The Herd with Colin Cowherd - 09/15/2021 - HOUR 1 - Browns, Bears, Meyer, USC

Episode Date: September 15, 2021

We should be expecting more from the Cleveland BrownsHow to handle the Bears QB situationUrban Meyer isn't leaving for USCThe USC HC job is still a big dealGuest: Nick Wright Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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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, unfilled 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, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

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Joel Clatt, Greg Olson, Nick Wright, Joy Taylor, nothing but goodness today. Plus The Heard brought to you by Jersey Mike Subs, be a sub above. You know, it's one of those things. I shouldn't say this because our bosses may be taping the show. But our show is so fun during the football season, and it's easier. It is easier, yes. Hey, I'm not above easy. I was talking about our time doing the show at home and how you and I did three hours of sports radio and television five days a week with no sports for four months.

It was arm wrestling for hours every day. People ask you, like, what do we talk about? I'm like, honestly, I blacked out. I don't know. We made it through. So we're so glad to have everybody back. And I want to start the show today with my staff wants me to lead with the Aaron Rogers story.

And I'm over him. I'm over him. He's needy. I'm not into needy people. And I don't want to lead with Aaron Rogers today. He's talking. I'll probably at some point do it. I'm not leading with that today.

I like my lead to my show to have a message. and today's message is the highest compliment that I give my two biological kids is the expectation of high achievement. I expect achievement from my two kids. If they were a couple of mouth breathers, I wouldn't care. They are really smart, much smarter than me. Much smarter than I was. So the ultimate compliment I,

give my kids, I expect high achievement. You are capable of it. And this next segment is actually the nicest thing I've ever said about the Cleveland Browns. And it's the ultimate compliment in the NFL. Their fans probably won't get it. But I'm not interested in talking about the Cleveland Browns this year when they beat crappy teams. I went back and checked. There were several weeks last year, I did not talk about the Kansas City Chiefs beating a bad team. It did not make my first two hours of the show. Of course they beat bad teams. They're the Kansas City Chiefs, coach, quarterback, roster, skill people. So the Cleveland Browns were the only team in the NFL, week one, that had two top 10 offensive linemen graded top 10, only in the NFL. And this will be a year

of the Cleveland Brown's leading and managing leads. I am therefore going to judge Baker Mayfield more harshly when he trails in the second half like I did this week. If you look at Cleveland's schedule, it is highly likely they will not trail in the second half for the better part of a month. Baker is going to lead because of the dominance of this offensive line and run game. They are going to control the clock. They're going to win time of possession 14 weeks. Folks, they led the Super Bowl champions by two touchdowns this past week, and they were in Kansas City. I am not interested in talking about Cleveland beating bad teams.

Believe it or not, they will be Mondays. I won't talk about Baker and the Browns. But what I will do is what I do with my kids. I hold them to a higher standard. I'm not interested in your grades in PE. How did you do in calculus? because that is my, that's my grading scale. I didn't spend a lot of time last year at the end of the year

talking about Brady and Tampa beating Detroit and Atlanta twice. I didn't spend a lot of time on it. So if you look, and I talked about this yesterday, the difference between great and special and a guy, how do you quarterback trailing in football games? Because that changes everything. Baker Mayfield twice this past Sunday, had to throw.

Last two drives he had to throw. Three and out and an interception. That's what I'm going to inspect. This is the highest compliment. And why just playing from behind well, why does that matter?

Well, let's look at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last year. They trailed 14 times. They won nine, lost five. The year before, the Kansas City Chiefs trailed 15 times, and they went 11 and 4. The Browns trailed for about two series, and their offense stunk. And that's the difference in this league. I don't care how Derek Carr plays when he leads.

I know in that last drive with 37 seconds, he made two huge throws, field goal tie, won an overtime. And that's the greatest compliment I can give. Cleveland. I'm not interested beating lousy teams. You're so far beyond that. By the way, Mahomes in his career when trailing, and this is what separates him from the league, is 25 and 10. Baker, when trailing, is 13 and 24. There's no question Baker is a franchise quarterback. We're out of that discussion. But Baker wants to be a $40 million quarterback. And 13 and 24 when trailing, brah, just will not do.

