The Herd with Colin Cowherd - 3 and Out - Bills Blowout Belichick; AFC Playoff Picture; NFC Top 3; Miami's Tua Doubts; Arizona Exposed; Urban NFL Rumors; Haskins Disaster; Mailbag

Episode Date: December 29, 2020

In this episode, John looks at the Bills' MNF beating of the Pats, why they're a scary playoff team, and if Belichick should over by parting ways with the Pats. He also breaks down the AFC playoff picture, ranks his 3 teams that can win the NFC, explains why the QB's in the draft are far from a sure thing, why it's clear the Dolphins aren't sold on Tua, why the Cardinals are getting exposed, looks at the Dwayne Haskins disaster, Urban Meyer NFL rumors, and answers listener questions in the Middlekauff Mailbag. Follow John on Twitter and SUBSCRIBE now to get all the latest content!! Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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

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

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

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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. Get right to the romance and find the way to wow this valentines with 1800flowers.com. From classic roses and bouquets to decadent chocolate-covered berries, gourmet treats, and more. Surprise your Valentine with 1-800flowers.com. Right now, get the 18-stem in julys.

Chanted Rose Medley for $3999 or upgrade to 24 red roses for $10 more. Go to 1,800flowers.com slash tune in. That's 1,800flowers.com slash tune in. What is going on, everybody? John Middell Koff, 3 and out podcast. How are y'all doing? Everyone have a good weekend. Merry Christmas.

Get some presents. Eat some food. and watch some football. That's what we all do over the holidays. Big show coming up. I just hit record. There's about 13 minutes left in this game. Diggs just scored a third touchdown.

The Patriots are getting throttled. I mean, I think the score is 37 to 9. We're just going to record this bad boy. But I have a lot coming up. Some thoughts on the AFC playoff race. Some thoughts on the teams in the NFC that can win the Super Bowl. at least win the NFC.

Some thoughts on the Jets and the whole Jacksonville and the draft stuff. The Miami Dolphins, bench Tua in the middle of the game. Cliff Kingsbury failed again. Urban Meyer, Dwayne Haskins cut. We'll dive into it all. And of course, the Middilkoff mailback at John Middilkoff. Slide up into my Instagram DMs and we answer your questions here on the show. For those of you that have, greatly appreciate it.

Three and out podcast, subscribe to the show. separate from Collins feed, and leave a review. It helps with a show. Say it over and over. I greatly appreciate it. I saw some people leave some new reviews. Very cool. But let's start with the Monday night football game.

And let's start on the positive note. The bills have become a powerhouse. And I talked about it last week that the most important hire you have, you really have three essential hires as an NFL franchise. because I had someone DM me this last week and he's like, how can these billionaires that are so successful in other lines of work consistently screw up their football teams? Because I'm like, well, if you have a big time product or a big time idea,

your hires don't always dictate your success. Maybe you're a marketing genius. Maybe you developed an app. Maybe you developed, you know, like Jimmy Haslums in the truck. rocking business. The Spanos's were in the real estate business. The lurries were in the, I think he was in the Hollywood, you know, in the movie business. The crafts were in the commercial real estate business.

You can get by without like one person once you create the idea or the company. It's not going to make or break your company. But if I hire the wrong coach or draft the wrong quarterback, I got no fucking chance. None. I will not win in football. You can throw the GM in there too, but a lot of times now the coach ultimately is decision maker. So I got to get my coach right, I got to get my GM right, and I got to get my quarterback right. Those three people will make or break my team, winning and losing. I don't think it's really like that in like big corporations, in multi-million dollar operations, right? You guys all work in different jobs. I know it's probably different now with Corona, but I'm sure you have a lot of like

middle management that are worthless. That if it was up to you, guys above you, you're like, I would fire that guy yesterday. He's stealing money. I can't believe how much they're paying bill. I can't believe that Joe down the hall is making $200 grand. I wouldn't pay that guy $75, he doesn't do anything, right? In football, it doesn't really work that way. Because you're paying a guy, that guy's going to work really hard, he might stink.

He might be Freddie Kitchens. He might be Jim Tom Sua. He might be, you know, a terrible quarterback. You know, Dwayne Haskins, and you're just going to stink if that guy is in a position because those guys dictate your success. But with the bills, and I talked about this last week, it's on full display. They did a couple things right. I mean, one, they swung for the fences with Josh Allen, and he's become a star.

This touchdown that he just threw with like 13 minutes left in the game, first thing that came to my mind was that's Patrick Mahomes. And then Brian Greasy said, did that just look like the Kansas City Chiefs? Lewis, he's made a couple throws on this touchdown drive, one across his body, another one across his body rolling left in the red zone. Then it's just, only so many people have that

shot in their back. Like, there's only a handful of guys Aaron Rogers and Mahomes just thinking off the top of my head that can do that. Drew Breeze, Philip Rivers, those guys couldn't have done that in their dreams and their prime. And those guys, I mean, Breeze going to the hall,

Fame, Rivers had a hell of a career. Russell Wilson could not have made that throw. And Russell Wilson is a Hall of Famer. Couldn't have done it. Not Brady can't because he can't move like that. Like what this guy is doing is just incredible. And the other thing is, they made a very, very, very bold trade. They traded pick 22 for Stefan Diggs.

And I remember last year being at the playoff game, the Niners versus the Minnesota Vikings. and their only touchdown drive, that game by Minnesota, they went right down the field. They got a PI call. They got a sweet grab by Diggs, a P.I. call on Diggs, and a touchdown on Diggs. And it was like, God, this guy is unreal. My buddy's in that division with the Bears, they're like, thank God he's out of the division. He has gone to the Buffalo Bills and absolutely eviscerated people.

He leads the league in catches, leased the league in yards, three more touchdowns. He's kicking everyone's ass. and it was weird because he was a diva or whatever, but he was a winning player. Right? Like the thing with Odell, like, can you go to the playoffs with him? The Giants went once and he's just been on losing teams. With Diggs, it was like all those years on the Vikings.

They were always good. So it's like, yeah, he had issues with his quarterback or Zimmer or whatever, the management, but you won with him. The game started between the lines. That dude was ready to kick your ass. I want to go to war with Diggs. Then he goes to Buffalo, they're good, kicking everyone's butt. So he's a winning football player, and it's been seamless.

Because it was also a move, like it was a great wide receiver draft, and Justin Jefferson went in that spot, who's really good, he ain't digs. And the bills, I don't think they can win the Super Bowl this year, but they're going to be in the Super Bowl conversation the next couple years. They have something special. And it starts with, they had a good GM, they clearly have a really good coach, they nailed the quarterback. And their defense might not be as good.

Who gives a shit? As long as you got the coach and the quarterback. it's on like Donkey Kong and the bills are for real. They're 12 and 3. And play the dolphins, I would expect them to be 13 and 3. And I think we're all going to agree that they're probably the best competition

for the Chiefs, but I did see them play the Chiefs earlier this year and get throttled. So we'll see. I'll believe it when I see it. But I'm in agreement. They're the second best team in the AFC. They beat the Steelers. They're just better than all the wildcard teams.

They're good. But on the flip side is like Belichick's team is awful. Cam Newton, he gets up at 4 in the morning. I don't know why. He doesn't drink his coffee until 8, but he's not good. The rest of their team is not good.

They had all these opt-outs, and I've spent all this time talking, you get better doing something by doing it. I get better at podcasting by podcasting a lot. You get better at selling by selling a lot. You get better at, if you want to be a cook by cooking, right, all these opt-out guys, I don't know what the hell they did this year.

I talked to a buddy in the league who had an opt-out guy, he's like, I don't know what the guy's been doing all season. You just don't know. So, their team's not going to be good next year. Why does Belichick in his late 60s

like, isn't it time for him to step away? And when I say step away, I don't mean quick coaching, but just let Josh McDaniels coach this team. Let him put his imprint, let them start over together. Why doesn't Belich go somewhere, else. Now, I don't know if Kraft would let him, but why does Belichick want to be a part of this?

He's already done it for 20 years. He's won, you know, six Super Bowl's Ben to nine, all those AFC championships, all those divisions. He's done it. He can't do any more in New England. So I know it's, he doesn't want to like put his tail between his legs and just quit, but isn't time for a breakup? Is it just, hasn't run its course? Why not go to the Chargers, right? and just see what you got. How would, if he is available, would the Chargers, I mean, can you imagine Belichick coaching that squad?

