Sports Live! With Steve and Justin
Sports Talk Live! With Steve and Justin! NFL Offseason Analysis: Team Moves and Super Bowl Predictions. A Recording of our live Youtube Sports show every Monday Night 5pm EST.
Sports Live! With Steve and Justin
Jets and Giants First Look! NFL Changes Everything: Kickoffs, Overtime, and the Future of Football
The landscape of professional football is undergoing a seismic shift, and we're breaking down what it means for the upcoming season. From sweeping rule changes to dramatic shifts in team cultures across New York's franchises, this episode dives deep into the forces reshaping the NFL experience.
We explore how the Giants have transformed their locker room atmosphere, largely thanks to the infectious energy of Jameis Winston alongside Russell Wilson's championship pedigree. Their quarterback room now features an intriguing mix of veteran leadership and rookie potential in Jackson Dart, who's displayed promising accuracy and toughness during preseason action. Could this finally be the culture reset Giants fans have been waiting for?
The conversation shifts to the Cowboys' increasingly contentious standoff with star defender Micah Parsons. We analyze Jerry Jones' negotiation tactics and why the "pay him or trade him" dilemma represents a no-win situation if mishandled. Meanwhile, the Jets enter another rebuild under Aaron Glenn's leadership, bringing a Parcells-inspired approach focused on accountability – something that's been notably absent from the organization.
Perhaps most significantly, we break down the NFL's major rule changes coming in 2025: a complete kickoff overhaul, expanded replay assist for penalties, and modified overtime procedures. These changes reveal a league struggling to balance safety, entertainment value, and competitive balance while gambling influences grow stronger. As one commenter noted about similar analytics-driven changes in baseball: "This is no longer baseball." Are we witnessing football's transformation into something unrecognizable?
Join us weekly as we dissect the evolving NFL landscape. Subscribe on YouTube to catch our live broadcasts or find the audio version on all major podcast platforms under "Sports Talk Live with Steve and Justin."
Well, here we are again. We are live and it's 5 o'clock on Monday and we know what time. That is right, justin. It's time for Sports Talk. Live with Steve and Justin.
Speaker 2:Sports Talk Live.
Speaker 1:Yep, here we are. We played with a lot of things, we changed a lot of things and yet they all stay the same. So I just like to say so, if you're watching us now, thank you. We are going to be on other streaming services shortly. For now, we're just on YouTube and we're also on the Riverside site. Just on YouTube and we're also on the Riverside site. So that's the way that's working.
Speaker 1:We moved from a Better Life New York website to here to a YouTube site. We thought it deserved its own, though we were going to lose some followers that come from a Better Life, my other podcast. I also thought that we needed our own dedicated way, and when I talked to Justin, he agreed. So we ended up here and hopefully we're going to build this platform up just a little bit better. So what we need to say is if you want to see our videos, you want to come to the live stream, you, for now, have to go to the YouTube Sports Talk Live with Steve and Justin on YouTube.
Speaker 1:If you're looking to see, hear the audio, it's going to be available when it's posted. It may take maybe a delay of 24 hours or so or 12 hours On all major podcast services. That are going to be a better life. I'm sorry there are going to be so many podcasts so little time. That's going to be Sports Talk Live with Steve and Justin, and so that's the end of it. So, justin, here we are on the precipice of New York sports. One more time into the breach and it's a new year and a new hope, right, and sometimes we know that only lasts maybe a couple plays.
Speaker 2:Yeah, for the football season. It's for the football teams, it's for the, for the baseball teams, it's. It's coming to a grinding halt yeah, that's a whole nother thing.
Speaker 1:You know the um matter of fact, remind me when we're done I'll read you a comment somebody left about what we said about analytics in the New York Yankees. It was very interesting because he said something very he goes. This is no longer baseball.
Speaker 2:I agree, and it's seeping. It's found its way into football, for sure.
Speaker 1:And it's finding its way. And listen, I was always anti. What do you call the franchise? Stupid stuff that everybody plays Moneyball.
Speaker 2:No on football where everybody was oh automatic football fantasy football.
Speaker 1:Yeah, fantasy football. Fantasy football. I never liked it whatsoever. It removes the, the heart of what makes sports in america great, and that's your loyalty, loyalty to your team so I, I, I quit playing fantasy sports.
Speaker 2:10 years ago and just today a friend of mine, a good friend of mine, who runs a 16-team league, lost somebody from his league and was not begging me to come back. But he was like any chance, you want to join? And I broke down after 10 years and put up my 75 bucks.
Speaker 1:Wow.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it'll be a goof. There's a whole bunch of guys I went to high school with in the league, so I'll give it a whirl this year for shits and giggles.
Speaker 1:So where do you want to start? Jets or Giants?
Speaker 2:We can start with the Giants. You know, it seems that the Giants have kind of righted the ship here with personnel. We'll start with the quarterback. They've got four quarterbacks on the roster currently. They're obviously going to have to either make a trade or cut somebody. So, starting from the bottom up, you know it's either going to be you know, they cut Tommy Cutlets or trade either Wilson or Jameis Winston. But for all intents and purposes I think you know Wilson's going to start. So it looks like Tommy Cutlets will be on the chopping block if they can't find anybody to make a deal with for him. You know, ironically enough with the Jets quarterback situation he could end up just switching locker rooms, since he's been in New York this whole time. They might need somebody to fill out the back end of the roster pending the injury to Tyrod Taylor. But as far as the Giants are concerned, they're going to have to make that decision.
