The Herd with Colin Cowherd - 07/27/2021 - Best of The Herd

Episode Date: July 27, 2021

Colin rejoices at the return of Aaron Rodgers to Green Bay, saying it's a big win for everyone but there are four things to be worried about going into this season. Gregg Popovich creates a strawman argument to excuse USA losing from their loss to France. Simone Biles deserves to take a step back if she's not in the right head space even on a global stage. Plus, Colin brings you an early Top 10 NFL Herd Hierarchy!Guest: Dave Wannstedt Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. 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 funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer, 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 IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal, but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. 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. Hey, what's good, y'all? You're listening to Learn the Hard Way with your favorite therapist and host, Kear Games. This space is about black men's experiences, having honest conversations that it's really not safe to have anywhere, but you're having them with a licensed professional who knows what he's doing. How many men carry a suit or armor? It signals to the world that you're not to be played with. And just because you have the capability that does not mean that you need to. Listen and learn the hard way on the AHA radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast.

A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what I'm saying. Yep, that's me, Clifford Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, my basketball and college football journey, or my career in sports media. Well, now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversation. with athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated.

So let's get to it. Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Thanks for listening to The Best of Heard podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weekday. From 12 to 3 Eastern, 9 to noon Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and FS1, find your local station for the herd at Fox Sports Radio.com or stream us live every day on the IHeartRadio. by searching herd.

This is the best of the herd with Colin Cowherd on Fox Sports Radio. Ah, it is a Tuesday. Good to be back live in Los Angeles. This show is called The Herd. Wherever you may be and however you may be listening, IHeart Radio, Fox Sports Radio, and right here on a Tuesday on FS1. A lot of things breaking, not just in the NFL. and Joy Taylor is joining me in a Tuesday.

She's fresh off an exhausting day yesterday of travel cross-country and hosting multiple shows. Joy, how are things? I'm doing great. It is training camp week. Everybody starts today. Everybody's in. Everybody's ready to go. Can't wait.

Football's back. Already got players complaining. Players happy. So Aaron Rogers, his private jet arrived last night. He walked in and flip-flops this morning. We've got some video. he is officially a Packer as we thought he would be. He and the Packers negotiated this week to give him a little bit of a new contract.

He's in for one more year guaranteed to Green Bay, but the New Deal gives him the flexibility to leave after this year. He got flexibility. He got a little more leverage. He got a little more power. Did it differently than Russell Wilson, but he got what he wanted. Green Bay probably feels like they win with the New Deal. they get another year to look at Jordan Love.

Another year to see if Love is not the guy. They can get their chest pieces in order to make a trade or a move for another quarterback out on the market. The NFL wins because Aaron Rogers will play and not retire. Fox wins. We have the Packers. We like Aaron Rogers when he plays for an NFC team. So everybody feels like they can win. Aaron's got a little more leverage.

The Packers feel like, okay, all right, no chaos. We're still in the Super Bowl window. They will have an easier transition than it would have been if Aaron retired this morning. And Aaron Rogers has one great benefit. Carson went to a new team. Sam Darnold to a new team. Matt Stafford do a new team. Off of Tom Brady's success to a new team.

If those three can add juice to the. Panthers or the Colts or the Rams. And then Aaron Rogers says, I'm available. He will have far more suitors than Tom Brady did at his age. He's going to be 38 after this season. If Aaron can remain injury free, light it up, be his typical great self, doesn't have to be an MVP, can be very strong. And if Wentz and Darnold and Brady now and Stafford have all added juice

to their football teams. Aaron's going to have multiple teams. It will largely be his choice because he won't play for, you know, a tire fire. And the team knows that. So that is the good scenario this morning. That is positive Uncle Colin. It's all good. It's fantastic.

Everybody wins. Fox, the NFL. Aaron Rogers has flexibility and the Packers. Now, if I may, can I offer the do? doomsday scenario. This is where I have to be pessimistic, and I do think there's about a 25% chance of this happening.

