The Herd with Colin Cowherd - 3 and Out - NFL Week 1 Reaction

Episode Date: September 12, 2022

John reacts to a NFL Week 1, including Tom Brady leading the Bucs to a convincing win over the Cowboys despite off-field distractions, Lamar Jackson’s decision to play without a long term deal. He also buys or sells his week 1 takes. 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! #herd #VolumeSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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love gambling with Fanduel. If you are new, just download the Fandual Sportsbook app to get started. Now sign up with promo code Colin so they know we sent you. What is going on, everybody, John Middlecock, three and out podcast. Just watch the little Cowboys. Tom Brady takes galore. A lot going on. Big week.

I've watched football basically for the last 48 hours, and I've got to say, I've loved every second of it. Hopefully you guys have had a good weekend. Hopefully your team's won. I obviously owe some apologies this podcast. I think one might start with a guy named Matt Eberflus. I've got to say his name right. That'll come up.

I think what I'm going to do, obviously we're always going to talk about the Sunday night game, want to hit on Lamar Jackson, and then I'm going to do something every Sunday called buy or sell, where I buy takes that I like and sell takes that I don't like. so I will things that takes of mind so something that I was right about I'm going to buy more of and something that I was wrong about like obviously

you know, Iberflus. Not necessarily I'm not changing my overall opinion we'll guide into it later but I'll sell where needs be. I'm not I'll eat my humble pie. I'll eat my crow. I'm not too stubborn. I don't care. I mean I just talk about sports for a living. This isn't

that big a deal if you can't admit. Well, you were wrong. You know, like somehow I just bet on the Cowboys. I don't know how I did that, but I made so much money gambling on underdogs this weekend. And then Mike McCarthy. So let's go there first. And I want to start with an apology. One, a lot of people thought I was insane for taking the Carolina Panthers to win the division.

I don't feel as good about that. Now, I wanted to be a little different. Even though, you know, they almost won today. I owe Tom Brady an apology. Now I owe a lot of other apologies we're going to get into later on the show. But I'm going to start with Tom. And I think one thing that people that are really talented at whatever they do can do very well is compartmentalize. And clearly Tom Brady, it's not even arguable.

I'm not trying to guess what's going on. It's been well reported. Giselle, the family issues, him disappearing. It was weird. Like, we've all been watching football. If you're 30 years old, you've been watching football for 20 years. If you're 40 years old, you've been watching football for 30 years. We all could say, like, that's a little weird for the guy leaving, especially when you factor in who it is.

If Antonio Brown leaves for a week, we're like, whatever, guy's a whack job, right? It wouldn't even be that weird. Tom Brady, you're like, this doesn't add up. And then he comes back and he says it. And my take was, things are getting really weird with Tampa Bay. Right? They're losing a bunch of offensive linemen with injuries. But most importantly, it's him.

The franchise was a clown show. 12 straight years, they didn't make the playoffs. Tom Brady comes, they win the Super Bowl. Then the following year, they host a playoff game in the second round, which obviously they lost the Rams. But he's the reason this franchise is having success. They've had good players. They have good players now.

You put Tom Brady with the franchise, they're big time. Now, what I underestimated that Tom Brady has handled deflategate, spy gate, a million things, Orchids of Asia with his owner. A lot of weird things have happened in New England over the years. Right? A lot. Yet he's never been fazed. But those were always football things. So it's easy for him to kind of drown out the noise and stay focused on the task at hand. It's a little bit different. Like we're all human beings. We all have friends and family that have had bad breakups or have had divorces. And we've seen the impact. Now, maybe this guy is just a cyborg and a robot. Because let's face it, like CEOs on Wall Street get divorced. You know, NFL head coaches get divorced. Bill Belichick got a divorce. No one knew about it until he started dating Coor Linda. And there are certain people that are able to just stay laser focused, however that's humanly possible. I know that's something I'm not great at.