And let Josh McDaniels just transition to become the head coach. Work with Kraft and definitely Jonathan Kraft who probably wants Belichick out of there. And just start new. The Patriots could basically hit the reset button like Josh did when he got to Denver and let him put his old stamp on it

and let Belichick go somewhere and just try to win for a couple more years. He ain't going to be coached until he's 90. what's he going to do with this team? Even if you gave him the greatest GM in the world, which Belichick's not. They got a couple of year rebuild. You don't have any quarterback.

None. Even if the Niners trade them back Jimmy Garoppel, who's he throwing it to? Nikiel Harry? Jacoby Myers? Like Grinkowski, Welker, Edelman, they ain't walking through that door. It's old.

Dion Branch, Grunkowski, it's over. I mean, put a bow on it, it's done. The Patriots, it's just, it's a wrap. They need to start from scratch and do it over. If I'm Belichick, like, maybe I sit down with, maybe we just go our separate ways. Let Josh do it, take it over. You groomed the guy.

You know, we did it with Bobby Bowden, I think with Jimbo Fisher. They tried to do it with Must Champ in Texas, the coach in waiting. Josh McDaniels been the coach in waiting for, you know, seven years. Hell, he turned down the Colts because he was a coach. Just let him take it on.

What is the point of Belichick sticking this out? So he could just retire a Patriot? Who even cares? Brady left. We talk about Brady all the time. It's fun seeing him win games. I want to see Belichick on a good team. This team is not good.

Now, it's because of Belichick. I mean, every player in the roster is he chose, but I don't want to see him on this team anymore. So I'm selfish here. I don't know if this is going to happen. but it honestly seems a little unrealistic. But the team is so terrible. Like, I just can't see Belichick.

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

I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what I'm saying. Yep, that's me, Cliver Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions,

my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, the Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations

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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 Jett. And I'm Alex English.

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. Then you're finishing that sentence.

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It'll be fun. Just win five games. They don't have a quarterback. Stidham's awful. Cam can't throw in. He's a free agent. What are they going to do? Who knows?

I mean, if they just draft a rookie, what if that guy's not good? To me, Belichick Chargers, man. I'm telling you, I keep talking about the Chargers. They have Justin Herbert and all these players in a contract. Can you imagine if Belichick went there how good they would be? That'd be, you know, the Chief's worst nightmare. See Belichick go to the Chargers, but man, uh, Patriots think. Hi, I'm Flo from Progressive.

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Walk a mile in my shoes. Walk a mile in my shoes. We've all felt left out. And for some, that feeling lasts more than a moment. We can change that. Learn how it belonging begins with us.org, brought to you by the ad council. Okay, there is a lot going on in the AFC. So I wanted to start with just kind of an overview looking forward of this weekend.

We obviously know the dolphins pulled the game out of their ass against the, I want to call them the Oakland Raiders, the Las Vegas Raiders. The Colts blew a game where they were killing the Steelers. A devastating loss. Rivers threw a bad pick. The Titans got worked in the snow by the Green Day Packers, who were one of the best teams in the league. The Browns lost to the Jets.

Now, they didn't have wide receivers, but Baker-Mayfield did the number one overall pick. Browns fans keep telling me, we're going to pick up the fifth-year option. Well, you got to find, I know it's a tough spot. Bad coach game by Stefanski. I think he threw it 53 times. Overall, just a disaster.

And then, who am I missing? The Ravens, who I think are the only team, and I hate to say this because the Bengals have been playing well. I mean, the Bengals beat the Steelers' Cup last Monday night. They just beat the Texans, kind of took it to him. J.J. Watt, you know, freaked out, lost it. Actually, didn't freak out.

I love everything J.J. Watt says. He is so right. The fans pay the bills. Never forget that. I never forget that. too many players, I think, coaches. The league office understands it. I think you see it in other sports.

The NBA has a big problem with this. The fans are your cash cow. And I loved, it really, it spoke to my heart, JJ Watts' rant, because I think it's so true. Without the fans, there is no business model. And there is no cash. And there is a lot of cash right now because a lot of people watch the league. And I didn't watch the Houston, Texas, Cincinnati Bangle game.

Clearly, J.J. Watt was not a lot of cash right now. happy. So here's what I did. I ranked the AFC playoff teams. Not based on scenarios and because clearly between the Colts and the Titans, one of those teams a lock. You know, between the Colts right now are in the outside looking in. Miami, Cleveland, and Baltimore, they win they're in. And assuming Tennessee wins, they would be in as well. So I just ranked them how I think between the Ravens, the Titans, the Colts, the Browns, and the Dolphins. in a vacuum the way I look at them. Number one is the Ravens.

That Browns game where Lamar might have been taking a poop, might have had cramps, whatever, changed their season. They pull that game off. Their schedule was easy. Win, win, they play the Bengals. They're going to win. The Ravens are going to the playoffs. Now, you know how I feel about them in the playoffs?

About Lamar Jackson's limitations throwing the ball, which ultimately is what you have to do to make playoff runs. but I think they're going to get there and who knows, maybe he can run around win you a game. They would not be a team that I would love to play in the playoffs. The second team.

I struggled with the Titans and the Colts. I'm going to lean the Titans just because I'm going to lean with the team with the better offense. And the Titans play the Texans this week who are in absolute shambles. The Titans have an issue though.

Their defense isn't very good. Giudavion Clowny has been a disastrous sign he's injured. Their secondary is atrocious. Devante, now, Devonte might be the best wide receiver in the league, but he destroyed them. Rogers destroyed them. Again, they might be the best offense in the league, but that was in the snow. That was pretty ugly.

Though I do think the Titans beat the Texans, that means they will win the division. So I got the Ravens, I got them beating the Bengals, I got them getting the wildcard spot. I think the Titans are the second best team in this group. I think they're going to win and they're going to be in. The Colts play the Jags. It's pretty crazy that a team that is on a 14 game losing streak has a win. The Jags won the first game of the season. And that game, if the Colts, if the Browns and the Dolphins and the Ravens win,

dropping that game week one against the Jaguars is the reason they're not going to make the playoffs. Philip Rivers love the guy, root for the guy, but holy moly does he make some terrible fucking decisions at the end of the game. He's throwing balls up in the fourth quarter threw a terrible pick. He threw other balls that could have been picked. Like, Phil, your arm is not that good. Dump it off, take a profit, move down the field.

You could have won the game. But I still think the Colts have an identity. They can run the ball. Their defense is really good. I think they beat the Jaguars. But still, like, they can't win the division if the Titans win. And then they've got to hope one of these other teams lose.

And I think the Ravens are winning. And then let's look at the Browns and the Dolphins. Let's start with the Browns. If fully corona healthy and all the guys are on the field, the Browns are better than the Dolphins. They have dramatically more talent. I don't even think it's close. But as you saw, like, if the game gets put on Baker's back, he can't win.

That is not the way he plays. They have a specific way Cleveland plays to win. They throttle you with the run game because they have, you know, a one-two punch is probably the best in the league. Nick Chubbs is a stud. Kareem Hunt's an incredible backup. But when you got to throw with Baker-Bayfield 50 plus times the game, you're going to lose. Whether Jarvis is, and Odell Beckham's healthy.

It doesn't matter. That's not the way they play to win, even if you're playing the Jets. But I do think the Browns are better than the Dolphins. Here's the problem. The Browns play the Steelers. So, you know, I do think the Steelers trying to get their mojo after that big win are going to try. And they would like nothing more to knock the fucking Browns out of the playoffs. That game, I think,

it's going to be if the Steelers try for four quarters and now they kind of got their mojo back in the second half against the Colts, how do the Browns win that game? I get Jarvis and People's Jones, some of these guys get to come back, but I don't know. I don't see it.

I think that's going to be very difficult. And I think the Browns are better than the Dolphins. But I think the Dolphins, who, again, it's hard to tell the bills, the Steelers, playoff positioning. I do think the second seed is a lot more important to three seed because while you don't get a buy, you get multiple home playoff games.

You play the first round, you play the seventh seat. In the second round, you play the lowest seed, right? Or I guess the one seed would play the lowest seed, but you play the next lowest seed. So you might play the three, you might play the four, whatever, but you get another home playoff game. So between the Bills and the Steelers, you think if you ask Sean McDermott or you ask Mike Tomlin, do you want to go on the road and round two? You want to play at home. What do you think they would say?

