The Herd with Colin Cowherd - 09/20/2021 - HOUR 1 - Lamar, Chargers, Tua, Carr

Episode Date: September 20, 2021

Lamar Jackson was able to control the time of possessionThe Chargers made too many mistakes against the CowboysThe Dolphins will continue to have problems until they get the QB position rightDerek Carr has been fantastic this seasonGuest: Joe Thomas 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 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 Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversation. with athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. So let's get to it. Listen to The Clifford Show on the IHeard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

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IHeart Radio, Fox Sports Radio, FS1, one hour from now, where Colin was right, where Colin was wrong. Plenty of both. Joy Taylor. New radio show in Fox Sports Radio Saturdays. Listen to that. What offenses disappeared for a while, but the Sunday night was capped off by my guy Lamar,

who nobody could get their arms around. It's Lamar beat Mahomes. That was so much fun. There was not a lot of issue with scoring points in last night's game. I hope he took the over in that one. Yeah. You know, I think names matter. name your kids, you know, names, names matter. Names for companies matter. I'll give you an example.

I am hungry and I want food. I love the name DoorDash. That's a company. And we start our show today with that. Door dash. I am hungry and you are dashing to my door to get me food. I like that. Federal Express. I need this letter. I can, you're running to your planes to get it to my house. Apple. Every time I think of Apple, I love apples. Healthy, they're cold, they're fresh. Names matter. It's the first thing you think about, right? Get me food dashing to my door.

I like it. My NFL guys didn't like Lamar Jackson. Bill Polly and Hall of Famer thought he was a receiver. He's just different. And when things are different, they are hard to get your arms around, right? But what if we change the name of the position? from quarterback, and it was called Playmaker.

Wide receiver, running back, tight end, left guard, Playmaker. Because they do take the snap 65 times a game. And they have to make plays. They have to make audibles. They have to run. They have to be able to throw. If you call the position Playmaker, we would all agree Lamar Jackson's top three in the league.

And he is winning at 81% that is top three in the league. Last night he had 200 passing yards, 100 rushing yards, two rushing touchdowns. Only two players in league history have done that. He is a nightmare to face because like Kyler Murray, he is a playmaker. We just don't know what to do with different people and different experiences. That's why the name matters, because the rules now are allowing for quarterbacks to make more plays. In college, the spread offenses, college quarterbacks are making more plays. And as Bill Parcells always said, you are what college football gives you.

He is a playmaker. And here's what's interesting is that when anybody's great at one thing, I mean truly great, Lamar's legs, Lamar's beat, you don't have to be great at everything. I had a friend once go to the late Whitney Houston, a concert. I said, oh, how was it? She was so boring. She just stood on stage. And I'm like, yeah, when you're Whitney Houston, don't dance around.

Just sit there and sing because you have the greatest voice in the history of the world. She goes, well, she didn't move around. And I'm like, yeah, because she has the greatest voice in the history of the world. Like Lamar Jackson is so great at moving and making plays, he doesn't need to be Brady. Why did we not criticize Drew Brees, who was so accurate, he didn't need a big arm. because he could wedge that ball in a keyhole. Peyton Manning was so smart pre-snap, his giant brain. He didn't have to have a beautiful arm.

He would get people in the right position. Lamar Jackson is so gifted, so fast, he doesn't need to be Tom Brady throwing the football down the field. The other thing about Lamar is that when you are a playmaker, you create your own inertia. I'll give you an example. So let's say I told you today that Travis Kelsey and Tyreek Hill are out next week for the Chiefs. Even with Patrick Mahomes, you'd be like, well, it's not going to be the same offense.

If I told you tomorrow, yes, Stefan Diggs won't play for the bills next week, Cole Beasley out, you'd be like, oh, well, well, he won't be as good. with Lamar, he lost his entire backfield a couple weeks ago. It's like, it doesn't really matter. He had the ball 36 minutes last night because when you're a playmaker, you create your own inertia and your own momentum. That he's really not as dependent as a Brady or a Mahomes or a Josh Allen on great teammates. He creates his own plays.

Just change the name of the position to play. playmaker, and I think we would all agree. There's just nothing on the planet that looks like that. There is, there is, and by the way, he talked John Harbaugh into going for it on fourth down. What did he do to seal the win? He made a play. Here's Lamar.

