The Herd with Colin Cowherd - 12/21/2020 - HOUR 1 - Chiefs-Saints, Jets, playoffs

Episode Date: December 21, 2020

Coin's thoughts on the Chiefs-Saints gameWhy the Jets should keep Sam DarnoldBaker Mayfield is better without OBJ and it's not arguable anymoreWhy playoff teams should be worried about the Buccaneers and the ColtsGuest: Jimmy Johnson 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.

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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,

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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 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. You're listening to Fox Sports Radio. Oh, here we go.

What a busy Monday, live in Los Angeles. This is The Herd, wherever you may be, and however you may be listening. We are on Fox Sports Radio, I-Heart Radio, and FS1, one hour from now. Colin Wright, Colin Wrong. Have to be honest, we had trouble finding the wrong. this week. It was like an avalanche of me being right. That was great. Joy Taylor is joining me looking as festive and beautiful as ever. How are you, Joy? Thank you. I'm trying to be festive. It's Christmas week. It is. It's here. So I'm working a couple days. You're

working more days. Goulet. We don't give Goulet days off. He just works every day. So it's great to have you win. We've got a lot to talk about today, including Davos Sweeney's doing some gamesmanship that I find hysterically funny. I'll start with this. Listen, sometimes you want something to happen so badly that you convince yourself it's going to happen before it happens. And it skews your judgment. The Patriots were so boring and dominant for 20 years. Everybody wants the next dynasty to be fun and flashy and cool and hip and I get it. Like I get that last Patriot Super Bowl win over the Rams, I was bored.

And I live in L.A. And I'm a Patriot guy. But just because you want something to happen doesn't mean it's true. I'm watching this Kansas City team. Don't forget. They trailed by at least 10 points in all three playoff games last year, and were outplayed by the Niners for three of the four quarters. And the team I'm watching right now,

I mean, they're winning. Six straight wins, six points or fewer. NFL record. And they've gotten some breaks. How in God's name was that game close yesterday? How was it a three-point game? Drew Breeze early was awful. They had no running game.

They had 15 first downs. The Saints never had the ball. I've never seen a lobsided time of possession, 42 minutes to 18. The Saints were terrible on third down. Their best receivers were all gone. Drew Breeze is coming back. It looked like it hurt to throw. And in the end, that's a three-point game.

Again, people forget this. We all live in the moment. Through 11 weeks last year. That's 60% of the season, 65%. Kansas City was 7 and 4. The defense was not top 10. I think Mahomes was like 15 in passer rating. He'd been hobbled.

He hadn't been playing efficiently, consistently. It was a 7 and 4 football team. Then they got healthy. Mahomes and Andy Reid click. Passer rating goes up. Defense plays well, and they play really well. Although, when I say this with Kansas City, I say it with affection and love, they're more fun than New England.

They're flash year. They're faster. But they leave. a lot of points on the floor. That game should never have been close. Drew Breeze was mostly awful early. No receivers couldn't run. 15 first downs.

Never had the ball. I mean, I look at these numbers this morning. Drew Breeze is 15 for 34. One for 11 on third. 18 minutes time of possession. 15 first downs. Couldn't run the ball. Against Kansas City and that thing's a three-point game.

You know, everybody always says you are what your record is. No, if that's true, then the Pittsburgh Steelers would be dominant. You're not always what your record is. Sometimes we see it in college football. You have a great record because of weak opposition. And let's be honest, the division they're in is not great. Chargers don't have the right coach. Denver doesn't probably have the right quarterback.

Raiders don't have the right defense. I don't know. I just, I look at the AFC right now, and there are some trouble spots for the chiefs. The Titans, the Cleveland Browns, the Ravens and the Colts. havens aren't in yet. But four teams that have really profound running games, what does that mean? That Patrick Mahomes sits on the sideline and watches the football game. I could absolutely see the Titans and Derek Henry dominating time of possession. And Mahomes doesn't get the ball. I could see Cleveland doing it with that offensive line best in the NFL. I could see the Colts doing it.

I could see the Colts doing to Kansas City what the Colts did to Green Bay. Aaron Rogers is a spectator. but I just I understand wanting after 20 years of dominance in a sport we all love, wanting something new. Okay. And not only wanting something fun and flashy, it doesn't work this way in the NBA. The way it usually works in the NBA is flashy wins. The Warriors were flashy and the Heedles were flashy and Shackovi was flashy and Magic was flashy.

