The Herd with Colin Cowherd - 12/03/2020 - Best of The Herd
Episode Date: December 3, 2020-The Steelers are not a Super Bowl contender-Russell Westbrook is a much better player than John Wall-It's not crazy to think the Dolphins might draft another QBGuests: Greg Cosell, NFL FilmsChris Bro...ussard, FOX Sports NBA Analyst Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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This is the best of the herd with Colin Cowherd on Fox Sports Radio.
Ah, here we go on a Thursday.
It is great to have you in live from Star Stud at Los Angeles.
This is The Herd, wherever you may be and however you may be listening.
Fox Sports Radio, IHeart Radio on FS1.
It is nice to have.
We're indoors today.
Of course, it's California and Los Angeles.
That's where we have to be.
Joy Taylor is joining me. Joy, how are you?
I'm great. Look at the NBA trying to swoop in and steal some headlines during NFL season.
Sorts of tasty stuff in the NBA.
There's a lot going on.
There's a lot going on.
Let me start with this, though.
There was a football game going on last night.
Listen, good news, bad news.
What do you want to hear first?
I'm always a bad news.
Just lay it out, okay?
I can handle it.
I'm a big boy.
I'm a grown-up.
Don't give me fluff.
I'm not looking for whipped cream.
Give me the cake.
Give me the pie.
Let's go.
I can take bad news.
Pittsburgh Steelers fans, you need to grow up.
This is not a Super Bowl team.
There it is.
Go cry in your terrible towels.
This is not a Super Bowl team.
You're not.
You're 11 and O and it feels hollow.
Own it.
Mike Tomlin, a man's man who, if he asked him good news or bad news,
would say, give me the bad news first.
Here's Mike Tomlin, who knows more about the Steelers than all of us.
us, his thoughts on his team.
Mike, you had some red zone failures and a number of drop passes.
What do you attribute that to? Anything in particular?
Us sucking.
Yeah, that's it.
Pittsburgh's not a Super Bowl team.
Tennessee's better today?
Yeah, they are.
I know you beat him, but now Bud Dupree out for the year with an injury.
So Devin Bush and Bud Dupree and your front seven both out.
You're not stopping King Henry.
you're not beating Kansas City.
You can't lose two of your best players defensively.
I mean, this is a team.
I always had this theory.
Say it out loud.
Before you do something in life, say it out loud.
Let's play say it out loud with the Steelers.
You can't run the ball.
How do you take the ball away from Patrick Mahomes?
Run the ball.
You can't.
You had to throw 51 times last night to beat COVID-19 ravaged Baltimore.
You can't run the ball.
Oh, by the way, you're too big.
best linebackers, arguably two of your top three are out, so you're not going to stop the run as much.
Baltimore again ran it two times this year against you. You've had the second easiest schedule in the
NFL. You've faced four backup quarterbacks. Let's be honest about the Steelers. You're getting
worse and teams like Seattle are getting better. You're not a Super Bowl team this morning. I mean,
good God, you had the ball for 33 minutes. You had to throw 51 times to escape a Baltimore team.
using a backup quarterback. And I went in this morning and I went and looked at the
Steelers, who have they beaten? In week one, they beat Daniel Jones. Well, yeah, he had a new
coach who'd never been a head coach and the Giants started 0 and 5. Then you beat Drew Locke. Oh,
my bad, he got hurt in the game, Jeff Driscoll. And then you had this streak where everybody
bought into you. You narrowly edged Deshawn Watson, Carson Wentz. You beat Baker, Mayfield,
Ryan, Tanniel, Lamar Jackson, but outside of Tannehill, which one of those guys is playing well now.
After that, you beat Garrett, Gilbert, Joe Burrow, Jake Luton, and RG3.
Just own it.
Say it out loud.
Most important part of your defense, two huge injuries.
You won't stop the run as well.
You don't run the ball, meaning you can't keep it away from Patrick Mahomes.
Or Josh Allen.
I mean, this is the reality of the NFL.
Like, I never feel quite this way in baseball and basketball or maybe even hockey.
But in football, we have this component called injuries.
And Seattle this morning and the New York Giants are much better than they were in week two, three, and four.
