Command The Commute
Command the Commute is your go-to Washington Commanders podcast, recorded on the road to the stadium. Hosts Bob and Michael deliver real-time fan takes, game recaps, and NFL news with Burgundy & Gold passion. Whether you’re tailgating or stuck in traffic, ride along for unfiltered football talk every week.
Command The Commute
Divisional Round: Playoff Pressure
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We’re officially in the offseason… but we’re not wasting any time. 🚗🎙️
On this episode of Command the Commute, Bob and Mike break down the newly released “New RFK” stadium renderings — 65–70K seats, a translucent roof, climate control, and a full entertainment district… with a price tag hovering around $4B. Bob even turns it into a hilarious real-estate listing for the “next investment opportunity.”
Then it’s coaching chaos: David Blough is named Offensive Coordinator, and we talk what it could mean for the offense, Dan Quinn’s pressure level, and early DC rumor chatter (including Brian Flores). Plus: tailgating and parking concerns — and how the metro + city setup might change the whole game day routine.
Beast & Least is back: the Eagles earn “least” after a first-round exit and sideline drama, while the Giants take “beast” after landing John Harbaugh (who is now officially dead to us 😤).
We wrap with playoff picks and quick hits: Bills/Broncos, 49ers/Seahawks, Texans/Patriots, Rams/Bears.
Follow us on Instagram / Facebook / TikTok — and if you’ve been riding with us all season, leave a review, share the show, and send it to your favorite Washington fan. Hail to the Redskins/Commanders.
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Good evening, Bob. We're back at it again.
SPEAKER_02:Yes, we are. Good evening, Mike. How are we? Doing well. Another episode of the Command the Commute podcast. Wow, how far we've come this season.
SPEAKER_05:Yeah, this is like what episode um including. 20 something, yeah, you know.
SPEAKER_02:Twenty-something. We've come a long way. Thank you all for joining us for another episode. Of course, this is the Command and Commute podcast where we press record when we leave the driveway and we upload when we get to the stadium. But like we said last week, it's over. Yes. No more games. And thank goodness our offseason is well underway. We are making moves.
SPEAKER_05:Not wasting any time.
SPEAKER_02:No, but there is still playoff football happening. And man, last week there was some good games.
SPEAKER_05:They were all good. They were all close. I mean, they all came down basically to a field goal.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_05:Yeah. One way or the other.
SPEAKER_02:I don't have a complainter with a single one. And man, let's just can we just take ourselves, all the Commanders fans out there, let's just for one hot second take ourselves back to one year ago, what that feeling was like for the 2024 season, which for many of us was the best season that we've ever seen in our fandom. Uh for the old hats out there like Pops like my dad that remember a glory days where we were considered like the Patriots of the 80s. Right. Is that far-fetched? I don't think so. I mean, we didn't win as many Super Bowls as the Patriots, but we from from 82 on on up. Well, you can even argue from the late there was some good teams in the late 70s.
SPEAKER_05:So we were we were an 80s team.
SPEAKER_02:Yes, but for but even to the 91 season, many people think that was one of the greatest teams of all time. But anyway, so we're we're we're we always get get started with a little bit of a rant, but let's give everybody a an agenda for the podcast. We've got uh uh quite a few things to talk about. Uh in our in our first quarter here, we want to hit on commander's news and all things related to that uh in our short uh offseason thus far. We've got some stadium talk. We've got uh a new offensive coordinator, which we broke on the podcast last week and mispronounced his name long wrong, like I'm sure many, many did when they read it the first time. We weren't the only people that never heard his name, even though we are huge fans of the team. Huge fans of the team can also not know who our assistant quarterback coaches. So we'll we'll forgive ourselves.
SPEAKER_05:I mean, he's low on the totem pole of coaches.
SPEAKER_02:Do you know your ball boy too? But um, so we're gonna talk about that. Then we want to get into our beast and least segment, which we've uh kind of picked and choose from week to week, and we we haven't uh done our beast and least in a while, so we're bringing that back to you, and then obviously we're gonna finish up the podcast with our playoff segment. So um let's get things underway. And Mike, they released the renderings for our new stadium, which is unofficially being called the new RFK. Um, but uh because it doesn't have another name yet, but it's always it's just being called new RFK. But they released the renderings today, and let's just say I'm happy with it.
SPEAKER_05:Yeah, awesome, just all the way around.
SPEAKER_02:In our early, some of our early podcast uh episodes, we were talking about the news of the stadium as it was being voted on and released on, and and just the little tidbits we're getting here and there. Uh and so we've been kind of tracking it the whole way, and I've said from the get-go on this stadium that my only request, and I've got a lot of requests, but you and everybody else. But my only legitimate request is that I wanted it to look and feel and be a part of the architecture of DC because I wanted it to have the opportunity to be there forever. And if you built it that way, monumental, uh, if the architecture kind of fit in with the landscape of DC, you've got the opportunity for that.
SPEAKER_05:And if they stick to the rendering, which they normally do, you you definitely have the architecture feature of DC. So it will fit in just fine.