I get easily distracted. I'm someone that if things are going on in my life that aren't well on one side, it affects the other side. Maybe Tom's just a robot. Because I'm watching that game today going, he's got a million injuries to his offensive line. Hell, early in the game, his starting left tackle gets hurt. I go, no way. He looks, and we've been saying over and over, I've never argued that Tom was going to fall off a cliff like Drew Breeze,

like Ben Rothesberger, or like Philip Rivers. Or hell, Eli Manning. His arm is not going. He is throwing balls now at 45 years old that look better than balls that he threw at 25. It's incredible. Like, it's not really argue about TB12. It works. What they say tonight, he calls Julio Jones.

Get on TB12. Look at Julio Jones. Julio Jones looks like it's 2016, and he's playing with Kyle Shannon and his offensive coordinator. I mean, TB 12, my mom bought me the book actually for Christmas. I use it in my condo in the Bay Area. It just has like just a book sitting there on a shelf to look good. I've never actually read it, but maybe I should. Because everyone that uses it, whether it's the avocado ice cream,

whether it's the pliability stretches, that shit works. It clearly works with Tom, but I didn't underestimate Tom's arm. We've all been watching Tom long enough. His arm is unfaced. I underestimated his just robotic nature. of being completely unfazed by anything going on at home. And honestly, I'm jealous how he's able to have that laser focus because that's something that we all aspire to have,

whatever we do, to just when we do our tasks at work or professionally, just to be locked in and laser focus. And this guy is seven Super Bowls, and this guy is one of the most accomplished, not just athletes, but human beings we've ever seen in his field because of that laser focus. And we've talked about it forever. We've given him a lot of credit.

and for the first time I kind of, I shorted it. I'm like, this is going to get them this time. And based on one game, zero impact. Now, you could argue the opponent, which we'll dive into in a second, might not exactly be a worthy foe. Dallas might suck. But I'm sorry, Tom. I'm sorry, Tampa Bay.

If I could redo my pick, who's going to win the NFC South, I think I would take Tampa Bay now. No, I'm not totally riding off the Carolina Panthers. I still believe that they will be feisty and still have a chance to compete for a wild card, especially because the NFC doesn't look that great. But if Tampa, I mean, the defense is going to be that good and Tom's going to play like that,

now we'll see, does the offensive line eventually catch it? You can only lose so many offensive linemen, or maybe Tom, and it doesn't matter. Now the Dallas Cowboys, like, let's face it, the only reaction you can have after that game is they stink. That is an embarrassing performance. Now, we all knew, and even they made,

mentioned on the broadcast, the first question Mike McCarthy got during training camp was about his job status. It was, Mike, do you think you're going to be able to keep your job? Mike, did you worry about being fired? So that is the elephant in the room. It's one of the biggest talking points in the NFL this season. It's like, is Mike McCarthy going to last? Is Mike McCarthy going to make the season? People like, well, Jerry's pretty loyal. Jerry doesn't usually fire coach in the middle of the season, which I tend to agree, but this is a little different. Mike's not really like Jason Garrett was one of his guys. Mike was kind of this hired gun that pretended

he watched all these games and he had the Cowboys broken down and they laughed about at his introductory press conference that he actually didn't watch all the games. And then we're watching Mike McCarthy and we don't really know what he does. He doesn't call the offensive plays. He obviously has nothing to do with the defense. And you just go, you have to think he's in trouble. And I've said from a

talent standpoint, just from a roster construction, they lost a lot. So anytime that you lose a lot of players who are really good and we're a big reason, that you were a 12 or I'm pretty sure they went 12 and 5 last year 12 and 5 win team hosted a playoff game. Amar Cooper was a big deal for Dak Prescott. Like Amarer Cooper was really good for them.

Hell, Cedric Wilson, who was on their team last year, it was pretty damn good too. Randy Gregory had a pretty big impact as a pass rusher. Like you can only lose so many players. Then you factor in, Lyle Collins is gone. Tyron Smith gets hurt. Now you're implementing a brand new starting left tackle, who's a rookie, who if anything was going to need some work. Like, they got a lot of moving parts right now.

It doesn't exactly feel like McCarthy's Belichick Parcells or Walsh in their primes. So I would say first and foremost, their head coach, who was a major question mark coming into the season, who I think we've been questioning now for a couple of years. You have to go now that he doesn't really have a loaded gun like he did last year, how is he going to overcome this? How is he going to get this team to the playoffs? And then you factor in, let's start with Dak Prescott before he hurt his finger. Because as of recording this, I don't know, did he break his finger?

