The Herd with Colin Cowherd - 12/18/2020 - HOUR 2 - Blazing 5

Episode Date: December 18, 2020

The Blazing 5: Colin's new NFL picks for the weekendGuests: Matt Cassel, Eric Mangini 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. 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 and 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. 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. 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. radio. Oh, it's our two. It's a Friday. It is an absolute pleasure. Thank you so much for joining us. This is the herd wherever you may be and however you may be listening. Fox Sports Radio, IHeart Radio, FS1. It's nice to have you in today. I didn't wear a t-shirt. I'm a little off. I usually

have a Tommy John T-shirt on and this morning I was rushed. He's doing a lot today. My life is a lot of stuff going on for frenetic these days. I didn't have time and so I don't have a t-shirt and I'm a little chilly and I'm sweating. It's just not working for me right now. They can bring you one up here. You know what? You know what? My job sometimes is to overcome me.

So I'm going to overcome me. You have no idea how many times I've had to go into the back of the studio and like I've come out here with my dress on Inside Out. Really? Yes, it was inside out the other day actually. I didn't notice until I got and said. I've done an entire show with my dress on Inside Out and backwards before. Maybe you need to go into the woods and reflect on your life.

I mean, it happens. This is a lot going on, zippers. Yeah, I get it. All odds prevented by Fox Bet. It's time for our Blazing Five off a winning week. Back-to-back winning weeks. Here we go. Let's blaze it up.

Fire it up. It's Collins Blazing Five. Bills at Broncos. I'm going to take Denver plus six. I am concerned about their injuries at cornerback, but this is a perfect letdown spot. for Buffalo. Josh Allen first trip to mile high. The bills have been in several big emotional wins. Now they go west. Second cross-country trip in the last few weeks. Denver has a really

good defensive coach, and Josh Allen can make mistakes. They're top 10 in everything that matters. Top two and past touchdowns allowed. Top seven in sacks. Drew Locke, last couple of weeks, appears to have at least stabilized. Don't love him, but he's stabilized. And the Broncos, by the way, second best against the spread bet in the league to Miami. I think Buffalo so well coach probably figures out a way to win, but I'm taking the points with Denver, 2623 bills.

Patriots and Dolphins. Everybody, I'm going to take Miami minus one and a half. Here's what I hear. What about Tua against Belichick? What about Cam Newton against this defense, which is to me the first or second best defense in the NFL? Miami is second points per game. First and takeaways, third down first, pass a rating third. What about Cam, no weapons and that?

Listen, Brian Flores is the perfect coach for Tua in this game because young quarterback struggle with Belichick. Flores is going to go, kid, I was with him for seven years. This is what you're going to see. And Tua doesn't make mistakes. Now, he may not have the talent of a Josh Allen or a Joe Burrell or Herbert, but he doesn't make any mistakes. Nine TDs, one pick this year. He's very safe.

I get a better team. I get a better defense. I get a great young coach. I get a team playing for more. Miami wins this game 2420, and we all know a Patriots stink late in the year at Miami. Seahawks and Washington. I'm going to take Washington.

The lines moved a bit here. I'll take Washington plus five and a half. Seahawks last nine games have covered the spread three. times why? They're overvalued. Their offensive line is the weak point and the defensive line for Washington is the strength. I think this game gets really ugly. I think this game is also about Ron Rivera. Early in the year, he was taking cancer treatments, energy. It was different. He's out of that. He's more robust and dynamic. This team is now in a four-game winning streak. And during that streak, they're number one in the league in point differential. They're number two in

turnover differential. Ron Rivera is now working. Folks, in this four-game winning streak, they're allowing 14 a game. They've also got four players with five sacks. It's not just Chase Young. I think the Washington defensive front against Seattle's ultimate liability makes for a low-scoring, very ugly game. Again, Russell Wilson tends to figure out a way to win these games on the East Coast late. Seattle wins 21-20, but I like Washington and the points here. Eagles and Cardinals. Now, I told you last week, bet less on the Giants, Arizona. That was my least favorite pick. That was my, and I was right, I was wrong on that. This is my least favorite pick. So bet less, but I'm going to take Arizona minus six and a half at home against Philadelphia.

here's why. If you look at what Philadelphia did last week to Arizona, to New Orleans, the Saints were guessing. They had no idea what they were going to get. Arizona knows exactly what they're going to get with Jalen Hertz, because they see it every day at practice. It's a better version that's called Kyler Murray. They're very used to practicing and seeing a highly athletic quarterback.