SPEAKER_02:So I'm not saying that I predicted that, but if I was in a focus group, we were all in agreement that that's what it should look like. So I'm I'm happy that it I'm happy that it does. But you know, me being in sales and specifically in real estate, and um I I started looking at the renderings and started reading through the description of what the stadium was gonna be and some of the features, and I couldn't help but think of that jet blue, jet blue holiday, that whatever that meme is that goes around anyway, that real estate commercial of what a vacation might look like at the new RFK this stadium. So let me just show you all and tell you all what some of the features this stadium has to offer. Welcome to your next investment opportunity. Listed today, one world-class climate-controlled NFL stadium sitting on historic ground, the legendary RFK site in Washington, DC. The price you ask?$4 billion. Let's talk features. Enjoy 65,000 premium seats with perfect sight lines from every angle, a translucent roof, sunlight by day, electric atmosphere by night, VIP suites, field-level clubs, five-star dining, craft beer on tap, and enough LED screens to make Vegas jealous. Step outside and you'll find riverfront views, walkable entertainment districts, parks, restaurants, retail, metro access at your doorstep. This isn't just a stadium, it's a neighborhood centerpiece. Host NFL Sundays, playoff football, international soccer, mega concerts, Final Ford, WrestleMania, your calendar, booked, year round. This property offers historic prestige, modern engineering, unlimited revenue streams, and one fan base that shows up win or lose. So if you're in the market for legacy, for impact, for a property that defines a city, welcome home. The new Washington Commander Stadium, all yours for just four billion dollars. Hail to the Commanders. So that was a little fun uh little side project for for everybody. But yeah, did sound a lot like a real estate commercial there. So the old RFK very recently completely demolished. Yeah, just a matter of weeks ago. Yep, yep. And the uh substantial, like the main construction, I think demolition is gonna continue to happen until they're down to like nothing pretty much. Um and by nothing, I mean like all the concrete work, like down to dirt. And then from there, you start to get some of the infrastructure. Uh, and a lot of that work is gonna start in 2027. So we shouldn't anticipate anything really happening this year. Going into next year, early 2027, is when you should start to see a lot of that. So, yeah, it is estimated to be uh close to 4 billion. Uh, we're on record now that we've got this podcast. So in five years from now, we can listen back when they say that this stadium is upwards of like 4.7, and we can say, yeah, they were over budget, even though they'll claim that they weren't. Oh, we always anticipated these overdues, is what they'll hear. Yeah, they always say that. Right. So the team is gonna fork over somewhere around two point two point seven, uh close to the Well, that's half, so that makes that sounds about right. I think the two point seven is gonna be closer to three. I think the total investment from uh Washington, D.C. is gonna be around a billion. Um the the District of Columbia is going to invest in the flat work, the site work, a lot of the infrastructure, roadways, things like that. And the team itself is making one of the largest personal investments in DC ever. So this is quite the investment uh within the city limits.
SPEAKER_05:Well, I mean, the average life of a stadium is what, 25 to maybe 35 years?
SPEAKER_02:It's really hard to tell. Um, I mean, with the investment that they're making, with the amount of money that they're forking over, this should this should live on for a long time. This isn't something thrown together like FedEx Field was at the time. Right. Um I I we're too young to know what the mindset was going into the construction and plans and the excitement level. I think a lot of people were excited about the the location of the city or the stadium um because it would shorten their drives, but they didn't really consider anything other than that, the fact that maybe it was sold to the people at the time, and maybe some of our uh listeners can kind of fill us in on on Instagram or Facebook, reach out to us in the comments section and tell us what the mindset was in 1998, 99, I believe is when it was constructed. But were y'all given the impression that this was a stadium that was gonna be around for a hundred years? Or did everybody know that this was a stadium that was gonna be around for 20, 30 years? And you know, but my whole thing is why? Why would you why would you take just a shitty stadium knowing that there was uh gonna be an end? Why not go into it with the mindset is what this new ownership group seems to be is like, no, we're gonna make something that's gonna last.
SPEAKER_05:And your modern franchises go into that kind of mentality of like, this is gonna be our stadium for the next maybe 40, 50 years instead of the 20 to 25 range. You know, there is more of a long range plan in mind. And that's certainly the plan with our new stadium, you know.
SPEAKER_02:Um Yeah, and I think a lot of how long a stadium lasts really depends upon how much is invested in it year in year in maintenance, you know, um, and upkeep. Because you can make these stadiums last a long time, but if you let them go for 10, 10 years, like we've seen As we did with FedEx. Yeah, we saw Dan Snyder and Mike Net make absolutely no improvements or changes or substantial changes uh in the stadium for for a decade, and you saw what happened. Shit started coming like the the the shit pipes started bursting on the fence. Uh and that was just like two years ago. Yeah, exactly. Um but anyway, uh the I'm looking forward to it. There's gonna be 65 to 70,000 seats. Uh the roof is gonna be translucent, it's gonna be climate controlled, but translucent in this in the sense that uh daylight will come in, which I like. Yeah. You know, I was nervous about that, whether or not it'd be glass or what, but uh translucent is the word they're using. So I don't know what the material is gonna be made out of, but all I know is it's gonna be climate controlled.
SPEAKER_05:So on a day like today where it was a little chilly, a little nippy outside, or some of those late games we had this season, we we won't be freezing in a parking lot.
SPEAKER_02:Oh yeah, yeah. Which um leads me to kind of the things that I'm not really looking forward to. One is for us specifically in our location, the drive itself, no traffic is gonna add on another 15 minutes. So people will have to put up with us for a little bit longer on the pod. But outside of that, I'm pretty excited about everything that they have advertised. What about you?
