The Herd with Colin Cowherd - 3 and Out - MNF Reaction: Hurts Breakout, Primetime Kirk, Allen/Diggs Domination, Mailbag

Episode Date: September 20, 2022

John reacts to the Week 2 MNF doubleheader, including Jalen Hurts breakout performance against the Vikings, another disappointing primetime game for Kirk Cousins, and Josh Allen and Stefon Diggs total domination of the Titans. He also touches on some of the top storylines after Week 2, Subscribe NOW and follow Middlekauff and The Volume on Twitter, Instagram and YouTube for the latest content. It's always FanDuel for the best wagering action! #volume #herdSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Now sign up with promo code Colin, so they know we sent you. What is going on, everybody, John Middilcock, three and out podcast. Monday night, almost 9 o'clock, Pacific Standard Time. and just watched a doubleheader. You know, they called it a doubleheader. To me, a double header like in baseball, right? Let's play two. Ernie Banks, it's like you play one game, it ends, then you play another game.

This game, we started one, then an hour later, the other game started. We'll dive into that, kind of pissed me off. But I'm going to be positive because Jalen Hertz was bawling. Josh Allen was bawling. Cousins, not so much. A lot of other stuff. I told you yesterday I was going to talk about the Colts, the Giants, Russell Wilson.

I mean, he's already copied. and Tom Brady's social media strategy. I mean, this guy'd be original. Can Russell Wilson do one original thing? The Raiders and Brian Dayball. Josh McDaniels and Brian Dayball, two Belichick guys going in different directions. I have a theory why.

The Cowboys and the Bengals, watch that game back. I guess, I mean, I watched it this morning for the first time. I didn't see it yesterday. God, Michael Parsons is good. Joe Burrow running for his life. A lot going on. But if you subscribe on Collins' feed,

if you like to show, I know we got a lot of new listeners, make sure you go to the three-and-out feed and subscribe to that. Appreciate everyone that is enjoyed the show, shared the show. Thank you guys very much. As well as the Middlecoff mailbag,

at John Middlecoff is the mailbag. Have a couple questions at the end of this show, and then we obviously do one every Sunday now moving forward. And yeah, let me first, before we dive into the show, can I tell you about my friends, AG1 by Athletic Greens? And listen, I started taking AG1 because I was tired of,

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all you have to do is visit athletic greens.com slash three and out. Again, that is athletic greens.com slash the number three and out to take ownership over your health and pick up the ultimate daily nutritional insurance. Okay. I think it's pretty clear where we need to start. The story of the night. We'll dive into, listen, I'm not trying to be a complainer. but the Monday night doubleheaders when they're an hour apart is a little hard to consume.

Now luckily, kind of blowouts, but let's dive into the Eagles. And the team that Howie Roseman built, which is pretty impressive. But it starts with the quarterback. And Jalen Hertz, he's good. Like, it's not really debatable. If that's what Jalen Hertz is going to look like, and I watched him last week against the Lions, and I watched him a night, you go, that's a really good quarterback. And listen, I'm going to take the L on this one.

Because when Jalen Hertz came out of college, I went, he's a running back. I didn't think he could throw. And even last year, the Eagles didn't think he could throw. They changed their offense to be like Oklahoma. And he ran around. They had a run-based offense because here's one thing Jalen Hertz is elite at. His instincts as a runner are top-notch. Like Kyler and Lamar are two of the better runners we've ever seen.

But they are some of the fastest players we've ever seen. They're two of the better athletes. NFL history in terms of explosive speed. Jalen is fast, but by no means is he that fat, is he as quick as those guys. But his innate feel in space running around, he's powerful, is incredible. And it's been awesome since he played at Alabama and Oklahoma. But to me, the only way you can sustain and be a good quarterback in the NFL, I think we all agree, is throwing the football. And he has become, listen, what thing the Eagles are good at, and we'll dive into Howie here in a second is when they make a mistake, and listen, they obviously know they

made a mistake with Jalen Rager. If they could do it over, they would have taken Justin Jefferson. That's how the world works. They don't double down. They don't hold on for long. They got rid of J. Rager fast. And what did they do? They traded for A.J. Brown. And then the year after Rager, they draft Devante Smith, the Heisman Trophy. All of a sudden, they got Devante Smith, AJ Brown, A.J. Brown's tight with Jalen. Jalen, here's the thing you can never underestimate with players in the NFL. How much they truly give a shit about getting better. And I know a bunch of people in that building, and they said during OTAs and definitely during training camp, they're like, John, this guy is improving. He keeps getting better. Why? He loves football. And even I went,

you know, I don't know. I'm still going to be hesitant. Well, they weren't lying because the guy I see right now is playing at a very, very high level. And if he is going to be that dominant of a runner, and he is a dominant runner and throw the ball that efficiently. And it's not that hard when you got A.J. Brown, who's a man child, Devante Smith, who's a stud, Goddard, who's a baller as a tied in. And they got a sweet offensive line. And Miles Sanders can run the football. And they got multiple other running backs.

It's like their offense is just fully loaded. And if this guy's going to play at that level, like the Eagles are a legitimate NFC contender. I picked him to win the division, but I did it because I didn't like the Cowboys. I thought the Giants were not good. They're actually better than I thought. And the commanders, like, I'm sorry, I'm not betting on them. I literally did last weekend and I got burned because they lost the Lions. And I think it's clear the Eagles are really talented.

Hell, they were talented last year when they won nine games, but they didn't have much of a passing game. And now if they're going to have a passing game and their defense is clearly better, like that is a 12, 13 win team. Now, Jaylon's going to have moments. He's not going to have a perfect season. He'll throw some picks and they'll lose some games.

but that is a team that has star power everywhere. And it starts with the quarterback. And listen, they made a pretty crazy move a couple years ago when they drafted them in the second round. I know I was not alone. I thought it was insane. Obviously, a lot of people in Philly thought it was nuts. It's the best thing they ever did.

Because Carson Wentz flames out. They have to trade Carson Wentz. Then they go to Jalen and the rest is history. Now they got a starting quarterback on a second round contract who's balling. and who can run the ball, who is beloved in the locker room. They got a pretty good thing going. And speaking of good thing going,

like, Howie has been a pretty polarizing general manager over his career. I was with him at the early part, was part of a playoff team. Now, that was he was transitioning, Andy was still in control. Then when Andy leaves everything that happened with Chip,

but then post-chip, like, built a Super Bowl team with a backup quarterback. Pretty impressive. And when they hired, Doug Peterson, don't forget, like, not a lot of people were going to hire Doug Peterson. And then when that thing kind of flames out, and listen, I think it was just meant to break up. Doug is going to have success in Jacksonville. He hires Nick Siriani, which I'll be honest, I don't fall like the Colts and Charger

coaching staffs that closely. I didn't know who he was. And he's having some success. Because right now, through 19 games, he's got 11 wins, not counting the playoff game, which are you lost. So you could do 20. So in 20 games, he's got 11 wins. if you even count the playoff game.