And that's why Cleveland hasn't signed him yet. And that's why Cleveland is waiting. This is a league of how do you play in the second halfs, especially, in crisis? Baker admitted as much after the game. Admitted it. Games come down to two or three throws. And they come down to two or three throws in crisis, not in the first quarter. So that is my compliment.

We are out of the, is Baker a franchise quarterback? Yeah, yeah, yeah. is Cleveland going to win the AFC North? Yeah, I have, I picked them probably. Are they going to lead in 12 to 13 other games? Yeah, maybe 50. They led Kansas City. I know they won't see this as a compliment,

but I am going to put the inspection glass. I'm going to inspect Cleveland trailing because that's the stand. That's where they are now. How are they trailing? It's the only unanswered question. We know they can lead. We know they can run.

We know they have the best offensive lines. We know they can win the division. We know they go into a playoff game. The only thing now is Baker Good trailing late because Mahomes is and Brady is. That's where you're at now. And it's not a criticism. My staff would like me to talk Aaron Rogers now. I'm not going to.

I can't do it. I'm not interested. I'm going to talk about it at some point because the sounds pretty good. But my staff right now pulling out their hair, Uncle Colin, I am over high maintenance Aaron. And so I want to talk about this. So the bears were bad in week one, way worse than I thought they'd be. Matt Nagy had a very good September record.

They were terrible. They played, you know, they trailed 13-7 at half, then the wheels came off. And what do you do with Andy Dalton? What do you do with Justin Fields? Mark Sanchez came on the show yesterday, and he said this whole goal back and forth thing is very difficult. Here's Mark Sanchez from yesterday's show. These guys have to understand what their role is. It has to be clearly defined.

Here's my example. Me and Brad Smith, clearly defined. Sanchez is our starter, this is with the New York Jets. Brad Smith will come in and run some wildcast stuff. And he was highly effective with that. And it was great. And we knew our roles. We knew what we were supposed to do.

It was clear communication. When they bring in Tim Tebow, it's different. Now Tim kind of wants to play. Nobody really knows. So Tim's won a playoff game too. Like, is he supposed to start? Is Mark supposed to start? To get a rhythm with this, with this back and forth quarterback stuff, is really tough.

So you can make an argument, and this is a real thing that it's time for Justin Fields, and here's why. There are three divisions in football. You know this, I know this, Joy knows this, Ryan knows this. There are three divisions in football that are just simply better than other divisions. The NFC West and AFC West, this weekend went 8 and O with many blowout wins. The AFC North went two and two, but Cleveland did have to play Kansas. City at Arrowhead. Okay?

So that's probably the toughest draw in the league, right? So we just know that the AFC West, Kansas City, Chargers, Denver, Raiders. I mean, even the Raiders beat Baltimore, there'll be a playoff team. And then we know the NFC West, Seattle, the Rams, the Niners, Arizona. Those divisions are insane, right, right? And we also know that the AFC North, Pittsburgh's best front seven in football, Joe Burrell can really sling it, good offense. Cleveland's obviously outstanding.

and Baltimore is a very good franchise, just having a cluster injuries. So we know that. So what does that have to do with Justin Fields? So what a boxing managers and UFC managers and promoters do when they find a really talented fighter? They give him tomato cans for about a year. 10 to 12, maybe two years.

Go look at Mike Tyson's first 15 fights. These are first round fights, build up confidence, refine the skills, sharpen the tools. Before you put him, in there against somebody that can beat him. That's what Dana White does. I got a star.

I'm going to give him five or six fights. Then I'm going to slowly gradually give him a... Somebody can pop him a little bit. Let's test his chimp. But you're not going to throw a guy out there against a Connor McGregor in his prime early and just crush the kid's momentum and confidence. That's what boxing promoters, Bob Aram, Dana White, a commissioner of his sport, the founder, Don King, Al Hyman, Hayman.

All these guys do the same thing. You're setting stuff up. Well, Justin Fields is that young UFC fighter, right? Right. Look at his division right now. I can make an argument that the worst division in football, and certainly it's one of them, is the NFC North. Lions, Bears, Packers, Vikings.