And the Chicago Bears, the 49ers, and the Pittsburgh Steelers are not nearly as good as they were in weeks three, four, and five.
And that's the reality this morning.
And what are they doing well?
Kansas City is doing virtually everything well.
Seattle now looks like they're starting to put things together.
Green Bay, what is Pittsburgh doing well?
Ask Mike Tomlin.
Here's what he saw last night.
I'm really disappointed in our performance tonight.
We did enough to win, but that's all.
It was really junior varsity, to be quite honest with you.
And it was in all three phases.
We couldn't run the ball effectively when we needed to.
We dropped too many significant passes, very catchable, makeable passes.
We didn't make significant plays in the special teams game.
A kickoff coverage unit wasn't good enough.
We turned the damn ball over.
We gave up big plays in critical moments on defense, can't have it.
They converted a long run on a possession down before the half.
Unacceptable.
They had a 70-yard touchdown late in the game.
Unacceptable.
Six of the 11, Pittsburgh wins or one possession.
That is with the second easiest schedule in the league and facing four backups.
This is, I don't care what their record is.
I've never been beholden to records.
They're getting dropped to about seventh in the herd hierarchy.
This is not a Super Bowl team.
And the problem is what you need to beat Kansas.
City is a running game, don't have it. And what you need to beat Tennessee is the ability to
tackle the best running back in football. And now you don't have it. Devin Bush out earlier this
year, Bud Dupree out now. Every bit of this skepticism on the Steelers is completely earned.
All right, as Joy said, interesting NBA day. So these two players I've been critical of,
Russell Westbrook and John Wall for different reasons. Yesterday, they got traded for one another.
I don't care about the first round draft pick.
NBA is a developmental draft pick.
Houston will sell that pick off to somebody else.
I think many people believe, hey, bad contracts, it's a wash.
I do not believe that.
I believe the Washington Wizards slam dunk won this trade.
Because I think Russell Westbrook is significantly better than John Wall.
I'll just let you know this, that nine of 12 years, Russell Westbrook has been in the NBA.
he's made an all-N-B-A team.
In 10 years, John Wall's made it once, and he's falling apart.
I've been critical of Russell Westbrook.
He can drive me crazy in the playoffs,
but in the last 37 games of the NBA's regular season last year,
oh, by the way, it was third-team all-N-B-A.
30 points, 8 rebounds, 7 assists, 50% field goals,
and 77.5 from the free-throw line.
What was John Wall doing?
An Achilles surgery.
Off a heel.
injury. He hasn't played in two years.
And whereas Westbrook's game is hyper athletic, he's 32, I still get that.
Wall's game is hyper speed.
Off these surgeries, I don't think I get it. Yes, both guys are expensive.
Yes, both guys' contracts are brutal. Yet neither guy can hit a three.
Yes, neither guy I love. They're not the classic point guard.
But with Russell Westbrook, I get a healthier player, I get a better player.
And here's another thing that matters.
Russell Westbrook is completely obsessed with basketball.
One of the reasons he wanted out of Houston,
because he said the culture was too loose.
He's acknowledged, my best friend is the basketball.
He's got his issues, but I'm a big fan of his passion.
Nobody plays harder in the league than Russell Westbrook.
John Wall, when he was healthy, was often indifferent.
Listen, these guys are both on the back nine.
But Westbrook's like walking in.
up to the 11th T-box.
Wall's headed to the 15th Fairway.
I think Westbrook is a first ballot Hall of Famer who drives me nuts, but I'm not so sure
he's out of his prime.
I'm really not.
I think he's one of these guys that's had an incredibly long prime.
I just think genetics, DNA, Westbrook is one of the most athletic players in league history.
I don't think he's slowing down.
My issue with him is his flaws.
He can't correct.
It's who he is.
John Wall way past his prime, and I was never a huge fan of it.
And here's something else that matters.
In the east, Russell Westbrook and Bradley Beale will be incredibly relevant.
John Wall in the point guard heavy west is a non-story in Houston.
And in this NBA league we have, relevance matters.
Westbrook and Bradley Beale are going to make the playoffs.
Russell Westbrook's won a lot of big games and played in a lot of big games.
even last year.
