The Herd with Colin Cowherd - 09/14/2021 - HOUR 1 - Derek Carr, USC, Lamar Jackson

Episode Date: September 14, 2021

The difference between Derek Carr and Baker MayfieldUSC has fired their head coachColin defends Lamar JacksonGuest: Peter Schrager Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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I don't care what I'm saying. Yep, that's me, Cliver 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 Clifers Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations 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 Iheart radio app,

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Find your local station for the herd at Fox Sports Radio.com or stream us live every day on the iHeartRadio app by searching Herd. You're listening to Fox Sports Radio. Oh, here we go. It is a Tuesday. I'm rambunctious. Live in Los Angeles. It's the hurt. Wherever you may be, and however, you may be listening, I-Heart Radio, Fox Sports Radio, and FS1.

I am going to lose myself a little this morning. because when I get frustrated, I get a little preachy, and I'm going to get a little preachy with USC looking for a football coach in five minutes. I'm not going to lead with it. I want to lead with that S show I watched last night on television. It was amazing. If the movie Hangover was a game, that was last night. That's a good line.

Yes, I've lived The Hangover in Vegas many times. That was, yeah. Game one, game lost, you had money, you lost. Oh, but I mean, how Vegas was it? Oh, it was big. How Vegas was the beginning of it. I was loving it. It was incredible.

So let me start with that. Nothing against the St. Louis Rams, but the L.A. Rams feel bigger. Nothing against, you know, your Jacksonville Jaguars or your Oakland Raiders. But, God, is Vegas perfect? Are the Raiders perfect for Vegas? Is Vegas perfect for the Raiders? But I want to talk about Derek Carr. And there are 10 quarterbacks in this league better than Derek Carr.

And there's 20 quarterbacks in this league that Derek Carr is better than. He's in a group of two or three guys we can argue about. Tanna Hill, Derek Carr, I like Carr. Matt Ryan, Derek Carr, I don't know. Carson Wentz, Derek Carr. He's not as good as 10. He's better than 20. And then we can argue about stuff.

Dax probably better, but he's in that class. But what he did last night is what Baker Mayfield could not do Sunday. Almost no time in the clock. He trails. Everybody in the stadium, including the defense, knows he has to pass. Boom, boom, field goal overtime win. That's what Baker couldn't do Sunday. Derek had 37 seconds.

Baker had two minutes. Baker had two drives. three and out on one, interception on the other. Derek had one and 37 seconds with a worst supporting cast and a worst offensive line. And Derek Carr did what top 12 quarterbacks do. This is what he said yesterday. 99% of this league is paid to be able to lead a team down the field when they have a great offensive line, a great running game, a great scheme, and the defense has no idea what you're doing. That's Baker Mayfield Monday.

or Sunday. That's what you're paid to do. That's just being a guy. Talking as a sports host, you could just be a person. Get ratings. That's the difference. Derek Card did what Baker couldn't do. 37 seconds.

Baker had two drives. His final drive, you had two minutes. One three and out, one pick. This NFL is not about just, hey, I've got a lead. That's why I always say about Alabama quarterbacks. It's easy when you got a lead. How'd Mac Jones look trailing? How'd Mac Jones look

with not a lot of time? How'd Mac Jones look when maybe the other team had more good players than the team you're on? That's the difference. Derek Carr, every single human knew. You got about three plays. That's it. And you have to throw. Pin the ears back.

Bring them. Linebackers drop. 60Bs. Boom. Boom. Field goal. Overtime wins it. 435 yards.

Two touchdowns. pick should have been caught, the receiver got a hand on it. But that's the difference between a guy and special. And Derek isn't as good as the top 10 in this league. You know who they are. And he's better than 20. He's in the argument with Tanna Hill and Matt Ryan and maybe a Carson Wentz. And by the way, most good quarterbacks above Derek Carr in this league, Josh Allen, Russell Wilson, Aaron Rogers, Patrick Mahomes, Tom Brady, you know, the top guys. They're not asked to carry a bad roster. Derek Carr's asked to carry a bad roster. This is a fourth place team. This team's going to finish seven and ten. They don't have Denver's roster. They don't have the Chargers

roster. They don't have Kansas City's roster. Derek's one of the only really, really good quarterbacks in this league. The other is Matt Ryan, who is asked to carry a suboptimal roster. So I'm going to defend him time and time again. I've said this. It's easy to have a great life if you're a trust fund kid. It's hard when you come from chaos and you have to carry parents or carry a brother and carry a sister and work in high school, work in college. Derek Carr may have the most dysfunctional front office in the NFL.

