The Herd with Colin Cowherd - 3 and Out - Buying Justin Fields, Belichick Back, Mahomes Struggles, Jordan Love Dud, Stafford Red Flags, Mailbag

Episode Date: November 9, 2021

John reacts to the Steelers holding off the Bears for a MNF win and explains why he's bullish on Justin Fields. He also explains how Bill Belichick has gotten the Pats back to their winning ways, the red flags he's starting to see with Matt Stafford, why Cardinals GM Steve Keim deserves more credit for the Cardinals turnaround, and answers listener questions in the Middlekauff Mailbag!Subscribe NOW and make sure you follow John and The Volume on Twitter, Instagram and YouTube for the latest content and updates. Check out FanDuel for the best wagering and daily fantasy action! 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 IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, this is Robert from the Stuff to Blow Your Mind podcast. Joe and I are both lifelong Star Wars fan, so we're celebrating May the 4th with a brand new week of fun, thought-provoking Star Wars-related episodes.

Join us as we tackle science and culture topics from a galaxy far, far away, such as the biology of tauntons and wampas on the ice planet hot, or the practicality and corporate business sense of the Sith rule. of two. Listen to Stuff to Bole Your Mind 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 I'm saying.

Yep, that's me, Cliver 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 Cliver 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 Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast.

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two-month subscription offer. No purchase necessary. Open only to U.S. residents over 21. Voidware prohibited. Runs December 25 through April 4th, 22. For official rules, visit Nutrisystem.com. Sponsored by Nutrisystem Inc. The volume. What is going on, everybody? John Middilcoff, three and out podcast. Just watch a crazy game. Bear Steelers. Dude missed like a 70-yard field goal. I thought for a second the bears were going to pull off a crazy upset. back and forth. The fourth quarter is pretty good. Rest of the game, not so much. But we'll dive into the game off the top.

Three things really stood out to me. Belichick, some takes there. I mean, holy, moly, they're coming. Sam Darnold's and Chambles. Jordan Love debut did not go great. Luckily for the Packers, their starting quarterback, we'll be back. Patrick Mahomes is just off. I'll dive into that.

Matt Stafford, something I saw that's a little concerning. Lamar Jackson might win his second MVP, so just get ready. and I apologize yesterday to Cliff Kingsbury. Steve Kime deserves a little credit too. The team he's built is really fantastic. Subscribe to the podcast, share with your friends, leave a review. If you guys want to get your question answered here on the show, at John Middilkoff is the Instagram.

Slide up into the DMs and get your questions answered. I guess let's really quick start with the officials. I'm done complaining after this week because it doesn't matter. It just doesn't matter. You know why it doesn't matter? It's because the officials in the NFL have been terrible for a long time. Now, we can disagree with the taunting calls. It was clearly stupid.

But just the constant fucking flags are driving me nuts. But the NFL is not driving them nuts. Because if they wanted them to stop, they would. If they wanted there to be less flags, there would. Period. Point blank, end of story. And there just isn't. They do not care. Like a couple weeks ago, when the net,

Netflix employees wanted Chappelle canceled. Reed Hastings and Netflix pretended like they gave a shit. They did not. You know why? Chappelle makes them a lot of money. He gets people on their couches to click on Netflix. They're in the business of getting your eyeballs. You know what the NFL is in the business of doing?

Getting people to watch their games. You know what's up right now? Ratings. So you and I and everyone listening to this can complain about the officials till we are blue in the face. It simply does not matter. They simply at the league office do not give a shit.

They do not care about the constant, just never-ending barrage of flags. I do not watch these games for the referees. It felt like the referee tonight when Cassius Marsh got the toning penalty, he hip-checked him. It's like, I wouldn't blame Cassius Marsh

if you would have shoved his ass to the ground. but you know the NFL does not care they are not bothered by it because as long as ratings are up everyone's printing money i say it all the time the league office did not care tonight who wins who loses they all win it's like what do they say about phil knight it's like you know he doesn't lose that often as long as both sides are wearing the nike logo he's winning you know that's with the nfl as long as you're sitting on your couch watching monday night football and i'm sure 15 million people watch this, just like 20 million people watch Sunday night football, and just like 12 million more will watch Thursday night football.

Who cares are there 7 million penalties? And we all scream and hoot and holler on Twitter. They don't. Roger does not. The people around him do not. The coaches do. The GMs do. The players do.

The league office does not. So we can get up in arms, all we want about it. It is not going to change. It just simply is not. so it's just I don't have any more energy to keep screaming at these guys because I can't stand to see one more yellow flag on the field. It's just exhausting. Every tiki tack PI call, every tick, just the tiki tack calls are just they,

but they're not going to stop. So why even get mad over it? And then I was thinking about this watching the Steelers tonight. I have nothing but admiration for people that have a vision for what they want and they'll do anything to get it. And especially those that at a young age that go, I want to do this in life. I knew some people, hell, even in college, that were like, I want to be rich. I want to have a lot of money. And now in their mid to late 30s, they're successful. They were on a one track mind. I want to run my own company. And they did it. I remember when I got to work for

the Eagles and I got to know Howie Roseman. The dude wanted to be a GM since he was like seven. and he became a GM at 35 years old. Because on the pursuit for what he's going for, whoever that individual is, there's just a direct vision for what you're looking for and what you want to accomplish. And I think the best run organizations in sports

have the same mindset. They know exactly the type players they want. They do not, you know, get off course. They do not deviate from the plan. Belichick did it for years. He had a specific type player he looked for. And occasionally when he got the star player, they had to be in a specific situation.

They had to be hungry and they had to be kind of kicked to the curb. They had to have something to prove. He didn't often get a guy in the peak of their powers, four or five pro bowls in. He got Randy Moss when he was at a low point with the Raiders. He got Corey Dillon at a low point. He's done this. He got Revis right with Tampa when it wasn't going to.

well after Shiano showed up. And then clearly the Edelman, the Welker types over the years, the Logan Mankins, we can all list the names. I think the Steelers are the same thing. They have a specific type player they look for. And that is the reason they consistently win. Honestly, it feels like Mike Tomlin was put on this earth to be the head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers.

When you close your eyes, and he's been the coach there forever, when I think the Pittsburgh Steelers, I just think Mike Tomlin. But then think about their players. Najee Harris, dude just fits perfectly on this, was homeless. Seven, six years ago, down the street for me. Then he goes to Bama, now he's a stealer. Perfect. Minka Fitzpatrick, I thought they were insane for trading a first round pick for him.

I shouldn't have. He's a perfect type stealer. T.J. Watt. I mean, T.J. freaking Watt? It's just, it just couldn't make any more sense. You're watching them in the black and gold. you're like, God, this guy was born to play for the Pittsburgh Steelers. And the reason that they are so consistent that they always have so much talent is their vision

and their understanding of exactly what they want. No, oh, should we do this? Oh, should we do that? Oh, let's make an exception for this. No. It's constantly getting the exact type player. And it's the reason that they have so much talent. Because let's face it, Rathustberger kind of looks like a shot fighter.

are they going to be able to win playoff games with this version of Ben? I think it's going to be very, very difficult. But they do have a ton of talent all around them. And they have really his whole career. It's why when he was in the peak of his powers, they were winning 12, 14 games a year and competing to, you know, late in the playoffs all the time. Sometimes they would lose, but they were always there.

They were always in the mix. And I went to Kevin Colbert's Wikipedia page, the general manager. Well, how does he have such an understanding? He's fucking worked for the organization since 1999, 2000. He's been there 21 years. He's been the GM now 11. The ethos of the Steelers is him.

