The Herd with Colin Cowherd - 05/13/2021 - HOUR 2 - Rebuilding, Rodgers

Episode Date: May 13, 2021

Colin discusses the NFL teams that are rebuildingIs the Aaron Rodgers drama with the Packers fixable?Guests: Peter Schrager, Eric Mangini Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Find your local station for the herd at Fox Sports Radio.com or stream us live every day on the IHeart Radio app by searching Herd. You're listening to Fox Sports Radio. Ah, here we go on a Thursday hour number two live in Los Angeles. It's the herd, wherever you may be, and however you may be listening. IHeart Radio, Fox Sports Radio, and FS1. We still don't know. LeBron James was going to play last night, and he didn't play. He was going to play two nights going.

He didn't play, Joy. What's the story on that? Well, we'll get to it a little bit later in Heardline, but he's still in flux. He was going to play last night. They had the banner reveal because they wanted to wait until fans were back. So the road to back-to-back starts in about a week. So let's get going. That's what LeBron said.

All right. Because, I mean, it really, it does depend on. If he's ready to go, I think they're a really good basketball team and a high ankle sprain. I haven't had one. I've had a lot of ankle sprains. It's not a high ankle. They take forever to heal and even longer when you're 37, 38. Well, that's what's worrisome is that they might be back like everyone's on the court,

but how actually healthy are they and ready for a long playoff run? Yeah. So yesterday was the NFL schedule release. And listen, if you're a good team like Buffalo or Tampa, Kansas City, you're going to win a bunch of games. And then there's the bad teams that aren't going to win any. And then there's those teams that we know are competent. They're absolutely, I'll give you three of them. Miami, the Chargers in Dallas are all, I think, talented enough to be playoff teams.

That's where the schedule. can subtract a game or add a game. And I want to talk Miami Chargers, Cowboys. I all thought they got a little tough break. So let's start with Miami. Brian Flores and is trying to tell everybody, Tua is the guy. Even though multiple dolphin players leaked to the Miami Herald last year,

we don't think he's the guy. Ryan Fitzpatrick looked much more athletic. Look at the first 10 weeks of, You got Tua, six feet tall, not a big arm, not specially mobile. You open at Cam 6 to 67 Josh Allen, at Derek Carr, at 6,5 Carson Wentz, at Tom Brady, at Trevor Lawrence, MVP Matt Ryan, at Josh Allen, Deshawn Watson, Lamar Jackson. They have a whole bunch of special in there. Big, athletic, great, rings, MVPs.

and you're selling that locker room. Well, I mean, too, it doesn't have a big arm. I mean, not especially mobile. But he is, this is our guy. You can't fool players. That is a, there is no schedule in the NFL that has more superstar talented level. I mean, you've got six guys, six, six, six five, six four, Tom Brady, MVP, Lamar Jackson, the fastest player in the league at his position.

Deshawn Watson, it is nothing but special for 10 weeks. in a tougher division now selling them to as the guy. I'm just saying you can try to fool the press, and a lot of times you'll fool the press. Not going to fool the players. It's not a great break for Miami schedule. And I like them. The Chargers.

I like the Chargers too. A lot of people think they're a underdog, a dark horse Super Bowl team. They have a rookie head coach. Okay, let's go look. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven. In the first seven weeks, they face Ron Rivera, been to a Super Bowl.

Mike McCarthy, been to a Super Bowl. Andy Reid won a Super Bowl. John Gruden won a Super Bowl. John Harbaal won a Super Bowl. Bill Belichick won a bunch of them. That is a big ask. Brandon Staley has been in the NFL coaching in total four years. In a tough division, he opens with Belichick.

Andy Reed, Gruden, McCarthy, Ron Revere, and John Harbaugh. That ain't a break. That is a, I mean, that's walking into the octagon and getting, you know, Connor McGregor in his prime. And then look at Dallas's schedule. Fascinating. I've said before. Dallas this year spent all their draft capital on defense as they should.

Next year, it's pretty easy. They're going to spend it on the O line. It's getting old. O lines that are old are generally fine in September and October. The question is, are they healthy late? Look at Dallas's last six games, six good pass rushes at the Saints, at Washington, at the Giants, Washington, Arizona brought in JJ Watt with Chandler Jones, Philadelphia. Say what you want about Philadelphia.

They were a mess last year. The front seven wasn't. That is six big boy pass rushes. And again, I don't mind that they open at Tampa and at the Chargers. Those are great pass rushes, but Tyron Smith's going to be healthy. He's going to be upright. I do worry about Dallas end of the year, old offensive line, which they did not really truly address this year.