Guy's fired in the offseason. The GM's had multiple picks with. Gruden's crazy town. I don't know if he can coach anymore. Their offensive lines not as good as last year. The offense is basically carried by two guys, Derek Carr and Darren Waller, and they're both excellent. Waller's insane.

But I love what I saw last night. I'm not saying he's as good as the top. I'm not saying he's Russell Wilson. That's not what I'm saying. But what he did last night, that is elite level quarterbacking. You look up at a stadium, 37 seconds. You don't have a great roster. They're double team in Darren Waller.

You've got to get down the field for a field goal and tie it. Everybody knows you're throwing. Linebackers are dropping in the coverage. Pinning their ears back. Boom, boom, boom. field goal OT win it. That's elite quarterback play. Here's Derek Carr. It reminded me so much of my career so far. A lot of this, you know what I'm saying? And I'm thankful for this group because on both sides we made plays to help us lose it and to help us win it. But the only thing

that matters at the end day is that score is we've talked about. So I'm glad that we won. All right. Congrats to Derek Carr. I will support Lamar Jackson in a little bit. fired their coach yesterday. Nice guy didn't get it done. No reason to stomp on him. Wonderful family man. Good luck to Clay Hilton. I love college football and you know that and I especially love USC. College football though has worn me out in recent years. I talked much less about it today than I ever have because college football is in a perpetual cycle of thinking small, looking down. I'm not into that. I read every single college football reporter yesterday, and it was all the same names up for the USC job.

Just a bunch of nice college guys. They coach in towns like Ames, Iowa, and rural Pennsylvania. Bruh, it's L.A. Last time this program mattered, they had an NFL coach Pete Carroll. They didn't matter before then until they had an NFL guy, John Robinson. When's the last time UCLA mattered? Dick Vermeal was at their best. They're winning again with Chip Kelly, NFL coaches.

When's the last time Miami mattered? Butch Davis. Stop bringing guys from Temple to your program. There's three urban universities in America with powerful college football programs, Miami, USC, and UCLA. And if you look at the most successful guys that have cut through, It's Butch Davis, Jimmy Johnson, and Dennis Erickson, NFL guys. USC, John Robinson, Pete Carroll.

And by the way, Sark, who's coached in the NFL and could get a job in the NFL again, I think at the coordinator level, he was successful before he had personal issues. UCLA, Dick Vermeel, now Chip Kelly's got him rolling. They get the big city. They're not small-town guys. They get the big picture. College football now has a name. image likeness reality.

It is an avalanche and it's going a million miles downhill. And you listen to all these college coaches. They're all freaking out about NIL. My players are going to make money. NFL guys coach millionaires. That's the future of this sport. I would get on the phone to Doug Peterson, to Anthony Lynn, to Matt Nagy,

NFL coaches. Doug Peterson won a Super Bowl with Nick Foles. Matt Nagy got to the playoffs twice with Mitch Trubisky. Anthony Lynn won a playoff game with a 109-year-old Philip Rivers and a battle line. They've got a presence.

They're not control freaks like all these college coaches. They don't freak out with name-image likeness. They don't need control because they have owners in the NFL. NFL coaches even Belich. Trade Garoppolo. Trade Garoppolo. That's what Bill did. Andy Reed has no control.

Sean Payton didn't have any control. Pete Carroll has some. Probably not as much as he like. College. I see all these names. They're all fine coaches. Lincoln Riley. Why the hell would you leave Oklahoma for USC and their political nonsense?

James Franklin. He's a college coach. He wants control. He makes $8 million a year in rural Pennsylvania. What would you have to make in Los Angeles? 15 million? That's just for him. His staff's another 10 million.

He wants control. L.A. is not a town you can control. Every single team in this city that has gone big has been rewarded. The Lakers went big with LeBron and AD. The Rams went big with Stafford and Sean McVeigh. They took a dice roll. They went and got Justin Herbert. The Chargers went big.

Chip Kelly. a lot of money on Chip Kelly, even though he'd just come from an NFL situation that was a tire fire. It's now working. USC went big with Pete Carroll. They went big with Mookie Betts. This is not Ames, Iowa. It's not Knoxville. We don't want control freaks because nobody controls L.A.