By the way, Philadelphia allows quarterbacks that run to have success. Philadelphia's defense has four picks all year. Translation, Kyler Murray will be comfortable. Vegas likes Philadelphia, but I think in Arizona team, Arizona is becoming easy to predict. When Kyler's Healthy and can run, they beat the bills. They're good. They dominated the Giants.

Kyler's Healthy is going to be moving. I like him here against Philadelphia to win in cover. 2820. Chiefs at Saints. Like it. I love it. Saints is my bet of the week. Now, the line's going to be all over the place. I bet it Monday.

I got the Saints at four. Breeze is now the starter. The number will probably come crashing down and you won't get the number I got, but I got Saints plus three and a half and I love the pick. First of all, right now, the Chief's Red Zone defense is not good. The Chief's Red Zone offense is not good. Buffalo's is, by the way. What does that tell me?

is that the Chiefs are allowing touchdowns, not field goals on defense, and they're scoring more field goals than touchdown on offense. I think the Saints defense is one of two, the Rams the other, allowing less than 300 yards a game. This Saints defense is really the story of this team. It's not Peyton. It's not Breeze. This is a great roster and a great defense.

And Drew Breeze was always ready to play this week. Kansas City was preparing for taking. some Hill. Uh-oh, not going to play. I like the Saints still fighting for the number one seed to win it. 28, 27. There you go, my Blazing Five. All of our Blazing Five picks, check out the Fox Bet social platforms.

So I've got Underdog Denver, Underdog Washington, Underdog New Orleans, Arizona, and Miami. Now, all week I keep hearing, what about Two in Belichick? What about Cam with no weapons? At least two has got weapons. How about Cam with no weapons against Flores? And for the record, I don't have the numbers on me. Through the years, Belichick, remember Matt Patricia beat him one time. Belichick against his assistants.

Now, his assistants don't know his crush. But some of his assistants have done pretty well because they know a little bit of the secret sauce. So I saw this, this is a tweet by Chris Mortensen, who's a great guy, Morton report. He says, one NFC. general manager made an observation after the Charger game with the Raiders last night. And the observations were according to Mortensen, according to the NFCGM.

The Chargers have a superstar at quarterback with Herbert. Anthony Lidd should remain the coach. He won 12 games two years ago. Don't overreact to Anthony Lynn. You can make that argument. And number three, Marcus Mariotta looks like an NFC. starter. Okay. And I knew we were going to get this this morning. I'm driving in. I know this is a topic. Marcus Marietta has a quality. I do not know if you can coach out of people. Carson Wentz has it.

Sam Darnold has it. He's reckless. He is truly fast. He is big six four. He's a playmaker. But he's a little bit the definition of a tease. His first NFL start. He had a perfect passer rating four TD's no picks. End of the year he was three and nine and only played 12 games. You know, you've gone on a date before. The first date you fall in love. The second date, you're like, I like him, but he's a little cray-cray.

Third date, halfway through. Check, please. He's a tease. He is big and he's dynamic and he's strong and he's fast and he's reckless. He got smoked three times last night. Lamar Jackson, we all freak out. He's going to get hurt. He rarely gets hit.

Russell Wilson never gets hit. Kiler never gets hit. Jalen Hertz slides. No, no. Marcus Marriota doesn't slide. He's Carson Wentz. He puts his head down, runs over you. That's what six, four, six five guys do because they ran over guys in high school. They ran over guys in college. And now you're like, be finesse, slow down. Kyler Murray and Russell have always been small. Jalen Hertz has always been small. They run and they know, I don't want to get a hit by a guy who can bench press Delaware, 38 pounds heavier, four inches taller. But when you get these big athletes, Carson Wentz is big. Josh Allen's big. Mario is big.

Slide. Brough, I was the biggest guy in my high school team. I was the best athlete in my college team. They don't slide. Marcus doesn't. Do you see last night? Like four times he got popped. The other thing is he's a reckless quarterback.