What's that old line look like? Is Dak running for his life? So it's fun. Peter Schrager now joining us live from New York. So a bunch of questions here. You know, I think Aaron Rogers is going to remain a Packer. I do. Three different players.

buddies of his have all used the same word fixable in the last week. Three buddies, James Jones, A.J. Hawk and the fullback. John Coon. Yeah. He came out. All three have come out and used the exact same word. Fixable. Well, they're Aaron's buddy.

So I think it's fixable. But let me ask you how the Packers, how did Aaron impact the Packer schedule? Because the NFL, they're not, they know what's going on here. They're all sitting there to the last second and writing this thing up. How did it affect it? Well, I spoke with both Mike North and Charlotte Carey, who are part of the team that puts the schedule together. And I said, how did you handle the Rogers thing? And the answer was, we're bullish on the Packers as a brand.

We're not so worried about Rogers. If he's there, awesome. We want number 12. If he's not, we'll roll with that uniform and that logo and that stadium and that tradition and that fan base. If you look what the league did with the first four games of the Packers schedule, it was a statement. It was almost as if they're calling. Rogers' bluff and saying, we're with the Packers regardless as a league. They went week one, game of the week, America's Game of the Week, with Joe and Troy on the call

and Aaron on the sidelines against the Saints. Week two, Monday night football, week three, Sunday night football at San Francisco. And then week four, Pittsburgh, as the CBS double header window game where it's Nancy Romo. So the first four games of the NFL schedule, the Packers have four nationally televised, a crew games. And to maybe hedge their bet a little bit, if you notice that week one game against the Saints, the other game in that window for Fox,

Giants Broncos. So if he's wearing Broncos uniform, well, we might very well see Joe and Troy and Aaron in East Brotherford week one as well. What went in one of the fun games, Patriots and the Bucks week four. That's a fun game. You got to watch that game.

Belichick against Brady. What went into the scheduling shrags of that? I spoke to them about that too, and they said, look, we've got 256 games, we've got billions of possibilities. Here are the key things they wanted. One, they wanted to make sure all the key people were there. So knock on wood, a million times, what if we do this game in week 13 and Brady has an ankle injury or a toenail injury?

Or there's some team with the Patriots where they're riddled with injuries and their guys aren't out there. Number two, they don't want the weather to play too much of a factor. You get into November, December, with this game. suddenly the story is about a snowstorm or a blizzard or about the fact that a lot of these Patriots fans can't get to the game. You put it week four, it's optimal weather. And the last thing, which they didn't tell me, but which is kind of sneaky here, Brady is 1,100 passing yards behind Drew Breeze for the passing record. This is week four.

Let's say Brady throws for 250, 300, the first three games of the season. It is within reason that Brady would break the all-time passing yardage record in, Foxborough week four in that building with Belichick watching. They did a pretty good job trying to place this week, the perfect one. As for the network, Sunday night got it. It's going to be Alan Chris on NBC. I can kick and scream. I think that's garbage.

I think it should be Bucking and Aikman and Aaron and all. I think this is one of those deals where we're all going to get a lot of patriots. We're all going to get a lot of buccaneers. In this case, NBC got it. All right. Easy as hard as schedule. What did you make of the Cowboys schedule? I think the league did the Cowboys a lot of favors.

Take a look at their first 10 weeks here. We know that week one is going to be Tampa Bay, and that's what's scary. And everyone says, oh, my gosh, look, what a juggernaut. Their next eight opponents, Colin, on the Cowboys schedule, Chargers missed the playoffs, Eagles missed the playoffs, Panthers missed the playoffs, Giants missed the playoffs, Patriots missed the playoffs, have a buy. Vikings missed the playoffs. Broncos missed the playoffs.

Falcons missed the playoffs. If we're entering November and the Cowboys aren't at the top of the NFC East or aren't relevant, that's on them. The league did them. No disservice with this schedule. They might lose week one and that's fine. And their own one, don't panic. They've got nine straight games against teams that did not make the playoffs to start

their season. I would hope to think that Dak and the guys can get a few Ws under their belt and the Cowboys are relevant when these weeks and months really matter. It's really what separates the NFL. They really do think of everything with this schedule. I was even laughing about Zach Wilson and Sam Darnold. They got them right up top. Week one.

Yeah, week 10, that game could be irrelevant. Week one, I'm interested. Okay. Was there another takeaway from the schedule that you had? There's quirky stuff. So for the first time since 2002, a team plays five divisional opponents to end the season in a row. That team's Washington. Again, the schedule makers, they've got so much going on, but this is very rare.