The biggest stars in L.A. are bums after a movie bombs. If you're looking for control, live in the sticks. That's not what this city's about. And it's not what college football, if it ever is going to grow. is about. I got nothing against all these college coaches. They're wonderful guys. They win, but college coaches need control. That's why they're all freaking out with NIL. They're all freaking out. This thing's going off the rails. I got to pay players. Doug Peterson won a Super Bowl with Nick Foles over Brady. He's on the beach. Call him and pay him. Anthony Lynn Nagy.

They're good looking. They've got a presence. They don't need control. They've dealt with They've dealt with millionaires. Could college football once in my life go big and not rural? Nothing against Norman, Oklahoma. Nothing against Auburn, Alabama. College football is about small towns. Miami has been trying for years to win. Let's go get the temple guy.

Let's go get. Enough. Miami, get on the phone. Call Doug Peterson. You want a Super Bowl with Nick Foles. Come on. Look at USC. at UCLA, look at Miami. These are, when Miami and U.S., I've said this many times before,

college football misses USC and Miami. I've said this 100 times. When Miami and USC were at the top of this sport, it felt big. When USC played Texas, it got a 22 and a half rating. That's an NFL playoff rating. Now it gets 15s. It feels insular and small. Plus, if you go get a college guy, You've got to deal with his agent and he'll screw up his recruiting class and he'll deny it. God, get out of that mess. If college football and USC are going to grow, for the lover, you know what? Go big. The sport, by the way, the NFL is now borrowing college stuff.

College should go to the NFL and borrow NFL stuff. If you look at USC, UCLA, UCLA, Miami, seven of their eight most successful coaches, NFL guys that saw the world beyond controlling the media and controlling the athletic department and controlling the athlete. Bras, those days are over. Athletes have control. And in Los Angeles, it is a distracted city. We got two NFL teams and star quarterback.

We got two NBA teams, four or five star players. The Dodgers have eight all stars. Years ago, I mean, just to give you a sense of what's happened in Los Angeles, because of Silicon. When Pete Carroll was here, Silicon Valley wasn't as big as it was. People are so distracted. Miami and L.A. have beaches. That's like another pro team. I mean, it's not about winning in Los Angeles. You have to cut through in Los Angeles. It's not about winning in Miami. You've got to cut through in Miami. They're too many things to do. Aquawater, NFL, NHL, NBA, baseball, go up to Fort Lauderdale for the weekend.

You've got waves. It's 82 degrees. Grab the surfboard. Same in Los Angeles. But I look at all this stuff right now. If you want to get the right coach, every single reporter that covers college football, the same 12 names, you know what's going to happen? 90% of those guys are going to turn you down or use USC to get a raise. That's what's happened with USC in Miami for years. Schools and coaches use you and agents use you to get a raise. Get out of that space. Go big.

Go pro. Please make the sport feel big again. There's my rant. All right. I'm fine. I lose my way a little bit sometimes when stuff's personal right next door to me. 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'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 I-Hard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win. Yep, that's me. Cliver Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skis.

hits, 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 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. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway 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. 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, is we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, Learn the Hardway. Open your free iHeartRadio app. Search Learn the Hardway and listen now. 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 a little count?

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 you all right, Yeah, yeah, literally. 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 there's a through line.

We also have AIDS on the table right now. Thank you 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.

Simply safe. They've got a new outdoor. Wireless security camera, 20% off their new system. SimplySafecollin.com. Their new camera, you can see your backyard, your front yard. In my backyard, it's just my dogs hanging out, sunbathing. That's what they do. So herd hierarchy, 40 minutes from now, top 10 teams of the week.

And it's an interesting one because you can win a game. Raiders won a game less. I bet the Raiders. I bet $50 on the Raiders. Baltimore's a better team. and Baltimore is going to finish as a playoff team. Okay. That was a tough spot for Lamar Jackson.

Monday night football on the road, cluster injuries at running back. That was not an easy spot for an opposing team last night. And Lamar Jackson, by the way, did finish with a higher pass rating than Derek Carr, and I like Derek Carr. So, but in our herd hierarchy today, I don't care if you won. Cleveland lost, and they're better than two or three or four or five or five or six or nine teams that won this past week. So it's going to be, you're not going to like my herd hierarchy. It's based on what I think you were going to be, what I saw in the opener.

That's in 40 minutes. Joy Taylor with the news. No, no, no, no, no, turn on the news. This is the herd line news. Well, Washington placed Ryan Fitzpatrick on injured reserve yesterday after an MRI confirmed his hip sublocation, sublexation. Hmm, that's an interesting. Not a doctor.