SPEAKER_05:Uh the only thing that's concerning right now, just because it's in the early stages, is what appears to be a lack of not so much parking, but tailgating space. Um, and I've heard some rumblings about that uh online already with you know within the last couple of hours, you know, where where are we going to tailgate? How is that gonna work? Because especially with football compared to other sports like tailgating, doing anything before the game is, you know, it's a tradition, more so than any other sport.
SPEAKER_02:I see lots of plans for parking garages and all that. I can only imagine the price tag they're gonna put on like tailgating parking garages, which I'm sure they'll have parking garages assigned to that will allow for tailgating in some capacity. And for fans like us that don't necessarily throw the football around, um, we don't necessarily need, I would actually not mind tailgating inside a parking garage with a roof over my head as opposed to being out in the wind, in the rain, in the snow. Um there are some benefits for sure. And being that the stadium's gonna be inside the city, uh there's gonna be metros that go all over the place. And I would have to imagine that very similar to Baltimore, where it seems like every nook and cranny and alleyway in Baltimore City is, you know,$25 and you can park here and tailgate here. I'm assuming that within everywhere within walking distance will convert to some type of like privatized tailgating lots like many cities have all around. Um I also wouldn't be shocked if there's some tailgating that happens in the metro stations one or two out, you know. Oh, okay. Because the metro is gonna feed right into right into the stadium. And so I w uh or very close to it. And I would have to imagine if you're a fan that doesn't necessarily need to be there for the national anthem like we like to be, but you can leave at 1230 and sit down in your seats at 105, you you wouldn't be opposed to tailgating in wherever you park your car or wherever you're located. Um so I don't know, where the location is right now, you need the lots for the tailgate because a lot of people are traveling because nobody lives in Landover. Right. So, and and the metro, there is there is a metro that comes close, but not a lot. It's it's a typical metro to the stadium ride there. They do a lot for ride sharing, which I assume this new one does isn't gonna have a lot of people wanting to sit in that stadium.
SPEAKER_04:It'll probably rely the new one will probably rely more on the metro than anything else.
SPEAKER_02:I think the new one will yeah, the new one will rely on the metro, and I don't know if we'll really mind the amount of parking. I mean I don't know.
SPEAKER_05:I mean, I'm just saying that right now, based off of what we're used to. Now, like you say, once the stadium opens and we, you know, see how everything works, we might not even think about it y at all. Yeah. You know, we'll we'll we may adapt relatively quickly and be like, oh, this isn't as bad as, you know, however we think it may be. Aaron Ross Powell, Jr.
SPEAKER_02:We're four years out. Uh the the I know they hear the voices of the fan base already. So you you would have to imagine that that's gonna be a big concern the whole way through. Is there's gonna be somebody with a spreadsheet that is calculating the amount of parking spaces that could be dedicated specifically for the Trevor Burrus, I mean, we don't need to do that.
SPEAKER_05:We have Tom to do that kind of stuff.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, right. Um All right, so that leads us into uh Blau. David Blau, our new offensive coordinator, which I took everybody by surprise, let's be honest.
SPEAKER_05:I don't think I mean we were shocked and we we broke the news here last week.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_05:Because we're like, who the hell is this guy?
SPEAKER_02:Who the hell is David Blue? So his name is Blau. Um here's his resume. He was born July 31st, 1995. And for those of you that can do math, you already know he's 30 years old. Um, he was a four-year starter at Purdue, actually had a pretty productive, good career for Purdue, but Purdue not necessarily being a powerhouse. So he went on draft in 2019. He's and then he since spent time with Detroit, Arizona, and Minnesota, totaling in backup and kind of plug-and-play starter time, um, 1435 yards, six touchdowns, nine interceptions. Uh, since his playing career is over, his coaching career, Michael, get a load of this. It's what is it? It's lengthy, and that is using maximum sarcasm. Last year. Well, at 30 years old, it's not gonna be that long. 2024, he got the role of assistant quarterback coach. And then this year, our quarterback coach got a head coaching job for a college team that many of you saw in the first episode of Hard Knocks, and then David Blau got his first promotion to quarter interim quarterback coach for the last few weeks of the season. And then he got promoted to our offensive coordinator. Because we did an extensive interview and search. I mean, they must have saw they must have asked him, what what did you get? What did you do at Purdue? What did you what did you get uh your your uh degree in? Well, he got his bachelor's. So um I mean look the his name is being thrown around. Uh he did have an interview set up with Detroit. He spent some time with in in Detroit. Right. And we locked him down before he could interview with Detroit. So this is one of those guys where you're hoping that what they see, and they they spent every day of the football season with the guy, um, then they must have seen that he's he's smart and capable, and we better not let him leave the building. Let's give him this shot. But because they gave him this shot, this is of course what puts Dan Quinn in my in my new hot seat, which I'll be in calculating.
SPEAKER_05:Really? Alpha, this is I mean, it doesn't shock me.
SPEAKER_02:Well, let's look at it like this. Of the 32 teams, there are nine head coach vacancies. Eight, if you count the one that we're gonna talk here in the next segment about. Um but for a brief time period there, there was nine teams looking for a a new a new head coach. So that automatically elevates, I I would say I mean it depends on how long the hot list is, like how many names. Because if you've got six names on your coaching hot list, like is your seat a little warm? The coach is basically experiencing a little bit of pressure who might be looking at Black Monday next year. And I with a decision like this, I don't think that you can't not put Dan Quinn's name on it, depending upon how we perform. Right.
