The Herd with Colin Cowherd - 12/17/2020 - Best of The Herd

Episode Date: December 17, 2020

-Drew Brees' injury is great news for the Saints-Playoff expansion will not solve College Football's problem-Aaron Rodgers shouldn't want to win the MVP-Playoff predictions if the playoffs started todayGuest: Greg Cosell, NFL Films 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. 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 Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok's podcast network on TikTok. On the Look Back at it podcast.

For 1979, that was a big moment for me. 84's 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. 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. Thanks for listening to The Best of 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 Heard. This is the best of the herd with Colin Cowher on Fox Sports Radio. Ah, here we go on a Thursday, big NFL Fox game tonight, live in Los Angeles.

This is The Herd. Wherever you may be and however you may be listening, we're on Fox Sports Radio, IHeart Radio, and FS1. I have got a lot of juice today, a lot of energy. I'm not going to tell you the drink I'm having, but I am rolling today, Joy Taylor. How are you? I'm great. Big game tonight. It is. Raiders are falling apart like last year. I want to start with what appears to be really bad news for an NFL team, but I actually think it'll help propel this team to the Super Bowl. And I didn't think this two weeks ago. It's bad news that's actually good news.

Drew Brees of the Saints has, quote, a ways to go in his injury recovery. Oh, no, that's great. Four of the last five Super Bowl winning quarterbacks missed time during the season. What does that mean? Well, I live in Los Angeles. LeBron James and Joy and I talked about this quite often looked like LeBron James in year 10, 11, or 12, not year 17. in the playoffs. Why? He didn't have to fly during the playoffs. LeBron didn't have to travel in the playoffs. The season got shortened.

It was a huge break for LeBron James. He hasn't played with that much energy since he was in Miami and maybe year one or two in Miami. We watched Clayton Kershaw, who had struggled in the postseason. Baseball regular season is very long. And Clayton Kershaw was better in the postseason. Why? because he didn't have to get on a plane as much. Clayton Kirshaw had more time to rest fewer innings. As you well know, folks, as you get older, you can still bring it, just not quite as often. Uncle Colin can still party like a rock star, but he needs a nap the next day.

What the Saints are doing is what Peyton Manning and the Broncos did to win that Super Bowl. You remember Peyton Manning got beat up and injured, rested, relieved by Brock Oswald. Paiton came back and looked fresher. And Peyton wasn't nearly as good at that point as Drew Breeze is now. The last two years, Drew Breeze has looked gas by the end of the season. Remember that? Last year he missed five games. He came back.

Do you remember that? He was great. His numbers were amazing. The year before, he didn't. He played 15 games. And in the last three or four, he had three touchdowns and three picks. Drew Breeze has one year left. This is it.

This is perfect. This is rest. And this team is led by defense anyway. Two other factors here. Number one, this is the one time in the Saints recent history that I think they play as well on the road as at home. There's no road fans. They're not built for a dome. They don't throw the ball deep.

70% of this team is defense. This is the rare Saints team that's as good on the road as they are at home. They don't get the home crowd. They don't face the road crowd. And their offense consists of a receiver in Michael Thomas that rarely goes deep and Alvin Kamara and Emmanuel Sanders. That's not Tyree Kiel. The second thing is, what an advantage for New Orleans?

So they host Kansas City this weekend. Many would submit to you the Chiefs and the Saints will meet in the Super Bowl. Well, New Orleans can play Taysom Hill. They can do RPO's. They can give the Chiefs a completely different look. So whereas the Saints defense, which is as deep as any in the league, gets a look at Kansas City's real offense, the Saints can throw out all sorts of nonsense. They never run against the Chiefs in a Super Bowl.

decoys, trick plays, RPO's, Drew Breeze comes back. Totally different offense. This is a bad news, is really good news situation. It makes me like the Saints more than I've liked them. Right now, they feel like a Super Bowl team. A fresh.

Drew Breeze, they play the Chiefs with a backup. They throw things out. They'd never use in a rematch. Kansas City probably wins. Little revenge. and here comes this defensive-led team playing in Tampa for the first time the Chief's defense, good not special, seeing Breeze and company. All right.

So Kirk Herbstreet does a fine job. He works for ESPN. He does a great job covering college football. They also have a guy named Tom Bernaldi who works for them who's great. Oh, wait, not anymore. Anywho, Herb Street said this yesterday. He said, our postseason in college football is as bad as any. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.