You know, in my mind, I'm like, damn, we should go for it because we close. But then when I went to going to the song and I'm like, you want to go for it? I'm like, hell yeah. Like, no doubt. And we did. You know, we came out with success. Yeah. I mean, he really controlled the game last night.

36 minutes, time of possession. So I'd like to say this about the Cowboys Chargers game. Dallas is defense, and they deserve credit for this. Because in the draft this year, they really went for defense. It does look more athletic. No question. Their secondary looks more athletic. And they did generate a very, very tasty pass rush yesterday.

Nine quarterback hits. And that's Justin Herbert. who's hard to get your hands on because he can move. But the Dallas Cowboys didn't really win yesterday. The Chargers lost. And there is no franchise in the National Football League as cursed as the Chargers for the last 15 years. I'm not sure if Dallas won.

The Chargers lost. The Chargers had 12 penalties. Two of them took away touchdowns. Those are hard to get touchdowns in the NFL. Average scores like 24 to 20. Two touchdowns taken away. they had multiple red zone mistakes. They missed a 44-yard field goal.

They held DAC to 17 points until the final kick, no touchdowns for DAC, 237 yards, and lost at home. Think about this. Dallas does not win low-scoring games. And when I say that, I mean it literally. Dallas was 0 for 17 in the last 17 games they had played and scored fewer than 30 points. Over 17.

And they scored 20 and beat the Chargers. Yes, there was a terrible call in the grasp. Terrible call. Justin Herbert wasn't really in the grasp. I don't want to hear it. I do not want to hear it. In the end, 12 penalties, self-inflicted. By the way, this morning, the most penalized team in the NFL through two games.

Shocker. the Chargers. Yes, this was not a good call. But why were they back there in the first place? Because of a penalty. What the Cowboys proved yesterday, and this is really important, and Dak Prescott, I didn't think played particularly, he looked a little off all day,

maybe just juxtaposed with Herbert. But there is value in this, and it's something young quarterbacks all weekend, Justin Fields, Joe Burrow, Zach Wilson's struggle with all weekend. And Zach, this is where Zach figured it out. Sometimes boring and efficient is good enough. Somebody should tell Zach Wilson that. What the Cowboys did yesterday was boring and efficient.

They were six for 10 on third down, better than the Chargers. 23 of 27 was Dak. Red zone, two for three. Fewer penalties. That's what they did. I watched young quarterbacks all weekend, college and pro. And sometimes it is okay to live for another play, to throw it out of bounds. And I don't think Dak had his best fastball yesterday.

We've all seen it, right? Like even Brady, Mahalms, there are days, there are halves, they just don't have their fastball. And Dak, I don't think, had his fastball. But he was efficient. he was kind of boring. I mean, listen, there's a lot not to like with Dallas. When your $90 million running back is clearly your second best running back.

When after the first quarter, you scored with that offensive talent, six points. When your head coach, again, in a critical situation, completely whiffed with clock management. There's a lot not to like with Dallas. but DAC was boring and DAC was efficient and the Chargers, the Chargers lost that game more than the Cowboys won it. Now, I will say this. You know that saying pride before the fall? I don't know if women have to deal with this, but guys in their egos, the pride, the

pride, the vanity, and you make decisions based on your ego and pride and vanity. And I'll just speak for men, myself included. I've made that mistake many times in my life. One NFL team, one NFL GM did not. And it is paying dividend. And another NFL GM, and he's really good, he didn't have the guts to admit he made a mistake. and it could hinder an otherwise top GM who's done everything else right. That's coming up. Thoughts on Tua next.

Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the IHeart Radio app. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast, Superhuman, documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth.

Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care which I'm saying. Yep, that's me, Cliver Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball. basketball to college football or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined.

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

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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's big to me, not just because of crack. I'm down to talk about crack on day, but just so y'all know. I mean, at this point, Mark, this is the second episode where we've discussed cracks.

So I'm starting to see that there's a through line. We also have AIDS on the table right now. Now you're finishing that sentence. Yes. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Really? Yeah. For me, it's one of the most important years for black people in American history.

Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hard Way with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kear Games. And in recognition of mental health awareness, month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking. Tripp Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase that we

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Open your free, our Heart Radio app, search Learn the Hardway, and listen now. You know, aggressive and we say this often. The Dodgers go out and get a Milky Betts, you know, the Lakers go out and get Anthony Davis. We've seen a lot of that in Los Angeles where aggressive wins. USC for years wasn't aggressive.