SPEAKER_05:Well, and I I kind of hit on this last week. Even this decision aside, and we certainly are discussing how we feel about that, but this decision aside, I think his seat is already getting warm because he's going into year three of what I assume is a five-year contract. And, you know, year one was great, fantastic, memorable in every way. This last season, the complete polar opposite. So if things don't turn around in year three, his seat is not only warm, he might be one of the Black Monday coaches just because that's the nature of the league. You get three to four years of the five years that everyone typically signs for, and then you're out.
SPEAKER_02:Well, you've got a huge excuse, uh, and I think the owner and the organization is basically giving you this excuse is that this was an historically injured team.
SPEAKER_05:So that's the only reason why he wasn't discussed this year as a hot kick.
SPEAKER_02:Well, and the other thing too, and Dan Quinn out of all the teams to to have like the the high and then the low, like we experienced from 2024 to 2025. Dan Quinn, he didn't lose the locker room one bit. You didn't hear anybody kind of complaint. You didn't hear anybody really, you didn't hear anything. You know, everybody was still focused. They were everybody was disappointed, but you could still see there was a fight there.
SPEAKER_05:Oh, yeah, there's no question he still has the locker room.
SPEAKER_02:So and then you it it comes back to what we were talking about last week as well, which is who you're gonna replace the guy with. And you've got a real he built a really, really good culture, and it just depends on how next year turns out. If there is an historic excuse built in, then he probably gets another year. If the offensive play calling and the offensive scheme and the defense, and we still continue to have coaching troubles because he got the OC and the DC decision wrong, because we're assuming that DQ has the power over his staff. We don't assume that ISAP is meddling in that decision, even though I do think that they are are he's got a team of people helping him make the the interview process. You know what I'm saying? I'm sure that there's multiple people going around in the interviews. I'm sure it's not just DQ and somebody else sitting in on these defensive coordinator positions.
SPEAKER_05:But well, d despite the, I'll say, lack of extensive interviewing for the OC position, I certainly hope we do a little bit better with whoever we pick for, you know, the defensive coordinator, though I really have yet to really hear any conversations about who may be in the running.
SPEAKER_02:I heard that Brian Flores, which if we can get his ass in the building, I think would be a huge win. He is looked at as a really good defensive mind. Uh it's just I I think it's just gonna come down to if DQ can agree in the same within the same scheme as whoever he brings on, because he's himself a defensive coordinator. Right. So whoever he brings on is gonna share his same philosophies, and I'm not sure if Flores is that guy. He might be, but I don't know. Um we we will see. I'm hoping next week that we will have uh a new defensive coordinator. I I really don't want this to linger a whole lot. I like early decisions. I I appreciate them hiring Blau so quick. Um that way we just know we can talk about it, we can get that conversation over with, and everybody can come in with the consensus of I don't know what our offense is gonna look like, but I hope this decision was a good one. Okay, see you next season. Yeah, and that's basically where I'm at. That's where it is. So let's let's leave it at that and move into our next segment.
SPEAKER_00:It was glory hole days, and I've been here when it wasn't. And so having said that, uh uh I want me some glory hope.
SPEAKER_04:Washington football team.
SPEAKER_02:NFC East. From beast to least. So beast and least been a couple weeks, but uh there's been some news in the NFC East, so we figure we bring in, bring back the beast and least, and I'll start things off with our NFC East least of the week, and you gotta put the Eagles at the least because they were the only team that lost.
SPEAKER_05:Now, granted, not only did they lose, but they lost in the first round as the defending Super Bowl champions, okay? You don't get much more least than that.
SPEAKER_02:Well, I mean, you could argue if you're an Eagles fan, and I will say this.
SPEAKER_05:I mean, unless you're the Kansas City Chiefs and you don't even make the playoffs.
SPEAKER_02:Well, that's what I was about to say. We didn't make the playoffs. So if you're an Eagles fan listening, you're just sitting here screaming at us thinking at least we made the damn playoffs.
SPEAKER_05:But I mean, and we kind of talked about this last week. Is it better to make the playoffs and lose in the wild card round? Or are you better off not making the playoffs at all? But I hate this.
SPEAKER_02:I think big picture, the problem with the Eagles is I never like to play like the big picture, the draft game, what's better for our future. But the problem You know what's better for your future is to make the playoffs. And so, like making the playoffs and losing in the first round is still way better than having a miserable season all season long, like we just know a recent uh terminated coach that might disagree with you. Well, oh yeah, you you you you do?
SPEAKER_05:Yeah. But we're not done this segment yet. We haven't really talked about how the EP continue to implode in the second half of the season, which then rolls right into their playoffs.
SPEAKER_02:And to say that they were the most talented in the NFC East isn't saying much because the rest of the division pretty much sucks.
SPEAKER_05:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:We we were though the division was bad that it looked like uh pretty much in the first time we played them that the that an implosion was capable of happening with them. Um it seemed like with the last quarter of the season, I would say, maybe last yeah, about the last quarter of the season. Yeah, that's about right. It you started to see more bickering on the sidelines, and that's what you saw, and that's really why I'm putting them in the least. It'd be one thing if the Eagles went out and played really hard and um straight up got beat and lost a playoff game. They probably wouldn't be the least, in my opinion. But you just hate to see the bickering on the sideline. If you still think that AJ Brown's gonna be a Philadelphia Eagle next year, you're a delusion. Yeah, huge. He's gone.