That's a big word for me. Everybody's a doctor. Haven't you read the internet? Yeah, I'm not. I'm not a doctor. I did not earn a degree in anything medical. But yes, he is on injured reserve for his hips. And there's no clear timetable for his return this season.

Okay, I don't get this, Joy. I didn't get this all off season. I don't get it now. What did I sell off sea? If you're a playoff team, you can only go so far when you're C at quarterback. Tyler Hennigke, Ryan, Fitz. I don't understand. this. I have been saying this the entire

offseason as well. It's why I don't it's why I didn't like Washington to win the division despite the fact that they clearly have the best defense and they have a lot of weapons. You just didn't address the quarterback position. I like Ryan Fitzpatrick a lot, but not

for a 17 game season. He's a very high end backup. He's been on nine teams. And now he's hurt again. It's like I just, listen, a lot of me and maybe I like Ron Rivera, but maybe I have a bias. Old school coaches kind of think I can win with defense and running. And that's just the way, even friends of mine in coaching think that way. You can't anymore.

The rules have changed. Bill Belichick can no longer win football games consistently with that defense and that coaching and that coordinator and that run game. Bill Belichick is losing home games now. You can't be rigid. I think Nick Sabin is a great example of that. Because this is what we're seeing with Nick Saban and his quarterbacks is a new Nick Saban. Yeah. It's fine to have your old school principals. That's right. But you've got to keep up with the times. There has to be a balance of the two. Nick Saban's literally been quoted saying in college football, where the coaching's not as good, he said, we just discovered with all the new rule changes, even our defense couldn't stop top team. So like I like Ron Rivera, but is he going old school here and not realizing you can only win

so many games. If you watch the Chargers Washington game on Sunday, it was great game actually. That was all Justin Herbert. The difference in those two teams was one guy. The better quarterback won the game. Not necessarily the better roster, the better defense. The better quarterback won the game.

Well, Ron Rivera is not planning to add any more quarterbacks to the team. He said, as of now, no, we've got a short week. We'll go through the week and we'll go from there. Taylor Heineke will start while Fitzpatrick is out and he's on Interpreserve, so he'll be out for a while. Kyle Allen will back Heineke up. And they signed Kyle Shermer, so he has been added to the practice squad.

They host the Giants on Thursday night football. Now, I understand if he's talking about temporarily, obviously, this is a short week. You want to focus on New York on Thursday and not trying to find a new quarterback. They're going to win that game, by the way. The Giants O' Line is going to get overwhelmed. Yeah, I'm actually starting to think that I don't want to overreact. Let me shut up. I know.

Let me shut up. Let me shut up. But, yes, I would agree with you. And it might make more sense to wait until next week to try and address that. But the idea that they're going to run this out with Taylor Heineke, no disrespect. But you're not going to win that division. And I don't think that you're a playoff team if you're in that situation. And I mean, you're looking at Dallas, who does have some question marks,

but they have the first or second best receiving core in the league. And Dak Prescott can get it to them. It really is funny about this business called the National Football League is you can do everything right. Everything. And if you don't have the quarterback right, it doesn't matter. It just doesn't. Listen, we know Kyle Shanahan's terrific, right? They do everything right.

They are like 7 and 22 without Garoppolo. I'm not talking Brady without Garoppolo. And it's like when I watch Washington, I'm like, okay, what are we doing here? I mean, I would feel better with Gardner Minshu. Oh, absolutely. No question. Hey, Gardner can play. Not great, but he can play.

But I think you would have a better, you'd have a better chance of winning the division with that defense and the weapons that you have with someone like Gardner. So the Packers were blown out by the Saints 383 in their season opener. There's some speculation that the season, the off-season drama with Aaron Rogers contributed to the loss. But Matt LaFleur did his best to try and shut that down. Oh, okay.

There's a national media site that, just before you got to, of your publisher's story saying that Rogers, uncertain status might have impacted things yesterday. Do you think there's anything to that as far as a leader goes and you know what to happen in the off season? Do you think there's any impact at all on that on this year's team? No, I think this team's focused on now. And unfortunately, sometimes in this league, you get humbled. And certainly we got humbled. And like I said, it's about how we respond to that. I disagree. nothing is everything.

Everything is something. You'd say that just about every day. It'd be one thing if they lost. 27, 26. Yeah. Even if they lost by 10. But to have Aaron Rogers, Aaron Jones, Devante Adams, Matt Lafleur, and score three points. And Aaron had his worst career day.

