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The speaker is Lopez from the Last Down Podcast. He couldn't record a live podcast, so he made a recording with five bold takes on the NFL season. He talks about the possibility of Kirk Cousins being traded to the New York Jets, Mike McCarthy being fired as the Cowboys' coach, Justin Jefferson possibly being shut down for the season, CJ Stroud leading the Texans to the playoffs, and the Patriots being the worst team in the NFL. Yo, what's up guys, it's your boy Lopez from the Last Down Podcast. I was unable to record a live podcast tonight, so I decided to make a recording. And I wanted to make a brief and condensed version of five bull takes I have as we get into the week six, week seven of the NFL season. We're a quarter away, almost halfway there. And a lot of things have happened, a lot of unexpected things have happened. And I mean, the biggest thing that I gotta say is that I didn't expect, you know, the Bengals to be so, you know, shaky. I didn't expect that press cut to decline as bad. And also I didn't expect, you know, the Vikings to be at the bottom of the NFC North. That's just, you know, one of the many things that I can say. I have five bull takes that, you know, people have heard, I've heard, you know, I'm basing that off, you know, what I see, I'm basing it off what I'm hearing. And of course, there's going to be some that, you know, the media are already kind of stating. But the first one I want to start off with is Kirk Cousins, you know, being traded to the New York Jets. The writing's on the wall, but the Vikings keep fighting, Kirk Cousins keeps fighting. He definitely does not want to lose that job. And so the Kirk Cousins trade is more than likely really going to depend on the next two weeks. I'm not really entirely sure when the deadline is. But Kirk Cousins is definitely looking at possibly, you know, being on a new team. But it just depends on how the Vikings are. They won this Sunday. They won against the Bears in a win that was really needed because, you know, if they go down to one and five with the loss of the Bears, that's really the downfall, really shows a lot. And I felt like if they didn't win, it was going to, the trade was going to be inedible. And they win, and now they're up to, as we can see, they're two and four now, which is not, you know, which is pretty bad for their expectations, for their circumstances. But it is what it is. And at this point, the Vikings got to really, you know, measure how are they measuring this, you know, are they measuring this as a lost season? Are they measuring this as, like, you know, a season to really review and see if Kirk Cousins is the guy moving forward? But the reality is that if you want to move on from Kirk Cousins, it has to happen now. You can't let it run through the season and not gain anything from it. If you trade Kirk Cousins, you can get picks, you can get compensation, like there's a lot of things you can get from Kirk Cousins. And from a team like the Jets, who really are just a quarterback away from becoming a contender, I just feel like, you know, you can gain a lot more than you, than you're going to lose if you just let them walk. Another take that I want to really talk about that I kind of already emphasized a little bit was, you know, regarding the Cowboys. I think Mike McCarthy is going to be the fall guy. A lot of people are saying that, you know, Dak Prescott's really bad, that Dak Prescott's the problem, Dak Prescott's the issue. And I won't deny it. He's 100% one of the biggest issues there. But if I'm being honest, at the end of the season, you know, there's going to be a conversation of who's going to be the one out. And I think Jerry Jones is really going to have Dak Prescott stay, because his contract doesn't run up until 2025. So if we're being honest, the Dallas Cowboys are not going to move from Dak Prescott that easy. Jerry Jones is not going to eat up all that money and, you know, just accept the loss. No, he's going to let, you know, Dak Prescott play until his contract's over and get someone brand new. I, you know, on top of my head, I don't have an exact name I can think of, but there's one that was roaming around a couple of years back, before they signed McCarthy, and that was Lincoln Riley. Lincoln Riley was, you know, being thrown around, you know, as a possible NFL coach. A lot of people felt like he was ready. A lot of people felt that his offense would really match well in the NFL. But we'll see about that, you know. We're really going to have to see what he's about. As I can tell you, as a UFC fan, his defense is putrid. And maybe if you put him on a team with Dan Quinn, it might be something. But it just really depends, you know. I don't feel like, like if you look at Cliff Clinsbury, it didn't match well. The guy had almost the same repertoire as Lincoln Riley. They come from the same system, from Coach Leach, may he rest in peace. And so I feel like it wouldn't really translate as well. But we just don't know. That's just one name that I can think of. At the end of the day, I think McCarty is the ultimate fall guy, and he will get fired. I just feel like the Cowboys are going to disappoint again in the playoffs, and