[FULL SHOW] Was Week 1 A Lie?

We had to wear pads in December, and that's not fair. Can you be any softer? From coast to coast, when it comes to football, Mark Schlereth and Mike Evans are talking nothing but the stinking truth. This is a leadership issue. This is an optics issue. This is your quarterback. There's certain things that always tell the truth. Physicality in the run game always tells the truth. Yoga pants always tells the truth. Now, here's your hosts, Mark and Mike.

Hey, welcome to the Sync Truth Podcast. Alongside Mike Evans, I am Mark Schler. Thank you so much for making us a part of your day. Make sure you subscribe, whether you listen to us on Odyssey, whether you listen to us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify Podcasts, you watch us on our YouTube channel. We thank you so much for making us a part of your day. Keep the questions coming. We appreciate it. Hey, Mike, how are you, buddy? Great. We'll get to question mark a little bit later on here in the show, but now we got a week under our belt and we can look ahead to week two and see how teams respond good and bad after what happened to them in week one. Let's start with...

The Giants and the Rams. Because if the idea is in the NFL that week one can lie, I want you to choose the lie. What was the lie? The Rams' ugly loss or the Giants' impressive win? Wow. Well, the Rams' ugly loss was definitely a lie.

There's no question. There is no way, and we've talked about this on this podcast, there is no discernible way that you can think you're going to leave the day before the game, fly 16 hours, land, sleep, get up at 5 a.m. in the morning, and then play for a kickoff at 1035 Australia time and be any good. You're not going to be worth a sort of piss. And you know what? The Rams weren't. Early in that game, they ran the ball. Early in that game, they started controlling the tempo. They had the fourth down and one. And who would have thought that a fourth down and one with a 60-year-old quarterback was going to be a bad call?

I mean, come on, Matthew Stafford was 0-2 on quarterback sneaks last year. So what made you think that was going to be okay? And then your defense just gave up the panties as 99 yards later, the San Francisco 49ers scored, and the rest was history. At that point, it was over. The Rams waved the white flag. They went at halftime and said, hey, boys, wrap it up. Make sure you're packed up so we can just take these pads off. We're going to hand out shower pills. We're going to get on the plane and head back to Los Angeles. That was a calculated risk by Sean McVay. He said, listen, man, we're going to go out to Australia, and we're going to bend over.

And if we win this one, great. But if not, we're going to stay on our schedule. They gave that win up. Really? Because if you look into it, you study it. I mean, the Rams, they were preparing like a couple years out.

for the possibility, the likelihood of playing in Australia. They were sending people over there to test this same kind of timetable. So I don't think it was some sort of flight. How many of those people got up and played four quarters? You're testing people like, hey, I flew over there and flew back and felt great. Had a couple of them foster loggers or whatever they are. Throw another shrimp on the bobby. I was fine. You don't have to play four quarters. That's the dumbest comment. That's the most JV comment you've ever made. And you know what?

You might want to bake the forgiveness. If you think in today's world of analytics and Uber preparation that the Rams just casually came up with this game plan, this travel plan, without really, really studying it, I think you're being naive. No, they looked at it like, hey, listen, and they came out and played great in the first quarter. And then their tanks were empty. I mean, flat out empty.

There's no way you can argue that with me. And so there was a calculated risk. Hey, listen, man, if we can score, get a lead, whatever, maybe we can maintain it. But that whole principle of that game was about coming back and being fresh on the back end of that thing. And if they lost, they lost. San Francisco approached it completely different. Now, it'll be interesting to see how they respond because I've done that overseas. I've done Australia. I've done Japan. I've done London. And coming back is way worse than going out. Way worse.

And so I believe that's what they were doing. We'll see how San Francisco does because they've got that extra three days. But, man, that is a grind. And I even did it as a broadcaster in London. And coming back from London, I was so excited. I was like, man, this is the greatest thing. I'm out in London. I'm at the pub. You know, we're having fish and chips. This is awesome. And coming back, I was like, wow, this is miserable. Miserable trying to get back on schedule, back on track. So we'll see how it affects them week two. Maybe Aaron Donald will play this week. I don't know what his contract is. He plays when he feels like it. You know, no Miles Garrett for the next four weeks. So we'll see what happens. But, yeah, that was a lie. I'll tell you what's not a lie. New York Giants.