Speaker 2:I don't think they want to trade Jameis Winston. It seems like his personality has kind of permeated this locker room and they are a completely different team mentally right now and emotionally than they were a year ago. And it's not a knock on Daniel Jones. They have changed the culture a little bit inside the locker room on the sidelines, you can just see them having a little bit more fun. Sorry about that, it's all right. They're having more fun. They're engaged more. They seem to be, you know, pushing each other to be better and it's genuine. They're rooting for one another. They want every guy to make the team.
Speaker 3:Right.
Speaker 2:And you can see it in their play on the field. Everybody's talking about it. All the talking heads are saying it's just a different vibe altogether. On the sideline and in the locker room the guys are having fun and they're also, at the same time, they're disciplined and they're addressing some of their disciplinary issues. You know, on the field issues Not that they had any off the field issues and I think maybe Jameis Winston's personality kind of set that off a little bit, and you know him and Russell Wilson.
Speaker 2:You know people like these guys and they're good teammates and you know guys seem to fall in line because you know they have, you know, and those two guys in particular now have you know, pedigree I mean Wilson's a Super Bowl winning quarterback. He's been to the Super Bowl multiple times and you know that resonates with guys that want to win and it creates a culture of you know, not only that the guys want to win I'm sure everybody wants to win but they understand that they can't afford to make silly mistakes. So I think it's coming from the top down the quarterback position. And then Jackson Dart, who's played pretty well, uh, in the preseason, right I saw some passes that blew my mind right on the money deep yeah, and you know he's getting lots of encouragement from the guys in that quarterback room.
Speaker 2:But also he seems to have that leadership quality that you want from your quarterback and it's that's not something I think you can really teach. Either guys have it or they don't have it. But you know, when we talked in the first episode about something that you can hang your hat on, you don't expect a rookie to lead you to the Super Bowl and turn you know, turn the page overnight, right. So he's accomplished some of those things in that he's reading defenses pretty well, he's making line calls and line adjustments. He's been extremely accurate. I know they've had a few drops. Wyatt seems to be the biggest culprit that I can think of. It was pretty much on display the last game where not only was he dropping passes but he was also reaching and touching and pushing off receivers, which they have. To find a way to eliminate that from his game, because I think he doesn't realize that he's fast enough to break away without having to push away and he needs to concentrate more on catching the football and he'll be okay. But Dart, you know, extremely accurate, making all his adjustments at the line. For the most part he sees the field, he has vision. He took off and ran a couple of times. You know, is it perfect? I'm not saying he's great, he's not. You know it's not. I don't think he's going to start and take over the franchise from day one, but I think they're in a very good position to lead him into that, the same way they kind of led Eli Manning into that. If I had to critique him I would say maybe his footwork could be a little better.
Speaker 2:But primarily he's pretty tough. I mean he took a few shots in the preseason where he knew he was going to get hit and he stood in there to deliver the football and took a shot. So you know to get hit. And he stood in there to deliver the football and took a shot. So you know it's. You want to see a guy get rid of the football and not take a sack. You don't want to see your rookie quarterback getting hammered in the preseason.
Speaker 2:But he's shown a lot of stuff. He's got some moxie and he's he's. He's tough and you know, depending on how the giants beginning of the season works out, I know that they they still have some questions on the offensive line. That has looked decent. I don't know that it's looked great. If they can, obviously anybody can stay healthy. They can be good. But they seem to be relatively cohesive. So if they can protect Russell Wilson, if they can run the football, move the chains and be competitive in the first eight weeks and stay above the Mendoza line, so to speak, if they're within two games of 500 after eight weeks, I think you might see Jackson Dart start to take over. If they think he's ready, if they want to go the whole season, if Russell Wilson starts hot and he's 6-2 or whatever it is, then that's a different discussion. But I think they'll probably play that as the season goes.
Speaker 1:So what's to the rumors if that's what they are about Dallas reaching out trying to get Winston?
Speaker 2:So I think Dallas is looking to have a solidified option to back up Dak Prescott. I think a lot of what they've seen on TV, with his personality being infectious and positive and all that plays a part in them wanting to take that away from the Giants and also kind of instill that in their locker room. Right, that is a little bit more. That's very Jerry when you think about it, Because although Dak is the starter, he got paid Jerry's like George, If you don't play, if you don't play well, we're going to replace you. And that's kind of a shot across the bow, I think, at the rest of the team to say we're not as good as you might think we are and we've got to be better. And if I need to bring in another quarterback to help us make the team better, I think that's Jerry being Jerry. I don't know that the Giants would necessarily trade him. I don't know that they would make a deal with Dallas unless they got something worthy in return, like a big-time defensive player.
Speaker 2:Yeah, maybe I mean that. I don't think so, I don't. Defensive player yeah, maybe I mean that— I don't think so, I don't know that—yeah, that's a reach. I cannot imagine Dallas trading Mika to the Giants for anything at this point. But if that deal isn't done which I think it's going to get done I mean, when you look at Miles Garrett and some other defensive players, like Khalil Mack, you know, although he did get traded, it seems to work out the longer and deeper it goes. It favors the team to keep the player, and I think they're running out of options.
Speaker 1:I totally disagree. I don't think it gets done. I think he're running out of options. I totally disagree. I don't think it gets done. I think he stays out. I think then Jerry doesn't pay him and it becomes a huge NFL grievance between the Players Association and the league where I mean I sent him for an MRI.
Speaker 2:That's Jerry being Jerry Right.
Speaker 1:This is what I see and, being a labor attorney, maybe that's the way I think of it. But I think that Jerry's going to say listen, I sent him for an MRI. He said nothing's wrong with his back. He's saying it's tweaked. He's not playing, he hasn't practiced. And what do we know With players that don't practice and come and play the first game sign the day before they get hurt? They pull a hamstring, they tear Achilles. Happens every time, almost every time.