They want to play at home. And that might be the game, Steelers versus the Bills. So playing at home is a big deal. I just, I think the Steelers play, I think the bills play hard. So I think there's a decent chance the Browns and the Dolphins lose. The crazy thing about the Dolphins, watching them really closely against that Raider team, is I don't think they're that talented. They have some good players on defense, their secondary is really good,

don't have a great pass rusher. Offensively, they got shit. I mean, they don't have a good wide receiver. I know Devante Parker's injured. They're running backs at Randos. Two, we'll get into him a little later. Fitzpatrick's clearly better right. now. Their offensive line isn't great.

For them just to get the 10 wins, if they were to lose and not make the playoffs, I think you could still justify giving Brian Flores the coach of the year. For them, I'm watching that game when I thought they were going to lose. And I'm thinking to myself, just getting nine wins with this team is an incredible accomplishment. It really is. So I think the Ravens are in. I think the Titans are going to win and win the division.

I think the Colts will win. And I think between the Browns and the Dolphins, maybe both of them lose. and written down, I don't know who would, I guess the Browns would get the playoff spot then, but it's the AFC, I mean, they're going to be a 10-win team more than likely that does not make the playoffs. It's been the parity, the competitiveness, the depth of the, of the AFC has been on full display really for these last couple months. Okay, let's talk about the haves and the have-nots in the NFC. And I think this is much more black and white in the NFC. Now you could argue in the AFC, the chiefs are going to win.

So we're just, I know they haven't been that focused, but can you blame them? When they flip a switch, who's beating them? And the answer is nobody. But I think with the NFC, and really it speaks to playoff football, there are a couple non-negotiables. And that's just the way the world works. Like, I've never heard of a good restaurant that doesn't have good food. There's not a good business right now in 2020 that doesn't use technology.

like there are just some realities of life in 2020. Like you're not winning the Super Bowl if you don't have an elite quarterback that can make throws on third and long in the playoffs. So just start checking people off, right? And here's a reality with the NFC playoff situation. I got three teams that can win it. I have a hard time,

and I was tweeting about it on, I guess it would have been Friday. It would have been Christmas, right, is when the Saints played. Like I'm out on Drew Brees. that doesn't diminish his career what he is as a human being I mean think about this

he's a Hall of Fame player and everyone agrees he's a better person than he is a player he changed the franchise it's remarkable what him and Sean Peyton have accomplished in 15 years when I was growing up the Saints were the Ains

they were awful they were a joke him and Sean Peyton made that place a powerhouse made that place somewhere where you want to play made that place prime time on Fox, Aikman-Calling game, Sunday night football, Monday night football. It was awesome. Their team is really good this year.

When you look at the other three teams that I think have a chance to win the Super Bowl, or I mean get to the Super Bowl in the NFC, it'd be the Packers, it'd be Seattle, and it'd be Tampa. If I put one of those quarterbacks on the Saints, I think they would be the heavy favorite in the NFC. But I got Drew Brees, who's never had a great arm, but you watch that game against Minnesota, whose defense is a joke,

I mean, he has a pop-gun arm right now. He's throwing lollipops in the air that just float. Sometimes if a guy's wide open, he's fine, but most of the time, he could have thrown multiple picks. It's over, as it should be. He's a 40-year-old with a bad arm who's injured, back-to-back ears banged up. Like, it's just, this is the way sports happened.

We've been talking about it before. Brady kind of righted the ship. But the difference with Brady, and we had been talking, unlike Breeze, does he fit in the offense? It wasn't like, God, his arm strength. Brady's arm's fine. It says the offense in him on the same page.

With Breeze, it's physical attributes. The problem with Peyton Manning, when he fell apart, it was physical attributes. And I had someone tweet me like, you know, Peyton Manning in 2016 won the Super Bowl. You know what? I saw that Denver Bronco team for years live. I was doing Raiders post game. I saw him play. They used to joint practice against the Niners.

That defense, and the Saints have got a good defense, dramatically better. I mean, Von Miller Hall of Famer, Derek Wolf, Malik Jackson, DeMarcus Ware, Danny Trevathan, all their corners from Akeb to leave to Roby to Chris Harris, just a better team. Their defense was elite, was elite, and they barely got in with Peyton, and they barely won it all with Peyton. The margin for error against Rogers, against Tampa Bay, and against Russell Wilson is not going to be the same for them. So I'm out on the Saints. because the other teams, the Bears, the Cardinals, the Rams, like, we're all out on them. They cannot win the NFC.

So I got three teams. The Saints could win the NFC, but Drew Bree is not good enough. He's old, he's banged up, his arm doesn't work, it's just, it's over. I get Kamara scored 15 touchdowns on Christmas, like, I just don't view them as a team that can win the NFC. Not with that, Drew Brees. Clearly, Tassam Hill is not like as smart as Drew in terms of manipulating the defense, but he has a way better arm. They're just kind of stuck in no-man's land.

probably win a playoff game, maybe. But I can't see them winning multiple playoff games with that version of Drew Brees. Especially if they have to go outside at Seattle, at Green Bay, no. It's selling stock. So my three teams, and I think we all agree here, the Green Bay Packers right now are the best team in the NFC.

Their offense is elite. The Kyle Shanahan, it's really Mike Shanahan's offense, which LaFleur runs, which McVeigh runs, which the Vikings have been running with Kirk Cousins, which, you know, Arthur Smith runs parts of it with the zone run scheme. But the true offense, which the Packers, the Rams, and the Niners truly run, and Cousins and the Vikings have run the last couple years,

is unstoppable with the guy this good. Because we've seen good players in this offense, right? Jared Goff, when he was better a couple years ago, Jimmy Garoppelo in 2019, Matt Schaub, cousins, and it's gone well. Goff got to his group bowl, Jimmy got to his Super Bowl, Shob and that offense with Houston was putting up a lot of points. Matt Ryan is the best of that group, won an MVP, got to a Super Bowl. We have never, ever seen a guy like Aaron Rogers.

It's a cheat code. It is a cheat code. When you can run the ball like that and get the play action boots that are just going to be wide open. And then he also gets to integrate some of the plays that he's always run. But the base of that offense is the Shanahan offense, and Aaron Rogers has embraced it, and they've kicked the shit out of people. They score plays in the sun, in the rain, in the snow.

It don't matter. Because they've got the best wide receiver in the league. They have a dominant run game. Why? Because the run scheme works, and they have one of the best quarterbacks ever. So to me, if their defense plays well, and I have a buddy in the league that has advanced scout them several times over the decade. It's just people talk a lot of crap about the best.

their defense, but they do have individual free players. Like, he's like, Geyer Alexander, baller. Savage, the young safety, coming on, baller. There's a Darius Smith, 55, baller. Kenny Clark, baller. So yeah, their linebacking plays not great. They have four premium players on defense out of the 11. And two of them are DBs.

They can pick the ball off, the cover guys that can make plays, and the others are pass rushers. Definitely 55 is. So it's like, they're coming on. they to me are the clear favorite, mainly because of the offense. If they're winning games in the snow, it's a wrap, it's over. Then would be Seattle. Now, has their defense benefited a little?

They played the Jets. They played a crappy Niners team like a month ago. They played golf with a broken finger. You know, I don't think it's quite as good as this look, but it's clearly not as bad as it was in the first half of the season. And we know when Seattle plays good defense, with this version of Russell, this like last half of the decade, they're an elite team.

So if they play a good defense, Jamal Adams has changed their team, Dunlaps, helping the pass rush, and their defense just looks, one thing they always do, whether they're giving up points or not, they hit you right in the mouth. They try to knock you to the ground.

That's just Pete Carroll. They are a physical defense. So if they're playing, like, if they're making plays on the ball and actually getting to the quarterback and then playing like that, they're going to be really hard to beat. Russell's elite,

and we know that just that franchise has a lot of equity in the playoffs. they're used to playing in playoff games. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all,

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

Yep, that's me, Cliver Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show.

This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. One week, I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment, and the next we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music. The Clifford Show isn't just a podcast, it's a space for honest conversations, stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger. So, if you've ever supported me, or you're just chasing down a dream,

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and listen now. They won a playoff game last year. Now granted, Carson Wentz got hurt, but still. And they play Green Bay a lot over the year. So if that matchup happens, that to me is very, very intriguing. And then the last team is Tampa.

Because a lot like the Saints, I know the Saints have beat him twice. I just trust Brady, and they're going to have to play on the road to go to Green Bay, to go and, like, he's played in the cold for 25 years, despite being from California. He went to Ann Arbor, spend 20 years in New, you know, New England. He thrives in the cold.