I told you this on this podcast that New York Giants, one, got a head coach who's an adult, who believes in controlling the line of scrimmage from the inside out, controlling the game from the inside out, and believes in tight end production. Isaiah Likely, absolutely dominating the middle of the field. When you dominate the middle of the field, you know what happens? You get one-on-ones on the outside. You get opportunities on the outside. And I loved their commitment to running the ball, to being physical. This is the best Giants offensive line that they have assembled in the last decade.

the last decade. And then they've got Patrick Ricard, who's one of my favorite players ever, a 315 pound fullback who's an absolute bulldozer. That's what they're going to do. They're going to run the ball with Scadaboo. They're going to run the ball with Tracy. They're going to do those things. They're going to troll the middle of the field with their tight end. And then that added wrinkle.

Quarterback run. 11 on 11, man. You saw the read option early in that game where he flagged that ball out. He was looking, I mean, dead in the eyes with the defensive end, right? Defensive end pinches. They run a jet sweep behind it. And what happens? Now you got a jet sweep lead blocker for Jackson Dart. He goes around left edge for about 22 yards. Beautiful design. If they can design that kind of stuff outside and keep Jackson Dart from trying to be, you know, a fullback.

Man, that's a wrinkle that's really hard to defend, Mike. The New York Giants, I told you, I said, I don't know if they're going to be a wildcard team, but they're going to be flirting with nine wins this year. And I think the New York Giants, the G-men, are back in a big way. All right, let's get to another game. We got Washington and Dallas already an important division game in week two. Biggest reason a Cowboy fan should not be concerned about what they watch week one. Biggest reason why a Cowboy fan should be concerned. The biggest reason they shouldn't be concerned is because they've got legitimate big time.

Quarterback, offensive line, and offensive weapons. they're going to score points. Now, I would like to see them be a little bit more committed to Javante Williams. I think that needs to happen for them. I think they need to run the ball with more attitude and more attempts. And you know how I feel about attempts, Mike. Attempts to me are bigger than yards per carry because it keeps your passing game alive. It keeps your play action game alive. And that's where you get a lot of chunks. That's where you get guys that are uncovered. Once you stop the feet of those linebackers, that second level defender, then all of a sudden, that's all it takes. A half a tick, stop your feet. Now all of a sudden you're beat. Now all of a sudden your offensive player's got leverage on you. And now all of a sudden those become, you know, those six yard stick routes.

become catch and run for 26 yards. Like that stuff, that's why I wouldn't be concerned. My concern is this defense. You changed Christian Parker's now your defense coordinator. You guys, I mean, I'll give the Giants a ton of credit. They were running just basically like...

like smash. They're running corner or bench on the outside, outside cutting routes, right? At 15, you start bending a bench at 15, you end at 20, and you smash somebody in front, meaning you just run a short intermediate like stick or dagger, right? I'm not dagger, but stick or a flat route right in front of people. And you hold the corner right when you get that stuff. And the Dallas Cowboys still haven't covered it. And I love play repeaters.

I love it when you're a play repeater, meaning like, hey, you haven't stopped this? We're going to keep running until you stop it. Now we may do it out of a different formation, different personnel group, different motion, a little bit different look, but we're running the same damn thing. And until you can stop that damn thing, we're just going to keep running and running and running and running. And Dallas never stopped it. And so they just kept giving up busted play. They ran that down the goal line. I think Isaiah likely had a 15-yard touchdown. Everybody jumped the underneath route.

Two guys jumping underneath the route. The safety was just standing there looking at it. And Isaiah likely is running the pylon, the back pylon going, hello, touchdown. I mean, it was one of those things. Isaiah, the Giants are for real. There's no question about that. And I'm not, I think the Cowboys will get that fixed because this was endemic of the league in general. Week one used to be offenses behind the defenses. Week one this year, defenses, tackling was horrible. Leveraging coverage, understanding where your help was, was terrible.

Busted coverages, right and left, across the board. And I think that was endemic of the league in general. I think you saw a lot of games like that. So I'm going to say, hey, man, pump the brakes. They're going to be OK. Washington, does this kind of go down as a good loss to Philadelphia in that Jaden Daniels playing for the first time? You got some new pieces, a lot of question marks. The fact that they played Philly tough right to the end, is that something that, as a Commander fan, you can feel positive about? I think you can build on it. And I thought the Commanders may have been the worst team I watched in preseason.

