OverDrive - Edwards on Allen's strong season, the Lions playing through injuries and Cousins' benching in Atlanta

Episode Date: December 19, 2024

ESPN NFL Analyst and Former NFL Head Coach, Herm Edwards joined OverDrive to discuss the biggest headlines around the league, Josh Allen's incredible season, the Lions playing through injuries on the team, Aaron Rodgers' next steps in the league, Kirk Cousins' benching with the Falcons and more.

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or visit askkelvin.ca here's former nfl player coach espn nfl analyst back on overdrive here's herm edwards how you doing herm i am well thank you um you guys you, I was listening to you talk here and talking about Detroit, but then you talked about Buffalo and, you know, their ability to get the players healthy. Let me tell you guys something. That guy that plays quarterback for them, that's Superman. It doesn't matter if they're coming back or not. When the guy puts his cape on, forget about it.

It's not good, huh? Yeah, he's wearing a cape. He's Superman. There ain't no doubt. I mean, I've watched this team the last couple weeks. They score 90 points, and they go one and one because of their defense. They scored 90 points in two games. I've never seen that.

They scored 90 points in their one and one. This is not college football. When you go out every Sunday and score 40 points. Superman, when he puts his cape on, that's what he does. Yeah. To me, he's locked up the MVP. I'd be curious to get your take on that. But one thing that I found to be pretty incredible, I saw a stat today,

that Josh Allen hasn't taken a sack since November 10th. Four games in a row, he hasn't taken a sack since November 10th. Four games in a row, he hasn't taken a sack. Like, what does that say about Allen, about the way that offense is moving and shaking, that offensive line? Like, they're just all on the same page. Well, if you do the numbers, he's only had been sacked 13 times this whole season.

They're number one in the league. Now, his ability to run, that poses a problem too. I mean, even if you try to sack him, you can't tackle the guy. I mean, he's so big and strong, you know, but they're playing really good right now. I mean, they just are, you know, their numbers are their numbers, but just the way they play. I mean, they're taking the ball away at a high rate. That always helps you.

They're plus 18 in the giveaway takeaway. Only five interceptions and two fumbles. They got 13 interceptions and 12 fumbles, so they're taking the ball away 25 times already as a defense. So that's how they get off the field. They take the ball away. Because if you look at their defensive numbers, they're not very good. Only giving up 22 points, but they take the ball away.

If you can take the ball away and steal possessions from an offense and give it back to Superman, your odds of winning go way up. With Herm Edwards, so in terms of the injuries in Detroit and how inspiring Dan Campbell is trying to be, you've been on both sides of it. You've been a player, I'm sure, here in coaches, trying to pump you guys up and inspire your group when you're probably riddled with injuries.? I'm sure you've been in a

coaching position where you look at your depth chart and you're like, man, we're really crushed here. How much can Dan Campbell really do and really believe in his team when they are just so decimated with injuries in Detroit? Yeah, they are. But I know this.

When you sit where they sit and they're trying to obviously – and now Philly's there. Now all of a sudden Philly is gaining on them. So, you know, they want home field advantage. There's no doubt about that. They lose one of their runners. But I thought in the game they played against Buffalo,

it showed me something. Although they're hurt, just keep the quarterback standing. Because they got in a game that was basically the last team that has the ball was going to win, the last quarterback. And Jared Goff, he stood the test. You know, I mean, it's remarkable, you know, how he played. Now, it gets shadowed because of, obviously, the way that Josh Allen played. But it's just amazing because you think about it,

he throws five touchdown passes and loses, and he threw five interceptions against Houston and they won. I can't figure that math out. But now they're a different offense because they know they're wounded. They've got a lot of players hurt, but the quarterback is a good player. And they're going to have to score points and they can do that. That's the game they got into with the Buffalo Bills.

You know, this Detroit Lions team is built, they want to pound the ball with their runners. They want to become a play-action pass team, keep their defense on the sidelines, you know, control the clock, control the possessions. Well, the Buffalo Bills weren't going to allow them to do that.

They said, you're going to have to see if you can score with us. Well, guess what? Jared Goff did it. He went back and he started throwing passes. Threw five touchdowns and lost at home. So they have enough guys. So we don't have to feel sorry for the Detroit Lions. They're loaded Lions.

No, they showed me something in that game. So you're talking about feeling sorry for people and quarterbacks. What do you make of Aaron Rodgers, and he's now saying that he might not play next year. He's going to figure that out in the offseason. Do you think this season has hurt his legacy, Herm? No, because we forget about it. We're in the moment

and as time passes, it's not going to hurt his legacy. He's going to go down as a Hall of Famer. I mean, look, the Jets had another guy that was kind of a little bit different, too. They seem to always get the Green Bay Packers quarterbacks. They had Brett Favre.

Right? Brett Favre went to the Jets too. I mean, how did that work out? Right? Not great. It's amazing. Yeah. No.