I want you to consider four things. Number one, Aaron Rogers is snippy and condescending when he's winning and in a good mood. Number two, the season ended bizarrely last year with his head coach Matt LaFleur, who's still a kid. He pulled him off the field for a field goal attempt against Tom Brady. Bazaar.

Number three, David Boktiari, the best left tackle in football, according to grading systems, is coming off of injury and will not play until 100% healthy. He'll miss September games. And number four, they did not retain their pro bowl center. Corey Lindley, the Chargers, picked him up. Two offensive linemen, one gone, one perhaps, perhaps, Not ready to go.

Look at the Packers schedule. Six of the eight best sack teams are on it, mostly early by the middle of the season, by week three, at the Niners, followed by Steelers, two weeks later at the Bears, then Washington's incredible front. At Arizona, followed by at the chiefs, Seahawks, Vikings, Rams, there's a lot of Aaron Donald and Khalil Mack

and the Washington football team. that is a handful. And what if Aaron gets nicked up a little? Offensive line, by the way, I looked this morning, it's the lowest graded Packer offensive line that I can recall with Aaron. It's middle of the pack, 15, 16, usually top 5 or 6. Lost a Pro Bowl center, David Bakhtiari off surgery. They've drafted several last couple years.

They're kind of developing the O line. They'll be young. They face a bunch of great pass rushing teams. Aaron gets knocked down, hit, hurt, they lose. And he's not in a great mood when they win. And he misses a game and decides to miss a second. And people ask, how committed is he? Aaron, how do you feel?

Why are you not playing? I mean, you're walking around and practicing. And then it gets ugly. Look at the Packer's schedule. What if Devante Adams? A wide receiver who's missed six games in the last couple of years gets nicked up. The offense looks flat. Aaron, who again can struggle when things are not right, when things are not ideal.

He's never been great in discomfort. He can get, you know, Aaron-ish. Devante Adams hurt. Aaron nicked up. Misses a game. Questions about his commitment. Look at this schedule. Folks, the over-under in Vegas before all this nonsense was 10 and a half wins.

I had them at 10 and 7. That's a lot of losses. And late September and early October to early November is a brutal stretch of excellent pass rushing teams, very good elite pass rushers, Niners, Steelers, Bears, Washington, Arizona, Kansas City, Seattle, at Minnesota, then Aaron Donald at home. It's not like it's easy in the end where they're at Baltimore, Cleveland and Miles Garrett, Minnesota again. There is a worst case scenario.

There is. So I think this morning it depends on if you're a Packer fan and wear a cheese hat, you think it's great. If you're a Bears fan and hate the Packers, you can relish in my second argument. I'm neither, but my takeaway is I always have a Super Bowl bubble and they feel like they're just on the outside of it. I put Cleveland there too. Cleveland has no history of great success. How will they handle winning? I don't know. Green Bay, tough schedule, banged up offensive lines, sort of developing young offensive linemen, and they just face pass rush after great pass rusher. I think it could go either way.

My guess is they're a good team not special, but Aaron is officially back. The video is out. He looks California cool and his flip-flops and his t-shirt and I can't wait for it. There's the video right there. Can't wait for it. By the way, Aaron did what Aaron does. He was predictable in that Aaron let his surrogates and media friends do the talking for the last several months. So Aaron can come back at his first big press conference and say, you know, you guys blew this out of proportion.

You can't quote me being Mr. Negative. There was a lot of speculation here, a lot of rampant rumors. We had a very easy sit down over Zoom for an hour, got some things worked out. That's as we predicted the way Aaron was going to deliver it. have his friends, his surrogates, his media pals deliver it. He doesn't have to get quoted. He can be sort of nonchalant during that Gulf the match. He can be nonchalant with his friends.

And so he can come back and say, I don't know what you guys are talking about. These media people just, you know, they make up rumors. And of course, you know, a lot of fans buy into that. We used to have a president that did that all the time where, oh, it's just rumors and hearsay. And the media is the bad guys. and it was all great, but we know it's not. We know it was ugly. We know it was intense.