Whoa, hold on. He said, we've got to figure out a system that works for everybody. Our season ends January 12th. I can already tell you, Ohio State, Alabama, and Clemson will be in the final four next year. We have got to figure this out. We have got to tweak the system for the betterment of the sport. we're at a fork in the road right now on a lot of levels and we've got to look at some potential changes first of all amen hire a CEO instead of having five power conferences all doing their

own thing secondly 85 scholarships make it 70 to 75 so clemson can't take a third or fourth running back every year keeping that kid away from an opportunity to start for another college football program. But we are going to see, and perhaps this summer or next, a major change coming in college football. I have been told this now by three different people. We're going to an eight-team playoff. And we're not going to go to an eight-team playoff this summer or next summer because

Cincinnati's getting job at 8-0. We're going to it due to COVID. The pandemic has decimated college football. athletic departments. Unravelled, broken them, and there is no federal bailout for college football. And college presidents have been against an extended playoff because of finals. But when given the option of an athletic department that is reeling financially and cutting many sports, often that give young kids from tough economic backgrounds opportunities

to change a generation of family, the presidents will cave. We are going to get, due to the pandemic and the unraveling of athletic departments, and there is no federal bailout coming, we're getting an eight-team playoff. Two things to know about that. Be careful what you wish for. It will not change anything. Seven of the eight teams that get in will be from Power Five conferences, or if they go to 10 or 12 teams, it'll be 10 of 10.

12, 11 of 12. It should be they pay all the bills. And it will also not change any of the results. The media's got this thing. I don't know. Maybe it's a liberal thing. Maybe I don't know. More equals fairness.

No, it doesn't. It really doesn't. There's more companies and competition in America than ever. And nobody's ever dominated retail like, Amazon or tech like Facebook, Google, and Apple. More is just more. But the cream always rises. Just know this.

That in the history of the college football playoff, the semifinal games, and remember, Joe, those were added for fairness. We have got to create fairness. The old system is not fair. We're going to create a playoff and it's got to be fair. We've had 12 semifinal games. The average margin of victory has been three, touchdowns. There have been three one possession games. And they were added to make it more fair.

So anybody could compete. Nobody can compete. When we go to an eight team playoff, this is absolutely what's going to happen. What would happen this year? There'd be eight teams. Four of them would be the SEC. You'd complain about that. It would be more SEC teams thumping coastal Carolina and Iowa State. You would complain about that. And the college kids, kids at 17 and 18 would now see the gap between the top three or four and the others, and it would give the others less of a chance to get those great players. A college football playoff is coming. Be careful what you wish for.

There's two ways to help this sport, and they're really obvious. Joy and I talk about this all the time. You've got to have a centralized voice that brings all five conferences fighting for the greater good of one. Too much what they call balkanization right now. And secondly, you can't have Alabama taking six corners when they need three a class to keep some away from Kentucky and Ole Miss. Make it hard. Lighter practices. 70 scholarships only. You can't grind the players at practice. Fewer practice hours. You have an injury at Bamar or Clemson. You lose the following Saturday. You know how it works in high school or the NFL. But we're getting a playoff due to the

pandemic. It's not going to change anything. And we're going to complain about it. Be careful what you asked for. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1 and the IHeart Radio app. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque, others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the

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

A win is a win. I don't care where 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-tap little Kim's boobs at the VMAs? Or when Kanye said that George Bush didn't like black people.

I know what you're thinking. What the hell does George Bush got to do with Little Kim? Well, you can find out on the Look Back at it podcast. I'm Sam Jay. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick it here, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. Including a recent episode with Mark Lamont Hill,

waxing all about crack in the 80s. To be clear, 84's big to me, not just because of crack. I'm down to talk about crack on day but just so y'all know I mean at this point Mark this is the second episode where we've discussed crack so I'm starting to see

that there's a through line We also have AIDS on the table right now so Thank you finishing that sentence I don't think there's a more important year for black people Really? Yeah for me

It's one of the most important years For black people in American history Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app Apple Podcasts Or wherever you get your podcast Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kear Games.

And in recognition of Mental Health Awareness Month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking, Tripp Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing. And we're still chasing it. And we don't know when we've done enough. Because people scoreboard watch.