that's going to be it. He's not going to be fired halfway through the season, but I just feel like he's definitely going to get fired at the end of the season. Another bull tick that I have is that Justin Jefferson gets shut down for the entire season. He's projected to be out for four to six weeks, with him being reevaluated in four weeks. And four weeks is week 10. Week 10, we still got seven weeks to go, but if he gets down to six weeks, that's giving you week 12. And at that point, is it really worth it to have him for five more games? So I think at this point, it's really unlikely that we see Justin Jefferson again. I just feel like at this point, the Vikings got to play it safe, kind of how Anthony Richardson, how the Colts are playing it safe with him. I think they take it safe with Justin Jefferson, and they completely avoid any potential risk, any potential chances of him re-aggravating that injury. I think that Justin Jefferson will get shut down, just because I'm going with that narrative. The Vikings are done for the season, they consider this season a lost season. And I think they move with the flow of things, and just let Justin Jefferson sit the rest of the season. I think it's a variable take, because a lot of people do expect Justin Jefferson to come back. And knowing him, knowing the player that he is, I do feel like he would definitely want to come back, and definitely help that team win. You know, that 19-13 game against the Bears could have easily been a blowout, or could have been way out of reach for the Bears, if Justin Jefferson was there. Because he's that big of a playmaker, he's that big of a player, and with him on the field, you know, you can really, really throw the ball all over the place, you can really have that offense explode. But I just think at the end of the day, Justin Jefferson does get, you know, you know, he does get that, you know, the Superstar treatment, but, you know, the team, you know, focuses for the future, and lets him rest, and lets him take the season off. But I could be wrong, but it's just my personal take. CJ Stroud, my God, what can I say about this guy? Really impressive, really that guy. I already said a lot about him on TikTok, how he already broke a lot of records, he broke Dak Prescott's record, like, you know, that's something, you know, that the Texans fans should be happy about, that this man is balling out, that he's showing that he's really worth the second round, the second pick, and he's really worth, you know, everything. You know, they need to really build around him, because he's that guy. And one thing I want to say is that he got 192 passing attempts before an interception. Impressive as it can be, but what the bold take I have is that he leads the Texans to the playoffs, surpassing Jacksonville, surpassing the Colts, and winning the AFC South. It could also not be considered a bold take, but, I mean, in my opinion, it is, because if we look at this Texans team, they're, on paper, they're not, you know, the best team, but CJ Stroud comes in, he comes in, you know, with no NFL experience, no nothing, you know, a lot of people already writing this team away, like, already writing down, oh, they're not going to be anything, it's a revamp mode, next season, you know, they'll get better, but the time is now. They're 2-3, and they're still looking at possibly overtaking that first spot with, you know, the unfortunate loss of Anthony Richardson, with the Jaguars also potentially losing Lawrence for a couple weeks, anything's on the table, and the Texans could capitalize on these unfortunate injuries, and I think they can go all the way, if we're being honest. I just feel like CJ Stroud has really shown us why he was, you know, considered a top one pick at one point, I kind of do feel like he fell down just because of some draft bias, but I could be wrong, but if we're looking at it, you know, definitely CJ Stroud should have been the number one pick, but what I'm trying to say at the end of the day is that the Texans are going to make a run for it, and I think CJ Stroud will be the guy to command it, will be the guy to lead it, he's going all the way, man. The Texans are going to make the playoffs, and they're going to win the AFC South, no doubts about it. For my, I think this is, yeah, this is my last bold take that I have, but it's about Bill Belichick and the Patriots, because the situation is not getting any better at all, the Patriots just keep sliding and sliding and sliding, and in reality, I consider them the worst team in the NFL, I know the Panthers are obviously winless, but the Patriots just show no fight. The Panthers have a 33-year-old in end-of-dealing, Mollie now, so I can really say without a doubt that there's more hope on the Panthers than there is for the Patriots, because if we're being honest, the additions of Juju Smith-Schuster, the additions of, I almost said Dav Prespa, the additions of Ezekiel Elliott have done absolutely nothing. And then the defense, you know, Christian Gonzalez got hurt, Matthew Judon got hurt, so that really just hurts the whole team overall, and Matt Jones just seems to get worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse, keeps regressing, like what happened that 