We know there were agents barking at general managers, and this is going to create all sorts of walking on eggshell moments, just like Durant and the Warriors. We all knew he was gone. There was a lot of walking on eggshells, and the entire time the Warriors told us, it's all good. You media people.

And then we find out later that Draymond and Durant hated each, other and that Steve Kerr and Bob Myers were walking on eggshells and Steph and Clay and everybody didn't know what to say. It's the way it always works. Blame the bad media. It's all good here. But I think we all know if you're honest with yourself that it's not all good here. All right. Simone Biles, the greatest gymnast in USA history. step back because of the stress and pressure of the Olympic spotlight. Team USA basketball, a clunker. Wow.

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. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast 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 I-Hard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what you're saying. Yep, that's me, Cliver Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball. basketball to college football or my career in sports media.

Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. One week, I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment, and the next we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music. The Clifford Show isn't just a podcast. It's a space for honest conversations, stories that don't always get told,

and for people who are chasing something bigger. So, if you've ever supported me or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right where you need to be. Listen to The Clifford Show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. Do you remember when Diana Ross double-tap Little Kim's boobs at the VMAs? Or when Kanye said that George Bush didn't like black people. I know what you're thinking.

What the hell does George Bush got to do with a little Kim? Well, you can find out on the Look Back at it podcast. I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick it here, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. Including a recent episode with Mark Lamont Hill waxing all about crack in the 80s. To be clear, 84 is big to me, not just because of crack. I'm down to talk about crack on day, but just so y'all know.

I mean, at this point, Mark, this is the second episode where we've discussed cracks. So I'm starting to see that there's a through line. We also have AIDS on the table right now. Thank you finishing that sentence. Yes. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Really? Yeah.

For me, it's one of the most important years for black people in American history. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hard Way with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kear Games. And in recognition of mental health awareness month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking.

Tripp Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing. And we're still chasing it, and we don't know when we've done enough. Because people scoreboard watch. Life becomes about wins and losses.

Steve Burns, Dustin Ross. you find it important to be a good person while you hear on earth? Are you a good person because you're afraid? Because that's two different intentions, bro. Absolutely. And that's two different levels of trust. I want you to just really be a good person. Join me, Keir Gaines, is we have real conversations about healing,

growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, Learn the Hardway. Open your free, Our Heart Radio app. Search Learn the Hardway and listen now. By the way, Team USA lost to France. I watched a big portion of that. And Greg Popovich now is doing this. It's called a straw man argument where you make an argument that doesn't really exist.

Nobody's really arguing about it. After Team USA lost to France and France is good, let's make no mistake. They've got four or five NBA players, not stars, but players. And Greg Popovich said, you guys keep dissing teams like France. You think we're going to beat them by 30? Nobody thought that. We were favored by 11 and a half. Nobody thought we were going to win by 30, Greg.

Stop just making stuff up to protect yourself. Psychologists call that projecting. The United States best player is K.D. or Dame or Devin Booker. France's best is Nicholas Batum. Enough with the excuses. The NBA draft is coming up. What, Thursday? I looked it up this morning.

The top 15 players, 13 are American kids. We still have a preponderance of the world's best basketball players. Don't be guilted into admitting America's number one in a lot of things. Basketball remains one of those things. I know you can't go to the Internet and say that or the Twitter police will come raining down with their anti-American nonsense. But we're number one in basketball. Now, individually, there are some great international players. They won a lot of awards this year in the NBA, MVP, and first team all NBA and Luka and sensational.

individually, especially big men, but there is no team close to us. To give you an example, if you took all the other Olympic teams, all of them, their entire roster, they have two all-stars. Rudy Gobert and Luca, our team has 10. Just our team has 10. We should have won this game. We should have won it rather comfortably. We're poorly coached and poorly designed and constructed.