So Washington's final five weeks are just NFC East, NFC East, NFC East, NFC East, NFC East, NFC East, and Calfoy, Cowboys, Eagles, Eagles, Cowboys. That is a brutal. stretch for a team to then say in week 14, you need to now gear up because you're going and you're doing all this. Now, the bears have a weird schedule too. If you see the Bears schedule, this is only the third time, I believe, since 2000 that we see a team go, away home, away home, away home, away home, it just alternates away. So there's no two game road trip for the Bears. There's no two game homestand for the Bears. They alternate every single

time. And then the last one was I saw the Ravens final few weeks are like a crazy gauntlet kind of to adjust with what they had to end the year last year, which was a few softer opponents to end their regular season. The team that does this, and it's Howard Katz, and it's Mike North, and it's Blake Jones and Charlotte and Anni Bowes, and these guys, they've been doing this for four months, Colin, since the final regular season day they've been working on this schedule. A lot of teams and a lot of fan bases have their qualms. I think they did a pretty good job, but we'll see if this stuff comes into play as the season starts.

By the way, did you notice the Chargers? We both like the Chargers. Brandon Staley in the first like six, seven weeks has Andy Reid, Belichick, John Harbaugh, Gruden, McCarthy. It's like, welcome to the NFL head coaching. I mean, I look at that and I think, I mean, I think Brandon's going to be good, but God, it's just like, it's all, it's Hall of Fame guys. I mean, McCarthy's the one we all roll our eyes at. He's a Super Bowl winner. Right?

Like McCarthy was, you'd also add in on that. If you're looking at that schedule, week 15. Justin Herbert, prime time, Thursday night football. Who's he against? No favors here. I mean,

this is a tough schedule, but look, real quick, I'm bullish on them too. We both are. Herbert's awesome. But Lamar was the MVP year two. Patrick Mahomes was the MVP year two.

If you're telling me, Herbert's going to make the leap, it is not outside of reason to suggest that the expectation is he's one of the best quarterbacks in football by year two. We shall see. That is not an easy start,

and it certainly is not an easy schedule. Good stuff, buddy. Pete Shragger. I love having them on the show. Good little insight there. The cowboy stuff I didn't even really notice. Appreciate it, Peter. Thank you, Colin.

You're the best, as always. You bet one hour from now, Bob Stoop stops by. I did think the power of Aaron Rogers. So everybody said the Steelers schedule is brutal. And I want to push back on that. I don't think Pittsburgh schedules brutal. I thought Cleveland got a little bit of a scheduling break. I thought Pittsburgh potentially gets a little of a scheduling break.

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Black Rifle Coffee, Veteran Own coffee company serving premium and coffee to people who love America. Go to black rifle coffee.com slash herd. That code herd, HERD, get you 20% off a purchase your first coffee club order. So, I mean, listen, I don't think Aaron Rogers is leaving. He's got three of his buddies saying it's fixable. Peter Schrager interestingly saying, hey, the NFL is like challenging him saying, we put the Packers all over our schedule. We're going to put the uniform up if Aaron's not there.

I think that's fine for about three weeks. I thought New England without Brady was interesting for about three to four weeks. And then you're like, they're just not that interesting. Listen, the NBA playoffs are not the same without LeBron James. The NBA lost 50% of its ratings when Michael Jordan retired. Golf had events canceled when Tiger Woods got hurt and left. Don't kid yourself. The power of stars.

I'll give an example, the power of Aaron Rogers. I think he's coming back. But if he didn't, take a lot of. look at Pittsburgh schedule. So the opener's brutal. At Buffalo, they're underdogs. I'm not sure anybody, including Tom Brady and the Bucks, are going to win at Buffalo in week one. That is brutal.

Buffalo's really good. But after that, Raiders home, Bengals home, Broncos home, Seahawks home, by Cleveland, off a by, bears at home, lions at home. And by the bears are on Monday night, so you get an extra day. that is a you take Aaron Rogers out of week four and you put Jordan Love in there

that is that is after Buffalo that is a lot of doubles for Pittsburgh that has a lot of home games buys and average quarterbacks you put Aaron in there I got Josh Allen on the road I got Aaron Rogers on the road I got Russell Wilson that that's different but it just just look at Pittsburgh schedule take Aaron out put Jordan Love in with that defense, by the way. That's the kind of defense that humiliates a young quarterback and you need an Aaron Rogers. You need somebody with snaps in the NFL to beat. That front seven is a handful. T.J. Watt, all those pass rushers. So Pittsburgh schedule, just take Aaron out. That's home games, buy and can you beat Russell Wilson at home? That is a really, take a look at Fox's Thursday

night schedule. It's very tasty. with Aaron. So with Aaron, I get Stafford against Russell, week one. Woo, Christmas special. I get Baker against Aaron Roger. Woo! I get Mahomes. I get Justin Herbert.