He lives for it. And then what do they do well? They play good defense. So if their offense can just get on the same page, and I'm not even put that much stock into the game against Detroit, because that was about as gutless of an effort as you'll ever see. Detroit Lions quit. I mean, I don't use that term lightly because,

Most guys, even when you're quitting, you might just be bad. They quit. They were over it. Maybe their team just sucks. They had coaches, like 15 coaches got Corona. They had like three guys coaching. But Tampa beat the brakes off of them. I just think you see like Tampa is a team.

And the Saints would be too if I just trusted Drew Breese. I just don't. I saw it last year when he was healthier. He didn't have rib injuries. He had the finger injury and he came back from it. He got beat the playoffs by Minnesota. How is he going to win playoff games at C. Seattle, at Green Bay, I don't see it.

I just do not see it. But I think Tampa would be the one, the other team that could give Seattle and give Green Bay, just some problems. Obviously, they beat Green Bay, but I think you've got to throw all the games. I'm just saying their personnel, their style of play, their quarterback, who's just going to be licking his lips if he goes to Green Bay and it's 10 degrees in snowing. And he lived with it. I think how many snow games he's won in his career in January in Foxborough.

Not an issue. So I think the hierarchy is clear. It's Green Bay. It is Seattle and it is Tampa. My three teams that can win the NFC. I just don't have the Saints there with Drew Brees and his arm that's just shot. At Walgreens, we know February is the season for L-O-V-E. It's also something sweet for your sweetheart season,

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Ever since the Jets, you know, they've been flirting with it for a while, but now they've won multiple games. And I joked about this on my other podcast with Guy, is that, And I enjoy doing it. I like using the word. I think it's funny. And it's a fun talking point when a team's losing and there's a big time prospect in a draft. But the word tanking and the NFL do not exist. There is no such thing.

Now, you could, I would even say throw. We've seen it before with the team that is the one seed, the Polion Indianapolis Colts when they arrested everyone. Because of playoff positioning, it actually works in the opposite in the NFL. You're so good. You rest people, week 16 or 17, to go into the playoffs. But the inverse is not, like, teams are never trying to lose,

no matter how terrible you are. And I was hoping the Niners would lose out to get like a top seven pick. They beat Cliff Kingsbury, who just we'll get into here in a little bit. But tanking in the NFL, it exists in basketball. We saw it. We've seen it countless times. Tons of teams have done it. And the major difference is in football than in basketball,

I think it would be more rampant in basketball if there was no lottery. The thing in football, if you have the worst record, you get the number one overall pick. Even when Sam Hinky was doing that, how many times he get the number one pick? Was it once with Ben Simmons? Other than that, he drafted like third a lot. He didn't get the number one pick that often. He got the third pick a lot. Now, he upped his odds.

He was playing a math game, but unlike if the Jets had gone 0 and 16, they would have got the number one pick. If you had the worst record in the NBA, now the lottery is even crazier. It's not as conducive to get in the top pick. But back when Hinky was doing it is the reason they changed some of the lottery odds,

you still didn't, you weren't 100% set in stone to get the pick. You were just guaranteed a top three pick. Now I think it's a top four pick. but in the NFL, like, you have the second worst record, you get the second pick. But that's not how coaches think, because Adam Gase does not care, right? He does not care about Trevor Lawrence. Rumors are, I heard someone told me this. I think Adam Gase has told people this.

Albert Breer wrote it that he's going to be on Bill Belichick staff. We'll see. Belichick likes him, I guess, I don't know, time will tell on that one. But I don't think Gase is that terrible. I was talking on social media, it would have been. Sunday night like Joe Banner, who was the president when I was with the Eagles.

He tweeted something yesterday that he called Adam Gase the worst coach to ever get a second job. I said, hold up. Pump the fucking breaks there. That ain't close to true. Pat Schumer is dramatically

worse than Adam Gase. Check the records. Chip Kelly, when he got fired from Philadelphia and got his second job, the Niners, That is one of the biggest, I don't even know what to call it, just I don't give a shit seasons. I'm not even going to try seasons you'll ever see. Hugh Jackson has gotten a second job. He won one game in like two years for the Cleveland Browns.

There are worst retreads than Adam Gays. If Adam Gays had a healthy roster this year, maybe win six or seven games. Now, I don't think Adam Gase is that good, but he's definitely not the worst retread by a mile of all time. Pat Schumer is dramatically worse. Chip Kelly mailed it in. Hugh Jackson stinks. Hugh Jackson went from a head coaching candidate that multiple teams want

to getting the Cleveland Brown's job to being out of the NFL. And I don't think anyone listening to this thing because that's that crazy. Now, should he be a quarterback coach or something for sure? But he's out of the league. Part of that's probably because he's getting paid, but still. And ultimately, I compare it to the dating a little bit,

we love it. I love it. I love the draft. I was thinking about this today. I think I like the draft so much. It's kind of why I like the stock market. I like values on things. And different people place different values, maneuvering your ability to buy something. And that's ultimately what you're doing with a draft pick, trading up and down to get a player, knowing what the guy's going to cost. But that's really more past like the top five. When we just think the top couple picks, especially in a good quarterback draft, we think quarterback's going one, two, right? And I saw, listen to this guy, you know, I'm hit or miss with him. But Florio had a really good tweet. He tweeted that for as much as hype as we put into these quarterbacks, they get drafted one or two. Look at 2015 and 2016. Because in 2015, James went one and Marriota went to.

I was doing a radio show at the time, and I'd have on from Joe Klat to New Heisel to just people left and right that watched Marcus Marriota. Now, here's the thing. Like, I watch the league much more than a lot of these guys that follow college football. I also understand, because I talked to like scouts the way that it's viewed a little bit differently. I think analysts in college, in college basketball and in football, throw these comparisons. You wouldn't just walk into a draft room and start. say this guy's Steve Young.

And that was a name getting thrown out with Marcus Marriota. I was like, you know, Steve's like a top eight quarterback of all time. I don't think Marcus Marriota's that he's throwing the guys wide open. But that was just a name getting thrown around. Everyone thought Marcus Marriota was going to be really good. James Winston, who had some flaws, but was a really good pocket quarterback, explosive arm. Neither one of them got extended.

Neither one of them is on their original team. The next year was Goffin-Wenz. that went dramatically better than Winston and Marriota. Goff and Wence both got massive extensions after their third year. Goff led his team to a Super Bowl as third year. Wentz almost had, I guess, the year before, an MVP-type season and got injured. They both looked like the extensions.

The Goff extension might have been a little bold, but the Wence one made sense. Goff has been atrocious this year as one of the highest-paid players in the league. He's now hurt. and when Scott benched. All four of those guys. One guy's injured and not good.

The other guy's benched. Marriota is a backup, who actually played pretty well in the Charger game that he played, and Jamis is a $1 million backup right now, who actually isn't the backup because when Drew Breese got hurt, he maintained the backup and takes him hill played.

I think we've got to be very, very careful. I'm saying this over and over. The Trevor Lawrence hype right now is better than he is as a person. player. Like the Trevor Lawrence hype has exceeded his ability because his hype couldn't be any stronger. I think he's the most hype player. I think he's a more hype player equally as hyped than Andrew Luck. But Andrew Luck was better than Trevor Lawrence. So if their hypes are equal, like Trevor Lawrence's hype is just out of control. So anything less for Trevor Lawrence to be like

seven, eight time pro baller is going to be a massive disappointment. The one thing with luck, like once he got to the league, playoffs, pro. Bulls. Bang, bang, boom with Grigsin and Chuck Pagano. Pro Bowl playoff. Pro Bowl playoff. Pro Bowl Game. That's what Luck did. Like, that's the hype on this guy. And I see it was Zach Wilson. Zach Wilson, as someone in the league told me, he's like 6-1, 200 pounds. Justin Fields. It's kind of a raw product. Is someone like a Josh Allen, you know, that's going to need a little work. Not different than Josh Allen, but you know what I mean? Like, he's like, he's a real product. Like, he's a He's going to need to get to the league and just need to work.

The other thing is, like, what's going to happen next year without OTAs? Are they going to exist? So we've got to be very careful because they're just time and time again. We see these results. Guy gets drafted in one or two, can't miss star. And that's not typically how it turns out. James Winston. No.

Mariotta. Hell no. Jared Goff. Of course not. Carson Wentz. Not giving up, but this year did not go well. That was back-to-back years. one two, one two.