I've been saying this forever on Greg Popovich. He's a bully. He's what he despise. He makes stuff up. He doesn't listen to facts. He constantly projects at the podium. Sounds like a politician he didn't like much and often criticized publicly. He's become him making crap up to suit his argument.

Nobody thought we were going to beat France by 30. No reasonable person did. In fact, Joy was on the show. I predicted America would win the silver medal last week. That's what I said. They'll win the silver medal. perhaps I was a bit optimistic, but I still think they'll get to the championship game. We have the most basketball talent, and it's not really that close.

Individually, especially with Big Man, the world is doing a remarkable job to get better. There are several reasons why we lost. You know, again, I don't think this is a terribly well-constructed team, but our season just ended. Some of the guys on this roster literally were in a championship parade, got in a plane, flew to Tokyo, took a nap, got up and played. Secondly, is our players now make so much money with basketball and shoe deals and social media. How invested are they? Number three, a lot of top players opt out. A lot of our best NBA players are veterans who have been on Olympic teams before and just don't want to do it again.

We had a pandemic and then we had a condensed season and they want rest. I just don't want to play right now and I don't blame them. But let's stop with the excuses. Greg Popovich. Nobody that's reasonable thought we should beat France by 30. Most people, myself included, thought it would be competitive. The line was 11 and a half. That seemed 9, 10, 11 reasonable.

This feels like a coach who got out coached and doesn't want to admit it. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd. weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific. Hey, it's me, Rob Parker. Check out my weekly MLB podcast Inside the Parker for 22 minutes of piping hot baseball talk featuring the biggest names and newsmakers in the sport. Whether you believe in analytics or the eye test, we've got all the bases covered. New episodes drop every Thursday, so do yourself a favor and listen to Inside the Parker

with Rob Parker on the IHartRadio app or wherever you get your podcast. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. 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. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what you're saying. Yep, that's me, Cliver Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media.

Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. One week, I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment, and the next we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music. The Clivert Show isn't just a podcast, it's a space for honest conversations, stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger.

So, if you've ever supported me, or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right where you need to be. Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. Do you remember when Diana Ross double-tap Little Kim's boobs at the VMAs?

Or when Kanye said that George Bush didn't like black people. I know what you're thinking. What the hell does George Bush got to do with Little Kim? Well, you can find out on the Look Back at it podcast. I'm Sam Jette. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick it here, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. Including a recent episode with Mark Lamont Hill waxing all about crack in the 80s.

To be clear, 84 is big to me, not just because of crack. I'm down to talk about crack on day, but just so y'all know. I mean, at this point, Mark, this is the second episode where we've discussed crack, so I'm starting to see that there's a through line. We also have AIDS on the table right now, so. They're finishing that sentence. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Really?

Yeah. For me, it's one of the most important years for black people in American history. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hard Way with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kear Games. And in recognition of mental health awareness month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking. Trip Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing.

And we're still chasing it. And we don't know when we've done enough. Because people scoreboard watch. Life becomes about wins and losses. Steve Burns, Dustin Ross, because you find it important to be a good person while you hear on earth. Are you a good person because you're afraid? Because that's two different intentions, bro. Absolutely.

And that's two different levels of trust. I want you to just really be a good person. Join me, Kear Gaines, as we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, Learn the Hard Way. Open your free, I Heart Radio app. Search, learn the hard way, and listen now.

The Simone Biles story is getting a lot of play, and it'll double down on what I said earlier. Simone Biles has 27 gold medals in the Olympics and World Championships. she's 24. She's the greatest gymnast in the history of the world. They have to change rules. It's like Tiger was so good at golf, they had to change damn courses.