I get, you take Aaron out of that schedule. And now it's Jordan Love against Kyler Murray on the road. Blowout. I got Baker Mayfield. I got, where's the other Green Bay game? Oh, Christmas Day game. Baker Mayfield and that Brown's pass rush and that Brown's offense against Jordan Love. So that Thursday schedule is good.

You take Aaron out, it's not as tasty. And by the way, all these Packers, yesterday, I just sometimes, you know, when I sit and watch TV for six hours, that's when I grab my phone. I'm of the generation. I'd rather not tweet watching games. I grew up when you just watched games and you were, it was okay. You did not feel a responsibility to have to talk to people. But last night for four hours, I'm watching all the schedule stuff. And so, you know, I'm watching fans.

And a lot of people are saying, hey, we're fine without Aaron. Oh, stop it. Go look at Green Bay's schedule. Look at the quarterbacks and the pass rushes from October 24th on. I can go October 17th. It's Khalil Mack, Washington. Then it's at Kyler Murray, at Patrick Mahomes, Russell Wilson, Matt Stafford. Lamar Jackson, Baker.

Your break is at Detroit and Jared Goff. You're not winning four games in the last 11 if you don't have Aaron Rogers. The Steelers could get a huge break without him. Fox could be punished without him. Green Bay, the end of that year, that's good quarterbacks or good pass rushes. You got Aaron Donald lined up. You got Seattle's pass rush, which is great. You've got Cleveland's pass rush.

I don't, there is, don't, don't, the NFL can say we're going to challenge you, but don't kid yourself. I've watched sports my entire life change dramatically when the star says exit stage left. It, it, don't kid yourself. It changes everything. Joy with the news. No, no, no, no, no, turn on the news. This is the herd line news.

We're fine without Aaron Rogers, huh? Green Bay ain't fine, the league's not fine, we're not fine. I like to think I'm like a pretty reasonable person, even about the things that I'm a fan of. I try to stay measured. I just personally, I don't like to sound ridiculous. Joy, it changes fundamentally the franchise. They will be irrelevant in four weeks.

Like, we'll watch the Jordan Love thing. But if he's back to back, he's bad against the Bears. It's over. Aaron Rogers is the league MVP, even if Jordan Love is average. It will look embarrassing. It will look terrible. Sillness. So, Dak Prescott is returning, which I'm very excited about.

Very wealthy man, Doc Prescott. Number four on the Forbes wealthiest athletes list. That was crazy. He's very marketable. It's a very likable guy, Dak Prescott. By the way, that is a huge part of it. Dak is very likable. You know what I mean?

He was there by Jerry's side with America. He's had controversy around him. He's always stayed. He always says the right thing. He always, you know, Michael Jordan got criticized for that. Michael grew up in a part of the country where there was, you know, you had some political, racial strife and everybody criticized Michael for staying away from it. Dak has always been, he's had the Kaepernick stuff, he's had the Anson.

Dak is always like, I'm America's team, I'm the leader. There is value in that. Well, he's also the face of the wealthiest, biggest brand in all of sports on planet Earth. Twitter hates when you take the side of corporate America, but sometimes for your brand, that's not bad either. Yeah, but you know, the thing about Dak is I feel like he has always had that very genuine likeability, underdog personality about him.

Yeah. Who was it that we were talking to a few weeks ago that was talking about Dak Prescott and that they sent that he came in and Dan Mullen was talking about Zach Prescott. And now he just like, he came into camp and they were like, go work on this. And he came back and he was better.

And then every time he was better and better. He got crushed for his anthem stance. But when I saw $107 million in advertising, I'm like, and he was injured last year. Well, that tells you advertisers think he is. He's very relatable. Very relatable. He's safe.

And it's genuine. It's not like outside of who he is. Well, they face the buck. on Thursday night, week one, and Zach is excited for the opportunity. He said after the schedule release, I'm excited to get back on the field. This game means more than the opponents and their rings. Obviously, Brady just winning his seventh ring and they'll be getting them. I think Dallas is going to be competitive in that game.

I really do. It was a four and a half point spread. You watch that thing go to five and a half. They're favored by six now. I would absolutely take Dallas in that. That is a, folks, week one, you just don't know. The Jags beat the Colts last year. You don't know in week one.