He's physically reckless. I like him. I like Wentz. I like Darnold. I don't think you can teach reckless out of people. His TD interception ratio in his career is 77 touchdowns 45 picks. And you're like, that's not good. Oh, no, it's worth.

worse. If you take out one year, he had one good year. It's 32 touchdown, 26 picks. He's reckless. He's reckless as a throw. He had a couple throws last night. You're wincing. So he's a reckless runner. He's a big athlete. And these big athletes, they run over people in high school and college. And then you get him to the NFL and you're asking Carson Wentz, who was probably the biggest kid in his high school. And then he goes to North Dakota and he's 6.5.2.40. And the dbs are five, nine and a half, one. And you're asking him, He just slide. Like, slide. I'm going to tell Josh Allen to slide.

Big Ben, Cam, what did they do? They wouldn't slide. Their sensibility is slide. I'm the biggest guy on the football team. Russell slides, hurts, slides, small guy slide, Kyler slides. So I think he's a reckless player. But he is.

He is, you see glimpses of him, and he's electric. He is big, and he's, I mean, he is fast. He's not Lamar fast. he may be the second fastest quarterback in the league. If you put him in a sprint with Russell Wilson or Kyler, I think he's faster. He is a big, fast, electric playmaking athlete. But I watched this last night and I'm like, just go look at the data.

Go look at the numbers. The less you see, the more you like. The more you see, the less you like. And I'm rooting for him. John Gruden after the day, again, after the game. I mean, first of all, I do think Marcus is the most talented backup in the league. and I do think in a pinch, you could start him for a season. I mean, if you knew you were going to draft somebody or develop somebody,

you could use him for a season. I'm not saying he wouldn't win any games, but he wouldn't play all 16. He'd get hurt. That's his history, Gruden after. I mean, it just shows the kind of player, kind of football character he has. I mean, our offensive coordinator isn't here either. You lose Derek, and then we changed gears offensively, and Marcus came in and did a great job.

And really proud of him. I think that just kind of puts an exclamation point on why we signed them and just wish we could have won the game for him. You know, yesterday Greg Kosell talked about this on the show. You can correct a lot of stuff with the quarterback. Josh Allen's throwing motion is much more compact. Drew Locke in the last couple of weeks has stabilized. There's certain things you can get out of guys.

You know, play with more urgency, less casual play. I'm not sure you can get, I mean, and I say this because the kids I went to high school in college with that are reckless, have been reckless adults. Like sometimes you grow up with brothers and you're wrestling on the couch and it's just who you are. You drink, instead of four beers at a party, you drink seven. Instead of, you know, driving a little over the speed limit, you're always a little more than you should be over the speed limit.

You get your ski and about every third year, you rip your body up skiing. Like reckless, it's almost like a, a. DNA genetic thing, it's hard to coach people out of reckless. I don't know if you can. Maybe you can, I don't know. But that's what I see with Marioota. And Wentz and Darnold. And there's parts of all of them.

I mean, you know how much I like Darnold? I watch him now. I'm like, Sam, you're not a linebacker at Ocean Hyde High School. You can't put your head down and run head first into a pile. This is the NFL. You can't do it. Former Patriot quarterback. Matt Castle's now doing some media.

his thoughts on what's going on in New England, what he saw last night, as we move to the middle part of our show in hour number two. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all,

embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care which 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 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. 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 was 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 for finishing that. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Really? Yeah. For me, it's one of the most important years for black people in American history.

Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hard Way with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kear Games. And in recognition of Mental Health Awareness Month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking. Tripp Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase that we 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, Keir Gaines, as we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, Learn the Hardway. Open your free iHeartRadio app. Search Learn the Hardway and listen now. Tonight, it's the Pact 12 championship as Oregon takes on number 13 USC. Coverage begins at 7 p.m. Eastern, 4 p.m. Pacific. Then tomorrow, fourth ranked Ohio State looks to secure a spot in the college football playoff against number 14 Northwestern in Big Ten championship at noon

Eastern. Both games are available only on Fox and the Fox Sports app. The Ohio State game with Northwestern, I have a feel for it. I've watched every play from USC this year, and I don't know if they're any good and they're undefeated. They have a terrific young quarterback. They have recruited the wide receiver position exceedingly well. So what USC does is they get out played, and then it becomes a shootout and they just have better players. So my take tonight is Oregon takes a lead and USC ends up winning in the end because Oregon just, you don't want to get into a shootout with the USC because they are really, really good at quarterback and wide receiver.

Our next guest is really interesting. I wanted to talk to him for a while. Matt Castle played in the NFL for 12 years. He backed up Carson Palmer, Tom Brady, Tony Romo, Matt Stafford, Marcus Mariotta. he has a great understanding of the game. He now works for NBC Sports in Boston. He's doing some serious XM stuff, and he is now joining us live.