I don't believe this is like two bad contracts being exchanged.
They're not good contracts.
I'm not arguing that.
But to me, this is a slam dunk for all my criticisms of Westbrook.
He is basketball obsessed.
John Wall often seems indifferent.
He's still maybe the best athlete outside of LeBron in the league.
John Wall built on speed is coming off another surgery.
One guy is going to the weaker west.
He's the better player.
Leso players going.
going to the point guard, rich, east slam dunk for Washington.
I don't think it's just, if you go to Westbrook's last 35, 36, 37 games, he's all NBA.
Again, he struggled to correct his flaws.
But you're being dishonest intellectually, if you don't think Westbrook's got game.
You're in the history, how many people on the planet?
Nine billion?
He made third team all NBA.
And that's in a league, by the way, where there's never been this many good guards.
I mean, there are teams that have like, it's insane.
Like, Steph and Clay are the best back court of all time.
Now, this year they won't play because Clay is hurt.
But there's like 12 to 15 incredible backcorts.
The game is international.
You've got guys now 6-7 playing point.
And Russell Westbrook is third team all NBA.
And doesn't appear to be out of his prime.
So, way to go, Washington.
And by the way, James Harden, there's a story out this morning that James Harden preferred John Wall over Russell Westbrook.
I'm over Hardin telling me who he prefers because we keep rolling out people for him.
He doesn't get along with any of them.
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Some call it grotesque.
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Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds.
I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth.
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A win is a win.
A win is a win.
I don't care which I'm saying.
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Yes.
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Really?
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When you win in the NFL, it just, it's like, remember that thing white out?
If you were typing and they had white out, it just, it's like LeBron's the human eraser.
If you have problems, like LeBron just sort of erases all that.
Winning is sort of the solution to all your like drama and problems.
The Miami Dolphins are winning.
Tua, I just want to throw this out.
In his first month as a starter, Tua was benched and got hurt.
Nobody's talking about it.
He got benched and he got hurt.
Hurt in high school, hurt in college.
Oh boy, hurting the pros.
And his passing totals for two in the first four games are 93 yards, 248, 109, and 83.
Or is it 169?
He's averaging under 150 yards per start.
And whereas there's a lot of wow with these young quarterbacks.
Kyler Murray's legs.
Wow.
Lamar Jackson's speed.
Wow.
Josh Allen's size and arm.
Wow.
Justin Herbert's arm and everything.
Wow.
With Tua and like a Dak Prescott, it is winning.
And that's something.
But Miami is in a very interesting place.
And I want you for a second.
You're Brian Flores.
You run the team.
So by April, late April,
The Jets are going to have Trevor Lawrence.
Wow.
The bills already have Josh Allen.
Wow.
And Belichick's the best coach in football.
You will have Tua.
And Tua's strengths, and this is not arguable.
The two things we know about him at every level.
Accurate and he gets hurt.
Now, accuracy matters.
It is something.
And Brian Flores may be thinking, hey, my defense,
I'm a better defensive coach than everybody in this league except Belichick.
I just want an accurate guy who doesn't turn it over.
I want Drew Breeze.
I don't need, wow.
I don't need massive arm.
But it's a very interesting situation because Miami has Houston's first round pick.
And Houston just lost their wide receiver and corner to like PEDs.
So Houston's going to be really bad for the next month, despite Deshaun Watson.
What does that mean?
Miami may have the fifth or sixth pick in this draft.
That's the last time Brian Flores going to have a top five or six pick.
this is it and it is a awesome quarterback draft.
This is why I believe you play Tua.
You're not going to have the fifth or sixth pick in the draft.
Brian Flores too good of a coach.
He's built too good of a defense.
They got too much momentum.
And they're getting more.
I mean, they have draft capital, endless draft capital.
So it's a fascinating place.
Does he look, does Brian Flores look at this and think to himself,
okay, here's what I know with Tate.
he doesn't throw picks.
He didn't throw him in high school.
He threw 11 picks at Alabama total.
He doesn't throw him in the NFL.
And he thinks there's not a lot of while there, but I get Drew Brees.
I get accurate.
I get no mistakes.