27 goals. She's 24 years old. She has five events left. She had a brief moment where she wasn't in the right space. Well, Michael Phelps talked about suicide and retired. twice. When Michael Phelps left swimming the first time, retired, he said, I can't take it. I don't want it. I've got to get away from the sport. It was eating him alive. He admits it. He's talked publicly. They've done specials. In fact, I just watched him narrate a special on HBO. It's

fascinating. I'd love to have Michael Phelps on. He's amazing. I just watched a special a month ago that he narrates. I'll watch it again. I'll give you the, you have to watch it. It's fantastic. The pressure for these athletes, these are not basketball players where they got a game tomorrow. Baseball players, I struck out in the first, you're up in the fourth, the seventh and ninth. Football play. Tom Brady's won games in which he's thrown three interceptions. You get 90 seconds on a global stage wearing an American uniform. You have trained nine years. Now these Olympics, no parents, no grandparents, no grandparents, no social.

support group in empty venues, it just echoes a lot. The greatest gymnast in world history. And I'm saying that. There's probably a Romanian that's up there. I know they dominated the sport. But I'm thinking if America's athletes are getting 27 goals, if somebody won 28, my bad. But that's pretty amazing. And she had a brief moment where she said, hey, I know me.

I'm a step back on this thing. And you want to criticize her? I drove to work this morning thinking, it's weird. Like, I'm a team sport guy. How could you do this? And then I thought to myself, wait a minute, it's gymnastics. It's not baseball. It's not football.

It's not soccer. It's gymnastics and swimming and ice skating. And the two greatest Americans ever are Michael Phelps and this young woman, ever. And both have had to at times. I had a panic attack in an airplane about five years ago on an airplane. By the way, I had a cocktail. I could breathe. Nobody was watching me.

And something happened to my heart. I'd been going through a stressful situation in my life. I'm on an airplane. And I am just, I had to get up. I'm freaking out. I'm having a panic attack. Thank God we were 20 minutes from landing. I got off that plane.

I literally had to sit down in a bathroom. Can you imagine wearing an American uniform? The pressure, Russia, the answer. You're the greatest. Go perform. 90 seconds. I don't know how they do it. I'm serious.

I don't know how any of these athletes do it. I really don't. So I look at Simone and Michael Phelps. They have pressure that Brady never faces. Michael never faced. Shack never faced. Derek Jeter never faced. Got another at bat tomorrow.

Baseball plays 162 games a year. She has 162 seconds. And by the way, she's competing for the country. Every other baseball team is rooting against Jeter. I don't know how she does it. I don't know how Michael did it. Tip of the cap to all of them. Take a deep breath.

Go have a smoothie. Do what you got to do to get back into the right place. I'm off my soapbox. One more herd? The herd streams 24 hours a day. days a week within the IHeart Radio app. Search Her to listen live or on demand whenever you'd like. Okay, so by the way, now all the teams report today, right?

So I just thought today was a good day. I'll do it quickly. I'm just going to give you Aaron Rogers, return to Green Bay, somebody that knows them well, Mike Silver, NFL network around the corner. So I'm just going to give you this morning, we had a Cam Acres injury, we've had drama. So this is my first day of camp top 10 in the NFL right here. hierarchy. Time is now, let's go. The top 10 NFL teams, according to Collins. Number 10.

The 49ers, they returned 19 of 22 starters. They were the most injured team in the NFL last year. They cannot face this onslaught of injuries again. I can't put him higher because I do believe at some point Trey Lance will be asked to start. He's played one football game in two years. But this is a Super Bowl roster, coach, staff, O-line, D-line playmakers, if Garoppolo is healthy. Number nine. Rams, I downgrade them a little bit. I think the Cam Acres injury is more serious than anybody in the media is acknowledging. They lost Malcolm Brown, their power back to the dolphins, and now Cam Acres.

They don't have a number one back. Forget depth. They don't have a number one back. And Sean McVeigh's offense is built on the power running game. I've got them nine. The Colts, who I like a lot, but they are the only AFC playoff team with a new quarterback Carson Wentz. Their offensive line is really, really strong. Top three in the league.