They were passive. They kept the same coaching staff. And now it's just an average football program that should be great. Go for it. Go big. And I got to give the Arizona Cardinals credit. And Steve Kime, their general manager. They drafted a quarterback, Josh Rosen, and they immediately identified, hey,

we don't think it's special enough in this division to win. and they acknowledged we're going to redraft quarterback. Whoa, whoa, whoa, GMs don't do that. That is like that never happens. Steve Kime, the GM of Arizona, you watch Arizona play? That they have an unbelievable talent at quarterback. But for that to happen, they had to acknowledge. Yeah, we missed last year.

It happens. 50% of quarterbacks don't work. Man up and just admit, we missed. Arizona did. They may be the most spectacularly fun team to watching the entire league, and that includes Kansas City. So Miami has done a lot right. Chris Greer, the GM Sharp, Brian Flores, smart.

Last year was a great quarterback class, and they chose a wide receiver. Folks, there's 25 to 30 wide receivers a year in this draft that come into this league and play. 30 a year, more than ever. California, high school football in California, there's 40 Division I wide receivers. There's about three big-time quarterbacks. You can get a receiver anywhere. And they stuck with Tua.

And they stuck with Tua knowing in their division they would have to face for the next 10 years, Josh Allen, 20 times minimum. Bigger, stronger, athletic, agile, huge arm. But they had just drafted Tua and they could not acknowledge in a great quarterback class at a position that's 50-50 if you can get one good quarterback a class, a great one, won a class. And they stuck with wide receiver. And they stuck with two.

And Brian Flores knew, I can't beat him. Buffalo's beaten Miami six straight times. Josh Allen, as smart as Brian Flores is, and he is, he's a terrific coach, and he may be the second best defensive coach in the league. He can't stop Josh Allen. The last five times, Josh Allen has faced Brian Flores. He scores 38 a game, 14 TD Tuesday picks, passer rating at 115. Brian Flores can't stop him.

Ryan Flores knows when I face him, if I stick with Tua for the next 10 years, I will be a massive size, arm, athletic ability deficit 20 out of 20 times. But they just drafted a quarterback. In a great quarterback class, we're going to go a wide receiver. And I'm not backseat driver here. I said it before the class. I said, they got to draft another quarterback. They're going to be too good.

They'll never get you. First of all, you're going to have another quarterback class this good? It was like a unique next year's quarterback class is one guy everybody acknowledges is a star, Spencer Rattler. And I got to be honest with you. He's a lot of, there's a lot to clean up there, a lot. And all I'm saying is, now where's Miami? What are they? Because they don't have anything close to Josh Allen.

And two has hurt again. Not his fault. Nobody's saying it's his fault. But he had an injury history. and he's small and he's marginally athletic. There's not, and everybody knew it, and we can't stop Josh Allen. And pride before the fall, sometimes, and I know guys don't like, go to Twitter for five minutes, guys can't admit they're wrong.

But sometimes the most brilliant decision is admitting my previous decision was completely off base. You're not beaten Buffalo for a decade unless you get that quarterback position, more athletic, bigger, stronger, faster. You're not beating them because Brian Flores now can't even, it doesn't matter. They can't stop Josh Allen. By the way, not many can. Joy with the news. No, no, no, no, no.

Turn on the news. This is the herd line news. Ooh, the cults dropped to 0 and 2 after losing to the Rams, 2724. Thank God they're in that division. Yes. The bigger concern for Indy, though, is the health of Carson Wentz. He left the game in the fourth quarter with an ankle injury and was not able to return. Today is being reported that he actually injured both ankles and is having more tests done to determine the severity of the sprains. Oh, my gosh. He is, you know, you know I love Carson Wentz. I mean, look at this. He is so reckless. I mean, again, I never blaming a guy when you're hurt. But he is just putting himself in, he's, trying to win the game on every play. Yep. By the way, they want to, these type of quarterbacks try to make 20 points plays,

like plays that don't exist. What is that? Why is that a good decision? And I mean, at this point in your career, you shouldn't be doing things like that. Especially, yes, to your point, I got injury history here. You know, you're watching Sam Darnold and Carolina. Matt Rule is coaching reckless out of him, which is really hard, because I've said for years. Wentz and Darnold, big, strong. But literally, they play the position like a linebacker. And Baker did that yesterday, trying to make a big tackle. It's like, Baker, let somebody else after an interception make the tackle. You get out of there. That's, you're a franchise quarterback. Get out of there. But Wence, I don't know, Joy, if you can coach this out of him.