We think the Packers are good. Didn't look like it. But, I mean, three of these teams, if I said they didn't make the playoffs, you'd be like, yeah, okay. Justin Fields, the next four weeks he plays. Cincinnati, Cleveland, Detroit, Vegas, four teams, one elite pass rusher, Miles Garrett. That's it. If you look at Justin Fields Division, the best pass rusher in Justin Fields Division is on his own team, Khalil Mack.

And if you look at the schedule for the Bears, oh, the big pass rushes are coming. They play Pittsburgh. They play Tampa. They play the 49ers. Those big pass rushes, they're coming in week 7, 8, 9, 10, 11. could I make the argument now? If you were a boxing promoter, a UFC promoter, or a coach, this is when you give Justin Fields a little confidence.

You get him out there, you let them play against very average pass rushes, you make him feel good about himself. Listen, this offensive line for the Bears is a work in progress. It's going to get overwhelmed by Pittsburgh. It's going to get overwhelmed by Tampa. You don't want to put him in that. It'll be able to hold its own against Cincinnati. Detroit and Vegas, maybe Cleveland, although I'm sure Miles Garrett will have a field day.

This is, there's an argument to be made, and I was in Andy Dalton starts week one, but there's an argument to be made you want to give young quarterback's confidence. This is why the Niners, by the way, with Trey Lance are like, whoa, whoa, whoa, we can go real slow on this. I mean, we can play Arizona. Chandler Jones had five sacks. They played Seattle last week. They unraveled the Colts offensive line.

49ers. Ask Jared Goff what that was like. You know, I mean, you start looking at it. Now, now obviously he plays for the 49ers, but you start looking at that division, the Rams, Aaron Donald. You look at the Rams pass rush. You look at the Seahawks pass rush.

You look at Arizona's pass rush. Trey Lance, we're going to give you a couple series. We'll get confidence up, put you in the red zone. Like I get slow, slow growth for Trey Lance. Justin Fields, I'd make an argument. Next four weeks, get him out there. Let him play. Let him refine, sharpen, get some.

and get some confidence. Because this old line is going to be overwhelmed against the teams in the middle and late schedule. This is the space for him to play. All right, good to have you in. I'm looking at my rundown of stories. No, I'm not going to talk about Aaron yet. I'm not.

Joel Clatopper next hour. I'm not, I'm just worn out by it. Yeah, I'm worn out. Urban Meyer, USC, what to make of it. That next, what I heard yesterday. 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.

I don't care what I'm saying. Yep, that's me, Clifford 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. 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 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.

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Go to Tankless Made Simple.com. So Urban Meyer rumors sprouted up yesterday. Mike Lombardi, a former GM. had said he thought something was suspicious he'd heard some things. So I made two phone calls yesterday driving around, one to an NFL GM with real insight, said no chance. And then I called somebody who's close to Urban Meyer's wife, somebody very connected to Ohio State University who talks to Shelley Meyer. You know, wives have a little power in relationships, generally decide where we're going to live, at least in my family and most of my friends. That's how it works.

She said no chance. and then Urban Meyer this morning had to talk about it because it's a story and here's what Urban Meyer said this morning. Unfortunately for you, some rumors came out yesterday and connecting you to the USC job. I just want to give you the opportunity to refute it. There's no chance that I'm here and committed to try to build an organization. All right. Here's three things to think about. And guys don't think about this a lot.

Number one, his wife loves Florida. The kids love Florida. Wives decide where you live a lot. Wife doesn't love California. Wife loves Florida. They have a house in Sarasota. They love Florida. They love living in Florida.

They love the beach. Urban's a very intense guy. They love the beach, the laid-back kind of nature of Florida over the intensity, the traffic, the people, 10 million people in California. They really like Florida. Number two, Urban Meyer leaving would be quitting on Trevor Lawrence. If you know anything about Urban, I don't know Urban that well, but I know Urban pretty well, he always has incredibly close relationships with his quarterbacks.