Him and Tomlin combined. What's Tomlin been there? 15 years. He's been there 20. It's like 35 years worth of experience, the two of them. In the culture, in the building, looking for the players. Being around, I remember when I was in Fresno State and I got to meet Mean Joe Green.

But over the years, just all the different iterations of their different heiress. They all have the same type guys. I mean, in my backyard, the 49ers, hell, the Raiders. They just always have these different type guys. It's like, oh, let's take this guy. Oh, let's try this guy. Oh, let's do that. I like the people that have a direct vision of what they want.

Now, and once you figure out what works and what doesn't, it becomes pretty unstoppable when you're a high-level person, when you're a high-level organization. And that's what the Pittsburgh Steelers are. It's why they've been able to overcome the last couple years of bad quarterback play and now old quarterback play. because they have so much talent. They draft so well.

They have so many impact guys. And it's an organizational philosophy that whatever their secret sauce is, if I worked in the NFL, I would try to steal it because they fucking have it. And then the last but not least, I said this last week and I'll say it again, Justin Fields' talent is just immense.

It really is. His arm talent, his size, just his ability to push the ball down the field, the whole thing. Now, the one knock I noticed it, he's not the most instinct. run for a guy that run, I often compare him to like Kyler and Lamar. Those guys are way more instinctive as runners.

But I do think that Fields is a pretty natural passer. He's a more natural passer as a rookie than Lamar was. Now, clearly Lamar now is, again, I think he's going to win a second MVP probably. And Kyler was an excellent passer immediately. Fields is a good passer. Tonight he was 17 to 29, but he hit multiple deep balls. I just like what I see. I think that guy is a chance to be really, really good.

Now, do I trust Ryan Pace to put the talent around him? I do not. Do I trust them to build the team around them? That organization, I do not. Even though they do have, Herbert's not bad, Montgomery's not bad, Commets not bad, Alan Robinson will be gone after this season. But if you're a Bears fan, it's tough season, you're three and six, you're not going to make the playoffs.

But at least you can watch your team and go, we have something at quarterback. we have a guy that just physically has a chance to be pretty special. Now, a lot goes into that, right? The older you get, the more defensive looks you get, the more defensive coordinators try to expose your weakness, the moment you don't handle a certain zone coverage well, a certain blitz well, they'll do it relentlessly.

And you constantly have to improve, you constantly have to adapt. Accuracy is a huge part of it, right? You have to maintain that. It has to improve. but I really like what I see. Now, I'm biased. I liked him a ton coming out just because I think

he just kind of pops when you watch him on TV. A long way to go. But what do you think the Steelers would do for that right now? You think they would flip-flop him and Rothersberger and take that guy? Because I'll promise you this.

They would kick Rothesburger to the curb so fast your head would spin for Justin Fields. Not that that's that crazy. I mean, Fields was just taking 11th in the draft, but I'm really bullish what I've seen out of Fields these last two weeks. He has been dramatically

better than he was the first five or six games. The Niner game and then the Steeler game. Tonight, Monday night football, bright lights on, playing the Steelers defense, getting his ass chased behind the line of scrimmage by T.J. Watt and those defensive linemen, you know, slammed

out of the... You know, the one thing, he lowered his shoulder on Minka Fitzpatrick. We're not playing Iowa or Indiana here. Got to get out of bounce. You know, when you get in collisions on Sundays and on Monday nights, you break clavicles, you get concussions. He'll learn. But I am very bullish on what I see from Justin Fields. Are you ready to amp up the excitement every college football Saturday this year?

All right. It's called Colin Cowherd's Saturday spreads. It's on Fandul. Free shot at big prices. Really simple. I choose 10 of college football's biggest matchups each week. Make your picks against the spread for each one. And the fans who get... Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all,

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

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

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

stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger. So if you've ever supported me or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right where you need to be. Listen to the Clifford Show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network, on TikTok. Hey, this is Robert from the Stuff to Blow Your Mind podcast. Joe and I are both lifelong Star Wars fan,

so we're celebrating May the 4th with a brand new week of fun, thought-provoking Star Wars-related episodes. Join us as we tackle science and culture topics from a galaxy far, far away, such as the biology of tauntons and wampas on the ice planet hot, or the practicality and corporate business sense of the Sith Rule of Two. Listen to Stuff to Blow Your Mind on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever,

you get your podcast. Do you remember when Diana Ross double-tapped Little Kim's boobs at the VMAs? Or when Kanye said that George Bush didn't like black people. I know what you're thinking. What the hell does George Bush got to do with Little Kim? Well, you can find out on the Look Back at It podcast. I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English.

Each episode, we picket here, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. Including a recent episode with Mark Lamont Hill, waxing all about crack in the 80s. To be clear, 84 is big to me, not just because of crack. I'm down to talk about crack all day, but just so y'all know. I mean, at this point, 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. The most right, win $5,000 bucks in prices every damn week. Go to fandul.com slash Saturday spreads.

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Mom is coming out the front door strong with a double-armed kid carry. Looks like dad has the bags. Daughter is bringing up the rear. Oh, but the diaper bag wasn't closed. Dipers and toys are everywhere. Ooh! But mom has just nailed the perfect car seat buckle for the toddler. And now the eldest daughter who looks to be about nine or ten has secured herself in the booster seat.

Dad zips the bag closed and they're off. Ah, but looks like mom doesn't realize her coffee cup is still on the roof of the car. And there it goes. Oh, that's a shame. That mug was a fam favorite. Don't sweat the small stuff. Just nail the big stuff. Like making sure your kids are buckled correctly in the right seat for their age and size.

Learn more at NHTSA.gov slash the right seat. Visit NHTSA.gov slash the right seat. Brought to you by Nita and the Ad Council. Look through your children's eyes to see the true magic of a forest. It's a storybook world for them. You look and see a tree. They see the wrinkled face of a wizard with arms outstretched to the sky. They see treasure and pebbles.

They see a windy path that could lead to adventure. And they see you. Their fearless guide is this fascinating world. Find a forest near you and start exploring at discovertheforest.org. Brought to you by the United States Forest Service and the ad council. Sometimes you've got to take a deep breath after a long Sunday of football. And then I spent this morning, I went back and I watched the Patriot game. I watched the Chiefs Packer game.

I watched the Lamar, Minnesota game. or, you know, most of it. I actually saw some of that yesterday. And it's crazy. The football is such a big deal. I go, I usually on Monday's my routine as I get up, do a little work. Then I go to the gym with my iPad and go stare master or treadmill. And I am able to watch these recorded versions of the game in like 30.

I could watch the Packer Chiefs game in like 36 minutes. Yet there are several people there that are one guy, this real estate guy is a big Bill's fan. He's peppering me questions yesterday. He's like, I knew it. it. I never felt good. He's pissed off. Other guys are peppering me questions about the Cardinal Niner game. It really is remarkable how big of a deal the National Football League is right now. I mean, everyone has an opinion. It's such a national sport too, you know. In the Bay Area, baseball is really big here, but you only talk about the Giants. No one cares about the Yankees or the

Red Sox or, you know, the Florida Marlins. But with the football, with the NFL, people come up to you, and especially, you know, some people know me at the gym or whatever. And they will ask about random quarterbacks. Like, they don't want to know the Tua situation. It's, it's, I feel, I'm glad that I do this for a living in the peak of the NFL's power because there are a lot of storylines flying. And it all interests me. But I want to start with the Patriots.