They just got, I mean, they just got waylaid. I mean, Miami took a drive, the first drive, I think it was the second preseason game, and shoved it up their cans. I mean, it was embarrassing. And I told you, man, Jaden Daniels, he had three plays. First play, you know, he got pressured on the first play and the ball got tipped. He's trying to run, trying to throw somebody out in the swing on the flat. The second pass play got sacked.

Like they didn't block anybody. They were one of the worst teams I watched in preseason. It was embarrassing. And so for them to bounce back against Philly, and I told you, man, I think Philly's going to take a little bit slide back. I think Washington's going to take a little slide back. I think the Giants in that division are going to step up. And I thought the Cowboys would win it, win that division. But again, week one does tell a lot of lies. Week one, there are a lot of things that need to get fixed for a lot of teams across the board. Well, how about the rave reviews that Kansas City opened to on Monday night? And after watching that game, I guess reports of Kansas City and Patrick Mahomes.

Demise a bit premature. Kansas City pulled the good old behind the barn ass whooping of the Denver Broncos. It was an embarrassing performance. Embarrassing. And, you know, I get people on the Internet. Oh, did you see, you know, there was a hole by Travis Kelsey right on the end zone. Like, forget that, man. That was like when my dad poolside, you know, when I get a little bit saucy as a teenager, you know, a little lippy, a little lippy. I can see you being a little lippy from time to time. My dad poolside, we had horses and we had a barn. And my dad poolside would say, if you want to step behind the barn, we can figure it out.

I mean, I'm going to whip your backside, right? I'll put it on you. And I never stepped behind the barn with my dad because my dad was a bad man. Like, he'd get you, right? That was a good old-fashioned behind-the-barn ass-whipping from Andy Reid whipped Sean Payton's ass, from Steve Spagnuolo whipped Davis Webb's ass, to Eric Biennemi whipped Vance Joseph's ass. I mean, it was across the board. Across the board. And, you know, I said this going into the game, and I was completely wrong. Kansas City just put it on us. The young secondary didn't matter.

We'll talk about this in the Stinky Truth podcast. I'll do a Denver Broncos breakdown later on this week. But it was embarrassing. And, you know, I said, hey, man, I believe Andy Reid's going to run the ball when I see him run the ball. We sent, like, Kenneth Walker, automatically, after one game, he's all pro. He's automatically, he goes to all pro status. Like, we made him, that dude, we made him look like a cross between sweetness, between Barry Sanders, between Jim Brown in their prime.

And our running backs in our running game look like Earl Campbell right now. Like, that's what we look like. It was physical domination. And I don't use this word lightly. This is the worst four-letter word in the football vernacular. S-O-F-T. The Broncos were soft. They got embarrassed. Tip of the cap to the Kansas City Chiefs because they opened a can in every phase of that game. And it was embarrassing. Embarrassing. I got it completely wrong. Tip my cap. Kansas City, you're our daddies again.

Until further notice. You are daddies again. Because we are softer than whale poop. And that's as soft as you can get down there at the bottom of the ocean. Oh, man. If you remember Chiefs Kingdom, you're loving hearing that. We continue on with more of the Stink Truth Podcast all across the Odyssey Radio Network. We've got more games to break down. Minnesota, Chicago. The good news and the bad news about that Chicago offense that could be a record-setting offense. There is a downside to all of that. And Pittsburgh and New England, is Drake May seeing ghosts? And is that something that can be fixed with the Steel Curtain coming to town? We'll get to all that coming up next.

Welcome back to the Stinky Truth Podcast all across the Odyssey radio networks. A shout out to all of our great football fans listening in all of our great football cities like Chicago and Minnesota and the Bears. Hey, we kind of snickered when Ben Johnson talked about the idea of setting the all-time single-season scoring record in the NBA, in the NBA, in the NFL. They put up NBA numbers, and they go up and put up 59 in their first game. But is there sort of a double-edged sword to all this, Snake, in that, hey, they're going to have to score a lot of points, maybe record-setting points, to cover up for that defense that they have?