Life becomes about wins and losses. Steve Burns, Dustin Ross, because you find it important to be a good person while you hear on Earth? Are you a good person because you're afraid? Because that's two different intentions, bro. Absolutely. And that's two different levels of trust. I want you to just really be a good person.

Join me, Kear Gaines, 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. I always find it. Aaron Rogers and LeBron James are always a little coy.

They know exactly every award they've won. They always kind of play it off like they don't care, but they certainly bring it up whenever asked. Aaron Rogers, who I would vote for MVP today was asked about winning another one. Here's Aaron Rogers. Well, Bill, there's not many guys that have won three, so that would definitely mean a lot. I feel like I've been in the conversation,

you know, a number of years outside of the two that I've won. We're talking about in 12 when AP went nuts against us in the last game of the year. I had a pretty good year that year. Obviously, in 16, we made our run and led the league in passing touchdowns. Didn't really get a sniff for some reason that year, but, you know, I definitely felt like I was in the conversation. It's, you know, it's nice to be back in the conversation. It'd be, you know, something that's usually on the preseason goal list,

and that's nice to be in the conversation. I'm not even going to go there. It's fine. I would vote for him, enough said. Anyway, very LeBron. Okay, so here's the, if I was a quarterback, and you could tell me going in, because I read a lot about history,

I watch the history channel, I like looking back at some things in football and what works and what data and analytics and where are sports going and where have they been and what's working, what's evolving, and what's not working. If I was a quarterback and I wanted to play in the NFL, I would not want to win a Heisman, and I would not want to be an MVP at quarterback. Why?

Well, let's talk numbers. Last 20 years, no NFL quarterback who won MVP won the Super Bowl. Last to do it was Kurt Warner in 99. There's a reason for it, by the way. There's a reason for it. And oh, by the way, the best quarterback in the NFL that's ever won a Heisman was Roger Staubach. in 1963 at Navy. These are not coincidences.

Why did Kurt Warner win the MVP? Why don't MVP's at quarterback? You know the answer to this. Why don't they win Super Bowls? It seems so linear. Best quarterback, best year, Super Bowl. Because it tells you, A, you're probably in some shootouts and your defense isn't as good as you wish.

And secondly, you're too quarterback reliant. You should run the football more. Russell Wilson is better with a running game. So is Aaron Rogers. So if you're piling up stats, this is one of the things I've said about Mahomes. We're in awe of his talent. But last year is passer rating? I forget if it was 12th or 18th in the NFL.

He doesn't lead the NFL in pass attempts. You don't want your team to have a quarterback throwing 45 touchdowns. You're too quarterback reliant. you should lead games in the second half, run the ball, eat the clock. Now, if you have a running back that leads the NFL in rushing, it tells me you've got leads in games and you're trying to eat the clock. Similarly to the Heisman, I don't want to win the Heisman. Why?

Roger Stauback, last great NFL quarterback, won the Heisman. Why? Because if you're winning the Heisman, it means you're at a kind of offensive-leaning program. that probably runs a kind of a quirky college offense or a very collegiate offense. So transitioning to the NFL from that is harder. And it also tells me you probably play at a school with five star and four star offensive linemen and four and five star tight ends and wide receivers. So the talent gap you're playing with in college is not anything close to the kind of

talent gap in the NFL where you're going to a bad team. Right? You're going to go from Joe Burrow and LSU, huge talent gap, to Cincinnati, arguably first or second worst roster in the NFL. So if you're where, if you go look at the last eight to nine Super Bowl quarterbacks, where they went to school, the matchup in the Super Bowl. Last year was Texas Tech against Eastern Illinois. In the last 10 years, we've had a Delaware against Nevada, a Cal against the Miami of Ohio, a Purdue against Tennessee, a backup quarter at Michigan against Cal, a Michigan against. Boston College, a Wisconsin, Michigan, and NC State, Tennessee, and by the way, Tennessee is no longer a great program.

It's a mess. The point being, you'd think it would be Bama against Ohio State. Boston College has had multiple quarterbacks in the Super Bowl. USC's never had one. And USC's had more players drafted in the NFL than any school in history, including Ohio State, Clemson, Alabama, LSU, Georgia, Texas, Oklahoma. So the point being is, if you knew now you wanted to win Super Bowls. This isn't baseball.

we don't care about stats. We care about winning Super Bowls, right? You would not want to win the Heisman. It means your college experience. You went to a place with dominating players in a crazy offense, and the transition to the NFL is very difficult from that. And you wouldn't want to win MVP because it means I'm in too many shootouts. I should be running the ball the last nine minutes of the game.