You can't tell me that's all a zany coincidence. Come on. I mean, you just can't. Yeah, you can't. You can't lose that bad. There's very few blowouts, especially to good teams. I understand. The Saints are not Houston.

And look how Houston played. There are no Panera bread states in the NFL. Right. Every player in the NFL is of an NFL caliber. That's a professional. They are good. Some are better. Some are great.

But you hear it from guys every single week. Like, we have to focus on this week. We've seen teams not take bad teams seriously and lose. It happens because you're dealing with professionals. There is no cakewalk, no matter how good or bad a team is. But this was a disaster. And I'm an Aaron Rogers supporter, and I think he has every right to want to have some control over his career. Again, I wouldn't necessarily have handled everything the way that he did, but that's who Aaron Rogers is.

And I have no problem with you being authentic to who you are. But there are consequences to spending your energy in other places. That's just how it works. Obviously, you're not going to spend 100% of your time in the gym. You're going to spend time with your family. you're going to spend time with your fiance, you're going to travel. You have an offseason for a reason, and that has value too. You've got to shut it down.

But there was a lot of drama. There was a lot of chat. And that's why I don't think that the backers are going to be as good as they were last year. And I don't think that's an overreaction to this game. There's a lot going on in that locker room. And when you spend that much time and energy talking about everything else, it's taking, you just can't do two things at once. You can't be hyper-focused on one thing while you're doing something else.

If I had six months where Anne and I were, struggling at home for six months. Am I going to tell you that it's a coincidence that my ratings went down for six months? No. Because my ratings are a rocket ship to the moon. And so if, and Aaron Rogers is the reigning MVP. Yeah. And he would have had a higher passer rating. This is true. If he spiked the ball on every snap. Okay. I'm not going with total coincidence. No, I'm not taking anything away from New Orleans, but this is not an untalented offense. No. If it was a loss, like you said, it would be one thing, but it was a disaster. Even if it's 30 to 20. They host the Lions on Monday night football. Good luck.

Hey, Detroit's got a little fighting. Detroit does have a little, they are a little spicy. I like it. Well, speaking of the Saints, James Winston took full advantage of his first start with the Saints, huge win over the Packers. And after the game, he spoke with Albert Beer about how happy he is in New Orleans. He said, I'm grateful to be with this team. I think anyone can see that this is a better team than I've ever been with. So that brings comfort to any quarterback. Well, time out. I think Tampa was pretty good.

Tampa was pretty good. Yeah, Tampa probably pretty good. So I don't know that. But I am happy. We both predicted that with this coach, he was a better fit than with Ariens and he'd have success. And I thought he had success. I loved watching it.

Obviously, I'm not rooting against the Packers or anything. But, like, again, I personally am not a fan of quarterback competitions. I think they're mostly silly. Yeah. It's a little bit of a game for the coaches to get a little competitive edge. It's like, oh, we've got to earn your spot and all that. Like, okay, James Wilson had 70 regular NFL season starts. He was obviously going to win this starting job.

And he should, and he showed it. And we had a lot of questions about what was going to happen with this Saints offense. They're sort of in a rebuild year. And they looked incredible. Five touchdowns, zero interceptions. And I like the way that James is trending. We talk about this all the time. you and I talk about this off the air,

like him getting his eyes fixed, coming in in better shape. But he was, I always thought he was sort of roundy in Tampa. You're a little chubby. I always thought he looked a little out of shape. I really did. I mean, he's obviously in a situation that is grooved for him.

And I think it's great. It was fun to watch. And it was good for the Saints. And obviously New Orleans is going through a lot right now. So, you know, shout out to the Saints fans, who I'm sure loved every second of that. Good stuff. Joy with the News.

Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Hurd-Ly News. All right, Peter Schrager's sitting by in New York. Mercedes-Benz the best or nothing. He's a busy guy doing all sorts of stuff. Sunday NFL Fox and the cheat sheet on the Fox Sports app. All right, busy guy.

So, you know, it's funny about Stafford. You know, it's this love affair. And then when you watch it, it was not only the football, but it's like, you know, L.A. is a star-studded town, and he looks like the quarterback for the L.A. the big arm. You know what I mean? It like felt the sofa,

Stafford, it felt big. You know, you know Sean McVeigh, well, you're kind of interpretation of what you saw Sunday night. The expectations were so high, Colin, and they exceeded those expectations. The scary thing is, I knew they had a whole lot more

in that playbook that they didn't even dip into. It felt like we only saw a glimpse of it, and it was these deep passes. And the credit goes to the Rams offense, of course. And I hate to take shots on my first appearance with you this season. The Bears defense was so atrocious on Sunday in the backfield, so atrocious that there were so many blown assignments that Stafford was just picking them apart with ease. And they didn't even have to go to that series of plays where Citric plays in the pre-snap motion.