Like, he's having success. And then you factor in the team. They're always able to make moves and pivot off stuff. He's like Belichick that way. He will not go down with the ship with the guy that he misses on with the draft, i.e. Jalen Rager, who's on the Vikings. Boom, he'll make a deal, wheel and deal. Get A.J. Brown.

And a couple years ago, he drafts Dillard, the tackle from Washington State. You know, he's a good player, but ideal left tackle, not really working out. they developed this dude from Australia who was a rugby player who's now one of the better left tackles in the league. Defensively, they're always wheeling and dealing, always making moves. This year, right before the season starts,

trade for a corner a couple years ago. Darius Slay hates Patricia. Of course he does. Most players do. He trades for him. He's just always doing stuff. And it's not really disputable that if you don't need to be

some football genius to watch his team go, they got a lot of talent all over the field. And most people struggle to pivot off a quarterback. he did it pretty seamlessly. Like Howie Rosemans, there's a lot of credit. Done a pretty good job. Eagles look really good. I think it's fair to say through two games,

they feel for real. It feels very sustainable. Because it's not, they're not coming out of nowhere. They won nine games last year. They added some pieces. They added a big piece in A.J. Brown. They've added some pieces on defense. The coach has a little more experience,

and now they look better. I mean, last week, I know it was close to the Lions. Listen, I think the Lions aren't bad. They were up 38 to 21. It's not like it was close to the whole game. Like they were, complete control. Tonight they beat the shit out of the Vikings.

And I feel pretty confident on this. As long as Kirk Cousins is the quarterback for the Vikings and Aaron Rogers is the quarterback for the Packers, under no circumstances will I take the Vikings to win the division? I don't see it as possible. Because listen, do they have good pieces on offense and his cousins plays better games than that? Of course he does.

But for whatever reason, primetime cousins, when it comes out, like it's not really arguable. On the first pick, it's like, well, his offensive line, well, he can't play defense. It's always an excuse. Then he looked through, you know, at the end of the game, he's got several picks. And you're like, guys, if you get pressure on him, he crumbles like a cookie. Now, you can argue a lot of quarterbacks do, but look at Thursday night. Herbert Mahomes, getting peppered, getting peppered, both of them.

Neither have them flinched. They just kept making plays, kept making throws. Cousins, you hit him. The whole thing falls apart because he can't really ad lib. And I'm not saying he's not necessarily tough because he'll stand in there and make the throws. It just doesn't work. He can't execute when he's getting hit.

He's just not as talented as the other guys I mentioned. And he can't run. So if he's got to play off script, like Jalen, for example, the guy on the other side, he can't keep the plays alive with his legs. And listen, as long as they got Kurt Cousins, I can't take them seriously as a playoff threat. Now, it's not all his fault.

We've seen him before, win on the road in New Orleans in a playoff game. So it's not like he's never done it. But their secondary blows. It's terrible. Last time I checked, it's 2002, not 1986. It's a passing leak. So if we're playing a bunch of teams, especially once you get into big games that can throw the ball,

that have weapons because most good teams now have a bunch of wide receivers, how do you slow them down if you can't play past defense? their past rush looked pretty anemic tonight. Now, in fairness, Eagles' offensive lines fantastic. But they can't cover anybody. If you can't cover anybody, you got problems in 2022. I think we'd all universally agree on that. And like the Eagles just kick their ass.

Now, that's a tough place to play. If Philly is going to be this good and be like a legitimate, you know, 12, 13 win team, which I believe right now they are, that place is going to rock whatever nine times a year. Last year, I think, yeah, NFC gets nine home games this year. So eight more times of that. Like the place is going to be going nuts.

I live there for a couple years. I'm a West Coast guy. Philadelphia treats the Eagles like Tuscaloosa treats Royal Tide. Like Baton Rouge treats the Tigers. Like Athens, Georgia treats the Bulldogs. The Eagles mean everything in that town. And it's a big-time sports city. The Sixers mean a lot.

The Phillies mean a lot. Hell, the Flyers mean a lot. but people in that town with the Eagles fly Eagles fly every fucking person in town can sing that song start to finish by the time they're about two years old they bleed green it's a really big deal and now that they think they're good

you know they're they're gonna have Seattle type home field vibe that place is going to be berserk bananas all season long makes it for a fun NFL football season is underway so now is the perfect time to download Banduel, America's number one sportsbook. Because right now, new customers get a no-swet first bet up to $1,000. That's free bets back if your first bet doesn't win.

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doping is not only legal but encouraged it's the enhanced games some call it grotesque others say it's unleashing human potential either way the podcast superhuman documented it all embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year within probably 10 days i'd put on 10 pounds i was having trouble stopping the muscle growth listen to superhuman on the IHeard 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, Clivert 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 Clivered Show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast.

And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and a TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Before I dive into Bill's Titans, like NFL, ESPN, ABC, one, a little confused why we had a double header. I'm never opposed to more football,

but I like a lot of football games on Sunday. Monday night, I want to kick back, be able to watch one game. The Bills are one of the best teams in the league. They might be the best team. And then I got the Eagles game going. It's hard to keep, listen, I have, I think.

pads and stuff, but I don't want to be, it's just too, it's too much. It's too much. You know, if you're going to go a doubleheader on Monday, which I'm not opposed to, you know, I've been working for home well before the vid, I've been working for home for about seven years. Could we go two and five? Could you start at East Coast time at five o'clock, two o'clock, two o'clock on the West Coast? I don't care. But to do the 415, 530, like, screw that. That's unfair to the consumer. We lose out as a consumer. Advertiser. lose out. Not a fan of that. I'm pro more football. I'm pro football on television. I'm not anti-streaming games or anything, unless it's direct TV. They had some issues yesterday. But that, what are we doing?

I understand ESPN's been a little rudderless for years. They got some issues. But you would think Monday Night Football is kind of their baby. They get Joe and Troy. What was going on tonight? Now, I watched, I tried to. It was hard once the Eagle game starts. Luckily, the bills beat the living crap out of them. I don't know if there's that much to take away for. from the Bill's Titans game, Josh Allen threw four touchdowns. Well, of course, he's arguably the best player in the league. Stefan Diggs had three touchdowns. Dominated. Well, he's been one of the best wide receivers, really even when Minnesota had him, let alone once he got traded to Josh Allen. The bills are a dominant team. We knew this. I didn't necessarily learn anything different.