Darnold, I'm watching it happen. It's a personality thing. It's just, and now I do think that if you are with the right situation, We had a lot of questions about James, you know, if you can get in the right system and everything is, you know, a little more conservative and reels you in a little bit. But yeah, I mean, it's, and he's injury prone. On top of the fact that he's wild, he's injury prone. This morning, both his ankles are hurt. Well, there were a, there have been a staggering amount of injuries through the first two weeks, but yesterday was insane. Bradley Chubb, Andy Dalton, Brandon Graham, Darrell Henderson, Jarvis Landry,

Tijuana Taylor, Carson Wentz, T.J. Watt, Jamichael Hasty, Elijah Mitchell, and T.J. Watt, would that be an update? It was a groin. So that usually is like a month long. Those are bad injuries because they can linger and it's really like rest. Yeah, calf injuries and groin injuries. You think it's healed way before it is and then you re-injure it. Well, the conversation now is turning to how much of the preseason is really necessary.

Because you are seeing a lot of injuries. So, you know, do we, did we overcorrect now? Is it something in the middle where guys need to just get out there a little bit? Yeah, I know. It's a good point. Like, we do this a lot. I've done this in my life. You overcorrect on something.

I'm never doing this again. And it's like there's a reason I did something for 20 years. I should probably do a little of it. Yes, just cut back a little bit. So Bill Belichick has no problem with young quarterbacks. He's a lot of success facing young quarterbacks. He is 22 and 6 against rookie quarterbacks as a person. Patriots head coach yesterday.

No different. Zach Wilson was the latest to experience that first hand. 19 of 33 for 210 yards and four interceptions against New England. And the Jets lost 25-6 for their 11th straight loss to the Patriots. Well, Belichick is the greatest defensive coach and the best coach of all time. So he's made everybody look bad. And you know, it's not just interceptions. But when you throw interceptions against Belichick, they look terrible.

So what he does, pre-snap, he just confuses quarterbacks. They don't know what they're seeing. So when you look at these quarterbacks, you look as a fan and go, well, how could you throw the ball there? Like, I mean, that's not even close. But that's what Belichick does. And Saban does this as well, is they hide what they're doing. So the quarterback has no idea.

And then the minute of the snap, the defense changes. Because you go in thinking zone or too deep and then, boom, it's different. And here comes the pass rush. and all of a sudden you're throwing to a spot in that spot there's a person sitting waiting for it. Well, it's just, you know, it's just an experience. Bo Belchak is just a little bit of experience in that space. Look, I don't think this is anything to panic about. Zach Wilson was going to have one of these games this season.

He might have a few, and you've got to be a little patient. Let me look at Joe Burrow yesterday. So, you know, throwing multiple interceptions in a game is, it's not unheard of even, you know, if you're not a rookie. But Mack Jones was 22 of 30, 186 yards. you know, this was nice and efficient calm. No touchdowns, no interceptions. All right, I don't know. Let's talk with these Steelers and these

Raiders, for that matter. The Raiders. Boy, boy, what a, that's as big a win as Gruden's ever had, right? Big time win. That has to be the biggest win for Gruden. I thought it was last week. I sat there and I, that was my lock of the week. Some lock. I loved Pittsburgh yesterday. I loved Pittsburgh. I took Pittsburgh

in the points as well. So did I. Wrong, oh. We were right about the Panthers, though. So the Raiders followed up their comeback. win last weekend against the Ravens with a big 2617 victory over the Steelers. They're now Tuna to start the season, but they did have the same early success in 2020 before missing the playoffs. So Derek Carr wants his team to keep up the intensity. We haven't done what we've wanted to do for the last couple of years. You know, we haven't been to playoff since 2016. You know, I don't blame that thought process. But at the same time, like,

just as a competitor, you're just like, like, I don't care about it. Just put the ball down and Let's see if we can turn these into wins. Now, we've started 2 and 0 before, but we've got to keep going. You know, we can't let this thing. We can't let this thing go downhill. So keeping the mindset, staying in the process, staying in the channel, those are all the things that matter. You know, it is what's really good for them is Henry Ruggs is now emerging. So we know Waller is a remarkable Hall of Fame level.