Yeah, well, obviously that's going to be an issue. And I think Ben Johnson is up to the task. Dude, that guy is maniacal. He is an amazing play caller. The best matchup of the weekend, week two. Best matchup of the weekend. And it's not Caleb Williams against, you know, whatever. It's not a Justin Jefferson against whatever corner, you know. It's not. The best matchup is Robert Flores, defensive coordinator of the Minnesota Vikings versus Ben Johnson slash head coach, offense coordinator. Trying to get me to know, really? What? Brian Flores? What did I say? I said Robert. I said Robert? Robert.

Brian Flores. Sorry, I got too excited about my Broncos take. Brian Flores of the Minnesota Vikings defensive coordinator. Thank you. We're factual here. Who's Robert Flores? I don't know, but were you thinking about Robert Sala?

I think I worked with a guy named Robert Flores years ago. Oh, OK. Well, there you go. Dude, listen, man, I am not bright. I am not. You take it a few hits. I'm an expert in the run game and landscaping. Beyond that, I'm an expert in nothing. But Brian Flores and the Minnesota Vikings, defensive coordinator versus Ben Johnson and the offensive coordinator. Man, what an incredible matchup that is. Matching wits. Brian is diabolical in the way he brings blitzes, the way he plays coverage behind the blitzes, the simulated pressures, all those things. This is going to be one of those games where, for me,

If you're really, really good at what you do as an offensive coordinator, you've got to keep him out of situational football where he can bring exotics. And how do you do that? So oftentimes what you do is you condense, you get heavy, you play multiple tight ends and they've got great tight ends in Chicago. You run the ball. One thing Ben always does, he doesn't get the credit for it because he becomes one of those guys that everybody talks about play design, you know, and what they do. But it's when you call those plays. But the one thing about Ben Johnson that is consistent, he understands the value of the run game. He understands how you've got to have those attempts. He understands what that does for your protection and what that does for your play action game. Get your quarterback to turn it back to the defense and all those things. So he's great at that. But you got to keep.

You've got to keep Brian, I almost called him Robert again, you've got to keep Brian Flores out of exotics. And the best way to do that sometimes is to play heavy. Play a fullback, play three tight ends, do those kind of things. So it'll be really interesting to see that chess match between those two. And what a phenomenal performance, both by the Minnesota Vikings last week and by the Chicago Bears. And by the way, the Minnesota Vikings dodged a bullet. They dodged a bullet.

First, they drafted a quarterback who, you know, Kat Myblack's not ready to play, maybe never will be. He needs to change the scenery, J.J. McCarthy. And then they went and got, you know, Kyler Murray, who, you know, unfortunately got hurt early in that game. But Carson Wentz is going to be the guy that's going to give them a chance to win that division, not Kyler Murray. Kyler Murray, first throw the game, he's protected. He scrambles outside because that's what Kyler Murray does. And they are going to be very...

specific in what they want, the looks they're looking for, everything at the line of scrimmage has got a check to it when you play under Kevin O'Connell, that's not how Kyler Murray plays football. And I think this is going to end up as a blessing in disguise that Carson Wentz is going to give them the best chance to actually win football games. So to be clear, even when Kyler Murray is healthy and clear, I'm just saying it clearly. I'm clearly stating it. Carson Wentz gives them the best chance to compete in that division, and that's a tough-ass division. He gives them the best chance, in my mind, without question.

OK. All right. Sure. Viking fans will have a lot of reaction to that. Let's move on. Pittsburgh and New England. And there's a there's a growing concern that Drake May is a damaged, rattled quarterback who is seeing ghosts out there, that there's been a string of bad performances going back to last year's playoffs, continuing through week one against Seattle to suggest that that's a that's a spooked quarterback right now.

Yeah, there were a lot of things. I was talking to my buddy Merrill Hodge about this. And there was a lot of things because he does a great job of evaluating quarterbacks, evaluating the draft, coming out and all this stuff. And my evaluation, when I looked at Drake May, I was perplexed. Because Drake May is one of those guys that when he is good, he's exceptional. I mean, exceptional. When that first read in the progression is open, I don't know that there's a guy that you'd rather have than Drake May. And he's athletic as all get out. So he can get outside the pocket and do a lot of different things for you. But when he gets confused or he doesn't get that first read in the progression open.