They are really, really good. To me, it's like them and the Chiefs, right? And can the Chief's defense, which is much improved, hang with them? And can't, the The Bill's defense, which I think they've gone all in on this pass rush and past secondary, can that handle Mahomes, which probably isn't as scary without Tyree Kill who's now in Miami. But like I can't put Baltimore, you blow a 35 to 14 lead. Like I can't put you in their class. Miami, I'm sorry. I know two had one great game, but I ain't not putting you in that class.

The Chargers, you literally just had the chance to beat the Chiefs and you can't do it. So I think there is a class alone. Like let's face it, I would say the bills look probably. a little better than the Chiefs, but until you beat the Chiefs, which last time I checked the Chiefs had beat him two years in a row, like I'm going to give the Chiefs to the slide edge. But if I was a Bill's fan, I would be pretty freaking excited. I would be pretty happy and getting ready to see that matchup. I would like my chances, because my chances with Josh Allen, who looks like John Elway meets Dan Freak and Marino, digs looks like Jerry Freak and Rice, and my defense is flying

around crushing folks, I understand the Titans aren't that good. And listen, if I'm a Titans fan and we're 0 and 2, then we were just the number one seat, here's what I would say. Your division stinks. So at 0 and 2, you are right in that thing. Mike Brable is a good coach, even though your team looks a little off, and it might be a little bit of a rebuilding year, but you're not dead by any means. Because could 7 and 10 win that division? Let's speak honestly. Could 7 and 10 win the division? Colts suck. The Jags are going to be up and down all season. And the Texans just they're not that talented. So why couldn't 7 and 10 compete to win that division?

The bills, they look like a 16 win team. And I think the betting philosophy on them moving forward, no matter how big the spread is, I might be betting on them because they are housing people through two games. I mean, they don't even feel, you know the difference between college and pro? Like, when you get a college team and it's good,

USC, Bama, Georgia, whatever, and there's a gap in the talent, and you're like, you know, is this game going to get out of hand? And it does. And then all of a sudden you look up and it's 50 to 10. It's 60 to 7. That doesn't really happen in the NFL. Even an ass kicking can be like 20 to 7.

Like the Dolphins kick the Patriots ass week one. The final score was 20 to 7. The 49ers beat the living crap out of the Seahawks. It was 27 to 7. In college, that game is 60 to 10. But the bills are doing what college teams do to other NFL teams. The Rams won the Super Bowl.

I know the Titans are missing some pieces, but they were the one seat and have a really good coach, and they curb-stomp them. So tonight, to me, the story is Jalen Hertz, the story is the Eagles, they look for real. Cousins, like, same all story. We've seen that, you know, we've seen that thing before. But the bills, I think we all expected them,

you know, to be a powerhouse, might be better than expected. If I'm a cheese fan, I just, I'm keeping a close eye on this. You know, we've been to Forstrait AFC championships. You know, we want to get back to that Super Bowl. Bills haven't been to the Super Bowl,

obviously in a long time since I was a little kid, early 90s. They feel for real. So, let's, in ESPN, ABC, can we, you know, stagger these games a little bit differently? Like, I am your consumer. I've literally dedicated my life. This is how I feed my unborn children. And I felt it was a pain in the ass.

It's Monday night. It's not Sunday. Sunday I'm used to it. Flipping around channels, part of the deal. Monday, a little different. So let's figure that thing. out moving forward. Okay, let's dive around the league.

I don't even know where to start, but this was a team that, you know, I've been very bullish on for years, an organization and definitely a general manager, you know, that I think is considered a scout, scout, high-level guy, people like him, he's done a good job. But sometimes, you know, the reality of a team is you just, something's off. something is wrong. And now dating back to the final two games in 2021, or I guess we're in 22 now, the Indianapolis Colts, lots of the Raiders,

and then in a must-win game in Jacksonville, they lost. Obviously this year they opened up with a tie against the Texans, who most people thought was going to be pretty bad, and they lost the Jags again. So in their last four games, with Carson Wentz and Matt Ryan, they are 0-3-1, with two losses to the Jacks, a team that consistently drafts basically number one overall.

I mean, their last two picks have literally been number one overall. Now, they have a credible coach. They're a much better operation. Let's face it. Trevor Lawrence, I was thinking this yesterday flipping around my new Sunday ticket. First time I've ever got Sunday tickets. So, you know, I'm flying around. I don't have to rewatch games, watching Red Zone,

flying around on the... Trevor Lawrence, the gap between him and the other four cats in that draft class is going to widen like the Grand Canyon over the next year. It ain't even going to be close. So maybe as it ages, it's not a terrible loss. But when you lose 24 to nothing, 24 to nothing, your head coach, I've been saying this for a while, I don't know him, I've never met him, clearly as well thought about, was a longtime backup quarterback, had a historic moment when he filled in for Jim Kelly

with the Buffalo Bills was an integral part as an assistant coach on an Eagles team that won the Super Bowl first time in franchise history. People like him. He's a good guy. But like you have to separate like listen, Andy Reid's a good guy. He's also a really good coach. Mike Tomlin a good guy, pretty damn good coach. You could be a good guy and a good coach. There have been a lot of good guys that couldn't coach themselves out of a wet paper bag. and I think we need to start asking ourselves the question. Does Frank know what he's doing? And I don't mean like, can he just coach a team?

Can he win? They missed the playoffs last year. They're lucky they're not dead or anything at O and 2, even though they look completely lifeless because they're a division. I'm recording this part before the Titans game, but regardless, Titans are, they didn't win the first week. And I think we all know they're a little worse than they have been over the previous years.

The Jags might be the best team in the division. well, the Jags don't get to play the Colts every week because when the Jags don't play the Colts, they're going to be a little more human. But it's Frank Wright good. To me, that's just a question. And listen, the owner who is bat-shit crazy, who was caught a couple years ago with drugs and cash,

like, let's face it, the dude's got some issues outside of the office. I don't know if Jim Orsay, very entertaining. I like his Twitter account. It makes me laugh. But I don't know if he's the most stable individual. Now, in fairness to him, he's hired really well over the years. Hired Bill Paulian.

They drafted Peyton Manning. You know, they kind of lucked in the Andrew Luck, hired Ryan Grickson and Pagano. That was a disaster. He hired Chris Ballard, who everyone would have hired. He was like the number one GM on the market. But George Payton was the Chris Ballard

of the last couple years. We all admit, George Payton's doing a pretty good job. George Payton's doing a really good job drafting players. He kind of did a no-brainer trade, what felt like for Russell Wilson. Hired Nathaniel Hackett. Who you are as a GM is more than just the fucking draft.

I think we love just, how do he draft? Well, the most two important things you can do is find a quarterback and find a coach. Now, in fairness to Ballard on Frank, different than Peyton or Patton with Nathaniel Hackett, is that he had hired Josh McDaniels. And then Josh McDaniels clearly left him at the altar. His back was against the wall. But this isn't working. like it feels kind of over.