And then you occasionally get kind of a defensive-minded boring team, the Sonics in the 70s, the Pistons one time. You get the occasional, like, kind of boring. In football, Alabama's boring, and New England was boring, and I get, we all want fun. But, man, I find Kansas City incredibly vulnerable. And I know their record's great, but that game should never have been even marginally competitive if you kind of look at what transpired over three and a half hours. All right.

Now, so the Rams lost to the New York Jets. You know, it was funny. These games were on at the same time. And I couldn't keep my eyes off to Rams Jets. It was just a dumpster fire. It was a tire fire on the side of the road. You couldn't stop looking at it. And it's really interesting.

So I was texting a couple of personnel people in the NFL as we're talking about the Trevor Lawrence thing. And they're texting me back and they're like, God, this is months of content for you. This is crazy. So here's the thing. Trevor Lawrence for Clemson is now not going to go to the Jets probably, right? He's, all these personnel people have been telling me for three years. He would have gone number one as a freshman. He would have been the number one picked three years ago.

He would have been drafted out of high school. Somebody put him on a scout team. He was that good. The gap between him, and you've watched him play this year, and Justin Fields is huge. And Justin Fields is good. But this is John Elway. This is Andrew Luck. And we don't make that commentary very much on quarterbacks.

We never talked about a quarterback out of college like John Elway before John Elway. I never talked about a college quarterback. like Andrew Luck before Andrew Luck. Okay, this is the third quarterback in my life that's a can't miss will overcome even average the mediocre coaching, right? Bad coaching, he'll overcome it. Justin Fields will not. So this morning, the Jets have a dilemma on their hands.

What do we do with the number two pick? Because like, the Jets already have two firsts, a second and two thirds. So if you look at who is drafting now in the top 15 picks, I think there's four. teams that will strongly consider getting a quarterback. And Joy and I will tell you this over and over, the closer you get to the draft, the crazier the teams get about quarterback. Like, remember, we're always talking ourselves out of quarterbacks, and then Jordan Love, the Packers move up to get him. That's just the way the draft works. People go crazy. They move up to get quarterbacks. And the closer you get to a draft, so it's like everybody's wedding. Oh, let's not

spend too much money. The closer you get to the wedding, well, we don't want to have a bad photographer, And you've got to have flowers pretty soon when you look up and you've got a gigantic bill. Weddings and drafts. The closer you get, the more you spend. So you look at this. Carolina at four could move up and give the jets. They'll give them like a first round pick or more. Then you go down, okay, Falcons may not.

Dolphins have two eagles. I won't draft another quarterback. Cowboys want chargers. Want giants. Won't. San Francisco would. Denver's going to consider it. Minnesota and New England.

So I think four out of 15 teams, Patriots, Vikings, Broncos, Carolinas. linea, maybe nine, maybe five. They're going to get a quarterback. And they're going to spend something for, I mean, hell, the Jets gave up three second round picks, I think it was, to get a quarterback in Sam Darnold, right? So the Jets already have all these picks. They're going to get multiple picks.

Sam Darnold is still cheap. And now the job, because you're not getting Trevor Lawrence, is not as attractive. You're not going to get Urban Meyer now. You're not going to get an Urban Meyer, even if it's an Ohio State quarterback. you're not going to get Urban Meyer for Justin Fields and Sam Darnold. You're not going to get Lincoln Riley. You're not going to get Brian Daibol, the offensive coordinator for the bills. He's going to have his choice of jobs.

It's not as attractive a job now. So are you sure I'm going to go with Justin Fields, who I've watched play four times this year, and three of four, I'm like, eh, Ohio State's got way better personnel than all Northwestern. I'm not sure. personnel people are saying, there's no guarantees with Justin Fields. Big question. You're not going to get as good a coach. The Jets can get more picks. Keep Darnold, got a capable GM. What if somebody gave you a first and a second? And now you have the Jets. Three firsts. And two seconds and two thirds. And then you get another number one next year. Or somebody gives you a first and a starting corner who's a high level player. I talked to one

GM yesterday who said I wouldn't want a ton of picks. I'd want one great pick and a starter somewhere. I don't want too many. I don't want to have eight guys and give my new head coach eight kids. I wouldn't mind having like a starting great corner and a first round pick so you can move up nine spots. So the world's changed on this thing. I think it's a big gap between, all right, Trevor Lawrence, you're going to get an

Urban Meyer level guy or a Brian Dable, a great coordinator. That's a different conversation then. Justin Field, Sam Darnold, Sam's still cheap. A lot of cap space. A bunch of picks with Sam. The new GM, Joe Douglas, had a very good draft last year. Can he do it again? I don't know.