Speaker 2:History of other players dictates it's more likely that he'll remain in Dallas. However, the Dallas history with players the biggest one is Emmitt Smith. Right, he held out, they went 0-2. Jerry hit the panic button, they paid him, they went to the Super Bowl and it was the first time a team started the season 0-2 and went and won a Super Bowl.
Speaker 1:So Jerry's very aware of that. He doesn't have that team yet. He doesn't have that team and he knows it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, they're not at least so far outside of CeeDee Lamb. I don't know that their talent is where it should be for what people expect from the Cowboys. I know that we just got ditched there.
Speaker 1:Meanwhile, if you remember correctly, though, he was difficult with emmett smith he brought in deon sanders and gave him 35 million dollars, or something, back then.
Speaker 2:So yeah, yeah, so jerry's not afraid to to move on. We know that. Um, I mean, you saw it with terrell owens.
Speaker 2:He made such a big deal about bringing him in and then it was all of a sudden you're out, um, and you know terrell still had a lot to play for um and he was still good um. But you know, in this case you're talking about possibly the premier defender at his position, maybe the best defender in the NFL, and if you're the Cowboys it's like the Yankees. Right, you want the best of the best and for for that to play out in a way where Mika ends up somewhere else, wherever it is. That's a disaster for the Cowboys and their fan base. That's a complete disaster, even after, you know, signing Dak and bringing guys back under contract. You know this is the guy you got to bring back. I think most Cowboy fans were probably okay with Dak not getting paid and going somewhere else versus losing Mika.
Speaker 1:Well, I mean, what's funny to me is it almost seems like Jerry's realizing that his team is not going to win a Super Bowl in his lifetime.
Speaker 2:Not the way they're constructed and not the way they're operating now. Definitely not.
Speaker 2:And and I think he's taking it out on everyone- he's lashing out yeah, he doesn't want to accept responsibility for these things and it's a cheap shot for him to talk about players getting injured. That's part of the game. You can't predict that. No one wants to get hurt. No one's out there trying to hurt anybody. It's a different game now. The players are in it together kind of thing. They all want to succeed and make money, and I think Jerry is looking to blame someone for his own mistakes and his own shortcomings instead of leaving it alone and leaving somebody in charge and just staying out of it to. You know, for the most part, he wants to be the center of attention and he wants to. You know, let me blame somebody so we can focus on me and I'm the star.
Speaker 1:Well, I think that's what I mentioned before may happen, or it's very possible that he sits out the whole year and signs a contract with someone else next year.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so I don't. Is he eligible to do that without being? In other words, does he become an unrestricted free agent? I haven't.
Speaker 1:I think it is. I think it's his last year of his contract this year.
Speaker 2:It is.
Speaker 2:So, I think there's. Who is it? Le'veon Bell is probably the last player to do that. I'm trying to think if there's ever been a defensive player to sit out and not play. But there are some players out there that are not signed, that are defensive players and over the last four or five seasons you've seen guys like uh to davian clowny, who I know. You know he can't stay healthy, but the guy's a player, you know he's a difference maker when he's on the field. Um, can he play every day? Can he play all all season? You know different, different animal, but guys will sit out, absolutely, come back and play for. You know different, different animal, but guys will sit out, absolutely, come back and play for for you know a few games if they have to, like hired guns, and Mika seems to be okay with that.
Speaker 2:I mean his comments about not coming back demanding to be traded. You know he's on his own podcast. It's kind of like it's surreal to see a player have a platform like that during the season and, you know, off season also. But we didn't have things like that before. We didn't have that. Growing up, guys didn't go chirping every week, once a week on a podcast or on the radio, maybe they got interviewed, maybe they made a comment or here and there and you got a soundbite. But this guy's got a platform where he's out there. Hey, you know what? I don't have to play football. I can sit out a year and go play for anybody I want, or I can stay here and be paid the highest which I deserve. And that seems to be his stance and I think that's fair from his point of view.
Speaker 1:I don't think it's unfair at all. It is what it is, you know, and Jerry's doing the Steinbrenner thing where he makes everybody else look like an idiot or an ass. Yeah, I think, and says nasty things about them. Remember when Steinbrenner called Buck when he fired him? I hope him and his little family Him and his little family him and his little family.
Speaker 2:you know, go Call Hideki Arabu a fat toad.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean, that's the kind of thing. The.
Speaker 2:Winfield conspiracy. I mean it's just. There's no reason for it, because we've seen now where teams get ahead of this just by paying these guys early. Why? Why drag it out for two, two years? In two years you're going to have to pay more. Pay the guy right now, and if you're afraid to do it because well, what if he gets injured? Then you might as well pack up and go home, because you can't predict that If something tells you the guy's fragile and he can't stay healthy for whatever's in his bio, your medical team tells you uh, I don't know about this guy, or he's not taking care of himself, he doesn't go to workouts, he's not in the gym, you know he he's, he's out late at night, he's susceptible, he's not, you know, not everybody can be Lawrence Taylor.
Speaker 2:But then all right, fine, then trade him. Don't lose value. Either pay him right away or trade them, because there's a small window that you have to keep your team relevant and to keep the players on the field. You know, when you lose a guy like that, it forces everybody else to have to step up their game, and then even more guys get injured Right, especially if they feel like they have to compensate for somebody not being on the field, which is another whole other wrinkle to that. So Jerry's got to stop being Jerry, which isn't going to happen. So either pay him or trade him, because if you're going to lose him after a year you lose. You don't win in that at all. There's no compensation that's going to bring back what you just lost. For that At least, if you trade him, you can get a haul from somebody.