Is he out for a period of time? Was it just a scare? I don't know. As of recording this, I have no clue. Here's what I do know, though. Before he got injured, he was terrible. You can be like, well, it wasn't all. Yeah, we understand.

It's never all someone's fault. But when it was on Dak Prescott to make a play, when guys were getting blocked and guys were open, he was bad. Now, people have think that I'm some Dak Prescott hater. I'm not. I just think at $40 million, little overvalued,

not really feeling the price point, the talent, though I've always valued the human being. I think he's a super high level guy, root for the human being, but I will say this, that if he's going to play like that and their team is not as good, they have no shot. It's a little bit like the Green Bay Packers years ago when they've had some, you know, underman teams. Well, Aaron Roger is so good, he could rise above it. That is not that press guy. He is not that guy. Remember what's the meme? You're not that guy, pal? well he's not that guy pal and he's just not good enough to put themselves in a position where they are going to you know win games in the sense of he needs surgery just got a text so let me let me update this now

back prescott will be out a while according to jerry jones he needs surgery let's start with that that kind of represents the cowboys right there the guy that's breaking the news is literally the owner in the locker room. Like, the whole organization is just not healthy. Now, Dak being hurt sucks. Like, I don't want any of these quarterbacks to get hurt, whether I'm bullish on him or whether I'm bearish on him. But like I said, before he got injured, every cowboy fan would have to admit he's not playing

with Michael Irvin, Amari Cooper, and Des Bryant. We all agree. His best receiver, Cee Lamb, who kind of felt like he was going through the motions tonight, some other guys, and I follow football pretty closely. I literally watch 15 hours of college football. I don't even know who they are. But he was not playing well. Now he's out for a while.

It's going to be a problem. Like, they're not, Mike McCarthy's not winning games with Cooper Rush. So what are they going to do? You know, I don't know. They're screwed. I was out on Dallas to begin with. Now, I thought with a healthy DAC,

they would still compete to make the playoffs. Eight, nine wins. I had the Eagles pick. Now, I mean, this has a chance to be a complete nutter disaster. But let's start on the number one conversation. that's going to happen moving forward. Will Sean Payton be the next head coach? And I'm going to pound this drum over and over and over.

I'm not saying that, like, I don't want Jerry Jones to die. Okay? I want Jerry Jones to live on. I want everyone to live. I don't want anyone to lose their life. But until Jerry is removed from the Cowboys, and that will not happen until he dies. like he's not giving up power.

Literally Al Davis, who Jerry Jones, I heard Matt Mosley tell Colin Coward on his podcast, Jerry idolized Al. Al ran the Raiders until literally his dying days. That is going to be the same thing with Jerry. I have a hard time envisioning. Actually, I can't see it. Sean Payton working for Jerry Jones. Sean Payton is a guy that's $15 million plus NFL head coach. Well, he also, when you're a $15 to $20 million head coach, you're used to getting all the juice.

When you read Kirby Smart and Dabo Sweeney and Nick Sabin and all these coaches in college get all this money, they also run the whole fucking program. Well, ultimately, like anything that Andy Reid ultimately wants, anything that Sean McVey or Kyle Shanahan ultimately want, they get. Well, you think Sean Payton is going to be like, yeah, Jerry, I'll come, I'll call the plays because you need a good play caller, I'll coach these guys up, but I'll let you do everything else. I'll let you pick the players. I'll let you talk after every game. Like, that's not happening.

That's not the way a healthy organization runs. Again, as an outsider, I'm not a cowboy fan, just an NFL fan. I'm a fan of all the characters. Jerry's a great character. Literally, I'm recording a podcast. I get a text to the guy that broke the news, not Schefter, not Rap Sheet. It's Jerry Jones telling everyone that DAC needs surgery. That clearly he broke a finger or something, right?

Something happened to his hand, hopefully not his wrist, broke his finger, and now they're in trouble. But they were in trouble before DAC got hurt. But anytime you lose your starting quarterback, they're screwed. I hate to say it, the season's over. You know, like it's over. Because you weren't good enough to begin with. It's like Notre Dame. They lost to Marshall.