I should be thrown about 29, these days, 33 times a game, running the football late. So the award, the MVP, I wouldn't want it. It would tell me, my defense isn't as good as it should be. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific. So we do this. I do this about once a month where I say, let's just pretend the playoffs ended today.

Now, a lot of what's happening in the playoffs, 75% it's locked in or really close to being locked in. The teams that have the division leads, they're going to be favorites down the stretch, barring a quarterback injury. The wild cards may change, but I don't think they'll change dramatically, although I see one potential move. So let's go to the, we have a little playoff music. Let's go to the AFC. As of now, the number one team, Kansas City, would have a buy in the first round.

So the seven-seeded dolphins would travel to Pittsburgh to face the second-seated Steelers. I'd take Miami this morning. I think they're a better football team. I think they're tighter. They're not turning it over. They can run it and throw it, and the receivers can catch the ball. I'm going to take Miami for the upset at Pittsburgh. I would take the bills to beat the Colts.

It'll be snowy, windy, and cold. And I just think they have more playmakers offensively and an athletic quarterback in Josh Allen against the league's least athletic quarterback. Titans Browns, I'm going to take Cleveland again. I said it a couple of weeks ago and I'll say it again. I think it is a great matchup for the Browns. They don't have a pass rush.

That means Baker Mayfield is comfortable. That means Baker Mayfield can play with a lead. Kevin Stefansky and the staff keep it, you know, the bumper car rule, keep it in the middle here. The bowling alley when you're a little kid, keep it in the middle. You don't have to go outside and make plays that don't exist.

I think Cleveland beats the Titans. I think it's one of the Titans' worst matchups in the AFC is Cleveland. Next round, Kansas City rested. Now host the Dolphins. Miami's still a year away. It's baby steps. This is a Kansas City win and convincingly. Brown's bills, this is not a great matchup for Cleveland.

They're going to have to get into a shootout because their back seven in Cleveland is not good, and Buffalo's got all sorts of weapons and the strongest arm quarterback in the league. Don't like this matchup for Cleveland. I like Buffalo convincingly. Cleveland should pray for bad weather, so both offenses struggle, but I take the bills. Then we go into the AFC championship game. Chiefs, the one seed, bills, the three seats. I like Buffalo.

Today, a better team that's better in the red zone, playing better defense, very healthy, on a roll with momentum, fewer penalties last three weeks. Buffalo upsets, it's not much of an upset, upsets the Chiefs, probably be about a three, three and a half point spread. Buffalo's in the Super Bowl. Let's go to the NFC.

Cardinals at the Saints, obviously Green Bay has a buy. This is a bad matchup for Arizona. Saints win the game convincingly. Rams also, at home, already beaten the Buccaneers once. I think their defensive line pressures Tom Brady. Gough is more comfortable. Rams beat the Buccaneers, convincingly. Seahawks at Washington, second time they've met in a month.

I'll take Seattle as long as their running backs are healthy. Second round in the NFC looks like this. Green Bay now off by and rested and healthy against the Seahawks. I like Seattle. If Chris Carson, Penny, Homer, and DJ Dallas are healthy, I think they're a bad matchup for Green Bay. This is not a team also, Devante Adams, D.K. Metcalfe. They're both going to have their way in that game. I like Seattle against Green Bay.

Like I like the Colts against Green Bay. It's a bad matchup. Ram Saints is a complete coin flip. This is the one team in the NFC. that matches up with the Saints. I'm going to go New Orleans in overtime. Check back with me in three weeks on the health of both teams. Then we get to the NFC Championship, Seattle at the Saints.