20-1 season, man, the guy who was balling now makes it to the playoffs, like, what happened? So that's what leads me to my last and final bold take, and that's that Bill Belichick will not be fired. There's a lot of people writing, a lot of people saying, a lot of people having opinions that Bill Belichick's gonna get fired, that Bill Belichick is, his job is not secure, that Robert Kraft is gonna fire him, but if we're being honest, if we're being 100% honest, I think that Robert Kraft knows and accepts, you know, a Bill Belichick offseason, knowing that in previous seasons, he's been phenomenal, you know, what can I say, he's one of the best coaches of all time, and what I'm trying to say is that I don't feel like one offseason is gonna really make Robert Kraft want to get rid of Bill Belichick overall. It's gonna come down to if Bill Belichick still wants to coach, if he's contemplating retirement, then we'll have that conversation, but I just feel like the whole notion is that Bill Belichick is probably gonna stay there, and he's gonna have only one more chance, one more chance, and that's getting a new quarterback. I think they get him a young quarterback, whether that be Caleb Williams, Drake May, or Penix, whoever, and they give him that one shot. If he's able to run it with this young quarterback, then we're back to square one, you know, we're back to Bill Belichick, you know, running the Patriots for the next five, ten years. Now I'm just playing, but what I'm trying to say is I don't think they're gonna give up on Bill Belichick that easily. Just one offseason is not gonna kill his coaching career. I just feel like if you look at his previous last two records, you can see that it's not just him. In 2021, he was 10-7, they made the playoffs with Mike Jones, Mike Jones was incredible. 8-9 last year was pretty mediocre, then again, Mike Jones got hurt, so that really shifted things around, but when you look at this year, 1-5, horrendous, yeah. I don't think the Patriots are gonna, you know, make a run at all, because, you know, the benching of Mike Jones every week is kinda like getting annoying, redundant, and at this point, you really need to consider looking at Malik Cunningham and really considering Bill Zappi to play, because, yeah, he's not really doing anything. And that's why I also kinda wanted to say that he's not gonna get fired, because look at Matt Jones, the man doesn't possess the weapons, doesn't possess, so it's two sides of it. One side is he doesn't have the weapons, he doesn't have the protection. On the other side, he doesn't have, I believe, the talent and skills that could really, you know, help this team win. I just feel like Matt Jones is a bad version of Jimmy G, a worse version of Jimmy G, and I think it really just depends. I think if they get a quarterback, that's it for Belbelchik. He needs to prove himself. He needs to get a quarterback, a brand new quarterback, implement a new system, and hopefully that works. Because other than that, I mean, I just don't see it. I don't know. Unless Belbelchik and the Patriots go 1-16, 1-15, I mean, then, you know, that's a conversation. But I just think the Patriots are not gonna be, at the end of the day, not gonna be the worst team in the NFL. But still, they gotta get their things figured out, and I think the Kraft relationship is too strong for Kraft and Belbelchik to really consider getting terminated. But yeah, those were my five bold takes. I went on a little ramble, but let me know, you know, what you think about them. I could see maybe at least two of them happening, but I could be wrong. They're just bold takes, and, you know, they're my opinions. But yeah, a lot of things happened in week six of NFL football, a lot of things to cover. I wish I could've been there to cover it, but it is what it is. But yeah, week six was definitely fun, and the Packers were on a bye week, so I didn't get to see, I didn't have to suffer the misery, but I saw the misery of the Cowboys fans. Oh, I mean, not the Cowboys fans, the Chargers fans. The Chargers fans were in misery, the Bears fans were in misery, the Eagles fans were in misery. How about that? The Eagles at 49ers losing their first game. Pretty interesting, but it was gonna happen. I just didn't expect the Jets to beat the Eagles, and I definitely did not expect the Cleveland Browns to beat the 49ers. That was crazy. The Browns could make a run in the North as well, but yeah, the 49ers kicker, man, he missed. Yeah, he definitely, he definitely gotta be careful there, because I don't think a lot of people would want him any longer if he keeps missing, stuff like that. But yeah, 49ers, Eagles, I mean, they're still gonna be the heavy favorites, but they gotta get some things figured out. Can't be losing games like that, but a lot of things to break down, you know, we'll talk about it in the TikToks, future episodes, but thank you guys for watching. Hope you guys enjoyed, and as always, like, comment, subscribe, give us a shout out, you know, check out our other social media platforms. I hope you enjoyed this video, and hey, if you guys like short videos like this, let me know. Maybe we can do this as a plug-in to our main podcast, so yeah, thank you guys for watching.