The playoffs are done. Your season's over. You're just trying to compete now if you're Marcus Freeman to keep your job. job. If you're Mike McCarthy, you know, the difference is Mike or Marcus Freeman could keep his job. How does Mike McCarthy keep his job? Like if he goes eight and nine, how are they keeping them? Even if you tell me, well, back misses a month and a half, I don't think anyone's going to care. People already wanted him gone to begin with. So Tom Brady, who has destroyed a lot of careers, think about the hamster wheel of coaching jobs with the jets, the dolphins, and the bills for those two decades that Tom was there.

just ruining careers. In a weird way, it felt like he ruined Mike McCarthy's career tonight. Came in, fresh off, a marriage he's holding on due for dear life. You're like, God, Tom hasn't even focused. Just destroys the cowboys. And now Dax got, who knows what, in his hand or finger, he's out. Everyone's going to be like, oh, Mike screwed. Everyone's putting Sean Payton.

Like I said, I'm not going there yet. I'm just not. I can't envision Sean Payton taking orders from Jerry. Now, as we've seen in Live Golf, money talks, shitwalks. So, hell, maybe Jerry pays him $30 million. He's like, hey, Jerry, you pick the players, you talk in the locker room, you pay me $2 million a game, and we're good to go. But what a nice. What a great weekend of football.

And that night just blew everything away in terms of Tom, DAC being injured, McCarthy's jobs already in the line. Who would have thought? Kickoff week one with Fandul, America's number one sportsbook. Join today, get started, $150 in free bets guaranteed when you place your first $5 bet. promo code, though, is Colin to get in on the action. Always Colin. Turn game day into payday. Win totals, division winners, player props, week one spreads and totals.

Play your way, bet on more than just the final score. You can even combine your bets for a chance at a bigger payout with same game parlay, my fave. Now, Fandul is also live in Kansas, baby. Don't fumble your chance. 150 bucks in free bets, win or lose, promo code, Colin. Make every moment more with Fandul, the official sportsbook partner of the NFL. 21 plus and present in Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Indiana, and Louisiana. Permitted parishes only.

Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Tennessee, or West Virginia. First online, real money wager only. Refund issued as non-withdrawable site credit that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. see terms at sportsbook.Fanduel.com. Gambling problem, 1-800-800-900 next step or text next step to 5334-2-A-8-8-8-8-9-7-7-7-7-7-7 or visit C-C-GBegbler or visit Fand-Duel. com slash RG and Colorado, Indiana, Jersie and Virginia, 18777-7-0-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-800-Gabler. For confidential help in Michigan.

1877 H-O-P-E-N-Y or text H-O-P-E-N-Y 4-6-7-369 in New York, Tennessee. Redline, 1-800-9-9-7-89, Tennessee. Visit 1-800-Gambler.net in West Virginia. 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. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand-new podcast,

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

So, if you've ever supported me, or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right where you need to be. Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. Do you remember when Diana Ross double-tap Little Kim's boobs at the VMAs?

Or when Kanye said that George Bush didn't like black people. I know what you're thinking. What the hell does George Bush got to do with Little Kim? Well, you can find out on the Look Back at it podcast. I'm Sam Jek. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick it here, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. Including a recent episode with Mark Lamont Hill waxing all about crack in the 80s.

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

Really? Yeah. For me, it's one of the most important years for black people in American history. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hard Way with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kear Games. And in recognition of mental health awareness month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking Tripp Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing.

And we're still chasing it. And we don't know when we've done enough. Because people scoreboard watch. Life becomes about wins and losses. Steve Burns, Dustin Ross, because you find it important to be a good person while you hear on earth. Are you a good person because you're afraid? Because that's two different intentions, bro. Absolutely.

And that's two different levels of trust. I want you to just really be a good person. person. Join me, Keir Gaines, as we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, Learn the Hardway. Open your free Our Heart Radio app, search Learn the Hardway, and listen now. I'm going to do something on these podcasts, I think, on Sunday night, where Colin does who's right and who's wrong. I'm going to turn it into buy and sell, basically buy my take that I had, that I was right on, and sell. And I owe some people apologies. I do. so I'm going to pump my chest a little bit.