He starts looking at the rush. He starts looking for a place to escape. He misses checkdowns. It's almost as though he's looking at the front side of a progression, and he doesn't know where his escape plan is throwing the ball on the backside. And that's what gets him into trouble. And even in that first game, that opener on Wednesday night against Seattle, there were plenty of checkdowns he could have thrown that would have been, one, positive gains, first downs, and...

would have made Seattle have to honor that stuff instead of sloughing off in coverage and keeping bodies back there that were going to be a problem. And he just kept taking off. Now he got some first downs in doing it. But again, it never made Seattle respect the underneath stuff. And in the fourth quarter, that's what reared its ugly head. And he ended up throwing three picks in that game. And remember, man, Seattle's starting...

a corner who's been historically a backup for them, a safety who they pulled up off a practice squad and activated for the game, who made the tip ball on the first interception to Pritchett, you know, who got the pick. I mean... it was unbelievable what ended up happening in that situation. So, yeah, Drake May looks rattled. And Drake May, like I said, there were 30% of the time, this is the conversation I had with Merrill, 30% of the time where you look at that 30% and say, Drake May is a potential Hall of Famer. But it was a 70% of the stuff that you saw that you were like, ooh, I don't know if you can win with this. And that's, I think, what we've seen here throughout the playoffs and in week one, where New England had a 10-0 lead and ended up losing 13-10. Yeah, you're a huge proponent of that 70-30 rule when it comes to quarterbacks. 70% of the time, it's just...

Plan schedule. Operating the position. 30% stat. Hey, things are breaking down. Go make something. Go make a play. Go make a play. Pittsburgh. A lot of talent on offense. There's no denying that. But they only had the one offensive touchdown against Atlanta and only 264 yards of total offense. How long do you anticipate? I mean, there's familiarity there, but it's been a while. The Aaron Rodgers-Mike McCarthy reunion to come to full fruition. I think it's going to take a couple of weeks because they didn't play anybody in the preseason. You know, I mean, Aaron's not going to play in the preseason. He's too busy bashing his former girlfriends. He's got work to do.

And I say that out of love. And worldwide conspiracies. Yeah, and worldwide conspiracies. So he's got a lot of things going on right now. You've got to hone into the game plan a little bit. Right after I get done doing these seven podcasts, I wonder if he wants to come on. Aaron, there's an open invitation to come on the Stinky True Podcast.

Advance whatever conspiracy theory you want. I'm good for all of it. Martians, the whole thing. You name it, I'm here for it. I'm good. Let's talk about it. So anyhow, listen, man, I think they'll get that together. They'll figure out what that rhythm is. You know, one thing about Aaron and Mike McCarthy, when they were in their heyday and Aaron was winning all those MVPs, it was really about, hey, man, you know what? You orchestrate here where you want to go with the football based on the look we have and all that kind of stuff and whether you want to run it, whether you want to check to something, whatever. And I just think that's going to take a little time. It's hard to do when you didn't play at all in the preseason. So that's going to take a couple of weeks, but I fully expect them offensively to be great.

D.K. Metcalf is a big-time playmaker. I love the Pittman. He's running the dirty work, running the inside routes, running all the tough routes. I really like their tight ends. I think they're great. And obviously, this defense, early, will probably keep them in games with T.J. Watt and company and Hayward and all those guys. So I love what they're doing right now. I think they'll get into an offensive rhythm. All right, another game to look at. Then we'll get to question Mark, all your questions for Mark to answer in lightning round fashion. Green Bay and the Jets. Green Bay, they've lost six in a row going back to last year. They've blown leads, second half, fourth quarter leads in a number of those games.

We're only one week into the season already. It would seem that there's a leader in the clubhouse when it comes to coaches on the hot seat. Is it Matt LaFleur? Yeah, yeah. Listen, Matt LaFleur is going to be fine. Matt LaFleur is a hell of a football coach. You know, we've talked about this a bunch, Mike, in the way the league is constructed in today's NFL. When you lose a couple of dudes, it is really hard to overcome them, overcome those losses.

Josh Jacobs is not a good running back, a great running back. And he's on the commissioner's exempt list, and he earned it. He put himself there. And, you know, frankly, the video I saw, I hope he doesn't get to play this year. And, again, I know there's probably extenuating circumstances. I probably don't have the whole story. But what I saw from TMZ, you should go to jail.