I think I just start looking around and everything changed. Maybe the Jets won't have leverage. Maybe Carolina says, we're not willing to do what you want to do. We'll stay with Teddy Bridgewater. We're almost winning with Teddy now with a bad defense and a rebuild. So I thought it was more than just losing Trevor Lawrence. I think it became a massive dilemma for the New York Jets. This morning, what would I do?

I think I'd keep Sam Darnold. If somebody came and gave me a starting high-end corner to solve one of my problems, and I got another first-round pick and a third, and that's what somebody's going to do. I mean, folks, I was looking at this this morning. Philadelphia gave up five picks four years ago to move up. you're kidding yourself if you don't think an NFL team as we get close to the draft is not going to move up and give three or four picks. This is, we've watched this over and over and over again.

They're going to start fight. Listen, if you don't have a quarterback in this league, Bill Belichick lost again. If you don't have the right guy at quarterback, Belichick got fired. Belichick's won 43% of his games. So I, to me, this morning, I think I keep. Keep Sam Darnold. Get more picks. Keep building a fortress up.

And then in one year, if Darnold's not what you think, you've rebuilt the O line, you've got a starting corner, you got multiple picks. I mean, that's the way I look at it. Unless somebody just, you know, I mean, you tell me, am I nuts on this? Justin Fields, you watched them against Northwestern. I'm not Reboating the franchise for that Now, if he comes out this week in 10 days or whatever against Clemson

and Justin Fields chops it up and chops Clemson up Maybe I have a different opinion This morning I keep darnled That's what I do I keep darnled Coming up next Colin What do you make of Baker Mayfield

Conant Bacon Mayfield He's really good Won't you talk about it I will next Colin right, Colin wrong Top of next hour 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 I'm not so great. 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, Clifford Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way,

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

stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger. So, if you've ever supported me or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right where you need to be. Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. Do you remember when Diana Ross

double-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 J. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick it here, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it.

Including a recent episode with Mark Lamont Hill waxing all about crack in the 80s. To be clear, 84 is big to me, not just because of crack. I'm down to talk about crack on day, but just so y'all know. I mean, at this point, Mark, this is the second episode where we've discussed crack. So I'm starting to see that there's a through line. We also have AIDS on the table right now. Thank you for finishing that sentence. I don't think there's a more important year for black people.

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

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So, you know, Baker Mayfield's rolling. So the media doesn't like to be criticized. They don't like it. They like to sit up in their lofty perches. And I have a lofty perch too, but I'm willing to go out there, have an opinion, and you take shots at me. It's been my whole career. You know, I don't spend a lot of time worrying about what social media thinks of me. Most of my comments, I don't care what my boss is think of me. This is what I am. I lay it out. Some like me, some don't. I'm good with it, right? I work hard. We work hard. But the media tends to play it.

because they don't want pushback. So when guys like me came out, and there's only a couple in the country that we said, Baker's better without OBJ. Oh, the pushback was like, whoa, are you stupid idiotic? You know what you're talking about. It is ridiculous to. It's not ridiculous at all. Have you ever had somebody in your life that you try to impress a big brother, a boss? You know, you're trying to impress somebody. Baker Mayfield walks into this league, young quarterback. Here comes superstar OBJ. I mean superstar. Best catch we've ever seen.