Now, one thing that's a little out of their control when they both got the job, they got Andrew Luck was going to be the quarterback and he retired. But then they have made some mistakes. Clearly the most effective guy that they got was kind of an over-the-hill Philip Rivers. Let him do 11 wins to the playoffs. And they had a chance to win that playoff game against the Ravens.

Jacoby, let's face it, as a backup. Carson Wentz, people think he's weird and he may sound like and the owner couldn't stand. Matt Ryan. So the coach, we don't think is any good, which I don't know how you could think that at this current time. Matt Ryan has had a fantastic career. I'll never forget being at Cal Poly, living on this halfway street, it was the party street,

watching on like a Thursday night, it was either Thursday or Friday night, the Matt Ryan Boston College game where they were down 14 points for like three minutes to go and he threw two crazy touchdowns. They ended up winning the game. I was like, who the hell is this guy? Turned out to be the number three overall pick, became Matt Ryan, MVP, playoff guy. it's over. Like, he's shot.

And here's the other thing that Matt Ryan now on this team that in some of his moments with Roddy White and Tony Gonzalez and Julio Jones, like they don't have any weapons. They have a really good running back who's an elite player. But when Pittman's out, like, let's face it, I like Michael Pittman.

Michael Pittman's probably a two. Like, they're not a very explosive offense and they've kind of hung their hat on defense the last couple years. You're losing 24-0. Like, you've got to score points to have a chance to win an NFL game. The Colts are,

in shambles. I think the coach is headed down a path that he's going to get fired. And then the question is, I wouldn't fire Chris Ballard. I would give him another chance. Usually GMs get multiple coaches. I would give him the opportunity to hire a different coach, but it's also on Chris. Like you keep going to bat for this guy. Eventually, we got to admit what's really going on. Right? Sometimes parents do this a lot. They like to stay in denial about a child. We do this a lot in society, right, with our significant other denial about the way our relationship's going. Sometimes the GM, even if you like the guy personally, and I understand being in a business relationship with someone you like a lot personally.

But the business is pretty black and white. You're either having success or you're not. You're either winning or you're not. And right now it's a fucking disaster. So I think Chris Ballard's kind of got to look himself in the mirror and go, is he, does he have the capability? Turn on sounds too strong, but to fire Frank. because that might be the way that he saves his job

because I don't think I would not fire Chris Ballard. But if Chris Ballard is going to like jump in front of the firing line for Frank Reich, then maybe he deserves to get fired. So I mean, Chris got to do some internal thinking here because like Indy is just, they're not good. And to me it starts with the quarterback in the offense, which is the head coach's deal. Someone that actually is, I don't know if they're good or not.

I still, you know, I thought they were going to be a top five drafting team. You win four or five games in the first couple months. Like, you might end up with six or seven wins. I watch the Giants. Like, I do not like their quarterback, but their team is tough. They're much. Think about this. I was thinking about this with Brian Daibor.

I went today this morning, Monday morning, to his Wikipedia page. And I don't think a lot of, some people might not realize this. He's been in the National Football League, the National Football League, since 2000. He's been coaching on Sundays for over 20 years. He's only 47 years old. So since he was about 26, 27, he's been in the NFL. And I think a lot of people consider him a Belichick guy. Well, let's think about two Belichick guys. We'll dive into the Raiders who are 0 and 2 and the giants who were 2 and 0. Now, I saw Josh McDaniels say after the game, we have to learn how to win. I had to read that twice. Josh, you're in half.

heriting a 10-win team. Max Crosby, Derek Carr, Hunter Renfro, those guys won literally last year. Colton Miller, your players, Chandler Jones played for the Patriots and the Cardinals. They were in the playoffs last year. So your core players not only know how to win, they literally did it last year on this team.

And then the number one guy you traded for, I don't know, has won 13 games a year, just the last three years. the Packers have been the number one seat two out of the last three years. So your Corrater guys, and then acquiring Devante Adams, they literally all know how to win. And I said week one, like I put that thing on Derek.

Right? You can't overcome a guy throwing a bunch of picks. It's hard to overcome Daniel Jones, who's really not doing much. But if you don't turn the ball over, like Tom Brady the other day, and Jamis does, in a tight game, you're going to win. And Derek Carr, it was his fault. one. Well, I'm watching week two. Like, I'm sorry, this is Josh McDaniels. Like, hey, Josh, you're up

23 to 7. Your offense is humming. You got to win that game. Under no circumstances, a team, like obviously, Kyler pulled some you know what out of who knows where, but he did. And he's a remarkable talent. But up 23-7 in the third quarter, when a team is basically tapping out, you cannot lose. Like, that thing's on Josh McDaniels. And think about Josh McDaniels and Brian Dable. The only success Josh McDaniels has ever had has been with Bill Belichick. That's the only time. And I think we have a long history now to kind of realize that the Belichick coaching cocoon in New England has been pretty awesome for those guys. But the moment they get out of the cocoon, they struggle. I saw it when I got to Cal Poly. A lot of guys struggled with

drugs and drinking and other stuff that it's like they had never seen. seen in their life. And I'm not pounding my chest here, not proud of everything. But by the time I got to college, like in high school, I'd done a lot. I'd lived a little bit. Part of it was like my parents just allowed me to just kind of, you know, make my own decisions. I'm not saying they weren't strict or whatever, but I wasn't by any means living in some cocoon. So when I got to Cal Poly and I saw some pretty crazy things, if I would have seen him for the first time, who knows? Maybe I get overwhelmed. maybe I fail out of school. I don't know. But when I got there, I was pretty kind of in a weird way. I'm not trying to act like I was super mature, but I was mature to the sense of it was easy for me not to go out drinking Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday.

It was easy for me to say no to drugs. I had been around them for three or four years in high school. And I think a lot of guys get overwhelmed with that. I know a ton of people in my experience that got to college and failed out and transferred and couldn't handle it, right? just like a lot of Belichick's guys get to the league or I mean get their own job and they're completely overwhelmed and they utterly fail. They utterly fail. I think it's fair to say that Matt Patricia, Eric Mangini, some of these guys are probably not as dumb is the way we talk about him. And Josh McDaniels, I think is the guy that we hold to the highest regard because of like his deal with Tom Brady, the offense. Yet he finally gets an opportunity with a team that won 10 games last year and now he's 0 and 2 and it's just like, what is going on?

Where Brian Dayball, who is considered a Belichick guy, I went to his Wikipedia page. I knew some of it. He went so many different places. He went to the Browns. He went to the Dolphins as an offensive coordinator, and he failed. He's obviously a Sabin guy too,

and he went to Nick Saban in 2017 and was the offensive coordinator after going back to New England. So he'd kind of been like a Joe Judge, only had success in New England and was Sabin. But then his major difference is he went to a non-Belichick guy in 2018, a guy named Sean McDermott and he got around Josh Allen. And for 40 years outside of the Belichick cocoon, he got to just have experiences.