They did this yesterday, by the way, without their top running back, Josh Jacobs. Yeah. So they didn't go in there with their top running back, which is we always talk about this. I don't want to hear about your injuries. Everybody always, oh, Baker doesn't have Oda. I'm not interested. Nobody's always healthy. So he didn't have his top running back.

This offensive line is not as good as last year. And Henry Ruggs is emerging now as an over-the-top threat, which is significant because they've got a middle of the field dominating presence. They need an over-the-top presence. Back-to-back games, he's had an impact. So that's a huge. huge, huge component to Derek Carr's game. We don't think of him as a big over-the-top thrower. Now he's got a burner on the back end over the top,

and it looks like he's becoming a player. And they face the dolphins next week. Oh, where's that game at? I don't have it up, actually. My computer decided to freak out on me. Oh, that is tasty. Yeah, it is. It's very interesting.

I don't even want to get into the Steelers. The Steelers cannot run the ball. It's in Vegas. Oh, that's almost willing to go to. Vegas to watch that thing. Joy. I mean, you go to Ecuador every other weekend. You can't go to Vegas? Joy with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Hurd-Lie News. Played 11 years in the NFL, all with the Browns. A 10-time pro bowler will be eligible for the Hall of Fame in 2023, and he will get voted in first ballot. Joe Thomas, the great Joe Thomas

NFL Network is now joining us live. So I said last week, week is the Browns. I wanted people to see this as a compliment. I said when you're great, I'm not going to talk today much about Brady beating the Falcons. You're supposed to beat the Falcons. Cleveland today has not been a topic. Why? Because you should be beating the Houston Texans. And that's how I felt that Cleveland has taken a step to let's just talk about them six times a year when they face Baltimore, because that's what they are right now. So I'm not going to talk a ton about the Browns today. So I thought, bring Joe Thomas on because I did watch the game. And they did what, you know, talented teams do.

What did you see yesterday, Joe, that you liked about Cleveland? Let's start with that. And then what, what, anything, it was a little closer than some people thought for three quarters, anything that concerned you with the Browns yesterday. I think you kind of hit the nail in the head with those things in your opening comments. They had a lot of adversity early on in the game. Jarvis Landry gets hurt Baker Mayfield. It hurts his shoulder.

They're in a closer game. than they expected. When Jarvis went down, it kind of took the life out of that team a little bit. But the thing that I was excited about is they were able to overcome that adversity. They didn't allow that to become the story of the game where all of a sudden you lose a game that you're supposed to win.

And like you mentioned, as a good team, which I think the Browns are a good team right now, you've got to win those Houston Texans, those games against the teams that are on your schedule that are set up to be an automatic W. Things that I didn't like, obviously, you shouldn't be playing the Texas. is that close. I don't care if your emotional leader on offense gets injured early in the game.

You've got to be able to find that life and that energy, no matter if it's under the lights on Sunday night football, no matter if it's against the chiefs or the Ravens, or if it's a team like the Jaguars or the Texans that you feel like you're better than. They need to be able to find a way to get up and play the same no matter who's on the schedule. You know, I said this about Lamar Jackson. If we called it Playmaker and not quarterback, we just called the position Playmaker, which increasingly, Joe, it's becoming that. The rules are now allowing more space. You can't hit the quarterback. Then we would look at Lamar Jackson and go, oh yeah, the playmaker. But I do think he's different. We don't like our quarterbacks moving around. We've never seen anything quite like

Lamar. But I watched them last night and I thought, well, there's a reason they had 36 minutes time of possession. He kept making plays on third down. and Mahomes became a spectator. So I really like Lamar. He's different, but I am totally behind Lamar. What is your interpretation of what you see and how it would be the game plan for him? Well, he's really difficult

because if you look at what the Chiefs have done successfully against Lamar in the last few times against him, they blitzed them a lot, right? So last night in the game, the Chiefs blitzed them almost 50% of the time, but he was able to make those plays in those big moments while he was getting blitzed on third down with the incredible ability to throw.

the football while he's jumping through the air. He's turning the wrong direction and finding the guy to make that big play. And additionally, he overcame a really bad start to that game. I mean, he had two interceptions. One was a pick six in the beginning of that game. And he was able to put that in a box. And to me, that's a championship mentality that not a lot of players have, especially at that quarterback position. It would have been really easy for him to just go in the tank and think, you know what, this is a running team that is built on defense and running the football. We don't have a chance to come back. I'm not playing my best game. and just kind of mail it in.