Speaker 2:I mean there's definitely teams out there that want him. You can get a haul from somebody. I mean there's definitely teams out there that want him and you could flee somebody. You know he and he fits in some of these scenarios. Um, he would certainly fit on the jets. Um, they need a player like that desperately, um, but I don't think they have as much capital as other teams. I don't even know if they really have cap space for that. I'm sure they do, but it's less likely than if you went to another team with more cap space and less talent and all that.
Speaker 2:But he definitely fits in certain places. He could go to Pittsburgh, go to Jacksonville, fits in in certain places, you know you could go to pittsburgh, you go to jacksonville. Um, I you know if, if he ends up holding out for a year and then goes to the giants or the redskins I mean the giants. This whole thing is created because the giants didn't draft it. The giants had just drafted him, we wouldn't be talking about this. He'd be locked up for the next 10 years. But this is again jerry being jerry. So if you're do something, then do it right now, because waiting?
Speaker 1:doesn't, I don't think waiting benefits. Here's the total cap liabilities for the jets are $277,562,704. That gives them $25,986,198 in space, cap space this year, yeah, 2025. That's us right.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and 26.
Speaker 1:Let's look what they got in 26. 26, they have more. They have $45 million, but I don't know who they have to make up for and who they lose. It's, you know, not as easy to figure that out on the fly.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and they just paid two guys. You know, if they have the cap space and they have the money, that's a deal they can't pass up, especially since they still don't have a quarterback. But who knows, maybe they do. But they have to make consideration of what they're willing to give up for it and there's going to be a threshold. So you know, I'm not a big fan of trading away draft capital and giving away picks. I mean, you know, look at the team like was it the Bears? The Bears fleeced somebody. They get fleeced. I'm trying to remember.
Speaker 2:The Bears were involved in a trade a couple years back. They made a huge trade. But you need those draft picks, especially if you're not a team that spends money and you're just constantly bringing in revolving door players.
Speaker 1:Denver and Wilson remember they paid them all that money and they turned them to Pittsburgh for. Nothing.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean, that's Sean Payton. You know, I trust Sean Payton to do the right thing. Implicitly, he's a great coach, he's got a great mind for the game.
Speaker 2:And you know, when you see a team like that, hire a coach like that and make moves like that, they have no fear. They're willing to take the loss or take a hit to set themselves up for the future. And the reasoning is always the same If you pay now, it will cost less later, you won't be in a jam, whereas and that's why I said about the jets this year paying their, their, their young players, um, you know, typically they don't. They don't do that, um, and guys end up. You know how many guys did we see? Abraham, jonathan, vilma Revis, I mean, the list goes on.
Speaker 2:So it was only until they got. You know, they brought in Parcells. I know it was a different era with the cap and everything, but they were bringing guys in and building a team, whereas it was, you know, now it was different. They didn't have the wherewithal to make these moves without somebody like that. But now you know they seem to be on a different track altogether. So could they make a move for a guy like Mika? I'm sure they'll. If it's even remotely possible that he's getting traded, they'll be involved in the discussions for sure. So I guess, as your friend brian, he just said uh, mac and a question mark um regarding khalil khalil mac.
Speaker 2:So khalil mac was, was wanted out of wherever he was, was wanted out of wherever he was in Chicago, right, and he ended up in, or was he in Buffalo? Why can't I remember that? That's the closest thing I could think of to a defensive player that had a holdout in a contract dispute and it's probably the most similar probably more similar than Miles Garrett is to Mika Parsons.
Speaker 1:Right. So now that we tortured me about my team, let's torture you about yours. The Jets.
Speaker 2:I love how you call them my team. Yeah, I think the Jets are still, you know.
Speaker 1:He said that was the Bears trade you were thinking of.
Speaker 2:Yes, the Bears, the Jets are interesting. Yeah, thank you. The Jets are interesting because of the presumable culture change Bringing in Aaron Glenn from Detroit, where I thought he did a tremendous job as their defensive coordinator. Presumable culture change Bringing in Aaron Glenn from Detroit, where I thought he did a tremendous job as their defensive coordinator. You know, last year they had like 30 guys injured. I think their whole defense was out at one point.
Speaker 1:That's right.
Speaker 2:And they still found a way to get it done. I mean, it was really an amazing coaching job by him and that whole staff, not to take anything away from the head coach. So you know, now he's in this window where he's inherited somebody else's team, so to speak. He has no quarterback. Their offensive line is still yet to prove that they can play as a cohesive unit. They've got two premier running backs, you know. So there's viability there. In fact, brees Hall, might you know, if the Jets are going to make a big trade, that might be the guy they trade, a trade involving Brees Hall and Mika Parsons. But we can come back to that.
Speaker 2:As far as their offense is concerned, right now they still have a lot to prove. They have a lot of talent. They have no quarterback. Can Justin Fields, after all this time, get back to what made him a top draft pick and what made him successful at Ohio State? Can they stretch the field? Can he find guys downfield, you know? Can he get rid of the football? Can they use the run to protect him and his inadequacies? And he's starting over again with another offensive coordinator. So there's a lot there that the Jets have to overcome, but they seem to have all the pieces in place right now, whereas before, even with Aaron Rodgers, I don't think they had what people thought they had. So now they have something that they can build on and move forward and hopefully, for them, justin Fields is the guy and they can build on and move forward and hopefully, for them, justin fields is the guy and they can be successful. Their defense, you know, I think their defense is going to be fine.