And they look good. I mean, they beat the living crap out of the Panthers. And going back and watching that game, they embarrassed them. They really did. Now, part of it was Darnold, but let's face it, it goes back to when Belichick used to face Darnold with the Jets. And Donald had that famous, I think it was Monday Night Football,

and he said, I'm seeing ghosts. And everyone freaked out. And listen, like he was just, it was a real moment on the sideline. Belichick's made a lot of guys in the history of football see ghosts. Back in the day, I think his game plans are in the Hall of Fame when he was a defensive coordinator against this guy named Joe Montana and Bill Walsh. You might want to Google some of his,

what he did to them. And before Tom Brady came along, that guy was known as the greatest quarterback. And before Belichick came along as the greatest offensive coach, I know Belichick's not an offensive coach, the greatest coach in the history of the sport, argued beside Lombardi. So Belichick's the real deal. And last year was tough. Yet it was still impressive to me because what you do at your lowest moments and how you

react to them, to me, I learn more about you than you do when everything's going well. Like, I'm learning more about Kyle Shanahan in his off years than I am in the year when he took him to the Super Bowl. In Belichick's worst season in 20 years with a quarterback who could not complete passes in a year with the COVID opt-outs where his team led the league, we acted like they won two or three games. They went seven and nine. It wasn't really that big of an embarrassment, especially when you factor in all the guys they were missing and how poor their quarterback players. This year, their record early on wasn't that great, but they lost heartbreakers to Brady and to the Dallas Cowboys.

And now you look up a couple weeks later, you go, they're five and four. They have a true identity. Their defense is fantastic. They got rid of Gilmore. They have not skipped a beat because their DBs are really good. Yesterday they had a pick six. J.C. Jackson said he had stripped throat so bad last week. He thought he was going to die.

And then he comes out, he's got multiple picks with a pick six. it was impressive. Their front seven is awesome. Their defense looks great. And then they have a true identity on offense. I know everyone loves to anoint Mac Jones is the best quarterback in this class. Pump the brakes.

He's been fine. Yesterday he threw for like 120 yards. They can run the ball. They can really run the ball. They have a stable of running backs. And then their two tight ends are kind of coming on. And their receivers are just kind of meh. But they don't really depend on those guys.

and as the weather turns in Foxborough, like let's face it, in Brady's latter years with the Patriots, they were not a wide receiver run operation. Now, he was so good, but he was throwing to running backs. I was, uh, my other podcast, I do with Guy.

He works with Shane Vareen, and they've called games together and now they work together with the Pack 12. I played golf with Shane Vareen at the Olympic club. It was really cool on Friday. And we played 18 holes. And by about the third, hole. I'm just peppering him with Belichick questions.

And obviously, Shane comes, you know, a long line of backs that have functioned in that offense. They love to throw to you. And I kept asking him questions about the offense. I said, why is it so complex? He said, there's just a lot going on. It's not, he's like, I played for Jeff Tedford at Cal. It's not because the offense on paper is that complex. The verbiage, every team that you go to, you know, calls things different, you know, whatever the formation is, motions, you know, the audibles, the line of scrimmage, the protections. Like, obviously there are a lot of variables in any NFL offense. He said the most complicated part of the offense is that every look has like three or four

different changes off them. So once you get to the line of scrimmage, it's things where if Brady back now, and they're doing it, I'm sure, with Mac, is you can have seven variations off the same play basically two seconds before the snap based on their coverage. It's a thinking man's team. It's why so many players who intellectually can't hang football-wise get destroyed. And just because you're good in academics, and I learned this when I worked in the NFL, just because you're a 4.0 GPA does not mean your football smart.

There have been a lot of 2.0 students who are very football smart. Can you pick up football? And Belichick has always had very, very high IQ football players. And they clearly have that going on right now. And I watched them absolutely pound the panther. and I came away and pressed. This week's huge. They're playing the Browns in Foxborough.

This game, they win this game. All of a sudden they play the Thursday night game the following week against the Falcons. You're going to look up and the Patriots are going to be 7 and 4. And beside Mike Vrable and the Tennessee Titans who were kicking everyone's ass, the AFC is kind of in shambles. They're only one game back of the bills.

The Chiefs, we'll get into them later. Mahomes is way off. The Raiders, who knows what's going to go on there. Now, the Ravens are still playing well, but the Steelers are flawed. Like the AFC is wide open. It feels much more wide open than the NFC. And I don't see how Belichick, who clearly now has a defense,

the special teams is always solid, and he has a quarterback who can just complete passes. The guy's not throwing Brady-like 350 yards a game. He's not asking them to because they're getting turnovers on defense and they're going to run the ball. And that's going to be their formula. Now, do I think they're going to win the Super Bowl or how even represent the AFC? No, I do not.

But I think they're a factor. I think they're the real deal. And part of it, like the Panthers, on the other hand, they started off so fast, and I was one saying that I would have traded for Sam Donald. I thought he was incredible value. I was wrong. And I think I said this last week.

He was atrocious on Sunday. The picks, but just his reckless nature. And I remember this offseason, I think I've mentioned this before, as scouting buddy said, like, they were off him. They said he reminded them too much of, like, athletic James Winston, prone to make boneheaded decisions, prone to make throws that he has no business making. And that happened yesterday. And when you throw three interceptions, and part of it's

on Belichick, they're creating these turnovers. They're taking it to Sam Darnold. The Panthers, he has 11 11th. He has 11th interceptions. His touchdown to pick ratio right now is 7 to 11. 7 to 11. I mean, that's that's atrocious. And it shows you also, we love to annoy guys and I'm guilty. Joe Brady, Joe Brady. Like, let's pump the brakes a little bit on Joe Brady. He was awesome when he had, I don't know, Justin Jefferson, Jamar Chase, and Joe Burrell.

We see him just with normal NFL players and it's kind of a joke. I mean, it really is. And I got nothing against the guy. I'm rude. I'm not like an anti-Joe Brady guy. Hell, I think he's pretty cool. I enjoyed his story. Kind of went from nothing to something really quick.

But sometimes when you go from nothing to something really quick, you know, maybe we should. to red flagged a little bit because it's been a little tougher for Rule and Joe Brady than I think we all thought it was going to be. And I definitely liked the move they made.

And when they made the move, they didn't just trade for them. They then picked up his fifth year option. And now it feels like they're stuck a little bit. And the controversial play from that game is Mack Jones, he got destroyed. I think by Brian Burns,

the outside linebacker defensive end, who just takes them out, number 53. And he grabs his leg, because the ball's out and he doesn't know what's going on and it looks kind of like he twists it and he twists his ankle and has a high ankle sprain or whatever. And I saw Mack today say, and I believe him,

that he got rocked so hard, he didn't know what was going on and he assumed the guy had the ball. So he was just trying to take him down. And listen, based on, I know social media thinks, you know, Mack Jones, you should lock him up. To me, I believed what he said. And listen, things happen in slow motion.

In football, it's so easy for us to judge on our couches, on our desk chairs. It's another thing in the firing line between the lines of the game. So I do not think Mack Jones was trying to hurt the guy, though it didn't look great on his behalf. But I think when you heard his explanation about not knowing what was going on, not knowing, assuming the guy had the ball, you know, I take him at face value on that one. The other game that I didn't really see yesterday, beside the score and the ticker, clearly, you know, I had Red Zone on my second TV and it wasn't coming up that often because they weren't in the Red Zone very often, was the Packer in the Chiefs game. And if you haven't watched this, I wouldn't recommend watching it. It was a terrible game.

It was really bad. Honestly, I'm not quite exactly sure what I saw. But let's start with the Chiefs. I defended Mahomes last week on Monday Night Football because he was just turning the ball over. And I thought we were overthinking a little bit. The moment he can cut out the turnovers, he'll be fine. that was one of the worst games I've ever seen him play. He was really, really terrible.

And again, his standards are sky high. We now evaluate him on standards of a top 10 quarterback of all time, on a guy that should walk right into the Hall of Fame, on a guy that should rattle off a bunch of MVPs. That's the standard we hold them to. And that's what happens when you get paid $450 million. And he knows that. The Chiefs know that.