But what he did is he put that bad start in a box. He threw it away and he led his team and he willed everybody to play better and find the best in themselves to go out and win against the best team in the AFC right now. And that was a really impressive performance and it showed a lot of growth for me watching Lamar Jackson and like he said, he has a lot of fun when he's out there.

You know, there are certain things I don't believe you can coach out of a player. And I'll give you one, indifference. Nothing against Ben Simmons. He'll never love the game like the late Kobe Bryant did. He just doesn't. I mean, Jay Cutler, he'll never love the game like Russell Wilson does. I don't think indifference.

A guy either loves the game or he likes the game. And the other thing is reckless. Carson Wentz is reckless. He knows he's had injuries. And he is literally can never live for another play. And I watched him yesterday, Joe, and I think, I'm not sure you can coach this out of him. He knows his injury history.

He knows Aaron Donald's across the way. He doesn't care. And did you ever play with guys that just, it's their personality. It's their genetic or DNA makeup. That's who they are. Yeah, that's what we keep talking about with Carson Wentz, right? There's an injury history there that you want to think that he's going to grow over time and understand, hey, maybe I shouldn't be taking some of these hits.

maybe I need to get rid of the football. Maybe instead of lowering my shoulder and trying to take on a DB in the secondary, maybe I need to run out of bounds. Like having that self-awareness is so important. And I was disappointed because as a guy who doesn't put on a helmet anymore in the NFL, I'm never going to question a current player's toughness. But I think he had a great opportunity to win that locker room over last night by going out there and gutting through the ankle injury for a couple more series

and winning the game for his team. Like he would have gained a tremendous amount of respect. in that locker room had he done that, even if he had gone out and showed that he couldn't perform at the same level and he lost the game. I think he earns a lot of respect. But when you take yourself out of a game or the trainers did, whatever happened and you're not able to finish and you stand on the sideline, there's going to be a lot of players in that locker room that are going to be looking around that have a lot of hurt themselves that are thinking, hey man, I was able to gut through to try to help my team win. And I didn't see that same level of

commitment from you. And so now he's kind of got to deal with a little bit of that in the locker room. And for a guy that just got there, that was a golden opportunity that was missed. Joe Thomas at Joe Thomas 73 in his Twitter account. By the way, Thursday night, Football Panthers Texans exclusively on the NFL network, Joe will be working that. I want to talk about the Steelers' offensive line. So there are things that get better over the course of a season, right? We know that young players get better. But I've always said the offensive line is difficult because chemistry is such a part of it. And, And it's, it's, you know, a buy week really reshaped the offense last year for the Buccaneers.

Hard to correct an offensive line over a buy week, right? Because you're not, it's not live bullets. So I look at the Steelers offensive line and I think it's, it ain't good. It's a rebuild. You tell me, can it make, can that O line for Pittsburgh, Joe, make significant steps throughout the course of this year? No, because being a great offensive lineman and being a great offensive line is about the number of reps that you have together. It's like a golf swing. You're not going to walk out there and all of a sudden one day on the range make a tremendous amount of progress because it's about doing the same thing over and over again. Because the technique that an offensive lineman uses is not natural. It's not throwing the football. It's not running. It's not tackling. It's not doing things that you've done since you were three years old. These are learned skills and learned traits. And it takes a lot of time to build those traits up.

That's why we don't see a lot of guys coming from college anymore, being great rookie year, second year, third year in the NFL, because it takes a lot of reps and they're not getting that in the college game. So for the Steelers to think that their offensive line is going to make tremendous leaps and bounds as the season goes on, I just don't think it's going to happen. And when you look at Ben Rothesberger and the great success that he had had with the Steelers, a lot of times it was built on, they had a great defense always, but they also had a really good running game.