You have no idea. I mean, I would tend to lead that the Bucks would look better than the Cowboys simply because they're returning everyone from last year. So generally in Week 1, we don't know because there's a lot of turnover on everyone's roster. But the Bucks are returning all 22 starters. So that's the only reason why I think that the line is what it is, because the Cowboys are getting back, obviously. It's his first game back from the injury.

They have a lot of new pieces. So that part, I think, is what's. making the line so big, but I mean, that would make sense, right? Like, they're going to have a full offseason. Even average teams don't admit their average in week one. You know, like a friend

of mine, Chad Millman said yesterday, he said Detroit and San Francisco, the bet is Detroit. They don't know they're terrible yet, and they have a very good offensive line. So like, in week one, we're like, oh, Dallas going to get rolled. Remember this. Don't just remember the game against Cleveland when they quit. remember those games at the end of the year with Andy Dalton

that they were winning. So by the way, Dex much more mobile, better. No, I mean, you get up for week one. I'd be scared to play the Lions week one. Watch your kneecaps. So NFL has assigned five primetime games to the Green Bay Packers for the 2021 season. The Packers were one of ten teams to receive maximum prime time exposure.

In total, they have 11 prime time. time and late window games. The final two night games against the Bears in week 13 and the Vikings in week 16 on Sunday nights come after flex scheduling kicks in. So if Rogers doesn't play for the Packers this year,

they could get flexed out of those two games, but they're going to have a... I am, I am honestly, and I don't care if I'm wrong. I mean, nobody's going to eat me. I'm 75, 80% sure Aaron's coming back. I think he's coming back. It's a lot of money on the table to leave Aaron, I think unless he really has the guts to sit that out.

For three years? I mean, no, like he would do it for this year because they're probably going to trade him next year. Like, I think that this is all come down to what are we going to do for this year? Because even if with everything that's happened, I just have a hard time seeing him on the roster next year. Maybe if they win the Super Bowl, he wants to stay. But I think that the, I think it's deteriorated so much that it's. just come down to money and like they're both backs against the wall for this year. Green Bay could fix all of this. Just restructure his contract.

Yeah, but that was an option how long ago. Well, I'm saying, but just do that and go get Julio Jones. There'll be no complaining. I mean, it's like this is not impossible. Just restructure his deal. There were a lot of easy solves throughout this whole situation. Isn't it amazing? It's amazing how many easy solves there are here. Don't overthink it. James Harden returned for the Nets last night. I didn't look like he was sitting out for the last five weeks. He had a pretty stellar performance and he talked about it after the game.

Not to like brag or anything, but I'm like, I'm really good at this game. I studied the game. Very unselfish. I take the game and I play it the right way every single night. So I don't try to do anything that I can't do or anything that doesn't benefit our team. And if that mindset right there keeps me in a really good place. That's funny. He had 18 points and 11 assists by 25 minutes of play.

Wow. And shot 75% from the field in three point range. Wow. He has missed 20 of the last 21 games. So now, look, James, we all know that you are amazing at basketball. I didn't see one second. You just came off of injury. That's a pretty impressive stat line to put up.

His assist numbers to his credit. And this is where he's really different than Kyrie is that his assist numbers are great. and Kyrie's kind of always, Kyrie's a great closer. This is what I might knock on Kauai. He's gotten better at it, but Kauai and Karee, great finishers, not great distributors.

James is a great distributor now. He has really worked on that part of his game. I don't know where he is. Does he lead the NBA and assist? He's got to be close. Well, he talked about it. Per game. He's very unselfish,

and he's studying the game. They are currently second in the east with two games left. They have the Bulls and the Cavs, and they're one and a half games behind the first place. Sixers. So if they finish in second, they would face the winner of the Celtics Hornets playing

game. So that would be pretty good news for them. Yeah, Celtics do not. By the way, this Boston team is bad. There could, listen, I mean, I've been saying this for years. I'm not a fan of the way that the Celtics have been put together. But I feel like there could be some major changes in Boston next year. But Kyrie was out last night.

Westbrook leads the NBA and assists. Oh, give me a break. Who's who's second? Is Hardin's second? You know, assist means that they score when you pass them the ball. Yeah, I get that. It's not just like he leads the NBA in passing. Yeah, I mean, Westbrook has Bradley Beal, of course.

Every time you pass to him, he hits a jumper. I mean, could he not just get some credit for being a good distributor? That's pretty impressive. Whose second? Try Young. All these gunners are getting all these assists. Well, they're moving around. Okay.

Joy with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. By the way, I want to show you something. It's pretty funny. The Jets and Carolina. So we know this to be true, Joy, is that we always do tomorrow's headlines today, kind of predicting what the headlines will be.

