The Herd with Colin Cowherd - 11/27/2020 - Hour 2 - Steelers and Ravens Face Another Postponement

Episode Date: November 27, 2020

Does Lamar Jackson have the Madden Curse, being that he has tested positive for Covid 19 and his play has diminished since last season. Also, the postponing of the Steelers/Ravens game may have been a blessing in disguise for the Steelers. Brandon Weeden joins the show to talk Dashaun Watson's spectacular year, and the hurdles you have to overcome when losing a top WR as a QB. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. Another podcast from some SNL, late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer, Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter.

Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal, but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque.

Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the IHard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. 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 a year, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. With our friends, fellow comedians, and favorite authors. Like Mark Lamont Hill on the 80s.

84 was a wild year. It was a wild year. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what I'm saying. Yep, that's me, Clifford Taylor the 4th.

You might have seen the skits, my basketball and college football journey, or my career in sports media. Well, now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifers 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 IHeard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes,

follow at Clifford and at TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Thanks for listening to The Heard podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weekday from 12 to 3 Eastern, 9 to noon Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and FS1. Find your local station for the herd at Fox Sports Radio.com or stream us live every day on the iHeartRadio app by searching Herd. You're listening to Fox Sports Radio. What up? Welcome in. This is The Herd, wherever you may be, and however you may be listening to the show. Thanks so much.

I'm Doug Gottlie, filling in for Colin Cowherd. Keeping our eye on college football. Iowa State and Texas, college basketball, number one, Gondega, throttling Auburn. That game's going to come to an end at 90 to 67 as Mark Few win, wins his 16. 600 first game as head coach of the Zags. Welcome in. Hope you had a splendid, healthy, and safe Thanksgiving. Braden Whedon, good friend of mine, friend of my program, which follows this one. At 3 to 6 Eastern, 12-3 Pacific, the Doug Gottlieb show, former first-round track pick at the Cleveland Browns. We'll join us. Get his thoughts. He's also a former starting quarterback with the Cowboys, who played in loss yesterday, with the Texans, who played and won.

yesterday. So we'll get Brandon Whedon's thoughts in 15 minutes here on the show. Charles Robinson an hour and a half and we'll get his reaction and prognostication on what happens. Ravens Steelers was supposed to be the game last night. AFC North. Last year's team with the best record in the AFC and MVP and Lamar Jackson against the Steelers who are the last remaining undefeated team in the National Football League. Was supposed to be the deal, the game. until it, well, it hasn't been canceled. It was just postponed.

We think. Right. We think. Because what's happened is they moved the game from Sunday, from, excuse me, Thursday night, Thanksgiving night. That was going to be the PS de resistance, right? You were going to eat early? Do you guys eat early?

You guys eat late. I get these people who get dark so early. I don't know. We did the one o'clock dinner last night. and I think it worked out well because I don't believe anybody ate anything and it was just like, I mean, just, look, there's not a lot of people in my house and it was a small bird, but the part of the bird that we ate, I mean, it, it looked like we were savages. Like the Yankees at the plate, savages, a bunch of savages. And then the thinking is like, all right, I'm going to go take a nap. And I'm going to get up and wake up.

I'm going to have leftovers. And then I'm going to watch the Steelers and the Ravens. and instead we turn to holiday movies. Christmas vacation is the goat holiday movie, I think, right? Christmas Vacation and Die Hard, those are the two. I mean, you can go with the Santa Claus ones. You can go with, there's other ones. Elf is very good, okay?

Elf is good, bad Santa is good. I'm not, Charlie Brown, Christmas is good. None of these are bad. But Christmas vacation and die hard, Those are the, you know, that's the Tom Brady and Joe Montana. And I got to think of what would be the Aaron Rogers, right? Where it's actually probably more talented and has been really successful, but not viewed as much as the goat, right?

Those are the three for me when I watch. And there's other movies. You know, Peyton Manning at a time was seen as maybe the greatest of all time, at least regular season, walked out with a Super Bowl win. but couldn't really throw a football at the end. We might have to do that as best for last, right? Which holiday movie is which quarterback? All right, we'll get to that.

But we didn't have the game. And this is, it's kind of craziness. It's kind of nutty. And now you have more positive test. And late in the day, Lamar Jackson, Lamar Jackson, returning reigning MVP of the National Football League. Is this the Madden Curse? You guys willing to go, he didn't get hurt.

And he hasn't been terrible, but he hasn't been good. He hasn't been great, right? So I guess the question is, is it Madden Curse? Is it COVID curse? Is it 2020? Or just a matter of this is how easily this thing spreads? It stands the reason that if your running backs have it, the quarterback would probably have it too,

especially if he doesn't play with two gloves on, it doesn't play with a mascot. So in Baltimore, we don't know. We don't know what happens. but what could have been a really tough scenario for the Steelers might end up being the best thing to ever happen to them. They canceled their walkthrough in practice today, the Steelers did, signifying that it doesn't feel like this is a go.