New York Giants. Supermodels in Paris. And Baker, through no fault of his own or no fault of OBJ, is overcompensating. He's trying to feed the ball to OBJ. And what Baker's really good at is what you see now, a point guard. He's not the biggest guy, the best arm, the best athlete, but he's, throw the ball accurately, mix it up, no pressure on Baker, find the open. guy hit him. He's a point guard now. So before OBJ got hurt, there was a play that Baker was throwing to him and OBJ got hurt. Since that play, when OBJ was not available, 15 touchdowns

one pick, with OBJ, 10 touchdowns, seven picks. His passer rating with OBJ was 80. Without it, it's MVP stuff. It's Aaron Rogers 112. Now, I don't think Baker is Aaron Rogers. But the point being is it is not ridiculous or a hot take to suggest that a young quarterback, Dak with Des, Baker with OBJ, is influenced by a wide receiver that is a star, established in the league, a home run threat, and you want to appeal to him. You want a curry favor like Dak with Des or Baker with OBJ. I'm not pointing fingers and blaming people, but we've all had a big brother we try to impress or boss or a coworker or a woman or a day.

We're trying to impress. It's natural. It's human. But Baker Mayfield's passerating without OBJ is 112. That's Aaron Rogers. So it's just he's a better quarterback. And the organization has been denying this OBJ trade thing. I've been on this thing for two years saying move OBJ. He never wanted to be there. It doesn't fit. Do not put this burden on Baker Mayfield who is clearly pressing

to get the ball to OBJ. And it's not a hot take. It's not even disputable. And by the way, Baker's current numbers are actually depressed because Baker had to play two games at home in Cleveland in tsunamis. Remember that game against the Raiders when it was like 40-mile-an-hour winds? You couldn't land planes in Cleveland? He played two or three straight games at home where Baker couldn't throw the ball.

The weather dictated it. So Baker's numbers would be better. without OBJ. And when he had OBJ, he was throwing in better weather. Now he's throwing in worse weather. And his numbers are through the roof. It's not a hot take.

It's the reality of humans. We're all trying to impress somebody. And young quarterbacks are vulnerable to star receivers who come with either an entourage or a reputation or an ego. Or this is not a point fingers blame. It's a reality. Baker simply a red-hot point guard who now can throw to anybody without overthinking who he has to throw to.

Join with the news. No, no, no, no. Turn on the news. This is the herd line news. Not a little college football drama on Monday morning. Love this, love this. Well, the playoffs are sets. Alabama, Clemson, and Ohio State took the top three spots after winning their

conference championships Saturday. And the fourth spot went to Notre Dame. People are upset. Despite their 24-point loss to Clemson in the. ACC title game. Well, obviously people are upset. And Dabo Swinney decided to add his two cents to the situation. He ranked Ohio State number 11 in the final coach's poll.

His top floor were Alabama, Clemson, Notre Dame, and Texas A&M. That's a fair ranking. Ohio State below Coastal Carolina is just poking the Buckeyes in the ribs. And I'll say this. last year I said I don't bet college football much although occasionally I see a bowl game or something and last year I made the biggest bet of my life on college football everybody said it was the best big 10 of Ohio State team ever and I said no Clemson's going to win Ohio State now has that memory you got Clemson's coach ranking them a lemon also Clemson faces probably Alabama next so they are looking ahead to Alabama where Ohio State is completely focused on Clemson's I'm just saying the Buckeyes are a very interesting side this weekend. I think they could make it close. I don't know if they can beat them.

But Justin Fields was 12 for 27, 114 yards, no touchdowns, and two interceptions. Yeah, he was against Northwestern. Yeah, I know, I know. I just these are kids, kids, you know, Lou Holtz used to say, you get a different 18-year-old every weekend. No, I agree with you. I think it's going to be a lot closer than people think. I just think Ohio State doesn't have the personnel. That's fair. And I think Clemson does. I worry about Ohio State on the back end of their defense. Trevor Lawrence. I mean, like Clemson goes for it, they throw the ball over the top a lot.

I will say, though, like the argument about Ohio State not having enough games, I don't want to say it's unfair because I really don't believe in fair. Yeah. But Davo's kind of putting himself in some, and I don't think he cares at all. And why should he? Because once Trevor Lawrence goes off to the NFL, he's got his next quarterback. He's a slide right in. And he looks great, too, and he's a freshman. So, you know, Dabbo's a freshman. So, you know, Dabo is not in a position of concern for how good he's going to be for the next couple years. However, you know, things can change on you. And he's just fully, I'm just saying, Dabo's fully embracing being the villain of college football. That comes with the price. I love villains, so I'm all in on it.