It wasn't wrong on everything. But really quick, I want to say something about Lamar Jackson. I think we talked about it earlier in the week. But I'm adamant that he made a insane business soon. Because that's ultimately what he's doing. These athletes are the business, right? Most businesses, like, if you and I start a company, whatever it is, the likelihood that we could ever sell our company for $150 million is very unlikely.

the percentage of entrepreneurs that start things and ever sell their businesses for nine figures is few and far between. Now, the professional athletes, the percentage of these guys, you know, the countless numbers now make over $100 million. Obviously, all the quarterbacks, some star wide receivers, NBA players, Major League Baseball players, that individual is an entity. And when he's making decisions about his contract, he has to not think about it necessarily from a football standpoint if he's on a good team and having success. He has to think about it from

a business standpoint. And I heard Colin say this a while back and I couldn't agree anymore is that just because one business in any industry makes a bad decision and sets a market price, doesn't mean that everyone follows them. If you live in a neighborhood and, you know, no different than last year when the market was booming in the real estate market or right now is it slow down. Hopefully it slows down a little bit more so we can make a good purchase. You know what I'm saying? But if you live in a neighborhood in your house, give or take, has been selling for a million dollars. And someone in that same neighborhood find someone to buy their house for $4 million.

That does not mean that someone's going to be willing to buy your house for $1 million. Because you may be like, well, he just got four. I'll put mine on the market for $3.8. And no one comes remote, no one offers you more than $1.4. And you're like, what the hell? Well, just because this idiot, you know, had Bill Gates' cousin in his family and had unlimited money, does not mean you're getting that. Now, no one's ever argued that Lamar Jackson is not an excellent player, an excellent person, and been a fantastic addition to the Ravens organization worthy of an MVP, worthy of a league superstar. Dude's a stud.

The league is lucky to have him. But the Ravens, as Chris Mortensen was tweeting, was offering him more money at signing than guys like Kylo. Murray and Russell Wilson. And that's just the signing, the moment you sign what is guaranteed immediately. The practical guarantees, we're talking $160, $170 million. The first clip I saw today, I didn't see any of the game. But I saw the NFL basically tweet, like, good to have Lamar Jackson back, you know, running around.

And it was a play of him, you know, one of those classic like zone read handoffs. He keeps and gets tackled by like three guys. And I'm thinking to myself, Lamar, you're making $23 million this year, which is a shitload of money. The 99.9% of people would love to make that. But you have to look at it from, you are risking over $110 million today. Today, because the guaranteed at signing, it was 133. And then when you factor in the practical guarantees, you're really risking probably $140 and $150 million. And if you're going to argue and pound the chest about Deshaun Watson, no one's ever given you that money.

And you go, well, wait till I get to free agency. Well, you're three years away. You're this year, your fifth year option, you're your first franchise year, and you're your second franchise year. You're not a free agent. This is not the NBA. Next year you can't just walk and have five teams bidding on you, which you would have. But that's not going to happen. Now, Mortensen said that the NFLPA recommended that he take this tactic and play it out.

that to me is insanity. I would understand the logic a little if he was a true pocket quarterback, but he's a running player who constantly puts himself in compromising positions in terms of injuries. And then just it's football. Even if you are just a pure pocket quarterback, you could get injured. I listen, I hate, like, don't, why are you pocket watching? This is not a pocket watch. This is just from where I'm sitting, given how much money is on the line,

and just taking a logical view at this, I think he's making a terrible decision. Wanted to get in really quick to buy and sell. And I'm just going to buy, picks the, you know, opinions that I was right on. And I'm going to sell, and I'm going to have some apologies here. My first take that I'm not buying,

I would quadruple down on. There is actually not a take that I have in the National Football League that I feel more confident about. And I'm going to say it right now, and I'm going to say it over and over all season. And they'll have their moments while their quote-unquote shut me up. And I'm not going to just gloat because they got absolutely curbstomped by the Kansas

Chiefs, who might be one of the best teams, who are one of the best teams in the league. But the Arizona Cardinals, I'm right about this. Cliff Kingsbury has never been a good coach. Yeah, he had a moment last year where they got hot and they got a huge lead on everyone else. They still blew the division the last week of the Seattle Seahawks. I was at the Rams game when the Rams lose and up top it goes because the Seattle Seahawks kicked their ass. The LA Rams are the division champs. The Arizona Cardinals should have cruised to the divisional championship. But this offseason, like you don't need to be some

NFL analyst to realize things were weird. The Kyler Murray thing was insane. Their running back coach is involved in a domestic assault where he's on a leave of absence for something that happened at a grocery store. Their star wide receiver was going about 180 miles an hour in the desert on the way to practice. Their coach just said after the game today, after they got destroyed by a team that literally has won like 80 games the last four years.