Maybe they're just trying to be, hey, everybody stay safe, stay home. It's like, remember in Godfather, not Godfather, remember in Goodfellas when they had the Lufthansa Heist? You guys remember that? Lufthansa Heist and Goodfellers. fellas? And then they show up at the bar to like celebrate and that one guy walks in, his wife's got a fur coat, got a new Cadillac outside. Take it back. Take it back. What are you? What are you a moron? Were you to listen to me? Take it back. I said,

don't, don't buy nothing for nobody but nothing, right? That's basically what the Steelers did at practice today. Just call everybody up and just say, hey, don't talk to nobody. Don't have anybody for your house, we'll do it on Zoom, wrap yourself in a butt. We're undefeated. We got a chance to win a Super Bowl. Got a chance to win a Super Bowl. The Steelers weren't going to have an off week.

Remember what happened with Tennessee? They lost their buy week. And their guys were ticked. And I don't blame them for being ticked, but it wasn't like you were going anywhere. You can't go on vacation or anything. But, you know, look, you thought you were going to have a three, five-day weekend, whatever?

You thought you'd like going to play Thursday? And then have Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday, off, come back, totally. refreshed Tuesday. And then all of a sudden they tell you where you're playing Sunday afternoon against your rivalry, like, ugh. But it appears that that game could either, I mean, I guess you could push back to playoffs a week because you do have the weekend between the conference championship games and the

Super Bowl. And the Super Bowl, though it feels like, well, you can move anything. It doesn't feel like that dates one you can move. Sorry. I've always, I think everyone in sports and media is like, why can't we just play it on on President's Day weekend. Then you have the Monday off for school and then you don't feel so bad about East Coast,

especially staying up to watch the end of the big game. So I don't know if Super Bowl is movable or if you just eliminate championship week or here's the possibility. The Ravens forfeit. It's possibility. The Ravens forfeit. You know, sorry you guys couldn't stay healthy.

The Ravens forfeit the game. But it doesn't feel like they're going to play this weekend. and that could be what look like, man, that's rough on the Steelers, undefeated, and now their schedules are all off and they don't have a buy week, and they're all a little bit ticked about it, and you run the risk because of the start, stop, start, stop, of maybe more injuries. Now you got a prep week, but then you get the weekend potentially off.

Feels like, feels like to me, this ends up being a really good thing for the Steelers. Because even if they find a way to week, this is like, let's make it a week 18 game. The Steelers by then should have everything locked up, clinched up. They don't have to play their dudes. Could they go for an undefeated season? They could, but Super Bowl is so much more important. And if you think undefeated regular season matters, I give you what's the best team that Tom Brady ever played on?

It's not any of the six that won the Super Bowl. It's one of the three that lost the Super Bowl. When they went undefeating the regular season, they went 18 and 0, and they lost to the New York Giants, David Tyree's catch. et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. Right? Nobody remembers that team.

No one ever considers that team the greatest football team or in the conversation, the greatest football team of all time because they didn't win the last game. People don't care about the first 16 if you don't win the last one. But kind of interesting, if you look at it, that here the Ravens are desperately in need of a win, need of kind of righting themselves, and they were bad.

They had four turnovers last game against the Steelers, but still had the football and a chance to win. it late when Lamar threw an interception in the Steelers in zone. So it wasn't like a Hail Mary. It wasn't like a legit throw. But they needed a get-right game against a foe like the Steelers to figure out what they could change, how they could evolve. Could their offense progress? Because it feels like it's, if anything, been stagnant and probably regressed as people have figured it out. And they lose Ronnie Stanley for the year. What could have been a tough, scenario for the Steelers, one that could lead to their first loss and to more injuries.

And what's always like, that Steeler Raven game is a hard-hitting football game. It's one of those ones like, well, that's played at a different level. There are games in the NFL. Most are played at a very high level yesterday, notwithstanding. But that felt like a game where the Ravens are still an aggressive bunch. They needed it. It would have been played at a magical playoff level. And now I don't think it gets played.

I don't think there's any way. All right, coming up next, what do we make of the Cowboys going for twice on fourth down? Should that be them waving the white flag? Hey, we don't mind if we actually lose. We're going to play this thing like it's a bowl game. Deshawn Watson is playing outstanding statistical football. What's changed since Bill O'Brien was fired? And oh yeah, by the way, how does it feel to be a starting quarterback as a rookie and get benched?