Speaker 2:I think this particular team is now way more accountable already. Um, but it's the Jets, so you have to kind of assume that they're going to be the Jets still, and Aaron Glenn has to kind of iron that out of them. He's got to find a way to bring this team together, make them believe that they can compete, and it can't be about, you know, they can't come out and say, oh, we're in the Super Bowl, we're going to Super Bowl, yeah, everybody wants to win the Super Bowl. What? How are you going to get better right now? What's the first step? And I think that you know, solidifying the culture and and making these guys accountable is is paramount, because there was just no accountability on this team for the last four or five years. It's probably longer than that. I mean it goes back a long way. I mean when rex was there.
Speaker 2:Rex was accountable and rex. What I loved about him was he took the pressure off the team from the media. He took the media head on and it it was like a secondary thing for the team to have media. He took the media head on and it it was like a secondary thing for the team to have to worry about. There really was no, he let the players be the players.
Speaker 2:You had guys in their locker room that were leaders and, um, he deflected a lot of what the media tortures players with and about by just by being Rex. And they loved him because of his personality. They love coming to play, they love being in the locker room, they love going out to fight. Were they sloppy? Yeah, they were a little sloppy. Could they have been more accountable in certain areas? Yes, you know, rex's booming voice and his personality kind of deflected a lot of that and hid some of that. But that was really the last time that they were cohesive and cohesive enough to compete. So now I think that you don't have that big personality on the sideline. You've got Aaron Glenn, who's, you know, a Parcells disciple, you know maybe we're going to see a complete change.
Speaker 1:And respected by everyone he comes in contact with.
Speaker 2:Absolutely, and he is not. You know, he's not somebody that just got this job for the sake of let's hire this guy. He deserves it, he earned it Right and he's got players believing in him, and you know it. Only, sometimes it takes one thing to happen a big victory which could come off a small play or something where he taught that to them. This is what I told you we were going to look for. I told you this is the way it's going to play out, and then they start to really believe and then you can move forward. So he's got all that in front of him not to sound like Aaron Boone, but it's all there for them to put together and I think he's the right guy.
Speaker 1:And we got to hope that Donald Trump makes the owner ambassador to Bulgaria or something.
Speaker 2:Oh, that would be. Yeah, get him out of here, Do us a favor.
Speaker 1:Like you did last time, right.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we're going to send you overseas. We'll see you in 18 months. That would be a huge help. I think for sure, because Woody likes to meddle, you know, I got that firsthand. He'll walk into a coach's room and look over your shoulder and see you know, what are you doing there? And you have to answer to this guy. He's, he's a billionaire, he owns the team. And if he says oh, you know, I like, uh, I like, when we blitz, you've got to have a blitz package ready to go, because that's what the owner wants and sometimes it doesn't work that way. It doesn't work out for the Jets anyway. So he's, they've got to find a way to keep him out of the coach's hair and just go go in your booth and go sit with, you know, trump and whoever else, uh, and have a couple of cocktail shrimp and you know off you go what cocktail shrimp.
Speaker 1:So I wanted to, since you brought up Aaron Boone, I wanted to just touch base with you on the, if I could find it, on the comment that was left, but I can't seem to, I can't seem to really find it at the moment.
Speaker 2:The analytics comment.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so, and I wanted the credit who made it, but I am not signed into that spot at the moment, so we're going to have to let that go and I promise, when it comes to comments, we'll address it next time. I did write an answer to it, so forgive me. So next week we'll talk about your comments, because we're going to go back to analytics a lot in the coming days.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's prevalent Um. You know the um, the rule changes that they're making this year are are metrics driven Um, and I think there's a little window dressing and Troy Vincent's video about making it competitive and every snap matters. I think they go way too far in trying to micromanage the game. Let the players play If kickoff was somehow undesirable before, and you hear all these mixed comments coming out of the NFL. Well, we're trying to make the game safer. Are kickoffs not safe? Oh, we didn't say that. Well then, why are you changing it? Well, we want more scoring. Are we not scoring enough points? Well, we didn't say that.
Speaker 2:You know, they're changing things for the sake of changing things, because they think somehow they're going to make, you know, $3 or $ dollars more per broadcast. And I don't, you know, I don't like change. I'll admit it, I don't like change. I was never really a fan of kickoffs. I know in the video, Troy Vincent, they're talking and they say that it's the most exciting, can be the most exciting play in the game. But that's, you know, it's because the scoring on that play is like 8 or 10, whatever the percentage is. It's only exciting when they score right, Like it's exciting when there's a surprise onside kick in the Super Bowl and the Saints recover, and that's the difference in the game, that's coaching.
Speaker 2:So it really it's not the play, it's the coaching. Let the coaches coach. Stop trying to micromanage how they play this game, and just let them play. So, if anything, if you want it to be safer, just eliminate the kickoff. I've been calling for that for years. Eliminate the kickoff, give the home team, you know, or. Usually what happens in the coin flip is the, the.
Speaker 2:The toss is deferred because you want the ball coming out in the second half right it's it's it's way more in favor of that than taking the ball depending on weather condition, et cetera, et cetera. So just give the away team the ball to start the game so the home team can come out to start the second half. Eliminate the kickoff when the play's over and they kick the extra point. Put the ball at the 25-yard line. I think that's a fair compromise. This idea of putting it at the 35, you're giving them two plays in their own scoring position.
Speaker 1:Let's just take a minute and, thanks to the NFL, they did a little video about rules changes and why they are. The vice president, One of the chief vice presidents of the NFL, talks a little bit in the video and it's hard for us to explain the rule changes and I thought we better take them firsthand. So the first rule change is entirely about kickoffs. So let me just play this and we can talk about it as we go along. If you want me to pause it, just let me know. And it's really what they're calling free kicks.