But, you know, in big cities like, you know, New York, the headline, they got five newspapers, the New York Post, the Times, the Daily News, very interesting on the Jets and Carolina. So Sam Darnold goes to the Jets and they replace him with the next young star, Zach Wilson, and we ship Sam off. Well, the NFL puts them right up against each other week one. Very smart. This game may not mean anything be marketable at all in week eight, five, nine. But they have Sam at home.

They're favored by three and a half over Zach Wilson. So let's say they win. Let's say Sam Darnold has got the more experienced by your head coach. Actually, I will say this. Carolina's got some good offensive. defensive weapons. Tuba Hubbard, Christian McCaffrey, running backs. So let's say they win it. Well, Carolina then gets, Sam Darnold, actually, if they can win that opener, Saints at home, starting a new quarterback, Texans dysfunction, bad cowboy defense, Philadelphia is

rebuilding, Minnesota's rebuilding, it's a lot of bad defenses. Daniel Jones, a young quarterback, Jalen Hertz, a young quarterback, Atlanta Falcons are rebuilding. Sam Darnal wins that opener. It is two months of bad defenses rebuilding and young quarterbacks. Zach Wilson. The new kid, let's say he loses on the road. Look at his schedule. Look at the defensive coaches he faces. He then faces Belichick, into Vic Fangio, into Mike Vrable,

into a London game, into Belichick, Sean McDermott, Brian Flores. That is a gauntlet of someone. of the best defensive coaches in the NFL. So just to give you, you know, the headline, we always say, the headline will be, Darnold darn good is going to be the headline by about week seven or eight. Sam Darnold, if he can win that home opener against him, he gets a huge scheduling break, rebuilding defenses, young quarterbacks, dysfunctional team.

Zach Wilson is some of the best defensive. coaches, one after another, after another, with a rookie head coach. So you can see that story by October being like, uh, Jets may have made a little mistake here. Doesn't mean they did, but you can see a story developing. It really plays into Darnold's favor early and does not play into Zach Wilson and the Jets favor early. Eric Mangini around the corner.

Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific. on Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the IHeart Radio app. Hey, this is Jason McIntyre. Join me every weekday morning on my podcast, Straight Fire with Jason McIntyre. This isn't your typical sports pod pushing the same tired narratives down your throat every day. Straight Fire gives you honest opinions

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Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the IHard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The story I've told myself about love or relationships can then shape my behavior,

and that can lead me to sabotage the possibility of connection. This Mental Health Awareness Month, tune into the podcast deeply well with Debbie Brown and explore the journey of healing, self-discovery, and returning to yourself. We explore higher consciousness, emotional well-being, and the practices that help you find clarity, peace, and self-mastery in a world that can feel overwhelming. The world is becoming lonelier. We're not becoming more social and connected. We're becoming more individualized, but we actually meet people in connection.

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Hypocrat as part of the Mike Cultura Podcast Network available on the IHart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano, and our podcast Point Game is about defying the odds. Like LeBron heading into the playoffs without Luca and Austin Reed. And finding ways to win no matter what. He's the smartest player to ever play the game. His IQ is at a level that we've never seen before. And he knows. Without Luca and Austin Reeves, I got to manipulate the game.

We get a player's perspective on the challenges of the playoffs. I think Joker's going to be exhausted this series because when they don't have Rudy in the lineup, he has to really guard guys like Nas Reid. He has to guard Julius Randall. And then he has to give us everything he gives us on the night-to-night basis on offense. And when IT's friends stop by, like Quentin Richardson,

we dive into some playoff history too. Steve Nass would get that thing. That man, hell get to fly. He running up the court, licking his fingers, why he got the ball, like, You go through a training camp with that, Isaiah, you figure it out real quick. Get your ass up and down the court, and you're going to get the ball. So listen to Point Game on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

By the way, more Sam Darnold love. Carolina's first 11 games, one team with a winning record, The Saints, and they're starting a new quarterback. I'm telling you, Sam Donald's going to do well. Good things come to those who wait at Jersey Mikes. They also come to those who don't download the app. Order ahead. skipped the line now through May 23rd. Use the code the herd.

Buck off your order. Three rings. Eric Mangini, Jets Browns, Fox Sports Analysts joining us. So it's interesting. I hear this Tampa Bay. Oh, 17 and O. And I'm like, folks, there's just, first of all,

it's 17 game schedule. You may have a little load management. Bruce Ariens may give some veterans occasional weeks off. I just laugh at the 17 and O. You tell me, you were on Patriot teams that people talked about that. your thoughts on 17 and 0 in Tampa.