I'm going to ask Brandon Whedon. started as quarterback of the Cleveland Browns. Get his thoughts on what Miami has done with Tua. All that's coming up next in The Hurt. One more HARD? The herd streams 24 hours a day, seven days a week, within the IHard Radio app. Search HARD to listen live or on demand whenever you'd like.

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

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

this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. One week, I'll take you behind the scenes

of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment, and the next we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music. The Clifford Show isn't just a podcast. It's a space. for honest conversations, stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger. So, if you've ever supported me,

or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right where you need to be. Listen to The Clifford Show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. Do you remember when Diana Ross double-taped 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 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 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,

in this month. I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking. Trip Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing. And we're still chasing it. And we don't know when we've done enough. Because people scoreboard watch. Life becomes about wins and losses. Steve Burns, Dustin Ross, because you find it important to be a good person while you're you here on earth? Are you a good person because you're afraid? Because that's two different intentions, bro.

Absolutely. And that's two different levels of trust. I want you to just really be a good person. Join me, Kear Gaines, is we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, learn the hard way. Open your free, our heart radio app. Search Learn the Hardway and listen now. Doug Gottlieb in for Colin, this is the herd wherever you may be. however you may be making as part of your day.

College basketball has come to an end as Gonzaga gets another dub. And it looks like Virginia is going to go down to San Francisco. San Francisco lost a UMass Lowell. Right? Just so you know, like what is UMass Lowell? Okay, well, there's UMass Amherst is UMass, right? Like Marcus Camby, remember that? John Caliperi was the head coach.

They had that little Treviesso was the point guard. Do you remember that team? Yeah, I went to the final four. Okay, that's UMass Amherst. UMass Lowell is a different school in Massachusetts. That's who San Francisco lost to. Like two days ago, they just beat Virginia. They're still defending national champions because we didn't have a tournament last year.

It's that kind of year. That kind of year. We're watching Iowa take down to Brue. Take on Nebraska, and Nebraska looks like a mess. What a mess. See if they can figure that thing out. Let's welcome in Brandon Whedon, of course, who starred at Oklahoma State. They beat what Stanford in the Fiesta Bowl.

Andrew Luck was the quarterback. Then who's the first round pick of the Cleveland Brown, started as a rookie, then made his way to Dallas, where he became when Romo got hurt, was a starting quarterback of the Cowboys, and then started when Deshawn Watson got hurt with the Houston Texans. And I want to start there, Brandon. and happy Thanksgiving to you and your family. What is different about Deshaun Watson

over the last four games that's allowed him to not turn the football over and statistically be so much more successful? Yeah, happy Thanksgiving. Man, he just looked like he's playing free. DeShan, and I've told you this many times, I mean, there's very few guys in the NFL to have the instincts and the ability to kind of improvise

on the fly like he does. I mean, I've said this for years. You know, he's one of those guys you can't overcoach. You can't make him a robot. You've got to call to play, kind of leave him in the right direction, and let him go figure it out. He's just, he's got unbelievable instinct, stuff you can't teach, stuff you can't coach.

You know, he's just being smart with the football. You can tell he's not his big deal. I told him this. The two years I was with him, I told him this all the time. I said, man, you're too good. You do not have to make every single play. Let the game come to you. You know, be patient at times, but he's doing a little bit of that, and he's being smart with the ball.

And, I mean, he's literally putting that team on his back. And he's going to have to for a while. Brandon Whedon joining us here. Brian Whedon joining us here in the herd. How do we have a proper evaluation considering the teams that he's played well against or the bad teams, right? Like the Lions aren't a good team. They've been the Jaguars twice. They beat the Patriots a fairly close game, but this is not a good team.

Patriots team. Like, how do you, I, it's not like I think he can't play, but it's hard to truly evaluate considering the level of comp when they win games. Yeah, I mean, I get it, but at the same time, I mean, you're still playing an NFL football team, you know, and he, you know, losing a guy like, you lose a guy like DeAndre Hopkins, that's tough to overcome no matter who you are. And, you know, Will Fuller's having an unbelievable year. He's having a career year. You know, he's got Brandon Cooks is playing good ball. I mean, you know, the running game's decent. But he's just, you know, again, he's just, he's finding a way to put those teams,

or put his team on his back to go win these games. And, you know, they started the year. I mean, their schedule was so rough right out of the box. I mean, I think their own four start the year, and they played, you know, four teams all with winning records. But, you know, you got to play the teams on your schedule, and they're finding a way to win those games. I think in large part to him,

he's, you know, Deshaun's putting that team on his back and playing good ball. Doug Alleybin for Colin. This is the herd on Fox Sports Radio. Let's get to the Cowboys. Zicke Elliott seems to have topped off and doesn't have the same burst. Now, Zach Martin got hurt. Lyle Collins is out for the year. You know, arguably the best left tackle in football. Taryn Smith is out for the year. What are your thoughts still on Zeke and what seems to be a lack of burst from the running back? worrisome. I mean, I think first and then just lack of taking care of the football. I mean, he's turned the ball over five times and he's just pretty careless with the ball.