Speaker 1:So of course they're showing us a great jet return, just to add insult to injury.
Speaker 2:He's at the 40, gets a block. He's got it At the 20, at the 10, five Touchdown. When we had the one-year-only rule of the dynamic kickoff, we saw 332 competitive plays.
Speaker 1:So it would seem if you watch the whole video and I know you have that they're talking about making every play count that almost make the ability for the game to change. Let him explain it.
Speaker 2:To me it's just micromanaging. And you're saying that the other plays don't matter. Or that the kickoff doesn't matter, but I still think it comes down to coaching.
Speaker 1:Well, they changed the kickoff to save, you know, concussions. That's what they threw, so wait. So then they made it come out, so everybody was able to kick it out of the end zone, so they got a kneel down. Now they don't want kneel downs, they want the kickoff back. And instead of putting it back because they would have to say, oh no, it's safe now because they said it wasn't safe before, if I'm a coach, I'm going to take a knee.
Speaker 2:We get the ball to 35 to start every drive. Take a fucking knee. I'll take that any time.
Speaker 1:But what's going to happen now is that 35, wow, two plays and you're in maybe less. I mean, guy hit 70-yard field goal the other day. Right yeah, All right. So you know all you have to do is take a knee and kick, and you could do that other day right. Yeah, all right. So you know all you have to do is take an in kick, and you could do that all day, right.
Speaker 2:At the 35,. You're 75 yards away from the goal post. You're 65 yards away from scoring.
Speaker 1:That's a short field, but I think so they move it out to the 35. They're forcing the kickers to kick, or forcing the coaches to kick, to the five-yard line now, because you've got to figure that they're not going to make it to the 35 if there's pressure. But the pressure is like the fly ball rule you have to stay on the 35 line, you have to have your toe on the line and you can't run until the guy catches the ball.
Speaker 2:And they're calling it a free kick, which before free kick was defined. I don't remember free kicks being off the tee.
Speaker 1:Never, they were drop kicks.
Speaker 2:Drop kicks. So you know it's only a matter of time before you find somebody that can kick a moonshot. You know high enough that the coverage team can get down there and bury the returner before he has a chance to go anywhere, yeah, but they can't run until he catches the ball.
Speaker 1:Hold on, no. Watch the playoff.
Speaker 3:The other changes are for onside kicks. The rule was that they were only allowed in the fourth quarter, but now a team that is trailing at any point in the game may attempt an onside kick. They still have to declare this option. Also, beginning in 2025, all kicking team players other than the kicker must line up with their front foot on the 35-yard line, and both feet must remain on the ground until the ball is kicked.
Speaker 1:So I'm sorry.
Speaker 2:If they can't move until he touches the ball?
Speaker 1:No, until it's kicked, until it's kicked, until it's kicked.
Speaker 2:Okay. So you know, I mean, I'm sure these guys are talented enough to kick the ball straight up in the air and still kick it 50 or 60 yards and it remains in play. And you know, I just I don't know how this fits to what they're trying to sell us about it being safer, and we're adding scoring and it's more exciting and we're trying to make the plays more competitive. People want to see big hits. That's what makes kickoffs exciting. When somebody gets knocked the hell or if somebody breaks one for a touchdown, it's exciting. Yeah, and it doesn't happen very often and that's why it is so exciting. So if it was about safety from Jump Street, just eliminate the kickoff. Why are we going through this whole rigmarole of micromanaging what they're doing? There's no need for it.
Speaker 1:Because there's no going back. They said good things, they made decisions, now they're going forward. The other thing that was interesting is about and.
Speaker 2:I deleted and the players seem to just like not. There seems to be no one. No one's in charge of like discussing this with the players. It's just like, yeah, we'll do whatever you say and you know, no one's talking about it.
Speaker 1:And I don't think it was the rules committee.
Speaker 2:I think it was the rules committee, I think it was the competition committee. I think they say that originally added this back in. They wanted more dynamic and they only had it for one year. They had it for one year, right. They made more rule changes to it and they cemented it in. This is the way we're going to go now so let's talk about the onside kick.
Speaker 1:What they said after it's got to be one year, maybe two, that they limited the onside kick to the end of the game. I don't know why they did that, but they did it.
Speaker 2:I think they did that to give themselves more, you know, a bigger sample size of kickoffs.
Speaker 1:So maybe, but now they're saying it's onside. Kicks are up 8% of the time.
Speaker 3:He wants to get it to 12%.
Speaker 1:We want to get it to 12%. A successful onside kick. We're going to let you do it all the time. Anytime you want, you're kicking off you want to do it, go ahead. Time anytime you want. You're kicking off, you want to do it, go ahead. So, and I like the strategy that, because you, you know we have maniac coaches, they're going to practice that every day, yeah, and they're going to steal a game from someone funny.
Speaker 2:You said that because I had when I was coaching. Um, I mentioned to my head coach you know what, if we just eliminate kickoff from the game completely, this was years ago and he looked at me and he said it'll never happen, but it's one third of the game. I don't have to coach anymore. He was like I'd love it. You know, I don't have to coach you and he's a good coach, smart guy. And you know, like I said, these rule changes. Let the coaches coach, let the players play. Why are we micromanaging?
Speaker 1:this. Well, that's interesting. You say that because let's look at the overtime rule, and I think that's exactly what they say in this rule, because to me, me, it's like oh, let the players play another quarter, who cares?
Speaker 2:But let's let the audience hear it out On top of the 17 games. Yeah.