So that's just my feeling on that. But he is a legitimate big-time playmaker for them. And it hurts when you've got a three-down back who can run it, who can pass protect, who can catch out of the backfield. That is an ultimate weapon in this league. So that is hurtful. The other one, Michael Parsons, dude. Michael Parsons might be the best football player in the National Football League on the defensive side of the ball. He is that dynamic. Whoa, whoa, whoa. What about your boo who we're going to watch here pretty soon, we think, with the Rams? We think. Aaron Donald. When Aaron Donald makes his comeback. Then he's the...

Yeah, then we will say move over, Micah. But right now, Aaron gets to play when he wants to play. I got you. I got you. He might just come out for the first quarter and then undress. You know, maybe have dumbbells on the sideline. You know, and hold up a five-gallon bucket of water and show how strong he is. Be like a strongman contest. Yes, exactly. Just he plays one quarter and then he does strongman activities on the sideline to entertain the fans. Yes, play the first quarter and then toss kegs up over a wall. Right. Like the Scottish games. See if he can carry the Hoosafelt stone, right? Up and down the sideline. So we'll see exactly how that works out. But Micah Parsons.

That is ridiculous. He's ridiculous. So you're missing two of your guys, and you changed your entire receiving core, right? And the offseason didn't – I mean, apparently they got tired of Romeo Dobbs not being, I don't know, engaged for the opening game of the season and knocking down balls like it's his job and went to the Jerry Judy school of catching. So who knows? But listen, I think they'll get that rectified. They'll get that fixed. Obviously, you can't have a huge lead like you did and then end up losing by, what, 12 or 17 points or something to the backup quarterback in Carson Wentz of the Minnesota Vikings. So they've got to get that rectified. But I still think that –

that LaFleur is one of the better coaches in this league. Quick thought on the Jets. You know, they win last week. Granted, it's against the Titans, but they beat the Titans on the road. And Brees Hall looked really sharp. Garrett Wilson looked very sharp. I mean, not a bad place to start as you're trying to rebuild when you can have a running back wide receiver combo like those two. Yeah, no question about it. Listen, man, the Jets are 1-0 and they dominated that game in Tennessee on the road. And oh, by the way, that was a revenge game for Robert Sala. Don't think that Robert Sala didn't have that conversation. And so...

That's a big-time performance by the New York Jets. And we'll see exactly how they adhere to Brees Hall in that run game. And I like what they did as far as their picks are concerned, the way they built this team off the draft. This is going to be a much more challenging game for them. And we'll see exactly how they respond. But I like Aaron Glenn, right? And I want to see him have some success. And like you said, man, they've got some players in place. They have put some players in place. So it'll be really interesting to see exactly how this Jets team responds to a win. Listen, man.

it's easier in this league to respond to a loss than it is to respond to a win. Because I guarantee you in New York right now, people are excited about the Giants. They're excited about the Jets. The press clippings are all good. People are going to smell their own fumes. And the next thing you know, you walk out there and you get whooped. Those things can happen. So it'll be really interesting to see their response to having success week one. All right. Coming up next, we're going to get into question mark. These are your questions directed to Stink. We'll get to as many of them as we can as we continue on with the Stinky Truth Podcast all across the Odyssey Radio Network.

Welcome back to the Sneaky Truth Podcast all across the Odyssey Radio Network. Thank you to all of you great football fans who continue to tune in every week. We greatly appreciate it and we show our appreciation by Mark answering your questions sent directly to him. So let's get to as many of these as we can. We'll start with Jason Bonney listening in Denver in Colorado. He wants to know how long will Sean Payton's leash be for Davis Webb to continue to call the plays for the Broncos offense? Well, I mean, tell me what it looks like week two against Jacksonville.

Does it look like it did week one? Because if it's the same style and you get whooped like you got whooped against Kansas City, I think that'll end it. Now, he may not say I'm taking the play calling duties back. But he'll definitely be more involved. And you could see him on the sideline. He's on his hands and knees. He's got his sheet. And he's got that play call button right on his hip. And you could see him just like, must not touch the button. Must not touch the button. And he wanted to touch the button. He wanted to get on there and go, what the hell are we doing? Right? That's what he wanted to say. But he didn't end up saying it. And I get it. So, I mean, that's where we are right now. So, how long will the leash be? If it looks better next week, I think it'll continue. I think you're going to give him two or three weeks. But you can't afford to go.