I think that's probably the bigger issue. But, man, I mean, here the truth is, look at that offensive line. You know, find me one good, one good football team and go all the way back to high school football all the way through the NFL. Find me one good team that's good with a really bad offensive line. There's not one. And I think that's, you know, why they're having so much, so many issues on offense. They're just, you know, they're missing a lot of key pieces that have made that team go for so many years. And they can't run the ball efficiently.

He's turned the ball over. He's not run the ball very well. And, you know, it makes it tough on Andy Dalton. So they're, you know, obviously when Zach went down the other day, that's a gigantic blow. He's one of the better, if not one of the best guards in football. So, yeah, that was a huge blow for him. And when Zieg's not playing well and can't make up for that lack of, you know, those lack of guys up front, it's going to be tough on that offense going forward. Tua started three games in his third start.

He got pulled. They put Ryan Fitzpatrick in to try and beat the Denver Broncos. That didn't work. Now they're going back to Tua. You know, Brian Flores basically said, hey, we're trying to win this one game, but Tua is still the guy. But what is that like to be a rookie quarterback? And you don't feel like you have the full support in the short term. of your coach.

It's tough. You know, I've been benched, and I don't care how strong you are mentally. It's tough to overcome that. I mean, just, you know, you go out the next time you go out, you're going to be, you know, maybe a little more cautious than normal. You aren't able to go out and play free and let it rip. And, you know, whenever they benched Ryan Fitzpatrick, I thought the timing was a little bit weird.

I know too is a first round pick and you want to see what you got, but they were playing pretty good football when he was in there. And, you know, it seemed a little rush to me. I'll be honest. Not that two is playing bad or anything else, but to go back and forth and back and forth, man, that's tough. That's tough on anybody. And, you know, I hate it.

I hate it for him. Obviously, I made it clear he's going to start this week. But it's, I don't know, when you have a back-and-forth type deal at quarterback, it's just, I don't think it's a very good recipe for an offense or for any, for a football team, in my opinion, they're just, they need to find a guy and stick with them because they got a pretty good team. They got a really good defense, and they got a chance still to win that division. Brandon Whedon, our guest here in the herd, Doug Gottlieb filling in for Colin.

The Tampa Buccaneers, they got some offensive line issues, guard, center. So that's part of the problem. But the biggest problem feels like you have a coach that's used to playing one style, you know, holding the ball a little longer, throwing the ball down the field. And a quarterback who, I mean, you tell me if I'm wrong, but isn't Tom Brady known for getting up to the line of scrimmage, find the mismatch, and just being not only decisive but really accurate and underneath routes, like option routes?

Yeah, I mean, absolutely. I think, you know, it's definitely a different style of ball. I was saying this the other night, I had a buddy over watching the game, and I said, you know, Brady not having a back that he can utilize in the passing game is honestly, it's making them different. efficient offensively. I just don't, you know, he's so used to having that guy out of the back field that, you know, you can still run combinations with running backs and wide receivers. And they do a lot of that in that offense where they free release the back.

And, you know, he's able to kind of high, low defenders when they play cover two or whatever it may be. You can still throw digs behind those guys and throw option routes to backs and stuff like that. He's used to having a back that can catch the football and is good out of the backfield. He obviously doesn't have that in Tampa. I mean, I think they had four drops on, on four attempts in the night early on. And, you know, it's just a different. different style of ball. I mean, I think they want to, they want to drop back, try to protect it up and take shots, which is, which is fine in Danny, but it's pretty clear that's not working. He's not throwing the ball very accurately downfield, and he just doesn't look comfortable, in my opinion. He

does not look comfortable back there, and it's weird seeing it because I mean, I've played against him and his teams several, several times, and, you know, I'm used to seeing him standing there and look confident, just make it look so easy and just get the ball out of his hands and just dissect defenses and go up and down the field. And right now, just looks a little out of sorts. It doesn't look like he's, you know, incomplete control like we're used to seeing. This was Bruce Ariens going back a couple days ago

talking about the deep ball. We've had the guys open. We just missed them. There are times when coverage dictates you go to that guy. So I think we can do a better job of utilizing the deep ball in our game plan more of or less of. So each and every week so different. But when they're there, we need to hit them. We can't have them going off our fingertips and we can't overthrow them.