Yeah, look, I was on the last team that repeated, and it's hard. And after we won the first Super Bowl, we had no idea how hard it was going to be the next year because dealing with adversity is one thing. Dealing with success is another thing. Everybody plays up to you, and it's relentless. It's week in and week out. And this Bucks team, it's not like they cruised through the season last year. Right.

They were three and two at one point. seven and five before the buy, they got hot at the right time. And to think that they're going to come out the next year with all the expectations, with everybody studying them that much more intensely, and go 17 and 0, not even 16 and no, go 17 and 0, there's just, it's no chance. There's no chance. By the way, the Patriots, I did think, got a little break. Belichick faces six first-time coaches and six young quarterbacks.

Bill's pretty good against quarterbacks who don't have 20 starts, and he's great against first-time coaches. So I thought, yeah, I think Patriots are going to be okay. What's your takeaway on that? You know, the Mac Jones, Cam Newton thing. Yeah, look, I like their early schedule, especially. They've got a second-year quarterback, a rookie quarterback, a new quarterback, and then they go to Tom Brady after that.

The interesting thing for me or the fascinating thing is Bill's never, ever, in 26 years at a first round quarterback. He's never had to deal with this decision-making process. And you're working with Cam, who the offense, from a passing game standpoint, wasn't very good last year. And if they struggle, there's going to be pressure on him to put Mack Jones in. And I know it's Bill and he's earned the benefit of the doubt, but pressure is pressure.

And you can get that from ownership as well. This is the first time he's gone through it. And now you've also got radically different guys. Like preparing Cam Newton is so radically different than preparing Mac Jones because of what they can do with their feet. So you've got to have two very distinct plans to do that. I'm really interested to see how Bill handles this. By the way, three different Aaron Roger friends, all three different Aaron Buddies have used the word fixable in the last week. Okay, and my takeaway is he's trapped.

Where's he going to go? I mean, I don't know. This morning, I feel 80, 90 percent Aaron's back. Your thoughts? I'm 100%. Just like I didn't think Russell Wilson was going anywhere, and I didn't think Deshawn Watson was going anywhere. Aaron Rogers is not going anywhere.

Now, he may decide not to play, but that to me would be shocking as well because it would cost him $50 million between the money he doesn't get and the money that he'd have to pay back. fixable to me is a lot of money, a lot of new money and security, and it'll be fixed. And he may be a little bit disgruntled, but it's going to be fine. It's going to be fine. Yeah.

Not everybody's happy at work all the time. I'm rare. Not everybody. I'm Mr. Happy. And look, if you're not, if you're unhappy and suddenly they decide to give you another $120 million, you know, you could be happier then. All right. Mr. Cleveland, you're in Cleveland right now.

And I, you know, listening, opening up with Andy Reid in Kansas City and Mojones is not exactly a welcome, Matt, in week one. But after that, you know, I looked at the schedule and this is a good football. You know, I do think schedule, you can get good breaks and bad breaks. You know, I'll give you a Brown's break. They play Baltimore back to back. But the second one, they play Baltimore, get a buy and play Baltimore. Pittsburgh. Meanwhile, Baltimore faces Cleveland. No, by they get Pittsburgh back to Cleveland.

So I thought that's a little scheduling break, a little bit there for Cleveland. But I look at them and I think to myself, this is a 10, 11, 12 win team to me. Your thoughts? Yeah, look, I love the first game of the season, especially after the disaster last year, the first game this season. And things have changed so dramatically. Last year, no OTAs, no preseason games, first year head coach open up with the Ravens. Now all that's changed and they get to take their temperature against Kansas City in week one. But just like we talked about with Tampa Con, the expectations can really put a

significant amount of pressure on a team. And the last time the Browns had to deal with any type of expectations, it killed them. It hurt Baker. Every loss was like the end of the world. And it ended poorly. So how they're going to deal with now being a successful team and dealing with a you know, a quarterback who's emerging, that staff has been together, there's a lot expected from these guys. And if it goes south a little bit early, how are they going to deal with that adversity? That to me is the challenge Cleveland faces. By the way, when the schedule came out as a coach, what did you look for? Yeah, it's it wasn't necessarily matter. matchups as much as it was, you know, are we, are we on the West Coast? We're an East Coast