We all know. That's just the reality of the business. And right, that type game was, he is forcing passes right now that I don't understand why he's forcing. And one, he's not being very accurate on his deep ball. And his deep ball is something that clearly separated him early on in his career. And it's something he's comfortable doing. But I watch a guy that I feel like has lost confidence,

yet he still has his go-to pitch, which is the deep ball, yet he can't hit it. But he keeps going to it over and over, which shows you truly how confident he is. because most people when they lose confidence that the average player goes into a shell they can't do anything they don't even attempt to do anything he is not afraid to keep firing

it's actually one of his greatest strengths is that he just keeps the pedal to the metal but right now his deep ball is way off honestly it wasn't really close yesterday but it feels like and listen I don't pretend to be Bill Walshier I don't understand you know why he won't

just take a shorter attempt. Everything is trying to hit these go routes or these deep post routes in double coverage instead of just hitting the checkdown. And I think it's hard because they've created this monster of being one of the most explosive players we've ever seen. And now you have to kind of ask him just to relax a little bit and you've got to find middle ground. And I think for the chiefs to be successful and they're going to have a big game this week

against the Raiders on Sunday night football, they're going to have to find some middle ground and somehow to be able to articulate it to him and then for him to be able to change on the field. Because right now what he's doing isn't working. It just isn't. That was as bad of an offensive performance I've seen by Mahomes since I've been watching him. And I've basically watched every Chiefs game since he began starting. That was really bad. On the other end, like listen, the Roger situation, they got thrown in, they had to throw a guy that they would never play a snap. And let's face it, whether he's good or not, if we hadn't seen him, they were going to do everything humanly possible to keep Aaron Rogers on the team for the next

five, six years, right? In a perfect world, they want this offseason and clearly nothing changed on Sunday to offer Aaron Rogers $150, $160 million guaranteed and make him the quarterback for the foreseeable future. And I mentioned this on Friday. One bright spot of this situation for them because every, you know, game matters, you know, in a division or in a, in a conference where this is not the AFC. You might have to get to 14 and 3 to get the number one overall seat. And now with the changing of the playoff structure, having the number one seed is very important. You know, you used to have more room for error, right, if you were a really good team, because you could also get the two seed, right? And you could get the two seed and that meant you also

got home field advantage. Well, now with, you just beat the Arizona Cardinals. And all of a sudden, they went again. Now they're above you. So this game did matter. Because if Aaron Rogers had played this, there's no way they lose. Like, they're just not, especially with Devante back, they're not losing a game where the other team, you know,

couldn't score 15 points. Like, the Packers win that game. And I watched Jordan Love and I tried, because when I watched Trey Lance originally against the Cardinals, I was pretty harsh on them. and I think maybe it's sometimes it's unfair. And I heard Colin actually talk about it on Monday. You know, when I was, I watched Jordan Love.

I just, in my mind, I was thinking about him as a rookie. But then I remember, like, he's been in the league now a year and a half, right? He gets drafted now. It was weird. There were no OTAs in 2020. But let's never not forget, he could not win the backup job. And their backup last year was not Aaron Rogers 2.0. It was Tim Boyle.

And he couldn't do it. And then this year in limited preseason games, he got hurt. Yeah, I think that first preseason game and had to come out of half and couldn't play the next game. So he really hasn't played that much. Because what I just watched him in a vacuum, he does have some talent, right? He looked pretty big. He's pretty athletic. He's got a pretty good arm.

But then to actually play the game, kind of inaccurate, pretty frenetic in the pocket, didn't play very calm. Now, in fairness, it's on the road against the chiefs. Now, granted, their defense statistically had been pretty terrible, but he did not look very good. Not, didn't look very good at all. For a guy that you had to kind of take a step back, is not a rookie, though it was his first start. Now, it wasn't late notice in the sense of he found out on Friday or Saturday.

Like, they knew all week. He got all the first team reps. And they do have really good offensive pieces. And I saw LaFleur say, it was on. on me, it was on the coaching staff. Like, I don't know, Matt. Like, you just, you're making pretty basic calls and he couldn't complete him.

Like, I watched the guy that just didn't feel very confident. And I remember, I follow the Packers on social media. And I remember watching LaFleur talk during the preseason. And he's like, one thing Jordan has to get better at is not trying to guide the ball. Just letting it rip. And this gets back to Mahomes

and Rogers and Russell and Tom. Like, when they're really on, and we talk about this all the lot, confidence. And I think it's no different any walk of life, whatever you do. When you are confident, like I just talk into the mic, people like, how do you do this? Do you write at your show? I don't know. I just fucking talk. But I've been doing this for a while. I've been talking for a living now for seven years, eight years, a long time. And really, I've been talking my whole life. I talk a lot. But whatever, if you're in sales, whatever your profession is, the longer you do it, the less you get caught up in

your own head about how to execute whatever you have to do. But when you're first kind of embedded into a profession when you're younger or how, it could be when you're older, maybe you change professions. You can overthink. And when you overthink, it's harder to operate. As a golfer, I know that. When I'm just not thinking and I'm just playing, it's easier to play well. When you're overthinking, we've talked a lot about this forever with baseball players, with kickers. You don't want to get into your own head. And part of being a quarterback, what makes the position so difficult is that it's a thinking man's position, right? You need to call the play.

You need to literally know what all other 10 guys are doing. You then also need to, you don't actually know what the other team's doing, but you need to be able to decipher by looking at the defense what they are going to do. Where the Blitz is going to come from, how many guys are going to rush you, what the coverage is, where the middle linebackers are going to go, what the corners are doing, what their leverage is in the coverage. what individual corners even in that coverage, what their strengths and weaknesses are,

and then you just have to play. So it's very, very difficult. And I think as someone that talks about this and as someone who can just be critical, I do understand the difficulty that the position encompasses, right? I've worked in it. I've seen it up close in person. Now, I've never played it,

but I do respect the living, you know what, out of what it takes to be good at that position. And I think we all that are fans of football understand there's a reason why only so few guys, even there's 32 starters and only like 12 of them are pretty good. And five of them are dramatically better than the other 27 guys, right? It is very, very difficult to operate. But this guy's got a long way to go. I mean, I watched this guy thinking, well, he's already a year and a half into his career.

Now, granted, they drafted him in the first round, so he's got a fifth year option. This guy's a total project. Now, granted, when he was coming out of Utah State, that was the, the knock is probably the wrong word, but that was the narrative. That was the way people inside the NFL talked about him. This guy's going to need a lot of work. But there are things to work with. Size, athleticism, arm strength.

The problem with quarterbacks is one thing if I get a detackle. And the guy is 6.5, 280. And you go, he doesn't really know what he's doing. But can you mold him? You're like, yeah. But there's only so much you have to be able to do, right? Does he have a good get-off? Is he strong?

Work with his hands. Is he naturally pretty relentless and competitive? Like, we can create something. No different than like a running back or a linebacker. It is more difficult to operate with projects. For every Josh Allen that was a true project coming out of college, hell, even Lamar was a little bit of a project, though his athleticism and running ability immediately translated.

And so did Josh's a little bit, but Josh had to pass more immediately. to be successful, and it took him a long time. This guy is, for a first round player, they are very, very lucky that Aaron Rogers been on the roster. Because if he had to play, and listen, I think LaFleur is a pretty good coach, they wouldn't win games.

They just wouldn't win games. Because they couldn't beat the Chiefs, whose offense was terrible, and whose defense coming into the game was not playing well. While the scoreboard was close, I didn't feel like it was that close watching it. and again, I recommend if you don't need to watch this for work,

don't waste your time. I talked a lot about Vrable on Sunday's podcast for Monday. And one guy, I went to bed thinking, like, you know, I didn't talk enough about Stafford. Because, and he mentioned this after the game, he's like, I spotted them 14 points. He threw a pick six.