SPEAKER_05:And honestly, the moment free agency hits and all that stuff, he's gone. They're gonna sell him to the to the highest bidder.
SPEAKER_02:He's gonna he's gonna experience a career like I don't know. I I I was gonna say something else, but he's gonna go to somebody that wants to sell tickets and not win Super Bowls. And he's gonna see what that's really like. For all the bitching and complaining that he'd done this year, at least he was with an organization that was actively trying to win a Super Bowl. Correct. And now he's gonna go to some team like the Cardinals or the Browns or I don't know. And we already talked about some of these. It just doesn't seem like they're ever really freaking trying. I don't know. Um, but there was some really cool moments in that game. The highlight of that game for me was that flea flicker reverse uh type play with Jennings through that touchdown pass. That was epic. Uh, I mean, of course, love just rooting against the Eagles. And I'll say this for all you for you Eagles fans that are listening, you know, on our social media, dude, we can't post anything without a Philadelphia Eagle fan chiming in the comments section something stupid. Like I posted uh renderings of the new stadium, and then there's an Eagles fan that chimes in with some bullshit like uh Financial Field, Lincoln Financial Field South. And and then there's a ton of comments on on that on that post of all of the Eagles fans just like, oh yeah, the Redskins suck. We're better than them, we're in the same division. But you know what? Like, fuck the Eagles, dude. They suck, and they're fans, all of them. And you know, I've got a couple friends that are, but you know what? For this conversation, screw you guys too. They just need to do better. You can be my friend, but just not on football. You guys suck. Um, but yeah, uh the only other thing that I had about that game was um I hope that George Kittle has a speedy recovery. Uh he had a pretty bad, bad game. Oh, and I about to say, there was another injury last week of foot facing wrong direction. Did you see that? I I didn't see it, but I I heard about it. As soon as I forget what game it happened in now that I'm thinking about it, but Tom texts me, foot facing wrong direction.
SPEAKER_05:Yeah, because they they didn't show it, and I thought the same thing, but I forget what game it was. But yeah.
SPEAKER_02:It was the weirdest one of the year, too.
SPEAKER_05:But anyway, who's your beast? I think the beast is an obvious pick. It has to be the New York Giants uh only because they've got their self a new head coach.
SPEAKER_02:John Harbaugh signs with the New York Giants. Did you see the exit interview with uh the I wouldn't say the exit interview, the um the end of the season press conference with Steve Basotti, the Ravens owner?
SPEAKER_05:I I did see some clips of it.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. He had he had some epic sound bites from from that one, but he actually was told about Mike Tomlin's, the Mike Tomlin news during the press conference.
SPEAKER_03:Oh, really?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, for those of you that missed it, here it is.
SPEAKER_03:Pittsburgh? He did? Is it official? That's what I keep hearing. So is he candidating here? Holy shit, Mike, wouldn't that be awesome? Only if John takes the pitch of our job. Wow, wouldn't that be interesting? Um I don't know, that that thing last week maybe disqualified him from my from my opening after uh our kicker missed a kick to let them advance. Um good for Mike. Um I don't know. Talk to him. I love Mike. I mean I've I've admired Mike for 18 years, and um that's really uh shocking that that that he did it that way. Um but yeah, that's that's kind of crazy.
SPEAKER_05:So yeah, Harbaugh, five-year,$100 million contract,$20 million a year. This guy is gonna be making tons of money.
SPEAKER_02:And we thought the John Gruden 10-year,$100 million contract for a coach was crazy. He'd still be under contract if he was.
SPEAKER_05:Yeah. And he's he's trying to make a comeback. But anyway, I mean, hopefully it works out for the Giants and for Harbaugh. I mean, we talked about it last week. It's one of the more uh interesting openings that are out there given all the young players that they have. So it'll be it'll be interesting to see what he what he's able to do there. I don't know, like I've kind of heard on social media, I don't know if it makes them instant contenders, but I mean it certainly it certainly puts them up there.
SPEAKER_02:Well, um last week we kind of ranked uh all the all the teams in what was the most desirable uh from un as unbiased as we can be, and we put the Giants at number two um right behind the Ravens. So now that the Giants position is filled uh and the Pittsburgh job is open, I'm gonna go ahead and put the Pittsburgh Giant job at number two.
SPEAKER_05:I think that's a no-brainer.
SPEAKER_02:I'm still gonna leave Ravens at one just because their quarterback uh is established. So for a head coach coming in to have Lamar Jackson, I think that that's and and and Derrick Henry and the rest of the players that they have on the roster. But um but I would put the Steelers number two for all the same exact reasons why we had the Giants up there. Well-established um organization. Um Steelers being one of the historical franchises in the league.
SPEAKER_05:I mean, I think they're gonna they're gonna have to go looking for a quarterback. I don't think Rogers is gonna come back to Pittsburgh without Tomlin there.
SPEAKER_02:I No, but honestly, if you're the Steelers, like they're they're primed for some fresh blood, uh some young blood to come in and and shake up that. We we need a new era of Pittsburgh there, I think.
SPEAKER_05:Um Well, you're definitely gonna get that at after 18, 19 years.
SPEAKER_02:It depends because do you think that they go young or old? Because I I just think that you can build if you find the right guy, you can build a winning culture young and sustain it like we saw both those organizations do.