He also, in previous press conferences, said, you know, maybe he's confused up there or hitting him in practice. I mean, look, I understand that this is who Bruce Ariens is, and I understand that Tom Brady was somebody who in New England would be called on the carpet when he didn't play well, but not publicly. How do you think it goes over when you're criticized publicly and you're a guy like Tom Brady? Yeah, he's not used to it, that's for sure.

you know, I'm kind of surprised to hear him say that. I mean, you know, obviously, you know, losing the game the way they did and playing the way they did offensively, you know, you're kind of going to be reactionary, and I get it. Everybody's reactionary from week to week. But, yeah, yeah, I can't imagine it's going over very, very smoothly. You know, I know Bellichick was really hard on guys, but he would do it privately. He would never do it in the public, you know, press conference and stuff. So I don't know how, I don't know how well that's going to go over, you know, and just because

he's missing deep balls. I mean, yeah, large part of that's on the quarterback. But heck, some of that could be coverage, you know, some of that could be receivers. I mean, landmarks. I mean, there's a million different things. Now, the other night, I mean, some of the two interceptions were clearly Brady's fault in my opinion. But, you know, to be a good deep ball, look a guy like Russell Wilson. I mean, you know, when he has one-on-one coverage, a single-life safety, he does a good job of holding the safety, puts it a ton of airing, lets his guy go up and contest and make catches. Guys are just, you know, that throw deep ball differently.

and Brady's not real dialed in with it right now. And it's kind of shocking me a little bit just because of the personnel he's got on offense. He's got some guys that can go get the football and take the top off. So, yeah, I think they want to go where they need to go. They need to figure that out. There's no doubt about it. Brandon Whedon is our guest here in the herd. Okay, and then as you have two young – have you gotten a chance to watch Justin Herbert

and some of the things he's doing? Like, so many people questioned what he would be like as a pro because of how he looked within Oregon's offense where so many of the throws were safe. And he's a really dynamic downfield thrower and he's been decisive with those throws. How did so many, and I know he went six, so it's not like everybody totally whiffed on him. But how did people miss in their evaluations of Justin Herbert? Yeah, I think a large part just because it was tape at Oregon. I mean, everybody knew he's a big, strong kid that can run around and make plays with his feet and stuff and obviously has a strong arm. But I still think he was a little bit inconsistent throwing the football at Oregon.

But, I mean, he's proved everybody wrong, including me. He's playing unbelievable football. I've got a chance to watch, you know, a little bit here and there. And some of the throws he's making are, like you said, decisive, accurate. I mean, he's throwing him with authority. You can tell that, you know, his conviction when he's back in the pocket. I mean, he's trusting what he's seeing and he's letting a rip. And that's pretty impressive for a rookie quarterback because you know these defensive coordinators, you know,

are trying to do what they can to kind of confuse them coverage-wise and blitzes and stuff like that. So I've been, I've been extremely, extremely impressed. I mean, he's got two really, he's got a bunch of really good weapons, but he's got some nice, you know, nice tools in his tool chest with, you know, the playmakers he's got outside. But, but him personally, I mean, he is, he's standing in there and delivering it. He's playing good football. Brandon Whedon, our guest here in the herd, Doug Gottlie, filling in for Colin. What's it like, I'm trying to think when you are starting quarterback, what it would be like to play against an Aaron Donald, right?

Like we talk a lot of the discussion about Brady has been about Brady and the offense, but the thing is you talk about Russell Wilson, he was uncomfortable when they're going against Aaron Donald. Then they won the game. And their ability to get to the quarterback without blitzing anybody because you have a front four. but, you know, part of it is you have one guy there who even two people can't necessarily account for. Like it's a team blocking scheme anytime Aaron Donald is in the game. You played in college against Sue, right? Was Sue in Nebraska?

Did you play against him? Was that similar? No, they were already gone, but I played against me in the NFL. And, yeah, it's very similar. There's a handful of guys that, you know, come Monday, the first thing out of the coach's mouth, like, hey, look, we got to neutralize, you know, in this case, 99. Like, we cannot let him take this game over and beat us single-handedly. And it's easier said than done. I mean, everything you do in the run game obviously is predicated around getting, you know,

four hands on him, you know, double him to the mics and the wills or however your scheme is. Excuse me. But even the passing game, all your protections. I mean, everything is predicated around not letting him wreck the game. And, for example, when I was in Dallas, we played against JJ Watt. and JJ Watt was a defense player the year that year, and it was kind of that same deal. You know, JJ's a guy that, ironically enough, you don't want to run away from him. You want to run right at JJ so you can double team.

A lot of his big plays are running it down from the backside, and he's made an unbelievable career that doing that. Aaron Donald is, he's unbelievable in the run game, he's unbelievable in the passing game, probably the best defense player in fall, and even the other night. I mean, he wasn't on the stat sheet, but you could tell how disenfellable. ruffle he is and how much it frees up those other guys that play next to him. And so going against guys like that's tough. I mean, I'm sure those offensive line coaches lose sleep at night.