J.T. Barrett, Dwayne Haskins, Tim Tebow, Trevor Lawrence. He's not going to quit on Trevor Lawrence. He's not going to put Trevor Lawrence through that. And the number three thing, and this is a real thing. I've worked with people in this industry who are really nice people, and I've worked with some jerks. But you know what I've never worked with for a long time? Crazy people. Nobody's ever going to hire Bobby Petrino. He's a crazy person. He like quits all the time. This would make Urban look crazy. They'd be quitting after a game? Like literally after a season?

Urban's only 57 years old. He has a chance to make somewhere between $5 and $10 million every year for the next 15 years. Not if he's a crazy guy. Networks don't hire crazy people. Colleges don't hire crazy people. Bobby Petrino's a great coach. Not a good one, a great coach. He's a crazy person.

You have an affairs with athletic department. Get into motorcycles. crashes, quitting jobs mid-season. He's a crazy person. He should be an analyst. He should be a coach at a top six-seven school. He's a crazy person. This would make Urban look weird and crazy and untrustable.

And he knows that. He's only 57 years old. Urban and I are the same age. I may go crazy at 80 when I can't, you know, when I'm no longer going to look for work, I don't want to be ever viewed as crazy at 57. And so A, his wife loves Florida. She's got a lot of power on that relationship.

Number two, he's not going to bail on Trevor Lawrence. He's not going to do that. He has like incredibly close relationships with any quarterback he ever had at Ohio State and Florida. Like really close, closer than any coach I've ever known. His offense is so quarterback-based. And number three, it would just be odd. And that's not a good place for anybody seeking employment anywhere to be odd guy. Joy of the news.

No, no, no, no, no. Turn on the news. This is the herd line news. Well, I'm going to talk about Aaron Rogers. I think my, I think my toxic trait is loving sports chaos. I do. I just love it. Well, Aaron Rogers and the Packers suffered an embarrassing loss to the Saints on Sunday.

But Aaron thinks the team shouldn't spend too much time thinking about it. No, I mean, I think it's, it might be a free. out outside of the facility. I think it's just to, you know, it's a good learning lesson for us. You know, we can't play like that. We can't start a game like that. I said after the game, our energy level was a little bit low before the game. You know, we got to do a better job responding to adversity. So, look, there's not much to say. We got our asses beat, you know, by 35 points. We're all frustrated about it, but you just move on. We got 16 more to go. I don't think we're freaking out about it.

I think people are trying to contextualize how the best quarterback in the league, arguably, was the worst quarterback in the league. It's not that they got beat, is that Aaron would have had a higher passer rating had he spiked the ball every play. And you and I aren't freaking out about it, but we're like, that's not a great sign from the reigning MVP who fought with his organization all off. Yeah, there's nothing to freak out about.

It's a very long season. most of the time, all the time, except for one time, good teams lose. There are no undefeated teams except for one. And we both this morning believe Green Bay is going to win the division.

Yes. It's a really bad loss. But we both think they're the best team. Nobody's freaking out. No, it's freaking out. He's projecting that we are. We're not freaking out. We're just saying three points.

I mean, Jacksonville scored eight times, you know, eight times that. I can safely say none of you have ever seen me freak out. out that I'm positive of. I'm not sure I've ever freaked out. I have definitely freaked out. But you have never seen me freak out and no one on television has ever seen me freak out. But this was the most lopsided loss of Aaron Rogers' career and he was the number one

story of the entire off season. So if you come in and you have high expectations and you won MVP last year and you have all this drama and you lose that way, isn't like they lost a respectable bout? Like you said, like you got, you lost by 35 points. doesn't like it when we put words in his mouth. Well, he's putting words in our mouth. Well, the media is freaking out. I have read every story, including like local Milwaukee stories on nobody's freaking out.

People are just connecting the dots on noisy off season, worst performance of career. Not a single media person is freaking out. We all know Green Bay is going to win double-digit games. And clearly, Fox Bet isn't freaking out either because the Packers are currently favored by 10 and a half against the Lions on Monday, Freaking out is they are one and a half point favorite It's over a bad line. Nobody's freaking out. That would be a bit of an overreaction.

Although, I don't know. I don't know. We have to see how this trend goes for the Lions who was an outlier last week or if they're going to start covering the spread. I think I would take, I'm not going to bet that game. That's not one of my blazing five. I would take Green Bay in that game.