They were being given stuff. So here's the Bears with a defensive coordinator in his first game ever as defensive coordinator, Sean Desai. And it's no longer Kyle Fuller. The guys out there, you know, Kindle, Vildor and Jalen Johnson, not familiar name. games and it was Stafford just picking them apart. But the scary part is, and I can tell you this, knowing both coach and quarterback, they didn't even get to that next level of the playbook. They're saving stuff for the rest of the season. They've got indie this weekend. This was just a glimpse. And Stafford had the highest passer rating ever, ever in a game against the Chicago

Bears defense. In the history of the Bears franchise, this was the highest passerating ever. And it was week one. And they basically were on page one of the playbook. So scary things to come. You know, listen, I don't know what part matters, but I just think it's very difficult. In my life, whenever I've had chaos or drama, I'm pretty good at compartmentalizing, but if stuff's not good at home, it's not good on the air. And it's one thing for Green Bay to lose, but they almost look disengaged. I mean, it was, again, Aaron Jones, Devante, Aaron, these are Hall of Fame-level players. What did you make of that performance?

Colin, we missed you on the Fox NFL kickoff studio show, but you had an amazing taped piece in there. And I felt like you were still part of the family when you were talking about all the different picks. A lot of people picked Rogers to be MVP. I had a lot of caution in doing that before the season because of the questionable offensive line that they have this year. They lost Corey Lindsley, who is now the highest paid center in football who went to the Chargers. They also didn't have Bakhtiari out there. New Orleans has one of the best offensive lines in football with Cam Jordan and Marcus Davenport. and those guys coming. He was under duress the entire game. Now here's the question.

They're all in. They have to be all in on Rogers for this one season. The Packers did not listen to any trade offers this summer when in fact, now one week into it, do you say, should we have, should we have just ripped the band-aid off? Here's a guy who you know is not coming back next year. And I'd say that's a pretty fair assumption based on everything he has said and what the salary cap situation is. A lot would have to change for him to return. And B, you know, Is this team next year with their salary cap issues? Like, should they have gotten something for him when they could? Because they could have gotten three first round picks from a team.

They could have gotten another starting quarterback. It's going to be a question, especially if they start off two and four. But they start off three and three. Bottom line is this, that toothpaste is out of the tube. The train has left the station. They are all in, not only on Rogers, but with this team for this season. There's going to be a lot of changes next year. They have no other choice in to ride this out.

but 38 to 3, that was a horrific effort, especially on national television in America's Game of the Week. By the way, Philadelphia, I had said I have verbal bias is that I like Sean McVeigh because he's so good at the mic and Mike Tomlin so good at the mic. And I tend to be, if you struggle at the mic, like Nick Seriani, I just can't buy it. And yet, I'm fair. I mean, I just, I mean, you're standing in front of 70 alpha males. I'm like, this doesn't work. They were so buttoned up in Philadelphia. They were so impressive.

So good. And I got to be honest, I was wrong. Like I was blown away. And did I just, you know, maybe I just undervalued their offensive talent. Their offensive line now is healthy. Yeah. And Colin, I was with you. And not so much writing off Nick because I've gotten to know him really well over the last few months.

But when you hear that he plays rock, paper, scissors with players during the combine, you say, all right, this guy's a clown. Like, who does that? And then I spoke to Nick Siriani about that this summer. And he's like, we're on Zoom interviewing Combine prospects. I can go over their film, whatever. I want to see how he competes. And if I beat him in rock, paper, scissors, if he's angry,

and like, there's a philosophy behind this guy. So I thought, let's see how this team comes out playing for this. Because he is a lot. I mean, he treated this. I heard that there were players hugging each other in the pregame speech the night before. And he was emotional and crying before week one talking to the team. Like, it's a lot. But if veteran players buy in, it's a different story.

And they bought in. The offensive line is so good. Jeff Stoutland might be the best offensive line coach in the league. Wayne Johnson was dialed in. Obviously, Kelsey, my lot of the new player, and they dominated the line of scrimage. If this team buys into Siriani, which it might not over the long term because it's a lot. And, you know, they're in emotionally, mentally, and of course, physically. A lot of bad defensive lines out there, this team is going to overpower a lot of those units.