You've got so many unique experiences. And of all the quarterbacks that you were around, Carson Palmer to me probably is the one guy. He looked like a quarterback. He was a five-star guy. And I watched Justin Herbert, Matt, and I said this earlier. listen, even if you're good as a rookie, it shouldn't look this easy. Like, to me, he looks like Andrew Luck with a better arm.

I'm kind of blown away with him. No preseason. When you see him, what do you see with Herbert? Right. I'm fascinated about this young man, and he's got an incredible arm. He's got all the intangibles and the tangibles. I mean, it explodes off his hand. But not only that, I mean, what's most impressive about this guy, and it started early,

is when they said that he was going to start. You know, Tyrod Taylor gets the unfortunate injury to his lung. And they come up to him right before the game and say, hey, young man, you're going to go out and play today. Right. And he probably wasn't getting a lot of valuable reps at that point. And also, by the way, you're playing the Kansas City Chiefs, who are the reigning Super Bowl champions, go out there and, you know, give it a whirl.

And he went and took that team up and down the field. He performed really well. They had to go to overtime for the Kansas City Chiefs to eventually beat him. But from that point on, the composure, the maturity that he's shown, the ability to go through his progression, the vision that he has, the toughness, and his ability to run the football, too. A lot of people don't talk about that because he's such a good pocket passer, but he can make plays with his legs.

So he's been outstanding all year, and it's hard to imagine that this kid can continue to get better, but he just continues to get better, week in and week out, and it's a really, really exciting for the NFL, and just for any Charger fan right now watching this team, he's just an outstanding player. Yeah, like, as you pointed out, his demeanor in his first start, Joey and I watched that we're like, he should have been just a nervous wreck, and he apparently just laughed, smiled, and let's take on Patrick Mahomes. Now, the Brady situation is interesting.

So you a little bit were the opposite of Brady. You were very mobile in your career. You played in multiple systems. But we asked Tom Brady, who played in one, to go new city, no preseason, new players, new system, new coaches. I mean, it's hard, Matt, when you get a new coordinator. Everything for Tom is new. Has he over-delivered to you?

What? Like, tell me the experience when you get into a team and how difficult it can be. Oh, it's very difficult, especially when you go to a new team, new city. Not only that, you just have to get comfortable with your personnel, the people that you're around. And normally, you can start to establish that during an off-season. You know, in any normal off-season, when you have OTAs, you have many, camps, you're around the guys, but this season, obviously, with COVID and everything else going on, he didn't have that opportunity. So, of course, you're doing Zoom meetings, and I'm sure that there's a

lot of great discussions that took place. But until you actually get out on the field and start seeing how some of these routes develop, you know, what's being asked of you, how they like to call plays. They didn't have preseason either, so you don't get into a rhythm with your play caller. So really, you start at square one when you get to week one of the football season. So you're kind of learning on the fly, you're learning on the go. You're starting to understand how he likes to call a game, your coordinator with Brian Leftwich and Bruce Ariens. So it's going to take time to adjust to that. And I think he's done a remarkable job.

Honestly, they've lost five games, two of them to New Orleans. They've lost to Rams, who's a very good team. I mean, these are good football teams with good defenses, and you're going to have to play your best football to beat teams like that. And so he's had his struggles at times with the deep ball, but he's been deadly accurate in anything 20 yards or under. He's been taking care of the football for most part of the season. he's limited the number of sacks.

He knows when to get rid of the ball. I mean, so it's just a process. And everybody has a microscope on Brady, deservedly so because this is his first team that he's been, I mean, first year out of the New England system in the last 20 years with all these weapons. And everybody's expectation is just, hey, there is going to be no issues.

There's going to be no problems. But the fact of the matter is, there is continued growth every single time he steps on that field. You know, it's interesting. We were talking about this. In the NBA, there's an understanding, understanding, there's an alpha, there's a dog, there's a star. You let him be a star and you find complementary pieces that can play with a shack or a LeBron. That's understood. In the NFL,

nobody's going to give Carson Wentz the expensive star quarterback a break, even though Nick Folls, Jalen Hurts second round, he's asked every week and we're like, hey, just deal with it. And I do think it's tough to get benched and to get a quarterback. You're not an old guy. You're a young guy. You're the future, and they draft the quarterback in the second round. And I don't think he needs to be babysat, right? But I do think Philadelphia is a harsh town. The criticisms intense.