It's not one of my pick. I don't like. Well, you do have a rule about good teams that get embarrassed. Oh, yeah. Good teams that get embarrassed in the NFL. always play great. Even like, you know, playoff teams that are low end,

like Baltimore this next week, losing to the Raiders, watch Lamar Jackson play as well as he's ever played. Watch, you know, by the way, Cleveland didn't get embarrassed, but they kind of feel they blew a game. Watch Cleveland be great. And definitely watch Green Bay play as well as they have

in a long time against the Lions in Lambeau. I can see that. Yeah. So a lot of injuries week one. I'm just going to give you a rundown of updates on some of them. Raheem Moster said yesterday that he'll have season-ending knee injury. That's not great for them. The Broncos, lost Jerry Judy on to IR high ankle spraying, and Ronald Darby. They are expected to come back this season, but injuries, Ryan Fitzpatrick is on IR.

Mackay Beckton knee injury against Carolina didn't return. It's believed to be an MCL sprain. And then the Raiders, Denzel Good, torn AC. Gerald McCoy is out for the season with a knee injury, which is just devastating. He's our family, friend of the show, so that sucked to see that. Yannick and Gokwe, Marcus Marriota, they might have season-ending injuries as well. That's what John Gruden said. And Jeff Acuta had torn Achilles.

So a lot of injuries around the league in week one, not even with any specific team. Obviously, the Niners, you know, talking about Rahim Moster, after the injuries that they had last year. It was really devastating to hear. Yeah, connect the dots. No starters playing preseason. I talked to Tony Dungey yesterday about this. You don't play guys in that preseason.

He was joking. When he played for the Steelers years ago in a preseason, Tony Dungey said the league has really changed. Tony played for the Steelers. They were playing a preseason game number four against Roger Stauback. There was three minutes to go in the game. Stoback was still playing for Dallas and all the starters were in for Pittsburgh. He goes, we wanted to beat the Cowboys.

That's preseason. We wanted to beat the game, and I'm like, Well, that's a little extreme. I do think that, you know, there might be some value to starters playing in the preseason. Maybe we overcorrect sometimes, and then there's no starters, and we see some injuries. So, you know, it's somewhere in the middle, which is what most of the old school guys do. They're not playing their starters to three minutes left in the preseason game anymore. But maybe there is something to that, but there were a lot of season-ending injuries, too,

which is really what's devastating. So you were speaking about wives and the importance and influence that they have. Kelly Stafford is the wife of Matthew Stafford, and she was very nervous for her husband's debut with the new team. And she discussed what it was like watching him with the L.A. Rams. Matthew had an awesome game. He looked like he was having so much fun,

which I haven't seen that side of Matthew on the football field in a very long time. And he took that game ball. And he's walking towards the tunnel. and he looks up at our suite and gives this, I mean, I wish I could show you, gives this big smile. And like both hands in the air, it was just an incredible thing to witness. I felt like my husband has a renewed love for this sport again. There's no question. Like the Carson Palmer's and the Matt Stafford's who go to really bad organizations,

it sucks the life out of you to be in chaos. I have been so lucky in my career. I have worked with really good bosses and really good owners. What if for the first 12 years of my career I had a terrible boss? It sucks. I mean, this is hard enough job to. I mean, like the Carson Palmer's and the Matt Stafford's, I've said, this is why I am very pro-mobility for pro athletes. I am very pro.

I mean, LeBron James went seven years. They could not get him in Cleveland, a second All-Star. Seven drafts. couldn't get him a second great player. It's exa. My responsibility, I'm great every day if I'm LeBron. I'm great every day. Could you just get me one highly functional teammate?

It's a very interesting dichotomy in sports when it becomes professional. And it's now in college as well with the transfer portal and now we have NIL. So it's going to become very interesting how everyone handles their careers and how fans react to it. because fans are expected to be loyal or do just naturally have loyalty to their teams and their organizations. But it has shifted a little bit where fans are fans of players specifically over organizations in certain cases. LeBron is definitely a good example of that. And so the reaction to guys moving, and obviously this was a trade situation, but he wanted to leave. And Detroit was uncharacteristically of Detroit very gracious about the situation.

