00:00Clint brought up a really good point.
00:02And it was my major takeaway from the game is, like, listen,
00:07I'm not going to say that this season is done,
00:09but we obviously know this is a long stretch or a long shot, excuse me.
00:13Only the 92 Chargers have come back from 0-4 to get into the playoffs.
00:19I heard the fellas on In the Loop compare them to the Astros.
00:24The only problem is you don't have the Rangers
00:27and the Mariners in your division.
00:28No, you have the Jags who just went on the road
00:31and beat the Bengals in Cincinnati.
00:34So, I mean, they're 3-1,
00:36and they got a chance to run away and hide with this thing.
00:39So that's the only difference.
00:41And, Clint, for me, I think a lot of it is how they're going to make
00:44the major decisions and handle this situation.
00:47And I just, as I said to the owners of this team,
00:52like, what, we've seen them step in a couple of times.
00:56We've seen them step in.
00:57And I do personally appreciate, Clint,
01:00that they try to hire the best football people that they know
01:04and let them handle the football stuff.
01:07We've had Kyle and Hannah on many a times, and they say that,
01:10and I believe that.
01:12There's not a Jim Crane situation happening here.
01:14They allow them.
01:15They're not stepping in and stopping trades.
01:18They allow them to do stuff.
01:19But a couple of times, they have stepped in.
01:21They had to step in on Jack.
01:24They've had to step in on a couple of things.
01:26To me, like, C.J. Stroud, they cannot allow him to be the guy that leaves.
01:34And, listen, right now, there may or may not be some work that they have to do with that,
01:42but they have allowed, like, they put themselves in a situation, Clint,
01:46where he cannot be the guy.
01:48As I said, and someone said, C.J. isn't the problem.
01:51Ron is wrong as usual.
01:53Blase this, blase that.
01:54That's fine.
01:55I'm just telling you, it is the hardest thing to find, as you know, Clint.
02:00And they have found a guy.
02:02Is he perfect?
02:03No.
02:04Hell, Mahomes isn't perfect.
02:05He sounds like a Muppet.
02:07Josh isn't perfect.
02:09He just did a spin move yesterday and threw a ball to somebody.
02:12It was double covered, and it wasn't even hidden.
02:15He just threw it right to the safety.
02:18Lamar is not perfect.
02:19Lamar, for about, like, seven years, couldn't throw out routes.
02:23Like, these guys aren't.
02:24These guys.
02:25No, he's not perfect.
02:26I'm not telling you.
02:27He's perfect.
02:28But you've seen that he's been able to do with what he has been surrounded with.
02:33I said it, Clint.
02:37Poor offensive staff and poor coordinators and play callers with no experience.
02:42Check.
02:43Multiple offenses in three years.
02:46Check.
02:46No running game.
02:48Check.
02:49An offensive line that has been in the 30s ranked every single year that he's been in the quarterback
02:54that can't run block or pass block.
02:56Check.
02:58Lack of weapons.
02:59Check.
03:01Relationship with the coach.
03:03Are they in sync?
03:05Don't look like it.
03:06Check.
03:07And then off the board.
03:09Franchise legend.
03:11Coming at you.
03:12Check.
03:13Like, anything that you can think of, Clint, to put a quarterback, a young quarterback,
03:19to not have success?
03:20Look, they have presented that to him.
03:25And I'm not saying all by himself, but through that, it has led to two division championships
03:31in the playoffs every year, except for this one thus far.
03:35Double-digit wins and playoff wins in every game and every season.
03:39Has he been perfect?
03:40Has he been perfect?
03:40No.
03:41But that right there with what he's been surrounded with?
03:46Like, the focus should be, how the hell do I find out, find what Bryce has with Dave Canales?
03:52How do I find, how do I find that, that partnership?
03:54How do I find Trevor Lawrence all of a sudden looking like somebody who could play?
03:58How do I find his partner?
04:00How do I find that?
04:02How do I find what all these other young quarterbacks are getting with their coach?
04:08How do I find that should be the focus?
04:10And I have real concerns that he is going to be the scapegoat, Clint.
04:17And he's, to me, the last one that should be.
04:22I mean, look, the good thing is, is he's playing himself into a real power position.
04:30I mean, he's played himself.
04:32Right now, CJ's the only one that can go to the podium, whether it's post-game or on a Wednesday.
04:41He's the only one that can go to the podium and say, we need to be more aggressive.
04:45We need to find more shots.
04:46We need to do this.
04:47He's the only one right now that can do it.
04:48Nobody on the offensive staff is going to do it.
04:50D'Amico has shown the inability to do it.
04:52He doesn't even show a desire or the ability to do it.
04:55And that's the thing that everybody can see they need to do it.
04:58And it seems like everybody else is like, I don't know.
05:00Well, I mean, look, he's playing.
05:02Like, at some point, it's one thing for CJ Stroud to say, yeah, you know, we've got to figure out
05:07a way to get the run game going.
05:08At some point, it's not going to be about, well, we just need to find more explosives.
05:12Right?
05:12And the offense coordinator says, well, if you get a hat on a hat, that's explosive in the run game.
05:16That's considered explosive.
05:17Right?
05:18At some point, CJ's going to be like, no, we need to throw the football more.
05:22Now, we need to, I mean, like, openly talk.
05:24He's the only one with any kind of power to change things on the offense right now.
05:28He's played himself into that power position at this point in time.
05:32And like I said, there's nobody on the offensive side of the ball that's going to do it.
05:35There's nobody on the coaching staff.
05:38The head coach won't do it.
05:39There's no other players that are going to do it.
05:41The only one that has the power to do it, and I think right now, to be honest with you,
05:46after the last couple of weeks, I think CJ's probably got the guts to do it as well, is CJ.
05:50Now, we'll see what happens.
05:51His ability to function, if you just give him a little bit.
05:54Like, function enough.
05:57His ability, like, just give me, just give me Nico.
06:00All right?
06:01Like, we'll figure something.
06:02Just give me Nico.
06:08It's just, wow.
06:09Again, I just, and this isn't the first time.
06:11Like, this isn't the first time, Clint, we've seen him have to, like, a lot of people have,
06:15because of the Patriots game, they have just taken what has happened out of their minds.
06:22This isn't the first time this defense over the three years, three-plus years he's been the starter,
06:28has struggled, and he's had to come and save the day.
06:30They've given up points over the three years.
06:33They have given up points.
06:34This is not, you can think of games.
06:36You can remember games where they have given up.
06:38This is not, this is not new.
06:39This is not the first time.
06:41Last year, this defense was special, and he didn't have to do it as much,
06:45and that was the first time that that group had carried him.