SPEAKER_05:I think like so many teams, they're gonna end up going young unless they get a veteran head coach like a Mike McCarthy, something like that. Otherwise, they're gonna pick one of an endless number of OCDC coordinators and say, hey, you're the guy. Okay.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. I kind of feel like Pittsburgh's gonna go for more of a defensive-minded, uh, Baltimore's gonna go for more offensive-minded. That's just my gut. I could be wrong. Um Harbaugh was a special teams coach, so who knows? But um You know, as far as John Harbaugh and the Giants being the beast, I think you're right. And uh I've never had a like a strong opinion about Harbaugh one way or the other. I've always kind of actually liked him, and it's just disappointing that now he's within our division, and my opinion on him is going to change. I'm going to start to be a little bit more biased, and I don't think I'm gonna like Harbaugh anymore, which that's kind of disappointing.
SPEAKER_05:Yeah, I mean, I I do like him as a coach, and you know, uh like we talked about before. I don't know if I would have left him go in Baltimore, but it'll be interesting to see with him in our division. Yeah, it's gonna be like, I I don't know if I can be a I don't know if I can be a fan of him as a coach when he's in our division and we need to beat him in order to move forward to better ourselves.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. Screw Harbaugh, he's dead to me now.
SPEAKER_05:So, you know, which is a shame because I always thought he was a really good coach. No, not no mole. Not no mole, you don't. Not no more. But hey, you know, if he can turn the if he can turn New York around after several losing seasons and they're kind of endless carousel good on him. No, but I don't want him to do it at our ex at our expense.
SPEAKER_02:It will be at our expense if he does it. So unfortunately, I hope that John Harbaugh finishes career with a losing record and losing franchise, and and I hope that he he just coaches.
SPEAKER_05:You wish him nothing but the worst.
SPEAKER_02:Of course. I do I don't wish him the best, which is disappointing. I felt bad saying that because I always rooted for the guy. I don't have any, I now didn't have anything bad to say about him. It's kind of it's weird because I don't have a like I don't have a a strong preference for Pittsburgh or Baltimore. And a lot of my friends be like, what screw that? But it'd be like asking them do you care? Like, you don't you don't care about Washington, Dallas, Washington, Philadelphia? You don't care about our rivalries. So like what what difference does it make to you? Uh Baltimore rivalry.
SPEAKER_05:And at the end of the day, it didn't matter to me who won that game.
SPEAKER_02:I wrote it for both. I always kind of enjoyed both teams, both fan bases, both everything. Baltimore being right in our back backyard, Pittsburgh being right up the street. We get a lot of both fan bases in this area. So I've never had a bad thing to say about both. I would always kind of act like I was a fan of each team, depending upon which friend I was with. You know, if I'm the Pittsburgh friend, I'm I'm a Pittsburgh friend. Right. Even though I really don't care. But now that Harbaugh's on the Giants, no, screw Harbaugh. I don't like him anymore. And it's disappointing. I wish he made a different decision. You know? I actually would have liked to see what Bashadi said was like a swap there.
SPEAKER_05:That would be kind of Well, I mentioned that last week. How ironic would that be if that's indeed what happened? But it doesn't look like it that's I mean, obviously that's not gonna happen because that would be stupid, honestly. It looks like Tomlin's gonna take next season off and may not return until uh the 2027 season. But I don't blame him for that. But we'll see. I mean, after 18, 19 years, I think I'd take a year off. You know, I'd take a I'd take a year off. I mean, hell, Tom Brady did it before he went into broadcasting.
SPEAKER_02:So I mean a lot of coaches do that. And I mean, Ray Bell did that. Maybe there is a coach or maybe there is a team out there that he could see himself. And you never know what's coaching, but he just or an area that he'd like to live in.
SPEAKER_05:And you never know what's gonna be open next season. That's we talked about last week with you know the openings that are there. You don't know what's gonna be open year over year. So you're right, maybe there is a team somewhere that he could envision himself going to that might open up next season, but isn't open up now.
SPEAKER_02:And I'll tell you this if anybody uh any of the coaches that are are gonna be on a hotter seat or a warmer seat this season, um it now all of a sudden gets a little bit warmer with a coach like Tom.
SPEAKER_05:Right, when you've got someone like that out there.
SPEAKER_02:Because an owner or the organization will look and say, well, like, you know, if Tom, if Tom would, like, you can't, you can't, I don't think you can start to pursue that coach until you fire your guy.
SPEAKER_05:You saw that with Harbaugh as well. As soon as he was let go by the Ravens, there was a lot of interest from a lot of teams that already had head coaches. And we talked about, you know, maybe some playoff teams that if they lose might cut their head coach in an effort to get Harbaugh. Obviously, that's not going to be the case now because he so quickly went with New York. I kind of thought it might drag out a little bit deeper into the playoffs just to see if some of the playoff teams as a result of any losses would, you know, let their coaches go.
SPEAKER_02:But there still might be. You might get a couple out there, which I think, unless you've got anything else to say about your beast, but I think that leaves us into our playoff segment.
SPEAKER_04:It does indeed playoffs? Should we go to the ship, right? Yeah, we could. We're going to the shit. We go into the ship. We go into the playoffs? Playoffs? Last game of the year, Brent can't hold anything back now. You kidding me? I just hope we can win a game.
