness, he is done for the year.
05:33And then he's on the ground.
05:35He's screaming.
05:35And, okay, wow, they cart him off the field.
05:38He gives the thumbs up.
05:40And I thought that was it.
05:42And then, yeah, when you end up finding out, okay, you know,
05:45he stubbed his toe.
05:46Well, then, look, before we, because I was going to go a different direction,
05:49but I'm kind of intrigued by this because it's 3 o'clock then.
05:51Why don't we just do this whole idea of Avante Maddox is out for the year.
05:56You know, you're shopping on the street again.
05:59And Dan Campbell had something really interesting to say about Kirby Joseph
06:02that I think warrants a discussion.
06:03So we'll do that at 3.
06:05And I do have betting odds for the NFC North.
06:08Lions are kind of co-favorites slightly with Minnesota, and I'm okay with that.
06:13But we'll do this first.
06:14If you feel some type of way about Ben Johnson, then answer the question.
06:18Right here, right now.
06:20You could have Ben Johnson run the Lions for the next five years,
06:23or you're going to have Dan Campbell.
06:24Which way are you going?
06:26No, I doubt any of you are going to be honest, but that's okay.
06:29No, I would.
06:30I would take Ben Johnson.
06:31You would take Ben Johnson, only a fact of offensive plays,
06:35and he's one of the three or four best offensive minds in the league.
06:38And Dan Campbell, largely his success or failure,
06:41is going to be based upon the staff he puts together.
06:43That's not a shot.
06:44Dan's a CEO.
06:46You can win with a CEO.
06:47But the more the league evolves,
06:50the more the head coach is owning one side of the football.
06:54Mike McDonald runs the defense in Seattle.
06:56Sean McVay runs the offense.
06:58Shanahan runs the offense.
06:59Andy Reid runs the offense.
07:01Like, this isn't made-up fake land.
07:05No, it's not.
07:05Okay?
07:06The CEO is kind of a bygone era.
07:08I like both.
07:09I don't have a problem with either.
07:11Right.
07:11Why Lion fans want to play these weird little games
07:14when they have their own problems?
07:16That's just a, I don't know.
07:18I don't get that portion of the Lions.
07:19It was almost like the Buffalo game got washed away
07:21because the Bears lost and Ben Johnson only scored three points.
07:24It's like, Ben Johnson's going to be known.
07:26I like the way his style, because his style is,
07:29let me figure out the pieces, the puzzle that I have,
07:32and I'll come up with an offense.
07:33Dan Campbell, like it or not, is going to be known
07:35because he's the guy that goes for it on fourth down.
07:38He's not known for this great offensive play calling.
07:41He's the guy that, you know, fourth and 13, you know,
07:44Dan always goes for it.
07:46How many times do announcers say that?
07:47Whereas Ben Johnson, yeah, I'm taking him because I know,
07:52I've seen what he has done with this Lions offense
07:55when he was here, from the trick plays to everything,
07:58the different formations, the variations from the formations
08:01that he did that he left teams scrambling,
08:04wondering what happened.
08:05He put the Lions on the map, whether you want to believe it or not.
08:09Well, look, you had two great assistants.
08:12That was another one people wanted to run out of town was Aaron Glenn.
08:14Aaron Glenn was great as a defensive coordinator here.
08:16He once again, look.
08:18He was the red-headed stepchild.
08:19I know he was, but it's very similar to why I don't want to throw
08:22Calvin Shepard in the garbage.
08:24I don't think Brad has given him the talent.
08:26I think the discussion of firing your defensive coordinator
08:29two weeks into the year is crazy.
08:31Like, go look at the talent or the lack of talent
08:34on that defense right now.
08:36That's about Brad Holmes.
08:38I mean, look, if you want to tell me they're taking too many penalties
08:41or they're not playing disciplined football,
08:44both of those things are true, but it's also a byproduct
08:46of having lesser athletes out there.
08:49You've got guys who shouldn't be playing 30, 40, 50 snaps,
08:52and they're asked to do that.
08:54No, we can have this conversation.
08:55I think it's a weird thing.
08:57I don't know why.
08:59I don't know why you're having that conversation.
09:02I don't know why it's a conversation on the air.
09:04Whatever.
09:04It was victory laps, and I just didn't understand.
09:08So you're celebrating that they scored three points.
09:11Yeah, because everybody said they were going to be this greatest team ever.
09:14They came out and said they were going to score a lot of points.
09:16They scored 59 points in a game.
09:18It's okay to give them their flowers.
09:20They did something that not too many teams have done in the National Football League,
09:25just decimate an opponent.
09:27Well, I think the stat was nobody had had six rushing touchdowns to start a season
09:31since the 1925, like, Canton Bulldogs, whatever, garbage men.
09:37I just, but yeah, okay, if you feel that type of way, then say it.
09:42Would you rather have Dan Campbell the next five years,
09:43or would you rather have Ben Johnson?
09:46I know where I'm at.
09:47That's not a shot at Dan Campbell.
09:48I like Dan Campbell.
09:50But, yeah, if I have Jared Goff and I play indoors,
09:54yeah, I'll take one of the three, four best play callers in the league
09:58over a guy who routinely is having to get rid of staff
10:01because he doesn't do a good job hiring staff.
10:05But do you?
10:05I don't know.
10:06I don't know what to say.
10:07My focus is on the Jets.
10:08I'm not worried about what the Bears are or aren't doing.
10:10It's too early in the year.
10:11But when we talk football outside of Detroit, we're going to have opinions,
10:15including a god-awful one that I thought the Chargers would be good this year.
10:18Uh-oh.
10:22I'm done.
10:23I'm out.
10:23I can't take anymore.
10:24Your focus is on the Jets.
10:26That just sounds so funny coming from you.
10:28No, it's just that's the game that is important now.
10:31I know.
10:32You hate the Jets.
10:34That's all.
10:34It's just like.
10:35No.
10:36It's just because that's who you're playing.
10:38I know, buddy.
10:39It's just funny to me.
10:40No, and I also, in the back of my mind, it's like this is kind of that week
10:44where, man, if Geno Smith comes in here and does the helicopter dance on them,
10:47then you really know the defense is effed.
10:49And by the way, I don't expect that.
10:51I said something earlier, and you damn near laughed me out of the building.
10:54I said, Rico, the defense has got to be better than this.
10:57Why?
10:57Why?
10:58Well, because it can't be worse.
10:59Like, through osmosis, the Lions defense will be better.
11:02If they give up 400 or 500 yards to the Jets at that point,
11:07that's the Titanic whistle where you're just.
11:10Fine.
11:11I just don't believe that's going to happen.
11:13It'll be Geno Smith rowing a canoe in a captain's hat.
11:17Anybody need to be picked up?
11:18No?
11:18Okay.
11:19We'll keep going.
11:20Toot toot.
11:24That's me.
11:24That's me.
11:25You give up 400 yards to the Jets.
11:27That's me.
11:27But I'm giving you benefit of the doubt off a long turnaround.
11:30You'll come home.
11:31It'll be better.
11:32It has to be better.
11:34Don't ask me why.
11:35I just know it has to.
11:36I just.
11:382-4-8-5-3-9-97-97.
11:41Here's Rico.
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