And two of them, the second time, go around, Goff and Wentz, got historic cash. What would the Rams do to not have paid Jared Goff? What would they have due to have a do over on that one? I'll tell you, they'd give anything. Same with Todd Gurley. So we just have to realize the draft is fantastic. I love the draft. Obsessed with the draft.

I've basically made a career kind of talking about it, working in it. It's my favorite thing to talk about in football besides just the games on Sunday, the draft. College football, how guys are going to project. But most of them will not become the way we talk about them leading up to them coming to the league. They just will not. History shows us that.

Most guys are not pro-bowlers. Right? Think about it in the AFC. Patrick Mahomes and Deshawn Watson are probably going to take a pro-ball spot for the next six or seven years. So if you're going to go to the AFC, like if Josh Allen just maintains this, even Lamar kind of be right there.

Like, you're not going to go to Pro Bowls. So Trevor Lawrence, like, it's going to be very difficult for him to just go to Pro Bowls, right? If Zach Wilson is on, let's say they trade Donald, and he goes on the Jets. It's why the Jets situation with Sam Darnold,

I tip my hat. Remember I talked about within the last month, like he's got to show something. He's got to draw a line in the sand. And I give him credit. He just kept swinging, kept swinging, kept swinging, because you just, you can't,

let the outside noise dictate you. You can't let previous things impact you moving forward. You have to control your own destiny as much as you can. And he's showed a lot of toughness these last couple weeks. He showed a lot of moxie. He hasn't turned the ball over. He's thrown some touchdowns. He's made some plays. He's impressed. So to me, he's impressed if maybe they do want one of these other quarterbacks. So what they trade them, more teams are going to be interested in now. Say they want to keep him, whoever the new coach is. He's going to going to go, you know, this guy showed a lot of heart toward the end of the season. Nothing to play for besides refusing to go winless.

And they started winning games and kind of dominated, right? I mean, they beat the crap out of the Rams a week ago. They shoved the Browns around. And the quarterback's playing well. And at the end of the day, he was a number three overall pick. So it's not like, you know, he's just a mid-round guy that's kind of shown himself like the Jags have had a couple times, right? It's not one of those.

was a third pick in the draft, a guy that ultimately, and I know it's a different regime, the Jets traded up from six to three to get. From SC, highly touted prospect, most people I know in the league loved him. Daniel Jeremiah loved them. I liked him a lot too. And I still think there's something there. Now it's complicated. This is not, if you want to sit the little kid table and just talk about, well, keep them or don't keep,

you got to factor in the money. So, you know, trade him. You get a rookie guy on a four-year contract. with a fifth year Sam Darnold's going into his fourth year mean you've got to pick up his fifth year option means he's close to a contract. If you want to sit the big kids table

and talk about football, that plays a huge role. So there are several variables in this situation, but I think we got to be careful of like, Zach Wilson could be really good or it could just be average

because most guys that get drafted just turn out to be average, right? And I like Jack Wilson, but I'm just being real here. Sam Darnold, we know, is a functional NFL quarterback. And I think he has the upside to be a lot better.

And he was a top pick. So the next head coach, whoever that is, and Joe Douglas, by far as his biggest move, then the biggest move will be to decide what to do with Sam Donald and what to do

with the number two pick. But his biggest move, and it'll be the biggest move of his career. And it might not be just solely on him that the Johnson family might have, I mean, they will have a huge role, they cut the checks,

but hopefully they let him pick the coach and they're on board with and in agreement with could make or break his career. He gets it right. He gets his just solid guy. They're off and running. He gets an above average guy. Like he finds the next McVeigh, Kyle, Sean Payton, Andy Reed, whatever, when they just first got their jobs, it'll be on like Donkey Kong. But he hires the wrong guy. He hires his, you know, Chip Kelly. He hires his, you know, I'm trying to think of guys that were good hired. Hugh Jackson was, you know, people wanted them. You make a move like that. A clear.

Cliff Kingsbury, it could send you down the wrong path fast. And if you hire a bad coach, it's a rap, right? You hire Pat Schumer, like, you know, it's over. If I was him, I'd just be looking to get solid. Could I get the Ron Rivera? Maybe that's Robert Salah. Is this cycle's Ron Rivera, right? Josh McDaniel, I don't know.

I don't have the right answers. You never know when the guy's hired, but the hiring for Joe Douglas and the New York Jets will make or break the franchise of his head coach. Okay, let's talk about something that I try to live my life by. And it's something that I think these, if you follow this, you'll be disappointed a lot less. Because I try to judge everyone.

I've talked about this a million times on this podcast by your actions, not your words. Your words for the most part mean little to me. Unless you're like my mom, my brother, girlfriend, wife or whatever, right? Any business situation, any element of life, I try to judge people on their actions, not by their words.

And I think if you follow that, you won't be disappointed that often. Why, I don't get that caught up. Like, people freak out back and forth with politicians, especially on Twitter. Like, everything they say doesn't ever come true. Like, I live in California, this progressive left area.

They claim to love poor people. They claim to care about the middle class. I've had a front row seat. That ain't true. We leave the country and poor people. We're taking out, wiping out the middle class right now. Destroying them. But if you watch a politician,

go on, you know, the local news and talk about these restrictions and the state of the, you know, of the area. We got your back. We care about you. It's like, well, it's not, the actions are not adding up to reality. So your words to me, and it's like this a lot in any public job, words are often hollow. They don't actually mean anything. So I say this all the time with coaches.

I don't put that much stock into most things coaches say publicly, especially about anything that's kind of on the fence. A player status, who's starting, who a coach really likes. Because I've seen and been around a lot of these guys and know people just throughout the, you know, the last decade that are saying one thing on television, and then he texts people and be like, yeah, that's not true. Can't stand the guy.

This guy wants to get rid of this player. Oh, he hates his quarterback. Happens all the time. So the Miami Dolphins can say whatever they want about Tuaanga Bailoa. They can say they're glad they picked them, which how could they be? We all have the evidence. If they could do it over right now, they would take Justin Herbert. And they can say they really believe in them.

And Brian Flores, who I commend, he has operated the Tua situation. like it's 1993. You never see in modern day football a guy like Tua consistently getting benched. That doesn't happen anymore. Honestly, it's refreshing. He's treating the player

like he would any other position. But they clearly have a major red flag on Tua. Twice. Twice. In the last six games, Tua has been yanked. Twice.

It didn't happen once. It's happened twice. and Ryan Fitzpatrick immediately went in and the offense was better. It's not debatable or even arguable in my opinion right now that Tua gives the Miami Dolphins a better chance to win. I just saw against the Oakland Raiders or the Las Vegas Raiders on Saturday night, every quarterback shreds them. Why, their defense is historically terrible.

I mean, awful. Every quarterback, average quarterback's destroyed. them, good quarterbacks dominate them. And rookie quarterbacks, I saw Justin Herbert kick their ass. Tua couldn't throw for over 100 yards. Had to be benched in a game against arguably, you can look at different numbers. In my opinion, they're as bad as any defense in the league.

Got yanked. Could not, not only not move the ball, couldn't score points. If it's Patrick goes in there, boom, start moving up and down. So the dolphins, and listen, I don't expect them to say, listen. If we could have a do-over, Adios Tua. Just like, I don't expect politicians to be like, you know what, I really don't give a shit about the poor people.

I just say that to get votes. They're never going to say that, ever. And clearly the politicians actually impacts human beings. We're just talking about football here. But we are talking about the most important position in the sport of football. And that's quarterback. And they have themselves a quarterback problem.

They consistently, yank this guy out of the game. And then the eye test, you don't have to be Bill Walsh or Bill Parcells to go, you know, something's kind of missing. Like, I'm not really seeing it. The arm, the movement, like, it's just all kind of meh. I watched Burrow and I went, God, that passes the eye test. His team stinks past the eye test.

Herbert, he actually has talent around him, shatters records, broke the rookie quarterback touchdown record and every game he's liable to throw multiple touchdowns deep bombs make plays with his legs extend plays been a stud i mean the i test the stats test the all 22 test you name he passes them all too it's like uh well me sitting on my couch or me texting with my buddies in the league we're all kind of lukewarm or red flagging it something's just he had you know his first couple games it looked like he was making strides and then he takes a huge step back and then you go well he doesn't have the offensive weapons, his running backs, he's got a wide receiver out,

then Fitzpatrick comes in, no big deal, drives him right down the field, scores a touchdown, hitting dimes all over the place, pushing the ball down the field. Why? Raiders defense is horrendous. You should expose them. I'm not sure what the Dolphins do. The Texans pick, who I thought they were a lock

to beat the Bengals, somehow lose that game, and now that picks top five. I'm not saying they take a quarterback, because I don't know if any quarterback beside Trevor Lawrence is a lock to be better than Tua, but you don't need, like, what the dolphins tell you is irrelevant. Their actions are telling you everything. They don't really believe in this guy.