He threw another pick where he was doing like a 360 in the end zone. I think the guy ended up getting tackled like the five-yard line and they punched it in. but he gave up 14 points. And I think he's such a polarizing player because he was so easy to justify. Well, no one can have success in Detroit. The two best players in the history of the franchise

both called it quits at 30 years old. That's the Lions organization. And even Stafford had some success in Detroit, right? He made Pro Bowls. He helped them make the playoffs several times, though they never won a playoff game. And I think, listen, if you work in, you know, forever in radio or television, you could go, this guy is a really good talent.

He's just on a station that no one's listens to. If you put him on a bigger station, he would be a star, right? This guy was a really talented actor. If you put him on a good big show, the cream will rise. And you can always play that game when you think someone is talented and they're in a shitty situation. You go put them in a good situation and they'll throw. It works in every walk of life. But just because you place them in that good situation,

not everyone actually will thrive. And I'm somewhat, I'm a Stafford fan. I've known people that have played with him. Love the guy. And as you know, I'm a sucker for armed talent and sucker for tough guys. He encapsulates that. I am rooting for Matt Stafford.

But there have been a couple times this year, and last night is a good example where you just go, you know, there's a reason that Belichick, most of his assistant coaches, he tries to hire early in their 20s because he molds them and he brings them up because when you then become a coordinator

or a position coach for him, he wants you to think like him. And if he hires someone that's 40 years old that has been in the coaching profession for 15 years, you already have some of your philosophical beliefs. right? If I got hired to go work somewhere right now, right, at 37 years old, there are going to be some fundamental things I'll promise you they won't ever fucking change that I will stick through in terms of my philosophy when it comes to business, when it would come to sales, when it comes to just

operating. Now, I would be open-minded if I'm around talented people. It's not like I would not listen, but there would be some probably non-negotiable stuff. And, you know, I would be some, That's just, it's human nature. 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, 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 Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, Follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok.

Hey, this is Robert from the Stuff to Blow Your Mind podcast. Joe and I are both lifelong Star Wars fan, so we're celebrating May the 4th with a brand new week of fun, thought-provoking Star Wars-related episodes. Join us as we tackle science and culture topics from a galaxy far, far away, such as the biology of taun tons and wampas on the ice planet hot, or the practicality and corporate business sense of the Sith rule of two.

Listen to stuff to blow your mind, on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Do you remember when Diana Ross double-tap Little Kim's boobs at the VMAs? Or when Kanye said that George Bush didn't like black people. I know what you're thinking.

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

Including a recent episode with Mark Lamont Hill, waxing all about crack in the 80s. To be clear, 84 was big to me, not just because of crack. I'm down to talk about crack on day, but just so you all know. I mean, at this point, 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 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. Sure. It's right. You can't teach an old dog, new tricks.

But if you get a puppy, it's like my dad, my brother, big duck hunters. When we would get young labs, they would go for like six months to train. And then when they would get back, they'd be ready to go. They knew the calls. They would listen. Now, not Cali didn't listen that well, but Bailey listens pretty well. Now, granted, she's not a great hunter, but that's a whole other story. My point is, you have to train up a dog, usually in their puppy stage as they're growing.

Once they get like five, six, seven, they're not just going to like change. Humans are no different. And I do watch him a little bit and wonder, because one of the knocks on him was this hero syndrome, right? Because he had to be a hero in Detroit for them to have a chance. Well, now he's on a team with a lot more talent, with a really good defense. Turning the ball over, throwing bad picks will immediately lose you a game in a big game on Sunday night football against another playoff team. He was never playing in those type games. Most Matt Stafford games happened at 10 a.m. on Sundays.

I bet the majority, if we did a study of like the last decade of all of his games in Detroit, I would imagine that 75% of them were 10 a.m. games. If you live on the East Coast, the 1 a.m. games, the first set of games every day. Like, that's the window he plays in. Like, I got news for you. You don't want the good teams play? For us on the West Coast, 1.25, Sunday night and Monday night football. That wasn't, that's not the Lions time slot,

because they all, for the most part, always suck. Guess what the Rams do. They play in big boy games. They play in standalone games. They play in, you know, Al Michaels calls their games a couple times a year. They will also play in several Monday night games. They play next week the Monday night game against the 49ers. And there's just more pressure.

And I think he's still trying to battle this. And there's a chance that if Sean McVeigh, who I think is the real deal, can coach some of these habits out of him, if it's even possible, you might not come to fruition this year. They actually might be better equipped the following year. It happened with Kyle Shanahan and Matt Ryan. That first year, I remember Matt Ryan saying, we didn't really see eye to eye. It was very difficult. And then the following year, I realized he had a lot of good points.

going to let me do so and so that I still wanted to do, but I was going to capitulate to some of his demands, and I was cool with 80% of it, and we met in the middle, and we kicked ass. That's what happened to Matt Ryan. Hell, that's what happened to Aaron Rogers, the second year with Lafour. So I'm rooting for it, though I do see some things that I just throw up some red flags on, because anytime you're 32, 33 years old, you already have a couple hundred million dollars in the bank, it just can be, we're all humans. It can just be difficult, and you might actually have to go through some tough times before you ever open your mind to listening to someone else. Because, you know, in defense of him, now, he's never really one big, but he's made a lot of money

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A couple other things. And I had mentioned this with Cliff Kingsbury. Apologized. He's kicking ass and taking names. And they look fantastic. One guy I didn't give enough credit to as well is the general manager. And I was thinking a lot about it today, actually. is when Steve Kime, you know, when he drafted Josh Rosen and he hired, I can't even think of the coach, the one had done coach he hired, the Wilkes, the defensive coordinator from Carolina, who was a disaster.

And, you know, the owner clearly liked him and gave him the ability to kind of clean house and fire the coach. And when he, when he fired the coach, it wasn't a great crop of guys. And he hired Cliff Kingsbury, which was a balsy move. I mean, Steve Kime is an old school offensive line guy, and he hired a spread offense coach. And the time he had success, he had Bruce Ariens, who is also just an old school, while he passes the ball a lot, you know, I don't know if Bruce Ariens and Cliff Kingsbury schematically have that much in common offensively. So he kind of put his, you know, nuts on the table for that hire. And then also he drafted a quarterback number 10 overall, who in the scouting. community was pretty highly thought of, was very traditional, right?

6-4 pocket quarterback with a big arm. Well, when he hired Cliff, it was clear Cliff really wanted Kyler. And for his offense to have the most success, you had to draft Kyler. Well, part of drafting Kyler meant getting rid of Josh Rosen. So, and he also did that. Like, that takes balls. The Cliff Kyler thing took balls. And now it's really starting to work.

You know, and then because of Cliff, he has Colt McCoy, who they're comfortable, with. But think of all the other moves. One move that I was like, I don't know why they did it. When they signed JJ Watt, clearly his leadership really mattered to their operation. When they signed AJ Green, who I was told by a wide receiver coach, his film last year, he thought he was shot. He's been good for them. Now, obviously, he just missed the Niner game because he's on the COVID list, but I think he's been really good. And I think if teams around the league knew that he was going to be this good, his interest, you know, just in terms of a free agent, would have been much higher. Rodney Hudson, who the Raiders got into a position.