I'm going to take, again, this is really close. I'm going to take the Saints now that Drew Breeze is probably not going to play, like a Clayton Kershaw, a LeBron, or a Drew Breeze last year, or a Peyton Manning in Denver. He comes in fresh and rested. The rest of the league has to go way. back to look at Saints film because they've been running Taysham Hills offense for the previous five, six weeks. I'll take the Saints close in this game. My Super Bowl, Bills and Saints, and I'm

not predicting that until I see it. So by the way, I've been on Kansas City and Seattle in my two previous predictions. This morning, I'm Bill's and Saints. Want more Herd? The Herd streams 24 hours a day, seven days a week within the IHeart Radio app. Search Herd to listen live or on demand whenever you'd 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. 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 Jek. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick it here, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. Including a recent episode with Mark Lamont Hill, waxing all about crack in the 80s. Clearly, 84 is big to me not just because of crack. I'm down to talk about crack on day, but just so you all know. I mean, at this point, Mark, this is the second episode where we've discussed crack. So I'm starting to see that there's a through line.

We also have AIDS on the table right now. Thank you for finishing that sentence. Yes. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Really? Yeah. For me, it's one of the most important years for black people in American history. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast.

or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hard Way 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. iHeartRadio app search learn the hard way and listen now. Greg CoSell, you bet football, you play fantasy football, you just love football, you get smarter.

We call it our NFL meat sandwich. Greg CoSell, 41 years NFL films joining me live. Okay, so I look at Justin Herbert and I look at the draft position of the Chargers and I think to myself, boy, if they could get three or four, they can get a left tackle and Herbert for the next table here, that feels like what they need or kind of a centerpiece defensively, a linebacker. but be that as it may, we know that Herbert's the key to the future. What has he done your surprise with? What has been the key as we watch him tonight to his success this year? Well, I think two things that probably were concerns for a lot of people, Colin, when he came out of Oregon, and you're very familiar with quarterbacks and the PAC 12.

I think there was the anticipation issue. There was a sense that he did not really throw with the needed timing and anticipation. And number two, there was also a sense that the ball placement was not quite consistent enough. And I think those two things have somewhat been put to rest. He's made some outstanding ball placement throws both from the pocket and on the move. And they've done a really nice job with the play design as well to help him with timing and anticipation because you can create play concepts in which the ball does come out. and that can help a quarterback.

But he's been really, really good in those areas. And those were two questions coming out. Yeah. I want to tell you, we'll see him tonight. Let's talk Josh Allen. Wild at Wyoming. I remember watching him play Iowa and Oregon, and he was the wild pony. He was out of the barn.

There was something there and a lot of energy. Then he goes to the NFL in his first year. He's wild. Completion percentage in the mid to high 50s. And now in the last three to four weeks, he's a model of consistency. coaching scheme? What is it? Well, I think his mechanics have become a little more compact.

He may never look like Tom Brady, but I think that more throws now, you can see everything working together better. And mechanics are usually not talked about very often with quarterbacks. We talk about arm talent. We talk about mobility. We talk about many things. But I think you're seeing now his hips, his shoulder, his arms. arm angle, all working more consistently on his throws. And I think that's the reason, Colin, that he's able to make more throws that require pace and touch. It's why he's able to hit Beasley on whip routes or pivot routes. It's why he's able to hit Stefan Diggs nicely on hitch routes or slant routes. Throws that you don't drive. They're not velocity throws.

They're throws that require some pace and touch and precise ball placement. Because run after catch on throws like that, that's a function of the quarterback, not of the receiver. So we're going to have a disagreement here. One of the things that would drive, always drove me crazy about Jay Cutler drives me nuts about Drew Locke. They play with a casualness. I would agree. Russell Wilson tends to play with an urgency. You feel, you sense with Drew Breeze. Every play he is completely focused. And Locke and Jay Cutler, though, aren't talent aside, it's just kind of sometimes they're just kind of experimenting. You can't do that in this league. So that alone, I don't know if you can correct. And it drives me nuts. But I hear you like

Drew Locke. Well, it's not a matter. Look, there's concerns with Drew Locke. There's no question. It's not a matter of sitting here saying, boy, I love Drew Locke. The tape tells me whether I like a player or not. And there's something there. You're right. There's a certain casualness to game. There's a mechanical issue with his lower body. He opens up and steps into the bucket an awful lot. He falls away from throws at times. He drifts. And all that does make him look like he's playing with a certain lackadaisical feel. And then you do get into the decision making, which comes down to game situations, understanding when you can make a certain throw and when you can't, understanding when a receiver's open and when he's not open based on the defense. So all these things,

things, can they be taught and learned? They can. There's no guarantee that it will happen over time. So I don't disagree with you at all. But I just, I watch him and I say to myself, God, there's something there. I don't know if it will come out. Yeah. So there's a game this weekend. If the playoffs started today, Seattle would go to Washington and play the Washington football team, and they're going to play this weekend. And it's an interesting, it's an interesting matchup because the strength of Washington could be the weakness of Seattle. Their offensive. line when it gets overwhelmed and they can't run. So when you look at the Washington-Seattle matchup, obviously Seattle should win.