He got to learn. He got to develop a quarterback. He got to fail a little bit. And he obviously got to have a lot of success. And to me, I'm always a huge believer in the impact of experience. We're seeing it with Trey Lance. Like to me, Trey Lance has looked in his short time completely overwhelmed. It's way too fast form. And the reason is he has no experience. Like why can Kyler Murray or Jalen Hertz or some of these guys look so, Josh Allen, looks so comfortable running around? Because they have instincts because they've been doing it for so long.

Trey really hasn't. He doesn't even have the reps in college. So the experience you have when you're a coach going different places, Kyle Shanahan, we just like, I just worked for his dad in Washington. And then he worked like three other places before he became a head coach. and that really benefits any human being. When I left the NFL, I worked in radio. Now I've been doing the Colin stuff.

I've got to do multiple different things. I got to dabble in TV locally in San Francisco. I kind of got to dabble my hands in different things. It's made me much more capable in 2022 because all the things I got to experience under the media umbrella. I didn't just become a podcaster in 2013. It all worked out. No, I tried this.

I failed at this. I did a little bit of this. didn't like this. And that is a big deal. Like, I'm not saying Josh McDaniels, I don't believe in the guy because everyone I know that have been around him,

they think too highly of them. I've played golf with guys that have played for Josh McDaniels. They fucking love him. They think he's a really high-level guy. But I'm sorry, like I got to like question,

is he just gonna kick ass and take names? Where Brian Dayball, his team is not very talented. Even Giants fans, you guys would have to admit, like, you're not the most talented team and you don't even have a quarterback. Yet I'm watching because I bet on the Panthers.

I literally bet against the guy. And to me, as what I do now, what I learn the most about another team when I can really dissect them is when I'm either gambling on them or gambling against the team. And I've been impressed. I mean, the bald dude just kind of knows what he's doing. Of course he does. He's been around the block a few times.

So while he's under 50, just go to his Wikipedia page all over the place. but I don't think we can discount how much he probably grew as a coach over the last four years outside of the Belichick and even the Sabin cocoon. Because let's face it, for 20 plus years, if you coached under Belichick, you won. And for the last 10, if you coached under Nick, you won. But it doesn't guarantee when you leave them that you're going to win. And when you go to other places and you also have success, then maybe you're just a good coach. Maybe Brian Dayball, I don't know, is just a good coach.

coach. And I think about two years ago, I think Brian Dayball right and Tom Telesco, or I guess it was Greg Roman. Excuse me, it was Greg Roman, him and Telesco went to school. But remember, Brian Dayball was in the mix for the charger job and they went Brandon Staley instead. You don't think if you were a charger fan with Justin Herbert, you'd rather have, Colin's been talking about this for a long time. You watch the Chargers play. Like, where is the innovation? What are we doing? You're just dinking and dunking? Can you imagine if you had Brian Dayball there instead of a defensive head coach? And listen, I'm not acting like Brandon Staley isn't a good defensive coach now that they got players.

Their defense looks awesome. But their offense leaves a little something to be desired. To me, I always lean offense when I got a quarterback. Every single time. Every single time. If I'm hiring from scratch, I get, like, if you have Harbaugh or Tomlin, some of these guys are already there. But I'm saying if I'm starting from scratch and I'm hiring the coach,

I think you'd like a redo. So the Giants impressive, the Raiders, what a terrible loss. and talking about non-impressive is a Denver Broncos. And I think people thought I was nuts when I picked him to come and forth. Now, it's pretty clear with them and the Raiders are probably going to battle it out for that, you know, that distinction for seasons end. And they both got some things going for them and they both got some question marks. But one thing is very clear that Nathaniel Hackett is completely over his head.

he has been through two games an utter disaster. I mean an utter disaster. And speaking of like the day ball, Josh McDaniels, think about Nate Hackett, who was not viewed anywhere near being a head coach in the league up until the last couple years when he was part of an operation as the offensive coordinator where not only did he not call plays, the head coach did, but they were playing with one of the great quarterbacks and really one of the great players in the history of sports who completely resurrected his career and started becoming an MVP again and just kicked ass took names and

dominated everyone. Nate Hackett, gregarious guy, big smile, seems really likable. And like I said with Frank Wright, there is, sometimes you got to separate, I really like this guy, I love his energy. Does he have any clue what he's doing? Because I flip on the Broncos game yesterday. I watched it this, I didn't watch the whole thing and this morning I watched it, but with no sound. But yesterday, I flip it on while the game's going on. And the first play that I get to is Nate Hackett, the Broncos call a timeout. And they are, it's punt. But they're not the punting team.

They're the punt return team. And even the announcer's like, why did he call? Oh, they did not have a punt returner on the field. So it's one thing, the clock management, like I do believe that, and listen, I'm guilty as well, is that we are very critical of clock management. it's pretty clear that's hard. Most every guy, every academic on their on their couch watching TV thinks they could be a head coach. None of them could sniff doing the job.

Not absolutely none of them. But and listen, I'm guilty to. I scream with the television to call timeouts. There are, it feels like some basic things. But I think we have a long history now that the overwhelming majority of coaches struggle with it. It's fast. You're on the field. You're not relaxed on a couch.

It's hard. So even if I gave him a little bit of the benefit of the doubt, when you do things like consistent penalties and then things like guys not being on the field, that is a direct reflection of coaching and communication, which ultimately is on the coaching staff and the head coach to communicate everything to the players. The Belichick, New England mantra is you're either coaching it or allowing it to happen. So anything that happens is being allowed by the coaching staff. That's the way this sport works.

This is not the NBA where it's like, hey, Kevin Durant, just dribble around, score us 50, Doug. You know, go get it. Go get it, LeBron. Carry our ass in the playoffs. It's like that's not how the NFL works. Every single play of every single game, there is a play call. Now, part inside plays, like part of Kyler Murray is his insane instincts. Lamar Jackson.

It's what I questioned with Trey Lance. Like, does he have any instincts? Like, there is every, even in every play, sometimes you have to ad lib. If everyone in the business community just did what academia told us in theories on the whiteboard supply demand, we'd all be in the gutter.

Because a lot of the great companies and the way our society functions is because of people that trusted their gut, trusted their instincts, and didn't act on the black and white device. Or advice, right? If you do this, this will happen. That's not the way the world works, right?

No different than a play call. If I call whatever the play call is, this guy's going to be open against that coverage. And in theory, he should be. But then all of a sudden, the DB cheats or the wide receiver falls and he's not. Does the quarterback freak out? Or does he go, no, I know what to do. I'll scramble around. I'll throw it to this guy.