And I can win with defense.
But just remember, by late April, Trevor Lawrence and Josh Allen are in your division
with each about a 12 to 15 year runway.
That's what you're, if you stay in Miami for 15 years, you will have the less
smaller, less of an arm, arguably less mobile quarterback.
It's fascinating.
And you have a draft pick from Houston you may never have again in your career.
Patriots don't draft top three very often.
It just doesn't happen.
So kind of fascinating.
Tua in his first month, benched and hurt.
And nobody's talking about it.
You can't tell me they're not thinking about it.
This is why you can win with Ryan Fitzpatrick.
I would put two out there.
Even if it costs me a game, put him out there.
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Let's go to Greg CoSell, NFL Meat, Sandwich, NFL Films 41 years.
If you bet it, if you do fantasy, if you love football, he's my favorite.
He is now joining us live.
By the way, just thinking something off the top of my head.
Years ago, you and I were at San Diego.
ago.
Yeah.
At a, you remember the Steve Clark's camp.
Without question.
I remember well.
And I asked you, and to your credit, I said, Greg, I'm going to lean on you.
I watched Mitch Trubisky.
I do not understand it.
And you said to me, he's a front leg thrower.
This is probably not going to be great.
You were way early on that.
Everybody was falling in love with him.
And you said, Colin, I've looked at tape.
Front leg thrower, that ball's going to duck.
And nobody, I always refer to that.
if I talk to scouts. I'm like, CoSell told me.
So to your credit, now I want to talk about another quarterback who I think is more talented,
but he is struggling. It is Lamar Jackson. And I've said, can he break through whatever
this is? People get film. They throw stuff at you. If you're Baltimore,
what would concern you about Lamar? Well, I think where do you have to get to with Lamar,
and I've always believed this. I believe, and Bill Walsh was the one who,
taught me this really, Colin, you have to get to a point where your past game and your run game
can work independently of one another. And what happens in the NFL because there's really smart
coaches is they figure out how to better defend the multi-dimensional run game of the Ravens.
As good as Greg Roman is, and he may be as good as there is in designing run-game concepts,
but defensive coordinators figure it out. So now you have to be able to throw the football. And you have to
be able to throw the football independent of all those run game concepts in any given game.
So now you get to a drop back passing game in which you have to be able to understand your
concepts in complete detail and understand defensive concepts in complete detail. That's how
quarterbacks are able to eliminate what's not there quickly and isolate what is there quickly
within the structure of the offense and a comfort level in the pocket. He is not at that point.
So what happens is because he's always been able to rely on his legs is he now moves prematurely.
He leaves the pocket prematurely at times.
And yes, he'll make some special runs because he's that special.
But he will also leave a lot of throws on the field that are there.
Kansas City can win multiple ways.
They can win finesse.
They can win power.
That is generally rare.
Generally, there's ways teams can win.
And the Brown's Titans play this week.
and they do feel like there's a certain formula for them to win.
The running games excelling.
And I think Tennessee is a better version of Cleveland.
What does the film say?
Well, you're hit it right on the head.
They're mirror images of each other philosophically.
But I think you're right that overall the Titans pass game is better than Cleveland,
more consistent.
But both those teams still have to figure out just what I said about the Ravens,
how they can throw the football if the run game is.
not the driving force. I think that Tannehill has shown over the last number of weeks, he's done a
much better job off the run game of getting to, let's say, his second read, which becomes critical
because teams understand where do you want to go with the football off your play action pass game,
and often they'll take it away. So they'll take away, for instance, A.J. Brown on a lot of those
inbreakers at times, then you've got to go somewhere else. And Tannehill's done a better job of
that in recent weeks, for instance, hitting Corey Davis, who's become a little more of a
a volume target in the past two, three games, but not as the number one primary on those plays.
So they've done a better job of that.
Right now, Baker Mayfield is still struggling.
He's very inconsistent.
You can see he plays very fast.
There's a frenetic movement to him.
But then he'll also make two or three throws a game that remind us all while he was the
number one pick when he came out of Oklahoma.
And so he's still trying to figure out how to be more composed, more comfortable in the pocket
and play just with a little more poise.