If you can't be locked in to play the Chiefs, you might as well just do something else for a living. That we need to be more focused at practice. This isn't a high school team. Hell, this isn't a college team. This is the national football league. And Cliff, you're the coach. We need to be more locked in at practice.

Can you imagine Bill Walsh or Bill Belichick or Andy Reid say that? One, even if he thought that he would never say that. And two, he controls that. He's the head coach. But I'm out on this organization. I'm out on this team. I'm out on their core guys. Like J.J. Watt, who is an integral part of their leadership, is always hurt.

And his brother is too. That sucks. But I just, I'm out. And obviously today, Kingsbury v. Andy. Mahomes versus Kyler Like that's not a fair fight And that was I'm in Arizona right now I watched the majority of that game

That the score was not even as close As what I witnessed That was they destroyed them That's the college equivalent of like 70 to 40 No no excuse me 70 to 20 maybe I mean every single time I looked up Mahomes

Woo woo woo woo woo woo Touchdown touchdown touchdown touchdown touchdown touchdown touchdown That was an absolutely kicking. I own an apology. And Bears fans, you guys are a proud franchise. Who, you know, haven't done that much winning. And I've been mispronouncing your coach's name. And I've said the moment he wins a football game, I will no longer say Uber Flos. His name is Matt Eber Fluse. And he didn't just win today. He kicked Kyle Shanahan's ass. Now, ultimately it was, I didn't see every game today.

I don't think there were many games played in the weather. Today's weather game was absurd in Chicago. One, the field is terrible and it never stopped raining. But both teams play on those surfaces. And Justin Fields made a couple just incredible plays. He made one touchdown pass to Dante Pettis where he like scrambled around, throw it back on his body. It was badass.

Made another play later in the game. They outscored the Niners 19 straight points in the second half. and listen, if I said all week long, the Niners are going to kick their ass, and they didn't just not win, they got handled in the second half. Matt Iber Fluse, hat tip to you on your first victory. Now, I'm not changing my opinion on this team. I don't think the Bears are going to win that many games, but regardless, I say it all the time, black and white league.

We judge you on wins and losses. He's 1-0. He beat the 49ers where he was a huge, huge underdog for NFL standards. So props to Iber Fluse, props to Justin Fields, who, you know, he only completed eight balls, but did have some sweet plays. And the difference right now, like today of Justin Fields and Trey Lance is Fields made some explosive plays. I mean, Fields made some down the field plays, made some plays with his legs. He, yeah, he just, he was electric when they really needed. Early in the game, pretty ugly, but as the game went on, you know, props to the Bears.

One and O. Enjoy it, because, you know, you guys are going to lose some games. buy. I'm going to buy and I'm going to buy more of this. The New England Patriots are terrible. One of my takes was, I wasn't sure that Bill Belichick's going to be back next year. I actually feel better about that now.

And I'm not saying that Robert Kraft is going to say, Bill Belichick, you're fired. Here are your walking papers. It wouldn't happen like that. There would be some sort of mutual agreement. But it's weird. How are we even arguing this? It's weird.

Their team this year feels worse than last year. They play the Miami Dolphins, who granted they struggle against that team, but they go down there, and he takes him down early. He goes on Tuesday because of the humidity. At one point in time, I looked up, and I think it was 20 to nothing.