Rodney Hudson was one of the better Raider players the last couple decades. High character, fantastic player, starting center. Boom, trades for him this offseason the moment the Raiders wanted to get rid of him. So he acquired Rodney Hudson, JJ Watt, and A.J. Green. And then last year, and he's always been able to like, Chandler Jones is available. DeAndre Hopkins available. DeAndre Hopkins has accounted for 13 touchdowns since he's been a Cardinal. So Steve Kime, I don't think is getting the, like, he should be heavily in the mix right now for executive of the year.

Because the more and more I thought about the Niner game yesterday, obviously they were missing a ton of starters. But part of missing a ton of starters and being a good GM is like, is your depth good? You have guys that are backups that are just credible NFL players and they clearly do. And the team that he has built, and listen, they have a pretty good operation because Cliff just coaches the players. and Steve Kime just drafts and signs them. And it's working. And it's working really well. And there's a reason that they're 8 and 1.

And they have the best record in the NFL. And I think, obviously, their coach is coaching his ass off. He's been awesome. He just clowned Kyle Shanahan at Levi Stadium. But sometimes they're a general manager. And I'm a sucker for bald guys. And obviously, Steve Kimes, just a big old ball guy. He's been really good as a general manager.

Really, the last couple years, and you're really seeing them benefit from it this year. And last but not least is the MVP conversation, who's going to win it? You know, Kyler was in the mix. I think Kyler was hurt a little bit yesterday just because how good his team is. Colt McCoy comes in is like 22 or 26 and they scored with ease all game long. I think Lamar kind of had a moment yesterday. Like, hey guys, Lamar Jackson, my team's 6 and 2.

We had a million injuries. Yeah, I just ran for it. for 100 plus yards and threw for over 350 and threw for three touchdowns. Now, one of his picks was, might have been the play of the day by Barr, tips it to himself, but Lamar is really fantastic. And one of the knocks I had on him a couple years ago, I just went, you know, he's just such a run for his quarterback, you know, a little bit, obviously on a much higher level than like some of the, you know, the service academies in college football that when you get them down

because they can't throw, they can't ever catch up. up. Well, now Lamar is coming back from big deficits kind of with ease. And yesterday, he put the team on his back and said, don't worry, guys, I got you. Let's roll. And they win again. And, you know, talking about Belichick and the AFC being wide open, they are going to be a mother. Now, clearly, they're compromised, just big picture, you know, just with all the guys that they have to put on an injury reserve that does eventually, you know, come to fruition in a big game when you're missing some star players. But as long as you have Lamar Jackson, who is playing as well as he's played this year in a weird way under the radar. I don't know if it's because he's won an MVP in the past.

I don't know it's because Baltimore has been such a sexy team the last several years. But to me, they feel like they have more grit, like they have a little more character this year. I mean, they're running Levion Bell. Levon Bell was taking snaps for them at running back yesterday. But Hollywood looks awesome. Mark Andrews is clearly a good player. Bateman, the Minnesota to wide receiver they drafted as a good player. They're good. And Lamar, to me, is every bit as any dude in the league right now in the mix for MVP. And if I had a vote, I don't.

Roger holler at me if you're listening. I would love a vote. I mean, I just spend dedicate every Sunday in my life to watching your league. I think, I'd have to think long and hard, but with Derek Henry out, I think I'd probably check the boxneck to Lamar Jackson's name right now. Now, we still got, you know, another half of football. They got eight games, 17, so they got nine more games. We've got a lot of football left to be played, but we know they're going to play in big games, right? The Steelers, the Browns, they're just, you know,

one of the sexier teams in the league still. I think he has a fantastic chance to win. I mean, yesterday, his running ability, you know, I always thought Michael Vick was the best runner I'd ever seen, but Michael took so many shots. He couldn't slide. He ended up always getting hit. Lamar is not a slider either, but he gets down so fast that he avoids so many hits and part of it are the rules now. Guys are hesitant to take lake shots.

I've never disliked a guy more coming out and come around and now he's like must watch TV for me as Lamar Jackson. So right now, for me, the MVP of the league is Lamar Jackson. Okay, let's get into the Middilkoff mailbag at John Middellkopf is the Instagram.

DMs wide open. If my DMs look anything like my text messages, obviously have a lot of 49er people in my life, have a lot of season ticket holders in my life. People get angry fast. You know, there's, it's, you know, they say, it used to be forever and the media has this perception, like it's really hard to be a player.

I think it's just hard to be a coach. A football coach in 2021, college or pro, you take, I'd say more shit than players. far, especially when you're a play caller. I think you consistently take more heat. And here's the thing, if you're a player, even a quarterback, like you make $30 million, you make 3X what a top coaches make.

And some of them make five or six. People in my life right now, and this guy, I went to the Super Bowl two years ago when they were in it. They hate Kyle Shanahan. Not the actual human, but his coaching, his attitude. People are very, very mad. People, and you know, anyone listening to this, you're a football fan.

The coach, people get mad at the coach, and they get mad at the coach fast. You know, everyone says they like the juice, they like the money. You fucking get in that firing line. People are coming for that ass. They want you gone. It's not easy, man.

I, uh, listen, I'm not defending him. He's been terrible. But I do, I do respect how hard it is to be in that position. You know, I've sought firsthand with Coach Hill and a couple years after I left Fresno State, he got fired. I was there with Coach Reed when he lost his job. Obviously for Coach Reed, he got, you know, sent to greener pastures,

Alex and then Mahomes, and he went Super Bowl. So, you know, it doesn't define your career if you go through a rough time, but it's not easy. And, you know, no coach wants to lose, right? But some just find themselves losing. And Kyle right now is losing a lot. Quick question about Odell Beckham Jr. I see he's telling people that if a team with a losing record signs him,

there could be a problem. See Glazer's report. Would teams really care? Why wouldn't a team out of contention like the Lions sign him and hold on to him and flip him for draft capital after the season? If I'm the Lions and I think I can get an extra pick, why not take it? I'm using the Lions as an example, but it could be anyone, Miami, Houston, any of these teams with a waiver priority.

I hear what you're saying. I also think, you know, one, you're not guaranteed the way he's been, they couldn't trade him right now. He was an untradable asset at the deadline. Nobody wanted him. Now, part of that is, you know, the salary cap space midseason. It's a complicated situation, but he's somewhat toxic right now. So I saw Dan Campbell, if you're listening to this, by the time you're listening to this, maybe he's been claimed. Dan Campbell obviously said a night that today they're not in the business.

I think a lot of these teams don't even want to mess with it. They got their own issues if you're a terrible team. But I hear you. I mean, the organization I came from, Howard Roseman, you better believe if he thinks he's an asset, he won't give a shit. So I don't think he's a lock to get through waivers. Also, a quick pushback.

In what world is Odell Beckham can act like LeBron James? You know, like, Odell, you have no leverage. You've been terrible. You have like 40 catches the last two years. You tore your ACL last year. The team just cut you and they proceeded to go out and kick ass and take names two days after you disappeared. We all just saw it. Hell, I didn't even watch most of that game, but I kept looking at the ticker and it's like,

Browns are up 10. The Browns are up 20. You're gone. They dominate. Now, part of that's Nick Chub's back. And God, Nick Chubb is really good. you know, Henry's the best running back in the league. Chubb might be second.

But like, O'Dell Beckham's dictating terms? You know what? What are we doing here? What world do we live it in? Now, I also just think at this time of year, some people are like, yeah, whatever. You know, he doesn't need to dictate terms.

A lot of teams wouldn't even mess with them. Mailbag. Why do the Chiefs suck this year? So many drops, turnovers, careless mistakes. I don't understand how it just keep. keeps raining mistakes. I enjoyed watching them in the last three years, but I find myself changing to a different game when they play. Yeah, I mean, I'm obviously, I'm with you. I, I thoroughly enjoyed them. I, I loved, I always loved watching them. I still do watch them, but that, that game

against the Packers was a tough watch. Mahomes is just out of whack. Something's just off with him. I don't know what it is. He's just off. I don't have any inside information. I haven't even asked. He looks healthy, but he's just, it's bizarre. There's no way around it. It is bizarre. It's bizarre to watch. You go from being that good to just this off. Now, I've said it over and over.