But I like that he's putting himself against Ohio State. They have a very strong fan base and that'll make for a very nice rivalry moving forward. Wait for that game. It's going to be great. So the bills made it look easy. 4819 over the Broncos on Saturday. Josh Allen had another incredible game, 359 passing yards and four total touchdowns.

And with this win, the bills officially ended the Patriots' 11-year run in the AFC East and clinched the division for the first time since 1995. They have done. You got to give Sean McDermott and Brian Dayball credit. Two years ago, Josh Allen was completing 53% of his throws. Out of Wyoming, Joy, we saw him play. accuracy was a huge problem. He's now in the 69%.

Some of this is, and Josh is terrific. Some of this is coaching. Like, this is really good coaching. I don't know how you can argue that. I didn't not like Josh Allen for the first two years. Like, I was like, I mean, I think he's has potential, but like he's not capable and wasn't capable of winning a playoff game. He's playing incredible.

And no, I think that there's something to it. Obviously, it's coaching. And they, they stuck with him and developed him. And clearly he has a talent. and the disposition to be coached and developed and everyone doesn't. But I do think this does speak to. We're very quick to move off of young quarterbacks. And sometimes, and the bills are a stable organization as well.

They're very well run now. It's not an organization I would describe as being dysfunctional. So they've got an incredible fan base. If you have some stability and in some ways a patient fan base, because it is Buffalo, like this is, we're not making high demands of Buffalo as a country. right of fans. Buffalo Bills fans have expectations obviously they're not an impatient franchise

in general. Some fan base is just like they want results immediately and sometimes it takes time to develop players and we're showing some video of the bills coming back. Very happy for a city that truly that fan base

truly loves their football team. I love seeing this. This makes me happy. Finally Jalen Hertz was impressive again in his second start for the Eagles Sunday. He threw for 338 yards, had four total touchdowns against the Cardinals, and after an early 16-point deficit, he had a chance at the end of the game. The drive stalled at the Arizona 31-yard line. He had a good Hail Mary. I'll tell you. Actually, all three of the plays at the end of the game were right where they needed to be.

I got to tell you, this game was so entertaining. Kyler Murray made just enough mistakes to make it interesting. Jalen Hertz made just enough plays. I know that Kansas City and the Saints were on. But between the Rams getting upset and this game, this game was, I just love these young quarterbacks. And again, they make more mistakes than I'm comfortable with, but the game is never out of reach. This was a really crazy fun.

Well, we've said this for two years. Arizona may not be the best team in the league. They may be the best watch in the league. Yeah, they're totally entertaining. And look, Arizona should have won this game. They're the better, more complete team. So it ended how it was supposed to, but it was so fun to watch the entire time. And again, I'm just watching the Eagles with this lingering thought of what are they going to do?

Like, not only is Jalen playing well, he's exciting. So it's not like they're like this was an ugly, hideous loss. Like they're right there. If they had one, it wouldn't have been surprising. You were feeling disappointed with Eagle wins and you feel optimistic with their losses. There's a sensibility with them watching Jaylon. It's like, oh, this is exciting. We're in the game.

We're not wasting opportunities. It's getting really interesting. It really is. Joy with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Heard Line News. Well, to me, it's one of the top two or three coaches of my lifetime,

the Bill Walsh's, the Bellatex, the Jimmy Johnson's, and he joins me a couple times here, and I always feel very fortunate. Fox Sports NFL analyst, a Hall of Famer, long overdue when he got it, and he's joining me from the Keys where he always looks rested and comfortable. Brought to you by Mercedes-Benz, the best or nothing.

Okay, coach, good Lord, the Jets can't even lose right. Jimmy, they can't even figure out how to lose. So now, Jimmy, you got the number two pick. And there's a difference between Trevor Lawrence and Justin Fields. Do you start over with Fields or do you keep Darnold and take those picks and rebuild? What would you do? Yeah, Colin, I don't know that Justin Fields is that big an upgrade over Sam Darnel.