SPEAKER_02:All right, so playoffs. Just a little tidbit here. Tom and I did make our bet bets last week. Um, I went three and two in my picks. Tom went three and two in his picks. Oh, so draw off for the break-even. We are continuing the record. And um, I'm not sure what our our betting situation is gonna be this week with just the limited matchups on the over-unders and uh the pick-ems or whatever. So we'll I'll I'll fill you guys in on how I did against the spreads uh with Tom and I and how our records continue. But let's just go game by game this week. We've only got four of them. The first game's gonna be Saturday, 4.30 p.m. Bills, Broncos. What do you think? It the over-under set at 45 and a half. It's a one and a half point game, kind of a pick'em game, obviously, Broncos at home. Um, I know what you're I know what you said last week about the Broncos, but I also know what you said last week about the Bills.
SPEAKER_05:So what am I gonna do? I'm going with the Bills.
SPEAKER_02:You're going with the Bills. You're you're you're rooting, you're going with your heart and you're going with who you want to win. Yep. Going with the Bills. Because you were you were pretty high on Denver last last week. You said that.
SPEAKER_05:Well, that was last week.
SPEAKER_02:This is the you said whoever's gonna play Denver next week, you're gonna lose. So we're gonna see how that plays out. I I'm also going with the Bills, and I'm I'm I'm with you, man. I'm going with I'm going with my sentimental. I want Josh Allen to win.
SPEAKER_05:He uh the the guy, as we talked about last week, he deserves to win a Super Bowl. I don't necessarily buy into you know win this year or bust because of like Mahomes being out of the playoffs and stuff. But there's no Mahomes, there's no Jackson. But he deserves a Super Bowl win. Hell, that franchise deserves a Super Bowl win. And who better to try to get them there than Josh Allen?
SPEAKER_02:So I'm yeah, I'm he's right smack down in the prime of it, too. You know, like the and if they don't get it this year, I just feel like there's a shakeup happening within their There very well could be because they've been close for you know how many years now. Dermot's a name that's been floated around there just because he's gotten so close and teased the fan base and teased the organization with like how good they've been, um, but just haven't been able to get over that hump. So I'm hoping that the Bills can at least get back to the AFC championship game and face off with whoever whoever's there, which we'll we'll predict here in a second. Um after that game, you've got at 8 o'clock 49ers, Seattle Seahawks. Who you got in that game? We saw this matchup, didn't we, in the uh in week 18 week 17?
SPEAKER_05:Yeah, it's it's been about two weeks since they played. That game was epic. Um I am truly torn on this game. I want the 49ers to win, but because of the number of injuries that they continue to deal with and go through, and new ones coming up week after week, as much as I want the 49ers to win, I think the Seahawks will win. Yeah, I think the Seahawks will win, even though I really want the Niners to win. I think the Seahawks will end up winning.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_05:Because I just don't think that they can overcome all of those injuries. At some point it's got to catch up with them.
SPEAKER_02:So far, you and I are in agreement. I I got the Seahawks too, and I just go back to watching them against us. Out of all the we watched a lot of football this year. We watched a lot of games in person. And the the main thing that I took away from that Sunday night football um game in our in our throwback jerseys at home that they man, they crushed us. Uh, they looked very, very disciplined. Um and Smith Najigba and Sam Darnold, uh, those guys got a really good connection. Um and kills out. So for those reasons, we are in agreement on the Seahawks, which leads us into the Texans versus the Patriots. And I'll just give a little Caesar teaser here because the next game, the final game of the weekend is Rams Bears. But the my reasoning for my winners on both these games are the same. So go ahead and give me your pick first with Texans Patriots.
SPEAKER_05:This is a toss-up game for me. Um, but I think I'm gonna go with New England. It could go either way, but my gut's saying New England.
SPEAKER_02:So go with the hot team, the hot offense, yeah.
SPEAKER_05:I'm just gonna say New England and leave it at that.
SPEAKER_02:All right. I am gonna go with the Texans because the old saying out there that defense wins a championship. So Texans got uh the best defense. So I'm gonna see if that wins them a uh a championship. Plus Drake May and that whole team, it's young. You get into a big moment like this. I I think that I think it might get to them. They do have the advantage being at home, but uh I'm rooting for the Texans because they're in year three of CJ Stroud and they struggled last year, so I'm hoping that they have a bounce back year similar to what we're hoping has happened happens with us.
SPEAKER_05:Happens with us, yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, so they're they're one year ahead of us in terms of CJ Stroud being uh the rookie of the year the year before Jaden, uh, and then having a little bit of a sophomore slump. Not to say that Jaden had a slump, but just injury.
SPEAKER_05:I mean, I don't see how he can really have a slump outside of the injuries because he only played like five games.
SPEAKER_02:So I you can't really say I'm I'm going with the better defense. Um, and honestly, I'm hoping the Patriots aren't that good. We already saw uh, you know, two decades of them being unstoppable and being in the big game all the time. We get a year off from the the Chiefs, right? So like don't just substitute the Patriots for the Chiefs, in my opinion. You know what I'm saying? Like give one of these other teams a shot, is my thing.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Uh if my team's not the one in the Super Bowl, like don't give me the same old teams, which is why I'm happy the Chiefs are out. I'm happy the Eagles are out. Now, just just get rid of the Patriots, and this will be just a clean slate uh of new teams. Um, which goes into our last game, Rams Bears.