Now, they got a quarterback in the situation too, so it worked out for everyone. But yeah, the mobility thing is it's here to stay and it should be. You have a very short amount of time in your life. We're not all Tom Brady going to play for 25 years. You get hurt a lot. Just go find the best space for you. And you want to win. You're competing.

It's not like you're just like showing up to work every day and punching a clock and you don't care what the results are. That's right. Like the results are a part of your legacy and experience. Yeah. Joy with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Heard Line News.

On Nick Wright, host First Things First, joining us, brought to you by Mercedes-Benz, the best or nothing. I gave the ultimate compliment to Baker Mayfield today. Of course, it'll try not land that way when I said the same thing about Baker that I say to my kids, which is high expectations and scrutiny are what I expect for people with great potential. And Baker Mayfield, in week one, had two drives where he had to throw. row, three and out and a pick. Very disappointing, Nick.

I know you noticed that as well, right? Well, you know, I've missed the very beginning of the show. I apologize. I didn't miss 90 seconds ago where you played, you know, mini violins for Carson Palmer and Matt Stafford, who were drafted by the Bengals and the Lions. Meanwhile, Baker, you know, was drafted by the great organization, the Cleveland Browns, who were 1 and 31.

the two years before he got there, and then he got Freddie Kitchens and Hugh Jackson. You're like, oh, Baker, where's the way? Need to see more. I also, now I did hear almost all of yesterday's show. And while you were waxing poetic about Derek Carr, which, hey, good to know. There's a huge Derek Carr fan out there.

I didn't know they existed. You seemed to imply that Derek Carr's better than Baker. Yeah. you were like, Carr, they knew he had to throw, and God love him. He made two completions when they knew he had to throw, and then they kicked a 55-yard field goal, and we're going to ignore the interception he threw an overtime because we're going to ignore it. But do you think Derek Carr is better than Baker? Yes, absolutely.

Would you rather have Derek Carr than Baker? Yes, I would. Oh, my God. By the way, so it's, by the way, according to the NFL tiers done by Mike Sando, so would NFL executives. They put car higher than Baker. That's the NFL executives. Well, you know.

Well, too many of them text with you and listen to your show. You're polluting the general NFL sphere with your terrible Baker takers. You would have Derek Car than Baker Mayfield. Yes. I don't know that David Carr would rather have Derek Car than Baker Mayfield, but you would. Okay. It's good to know. All right.

Good to know. So Wednesday is your NFL Tears Day. You put them in tears. So do you have it? Can I see it? Yeah, well, I would hope someone has it. I could draw it for you, but hopefully they have it in the production room. They can throw it up there. Let me look at it.

There we go. There it is. Oh. Okay, so. What's jarring to you? Green Bay is now. True contenders. I thought Seattle looked flawless and Green Bay was terrible, but I'm not sure.

By the way, I do like your courage to put Buffalo ahead of Pittsburgh. because they are better. But I don't have a problem with Kansas City, although they were dominated for half the game. Cleveland, the second best team is interesting, though. Tom, Brady, and Tampa below Cleveland. Listen, so keep in mind,

there's not left to right. It's top to bottom. So we're just, we're not going to, it's not second and third. They're just in, you know, we're going top to bottom there. I give Cleveland massive credit. I don't know that anyone else will have a fourth quarter lead in Arrowhead all year.

They played the best team in football. they had a lead. It's not their fault that they got Mahomes. The Packers, I had where the Rams were, but I got to move them down. They were miserable, but we don't want to overreact too much. I want to ask, listen, about Tampa. So Tampa was there before the year and I left them where they were. If I'm Tampa, I'm at least a little concerned about how the defense looked. Dak hadn't played in almost a year. Fair. You didn't have the offseason continuity, And if there was one weakness on Tampa, just one, it might have been the secondary, and that's the one spot they suffered an injury, a significant one, was the secondary.