And obviously they lost 20 to 7. I've said over and over and over again, and so have a lot of people. I'm not alone on this. This wasn't some original thought. Literally anyone with the brain that falls in the NFL has this opinion. Having Matt Patricia be your offensive coordinator is insanity. there is not another team in the league

that could do that without having a potential riot at their stadium having fans just screaming nonstop having the owner be like what are we doing? It's nuts. It just is. And Bill's doing it and I think it's going to cost him. Now, even if he just would have got

a credible offensive coordinator, maybe it's the difference in a couple more wins. I honestly, I think they're headed to like a five win season. They don't have the talents. When I text with buddy today in the NFL, he's like, where do you see the players on the roster? He's like, I don't. They don't exist.

So I thought that the hype on Minnesota, and listen, Coward's been leading it. Collins's like, Minnesota 12, 13 wins. I was like, I don't know. I don't see it. And I said over and over, I can't take them seriously until they win a game like this. And I didn't pick them to win this game.

I didn't feel comfortable about them winning this game. And I said the two teams that had to win if they want to have a chance to win the division were the Minnesota Vikings and the, I almost said the San Diego Chargers, the Los Angeles Chargers. Because if either one of those teams are going to win the division, you have to beat a division

rival at home. And we'll get into the Chargers probably on Tuesday's podcast. But Minnesota, one, Justin Jefferson is a remarkable, elite special player. You know the good part about pro sports? Sometimes you watch a guy

and some people take a while, right? Devante Adams took a couple years before we realized like, Jesus, Steph Curry took a little time, Clay Thompson took a little time. But like, LeBron, you just boom, you know, there's certain guys, you're like, that looks a little, Mike Trout, you're like, yeah, I haven't seen that before. Justin Jefferson was like, remember Randy Moss when the Vikings drafted him and he came out of Marshall and like halfway through his rookie year?

We're like, I don't know if we've ever seen this. And he went on to become one of the best players ever. like that kind of feels like Justin Jefferson. Here's what I underestimated. I didn't question their offense. I didn't dispute that they were going to be able to score. They scored points last year. Kirk Couss was really good last year.

Like Justin Jefferson, Adam Thielen, Dalvin Cook, Madison, the Boise State running back. I was not worried about them scoring. How are they going to play defense? Every time I looked up and Rogers was just getting peppered. Guys were getting blasted. This was the Minnesota defense that I were. remember early on in Zimmer's tenure when their defense now different players but in terms of

the mentality and the mindset just hitting people in the mouth and let's face it when green bay packers have been hit in the mouth over the years i stole this from aaron nagler on twitter but he's right when matt lafleur's green bay packers and this this goes back to mike mccarthy as well when they have been like let's get in the trenches and let's play a physical fucking game harbaugh used to take it to them back in the day. Seattle and the one NFC championship, the McCarthy blew, clearly some of the games over the years, Tampa a couple years ago in the playoffs, the Niners last year in the playoffs, today, they were kind of getting to a shoving match. And it just sometimes feels that I don't want to say Green Bay Wilts, but today it felt like

they kind of did. Now, we saw last year when they got blown out, I'm not right enough to Packers by any means. I think that to me, I don't really have a huge take on the Packers, but I do feel pretty confident about Minnesota, and I'll take the L there. I did not expect them to look that good defensively. Bye, and I even feel much better about this take today. I've said over and over, I think the Lions and the Texans are going to be feisty. And it wasn't because of hard knocks. I don't even know what my reason would be with the Texans, but it just feels like they're a much more buttoned up operation than they used to be. Now, the Lions were down relatively big, but as a buddy with the Eagles text me, he's like, God, they just can't.

kept fighting. No quitting them. And if you watch Hard Knocks, you kind of got that vibe. Like, I don't know if they're talented enough. You know, seven wins is probably their ceiling. But I don't think they're going to tap out. You know, I'm not a big wrestler. Did go to Cal Poly with Chad Mendez. He was a badass. I saw him make a lot of guys tap out in the ring and at parties. Dude kicked a lot of ass. I get why Dana White hired him. But if you don't tap out in the NFL and you don't quit, like you have a chance. And then the Texans, like they could have won that game. I mean, they were in control.

When I looked at the score early, I was like, are the Colts going to lose like 20 to 3? Are they going to get blown out here? And they ended up somehow, you know, going overtime in a 2020 tie. But both those teams,

I don't necessarily expect, well, I definitely don't expect the Lions. And same with the Texans to be a wildcard team or anything. But they're going to upset some teams this season. They are because they're tough. And then sell.