I'd say number two right now or number one. And they added Eric Fisher to an already great old line. Also, Jonathan Taylor became a star at running back late last year after Thanksgiving. They're going to be a power running team. That will allow Carson Wentz to slowly ease himself back in. Number eight. Number seven. I think the Chargers here are really special.

Brandon Staley's a rookie coach, and they are rebuilding the O-line, four new starters. By the way, three of them are really, really good. Number six. The Browns. Now, again, you get into the top five and six. This is all inches. They return all 11 starters on offense. A little concerned about defense.

They return only four starters, brand new secondary. I didn't like losing Shelvin's. Richardson. He was a little bit of a cap casualty. I think Jadabian Clownie is a highlight player. Sheldon Richardson gets no highlights but is a better player. I'm a little worried about the back end of their defense and the loss of Sheldon Richardson. Number five. And again, coin flip. The Ravens to me got a little better at their weakest spot wide receiver return 10 or 11 defensive starters. Better defense than Cleveland. Now, can they get better throwing the ball down the field. Well, in the draft and free agency, they attacked their anemic wide receiving

core. So I think Cleveland and Baltimore, it is a coin flip. I have them at five. Number four. The Seattle Seahawks, they addressed their tight end position. They went and got Gerald Everett from the Rams. They addressed their offensive line position, Gabe Jackson, who probably has only one or two years left. He's not great, but he's an upgrade. They have a new offensive coordinator, but I do believe they've got a lot of new pieces. If they can be healthy. They've got stars at wide receiver, quarterback, linebacker, safety, edge rusher. This is a star-studded Rams-like team. Number three. Buffalo may very well win the Super Bowl, 21 of 22 starters from last year.

They added another good receiver to Cole Beasley and Stefan Diggs, Emmanuel Sanders. They have upgraded their defensive line, which was a weakness. I like their secondary. They just can't guard guys all day. Buffalo at three. Kansas City returns only one of their five starting offensive linemen. So it's a rebuild on the O line. I love everybody they got, but it's a rebuild. What does that tell me? Offensive lines, they're not going to be tight until Thanksgiving,

but they're a Super Bowl favorite in Vegas, which I don't disagree with. Number one. Tampa. What do you want me to say? They return everybody. All the coaches, all the players. I don't think they're going 17 and no. I think that's nonsense and ridiculous.

but Tom, you know, this is not a team that's going to take a precipitous dip. That's just not Brady's DNA. Brady wakes up and yells at people to brush their teeth. Like he's too willful, too aspirational. He's got a Michael Jordan thing here where there's almost a guilt in the locker room if you don't put the effort in Tom does. So even if they're a little flat early, they'll be ready to go during the playoffs. That's my top 10.

Don't have the Packers in right now because there's just too much drama. I worry about their schedule and David Boktiari's health. Cole Lindley's gone to center. I don't know how good their offensive line is. I went and checked it was yesterday. This is the lowest graded offensive line for the Packers in some time. Six of the eight best sack teams, they face them in October or early November. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific.

By the way, the last time the Dolphins in Miami want to play on. game, Dave Wonstat was the coach. The last time the Bears won a road playoff game, Dave Wonstat was the coach. He now joins us live from Chicago. So Aaron Rogers got his flip-flops on and his shades on. He just kind of saunters in, Dave. What do you make of the situation in Green Bay? Well, I can tell you this.

I was on the radio this morning here in Chicago, and the Bears fans enjoyed it while it lasted. Okay. And now it's back to reality. We all see the pictures. He's back. We've heard the quotes. And so the bears are focused on what they got to do. But you know, my spin on this thing, Colin, everyone's, it's not about Aaron Rogers. I mean, I came to the conclusion, you know, doing this for 40 years that players are motivated by two things. And everybody wants to talk about the rings and everybody wants to talk about pride. But, but I really believe that it's peer, and money. That's the two things that get players playing at the highest level they can possibly play. And when you look at this situation, Aaron Rogers, number one, he's got to play big this year. If he wants to leave and be a free agent and get the Packers draft picks or whatever the deal says, he's got to play big again. So you got, and then the other thing too is the contract. He's playing for a new contract. I know everybody can say about the money, but that's part of it. So I am not worried about Aaron Rogers.