This is fucking big leagues. It's hard, you know? It's like I was going to say Tiger Woods missed some cuts, but actually he didn't miss cuts in the peak of his powers. But pro sports, baseball, basketball, football, tennis, golf, whatever. F1, NASCAR, the highest level of anything, is difficult. And it's so much easier to hunt than be the hunted because the wind blows the fastest at the top of the mountain.

Everyone is gunning for you. That's human nature, right? Everyone's gunning for Bezos. Everyone's gunning for Elon. Everyone's gunning from Mahomes and Brady and Rogers. You know, it's easy to be the up-and-comer. It's kind of easy to be Josh Allen. Like, he's got nothing to lose.

Like, even last year. And obviously this year, you know, a little more, pressure. It's hard when there's tangible pressure, right? There's tangible pressure on all of us. Whether you have a family, whether you have a job, whatever, right? Being a human, there's pressure to survive. It's like the animal kingdom, but there are rules and loss, right? We can't eat each other. But, you know, the private sector, we kind of do. You know, it's a doggy dog world. But there is a lot more pressure when you start having success. You know why? Because everyone wants to see successful will people fail. Not everyone. I don't. I like celebrating success. But a lot of booger eaters,

you know, love seeing people fail, which is kind of weird, but that's just the nature of human psychology. And then the people in that industry, when you're dominating, are coming after you. So it's just every day, you have to maintain, you have to sustain, you have to improve. If you don't improve, the people coming for your spot are improving. There is a segment of people that are dedicating their life to get your lot and land, to get your market share, you know, to beat you on the field. It's very, very difficult to be Tom Brady, Derek Jeter, Aaron Rogers, Steph Curry, LeBron.

Like, everyone's coming for that ass. Every day. And young up-and-comers, think about you 24-7. What's weird about Mahomes is he's young. But he had so much success that now every team he plays, you better believe that defensive coordinator that week in his defensive unit, I mean, that's their Super Bowl, whether it's in October or whether it's in January. You know, and so it's a one and done playoff game or it's the seventh week of the season.

Who cares? That's a big deal. Everyone in that guy's family, that's a moment they can remember the rest of their life. I picked off Patrick Mahomes. I sacked Patrick Mahomes. My team beat Patrick Mahomes in Arrowhead. It's just part of the deal. at what point do we acknowledge the 19 team was an extreme outlier for the 49ers

Kyle and company repletally get outplayed and out coached at every turn there should be wholesale changes at the end of the year I just don't wholesale changes might want to Google the history of the York family beside three Harbaugh years and Kyle Shanahan's year everything under Jed York football wise sucks so this notion that like wholesale change like who's making those Jed York?

What are we talking about? Now listen, Kyle has been an abomination this year. But no one's getting fired. They're not making any changes. Now, Kyle might fire an assistant coach or something. But this notion of like, fire Kyle! So what? Jed York can go hire a coach?

I've seen him hire some coaches. Jim Tom Sula. Mike Singletary. De name a few. Chip Kelly. Went two and 14. Worst season in the history of the Niners. I'd like to keep Jed York out of,

the interviewing circuit. You know, just Kyle's got to figure this shit out. I'm with you. It's really ugly. No way around it. He's got to do some internal looking. I got a take for you. And it's not, yesterday wasn't his fault.

Jimmy Garoppos averages the day as long. Get him out there. Start working in the young quarterback. If you're not going to make the playoffs this year at 3 and 5, you probably aren't. Who cares? Get this guy ready for next year. You know the guy that you traded multiple first round picks for?

Put all your chips in the middle of the table for the young kid. because Jimmy Garoppolo Mohammed's the news hurt. Why? Jimmy throws, if you're a wide receiver for the Niners or a tight end like Kiddle, you better be able to jump like you know, like Russell Westbrook because every single ball

is high. If this was, if they played in the 90s, every guy on the team would get knocked out. Ribs shattered. Because Jimmy throws these guys into harms away. Jimmy, Jimmy's just not that good. It's just an unbiased watcher of football who's been watching

football professionally now for a long time. He gets worse. He is not, I don't care what his stats are. These guys against the Cardinals were pulling catches out of their ass. Brandon Iyuk on one ball that he fumbled, jumped like 17 feet in the air. Kittle has having like one-handed catches. Jimmy Garoppolo stinks. He's just not good.

He wasn't the problem yesterday, but he's by no means the solution. Is Zika overrated, underrated, or properly rated? I want to hear from someone who actually pays attention. His first couple years, he was elite. He was probably underrated. He was a dominant, dominant force. He did everything well. He could run inside, he can run outside.

He's a great pass blocker and he can catch. He's not quite as fast anymore. I know he got hurt yesterday. I didn't watch that much of the game. But I think when I've watched him this year, he's been solid. I'd say most people don't think he's an elite guy. Now, if you factor in his money, he's overrated. If you just factor in like an NFL guy watching him

and just saying, yeah, he's a average, solid starter. He's probably properly rated. He's definitely not underrated anymore. And, I mean, Paulard's faster. Zeke, I just think you just lose, you know, you just, you lose some of your short area explosion. He's not quite as quick. He's still, I'll tell you this,

I would not want to tackle that guy. He's a fucking load. You blitz on Zeke Elliott, he's going to blast you in the chin strap. You couldn't pay Seke one Barkley a million dollars. to block a soul in pass protection. And I know Sequin's hurt and not even good anymore, but Zeke's the best pass blocker in the league.

He's a tank. So there's more to football sometimes than just running, right? He protects Dak, who last time I checked makes $40 million. Why do some coaches pull the shit that Avalos tried with Boise State? Playing well and have momentum and you bring in the fucking third string guy, just classic trying to outthink the room.

I don't know. I mean, I can't hate on Avalos as well. performance. I put 500 bones on the dogs. They were heavy favorites at home, six and two or seven and two. And Boise, you know, absolutely rolled them. They clowned them. So I, I was pretty hammered probably by the time they brought in the third string guy, but let's be real, it didn't matter. That was a Boise State ass kicking. Fresno State needs to lick their wounds and figure their shit out. Unacceptable. That was, but Boise, when I was at Fresno State, Boise was so good. It was stupid. I think they had 12 guys drafted. Kellyn Moore is one of the best players I've ever

seen live, college or pro. Now, obviously, he wasn't a pro quarterback, but how good he was as a college player, I'd say Reggie Bush is the best player I've ever seen live in college. Matt Leiner was pretty unreal. I didn't see Tebow or Cam, but obviously those guys were fantastic. I'd put Kellan Moore up, you know, on a top 10 list as a college player, an unstoppable force. Love the pod, the inside The Development Storylines Have only been listening Three months

But look forward to Monday, Tuesday, and Friday My friends and I started a podcast A couple months ago And we're gaining momentum. I like it. I wanted to reach out And see what tips and guidance You have

That could help. Well, I'd say the number one thing Is be consistent. And, you know, doing a podcast, especially if you're not making any money off it, you're like, Oh, we don't have to do it today or we don't have to do it Sunday.