I think a lot of this stuff, I mean, you were a backup to a lot of quarterbacks. Do you have to be careful about sometimes making sure the starter knows he's a starter? And there are some sensitive kind of moments in that relationship? I mean, there is. you have to give confidence to your starter at the same time, you know, at the end of the day for wins in particular, his performance was the issue. And they had to do something at that position. I mean, he was leading the league in interceptions. He also had multiple fumbles. And so he was hurting his team. And they gave him every opportunity to give him confidence. And Doug Peterson was

behind him the entire time, you know, saying he's our star, he's our guy. We're going to get better. They obviously had a lot of offensive line issues that you can point to, the wide receiver position. But at the end of the day, you are the focal point. And if you don't take care of the football and put your team into a bad situation where you can't win football games because you turn over the ball, well, then it's inevitable that they're going to make a switch and give another guy an opportunity and see if he can do better. Yeah. I want you, you know the New England system, you know Brady. So right now, for the next five years, if Belichick coaches five more years, he's going to face Josh Allen twice a year.

He's going to face Tua twice a year. he could possibly face Trevor Lawrence twice a year. Okay, that's no good. That's a lot of talent. And you know this. One of the advantages for Brady over the years is he faced a lot of quarterbacks that didn't last. And you got the best coach, you got that.

So I look at New England and I'm like, Belichick's got a plan for everything. Into his brain, do you think he goes and gets a Stafford or a Garapolo? As he's older maybe? Or do you think he wants to juice? and to be re-energized with a college kid. Maybe Cam gets another year, but, you know, Cam's not performing at a high level. Where do you think Belichick goes, Matt, this point forward, next five years?

Yeah, you know, you brought up a good name, Matt Stafford. If he's there, I mean, he's a guy that I played with. He's got an incredible football IQ. He's a great leader. He can make all the throws. And he's been in a city there that just hasn't been able to win ball games. but at the same time, a guy that can come in and start to help you win right away and be competitive in a league and in a division, excuse me, that had all those quarterbacks

that you just talked about. He's a guy. Jimmy Garapolo, obviously, they have familiarity with him. He's somebody that they have confidence in and would love to have him come back if San Francisco decides to get rid of him. But when you look at the free agency market, really at the quarterback position right now, you're talking about veterans, you talk about guys like Marcus Marietta, you talk about Mitch Trubisky, you talk about guys like that.

And I don't know if those are great fits for this system. And then at the same time, you also can look to the draft. Right now, though, they're drafting at 16, right? And those or that means the Trevor Lawrence and the Justin Fields, the Zach Wilson's are probably not going to be there in that point in the draft. So is it worth taking a risk or, and we know the history of Bill Belichick. He'd rather trade down, get more draft capital than trade up and try to go after a guy that you don't know and maybe is a question mark for you at the quarterback position.

But the quarterback position is going to be pivotal for this team. moving forward to be successful. They got to get back on track. And look, when you talked about Cam Newton, this whole season's not all on Cam Newton. When you're evaluating the lack of weapons on the outside, Demir Burr, Jacoby Myers are playing, but Julian Edelman's been out. They're tight ends.

They haven't had much production. They've only had 14 catches amongst their tight ends, zero TD receptions. Their offensive lines are strength. Their run games are strength. Cam's definitely stepped up in the run game. But overall, it's not the offense that we're used to seeing with Brady. They're not able to spread it out, get into different personnel groups. They're really primarily in a 21 personnel, which is a two-back formation, two-wide receiver.

It's very simplistic. So hopefully moving forward, though, they've got a lot of different concerns other than just the quarterback position. Yep, you did play with Maddie Stafford. Matt Castle, great having you on, Sirius XM, NBC Sports, Boston. Love to have you on again, bud. Thanks. Absolutely. Thank you for having me. You bet.

He's a Manhattan Beach guy, too. Yeah. A lot of people leaving California. Joy with the news. No, no, no, no. Turn on the news. This is the herd line news. Well, Drew Breeze is expected to start on Sunday against the Chiefs.

He reportedly took the majority of the first team reps when he returned to practice this week and has not been feeling any pain. The team believes he is fully healthy and doctors have cleared him to play. So he will likely be starting against the Chiefs. Now, Taysam Hill and four starts was three in one. at a 71.9 completion percentage, 834 yards, four touchdowns, two interceptions. He also rushed for 209 yards and four rushing touchdowns. The remaining schedule for the Saints is the Chiefs, Vikings, and at the Panthers.