I still think that Sam Darnal's got talent. You know, I question how he's been coached the last few years and the supporting cast. But I'd like to see better players around Sam Darnel and use some of those picks to bring in players. Now, you know, you might even, you know, take that number two pick and get you a bonanza, you know, as far as people moving up trying to get Justin Fields or another. great player. So, you know, you can add to your arsenal by trading that pick to a team that's desperate. Do you think, Jimmy, you know, you'd never want to move up to get a quarterback if you were a Belichick or a good team, and then you don't move up far enough and somebody jumps you? So do you think the people that are interested in a quarterback in calling the Jets? Do you think they'll do it now

early or they'll wait until draft day? What would you suspect would happen? I think they would wait until late because, you know, the price just goes up the closer you get to the draft. You get other teams, you know, bidding. Now, obviously, I mean, that's as far as the Jets are concerned. If you're one of the teams wanting to move up, if you can solidify a deal right now, then that's fine because it's going to be cheaper than if you wait until the draft. Okay. You get teams competing for that pick, you know, the price is going to go up. You know, Jimmy, I'm watching Kansas City, and you had three or four great all-time teams in the NFL.

You had several in college. And I said, I know your record's important, but I look at, when you get closer to the playoffs, I start looking at stuff like Red Zone stats. Are you situationally good? And I look at Kansas City, and I can see him facing a Derek Henry or a Cleveland offensive line or the Colts. And I can see that Patrick Mahomes sitting on the sideline watching the game. Do think they're really vulnerable? Do you?

You know, I was asked on the show yesterday as far as who's the biggest threat to Kansas City. And, you know, you might say, well, Buffalo, because Buffalo is really hot right now. Their quarterback is playing great. You might say Tennessee because of the way they run the football and they can control the clock, control the game. But I think the biggest threat to Kansas City is really Kansas City. Brett Veach, I talked to him just not too long ago. He wanted me to autograph a picture that we took when they were here at the Super Bowl with Brett and Andy Reed. And I told him, I said, yeah, you are looking great.

He said, as long as we stay healthy, he said, we'll be fine. And that's what I believe. If they're healthy and if they're prepared and if they're not overconfident, if they understand who they're playing and the strength of their opponent, they'll be fine. They're the best, they're the most talented team in the NFL. And when you have a quarterback like that, Terry Bradshaw called me this morning. He said, I watched Mahomes. He said, it's unbelievable some of the throws that he makes and some of the things he does. He's just such a special talent. Yeah. So I watched the Miami Dolphins yesterday, a franchise you coached in an area

and a team and you know a lot of people in that organization. And I got to tell you, Jimmy, Brian Flores, this team reminds me of Belichick early in New England with Brady. They win a lot of 2016 ugly. They're resourceful. Yesterday they were missing four of their top five scrimmage yard performers. Players become more replaceable. And Tua, like an early Brady, is coachable? He doesn't turn the ball over.

I think we got a hit. Maybe am I being a little hyper here, but I think Brian Flores, I watch him. Jimmy, I see Belichick. Yeah, I spend some time. with him this offseason and I was thoroughly impressed. Their team, you know, they play so hard. You know, he gets tremendous effort out of his players. He's got a bunch of young guys, a lot of players that nobody's ever heard of. Right. That are really performing. And he's getting the most out of his players. And, you know, that's what Bill did in his great run is, you know, a lot of

players that, you know, other teams might not even want, he made them productive. He was able to utilize, you know, certain guys that could do one, maybe one thing, and he could put him in the ball game and let him do that one thing. And so Brian, you know, he learned well from Bill. And then the other side, that's going to be a struggle up there at New England. But now, you know, New England's got a bunch of cap money. They've got some opt-outs that are going to be coming back. year, but they still got to find them a quarterback. Yeah, and they're not very dynamic on the offensive side, at least on the perimeter. They could use some speed.

So I said this, and I said this about two years ago, I said sometimes young quarterbacks come into this league. And if they have a star receiver, it feels like they feel like they need to appeal to him. And I totally get, I'm not blaming anybody. But I watch Baker without OBJ. Jimmy's like a different player. Did you ever have a situation like that? No. Michael Irvin wanted it to be like that, but I wouldn't let him. I made sure that Troy threw the ball of other places.

Yeah, and I heard what you said about Baker, and yes, a lot of it is on Baker as far as when he had OBJ, but also the play caller. You know, the play caller is going to design plays for his star receiver. Well, the only thing is the opponent knows that as well. And so they're going to do some things to take away your star receiver. You know, if you actually just take the approach, especially if you have balance with your receivers and you're tied in, if you take the approach, you just take what the defense gives us and not try to force the ball to any one player. You're going to be much better off.