They're at a different stage in their organizational structure. They're a championship team, Washington's rebuilding. What will Washington do to Seattle's O-line? What will it look like in your opinion? Well, we all talk about Washington's D-Line, and it's really, really good. But they've become really efficient with some blitz concepts as the year has progressed. And if you look at Russell Wilson, you can go back to last year. He was the most sacked quarterback in the NFL last year, and about 60% of them came

versus Blitz. This year, more than half of his sacks have come versus Blitz. So I look at that in this game, because I think what you're going to see is Washington be selective but creative with their pressures. They've now started to use Cole Holcomb. They use Cameron Curl, the safety number 31, who since he's replaced Landon Collins, quite honestly, Colin, the tape tells you that he's a more versatile and better player than Landon Collins, and he's helped that defense, I think, take a step up.

Yeah, right now they'd win the division. Okay, let's, I am a, I had my doubts about Lamar Jackson. I did. And, but in the last year, I find myself defending him a lot. And I said this, maybe I said it to you last week, but when somebody's great at something, I accept the fact Shaq couldn't hit free throws, but he was so powerful. I will live with his limitations. And I keep hearing about Lamar

can't, can't do this, this, this. But I watched him against the Colts in the second half, 10 for 10. I watched him against Cleveland late. He does make certain throws. Kaepernick didn't have touch. He appears to at times have nice touch. Is there anything about him throwing

that is getting better or you feel okay about? He's struggling a bit right now throwing the football. And I think there's a number of reasons. Number one, there's a lot of unnecessary movement within the pocket. He's starting now to create his own pressure. He moves into pressure. Now, he can get out of that pressure because he's so gifted as an athlete, and so therefore, you don't really think about it because he then makes a play. So the question is the balance, and this will be a discussion we're going to have with a lot of quarterbacks in these next

number of years that come out of college, Colin, is the idea of how good a thrower from the pocket do you have to be if you have tremendous movement ability? Because right now, Lamar Jackson's not playing very well from the pocket, but he has tremendous movement ability, and their run game keeps expanding. They were a big zone read run team. Now they've added the counter-gap scheme run game to it. So they do so much with the run game,

and he can move extremely well. But if you're just talking about throwing the ball from the pocket and all that goes into that, right now he's not real good at that. Okay. Jalen Hertz, I thought, added a juice to Philadelphia. And I said this, the saint, you could tell the way the Saints played in the first half, they didn't know what to get. They were reacting to everything.

They weren't hyper-aggressive. They didn't know what they were going to get. What did the tape tell you on Jalen Hertz of Philadelphia? Well, you have to start with the poison composure. That was very evident. Look, this kids played at the highest level of college football and played well. so he has great poison composure. But from a tactical standpoint, what the Eagles did was absolutely the right thing.

They played to his strengths. There was motion. There was design quarterback runs. There was quick game including screens. There was RPO concepts. There was getting him outside the pocket on design boots. What they were doing was playing to his strengths, Colin, and limiting his decision-making. Because at this point in his career, he's not quite ready for that.

So they did absolutely the right thing. and the game allowed them to stay with that. As I was watching that tape and got into the third and early fourth quarter, I said to myself, I wonder what plan B would have been if the game was different. If all of a sudden they were down 2413 late in the third quarter, but they never had to go to a plan B. Yeah, well said.

So, you know, I watched the Giants Arizona game. And, you know, typical Giants rebuilding team played great in Seattle, come home, they're flat. But what I really watched is a giant's, defense, which is more than capable, struggle more than a half dozen times with Kyler's movement. And then I think to myself, okay, I like him to move. And there's clearly data that shows Arizona's more capable when they move. When you look at the film of the Cardinals, are they too reliant on his third down scrambles to move the sticks?