And he was able to shake off the would-be sackers and throw, down the field at a tremendous rate. We were always so afraid when we played him of the times where we had a free hit on him and he was able to get free and he would chuck the ball, 60 yards down the field to Antonio Brown, and all of a sudden that was their explosive play. Well, because they can't run the football and Big Ben doesn't have the arm to get it down the field anymore. They're really just relying on short passes and playing great defense, which as you saw yesterday, that's not exactly a formula that's winning football in the NFL

week in and week out like maybe they used to when it was the Steelers of old. The only offensive lineman to ever make 10 straight pro bowls. He'll be a Hall of Famer in 2023, Joe Thomas. At Joe Thomas 73, watch him on Thursday night football. Joe has always loved your insight, especially on the AFC North. My man, thank you very much. Thanks for having me, Colin. You bet.

Knows this stuff and certainly knows that division inside and out. By the way, you talk reckless. I'm not going to spend a ton of time on it. It's not a national story yet. But Sam Darnold and Wents, I've always compared the two. They've had some injuries. They're reckless. They play like linebackers.

But watch what Carolina is doing. Matt Ruhl is coaching it out of Sam Darnold. Now, it's just two games, but Sam is just taking hits. Yesterday, he just took a sack. It's just like, he wouldn't do that. Like, he just took a sack. And it's like, okay, it's not ideal. It depends on where you take a sack.

Taking a sack at midfield's fine. You don't want to take a sack, and it takes you out of field goal range. That's bad. But if you take a sack at the 40, 50 yard line, it's like it's better than throwing it up for grabs. And so Carolina, Matt Ruhl is doing a remarkable job. Sam Darnold looks like, and I've watched every snap of Sam's career, USC on, he has really gotten out of the reckless game. Now, it will emerge.

It will come back. You will see it. But he is slowly at a fumble in the red zone a couple weeks ago, but it was just a bad handoff. It wasn't Sam trying to make something out of nothing. It's not easy, but you're seeing it happen with Donald in Carolina. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific. Hey, what's up, everybody? It's me, three-time Pro Bowl of LaVarrington,

and I couldn't be more excited to announce a new podcast called Up on Game. What is Up on Game, you ask? Along with my fellow Pro Bowler, T.J. Hushman Zada and Super Bowl champion. Yep, that's right. Plexico Burris. You can only name a show with that type of talent on it. Up on Game. We're going to be sharing our real-life experiences loaded with teachable moments. Listen to Up On Game with me, LaVar Arington, T.J. Hushmanzada, and Plexico Burris on the IHeart

Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast from. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast, Superhuman, documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth.

Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what you're saying. Yep, that's me, Cliver Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball. ball to college football or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined.

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

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

Well, you can find out on the Look Back at it podcast. I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick it here, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. Including a recent episode with Mark Lamont Hill waxing all about crack in the 80s. To be clear, 84 is big to me, not just because of crack. I'm down to talk about crack on day, but just so y'all know. I mean, at this point, Mark, this is the second episode where we've discussed cracks.

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 IHeart 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. Tripp Fontaine, Ryan Clark.

Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing and we're still chasing it and we don't know when we've done enough because people scoreboard watch. Life becomes about wins and losses. Steve Burns, Dustin Ross,

you find it important to be a good person while you hear on earth? Are you a good person because you're afraid? Because that's two different intentions, bro. Absolutely. And that's two different levels of trust. I want you to just really be a good person. Join me, Kear Gaines, as we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast,

Learn the Hardway. Open your free, Our Heart Radio app. Search Learn the Hardway and listen now. 15 minutes from now, don't forget where Colin was right, Where Colin was wrong. Plenty of both on a Monday. Wolf and Shepherd, sponsoring our show, the dress shoe made and worn by athletes.

Business on the top, athletic on the soul. Wolf and Shepherd.com. Shepard spelled S-H-E-P-H-E-R-D like the herd. So the Titans came back to beat Seattle, though Seattle I'll play them for big chunks of the game. It's easy to get fooled when you have a great quarterback. And that's the game, right? Like everybody wants to find the great quarterback.

It makes everything easier. We've talked about this Friday. It covers up a lot of flaws. But it can also fool you into thinking, we're a very good team when you just have a great quarterback. Russell Wilson fools you into believing Seattle is a well-oiled machine. And I'll ask the question that I asked in the off-season, what does Seattle do well that Russell Wilson isn't connected to?

take out Russell, they rushed for 60 yards. They had 10 penalties for 100 yards. They were dominated in time of possession. Their run defense was gashed. Tannahill threw for over 300 yards. Their drafting strategy in recent years has been weird as Pete Carroll suddenly has more control in the draft. Their seventh round running back is markedly better than their first round running back. Russell makes everything work.