Those are not easy games. I think they'll win all of them, but that's a, that's a, this is the, in my opinion, best roster in the league. And this says that Peyton, Sean Peyton wants to get the number one seed. That's what he's saying. Well, I mean, there's only one. this year for the AFC and NFC. And it's going to be crucial. This has been a really rough year.

Obviously, the buy is nice in any year. You prefer to not have to play an extra game and get your guys healthy. But I think especially in this particular season, the constant emotion and anxiety of dealing with COVID every single day and testing every single day and all the added stresses of just this entire year, having a week off is going to be really nice for these guys on top of getting healthy. And, you know, they're not necessarily a young team either. So, yeah, they definitely want that.

Now, the Packers have the number one seed right now. But I don't mind Drew Brees coming back if he feels healthy. He's had four games off. He had five games off last season. And Taysam Hill has a ceiling. And you want to win those games. It's important to get that by. Now, if he hums back, obviously, and gets banged up, again,

then that's going to be a bad situation. but you can't play like that. Like if he's healthy, he's your starting quarterback. He needs to be out there. So Kyrie Irving caused quite a stir, a little bit of controversy when he refused to speak to reporters during Nets Media Week.

He finally gave an interview on Monday and tried to explain the reasoning behind his silence. But Charles Barkley is not happy with Kyrie and did not hold back when he was discussing his recent behavior. I'm not sure what point Kyrie is trying to make. And when he talks about, I'm like, what is he saying and what is he trying to say? He starts talking about what an artist he is.

He's a basketball player. That's what he is. We're not front-line responders. We're not teachers. You know, man, you dribble of basketball. Stop acting like you're the smartest person in the world. Well, first of all, you only went to college for six months. A lot of guys are smarter than you are.

Just answer stupid basketball questions. This really splits people, Kyrie's comments. I personally don't Now listen, you signed a contract So at the end of the day That's what you have to do Yeah, you have to talk to the media It's been negotiated by you

Yes, you can choose not to sign that contract Or pay the fine for not talking Or pay the fine, whatever you want to But you can't act surprised when things that you agree to in your contract Are held up by the people who you signed a contract with I will say, and I've had a lot of discussions with players over the past week about this

I don't think players should have to talk to the media. I don't think it should be a requirement. There's always going to be guys in the locker room who want to talk to the media or who are willing to talk to the media. If you have a bad game and you're not feeling it and you don't want to talk to the media, you're having a bad month, or you just straight up don't want to talk to the media and you're Kyrie Irving, I don't think you should have to.

Well, I don't have to be nice to people, but I do think to lubricate society, I do stuff every day because it's just a nicer thing to do, just be accommodating for... I think he should. Yeah. He absolutely should. Yeah.

But I don't think that you should be... And it should be negotiated, but I just... I think the coach should always have to talk to the media. Yeah. I don't think the players should have to. It's not going to bother me either way. I'm in the media. But here's the thing.

Here's the thing. Every action has consequences. So if you choose not to talk to the media, then the media is just going to report what they see. The media would like to ask you, oh, at this particular point in the game, what was going on here? Or it seemed like you had a little bit of an issue with this at this point in the game. What was going on there?

Yes, the media asks ridiculous questions you don't want to answer from time to time. Yes, we can be obnoxious. Yes, you're going to be critical. You're in the spotlight. My thing with Kyrie is, just like every action has consequences, you've chosen to pursue a career where you are a public figure. And being a public figure, that comes with certain responsibilities. And it comes with just a reality of people want to talk about you.

They're interested in you. Part of the fact that people are interested in you is what leads to endorsements, which leads to money. Like, there's things that surround what you do. I get what Charles is saying. I mean, just answer the basketball questions. It seems simple. Well, I think, yeah, I mean, when you say the world's flat,

I'm going to move off. You're the smartest guy in the room, but I'm not going to take shots at him. but I think Kyrie sometimes is trying too hard. Just, you know, I just think, I think just accommodate people. It's just a nicer way to live. It's better for society. It's better for you. It's better for everybody.

Just talk to people. LeBron does. Michael did. Magic did. And LeBron is so gracious. It doesn't matter if he's in Sacramento and it's a cub reporter. He goes right over there to give him the time of day. It takes an a minute.