I would like to just go to the bottom quickly and get your take on it. Like, the Cardinals probably were the most impressive team in the league. Yes, yes, yes. I just still think, like, in my gut, I think they're the fourth best team in that division. Same here. Just because it's such a tough division. And so I give them a ton of credit for what they accomplished. And by the way, you know, I mean, he did it a few months too late for me to avoid the ketchup and mustard experience.

But wasn't it nice? Didn't it warm your heart to see the old Josh Allen back to spraying the ball all over the field? That cannon of an arm looked like a T-shirt cannon firing into the crowd on this domed a cheerleader? Like, it was great. I was like, ah, that's the Josh Allen I know and love. That made me feel good. Well, let's agree on something. I was an Andy Dalton should start.

Garoppolo should start. generally in most situations, start the old guy. But I said earlier today that boxing and UFC promoters, when they have a young prize fighter they like, they give them 10 tomato cans, they give him nothing but doubles. And I look at Justin Fields and that bad old line, and it's going to be bad all year.

And I think to myself, you know what? The next four pass rushes aren't great. This may be the time to get that kid out there because the Steelers are coming. The Niners pass rush is coming. Tampa's coming. So my take is I would move to Justin Fields this morning. Your thoughts? Yeah, listen, I think the Browns are tough, but Packers, they've got one pass rush that really scares you, but the Bengals definitely, the Lions definitely. I know the Raiders got a great pass rush

on Monday night, but I don't know how sustainable. Right. Over the last few years, they haven't. But just that aside, the Andy Dalton stuff makes no sense. And I'm so tired of people being like, well, the Chiefs did it with Alex Smith and Patrick Mahomes. First of all, one could argue that was a mistake midway through the year. They should have gone to Mahomes. Second of all, Alex Smith had been there for four years. He had taken him to the playoffs three times. He'd won double-digit games.

He was way better than Andy Dalton, and he had earned more with the organization and the coaching staff. All Andy Dalton has earned with the Bears is $10 million, and they're going to pay him. This idea that they owe it to him is. is just assonine. And I know there's this, there's this feeling. You see this on political Twitter a lot when someone has a take.

And they're like, oh, everyone is saying I'm wrong, the left and the right, therefore I must be exactly where I need to be. The other option is, if everyone says you're wrong, maybe you're just wrong. Maybe everyone is correct that you're a dope. And this idea that the whole world, except for seemingly the folks broadcasting the Bears game

and Matt Nagy are like, Yeah, probably start the guy who was a chance to be the best quarterback you've had since Sid Luckman. And you're like, nope, it's the red rifle. Maybe you're just wrong. And maybe when he had the worst passer rating of anybody in the league other than Rogers, started the season off with a pick in the end zone. That was a sign, go to Justin Fields. It's always going to be hard.

It's the NFL. If you're a Bears fan, I don't know how much longer you can handle watching Andy Dalton, especially when you can go beat the Bengals. And so, yeah, a thousand percent, they got to go to fields. Thousand percent. Okay, so I watched Miami in New England. It's like watching the same team against each other. I mean, it really is, except Miami's got more speed on the perimeter.

I thought Mack outplayed to it, not by much, but you're kind of pushed back on the Mac Jones played well thing, I hear. Well, yeah, so here's the thing. I, if you have, because people are like, oh my God, highest completion percentage for any rookie ever, you know, didn't turn the ball over. And I'm like, oh, it sounds like you did great. How many points do they score? Oh, 16? Oh, you had four drives of 13 plays or longer, and you had 16 points.

The one touchdown you scored came after a very questionable borderline roughing the passer after a third down stop. So how can you be that efficient? and only score field goals and one touchdown because it's dink and dunk and dunk and dunk and dump off. They kept the training wheels on him to such an extent. I know people disagree with me. I was more impressed by Trevor Lawrence. He threw three picks.

He made a mess of things. But he also made some super high-level throws. And he made some difficult, at least attempted some difficult throws. What I think people have wrong with New England is this. People assume, they're like, well, they just need the quarterback to not make mistakes. They're not talented enough for that to be true. Their offense is better, but it doesn't have any dynamic game-breaking playmakers except for maybe the running back. The defense is good, but it's not the defense of a couple years ago that looked like the best defense in the league.