Freddie Swain, six-round receiver, looks like he can play. Tyler Lockett was a gadget guy. He's a star. Doug Baldwin was undrafted. He became a star. D.K. Metcalfe dropped in the draft. Team stayed away. Russell made him a star.

Russell Wilson fools you into believing. I mean, their offensive line's been a joke for years. Their play calling, they had to fire their offensive coordinators, two times now, and they still win 11, 12 games because of Russ. The Seahawks feel incredibly loose and just ask yourself, what do they do well that Russell Wilson isn't connected to? New England is actually, right now, this morning, the opposite of Seattle. They're very limited at quarterback.

I mean, Mac Jones won. I'm not sure he did much, but they won because New England does almost, everything well and they're very limited at quarterback. That's the best coach in NFL history. Seattle, Russell makes everything work. What do they do well? Give me one thing, that they consistently do well. Couldn't rush yesterday.

Couldn't stop the rush. Penalties a ton. I don't know. You know, there's been, I've said for years, it just feel like the giveaway games. You can't keep asking Russell Wilson to be the life-preserved. for the franchise. He got running around in the end zone trying to make plays. Everybody's got limitations. That's why, by the way, what I'm seeing with the Arizona Cardinals, I like, because it's not all

on Kyler-Marie. Now, he is great, but they went out and upgraded their pass rush, and they went out and upgraded their wide receiving core, and they have made aggressive moves, playmakers on defense, Buda Baker, Isaiah Simmons. Like, they, Kyler's great, but they're showing you there are some different ways beyond Kyler to win. And that's what it comes down to. I mean, Seattle, you can win in the regular season. Russell doing all of it. But how has Seattle been in the postseason last five years?

Because that's the best coaches. And then you're facing the best defenses. And then you're facing the best offensive lines. Quarterbacks can get you to the playoffs. They can just will their way. But to win in the playoffs against the best coaches, schemes, teams, you've got to have balance. And I'm not sure.

I just see one guy making all the plays for Seattle. Colin right, calling wrong, top of the hour. By the way, we talked about this on Monday, and I'm not sure why this is. Sometimes this is the way it works. Whatever business you're in, how do you enter the company? If you start in the mail room,

You could be the smartest person, man or woman in the world. But a lot of people we see you as mailroom person, and you may move up within the company. If you enter a company as a vice president, you can be a idiot and make mistake after mistake. But he's got a corner office. How do you enter a company? It'll shades the view of people. Derek Carr did not come in is a top 10 quarterback draft pick. we weren't talking about it.

He played at Fresno State, so we didn't talk about him in college. We never talked about Derek Carr on the show in college. His brother had struggled in the NFL, so we kind of downgraded him because his brother had a bad situation. Then that means Derek won't succeed. And he didn't have the biggest arm. And he, you know, he entered a franchise that was at the time the Raiders, an absolute tire fire. And because of that, nobody will put their arms. around Derek Carr. Have you watched him the last two weeks? I mean, folks, he's not playing with a lot here.

He goes into Pittsburgh yesterday. They did not have their top running back. That's one of the best front sevens in the NFL. He outplayed Big Ben. Big Ben's a first round pick. His size. He enters the league as a Pittsburgh Steeler. He's got a Hall of Fame coach. I'm watching Derek Carr yesterday. And I'm watching Big Ben. It's not close. Pre-snap, deep ball, touch, efficiency. accuracy. I just don't think we've ever given Derek Carr a fair shot, entered a bad team, you know, bad roster, small college, not high profile. I mean, even now, as coach's higher profile than he is. I don't know. I watch Derek Carr. I don't see what everybody can't see. That to me, he looks like Tony Romo to me. Not quite as athletic, but I watch Derek Carr,

he throws a beautiful football. Not a huge arm. He's not Josh Allen, not running around like Mahomes, but that dude can ball. That dude can play. Derek Carr can play. That's a top 12 quarterback in the league. Set it last week.

Set it last year. I'll say it again. Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smigel 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 I-Hard 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 are armored.

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 AHA radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. On the Look Back at it podcast. From 1979, that was a big moment for me. 84 was big to me. I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English.

Each episode, we pick you here, unpack what went down. try to make sense of how we survived it with our friends, fellow comedians, and favorite authors. Like Mark Lamont Hill on the 80s. 84 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.