Speaker 3:When new in 2025,. The overtime rule is now essentially the same in both the regular season and the postseason. In all overtime games, the defensive team gets the opportunity to possess the ball even if the original offensive team scores a touchdown. Overtime in the regular season is still limited to 10 minutes. Beginning in 2025, replay assist has been expanded.
Speaker 1:Oh we went a little farther, so we'll go to replay assist in a minute. I forgot about that rule change. So overtime. Now it seems like if both teams score and correct me if I'm wrong both teams score a touchdown, they continue to play and then after 10 minutes it's over, and maybe in the playoffs it isn't, but certainly in regular season. So now we're going to have ties. When we hated ties and we changed the rules so we wouldn't have ties, now we're going to have ties again.
Speaker 2:What's going to happen is you're going to have, you know, aggressive coaches that go for two when they score, to put the pressure on the other team to score a touchdown and go for two. Um, that's, that's like riverboat gambling. So, you know, regular season football to me, just end it, end it in a tie, because you know what's going to happen if, if they know that the game is going to end in a tie, one of those teams has got to have a coach to know hey, you know what, we can't play for a tie. We have to go for two here, or we should kick a field goal here instead of kneeling on the ball, whatever it is. So let the coaches coach.
Speaker 2:The only reason this overtime ridiculousness happened is because of when the Chargers beat the Colts and Peyton Manning never touched the ball. Okay, the Chargers were a better team. It's that simple. They should have beat the Patriots twice. The guy got tackled and spiked the ball and I mean the way they lost was incredulous, but they were the better team. The better team won. If you want to change anything, but they were the better team, the better team won. If you want to change anything, the team that is hosting the game, give the home team the ball to start overtime and sudden death that. Why is that so bad?
Speaker 1:I don't know why that's so bad. So what are they doing? They're, in essence, by changing this rule, pushing out the end of the game 10 minutes, when they can accomplish what they need to do, following your way of looking at it, at the end of the regular season regular time, in fact regular season.
Speaker 2:I don't even think they should have overtime.
Speaker 1:I agree. I think you're just going to kill a player.
Speaker 2:So what's going?
Speaker 1:to happen. What's going to happen? Someone's going to get hurt. But Monday night football you're going play. Sunday night you're gonna have a game on thursday. They're all gonna go to overtime and everybody's gonna be dragging. You're gonna have to fly across the country. Come on, everything you know, it's murphy's law everything that will happen, everything that could happen will happen and it'll happen.
Speaker 2:I'm willing to bet that if they just eliminated overtime, you would have a handful of coaches that are not going to settle for a tie, and there are going to be teams that are fighting for that tie. That in and of itself is exciting enough to keep you glued to the TV.
Speaker 1:Okay.
Speaker 2:You may not like the result if it ends up in a tie, but what's the difference? What are we missing? Fantasy points, are we not Like? The game ends in a tie. That's it, it's over.
Speaker 1:All right, let's go to today's rule Into 10 minutes.
Speaker 3:Beginning in 2025, replay assist has been expanded. When a flag is thrown for face mask, horse collar tripping or hits to the head, those penalty flags can be picked up if the replay official has clear and obvious video evidence that no illegal contact was made video evidence that no illegal contact was made. While these fouls are subject to replay assist, they are not reviewable and cannot be challenged, so so what Right.
Speaker 1:So what we're saying is basically you know, the refs have gotten too much wrong this year, so we're going to add in somebody with a television, yeah, and to me, the most glaring part of this is the gambling right.
Speaker 2:I mean, there's a lot of money on these games now. So this? No, you can't review it, you can't challenge it. We'll decide if it was the right call or not. Tell me that doesn't sound rigged.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:I mean, and we've already seen instances where they review something and they still get it wrong.
Speaker 1:Mind you, where they could have done this. What could they have done? They could have just gave the coaches another challenge, or just expanded this to challenges and let the same process. Now it almost seems like and it does seem like that the replay official can intervene at any time he wants and change the game.
Speaker 2:And change the game and, in theory, when you say, well, we just want to get the call right, right, and it's not a stoppage of play and there's a review and two minutes and it's dragging on, okay, sometimes you see it right away when you're watching the game. That wasn't a face mask or that was a you know, whatever it is, you could see it right away and it's quick. So maybe you know, I'll give some credence to that part of it that it's quick and it happens and we don't have to stop play and it just oh, I got the call, wait, no, we're going back to here. Okay, second down, I I just it. Just because of the gambling. It's just so blatantly obvious to me that this is going to be a problem and you know you're going to have more YouTubers and more Instagrammers breaking down these videos and finding oh, patrick Mahomes, they touched him. Oh, penalty. Oh, wait, a minute, we got to call that one back. Oh, you didn't throw a flag there. We're going to and I think it's headed.
Speaker 1:More pressure comes on the officials, no doubt about it. More pressure comes on the officials, no doubt about it, but in stadiums where the owners have a large piece of the gambling houses. So now you're getting pressure not only from the players and the coaches, but maybe from the owners, right to the umpires and officials, about gambling. It's really a problem. They've really let it get out of control.
Speaker 2:It's a very bad optic, and where there's smoke, there's fire. So the minute somebody gets this wrong, it's going to get blown up and they're going to have to answer for that. And there's, you know how do you say well, we, we, we got the call wrong. You, you forced this into the rule changes, you implemented this, and if you get it wrong, what's the recourse? There's no recourse, right? So the minute we have a penalty that leads to a field goal, that hits an over or, you know, covers the spread or whatever you know, all of a sudden it's going to be if the outcome of games is changed, the win-loss is really what matters. I really don't care about gamblers. You know it's degeneracy anyway, but the NFL is feeding into it and they've now opened the door for this to be questioned. Their integrity is in question now.