They don't think he's good enough in certain games to win, and they consistently yank him out. And they'll never admit this, but they don't need to. We already know. If they could have a do-over, they would have taken the Oregon quarterback, not the Alabama quarterback. I think you could also say, if we all could have a do-over and the draft happened again,

is he a lot to go in the top 10? I'm not saying he's like a third or fourth rounder, but is that a top 10 pick? Now it's early, and they're limited, but Fitzpatrick, who is like the all-time bridge quarterback, doesn't seem to be limited. He figures it out well.

And this is what I get back to. When people keep asking me about Mack Jones, Alabama has become an all-star team. They just signed six five-star players. I think it was like an Alabama record for five different states. He is playing offensively last year. played with Najee Harris. Who's going to go in the top 60 picks?

Played with four wide receivers, all top 15 picks. Played with several offensive linemen that were first or second round picks. It does not get any better than that for the collegiate level. He's playing in Alabama's team in the peak of their offensive power. Seven, eight years ago, defensive power. They've shifted. They are now offense, an elite on offense. When they sign a recruit at wide receiver running back,

there's a decent chance that guy's going really high in the draft. And we've seen recently those guys go and contribute and play really well in the pros. The wide receivers, the running backs, the linemen, the tight ends, the quarterback? I don't know. And I think when we evaluate Mack Jones,

you got to realize that like, is it just way easier at Alabama? Just because the guys you're playing with? If I go play a pickup game at the YMCA and I roll and I roll up and there is a team that's just running everyone off the court. And they got five guys that all play Division I basketball. And I did not play Division I basketball.

But I roll up with four NBA players. Four NBA players. I roll up with just NBA starters. You know what we're going to do? We're going to kick the shit out of that team with five Division I guys. And me, who is not going to be as good as one of those guys on the other team, I'm going to stay on the court for as long as my teammates want to stay on the court. Why? Because I'm on an all-star team for YMCA.

Not fair. Not fair at all. Every time Tua stepped on the field, he had a better team. And I heard Michael and Barthie say this on his podcast, and it is kind of interesting. Because I was a huge, I wouldn't say hater, but I didn't see it with Jalen Hertz. I thought he was more of a running back. But when you just watch the physical gifts of Jalen Hertz on a football field, and you watch the physical gifts of Jalen, of Tua Tua Tua,

and remember, Tua came in for Jalen in the national championship, Jalen ultimately transferred because BAM was choosing Tua, and that was the right decision. Tua was a better pocket passer. But you watch, you can't, like, we don't care in the scouting community, stats and all that stuff, like your physical attributes have to translate. It's why people love Josh Allen.

It's why people love Justin Herbert. It's why people like these talented physical gifts. That doesn't always work. We say Christian Hakenberg. But I'm going Jalen Hertz. If I just put Jalen Hertz in his three or four games he's played in two of this season, Jalen's physical attributes are superior to Tua's.

Throws a stronger ball. He moves faster. In the game, this is not 2001. This is not 1993. Pocket quarterbacks aren't, I need guys to move around. Most of my offensive linemen now in the modern day NFL, stink Anthony Munoz

and Larry Allen ain't walking through that fucking door but all these every team is like multiple Fletcher Coxes so I need my quarterback to make plays

and Tua has really good pocket presence but I'm watching Jalen Hertz and go God that guy if I didn't know anything about the two guys nothing

and I just you just sat me down I'd never heard of either and you just gave me a couple games to watch them I'd go I'd rather have the Jalen guy

which is crazy to say I'm not trying to like act like I thought that three or four months ago, I didn't. But people like, I change my opinion. Football, and this is why I talk about football and the draft, like, it's like the

stock market. If a stock starts plummeting, you go the other way, you get away from it. Same thing with football. Guys improve. Guys get worse. And plus college players, once they get to the league, then you can truly evaluate them. It's why I've always heard rumors

that the way Belichick scouts for the draft and maybe and he's changes a little bit. Is he like, he tries to watch old film, because then he can put them against, like, two-year-old film against guys that he's seen play in the league, right? So it's like he watches, instead of watching 2020 film, he'll go back and watch 2019 film on a prospect because he knows the 2019 players that are now in the NFL

so we can kind of gauge. And I'm not saying Belichick's the perfect drafter, but the hardest part about college scouting is just not knowing how that guy's going to look in the league. You think you know, and we've been doing it, right, since the history of football, they've been playing college football, and still people swing and they miss.

I'm not saying too with some miss, but Jalen, just in a vacuum, if you just got the Greg Co-Sells of the world, just go all 22, you go, well, this guy is much more physically gifted. Not even close. So I just, the Dolphins can say whatever they, want, I'm judging them on their actions. They benched him twice and they got to be leery of them.

I'm not going to try to take a victory lap and I won't spend too much time on this because I'm not always right. You know, when I talk about coaches and hiring, I had red flag Matt LaFleur and he's turned out to be really good. And clearly he's a really smart guy. I mean, I've watched a lot of his press conferences. But I think the best thing he does is he runs a high level offense and he runs a physical offense. At the end of the day, he wants to hit you right in the mouth with the way he plays. So does Sean McVeigh. So does Kyle Shanahan. It's why they can get into these games when they have injuries, when things aren't going well, and they're just involved, the game's close. Last year, Aaron Rogers didn't play well, but they ran the ball well, their running backs play well,

and they can play soft teams and they can play physical teams. It translates. I'm not a huge fan of the spread offense, like the true spread offense, what Cliff Kingsbury does. And listen, Cliff, like, you kind of are who your record says you are or your resume says you are. If you're 40 years old and I go, and you're trying to get hired and I go, okay, hand me your resume. And you just haven't been doing anything for the last 10 years. I'd go, what's your deal? If I'm hiring a football coach, I go, oh, where are you been coaching? He's like, well, I've been the head coach at a major university for the last six or seven

years. Oh, you win a lot of games? Actually, it was under 500. That ain't good. Like, eventually you are what your resume says. You are as a coach what your record says you are. So when they hired Cliff Kingsbury, and listen, I'm not anti-Cliff Kingsbury as a person. I'll say over and over. I had friends that went in that did that area when he was a Texas Tech, and they swore by him. I say he's a great guy. He's a grinder. I think when you're that good looking, tall, skinny quarterback, we naturally think like part of your, he's actually the opposite of that.

I know he's, I've heard stories of a big time worker, dad was a Marine. I respect Cliff Kingsbury. 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. 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 what you're saying. Yep, that's me, Clipper 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

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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 I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick it here, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. Including a recent episode with Mark Lamont Hill waxing all about crack in the 80s.

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

Really? Yeah. For me, it's one of the most important years for black people in American history. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the 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,

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

Join me, Kear Gaines, as we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, Learn the Hardway. Open your free, our Heart Radio app. Search, learn the hard way, and listen now. Despised his offense. And we saw it on Saturday when he was playing the 49ers. They were rolling out a bunch of backups, and they hit him fucking directly in the TV. and they shoved them around

and they absolutely punked the Arizona Cardinals in a must-win game. Because ultimately NFL football, as the season goes on, you have to be physical. You have to be able to impose your will. And that style of the way they play, that ain't it. And at the end of the day, the NFC West, for the foreseeable future, with Seattle, the Rams, and the 49ers,

is going to be a grown-ass man's division. and if you're going to play this soft style, I don't know if this is true, it sounds true. McVeigh's never lost to him to the Arizona Cardinals since he's been there. But Cliff Kingsbury obviously has beat him three times, plays him this week. Kyle Shanahan's 3-1 against him.

It's just, it's very, very difficult to win when you run a soft-ass offense. And Kyler, I think he's banged up, he's dinged up, he's just small. Small guys, you know, are getting thrown around by guys 6-3, 300 pounds, you know, it's hard to play the whole season, right? Watching Cam Newton's, he's in his early 30s, and his body's given out,

and he's taken a decade of pounding. Kyler's on year two, and you already see him wearing out. So, listen, I had the Cardinals' red flag from the jump. They got to eight wins because early in the season, Kyler was magnificent. He's a fantastic talent. I love Buda Baker. Buda Baker is one of my favorite players in the league.