You know, like, you got to be consistent. So whatever the days you do it, you have to be consistently do them nonstop for several years. It may take, I didn't make a dime off the three and out podcast for a couple years. My other podcast, we made very, very nominal money the first couple years. And I easily could have quit or try to do something else or I don't even know. I mean, I wasn't going to go sell insurance. But I had a vision and I thought it was going to be.

work, but every single, I mean, producing 6, 7 podcasts a week and then several other, you know, hours of content. You just got to keep swinging. If you keep swinging, even if you're not the best or the most talented, your podcast is never going to have caller daddy or Joe Rogan numbers. If you just keep swinging, most people will quit. Most people will stop. Most of these podcasts going right now will not exist in a couple years. I'll promise you that. But, you know, a small percentage of them will, and they will keep, you know, gaining on market share just because every single day or every other day, you know they're coming. And that would be my number one piece of advice. Stay consistent with your production. So if you produce it Tuesdays and Fridays, every

Tuesday and Friday all year long. Now, if you take a week off in the summer or whatever slow months is, but you can't be like, where have you been, June, July, and August? You're like, oh, we just took the summer off. You get forgot. You get passed. You get lapped. In 2020, society, we barely remember a week ago, let alone two years ago. So you get forgotten fast. So you just got to keep it coming. And then obviously you've got to be good and you're probably going to need some breaks, you know, someone to, I don't know, you know, kind of publish you the wrong word, but promote, push you, help you. Maybe you blow up on YouTube. I don't know. But I do think, and listen, you can make fun of the TikTokers or the Paul brothers or whatever

all you want. Every single one of them that has blown up online, they've all said the same thing. For years, we did content before anyone knew about it. Every day, consistently. I truly believe more than how famous a guest you can get.

Because even if you get the most famous guest, I'm just going to pull a right, Matthew McConaughey, Tom Brady, whatever. It's just a one-off situation. That guy is not guaranteed to come back in terms of the listener and the consumer in like a month, right? But maybe he just subscribes your podcast. It's like, oh, he did another podcast today.

Oh, he did another podcast the next day. Oh, he's doing this. Maybe they follow you on social media. Maybe they start liking you, right? And they tell you their friends about you. That's my number one piece of advice more than like the microphone you use. Obviously sound quality matters. I'm a sucker for sound quality.

I hate any time that I'm trying to, trying a new podcast and their equipment's bad. I'm out. but I might be an outlierant. Maybe you don't care as much. I don't know how the consumer thinks about that. I know me personally. If I'm in the car, an interview on a radio,

not that I really listen to the radio anymore, has bad cell phone service, change the channel. Immediately. It's the number one way to get me to tune off. Religious listener of three and out could not agree more with your takes.

You're always spot on. I appreciate that. And one of the real ones. Love the show in the segment on Zach Wilson. Just a positive response here. Love the show. I think Rogers thought if he contracted COVID, he'd be fine, recover,

and then get treated like a Vax player until or before the Super Bowl. Obviously, he had no idea if, when he might get it, but that's what I would do considering what I heard on the McAfee interview. Likely a stale narrative by the time you read this,

I don't know if he thought that he could avoid it because you don't, you have no clue when you can get it or not. I just think that he didn't want to get it. Just that simple. I just don't think he wanted to get the vaccine. And there are players,

there are a lot of players in the NFL that didn't want to get the vaccine either, and they got it. Just because they knew it would be easier. There's also no guarantee that if he had the vaccine, that he would have been able to play this week, right? Devante Adams got it last week and missed the game. Now, it was different because it was a short week,

but he still might have missed the game if he was vaccinated. And listen, the media, like, what he said about the masks is not wrong. Now, what he said, I don't know, Ivermectin, I can't even pretend to tell you what that is. I know Joe Rogan's talked about it.

To me, it's simple. And I truly do not care. I have never once, once. And I'm just telling you, my opinion, never thought, is this person vaccinated or not? I don't care. It does not bother me. Now, I know my mother has got seven booster

shots already. So she's always thinking about that. I never once in 19 months thought, does this person have COVID? Well before the vaccine. Can I get COVID? Is this guy vaccinated? I just do not, you're asking the wrong person. So if I was unlike the media, I was not triggered at Aaron Rogers at all. And I actually thought he made a lot of good points at the theater of the mass, which is not really debatable at this point. But no one in the media is going to write an article on that because they're just going to get viewed as an anti-vaxer. But, said this about college football, and I say this about the NFL. The moment Nick Sabin got the jab, and the moment Tom Brady and Bill Belichick got the jab, like it was going to be hard for any excuse, no matter what your research was or what your opinion

was, right? Now, and I get, like, I want to have children. If it ever comes out that for whatever reason I'm sterile because of the jab, that would be a problem. So like that honestly kind of resonated with me, even though I've already got the shot. Who knows? We'll see. Only time we'll tell. He's just got to keep practicing up until then. But, like, I was not angered at all by what he was saying. And I honestly think, hot take, I don't think most people are that angry. Any of these opinions.

I think it's such fake outrage by all these people. You know, like, shouldn't we be angry about it cost me $120 to fill up my gas tank? Or if I go to Safeway, what used to cost me $100 now cost me, 180. Like, shouldn't that's where our anger be? But listen, I understand, like my mother, cancer survivor. Everyone is different with the COVID and the reaction to it. You're listening to someone who was pretty unfaced by it all. And also was pretty disgusted by a lot of the reactions of the shutdowns. I also live in California, where we arbitrarily still mask mandate, yet I've got to have a vaccine card everywhere I go. My gym just lifted that like last week because of the

county. So it doesn't add up. None of this makes sense to us normal people. It just, stuff just does not add up, you know. And I understand people, you know, I guess the uncertainty. Now, I would never spend that much time doing research the moment, you know, a couple people that I know and trusted got it, I would just get it. But I'm also, you know, not as rich as him and wouldn't, you know, give up a paycheck. Like, Rogers didn't get paid last week. He did not get paid because he's treated as an unvaccinated player. Now, will he be back this week? I also think he gained a lot of leverage because everyone realized that Aaron Rogers stinks.

I mean, Jordan Love. Stinks would be strong, but has a long way to go. Like, they can't replace Rogers with Jordan Love. But if you went on Twitter, everyone would have acted like Aaron Rogers would be kicked out of the league, get rid of them. I would imagine a lot of people that watch that. He resonated with them. and that's where I think we got to be careful with the media's reaction

that obviously doesn't represent everybody. Clearly, the information's in. You know, I saw Coward retweet something today. Yeah, it's a little skewed on the Twitter streets. So we just, I try to be cognizant of that because my friends don't think like that. People I associate with don't think like that. I wasn't around people that celebrated.

I don't know when the economy got shut down because a lot of people in my life weren't like me. Can't just work from home. My brother doesn't work from home and work never stopped. Quote, essential worker, you know?

So it's just everyone's reaction over the last 18 months is not the same. But everyone's is when they pull out their wallet right now because things are very, very expensive. Hell, some of my favorite items that I order on Amazon

are out of stock. Supply and demand. The supply chain is starting to piss me off. Just some basic things. You kind of take for granted. But that's a, I don't want to rant on this for too long. Enjoy the week. Talk to everyone a little later. Godspeed. The volume. Get right to the romance and find the way to wow this valentines with 1-800flowers.com. From classic roses and bouquets to decadent chocolate-covered berries,

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We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with

the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, this is Robert from the Stuff to Blow Your Mind podcast. Joe and I are both lifelong Star Wars fan, so we're celebrating May the 4th with a brand new week of fun, thought-provoking Star Wars-related episodes. Join us as we tackle science and culture topics from a galaxy far, far away.

such as the biology of taun tons and wampas on the ice planet hot, or the practicality and corporate business sense of the Sith rule of two. Listen to stuff to blow your mind on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. On the look back at it podcast. 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 you here, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. With our friends, fellow comedians, and favorite artists. Like Mark Lamont Hill on the 80s. 84 was a wild year. It was a wild year. I don't think there's a more important year for black people.

Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.