There are things that are correctable,
and there are things as a quarterback that are not.
Jared Goff is in a really bad stretch of turnovers, fumbles and interceptions.
And I've always felt with Goff that when he's comfortable, he's very good.
When he's uncomfortable, he's a liability.
Are his flaws, Jared Goff, are they correctable?
I would say an answer to that, that Jared Goff, is kind of
what he is, and I think we all know what he is, I think he's a programmed quarterback who is
very system-based. And again, most quarterbacks are. That is not a pejorative negative statement,
but he is really like that. So when the system works, and McVeigh has a phenomenal system,
and he can drop back and be comfortable in the pocket, and he gets what he expects coverage-wise,
which comes from coaching and play-calling, then he looks really good because he throws the ball really well.
when he doesn't get that for whatever reason.
It could be coverage-based.
The Niners did some great things in coverage this week.
And Jimmy Ward, by the way, is a really overlooked player in the Niners' defense.
But they did some really good things in coverage.
When he gets pressure where he's not comfortable in the pocket, then his efficiency drops.
He's not going to become a different player, Colin.
This is who he is.
So he becomes very much a function of the scheme.
I want to talk about Aaron Rogers because,
I don't really care about awards.
I'd give him my MVP.
I don't think he's as good as Mahomes,
but I think he's more valuable to his team.
So Matt LaFleur comes in,
and I thought Matt LaFleur was very good in the first half last year,
but young coaches often aren't great after intermission.
That's what the Belichick's and Pete Carrolls are.
This year, I think Green Bay is in a better job,
although they've had some clunkers in the second half,
of making adjustments at half.
But I will say this.
This year, this is the second year with Matt LaFleur.
Last year, you could argue, well, he's no better than he was with Mike McCarthy.
So it wasn't about Matt LaFle.
This year, Aaron looks much more comfortable to me.
What are you seeing with him and LaFleur?
That's just what it looks like for me.
The body language is mostly better.
Why is he so comfortable?
And you're 100% right, Colin.
And think of this.
What are we not seeing as much this year with Rogers that we've,
become used to seeing him running around and leaving the pocket. We're seeing way less of that.
This offense now, this pass game is a very desirable combination of being highly schemed,
where they win with the route concepts, but also Rogers being very aggressive when he sees
one-on-ones. Because when he sees one-on-ones, whether it's on the outside or whether it's in the
slot, if it's man-coverage, he's going to throw that ball. But yet, they're also very
scheme and you see a lot of plays where the design, the concept wins. The touchdown we're seeing
right here to Robert Tunyon is a great example of that. So this is now a really good mix. I know
people like to say for whatever it means that, oh, Rogers has bought in. I don't know exactly what
that means. I don't know what's in Aaron Rogers head. I can only tell you that the film shows that this
offense is really well scheme, but yet Rogers will be willing to turn it loose anytime he sees those
one-on-ones. So now I want to go to Brady on this because I said this week, we looked at his
numbers, 28 TDs, 11, 11 picks, 94-passer rating, 65, data, blah, blah, blah. And I said,
listen, considering Evans was hurt early, so was Chris Godwin, OJ Howard leaves, Fournet,
four-net came right before the season, new coach, new system. I'm like, maybe we're being
ridiculous here. He leads the NFL, I believe, in completions. Only Mahjohn
homes, only a few of the stars have more yards. And I'm like, are we over analyzing this? Is Brady
actually having a pretty darn good year? Like, what is the film say? Well, it's a different
offense. He's very used to an offense that's very rhythmic based in terms of quick game type
throws. Three step drops, bang play action, five step drops, ball comes out. This is a little bit of a
different offense in terms of the vertical element to it. And by vertical, I don't mean
throwing the ball 40, 50 yards down the field. So what that means, Colin, is it means you're
in the pocket for just a bit longer. Think of it this way. And the audience will be able to
appreciate this. Three-step timing is 1.5 seconds. The ball's out. Five-step timing is 2.1
seconds. Seven-step timing is 2.6 seconds. So when you start getting into more of the five-step and
the seven-step timing, you're just in the pocket longer. And that changes the timing and it changes
your mental clock. So there's more of those deeper kinds of throws in this offense. And the
offensive line has been a little bit of an up-and-down struggle this year. And he's been under a
little more duress because the ball doesn't necessarily come out as quick within the structure
of this style of offense. So while he's not had a bad year, there's been more what we would
call negative plays that were not used to seeing when he was in New England.