team. Are we on the West Coast? Do we have back-to-back West Coast games? Or are they every other week? Do we want to go out one day early, two days early? How many games do we have on Monday night or Thursday night because you had to adjust the schedule, you know, for the shortened week or the lengthened week, games that fell on holidays because you want to do, make sure that you were prepared, but you had to account for the human element and make sure you're addressing that as well. So there was tons of nuts and bolts aspects to it. And if you did have those short weeks, you had to account for some of that in the off season and try to prepare a little bit in advance. And I'm not saying you can get ready for a game late in the season that's on

a Thursday in the preseason, but you can put some things in the bank that you can draw on in those short week. So it's a long-term, short-term prep type look. All right. I've said I don't like the way the Raiders are going. You have been very pro-Groden. What did you make of the Raiders schedule? I think the NFL can control people sometimes. They know some of the issues the teams have and then they schedule accordingly. Here's another rough end of the season for the Raiders. So look, it's Kansas City. It's the Browns.

Denver will have to see where they are, but we know they'll be good defensively. Then the Colts and the Chargers, it's rough. And he's got to get this fix. He's got to change the narrative of not being able to win late. And you've talked about it. This is what's this year for now? It's got to be fixed. It's got to be fixed, but it's rough at the end there for him.

Yeah. Good senior coach. Eric Mangini, thanks for coming on. All right, good scene, Colin. Speaking of the Bay Area, I thought the NFC West is obviously very good. The Niners are two years removed from a Super Bowl. Everybody gets healthy now. Bow is back, Kittles back. Boas is back.

Seattle was 12 and 4. Rams have upgraded at quarterback. They were 10 and 6. Kyler was 8 and 8, and we don't even know if he has an NFL coach right now. We don't know if we like the coach. So it's a really good division. I mean, in Arizona, by the way, plays Seattle and San Francisco. Tough. For some reason, McVeigh owns the Cardinals.

but Shanahan and Pete Carroll have struggled with Arizona. And they're the fourth place team. That's the best fourth place team by a mile in the NFL. But I thought San Francisco got a little bit of a break. They open up with two new head coaches at Detroit and at Philadelphia. Two coaches I have no confidence in. It is pretty rough from September 26th, November 15th. That is a rough stretch.

Packers, Seahawks home at Kyler Murray by Colts. Bears is no day off. Arizona Rams. But boy, that division could be, one game could change that division. One game. I thought San Francisco, they get a soft open with new head coaches. It is rough from late September to mid-November. But you go November 21st at Jacksonville on.

It is a lot of dysfunction. It is a lot of rebuilds. You got the Houston, you got Atlanta, you got Jacksonville, you got Minnesota, you got the Bengals. I think the Titans step back. So for a division that is that great, that good, that'll probably be decided by a game, you get two newbie head coaches right out of the shoot and a lot of rebuilding dysfunction last seven, eight weeks. That's a pretty good schedule.

I mean, it was never going to be easy because you got the Seahawks twice and you got the Rams twice and you got Kyler Murray and Arizona twice. But I kind of like San Francisco schedule. A little soft landing early. Late's not bad either. Hustler turf equipment, most complete lineup of residential lawnmowers in America. There is a hustler dealer near you. Go to hustlerturf.com.

HustlerTurf.com. Bob Stoops around the corner. Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you. You funnier. This week, my guest, S&L's Mikey Day and headwriter, Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter.

Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. American soccer is about to explode. The World Cup is coming. Ramos sending on to earn a story.

I'm Tab Ramos. I'm Tom Boke. On our podcast, Inside American Soccer, you'll get the real storylines, the biggest decisions, and the truth about the U.S. national team. It wouldn't be a huge surprise if our team ends up in the quarterfinals or potentially a great run into the semifinals. Listen, Inside American Soccer with Tom Bogart and Tab Ramos on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, wherever you get your podcast. Will Ferrell's Big Money Players and IHeart Podcast presents Soccer Boms. So I'm Leanne. Yeah.

This is my best friend, Janet. Hey. And we have been joined at the hips since high school. Absolutely. A redacted amount of years later, we're still joined at the hip. Just a little bit bigger hips. This is a podcast. We're recording it as we tailgate our youth soccer games in the back of my Honda Odyssey.

With all the snacks and drinks. Why did you get hard seltzer instead of beer? Oh, they had a bogo. Well, then you got it. Listen to soccer moms on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano.

It's our favorite time of the year on our. podcast point game, the playoffs. We're digging into the biggest surprises of the season. And I'm looking back on some of my greatest playoff moments. If we didn't talk ever again, I was harmed. You just understood. That's how personal it got. Wow.

Then after that game seven, Mark keep coming to him. He's like, you know, I love you, dog. You know, it's all love. This was just playoffs. This was just basketball. So listen to Point Game on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.