It goes a long way. I think the idea is that now because there's social media, players don't necessarily. have to use the media to get messaging out, but the reality is all of the media follows your social media, and they're just going to react to what you put on your social media. So it doesn't eliminate it anyway. So the NBA has launched an investigation surrounding the Clippers acquisition of Kauai Leonard, according to a recently filed lawsuit. The Clippers and the team and team consultant Jerry West are being accused of agreeing to pay a man close with Kauai named Johnny Wilkes to help them sign. the free agent. So he claims the Clippers never fulfilled their end of the agreements. Both the Clippers and Jerry West have denied allegations. And Kauai responded to the lawsuit and whether Wilkes played any role in his decision to join the team.

No, at all. That has nothing to do with me. It gave my mind to go soon. So, you know, I'm from L.A. And, you know, I grew up here my whole life. And out here, you know, people try to, you know, in any way they get some money. So it probably won't be the last. I know a lot of people out here. I don't buy this story at all. If Jerry West did that, he'd be smart enough to pay him off so the guy didn't talk.

Okay, so A, secondly, you think you're going to tell strong-willed Kauai Leonard, who pushed back on Greg Popovich, you've got a buddy that's going to convince Kauai to come. Nothing about this story. This seems like somebody trying to get money out of somebody. That's all this seems like to me. Jerry West is going to, Do you know who Jerry West is? It's just a bunch of nonsense.

If Jerry West did this, you'd pay the guy $100 grand. Jerry West is worth blank-blank tens of millions. You feel like there's anyone in the sports world who Jerry West doesn't pick up the phone and call and they don't immediately give him whatever number he's asking for. Like before they get off the phone, like, oh, yes, yes, Mr. West, whatever it is that you need. This is a non-story story. Yes, it's a story because obviously it's L.A. I don't buy anything.

No, me either. You're going to convince Kauai. Somebody's going to convince Kauai to come to L.A. Greg Popovich couldn't convince him to play. I mean, and that's like an absurd amount of money. Yeah, it's not. Joy with the news. Well, that's the news.

And thanks for stopping by. The Herd Lye News. Eric Mangini coming up. Next, by the way, new streaming service, Discovery Plus starts next year, exclusive originals and things you've loved like the Food Network starts in 2021. Discovery Plus, it's 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 IHeart Radio app. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast Superhuman documented it all,

embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care which I'm saying.

Yep, that's me. Cliver Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball 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 what you need to be. Listen to The Clifford Show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,

or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. Do you remember when Diana Ross double-tap little Kim's boobs at the VMAs? Or when Kanye said that George Bush didn't like black people. I know what you're thinking. What the hell does George Bush got to do a little kill? Well, you can find out on the Look Back at it podcast.

I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick it here, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. Including a recent episode with Mark Lamont Hill, waxing all about crack in the 80s. To be clear, 84 is big to me, not just because of crack. I'm down to talk about crack all 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 Hard Way with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kier Games. And in recognition of mental health awareness, 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 hear on earth, or 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 Hardway and listen now. Eric Mangini, three rings with the Patriots, Browns, Jets head coach is joining me now live on a Friday.

Let's not waste any time. All right. John Gruden. I think he's a good coach, but once again, this is third or fourth time in his career. His team's deteriorate in December. I mean, Eric, that's not what Andy Reid's team, Sean Payton, Belichick, Pete Carroll. What does that tell you? it doesn't make a lot of sense and i was actually reading an article this past i think it was

august that out of an oakland newspaper that talked about the fact that they needed to be better in december if this team was going to be different than last year and last year was the same deal they were six and four and struggled late and i think he's he's only had three winning seasons in december and and i'm sure look john john's pretty self-aware in terms of of trying to to fix problems to have that pattern over and over again, sometimes you look at it and you think maybe you're driving the team too hard. Sometimes it's a function of having a team that's too old. Maybe it's the relationship that he has with his quarterbacks. He's retooled this team. I think there's six guys left from when he got there, but the piece that he hasn't retooled

is the quarterback spot. And, you know, he gushed over Marriota when he came in, He always has multiple quarterbacks on the roster going into training camp. Maybe a change in the relationship with Carr and a fresh start with someone like Marriota. Maybe that's something that can help him. I have his guy. Yeah, Mario dao has always been a reckless player to me. He gets hurt a lot. And I have this theory that when you're 6'4, you're 225 in high school and college,

you can run over people, and that's hard to coach out of people. Carson Wentz. Big. They don't want to duck. Russell Wilson and Murray, they slide. They've always been small guys. Would you give Mario de facto a chance to, do you think he's an NFL starter? Yeah, you know, I think a lot of guys do better with their second chance.