And it's almost like, okay, when you want one more place to go, go to the Jets. We'll take you. Well, maybe that's where Kirk Cousins ends up next, because it sounds as if, yeah, he may get paid $90 million for 14 starts, and this is the

news of the day in the NFL that Raheem Morris has seen enough of Kirk Cousins, and he's going to Michael Penix Jr., a rookie that they took in the top 10 this past draft. They're still in pursuit of a playoff spot right now. They're chasing down the Bucs. I'm not sure they can get them, but they've got a really soft schedule,

and they're going to a rookie quarterback this late in the season. How do you feel about that decision by Morris and the Falcons? Well, I think Raheem was hoping that their last game, obviously, that Kirk Cousins would show some life. But if you watch that game and you watch Kirk Cousins play, it was hard. It was hard to watch. He was in fear of letting the ball go. He didn't want to throw.

He's hearing all the noise. He wasn't the same Kirk Cousins, a guy that plays with a lot of energy. Even though they won a football game, it was hard watching him play quarterback. And he still threw interceptions. I mean, though he's got nine of them now all of a sudden. It's not going away. Their offense was kind of, you know, not very good to be nice about it. And so now, I guess they're

feeling like, you know what? This is the guy we drafted. We can't keep looking at this. Let's go with the rookies. Now, they've got to be ready for this, but they've already dealt with it. The rookies are going to throw it to the bad guys. That's what they do. So you can't get mad at him now.

He's going to throw it to the bad guys but the guy that's the veteran guy has thrown enough to the bad guys we don't want to see this movie anymore and I think that makes sense I mean if you have a definitive answer that Kirk Cousins can't get the job done then go with the other guy

he may not get it done either but if you know the answer that Kirk Cousins isn't going to get it done, and he has been throwing a ton of interceptions, he looks very uncomfortable, I think you're risking the room. I mean, you can speak to that, Herm, but I'm sure Falcons players are thinking, we've got some talent here and there's a playoff spot that could be available.

Throw the kid in, and I guess he's probably been looking pretty good in practice. I don't know what that's worth. But, you know, they drafted him high, so give him a shot. No, and what happens is the team knows, okay, we've made the change. We're going with the rookie, and we've got to help this dude because we're still in this. So the team's not mad. But you just changed the dynamics of that team

because now they're going, especially defensively, we're going, hey, man, come on, man, we're starting a rookie quarterback. We got to help this dude. Right? So all of a sudden your energy is back because you know the only chance we got, we got to play good around this young guy. So that's the way you got to look at it too. I can't wait to see what they have in store.

Yeah. I mean, it's going to be an interesting run down the stretch here. I am curious, though, when it comes to Kirk Cousins, is this it for Kirk Cousins after this season? Obviously, has it been the same coming back from that injury last year? Is this it, or do you think after an offseason, he'll get another chance to start somewhere else next year? Well, they're always looking for veteran quarterback teams,

and you never know, he might find a landing spot. But you feel bad for Kirk Cousins because he's such a good guy, and he had started off so well this year. You know, it had this city excited, he was excited, and then he got in this funk, and he just, he couldn't find his way out of it. And last game, watching him play, you could see it on his face. He was very, very cautious. You know, even though they won, you could hear him talking after the interview. He was not like, you know, it wasn't like the Kirk Cousins that we're used to hearing.

Yeah, it's tough to see that happen, man. Like we asked you about Rodgers, now Kirk Cousins. You know, those are two different players in terms of their careers and their accolades. But sometimes it just you either hit a wall or you just need to be in the right place. I guess you look at a guy like Russell Wilson, now he's in the right place. You know what I mean? A lot of people are writing him off, Herm, and he gets to

Pittsburgh and Mike Tomlin and that defense and now all of a sudden, Russ is going to get a crack at playing in the playoffs again. No doubt. And like I said, he couldn't have landed in a better spot, to be quite honest, because that offense is similar to what they ran when he was in Seattle. A run first, play action.

I got a good defense back in those days when he was there. It was the Legion of Boom. They had that great defense. Pittsburgh can play defense now they went to Philly. Obviously, Philly got after them, but their record in Philly, guys, is not very good. I can remember playing

Pittsburgh Steelers back in my day when we played them. Now they're 0-12 when they go to Philadelphia. That's just one of those deals. When they go to Philadelphia for some reason, it's a bad bus ride for them because that's all it is is a bus ride. They just can't play well in Philadelphia. And Philadelphia plays good.

Yeah, they're legit right now, man. That team is rocking. Your Eagles are playing pretty well. They are playing well. Yeah, they're playing pretty good. Great catching up with you as always, Herm. We appreciate you doing this. Appreciate you both. Thank you. There you as always, Herm. We appreciate you doing this. Appreciate you both.

Thank you. There's Herm Edwards, ESPN. Former coach, player, college, NFL.