I'll point this out. You've got to be an instinctive football player. You cannot be a robot. No different than being a head coach. And I don't think you can learn to be a great head coach. One, like there is only a small percentage of people. that even have the capability to succeed at doing it. And then I think clearly early on with some guys,

you know, this guy doesn't have it. This guy is completely overwhelmed. And one of their biggest problems is, might not even just be the head coach, it might be the quarterback as a shell of himself. Because separate from what we've talked about of being a weird guy and just being a little out there and not being the most relatable human,

which I'm sorry, I think is pretty important at quarterback, Bradie has it. Even Rogers, clearly like guys get along with them. Mahomes, Josh Allen, Lamar, like these guys relate with their guys. You can't, like you can be stern on guys that are still, I don't know, your homies, your friends, people that, you know, admire you that look up to you that want to hang out with you. You kind of got to hang out with other people. It's part of the deal. You can't just isolate yourself. Now, if you are going to be like that, you better be elite. You better be elite, right? Let's just say Steph Curry, hypothetically was a weirdo, no one liked him. You know, he's good enough that he could probably

overcome it. Now he happens to be an incredible teammate, people love him and everyone gets along with him. But if you're going to be the best of the best, like you can get along with being a little out there. The moment you're not as great and you're a weirdo, like I'm sorry, it's over. And to me, I'm watching him. If Russell Wilson used to be a nine, right, like a nine out of ten, right? If like Rogers and Brady and Mahomes are like tens, I never thought he was on that level, but he was damn good. He was consistently somewhere between like the fourth to six best quarterback. And on a given

week, he could be the best player in the league. Well, I'm watching a guy that just doesn't look the same. And part of it, having watched two Seattle games this year, D.K. Beckap, when he got to the Seattle, he kind of helped make Russell look even better. Well, why do you think that is? I don't know, he's 6'4. He's 225 pounds and he runs like a 4.040. He is, you know, one of the biggest physical freaks

we've ever seen, like a Julio, like a Terrell Owens. And I see Russell Wilson throwing up these balls like it's D.K. Metcalfe, and it ain't D.K. Metcalf. So, you know what happens? It's not working. I watch Russell's deep ball. It still looks beautiful in the air. You know what the problem is sometimes? Wide receivers covered. There's a D.B. right there. Doesn't work as well. Now, I know they've had some wide receiver injuries, but the simple reality is, is that for the majority of Russell's career, before D.K. showed up, they had random wide receivers. I mean, Baldwin's a solid player like Doug Baldwin, right?

Golden Tate had some moments, but they never had a guy like that. They had a guy like that, and Russell even took the next step, especially those first two years with D.K. I was like, Russell Wilson, they give them all this money, they make the trade. I don't blame them for making that trade. I think it was a pretty no-brainer trade to make. If you and I ran Denver and we were presented with, hey, you can trade us woods and fant and give us a couple ones, here, give me Russell Wilson.

I would have done it too. But just because you would have done it doesn't mean six months later, two years later, it might turn out to be a disaster. And of course, once they make the trade, they're going to pay them. So I understand why they did all this. But it is, it's not looking good. And, you know, I like the Niners. I did not like the Niners at all this week.

I thought before Trey Lance got it hurt, I had this game circled of thinking, this is a game that Trey's got three picks, overwhelmed, and the Broncos just smother them. Now I look at the game and I go, yeah, I like the Nivers to win. Cowshan Inver's Nate Hackett. Jimmy Garoppolo is much more comfortable at a crazy environment on the road.

Denver's already turning on their team. Don't blame them. I never blame fans who are the consumers and the reason this all exists. Without the fans watching and going to the games, there would be zero money. This would be just, you know, no different than pick up football. That's what it is.

The billion dollar business, because of the consumer. And the consumer gives a shitload of their time, and their time now equals a shitload of money for the league. And when I give you a lot of time and you're an embarrassment, I don't understand booing, you know, guys that get injured or if a team's playing well and you have a tough loss. But when you're blowing timeouts and there's no punt returner and Russell's getting delay a game, like I'm sorry.

I support the fan. on this one. They're in the right on this one because the Denver Broncos, if you're 40 years old, like you know what good football looks like and you know what terrible football looks like. It wasn't that long ago that Peyton Manning had a high level operation there with Denver. And listen, we're all watching this. They feel like a low level team right now. They clearly have some talent. I said it over and over. Everyone coward picked them to be like the second best team in the league. I can't just pick a team, even if they get Russell Wilson, just because they got really good players, when those really good players have never won,

we have a long history in sports, baseball, basketball, and football, team sports. I'm sure hockey too, I'm not a hockey fan, where teams that have a lot of talent never win anything, right? Sometimes the Patriots historically were not the most talented teams, especially that second iteration of the championship teams. Like Julian Edelman was their best receiver. I know they had Brady, but in Gronk, but they didn't have Lawrence Taylor and Ray Lewis walking through that door. but they were winners.

They understood how to win and make winning plays. I'm watching the Broncos going, I don't know, man. I don't see it. And then I know we all question their coach. Does he know how to teach them to make winning plays? And then he got Russell being kind of a weirdo, screaming at people to do weird things.

So who knows if it's going to work? I don't know. But I look a little differently at the AFC West. Josh McDaniels, do I have a lot of faith? I've lost some. The Denver Broncos, they're worse than I thought. I picked them to go fourth, but I still thought they'd win 90.

games. I just thought that chief of the Chargers would win 12 or 13. You know, other team would win 11. Raiders would win 10 and that team would win eight or nine. Now it's like, who knows? If you told me that they went 6 and 11 and it's just a historical disaster at coach, like we've seen it before. Oh, last but not least, I got to, I watch this game, so I want to talk about it. Chargers, or excuse me, the Bengals and the Cowboys. Two takeaways from the Cowboys. Cooper is a good player. You know, we've seen. seen him make two starts, he's won two games. How many backups, Jimmy Garoppolo is not a backup.

That's a very unique situation. Like a true backup. Chase Daniel, Chad Haney, Cooper Rush can just, their last two starts, they're 2 and and different than that Minnesota start last year, watching him against the Bengals, like, I took away like, this guy's a pretty good player. He has a good arm, he's pretty accurate, he's very poised. I was impressed, especially I had to look up. I'm like, did he get drafted?

No, he's an undrafted free agent. Now, I'm not acting, and I'm sure people have said it. Like, he's already better than deck. I'm not saying that. But if that's your backup, I will give the Cowboys a lot of credit. That is an excellent backup. That is an excellent contingency plan. And there's an element of luck because of the COVID year, and the dude didn't play.

Because I do think if he played his junior year for Penn State, there isn't a snowball's chance in the hottest part of hell that Michael Parsons makes it past 11 teams. I think it's absolutely impossible. It would never happen. I think if you redo that draft, shit that 49ers might have traded three first rounders to get him. You know, if you could, hey, Kyle, who would you take?