All right, Jaguars were a mess, but we've said, I said this outside a wide receiver, I think the entire franchise is a rebuild. There's different kinds of rebuild. The Chargers had to rebuild their offensive line this offseason. The Jags got to rebuild everything. Their staff, their culture, except wide receiver. What did you make of the Texans' Jags performance? I want to talk about the Houston Texans because they went four and 12 with the

Sean Watson last year. And this whole offseason's been about Watson, Watson, Watson. There's a lot of professionals on that Houston Texans team. A lot that I am friendly with to the sake of the mark of like a Mark Ingram and a Danny Amandola and a Tyrod Taylor who have played a lot of years and a lot of games in this league and didn't love being disrespected this whole summer and being written off as a team that's going to be number one draft pickings. Now look, they might not have a great season.

They might not make the playoffs. They might not be relevant in a month. But the way those Texans players came out, you have to respect the professionalism of guys who have been in this league who have played in a lot of big games and we're not going to just be written off because a quarterback wasn't there with them. Tyrod did the job, but I love Justin Britt, the offensive line. coming out there and smashing some heads. And then, of course, when you have cooks and Amandola and Ingram and Philip Lindsay,

these are guys who have played at the highest level in the NFL, have won championships, have been pro bowlers. They are not going to be an easy out this year. And as we wake up this Tuesday morning, Colin, there are three 0-1 teams in the AFC South. There's one one and O team. And it's David Culley's Houston, Texans. All right.

Schragers got his weekly cheat sheet. It's on the Fox Sports app. It's inside stuff. He's fantastic. Obviously. he's employed by 32 different companies globally. You've got so many assignments. We appreciate you sneak at us in, buddy.

And we'll talk soon. I love your stuff. I'll be here every Tuesday. And to promote that thing every Thursday, Fox Sports.com. I used to do this article, the cheat sheet. It's coming back. I'm so excited to be doing it again for the digital side.

Great stuff. Good seeing you, buddy. Awesome seeing you. Yeah, Shreg's got great information. Yeah, Shragg's told everybody the Rams was the easiest pick of the week. I wish people would have told me that. It's funny. I don't get that inside information.

Matt Nagy's a great September coach. I thought seven and a half was a lot of points. What do I know? Heard hierarchy at the top of next hour. And thoughts on Lamar Jackson. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific. He's by Carmen. I'm Dan Byrd.

We have a brand new fantasy football podcast called I Want Your Flex. Twice a week, every Tuesday and Friday, we come up with new episodes to not only look back at what happened, what you need to do at that minute and also look ahead of what's coming up in the fantasy football world. That's right, Dan. Every week we're going to scour the waiver wire to find the pickups to turbo boost your fantasy lineup sits, starts, fantasy football players' rankings

to get you ready to dominate the competition. Listen to I Want Your Flex with Mike Harmon and me, Dan Byer on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, and 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 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 I'm 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 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.

Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway 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, Tript 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, our heart radio app, Search Learn the Hard Way and listen now.

Do you remember when Diana Ross double-tapped 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 Jek. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick a 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 cracking the ails. To be clear, 84 is big to me not just because of crack. I'm down to talk about crack all day, but just so you 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.

Thank you for 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. Oh, what a day today.

It is just, we are so lucky in this country. Sports, football, betting on it, thinking about it, watching it. That mess last night was so wonderful. So, you know, it is interesting about the NFL. There are no perfect quarterbacks, although I will acknowledge Patrick Mahomes is close. He can run, he can throw. He's a good guy. He's got leadership skills.

He pretty close. close. Okay. He right up against perfect. Maybe, maybe, uh, maybe, uh, he swore once. Uh, he's right up against perfect. Everybody else, Brady can't move very well. I mean, Breeze couldn't throw a deep ball. Uh, even the guys I like Russell Wilson, ideally you wish he was a little taller. Sometimes he runs out of made plays and throws, but even the guys I like. But it's funny. Lamar Jackson, oh, it's just him. His flaws, I can't. I can't stand. He has an all-time winning percentage of 80% in his passer rating is mid-90s.

I don't know. That sounds good to me. I'll go on Google and see if that means anything. So last night, the knives come out for Lamar Jackson last night. So let me start with this. I bet the Raiders last night. I bet $50 on the Raiders. I won and have already spent the money on hair products.

So I bet the Raiders last night. And I think the Raiders are a fourth place team. Okay, there are, let's contextualize it. There are nights, there are places where I can like a team for a moment, not long term. Baltimore is better than the Raiders, but I didn't think they'd be better last night. And let's also say this. The Raiders D-line was about as good as it's been in years. They had three sacks against Lamar.