It's just not. It's probably like the seventh best defense in the league. If they're going to win enough games to make the playoffs, they're going to need some. explosives on offense. And I think they need to, you know, I know it's only week one, let Mack Jones attempt some of those plays. Week one, it was like they were coaching to avoid the mistake. And that's how you can allow 17 points to Miami in Foxborough and still lose the game.

Very good. That's very good. You're very good today. I don't have to agree with you. I thought you were very strong today. And you're stepping your suit game up. That's very corporate. You're kind of anti-corporate.

It's very. I am no no no that's true and by the way I'm going to as soon as I get off I'm going to go on fanatics and send you the Derek call car wall hanger that you've been looking for they've got a lot of them because no one's ever bought one but they'll send you one Nick Wright good seeing you buddy be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays and noon Eastern 9 a m Pacific he's by Carmen I'm Dan Byard 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. Sit, 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-Hart 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, Clifford 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 Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, Follow at Clifford and a 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 Jek. 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 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. 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 Irish. Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. 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 heart. Open your free iHeartRadio app. Search Learn the Hardway and listen now. Good to have you back in. So the USC job, we already have names coming out. Eric B. Enemy, Kansas City Chiefs, offensive coordinator. James Franklin's already denying it. Urban Myers already denying it.

When people say, I hear this all the time from southern football fans, USC's dead. It's over. It'll never return. One day the job is open. you've got James Franklin, Urban Meyer, denying it. Yeah, I'd say it's not dead. When that Auburn job opens up, do you have Urban Meyer denying it?

Eric Bienemy, James Franklin, first of all, USC was the last college football dynasty before Alabama. Ask yourself three questions. I'll keep them easy. Does California have a lot of good high school football players? Yes. Yeah, okay. Is USC easily the biggest college football brand on the West Coast? Yeah, that's not close.

If USC does get rolling, is it easier to go undefeated in the PAC 12 than the Big Ten or the SEC? Yeah, that's three for three. Folks, Notre Dame, we all thought was dead. Last four years, David, in the AP time. top 12. They average 11 wins. And they have much more stringent academic workloads. They have a religious overhang. They're in the middle of nowhere. It's cold all winter. It's a small private school. There's three or four great states to get high school football players. Florida's probably number one. California, Texas, Georgia. USC, when they're rolling, gets 20 of the 25 best

players in California. They don't even recruit. They just ask. They get who they want. Every position. When Pete Carroll was here, the linebacking Corps one year was so good that Clay Matthews couldn't start. The following year was named NFL defensive

rookie of the year. He couldn't start at USC. They had four NFL great linebackers. It's just different. This is no shot. at the chicken wings places and car dealerships and sub-shops in the south. YouTube is based here. Google is based here.

Facebook is based here. Apple is based here. If USC gets it rolling, they're going to have 15 players in their program making a million dollars a year in NIL. I know Earl's got a car shop down in there in Auburn. They pay it's different here. It's the fifth biggest economy in the world with all the tech places that could pay USC players millions of dollars a year. And they will when they get it rolling if they hire the right guy.

Think about this. As big as Alabama is, they recruit heavy out of Florida. But everybody recruits Florida. Clemson does. Florida State does. Miami, Florida, Bama, Georgia, the entire SEC. As good as Alabama is. And Florida is a great high school state.

best 50 players in Florida last year. Alabama got two. USC gets 20 to 25 guys in California the minute they get the right coach. The best college football team for about 50 years in the sport was 1972 USC. Pete Carroll's best teams were viewed as some of the best ever. YouTube, NIL, Google, Facebook, everything's here. They just got to get the right guy. I don't know who the right guy is.

They got to get that. And when they do, watch out. 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 I-Heart 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, 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 Cliver Show. This is a place for raw, unfills of 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, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes,

follow at Clifford and at TikTok's podcast network on TikTok. 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 Hardweight with your favorite therapist and host Kear Games. This space is about black men's experiences, having honest conversations that's really not safe to have anywhere,

but you're having him 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 not to be played with. And just because you have the capability that does not mean that you need to. Listen to learn the hard way on the IHard radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. This is an IHart podcast. Guaranteed human.