I think we'd take Michael Parsons said to train Lance. I would say, yes, that would be a good move. Guys, incredible. I don't even know. You know, Vaughn Miller is a stand-up guy. It was so fast. This guy has speed like that in the ability to bend. But he's also so powerful.

He's got this power like he's, I wouldn't quite say like Pete Khalil Mack, but he's got some power like that. He is a dominant, dominant player. So when I watch the Cowboys, I go, you know who's really carrying them? Dan Quinn and Micah Parsons. Because never forget when Mike McCarthy

got the job, I remember thinking, this is the most insane thing I've ever seen. Just because this guy 15 years ago hired you, you're going to make him your defensive coordinator. And remember, it was a historical disaster. In Mike Nolan, I spotted that thing from the moon. I mean, it's like, what are we doing here? Completely disaster. It was even worse than I thought, immediately fired. And then, like, am I giving Mike McCarthy that much credit? I would imagine the Jones, kind of a no-brainer once he got fired to hire Dan Quinn. It's changed their franchise. It's given them a chance because offensively, C.D. looked a lot better against the Bengals. Their best running back, and I don't even think is that close, is number 20.

Pollard is dramatically faster than Zeeke. And I like Zeeke. I'm not like some Zique hater. I love a good physical back. I love a guy that can catch. I love a guy that will block. Like, I respect Zika a lot. I do, because I think playing running back at the level in which he plays it in terms of his physicality is so hard. You're constantly taking on linebackers, helping with defensive linemen, taking on hits. Like, he's lost a step because of all the pounding. I have a lot of respect for Zeke. But the other guy's way better.

And he's way more explosive. C.D. Lamb, I think Schultz got hurt. But defensively, their DBs make plays left and right. And 11 is all over the field. Now, I know the Bengals, like their offensive lines got issues. Listen, did he catch lightning in a bottle of the last year, Zach Taylor? Is that Taylor good? I don't know.

Because I watched Burrow, he's awesome. Their two receivers are sweet. I had no clue. I underestimated Higgins in college. I thought it was like, I wouldn't say an overdraft, but I was like, I don't know. He's been fantastic,

and Jamar is a dominant player, and Mixon's a stud. I mean, they got weapons everywhere. But offensive line-wise, they are really struggling. Now, granted, like Anthony Munoz, might be hit or miss with Michael Parsons right now.

I hear a lot of people going, you know, it's sacrilegious to compare him to Lawrence Taylor. Like, guys, we can just admit, like right now, the guy is playing like a Hall of Fame level player. Is he Lawrence Taylor? Of course not. Lawrence Taylor did it for like a decade. But if he keeps playing like this, we'll consider him like the 2020s Lawrence Taylor.

Because right now, there is nobody. Like Trent Williams would have problems with the guy. He is a monster. He's got speed. He's got counter moves. He's got spin moves. He's got a power move. he moves around

like he's like a running back or a wide receiver in terms of agility he's a fucking badass so I don't like I don't know the Bengals everyone's like oh they couldn't block him nobody can but I just the Bengals are now owned to you know

if Zach Taylor was fired tomorrow I know he went to the Super Bowl last year would there be a lot of teams lining up what there I'm not sure I wouldn't hire him he wouldn't be my first call but props to the Cowboys literally every game I picked last week from a gambling perspective

and then in my own head, I would have missed every single one. That's the hard part about the transition from week one to week two. Everything you see, a lot of it completely swings the other way. But that was a big win for old Mike and Cooper Rush. 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 which I'm saying. Yep, that's me, Cliver Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media. 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. always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger. So, if you've ever supported me, or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right what you need to be. Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. 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 Boar 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 a little bit? of Kim, well, you can find out on the Look Back at it podcast. I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English.

Each episode, we pick a 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 you all know. I mean, at this point, Mark, this is the second episode where we've discussed crack. So I'm starting to see that there's a through line. We also have AIDS. 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. Okay, let's do a couple of middle-off mailbags, and then I'll get you out of here. I don't know how long this will take to make the mailbag, but I have a question.

is Zach Taylor over his skis. I've seen this play out with Marvin Lewis. Sometimes the coach doesn't fit the system and personnel. Am I wrong? Or is Taylor just lost? Yeah, I mean, I think a lot of people would go, well, they made the Super Bowl last year. And I go, yeah, I think Joe Burrell was just pulling, you know what, out of his butt. Do I think Zach Taylor is some dominant guy?

I don't. Do I think if Zach Taylor was fired tomorrow, he'd be hired again next year? I do not. Seems like a nice guy. I heard him when he was on a coward, but. Do I think he's a big time coach? I don't. I just see Joe Burrow, Jamar, Jason Higgins just kind of do everything.

I felt like last year he would try to screw things up. But, you know, their offensive line, he's not the personnel guy. Mike Brown and his staff is. And their offensive line does not look good. So I can't put that all on him. Now, maybe his coaching staff influenced who they signed. I'm sure they did. But it's ugly out there.

Not as big Zach Taylor guy. as a coach, nice guy probably. Relatively new listener, but love your NFL takes and you shed light on the business side of sports. As a lifelong Niner fan, I have mixed feelings on their quarterback situation. I was very optimistic on seeing Trey Lance

and his growth this year, and I felt it was great with the Jimmy as an insurance policy. Now that Lance is out for the season, what does this mean for the future outlook at quarterback? Let's say best case to Diderot happens and Jimmy gets them over the hump with a Super Bowl win, do you move to re-sign Jimmy

and punt on Tray Lance? Or do you let Jimmy walk and put all your eggs in the basket of an unproven quarterback? I feel like there are so many different layers to this. It's pretty crazy. On a most basic level, if Tray Lance had not broken his ankle

but he was out several weeks and Jimmy came back, Jimmy would have the job. There have been rumblings, Mike Silver has been reporting, that the players on the team wanted Jimmy Garoplo to be the quarterback. Why?

Because it wasn't an open competition. Trey Lance couldn't have beaten Jimmy Garoppolo out. Now, I'm not some Jimmy Garoppolo stand, but having watched Trey Lance in training camp, and then in the preseason, and then in the Chicago game, like, he's not ready, not for a Super Bowl team. If the Niners sucked, you would just play him, whatever.

But this team, Trent Williams, Ushack, Debo, Fred Warner, Bosa. I mean, these guys are trying to win the Super Bowl. And they want, did you see their celebration when Jimmy came into the game, it's not because they don't like Trey the guy. Trey is not remotely ready. Not remotely ready as a pastor.