My focus is on the head coach. Think about this for a minute. Every head coach has a window where you got to hit it big. And in some programs, it might be five years. In some programs, it might be two years. But when you talk to Packer fans, there was enough doubt from the media, from the fans, I think probably inside that locker room, that how the Packers lost. lost that game in the playoffs at home to Tampa, that, you know, that window is closing real

fast on Matt LaFourne, and he knows it. The other thing that Matt LaFourne, I feel bad for the guy because now here you got your quarterback coming in. The club has made concessions. Remember how Green Bay won last year. Yes, Aaron Rogers MVP, phenomenal year. You know, we know first Ballot Hall of Fame. But they ran the football. Aaron Jones was one of the top rushing running backs, top five in the whole NFL. Yeah.

So, you know, and so my point is this, Matt Flore, he sees that window, the floor, he sees the window closing. And at the same time, now here's Aaron Rogers. Does he want to throw it? Can I stand up in front of this team and say,

this is how we're going to do it? We're going to be balanced and we're going to run the ball again. And, I mean, I I just think the guy's in a real tough spot. That's where I'm going to be focused all season, following him how he lets this offense and this team unfold. Well, no, it is absolutely right. What you're basically saying is, and I said this earlier,

Carson Wentz, new team, Matt Stafford, new team. If they come out, and Tom Brady's already done it, and they add juice to the team, it'll help Aaron Rogers. Because now you've got like three guys that left. But to your point is Matt LaFleur probably looks at this team and thinks, I'm going to run the football. I got a new offensive line. I don't want Aaron in the crosshairs of this thing.

It is interesting. If you were, I think I asked you this before, but I want you to re-address it. Would you address all this as a coach this whole offseason, or do you just pretend it didn't happen? Oh, no. You have to, I mean, you're going to, he's going to be upbeat. I guarantee you, because he, we know the chance that he had without Aaron Rogers. Let's not kid ourselves that.

that so he's excited how far are you going to go with letting Aaron Rogers do what he wants to do. Now, you know what? I don't let's just hope that Aaron Rogers goes in and says, hey, we got to be balanced and we got to do what we did last year, coach. I'm on board. I mean, now everything is clean. That's what Tom Brady did. When they were throwing the ball down the field and we talked about it calling last year on the show and Tom's getting hit in the moth and he can't get the ball. Tom basically said time out.

Put drunk in there. We need to run the ball. We need to give me some protection, block. And that's exactly what Tampa did the last half of the season. And it was the difference in their season offensively. And the difference in Tom. So I think we just got to keep, you know, Matt LaFour has got to hope that what they did last year to win,

that Aaron was totally involved in that. And he was totally all in, as we say. He was totally bought in. to the balanced attack. That's what you better hope for if you're Matt LaFloric Green Bay. Okay, again, the last time the Bears won a road playoff game, you were head coach. I got to ask you about Chicago, a team and organization, GM coach down. You know everybody in that organization or seemingly everybody.

Joy and I have gone back on this is that what Justin Fields could do, Andy Dalton can't. There's going to be days at camp, coach. He's just going to look spectacular. He's a big-time athlete with a big-time arm. And that's not always the case. I mean, Tua in Miami is not a dynamic athlete. Hell, Fitzpatrick is a better athlete than Tua. But Justin Fields is going to have days at practice and in exhibition games

where that locker room is going to watch him and think, that kid's great. How do you balance, you probably promised Andy Dalton start one. How do you balance it when you've got this wildly talented new player? he's probably the better athlete. The players have seen it at practice and on film. Do you think Matt Nagy's going to have a real balancing act in that locker room? I'll tell you what.