I despise everything the Arizona Cardinal stand for though. I just, I don't take that offense seriously. I even watch him, I go, I don't even think this is some dynamic offensive coordinator. It feels like he's just running plays and like the leaked playbook

that he thinks will work. There's not like a rhyme or reason to it. Because Robert Salo is like, yeah, we know this is coming, bro. This is not going to work. We are more physical than you. We're going to hit you right in the numbers and you're not going to be able to do anything.

We're going to dominate you at the line of the line. scrimmage, and your best asset is your quarterback running around, you keep asking him to throw. Like, sometimes in a game, especially that magnitude where you're playing for the playoffs, as the Cardinals are, and war against

the Niners, you got to kind of throw out the game plan once, you know, you're down by seven points in the third quarter, and just start running the best plays possible. And their best option to win against the Niners would have had just Kyler Murray run around and run.

They kept making him throw, and you couldn't really throw. The run game, they had an injury, and it just didn't work. And I just, you hired a guy that wasn't used to winning. So now I can't be shocked when he's not getting over the hump with a team that should be in the playoffs in the NFL. And maybe they catch a break with Jared Gough out and they're able to beat the Rams. I still think the Rams, probably the random quarterback still beat him. I know Kyler's health is a little in doubt this week, too. But if I was betting on that game, I was just going to take the more physical team. team because I saw the Niners with C.J. Bethard kicked their ass.

I mean, shove them, punk them all game long. So the Rams, who like the Niners, are a very physical team. I have a very physical defense. I actually have better players than Niners right now on defense because all the injuries. How do I not like the Rams in that game? They just scored 12 points against the 49ers. How are they going to score 12 points against the Rams? Now, can the Rams score 20 with this random guy from the A.A.F?

I don't know. The Ram starter, Walford, I had never heard of about. I texted a buddy that does the SEC that I went through Wake Forest and he's like, yeah, the guy's like your size. And then I had a buddy in the league that worked for the AAF team. Say he's actually a pretty good player. But we'll see. But I'm going to lead the Rams because I will never bet on soft teams, you know, in January football.

That is just, that's a losing philosophy. Adoption of teens from foster care is a topic not enough people know about and we're here to change that. I'm April Dinnwity host of the new podcast, Navigating Adoption, presented by Adopt U.S. Kids. Each episode brings you compelling real-life adoption stories told by the families that live them with commentary from experts. Visit Adoptuskids.org slash podcast or subscribe to navigating adoption presented by Adopt U.S. Kids. Brought to you by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Children and Families and the Ad Council. Look through your children's eyes to see the true magic of a forest. It's a story. book world for them. You look and see a tree. They see the wrinkled face of a wizard with arms

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ad council. Okay, let's hit on a couple stories really quick. One thing that made, the rounds on Sunday morning was Urban Meyer. Obviously a name that I've been talking about for a while with the Chargers. Schefter and Albert Breer and people are writing about them. That teams are interested. Obviously, you know, he's one of the better coaches, college coaches of all time. It's clear he's going to have offers to coach. And Jacksonville, does that make a lot of sense?

They have the number one overall pick. They have a bunch of cap space. They have some good young players. It's in Florida, so you get no state income tax. He's coached in Florida before he's kind of a legend down there. You know, the Chargers, would they be willing to pay huge money? They have a stark quarterback. He works for Fox in L.A.

I just think those two jobs make a lot of sense for them if they're interested. You could say, and listen, one thing I read Stuart Mandel, who writes for the athletic, wrote a piece on the stress. and how it got to urban. He's never covered in all of his years covering football, a guy that's worse at losing. And you lose more in college than you do in, you know, you lose more in the pros than you do in college.

I think he had like multiple 13 and one seasons at Florida, lost nine games total at Ohio State. Like he didn't lose a lot at Florida or Ohio State. Here's the thing. It's way less stressful in the NFL. It's just football. In the pros you're, or in the college you're recruiting, 24-7.

Literally. Part of your stress is that lose, that loss, it's going to cost us recruits, especially if we lose inside our conference, to Michigan, to Alabama. Obviously, he didn't ever lost to Michigan. Wisconsin, whoever, is that guy going to go to the other program? And it got to him. And clearly, in some of these other articles I read Mike Sando, like, listen, Urban's past, he is not squeaky clean.

Aaron Hernandez was killing people on his watch. and there were rumors that, like, they covered it up. Not, I don't think he knew that he was killing people, but he knew shady shit was going down. That whole team was full of guys that were getting into a ton of trouble. He didn't care, trying to win, which, again, I'm pro trying to win too. I don't look at football from a moral standpoint, but Urban makes himself out to be this moral high horse guy.

And then, at Ohio State, that situation with the assistant coach. So he's got some baggage, but the owners ain't going to give a shit about that. If he wants a coach, he's going to get a job. Jacksonville are the Chargers. Texans, all these teams would take them. He would just not go to the Texans. He wouldn't go to the Lions. He wouldn't go to the Falcons, I would imagine.

To me, the Chargers and Jacksonville make sense for him. Now, the Jacksonville Jaguars, like, they don't have a GM. And rumors are that Trent Balke, who's done this before, an interim GM became the main GM. Like, I don't know. If he becomes a GM in Jacksonville, Urban ain't working with or for Trent Balke. At least I would be floored.

Trent Balke had one of the most, I would say public, just ugly relationship, divorces, coaching GM situations we've seen in my lifetime with Harbaugh. Telesco actually makes a lot of sense. He's really good as a general manager. The irony is that the Chargers might end up going seven and nine. Does that save Anthony Lynn his job? We all know Dean Spanos loves to save a buck. but Urban Meyer, like, I don't think it's fake.

But it's also not fake that two teams are in the mix. Well, what does two teams mean? It means a bidding game. They want to up the price. Everyone wants to coach, but everyone, they love their money. And that's what the agent does. You pay your agent. That's what his job is to do to get you the most amount of money.

But these coaches all claim to not care about money that much. And actually, I don't think a lot of them, like, do spend that much money like most of us would if we had unlimited amounts of money like they do. But they sure love getting those huge salaries. It's more about a respect thing. And then the other big story Monday was Dwayne Haskins was cut. And listen, I matured a lot in my early to mid-20s. I feel like I've matured in my 30s.

Like you always should be maturing and growing. That's human nature. So young players, they get drafted high with a lot of money. Like, he's not the first immature player. He won't be the last. I have a hard time, though, when he spent the last, really two years, but the last year with Alex playing,

sitting next to Alex Smith. The guy almost lost his leg. He is probably one of the highest character guys in league history. He's beloved by every coach and teammate he's ever had. Like, you got to sit next to him. Just follow his fucking lead.

It's not that complicated. Your head coach is battling cancer. Who, again, Rivera is one of the higher character more respected guys in the league. And you couldn't, figure it out? Like, as Coward would say, like, that's a you problem. Like, that's on Dwayne Haskins.

You're not good. As Doc Rivers said, the moment your problems outweigh your play, you're gone. If your play outweighs your problems, you're okay. Dwayne Haskins' play is atrocious. He's an awful football player. And he's just a pain in their ass. Nothing crazy.

But you don't usually see a guy drafted 15th in the draft within two years. He didn't even finish his second season cut. And not because he killed someone, not because he got caught with cocaine, not because he hit his girlfriend, not like the legitimate,

not because he had a mug shot for doing those things, just because they could stand him. They didn't want to look at him anymore. They thought he was kind of a clown. An immature clown, who's clearly not that good. I'll never say a guy's career's over,

but his career's in major trouble. Okay, let's bang out a couple of Middlecoff mailbags. Ad John Middlecoff, Instagram handle. Y'all know the drill. If you don't, just shoot me a DM and I'll read your question here. Sean from Sean. Hi, John, love the pod. I think an under-discussed part of penalties in the NFL are first downs they result in.

Graphics on TV always show penalty yardage, but rarely first downs. As the rules evolve to favor the offense, and it becomes more difficult. to play defense. Do you think the league will review automatic first downs by penalty? Nothing is worse than getting a team on 3rd and 17 and then getting popped for a defensive hold or illegal hands of the face five-yard penalty automatic first down. I tend to agree.

I despise, I think pass interference, you know, on some of the, there was a play in the Raider game where it got like 60 yards. It wouldn't bother me if you just went 15 yards. and you just gave an automatic automatic first down on that. But I'm with you. I've never been a big fan of defensive holding being an automatic first down.