I know the interior offensive linemen know what they are in store for because, I mean, guys like Aaron Donald, I mean, you just kind of slow them down. You're not going to stop them. You just kind of got to, you know, hope to God you can will it for four quarters and he just doesn't wreck the game. Yeah, no, it's pretty kind of amazing to watch. And it's almost like that their whole defense is built to. around that and then just kind of getting into you with their

defensive backfield and you got Ramsey back there kind of locking guys up and the scheme seems to really, really seems to work. Your favorite trick play. Yesterday we saw the fumble rusky. If Brandon Whedon was a coach, what's the trick play you would always have in the bag?

Oh gosh. That's a good question. I don't know. I mean, it seems like the Philly Special was kind of worn out. It's welcome. That one, you know, that one's been pretty popular down there in the red zone. I mean, I'm pretty basic, man. I like the traditional old flea flicker. I mean, when I was in college, we ran it several times, and I bet we were five for five on that thing. We always hit it, and it was always for an explosive play.

A couple touchdowns, be honest. I'm a good old-fashioned flea-flicker. If you can find a way to style it back, you know, the one that Houston ran the other day, I'm not even sure that was. I meant to text to Sean to see if that was even drawn up like that, but it looked like they're playing backyard football. But, you know, just a true, you know, flea flicker, man, that's, you know, it usually gives you an opportunity to take a shot down the field.

Yeah. No, I like that. I like that. I like, everyone doesn't like a good flea flicker, right? I enjoy that a great deal. I like double passes, although when those don't work, it looks really, really, really bad, really, really, bad. But I'm, I'm a good flea-flicker guy.

What do you think about running fake reverses on fourth and ten when you're backed up, down four? Yeah, I'm not. Like Dallas did. Yeah, again, like it almost feels like it felt like that's something you do in a bowl game, right? Or if you're trying to lose. What do you, honestly, what do you make, like if you're on that team, you're on that sideline, they call it, and you're backed up, what are you thinking? I'm calling it, timeout.

I mean, you're still in the division. You win that game. You're in the division. You're down four. It's a one-score game. You know, it's like, I don't know. I thought the timing was bizarre. I thought the play call was bizarre.

I mean, if you're not a fake, that's a pretty slow developing fake, in my opinion. I'm not a special team's guy, but, I mean, you know, I don't know. I saw that, and I just, I was in a loss for words. I couldn't believe it, given where they were in the game. Now, if it's a 10-point game, you're trying to steal a possession. I get it, but, man, you're still right there. I was, man, I was shocked. I just kind of put the icing on the cake and what they're doing in Dallas.

There's a lot of head scratching going on down there. I can't fathom some of the stuff they're doing. What do you think they're, what are they doing? Are they trying to win? It's a legit because, I don't know if you saw this, going into last night's game, going into yesterday's game, the Eagles who were a half game, they were drafting 19th in the first round.

The Cowboys were drafting fourth. That's a massive, massive difference in winning that division. And it might sound cool to say, but if Mike McCarthy legit knows, I'm good here, I'm good. I mean, is it better for them to lose? And are they playing to somehow lose without playing to lose? I mean, I get that side of it.

I mean, because you know, you're decimated injuries. You know, the chances of you're really making a run for pretty much slim to none. So I understand that argument. But I don't know. If I'm on that team, I'm frustrated because, I mean, you still got to go answer the questions every time you lose, especially in Dallas. I mean, it's just, you know, it's not fun the week after you lose.

I don't know. I mean, like I said, I understand if you have a chance to get a top five pick, that's a nice deal, but I don't know. I mean, you can, I guess you can always use it as a crutch if you're a coach like, oh, shoot, you know, we're tanking. We're worried about next year, but he'll never say that publicly. So I don't know. I've never been in that, there's still guys that, you know,

on the bubble that may not be with that team next year. They're going to be looking for a job, and they still need to go put good play on tape, in my opinion. So it'd be hard to, it'd be hard to, keep a locker room intact if you're going out there trying to lose games. I've never been a big believer in that. No, I'm not either. I understand culturally, but there also is, hey, you're running a franchise and you have

some bad contracts and you're trying to figure some things out. And, you know, if you just happen to lose a couple more games, that doesn't kill you. I know how competitive Jerry is and how good they thought they would be. But there does come a point to where you're looking like, we just don't have any guys. We just don't have guys anymore. I think now you lost Sack Martin. Like, we just don't, we just don't have the dudes. Brandon, I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving and a Merry Christmas and happy holidays to you and your family.