And Marcus Marriota is a guy who came out of second overall draft pick, high expectations, didn't achieve at the level that they thought he would in Tennessee. But who replaced him, Ryan Tennehill, who people felt underachieved in Miami. And there's a lot of history of quarterbacks doing better in a new spot. You look at, I mean, Kurt Warner's guy that wasn't even found and was playing in arena football. Steve Young didn't win for his first seven years. Jim Harbaugh was better in Indianapolis and he was in Oakland, Alex Smith. So until you give these guys a second shot, I don't like to write them off.

Breeze instead of Taysam Hill. Why not just give the Chiefs who you could play later in the year at the Super Bowl? Why not give them three and a half hours of Taysam Hill? Don't give them any Drew Breeze. Just throw quirky stuff out there for them to have to work and study. Why rush Breeze back? Well, this is a borderline playoff game. They're trying to maintain and have the number one seed.

so you're going to do that with the best possible player you can have. And if anything, these guys should understand that looking past an opponent will, well, has been a huge problem. You know, they've been guilty of it a little bit in the past. And my experience, the first time we won the Super Bowl, we had a chance to play the Rams early in the season. And that was huge. It was huge from a coaching perspective.

It was huge for our players because you're not looking at a team going, you know, who are these guys? You know who they are. And now you're at a different level of understanding what you can do, what your strengths are, what your weaknesses are. And you'd want your starting quarterback to be able to have that opportunity. Yeah. So I saw Peter King mentioned it this week. Peter King mentioned something this week. And it was beyond rumor. It made sense. Patriots have cap space. Patriots probably don't get a top three college quarterback, Cam doesn't appear to be working, Matt Stafford, who has every, he's got money, he's got stats.

He doesn't have wins. He wants to win games. Does Stafford and Belichick to you make some sense? Yeah, it makes some sense. One of the greatest things that Bill does is bring in free agents. You know, the draft record, you could argue, isn't as good as, as it should be and isn't as as strong as an indicator of the success as what he does in free agency. And the great thing about free agency is you get to look at it with like with like tape.

And you understand who the guy is playing against. And with Matthew Stafford, Bill's played against him a bunch of times, so he appreciates the problems that he creates. You know, he played for Jim Schwartz. Bill has a good relationship with Jim Schwartz. He's going to understand who the player is. If Stafford and if Stafford makes sense from a culture fit, from a being able to pick up the system fit,

I think there's a good chance of that. Now, Matt Patricia, I mean, Bill's got a great relationship with Matt Patricia. He'll be able to tell Bill everything about Stafford from a, from a personality standpoint. Only one minute, Justin Herbert, your thoughts. He looked good to me. he looks he looks really good and and he's impressive a lot of ways he obviously tied the the rookie quarterback record and all that being said i i like to to just slow down people's enthusiasm

we're so quick to annoy people and i get caught up with it a little bit too because of some of the impressive things that he's done but when you look at that list of records that he's on the verge of of breaking you know it's it's dac prescott it's Carson Wentz, it's Baker, Mayfield. You know, you're not saying that those guys are elite guys, or you could argue one way or the other, as to whether or not the elite guys. So it's exciting.

I think there's a lot of reasons to think that he's, you know, going to be able to tear it up moving forward. But, you know, the league's pretty smart. Coordinators are pretty smart. And they've got to see what happens when people start catching up with what he does well and what he does poorly. Eric, Mangini, have a great weekend. We only got 30 seconds.

What's the weather like in Cleveland today? The weather is cold, as you can imagine. I know you're probably headed to ski. We need snow skis here. It's pretty consistent that way. All right, good talking to you, coach. Yeah. We'll talk to you soon.

Joe, we saw this yesterday. Binghamton, New York, not a mountain got 40 inches of snow. Utah's mountains got last night six inches of snow. Those are mountains. So you got five, six, seven times as much snow, just in a town out east. Yeah. I like snow for a weekend. Yeah.

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Another podcast from some SNL, late-night comedy guide. 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, S&L'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 IHard 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 was big to me. I'm Sam Jay.

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. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.