It's third and 12 and I get a five-yard holding penalty and it's automatic first down. I'm with you. Clearly, I don't think the competition committee is in the mood to change it. I don't know if head coaches will change it because they'll always go,

well, what if we're on the other side of the first down? But there should definitely be a new statistic how many of these penalties resulted in first down. downs. That's a great point. I never thought about that. Even though I do think of, I hate defensive holding. I hate 60-yard pass interferences. But it doesn't feel like it's going to change any time soon. Maybe a dumb mailbag question, but here we go. Well, I'll judge if it's dumb or not. They say

there aren't any dumb questions, just dumb people. I struggle with insomnia, and every week there's a restless night or two followed by a day of inefficiency. This take Ambien. This got me thinking of how often we see players have inexplicably bad games, whether it's players dropping passes, tripping over their feet, making bonehead throws, to your knowledge, how often are we seeing players struggle from ailments that don't necessarily qualify for injury port, such as bad sleep, a hangover, too much spicy food? Get a little shits. And if this is something that players do deal with, would it make sense to avoid one of these players

sit sleepy Dak Prescott for a well-rested Andy Dalton and if players don't deal with things like sleeplessness can you tell me what they're taking so I can get some too? Yeah I mean I just think we're all humans and every guy, you know, reacts differently to alcohol. Some people get more hungover than others. Anyone can eat bad food and be messed up. Some people sleep differently than others.

I know I need eight hours of sleep. You read about Tiger Woods or Kobe or Michael Jordan Those guys don't need much sleep You know coaches Like I was around Andy Reid You didn't need that much sleep Even Pat Hill never stopped having energy I saw Jim Harbaugh

The dude's like bouncing off the walls When he was with the Niners So it's just I just think some guys are wired differently than others And I do think that the whoops And the different tracking now Especially with contact tracing But just the bracelets they're wearing there's technology for sleep

but there's going to be elements of like if you're really hung over I don't think you would tell you're probably not going to be hung over on the night of a game or day of a game but like you maybe have a bad practice you're not going to tell the coach like you know I had too many vodka sodas last night

now I do think if you had bad food and had food poisoning you would tell people but I you know they deal with stuff just like we do you're sitting at your desk or you know whatever your business is your issues are their issues. We're all humans.

And their issues are, you know, 27 years old and rich. So they can get into a lot. So they would do just what you would do. You know, it's not really that different. Now, there's an element of discipline, right? So if you have insomnia, you would, the thing with football, you have access to the best trainers and the best doctors. So maybe they'd, I don't know much about insomnia,

but I've had sleeping issues before. Can they get you on sleeping pills? You know, can we take some ambient? Just melatonin not strong enough, not work. So, you know, if you're eating the wrong foods, can I get you on the right diet? I just think they're constantly trying to improve. And as a player, you have this earning power for in your 20s and your 30s.

You need, I think a lot of guys, the mature ones, try to maximize that. How can I put my body in the best position to make money, which is play well? Do the Bears have any realistic chance to beat the Packers or should I pray for a Cardinals lost? I asked a buddy on the Bears I said do you guys got a shot? Can you beat him? He said yes, but they're fucking good.

I think that was his exact response. The Packers are really good. I don't think Nagy's beat him in his three years there. Off top of my head. First year he lost twice. Last year I think he lost twice and obviously this year he lost to him earlier in the season. So it's going to be tough.

They're going to need Mitch to play the best game of his career. Like under no circumstances can Mitch make one of these bonehead red zone turnovers? He did it against the Vikings. He did it against the Jags. It didn't matter against the Jags because they blew him out, but he's not going to be able to do that. They're going to need an incredible performance by the defense. So is it a winnable game?

Of course. It's the NFL. Maybe Rogers throws a bad pick. Maybe you get a pick six. You're going to need some help. You're going to need to play well. And yeah, it's just, it's winnable. But I actually think Arizona is going to lose.

I feel as if most balls golf throws are at the knees or below. Receivers are constantly reaching and can't catch the ball in stride. Lastly, if you're the Rams front office, are you sold that he is the quarterback of the future? 100% not. I think the shitty part if you're in the Rams, McVeigh, a GM, a scout, a coach,

you're kind of stuck with him. He's going to be on the team for the next couple years because of his money. He's just not very good. You know, I don't know the exact reason. He was better two years ago. He was, and I know he got hurt in that game, but he was awful all season.

Balls skipping, missing guys wide open, throwing awful picks. He had a horrendous season. Awful. I know his numbers probably weren't as bad as, I mean, they weren't as bad as. his wince. But he was playing with Woods, Cup, Everett.

Like his guys were good. The run game's good, and his numbers consistently suck. Let's pull it up here on the old... I got a little external monitor, so I got a nice big monitor to look. And let's see Jared Goff's stat line this year. 20 touchdowns, 13

picks. His career year was... So the Super Bowl year, he was... was 32 and 12. McVeigh's first year he's 28 and 7. Last year he wasn't that good, 22 and 16. This year, 20 and 13. So he's just, he hasn't been very good the last two years. And they've had a good team.

Their defense is good. Their run game's good. It's him. He's the problem. I'm a cow guy. Not actually, I'm a cow polly guy, but I root for cow football. I root for Jared got off but I just I don't think he's very good now if the jags have secured the number one pick what are your thoughts on the Steelers trying to get Gardner Minchu as Ben's backup until Ben retires then Mitch you can start until the Steelers can get someone better minchew is solid and has been productive NFL quarterback what do you think I wouldn't be opposed to that but I think Gardner Minchu was much better last year than he was this year let me pull up stat page. I'd be lying if I said I watched a lot of Jaguar football. I did not. But Gardner was good

last year. I watched a decent amount of him play last year. So in 2019, through 21 touchdowns, six picks, he was good. This year, statistically, 66%, 16 touchdowns, five picks. Yeah, he's productive. It's got to be better than the Mason Rudolph's. Yeah, I wouldn't be opposed to that. I mean, Mitchie was going to play in the league for a while. He's just kind of a run-around gunslinger good backup, high character, people like him. So yeah, I'm not, maybe I was kind of underselling him. His number's actually, I mean, career, he's 37 touchdowns, 11 picks. Holy shit, he's, he's a little better than I thought.

What do you think of Rosen's chances of succeeding with the Niners? San Francisco has a great system for him and stresses the run game and could make up for his obvious lack of mobility. He has talent, and with a positive culture, Lynch Shanahan has set, I think it could be a good fit. full disclosure I'm a total brewing homer so I'm rooting for the guy yeah I mean he could become the backup you know whether they trade for Matt Stafford whether they you know draft a guy and trade Jimmy whether they keep Jimmy and he's the backup I think Josh Rosen this offseason is going to be on the Niners unless something weird happens in the couple weeks that he's here and have a chance around Kyle Shanahan and to learn this offense and yeah I like Josh Rosen a lot coming out now I've changed my tune, I don't do guys that aren't mobile. But you can get away with it a little bit in this offense. Like, the reason Jared Gough is losing is not because he's not mobile, right?

It's because he's not hitting guys in their hands. Like the person said a couple emails ago, he's skipping balls. It's like he's Greg Maddox trying to work the bottom of the zone. Like, bro, throw a fucking high fast ball. But he can't. Because I think when he does, the ball floats on him and then throws interceptions. So, yeah, I'd say Josh Rosen is, uh, is redact. deemable, if that's fair to say.

Appreciate everyone listening. Have a good New Year's week. And I'll be back, I guess, later this week. I'll have to look in. Is New Year's on Friday? I think that's the case, huh? New Year's is Friday. So New Year's Eve, but it's probably not a normal New Year's Eve,

not as many normal New Year's Eve party. So maybe I'll put it out Thursday. It's kind of a weird week. We'll see. I'll be in touch, as they say. But have a good week. Adios. Get right to the romance and find the way to wow this valentines with 1800flowers.com.

From classic roses and bouquets to decadent chocolate-covered berries, gourmet treats, and more. Surprise your valentine with 1,800flowers.com. Right now, get the 18-stem enchanted rose medley for $39.99, or upgrade to 24 red roses for $10 more. Go to 1,800flowers.com slash tune in. That's 1,800flowers.com. Tune in. 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 you. 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 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. I mean, 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 Podcast.

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, Clivert 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 Cliford Show. This is a place for raw, unfilled conversations with athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. So let's get to it. Listen to The Clivert Show on the I-Hard 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.