I want to talk about the Steelers. Obviously, in the NFL, Seattle and the New York Giants,
I think are better today than week two. I think the Bears and the Niners and the Steeders are
worse than week two or three. Teams have ever flow, right? Some of it with Pittsburgh is now,
Bud DePri is now up for the year. Devin Bush is out. Two really, really high-end linebackers out.
And I watched them last night, but I want to talk about the running game specifically.
You would have never wanted Big Ben at this point in his career to throw four.
51 times against RG3 in a MASH unit in Baltimore.
They can't.
By choice.
They didn't have to do that.
That was by choice.
So let me ask you, is their run game, why can't, the Steelers, they have very good
offensive line.
They, you can't, you can't crowd the box because Ben will beat you deep.
They have good receivers.
Right.
What is up with their running game?
What is it?
Well, by choice, they're having been dropped back an awful lot, Colin.
You know, earlier in the season, there was a three or four week stretch where,
James Connor, and I know he's on the COVID list and hopefully he gets back okay, but there was a
three or four week stretch where James Connor was very effective. He was averaging 17, 18 carries
a game. Their run game looked pretty solid. Then he had a couple of games where it wasn't that
good. And then it seems like they've totally abandoned it. I mean, look, what's sustainable and what's
not sustainable is always open to debate with smart, reasonable people. I just, to me, you don't
want Ben Rafflesberger dropping back by choice 45, 50 times in a game.
Yes.
Now, a lot of their past game is very quick game now.
And sure, they do take their shots, but they try to get the ball out of Ben's hands pretty
quickly.
But I think they're going to need some kind of run game.
I don't want to throw out the word balance because that's a cliche, and it can mean many
different things to many different teams.
But I just don't think 50 dropbacks by choice is something you want to do every week.
Finally, our big play. Let's just talk Mahomes.
He's good.
Every great quarterback has a unique quality to them.
Mahomes has something that I don't think I've ever seen.
The back pedal where he'll take a long, and he'll just keep, because he has so much confidence in his arm,
he just keeps back paddling.
He just waits for the receiver to break.
It's special to watch and you saw it.
I do wonder if Kansas City sometimes, because they score so brilliantly and quickly,
if they're not urgent enough at times with their series.
I guess it's a Golden State Warrior problem.
When you can score so fast, you know you can score so fast, you don't always play with urgency.
But let's talk a little about Mahomes.
Well, he's pretty good.
I mean, you know, we spoke about Rogers earlier.
I mean, I think you can easily make the case that Rogers and Mahomes are the two best
throwers in the game.
And Mahomes is truly, truly special.
And he's just one of those guys.
There's really not a whole lot more to say about him.
And of course, he's getting better mentally the more he plays.
And I think he's one of those guys that really understands how important that part of the game is.
And certainly Andy Reid does.
But he is just absolutely special as a thrower.
And we're seeing him here throw.
This was the first touchdown to Tyree Kill.
The play I want to show was actually the second touchdown to Tyree Kill.
And we can end up to – and this is it right now.
So let's actually take a look at this and we can break it down.
So this was the second touchdown that we're talking about to Tyree Kill.
And this was something they do very, very often, and they do very, very well.
And what they do here is they line up in what we call a one by three set.
And we call it a one by three, not a three by one, because it's the tight end,
who's the single receiver to the boundary side of the field opposite to trips.
And here what the bucks show, they show a two deep coverage, two man coverage,
two deep safeties, and man to man across the board.
But they will rotate to cover one, a single high man cover.
with that safety taking the back.
What's the matchup here?
It's Tyreek Hill, Carlton Davis.
And they love when Hill is in the inside slot to trips to run this deep over route.
They'll run it against man.
They'll run it against zone.
It's a staple of theirs.
And he just runs away from Carlton Davis.
It's really not terrible coverage, but it's just very difficult to cover.