Well, it's the Lamar Jackson discussion to some degree. Murray's a better thrower. than Lamar Jackson, but Murray's also shorter, and Murray's a splash player as well. His legs will always present a problem, both by design and when he drops back. So you do have to account for that, and he makes big plays that way. And that compensates at times and camouflages for the fact that he's been inconsistent as a passer this year. But that's the kind of player he is. He's an individual play player at this point, but he has very good throwing ability,

and you would expect as he plays more, that that would be. come out with more consistency. You know, when I was growing up, you know, watching football when I was younger, there were very few dynamic tight ends. I go back to Dave Casper of the Raiders. Then after him, it was maybe an Ozzie Newsom or a Kellynne Winslow. Now I look around the league and I look at Travis Kelsey and I think, I don't know who figures that out.

That is, it's like Gronk with speed. When you look at him on film, when you look at him on film, when you look at him on film. Is he a matchup issue? Is there a bigger headache in the league? That's a great point, Colin. I'll tell you why. Because we know that hills fast, we know they have

speed, but we know in the NFL that who matches up to wide receivers, corners. The question becomes, when you play a team that has a great tight end, who matches up to the tight end? And the Saints, who they play this week, they tend to play a lot of man coverage. Now, whether they will or not, we don't know.

But if they play man, then who are you thinking is going to match up. Normally it's Malcolm Jenkins. I don't know if that's a good matchup. I don't know if there is a good matchup at the safety position on Travis Kelsey. So he is really a big problem. And you could make the argument that he's the key to that passing game, even though he'll obviously can blow the top off the coverage and score big plays. Kelsey is the guy who is really difficult to defend. Well, it's same with Kyle Shanahan. Even though he's the run master, I think Kiddell is a nightmare. He's just an, you know, and it's so funny, there's certain things we see in sports.

We know in baseball now, bullpens are given so much more value than they were in the 70s, 80s. The tight end, what's happening with the tight end is some of these guys are like basketball players, and they're not quite good enough to play professional basketball, but they're six, six. You know, Tony Gonzalez is a great example. I said, why did you choose football? He's like, because I could be a pro football player. I couldn't be a pro basketball player. they're just physical nightmares.

There's nobody that's big enough for fast enough in that secondary that can cover them. No, and that's an issue. And now we see how tight ends are used in the league now where they're split out all the time. And very often they line up as the single receiver to the short side of the field on the backside of trips, three receivers to the field side,

and they're really difficult to handle in those situations. All right, let's talk Aaron Rogers. I would give him the MVP today. He is on fire. He is playing with a lot of leads. I do think Green Bay is built to play with the lead, not trailing. I would agree. Yeah.

So there's a certain, but the good news is they generally do lead. I think, you know, Jared Gawley is responsible for a lot of those leads, Colin. So he's your play of the week. Let's talk, Aaron. Yeah. Well, Rogers, to me, the thing that stands out to me watching him on tape this year is he's playing so much more within the structure and design of the offense. You just don't see as many plays where he's. he runs around. And whatever the reason for that, it doesn't matter. The fact is that offense

has a real timing and rhythm to it now, and he's playing really beautiful football. And I want to go to the touchdown he threw last week that ended the first possession. So let's take a look at it to Devante Adams, because this play, to me, is so typical of Aaron Rogers. It seems so simple, but it's just so good by Rogers. And again, it was a shorter throw and a long run. But what you have here is a two-by-two set. And Devante Adams is a number one receiver to the boundary side of the formation. And what you're going to get here with the Lions is they played cover one. It's a man coverage concept, and they match up across the board.

Now, obviously, the matchup that we do want to look at is Adams versus Arruye, the corner. And he's in press man coverage. And this is so easy for Aaron Rogers. And we've seen this so many times. Why is this easy? Because what does he see right now? He sees the back of the corner. He knows that the corner cannot see the thrown ball.

So he's going to throw it. And Adams knows this too, by the way. So Adams knows to slow down to make the catch. And it just looks so easy. But those kinds of things are not quite as easy as they look. And that leads to the run after catch and the touchdown. By the way, I'm going to give you an assignment in the off season. Because I believe the first quarterback ever to throw a back shoulder fade like that was Rogers,

about 10 years ago that I started noticing. That is actually not true. It happened a long time ago, and I can't remember the name of the player, but it was not in the NFL, and I will find that out for you. And that's what you call a student right there. He was always my mentor.

Now he's my student. He's going to track it down on Google. All right, Greg, good seeing you. Thanks, Colin. 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.

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