Speaker 1:So the last is also an interesting one. I don't think I put it in any video, but it is sportsmanship. So that is really. That is really. That is really it. It's really sportsmanship. And what the sportsmanship is basically is that we all know that taunting and things go to sportsmanship. Those penalties seem to be going to be watched at a closer rate. But addition, people making even nowhere near the play, making what is being termed as violent gestures, guns, anything to do with guns, is going to be a penalty how are they going to decipher gang signs?
Speaker 1:to everything's going to be, it's all there.
Speaker 2:it's going to be a mystery, and again, the gambling is a huge specter lurking right now, because this is one of those things where, again, let the coaches coach. If you've got a bunch of undisciplined idiots hooting and hollering and they're shooting doing this and gesturing whatever, I don't care. You don't have to put it on camera, you don't have to focus on that, you can just say I don't want to taunting a, tackle a quarterback, knock his head off and then taunt him.
Speaker 1:I don't want that.
Speaker 2:No, no no, no, I mean I I understand that part, but again it's there. Where is the policing? Stop? Because again it's discipline. If your players aren't disciplined enough, that's on you as the coach, because a penalty is a penalty, so they want to. You're taking. You can't do finger guns, you can't do bow and arrow, you can't do whatever.
Speaker 1:But here it comes. So what is the NFL saying here? And I don't want to sound like a lawyer, but I'll say with the court sometimes I say what is the court really saying here? What is the league really saying here? Do you know what a penalty is?
Speaker 2:Whatever we say it is Whatever we say, it is.
Speaker 1:And that is the bottom line. Every step is more to. The league has total discretion about what they're going to call and what they're not going to call.
Speaker 2:What happens in you know two, three years, five years down the road when they investigate some NFL referee who had huge gambling debts tied to the mob or whatever, and he was calling penalties for taunting on the sidelines of a guy who's a third-string kicker having a drink of water and pouring it on his head. Oh, penalty Right, like I mean. You're setting yourself up for failure. It's like Pandora's box.
Speaker 1:Well, the NFL has a security team that is second to none, FBI Secret Service, I mean. I don't think they have any CIA, but that would be interesting if they did.
Speaker 2:That's a podcast for another time.
Speaker 1:But they really have an amazing security force and I think it's going to get larger over time because they're going to be this thing with the referees. It's just going to be out of control. You're never going to know who's making the decision. Where it was, the umpire on the field got all the info and made the decision.
Speaker 2:We're hoping that it stays that way, and then you're going to have coaches and players pointing at players on the field. Look what he's doing, look what he's doing. It's just going to become like Little League. Just let them play and ignore it and if they get a delay of game, penalty for being a moron, tack on the five yards and just keep going. Why are we stopping the game for even more ridiculous stuff? Oh, finger guns. Johnny Manziel with the cash. You know his.
Speaker 1:Italian hand gesture Can't do it. Is that going to be offensive? You still see guys do this all the time and it's the stupidest thing I ever saw.
Speaker 2:This is the same league that allowed Andamakan Su to continue playing after he stomped on Ricky Williams and broke his arm after a play. Right, like where was the discipline there? That's okay. Now, well, we suspend him for one game or we find him. This guy broke his arm, can't play.
Speaker 1:No, he made Conrad Dobler look like a walk in the park.
Speaker 2:You know, at least in like hockey, right Hockey has the intentional penalty where, if you knock somebody out of a game with an illegal intentional hit and he's got to stay out for an extended period of time.
Speaker 2:That player's out also. Right, hockey's got that. You know I don't like taunting, I I don't. I don't condone it. It's like you know, bat flipping in baseball I don't, I just just drop the bat and run, man, just you hit the home run, just go right, you're losing 10 to four. Keep going. And you know, to police it gives it credence. To police it means it has no bearing on the game whatsoever. All right, somebody's feelings got hurt. You don't like it. Maybe your team was getting the snot knocked out of them and this guy made a taunting at the quarterback and now you want to play. Well, you should have been playing that way the whole game. You know you can go back and forth, on both sides, I think. But to police it and add it to the arsenal of the umpires and referees, to throw another flag, give them another reason to more authority over the players on something that is not even a football play. I'm sorry, I don't like the rule.
Speaker 1:And I think that's it. I think we'll leave it right there.
Speaker 2:It's been a great conversation again walking into football, as always, my friend, thank you.
Speaker 1:So next week, is next week Labor Day. Well, we'll have to see what day we're on. Yeah, it's Monday's Labor Day, all right, so I don't know. We'll advertise when we're going to do this. Being Labor Day, maybe we'll skip a week and come in the 7th. It's up to you. I'm in either way, so we'll move it to Tuesday. We'll see. I have my fantasy draft at 9.15 that night, so we can talk about that, if you want, before I head in.
Speaker 2:I hate fantasy football and I apologize, don't apologize, I get it, I get it All right.
Speaker 1:Well, thank you everybody. Thank you for listening. And just one more time. Audio is going to be available on the podcast Sports Live with Steven Justin, sports Talk Live with Steven Justin, or is it Sports Live with Steven Justin, I don't know, it's one of those. Go on YouTube, subscribe, like it. You'll be able to watch the live broadcasts when they come out and also their archive there. You can watch it anytime. It'll also be available on audio on all the major podcasting audio services Apple, spotify. Those are the big ones. So thank you again, thank you.
Speaker 1:Justin, thank you for having me, steve, always a pleasure and we'll talk to you all soon, thank you.
Speaker 2:Take care.