In man coverage, he's running away from the deep safety,
so the deep safety provides no help.
So it's just a speed issue.
And obviously Mahomes just put it right on them.
But they're a very, very difficult defense, very difficult offense to defend.
Yeah.
Great co-sell NFL films over four decades.
Great seeing you again, Greg.
Thanks, Colin.
Appreciate it.
One more herd?
The herd streams 24 hours a day, seven days a week,
within the IHard Radio app.
Search Herd 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 you're saying.
Yep, that's me, Cliver Taylor the 4th.
You might have seen the skits, the reactions,
my journey from basketball to college football,
or my career in sports media.
Well, somewhere along the way,
this platform became bigger than I ever imagined.
And now I'm bringing all of that excitement
to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show.
This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations
with some of your favorite athletes, creators,
and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated.
One week, I'll take you behind the scenes
of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment,
and the next we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music.
The Clifford Show isn't just a podcast, it's a space for honest conversations,
stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger.
So if you've ever supported me or you're just chasing down a dream,
this is right where you need to be.
Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast.
And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and 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 with Little Kim?
Well, you can find out on the Look Back at it podcast.
I'm Sam Jett.
And I'm Alex English.
Each episode, we picket 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
Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite therapist,
Keer Games.
And in recognition of mental health awareness month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience
in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests.
I'm talking Tripp Fontaine, Ryan Clark.
Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase
that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing.
And we're still chasing it.
And we don't know when we've done enough.
Because people scoreboard watch.
Life becomes about wins and losses.
Steve Burns, Dustin Ross,
because you find it important to be a good person while you hear on earth?
Are you a good person because you're afraid?
Because that's two different intentions, bro.
Absolutely.
And that's two different levels of trust.
I want you to just really be a good person.
Join me, Kear Gaines,
as we have real conversations about healing,
growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose
on my new podcast, learn the hard way.
Open your free, our heart radio app.
Search learn the hard way and listen now.
Let's get right to Chris Broussard.
Don't want to waste any time.
The former New York Times sports writer, Fox Sports NBA analyst now joining me live.
Don't want to waste any time.
Westbrook, John Wall, trade.
There was a draft pick.
I don't care.
It's the NBA draft.
It's all about prospects anyway.
I loved Westbrook.
Overwall is a trade piece.
I mean, I think Westbrook's a much better player to you.
Yeah, especially at this point.
I mean, he was better than John Wall anyway.
but John Wall hasn't played a game in almost two years.
He hasn't played a full season in about three years.
So we have no idea what he's going to come back with.
The only guy you can point to who came back from an Achilles injury
and was the same is Dominique Wilkins.
Now that's a good sign for Wall because Wilkins was athletic explosive as his wall.
But it's no guarantee he's going to be the same player.
But even if he is, I think Washington won this trade.
because Westbrook makes them relevant.
They haven't been relevant for a few years out of the playoffs.
Now you're must-see TV.
Everybody wants to see what Westbrook and Bradley Beale can do.
They'll put shooters around them.
They've got Davise Bertrans and they'll play off Westbrook and see what they can do.
Look, I give them a shot to make the playoffs in the East.
And this is what Westbrook has that Wall doesn't,
even though both of them were explosive athletes.
Westbrook plays with an aggressiveness and a ferocity that is so unique and so dynamic that it's an X factor for your team and for the opponent.
It keeps the opponent off guard off balance because this dude is so unique and dynamic.
And it's kind of like a boxer with a knockout punch.
He might not be technically sound, you know, can't do it.
Deonté Wilder can't do much else.
But he can always catch you.
That threat is there, right?
That's Westbrook.
So at least you got that.
I mean, you're not winning a championship in Washington,
but you're relevant, you're sexy,
you're a lot more fun than you were two days ago.
So LeBron and Anthony Davis are locked in now for a couple of years.
A lot of stars in this league do not get along.
Why do those two get along so well?
Well, one, LeBron is just, he's great at things like that.
I mean, obviously he had his issues with Kyrie, but a lot of that was just Kyrie was the young gun and didn't want to hear from the older guy.
But a lot of this, Colin, is where they're at in their career.