0-4. You can't. At some point, if it doesn't look better, then you've got to make a change. Let's get to this question from Gstyle2012. Mark, how is that crow tasting right now? Gotta be a Bears fan. Gotta be, right? Gotta be a Caleb Williams fan. Can I tell you a quick story? So the other day, I'm just minding my own business. I'm on my patio. I'm watering some flowers. All of a sudden, a car goes racing down the street, rolls down the window. It's my neighbor up the street. He goes, hey, ask Stink what he thinks about Caleb now.

I'm like, yeah, yeah, yeah. I'll pass it along. Keep driving. Of a certain age. Of a certain age. I love what you did. Now, you can't see this if you're listening to us on radio, but you said rolls down the window and you use the old circular crank handle because we grew up before there was electric windows, right? Yes. So kids are looking at this video right now going, what does that mean? What does that mean? You know, it's like giving a kid a rotary phone going, dial somebody's number on this. Yeah, right? Yeah, exactly. I love that. And listen, man, Bears fans, get at me. They have. Come get a taste. I've answered them.

Caleb was great. I think the thing that Bears fans couldn't get over the fact that what I said was 100% true... He needed to be better from the pocket. He needed to be more accurate. He needed to work on his footwork. A lot of young quarterbacks need that. He came out of a college system where it was just run around and let our players make plays. And he is the best quarterback off schedule, I think, in the National Football League right now. As far as scrambling around, making plays, making just obscene throws that people just can't make because he's got that kind of arm talent, that kind of body, you know, to do it. But he had to be better from the pocket. And I thought Ben Johnson was awesome. Calling the game, the quick game, just calling spacing, you know, where you're just getting hitches and you're just delivering like a point guard, bootkeep game, get him outside the pocket.

The play pass game. They did a great job early and they ran the heck out of the ball. The whole game plan fit. And then he made some throws that were like just rewindable moments where you rewound it and go, wow, wow, that was good. And he was, what was he, like 21 to 29 or something? He had at least four throwaways that I charted. So add in the threat with his legs. Tip, oh, the cap. Now we'll see what it looks like against Minnesota, right? Every week is different. But man, if it looks like that, if it looks like it did week one from here on out.

You're talking about all those predictions about a generational talent will come to fruition. And I give Ben Johnson a ton of credit, but I give Caleb a ton of credit, too, because you could tell he worked on his stuff because over the first two years, he was better in year two than he was year one. But he still only completed 58 percent of his passes. And even Ben Johnson came out after last season and said, hey, we need our quarterback more up to 70 percent. That's where he should be living like Jared Goff was living. And that was a direct that was a direct finger point at Williams being better in what I was talking about him being better. And to his credit, man, he did it.

Are there any crow hunters out there? Do you hunt crow? Because we may need a healthy supply of crow to get us through this season for stink here. I don't know that you hunt crow. I don't think so. I don't think so. I don't think so. Here's another question. This is from Gordon who asks, Mark, do you think that there will be some teams that will rethink how they handle training camp and preseason to get ready for the season? You saw a number of teams that just, I mean, there was nothing there. We won the Broncos, the Cowboys, the Chargers, Houston's defense, just to name a few examples. Do you think this will lead to a reversal or a swing the pendulum back next year when it comes to training camps? If I was a coach, I'd make my guys play a little bit more. I mean, it was painfully obvious.

that that needed to be the case in week one. I mean, the lack of tackling, the lack of coverage, the lack of understanding leverage. It was bad. I mean, it was really bad. And injuries are going to happen, man. They're just going to happen. I do believe that you put a certain callus on your body, and it does help prevent some of that stuff. But look at Sam Darnold. Play five. I mean, that was about as innocuous a play as you've ever seen. And he still got hurt. He still got hurt. And now, I mean, who knows what it is, right? It was a hip, then it was a glute, then soft tissue, and then Jay...

