Hoge: Winning Teams Run The Football

It's the JR Sport Reshow here with you coast to coast on the Infinity Sports Network. We all know we're getting real close to the big game, a little more than a week away. And right now we have to have a chat with the Steelers legend joining us right now with someone who's going to talk some football with us and then get us all set and ready for the big game.

It's an Iron Man. It's Merrill Hodge. Merrill, how are you? JR, I'm good, brother. Good to be with you. Absolutely.

Good to have you here. I certainly want to know how you're going to get us all set and ready for the big game. But we only finished on Sunday. With what we saw between the Eagles and the Chiefs, we know that's what we have in front of us. What are you looking forward to the most in this matchup?

Well, the thing I actually really look closely for in every matchup is initially how well do or does a team control the tempo of the game? Let's say it's a clean game. OK, nobody can predict that. You know, if we could predict turnovers, we could.

I could tell you to an 80 percentile who's going to win the game if you had that information beforehand. But let's say it's a clean game. And it comes down to then what offensive defensive line has the best day doesn't mean it's the best offensive defensive line, because that doesn't always end up coming coming out as the winner who plays the very best on that particular day. And control the tempo of the game is one of the most critical aspects to win consistently in the NFL.

And if you looked at the team that has that makeup, it would be Philadelphia, you know, their ability, their defensive line, their offensive line and Saquon Barkley. Give them the advantage. To control the tempo of the game, they can control the environment. When you do that, you dictate to the defense. You keep Patrick Mahomes. You give him one or two less chances with the ball and all those things play a role in you winning the game. What you can't do is make a turnover. So case in point two years ago, what was the deciding factor in that game?

It was that turnover, you know, the Philly had cost them the game. So that's where I look. And that's where I go to right off the bat is who wins that most consistently.

And let's say it's even Steven. Well, then it comes down to all different phases in which you can play offense and defense. And and that's what makes this game, I think, very close, because both these teams have a lot of phases, different ways to win.

And both are good in the trenches. Merle Hodge is here with us on the JR Sport brief show, the Infinity Sports Network. You talk about Saquon Barkley. Running back is the position that you played.

How impressive is it to see him do what he does, especially in a league where I don't want to say the running back is de-emphasized, but the position and the utilization has certainly changed? Well, the teams that don't want to win, it's changed. Teams that want to win, you just go take Detroit, Baltimore, Philly. Shoot, even Kansas City has run the ball more, and they do they do it differently. And but they've done that a lot more. Buffalo added the running game a lot more to it. Teams that want to win and are going to win a championship have to have that phase. They just don't. You can't win by being one dimensional in our league because at any point, you know, you're not going to be able to win.

They can take something away for you. That's why you have to have a lot of phases to your team. So I think Philly probably is a great example of two years ago when they went to the Super Bowl, what did they have? One of the best rushing attacks in football.

Got rid of that. What did they have? They didn't have the same type of team. So they knew that they had to go back to that. That's why they went and got Saquon, and they went back to that commitment to running the football. And whereas it led them to the Super Bowl again.

So that is always misled. I think people talk about that, that, you know, it's a it's a passing league. It's not a passing league. The passing league has expanded. But you have to have that other phase and be able to run the football if you're going to be a championship team.

Meryl Hodges here with us. You talk about legacy. People are sick and tired of the Kansas City Chiefs, and then we even have conversations about Mahomes. And if he wins a third as legacy, is he better than Brady? When you hear these thoughts, what comes to your mind about what Patrick Mahomes is actively doing?

Well, first of all, it's the Kansas City Chiefs. You know, Patrick Mahomes has won no game by himself. I could argue that like Chris Jones should be the MVP in two of the times. Patrick Holmes was the MVP because he made the critical plays to get the ball back to the offense. And had that play not happened, they would not have won those Super Bowls. So teams win championships. Patrick Mahomes does not win them by himself. Now, I'm not minimizing him because he does some outlier, extraordinary things that he makes plays and his instincts and can throw the ball under pressure and direction with with with traffic around him.

That is, you can't defend and you and you can't create that for a player. That is just a gift that he has. And he does some magical things. Now, if he's part of and helps orchestrate a team, that three piece, oh, shoot, he's the only quarterback that's part of the team to ever do that in the history of football. So he does separate him himself in the conversation. Now, does he have as many Super Bowls as Tom Brady?

Not yet. But, you know, he's climbing up there and he's one of the few that would have, would that make him four? And that puts him up with like Terry Bradshaw and guys like that. But he's in the league status already, you know, but if he does this, he sure would climb up there with with Tom Brady. And when he's probably done, he'll probably be right there with Tom Brady if he doesn't pass him. Well, Merrill, I want to talk about more about the big game and how you getting us all set up for Sunday. But I'll be remiss not to ask you about the team that you are an Ironman for, the Steelers. They're trying to figure out their own quarterback situation right now between fields and and also Wilson.

What do you think is the best solution for them to move forward? Well, I think in situations like this, you have to you don't just look at the two guys that you had. You got to look at all the available options. You know, that's why, you know, the combined and getting ready for the draft is is a critical component of of finding players. You know, it isn't always just people that are already in the league. You know, can you find somebody that you can you can build around and build with and maybe a combination of them? So I think it's looking at a bunch of different options. Not just just those two that you mentioned. It's having a bunch of different types of options as you move in to the year.

Do you think there's one particular option? Best quarterback in the draft period? That who's going to be available?

Without having looked at all of them. Here's what I'll say about it. I think there's a lot of interesting guys. There's no guy like Jayden Daniels or CJ Stroud or Joe Burrow. There's nobody like that.

There's nobody that stands out like that right off the bat. But there's some really good guys, really good quarterbacks and developed and drafted right. And what I mean by that is oftentimes you take somebody in the top 10 and they're not a top 10 pick. The expectations that they better be CJ Stroud, they better be Joe Burrow, they better be Jayden Daniels. And then when they fail to do that, you know, you ruin them. So, you know, that's always a problem with the draft. People are always pushing a player up where he doesn't belong. And I think that could happen.

I mean, that's more for the teams up in the top, you know, 10 to 15 that do that. But there's so many really good quarterbacks that you can get in the later rounds and developed right. You got you got you got a guy that could could help you win a lot of football games, if not a championship.

NFL vet and analyst Merrill Hodges here with us. Well, we got to wait a little while for the big game. What are you doing to get us set up?

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Which one is it? Take your pick, brother. We got room for everybody. Hey, Meryl, I really appreciate the time. This is the good and bad part about the season. It's coming to a close.

We got to wait for some more football. Where can people follow you and everything that you do, Meryl? Well, thank you, Jared.

MerylHodge.com. My passion is inspirational speaking. My message is find a way and I share a message that what is possible for people. So if you're looking for a speaker or need somebody, I'd love to help you out. And thank you for giving me that opportunity, Jared.