It was Monday Night Football in Vegas, on the road, travel cross-country. First time the Raiders had fans. The place was, I had buddies there. It was a zoo. And number three is Baltimore is. a running team. They had cluster injuries at running back. I mean, Lamar Jackson should be noted, led Baltimore in rushing and ended up with a higher passer rating than Derek Carr, and I thought Derek Carr played well. So here's the thing. Lamar's a playmaker. He gets hit more than I'd like.

He fumbles a little more than I like, but he doesn't throw him any picks. Last year, 26 TD's nine picks. And he had four fumbles lost. So Lamar Jackson, you're all banging on him this morning on the fumbles. He had 13 total turnovers last year. And he's the most elusive quarterback, arguably in league history. That kind of matters. By the way, Brady last year had 13 total turnovers. Lamar Jackson last year had 13 total turnovers.

You don't bag on Brady's turnovers. Russell Wilson, 17 turnovers last year. Lamar Jackson had 13. Josh Allen. I love Josh Allen. 16 turnovers last year. Again, Lamar had 13. But it's those fumbles with Lamar that really bother you. He gets hit.

He runs a lot. It happens. Derek Carr, I love him. He lost eight fumbles last year. Yes. Derek Carr doesn't run around. He lost eight fumbles. So Lamar's unique.

And in this country and in this sport, myself included, sometimes we struggle with unique. We don't know what to make of it. But y'all love Cam Newton. He never had back-to-back winning seasons. And all the data tells you that Lamar Jackson is a significantly more accurate thrower of the football. And my favorite quality of Lamar Jackson, beyond the fact that he's the fastest quarterback I've ever seen. And I love this quality in people. God, he cares.

He cares so much. He's never distracted. He's totally. totally focused. He cares so much. He gets so mad when he fumbles. He gets so mad when he fails. He changes his body. He's tried to change everything. Folks, you don't have to have, does it matter to you? It's a great question in life. If you want to do what I do for a living, I don't have the best voice. I don't. You don't have to, how badly do you want it? I tell the story years ago, I'm a little kid. Well, I was in college. So in college, I wanted to be a sportscaster.

all I ever wanted to do. When I was eight years old, I wanted to be a sportscaster. So I'm in college. Parents are divorced. I'm paying my own way. I got no money. I'm just a tire fire. And there was a big popular local announcer for the Seattle Mariners named Dave Nehouse.

He was a legendary broadcaster, great pipes. I mean, he was like one of my idols as a kid. And so here I am. I'm 18 years old and I go up. I don't even know how I did it. I got up to the press box. I'd probably BS my way up there. And there's Dave Nehouse.

The door opens. there's one of my idols. I mean, it was intimidating. Like, it was two hours before the game. So I go over to him with a program. And he couldn't have been more gracious. He's passed away. Couldn't have been nicer.

And he wrote something in my program that is what I stole from Dave and I tell all young broadcasters today. Dear Colin, if you want to sit here, you will. That's it. How bad do you want it? and I wanted it really bad. Lamar Jackson wants it so bad. He gets so upset.

Y'all love Cam. Cam, Cam was distracted. You can like him. You'd have to acknowledge it. You kind of distract him. Lamar is totally focused. Here's Lamar after the game last night. That tick me off. I hate fun. I hate any type of turnover.

But the first one that ticked me off because we had them right. It was right down. They hit them. They hit them. They had a lot of points on. They could have scored right then. That tip me off than the last one. Just two hands on the ball.

Try to have two hands on the ball. Could have just took a sack, if anything. But it happens football. It does. It happens. And he's the best playmaker at quarterback in the league. But it really bothers him. I watched that Green Bay quarterback this weekend.

Does he care? 50-50 retirement. You're going to have to pull the ball out of Lamar's hands in 10 years. Every day he wants to be the Ravens quarterback. And that's my kind of guy, even if he has a weird throwing motion. Hour two next. 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. A win is a win.

A win is a win. I don't care what I'm saying. Yep, that's me, Cliver 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 Clifers Show. This is a place for raw, unfilled conversations with athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but the show. celebrated. So let's get to it. 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. On the Look Back at it podcast. From 1979, that was a big moment for me. Eighty-four's big to me. I'm Sam Jay. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick a here, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it with our friends, fellow comedians, and favorite authors. Like Mark Lamont Hill on the 80s. It was a wild year. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.