And I appreciate you joining me on my show and on The HARD here on Fox Sports Radio. You got it, buddy. All right, that's one and only Brandon Whedon, who I'm sure is teeing him up at some point in the very, very near future. I may have to do the same myself. All right. All right. Let's get to Lee with the news. No, no, no, no.

Turn on the news. This is the Herdline News. All right, Doug, you had talked about Tua with Brandon Whedon there, but did you hear that Sam Darnold is making his comeback this Sunday? Yes, I know he's going to play. Like, making a comeback would mean like he was out of the league or he had some, you know. Right, it's his first game back since week eight when he re-injured that right shoulder. Sure.

And it's going to be his first time with his top three whiteouts, Jameson Crowder, Denzel Mims, Rashad Parram, and, of course, Frank Gore has made it known that he wanted to be. wants to get a win before his career is over. Give me a dub. I ain't going out on an 0 for team, right? Right. Do you think he could pull off the upset, even though they are at home against the Dolphins?

I do have my picks upcoming. Okay. This is like, this is Adam Gase's last stand. Although Custer's last stand did not turn out particularly good. I just want to point that one out. Do I think they can? Yes. Do I think they will?

Stay tuned. All right, all right. All right. Alabama versus LSU. They're trying to reschedule this one. It's expected to be moved to December as long as this weekend slate of games goes off as planned. The game that was originally scheduled for November 14th, of course, was called off because of COVID testing and results with LSU.

So, Alabama regular season finale against Arkansas would be moved to December 12th, while LSU's previously scheduled December 5th game against Ole Miss would be moved to December 9th, which is actually the same day as the SEC championship game. Okay, well, that's LSU is not going to play in the SEC Championship. No, neither of them are old. Get it in. Let's just get in as many as we can. I got it. It makes sense. You just figure it out in the fly and you kind of piecemeal it together. Totally got it. Doing what we can. Doing what we can.

And it is November 27th, so it's time to remember a great. It was 13 years ago today that unfortunately Sean Taylor died. At just the age of 24, of course, protecting his home during an armed robbery. So we're remembering a great. Good old Sean Taylor. Sean Taylor was an incredible player. And I still don't, they still not have, still know who killed him, right? Oh, they do? All right. I forgot. There was a lot of weird circumstances with that thing.

Right. There were some underage guys. Yeah. It was, like, he was an unbelievable talent. And it's part of the story of the Washington football team in that the everything that could go wrong has gone wrong. Don't get me wrong. Obviously, they've made some terrible decisions, but that's terribly bad luck on a guy who had Hall of Fame caliber talent to be taken even before. before he got to his prime.

And that's, leave with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Herd Lie News. I'm like tempted to get to those picks. I'm like so excited for it. I got to wait.

I have to wait 40 minutes or so. I got to wait. I have to wait 40. I got to take a breath. I got to wait 40 minutes. There is a trend working on Black Friday, which is very disturbing, very disturbing. Why pure capitalism can in fact suck.

I'll point that out next. I'm Doug Gowler. This is The Herd. Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the IHard 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. 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-tapped Little Kim's boobs at the VMAs? Or when Kanye said that George Bush didn't like black people.

I know what you're thinking. What the hell does George Bush got to do 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. 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.

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

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

fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, Learn the Hardway. Open your free, our Heart Radio app. Search, learn the hard way, and listen now. Doug Gowley, been for calling this is the herd. Happy Black Friday to you. Weird Black Friday, right? Are they having, did people get up super early?

Or it seems like it's kind of more becomes Cyber Friday Monday. Cyber Monday is Monday, which means your email inbox is going to be like just besieged by discount upon discount upon discount. There's a disturbing trend and Ryan, I think you're part of this disturbing trend. Guys that have bought up PS5s. So there's two main gaming systems. and I'm not, yeah, I am going to bore you. Okay, I'm going to list how many of the gaming systems. I never had a Kaliko Vision, but I did play Kaliko Vision.

There was Atari. Remember you had the first Atari? Right? There was Atari. There was Kaliko Vision. What else was there? Man, there's some really good ones. There's some really bad ones, too.

The first, like, goat playing system was Nintendo. The first ever Nintendo, NES system. That was the one that, came with Duck Hunt. And then the game that everybody played first was Super Mario Brothers. Then he had all the ability to get 99 lives, which takes away from the whole idea of it. Like first we went from, you used to go to this, you know you're a child of the 80s when you've been to an arcade. You go to an arcade and there was always some sketchy looking teenagers that kind of ran the arcade,

smoke some cigarettes and had like what was the coolest BMX bike at the time. They had cool BMX bikes, smoked a cigarette, hair usually long. It was like the first guys to wear a mullet. And you go into this arcade, you bring in a dollar, you get four quarters. That was most games were only a quarter. And what was the game, which was like a movie sort of game? And it was Dragons Layer. And that one was like two quarters and felt like a total rip-off.