SPEAKER_05:Well, I'm still gonna go with the Rams. You know, you forced me into a uh Super Bowl pick last week last week, so that's who I went with, and that's who I'm gonna continue to go with, um at least for this week. So all right.
SPEAKER_02:Well, I'm going with the Bears. This is the first time I've picked the Bears all year. Um I'm not a Bears fan, but is it because they're always come from behind winning? They're coming from behind winning, and really it's the same reason I had for the Texans. It's uh defense. Um the Rams have the number one offense, but you know, defense wins championships. Bears have a decent defense, uh, and they're at home. I I think they're gonna have an extra defender on the field in the weather. It's that's not gonna be super Chicago cold, cold weather. It's not gonna be uh, you know, in the single digits, but it's still gonna be cold compared to to the Rams in Los Angeles on what they've been experiencing. So there you have it. Uh we are both in agreements that the Bills and the Seahawks are gonna win, and then we uh are in disagreements on the Texans, Patriots, Rams, and Bears games. But I'm looking forward to it. I can't wait to see. Yeah, I mean, it's a good slate of games.
SPEAKER_05:No way around it. The playoffs. Good teams, good play. Playoffs have been great so far, even though it's only been, you know, the first round. It's they've been great so far. I don't think this week's gonna be any different.
SPEAKER_02:Nope, no, I agree. Um for the good of the order, Michael, did we forget anything in our slate of podcast notes?
SPEAKER_05:We did miss a few things. So we forgot to mention that uh we hired a new quarterback's coach. Oh nepotism at its finest. We hired DJ Williams, the son of, well, you know, the infamous quarterback.
SPEAKER_02:Um is his name also Doug? Is that what DJ is it the D of DJ?
SPEAKER_05:I have no idea. Uh doesn't matter to me. Doesn't matter really. Uh but he's been in the league since about 2017. He started with the Saints. He was there until the 23 season, and then for the last two seasons in assistant quarterback coach and quarterback coach positions, he's been with Atlanta, and now he's with us. So he's got it. Did he ever play? Uh not that I'm aware of, no.
SPEAKER_02:He just learned everything he knows from a daddy.
SPEAKER_05:Yeah. You know, nepotism. That's how he got there. It's fine. I mean, I I hope it works out for him. I think it's and it's a great story for the team and for our franchise. So hopefully, uh, you know, hopefully it's a good call, just like uh, you know, the offensive coordinator. Hopefully it's the right move.
SPEAKER_02:But I There might be some nepotism in there, but also I know I'm only I'm getting what you're doing. Yeah, but but also there is something to be said about being the son of a Hall of Famer. Um, you know, that guy knows a hell of a lot more football about football than we do just by default. Right. You know what I mean? Um you can do as much research and as much as you want and to learn about that stuff, but he'll never exp he's experienced a whole different type of a life than we we ever will have. Um and have been around the game since probably his entire life.
SPEAKER_05:So but uh a few other things just worth mentioning on the um the coach contract front. Um, like we said, Harbaugh, five-year, you know,$100 million,$20 million a year contract. So that basically ties him with Andy Reid at$20 million a year as the highest paid coach in the league. Uh the number three highest paid coach is Sean Payton at$18 million a year uh in Denver. Uh number four is Jim Harbaugh in LA at$16 million a year. Sean McVeigh in Los Angeles for the Rams at$15 million. Uh coming in at number six is uh good old Nick in uh Philly. He's making$15 million a year. Kyle Shanahan for the Niners at number seven at$14 million a year, tied with uh Mike in New England at$14. And then at nine and 10, uh Ben Johnson in Chicago and Kevin O'Connell in Minnesota, both at$13 million a year. So that's your top 10 coach contracts.
SPEAKER_02:I didn't hear you say Dan Quinn's name.
SPEAKER_05:That's because he's not making$13 million a year. I don't know where he ranks, but um yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Uh we'll we're that's our homework.
SPEAKER_05:We'll we'll look into that for first.
SPEAKER_02:I I wasn't curious how much me was making a year until now. Uh neither was I. Yeah, I'm curious now. But and now I'm curious who's the least paid head coach in the league as well.
SPEAKER_05:Well, add that to the list of things to research for next week's episode.
SPEAKER_02:I definitely will. So uh till next week, thank you guys so much for listening to the Command the Commute podcast. We really appreciate you guys riding along with us all season long. This is the portion of the podcast where I try to uh incite an entice a review, a a like, a comment, a share, share this to your friends, send this to your to your dad, to your to your uh co-worker who's a Reskins fan, and say, hey, you guys should check these two guys out. They do it in all the games and talk about the games uh because they were just gonna talk about the game uh anyway. So um, but yeah, give us a like, give us a comment, give us a review, check us out on Instagram, check us out on Facebook, check us out on TikTok. Thank you guys so much, and we will see you next week.
SPEAKER_01:Thanks for listening to the Command the Commute podcast. I now welcome you to crack a cold beer, cook up some chicken wings, and enjoy the football game. Because the commanders, the team, the redskins, or whatever else you call them, is gonna kick some ass. If this is a home game, Bob and Michael will be in the red zone lot at Northwest Stadium. We encourage you to come to our tailgate and say hello. If you are still listening to the podcast, wow! You are an extremely loyal listener. I wonder how much longer you'll stay. Hey, I've got a question. How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood? You've got mail. Goodbye.