And as a runner, like watch Jalen Hertz, how instinctive he is. Trey's not instinctive as a runner. He's not a very instinctive player. I'll be honest. I get very excited with physical attributes and Trey's got physical attributes. In theory, he's a good athlete,

and he's got a big arm. But that doesn't mean you become a good player. And so far watching him, like everyone's like, why is Kyle running him so much? I don't know because he's an inaccurate quarterback. And if you have him throw all the time, like last week when they couldn't run the ball, what happened? Now you'd be like, it's a monsoon, and it was.

But Jimmy is dramatically better than Trey right now. And the reality of sports, there's no guarantee that Trey ever becomes good. I usually bet on smart players that care about football, but it's just no guarantee. Because not everyone that's inaccurate becomes accurate. And then you go, how do you close that gap? Well, how did Jalen Hertz do it? The first year and a half, he wasn't an accurate, good thrower of the football. So what did he do?

He ran around. Well, Trey Lance runs around. One, part of the reason he got, he's baking the wrong reeds. Like, he's not a natural zone reed quarterback. When Debo had his big 50-yard run, he should have kept it. Debo just pulled the play out of his ass. He made four guys miss on the play that he was hurt. if he hands it off to Ray Ray,

and people are like, well, the defensive end was there. The defensive end wouldn't have sniffed Ray Ray, and Ray Ray would have walked into the end zone. Part of being a football player is not just following the playbook. It's about having instincts. Well, this guy was supposed to be there.

He's not, and now I pivot. It's no different. I say it all the time. In business, same thing. Having instincts. You got to trust your gut. Why is Lamar and Jalen and Kyler? Why are they so good on the fly?

Because they're instinctive players as mobile corner players. as mobile quarterbacks. Before Deshaun Watson chased every massage therapist known in Texas, he was a very instinctive player. Before Russell Wilson got fat,

he was instinctive as a mobile quarterback. I watch Trent, I don't see any instincts. And you go, why does it be instinctive? Well, he barely played. When would he have built instincts? It's not like he was a three-year starter

at North Dakota State. He played one season against, let's face it, pretty low-level competition. I'm not trying to write the guy off, but I, my opinion, I got nervous watching him. He does not instill confidence into me playing. Now, obviously he shattered his ankle, which is awful. No one roots for that. But I know who looked pretty happy. The 49ers, the team, pretty crazy. So I think they have a much, I didn't have much fate.

Like, I didn't view them as a lock playoff team the more I watched Trey Lance. Because he would, how was he going to win on the road? The Bears stink. They scored 10 points. think about that. They scored 10 points against the Bears. 10. Hey John, first time. I've actually never done anything like this before, but you seem like a genuine guy,

so I thought I'd give it a try. Lifelong Bears fan, 23 years old. I keep telling myself, we have to have patience, trust the process. It's difficult to do since I've only witnessed two successful seasons, 2007 and 2018. Although they got beat in the first round,

I think you guys, didn't you guys go to the NFC championship game in 2010? You've seen three. I understand they are overwhelming the odds that the team completely sucks this year. All I'm asking for is during the year. We witness something that resembles a functioning team, something that helps me say,

if we get the right guys in here with the scheme, we could definitely compete. Am I asking too much too soon in a rebuilding process? Side note, you think the NFL has gone too soft on quarterbacks on the offensive personnel with these penalties. It seems like even when you chest someone up, you hit them too hard. You're going to get a draw flag.

I understand promoting player safety, but in my opinion, I agree. It's 2022. I say this in college all the time. No one's trying to hurt anyone anymore. There are no, this isn't the 1978 Raiders. This isn't the 1985 Bears. People are not trying to break other people's arms,

sternums, and legs. Everyone is just trying to tackle people. It's a violent game, but I think we all agree no one's trying to hurt anyone anymore. You're trying to inflict pain when you hit someone hard, but the days of back in the day football are over. So when I see nothing

and I mean nothing pisses me off more than when a guy gets ejected in college. Like, he's not trying to hurt him. This guy, more than likely, 95% of these players are never going to play in the NFL. You kick them out of one of their games? God, that pisses me off. And in the NFL, like, no one's trying to hurt anyone. We get it. This isn't 2015 anymore.

Will Smith ain't shooting some movie that not a soul's going to watch. So let's just, let's pull back on the penalties a little bit. because I think we all agree. Like everyone's on the same page. We're all playing the game in a much safer manner. And the Bears, yeah, I just... Usually when you bottom out, and I think that's what you guys are kind of going to do this year,

you just root, you have a young quarterback. So you want to see him show signs of life. And you just, there's not a no way to quantitate it, or quantify it, excuse me, right? There's not like a completion percentage or amount of touchdowns. You just kind of know it when you see it. and, you know, through a couple games,

I'm pretty impressed. I mean, his team stinks, and he's just running around and making some plays, and you just got to hope I think it continues. I found you through Collins' feed, and I love your no-b-s-takes. I've been a Steeler fan since Bettis, looking at the game this Sunday against the Pats,

Mitch was dinking down to his checkman or throwing short all game long, with one or two shots, I think, 20-plus yards down the field. Interested in your take on how Mitch, our OC, the line, contributed to do an offense that couldn't get going. I've said this from the beginning.

Trubisky is physically gifted. Like he can run around. He's got a decent arm. He's not a very, I was talking about Trey, not having good instincts. Well, Mitch, one year starter in college. He's not very instinctive.

Like you watch him, you go, what is he doing? And he's just not a natural football player. Like, listen, is Jalen Hertz a perfect player? No, he's a natural football player. Do I love Kyler's body language? No, it, it's just, It's gross.

But Tyler's a pretty natural football player. It comes natural playing the game. It feels like, yeah, this guy was belongs on a football field. I watch Mr. Biscay, I go, I don't know, man. I feel like this guy's an athletic guy trying to be a quarterback. That's kind of the vibe I get watching Trey Lance. It's like, I don't, you know, like Jimmy Garoppel got some flaws. He's probably the 15th best quarterback in the NFL.

But he's just, he's a natural quarterback. Like it looks normal watching him play. even with his flaws. Hell, I'd say the same thing with Cousins. Cousins has some limitations, but it feels like he has an understanding of the position. When I watch Mitch, I go,

I just don't see it. I've never saw it. And it's easy to go, Matt Nagy's an idiot. No, I actually think Matt Nagy's not. I think Mitch was terrible. I really do. And I think you guys are Steelers fans

are going to learn that, and you'll be calling for Kenny Pickett as I'm sure as you are right now. So I would just put Kenny Pickett in there and see what happens. immediately. But he's not going to do that until he probably loses another game or two. Appreciate everyone listening. Share the pod with your friends. Share them with your enemies. I appreciate all you guys. So talk to everyone soon. Peace.

Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smyl 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 Acapella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever

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

I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care which I'll say it. 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 Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfilled 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 IHeard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you

get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok podcast podcast on the Look Back at it podcast. For 1979, that was a big moment for me. 84's big to me. I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick you here, unpack what and 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. It 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.