And that's what we're seeing with Baker Mayfield. Should a team like, did you ever have a great team that had a bad late season loss? Like, I like the Rams a lot. That's a clunker yesterday. Should I take, you know, early in the season, the Colts lost to the Jags. But it's September, it's week one. I don't worry. They're a different team.

Do late season losses concern you, Jimmy? No, but I'll give you an example. The last loss that I ever had in Dallas was really a heartbreaker. You know, we were playing the Miami Dolphins. in the snow. And, you know, of course, you know the game. The Leon Litt touches the field goal. And we had the better team.

We were favored. We were at home. But because of the snow and because of the mistake that we made in the kicking game, we lost the game. But that was the last loss that I ever had in Dallas. We went right ahead and won the rest of the season, won every game and won the Super Bowl. So I think you can bounce back from that. I mean, I don't think the Rams look at this loss to the Jets and say, oh, we've got a bad team. It's just one of those things that happened.

Hey, let's rally back. Let's correct our mistakes. We're a good football team and let's go forward. As a coach, finally, Jimmy Johnson, the Hall of Famer. There are some things, Jimmy, that are correctable. And then I wonder if there are mistakes that you just know as a coach, we just don't have the personnel. I look at Pittsburgh. They play tonight.

right? And I say to myself, Jimmy, Ben, because of that surgery, can't throw the ball deep. I don't think it's correctable. I don't think people fear him going over the top. I think it's hurting their running game. Now, that's my perception. Is that a correctable flaw? Are there things as a coach? You just tell your coaches, not publicly, guys, this is what we are right now. I don't think that they can accept that. You know, I looked at the Steelers back before, they lost the last couple of games. And every route was a four-yard route. You know, everything was underneath,

and it was a dink and dunk, you know, to get rid of the ball two seconds. And, you know, I said before they even lost games, I said, you know, teams that are talented, they're going to crowd those receivers. They're not going to let them throw those little four-and-five-yard routes and those bubble screens. And if they do that, then they're going to have to have a running game

or they're going to have to throw it deep. I think, you know, as far as the coaching staff, with the Steelers, they've got to force the ball deep. You know, they've got to force, you know, I mean, even if it's less than three yards of carry, they've got to run the football. You know, they cannot just go into every game saying we're going to throw three and four yard routes and win the game.

You get up against good teams in the playoffs, that's not going to work. So they've got to have some balance offensively. Jimmy John. By the way, I got a pretty good, hey, two of my favorite players right here. Who? Jason Taylor and Zach Thomas. Look at your.

handsome brother. I noticed it right away. You noticed it. Jimmy's family. Jimmy's family. I love that. Coach, great seeing you. Have a great holiday, Jimmy.

Okay. Merry Christmas calling. Joy. All right. Well, Jimmy's kind of with me on this. Is that Sam Darnold, Justin Fields? I mean, he's right. I mean,

I think I just build. That game did not do Justin Fields any favors. No. And maybe against Clemson, we all go, okay. But it's like the gap between Justin and Sam, wouldn't I rather just keep Sam building? a fortress of picks. And if Sam stinks next year, it's just one year in the big picture.

Then you go get another guy. And then the next kid, the coach, the new coach, gets to pick who he wants for his system. And it's a better group of players. And it's not going to sound sexy to Jets fans, but it's probably the more prudent thing to do. Right. But this all hinges on how he plays in this. It really does. Like if he throws up a stinker, let's say Clemson rolls Ohio State.

I think the Jets are like him. We're keeping Sam Darnold. I think you would. Coming up next, Brady, what I predicted and what he's become. Pretty interesting. Plus, Colin Wright, Colin Wrong, top of next hour. 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.

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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,

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You can turn the grill on and off from your phone. So we went back this morning, and, you know, we like to make predictions. It's harder, obviously, to make predictions before a season starts than, you know, once a season is, you see the injuries pile up. You're making a lot of guesses. I thought Minnesota would be good this year. Not happening. I thought Baltimore, by the way, everybody bangs on me about Baltimore. You predicted 16 and 0.

I told Joy when I did that. I could have predicted 14 and 2, but I thought it was more fun to go 16 and no. because you guys would all freak out. But I thought they would win the division. I thought they'd be the first or second best team in the league. 16 and 0, 15, 1. What's it matter? You just got you guys all worked up.