Why can't I ever remember Jay's name from Fox? Jay Glazer. Sorry, Jay, I love you. Jay Glazer came out and said, yeah, I'm tired of the mouse nuts. Hey, Jay, this is us. That's you over here. But Jay Glazer came out and said he had his fourth second opinion. Wait a minute, a fourth second opinion? So you got your regular opinion. Then your second opinion is your second opinion. That's number two. And then you had four more. That actually is six opinions. So it wasn't a fourth second opinion. It was a sixth opinion. I don't know that I've ever heard of anybody getting six opinions.

That's a lot of opinions. And they still don't know what it is? That sounds like, I mean, it was reported at first, oh, he'll be out one, maybe two weeks. Now I'm here in six weeks? I don't know what that was. It did give me fear of the Bo Jackson. Remember the Bo Jackson hip injury? It just kind of got jammed, but it didn't look that bad. And then all of a sudden, they lost all the vascular support to the bone, and the bone just died. They had to put a new hip in, and that was it for Bo Jackson. So it did give me scary vibes. Hope that's not the case. I do too. I hope Sam's okay. Quick follow-up, my own question to you then about this whole idea. But the thing is, it's been something we've all just kind of taken as gospel, that more and more...

coaches, teams, look at the first few weeks of the regular season as an extension of training camp. So if this is sort of a deal they've already signed up for, with the understanding it might blow up in our face in week one, but we think it's still better than risking players' health in the preseason, I don't think it's going to change as much as you think. I don't think it is either. And I think eventually it'll be two preseason games. And they do it in college, right? I mean, they do it in college. You don't get any preseason. You just go out there and play. And then everybody sucks, I guess. But, you know, I mean, I don't think there's any substitute for playing.

You can practice. You can have joint scrimmages. You can do all that stuff, Mike. You know what you got to do? You got to put on game silks and you got to see who can go out there and perform. And, you know, I get that this is just the way it is now. But I always say this, man, if you can be primed and ready to go week one, you can jump out in front of the field. Doesn't mean, doesn't guarantee you anything, but I think it's easier now to jump out in front of the field if you do it that way. Here's a fun question from Black Knight 120 who asks, Mark, was there a team that you never got a chance to play for that you wish you had? Yeah, yeah. The Pittsburgh Steelers.

I was the biggest Steeler fan as a kid, man. I mean, big time Steeler fan. Love the Pittsburgh Steelers. Anchorage didn't have an NFL team? No. And when I was coming up, the Steelers were winning every year, right? And then in Anchorage, Alaska, we kicked off at 7 a.m.

So I was up at six. Like, I couldn't wake up for school. Get up, honey. You know, my mom would come in and sing me the good morning song every day in my life until I packed my toothbrush in my back pocket and went to college. And what is the good morning song? She would knock on the door and it would creep open. She'd go, good morning to you. Good morning to you. We're all in our places with sunshiny faces. And this is the way to start a new day. And she'd go, good morning. She used to call me her little lambie do Daniel or she called me Marquis Sunshine. And I would go, good morning, mommy.

And I couldn't, I mean, I flat couldn't get up. But Sunday morning, I was up at six o'clock watching Brent Musburger. I had no problem. And then I would watch the Steelers game in the morning. And then we'd go to church for the afternoon. You know, I missed part of the afternoon game. But I love the Steelers. And the first preseason game I ever played in was in Three Rivers, you know, in Pittsburgh at Three Rivers Stadium. And, dude.

I was in a Washington Redskin uniform, man. And I'm like, well, it wasn't the first. It was the second preseason game because I played the Hall of Fame game. I apologize. But the second preseason game that was in a real NFL stadium, my first real NFL stadium was in Pittsburgh, dude. And I was like, oh, my God, this is where Bradshaw, Franco Harris, Rocky Blyer, my favorite player of all time, Mike Webster, Elsie Greenwood, Mean Joe Green, Robin, what was his name, Robin? Whatever. I can't remember. Jack Lambert, Jack Hamm.

Donnie Torpedo Schell, Mike Wagner. Oh, gosh, Mel Blunt. I just go on and on on JT Wagner, or JT Thomas, excuse me. I was just in awe of being there. I mean, I was like a kid in a candy store. It was unbelievable for me. And I loved, I loved, loved the Pittsburgh Steelers as a kid. They're the reason I wanted to play in the NFL. That's cool. That's really cool. For everybody involved, we thank you so much. Make sure you share this with whoever. Stay tuned to the Stinkin' Truth Podcast because we've got a ton more content coming out for you.