If you went out on the street right here and asked 10 people who the starting quarterback is for the Bears, I think that eight of them might say Justin Fields. I mean, the garage swell up here for this kid is phenomenal. It truly is. And if I'm Matt Nagy, I'm going to call in Andy Dalton's in a tough spot. And I've lived and died in this town. I know these people.

Everybody's just waiting, unfortunately, for Andy Dalton to fail. The first time that he plays bad and throws interceptions, you know, the media is going to come unglued. The fans are going to come unglued. And the locker room's probably going to have some doubts. And so I don't, it's going to happen. When is it going to happen? I have no idea.

For Andy's sake, I hope it doesn't happen. I really like the Bears this year. I think they're going to have a great year. But Andy Dalton, you talk about a quarterback in the country. I don't know if there's anybody that's under more pressure right now than Andy Dalton, because every throw will be evaluated by everybody. Okay, Dak Prescott, he says, I want to play. And then you think to yourself, I don't know if I want him to play,

but I do think there's a psychology, Dave, that when you've been, injured, it's hard to get back on that bike. I remember Tom Brady getting hurt, and you could tell for a year, he didn't like anybody near his feet, near his knees. He wasn't comfortable. How many snaps do you play DAC coming off that injury in the preseason if you're Mike McCarthy? Oh, I would play in a couple series. I mean, there's no question about that. And it doesn't matter how many passes he throws. You're going to get all that evaluation from practice. But I do think he needs to be in the huddle and you can run the ball and I and you know what this is your great opportunity. I mean, you call in Zeke, Zeke Elliott and say, hey, Zeke, Zico, you know, we're caught on you.

You know, we got to get back in the flow of things and you're going to be the guy. They get those offensive linemen. I look, I'm picking Dallas to win that division and I think they're a playoff team and I don't think it's going to take much to get that defense back on track. They're going back to the old four, three that Dallas was running there since Jimmy and myself, we went there. They got away from it. They're back to that. Their players fit that mold better.

I think Dallas is going to be a better football team than people give them credit for. I really, really do. By the way, I think Cincinnati is going to be vastly improved. Cleveland's roster is great. Baltimore sensationally run. What do you make of your Steelers this year? Bad O-line, coach. Not a good O line.

Yeah. I know. And they got a new offensive coordinator. We know that. You know, I love the running back. Harris that they drafted out of Alabama. I think the kid's a real player. And, you know, we're talking about seeing how Matt LaFleuror is going to handle this thing.

I'm anxious to see what they do offensively with Pittsburgh. Because I know what Mike Tomlin wants to do. I mean, I know Mike Wano. Mike wants to run the football and play defense. They got a top five defense in the last. league and then when he has opportunities to make plays make plays so whether they make that change or not i mean i think we're going to find out about the steeler's future for the season and week one i want to watch i watch the first quarter of that first game and i'll tell you i'll have an

answer for you then exactly which direction i think that arrow's point for them this year all right you're going to a steakhouse steakhouse or italian tonight in chicago oh probably italian I think I'm going to go over to Tafanos over in Little Italy. Joey de Bono, my buddy, get some good, homemade sausage and peppers. You know, it's the best in time. Oh, my gosh. You know, Dave knows everybody there, Chief of Police. Anything goes wrong.

Flat tire to your alarm goes off at your house. Do you need a new offensive coordinator? Dave knows everybody in Chicago. Good scene to coach. All right, Colin. Good talking to him. Another podcast from some SNL, late-night comedy guy, not quite. On Humor Me with Robert Smygel and Friends, me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier.

This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer 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 IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal. but encouraged. It's the enhanced games.

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.

Hey, what's good, y'all? You're listening to and learn the hard way with your favorite therapist and host Kear Games. This space is about black men's experiences, having honest conversations that it's really not safe to have anywhere, but you're having them with a licensed professional who knows what he's doing. How many men carry a suit or armor? It signals to the world that you're not to be played with.

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You might have seen the skits, my basketball and college football journey, or my career in sports media. Well, now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifers Show. This is a place for raw, unfilled of conversations with athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard,

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