But I did think they'd be way better than they are. But I still think Baltimore, by the way, is going to end up 11 and 5, and they're really good. But I made a prediction. We looked it up this morning, June 12th for Tom Brady. And I said at the time, Joy was here, I said it's going to be very Matt Ryan-esque. So I went and looked at Matt Ryan's numbers. and I predicted Tom would go 10 and 6, have a 2-1 touchdown to interception ratio. You can look at the numbers there, our television audience.

For the radio audience, I predicted 28 touchdowns, 13 picks, a 64% completion percentage, and 95-5 pass-er rating. That is really Matt Ryan. So what is the reality? The reality is his touchdown to interception ratio, 32 to 11, is 3 to 1. I'm pretty darn close on both the pass-for rating and completion percentage. He's slightly better, 2% better, 1% better than I predicted for both. The reality is he's going to go 10 and 6 or 11 and 5. So I was very, very accurate, except his touchdown interception ratio has been much better than I thought.

And I'm watching them yesterday. And here my two takeaways on Brady is he's not the problem. If they've got a problem, it's their secondary. It's kind of a mess. It's young, talented, and gets burnt a lot. Atlanta just torched it early. So their issue is not Brady. He is having a better than Matt Ryan year.

And the other thing is how many quarterbacks in the NFL trail 17-0-0 at half and you still feel like I did yesterday as Tampa's fine. Mahomes, obviously, Aaron Rogers, not as much. Russell Wilson, kind of. Like it was 17-0, and I never felt they were out. I kind of felt like they're going to figure this thing out. The second thing is Tampa's going to be a, has a potential to be a nightmare in the first round for somebody.

Green Bay. They blew them out and they match up really well with them. Seattle, their offense has gone in hiding for five weeks. Saints. Breeze looks really old. Rams. Get pressure on Jared Goff. We saw it yesterday.

They're not the same team. So Brady's not the issue to me. me. The issue is sometimes the coaching staff running the football more. That's the issue. The issue is the back end is really young and against an Aaron Rogers or a Russell Wilson and D.K. Metcalf or even a Jared Goff, you could see that secondary being a huge, huge problem. But I think Brady, if you're fair about it and honest about it, and I said this last week, Aaron Rogers have an amazing year. But Aaron Rogers numbers last year with a new coach, just a new coach. not a new city, not a new house, not a new roster, not new wide receiver, just a new coach.

Aaron Rogers, numbers last year weren't as good as Brady's this year. And Brady was asked to move his family, new weather, new state, new conference. He didn't know these, he didn't know these defensive coordinators. I mean, Aaron knew exactly who he was facing. new division, new conference, new receivers, new playbook, new coach, new coordinators. And his numbers are better than Aaron Rogers, at least in completion, passer rating, and touchdown passes. Here was Arians after the game praising Tom Brady. He's just a winner.

He knows how to do it. And I don't know about my history, but if you're talking about last year, but Tom has always been, he's always been a fourth quarter player. and, you know, we won a lot of games in Arizona in the fourth quarter, so it's kind of what we expect to do. Yeah, they're good. I don't think they're a Super Bowl winning team, but I think there's, like, I'll give you an example. I think the Colts are just a big pain in the butt to play.

I just wouldn't want to play the Colts in the AFC, because they're going to come in as a dog, and all your fans think you're supposed to beat him, and then that Jonathan Taylor now is becoming a stud, and then they lean on you, and your star quarterback sits over there and watch as Jonathan Taylor run for 140 yards and you never get the ball back. That's what happened to Aaron Rogers. Wouldn't want to play Tampa.

Wouldn't want to play the Colts. Don't think either right now this morning is a Super Bowl winning team. Colin Wright, Colin Wrong, top of hour two and a Monday. Live in L.A., it's the herd. Another podcast from some SNL late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day,

and head writer Streeter Seidel help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,

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

I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. On the Look Back at it podcast. From 1979, that was a big moment for me. 84 was big to me. I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick a 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 year. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win.

I don't care what you're saying. Yep, that's me. Clever Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, my basketball and college football journey, or my career in sports media. Now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfills of 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 podcast network on TikTok. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.