Okay.
LeBron has done so much individually winning championships.
He's not threatened by AD whatsoever.
So he's ready to mentor him.
He doesn't mind if AD gets some shine or even the shine.
at this point in his career he's ready to mentor him and when you bring two young guns together
and they're both still climbing that's when you often have problems shack and penny they could
have been one of the greatest duos ever but they were both young guns and they were worried about
who was getting the credit in philadelphia the people will tell you that's the problem with m b and
simmons is that they're fighting for credit who's the who's the man who's the star on the team
Shaq and Kobe obviously had success,
but they were still both so close in age,
both in their prime and young and climbing,
that they butted heads about that.
Kareem and Magic didn't know,
because Kareem had won a championship.
He had his five, six MVP's Magic rookie year
was his sixth, and he had been a while without winning,
so he didn't mind a young gun coming in and helping him.
And Magic wasn't threatened by Kareem.
It was more like a big brother,
little brother relationship.
And that's what this is.
This is big brother, little brother versus two little brothers who are fighting for daddy's
attention.
So I think that's a big part of why they do get along so well.
And there's no threat there from each other.
You know, yesterday the athletic broke a piece that was pretty remarkable on Kauai,
Paul George, the Star Treatment.
And, you know, the NBA's got one king.
It's King James.
But there's a lot of guys that want the truth.
treatment like Paul George, and they don't have anything to show for it.
Were you surprised by the animosity, apparently behind closed doors with this Clippers team?
I wasn't surprised just because I had been hearing it, you know, for the past few months,
that there were issues there.
It was really, you know, Montrez, Harrow, Lou Williams, and Pat Beverly were bothered
by the culture change, where, you know, before those two, the two stars got there,
they were the little engine that could.
They had a culture, work your tail off.
You know, and those three got a lot of shine, even though they weren't really stars.
And then you bring Kauai and Paul George in and everything changed culturally.
And that was a problem.
I was told to the, yeah, obviously some things Kauai did rub guys the wrong way, not really practicing,
not really being connected to the team, flying in and being late for flights coming from San Diego.
Obviously, that rubs you the wrong way.
But for the most part, guys, what I was told, were not as bothered by Kauai because he delivered.
If you're going to get star treatment, they all understand.
They've been in the league long enough to know.
They're star treatment for guys.
But when you deliver, guys can live with it.
Paul George wasn't delivering.
When he's giving you 10 points in a playoff game, guys are going to be bothered by why are you getting this star treatment?
I said this a few months ago.
There were people on that roster that thought.
they were as good or better than Paul George.
And I'm not talking about Kauai.
So they were the ones looking at it like,
how is this dude getting all this special treatment?
And I think I'm better than him or at least as good as him.
Why am I getting that?
So that was the problem.
But I tell you what, Colin,
I think that they're going to be better for it this year.
I think they'll be humbled.
I think they'll be motivated.
Obviously they got Mantras Harrell out.
They think that's addition by subtraction.
Serge Ibaka is a great chemistry guy, locker room guy.
He's close with Kauai.
He can bring out the fun guy in Kauai.
So I think the Clippers will be better.
People are writing them off at their own peril.
Lakers should be the favorite.
No question about it.
But don't write off the Clippers just yet.
Chris Broussard, odd couple with Rob Parker.
It always looks so well-appointed.
So look at him.
He's just very classy.
You bring some dignity and class to our show,
and it's certainly from where I said it's certainly needed.
Good to see you, buddy.
Good to see you, man.
Love this show.
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 I-Hard Radio app,
Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Hey, what's good, y'all?
You're listening to Learn the Hard Way
with your favorite therapist and host, Kear Games.
This space is about black men's experiences,
having honest conversations that it's really not safe to have anywhere,
but you're having them with a licensed professional
who knows what he's doing.
How many men carry a suit or armor?
It signals to the world that you're not to be played with,
And just because you have the capability that does not mean that you need to.
Listen 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 is big to me.
I'm Sam J.
And I'm Alex English.
Each episode, we pick a here, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it.
With our friends, fellow comedians, and favorite authors.
Like Mark Lamont Hill on the 80s.
It was a wild year.
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.