I say over and over. I think the Colts are well run over organization. And in theory I do. They have a lot of good players. They feel like a buttoned up in terms of just talent at every position. But something's always off. Now, I get it, Frank, doesn't win week ones, but you're playing the Texans, you're a huge favorite, and you're getting your ass kicked early on. And I feel pretty good about Chris Ballard. Like, all the players on the team, he's drafted, he's signed, he's picked up in waivers, and they are all, you know, it's well documented, a lot of pro bowlers.

I think I might be out on Frank Reich. But Ballard, the way the Colts work, is like in charge. And who did I hear? Someone was saying that last year, Ers Day not only wanted Winsk on, but he was thinking about firing Frank, and Chris Ballard went to the mat for Frank. Like, I'm not sure Frank's any good.

Because Frank gets anointed, like, with a lot of the top offensive coaches, and I don't know. Like, right now, I would say, I don't know if I'm out, but I definitely have a huge red flag next to Frank Reich. I do not view him as like some big time coach.

And that's not just because of like one game, but like look at last year, the Raiders and the Jags. And then this year, the Texans, all off seasons. It's about how it ended, come back and tie to the Texans. And honestly, you should have lost.

And then last but not least, a couple college things. I said it two weeks ago on the podcast when Scott Frost in Nebraska, they went to Ireland, they lost to Pat Fitzgerald and the Northwestern Wildcats. and it wasn't just they lost, and it was just the first college week zero.

It was how they lost. And I said simply, Scott Frost is not a good coach anymore. If you use on your resume, we just lose a lot of close games. Well, if that happens for one season, freak deal. It happened one year with John Harbaugh. If that happens over your career, like you're just not any good. My analogy was, if you're a sales guy and you tell me all the time how close you were to closing a deal and you never do, you're just not a good sales guy.

Scott Frost was fired. And I think any time when you know, I say this whole time, when you know you know, like when you know your coach sucks, get rid of him, Mike McCarthy. When you know you don't like her, break up with her, right? How many people do you know that get divorced that you hear like, you know, I should have done this five years ago. I should have done this 10 years ago. I've met more or have like family friends and no friends that have told me stories about

people that are like 60 years old, the happiest they've ever been. And they hung on too long. And Nebraska had a chance to have. have a clean break this offseason. But instead they're like, let's see if we can work it out. This is our guy. He lost to fucking Georgia Southern and Clay Helton. Think about that.

Scott Frost and Nebraska lost to Clay Helton. How does that happen? I don't know. And then the one thing I think I need to sell a little bit, I'm not going to apologize to Steve Sarkisian in Texas because the only thing where close counts is in horseshoes and hand grenades. and ultimately the point of the game is not to cover the spread,

which he did, which is his greatest accomplishment ever, but it's to win. I did say that Nick Sabin and those guys would kick his ass. And I think the one thing, and I noticed this a lot in college football, is with all the transfers, it disperses the talent pretty rapidly quickly. So I do wonder, I said last week that I thought Georgia and Sabin were head and shoulders above everyone.

Like Georgia actually might be, but I wonder if the average. Alabama team like they'll kind of be up and I mean last year now they're really good they're still probably the second best team in the country but I do wonder if the transfer portal and I've been I've been saying about the the college football playoffs that like what's really going to change the best teams are going to win in March madness that we get a ton of upsets we're not going to get those in college football but maybe because everyone can transfer and quarterbacks are leaving 40% or 40 quarterbacks that transferred this year in division one are starting so that's kind of

kind of changed the landscape of college football. So maybe I'll sell my opinion that it's just a two horse race and more teams can compete. A very, very fun day, Saturday. Today was an excellent day, if you like, underdogs. And going in tomorrow, I kind of like Seattle. Adios, peace. Have a good night. 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 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. On the Look Back at a podcast. From 1979, that was a big moment for me. 84 was big to me. Sam J. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick a year, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it with our friends,

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which I'm saying. Yep, that's me. Clivert Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, my basketball and college football journey, or my career in sports media. Well, now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, the Cliford Show. This is a place for raw, unfilled conversations with athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated.

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