And this was back in the days of the Miss Pac-Man, like Miss. Miss Pac-Ban was the biggest game. And you'd come in and you'd slide in and somebody playing the game, you'd put a quarter on top of the machine. And that signified, I got next, foo! Right? So we went from playing in arcades to, wait a second. I get like unlimited games here?

That's crazy. There was in television as well, Atari, Kalikovision, Intellivision, Nintendo, Nintendo, 64, Dreamcast. Sega Genesis right we got to a lot of things and then we got to the the PS2 the PS3 the PS4

and there was Xbox 360 and then there is Xbox 1 that's the one my my son is now on right the Xbox 1 and now they have the new Xbox which is the Xbox S is that what that is? Which is like it's like a it's so there's a new Xbox and there's a new

PlayStation and the new PlayStation is kind of all the rage and there's like a limited supply. And I love the guys to Nintendo like, man, we're really surprised at the supply. Like, come on, dude, supply and demand. You made half as many as you should. And then you got MOOCs that are actually,

look, I totally understand that it is capitalism. You are allowed to do these things. Okay, you're allowed to buy it, hold on to it, resell it, make a profit on it. If they're going to limit the supply, you become that secondary, market like the ticket scalper guy, right? Every arena, that's the weird thing now.

It's, I mean, when you start to think about things, like no ticket scalpers, not just because it's secondary ticket market, but nobody can get into these games. It's the weirdest. Okay, so here's my thing with, I'm going to mark up the PS5 guy. It's for kids for crying out loud. I did. You've become the adult asking for the autograph. at the baseball game guy.

You know, that's who you are. The guy who drives up the price of the PS5. Don't tell me you're not smart. I understand you're smart. You're like, look, with the profit that I make on the second PS5, I can pay for the first PS5. That's brilliant. That's fair.

But that is absolutely sinister. It's a kids game, dude. Autographs are for kids. video games for kids. Now, maybe part of this is I'm playing 2K21 with my son last night. And if there's an EA sports game maker out

there, all right, you guys, I get that the Lakers are going to be good and that they won a championship. They're not that good. I lined up there next to them with the Brooklyn Nets yesterday. KD's a 95. LeBron's a 98.

Anthony Davis never misses. Bloss every shot. And you're like, okay. I keep getting housed by the Lakers. I played the Mavericks. They can't guard. I played the Nets. They can't guard or make shots.

But my point is that at their core, video games are for kids. It's a kid's present. You've become nothing worse than the lady that used to buy up the cabbage patch dolls and drive up the price there. This is a disturbing trend. This is like when when teams started going

run and shoot in the NFL. We got to get back to the core. The core of NASCAR is in the south. The core of the NFL is running the football. And the core of kids' games are, you don't gouge people for prices. Ryan, what did you make on the sale of your second PlayStation unit?

1350. How long do you think those, there's still a limited supply. He's got one more. He's going to sell it to me at cost. Otherwise, I'll just get him acts from the radio. Bringing home to my kid today. Amazing.

Amazing stuff. Amazing stuff. So you're asking, your kid asked Santa Claus. Santa, I've been good all year. I've done everything mom and dad want me to do. And you're like, hey, Santa's even having troubles with supply. Because Santa's like, look, you know, I haven't been able to have all the elves in here. I just haven't.

We got COVID concerns. We've had to space. everybody out. We've had to slow down production. I can't do the thing on the lap thing. Do you see they have these kids going to see Santa in a mall, but Santa's like in a box? That's interesting. I'm just going to tell you that of the disturbing trends in all of sports and all of media, there's lots of disturbing trends, guy who gouges Americans for a kids video game system. You're right there on the list of the adult who goes to the, the worst of the adult who goes to the baseball game and then gives the kid the baseball card to ask Mike Trout to sign it

and then pays the kid for Mike Trout signing a card or a baseball, a baseball so that they can then put it out on the internet. Forget that. Yes. I'm not the Grinch. You're a Grinch if you're gouging people for the price of a, what is it, what is it sticker, the PS5? 500 bucks and you're charging $13.50. Come on. We might or might not have football this weekend in the biggest game of the weekend.

That's next. I'm Doug Gottlie bits to hurt. 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. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential.

Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win.

I don't care what I'm saying. Yep, that's me, Cliver Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, 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, unfiltered conversations with athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. So let's get to it.

Listen to the Clifford show on the IHard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok podcast network on TikTok. On The Look Back at it podcast. For 1979, that was a big moment for me. 84 is big to me. I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick a year, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it.

With our friends, fellow comedians, and favorite authors. Like Mark Lamont Hill on the 80s. 84 was a wild. It was a wild year. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.